After

Chapter Five

-Happy Ending-

Flashback - Vivid Dreaming

It was surreal, like a dream. But it was also vivid. Mackenzie was vividly dreaming, or she felt like that, at least. She perceived her mother let go of her hand, say hi to Addison, take a seat at the table, glance at her from time to time as they chatted. She saw Fabian cry. Her throat was dry, her breath was irregular, but she felt joy spread from her heart through her whole body. He was there, in front of her. He looked like a dad. His hair was of an indefinite shade of blondish brow, mixed with some gray. His eyes were brown, profound. Smiley. Fabian let his shoulder bag fall. Mackenzie watched as two books hit the ground, hypnotized. Then she felt Fabian's strong arms grab her, hold her. He wouldn't get enough of holding her, he wouldn't. Mackenzie inhaled his scent. It reminded her of her father. Maybe it was a dad thing. Fabian's beard tickled her. She laughed. Fabian eyed her, trying to see through her. He did. It felt like they had already met a thousand times. Fabian showed her a photograph of a baby girl with a teddy bear and a pink polka-dotted hat. "It's you." he said. "Addison's brother took it when you were five minutes old. She sent it to me. I always keep it in my wallet. You're close to my heart." Then he showed her another picture. "These are my boys, Duncan and Elliot. I tell them about you, even if they can't understand yet." There weren't other words. They were good without. Addison and Meredith talked for a little longer, and Fabian kept hugging Mackenzie. They stayed silent. It was when Meredith started the car and drove her home that she realized her vivid dream was her true beautiful joyful life.

One Year Later

Mackenzie's eyes burst open, and she squealed, pushing back the covers of her bed. She put her slippers and her dressing gown on, and she bolted out of the room and into Meredith's, jumped on the bed, kissed her cheek between giggles.

"Merry Christmas, little monster."

"Merry Christmas!" Mackenzie pulled Meredith's duvet up to cover her body. "Where's Finn?"

"He didn't stay the night."

"Why? He hasn't stayed yet. I'm not going to be scandalized, you know."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "He had somewhere to be at."

"Sure, whatever. Where are my presents, Mom?"

"In the attic, as every year. You can go get them as I wash my face. After thirteen years of motherhood, I still feel like a zombie when you wake me up this early on Chistmas morning."

Mackenzie fleed out of the room with a crystal laughter, and when she got back she found her mother sitting on the bed with a satisfied smile.

"I know they're only three, but you'll get more from Finn, Addison and your dad. Plus, they're really big, aren't they?"

"They are, I want to know what's inside. Question: why do you always wrap them so perfectly when you know I'm just gonna tear the paper off?"

"Because I want them to look the best for you, silly. Try to imagine how you'd feel if I gave you presents wrapped up in used paper, or if I didn't wrap them up at all."

Mackenzie shugged with a grin. "They'd still be the best presents of the world. I love the wrapping paper though."

With a wink, Mackenzie opened the presents. Meredith watched as she jumped of joy seeing her very first computer, a set of clothing (jeans, sweater, underwear, shoes) and a stuffed basket.

"What is it?"

Meredith merely smiled. "Oh, you'll get it later, when Finn comes over. It's only part one of the present."

Mackenzie frowned with curiosity, but she didn't say anything. She had an idea of what the basket might mean, but she didn't want to come to a conclusion too fast.

"Okay, I'll wait I guess. My present for you is in my room, Mommy. I'll go get it."

When she walked back in, Meredith made her sit next to her, their backs were leaning against the headboard, and she enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Open it." Mackenzie ordered sweetly. When her parents were still married she and her dad picked the gifts together, but now she had started to shop for her mom alone, and she liked it. She was proud of what she got for her in the past year, and she was sure Meredith would like this present as well.

"Oh, it's beautiful, honey."

It was a silver bracelet. Of course Derek had given her part of the money, but Mackenzie chose it by herself. When she saw it in the jewellery shop she immediately thought about her mom.

"Do you really like it?" she asked.

"Of course I do, I love it. It's perfect. You know me well, Pumpkin. Thank you."

Meredith placed a big loving kiss on her daughter's head, pulling her even closer.

