Little Shepherd

Chapter 2

It's been a few weeks since Derek and Josie left New York. Derek pulled a few strings and got a job as an attending neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace hospital. Him and Josie have settled into a two bed room apartment a few miles from the hospital. They haven't heard from Addison since they left. After the way they left things he expected at least a phone call, but it never came. Josie has had a hard time adjusting, but she likes playing with the other kids at the hospital daycare. With his new job Derek hasn't had time to find her a new preschool, so for the time being she's spending her days at the hospital so he can spend every free chance he gets with her.

"I sent her the divorce papers in the mail today." Derek tells his coworker Miranda Bailey.

"You keep talking to me like I care." She says, not even bothering to look up from the patient chart held tightly in her hand. Derek stops in his tracks, letting her keep walking.

"This is why they call you the Nazi!" He calls after her as she rushes off to her patient.

"They really call her the Nazi?" The resident Orthopedic surgeon Callie Torrez asks as he walks up to the nurses station grabbing his patients chart from behind the desk. He nods.

"This years interns started it, apparently she's brutal." He says with a smirk, knowing Miranda isn't as hard as her exterior may seem.

"Ugh interns." Callie groans, checking her pager as it goes off. "You're so lucky you don't have any, it's like 24 hour babysitting except they could kill people...and they aren't babies..." She laughs, as her pager goes off again.

"You gonna get that?" He asks, with a smirk.

"Freaking interns!" She yells out in frustration as she storms off down the hall.

"Daddy!" Josie calls happily as she runs down the hall, leaving Pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins in the dust.

"Hey kiddo!" He replies happily, lifting her up into his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck, snuggling into him. "Ready to go?" He asks her. She nods.

"Not without your coat silly!" Doctor Robbins says as she hands Derek Josie's rain jacket.

"Thanks for walking her down." Derek says to her.

"Of course, it was my pleasure." She smiles brightly. "We had a lot of fun didn't we?" She asks Josie.

"Mhm, she even let me play with the teddy on her shirt!" She tells her father excitedly, referring to the little teddy bear pinned to the pocket of Arizonas scrubs.

"I'll see you tomorrow sweetie, Mr. Bear and I have work to do!" She smiles and waves good bye as she heads back to work. Derek sets Josie down, helping her put on her jacket. He takes her hand and they walk to the elevators.

"I wanna push it, I wanna push it!" She cheers as she runs to the buttons in between the two elevators. "This one?" She asks pointing to the down arrow.

"Yep, that's the one." She presses the button then stands beside her father, waiting patiently for it to arrive. The door slides open, revealing Chief of Surgery Richard Webber, an old friend of Derek and Addison's.

"Uncle Richard!" Josie cries happily as she runs into his arms.

"Hey sweet pea. What are you two up to? Not causing trouble I hope?" He teases her. She giggles.

"No silly, we're going home!" Derek presses the button to the first floor as he joins them in the elevator. "Aren't you going home?" She asks sweetly.

"No, unfortunately Uncle Richard still has a lot of work to do."

"Auntie Adele's not gonna be happy..." She says, referring to Richard's wife, who has made it extremely clear on many occasions that she doesn't like the extra work load that comes along with being chief. Richard and Derek both laugh.

"Your right sweetie, I'm gonna be in big trouble when I get home." He laughs, putting her down as they exit the elevator.

"Hey Josie, why don't go sit over there for a minute so daddy can talk to Uncle Webber."

"Okay Daddy." She skips happily to the seating area in the front lobby area.

"What's on your mind?" Webber asks him.

"She keeps asking about Addison...I just..what do I tell her?" Derek asks.

"She's a smart kid Derek, you'd be surprised what that kid can handle. You should sit her down after dinner, explain it to her as simply as possible." He puts a hand on Derek's shoulder. "She'll be okay Derek, you both will be." Derek nods.

"Thanks Richard." He says, before saying his goodbyes. He gets Josie and takes her out to the car. Josie hums along to the radio as they drive, completely oblivious to the fact that her father is completely lost in his thoughts the whole ride home. He's terrified to tell her, afraid of how she'll react. She's been through so much, how much more can she handle? No matter how badly he wishes he could keep distracting her from her mother's absence he knows he can't avoid this conversation any longer. He rehearses his speech over and over in his head, trying to find the most delicate way to crush his daughters heart. How do you tell a three year old that her mommy's never coming home? How do explain what she saw at their home the night they left?