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It had been two months since he had started dating Meredith. Two months since the timing had finally been right, their kids fully onboard and Cormac had found the courage to ask her out again. He had been sure she was going to say no. Why would she even want to say yes? They had tried before, and he’d been the one to break things off after Austin began to suffer with panic attacks.

She’d said yes though. And Cormac was stupid enough to know that they couldn’t just pick up where they left off. He’d known that Meredith had been seeing someone before and he couldn’t blame her. They weren’t together, she was a free agent. What mattered most to him was the fact that they’d both managed to find their way back to each other.

The past two months had flown by, even better than when they had first been dating. Austin had still been apprehensive when Cormac had spoken to his sons but the signs of him having a panic attack was no longer there. He was more willing to open up and talk to Cormac about what had been worrying him and his father was able to assuage the fears of forgetting about or replacing Abigail.

Things had taken a turn today though. He’d gone over to Meredith’s for lunch. She had been grabbing some plates from the kitchen when her phone had buzzed on the coffee table. Cormac hadn’t meant to look at it. He wasn’t that kind of guy. The type that needed to check on who his girlfriend was messaging, who wanted access to her phone. It was just a glance over when it buzzed, and he wished he hadn’t because what caught his eye was two heart emojis.

Cormac Hayes may not have been as young as he once was. His kids reminded him of that at least once a week when he tried to decipher their sentences, using words he wasn’t even sure were in any kind of dictionary. But even he couldn’t misread what a red love heart, two red love hearts, meant. He wasn’t that out of touch.

He couldn’t tear away his eyes from the message at that point. At first, his head began to rationalise that it could easily be one of the kids. But he was sure none of them had a phone just yet, although Zola had been pestering her mother for one over the past few weeks. Next, his eyes had caught sight of the name at the top of the message.

Nick.

Nick, as in the guy Meredith had been seeing before? The transplant surgeon. Cormac had taken a deep breathe, trying not to jump to conclusions. He hadn’t read the rest of the text. Guilt already setting in as he felt awful for looking in the first place. He placed the whole thing to the back of his mind when Meredith had come back in with food and lunch had gone well until she had picked up her phone. She’d been engrossed in the messages, barely paying attention to Cormac as she smiled down at the lit-up screen.

It had gone on for half an hour before Cormac finally asked her what was going on. Meredith immediately raised her hackles, getting defensive at his simple question. And it just seemed to explode from there. Both of them stood up from the sofa, voice raised and unpleasantries exchanged.

Cormac hadn’t wanted an argument though. He just wanted to know what was going on. To understand if he was getting his wires crossed but instead, Meredith bit at him quickly and it had hurt. She’d yelled and asked if he didn’t trust her. What was the point in them being together if he didn’t? He’d tried to explain that he did trust her but this wasn’t the first time she had ignored him for her phone when they’d been spending time together. When the yelling had reached a crescendo, Cormac knew that he had to leave.

And that was what had bought him here. Sat at a junction. Waiting for a red light to turn green so he could just get further away from Meredith’s house. Cormac wasn’t usually one to run away from his problem. Aside from the fact that he did run to Switzerland with the boys after Irene had died… but that had been a very different circumstance. Usually though, he would try and work things through. Try and reach a solution. He just couldn’t bring himself to stay in that house with Meredith any longer.

She infuriated him to no end. Making it seem like it was his fault all along. Cormac had wanted a few simple answers. He hadn’t been aggressive or confrontational in the way he had asked but Meredith’s defensiveness had rubbed him up the wrong way. If he had hair to pull out, Cormac would have lost half of it by now.

The sound of a blaring horn had pulled him out of his thoughts. The next thing he felt was an impact to the side of the car and then nothing. A rhythmic, and slightly

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

A rhythmic, and slightly annoying beeping, were the first things that Cormac heard. He kept his eyes shut tight. His head was banging and his body ached like never before.

“Boys, could you please turn off that alarm if you aren’t going to wake up,” he just about croaked out.

“Sorry to disappoint but it isn’t an alarm. I can mute the machine though, if it’s bothering you.”

That voice definitely didn’t belong to Liam or Austin. Slowly opening his eyes, Cormac winced slightly as he got used to the lights in the room befoe looking to his left where the voice had come from. Sat on the edge of the chair was Meredith, looking like she’d just gone ten rounds in a boxing ring.

“I’m so glad you’re okay! Bailey called to say you were in an accident and-“

“What are you doing here, Meredith?” Cormac quickly cut her off.

Slightly stunned, Meredith stumbled ovr her words for a minute before answering. “Cormac, you were in a car accident.”

“I understand that but I don’t know why you’re here. You said that you were done.”

