Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, nor anything connected to it. Fact.

Chapter 1

Casey was sat at the kitchen table, her studies aided by the feeling of satisfaction gained by the organised fashion in which her books and stationary were laid out around her. Such order could only exist without the presence of family members, presently an additional cause for satisfaction. It wasn't long before the peace was disturbed, as a parade comprising of the other family members rushed through the door, tripping over shoes, bags and each other in their eagerness to find shelter from the Canadian winter.

"That was amazing. Did you guys see all those college scouts desperate to give me scholarships?" boasted Derek, his claim meeting an enthusiastic chorus of agreement.

"You'll need to get through your exams in order for it to be worth anything," countered Casey, which was met by a snort of derision from Derek.

"You're studying already? But we're only just learning the stuff. How can you revise it? Only a loser like you could be such a keener," yelled Derek, from behind the door of the fridge that he was currently raiding.

Derek sat a plate of leftovers on top of one of Casey's work sheets. She knocked it off the table, and rubbed at the mark it had left on her algebra. Derek's full mouth of food stopped him from complaining as he dropped to the floor, and began to eat the food that had not fallen off the plate.

"I think you might be the most disgusting person I have ever met," spat Casey, not lifting her eyes to see what he was doing.

"That's not very nice. Might be? Why don't you wait until you know for sure, and then tell me? No good saying something mean until you're sure it's true," baited Derek.

This sent Marti, already hyper from the game, into a fit of giggles. Derek instructed Edwin to clean up the mess, and then joined Marti in the sitting room, where he sat her on his knee to watch television. He quietly stroked Marti's back until she fell asleep.

Later that night, once all of their respective children had followed Marti's example, George and Nora sat in bed. Nora was reading a novel, for the recently reformed neighbourhood reading circle, and George was studying case papers, for a wilful negligence and wrongful dismissal case a local man was bringing against a previous employer. He bit his lip and muttered to himself, obviously deep in thought.

"Is everything ok?" asked Nora, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Some of the stuff I've been uncovering for this case doesn't sit right. I'm sure it'll turn out to be nothing though," said George, putting his papers on the bedside table. Nora, knowing this was as much information as he was likely to divulge, changed the subject.

"I've been thinking, Georgie, it feels like the end of an era," pondered Nora, talking to herself as much as her husband. "Our oldest children will be flying the nest soon. It just feels like one of those moments when things will never be the same again. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yep. It'll be quieter," George only half joked, switching off the bedside light.

Time seemed to alter as final exams crept up on Derek, whilst allowing adequate time for Casey to work herself into a fury. Derek found himself driving to the final exam of their school days, with Casey sat in the passenger seat, studying a textbook, and muttering French vocabulary to herself, unknowingly causing great irritation to Derek.

"Why isn't Max giving you a lift", enquired Derek casually, mainly with the intention of stopping her moving onto the irregular past tense.

"We broke up…" murmured Casey, seemingly nonchalant. Derek looked over at Casey to make sure he wasn't hearing things "…three weeks ago," taking his eyes off the road for a second, Derek failed to notice the car swerving into the opposite lane. "I had to prioritise my studies," continued Casey, as a blast from the horn of an annoyed motorist brought Derek's attention back to the road. "I didn't want to be distracted by Max drama," finished Casey. Derek overcompensated trying to get back into the right lane, and drove head on into a tree. The jolt finally brought Casey's nose out of her book. Whilst Derek was still catching his breath, apparently Casey had already caught hers.

"Derek! What on earth?"

"Your lack of drama was so un-Casey-like, I had to do something to make up for it," said Derek, swiftly getting out of the car to examine the damage, and avoid the ear bashing Casey seemed intent on.

"I guess the Prince has abdicated."

Nora pulled up to the curb, and George got into the car. He had barely touched the seat when Nora spoke up, "Don't panic but… Derek and Casey had a little bump….in the Prince…"

"What does that mean? They're fine though?" rushed George and Nora nodded. "Is the car…" realising that she had already assuaged his concern for his first born and step-daughter, Nora interrupted his tirade to bring the focus back to their children. The more he was aware of their close scrape, the less likely it was that he would be upset about the scrapes to the Prince. It was a fine balance, she didn't want to make too much of what had happened either.

"They drove into a tree. The kids are fine, the car is at the garage, and the tree will make a full recovery. They dealt with it perfectly, they called the car rescue place, then called me, and I got them to their exam just on time. I got a text from Casey half an hour ago. Apparently she freaked in the exam…" Nora gave a half smile, seeing that George had calmed down.

"Just like in all of the others," finished George.

"Just like in all of the others. She said she's glad it's over though. I figure if she's composed enough to rationalise then it didn't go too badly," conceded Nora, letting the car fall into silence.

"My client died," said George suddenly, his tone suggesting that was only the start of the problem.

"Oh," breathed Nora, letting him know that he had her full attention.

"He supposedly fell out of a fifth storey window. The police have branded it suspicious and I agree. Things just didn't add up with his employer… or maybe I just didn't like the answers. I should have done something…" mulled George, and continued before Nora could say anything to try to ease his guilt. "That guy had a wife and children. I know I have to go forward with what I've seen. I know what I have to do, I just don't want to do it,"

"Mm-hm," Nora tried to process the information. It was evident that it had been weighing heavily on George's mind.

"I thought you ought to know… the fallout might impact on all of us" admitted George, finally finding the courage to look at Nora for her reaction.

"I knew you had principles when I married you. More than that, it was partly why I married you, and it's not going to be a reason for me to leave," Nora assured him and pulled into the drive.

Authors note: I don't think this is a premise I've ever seen in relation to Life with Derek before but I've tried to keep the story fairly contained because this is my first ever fanfic. If anyone fancies taking the concept in a different direction in their own fanfic, feel free. Also if anyone is up for betaing please let me know. Thanks.