Season 2, Episode 10: Much Too Much
Overall Episode Number: 19
Created by: Shonda Rhimes

/ / /

When you were a kid, it was Halloween candy. You hid it from your parents and ate it until you got sick. In college it was the heady combo of youth, tequila and well you know... As a surgeon you take as much of the good as you can get... because it doesn't come around nearly as often as it should. Cause good things aren't always what they seem. Too much of anything, even love is not always a good thing.

- Meredith Grey

/ / /

In Richard's office, Addison is signing the papers of her contract at a table while Patricia stands over her shoulder. Richard is sitting at his desk, watching.

Patricia nods at the neonatal surgeon. "Nice to have you on board."

"Thank you, Patricia." Addison thanked.

Patricia takes the papers and wanders off. Addison puts her white coat on stands in front of Richard's desk.

Richard looks at Addison. "Your own service. State of the art NICU. And a salary that'll make you one of the highest paid surgeons in the northwest. You better be worth it."

"Quintuplets, Richard," Addison sighed.

"That's a goal."

Addison looks at the Chief of Surgery. "Mother-to-be checked in this morning."

"Nothing I like more than a high profile case," Richard commented.

"Well don't go calling the press in yet. It's an extremely high risk pregnancy. At least 3 of the babies are surgical. In fact I'm gonna need to pull people from all departments." Addison told him.

"You're my star. Whatever you need," Richard said. He stands up and they shake hands.

/ / /

Derek and Burke are at a nurse's station in the hospital. Addison comes up to them and hands them both a large file.

"Dorie Russell, she's giving birth to quints."

Derek nodded. "Yes, Richard said we were on standby. Which is no problem really, cause it's not like I have a neurosurgery department to run or anything."

Addison faked a pout. "Aww."

"Yes, apparently our departments are at her disposal," Burke said.

Addison looks at Derek. "Do you have time to talk to the mom now? I want her to meet all the surgeons on the team."

Derek nodded. "Yes. No problem."

"I'll come by after I get out of the O.R." Burke told Addison.

Addison nodded. "Thank you Dr. Burke."

"Sure!" Burke calls back. He takes the chart and leaves.

Derek stands up and he Addison start walking down the hallway. He starts looking over the file Addison has given him.

"I didn't hear you leave the hotel room. Mackenzie and I missed you at breakfast." Addison said.

Derek shrugged. "I had an early surgery."

"You sure that's all? Nothing's wrong?" Addison asked.

"No, it's like I said. I had an early surgery."

Addison nodded. "Okay."

/ / /

Mackenzie sat in Derek's office, looking through her contact list on her phone. Since Derek and Addison were going to be really busy with the quints case, she was going to hang out by herself. This case was all hands on deck, and Mackenzie didn't want to bother anyone.

When Mackenzie came across her father's phone number, she bit on her lip. Mark was calling her every Wednesday like he promised, but one phone call from his daughter couldn't hurt, right?

Mackenzie decided to call him, and waited anxiously for Mark to pick up. Her heart was beating out of her chest when he did pick up.

"Hello?"

Mackenzie tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. "Hi, Daddy. Am I, um, am I calling at a bad time?"

"Are you kidding me? You called at a perfect time, kiddo. Now... what did you want to talk to your old man about?" Mark's voice asked over the phone.

Mackenzie giggled. "You're not old, Dad. I miss you. A lot. And I love you."

"Well, I miss and love you too, Mack. But that's not all you wanted to say, was it?"

Mackenzie sighed. Derek and Mark could always tell when she was withholding something from them.

"No. Don't tell Papa, but... I'm getting a little homesick. Seattle is cool and all, but it doesn't feel like home yet. I want to see you. I want to hug you, cook with you, do stuff with you, and I want to have our special late-night daddy/daughter talks we used to have when I was little. I just wanna go home, Daddy. I want to go home."

Mark could hear the heartbreak in his daughter's voice, and it hurt his heart a little more when he heard her soft cries. "Sweetie, you know I love you more than anything on this earth. But we both know that your father is not going to send you all the way across the country. Being that far from him? He'd have a panic attack by the time your plane would take off. I'm sorry that you got dragged into the middle of all this; you're 11 years old, for God's sake. And if I could talk to your father without him cussing me out, I would. I'm sorry, honey."

Mackenzie failed to choke back another cry. "You could come and visit. I'm sure if Papa knew you were coming to see me, he wouldn't be as mad."

"I would love to visit. But, baby girl, I have a really busy schedule. You know, I have a lot of patients," Mark stated.

"You're not the only plastic surgeon at the practice, Dad. I'm sure your patients would be left in capable hands. Why are you so adamant about staying in New York? Did I do something?" Mackenzie questioned.

Mark's heart broke a little more. "No! You did nothing, sweetheart. It's just... I know for a fact that your father does not want to see me. It would be better if I stayed here, in New York."

"Well, of course he doesn't want to see you, Dad! But that doesn't excuse you and your determination to distance yourself from your own daughter. I love you, Dad, and I really want to see you. But you're making it sound like you don't want to see your own child. And that really hurts."

Mark bit down on his lip, trying to keep his own tears at bay. "I'm sorry I hurt you, honey. I ruined your life; you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm still able to hurt you when you're 3,000 miles away from me. I'm sorry I'm not a good dad."

Mackenzie wipes at her eyes. "Daddy, you're a great dad. You just make mistakes — you're not perfect. You didn't ruin my life, I was just being selfish. I'm selfish because I haven't seen you in almost 7 months, and it's killing me. You have nothing to be sorry for, Daddy. I'm sorry for blowing this out of proportion and making you feel bad."

"You're the one thing in my life that's good. You don't have to apologize, Mackenzie. There's nothing to forgive you for. It's completely natural for you to feel selfish every once in a while. You're still a kid; your father and I don't expect you to be completely mature and responsible. You're our baby girl, and we love you so much. We just want you to have a somewhat stable and happy childhood. So it's okay for you to have selfish thoughts and feelings, because you're still growing up. Do you understand what I'm saying, sweetheart?" Mark asked.

Mackenzie nodded. "I do. I love you, Daddy. Save some lives, okay?"

Mark smiled his infamous smile. "I plan on it. I love you too, sweetie. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

Mackenzie brightened up. "Okay." She hung up and smiled. A heart-to-heart with Mark really uplifted her spirits.

/ / /

Derek is walking down the mezzanine hallway by himself. Addison is signing a chart in front of the O.R. board in the hallway. She hands it off to a scrub nurse. Derek walks up to her.

"So, you officially signed your contract. Congratulations."

Addison nodded. "Time to move forward."

"Yeah it is," Derek agreed.

Addison stares at him. "We're okay, right?"

"Yeah we're okay."

Addison's pager goes off. She reads it. "It's Dorie." She runs off.

Derek's not far behind her.

/ / /

How do you know how much is too much? Too much, too soon. Too much information. Too much fun. Too much love. Too much to ask. And when is it all just too much to bear?

- Meredith Grey

/ / /

1460 words

Next Update: Owner of a Lonely Heart

*This was really short because I couldn't find a lot of scenes to put Mackenzie in. The next chapter will also be fairly short.*

Published: 2/26/2021