“Cormac, I-I didn’t mean that and you were just in an accident and-“

“Could you please just leave?”

“I’m sorry?”

Cormac may not have fully been able to remember the accident that had landed him in a hospital bed but he did remember the argument he had with Meredith that lef him to being in the car in the first place. His anger and upset at her had still not subsided. He didn’t care if it sounded petty or childish. Right now, he did not want Meredith Grey in his hospital room.

“Just leave, I don’t want you here, Meredith.”

“I did tell you yesterday evening…”

“I was half asleep yesterday evening,” Meredith whined as she made her way into the living room, falling back on the sofa with her eyes closed.

When Cormac didn’t answer, Meredith propped herself up on her elbows, turning around to see him in the kitchen. “What’s in the bag?” She eyed it suspiciously as Cormac pulled out two plates from the cupboard.

“Waffles and coffee because I know you’re useless without caffeine in the mornings.”

Meredith perked up a bit at the mention of caffeine and shot Cormac a grin before sitting up properly. Balancing the plates and two takeaway cups of coffee in his hands, Cormac walked back into the living, passing Meredith her breakfast.

“As much as I appreciate the sugar and caffeine, I would love it more if it was in three hours.”

“You really weren’t paying attention yesterday?” He arched a brow.

“Sorry,” Meredith gave him an apologetic smile. “I was just exhausted after surgery, I can’t even remember getting into my bed.”

Cormac shook his head, smiling. “You don’t need to apologise, I could tell you were exhausted yesterday.”

“Thanks… so are you going to tell me why you’re here then?”

“I will if you wouldn’t mind passing me the remote?”

Curious as to what in the world was going on, Meredith handed over the remote and watched as Cormac flicked through the channel before finally settling on one.”

“The Six Nations?” Meredith squinted at the screen, “What is that?”

With a huge grin on his face, Cormac turned to face her. “One of the best championships for the best sport in the world.”

“Which would be?”

“Rugby,” he responded matter-of-factly.

“Is this one of your Irish things?”

Cormac rolled his eyes before settling back on the sofa. “It’s a world thing, America just doesn’t do that good in it for the country to care.” He watched the screen with a grin on his face as the Irish national anthem finished and the men in green and red dispersed across the field.

“Okay, so what team are we supporting?”

After giving her a pointed look, Cormac looked at his top.

“Ah, yeah, okay. The guys in green then…”

“If you support the Welsh, we’re going to have an issue.”

“No no! Go Ireland!” Meredith gave a half-hearted fist pump.

She’d never been particularly interested in sport. Derek loved his golfing and fishing but thankfully, she hadn’t had to be a part of any of that. And now, Cormac was sitting in her house watching a sport she had no clue about. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if she fell asleep. Placing her empty plate on the table, Meredith cradled the cup of coffee in both her hands as the whistle blew. Watching for a couple of minutes, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“So, this is kind of like American football?”

Cormac looked at her incredulously. Meredith had never seen him look so offended. “This is something like American football!”

“The ball is the same shape and they’re throwing it around.”

With one eye still on the match, Cormac sighed and began to explain the many differences and intricacies of rugby. Much to Meredith’s own surprise, she found herself actually interested in what Cormac was saying. As she carried on watching the first half of the game, Meredith found herself enjoying it more now that she knew what was going on. When the whistle blew and the 30 men started to make their way off the field, Meredith was slightly disappointed.

“Is that it?”

Chuckling, Cormac turned to face her, giving her his full attention. “That was just the first half. They’ll have a 15-minute break and then they’ll be back out.”

Meredith then began to flood with him with even more questions, knowing that neither of them were going to be missing anything. There was a sparkle in her eye as she got more excited about the sport and Cormac didn’t even manage to bite back a grin. He hadn’t been expecting Meredith to be this invested in the game, but she had a genuine interest in what was going on and it made his day. Being able to watch rugby felt like a small part of home.

“Did you ever play, when you were younger?”

“Oh yeah, was on the school team and the county team for a bit. Played while I was at university as well.” Meredith saw his eyes glaze over slightly as he thought about those days again. “Rugby… it breeds a family. A band of brothers or whatever other clichés that you want to use. It taught me a lot.”

“You sound like you miss it.”

Cormac shrugged, “It’s been years since I last played. When I moved to the US, there weren’t any clubs near where I was and even if there was, I wouldn’t have had the time with residency and then the kids came along.” He shook his head, pulling away from the feelings of nostalgia. “I tell you what I miss most though. Actually going to a rugby match.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s just the most amazing feeling. The atmosphere in the Aviva Stadium at full capacity… it’s just something else entirely. Completely electric. You don’t need to know the guy sitting next to you and by the end of the match, you’re talking like you’ve known each other for years. Doesn’t matter who’s supporting who. You’re there for the love of the game.” Grinning, he clasped his hand with Meredith’s. “I’m going to have to take you one day.”

