Subtle Relations
by Caged Sparkle
Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing Canadian Television show, Life With Derek or the dynamic characters that call the show home.
Summary: Will Casey realize the not so subtle hints Derek sprouted? Does absence truly make the heart grow fonder? Derek returns home after a failed marriage and hockey career. Naturally, drama ensues in the Macdonald - Venturi home.
Chapter Two
Defeated, embarrassed, and ashamed was what Derek felt like as he parked his black SUV in the driveway of his childhood home. Defeated and embarrassed that his marriage and professional hockey career had ended. Ashamed that he hadn't stepped foot in this town since he had left for Vancouver at the age of eighteen. Ashamed that he hadn't consistently kept in touch with the people that truly mattered to him.
He had kept in touch through phone calls, text messages, emails, and instant messaging but it wasn't the same as a face to face conversation. Edwin had lived with him for a few months a few years ago and they talked practically everyday. Marti visited him and his now estranged wife often but the rest of his family never visited him at home.
His father, George, came to every one of his hockey games in the province of Ontario. Nora, a woman he often considered a mother, he had only seen a handful of times since he had left. It was as if she were avoiding him.
Casey, damn infuriating Casey. He could count on one hand how many times he had physically seen her. They only exchanged pleasantries through the mail three times a year; her birthday, his birthday, and Christmas.
He often wondered how she was and whether or not she was happy. When he was a senior in college, he had seen her picture and an article about her, an up and coming model named Cassandra, in a fashion magazine of his then girlfriend and now estranged wife, Leigh Anna.
He would never forget that article. It was on page 72 through 77. The second page was a face shot of her. Her blue eyes were so full of happiness and life, much different from the blue eyes he had looked into before he had walked away from her the morning after graduation.
Then there was in the interview the Vancouver Sun printed announcing her abrupt retirement from the modeling industry he would never forget. The interview was printed three months after he had last seen her. Three months after he had royally screwed her over, four years ago
He shook his head to shake the memories and regrets from his mind and plastered a smile upon his lips. He hadn't heard the minivan park behind his SUV but he did hear boisterous giggles and calls of nana.
He turned and saw the deep burgundy minivan. Nora was retrieving something or rather someone from one of the backseats. His smile faltered a second after Nora stood up and placed a child on her hip.
He couldn't believe it. A bitter taste formed in his mouth. His father never ever mentioned that he and Nora had had a child. Not once.
What else had he missed in the past ten years?
Authors Note Thank you so much for your interest in this fic and all feedback you've sent. I realize this was short but I feel I have to set the story up before the long chapters come out.