So, this is a little piece that popped into my head. My life is currently in limbo so this was my effort to procrastinate and relieve stress. On a completely unrelated note, has anyone seen "She done him wrong" featuring Mae West? It's a classic I recently purchased; I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: I do not own or have any claim to anything affiliated with Grey's Anatomy...except for my DVDs...and soundtracks...and calendar...
"Daddy!"
Derek Shepherd groaned as he rolled over in bed. He didn't even have to look at the clock to know that it was way too early to hear that little voice. He extended his hand to the left and frowned when it fell flat onto the cold sheets. He looked over to see her side of the bed completely undisturbed; not even the pillow was indented. He sighed and shifted onto his back pulling the comforter above his head, trying to find a few minutes of peace.
"Daddy?!"
The voice was getting closer. He figured he had maybe a few seconds left before-
"Umph," he grunted as a weight dropped onto his chest. "Daddy!!" He groaned as the covers were yanked away from his face. "Daddy!" He kept his eyes stubbornly closed. "Daaaaaaad-dyyyy!!" she drew out, shaking his shoulders a bit. "Daddy, you hafta get up!!" Derek cracked one eye open then shifted quickly, causing his daughter to topple before he began attacking her stomach, her peals of laughter bringing a smile to his face. She had her mother's laugh.
"Daddy! Daddy stop, I can't bweathe!" She squealed.
Derek relented and leaned back, staring into his daughter's blue-green eyes. She had her mother's eyes and nose and her silky red hair, but that was his smile grinning back at him. At three years old Simone Shepherd was already quite a beauty; Derek made a mental note to purchase a gun for her teenage years. "Good morning, Munchkin."
"Good morning, Daddy."
"Are you hungry?" She nodded. "What do you want for breakfast?"
She thought hard for a moment. "Mmm, I want pan-a-cakes!" she responded brightly.
Derek chuckled lightly, "Alright, I'll fix you some pancakes. Go get washed up and brush your teeth."
"Okay," Simone replied, bouncing off the bed and rushing off to her bathroom.
Derek shook his head at her as he pushed himself up from the bed. He smiled softly as he thought back to the day he found out he was going to be a father.
"Lucy, I'm home!!" He grinned; it was a long-running joke in their marriage. He never got tired of it and she just smirked and rolled her eyes.
"I'll be with you in a minute, dear." Her voice floated down the stairs. He hung up his coat, set his briefcase near the door and his shoes near the stairs before collapsing on the couch in the den and flicking on the TV. Five minutes later he was engrossed in the football game when he heard her footsteps on the stairs. He looked up and saw her pad into the room wearing a pair of green silky lounge pants and black tank top. "Hey, babe," she said, greeting him with a quick kiss on the cheek. She moved to pull away, but he grabbed her around the waist causing her to fall on top of him. Derek then kissed her properly, his hands creeping beneath her top making her giggle. "Derek! Derek, stop," she laughed, pushing him away.
"What?" he asked, looking up at her innocently.
"How about some conversation first?"
He gave a long-suffering sigh, "If you insist."
She rolled her eyes, "How was your day?"
"Great. And getting better by the minute," he said, slipping his hand into her pants.
"Derek!" She squirmed on his lap. "Are you hungry?"
"Famished," he replied with a wicked grin, his hand moving lower.
"I meant for food," she protested as he flipped her over.
"I didn't," he whispered as his lips descended on hers.
Two hours later, Addison walked into the room carrying their reheated plates. Derek's gaze travelled appreciatively over her form encased only in his dress shirt. "Dinner is served," she paused, "although I suppose at this point it's more like a midnight snack."
He glanced at the plates which contained baby back ribs, baby corn, and baby carrots. He cocked an eyebrow, "Interesting combination."
She shrugged, "I was going for a theme."
He glanced back at the plate and frowned, "Most colorful?"
She smirked, "No."
"Tiny foods?"
"Getting warmer." He continued to frown. She hid her smile, "Think of the names of the foods."
"I don't see a connection between ribs, carrots, and corn."
She sighed, "And you call yourself a neurosurgeon." She glanced at the clock. "Well, it's after midnight so I guess I can give you this." She leaned over and opened the end table drawer and handed him an envelope.
"What's this?"
She shrugged, "Open it."
He slipped his finger beneath the flap and ripped it open and pulled out the card. The front of it showed a bear in a boat fishing with his little cub. It read: To the world's Best Dad… He opened the card. Happy Father's Day! He looked up at her, "Seriously?"
She smiled, "Happy Father's Day, Derek."
Derek shook himself out of his memories as he heard little feet running down the stairs. "Hey, slow down!" he called as she slid into the kitchen. He flipped the last pancake onto the stack. "Ready to eat?"
She nodded and held up her hands. Derek picked her up and sat her in her booster seat at the table. He cut up her pancake and set it in front of her along with bacon, fresh fruit, and orange juice. "Thank you, Daddy."
