119. Family is a Good Thing

Disclaimer: If I owned it, things would be very, very different.

Sorry for the wait. Life has been getting in the way of all my writing time. Thanks as always for your patience. :)

Meredith clicked the pen on the coffee table, and signed her, Derek's, and Lilly's name to her father's birthday card. Then, she stuffed it in the envelope, and sealed it. It was the first birthday card she could remember giving her dad since she was five years old, and she was actually happy for it, especially for Lilly's sake. She deserved to have a grandpa, and they wanted that for her.

Derek sat next to her on the couch, Lilly between them, blowing raspberries on her stomach after changing her diaper. "Does that tickle?" he asked her, watching as she wriggled around in delight each time.

When Lilly smiled up at him, a mirrored grin spread on Derek's face. "Mer, she's smiling!"

"What?" Meredith looked down, and saw the happy, gummy smile on Lilly's face as Derek continued to tickle her, and she laughed. "Oh my God, look how cute she is! I need to get pictures," she said, twisting around to pull the camera out from the cabinet under the end table. "Do it again."

Derek leaned down and blew on her belly, and Lilly put on another smile, wider than before, and Meredith quickly snapped a picture. "That's not just a little smile or a gas smile, either, like she usually makes. That's a full-fledged, happy smile," Meredith said, kissing Lilly's forehead.

"She looks like you when she smiles," Derek said.

"You think so?"

"All you," he nodded, continuing to tickle her. "You're adorable, Princess."

"August 7th, first real smile," Meredith said. "My dad's birthday, so it's easy to remember."

"It'll be documented in her baby book, right next to the dates she takes her first steps and says her first word... which will be Dada," Derek said, fixing Lilly's dress and scooping her off the couch.

Meredith laughed. "You sound pretty confident."

"I am," Derek smirked.

"We'll see..." Meredith said, slinging Lilly's diaper bag over her shoulder.

"Is that a bet?"

Meredith reached out her arm. "Fine."

"What do I get if I win?" Derek asked.

"When I win? Um, eternal bragging rights?" Meredith suggested.

"Deal," Derek agreed, shaking her hand. He looked at Lilly. "Ready to go, smiley?"

"I wish we could just make her smile until bedtime," Meredith said, picking up the keys off the table in the foyer. "Here. Swap."

"Why do I always have to drive?" Derek asked playfully, handing Lilly to her and taking the keys.

Meredith shrugged as she fixed Lilly's hair bow. "You love driving. And I'm flexible. I can maneuver myself from the front seat to the backseat if Lilly needs me in three seconds."

"Oh, I'm well aware of your flexibility," Derek grinned. He waited for Meredith to step out the front door before he locked it behind them. "You have the photo album, right?"

"Yeah, it's already in the car," Meredith said. "You think he'll like that, right? I really didn't know what else to get for him. And I know he wants more pictures of Lilly."

"Yeah, he's gonna love it," Derek said, unlocking the car.

Meredith gently put Lilly in her car seat and buckled her in. She kissed her forehead, then closed the door. "And Molly, Lexie and I went in on new putters for him, which I realize is very sisterly."

"That's good. That's what sisters do," Derek said as they slipped into the front seat. "When I was at work this morning, Lexie told me Laura was excited to see her new cousin," Derek said as he backed out of the driveway.

"I miss her. We haven't seen her since New Year's when I was four months pregnant. Lilly was still just a tiny, little fetus back then," Meredith said. She glanced back in the mirror they had attached to the backrest of the backseat, and smiled when she saw Lilly sucking her thumb, looking up with interest at the fish mobile clipped to her car seat. "I wish Susan was still alive. She would've loved Lilly."

Derek reached across the console and took her hand. "I wish she was, too."

"But that's okay. Lilly has your mom. And I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't have been the best grandma, anyway. The only thing she sewed was skin, and she never cooked or baked once in her life. Your mom makes up for her lack of her Grey grandmas," Meredith said.

"The lucid, emotionally stable version of your mother would've loved Lilly just as much as my mom does," Derek said, squeezing her hand. "She was just..."

"Neither of those things?" Meredith supplied. "It's okay. The important thing is that Lilly's happy, and she is."

"It's nice to see you wanting to spend time with your family. Five years ago, did you ever think you'd even speak to your dad again?" Derek asked.

Meredith laughed in spite of herself. "Is that a serious question?"

"See? Look how far you've come. Going to your dad's birthday lunch, joint birthday present with your sisters," Derek said encouragingly.

"I know. It's so Full House," Meredith said with disgust.

Derek laughed. "I hated that show," he said, pulling onto the main road.

