Something changed | Merluca

Part 8

Meredith was slowly waking up, taking in her surroundings. She was lying next to Andrew, her arms tucked under her pillow, facing him. He was already awake, lying on his back while caressing her arm slightly, gently. And instead of feeling scared, she felt… safe.

“Hey.” Andrew said, putting a strand of hair away, so it didn’t cover her face.

“Hi.” A slight smile formed on her lips in return.

After a moment she added sleepily “I need to go soon. The kids.”

“I know.” Andrew assured her that he understood.

Meredith looked at him for a moment, smiling slightly, before she closed her eyes again, not completely awake, yet.

She thought about the evening before. Andrew had told her that they would take it slow, and they did, in their own way. It wasn’t how she had the evening imagined to go, not after their first kiss had scared her this much. But it was never about kissing (or more) itself, she had done that before after her husband died and it was hard enough, this time it was about the feelings that came with it. But Andrew had made her feel comfortable and safe. And it was her then who turned their kissing into a make-out session and later into something more. He let her decide the pace and steps for how far she would let this go.

And when she felt the slight panic in her rising again afterwards, because of the intense stare he was giving her, as if she was the only thing that would ever matter to him, and all her emotions and feelings scared her again, he was also the one, who accepted whatever was going on inside of her. And instead of feeling hurt, that she turned her head away, because the intensity of his gaze became too much for her, Andrew started to caress her arm slightly. And it was what made her stay that night instead of running away.

She let herself enjoy the feeling of lying next to him for a few more moments before she slowly, but surely needed to get up, Andrew still caressing her arm.

“Not a morning person, huh?” she heard Andrew next to her when she opened her eyes for just a moment.

“No.” It was more like a disapproving sound than an actual word, which made Andrew chuckle, and she joined with a small laugh, opening her eyes again. A bit more determined than before to keep them open and not go back to sleep again.

Andrew then turned to his side, leaning over to her, to give her a kiss.

“Andrew.” She whispered in between, reminding him that she needed to go soon.

“I know.” Andrew answered, before leaning in for one last time. This time she closed her eyes to savor the feeling of him kissing her, before they pulled away, keeping each other’s gaze.

It was Andrew who remembered that they had to get up eventually. “You want me to make us some coffee, while you are getting ready?” He asked her softly.

“Thank you.”

…

She just arrived at home, when her sister’s interrogation began on where she had been and why they had to watch the kids again. She came up with a lame excuse of being needed at the hospital, which weirdly seemed to convince them enough to not ask further questions.

It was her day off today and the kids didn’t have school, they were still asleep as it seemed. But she wanted to be there when they woke up. The job as a surgeon took a lot of time and she liked to spend as much of her free time with her kids and family. And Andrew seemed to understand that somehow.

Meredith was looking at the clock. She decided to call Cristina, knowing that she would have her lunch/afternoon break right at that time. It seemed like the best idea, since it was only a matter of time until one of her little ones would be up. She missed her friend, and she liked talking to Cristina, and besides, her kids haven’t talked to her in a long time, so they could just join the conversation.

And as predicted, Zola was the one who was up first and brought Cristina up to date on what was happening in their lives and which science project she had to make for school. Meredith used that time to make some breakfast. Maybe that was an overstatement. She put some bowls, spoons, milk, and cereal on the table, so her kids could eat their breakfast when they were hungry.

It was one of those lazy mornings she loved, when she had nowhere to be and they could take their time in the morning. After all her kids had said ‘hello’ to Cristina and told them with enthusiasm what they did the last week, they retreated themselves in the living room to play. Apparently, they could convince Maggie and Amelia to play one round of uno with them. Leaving Meredith with Cristina on her Skype call in the kitchen, that was open to the living room.

“So, tell me! How was it?” Cristina dived right into what she wanted to know since the beginning of the conversation.

“How was what?” Meredith was confused for a moment by her sudden question.

“Your night with Andrew. Please don’t tell me you didn’t go!” she heard Cristina on the other side of the line, as she saw Maggie’s and Amelia’s head turn to her curiously at the same moment.