With some determination, Meredith placed her phone down on her desk, face down. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time. That feeling of longing, of wanting to be around someone, the feeling of safety where you were in their proximity.

Realising that there was no point in fighting against the feeling that continued to well inside of her, Meredith picked up her phone, found Cormac’s number and hit call. She only had to wait for two rings before a smooth, Irish lilt filled the line causing every bit of tension Meredith was holding in her muscles to release.

“Meredith, is everything alright?” Cormac’s concerned tone immediately made Meredith feel guilty and stupid for calling him.

“Hey, no no, everything is good, sorry.”

“It’s okay, I just got a bit worried when I saw your name on the screen. I thought you’d be at work.”

Meredith bit her lip; she was at work and there wasn’t a problem so was she really going to admit to Cormac why she had called? “I am. I finished up in surgery, so I came back to my office and… I miss you.”

There. She had said it. It was out in the open now. There wasn’t any point hiding things from Cormac, he had the knack of knowing exactly what was going on in her head without her even having to say anything.

“You know that I’m still at the airport, right? In Seattle?” From the mirth in his voice, Meredith knew that he was grinning right now. She wasn’t going to hear the end of this from him but right now, she didn’t care.

Sighing, Meredith kicked off her trainers and walked over to the sofa, tucking her feet under her as she took a seat on it. “I know, I know… It just felt weird. Not having you there when I woke up or seeing you at work this morning. I didn’t think I would miss you this much but it’s like losing my right arm or something… It’s stupid.” She mumbled the last part.

“It isn’t stupid, Meredith because I’ve been feeling the same. But it’s seven days and when I get back, you, me and the kids will all go out and do something together. I’m pretty sure Austin was on about a circus that’s coming into town, we can make a proper day of it, the seven of us.”

If anyone had told Meredith Grey that she would be part of a family of seven back in her intern year she probably would have laughed in their face. Now, the thought of the seven of them all bundled together around a dinner table, spending days out together, was enough to make her smile. Finding a way to blend their two families together hadn’t always been easy, but over the course of the past few months, the kids had begun to share a relationship and bond that only siblings could have and they’d more than warmed up to their parent’s other half.

“I like the sound of that.”

“It’s a done deal then.”

In the background of the call, Meredith could hear a cracking female voice as Cormac paused for a moment. “That’s the call to my gate. Sorry, Mer, I’m going to have to go.”

“Have a safe flight and please text when you land.” Flying was something that Meredith was never going to feel comfortable with and there was just as much anxiety coursing through her when someone she loves was boarding a plane. She knew that she wasn’t going to feel completely at ease until Cormac’s plane had landed in JFK and she’d had a text from his as confirmation.

“I promise I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Day Two

As she untangled her braids that had been carefully formed on the top of her head, Meredith made herself comfy on an unabandoned gurney pushed against the wall of a deserted corridor. She knew that the surgery would be risky, the patient had gone in knowing exactly what the statistics were but that never really lessened the blow of losing someone on the table. Crossing her legs on the gurney, Meredith let her head fall back against the wall and closed her eyes. All she wanted to do right now was go home and squeeze her kids tight, but she still had another four hours left of her shift.

The feeling of her phone vibrating against her thigh nearly made her groan. She just needed five minutes of being on her own before she had to step back into the shoes of a surgeon again. This job didn't work like that though and Meredith was well aware. Slipping her phone out of her pocket relief immediately washed over her when she realised that it wasn't a page and instead was her boyfriend texting to ask if she was free to call. In a split second, she had hit the facetime button, needing to see his face.

And there he was, soft smile, sleepy eyes, wearing a white shirt.

"Hey, bub," the stupid nickname that had started as a joke to wind Meredith up had now stuck. Whilst she used to yell at him to stop, the endearment now brought a smile to her face.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Exhausted and missing you." Meredith couldn't help but laugh at Cormac's small pout.

“Only five more days.”

“Aye but the days are dragging, can’t say that this conference is the most interesting thing in the world.”

“I thought you were looking forward to this one.” Cormac had been ongoing on about the International Conference for Paediatric Brain Injury for weeks in the run-up to this trip.

“I still am but the past two days haven’t given me any new information. Tomorrow should be better though.”

Meredith nodded along as he spoke, trying and failing to stile a yawn. “How’s your day been? Did the surgery go alright?” Concern laced his voice. Meredith had texted him that morning about the surgery and he knew that it was a tricky one/

“It… He didn’t make it…” Meredith squeezed her eyes shut, her voice a whisper.

