Birthday
Katy Perry
"Mommy, mommy!" Emma yelled as she ran into her mother's bedroom where Meredith and Derek were still asleep "It's my birthday, I'm four!" She said as she jumped onto the bed wedging herself in between her parents
"Happy Birthday, Emma" Derek smiled groggily as he pulled Emma in for a hug
"Why did she have to get your 'early worm catches the worm' gene" Meredith mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes "Happy Birthday Princess" Meredith smiled as she joined Derek and Emma for snuggles
"Wake up sillies" Emma giggled as her parents just lay in the bed
"What time is it" Derek yawned reaching over for his phone only to see it was 5:30am "Em, two more hours of sleep" Derek mumbled
"But it's my birthday" Emma said confused as to why her parents weren't jumping out of bed for cake and ice cream
"It will still be your birthday at 7:30" Derek chuckled
Flashback
"I can't do it" Meredith cried. She was exhausted, she had been in labor for over 12 hours, her epidural had worn off and it was too late in the game to give her another one.
"Yes you can Mer" Derek said as he wiped the sweat off her forehead. He hated seeing her in so much pain
"I can't Derek" Meredith cried "It hurts and I'm just so tired"
"I know" Derek said kissing her forehead. Meredith's labor had been going pretty well until hour eight when all progress seemed to stop for an hour before progressing slowly afterwards. They were final at the end of labor and with a few more minutes of pushing the doctor had said they'd have their bundle of joy, but Meredith wasn't having it. It was a little after 3am and she had been up since 7am the previous day without any comfortable sleep only micro naps when she could get comfortable enough
"Please just take her out" Meredith yelled as another contraction hit
"Alright Meredith push" The doctor instructed. Just as promised a few minutes and pushes later there was a cry in the room.
"It's a girl" The doctor smiled
"Oh Mer" Derek said overwhelmed with emotion as he kissed her forehead softly
"She's here" Meredith said as all the emotions came over her. Derek cut the cord and soon Meredith had her daughter lying on her chest as the nurse gently wiped her down
"She's perfect" Meredith said gently pressing a kiss to her daughter's head
End of Flashback
"Alright do we have everything?" Derek said as he looked at their suitcases and carry on bags
"I think so" Meredith said as she went over her mental check list
"I got passports and everything" Derek said as he double checked his carry on bag
"See letting you carry a man purse is so helpful" Meredith giggled
"It's a satchel and it's for men, but I'm comfortable enough with my manliness to carry around a purse" Derek chuckled
Flashback
"Crap" Mark said as some of his coffee escaped the plastic lid of his Starbucks cup and dripped onto his sweater
"Here, hold on a second" Derek said as he stopped pushing the stroller. Derek was shopping for Meredith's birthday gift and dragged Mark with him. He pulled the baby bag from the stroller and rummaged through t and found some wipes and handed two to Mark
"Why the hell are you carrying a purse" Mark chuckled as he used the wipe to clean the forming stain
"It's a baby bag" Derek said rolling his eyes as he zipped up the bag.
"It's a purse" Mark chuckled "Large, Straps and holds lots of things, it's a purse"
"I have my dad backpack but it was easier to just grab the baby bag than transfer everything into the backpack"
"It's a purse dude" Mark chuckled giving his best friend a hard time
"Hey, I'm man enough to wear a purse, plus man plus baby is always a winning combination with the ladies. Too bad I don't need the 'hot dad' card, already taken" Derek chuckled
"Well shit, hand me the baby and the purse" Mark laughed
End of Flashback
"Mommy look" Emma squealed as she ran to the large window at the terminal that had a view of the airplanes taking off and landing"
"Inside voice Em" Meredith said softly as she reorganized the inside of the tote bag she was using as a carry on. Security had rummaged through her bag scrambling all it's contents. She neatly put their boarding passes in an accessible pocket for convenience and made sure Emma's snacks and busy activities were neatly organized. After being satisfied with her organization she placed the bag near Derek's satchel and went over to the window with Emma where the two watched planes leave for their destinations as Derek sat in the chairs of their gate with all of their stuff.
"May we sit here?" An older man asked, taking Derek out of his trance as he watched his girlfriend and daughter
"Yes, please go ahead" Derek said with a smile at the older couple.
"Heading to Colorado?" The older woman said as she took the seat next to Derek
"Yeah, overdue vacation" Derek smiled "way overdue"
"Meeting some friends? The older gentleman asked
"Nope, it's my daughter's birthday. We thought to celebrate turning four we would take her out on the slopes for the first time" Derek smiled
"Oh a family vacation, you're wife is one lucky girl" the woman said
"Oh we aren't married but I really hope one day we will be, and I'm the lucky one…" Derek smiled as he looked over at Meredith and Emma who were currently giggling by the windows
"Is that them over there" she asked
"Yeah" Derek said
"I can tell by how you look at them" she smiled "My name is Gale and this is my husband Henry"
"Derek" Derek said with a smile, introducing himself. "Are you guys headed up to Colorado for any particular reason?"
"Just always wanted to go" Henry chuckled "But life got in the way. Now the kids are all grown and have families of their own, and we're retired we can finally go see all the places we've wanted to see"
"We just got back from doing Thanksgiving in New York City" Gale smiled "It was quite the experience, have you been?"
