If you haven't read anything else I've written you can start here and be fine. If you have read Acts of Love, this follows as the next chapter after the last. My version of season 3 is very pro-merek romance, love, lust, sex, hugging, and yes, pet names.

This new episode in season 3 is Meredith-centric. Meredith's teen years in Europe comes up in this story just as she is also trying to deal with Susan and Molly arriving at Grace for the birth of Molly's baby.

Dreams of Love

Chapter 1: Meredith's Papà Guiseppe

Meredith trailed behind the other interns as they moved from patient to patient during rounds. Something was wrong but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what. She was uneasy... unsettled... disturbed, without knowing why. Her dark and twisty side was looking around cautiously.

She thought it over again, trying to locate the source of her disquiet. She'd just finished her period so it wasn't that. Derek was back in her life. He was sweeter to her than she'd ever even dreamed a man could be. So, it wasn't that. Izzie was working through her probation and re indoctrination, if not patiently, at least resignedly. George was dating Callie so he was occupied. Alex was Alex. Ellis was Ellis. And Cristina... Cristina. Cristina wasn't right.

She was even more angry and impatient and stand-offish than she usually was. Cristina had been acting very strangely for several weeks. Meredith had thought her friend would feel happier when Burke returned to work, but she wasn't. She had rejected every attempt Meredith had made to discuss Cristina's problem. Cristina, usually a sounding board for Meredith, her best friend, refused to listen to anything Mer had to say about the finale with Derek's mom and sisters. She was short and abrupt with Meredith. All Mer could do was promise to be there when the gathering storm finally broke over Cristina's head. She knew if she waited, Cristina would eventually have to tell her what was wrong. So, no, that wasn't it.

There was something else. Something new. Something different. Hmm. A dark foreboding filled Meredith's heart. She couldn't help remembering Dylan, the bomb, and pink mist. The last time she had felt like this, three men had lost their lives saving hers. Her stomach clenched and rolled horribly at the thought.

"Grey!" Meredith jumped out of her skin at Bailey's preemptory tone, and came to rigid attention, "Where are you? Wake up and keep up! I don't have time for lallygagging interns. Not today. The Chief has VIPs touring the hospital today."

She turned and hustled down the hall. The five interns hurriedly chasing after her glanced at each other with disbelieving expressions. When did Bailey ever make time for lallygagging interns?

"Psst," Cristina hissed at Meredith, "Stop mooning over McDreamy. Pay attention! I can't afford to piss off Bailey any more than she is already."

"I wasn't..." Meredith tried, but Cristina had surged ahead putting George between them. Meredith sighed, lonely and worried for her best friend. She could only hope Cristina would come around soon.

They headed down the main long staircase, reversed direction at the landing and continued down the stairs. Bailey stopped four steps up from the bottom with the interns stacked up behind her. Grey was last, still ten steps up. They were a flock of blue and white birds landed for the moment. Their passage was blocked in front of Bailey by a group of attendings, including Burke, Shepherd, Sloan and Montgomery.

Dr. Shepherd looked up past the other interns to catch Meredith's eye. He slowly lowered a sexy long-lashed lid in a suggestive wink over one sparkling blue eye. Meredith, caught by surprise, shyly blushed a little and looked down. Derek was so gorgeous. His body was whipcord lean with heavy muscles across his upper arms, chest and back. His black curls were cut fairly short on the sides this week, but his hair grew so fast it would be curling over his collar by next week. Similarly, his smooth shaven face would have a dark, sexy stubble by noon. Meredith loved everything about Derek so much he made her insides quake.

When she coyly looked at him through her lashes, he shook his head and flashed her a grin that was a clear reminder of the deeply satisfying, wildly exuberant lovemaking they'd shared just hours ago. Meredith had awakened him with sweet kisses across his chest and they'd played kiss for kiss from there. Now she was shy? His little wildcat was such a contradiction. She tried to suppress her smile at his antics but couldn't. She gave him her cute grin in return and delicately lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. The Chief drew Shepherd's attention back to the guests.

The other senior doctors completely ignored the interns in favor of focusing on the large group of VIP visitors walking down the gleaming corridor towards them, all dressed in formal suits with visitor IDs clipped to their breast pockets. Chief Webber was expounding enthusiastically to his guests as he led them towards the ranking surgeons of his program. Bailey couldn't move forward, stopped by the protocol of the moment. She signaled the interns to wait. They all watched the unfolding drama curiously.

