It was a cold night in Seattle, the sun had set hours ago and the Shepherd family had come home for the evening together. Meredith was sitting on the couch watching as Derek played with his daughter by the fire place, a scene that she had not witnessed for a while. As she watched Derek interacted with Abbey she felt a small twinge in her heart, something that she hadn't felt for a long time, "The fairytale" she thought. From the day they had gotten married, life had seemed like such a fairytale. The fairytale that she had always dreamed of having the moment she fell in love with Derek, but somehow along the way, that feeling had been banished to the back of her mind and reality kicked in, she knew that she would have to work to keep their marriage like that fairytale she had dreamed of.
"Ok you, it's getting late time for bed" Derek said as he stood up and quickly moved Abbey into her face.
"Daddy don't mess up my hair, Izzie made it nice for me" She snapped suddenly
"Did she really?" he asked
"Yes, and now it's ruined" She said as she moved her hair out of the way
Derek and Meredith laughed at the sight of their daughter's hair which she had moved from her face, and now was sticking up in all places.
"Honey come here" Meredith said holding out her hand. Abbey made her way over to Meredith before standing in front of her. She moved her hand through Abbeys hair correcting the mess she created. "Better?" Meredith asked.
"Yes, thanks mommy" Abbey replied holding her arms out for a hug
"Ok big girl come here" Meredith said accepting the hug as she lifted Abbey onto her lap "Kisses. Mwa, mwa, mwa" Meredith as she pecked Abbey on the lips "Ok Daddy's gonna take you to bed now, I'll see you in the morning ok?"
""Yeah love you mommy" Abbey said with a huge grin on her face.
"Love you too sweetheart" Meredith as Abbey was lifted from her arm by Derek.
"Ok... Ahh there we go" Derek said as she lifted Abbey over his shoulder "Oh where's Abbey gone?" Derek asked sarcastically to Abbey as he hung her over his shoulder
"I'm here daddy" Abbey giggled as she was being carried by Derek.
Meredith stood up and followed them as they made their way through the hallway. As Derek carried Abbey up the stairs Meredith walked into the kitchen the grab herself a cup of coffee.
"Ok princess, I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Derek told Abbey as he tucked her into bed.
"Promise?" Abbey asked
"I promise, I've got the day off, and you still need to have that surprise I have for you" he said as she moved her hair from her forehead. "Ok so lie back" he said before kissing her forehead once more.
"Goodnight daddy, love you" Abbey said smiling.
"I love you too honey, sleep tight" Derek replied standing up before turning off her light and closing her door slightly, leaving a small gap a tiny line of light reflected onto her wall.
XXXXX
As Derek made his way to the bottom of the stairs he noticed that the front door was open slightly. He walked pasted the kitchen and living room and saw that Meredith was not in ether, so he walked outside and found her sitting on the swing underneath the window.
"Hey" Derek said as she stood in front of her,
"Hi" Meredith replied taking a slip of her coffee
"So you wanted to talk?" he asked
"Yeah, I do, we do!" she rephrased herself. She stood up and walked pasted Derek heading back into the house. Derek followed closing the door behind him and walked behind her into the kitchen.
Meredith placed her cup and in the sink and turned to find Derek standing in the kitchen doorway.
"Mer talk to me" He said finally
"Derek, I... I just don't understand why you are being like this." Meredith started
"Like what?" he asked
"You don't even see what you are doing to this family do you" Meredith said trying not to raise her voice.
"What I'm doing for this family? Meredith what do you think I'm doing..."
"... well I don't know!" she interrupted
"I'm making a life for us; I'm working my ass of all day to pay the bills and for Abbey and you"
"Me? Derek I don't need you to pay for me, I don't need your money, and don't turn this around on me. You have a little girl up there who loves you and who wants to be with you and what does she get? A couple of hours with you every week." Meredith begun to yell as she walked over to the table.
"Don't you think I want to spend time with her? She my daughter for god sake, she's my number one priority" he yelled back
"Ok and what about me? What am I to you Derek, am I someone you love or am I you're midlife crisis?"
"How can you say that you know I love you."
"Do you, really? I feel like I'm in this marriage alone Derek, like you're not in it, you're nowhere to be found and it scares me too death"
"Mer, marriage takes a lot of work, nobody said it was easy, and couples got through rough patches and they get over it and move on!"
