Thank you to all of those who reviewed and especially a thank you to DeniseSB who kind of kicked my butt a little bit and made me realize how many character flaws the Derek I am writing really has. So this chapter is me trying to clean up his act a little bit as well as granting insight and developing my characters even more.
Derek watched out of the corner of his eye the way his daughter interacted with his son and his son's friend Levi. They were playing monopoly which no surprise Grace was excellent at. She was laughing at the two boys who were being sore losers and shit-talking one another. Peyton and Levi took to Grace right away and it seemed as though she had taken to them too. Addison must have filled both of the boys in on the fact that Grace was joining them for dinner because neither one seemed surprised when Derek walked into the house with her. Grace sat on the floor criss-cross apple sauce style, Peyton was lying down and had his hands tucked under his chin and Levi was on his back tilting his head to look at the board. It was nice for Derek to see Peyton in this way, he looked happy, the way he was laughing and cutting up with both Levi and Grace. To Derek this almost felt like normalcy and this was a moment he wanted to save in his mind forever.
Addison came into the kitchen with a pile of more board games "To hold you over until dinner" she joked. They moved through the game of monopoly rather quickly in the hour since Derek and Grace had arrived back at the house. Derek had immediately begun to prepare dinner as Addison struggled to make conversation between Grace and the boys. Derek was thankful when she was able to come up with the idea that the three teens play a board game. It seemed to connect them in some way that made the encounter a little less awkward.
Derek's mind wandered to how he was supposed to confront Grace about the fact that he knew he was her father. Of course he needed more proof but his gut was telling him she was his. He needed to somehow get ahold of her birth certificate and see who was listed as her mother, because if Meredith Grey was her mother, there was no one other than Derek that could be her father. Addison pulled him out of his thoughts "Derek, can I talk to you?" she asked
"Yeah" Derek said checking the timer on the homemade pizza he made. It was due to go off in five minutes
"Pey, can you get the pizza out of the oven when the timer goes off? Just let it cool on the stove" Derek requested
"Sure dad" Peyton said not looking up from his monopoly money where he was having to pay Grace for landing on her property.
"HA!" Grace exclaimed when Peyton handed her over the money for her property that was already covered in hotels.
Levi laughed along with Grace and Peyton shot them both angry looks "You two won't be laughing when the whole east side is covered in hotels" Peyton warned
"Yeah right dude, you haven't even bought any houses yet" Levi chimed in
Derek and Addison made their way into Derek's den that was located on the first floor of their house, a few doors away from the living room. Addison closed the door in the dimly lit room and turned on the lamp beside the desk.
She crossed her arms across her chest "Derek what's going on?" she asked without preamble cutting right to the point.
"What do you mean?" Derek asked, he knew what she was talking about but he needed to sort through it himself first and he didn't want to tell Addison about his feeling, if it turned out to be just that; a feeling, he would've created chaos where there wasn't need for any.
"When have you ever brought a co-worker let alone someone you're interviewing for a job over for dinner?"
"I haven't"
"You haven't, and suddenly you're brining this young girl home with you. Derek it's strange. She's what 16?"
"Almost, her birthday is in a few weeks" Derek answered lowly.
Addison gave him a knowing look "This isn't making sense. Your mood is all over the place and I can't do this anymore. Now you're bringing home strays and acting like you're happy. Unless this isn't a stray, are you having an affair?"
Derek was appalled and disgusted "You've got to be kidding me. She's 15 years old Addison" he yelled
"I don't know what to think anymore." Addison said in a low voice to remind him that the kids were just a few doors away.
"I have been faithful to you since we decided to make this work for Peyton. I've stayed with you all these years because of Peyton, because he's my son. Right?" Derek asked for the first time questioning Peyton's paternity to Addison
Addison was taken aback "Right." She stated with anger in her eyes
Derek took a deep breath "I was being polite bringing Grace to dinner. I didn't realize it would bother you so much" Derek started but was cut off by Addison, she had to say this while she still had the nerve. She had to give this man an out, he deserved this and so did she, and so did Peyton. They all needed an out and she hated herself for not saying this sooner
"Peyton's going to be headed off to college soon; he wants to go to Princeton. It will be just you and I in this big house alone. Every. Single. Day. I don't think you want that, and I don't want that. Not anymore. Peyton's older now, he understands what's going on, he see's how unhappy we both are. In order to be better parents, we need to be apart. We bring out the worst in one another"
"I agree" Derek said softly agreeing.