Cormac winced, he could hear the pain, see the exhaustion in her body. He wished for nothing more than to be able to hold her right now, but a video call was going to have to be what he settled for.

“I’m sorry, Mer, can I do anything?”

Meredith shook her head a tired smile on her lips. “I’ll be fine. My shift is over in a few hours and I’m just gonna head straight home and watch a movie with the kids.”

“Well, there are two new tubs of strawberry ice cream in your freezer for you lot to enjoy.”

“I thought I ran out the other day.”

“You did and you complained to me about it the entire way home from work so I made sure you were stocked up before I left.”

It was things like that, the small day-to-day things that could easily be brushed off that made Meredith fall harder for him.

After another five minutes, their call was interrupted by an emergency page.

“I’m gonna have to go, they need me at the Pit.” Meredith was feeling a little more rejuvenated after being able to see Cormac. Her chest no longer feeling so heavy

“Go and take care. I love you, bub.”

Meredith had slipped off the gurney and had begun to make her way to the Pit, “I love you too, I’ll text after work!”

Day Three

Cormac finally shut the lid of his laptop, laying back against the pillow. The conference had definitely ramped up compared to the past two days and he’d found the day go by much quicker. He’d made note of all the papers he wanted to read into after going to some poster presentations and listening to a few talks. He’d started the on the list after he’d had dinner.

It was 9 PM now and he knew that back in Seattle, Meredith should be done with work and back home. He hadn’t expected to miss her as much as he had over the past three days. He had grown accustomed to getting through life with just himself and his boys and as they had gotten older, he’d grown used to having to do more things by himself. With Meredith entering his life though, Cormac had found that there were now fewer and fewer things that he had to get through by himself. He now had someone that he was able to lean on and he wasn’t sure he could go back to the way things were.

Pulling his phone off charge, Cormac rang Meredith straight away. The disappointment began to well in him as the phone continued to ring.

“Hey!” The sound of Meredith’s voice immediately perked Cormac up.

“Mer, hey. I hope you’re not busy?” He was slightly worried that he’d caught her in the middle of some time with her kids, although he was pretty sure they all had some kind of extra-curricular activity going on tonight. He pretty much knew their schedules off by heart at this point.

“No no, I think the boys are good for a minute.”

“The boys?” Cormac asked slightly confused.

“Austin and Liam came around earlier, they needed some help with homework so we’ve been sat at the dining room table for a little while now, but I think we all need a break. I forgot how much I hate AP World History.”

Cormac chuckled, “Yeah, I’m glad I got out of that one. I hope you don’t mind the boys coming down?” He’d rang them this morning before they’d gone to school and had texted them frequently throughout the day to check up on them, not that he got replies very often.

“No, I told them they could come down while you were away if they needed anything. I just hadn’t expected them to take me up on the offer.” Meredith was still worried that the Hayes’ boys didn’t like her and were just putting up with her for their father’s sake.

Cormac chuckled, “You know, I think there are days where they like you more than me. They definitely think you’re cooler than me.”

Scoffing, Meredith shook her head, “I mean… it’s not like that a high bar to reach…”

“Ooft, you do wonders for my ego, Grey.” He gently teased. “Seriously though, they love hearing about your surgeries and your awards. They think you like some kind of surgical Rockstar.”

Musical laughter filled Cormac's ear as Meredith remembered a time when Christina had said something similar during their residency. Surgical rockstars, surgical royalty, isn’t that what they had all aspired to at the start of their careers? They wanted those accolades from award governing bodies and medical journals but somehow, knowing that two teenage boys thought that of her meant so much more to Meredith.

“Meredith, could you help me with this trig question?”

Cormac could hear the voice of his youngest. He was pretty sure he had taught them not to yell when people were on the phone. He was glad that. His boys had become so comfortable around Meredith though, evident by the fact that they’d gone to her house without him even being there.

“Yeah, be there in a second. Do you guys want to talk to your dad?” Her voice sounded more distant as she pulled the phone away from her ear.

There was a little mumbling before Meredith spoke again, “The boys want to talk so I’m gonna give the phone to them for a bit.”

“Sounds good, I’ll text you after if they don’t give the phone back?” Knowing his kids, they’d be in such a rush to get off the phone that they would end the call before even asking if he wanted to talk to Meredith again.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan to me.”

“I love you, Mer.”

“I love you too.”

Day Four

Cormac made a swift from the ballroom of the hotel. They’d rearranged the furniture, laying out white clothed tables for a dinner organised by the convention. Another networking opportunity and the chance to get a fancy meal that the attendees didn’t have to pay for. It definitely wasn’t something to complain about. Usually, Cormac didn’t mind the dinners. Most of the time, the nights would be filled with mindless chatter and whatever whiskey they had at the bar. Tonight though, he was out of his seat the minute dessert was finished.