Meredith leaned against the handrail looking down on the scene. Derek was speaking with Burke not far from Sloan. Good, maybe Burke would drop a hint about Cristina. Next to them, too close, Meredith caught sight of Addison's red head as she laughed, completely charmed by a Dutch specialist.

Meredith's stomach did a back flip of unease. The temporary relief that flirting with Derek had given her was gone. Addison always spelled trouble for her, like an old fashioned Jonah. Maybe it was her again. She'd set off a metaphorical bomb in a body cavity before, more than once.

Stop it Mer! Dr. Montgomery is a perfectly perfect person who saves babies...

Meredith's thoughts faltered as her eyes automatically went over all the visitors being introduced to the attendings. First among them in prominence was a tall, distinguished looking man in his mid fifties. He gestured broadly as he spoke with an Italian accent. He wore a beautifully cut Italian designer suit, complimented by a gorgeous silk tie and Italian hand made shoes. Meredith's stomach pitched and rolled. She knew him. She'd lived with him off and on for four years.

"Papà?" Meredith cried. Dr. Stevens looked over her shoulder at Dr. Grey.

"What did you say, Meredith?" Izzie asked.

"Quello è il mio papà, il mio patrigno, papà Giuseppe." Meredith spoke distractedly in Italian, more to herself than to Izzie, never taking her eyes from the gentleman below. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she tried to make sense of his presence, "My papa, I never thought I'd see him again."

"Your what? Meredith, that can't be your dad. What are you talking about?" Izzie looked back and forth between Meredith and the doctors below, "Meredith, are you alright?"

Meredith brushed past Izzie, drawn toward her papa, like a moth to a flame. At that moment, Dr. Guiseppe Giordano, the finest cardiothoracic surgeon in Europe, looked up, his eye attracted to Meredith's movement. His head whipped in a fast double take. His warm brandy colored eyes widened as instant recognition filled them and he forgot whatever he was saying to the doctors surrounding him. He stepped forward, his face incredulous.

"Meredith? È voi? Il mio dio, che cosa state facendo qui?" Dr. Giordano lost his words and just stared at the miracle of Meredith walking towards him. He couldn't believe she was there.

Meredith? Giordano knows Meredith?

Derek, along with everyone else in the two groups of prominent surgeons, followed Giordano's eye line up the stairs to spot Meredith slowly descending. She stared at Giordano like a supplicant who'd finally found the holy grail. Her face was awestruck and hesitant, scared and thrilled. Tears filled her luminous eyes and sparkled on her lashes. Derek caught his breath at the sight. He'd never seen Meredith look quite this way before. He looked back at Giordano. The man's face was marked with grief and joy in equal measure mixed with painful memories. His eyes spoke of his love for the only daughter he'd ever known.

As she passed him Derek brushed her arm with gentle fingertips and murmured, "Meredith, are you okay?"

She paused to look up into her boyfriend's face and smiled poignantly. She was heartbreakingly lovely, "Derek," she said softly. "May I introduce il conteggio del san Giovanni, the count of Saint John, the greatest surgeon in Europe, my stepfather, Dr. Guiseppe Giordano."

Derek looked back and forth between them stunned at this new revelation of Meredith's history. Meredith had a stepfather? Why wasn't he in her life? What in the world had happened to drive a second father from her side? He was a cardiothoracic surgeon?

Cristina, just behind Bailey, had pushed forward as much as she dared, to eavesdrop. She now inhaled sharply as she realized that Meredith was related to yet another branch of surgical royalty. She shook her head and snorted. Envy, admiration, and impatience roiled in her gut.

Cristina lost her abstraction enough to mouth grumpily to George behind Bailey's back, "Italian, Mer is speaking Italian. Did we know she spoke Italian or what?"

George shrugged, completely nonplussed. Izzie said around Alex's solid form, "She called him, papa. That means dad, right? George, you've seen her dad. Is that him?"

"No, that's not Thatcher Grey. I've never seen that man before and she's certainly never mentioned him." George stared down at the strange tableau below.

