A/N: Okay super short chapter! Thank you for everyone who has been patiently waiting! I know this doesn't make for up for how long I left you all hanging, but it definitely gives you a lot to hold on to. Special shout out to Princess Alicia! Your reviews literally turned around my sucky day, along with everyone else's reviews! Sorry again for making you wait so long, and this being an especially short chapter, but I promise big things are coming! Enjoy!
Read. Love. Review.
Chapter 4:
Once the children all finished their breakfast and got ready for the day, they all spent several hours with their father. Zola showed him an interesting science project she was working on, Bailey threw around a baseball with Derek, and Ellis convinced him to participate in a hip-hop dance party. He made lunch for everyone, and for the first time, they all enjoyed a meal together. Meredith observed the smiles on her children's faces that had been plastered there all day. Derek was glowing, and Meredith thought his cheeks must have hurt from all the smiling. Meredith even found herself smiling uncontrollably in the past few hours, something that didn't happen too often.
Ellis babbled on about dancing and preschool and barbies, while Derek nodded and pretended to understand what she was saying. Bailey told him about all the sports he wanted to play, and Derek agreed to sign him up for every last one. And Zola informed him of her school science fair, and Derek told her he couldn't wait to go. They continued with their lunch and ended up watching a movie together on the couch. Meredith got the popcorn from the kitchen, and her heart swelled at the sight of Zola, Bailey, and Ellis curled up beside Derek. She joined them on the couch, and the corny children's movie began to play. Several minutes into the movie, Meredith's phone began ringing. Meredith shuffled in between in the blankets, and found her phone, and saw it was Amelia that was calling. Meredith suddenly remembered that they arranged for the children to go visit their baby cousin. "Dang it." She muttered and chose to ignore Amelia's call, in order to not end the fun they were having as a family
"What's wrong?" Derek whispered
"I was supposed to take the kids to go visit Amelia and the baby."
"Oh..."
"We'll do it another time."
"We can go now, I want to see her... them."
Meredith's smile turned slightly, "Is it bad that I want to keep you all to ourselves?" She asked
Derek chuckled, "No, but we should still go."
"Okay," Meredith sighed, "Kids, we're gonna go see Auntie Amelia."
Ellis shot up with excitement, "And the baby?!"
"And the baby," Meredith affirmed
Ellis jumped off the couch, and tried to pull her brother and sister up, "Let's go!" She exclaimed
Meredith and Derek laughed at her eagerness.
"Is daddy coming too?" Bailey asked
"Yeah, he is, now go put your shoes on," Meredith said
The kids scurried and got their shoes on, while Derek turned off the movie and joined them.
"I'll drive." Meredith offered
"Mer, I can drive."
"No, you just focus on seeing your sister."
"Okay." Derek finally agreed
Meredith took the wheel, and the family of five quickly made their way to Amelia and Link's apartment. Meredith led them all inside the apartment and told them how to act around the baby. They all nodded, and Ellis was jumping up and down in glee as they waited for the elevator. Once the elevator came to the bottom floor, the kids shuffled in, and Meredith and Derek followed. They ended up on opposite sides of the lift, but their eyes immediately connected. Derek observed her eyes thoroughly, for the first time since he had returned. The black of her pupil was encircled by a string of serrated golden fire swallowed by deep green. At first glance, her eyes simply shone, but if you looked close enough, you could clearly see the sadness of heartbreak, the joy of love, the hope of the future, the pain of sorrow, and the flame of a spirit that could go through hell and back without giving up. Once the elevator arrived at the right floor, Derek still hadn't stopped gazing at and admiring Meredith's features. The children rushed out of the elevator and ran to the apartment Meredith told them to go to. Meredith noticed Derek's staring as she was getting off the elevator, and said, "Stop looking at me like that."
He grinned at her, ready to repeat his renowned line, "Like what?" He chuckled
She swatted his arm, "You know what. Now stop, you'll start drooling."
"I'm not going to stop, so you should get used to someone constantly admiring you." He replied
Meredith's cheeks reddened, and Derek took her hand, and she accepted it. She led them both to the apartment and assumed the kids had been let in already.
"Okay, wait here and be quiet," Meredith said to Derek as she was about to ring the doorbell
"Alright." Derek nodded
Meredith rang the doorbell, and Amelia quickly opened the door. "Hey," she said, "I let the kiddos in, and there's someone who really wants to see you."
