Who Would Have Thought

Chapter 35

Derek wasn't sure what woke him up, the rain falling against the doors of the balcony or the giggling outside his bedroom door, though he was pretty sure it was the giggling. The giggling that sounded so much like Meredith's, light and airy and...perfect. He pulled his wife closer to him, burying his nose in her wild waves as he took a deep breath, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

Nine years. Nine years of pure and complete bliss. In a few months it would be ten, ten years of bliss. Or maybe not complete bliss. There was screaming matches, there was days full of not wanting to talk to each other, of not wanting to be around each other. But it was slowly approaching ten years of waking up every morning with her wrapped around him, the same smell filling the air.

He still couldn't believe this was his absolute favorite way to wake up, still couldn't believe that after ten years, he couldn't think of a better way to wake up every morning. Through out their screaming matches, through out her teasing and mocking, through out both of her pregnancies, this was the one way he wanted to wake up every morning.

He was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to still feel like this. At least that's what his brother in laws had told him a million times, that eventually this would fade and life would turn into a boring normalcy. Except it wasn't. Waking up beside her every morning was still as magical as it had been the day the house had been finished and they moved in. It hadn't changed at all.

Or it had. When they had moved in, it had just been the two of them, cuddled up against each other every night, their naked bodies shining in sweat. Now, he couldn't remember the last time they had slept naked. Not when the two gigglers outside the room now believed it was their right to come into their parents room every morning, laughing and screaming for breakfast.

Not that he was about to complain about their children. Or at least he wasn't going to complain too loudly about them. He did kind of love them. According to Meredith he was actually kind of crazy about them, but Meredith definitely had a biased opinion as her world revolved around them. Their world revolved around their tiny family living in their big house on the cliff.

"Danny, open door!" Ella's insistent little voice said loudly, causing Meredith to shift only slightly in his arms.

Meredith had been exhausted the night before. She had been stuck in a long surgery and Danny hadn't been able to sleep. When they finally gotten in bed Meredith had been too tired to think about anything but collapsing. Which was rare. And he didn't want them to wake her up. Not yet. "Guys, hold on, I'm coming," he called softly towards the door.

"Daddy's coming," Danny told his sister firmly and Derek shook his head. Danny was the perfect big brother, slightly bossy, completely annoying, but perfectly protective of his little sister. No one was allowed to mess with her. If anyone even looked at her the wrong way, Danny was there to deal with it before Ella could even think about bursting into tears.

"Mommy's still asleep, guys so we have to be quiet," Derek smiled as he opened the door a crack, and was immediately met by two widely smiling faces.

"Morning, Daddy," Ella giggled, trying to squeeze through the small crack.

"Morning Ella," Derek grinned. "Morning Danny."

"Morning, Dad," Danny grinned. Meredith's grin. His son definitely had Meredith's grin.

"You guys are up early today," he sighed, reaching down to ruffle his daughter's curls.

"Ella woke me up," Danny frowned slightly.

"Oh she did?"

"Nuh uh," Ella shook her dark head. "Danny wakeded up by self."

"Was it because someone was jumping on his bed?" Derek asked.