"Yeah thanks for cleaning that up for me!" Meredith snapped. Derek noticed tears had begun to swell up in her eyes and he moved closer to her and placed his hand on her cheek.
"Yeah know what Derek, don't, just don't, I can't right now ok. Just... leave me alone" Meredith said trying to hold back the tears as she stormed out of the room and left Derek standing alone.
XXXXXX
"Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" Meredith heard a quiet voice whisper in her ear. She opened her eyes and felt Abbey resting her head against her shoulder.
"Hi, how long have you been up?" Meredith asked her daughter as she turned and sat up to look at her.
"No long. Where's daddy?" Abbey asked as she played with Meredith's fingers
"He's probably down stairs" Meredith said sounding distracted.
"Are you and daddy ok?" she asked as she shifted and straddled Meredith's waist
"Yeah, why honey?" Meredith replied brushing a stray piece of hair from Abbeys face.
"Because I heard you shouting last night" Abbey said lowered tone
"Aw baby it's ok mommy and daddy got into a little fight is all but we're better now. Did we scare you?" Meredith asked rubbing her hand up and down Abbey back.
"A little, but I'm ok now." She smiled
"Good" Meredith smiled back
"Don't be sad mommy..." Abbey said as she lifted her hand and placed it onto Meredith cheek
"... Daddy loves us remember" She continued with a big grin on her face.
"I know baby" Meredith said placing a kiss on Abbey's tiny lips
"I do" They both heard a familiar voice say
Meredith raised her head and saw Derek standing in the doorway.
"Hi" he said smiling at Meredith
"Daddy" Abbey said as she spun around
"Hi" Meredith replied
"Abbey, come here" Derek said as he waved Abbey to come over to him. She jumped off the bed and ran over to Derek who bent down to her level and whispered something in her ear.
"Ok daddy" she said loudly before smiling at Meredith and running out of the room
"What did you just tell her?" Meredith asked curiously
"Well Mrs Shepherd..." Derek said as he sat himself onto the bed in front of Meredith before kissing her tenderly on the lips "... Just wait" he said smiling as he lingered his face inches away from hers
"Daddy!" They heard a little voice shout
"You ok sweet?" he shouted back
"I need some help, pleeeasse"
"Ok, ok I'm coming" he said before kissing Meredith on the lips tenderly again.
As Derek exited the room Meredith sat in the bed frowning and wondering what mess Derek had gotten Abbey into.
"What is that?" Meredith laughed as she saw Abbey and Derek walking into the room carrying a huge bunch of flowers and a large teddy bear.
"Well, it's an apology" He smiled as he set the flowers down on the bedside table.
"Look I know it's not going to make fix everything right now but it's a start right?" he smiled leaning into kiss her, he pecked her quickly before kissing her again more tenderly
"Derek not in front of the baby." She laughed pushing him away
"Right sorry" he smiled
"Daddy finished kissing mommy now?"Abbey giggled,
"Yes sugar, I have" he said as he lifted her sitting her between him and Meredith.
"... and I have a surprise for you to remember?" Derek laughed
"What is it?" Abbey giggled
"Yes Derek what is it?" Meredith threw him a look
Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Abbey
"Go on, open it" he smiled as he watched her open it
"Oh daddy, Cinderella" Abbey shouted
"Yeah I go us some tickets to watch Cinderella On Ice"
"Seriously Derek...?" Meredith gasped as she took a ticket from Abbey and begun to read it "... I tried to book this month's ago, there sold out how did you get these?"
"Well it helps if you have a patient that's married to the director of the play" he smiled
"What do you say Abbey?" Meredith said running her finger through Abbey hair
"Thank you" she giggled before moving to hug Derek
"You're welcome baby, now why don't you go get dressed and I think we can go tooo..." Derek paused "... Ahh... the zoo?" Derek laughed
"Seriously?" Abbey shouted
"Yes, we're did you get seriously from?" Derek asked
"Aunty Izzie, she says it all the time, he-he. Daddy hush now I'm going to get dressed, so finish kissing mommy and then take me to the zoo" she giggled before jumping off the bed and running out of the room.
