After Afterall

24

"Did you remember your toothbrush?"

"Crap."

"And don't forget toothpaste," Cristina calls after me as I disappear into my bathroom. "He probably doesn't have toothpaste or if he does, it's probably that baking soda crap that just leaves a film. He looks like the kind of guy who believes real toothpaste will make his teeth fall out or kill him."

I walk back into my room with just a toothbrush, which I throw into my suitcase. "What are you even talking about?"

Cristina's lying on her stomach, on my bed, flipping through some generic D.C. centric magazine. "He's from Maine," is all she says.

I grab an extra sweater. "What does that even mean?"

"It means," she says with a sigh, "That he's a granola eating hippy."

"Maine isn't known for its hippies."

"Have you ever been to Maine?"

I stare down at my suitcase, trying to remember what I might be forgetting, but my mind is blank. My mind is blank except for Cristina's questions, which rolls around while I consider if I really have been to Maine before. "Uh...no. I don't think so."

Cristina nods as if I've proven her pointed. "Hippies. Just you wait."

My phone rings, which is a nice break from the craziness of my room and my best friend. "Hey," I say to Derek.

"Hi there. Almost ready?"

I look around my room feeling slightly stressed. Although I still manage to say, "Yes. Just ten minutes."

"Good. We're on our way over."

"Okay," I say, making the kay part much longer than it needs to be.

We end the call and I toss my phone into my purse before I forget. "Okay, I have pants and shirts, two sweaters, underwear, another bra, shoes, a toothbrush, no makeup because I don't need it."

"Preach!" Cristina says and throws her fist into the air.

"What else?" I ask aloud.

Cristina looks into my suitcase and then shrugs. "I don't know. If you forget something can't you just have a Secret Service guy just pick it up for you?"

"Well I can, but I'd rather not forget anything."

"To me, it looks fine."

I have no idea why I'm so nervous. I spent a night away with Derek at Camp David and I've met his family before, but there's something really different about spending the entire weekend with his family in his house in Maine. In the past when Derek's mentioned his house, I just assumed he had a normal house. A few bedrooms, a few bathrooms, maybe a pool. But he made mention of the cliff his house overlooks and the in-law suite, which is in its own separate house outside the main house, and now I'm expecting some mansion. Some huge, ridiculously expensive mansion that will put my house to shame. All Derek's houses put mine to shame.

He told me not to be nervous. He keeps telling me, but it's an entire weekend with family and friends and then me. The girlfriend.

The house phone rings. "Hello?"

"Doctor Grey, we're downstairs when you're ready."

I told them ten minutes and that definitely wasn't ten minutes. "Yes. I'm ready."

"I'll send Toby up to meet you," Grant says and ends the call. I realize no one ever says goodbye in Derek's line of work.

"I have to go."