"Me, too."

...

They arrived at Thatcher's home twenty minutes later, and walked up the steps to the front door. When Laura spotted them, she all but cheered at their arrival. She clapped her hands together in excitement as Lexie opened the door for them, standing on her tiptoes to get a peek at Lilly.

"Hi," Laura greeted them.

Meredith and Derek smiled at the four year old with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, the spitting image of a Grey. "Hi, sweetie," Meredith said. "You got so big."

"I'm four now," Laura said proudly, holding up four fingers.

"Four? I thought you were sixteen," Derek said, pretending to be shocked.

Laura shrieked with laughter. "No, I'm four!"

"Well then, that means you're officially old enough to hold your new cousin. How's that sound?" Derek asked.

"Hi, guys," Molly said as she and Thatcher entered the living room.

"Hi," Meredith said, giving them each a small hug, Lilly in between. "Happy birthday," she told Thatcher.

Thatcher smiled. "Thank you. And thanks for coming. I know it's hard, with work and everything..."

"Oh, it's no problem. Happy to come," Derek said, shaking his hand.

"She's so beautiful," Molly said, rubbing Lilly's hand with her finger. "She looks a lot like Laura did when she was first born."

"I think so, too," Meredith said as Lilly looked around at all of the new faces with curiosity.

"Can I hold her now?" Laura asked, looking up at them with hopeful eyes.

"Sure you can," Derek replied. "Wanna hop up onto the couch?"

"Uh huh," Laura said, eagerly scrambling toward the couch and sitting in the corner. She held her arms out in expectation, waiting to hold the baby. "I'm ready."

Meredith laughed, gently placing Lilly on Laura's lap, making sure her head was supported by a pillow. Lilly glanced between Meredith and the mysterious, pigtailed person holding her, but decided to simply start sucking on her thumb rather than cry.

Laura smiled down at her in awe. "She's really little."

"She's little just like your dolls, Laur," Lexie said. "And best of all, she even has dirty diapers."

"Yeah, those are fun. Especially at three in the morning, in the dark," Derek said.

"Yep, I remember those, too. Eric always pretended to be asleep so that I'd have to get up and do it," Molly said.

"Is he here?" Meredith asked, setting down Lilly's diaper bag and her purse next to the couch.

Molly shook her head. "No, he had to train recruits at McChord near Tacoma. It was last minute. He was really looking forward to seeing you guys and meeting Lilly," she said regretfully.

"That's okay. There's always next time," Derek shrugged, chuckling at how fascinated Laura was by the baby.

When Laura made a fish face at her, Lilly smiled in response. Derek noticed the gesture and tapped on Meredith's arm. "Another smile."

Lexie gasped when she saw. "Since when does she smile like that?"

"Since a half hour ago," Meredith giggled. "Derek was blowing raspberries on her stomach. She broke out in this big smile. I swear, I just about peed myself," she said.

"God, she looks just like you did, Meredith," Thatcher said softly, watching both of his granddaughters. "Same gummy smile you had. It's like you're that age again. Everything but her hair, and she's you. It's uncanny."

"Now all we need is one from Lexie to see if the Grey gene is dominant, three for three," Molly said.

Lexie smiled and looked toward the kitchen. "So, who's hungry?"

...

After lunch and opening gifts, they all retreated back into the living room with cake, and Laura corralled her mother and aunts onto the floor to play some sort of princess game. It wasn't exactly the kind of game Meredith preferred, but for Laura's sake, she was willing to sport fake, plastic jewelry. Derek smiled at her from his seat on the couch, trying to hold back a laugh when Laura handed her the tiara.

"So, Meredith tells me you like golf," Derek said to Thatcher, who was sitting across from him.

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting a new set from the girls. That was really sweet of them," Thatcher said, smiling at Lilly who was sleeping in the crook of his arm. "Do you golf?" he asked Derek.

"Yeah. When I moved out here, I started playing. Not competitively or anything; it's just relaxing," Derek said. "Greenlake has a nice course."

"I've been a member there for years," Thatcher said.

"No kidding," Derek said in surprise. "We should go golfing sometime."

"I'd love to. We'll have to plan something," Thatcher agreed, gently switching Lilly to his other arm. "Must be hard to get out and play with a newborn, huh?"

Derek laughed. "Yeah, I haven't been able to go recently. I would take Lilly in the Babybjorn, but I don't think Mer would approve of that," he joked.

"How's it been, staying home with the baby?" Thatcher asked.

"I love it. It's nice to be able to take a break from work. I mean, sometimes I miss the hustle and bustle of surgery, but Lilly is... God, she's amazing. I love staying home with her," Derek said. "It's rough on Meredith, though, being away from her. She's so afraid of turning into her mother."

