You and Me

Chapter 10

Perspective: Derek

I would not go down for this. I wasn't going to spend my whole day repairing my relationship with Zola just to have another bad relationship come home and ruin my happy moment. I needed to think of something fast. Luckily for me, all I had to do was make the women I love happy. I knew just about everything about her; her favorite time of day, what she ordered at the pasta place across the street, and just about all of her childhood memories. Basically, I needed to do something mushy, but not too mushy.

Great.

I sat on the couch and thought. The only thing that I could think about was how Meredith had done something so sweet to tell me about the new baby. I wanted to top that, but I couldn't think of anything.

The one memory I kept playing over in my mind, the one thing. Her face; her ocean blue eyes, her strands of beautiful hair bouncing with joy when she saw the expression on my face when I realized we were having another one. God, I loved her and the kids so much... but now, now we were having another one.

There was the lightbulb.

Perspective: Meredith

I longed to do anything other than go home. I didn't want to have to deal with Derek, or ignoring him. Maybe I could sleep in an On-Call room.
I figured it was worth a shot, since it was only a half an hour before I would have to head home. Cautiously, I walked into the room, to find something, well, unappealing.

"What!?" Owen looked up at me in surprise. I laughed at the sight of him and Amelia "getting it on".

"Please, can you leave?" Amelia asked, impatiently.

"On my way out right now," I said, laughing between each breath.

It looked like I would have to go back to my deserted house on the hill, just to deal with Derek and Zola. I could try to work it out with Derek, I really did not have the patience for any of the drama. For God's sake, I just walked in on Owen and Amelia "doing it". Maybe when I got home we could pretend like nothing happened. I laughed out loud at this thought. The work was never done.

Perspective: Derek

It was so simple. Like a switch had been flipped and I could see the answer clearly. Right in front of me, this whole time, literally. All I needed was the Post-It. Our vows to each other written down on this one, blue square of paper would remind Meredith, it would have to.

But I had to do more than just show it to her, I had to make it

special. That was exactly what I would do, remind her of what was really important; us, Meredith and Derek, and our new child.

I only had a little bit of time until she would be home, so I had to be quick. I walked over to the bed where it hung; the small frame. It was cracked and a large piece of the glass was missing the top corner. I carefully picked it up from the nail in the wall and hurried to my car. The lights came on and I climbed into the driver's seat. I took a deep breath, this being the first time I had driven since the accident.

Do it for Meredith.

I turned the key in the ignition as the engine started to vibrate the car. Ever so gently, I pressed my foot on the gas pedal.

1 inch.

Another inch.

Stop.

I wasn't sure if I could do it. I hadn't even gone a foot out of my garage. My hands trembled on the steering wheel as I pressed my foot on the pedal once again. I gulped as the car slowly, but surely exited the garage. I eventually relaxed as I began to gain speed down the highway.

Moments later I arrived at the baby store. Although I looked a little odd walking in alone, I had no doubt that this was the perfect plan.

"Excuse me, miss?" I asked a assistant at the store.

"How can I help, sir? Are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked, tentatively.

"Actually yes," I started.

"What are you looking for today?" the women inquired.

"I was wondering," I must have sounded crazy. "If you could make sure no one bought a crib while I was gone. Or stole what I am planning on put in it." The worker looked puzzled, until I explained my situation.

"I suppose I could watch it, but only for a few minutes. For that period of time, I promise to guard it with my life," she said jokingly. After thanking her profusely, I picked out a gender neutral crib. I gently placed the picture frame down inside the bed and quickly left. I had a good feeling about this plan.

Perspective: Meredith

I cringed as I pulled in my garage; I'm such a good wife. As much as I wanted to avoid this conversation, I knew it needed to happen. Life would be normal again; Zola and Derek would get along, I wouldn't have to ignore him.

Slowly, I pulled open the door that led into the kitchen.

"Hi," I whispered. Zola was asleep in her room, the same for Bailey. The nanny had gone to her room, so Derek and I were the only ones up.

"Hey," he said, as if he wasn't feeling awkward at all. "I have a surprise for you," he said, a little more cautiously this time. Unsure, of how to respond, I stood in silence for a few seconds before responding.

"Ok." Only for a moment it was motionless, until he got up and picked up a bandana from the counter. He walked over to me, and looked at me in the eyes.

"You are so beautiful, you know," he said, while he wrapped the bandana around my head in a way so that I couldn't see. A smiled a little, but didn't say a word.

A few minutes later, I recognized the sound of the engine running in the car.

"Derek, you're driving," I told him, even though it was obvious. I was shocked that he cared so much about this surprise that he would get behind the wheel so soon after his accident.

"I know, relax. I'm ok." He sounded confident in his words, although I could tell deep down that he was worried. Through all the fights, we were still Meredith and Derek.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood of the car.

"I can't tell you!" he started playfully. "It's a surprise!" We both laughed for a second even though there was nothing funny about what he had just said.

The car jerked to a stop as Derek put the car in park. All I could hear was him opening his door. A moment later, he came around and grabbed my hand, leading me into a building.

He lead me through an obstacle of items, holding onto my hand tight, but not too strong.

"We're here," he whispered to me. Carefully, he removed my blindfold. It took me a moment before realizing where we were; the baby store. Standing before me was a beautifully crafted crib, with a small frame laying down at the bottom of it. I reached in gradually and picked up our vows, reading them in my head.

Love each other, even when we hate each other.

No running.

Take care when old, senile, and smelly.

And it's forever.

I turned and looked at Derek. His eyes seemed to interlock with mine for just a moment, before I started crying.

To be continued...

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