Author's Note: Takes place five months after the series finale. Ivy is six months pregnant and Karen is working on a movie that is shooting in NY with Derek directing.
Ivy Lynn sat up in her bed at around three am, holding a book on her baby bump and checking off possible baby names in her head. Derek was sound asleep next to her and snoring loudly, part of the reason she was awake. She couldn't really blame him though, he was working extra long hours and doing night shoots for his first movie. Ivy couldn't have been more thrilled for him until he told her who his leading lady was.
Karen Cartwright was the bane of Ivy's existence. No matter what she did or how much a head in life Ivy got, Karen was always right on her coat tails ready to one-up her. First with Marilyn, then with the Tony's, now with Derek's attention. Ivy knew Derek loved her, especially since she told him that she was pregnant. After breaking the news, Derek couldn't help but smile as big as his face would let him. His joy radiated from him and Ivy had let out a breath of sheer relief. He was taking responsibility and wasn't moping about it. He really did want this, her, their child.
Speaking of, Ivy felt a little kick against her tummy and smiled wide, resting her hand a top her rounded stomach. The kicking persisted and she winced a bit at the slight discomfort.
"Hey, little miss, calm down in there," she muttered, rubbing her belly. The kicking immediately stopped and Ivy grinned again, leaning back against the pillows after setting her book on the nightstand.
"What's going on?" Derek asked, lifted his head from his pillow. His eyes were half closed and his hair was even more crazy than usual. "Everything okay?"
Ivy reached out and ran a hand through his hair calmly. "Sssh, everything's fine," she said quietly.
"Why are you awake?" He sat up next to her, knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep if she wasn't okay.
"I just couldn't sleep is all," she explained. "The baby woke me up with her incessant kicking and then I had to pee and I figured since I was already up that I might as well look through the baby names book." She looked over at him and took in his frown. "Plus a certain someone was snoring in my ear."
Derek reached over and placed a arm around her hips, resting his head on her belly while Ivy gently played with his hair. "I'm sorry, love," he said. "These filming hours are killing me. You know I usually don't snore."
"I know, baby, it's okay," she told him.
Derek suddenly lifted his head off her tummy and placed his hand on his cheek. "Whoah," he laughed. "She's a little rowdy tonight, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is," Ivy giggled, once again rubbing her stomach. Derek watched her for a moment and Ivy frowned at him. "What?"
"I just love when you do that," he told her.
"Do what?"
"When you rub your belly."
She rolled her eyes at him, but said nothing.
"You look radiant, darling, especially when you do that."
She scoffed. "Please, I'm fat, my boobs hurt and my feet have swelled twice their size. I'm far from radiant."
Derek leaned up and placed a few kisses along her neck and chest. "Well, I think you're absolutely gorgeous."
"You just want to get laid."
"Hey, can't a guy compliment the mother of his child without any hidden agenda relating to sex?"
"So you're telling me that you don't want to have sex right now?" she raised her eye brow at him and he smirked.
"I didn't say that."
Ivy couldn't help but let out a laugh and Derek joined in, chuckling quietly from on top of her. He rest his head against her belly again and Ivy sighed in contentment. "What do you think of the name Meredith?"
"That's my mother's name."
"I know."
Derek lifted his head and stared at her a moment. "Why?"
Ivy shrugged. "I think it's pretty."
"Yes, well," he buried his face in her cleavage," unfortunately our daughter's name my mother wasn't the greatest of people to be around and no matter how pretty the name, the personality didn't suit well."
"Good to know," Ivy giggled. The room was silent for another moment when Derek suddenly popped up.
"I like Grace."
Furrowing her brow, Ivy frowned. "Where did that come from?"
Derek shook his head. "I've always wanted to name my daughter Grace. Ever since I saw High Society with Grace Kelly when I was about fifteen years old I just could never get the name out of my head."
Ivy bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. "Gracie Leigh Wills," she paused for a moment and then smiled. "I love it."
"So will your mother," Derek raised his eyebrow at her and she smacked his shoulder.
"Hey, I owe her something. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be in musical theater or even here with you at the moment. She's been singing to me since I was conceived and showed me the business."
"I know, I heard your acceptance speech."
She smacked him again and he laughed while she grinned. Derek leaned up and kissed her gently on the mouth and Ivy wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss quickly became deeper, but was suddenly interrupted by Derek's alarm going off on his phone, signalling 430 am.
"Nooo, I thought you weren't need on set until 7:30." Ivy complained with a pout.
"Yeah, but I've got to shower and review the script. Plus we're filming in Connecticut this morning for some montage filler scenes so it's a bit of a drive, especially in traffic," he explained as he got out of bed.
"What time will you be back in New York?" she asked.
"Around noon. We're gonna break for about two hours for lunch and then shoot some scenes downtown."
"I'll come visit you," she told him, kicking her feet out of the bed. Derek immediately rushed over to help her up, but she smacked him away. "Let me do it!" she exclaimed and he chuckled, holding his arms up and watching as she struggled to stand. "Goddamnit," she muttered. "Help me, jackass!"
Derek laughed again and grabbed her hands and pulled gently, holding on until he felt that she was stable enough to stand on her own.
"Absolutely useless," she muttered as she waddled past him.
"You told me you wanted to do it on your own!" he defended himself.
"Shut up, I have to pee!"
Okayyy, end chapter one! I only have two chapters planned out in my head, so who knows how long this will be.