"We're getting divorced" he stated
"It's been a long time coming" Addison replied sighing
"Why did you choose now to want a divorce? We're supposed to be having a family dinner. Not to mention we have company " Derek said
"I know Derek but after today, I just can't pretend anymore. I just cannot do it. I know you want out and I want out too. We can't keep hating one another"
"I know. I don't want to hate you anymore" Derek said softly
"You still haven't forgiven me over the Mark thing, it's been seventeen years Derek" Addison said exasperated
"It's not that. I forgave you a long time ago for that. That doesn't sting me anymore" Derek said dropping his gaze to the floor
"Then what? Oh-" Addison said as realization hit her. He was still hurt over the Meredith thing.
"I'm sorry" he told her evenly
"I see Peyton as the blessing that kept us together, you see Peyton as what kept you away from Meredith Grey" Addison said to him. She wasn't angry, she couldn't be, Peyton wasn't his son and she made him believe all these years that he was.
"I love Peyton" Derek tried to defend
"I know you do, but-"
"No, I love Peyton. It was my decision to stay and work things out with you. He's my son and I know I haven't been the best father but at least I was there, for sixteen years I was there and" Derek had cut Addison off but then faltered off. He had been there for sixteen years for Peyton, he had been there for all of his sports games, for all his birthdays, he bought Peyton his first car. But what about Grace, he had missed everything, her first words, her first birthday, every birthday, her first boyfriend which he hoped to God hadn't happened yet. He missed 16 years' worth of memories. He didn't want to miss another second
"Addison, let's just have a decent night. For tonight I'm not going to hate you and you're not going to hate me. Let's give Peyton this, one night where his parents get along. We can go back to hating each other tomorrow"
"Okay" Addison agreed.
"I'll have the lawyer draw up the papers tomorrow. Let's just enjoy tonight"
They walked back into the living room to find Peyton dumping the board game "This thing is rigged" he said with a pout
"Someone just can't handle being beaten so badly at his own game" Grace smirked
"Basketball" Peyton chimed
"What?" Grace asked
"I challenge you to a game of basketball. Right now" Peyton said an evil glimmer in his eye
"Come on man, you're like more than a foot taller than her, how is that fair?" Levi asked sticking up for Grace
"I'll even give you Lev" Peyton said trying to get Grace to play against him by offering to let Levi be on her team.
"No basketball, it's dinner time" Derek said from the kitchen as he cut into the pizza's.
The boys ran into the kitchen like a bunch of animals during feeding hour at the zoo.
Grace stood back and watched. Addison poured herself a glass of wine from the liquor cabinet
"Hey, hey, hey. Ladies first. Addison, Grace" Derek said motioning for Addison and Grace to get their dinner.
"Yeah, ladies first" Grace said with a smirk directed at the boys as she sautéed past them and grabbed a plate. She put two pieces on her plate and stood awkwardly to the side, she didn't know where to sit.
"We'll eat in the dining room tonight, it's right over there" Derek said letting Grace know where to sit.
Once they were all seated at the table, a bit of awkwardness set in. Grace didn't really know what to talk about, she was happy that she was getting to spend time with her dad but at the same time she was leaving the day after tomorrow. Now that she met him she couldn't picture going back to her life without her dad present. What she didn't know was that Derek was thinking the same thing. He was going over and over in his head how he was going to tell her that he knew that he was her dad. His thoughts also had been drifting to Meredith, why hadn't she told him about his daughter? Is that why she left? Then a flashback came over him the way a hurricane comes over a town, there for utter destruction.
