I am so glad that I got so much positive feedback. I have a few things to address:
1. I am having a really hard time coming up with a title for this fic. If you have any ideas feel free to put them in the reviews and if I use it or am inspired by it, I'll credit you in an AN later.
2. I am not afraid of negative feedback, and if something in my stories seems off or if you have a question feel free to let me know and I will answer them if I feel it necessary.
3. To greysaddiction who wrote "I really hate these kinds of stories. Always having Derek as the jerk. I'm sure he would have used protection. After all the years with Addison and no baby. One time and bingo." I'm glad you brought it up because I wasn't really planning on addressing it in the story, but if you thought it I'm sure someone else did. First off, I was under the impression that Derek and Addison were actively trying to keep from having a baby. I also agree with you, I think Derek would have used protection, drunk or not. However, condoms break or fail to work and if a woman has been taking certain types of antibiotics or forgot to take her contraceptives, she won't be protected either. Basically accidents happen, we see them all the time with unplanned pregnancies.
Now for continuation of the story…
Derek drove off the ferry and made his way up the long drive to the house. He pulled up to thefront and sat momentarily letting the car idle as he took a breath. Plastering a smile to his face, he finally turned the key, silence enveloping the car as the engine shut off. He slid from his seat and moved to Jake's side of the car, unbuckling the toddler from the car seat. Christopher unbuckled himself and Derek lead the boys into the house.
"Daddy! Can I go see my new room?" Christopher begged, visibly shaking with excitement.
Derek swallowed before smiling and leading the boy up the stairs to his room.
When he imagined this house, he had always imagined it as "their" house. Her absence as they looked around the house they had decorated together only furthered the empty feeling of the house. He opened the door and Christopher ran in looking from thing to thing with his eyes wide with wonder. Derek swallowed again as he took in the room. He couldn't remember who had decided on the vintage car theme, but the room had turned out amazing. The walls were a deep red color as Meredith had insisted that blue was over-used causing Derek to suggest the red. Cars littered the shelves that had been hung on the walls and street signs and license plates covered one wall from floor to ceiling. The coolest feature however was the vintage truck that Derek had custom made into a bed. The bed of the truck had been fitted with a mattress, and the cab still functioned as a play-place for the boys. Although it was the coolest feature of the room, the bed also served as a further reminder of the current state of his relationship. The bed was supposed to be a surprise. He had hoped to reveal it to Meredith the day they moved in, but "they" never had. Jake's fishing room held similar reminders so Derek decided to by-pass the rest of the tour and led the boys into the kitchen.
"Uncle Mark is stopping by later and were gonna make some hamburgers, but what do you want to do in the meantime?" he asked Christopher.
"Can we play with cars?" Christopher replied.
"Yeah, Bud. Go get some from your room and we'll go play in the living room,"
Derek agreed, picking up Jake and moving toward the living room.
Several hours later, Derek made his way onto the porch with a beer in his hand and fell into a chair across from Mark.
"Are they asleep?" Mark asked when Derek had settled into the chair.
"Yeah," Derek replied, taking a drag from the bottle, then continuing, "Jake cried for Meredith, but I got him settled down."
"It's not supposed to be like this man. You and Mer aren't supposed to have problems like this," Mark replied.
"I know," Derek sighed, his fingers absentmindedly peeling at the bottle's label.
"What happened?" Mark questioned, "I didn't even know it had gotten this bad."
"I'm not exactly proud of it," Derek replied, "Sometimes I wish life wasn't so complicated."
"I assume you're referring to Ainsley?" Mark asked.
"Maybe this wouldn't have happened if she would have gone to another hospital,"
Derek said, as he drifted back into the memory.
He walked down the hallway, headed toward the one person he hoped would be able to help with this situation. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply before walking in.
"Derek, what can I do for you?" Richard said, looking up at Derek.
"I need your advice," Derek sighed, moving to the chair across from Richard's desk.
Richard pulled off his glasses and laid the paper he had been previously occupied with on the desk.
"There's this patient, a little girl," Derek started.
"If this is a treatment question, I hardly think I'm the best consult on a
Neurology case," Richard interrupted.
"No, it's something…uh…personal. I guess…long story short…I might have a daughter," Derek stuttered, "that little girl...she might be mine."
"Does Meredith know?" Richard asked his eyes wide with shock.
"Yeah...she knows there's a possibility," Derek replied, his eyes traveling down to the ring on his finger.
"So what exactly do you need my advice on?" Richard asked, suddenly remembering the reason Derek had come in.
"I need to find out, but I'm not sure I want to let the mother know. I don't really remember much from that time period aside from being in a drunken stupor most nights. If there isn't a possibility of it, I just don't think it's necessary to involve her," Derek rambled.
"Are you asking me to condone doing a secret DNA test on a minor?" Richard asked incredulously.
"I guess I am," Derek replied once again breaking eye-contact with Richard as his eyes moved downward.
"You know I can't do that. If she found out, she might sue the hospital, you could lose your job, I COULD LOSE MY JOB," he said, his voice getting louder with each word.
Derek seemed to want to say something, but sat quietly.
"However, who am I to stop Arizona from ordering a strep test, swabbing the cheek in the meantime, and if you were to maybe take the swab to the lab and have them run a DNA test, I couldn't stop you if I didn't know about it. Now could I," Richard said nonchalantly.
Derek looked up, a expression of disbelief on his face.
"Thank you Richard," he managed to croak out before getting up and walking out the door.
He made his way down the hall trying to locate Arizona. He wasn't necessarily thrilled to tell yet another person how irresponsible he had been, but he figured it was a necessary evil. He found her lurking at the nurse's station, no doubt looking for Callie. He quickly crossed to her and pulled on her arm, leading her into an empty room nearby. He explained the situation quickly before asking her for her participation.
"This was the chief's idea?" she asked, when he had finally finished talking.
"Technically yes, but not as far as anyone can know," he answered quickly, his eyes pleading with hers.
"Okay, I'll do it...but only because you're Mark's best friend and Mark is
Callie's best friend so somehow we are connected...like friends-in-law or something," she rambled.
Derek patted her arm gently.
"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me right now," he said before he watched her turn and leave the room.
It wasn't until a few days later that Derek realized just what the results meant. He might have another child. A little girl who was only two years older than Christopher, and this test was it. He would know once and for all. He knew when he saw the page from Arizona that the results were in. He scoured the halls for Meredith, wanting her by his side when he found out. They then made their way to the empty conference room where Arizona and joined hands before entering.
"Hey," Arizona said, her usual cheeriness hiding any reaction she may have been having, toward the results.
"Hello," Derek returned, moving to sit across from her.
Meredith remained silent, her hand holding a vice-like grip on Derek's leg.
Arizona slid the folder in front of them and Derek glanced at Meredith before flipping the folder open. At the top of the page, was a single sentence, a sentence that would determine the rest of Meredith and Derek's life. It said: As presented to the laboratory, the DNA samples taken from Derek C. Shepherd and Ainsley R. Martin are shown to match for a positive paternal identification.
"She's mine," Derek whispered into the quiet room.