I know I said Monday, but there was a slight incident in which Riley decided to see if my laptop could swim. My husband was on the floor working on the laptop at the coffee table. Riley then decided to crawl all over him and knocked over a glass of water in the process. My laptop was done and I was waiting to be able to go get a replacement. On the plus side I'll probably update several days in a row because I have several chapters done and feel bad about not updating Monday. This chapter may be one of my favorites I have written.
Derek leaned over, carefully pressing a kiss to Meredith's cheek and watching as her eyes opened lazily. Blue eyes met green and he smiled. She started to rise, but Derek placed a hand on her shoulder effectively holding her down.
"No, stay in bed. Go back to sleep. I have plans for me and the kids," he ordered, dropping to place another kiss, to her lips this time.
"Where are you going?" she asked through a yawn.
Derek simply smirked slinking from the room without a word.
"Hey, you can't just kiss me and leave without an answer. It doesn't work like that," she called just as he made it through the door.
She heard a deep chuckle sound down the hall as he retreated before falling back into the bed. Derek made his way back downstairs where the kids were waiting patiently for him to return.
"Where are we going?" Christopher asked immediately.
"Shhh. It's a secret for mommy," Derek whispered as he perched Jacob on his hip and swung the diaper bag full of emergency supplies on his shoulder.
He ushered them all outside and loaded them in the car, waiting until they were a good distance away before finally answering Christopher's question.
"Okay. We're going shopping for the baby's room," Derek explained, "I want to surprise Meredith with a finished nursery tomorrow."
He glanced back in the mirror to watch Ainsley's reaction. Dr. Weller had told him to involve her in the baby process and he figured that furniture and paint was far enough removed to be the best way to go about it. He hoped that one day he might be able to take her to a sonogram appointment, but he was counting on this to get her more excited about her new sibling. Ainsley's eyes met his in the mirror, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"What do you think Ainsley, do you want to help me pick out the bedding for the baby's nursery?" he asked watching as her face scrunched in thought.
"How are we going to pick out stuff when we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl?" Ainsley questioned.
Derek smiled despite himself. He was always amazed at the insight such a little girl could show.
"We'll buy something that isn't too girly or boyish," Derek answered.
"Oh, and I can really help?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Yes you can. I can't do it by myself," Derek smiled noting that Ainsley seemed to be showing some excitement.
"Wow," she gasped her gaze moving back out the window effectively ending the conversation.
They pulled up to the store a few moments later and Derek again settled Jacob on his hip before leading them inside.
"Okay, first we need to pick out some furniture," Derek explained before leading them to one corner of the store where various models were set up.
"Hi, I'm Ellen can I help you find anything?" a woman greeted them.
Her hair was short and gray and her face showed signs of age. Derek guessed that she was in her late 60's. If he remembered correctly, from their visit many years before when Meredith was pregnant with Jacob, she was the owner. He opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off by Christopher.
"We need baby stuff because mommy has a baby in her tummy," he said proudly.
"Well I think we can take care of that," Ellen replied warmly to Christopher before returning her gaze to Derek, "what exactly are you wanting to get today?"
"We need pretty much everything for the nursery. We already gave away all of this little one's stuff when my brother had his little boy, so we're basically starting from scratch," Derek explained, motioning to Jake who clung shyly to his neck.
"Well I see you were planning to start at the furniture," she smiled walking with them toward the models, "what color were you thinking? Wood finish or would you rather it be painted?"
"Definitely wood," Derek nodded firmly before adding, "dark wood."
"I like the round bed daddy," Christopher shouted as he peered through the bars of a circular model.
"What do you think Ainsley? Do you like the round one?" Derek asked.
"It's okay," she shrugged, but Derek saw her eyes drifting toward a crib with a high back panel.
"Do you like that one better?" he whispered to her watching as he eyes grew wide and she nodded.
"Alright Jacob? Which one is your favorite? This one?" he pointed at the round crib, "or this one?" he motioned to the crib Ainsley had chosen?"
Jacob simply buried his face in the crook of his neck, not quite ready to speak in front of the stranger.
"I like the more traditional one," Derek finally said pointing to Ainsley's choice.
"Okay. That option actually comes as a set with a matching changing table/dresser combo," Ellen noted.
"Well that was easy," Derek smiled.
"Gliders?" she questioned motioning to another section.
"Actually, no. My wife has a rocking chair my mom gave her that she keeps in our room for that purpose. I already ordered, picked-up, and hid a custom cushy armchair for the nursery," Derek answered.
"Well that leaves bedding," she suggested, walking a few feet over to a wall covered with bedding samples.
Derek placed Jacob on the floor and leaned toward the woman.
"Ummm…I know this isn't really in your job description, but I promised my daughter that she could help me pick out the bedding all by herself and well…I'm sure you've noticed Christopher is a little over zealous when it comes to stating his opinions," Derek whispered, "could you maybe keep them occupied elsewhere for a few minutes."
