ENJOY!

Chapter 13

Nora cleared her throat nervously, she just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. This entire situation was frustrating and embarrassing.

Telling the son of your not exactly ex-husband, cause you were actually never married, that he had a little sister and therefore his father has a daughter that none of them knew anything about was a frightening experience. One that caused her throat to clamp up and mouth to be dry.

Of course her lovely eldest daughter had taken some of the difficulty away by announcing who Sophie was to Derek as soon as he had seen the small child. Breaking the news of a new sister was the easy part. Casey stole the easy part from her. Nora growled to herself.

Really, she just didn't want Derek, Edwin, or Marti to be angry with her for not telling them sooner about the baby. It was easy to see how close the five kids had come to one another; it broke her heart to separate them and leave them herself. She loved them all, so much.

Having them hate her over a decision that she thought was the best for her and her baby at that time would break her to pieces all over again, and Nora didn't want that to happen. She would try anything to avoid that actually.

She turned to look at her daughter who had Sophie on her lap. Derek's arm was wrapped tightly around Casey as they sat together, babbling and cooing at their youngest sibling.

Yes, she was glad that Casey had found Derek again, she thought with a grin. They belonged to one another, even back when they were younger throughout all of their fighting and bickering there was this magic. A connection, the kind that everyone wishes to find in their lives. The kind she thought she had found with George; it killed her to think that she had been wrong.

Nora forced her thoughts back to her daughter and her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend. Nora rolled her eyes at herself. It was stupid how happy and excited she was that Casey and Derek had somehow found each other again and become a couple. Seeing how happy Casey was now almost made up for how miserable she had been when Nora dragged her and Lizzie away from them to start with.

Now if only she could find a way to set Lizzie and Edwin up together, Nora would never have to worry about hating her son in laws. She already loved them dearly.

- Don't Know -

Derek sat in awe.

Once Casey's secret had been revealed all Derek felt was relief. It was nowhere near bad as she was making it; absolutely nothing that would make him leave her and everything they had together.

It took maybe five more minutes for the news of Sophie's existence to hit him. Now he was back where he started; more questions. He desperately hoped Nora was willing to open up to him, tell him the truth about why she left. Why his dad didn't know about Sophie; if he did know and still let Nora walk away from him, he was going to kick his father's ass.

There are no excuses for that. However, Derek couldn't see his dad doing that; he loved his kids and he would've fought harder than he did to keep them with him if he knew.

"Derek, you have to understand. I did what was best for me and my baby at that time. Everything was miserable and stressful between me and George and it was affecting my little girls health."

Derek flinched at the desperate pleading tone of Nora's voice and latched onto Casey tighter. Why did she have to use dirty tactics? The tone, the watery eyes! Gah!

"Okay. Most important thing first, does dad know about Sophie?"

Nora shrunk into herself, chin dropping down to her chest.

"No" she whispered quietly.

He expelled a harsh breath and ran his hand roughly through his hair. "Did he know you were pregnant?"

Another soft whisper escaped her, "No."

Derek stood and stepped over to Nora; he crouched in front of her and covered her hand with his own.

"Nora, I'm not angry." He murmured softly, hoping she would pick her head up. Nora was such a strong woman, seeing her timid and shy about anything wouldn't fly with him.

"You're not?" He chuckled deeply and plopped down onto his butt on the floor.

"Am I angry that I have a new baby sister? Ha! No. I'm very excited. I'm just curious, about everything really, why didn't you tell dad? Why did you guys move so far away?" he glanced at Casey sadly. As if sensing his thought pattern she turned to look at him as she played with Sophie.

'I love you' she mouthed.

Derek smirked cockily, 'I know.'

Casey sent him a sour look, snickering he added, 'I love you too'

"I couldn't tell George Derek! He didn't want to have another child", Nora shook her head and scoffed, "well not with me anyways."

Casey, Derek, and Lizzie shared a look, "What are you talking about Nora?"

She huffed and swiped angrily at a falling tear. "Derek, the last thing your father wanted was to have a baby with me. He even told some asshole friend of his on the phone."