Dr. Bailey astutely watched Grey cling to Shepherd's arm while she stretched a longing hand out to the distinguished Italian physician. Bailey sharply watched every detail of everyone's expression, including the astonished discomfort on Webber's face and the stab of pained jealousy on Montgomery's. Sloan stood with narrowed, speculative eyes as he watched Dr. Giordano take Grey's hand in his. He was quick to grasp the extended political importance and power of Dr. Grey.

"Papà Guiseppe, this is Dr. Derek Shepherd, head of neurosurgery, a great surgeon like you," she said to the man she hadn't laid eyes on in twelve years. Her voice broke when she introduced the most important man in her life to the man who had once held that role. "Papà, what are you doing here?"

Guiseppe took Meredith's hand in his and stepped forward. He remembered the day he'd first laid eyes on the sad twelve year old stepping off a plane into a foreign country and a foreign life. He supposed she was scared, but she covered it with attitude. She'd been warehoused in a private boarding school outside Washington D.C. for the last two years. Ellis hadn't even mentioned her until after she and Giordano were married. He'd insisted immediately that his new daughter, Meredith, be brought over to live with her parents in a lovelypalazzio in Roma. He had promptly fallen in love with the child of his heart.

His heart and face overflowed with emotion as he kissed his lost little girl on both cheeks and then swept her into his arms. Unashamed tears ran down his own weathered cheeks. They spoke in rapid fire Italian, smiling and gesturing broadly. He shook Derek's hand firmly, greeting him, and then turned to his companions.

"Aggiusta questo è bambina del Dott. Ellis Grey, il Dott. Meredith Grey. La mia figliastra. Sta diventando un chirurgo anche. Sono così fiero," Dr. Giordano ignored all the powerful, important attendings in front of him to proudly introduce Dr. Ellis Grey's little girl, as his stepdaughter, surgical intern, to all of his friends, the best surgeons in Europe.

Meredith was swept into the midst of the group of Europeans and welcomed warmly. Many had known her mother from her stint in the World Health Organization for the United Nations. Mer was questioned in three different languages about her mother's work, books, techniques, health and well being. Meredith replied, easily switching from one language to the next, having spent many years living in Europe.

The attendings watched with bemused fascination. What in the world was going on? Burke and Webber, Montgomery and Sloan, all raised eyebrows at Shepherd for an explanation. He felt himself flush slightly at his own ignorance about the woman he loved. Meredith had never once mentioned an Italian man she called her father. Giordano was even now throwing an arm over Meredith's shoulders and urging her away from the large group so he could talk with her in private.

Meredith shook her head, explaining in English that she was on rounds, working, she couldn't possibly leave. The Chief finally stepped forward and cocked his head inquiringly.

"Chief Webber, this is Dr. Giordano, my mother's second husband. She married him when I was twelve."

"Oh, yes?" the Chief said in a perplexed voice. It was news to him that Ellis had ever married again. He was experiencing a surprising pang over his heart. He carefully didn't look at it very closely, "Well, welcome to Seattle Grace, doctor. Ellis is a good friend of mine. Shall we continue the tour? Dr. Bailey can make Dr. Grey available after rounds for a private visit with you, right Dr. Bailey?"

"Of course, sir." Dr. Bailey nodded to the Chief and signaled her group forward now that the tour and the attendings were moving on down the corridor.

Guiseppe kissed Meredith warmly one more time on both cheeks, finding it difficult to leave her again. Meredith promised to page him when she was through with rounds, her face young and sad. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and turned and hurried after the tour. Meredith hugged her arms around her body, shivering in an almost shocky reaction to the sudden upsurge of the long buried past.

"Meredith, are you okay?" George asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." She kept looking after Giordano as she rubbed her hands up and down her upper arms.

"C'mon Mer, the Nazi is already peeved at the delay," Alex said as he pushed past, linking his arm with hers and hauling her down the hall. George linked her other elbow and rushed her along on his side. Between George and Alex, Meredith had no choice but to catch up to Dr. Bailey, Stevens and Yang on rounds.

She shivered again. Meredith's gut couldn't figure out how it felt. She loved her Papà Guiseppe, but what good would come of digging up the past? Her sense of unease doubled, then tripled. Her dark and twisty side was on full alert.

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