-1Two days later Mark parked his Lexus convertible at the air port and ran in to meet Derek. Glancing at the screen he stopped running noticing their flight was running late. He was glad, because all hell had broken loose at the hospital and he was barely able to make his brief escape on time.
30 minutes later he spotted his dark haired friend at luggage claim. "So the prodigal son returns. I thought they keep you there forever." "Well, you know my family, there is no such thing as a quick trip." Derek replied leaving Ava with Mark to retrieve their luggage. "Uncle Mark!" She ran into his arms and he laughed at the Yankees cap she refused to take off. She had on a pink matching jersey and he was glad he created a baseball fan.
"Guess what! I went to the Yankees game and saw them and daddy let me have all the soda and hot dogs I wanted...and then I got sick!" Mark smiled trying to keep up with the girls fast speech. "And then we went to the statue of liberty and daddy bought me lots toys on pith avenue!" Derek came back just in time to hear the rest of his daughter's speech. "You mean 5th avenue princess...don't let you Aunt Addison catch you saying that wrong!" Mark laughed at Derek's true remark and they walked to the car.
"Ava talked on and on about New York and both Derek and Mark tuned her out after the first 5 minutes. "She's just like Meredith Derek, I feel bad for you. I don't know how you get a word in ever..." Derek smirked and was suddenly tuned into his daughter's conversation when she said "...and Teddy said I'd get lots of presents when you and mommy get daworced!" Mark shot Derek a confused look. "She means divorced. I let her spend the day at Nancy's and this is what she comes back with."
Derek let out a frustrated sigh as they got into the car. "Ava, you don't want mommy and daddy to get divorced. It means they wont live with you anymore." Mark said not even thinking about it before he said it. Derek shot Mark a death glare as Ava's face turned sad. "What...I tried..." Mark defended starting the car. "Let me do the talking from now on Mark!" Derek replied turning in his seat to face Ava. "Honey, me and mommy are NOT getting divorced so you don't ever have to worry about that."
They continued to drive on for awhile making small talk about the trip. Ava seemed to have forgotten about the subject all together until Derek realized her quietness was just her thinking it over. "But daddy, Aunt Nancy said you and Aunt Addison got daworced because she did something bad and then you lefted her. Did mommy do something bad too?" Derek almost choked on the water he had been sipping and Mark looked at him with wide eyes as they stopped at a red light.
Derek looked back once again to face Ava. The girl was playing with her unicorn as if what she was saying was the most nonchalant thing in the world. "Aunt Nancy told you that Ava?" Ava looked at him getting at his questioning. She rolled her eyes, which was a new trait she had picked up from her mother. "Yeah, she said you got unmarried cause you met mommy and were very mad at Uncle Mark. Uncle Marky! What did you do!?" She giggled thinking it was all a funny joke, but was still looking at them waiting for an answer.
Derek turned back in his seat unable to hide the anger that was evident in on his face. How could Nancy say things like that to his 4 year old? He was tempted to call her and freak out on her but knew it was not a good time. He looked at Mark not knowing what to sat. "Uh...that's all you man..." Mark replied feeling awkward. After giving Ava a shortened very watered down, disney version of his first marriage, Derek turned back to Mark and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"You alright?" Mark asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road. Derek's hands were clenched into tight little balls now and he was trying to keep his anger in check. "No...No I'm not ok." He kept his voice low so Ava wouldn't get scared, but there still anger in his tone. "The second I got there they began questioning me about Meredith. Nancy of course jumps to conclusions and now..." Derek glanced to the back seat to make sure Ava was pre-occupied and lowered his voice. "Now...all that one talks about is divorce..Meredith is going to kill me. She's going to think I put these ideas in our 4 year old's head." Derek was fuming now, angry at his families lack of consideration.
" And...this Addison thing...Meredith and I agreed not to tell her about that until she was older. It's too confusing for her...Nancy had no right to go there.." Mark nodded agreeing and pretty sure this was going to change the way Ava saw him and Addison. "Meredith's going to kill you when she hears her talk about all this...so you might want to clue her in before hand.." Derek looked back at his daughter who smiled mischievously back at him and knew he had to do damage control sooner rather than later.