"Derek, where are you taking me?" Meredith asked as Derek was pulling her into a storage closet. He had his hand under her arm and he could tell he was pinching her but she was resisting and he needed to talk to her right away.
"I told you to meet me at Joe's, I'm giving you time to make your decision"
Once they were in the storage closet Derek's eyes pleaded with her own. He took every ounce of her in, she was absolutely beautiful to him and he needed to remember this moment as the before. Although she had been robbed of a child hood and although he had hurt her so badly by not telling her about his wife there was still a tiny bit of innocence in her eyes. He needed to see that innocence one last time before he took what little she had left from her.
"I've already made my decision" Derek said looking at her with so much love that she was sure he was about to tell her, she was the one.
"Meredith….I…I love you too" he whispered to her. That wasn't what he was meaning to say but it was true. He loved her, he loved her more than anything at this moment, but he made a commitment when he took his vows 'For better or For worse' and right now was the worse. He also had a baby to consider. He had to do the right thing, as much as it hurt her and as much as it hurt him, he had to do what was right.
Meredith looked at him with so much hope, she wrapped her arms around him and he held her. She had tears that rolled down her face and Derek had tears in his own eyes. He held on to her and held her as closely as he possibly could. He wanted forever with her, but that wasn't going to happen. Reality hit him like a ton of bricks and he quickly pulled away from her.
Meredith looked at him with a questioning look but all his eyes held was sadness.
"You deserve better" he begun
"You deserve better than a man who hid the fact that he was married, you deserve better than a man who makes mistake after mistake after mistake and you deserve better than hearing this from anyone other than me."
Meredith was worried, he just told her that he loved her and now he was saying she deserved better.
"I love you, but I'm staying with Addison. I made a vow and I have to honor that. I'm so sorry"
Meredith tried as fast as she could to get out of the storage closet but he grabbed her and held her
"Let me go" she cried
"Addison's pregnant"
And with that Meredith's face changed, it went from fury, to sadness, to green, looking like she could throw up, to disgust and then it held nothing, it was void, her guard was up and her eyes were cold and glazed over.
"I didn't want to say that to hurt you anymore Mer, I just I want this to come from me. It's the least I could do…was tell you myself."
"I never want to see you again. I hate you" Meredith said with such emotional disconnect it made Derek shutter.
"Meredith please" he begged but she was already out the door. He hated himself.
The next time he saw Meredith she was on the elevator with Mark leaving the hospital to go home for the day he assumed. He never saw her again.
"Earth to Derek" Addison said as took a giant gulp of wine
"It's just a result of old age, first it's the zoning out, then he's going to start forgetting us, he's going to get Alzheimer's, and then gone" Peyton joked
"My grandma had Alzheimer's" Grace blurted
"Sorry" Peyton said looking guilty
"It's okay, I never met her." Grace said looking at Derek, hoping she hadn't given away too much.
Derek was staring at her now, almost like he knew. But he quickly looked away
"I am not getting old" he told his son
Grace noticed that Levi was looking at her from across the table, she blushed a bit.
He wore an expression as if he was apologizing for his friend, Grace gave him a small smile.
"Are you two planning anything over break?" Addison asked Levi and Peyton
"Yeah we talked about taking a trip down to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, maybe go sledding or something if its snows any"
"That sounds like fun, maybe I'll take a few days off and come too" Derek stated. He needed to be a better father.
"Totally Dr. S" Levi agreed
"You two can take Grace as well" Addison said she was buzzed at this point. Derek met Grace's expression and saw that she was aware Addison was drinking just a little bit too much.
"Grace, what's your middle name?" Peyton asked
"Um...Elizabeth. Why?" She asked uncomfortably
"Grace is too much of a kiss ass name, you need something with more edge"
"Peyton" Derek warned
"There's nothing wrong with my name" Grace giggled
"I like your name Grace, it's cute" Levi said blushing and Grace smiled and blushed herself. Derek didn't like the attention Levi seemed to be paying to his most likely daughter.
"I can't work with your middle name either, last name" Peyton requested
"Peyton leave her alone" Derek barked.
