What was I made for? |2/2|

15

"Mom, I'm gonna go pick up Mer." Derek told his mom

"No worries, take your time." Carolyn smiled softly at him as she was doing some laundry. "Are you picking up the girls?"

"I will before I pick up Mer, yesterday she was stubborn and insisted on going inside as well but she was so exhausted." He sighed, his wife had a mind of her own

"Mark said he always wanted to pick them up as well, same for dad and me." Carolyn reminded him

"Thanks mom." Derek said and quickly grabbed his keys and left the house

He quickly drove the short trip to the hospital after picking up the girls and parked his car

"Derek!" Mark ran towards his brother. Derek was carrying Charlotte, she was tired while Grace and Emma walked in front of him

"Uncle Mark!" The three girls smiled widely

"Hey girls!" He smiled widely. "Can I come see your mom?"

"Yes!" Emma smiled and grabbed his hand, moving forward as she was eager to see Meredith

They made their way over to the rehab center but were stopped by Stan, Meredith's physical therapist

"Derek, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course." Derek nodded with a frown

"Let's go sneak to the vending machine really quick." Mark said to the girls, trying to hide his own worries

"What's wrong?" Derek asked Stan, rubbing his hand through his curls

"She's working so hard but mentally she's struggling a lot, I just wanted to talk to you because I'm scared she'll overdo herself." Stan admitted

"Mer is stubborn." Derek agreed

"I need you to make sure she's resting in the evenings. I don't want her to wheel herself around for hours, playing with the kids and exhausting herself. She can play but needs to reduce it.." The physical therapist sighed

"I'll make sure we cuddle on the couch while watching a movie with the kids." Derek promised, he knew how much Meredith liked to push herself over her own limits

"Sounds like a good idea. I wanna warn you, she might be in pain tonight but I wanna show you what she accomplished today, please join us." He said

"Is it okay if I bring our daughters?" Derek asked

"Sure!" Stan smiled and they reunited with Mark and the girls before entering the gym room where Meredith was sitting down in her chair, the other therapist was rubbing out her sore arms

"Mommy!" The two oldest girls yelled and ran towards her while Charlotte wiggled herself out of Mark's arms to hurry towards her mom

"Hi monkeys. I missed you, I didn't know you were gonna come here!" She smiled widely at the three, hugging them softly

"Daddy picked us up!" Grace told her

"I'm eager to come home with you." Meredith said

"But first I think you got something to show off." Stan intervene

"Oh.." Meredith muttered, clearly not as excited as Stan was

"Show us, please." Derek said, feeling very hopeful and curious

Meredith lifted her arms up, they were slightly above her head, her left one a little lower and already trembling

"Wow, that's a huge step!" Derek gasped and walked up to her, after about a minute her arms started trembling and fell down in her lap. "You're the best."

"It's just lifting my arms." Meredith shook her head

"It's amazing, mommy." Emma said, the two other girls not really understanding much of it yet

"I love you." Meredith whispered and went quiet. Mark suggested they'd go home and call it a day and the family agreed.

"Let me carry Charlotte, I'm much stronger than your daddy!" Mark smiled

"Momma-" Charlotte whimpered as the little girl was absolutely exhausted

"Can she sit in my lap, please?" Meredith quietly asked

"Of course." Mark nodded and placed Charlotte on Meredith's lap

Meredith weakly wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter and breathed in the scent of the little girl. She just closed her eyes and hoped they'd be home soon

"I'm gonna go home as well. Are mom and dad at your place?" Mark asked his brother

"Mom was earlier, she was gonna make dinner for us and would leave then." Derek explained, pushing his wife to the car

"We can always take the kids this weekend so the two of you can relax." Mark offered

"Thanks Mark, but it's fine.." Derek said, seeing how Meredith's body language gave away she didn't wanna miss out even more if her own kids

"I understand." Mark nodded and lifted Charlotte into her car seat, the two older girls got in by themselves and Derek helped his wife. "Bye bye, I'll see you later." Mark waved goodbye

"We'll be home very soon." Derek held Meredith's hand as he started driving home, luckily it went super fast, not even Charlotte was able to fall asleep in the short time

"Mommy, is Nana still here?" Emma asked

"Looks like her car is here." Meredith nodded, not even knowing it herself

"Can we go inside?" Grace asks as she waited impatiently

"If you're careful." Derek nodded and helped Meredith and Charlotte out

"Place her on my lap." Meredith said but struggling to wrap her arms around her daughter

"Let's go inside and see what Nana made, I smelled cookies earlier." Derek winked, knowing Meredith and Charlotte were always excited for cookies