Author's Note: Hey y'all. Much appreciate for all the love and reviews. I just wanted to let y'all know, I'm planning on continuing Rock Me, Mama, after I've completed I Melt. Once again, thank for you the love and Happy New Year xx
Derek couldn't help but smile. He was in the process of making breakfast. He figured chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and eggs would be the perfect meal to start today. He was humming along to his country spotify station. "Mmm, momma rock-"
He stopped himself seeing Meredith with a smirk playing on her lips. "Country music, huh?"
"It's my guilty pleasure," He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "I hope you're hungry."
"Definitely," Meredith jumped onto the counter as Derek moved around the kitchen. "I'm glad you can cook, because I definitely cannot."
"Cooking is easy," He smiled.
"So, this one time in college," Meredith pushed her hair from her face. "I was starving. So as a college kid, I went to make ramen. Apparently, you can't put a metal spoon in the microwave."
Derek looked at her before cracking up. "You did not."
"Yup! I set a portion of the lounge on fire." Meredith shook her head. Derek could not stop laughing. "Okay, it's not that funny, jackass."
Derek smiled, "It's pretty funny." He looked at the clock when someone knocked on the door. "Could you grab that? It's probably Mark."
Meredith slid off the counter, kissed him on the cheek, and then opened the door. She felt her chest tighten. Here she was, dressed in Derek's clothes, staring at his ex-wife and daughter. "Meredith!" Kyla smiled, hugging her leg.
Thankfully, Derek came to the door, "Hey sweetie." Meredith just backed away. She didn't now what else to do right now.
Derek pulled Addison outside of his apartment, and shut the door. "I called you ten times, Derek. Kyla wanted to see you as soon as she woke up. I'm so sorry I interrupted your booty call."
"Stop it, Addison." He shook his head. "We're a tad old for this, don't you think? I'll see you on Thursday."
Derek shut his apartment door and sighed. "Kyla, I'm making breakfast. It'll be ready soon!"
"Okay!" She called from her bedroom.
"Meredith, I am so sorry. She wasn't supposed to be here until one in the afternoon." He sighed.
"It's fine. I should probably go, though." She sighed, feeling extremely awkward at the previous meeting.
"Stay for breakfast?" He frowned, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Please?"
"Okay," She nodded. She went to set the table, pulling out drinks for everyone. Meredith smiled as she watched him move around the kitchen. Kyla ran into the room, taking her normal seat.
Derek brought three plates over as everyone sat down. "Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can Meredith come to dinner with us tonight?" She perked up. "Please, Daddy? It'll be a lot of fun."
Derek smiled, looking towards Meredith. "I don't know, Ky, she's a busy woman. Why don't you ask?"
"Meredith, can you come to dinner with my Daddy and me?" She looked up with her bright blue eyes. "It'll be a lot of fun, I promise!"
"I'd love to." She smiled. Meredith glanced at Derek who was looking at his cell phone. He stood up, tossing it onto the counter, far from arms reach. He sat back down with a complete fake smile. "What should I wear, Kyla?"
"Hmm," The eight year old thought to herself, leaning back in her chair. "You should wear a pretty dress!"
"You got it," Meredith smiled.
x.x.x
Derek looked around the city as his car zipped through the city. Kyla was going on and on about some television show her two year old brother was in love with. "He just keeps singing and singing. I think his name Calliou, or something. I never heard that name before, Daddy."
He chuckled, ruffling her hair, "I think it's French."
"Weird," She shrugged her shoulders as the car came to a stop. Derek stepped out of the vehicle, closing the door.
Derek's breath hitched in his throat. She was wearing a silver dress that came below her knees. Her hair was curled in a half up-do. "You look amazing."
She blushed, avoiding eye contact. Derek tipped her chin up and quickly kissed her. He opened the door, letting her slide next to his daughter. "Hi, Kyla!"
Kyla looked up with a smile, "You look like a pretty princess, Meredith."
"I was going to say the same thing to you."
Derek slipped his hand into hers, rubbing his thumb against the top of her hand. He quietly leaned over, brushing his nose against her hair, right next to her ear. "Thank you for coming."
Meredith looked at him with a smile as the car soon came to a stop. Derek helped Meredith out; then held his daughter against her hip. "Maybe, if you eat your dinner, we can go get some ice cream near LOVE Park."
"I'm gonna eat every single bite, Daddy," She giggled as they were lead to a table near the back of the restaurant.
"I sure hope so," He smiled.
Meredith looked at the menu, and then glanced at Derek. "Uhm, Derek. Forgive me, but I seemed to fail out of Italian in the ninth grade."
"Doctor Meredith Grey failed a class?" He chuckled; suddenly remembering the entire menu was in Italian.
"Buona sera, Sir Shepherd. Vorrei iniziare con alcune bevande questa sera?" The waiter looked at Derek with a smile.
Derek ordered drinks for both his daughter, then himself. He looked towards Meredith who looked a mix between confused and shock. "What would you like to drink?"
"Chardonnay is fine," Meredith shook her head with a laugh. Once the waiter had left the table, she spoke up again, "You know Italian? Fluently?"
"Daddy used to spend his summer's in Italy. My great grandparents had a summer home in Rome!" Kyla explained.
Derek looked at his daughter with an amused expression, "I should bring her on all of my dates."
x.x.x
Meredith smiled as Derek held her hand. Kyla was running around in circles, chasing the birds that were next to the fountain. "I had a lot of fun at dinner," He kissed her gently.
"I did, too," Meredith smiled. She felt herself starting to like Derek more and more as the minutes back by. "She's such an amazing girl, Derek."
