Work Text:
Seven empty cans of whipped cream lay abandoned on the kitchen island while three young children were lounging on the living room carpet. Their aunt was sprawled on the couch, eyes squeezed shut as her stomach let out angry growls. Zola and Ellis leaned against the back of the couch, the older one’s face twisted in a judging expression. Bailey was rolling on the floor in pain, blonde locks sticky with what had remained of the whipped cream after the eating contest he had held with his aunt.
“Mom’s gonna kill you both,” Zola retorted. Everyone in the room knew there was some truth in that statement.
Amelia groaned from her spot on the couch. “Not as much as Derek’s gonna kill me,” she moaned, hiccuping. Bailey lifted his head from the floor with a whine. “Mom and Dad won’t kill us. It’s not our fault they left so many cans in the fridge.” Zola quirked an eyebrow. “Make that make sense,” she mumbled, clearly disappointed in her brother’s behavior.
“Actually,” Amelia piped in, “I bought them. Last night.” Zola dropped her head in her palms, letting out a groan of disappointment. Ellis giggled at her older sister’s theatrics. Zola offered her a defeated smile in return. She was glad that Ellis hadn’t taken part in her brother and aunt’s ridiculous behavior. Not that she would let her, anyway.
Meredith and Derek had been gone for two nights. They were staying at a hotel for the weekend – something about not getting to have enough sex had been explained to Amelia when they had asked her to babysit for them. They suspected Zola was old enough to understand though, but neither the girl or her parents ever mentioned it. They would be home tonight, probably in a few hours.
“Aunt Amy, I love you lots, but my Mom’s gonna have your head,” Zola peeked over the couch at her nauseous aunt. “Ugh, and so will your Dad,” she groaned, rubbing her stomach.
Bailey’s hand suddenly flew over his mouth, and he looked at Zola with wide eyes. “I think I’m gonna be sick!” He jumped up from the floor and raced to the bathroom. “Not surprising after the four cans of whipped cream you had!” Zola yelled after him. “But at least I beat Aunt Amy!” he screamed back in between retches. His sister cringed at the sound.
After seven painfully slow minutes of the boy emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet and Amelia moaning as her aggravated stomach sent jolts of pain through her body, Bailey finally emerged from the bathroom, face flushed, and arms wrapped around his abdomen.
Amelia sat up on the couch to get a look at her nephew. “You okay?” she questioned, receiving a nod in response. “Yeah. Stupid cream,” he groaned. “My thoughts exactly,” Amelia chuckled.
“We should clean up in the kitchen,” she said after a minute of complete silence. Zola nodded in agreement. “On it! I’m gonna take care of the cans!” Ellis exclaimed, happy to help, and quick to stand up and rush to the kitchen. Zola hurried after her to make sure she wasn’t going to fall off of a stool.
Bailey didn’t make an effort to get up or even move from his position on the floor. Amelia glanced at the boy, sending him a quick wink. He responded with a groan, wiping water off his face. His aunt made her way to the kitchen, one hand still resting on her stomach.
The cans had already been cleaned and thrown in the trash by Ellis. Zola was scrubbing the table with a wet rag. Puddles of melted cream were taking up some of the floor, but thankfully none of the carpets were stained.
Amelia sighed. She headed to the sink, grabbing a fresh rag from the cabinet underneath. She turned on the tap and wet the rag, before squeezing most of the water out of it. The rag was tossed on the floor, landing right on top of a cream puddle.
Right at that moment, they heard keys turning inside the lock and the door swinging open. Ellis’ little head shot up at the sound of her parents arriving. She bolted to the door and threw her arms around her father. “DADDY! MOMMY!” The little girl jumped up and down, waiting for Derek to pick her up. “Hi, Ellie Belle!” Meredith cooed. Derek chuckled and let go of his suitcase and shopping bags, replacing them with his youngest daughter. “Hello, my darling,” he kissed Ellis’ head multiple times, arms wrapped tightly around the girl.
“I missed you! I missed you!” Ellis babbled.
Zola came running from the kitchen with a messy Amelia trailing behind her. “Mommy! Daddy!” Meredith spread her arms open wide and squeezed her daughter when she fell into her embrace. “Hi, Zozo!” she laughed as her eldest buried her face in her stomach. Derek caught a glimpse of Amelia as he scanned the house to see what condition it was in and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Amy? Why are you covered in- uh- what are you covered in?” he asked as he let Ellis back down to stand on her own. “And what happened to the kitchen?” he was referring to the white stains all over the floor that Amelia hadn’t yet got a chance to wipe clean. Thankfully, Zola had taken care of the dirty kitchen island.
