Where You Belong

37

Jane Shepherd had barely put down her phone and gotten back to work in the kitchen when the phone rang again, once more indicating a long distance call with a faster ring. She wiped her cookie-dough and flour-y hands off on her apron and reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Shepherd? It's Meredith Grey, you know, Derek's girlfriend?"

"Of course, Meredith," she said quickly. "I just got off the phone with Derek. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm grrrreat!"

Jane smiled. Her son had warned her that his girlfriend was a little loopy. "Like Tony?"

"Who?"

"Tony the Tiger, from the cereal box."

"He has a name? I didn't know that!" Meredith exclaimed. "But seriously, Mrs. Shepherd, you're really cool for knowing that. Derek and Doctor Bailey didn't know who I was talking about. Well...Doctor Bailey kind of did after I explained, but Derek had no idea. Seriously, for a brain surgeon, he can be rather brainless."

Jane bit back a laugh. The poor girl was very loopy. "Well, I'm a mother of five, Meredith. I know all the names. And call me Jane."

There was a long pause. "Really?"

"Of course. If I'm going to call you Meredith, you need to call me Jane."

"So, this isn't like a trick or anything?"

"A trick?" She asked, biting back a smile.

"Yeah, like to test me or whatever? Isn't that what boyfriend's parents do?"

"Not me," Jane reassured. "Have you been tested like that before?"

"Nooooo," Meredith drawled. "I've never had to chance to be tested before."

"Never met the parents, huh?" Jane asked with a smile. As a mother of five, she had met her fair share of marriage hopefuls; both good and bad. Some had been 'tested' more than others.

"Never had parents to meet. Derek's like my first boyfriend or whatever."

"Oh..." Jane stammered, uncertain of what to say to that. Thankfully, though, her son's girlfriend, good and high on morphine, continued unhindered.

"And I know that makes me sound like a lame-ass loser at my age, but if you met my mother you'd understand. If it were up to her, I'd be alone forever."

"I'm sure that's not true, Meredith," Jane said carefully. "I'm sure your mother just wants you to be happy."

Meredith erupted into a loud torrent of laughter. "Wow," she finally stammered. "Derek told me you were nothing like my mother, but I didn't realize that he meant you were a polar opposite until now."

Jane paused, before continuing hesitantly, concerned suddenly by the other woman's words. "I'm not sure what to say to that, Meredith."

"I'm sorry," Meredith said quickly. "You don't know my mother, so you don't know that that's a compliment. It's actually like the best compliment you could get as a mother. Trust me, if you were anything like my mother, you'd probably be telling me to get back to work; that an inflamed appendix is no reason to not be in the OR... As a doctor." She laughed to herself. "Cause it's a reason to be in the OR as a patient, obviously. But not as a doctor, because it's a little distracting. But my mother would think I should be in the OR as a doctor, learning and whatnot, to gain the most experience so that I can be the best or whatever. Get it?"

"Yes," Jane said quickly, even as she was still trying to process all that the younger woman had said. The girl certainly could talk. "And I'm sorry to hear that about your mother. One of my girls had her appendix out in high school, and I definitely agreed that taking a few days off was a good idea."