"Grey" Grace said so softly it could barely be heard. She didn't know why she gave out that information, she had been trying to keep Derek from finding out all day but she liked his family, she liked Derek, Addison was being friendly, and even Peyton didn't bother her too much, she secretly always wanted a sibling. She wanted to get to know her dad better and she wanted to spend time here, she liked D.C.
Addison was drunk and after the mention of her last name, Addison snorted and excused herself from the table and went into the kitchen to pour herself more wine .Derek tried to make eye contact with Grace but she was looking down.
"Awesome, you're nickname is GiGi, but only I can call her that. Got it?" Peyton informed not realizing the tension that had just engulfed the entire room.
Levi knew this was Peyton's way of accepting Grace as his friend, and not a friend to screw around with. Peyton seemed to respect Grace and that made Levi relax.
A few minutes passed, Grace picked at her food no longer feeling hungry, Derek was finished and Peyton got up to get more pizza and check on his mom.
"Um..Derek. I don't really feel well. Can you drive me back to my hotel?" Grace asked and Derek noticed that it seemed like Grace was about to cry.
"Yeah ofcourse" Derek said getting up from the table. He felt horrible , he didn't know if Peyton had made her uncomfortable or if she was upset for giving out her last name. She wouldn't make eye contact with him which scared him. He didn't want his daughter suddenly to cut him off and avoid him.
Levi was royally pissed at Peyton, he liked Grace and Peyton had driven her away with his insistent questioning. After Grace and Derek had grabbed their coats and left, Levi grabbed his coat and walked out the door slamming it behind him.
"Dude, where are you going?" Peyton asked Levi as Levi headed for his truck
"As far away from you as possible" Levi stated angrily
"Why?" Peyton asked, he didn't get at all what was going on.
"I liked her man, okay? Just because I don't screw around like you all the time doesn't mean that I don't ever like a girl. I really liked her"
"You just met her" Peyton scoffed
"Yeah and I wanted to get to know her better, give her my number or something"
"I'm sorry, I didn't think I was upsetting her, she bantered back with me all night, she seemed fine until I asked her what her last name was"
"That's the thing you don't think"
Derek and Grace's car ride was silent
"I'm sorry about my son, he can't help himself sometimes"
"Thank you for answering my questions and everything and thanks for dinner" Grace said still staring out of the window dismissing Derek's approach to talk about what happened at dinner.
"Do you still want to see the white house tomorrow, Peyton doesn't have to come"
Grace smiled slightly "He can come" she said as she looked at Derek for the first time since Peyton asked her what her last name was.
He grinned at her "Where's your mom?" he sputtered out
"She's back home, in New York"
"You came here by yourself?" Derek asked
"Uh yeah" Grace said looking at the floorboard of the car
"It's dangerous for you to come to a foreign city by yourself, there are people out there that could kidnap you and take advantage of you. I don't like it at all that you here alone" Derek stated
"It's fine Derek, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow" Grace informed him.
Derek's heart sank, he hadn't even worked up the nerve yet to tell her that he knew she was his daughter and now she was leaving.
He pulled up at the hotel and he felt weird like he was leaving his daughter alone with people she didn't know and he didn't know how safe she would be.
He parked the Escalade and un-did his seat belt and went to get out of the car. "What are you doing?" Grace asked confused.
"I'm making sure you get into your room safely, there are creeps everywhere" Derek told her as they made their way inside of the hotel together.
He rode the elevator up with her and stood back as she got her hotel key out and made her way into her room.
"I'll pick you up here tomorrow at 10?"
"Sounds good" Grace offered him a smile.
Derek was relieved that at least he knew she was safe tonight, but he couldn't fight the nagging feeling like he was doing something wrong.
"Hey Grace, can I borrow your phone? I need to make a quick phone call and I left mine at home" Derek asked
Grace handed him her phone and he retreated further down the hallway as he scrolled through her contacts. When he found the one that said Mom he pulled the pen out of his pocket and quickly wrote down on his hand what he hoped would be Meredith's number.