"Meredith may have Ellis' talent and her looks, but that's the only way she's like her mother. Ellis would stay at the hospital for days without coming home. Whenever I tried to call, she was always busy. And she never once called to check in, or even talk to Meredith. I never knew when she was going to walk through the door. I may not have been there for most of her life, but I know Meredith well enough to know that she would never do anything like that," Thatcher said, shaking his head.

"That's what I tell her. Deep down, I think she knows that. But it still scares her. I bring Lilly up to the hospital every day. Mer never goes more than a few hours without seeing her. When I'm working, she'll bring Lilly up to see me," Derek said before chuckling slightly. "We've really learned to appreciate days off."

"Well, if you ever needed me to watch Lilly, I'd be more than happy to. I watch Laura a few times a week, when Molly goes to run errands or something. She'll tell you, I'm a fun grandpa. So, please don't hesitate to call," Thatcher offered.

"Thank you," Derek said sincerely. "That... that really means a lot."

"It's the least I can do for you both. And for Lilly," Thatcher said, smiling at how Lilly scrunched her nose. "You know, flipping through the photo album you gave me reminded me so much of Meredith when she was born. Even her little facial expressions are the same. I wish every day that I could go back to when Meredith was this age. I'd do everything so differently."

Derek pursed his lips, surprised by his candidness, but simply nodded. "Yeah. I wish that, too," he said. "But look at you guys now. You're making up for lost time. You get a fresh start with Lilly. Meredith and I want you to be involved."

"Second chance?" Thatcher said.

Derek nodded. "Second chance."

Lilly stirred and opened her eyes, her bright blue irises looking first at Thatcher then to Derek. Derek smiled at his daughter. "Hey, Princess. Did you have a good nap?"

"Light sleeper, huh?" Thatcher asked with a chuckle, handing Lilly over to Derek.

"Oh, yeah. One of my genetic gifts," Derek teased. He sat Lilly on his lap so she could watch what was going on across the room. She may have been too young to appreciate her mother wearing green, clip-on earrings and a shiny, silver crown, but at the very least, it would keep her entertained.

"Gotta admit, I'm really glad we had a girl, so we can buy that game and Lilly can make Mer play it over and over again," Derek said.

Meredith turned around, still donning her jewelry, and smirked at him. "I heard that."

"You look very pretty," Derek grinned.

"Lilly and I will make sure you get to play, too, you know," Meredith warned playfully, flicking the spinner after Laura handed it to her.

"I've been playing Pretty Pretty Princess with my nieces since I was in college. I'm a pro," Derek said with feigned arrogance.

"Wanna play next round, Uncle Derek?" Laura asked excitedly, her long, pink necklace touching her knees as she sat crossed-legged.

"You walked right into that one..." Thatcher pointed out, smiling in sympathy.

Derek kissed Lilly's forehead, then passed her back to Thatcher. "Yeah, I guess I did," he said before joining them around the game board on the floor.

...

"So, what were you and my dad talking about?" Meredith asked on the drive home later on that evening. She looked back in the mirror again to sneak a peek at Lilly, who was still awake, staring with fascination as she clenched and unclenched her tiny fist.

"Not much. Golf, mostly. We talked about going out on the course together," he said, stopping at a red light.

Meredith turned her head toward him. "You're going golfing with my dad?"

"Yeah. Unless you think it's a bad idea," he said.

"No, I don't. It's just... weird," Meredith shrugged.

"Good weird?" Derek asked.

Meredith considered a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I guess."

"You know, I really think he wants to be a part of Lilly's life. He even volunteered to babysit. I actually think he'd be thrilled if we asked him to," Derek said. "He wants a second chance, Mer."

"I know he does," she said softly. "And I want him to have it. Not for me; for Lilly. My childhood was a crap shoot, but Lilly needs a grandpa." Meredith's face softened and she smiled slightly. "He really loves her."

"Yeah, he does," Derek nodded.

"And I'm pretty sure Laura thinks Lilly is the coolest thing she's ever seen," Meredith laughed. "Although, you and I think that, too."

Derek smiled proudly. "That's because she is."

"I know Laura's older, but she's still Lilly's cousin. And because all of Lilly's other cousins live on the other side of the country, I think having Laura around would be kind of nice," Meredith said.

"I think so, too," Derek said. "They're family. Family is a good thing."

Meredith heard her phone ringing, and pulled it from the bag at her feet. "Cristina," she said, reading the display. She answered it, and held the phone to her ear. "Hey."