"So, Mom, now that presents have been open... what's the plan for today?"

"Well, Finn is supposed to come over here for lunch. His mother went to Montana to see some relatives, and he took the chance to spend some time alone with us." Meredith looked at her daughter to catch any glimpse of disappointment, but her eyes met a huge smile.

"Finally! I was starting to think you were hiding him from me, sometimes."

"I wasn't, I promise." Meredith laughed. "He's going to be over more, in the near future."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think he's pretty much going to stick around."

"Good." Mackenzie gave her a firm nod.

"And I know I said I'd drop you off at your father's house in the mid afternoon..."

"But?" the young girl asked. She was looking forward to it just like she couldn't wait to have lunch with her mom and Finn, and she couldn't believe Meredith didn't want to drive her there.

"But I thought that Finn and I could - if Addison and your father agree - have dinner over there as well, with you."

It took Mackenzie a moment to realize what her mother's words really meant, then her eyes widened and she threw herself at Meredith in utter joy. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome, Princess. We got there, didn't we?"

"I'm so happy, Mom."

"I'm happy too, Macks. And hey, I've got one more present." slowly, she leaned in and whispered something in her daughter's ear. Something that would change everything forever, bringing more beautiful things to their already perfect lives.

"Guess what. Guess what!" Mackenzie ran into the house, bright in her cheerfullness.

"What happened?" Addison asked her, moving to her left before the girl crashed against her.

"Mom is pregnant! And Finn got me a puppy. But Mom is pregnant!" she yelled. She had made sure she could tell Addison and Derek in the car, and her mother agreed. Now she and Finn were slowly walking inside, but Mackenzie was very excited and she ran.

"Your mother is what?" Derek, entering the sitting room as he fixed his tie, asked his daughter. He felt numb. He couldn't have heard right.

But Mackenzie was nodding vehemently, with a big smile on her rosy face.

"It can't be true." he whispered, more to himself than to the young girl. He was happy for his ex-wife, he truly was. But it meant his inability to have biological children was confirmed forever. That knowledge wouldn't go away, it wouldn't disappear.

"Honey, do you need a minute?" he heard Addison's voice get to him as she brushed her fingers against his forearm.

He nodded, following his concerned girlfriend as she slowly walked to the kitchen. There, she stopped, leaning against the glass table. Addison looked at him with her beautiful eyes, waiting.

"Meredith never wanted to check which one of us was infertile. She was sure it was her, but she didn't want to know for sure. She hated herself for it for a while. Then we got Mackenzie and everything changed. Everything was perfect. I - I got used to the fact that I'd never have blood-related children, and Meredith did as well. Now she's pregnant... and it means that she can live her dream, and I can't."

"There are other ways, Derek. Medicine can offer us plenty of ways to have children. You can have blood-related kids. We can try. It might be impossible anyway, but we can try."

Derek nodded again, leaning in to hug her. Addison always made everything better, she was his heaven in the middle of hell.

"Let's go back in there, shall we? We should congratulate Meredith and Finn."

"I'm happy for them, and for Mackenzie. I really am. I simply wasn't expecting it."

"I wasn't either. You can do it, Der. I know you can. And one day we'll have our own children, and Mackenzie will have lots of brothers and sisters. Okay?"

"Okay." Derek eventually managed to give her a small smile. He felt a little reassured now. Maybe his deepest hopes and dreams would actually become true, one day.

"Hey, Derek."

Meredith was looking at him sadly, worried.

"I'm fine." Derek brushed it off, going to kiss her cheek. It was the first time he did so since their divorce. "I'm really happy for you, Mer. And for you, too, Finn." Derek shook his hand. "Welcome to the windy road of parenthood. The hardest thing you'll ever do, and yet the best you can experience." he said, winking at Mackenzie, who seemed guilty for a moment but then relaxed with a laughter. "Merry Christmas, Macks."

"Merry Christmas, Dad."

"So, Mackie, what about this puppy you got?" Addison cut in, wanting to leave Derek and Meredith alone in their conversation for a moment.