He smiled, "You're welcome, Munchkin." He watched her eat. Munchkin wasn't his original nickname for her. He had always dreamed of calling his daughter "Princess," but Addison wouldn't hear of it. They'd argued about it during her pregnancy.
"You are not calling our child Princess, Derek." They were lying on the couch watching the Wizard of Oz; her head was in Derek's lap and he was scratching her scalp.
"Why not? I think it's cute."
"We are not raising a spoiled little girl. I want her to be strong and independent and not feel like she has to wait for Prince Charming to come and rescue her."
"Didn't your father call you Princess?"
"Even more reason not too."
"Well, what do you have in mind?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know." She glanced back towards the television just in time to see the Lollipop Guild's performance, and giggled as she always did. She watched the ballerinas of the Lullaby League dance and her eyes softened. "What about munchkin?"
"Munchkin, huh? I don't know." He moved his hand down to the swell of her abdomen. "What do you think little one? Are you a munchkin?" They both laughed as he felt the strong kick against his hand. "Munchkin it is, then."
"All done, Daddy."
Derek snapped back to the present and looked over at his daughter, suppressing a chuckle. She had syrup all over her face and down the front of her pajamas. He walked over and lifted her from her booster seat. "C'mon, little one. Let's get you cleaned up."
"Then we go see Mommy?"
He nodded, "Then we'll go to see Mommy."
She grinned, her blue-green eyes sparkling, "Can I take the picture I made for her?"
Derek smiled and again nodded, "I think that she'd like that." He walked up to her bathroom and stripped of the sticky, syrup covered pajamas and washed her up. He then dressed her in her favorite Tinkerbell short set and brushed her long red hair into two ponytails. He smirked as he remembered the first time he tried to do her hair. It was an absolute disaster. Luckily, Adele took pity on the poor child and walked him through it, all the while chuckling under her breath how a neurosurgeon couldn't make a straight part. When he was done she settled her in front of the TV to watch Sesame Street, while he got dressed.
As he walked back down the hall to her room he could hear her singing. He leaned on the door jam as he watched her sing along with Cookie Monster and dance around the room. She giggled and danced like no one was watching, her red hair twirling about behind her. Derek swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut, running a hand across his face.
"Daddy?" He looked down into his daughter's bright eyes. "Daddy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart. Why don't we stop and get Mommy some flowers?"
"Yea, we should get her the pretty red ones. The orch-lids."
"They're called orchids, sweetie."
"Yea, those."
He smiled, "Okay, let's go." He picked up the three-year old and carried her down to the Range Rover, strapping her in tightly. They drove to the florist to pick up the orchids and continued on their way. Derek looked in the rearview as he pulled into the parking lot and saw that Simone was fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her yet, he sat there and stared straight ahead.
"Derek? Derek, I've got to go in."
"Hmm? What?" He yawned as he rolled over. "Where are you going?"
"I've got to go to the hospital."
He sat up, suddenly wide awake. "What is it? Is it the baby? Is it time? She's early!! She can't-"
"Baby, calm down." Addison laughed, cutting him off. "I am fine. Simone is fine. I just got called in. My triplets case just went into labor."
"Oh," he breathed, his heart rate slowly returning to normal. "But, you're not on call."
'I know, but Neela is special to me. This has been a difficult pregnancy for her and I promised that if at all possible I would deliver her babies."
"But you're on maternity leave."
"No, technically my leave starts tomorrow at eight am." She slowly rolls out of bed. "Besides this is my last delivery for at least the next six months, there's no way I'm going to miss this and there's nothing you can say to stop me."
He chuckles as he rolls out of bed and begins pulling on his pants. "I wouldn't dream of it."
She glances over at him. "What are you doing?"
"Getting dressed."
"Why?"
"So, I can drive you in."
"Why?"
"Because I would prefer not to wander about my place of employment in my pajamas," he yawned.
"No."
"What?"
"No," she repeated shaking her head. "No, you're not driving me in."
"Addie-"
"No, Derek." She gently, but firmly pushed him back onto the bed. "You just worked a forty-eight hour shift. The only thing that you are going to do is go back to sleep."
"But, it's late-"
"Shh." She placed her finger to his lips. "No arguing with the pregnant lady. Go to sleep. I'll be back before you wake up."
Fifty-five minutes later, Derek was awoken by the shrill ring of the phone. He blindly groped for it and then put it to his ear. "Derek Shepherd."
"Shepherd," Burke's deep baritone boomed through the phone. "We need you to come in."
Derek groaned. "I'm not on call, Wilson is."
"No, Shepherd," he paused and sighed, "Derek, it-it's Addison."