"What did he say mum?" Lizzie asked.

"His exact words were 'the last thing I'd ever want is to have a child with her, why on earth would you want to bring more of those genes into the world! Have you seen the woman?' and he was laughing the whole time."

"Am I really that bad of a person? That undesirable?" She glanced at the three of them as if thinking they held the answers for her, "Why does the man I love find me so disgusting?" Nora choked back a strangled sob, folding into herself.

Casey shook her head, pain for her mother making her thoughts run around like mad. Never once did George ever seem like he was a cruel man but a statement like that could only be said with cruel intentions. It was just a mean and nasty thing to say.

"Maybe that's not how he meant it Nora," not once in his life did Derek want to hit his father; but right now, seeing the devastation on Nora's face it was a good thing his father was a couple hours away.

"Derek please," she admonished, "Don't pacify me. There aren't many ways you could take a comment like that."

He bowed his head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean t-"

"No!" Nora cut him off, "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything."

A few moments passed in silence as everyone got lost in their thoughts.

"I was scared shitless."

Derek looked to Nora in surprise, "You were scared?"

"Yes, I was angry, and sad, and scared. I was pregnant with the child of the man I love and here he is on the phone with some friend of his saying that he never wants to have a baby with me. That my genes are too terrible to pass on; he not only insulted me but my girls too, born and unborn at the time. The only thing I could think of was to leave."

He nodded in understanding, "But why did you choose so far away?"

"I didn't want him to find out and try to take her or have her taken away. So I thought the further the better and Vancouver it was." She shrugged and reached out to grab Sophie from her older sister. "Plus, we're not really married and I was scared that your father being a lawyer and all may be able to get her if he found out I was pregnant; he could have seen me around town waddling or something. I didn't know if he knew any loopholes or special laws that I didn't and figured it was best not to chance it. "

"I understand Nora. Really I do. It just doesn't sound like dad to me." Derek shrugged helplessly. "He's never been the horrible backstabbing jerk kind of guy. Losing you guys made him a different person, one that cries in his dark room at night, ignores his kids, and spends way to much time at work. He is so different now, he's miserable."

Nora shook her head, "I never wanted him to be miserable. I never meant to hurt him."

Lizzie wrapped her arm around her mother, trying to offer her some comfort. "We know mum. It's okay."

"I was scared, and hurt, and I wasn't doing well with the pregnancy and the stress was making everything worse, I didn't mean to hurt him, I was losing Sophie! I had to leave." Nora was shaking and sobbing, the news of George's misery affecting her in a way none of them thought it would. "I didn't want to hurt him."

Derek suddenly turned to Nora, "What do you mean you were losing Sophie? What happened?"

The three women exchanged glances with one another; when Nora nodded slightly it was Lizzie who spoke up.

"About a week before we left, mum went to the doctor. She was seriously underweight, not getting enough nutrition, throwing up all the time. Her health was rapidly going downhill and so was Soph's." She glanced at her mum from the corner of her eye. "Basically, Sophie was being malnourished in the womb; because mum wasn't getting the right nutrition Sophie couldn't either."

Derek dropped his head against Nora's knee. He was so confused! If they all knew about Nora's pregnancy and health problems before they left, how could they not tell him? Didn't any of them trust him at all? Sure he would've tried to convince Nora to tell his dad, but that was only because if they were ever in that situation thence would want Casey to tell him. He could understand why she didn't tell George though, overhearing a phone call like that would be crushing. Especially if you were carrying the man's child.

A small part of him still felt hurt though. Something as important as Nora and his baby sister's lives being even a little bit in danger, and he was kept in the dark. For the most part though, he's just thankful that they are both okay. And healthy now from the looks of things.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice came out rough and gravelly; his emotions were all over the map today.

Casey nestled herself into his side, "We wanted to Der. Really, it's just by the time mum told us about everything we were already on our way across the country. I couldn't get a hold of you."

He muttered a quiet, "oh" but kept his head down.