Ellen smiled warmly with a knowing look in her eyes.
"How about you come with me boys, and we can look at some stuffed animals for the baby," Ellen said brightly to the two little boys.
Derek watched as she grabbed Jacob's hand gently, Christopher followed her excitedly to a large display of stuffed animals a few feet away.
"Okay, princess. What do you like?" he asked Ainsley.
"Ummm…I can't see them all," she noted as her eyes scanned the rows of fabric.
Derek smiled slightly before stooping to hoist her onto his hip. Her eyes moved darted back and forth settling on one pattern and then another before finally stopping on one in particular. She tilted her head as if in deep thought. Derek watched her as she contemplated the pattern for a long while, waiting patiently for her to speak.
"I like the whale one," she said pointing to a green and blue chevron patterned bumper with a quilt covered in pastel colored sea life.
"You don't think it's too boyish?" he asked her moving toward her selection.
"No. It's good," she said with a bright smile on her face.
"Alright, ocean bedding it is," Derek confirmed before walking over to Ellen and the boys.
Jacob grasped a penguin firmly in his hand and Christopher seemed to be unable to choose between a blue dog and a red dinosaur. Ellen was listing facts about each animal in an attempt to help him decide, but looked up when Derek entered her line of vision.
"Did you make a decision?" she directed at Ainsley.
"Yeah, the one with the fishes," she answered proudly.
"That's a good choice," she nodded before standing from her crouched position on the floor. Are you going to have the furniture delivered or are you going to take it home now?" Ellen asked.
"Today," he replied, "I brought the big SUV especially for that reason."
Ellen smiled moving toward the back of the store. He heard her call to someone and a young man appeared from behind a closed door. She spoke to him quickly and he nodded, before returning through the door. She moved back toward Derek and the kids.
"I have Paul getting the furniture and bedding from the stock room. Is there anything else you need help with or would you just like to look around for the next few minutes while he gets it together?" she directed to Derek.
"We'll look around. You never know when you'll see something you have to have," Derek chuckled watching as Christopher seemed to finally make his decision and returned the dog to the stack of animals.
Ellen simply smiled before returning to her place behind the checkout counter.
"Do you want to pick an animal Ainsley?" Derek asked.
Ainsley nodded before sliding from his grasp and moving to the stack. She quickly selected a gray dolphin and glanced back at Derek who smiled brightly. They walked around the store for awhile picking out a few more toys, some books, and several picture frames before taking the stuff up to the checkout counter and paying for it. Shortly after, Paul pushed a cart through the door with the furniture boxes and bedding stacked on top and Derek led him to the car before directing the loading. When they finally pulled out of their parking space, Derek felt rather accomplished. He pointed them in the direction of the nearest home improvement store. They found a parking spot and fought through the mass of people trying to get their weekend project supplies. Derek was glad he had grabbed one of the big shopping carts when he realized how busy the store was because keeping track of three loose kids would have made the shopping trip even more stressful. He had opened the bedding and pulled out the quilt in order to match paint colors and was hoping to find some shelving to hang. They made it to the paint counter without incident and a attendant helped them pick out a green color that complemented the quilt nicely and then made a beeline for the shelving picking out a couple of free hanging shelves before making their way from the store and back home. He dialed Mark's number on the way home waiting as it rang several times. When Mark finally answered he could hear Sean screaming in the background.
"Will you hold on a minute?" he asked exasperatedly.
Derek heard the screaming get louder and Mark's voice speaking softly to the infant before the crying stopped and Mark finally spoke again.
"I swear this kid has two settings. Perfect angel and screaming lunatic," Mark sighed.
"Is he giving you a hard time?" Derek asked barely concealing a laugh.
"I put him down for two minutes to get Kennedy a drink and he acted like I tried to kill him," Mark replied.
Derek didn't even try to stifle a chuckle this time.
"Shut up! What do want?" Mark snapped.
"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Derek finally asked.
"Yeah. Lexie said that she and Christina are going to kidnap Meredith by 9 so we'll be over there then," Mark replied, "how exactly are we supposed to do this with five kids running around?"
"Quantity. Ben, Jackson, Karev, and Owen all volunteered to help. I figure with all of us there we can keep an eye on the kids and get the nursery done in no time. I promised beer though so we'll see how that goes," Derek explained.
"Okay man. I'll see you tomorrow," Mark said quickly as a new round of screaming started, this time obviously Kennedy's.
Derek listened as Mark began to scold her for something before the click sounded signaling the end of the phone call.
That was long. So obviously the inspiration for the next chapter was the deck building episode. I thought we could all use a break from the serious issues, but I still wanted to advance the story line. Obviously we can see in this chapter that Ainsley is getting better. Her sessions with Dr. Weller are not finished, but I'll mostly just be alluding to them until I think we really need to see one, or I want to show Ainsley's progress. I would love a review even though I made you all wait so long for an update.