The night hadn’t started off badly, just like most of the other conference dinners. But then he saw Felix Cavanaugh in the crowd before coming to sit opposite him. Seeing him had made Cormac’s body go numb, his breath catching in his throat. It was a face he hadn’t seen in a while; one he hadn’t thought he would see anytime soon. Cormac and Felix had been in the same residency class and had grown to be good friends. Whilst Cormac had pursued paediatric surgery, Felix had moved towards neuro. Eventually, their specialities had them moving to opposite coasts after finishing their residency. At first, the two of them had kept in touch but after Abigail’s diagnosis, Cormac had cut off contact with most people, his sole focus on keeping his family afloat and his wife alive.

Both men had been in shock to see each other but whilst Felix had been excited, Cormac had a sense of dread filling him. News about Abi hadn’t exactly been widespread, and Felix had come in asking a whole manner of questions about work and the kids and Abigail. When Cormac had told him what had happened, he saw the look of pity on Felix’s face, and it was too much to handle. The feeling of grief began to overwhelm him, the room suddenly felt too small. For three courses, Cormac had managed to keep a plastic smile on his face, the chats with Felix had basically drawn to a close and Cormac dashed to his room the minute that he was able to.

He tugged the tie off his neck, unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, hoping that he would find it easier to breathe. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Cormac rubbed his hands across his face. His eyes were burning, jaw clenched. The feeling of grief never completely left but it had been a long time it had hit Cormac this hard, like a sucker punch. He reached for his phone in his trouser pocket, calling Meredith without a second thought.

“Hello?” A groggy and confused voice answered the call making Cormac feel guilty.

“Mer, sorry, I didn’t mean to… Did I wake you up?”

“Huh,” Meredith blinked a few times, pushing herself up and leaning on the pillows against the arm of the sofa. “Hey, sorry, I kind of took a nap after work.”

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. You go back to sleep; we can talk later.” The apologies feel in quick succession out of Cormac’s mouth.

“No, it’s okay, honestly. I’m awake, if I sleep anymore, there’s no way I’m getting to sleep tonight. Is everything okay?” Fully awake, Meredith was able to register the distress in her boyfriend’s voice.

“I-I don’t know,” hearing the crack in his voice was enough to make Meredith’s heartbreak and panic set in.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Cormac rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm. He didn’t want to cry, not right now. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to start if he carried on. “There was this guy at dinner, I did my residency with him…” Once Cormac had finished telling Meredith everything he felt as though he had exhausted every energy pool within him. His throat felt dry and scratchy and at some point, tears had begun to stream down his face, and he didn’t even bother wiping them away.

“Cormac…”

“I’m sorry. I feel awful coming to talk to you about this but… I didn’t know how else to go to.”

“Please don’t say sorry. I’m glad you came to me; you should be able to come to me about things like this.” They’d spoken to each other a lot about Abigail and Derek in the early days of getting to know each other and whilst they weren’t brought up in conversation as often these days, the two of them still shared the same kind of loss. “There are still people that come into the hospital asking for Derek and every time it happens it feels like someone had taken all the oxygen out of the room. I know that it can feel like reliving the worst parts of your life.”

“I hate it, Meredith. I hate this feeling and I wish it could stop.” Meredith had never heard his voice sound so small, so childlike and she wished she could do something to protect him from those feelings.

“I know, I know. You know I’d do anything to take this away from you… Can I do anything?”

There were a few moments of silence down the line which made Meredith even more worried.

“I’m just exhausted, Mer. I want to sleep but I can’t… when it’s quiet, everything just plays around in my head. I get it to calm down and it feels like something is crushing my chest.”

The feeling of helplessness was not one that Meredith was akin to. It wasn’t very often that she faced a situation where she had nothing in her arsenal to help with. In the end, there was only one thing that Meredith was able to come up with.

“How about I stay on the phone with you. I can read you a medical journal so it’s not quiet and you can try and get some sleep. And if not, then you know that I’m right there for you.”

“I can’t ask you to do that… the kids…”

“You aren’t asking me to do anything, I’m offering, and the kids are with Maggie and Winston for ice cream.”

“Are you sure?” Cormac had already begun to kick off his shoes and crawl under the covers. He didn’t even have the will to change into pyjamas.

“I’m sure, you comfy?” Meredith reached for a journal on top of the coffee table and flipped to the last dog-eared page. “Because this is a good one.”

“I’m comfy, and Mer?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Day Five

A day off on the weekend was like gold dust. 24 hours where Meredith was able to spend time with her kids without having to worry about pages or school drop-offs. The four of them alongside Austin and Liam were sprawled out across Meredith’s living room floor watching Jurassic Park.