- Don't Know -

Casey felt terrible. Ever since the talk earlier that afternoon, Derek had been quiet. Not the semi pleasant 'oh he finally stopped the not so charming incessant babbling' quiet, no it was the contemplative, almost sad quiet that nearly broke her heart to witness.

She knew he would be upset once he sort of knew everything; and even more upset that he was left out. Derek, even though he would never admit it, needed to be part of everything. He loved to be involved in all the really important parts of people's lives.

He was also worried about his dad.

How George would react to finding out he had another child was a mystery to her. She had never really seen George react to being given news of that magnitude before; she had no clue what to expect.

However, it was pretty safe to say he wouldn't be happy. What person would be pleased to find out that they had a child they knew absolutely nothing about? Especially if the call that Nora heard was true.

"What are you thinking about?"

She rolled to her side and placed a soft kiss to her boyfriend's lips.

"Everything."

Derek sighed deeply; he knew her better than she thought he did. Right now she thought he was mad at her, disappointed in her, and probably pissed that she didn't tell him about Sophie or the problems Nora had. He wasn't; he understood that she couldn't tell him. It was Nora's secret to tell, not hers and he understood that, he accepted that.

"Case, stop it."

She pulled away from his neck and lifted her brow, "Stop what?"

He scoffed at her, "Casey. Stop thinking I'm mad at you, or disappointed in you. Or that I'm gonna leave you for keeping a secret that wasn't yours to tell. I'm not mad."

She stared at him warily, "What? How are you not mad at me? This is huge!"

"Well, I would probably be a lot angrier or hurt if Sophie was your daughter like I initially thought she was." He chuckled at the surprise on her face, "But even then I would only be angry that you felt the need to keep it from me. Like you didn't trust me enough to be able to keep the secret if you told me. Trust is important Case and I need to know that you trust me; if we don't have trust between us then we don't have a good foundation for our very long term relationship." Despite the seriousness of their conversation Derek sent a small wink at her, hoping to show her that they were still okay. Something like this couldn't tear them apart unless they let it, and Derek was not going to let it happen.

"I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. Mum asked us not to say anything but I didn't want to keep anything from you. Forgive me, please?" she wrapped herself in his arms and hid her face in his chest. The slightest possibility of his rejection had her hiding like a frightened child.

Derek placed a tender kiss on her forehead and tightened his embrace around her.

"There is nothing to forgive. I love you Casey. Nothing is going to change that; and nothing will come between us. We just need to talk about things right?" she nodded against his chest, "Now, pull your chin up. I want my fierce, strong, and confident Casey back, this sad and insecure one is tugging on the strings of my cold and broken heart!"

Casey laughed at his attempt to cheer her up. He was so adorable. "Cold and broken heart my ass!"

"Casey, honey? We're back!" Nora's called from the other room.

Derek pulled her up with him and quickly leaned down capturing her lips with his own. He kissed her lovingly and slowly, something he hadn't had the chance to do since Nora had shown up. It was a goal of Derek's to kiss Casey at least 13 times per day; not that he would ever tell her about that though. With Nora showing up, he had managed four today. That was totally unacceptable.

"Der, mums here," she breathed against his mouth. Derek impatiently pressed his mouth to hers again; "yeah, yeah" he mumbled trying to get lost in her kiss.

Casey pulled away from him again, "Seriously Derek, Mum, Lizzie, and Sophie are back from their walk." He groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder where he placed kisses and smirked when his girlfriend squirmed. He smirked at her wickedly and kissed her once more, delighted in the fact that she melted into his embrace with a small moan of her own.

He pulled back from her marginally, "You are everything I hope and dream of Casey. Every little inch, every centimetre of you, every mole, freckle, scar that graces your skin; it's my perfection."

He gazed at her in earnest and traced her jaw line with his fingertips. Slowly moving from her chin to cheek, down the column of her neck and sliding his fingers into the hair at the base of her skull, he pressed a small kiss to her temple.

She sniffed quietly, giving up on the tears that fell down her cheeks at his heartfelt words. He rested his forehead against hers and brought her flush against him; his arms banding her to him like bars.

