The next morning, Derek and Meredith went into work together. Derek brought the kids down to the nursery. Upon checking them in, Katie walked right up to a little boy and sat down and started talking to him. Derek smiled at her interaction, and he watched them for a moment, knowing he had seen that little boy before, but couldn't remember from where. Derek shrugged it off and he handed the baby carrier to the caretaker, and told her that he might be back around lunch time.
He headed down to Orthopedics and had his cast removed, relieved that he finally had free movement of his leg.
He then headed to the attendings locker room and changed for rounds. He stepped out of the locker room and smiled when he saw Meredith standing in the hallway. She turned to head his way, and he walked down in her direction. It took him a moment, but he nearly did a double take when he realized who Meredith was walking with.
Derek stepped forward and met them halfway. "Rebecca, it's so nice to see you again!" Derek said politely with a smile, not noticing Meredith's glance of confusion.
She smiled at the sight of Derek and held her hand out. "Derek! Finally, a familiar face!" She said with a smile. "Dr. Grey here is showing me around the hospital."
"Well, you're in good company. Dr. Grey is the best resident in the hospital. I should know, she's my fiancé" Derek said proudly as he put his arm around Meredith. Meredith still looked extremely confused. Seeing the look on Meredith's face, he explained. "I met Dr…."
"Dr. Randall." Rebecca confirmed.
"I met Dr. Randall yesterday at the park with Katie and Jacks." Derek smiled, a look of understanding passed over Meredith's face. "I saw Matthew downstairs in the nursery, I knew he looked familiar." Derek laughed.
"Yeah, he was very nervous, because he doesn't know anyone." Rebecca said.
"Don't worry, Katie was talking up a storm with him when I left, she'll show him the ropes." Derek smiled looking at Meredith, who gave him a small smile. "Well, I'll let you get back to your tour. It was nice seeing you again Dr. Randall." Derek says as he squeezes Meredith's arm affectionately "Doctor Grey." he winked, watching her shake her head as he stepped down the hallway.
"It was nice seeing you too Dr…"
"Shepherd, Dr. Shepherd." Derek said, sending a wave as he disappeared down the hallway.
1:00pm-
Derek was already in the awaiting Meredith's arrival with Katie and Jack when he looked up to see his little girl running around the corner. "Daddy!" She squealed as she ran and jumped into his lap.
"Hey there little girl, what is going on with you?" Derek laughed as he bounced her on his leg.
"I have a new friend in the nursery. His name is Matt! He is a really nice kid." Katie giggled.
"Oh yeah? Aren't you a little young to be having boyfriends?" Derek teased. Meredith set Jack's carrier on the ground and lifted him out of it. She gave Derek a smile at his question, shaking her head and laughing.
"Matt isn't a boy daddy! He's just a kid, and he's my friend." Katie smiled.
"I see, I see." Derek laughed. "Let's see what mommy brought us for lunch." Derek said as he grabbed the lunch bags that Meredith had packed and looked up to see Rebecca coming in with Matthew. "Mer, do you want to invite them over here for lunch?" Derek asked, leaning over.
"Sure." She turned and saw Rebecca. "Doctor Randall! Why don't you two come on over here and sit!" Meredith called. Rebecca saw them and smiled, walking over.
"Thank you so much! It's so hard when you don't know anyone, I appreciate how nice you guys have been to us. This is Matthew." Rebecca said to the retreating little boy who was trying to hide behind his mother's leg. "Matthew, why don't you take your sandwich and sit next to Katie, you know Katie." Matthew shyly left the security of his mother and climbed up into the chair next to Katie.
"Hello Matthew, I'm Derek." Derek said, holding out his hand to the little boy. "I'm Katie's Daddy."
Matthew smiled and slapped Derek's hand and grinned. "My daddy's a doctor, too." He said, turning around to look at Katie, who was munching on her sandwich humming as if she couldn't care less.
"Hi Matthew, I'm Meredith." Meredith said, smiling at the little boy.
"It's very nice to meet you." Matthew said with a smile, making Meredith to smile back.
"You're a very polite young man." Meredith replied.
"He has his father's charm, and he's only four." Rebecca laughed.
"So, what brings you to Seattle?" Meredith asked.
"Well, I am originally from Chicago, that's where I started my medical career. I came to New York about 6 years ago. I worked out there for a little while, which is where I met Matthew's father. Had an on again, off again relationship with him, and I was finally offered an attending position out here at Seattle Grace, so we packed up and moved." Rebecca explained.
"Wow, that is a lot of moving around. If you don't mind me asking, what did Matthew's father think of the big move?" Derek asked, knowing how he would feel in a situation like this.
"Matthew's father was an attending at the hospital I worked. He is a kind man, but he really didn't seem to be the father type. He always told me that he liked the bachelor life and that he wasn't ready to settle down. Don't get me wrong, he loves Matt with all his heart, couldn't get enough of him, bringing him to ball games and playing with him at the playground. When I told him that I was coming out to Seattle, he said he wouldn't want to come out here because of all the rain and he didn't want me to take Matthew away from him. But at this point in my career, there was nothing more that I could do, I needed to move on with my life. We had a huge fight right before I left and I haven't spoken to him since we got here. But I like Seattle, it's beautiful out here." Rebecca said smiling.
"It is a big change from New York, I know that for sure." Derek smiled.
Meredith's pager suddenly went off, and she sighed. "Well, I got to go, duty calls!" Meredith said, handing the baby over to Derek, dropping a kiss on his nose. "I'll see you guys later!" Meredith called back, smiling as they they waved to Meredith as she made her way out of the cafeteria. She turns and looked back at the table, sighing as she watched Rebecca as she lifted Jack from his arms.