Little Shepherd

Chapter 47

It's been a stormy, rainy few days in Seattle. Thunder booms, rattling the windows of Meredith's house. Derek and Meredith went out for dinner, leaving Josie with George. It's gotten late and Josie is sound asleep alone in Meredith's bed while George is asleep in his own, just down the hall.

"Seriously??" Izzie yells as she slams the front door. She stomps into George's room, waking him. He groans. "Move over." She demands. He rolls over grudgingly.

"I'm sleeping!"

"Oh shut it." Izzie replies as she climbs into his bed beside him. She crosses her arms angrily. George rubs his eyes tiredly, gawking at her. The storm raging outside begins to pick up. Another crack of thunder rumbles through the house. "I shaved my freaking legs!" Izzie shouts in frustration, completely lost in her own problems. George throws his blanket off of him crankily.

"Im gonna go check on Josie. It'd be a miracle if she slept through all of this." Izzie covers her mouth. She'd completely forgotten Josie was there tonight.

"Sorry! I forgot!" She whispers apologetically.

"Yeah, yeah." George grumbles sleepily as he drags himself out of his room and down the hall to Meredith's. He quietly opens the door, just in case Josie is somehow still asleep. His eyes snap open and he's suddenly wide awake, his heart racing when he see's that the bed is empty.

"Crap, crap, crap." He mumbles in a panic. "Josie? Jose, where'd you go?" He calls out quietly, trying to stay calm. Please God don't let me have lost Derek Shepherds daughter, he thinks to himself. He listens carefully, trying to hear a response. The thunder outside almost drowns it out, but he hears a faint whimper. He drops to his stomach on the floor, peering under the bed. He sighs with relief when he sees her, her tiny hands covering her ears, tears running down her little cheeks. "It's okay Jose, come on out, you're okay." George says gently, trying to coax her out from underneath the bed. She lowers her hands from her ears.

"Its safe?" She asks worriedly, her bright glowing eyes shining with fear.

"Yeah, yeah of course it is. Come on, I'll show you." George replies. He holds his hand out to her. She looks like she's about to move when a crack of thunder sends her hands flying back over her ears. She whimpers, terrified.

"I want my daddy." She sobs.

"I know, it's okay. He'll be home soon. The storm can't hurt you I promise. You're safe inside. I'm here, and Izzie's just in the other room. We won't let anything bad happen to you." Josie nods and removes her hands from her ears again. George gets up and moves out of her way and she crawls out toward him. She clings to his leg the second she's out. He lifts her into his arms. "What do you say, do you want to lay down and try to go back to sleep?" He asks her softly. She shakes her head frantically.

"No no no, please don't leave me." She cries.

"Okay, okay, it's okay. We can go to my room. Would that be better?" Josie nods then wraps her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. He turns to leave, but she sits back up.

"Georgie wait!" She cries out.

"What? What's wrong?" George asks, spooked but her urgency.

" 'natomy Jane. We can't leave her. She'll get scawed on her own." Josie tells him seriously.

"Of course, how could I be so silly." George scoffs at himself. He turns and grabs the doll of off the bed and then hands her to Josie as he takes them both back to his room. Izzie is still laying in his bed when they get there.

"Aww I'm sorry honey, did I wake you?" Izzie asks Josie softly. Josie shakes her head.

"The thunder scawed me awake." She answers.

"I found her under the bed." George tells her.

"Awe, don't worry you can hang out with us." Izzie says, patting the place beside her in bed. George stands Josie on the bed allowing her to walk over to Izzie. She lays down beside her, getting comfy under the blankets. George climbs in beside her so that she's in the middle. He folds his arms up underneath his head. Josie notices and copies him. Izzie laughs at the sight of the two of them. George smirks proudly, he loves how much this little girl looks up to all of them. He can't imagine their lives without her. More thunder rumbles, but this time the power blinks off. Josie screams, all of them enveloped in total darkness. She drops her arms, clinging to Izzie like a baby monkey.

"It's okay honey, it's just the storm. I'm sure it'll be back on before we know it." Izzie tells her soothingly. She gently strokes the little girls back. They all flinch when the front door opens, the wind slamming it wide open with a bang.

"Hey where's the lights?" Derek says to Meredith quietly as they hurry inside out of the storm.

"Powers out! We're in here!" George calls to them. Derek and Meredith head to George's room, using the flashlights on their phones to find their way.

"Daddy!" Josie cries as soon as they're in her sight. She climbs to her feet and reaches for him.

"Hey pumpkin, couldn't sleep?" He asks her softly as he lifts her into his arms. She shakes her head.

"The storm is too loud." She whines.

"I'm sure it'll be over soon." Meredith assures her with a smile.

"And then the lights will come back on?" Josie asks, still scared. Derek runs his hand over her back.

"Yeah baby. I tell you what, why don't we go get settled for bed. We'll snuggle up with our flashlights and in the morning when we wake up it'll all be over."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He replies, kissing the side of her head.

"Okay." She agrees. Derek thanks George for watching her and they all say their goodnights before heading to their own rooms. Derek and Meredith get cozy in bed with Josie in between them.

"See it's not so scary, right?" Derek prompts as they lay listening to the rain pounding against the roof.

"It's kind of fun." Meredith adds, hoping to ease Josie's mind.

"I don't like the dark." Josie tells them.

"Want to know a little trick?" Derek asks her. Josie nods, looking to him expectantly. "Okay, relax and close your eyes." He pauses for a moment and she doesn't say anything. "Are you doing it?" He asks her.

"Mhm." She answers. Meredith can't help but laugh a little.

"Now, can you tell the difference?" Derek asks his daughter.

"What do you mean?" She asks him confused.

"Can you tell that the lights are off?"

"No daddy, I can't see anything." Josie replies with a laugh, unsure where he was going with this.

"Exactly. If you lay there with your eyes closed and try to sleep, you'll never know the lights are out. It'll make no difference." He explains softly. Josie giggles.

"Yeah, okay. I'll try." She agrees.

"There's my brave girl."

"I love you daddy." She tells him as she wiggles around, getting comfortable.

"I love you too babygirl."

"I love you both." Meredith says as she drapes her arm over Josie and across Derek.

"We love you more mama." Josie responds as she cuddles into her side.

~ Authors Note ~

I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I go in for surgery tomorrow and wanted to give you guys a little something before. I'm not sure when I'll update next as I'll be recovering but I'm hoping it won't be too long. The first person to guess what episode the original scene this came from gets a shout out in the next chapter! Thank you so much for all the comments and support. I appreciate you all so much. 🥰