Derek heard Cristina's muffled voice on the other end, but couldn't decipher what she was saying. The way Meredith's eyebrows knitted together in concern told him whatever she had to say wasn't good news.

"Mhm," Meredith murmured as she chewed on her lower lip. "So, you left?" she asked. "No, not yet. We're on our way home."

Derek glanced over at her, eyes pleading not to invite Cristina over. Meredith looked at him and shrugged helplessly. "What do you want me to do?" she whispered, holding her hand over the receiver.

"Not have her show up with a check for room and board," Derek said, knowing how clingy Cristina could be when her own personal life was in shambles. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, waiting to get the story from Meredith whenever she hung up the phone.

"No, it's okay," Meredith said in response to whatever Cristina said. "We'll be home soon."

She ended the call and dropped her phone onto her lap. Against his better judgment, Derek asked anyway. "What happened?"

"She didn't give me the long, sordid version over the phone. Apparently, Owen brought up the M word, and they got in a fight," Meredith said, checking on Lilly in the mirror again.

"M word?"

"Marriage," Meredith sighed.

"Oh," Derek said. "Yeah, Cristina and that topic are like oil and water."

"I know. So, I told her she could come over. And no, she's not writing a check or bringing a suitcase," Meredith promised. "I love her, but God, I'd go crazy if she moved in..."

Derek turned toward her and smirked. "Oh, you'd go crazy?"

...

Just as soon as Cristina arrived, Derek wanted her gone. And not because he hated her; even if they would never admit it to one another, they were, for all intents and purposes, friends, albeit grudgingly. It was because it was Saturday night, which had been dubbed sex night for going on three years. But with Cristina hogging Meredith all to herself, the chances of him getting laid decreased exponentially.

He glanced at his watch as he burped Lilly over his shoulder after Meredith nursed. Cristina had been ranting for nineteen minutes, Meredith interrupting from time to time to give her input. Derek sighed, kissing Lilly's cheek. "Alright, Lilly, this is what we call the excuse and escape method," he said into her ear.

Derek got up off the couch and cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go watch the end of the Yankee game upstairs with Lilly, then I'll give her a bath."

"Okay," Meredith nodded.

He leaned down and kissed her. "Just a friendly reminder: it's Saturday night," he said against her lips.

Meredith smiled. "Hmm, I know."

"Is Saturday naked night?" Cristina interjected.

"In fact, it is," Derek said. "So, you know, if you're planning on spending the night, I hope you brought ear plugs."

"Oh, gross," Cristina groaned, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

Meredith leaned forward, kissing Lilly's nose. "Love you, peanut," she said. "Maybe tomorrow, you can smile for Aunt Cristina to cheer her up."

"I'd rather she smile at me than poop on me," Cristina shrugged. She waved to Lilly and swung her legs up onto the couch. "Night, kid."

"I'll be up," Meredith promised.

"Okay," Derek said as he walked toward the stairs. He patted Lilly's bottom in victory. "Mission accomplished," he told her. Lilly smiled at him sleepily and he hugged her closer. "You really are the coolest baby ever, you know that?"

...

The weight of the mattress sunk down next to Derek with Meredith's slight weight, and he blearily blinked open his eyes. The red numbers on the clock said 1:16, four hours since he'd come upstairs with Lilly, who lay sleeping between him and Meredith. "Hmm, about time," Derek whispered.

Meredith smiled apologetically in the dark. "Sorry. Cristina can be very chatty when she rants."

"'S okay," Derek yawned. "Although, you do owe me a sex rain check."

"I know," Meredith said, lightly kissing Lilly's forehead.

"Is she still here?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's on the couch," Meredith said as she gently laid down so she wouldn't jostle Lilly and risk waking her up. "I offered up the guest room, but she wanted to be as far away from the sex noises as possible."

"Thanks to her, there is no sex."

"You can barely keep your eyes open. And our daughter is in the room. There wasn't going to be sex, anyway," Meredith pointed out. "Tomorrow, we're off, but she has work. Plenty of time. Besides, she's my person. What happened to 'family is a good thing?'"

"Biologically. I didn't mean Cristina Yang by person-hood extension," Derek said into his pillow.

"Okay, if Lilly gets to call Mark, her technical non-relative, 'Uncle Mark,' then Cristina is family," Meredith upheld.

Derek considered making a rebuttal argument, but he was too tired. "Fine. But only future fictitious baby number two will make our house a four person household."

"Mhm," she replied, resting her head close to Lilly's.

"We could always have the locks changed tomorrow while she's at work..."

Meredith laughed quietly. "Goodnight, Derek."