"Did you hear that Dr Shepherd...?" Derek asked before leaning in and kissing her. Meredith moved her head to the side before Derek had the chance to catch her lips "Thanks for the flowers" Meredith said
"You're welcome" he replied sounding a little unhappy about the fact that she didn't let him kiss her.
"We still need to work this thing out, don't just think I'm letting it go that easily" she said as she looked at her clock "Crap I'm gonna be late for work, I gotta go..." she said as she lifted herself out of bed "See you later" she continued before grabbing her clothes from her chair and walking into the bathroom. Derek smiled and knew that he was slowly making it up to Meredith.
XXXXX
It was lunch time at Seattle Grace Hospital and Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie were all sat around the table eating their food.
"So Derek and I got into a fight last night" Meredith said while reading a magazine
"Seriously? What about?" Izzie asked
"He's just being an ass lately, and working too much to even pay attention to this family, seriously I think Abbey might forget who he is one day if he's not careful. And she heard us arguing last night."
"Is she ok?" Cristina asked
"Yeah I think so, Derek gave her some tickets to that Cinderella play that's showing next month, so that's all she can talk about." Meredith continued staring hard into her magazine
"Grey if you stare any harder you're gonna burn a hold in that thing" A voice said approaching the table.
"Hey" Izzie said
"Hi" Alex replied as she sat down
"So Liam's clothes are all packed and by the front door, you can pick him up whenever you want"
"Yeah thanks Alex"
"Oh yeah how is Liam? Sorry I forgot to ask" Meredith asked putting down her magazine
"He's fine" Alex said throwing a look at Izzie
"Yeah. Oh Mer I know why don't you get Derek to drop Abbey off at mine tonight. That way you guys can have a serious argument without making her cry? I mean it been so long since they have hung out together." Izzie asked
"Yeah that's a good idea Iz I'll call Derek and see what he thinks..." She replied before standing up from the table. "... Text you later?"
"Yeah, cya" Izzie replied.
XXXXX
Meredith walked into her house after a long day at work to find Derek collapsed out on the living room couch. She laughed to herself sarcastically before removing her coat and walking into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and began to drink, when she suddenly saw Derek enter the room.
"You look tired" Meredith said with her glass around her mouth.
"Yeah the kid wore me out" He laughed as he opened the refrigerator for some food.
"Good. I guess now you know how I feel all day when you're not around" she shot back quickly before exiting the room. She walked up the stairs and peered into Abbey room which she found empty
"So you dropped her off at Izzie's then?" she yelled down to Derek
"Yes I did" Derek walking up the stairs to Meredith
"Are you working tomorrow?" Meredith asked
"Yeah. Are you?" Derek replied
"Yeah" she said
"Ok so we're gonna have to drop her off a daycare in the morning"
"Oh no we can't do that anymore" Meredith replied as she walked past Derek and headed into her bedroom
"What why?" Derek frowned following her
"Well because you're daughter now hit's other children, and she's been banned from daycare for a while"
"What when did this happen?" Derek asked
"Yesterday" She replied
"And why didn't you tell me? Did it just slip you mind?" He shouted
"Oh no Derek you were just too busy"
"Meredith, look I'm trying here ok, I'm trying to be the best that I can be, but I can't when you're down my throat all the time" he yelled
"I can't be here when you're acting like this" she yelled back
"Like what?"
"Like this, when you raise your voice to me. Derek all we ever do lately is argue, and it's affecting Abbey." She shouted
"How is it affecting her?"
"Well why do you think she's hitting people?" Meredith said
"Oh so you're blaming me for this?"
"Yes. Yes Derek I am. You take us for granted..." she said as she walked over to him "... You take us for granted and expected me to take, but I'm telling you now Derek if you continue this way, one day you might get home and Abbey and I may not be here. So think about that, and you can sleep on the couch" she yelled as she threw a pillow in Derek's face.
"Meredith?" Derek said as she begun to feel tears well up in the back of his eyes.
"Don't Meredith me with that McDreamy tone; it doesn't work on me anymore. Look I love you Derek I do, but right now... I just I can't. Close the door on your way out." She said as she watched Derek walk towards the bedroom door. She took in a deep sigh and turned to get changed for bed.