"I know, and there's someone who really wants to see you," Meredith responded as she gave Derek a quick look
"Oh, who is it?"
"Well," Meredith said as she stepped aside and motioned for Derek, "someone you definitely want to see."
Derek moved in front of the door, so he now stood directly in front of Amelia. At the sight of him, Amelia's jaw slightly dropped and her lip quivered. Her hormones were causing her emotions to fluster, and neither Meredith nor Derek had any idea exactly how she was reacting.
"Amy?" Derek asked as Amelia stood paralyzed in shock
Amelia shook her head, "No." She muttered, "No... How... No..."
"Amelia it's me, it's Derek."
"You... you died... you left me," Amelia whispered as a tear rolled down her face
"Amelia, I didn't leave you, at least I didn't want to."
"It's true." Meredith piped in
"I don't... I just... This doesn't make sense."
"Well, if you let me, I'll explain it all," Derek replied
"Okay, yeah, you need to explain."
Derek gave a quick recap of his life in the past five years, and Amelia was immediately in his arms.
"You stupid bastard," she muttered into his chest, "I thought you died on me."
"Never." Derek murmured as he pressed a kiss to her forehead
"So you're really you?" Amelia asked
"Mhmm, your super awesome big brother."
Amelia play swatted his arm and laughed. "Well, at least not all of the good people in this family are dead."
Derek cringed, "There's mom."
"Yeah, I guess."
Link heard people talking in the front of the apartment and decided to go see what was going on. When approached the foyer, he saw Amelia wrapped in a man's arms, and Meredith grinning from the side.
"She's taken, by me, so you can let go of her now." Link awkwardly said
Derek pulled away, and he, Amelia, and Meredith burst into a laughing fit
"What's going on?" Link asked
Amelia took a moment to stop laughing, and finally responded, "Link, this is my reincarnated brother Derek."
"Reincarnated..." He gulped, "How is that possible?..."
"Well, I was actually never dead." Derek corrected
"Right, well Link meet my non-dead brother, Derek meet my fiance and baby daddy."
Link offered his hand, and Derek shook it. "We'll have to get a drink sometime, I want to know everything about you."
"Mhmm." Link nodded nervously
"Well, we want to go see our nephew," Meredith said in order to fill the awkward silence around them
"Right, let's go see Scout," Amelia says
"Scout?" Derek asks, clearly confused by his nephew's name
"Like Link and Scout," Amelia says
"Right." Derek nods
"Hey Zola, come bring the baby so your parents can see him."
"Okay," Zola replied, and she brought the baby in her arms, her siblings trailing behind her
Zola placed Scout in Meredith's arms, and she gave him an Eskimo kiss. "How's my favorite nephew?" She playfully asked in a high pitched voice
The baby giggled in response and Meredith pressed a kiss to his smooth forehead. She bounced him on her hip and whispered sweet words into his ear.
"Alright Mer, you've had your turn, let me say hello to this little guy." Derek said
"Of course," Meredith replied
She passed the baby along to Derek. "Well hello little guy, I'm your uncle Derek." Derek said in a high voice, once the baby settled into his chest
"You know, I knew your mommy when she was just as small as you." He whispered, "Except she was cranky and pouty, and you're happy smiley, you must get that from your daddy."
Scout laid his head against Derek's chest, and the beating of Derek's heart slowly lulled him to sleep. Soon, the tiny snore of the baby, we heard.
"No fair!" Ellis pouted, "He fell asleep before I could even hold him!"
"Elle, it's okay," Meredith replied, "There will be plenty more times to hold him."
"Okay..." Ellis stubbornly murmured
Derek rocked the baby in his arms, and several minutes later handed him back off to Link. Meredith and the children followed Link to put the baby down, and Derek and Amelia sat down at the small kitchen island.
"I am so proud of you." Derek expressed, "So proud."
Amelia felt her heart clench, and her hormones overpower her, which caused a single tear to roll down her face.
"Amy, I remember when you were just as small as him... and you have grown into an exceptionally extraordinary woman. And all by yourself, you held yourself up when you had to walk through hell and back... and that makes you, that makes you a superhero."
"A freaking superhero," Amelia muttered
"Yeah." Derek smiled, "A freaking superhero."
Scout was laid in his crib, and everyone returned to the kitchen/dining/living room where Derek and Amelia both sat with proud smiles, and unshed tears lining their eyes.
