Something changed | Merluca

Part 3

Meredith got downstairs, to make the kids some breakfast and then get them ready for school, when she noticed that Andrew was already up and out to work. Both, to her relief and disappointment. It was probably for the best, she thought after a moment, with her kids and Amelia being around. Amelia already knew too much for her liking. And she really didn't need her comments having Andrew and the kids around.

Later at work she tried to avoid both, her sister and Andrew. She needed some time for herself, without getting distracted by Andrew or being teased about It by Amelia. She wanted to figure this out herself first.

She was sitting in the lab, trying to work on her new research, enjoying the quiet for a bit. She was actually surprised that no one had come across the lab yet. It wasn't the busiest place in the hospital, that's why she chose to spend her day there. But usually there was at least one intern or resident who would ask her something. Or she would be paged to consult on a case. Just when she thought that she successfully managed to avoid all of that, Maggie came in. And just by the look on her face she could already tell that avoiding Amelia and Andrew wasn't enough. Apparently Amelia couldn't keep the conversation they had last night to herself.

"How was your evening -or night yesterday?" Maggie asked her with a big grin on her face, teasing Meredith.

"Nothing happened." Meredith rolled her eyes annoyed, knowing exactly what Maggie was referring to.

"Are you sure?"

"We were just talking." Meredith answered. She couldn't quite believe that she had the exact same conversation like last night again. Now with her other sister. But as annoyed as she was from this, she was also glad to see that Maggie didn't really care that she might have an interest in Andrew. Which she did not have.

"You sure were."

Meredith got back to her work, pretending not to hear Maggie's comment.

"Look, who's coming there." Maggie stated looking a bit too amused about this whole situation. When Meredith looked up again, she saw that Andrew was walking towards them.

"I will leave you then, so you can 'talk'." Maggie said, emphasizing the 'talk', before she left.

Something about Maggie's comment made her wonder if they were just teasing her or if they really thought that more had happened. On the other side it didn't really matter what they thought, because either way, they were way too curious. But before she could think about it any longer, Andrew had already approached her.

"What was that about?" He asked her, handing her a cup of coffee. He must have seen her questioning look in between the smile on her face. After a short moment he added smiling "You let me stay at your house. The least I can do is to bring you a coffee."

"Thank you, you didn't need to do that." She gave him a warm smile.

"Did something happen?" He asked again, sounding a bit concerned.

Meredith figured that he must have seen her not so amused look at Maggie. "No, just 'sisters'." She tried to explain, without going into too much details.

"Uh, sounds familiar." He answered chuckling a bit.

"Yeah." She couldn't help herself and laugh too.

"So, I actually came to say that I could cook something this evening, as a little 'thank you' for letting me stay. Only if it's okay, of course."

"You cook?" Meredith answered surprised, trying not to sound too excited.

"Yes, I do." He was laughing a little at her surprised reaction.

"Uhm, of course you can cook if you want to."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

She watched him walking away. She really needed to figure this out soon. She couldn't get flustered at work, just because he was talking to her. She was shaking her head, still smiling, trying to get him out of her thoughts once again.

Maybe Amelia and Maggie were right and this whole thing… that Andrew meant more too her than she wanted to admit herself. Deep down she already knew the answer. But she needed a bit more time to get used to that idea. Because, that was definitely not what she expected, when they decided to offer him to come home with her the other day. After the weed cookie accident. And if it wasn't for that matter, she would probably still see him as just one of the many people she worked with and nothing more. But that's not how things were now. She liked his presence, even though she couldn't quite say why that was. She just felt comfortable with him. But, all this changed in just a few days. So, she definitely needed more time.

...

It was a few hours later when she came home, giving all her kids a hug as she went inside. Andrew was already there, preparing dinner in the kitchen. Bailey and Ellis soon went back to continue playing with their princesses and dinosaurs. Zola went with her mom to the kitchen sitting down at the table to finish her homework.

"I can help if you want. Just tell me what to do." Meredith stated after a moment, feeling like she needed to do something other than just sitting there.

"What?" She asked, when she saw Andrew's surprised, but also confused look.

"I told him, you can't cook." Zola answered chuckling, looking up from her homework.

"Zola!" Meredith exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mommy." The girl answered, still with a smile on her face.

"You can still help me, if you want." Andrew offered her, what she gladly accepted.

"I would like, too. But, I have to warn you, Zola is right, I really can't cook." Meredith gave her daughter a quick glance, which was returned with an apologetic smile. She wasn't mad at Zola, it was a well known fact that she couldn't cook. But somehow she was a little embarrassed and felt the need to try to hide it in between the laughter and smiles.

"Well, we can change that." Andrew answered her. "I can show you how to cook. It's not that hard actually."