“Cristina!” Meredith warned, before she added in a lower voice “My kids and sisters can still hear you.”

“You slept with Andrew?” Amelia was the first to speak at what she had heard, with a big grin on her face. Did they all forget that her children where still in the room?!

“Why did you lie to us? I thought you had been at the hospital?” Maggie questioned.

“Was that supposed to be a secret, Mer?” Cristina asked, sounding way too amused about this situation for Meredith’s liking.

“Mommy, what does auntie Amelia mean? Did you have a sleepover with Andrew, just like we sometimes have with our friends?” Bailey was the last one, asking innocently, wondering what all the adults where talking about.

Meredith was staring at her son for a moment, and then she shot her sisters and Cristina an unamused look before her facial expression settled on some sort of embarrassed and disbelieving smile.

“I-it’s something similar. When two adults like each other a lot, then they sometimes spend the night together. Like a sleepover for adults” She could already hear the chuckles from her sisters, probably disapproving with her definition of ‘sleeping together’. She would kill them for that later. But, she didn’t need her children to know more about this than they already did, and not wanting them to use that phrase, when they were talking about their sleepovers, she wanted to make sure that this phrase is for adults.

“Why don’t you go upstairs to get ready, so we can go to the park?” Meredith asked her kids.

As soon as they were out the room and she made sure they were out of ear-shot she turned to her sisters and Cristina on her laptop again. “I can’t believe you!”

“Okay now tell us! How was it?” Cristina’s voice echoed from the laptop.

“Seriously?”

“Oh, just tell us, Mer. Your kids are away now, right?” Cristina persisted and she could see out of the corner of her eyes that her sisters were looking at her just as expectantly as her friend was.

“I was with Andrew last night. And- it was- good. It was really good.” Meredith found herself smiling. Her thoughts wandering back to last night and then this morning.

“But now, I need to get ready to go to the park. Making sure my kids didn’t get traumatized by you.” She added the last part with more fierce, gritting her teeth, pointing out to them that she hadn’t forgotten about their comments earlier. Then it turned into a disbelieving smile, shaking her head slightly as she walked away.

…

Meredith spend the day with her kids at the park. After they played for a while, they started to look for a place to sit down and eat the sandwiches and snacks they had brought along with them.

“Mommy, is Andrew your boyfriend?” Zola asked her curiously as she was, as soon as they started their little picnic.

“Who is Andrew?” her little Ellis was asking, too young to completely understand what all the adults were talking about earlier.

“The guy that slept on our couch.” Zola informed her sister. The way she said it, made Meredith chuckle slightly, despite not knowing what to answer her daughter. She loved how her daughter was taking her role as the big sister pretty seriously.

But then Zola was looking at her again, expecting her to answer.

“He-“ She stopped, unsure what to say, this wasn’t where she was, yet. It seemed like too big of a confession to make. But knowing how smart her kids were, denying what was going on wasn’t an option either. “He is someone I like. And I- like spending time with him.” She settled for the half truth.

Meredith tried to make sure to answer all their questions and to explain them what their aunties were talking about earlier and why she had been with ‘the guy who slept on the couch’. Maybe leaving one or the other detail out to not confuse them further. And, maybe, because some things were adult topics.

…

The day had come to an end. Her kids were in bed, except for Ellis. She couldn’t fall asleep and was walking to her room just half an hour later. Meredith had picked her up. Lying her down next to her on the bed. She was reading a story to Ellis, who finally fell asleep.

With her daughter in her arm, she thought about the day. And despite having wished she would have gotten more time, before she had to tell her kids about Andrew and her, she found herself happy knowing that they seemed to take it well enough.

She was stroking her daughter’s hair, when her phone was vibrating, letting her know she got a new text message. She quickly, but carefully reached out for it on her nightstand to not wake up Ellis. Feeling herself smiling, when she saw the name on her screen.

“Good night – Andrew.”

So simple and yet meaning so much to her.

She looked at her daughter sleeping next to her, and she knew that she would have a good night after having a great day.

After spending the morning with him, someone she grew to like a lot and the rest of day spending time with her family, having fun together.

“Good night – Meredith.”