It hadn’t taken long for Cormac to eventually fall asleep last night but even then, Meredith stayed on a little while longer to make sure that he wasn’t going to wake up. She’d kept her phone within reach and on loud all night. They’d text since she had woken up and Cormac seemed to be feeling a little better, but Meredith knew that it would take a few days for the sinking feeling of grief to dampen down to a more manageable level again. Not being able to be with his kids probably wasn’t helping either.

With the kids entranced with the film and Liam keeping Bailey entertained with dinosaur facts, Meredith felt the muscles in her body finally relax. Domestic comfort wasn’t something that she had thought would be in her life back when she was young, but she was now lucky enough to experience that kind of love and comfort every day when she got home. A serene smile was placed on her lips as she looked at the five kids under her care.

The ringtone from her phone pulled Meredith out of her thoughts though. Zola swivelled around to give her mum a quick glare. “You said no phones during films!”

“Sorry, Zo-Zo, it’s just Cormac.”

“Da?” Liam looked up from his conversation with Bailey.

“He’s facetiming if you all want to come over here.”

Suddenly a gaggle of kids was upon her. Ellis had clambered onto her lap, Liam and Austin had sat behind her on the sofa and Bailey and Zola were sat on the floor on either side of her. Once they were all in place, Meredith accepted the call.

“He- Oh wow!” Cormac eyes widened and a large grin spread across his face when he saw all of the kids.

“Hey, guys!”

There was a blur of hi’s, hello’s and how are you’s as all of them began to talk at the same time making Meredith and Cormac laugh. In the end, Meredith decided to let each of the kids take the phone to talk to him, passing it to Liam and Austin first. Ellis was the last one, who was happily chatting to Cormac about the new dress her mum had bought her for a talent show.

“Do ya mind if I talk to your mum for a bit, sweetheart?”

Ellis gave it some thought before finally nodding her head. “Okay, bye-bye, Mac!”

“Bye, Ellis!”

Ellis passed back the phone to Meredith and crawled off her lap to join the other kids. All of them were again engrossed in the movie. Meredith got up out of her seat and wandered into the kitchen.

“Hey, how are you feeling today?”

Cormac gave a half-hearted shrug. “Eh, okay, better than last night.” He sighed, “Thank you for everything.”

“You don’t need to say thank you, it’s what I’m here for.”

“Mom, come on! You’re missing the best part!” Bailey’s voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire house.

“You’ve been summoned?” Cormac chuckled.

“I should go before he starts a riot.” Meredith had learned to expect the unexpected when it came to her kids and Bailey was sometimes in an entirely different ballpark.

“I’ll leave you to that, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Day Six

“I just can’t believe how well the kids get on.”

After coming back home after a late-night finish, Meredith had text Cormac just to let him know that she got home safely. She hadn’t expected a text back asking if she was up for a phone call. He had stayed up, waiting for her to come home since they hadn’t had a chance to talk that day.

“Would you rather them be at each other’s throat?” Cormac asked.

“Could you imagine? No, thanks.” Meredith rolled onto her stomach on her bed. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting them to slot into everything the way they have. I mean, I know that they have their small arguments but…”

“Feel like it just came too easily?”

Meredith murmured in agreement. Nothing in her life had ever come easily and it had felt strange that something as big as this had been so straightforward. She gnawed on her lip as she thought about all the ways this could go wrong.

“Hey, I can hear your gears turning from here. Please don’t give into to the thought.”

“The thoughts?” Meredith raised a browed, temporarily forgetting all the catastrophic situations that had been playing in her mind.

“The dark, twisty thoughts.” He had taken the phrase that Meredith had used to describe the early days in residency. “Don’t give into them. Let’s just be thankful that for the first time in a long time, something has been easy.”

Processing his words, Meredith slowly agreed with him. “I guess so.”

“Isn’t life a little nicer when you aren’t trying to guess what’s going wrong?”

“I’m sorry but since when did you become a beacon of positivity and sunshine?” Cormac wasn’t exactly known for his positive demeanour in the hospital.

He chuckled lowly, “I guess that’s what love does to you.”

“Oh gosh,” Meredith rolled her eyes. “Please, I don’t think I’m going to cope if you become all lovestruck and mushy.”

“I thought you’d like lovestruck and mushy.”

“Brooding and moody seems more my type these days,” she teased.

“Moody?” Cormac feigned offence.

“Uh, do you not remember the way you were when you first started?”

“Well, there was a certain doctor there than insisted on pushing all of my buttons.”

It was something that they constantly teased each other about. Whilst it had surprised them both when feelings had begun to develop, everyone around them had been waiting with bated breath for them to get together.