The girl's big eyes widended. "He's amazing! I named him Bunny. He's white, you know, and when he saw me he made this hiiiiigh leap in the air as if he wanted to greet me. Look, I made photos." Mackenzie took out her cellphone, showing Addison the tons of pictures she made, commenting each one in detail, giving Addison a perfect image of the moments.

"Are you excited about having a sibling?" Addison asked her quietly after a while, glancing at Meredith, who was laughing, her hands on her abdomen, where the baby was.

"I am. I've always wanted to be a big sister. When I was little I kept asking Mom and Dad to adopt another little girl or boy... but they never did. They said I was enough. Mom looks so happy now though. I think she's always wanted this as well."

"Yeah, I think she did. And your dad too. One day, maybe, we might have kids."

Mackenzie nodded. "He'd love that."

"What about you? You're used to be an only-child."

The girl shrugged. "Well, I like Elliot and Duncan, they're cool. And Mom's baby will be as well. And if you and my dad have kids, they'd be just as great."

Addison smiled, relieved. She hoped she and Derek would have at least two other kids in the future, she thought about it a lot lately and it had become her dream. Her first priority was Mackenzie, though, her first daughter, and her opinion on the matter was the most important thing. "I'm glad you think so." Addison was about to ask Mackenzie if she would rather have a brother or a sister, when the doorbell rang, and she, being the closest to the front door, went to open.

"Hello, Addison. I'm sorry, I didn't want to intrude, I just... well, I wanted to drop this off for Mackenzie."

"Hey, Fabian. Come on in, we're all here, you're not intruding at all. Merry Christmas."

"Oh, right." he said awkwardly. "Merry Christmas."

"Hi, Fabian!"

"Hey, sweetheart. I missed you a lot!"

"Me too." Mackenzie laughed. "Is that for me?"

"Yep, all yours."

Not wasting another moment, the thirteen-year-old unwrapped the gift, and squealed of joy when she saw what was inside: a digital camera, the exact one she had seen a month earlier in a shop when she was with Fabian and his wife, and that she instantly loved.

"Oh, I adore it!"

"I knew you would."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you remembered."

"Oh, I went back the next day and bought it. When I saw your face I knew I had to get it for you."

"Thank you, Fabian." Meredith cut in. "Mackenzie's really lucky. Actually, we all are, to have you in the family."

"Where are Mara and the boys? Why don't you come in and have dinner with us?" Derek asked, looking at Addison for her approval.

She nodded. "Sure, we'd love that. Right?"

"Right." Meredith confirmed with a nod.

Mackenzie looked delighted to have all her four parents with her as well as her little brothers.

"I'll go get Mara, Duncan and Elliot then. They're in the car, I said it'd only take me five minutes. The boys wanted to go ice-skating, but we can go tomorrow. I'm sure they'd rather be here."

When Fabian walked out and Mackenzie went to sit between Finn and her mom, Addison got closer to Derek, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's perfect." she said.

"It really is. Thank you."

"What for?"

"For everything. For getting pregnant, for giving us Mackenzie, for looking for her after over a decade, for accepting this crazy life. Thank you isn't enough."

"I think thank you is more than enough. I love you, Derek, and I'm just as thankful as you for the life that we eventually got. I couldn't be more satisfied with this crazy life, as you call it."

Derek pecked her lips. "This all feels like the perfect ending to our bumpy story."

"You feel like that? I actually feel like this is a new beginning. A new start after a chapter of our life was concluded... but now the best is coming."

"I couldn't agree more." Derek told her, kissing her again.

The end!

A/N: I might write another sequel in the future. I really feel like I could have written this a lot better, but this is how it came out, and right now I don't have the time nor the engergy to fix it, sadly. As some of you know, I'm having exams right now, and I'm not sure when they'll be over yet. I also have a new story planned, and it also has a sequel. I started writing it as I was finishing All The Things You Said, and now I have four and a half chapters done, that should cover perfectly the month of my exams. That is to say that though I don't have time to write at the moment, I'm not going to disappear. I hope you liked this short story, I know it wasn't as good as its prequel and I'm a little disappointed in myself about it, but somehow along the road inspiration faltered. Thank you all for reading and reviewing!