Surviving the truth

11| meet the shepherds

Part 2

The Shepherd family.

I met them while I had baby spit up all over my shirt, in my hair, and holding a crying baby in my arms as I answered my front door. I didn't realize who they were at the time, and told the five women I didn't want whatever they were selling. As I was about to close the door, the oldest woman in the group introduced herself.

"Carolyn Shepherd and you must be the woman who had my son's child."

Crap.

I excused myself and shut the door, locking it. I immediately called Derek. He answered rather quickly, though he did say he was in surgery so I had to be quick. "Oh it will be. Why the hell would you send your mother and sisters over to my house?" I struggled trying to get my boob out from my shirt so I could get Emma to stop crying. "Emma's hungry, tired, cranky, and so am I! And, I'm pretty sure they think I don't know what I'm doing because Emma was crying bloody murder when I answered the door. And god Derek, I'm not letting them inside, and they can stay out on my porch all day for all I care."

Derek interrupted me. "Wait. Did you say my mother and sisters are here?"

"Why else would I be calling and yelling at you right now? Because I'm bored? Oh I'm far from bored. I'm tired and not in the damn mood to entertain."

He sighed. "Well what do you want me to do? I didn't even know they were coming, nonetheless even talked to them."

"Get rid of them!" I shouted into the phone. "Or I'm going to kill you Derek because I'm seriously not in the mood."

"Meredith, just calm down and relax."

"Calm down? Did you seriously just tell me to calm down? You try being home with a crying baby twenty-four seven running on no sleep!"

"I have to operate with little sleep."

"But you have on call rooms at the hospital; quiet on call rooms. I don't get that!"

Derek sighed again. "Listen, I'll call mom and tell her now isn't a good time for you. Okay?"

I took a deep breath. "That's all I'm asking for."

"And I'll be over in a few hours."

"You better."

"I will." He answered. "I need to go. I'm in surgery like I said, and the whole OR heard you screaming at me."

"Like I care. You're someone who needs to be yelled at."

Derek came over around five which is early for surgeons, but because he's a new father, he leaves early so I don't have to spend the whole day alone with the crying baby. It's not that I don't love her, but god, the constant crying is going to make me go insane. No wonder why my mother had nannies.

Immediately, as Derek entered the house, I handed Emma over to him so I could go upstairs and just take a nice long warm bubble bath. I'm going to start calling this "me time" because this will be the only time I'll ever have time to myself besides when I'm sitting on the toilet. I reappeared back downstairs an hour later. I sat down beside Derek on the couch, where he was watching the Seattle Mariner's baseball game, while holding a sleeping Emma in his arms.

"Daddy must have the secret touch." I sarcastically said. "She rarely sleeps when I have her."

"Obviously she loves me more." Derek smirked.

"Oh please. She's probably just tired because she doesn't slept during the day which pisses me off even more than an unwelcome visit by mama Shepherd and her ducklings."