Sibling Day

Ivy smiles as she pushes the twins in the baby swings. Their little giggles making her happy. Suddenly, she feels a body collide with her legs. Looking down, she sees Zola smiling up at her, "Well, hello Ms. Zola. Where's your dad and brother? Or did you run away?"

Hearing Derek's laugh, Ivy looks up, "She didn't run away. I still have a few years before she tries to do that. Oh, look at my niece and nephew."

"Yeah, they love the park. It's their absolute favorite place, and I don't usually let them run free unless Jackson is here with me," Ivy sighs, picking Zola up and hugging her.

"I see. Their energy levels pretty high lately?" Derek asks, taking Bailey out of his stroller.

"You have no idea. Once I told them we were going to the park this morning, they didn't sit still until we got here. Now, my phone is full of pictures of them having a blast on the swings," she laughs, shifting Zola to be able to show Derek her phone.

"Well, look at those two! You might want to make some room because we have a busy day ahead of us," he says, putting Bailey back in his stroller and picking the twins up.

Ivy takes a picture of Derek holding the twins, before putting the twins in their stroller, "I know, I know. You want to stay here, but uncle Derek has a plan for us. Here," she puts some of their baby treats on the tray, "Eat those while uncle Derek tells us where we're going."

Derek points at the dock where a ferry boat was pulling in. Ivy nods, "I should've guessed. Derek Shepherd can't stay away from the ferry boats."

He glares at her, "Don't make it sound like I have to ride them everyday."

"If you had your way, you would. Of that, I'm a hundred percent sure," she smiles as they walk towards the dock, "Where are we going after the ferry boat ride?"

"We're gonna get ice cream, get some lunch, and I know of a bigger park that the kids can play at while we talk," Derek tells them as they board the boat.

They find a bench on deck and sit down, before turning the strollers so the kids could see their parent and the water. Ivy lays her head back, enjoying the sun as Derek looks over the water.

"I visited mom when I was in D.C."

"Hmm. How'd that go?" Ivy asks.

"She said I was miserable. Told me to stop complaining and fix it. Then I asked about you," he says, watching her reaction.

Ivy snorts, "Let me guess, she's making it all up. I never told her she was a burden. I love all my children, including Ivy," she mocks.

Derek nods, "Yeah, that's about what happened. But she wouldn't look me in the eye. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'm sorry that it took me speaking in anger for me to finally realize that mom was horrible to you."

"I'm not necessarily pissed that it took you so long, it's more that...I don't even know. Look, for five years, all I knew was that my mother hated me. My dad was dead, the only sister who truly cared about me was a drug addict and battling her own problems and the brother that raised me was becoming a surgeon. I didn't think my problems were worth dragging you all away from your own life. Because that would have made me a burden. It was a vicious cycle, one that I fought for years to break. I'm still having trouble realizing that Jackson could never think of me as one," she sighs.

"And then your wedding."

"And then my wedding. It hurts. They were there for your first wedding, we were all there for Liz's, and Nancy's and Kathleen's, but they couldn't even pretend they cared to be there for mine. I asked them to treat me like a freaking person and they walked out."

Derek hugs her, "I'm sorry. I wish things were different, but at least your strong. You've got a strength in you that I haven't seen in anybody else."

Ivy chuckles, "I don't know if that's worth it. The strength comes from a lot of doubt and self-loathing. When it was just Amy and I in the house, we bonded. Sure, she was high half the time, but we understood each other. She was the black sheep of the family while I was seen as your clone. Only there to be used as a pawn to get on your good side and then eventually mom's. For a long time, I envied her. She was able to escape using drugs. I couldn't escape. I promised her that I would never get addicted to anything and I wasn't about to break a promise to her, but...at times it was tempting."

She takes a deep breath, "As a mother, I could not imagine looking my child in the eyes and telling them their a burden. I look at my twins, and all I see is love. They are my whole world. You know, I can't remember if mom ever told me she loved me. Do you know how damaging that is? To not have your mother tell you she loves you? The only reason I have a normal reaction when told I love you is because of you and Amy. You two always told me how much you loved me growing up. My biggest fear is I'm gonna be like her."

"You could never-" Derek starts.

"Its a possibility. I don't want that to ever happen and I've made Jackson promise to step in if that ever happens. I don't want my kids resenting me because of something that mom instilled in me," Ivy looks at her kids, smiling as Christopher hands Alexus one of the treats from their tray.

Derek nods, "Since I'm moving back, I promise to make sure that never happens."

Ivy chuckles, "So it's true? You're staying."

"I'm staying. Forever. I have to fly back to D.C. a couple more times but otherwise, I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon. Your stuck with me for a long time," he tells her.

"I guess I can deal with that. Amy is gonna test you though. She doesn't believe that you're actually okay with working under her."

"I am completely okay with it. It gives me more time to spend with the kids. I want to be the soccer coach, I want to be at dance recitals like I was for you. I know what it takes to be a good dad, now I just need to do it. Speaking of Amy, did you know about her and Owen?" Derek asks.

Ivy scrunches her eyebrows, "I know that they both like each other, or are at least crushing."

He looks at her, "For how long?"

She thinks, "Uh, Owen since the presentation started for Herman's tumor. And Amy, from about the same time. Why?"

Derek stands up as the ferry boat starts to pull into the dock, "Because Amy told me last night that she thinks she's falling in love with him and she's scared it's gonna ruin her."

"Love is powerful. I know I'm stronger because of Jackson and Is love. They'll work it out, don't be protective big brother. Just let her work it out," Ivy advises, getting the twins ready to go.

The sibling duo and kids get off the ferry boat and head towards the basically empty park, save for the ice cream cart. Ivy settles the twins in a swing set again, along with Bailey as Derek takes Zola and orders their ice cream.

He knows that Ivy will want mint chocolate chip and to get a small bowl of vanilla for the twins. Walking back over, he hands Ivy their ice cream before helping Zola not make a mess of her own.

In between bites of her ice cream, Ivy feeds the twins small spoonfuls of vanilla, taking pictures of their messy faces and sending them to Jackson.

"Do you remember when you and Mark used to bring me to the park almost everyday for a summer?" Ivy recalls.

"You were 10. We had just graduated from college and were on our way to med school. We didn't know what else to do with you," Derek reminds her.

"I know. You two would take turns studying and running around with me. Most of the time, I would be able to get you both to run around with me because I was that adorable," she smiles.

Derek chuckles, "Or we just didn't want to study anymore," Ivy softly hits his arm, "I'm kidding. You were a pretty cute kid. I don't know what happened between then and now-"

She hits his arm a little harder this time, "Hey!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You still are a pretty cute kid."

"I'm not a kid," she pouts.

He flicks her nose, "Your pout says otherwise."

Ivy laughs. This is exactly what she needed. A day off with family. Spending time with her kids and niece and nephew. Reconnecting with her brother. She's missed him. She just realized how much she will treasure this day for the rest of her life.

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AN: short little cute chapter showing sibling love.

In case you didn't know, I started a new story! (Don't worry, I will still update this one) it's called Genius Understood and it's a Criminal Minds story. Go check it out if you have the chance :)

QoC: whose side do you think Ivy will be on: Amelia or Meredith?

Thank you for all of the votes and reads and comments!!