A Broken Love

Chapter 6: Forethought

"If they really love you, their feelings won't change no matter how many people you meet."

"Derek wait." Meredith tugs on the sleeve of his coat.
"Yeah." He stops moving and turns around.
She pulls him back into the on-call room and shuts the door.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She says, gently stroking his cheek with her thumb.
"Thanks but that doesn't help me at all." He nods as he takes her hand off his cheek.

"Please... just tell me how I can help." She asks.
"I'm fine Meredith." He nods.
"You're about to start crying." She says quietly, biting her lip.
"Everything I said a month ago still applies today." He sighs.
"It does?" She asks feeling guilty.
"If I had a choice... I'd choose you. Always. And uhm... seeing you with him is... it's torture." He looks up to her eyes and nods.

She shakes her head and lets her fingers find his.
"We could have had this but-" She starts.
"But I was too late." He clicks his teeth and sucks in the air before wiping his eyes and ruffling his own hair.
She pulls him in and lets his head bury in her neck while she rubs his back slowly. He takes a sharp breath and pulls away.
"Uhm... I wanted to ask you something." He shakes the last conversation out of their head.
"Yeah?" She asks letting go of his fingers.
"Do you want to be a godmother?" He chuckles nervously.
"A what?!" She asks, dumbfounded.
"A godmother." He says elongated.
"Derek. I'm not a mother figure." She says.
"You are. You're smart, kind, responsible, compassionate, driven and you can save lives." He says.
She looks at him for a long time and then nods.
"Fine, but don't go and die on me okay?" She asks, defensively.
"Yes ma'am." He nods, his mood shifted yet again.
"I'm going to be the fun godmother. Your kid will like me more than you." She brags, making his heart flutter.
"Fun godmother huh? That's a first time for anything."

Billing (the basement)

"Addie, hey... long time no see," Mark says as he hands a check to a secretary in the basement.
"Mark, what are you still doing here?" She rolls her eyes.
"Haven't you heard? I'm dating Meredith Grey." He smiles.
"You are aware that she is about 2 decades younger than you right?" Addison asks.
"Yes, I know but I love her." He smiles.
"That's good." She says, biting her lip to hold back a slight tinge of jealousy in her veins.

"Yeah..." His tongue has moved along the inside of his teeth, trying to shake away the entrancing effect.
"What about the shares on the practice back in New York?" She asks as she signs a piece of paper.
"I'm thinking about selling them... maybe to Sam, I know he wants them. Anyways, how is the baby?" He asks.
"It developing abnormally fast but they say that it's fine." She says as she scribbles words on a chart.
"Good. That's good." Mark replies, feeling angry that she decided to abort his baby but have Derek's.

"Hey, I was thinking... since I got in the way of you being a father last time, maybe you wanted to be a godfather to the baby. I've already talked to Derek about it and he says it's okay." She nods.
"Who's the godmother?"
"You're girlfriend." She raises her eyebrows and he nods.
"I'd love to." He smiles.
Pulling her in for a hug, he feels her baby bump slightly and tries not to squeeze her too tight.

1 week later: Meredith's Birthday Surgery

"Ready for this Dr. Grey?" Derek asks, next to her.
"Yes." She chimes in confidently.
"Well, it's a beautiful day to save lives, let's have some fun." He announces making everyone smile and laugh.
"Dr. Grey, this is your big break. You ace this and nobody will be questioning you when you walk through the halls." He says.
He watches her look up at the gallery and sees Mark smiling wide and proud. A light wave of jealousy washes through Derek as the corners of Meredith's eyes crinkle. He shakes it off and cuts. The OR goes silent, and everyone cheers once the skull flap is removed. Derek steps back and Meredith swiftly places a biodegradable cotton pad on the tumor. Everyone holds their breaths and she looks at the intimidating tumor.
"You got this. I believe in you." Derek whispers.
She nods and cuts with impeccable precision before pulls out a large white blob. Derek is first to start clapping and everyone follows closely behind.