“I stopped think about the future after Abigail passed,” Cormac voice had dipped. “Stopped hoping and living. I was just in survival mode. Trying to get through one day at a time and just making sure that the boys were okay. You put everything I knew on its head. Made me feel like it was okay to be happy again. My world stopped crumbing when you entered my life, Meredith Grey, and between the two of us and the kids, we’re rebuilding it again.”

The silence down the end of the phone call had made Cormac think that Meredith had gone to sleep but then he heard quiet sniffling. “Mer?”

“You’re an idiot who makes me cry.”

“An idiot that you love though?”

“Yeah, for some unknown reason…”

Day Seven

Meredith had been praying the entire day that an emergency wouldn’t come into the pit. Usually, she would love the adrenaline rush that came with a full Pit and back-to-back surgeries but not today. Cormac was meant to be landing this evening and she was rallying the kids down to his house so that they could all have dinner together. The day was passing by unbearably slowly though. Even surgeries that flew by seemed to be agonisingly long.

Two surgeries in and lunch done, Meredith had walked back to her office. Her afternoon rounds didn’t start for another twenty minutes so she had some time to collect the files that she needed and update a few charts. Checking the time on her watch, Meredith realised that Cormac should be at the airport by now since his flight would be taking off in an hour.

Entering her office, Meredith slipped out her phone from her lab coat and rang Cormac. Turns out she couldn’t wait until he got back home to talk to him.

“Hey, Mer.” Meredith still couldn’t understand the effect that Cormac’s voice had on her. The way it made her feel calm and safe.

“Hey. Sorry, I know you’re going to be boarding your flight soon, but I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Missing me?” He teased her, a cockiness in his voice.

Meredith huffed out a breath, “You know, I could just put this phone down?”

“Aw, come on now. You don’t want to do that; I promise I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

Scoffing, Meredith walked over to the window, her free hand in her coat pocket. “Fat chance of that happening.”

“I’ll have you know that I can behave when I want to, you just bring out the worst in me. Always have and always will.”

“So, this is my fault?”

“Oh, completely and utterly.” He chuckled before softening his tone, “What are you up then?”

“Still at work, this day doesn’t want to end.”

“Anything exciting happened?’

“Well, the cafeteria changed the dressing on the salad… not sure if I like it or not though.”

“I’m surprised you even went for the salad.”

Crinkling her nose, Meredith grimaced. “It wasn’t out of choice; it was one of the only things left.”

Laughing, Cormac shook his head. “Of course, don’t know why I expected anything else. What are you up to now then?”

“Hiding away in my office. Rounds don’t start for a little while yet and I just wanted to call you.”

“It won’t be long until I’m back.”

Sighing, Meredith rand a hand through her hair, “It’s long enough and knowing my luck, I’ll be pulled into surgery just before it’s time to go home.”

“Could be sooner than you think.”

Meredith jumped as she felt a kiss placed on her cheek, almost dropping her phone out of her hand. She spun around; a grin painted on her face the minute she saw her boyfriend stood in front of her.

“What are you-? I thought- How are you here?”

Cormac brushed a stay hair out of Meredith’s face, “I got an early flight out. There weren’t any other talks I needed to stay around for, so I didn’t see the point of spending any more time away from my family.”

Meredith would never admit how her heart skipped a beat when he called her and her kids’ part of his family. The momentary shock now gone, Meredith wrapped her arms around Cormac’s neck, inhaling the woodsy scent of his cologne.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“I’ve missed you too, bub. You have no idea how much I love you.” He squeezed her, holding her close.

“No, he’s in surgery” Liam replied, feeling as awkward as ever around Meredith. He wasn’t sure what it was about his father’s girlfriend that he didn’t like, what made her someone that he’d rather not spend time with but he’d promised to make an effort and he always stuck to his promises “I came to see you actually”

“Oh, alright” Meredith nodded, gathering the paperwork on her desk into a slightly neater pile, worried about what might have inspired the teen to stop by her office. She had no doubt about the fact it had to be something big. Liam stayed standing in the doorway, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet until Meredith gestured to the chair across from her "Come in"

“Thanks” Liam mumbled, nodding his head once in Meredith’s direction. A gesture she couldn’t help but smile at, it was something his father did too when he was nervous and Meredith had always found it to be a rather endearing trait. Silence overcame the pair just like it did whenever they were left alone without Cormac’s attempts to start a conversation between them or Austin’s incessant chatter to avoid any awkward pauses.