"There isn't a single person on earth more breathtaking to me than you are. You are absolutely perfect." He breathed.

Casey shook her head in disagreement, "I am far from perfect Der. I'm a control freak and I'm obsessive about keeping things clean. I'm bossy and though I try not to be sometimes I'm mean. And lately I'm over emotional and I cry easily. I have way to many worries and fears that you're going to leave me and I'm so crazy in love with you I can't even fathom loosing yo-"

"Stop!" Derek exclaimed chuckling in spite of himself, "fine, your annoying and bossy and mean. Happy?"

Casey gave him a slight head nod and swiped at her watery eyes. "Yeah" she whispered.

Knowingly Derek propped his chin on the top of her head and lightly trailed his knuckles up and down her back, "In all fairness then let me tell you that I'm lazy, messy, I like to make you angry cause you are glorious when you're in a bit of a tizzy, I'm quite the a possessive bastard when it comes to you - and I would appreciate it if you never tested that theory-" he looked at her pointedly when she blushed, "and I'm so crazy in love with you, that if you ever tried to leave me I'd lock you in a tower Rapunzel style."

Casey laughed, grateful at his attempt to lighten the air and clear some of the dark, sad fog that had started settling.

"Okay," she cleared her throat, "we are never letting each other go. Promised, signed, and stamped. Officially!" She wiggled her eyebrows at him with a bashful grin.

Derek smiled at her adorable quirkiness, "Worries gone?"

She sighed happily and threaded her fingers through his hair; he let out a content little hum.

"Now," she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth for a moment, "kiss me."

Derek shivered at her breathy command but hastily complied and pressed his mouth down on hers. Again and again they kissed mindlessly and passionately; drowning themselves willingly in one another. Over the next short while they made a soundtrack together, heaving breaths, heated tingling skin meeting and swollen lips caressing over and over blissfully.

All thoughts vanished but that of the moment they were in. Neither one of them cared to remember that Nora, Lizzie, and Sophie were just in the other room.

The intense pleasure they were experiencing from being able to just share a kiss with one another over and over with no interruptions, it was incredible. It was giving them an opportunity to reconnect with each other.

Strengthen the incredible bond that they shared, and indulge in an intimacy that could weaken their knees.

And by the time they joined Nora and the girls later on, sitting down to a cold plate of the dinner Nora had picked up for them, Derek had to smile. He had kissed his girl so much tonight that his goal was met twice over for everyday of the next week.

- Don't Know -

(Earlier that evening after the girls returned from their walk.)

"Were they like that the entire time you were staying here?" Nora questioned her daughter, pointing towards the door that separated her daughters' bed from the rest of the room.

Lizzie giggled and pulled her hair into a bun on the top of her head. "No. They were much tamer than this. I promise!"

Nora laughed along with her and divided the food they had picked up between plates. "It sounds like he is eating my daughter alive in there!"

"Mum! That's just wrong!" Lizzie exclaimed.

Nora scoffed playfully, "My darling daughter, the sounds I'm hearing from my little girl and her boyfriend are just wrong. Remember that I also consider him my son, so yuck!" she pulled a face, "I can be traumatized if I want to. Any sane parent would be!"

Sophie gazed up at her mother, her blue eyes wide and curious, "Yuck mumma!"

Nora and Lizzie laughed at her while she flailed her arms through the air in excitement at the sound of them laughing and joined in with her own giggles.

"And really, these dorms are bigger than most but they are not that big. I can hear everything and it is scarring me." Nora pouted in an exaggerated fashion.

"Okay, I'll give you that!" Lizzie propped her hip against the counter and smiled at her mother, "They sure are happy together though."

Nora finished placing the plates on the table and sat down with a drowsy Sophie on her lap; she glanced at Lizzie from the corner of her eye. "I'm glad she's happy. She deserves it. They both do."

Lizzie smiled to herself. Her mother really was an exceptional woman.

- Thank you for taking the time to read/review/follow/favorite my story! I love you all 3