"Yeah," He watched as his daughter was laughing, playing with some other children accompanied by their parents. "No matter what, she's always laughing and smiling. She gets me through my rough days."
Meredith nodded, taking in everything around her. Three weeks ago, she never thought she'd be sitting here. "Meredith. I know I only met you a few weeks ago, but I'm really starting to like you."
She swallowed hard.
"I'm not going to rush into anything, but I just want you to know that I have plans. They're not scary or anything crazy, but I have plans."
"Okay," She nodded. "I…I can do plans."
"We'll that makes me very happy," Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple. "This girl is never going to go to sleep tonight."
"I don't think I've ever had that much energy." Meredith shook her head as she spotted a young boy, almost dragging her mother towards them.
"Mister Shepherd?" He was probably around the age of twelve. The blonde haired boy smiled brightly. He was sporting one of Derek's jerseys and clutching a football.
"I'm so sorry, sir. He just wouldn't let it up," The mother frowned.
Derek flashed a smile at the boy's mother. "What's your name, buddy?"
"Matthew," His eyes perked up. Derek extended his hand and he shook it, excitedly. "May I have your autograph, sir?"
"Of course you can!" Derek reached into the pocket of his suit, pulling out a sharpie. He paused. "You know what, Matt. Before I sign this football, do you want to play some catch?"
"R-Really?" He almost jumped with excitement.
Derek took his jacket off, undoing his shirt from being tucked in. "You don't mind, do you, Mom?"
"No," She shook her head with a smiled. "Not at all."
Derek dropped a kiss on Meredith's cheek before walking out towards the open space. Kyla had run back towards Meredith, sitting on her lap. "What's Daddy doing?"
"He's play some catch for a little bit."
Meredith watched as Derek interacted with the young fan. He asked him questions about his own football career. Who his favorite player was, among other things. It was probably the sweetest thing Meredith had ever seen.
As ten minutes passed by, the two returned to the bench. Derek took the football and wrote a note out for him. "Here you go, buddy."
"Thank you!" He beamed.
"Ma'am, during our bye week in two week we're sponsoring a Play 60 event for kids around Philadelphia. Next Sunday, if Matthew would like to join, he is more than welcome to come to the stadium to play." Derek pulled his wallet out with a card. "All the information is right on here and that's your ticket inside."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Shepherd," She smiled. "You have no idea how much this means."
"Absolutely. I hope to see you there." Derek smiled as the pair walked away. "Are my girls ready to go?" Meredith was in awe. She had never seen anything like that before. "I think we should go watch a movie."
"Yay!" Kyla clapped her hands together. "Meredith, can you come to? Please, please, please?"
"Sure," She laughed. She watched Derek pull on his jacket with a hard wince. She opened her mouth, but quickly stopped herself. Derek saw her reaction, but shook his head.
The three started walking out of the park. His apartment was only two blocks away, so they thought walking was the best option. "What movie are we going to watch, Ky?"
"Hmm," Kyla tapped her chin with her free hand. "Frozen!"
"Frozen?" Derek looked at his daughter. "Haven't you seen that like a million times already?"
"So? We can watch it a million and one times. Maybe a million and two, even."
Derek shook his head as he pressed the button for the elevator. "Okay, Frozen it is. But, you have to get ready for bed and brush your teeth first."
"Okay, Daddy," Kyla beamed.
"I give her twenty minutes before she's passed out on the couch," Derek murmured against Meredith's hair. "Then we can watch an actual movie."
"Okay."
x.x.x
Derek tiptoed out of Kyla's bedroom, closing the door quietly. Meredith placed her glass of wine on the table, allowing him to sit behind her. His hand wrapped around her waist as he grabbed the controller from the table to his left. "What would you like to watch?"
Meredith looked up at him, "Derek, what you did at the park, that was incredible. That kid is always going to remember that."
"That's exactly why I do what I do," He ran his fingers up and down her side. "As much as I love Philadelphia, we need a way to reach out to these kids. That's why I try to interact with them as much as possible."
He paused, "Meredith, this might be my last season. I've been in the league for eleven years. I know you saw me struggle with my shoulder earlier. One wrong hit and I could be in some serious trouble. The cortisone shots only get me so far."
"Well, I think only you know what's best for you," Meredith looked up as his fingers ran through her hair.
"You're the first person to not tell me that I'm overacting," He shook his head. "I swear, everyone wants me to play until my collar bone snaps like Joe Theisman's leg, back in the eighties."
"Well, people need to mind their own business," Meredith shrugged.
"I swear, you get more amazing with everything you say," He chuckled, pulling her closer to him.
Meredith ran her hand against his cheek, gently, before leaning up to kiss him. It was gentle at first, romantic, loving. Derek pulled her to sit in his lap, his hand pushing right under the hem of her t-shirt.
They pulled apart breathless. Meredith leaned her forehead on his. Derek kissed her again, more aggressively. He nibbled against her lower lip before sliding his lips towards her jaw, kissing inch by inch, until his tongue slowly slid down her neck.
Meredith tossed her head back. Her breath was gaining speed as she felt Derek's lips against her collarbone. "B-Bedroom?"
He smiled, easily picking her up. He went back to kissing her lips as he closed the door behind himself, locking it. Derek was leaning over her. He started moving her shirt above her head, until it was across the bedroom. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to, baby."
Meredith smiled, moving so she was straddling him, running her fingers across his chest. "You have plans right?" She pulled his own shirt from his body. "You said you have plans."
"I did say that and I do."
Meredith kissed him, longingly. "I have plans, too."