Faster car

62

Derek wasn't sure why but he hadn't expected to be bringing Cole home this soon. It was silly, he knew from his sister's pregnancies that unless something went wrong they didn't keep you more than two days, but he still hadn't been expecting this. It felt like they had just left the house and now they were back but in the short amount of time everything had changed.

When they had left the house, there had been an empty car seat, but that had been the only thing that suggested a baby. There hadn't been the diaper bag the hospital had given them resting on the seat, or the flowers or toys or the balloons that told everyone they had had a boy. Their lives had been normal. But now, Cole was curled up in his car seat, Meredith sitting in the back next to him.

Cole apparently liked driving in the car, he was being entirely silent, his wide blue eyes still taking in everything around him. Of course since Cole had come, Derek hadn't actually heard him scream all that much. And when he did it was quick to quiet him down. Which made Derek really hope that this pattern would continue once they got home and their baby was just a happy baby. Everyone had told him not to bank on it, that he had probably screamed enough in the nursery, but Derek wasn't sure. He got the sense that Cole was a very zen baby, that he was too curious about things to really spend a lot of time freaking out. He just liked to watch everything, like he was trying to figure out where the hell he was and what had happened to his cosy home inside Mommy.

Derek couldn't begin to imagine what Cole must be thinking of his very short life and how hectic it had felt. Of course now they were going home where he knew people would be stopping by. A few of the other drivers had already texted him saying they'd swing by and Meredith's friends from work would probably want to come. It would be crazy at home. But good.

Of course, he had reminded the other drivers to give it some time, but most of them were planning on coming out before Miller in a little over a week. They couldn't wait to see the new Shepherd kid, and some of them had even joked that they need to prep their kids for a racing dynasty. It always made Derek smile. His sport was damn family friendly, and he couldn't wait to get his kid out there. He knew it would probably be at least a few years before Meredith let Cole anywhere near a track but he was at least hoping that in a few months when Cole really started taking everything in Meredith would let him bring him out on a quiet day. The family could make the trip to Barber maybe, and on Thursday he could bring Cole out to see the track when it was empty. There was always work too. He could always sneak Cole out to the driving school, let him take in some of the noises and the cars and everything. He had already found a cute pair of headphones that would block out the scary noises, and he knew Cole would enjoy it. He grinned as he looked in the rearview mirror, at the car seat that had race cars on it. His son was destined to race.

"Everything okay back there?" he asked.

"He's sleeping," Meredith murmured softly.

"Oh good."

"I told him I'm sorry I'm such boring company," she giggled quietly.

"Putting our son to sleep," he laughed.

"I didn't thought," she shook her head. "He's had a really busy morning."

"He did."

"But that's okay, because he's completely healthy and ready to go home," she smiled softly.

"He is," Derek smiled. "He's all ours now."

"No one gets to take him away from us."

"Definitely not."

"All ours," she breathed happily.

"Hmmm..." he nodded. "And we're nearly home."

"Good."