Derek had no recollection of how he'd gotten to Seattle Grace. He'd very likely driven straight through every light green or not. All he knew as he burst into the ED is that he needed to see Addison. "Where is she?" he asked, spinning about, looking for a glimpse of her hair. Everyone just looked back at him sympathetically. "WHERE IS SHE?!" he roared.
"Derek," called a soft voice from behind him. He whipped around to stare into Bailey's warm eyes. "She's in here." She stood before a secluded room. We're pre-oping her now. She was hit on the driver's side by some drunk who ran a stop sign. She was stable, but now both her and the baby's stats are dropping, we're taking her in for an emergency c-section and ex lap.
"I need to see her," he said pushing forward.
"Derek," he turned, "she has a lot of lacerations and contusions, but remember she's strong." He nodded and walked in the room. He nearly gasped from the pain in his chest at seeing her like that. He walked over to the bed and gently caressed her bruised and battered face. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled gently at him. "Hey."
"Hey," he replied softly. His eyes ticked over to the monitors. "You gave me quite a scare; I think I just lost ten years off my life."
"I know, I'm sorry." She shifted slightly and winced in pain. Her eyes followed the tracing of the fetal heart rate and she sighed as she saw the late decelerations. "They're taking me in for a c-section."
"I know."
She blinked back her tears, "I really wanted to do this vaginally."
He nodded sympathetically. "I know, baby, but just think: in a few hours we're going to be parents." He paused then grinned. "Maybe you can have the next one vaginally."
She laughed lightly, "The next one, huh? So you plan on knocking me up again?"
"Oh, most definitely," he confirmed with a wicked grin. "If for no other reason than to experience the second trimester again." Her cheeks flushed rosy pink as she giggled.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too."
He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss to her lips, lingering there until he had to pull away for a breath. "I don't want to lose you. You can't leave me," he pleaded softly.
"Hey," she brushed his hair from his face and gently cupped his cheek, "I'll be fine. Go get some rest." She winked at him. "I'll be back before you wake up."
Derek sat in the waiting room his knees bobbing up and down nervously, his hands wrapped tightly around a cup of bad hospital coffee. Unable to sit still, he got up and paced the room for the thousandth time. He tossed his now cold cup of sludge into the garbage and raked his fingers through his hair. He sighed then glanced at his watch again. Too much time had passed. He should know something by now. The dull ache in the chest began to increase. Something was wrong.
"Derek." He spun around to see Burke and Bailey standing in the doorway. The Nazi edge was completely gone from her voice and Burke's typical arrogance had dissipated. As soon as he locked eyes with Bailey, he knew his worst fears had come true. He sank to the floor in an ungraceful heap, the dull ache blossoming into a crushing vice as he felt his heart cease to beat. He cradled his head in his hands, his brain barely registering her next words: "I'm so sorry, Derek. We lost her. She-she's gone."
Derek laid his hand on the hard, cold granite trying to imagine that he could still sense her warmth. He blinked back his tears and tried to breathe through the tightness in his chest. It had been three years but the pain was as fresh as the day it happened.
"…and then Jamie pulled Lisa's hair and Ms. Simmons put him in time out. Ms. Simmons is my teacher. She's really, really nice. Yesterday we had to draw family pictures. I drew a picture for you, Mommy. See there's Daddy, that's me, and that's you. And those are your wings 'cause Daddy says you're in heaven with the angels. I wish you didn't have to be in heaven now, Mommy. I wish we were all together here. Daddy sometimes watches videos of you and me too. Those are better than the pictures. Daddy and Aunt Adele and Grandma all say I look like you, and Daddy says I have your laugh." Simone paused and sighed, "I miss you, Mommy." She lays her picture at the base of the stone. "Happy Birthday." She steps back and looks up at her father. "Daddy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart." Derek leaned over and placed the flowers over the picture to anchor it. "Happy Birthday, Addie." He lightly caressed the grave marker running his fingers over the engraved angel and released a soft sigh, "I miss you so much. I wish you were here by my side to see our daughter grow up."
"Grandma says that Mommy is watching over us from heaven."
Derek turned and gently smiled down at his daughter. "She's right."
"Grandma's right a lot. So are Aunt Adele and Aunt Miranda."
He smirked, "Yes, they usually are." He leaned down and scooped Simone up into his arms. "Come on, Munchkin. It's time for your nap."
Later that night, after Simone had her bath and bedtime story and finally closed her bright eyes in slumber, Derek climbed tiredly into his bed. As his head sunk into the pillows, he glanced to the left, running his fingers over the cool sheets. He allowed his gaze to drift past her pillows to the nightstand where her novel still sat, her place still bookmarked. He sighed and rolled over onto his stomach, clutching his pillow.
I'll be back before you wake up.
He closed his eyes tight and prayed this would be the night he would finally wake up.
A little different than my usual fare. I tend to lean towards happier endings, but it wasn't in the cards for this one. Perhaps it's my more pessimistic side coming through. Ah, well. Review please!