Meredith kept glancing around the room. “Where’s Bails?” she asked and let go of Zola.
“In the living room?” Amelia offered.
“Bailey!” Meredith called out to her son.
A pale boy emerged from his spot behind the couch soon after. “Here, Mama.” He wobbled over to his parents and received a hug from the both of them, before his mother pushed him away to get a better look at him. “You’re all white! What happened here?”
Derek eyed his sister carefully. “Amy, what did you do?” She twiddled with her fingers, staring at the floor in shame. “It was Bailey’s idea,” she tried.
“Hey!” Bailey turned around to glare at her.
“What was?” Meredith looked down at her son with a questioning look.
“Having an eating contest with whipped cream of all things,” Zola stepped up to her mother, glaring at her brother with her arms crossed against her chest.
“ZOLA!” Bailey cried, slapping his sister’s arm.
“Derek Bailey Shepherd! No hitting your siblings!” Meredith scolded her son.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“You had a what-now contest?” Derek cut in while frowning at Amelia.
“Cream eating - whoever eats more wins!” Ellis piped up. “It was epic! Bails got sick in the toilet, but Aunt Amy still lost to him!” she explained, green eyes shining brightly. At least someone was having fun.
“Ellis!” Bailey whined. “You and Zo are such tattletales!”
“No name calling!” Meredith scolded again, before her eyes widened in realization. “You were sick? Are you okay, baby?” she placed her hands on his cheeks, checking his temperature.
Bailey pushed them away with a smile. “I’m okay, Mama, I just had way too much whipped cream.”
Derek glared at Amelia again. “Amy! You’re supposed to be taking care of them, not engaging in stupid contests!” he scolded his little sister, who looked more than ashamed.
“I was taking care of them- I just-”
“You should know better,” Derek interrupted.
Meredith rolled her eyes with a smile. “Shush, Derek, they’re kids. I know for a fact that you wouldn’t have said no to them either, you would’ve done the same thing.” Derek frowned. “Bailey is fine, aren’t you, baby?” her son giggled as she tickled his ear. “And so is everybody else. Stop worrying.” Meredith kissed his cheek.
“Fine,” Derek huffed.
Meredith smiled, before glancing at Amelia. “Now, apologize to your sister,” she ordered him, earning a glare in return. “Go on,” she pushed. Derek looked at Amelia. “Sorry, Amy. You didn’t do anything wrong. Kids will be kids,” he sighed.
Before she got the chance to smile, the blood drained from Amelia’s face, and she ran off. Derek groaned while Meredith let out a laugh. “Crap.”
“Daddy! That a bad word!” Ellis cried. Derek smiled. “You’re absolutely right, baby. I’m very sorry.” His youngest had been taught well. Bailey on the other hand...
“Shit! I left Bob outside!” he bolted out of the door to retrieve his toy dinosaur from the deck before anyone got a chance to stop him.
“No swearing!” Meredith yelled after him.
Bailey returned soon after with a gray dinosaur clutched tightly in his grasp. “Sorry, Mama, but it was an emergency.” Meredith’s face broke out in a smile as her son pronounced a difficult word correctly.
“Fine, I’ll let it slide this time.” She ruffled Bailey’s blond hair.
Ellis yawned when Bailey walked over to stand beside her. Meredith realized it must be after 9pm by now. “Derek, put Ellis and Bailey to bed.”
Derek nodded, taking ahold of his kids’ hands. “Can Bob come, too?” Bailey asked innocently. Derek chuckled. “Where else would he go?”
Meredith watched them go, before kneeling down at Zola’s level. “Can you finish cleaning up here? Is that okay with you, Zozo?”
Zola nodded. “Yes, Mommy. I’m a big girl, I can clean.”
Meredith pecked her daughter’s head with a grin. They had raised such an independent girl. “Good girl. I’m gonna go and help Aunt Amy, ok?” Zola smiled and went to grab the rag her aunt had left on the floor.
