Strong enough

2

Meredith was tired. She had just worked a long shift and was gonna pick of Charlotte from school as they had agreed to have lunch together

"Hey, how are you?" Meredith asked as her daughter stepped into the car

"Hmm.. I don't know." Charlotte slumped in the seat

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Meredith asked, hugging her daughter

"No." Charlotte shook her head and strapped herself in, they headed to the restaurant they'd go to and ordered

"I still think you should talk to daddy." Meredith said as she drove through the city

"No." Charlotte crossed her arms

"How do you expect him to know you don't wanna move if he doesn't know?" Meredith rubbed her hand over Charlotte's

"He could have asked, mom. Please stop defending him." Charlotte frowned

"Sweetie-" Meredith sighed and parked her car. "I know you're very angry, and I know it's not fun." 

"But why?! Why does my life have to change? Nana, poppa, uncle Mark, aunt Addie, uncle Alex! Everyone!! Everyone lives here but we will move!" Charlotte got all her frustrations out

"Come give me a hug." Meredith asked and they hugged tight

"We should go inside. I want chocolate." Charlotte muttered in her mom's arms, causing Meredith to chuckle

"Let's go." She agreed and they headed inside. They got a very cozy table at the window and ordered their food

"Mom.. Did you lose weight?" Charlotte frowned at her mom who sipped a little from her water

"I did a little bit, just because of work." She assured her daughter. "Let's get tons of fries and chocolate."

"You're sure, right? Not like you can lose much more.."

"I am sure, princess." Meredith nodded. "I want this!"

She managed to distract her daughter with food. They both ordered and after a while they got their plate

"The cake is so yummy." Meredith winked but ate really slow

"Do you wanna try mine?" Charlotte asked her mom as she had a milkshake and pizza

"No sweetie, I'm fine." Meredith winked, she'd already have to do her best to finish the slice of cake

"I missed doing this so much." Charlotte looked up at her mom, her eyes softening

"I did too. We should do this more often, princess. Just time for the two of us." Meredith nodded

As they continued eating Meredith had clearly aten a bit too much as her stomach felt like it was about to explode while Charlotte kept going

"It's soooo good." Charlotte moaned as she sipped the milkshake, causing Meredith to giggle softly but she had to excuse herself and hurried off to the bathroom

Charlotte continued eating her fries until she was done. The girl checked her phone and replied to a few friends that had commented on the story she had posted earlier until she found her mom had been gone for a while and she decided to head to the bathroom really quick

When she entered she heard her mom panting and suddenly heard her starting to vomit. She backed off and left the bathroom, not sure if she should do anything

Charlotte went back to the table and waited impatiently for her mom

"Sorry, I'm back now." Meredith returned after a bit. Charlotte could see her mom's hands were shaky despite her being one of the very best surgeons of the world

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked her mom, finishing her milkshake

"Yeah, I'm just fine." Meredith nodded and carefully took the smallest sip possible from her water

"I'm done.." Charlotte said

"Let's go pay and then we go home, you got a test tomorrow." Meredith said, carefully getting up again and wrapping her coat around her body before going to pay and leave

...

A few hours later Charlotte finished studying and went to check in the living room to see if her mom had already started on making dinner

"Mom?" She called out as she didn't even hear the radio or tv

When the girl walked further into the living room she found her mom curled up on the couch while taking a nap

She saw how her mom was clutching a heating pad against her stomach, but it looked like she was really uncomfortable

Charlotte decided to cover her mom with her favorite blanket when Meredith stirred a little, causing her to whimper a bit

"Shh.. I'm sorry.." Charlotte muttered but didn't really know what to do so she got onto the couch, close to her mom and just waited. She grabbed her phone but couldn't really focus, she hoped her mom wasn't getting sick right now

"I'm home!" She suddenly heard her dad calling out

"Shh!! Mom's asleep!" She whispered harshly

"Was she that tired after eating a bunch of pizza?" Derek chuckled

"She didn't!" Charlotte snapped and crossed her arms. "You're too selfish to even notice something's up with mommy!"

"Charlotte!" Derek frowned at her behavior. "What's wrong with mom?"

"I don't know, she had a stomach ache.." Charlotte muttered, not sure how much she'd say

"I'm sure your mom is fine." Derek said and removed his shoes

"Whatever you say, you are the so-called brain doctor." She muttered under her breath

"Charlotte!" He scolded which woke up Meredith

"What's happening?" She frowned as she hadn't heard her husband arriving

"I hate you!" Charlotte yelled at him and ran off to her room

"What did you do?!" Meredith looked at her husband, her eyes showing how much Charlotte's words had hurt her

"She's being unreasonable! The audacity she has, did anything happen earlier?" He scoffed

"She was amazing today." Meredith shrugged, not sure if she should tell her husband why Charlotte was upset with her father

"Are you okay tho?" Derek frowned, seeing how she kept her body wrapped around the heating pad, not even attempting to get up

"Stomachache, the cake was a bit too much." Meredith muttered

"After you finished a whole pizza?" Derek chuckled and went to the kitchen where he got Meredith some ginger ale.

"I didn't even have a slice." She muttered but he was already in the kitchen

"Here you go, this will help." Derek gave her the ginger ale but she didn't really dare to sip it and just remained laying down a bit longer