It wasn’t that Meredith didn’t want to talk to Austin, it’s just that she didn’t know how to “Is everything okay? I know your dad said you were stopping by after school to wait in his office till he was ready to head home, did he leave it locked I know I have a spare key in here somewhere…”

“No, I just came from his office” Liam revealed before Meredith had the chance to start sorting through the various keys held together by an Ireland keyring. One he had seen his father pick up for her on their last trip there, Liam wasn’t sure why exactly it bothered him that not only did Meredith have a keyring from his father but also a key to his office but it did. It got under his skin in the way that only things relating to Meredith seemingly could and he let out a gentle sigh, remembering the fact he’d promised not only his father but his brother that he’d try to make more of an effort with her. Something Liam was only willing to do as long as Meredith did the dame “Like I said, I came to see you”

"Yeah, sorry" Meredith apologised, hating how frazzled she seemed. It really wasn't helping her quest t convince Liam that she was cool "What's up?"

“I, uh, I need some advice” Liam stumbled over his words before taking a steadying breath, he had come to Meredith for a reason and it was too important to let his embarrassment force him to back out “The school is saying it’s time to get serious about college applications and I have no idea what I want to be”

“I don’t know what I want to be either” Meredith admitted, shrugging her shoulders slightly. Her response clearly catching Liam off guard “I mean I used to think I wanted to be Cheif of Surgery here but now I don’t know if I ever want that and when I was your age? I wanted to be a lawyer?”

“Really?” Liam asked, his face scrunching up in disbelief “I thought doctoring was in your blood or something”

“Do you think it’s in yours?”

“I don’t know, I’m not the best around blood or sick people” Liam shook his head, and Meredith chuckled remembering the stories she’d heard about Liam trying to comfort Austin whenever he was sick or in pain. It never seemed that those moments brought comfort to either of them “I don’t want to be a doctor or a nurse, I would hate it”

“Well, at least we can rule that out” Meredith exclaimed, feeling like they were making progress “What are some other things you hate?”

“Maths and chemistry, so that probably rules out a lot of jobs” Liam replied, realizing what Meredith was doing. Everyone had been telling him to focus on what he liked, what he wanted to do but nobody had thought to help him narrow that down. Nobody but Meredith “I don’t mind art but I couldn’t do it every day like my mom did…”

“See we’ve already ruled out so many things!” Meredith smiled, glad to see Liam’s shoulders sag in relief. Clearly, this problem had been causing him quite a lot of stress, it was the only explanation as to why he’d be coming to her for help.

“I like English and history I guess” Liam admitted, sharing a smile with Meredith. She’d already suspected as much considering his nose always seemed to be buried in some sort of book when she was at her boyfriend’s place, she was just glad it was because he liked to read not just because it was a valid excuse to not engage with her “There’s probably some courses I can do with those right?”

“Quite a lot, I’m guessing” Meredith nodded, smiling when the silence that overcame them didn’t feel as awkward as it usually did. They were making progress “Plus it’s not like college is your only option, there are other things that you can do instead but that’s something I’d say you should talk to your dad about”

“I will, I think I’ll go back to his office now though. He should be finishing up in a few minutes” Liam nodded, checking the time on his phone. He was glad that he and Meredith had gotten to talk things out a bit, that she’d been able to offer him some guidance, but it didn’t mean he wanted to spend any longer than necessary in her office “Can you not tell my dad about this just yet? I don’t want him knowing I was stressing out…”

Over the years working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Meredith had learned how to sleep in a number of places from on-call rooms to the coch in her office no matter what time of the day or night it was. She would snore softly and let herself be revitalised just in time for her next surgery. Some of her colleagues were dependant on caffeine, Meredith was simply dependant on naps.

In recent months, after a long stint of sleeping alone, Meredith had found herself falling asleep at night wrapped in the arms of one Cormac Hayes. A man who claimed to hate cuddling yet always seemed to be the one to initiate it. Wrapped in her boyfriend's arms, Meredith found herself sleeping soundly each night, her dreams being as sweet as the reality that she and Cormac were building together.

All of Meredith’s favourite activities seemed to be better than ever once once started doing doing with Cormac, not just sleeping. The surgeries became more enjoyable and the sez became more passionate. He improved her life in every possible way, having even manged to find away to make mornings enjoyable for her.

For as long as she could remember, Meredith had never been a morning person. She hated leaving the comfortable sanctuary that was her bed to face the drab and dreary morning yet Cormac had even managed to find a way to make that better. The first morning that he'd jostled her awake gently only to hand her a cup of coffee before greeting her, Meredith had thought it was just a one off. Something sweet that he'd to ease any awkwardness either of them might have felt have spending their first night together.

However, nearly six months into their relationship Meredith had gotten used to the routine of being woken gently by her boyfriend only to be immediately presented with a steaming mug of coffee as three words fell from his lips...