"Derek, I think we should go, the new parents deserve some sleep while their baby is sleeping," Meredith said
"Right, you guys need to sleep," Derek replied and slid a finger under his eyes to remove the tears
"We do." Amelia agreed
"Alright, then we'll head out, come on kids," Meredith said
Meredith and the kids bid their goodbyes to Amelia and Link, and then Derek did. "It was great meeting you Link, I look forward to seeing you again."
"Of course, and it was great to finally meet one of Amelia's nicer siblings."
"Damn, she already tried to feed you to the wolves."
"Yeah." Link chuckled
They shook hands, and Derek turned to Amelia. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and whispered, "Take care now, and get all the sleep you possibly can."
"Okay, love you."
"I love you too Ames."
Derek left the apartment and found his family waiting for the elevator to come. Meanwhile, Amelia and Link were cleaning up bottles and bibs. "So you are eventually going to explain how your brother just showed up out of nowhere, right?"
"Of course, I'll explain everything, but right now I want to freaking sleep."
"Me too." Link said as he gave her a chaste kiss and trailed behind her to their bedroom.
The family of five entered the elevator and unanimously decided to go for a ferryboat ride. They quickly arrived at the docks and took in the astonishing view as a family. Meredith and Derek leaning against the railing, separated by Zola, who was in between them. Ellis found her spot on Derek's shoulders, and she ruffled with his perfect hair as they observed the view. Even though he was much too old to be held, Bailey was nestled in Meredith's arms, and she ran her fingers through his blonde locks. They stood together like that as a family for almost the entire ride. Then Meredith got a phone call from a number form Kansas. She answered the phone, "Hello?" she asked
"Mer?" Came a familiar voice from the other side
"Alex?" Meredith asked shockingly as she recognized who the familiar voice belonged to
"It's me, I'm just a gas station phone."
"Why haven't you called?" Meredith scolded
"I've been kinda tied up..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... in a few days you'll be getting a letter asking you to testify in a court of law for a custody battle."
"What?"
"Mer, Izzie and I are going to court."
"What? I thought you moved in together and everything was good. That's what the letters said."
"Those letters were a load of crap, I didn't even write them."
"So, what's going on?"
"Well, turns out, the letters you got lied. I did call Izzie during your trial, and she asked me to come to Kansas. Then, I met my kids, Eli and Alexis. The reason she wanted me to come was that Eli has heart failure. She was having trouble with everything, and she wanted me to give her money for his treatment. Of course, I gave her all the money, but then she told me to just go home. Now, I've been here, seeing them every day, but she still wants me to leave. I don't want to move to Kansas, and she won't move anywhere else, and let's face it, we don't want to be together, we're horrible for each other. Anyways, now we're going to court over custody, and I'm hoping you'll testify for me."
"Alex... of course, I will. But I'm letting you know that right now I kinda hate you, but I'm willing to forget about that for your trial."
"Mer, I get that you're mad. But divorcing Jo has to do with the custody battle. If I was still married to her, with her past and her baggage, they won't let me have the kids. And my lawyer advised to cut off all ties."
"Why?"
"Because she knew Izzie would bring up the fact that I can be an ass, but if you guys still show up and support me despite the fact I left you all, that makes my image look better."
"Alex..." Meredith condescendingly sighed, "If you won, what would you do?"
"I'd take the kids back to Seattle and try to get Jo back."
"Alex... okay, fine, I'll help you."
"Thank you Mer, thank you."
"You're welcome Evil Spawn, now I gotta go, it's Shepherd family fun time at the park."
"What did you just say?"
"What?"
"You said Shepherd family fun time, I'm your person or whatever, and I know that means something."
Meredith smiled, and Alex could feel it through the ratty gas station phone. "Well?" He asked
"Derek's back," Meredith stated
"Wait what?" Alex shouted into the phone
"He was... he was never dead. He was threatened in D.C., and just got back."
"And you believe him? That he didn't just run off with some little slut and then decide to just come back to his family."
"Alex, of course, I do. And even if he wanted to leave me, he could never leave the kids, not voluntarily."
"Okay... well, maybe things are starting to look up for you and me."
"Maybe they are." Meredith smiled
That's the thing about love, in all its darkness and gloom, there's still always something to hold onto, and it makes you think anything is possible.