Never Alone//Merder

With Or Without You

When Meredith arrived home with the babies, she was surprised to see parents already picking up their children. It made her wonder if something had happened to cause the guests being picked up early. As she brought the twins in the house, Mark came to help her out. She looked at him curiously and waited for an explanation. There was silence before Mark finally gave her an answer. "There was a couple of problems with C.J. and Derek finally decided to end the party."

Meredith could only guess at what problems C.J. had during the party. She saw him playing happily in a corner with his dump truck. Calling his name, she waited to see if he would notice her. She wasn't surprised when he didn't acknowledge her and run to greet her. Sadly, she was used to it by now, but it also hurt her.

Meredith watched him for a few moments before she went to check on Derek, who was in the kitchen cleaning up from the party disaster. He looked over his shoulder as he heard his wife enter the room. However, he went back to washing the dishes. Meredith spoke up first. "Mark told me you had to end the party early. What happened?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. I'll just tell you that I don't think we'll throw any more birthday parties for C.J.," Derek replied, wanting to change the subject. "How was your afternoon with the twins?"

Meredith wanted to tread this subject lightly and she wasn't sure how her husband would take the news. "Well, it was nice until Addison tracked me down. She wants to discuss another custody arrangement."

The surprise was clear in Derek's voice. "What? Why?"

Meredith was quiet before she answered his question. "Because she believes you're not dealing with your personal problems." Derek turned around and he was ready to defend himself. However, Meredith wasn't done. "You and I both know you are still have some issues to work through. I know you don't want to be selfish, but you can't take care of your family if you don't take care of yourself first." Derek was silent, not wanting to admit she was right. "I would suggest to you to think about it, but I already know what your answer will be."

"You're right. So why do you keep bringing it up?" Derek asked. "And what custody arrangement could Addison possibly want to do?"

"She's planning to take Katie and C.J. away from you until you get your act together," Meredith told him. "And she warned me she was going to do the same thing for Morgan and the twins if I don't do it first. I don't want to do it. I don't want to take our kids away from you, but I don't feel like I have any choice." She looked at him hard. "Get some help or I'm taking the kids and moving out." She walked out of the kitchen, leaving Derek with his thoughts.

A couple of hours later, Amy returned home with the girls. They excitedly told their parents what they did with their aunt that afternoon. Derek and Meredith weren't surprised to hear they were filled up on ice cream. "You know, I can take care of the kids for a few more hours if you guys want to go out to dinner."

"Actually, I'm going out for awhile," Derek announced before he said good-bye to his kids. "Don't wait up for me."

Amy immediately noticed the tension between the two parents and how Derek didn't even say goodbye to his wife. She gave Meredith a worried look. "Is everything okay between you and Derek?" she asked. Meredith didn't answer. "What did my big brother do now?"

Meredith gestured her to follow her into the kitchen, where they could have a little more privacy. Amy knew something was wrong and anxiously waited until Meredith could explain the situation. When she was done telling the story, Amy shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, I had no idea things have gotten this bad with Derek."

"To tell you the truth, neither did I," Meredith admitted. "But I'm not going to stand for it any longer. If Derek wants to go down the path of self-destruction, I'm not going to let him take our family down with him. He's on his own. I'm done." She didn't wait to hear Amy's response as she left the kitchen and went upstairs to her bedroom.