Leave a light on

1

"Ellis! Ellis, don't go too far" Derek yelled

Meredith, Derek and the kids were walking around on their land. They just returned from a walk in the woods and were heading home

"I'm exhausted" Meredith sighed

"Well let's wash the kids and then we can watch a movie after dinner, how does that sound?" Derek suggested

Meredith nodded and wheezed a bit

"You're not getting sick, are you?" Derek asked her, his hand protectively resting on her back

"Just the aftermath of my cold last week" Meredith explained

"Well let's go home then" Derek said as they kept walking.

"Mommy, look!" Ellis yelled as she run toward Meredith and Derek "Look" She said as she showed the worm in her hand

"You'll definitely wash your hands before dinner" Meredith laughed

"Dad! Can we go fishing tonight?" Bailey asked

"Not today, bud. Maybe sunday?" Derek suggested

"Yes!" Bailey yelled

"Well let's do a girls night then" Meredith told Zola and Ellis. The girls were happy and started doing some funny dances while the family kept walking.

Once they finally reached the house they took all their dirty clothes off and put them in the special closet, reserved for the muddy shoes and jackets.

"Hop, Ellie! Let's go upstairs" Meredith said and the little girl ran up the stairs on her way to the bathroom

"Zola, Bailey, You'll be fine?" Derek asked them.

"Yes, dad" The two laughed and took off to their own rooms to shower

...

"Mom already fell asleep" Zola laughed as they were halfway through the movie.

"Seems like Ellis fell asleep too" Derek laughed too

"Dad, can we have ice cream?" Bailey asked

"Of course. But I think we'll need to ask your mother and sister too, we don't want them to discover we ate ice cream without them" Derek said

"Mommy" Zola said, trying to wake Meredith up. Bailey shaking Ellis' little shoulder which woke her up in an instant

"Mommy?" Ellis asked

"Mommy's asleep. Try to wake her" Derek said

"Mommy" The kids laughed as they tried to tickle her awake

Finally after a few groans, Meredith woke up, coughing a bit before sitting up "Hmm?" She moaned as she rubbed her eyes

"Who wants some ice cream?" Derek asks

"Me!!" The 3 kids yelled

"Mer?" Derek asked

"I'm still full" She replied and hugged her kids before her eyes started drooping again

Once the movie ended, the kids ran off to brush their teeth. Meredith was awake and was lying in Derek's embrace waiting for the kids to tell them they're ready for bed but instead they heard screaming. Quickly, Meredith and Derek ran to the bathroom and found Bailey and Ellis fighting over the toothpaste

"Hey, what's happening here?" Derek sternly asked

"Dad, Ellis was playing with it!" Bailey told him

"Mommy! Bailey didn't let me pick toothpaste!" Ellis complained

"Ellis, show me your toothbrush and I'll put some on it. But no fighting. Ellis, this isn't the first time you played with the toothpaste. It's not a toy" Derek said and put the toothpaste on Ellis' toothbrush

In the meantime, Zola already finished and walked towards her room, followed by Meredith

"Zo, your teacher told me that you ranked up again in math?"

"Yes!" She proudly smiled "I wanna be a brain surgeon like dad.." Zola told Meredith

"Oh, yeah? That's awesome Zozo" Meredith hugged Zola

"Dad told me about those prosthetics who work with those chips in brains" Zola told Meredith

"I'm sure that if you wanna learn more about it that he'll show you" Meredith told her before Bailey and Ellis ran into Zola's room "We're done!"

Meredith followed Ellis to her room where Derek was waiting and she tucked the little girl in. She started to read a story until the little girl fell asleep. Then she moved to Bailey's room who was telling about a comic book to Derek

Both parents kissed his head and together they went towards Zola's room. Zola was reading one of her favourite books. She had a small obsession with reading. Everytime she got the chance to read, she was.

"Goodnight Zozo" Meredith said as she kissed the girl's head

"Night, Zo" Derek smiled and did the same

"Bed or couch?" Derek asked

"Bed? Derek it's 9pm" Meredith sighed

"You look like you're about to collapse" Derek said

"I just need a good night's sleep.." Meredith told him.

The two cuddled in each other's embrace and after a couple of minutes, Meredith's snoring was heard through the room. This time very loud and unclear

Around 10:30, Derek woke her up and asked her if she wanted to go to bed when she seemed to have trouble breathing

"Mer, slow.. What's happening"

"I.. Air.. Breathe" She struggled to say

"Shh, calm" He said and rubbed her back

After a couple of minutes, Meredith seemed to catch her breath again and Derek immediately started to worry "What happened?" He asked

"I'm so tired" She sighed and rubbed her chest

"We'll get you checked out tomorrow. You okay now?" Derek asked her

She nodded and he helped her upstairs, making sure she had her bottle of water with her in case she starts coughing again.

She was wheezing a bit after climbing the stairs and once she reached the bed, she collapsed. Making no effort to find a comfortable way to lay down, she just wanted to sleep. Her face was a bit pale and Derek would make sure she would get checked out tomorrow. Maybe she's getting sick again.

AN // New story! Many people wanted option 1 or 3 so I decided to to this one first. If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them! Hope you like it so far :))

Also! The song above is the song I chose as the title of this book. Makes it pretty clear where I come from (At least people who live in the same country as me will recognize this)