Meredith headed to the bathroom and cringed at the sound of retching coming from there. “Amelia? Hey, you okay?” She pushed the door open and found her sister-in-law leaning against the toilet bowl, face pale and sweaty hair glued to her forehead.
Amelia looked up at her with tears glistening in her eyes. Meredith felt at ease when she saw her mouth was spread in a tiny smile.
“I’m fine. We obviously went overboard with the whipped cream,” she chuckled. Meredith sat down beside her and placed a comforting hand on her back.
“Bailey and Ellis had fun today and that’s because of you. They like to play rough, and this was just that. And Zola may not be obvious about it, but I’m pretty sure she had fun, too. She just loves keeping her siblings in line. That, and reading books about the brain, is fun for her. Don’t listen to what Derek has to say, he worries every second he’s away from the kids, especially with Zola’s medical condition and Bailey’s tendency to run away whenever something doesn’t go his way. He means well.”
“I know,” Amelia smiled and leaned her head on Meredith’s shoulder instead of the toilet seat. They sat in silence for a while.
“Mer..?”
“Hmm?”
“You know, I’m terrified every time you let me watch the kids. I adore them, but my reputation with kids isn’t the best. I was messed, growing up. I don’t want to set a bad example for them,” Amelia murmured.
Meredith hummed and stroked Amelia’s upper arm. “You’re not setting a bad example. The kids love you, and you’ve changed since then. I know you still have a hard time dealing with your past - Derek does as well – but we know you’d never let the kids be harmed in any way. We trust you with their lives.”
Amelia let out a breath she’d been holding in. “You promise? That I’m not affecting them in a bad way?” she whispered.
“I promise.”
Amelia sighed in relief. “Thank you.” Meredith smiled. “Of course.” She kissed Amelia’s hair and stood up, before coming to a halt at the door and turning around to look at her.
“Oh, and Amy?”
“Yeah?”
“No more eating contests, ok?”
Amelia smiled. “Okay.”
Meredith closed the door behind her and headed to the kitchen. Despite everything that had happened before, she was extremely fond of Derek’s little sister - so fond that she considered Amelia to be her own sister just as much as she was Derek’s, and the amount of protectiveness she had over the brunette was immeasurable.
Derek was standing in the kitchen when Meredith entered. He was sipping a glass of water and leaning on the kitchen counter with a content smile on his lips.
“Zola’s in bed already?” Derek nodded. “Out like a light.” His wife sighed in relief.
“Crazy day, huh?”
“Not as crazy as yesterday.” Derek pulled his wife closer by her waist as she giggled at his response, knowing he was referring to the events that took place in their hotel room yesterday.
“Shut up.” Derek laid his cheek on top of Meredith’s head as he enveloped her in his arms. “What did you say to Amy?” he murmured.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you two talking in the bathroom. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Nothing to worry about. Just her overthinking as usual.”
Derek sighed. “I didn’t mean to yell at her, you know?” he mumbled. “I was worried about Bailey. She’s not upset, is she?”
“No, she’s not. At least not anymore, I reassured her.”
Derek smiled. “You did?”
“Yeah,” Meredith looked up at his eyes. “Hey, Der?”
“Yeah?”
“Try not to be so hard on her. She’s more fragile than the rest of us. I worry about her.”
“You do?”
“I mean,” Meredith looked down. “Yeah, I- I love her. She means the world to me. I care about her. Just as much as I care about Maggie,” she hesitated. “Or cared about Lexie. And Cristina. Biology has never been an important factor for me. She feels like a sister- like my sister.”
Derek’s eyes softened. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course. You’re aware of what has happened in the past. I know how worried she is about what you think of her.”
“She is?”
“Mhm, the only thing she has ever wanted is for you to care about her like you do about Maggie or Cristina. Or Lexie.” Derek smiled. “She looks up to you, you know, like she does to me. You have your life together. She hopes that someday she will, too.”
“Really?” Meredith stared at Derek with wide eyes.
“Yes, really,” he grinned. “She’s your little sister now, too, like it or not.”
“I think I love it.”
“I know you do.”
Meredith’s smile was interrupted by a yawn. “Bed time?” Derek suggested with a smirk.
“Mhm.”
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” Derek took his wife’s hand in his and lead her up the stairs.
“Oh, and Mer?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t worry about Amy too much. She’s not that fragile. She’s strong, stronger than me. She’ll be fine.”
Meredith smiled softly.
“I know.”