"Thanks and I'll see you tomorrow at 10, okay?" he told her as he knocked on her door to give her back her phone
"Bye Derek" Grace said offering him a smile.
Not ten minutes after Derek left there was another knock on Grace's door.
Grace's eyes grew wide as she saw her mom infront of her looking as though she hadn't gotten any sleep.
"Mom" Grace said as she could feel herself panic
"Grace Elizabeth Grey, I have been driving for 8 hours to get here, I spent three of those hours in traffic. Now let me in" Meredith said scooting past her daughter and plopping down on the bed
"Mom, I..I can explain" Grace cried
"This morning I go online to check my credit card statement, just to make sure the card is working since sometimes it has problems working outside of the state. To my surprise I see charges made in Washington D.C, and so I panicked and called Lauren's parents. They informed me that my fifteen year old daughter had not gone on vacation and that you told Lauren you were sick with the flu. I called your phone over a hundred times today Grace and you didn't answer me once, I was worried sick"
"Mom, I'm so sorry"
"Grace, tell me now before I get even more angry if I open that mini fridge am I going to find a bottle of tequila and is there going to be a boy hiding in that bathroom, because so help me God, Grace if you're going down that path"
Grace went over and opened the bathroom door and then opened the mini fridge
"No mom" Grace said quietly
"Come here" Meredith said and opened her arms out so she could hug her daughter. Grace wrapped her arms tightly around her mom resting her head on her mother's shoulder.
"Sweetie, you aren't a liar. This isn't like you. What are you even doing here?" Meredith asked
Grace inwardly gulped as tears pooled her blue eyes. "I wanted to meet my dad" Grace sobbed.
Meredith comforted her daughter, she understood what Grace was feeling but she had to find out how much Grace knew about her dad at this point.
"Did you meet him?"
"Yes"
"Did he recognize you?" Meredith asked
"I don't think so, he said I reminded him of someone but wouldn't say who"
"We're leaving first thing in the morning" Meredith said
"No, mom we can't. I like Derek and he's nice to me, he even invited me over for dinner and I have a brother, and I always wanted a sibling. Mom you can't just decide that I can't know my dad, it isn't fair"
"Gracie this is what's best for you" Meredith tried
"No, it's what's best for you" Grace yelled
"Derek and Addison are unhappy mom, he doesn't love her, I can tell. I think he still loves you and mom if we just tell him maybe it can work and he can move to where we live and"
"Grace, your father isn't going to move to New York, he's been with Addison for years now, that is his wife and he already has a family and so do you, you have me and your Uncle Mark"
"But why can't we just tell him he's my dad?" Grace cried
"Because he already knows about you" Meredith yelled out of anger before she could stop herself.
"No he doesn't" Grace cried looking her mom square in the face
"This is what I was trying to protect you from. I wrote your dad a letter before you were born telling him about you and he didn't…he wanted to make things work with Addison and his son. I'm sorry" Meredith said hating that she had to hurt her daughter like this
"No mom, Derek he isn't like that. He's taking me on a tour of the White House tomorrow. He wouldn't abandon you and me like that" Grace cried trying to wrap her mind around what her mom was saying.
"I'm sorry" Meredith told Grace full of emotion
"But we're leaving tomorrow morning and we're going back home" Meredith said with finality
Grace gave her mom a menacing look before going into the bathroom and slamming the door.
Meredith knew she needed a minute as she sighed and sat back down on the bed hating herself for hurting her daughter and hating Derek for giving Grace some sort of hope. Suddenly Meredith's phone rang with a number she didn't recognize
"Hello" she answered on the third ring
"Meredith?" the caller asked instantly Meredith Grey was transported to her intern year.
"Derek" she breathed
What to expect in the coming chapters: There is going to be a whole lot of angst but I promise eventually this story is going to settle down and we're going to see a happier side to these characters.
Expect an eventual Meredith/Derek confrontation
An Addison/Derek confrontation when he discovers she hid the letter
Also there is going to be a moment between Grace and Derek in the coming chapter where she admits to him that she is his daughter, please review!