"It's actually where I'm from" Derek smiled
Flashback
"Oh my, aren't you a cute little princess" Carolyn said as she took Emma from Derek's arms. Emma was with Derek in New York for a week. While they did not have a formal custody arrangement, with Derek living across the country it made seeing Emma frequently hard unless it was through Skype or Facetime. But Meredith said no matter what their situation was, together or not, she wanted Emma to grow up with her dad around. Thus, Meredith flew with Emma to New York where Derek was going to have her for a week in New York before he headed back with Emma to Seattle for a week for his own little vacation. He had made sure he saved up paid time off so he could spend a week with Emma.
"Mama" Emma babbled as she clapped her hands "Dada" she giggled
"You sound just like your mommy when you giggle, I love it" Derek said giving Emma a kiss on the head
"How is Meredith, dear?" Carolyn asked as she and Derek walked into the dining area where she had prepared lunch for her son before he left for work. Carolyn was excited for Emma to be in the big apple and the few days Derek had to work while he had Emma in town Carolyn was happy to watch her.
"She's good a little stressed over exams but she seems happy" Derek said "Our arrangement worked out perfectly. Emma's here while Mer is studying for finals and I'll be there with Emma when she's taking them. I know midterms were hard for her this semester since she's was juggling studying and Emma. Plus I think the two days here while she dropped Emma off were a good break for her brain" Derek said
"Even though she's busy studying I'm sure she's still missing Emma terribly" Carolyn smiled
End of Flashback
"Attention all guest our flight is going to be departing soon please ensure that all electronics are powered off and that your desk tray is up and in the lock position. As instructed by the safety video, please stay seated in your seat until the pilot has turned off the seatbelt sign. Again we thank you for flying American" the stewardess said over the intercom system of the plane
"Daddy scared" Emma said as Meredith tightened the seatbelt strap on Emma.
"It's ok sweetie" Derek smiled at his daughter "It's going ot be really loud and we are going to go very fast but it'll be over really fast" Derek reassured her
"What is mommy gave you some gum" Meredith said remembering that sometimes the air pressure changed bothered Emma's ear
"For me?!" Emma asked enthusiastically. Typically Meredith, but mostly Derek, tried to limit all sources of candy for Emma. So anytime Emma got candy, gum or any other 'dessert' that wasn't fruit and yogurt it was a big treat for the little girl
"Only if you promised to be brave" Derek said softly as he noticed that the plane was stopped on the runway awaiting for the signal for take off
"I'm a big girl, I is four" Emma nodded as Meredith handed her piece of gum before offering Derek a piece
"Trying to say I don't have minty fresh breath" Derek chuckled taking the piece
"You should know by now to just carry it with you at all times. You know I expect minty fresh breath when I kiss people" Meredith teased
"Oh I always carry a few pieces with me. In fact one is in my wallet right next to the C-O-N-D-O-M"
"Derek Shepherd stop" Meredith hissed "And if you think mile high is happening again, you are wrong" she giggled
"Attention all passengers" a voice over the intercom said "We are cleared for take off" The plane sped down the runway and began its flight into the sky
"Daddy" Emma cried softly clutching his arm tightly
"Shhhh, remember if you're scared close your eyes" Derek said softly kissing her forehead. Emma shut her eyes tightly
Meredith frowned at Derek, feeling sad for their little girl
"Twinkle twinkle little star" Meredith sang softly "Do you know how loved you are"
"Big blue eyes and dark brown curls" Derek sang next
"She's the sweetest girl in the world" Meredith continued
"Emma, emma, emma girl, we sure love our Emma girl" they sang together softly.
"Derek are you sure you know where we are going" Meredith asked raising her eyebrow
"Don't give me the eyebrow" Derek chuckled. Anytime Meredith gave him an eyebrow raise it was either a 'don't you dare' look or 'you are an idiot' look.
"I'm just saying this drive has been almost an hour. We've driven through the mountains and past other hotels… This is starting to eerily be like that dateline episode where we get lost on a mountain road that was supposed to be closed but the gate was accidently left open…"
"Meredith" Derek chuckled at her rambling "I have the address in the GPS, we will be there in 10 minutes according to the navigator"
"Mommy, I'm hungry" Emma said from the back seat of their rental SUV
"Tell daddy" Meredith chuckled
"Almost their princess, don't let the hanger out yet" Derek laughed "you get that from your mother"
Flashback
"Derek I'm hungry" Meredith whined from the front seat of the car
"Meredith I heard you the first time" Derek said annoyed
"That was 45 minutes ago" she said rolling her eyes
"We are almost there" Derek snapped back
"You said that an hour ago!" Meredith snapped
"I told you to pack a snack" Derek said
"I wasn't hungry and I didn't think we'd drive ten hours for dinner" she said as she tapped her finger on the console
"Can you stop tapping your finger" Derek said after 5 minutes of her tapping
"Ugh" Meredith said uncrossing her legs and unbuckling her seatbelt and moving
"What are you doing" Derek groaned
"I can't be next to you right now" Meredith snapped
"What are you going to do, jump out of the car" Derek said sarcastically
"No you idiot, I'm sitting in the back" Meredith said as she climbed into the back of Derek's small SUV
"We're here" Derek said loudly as he pulled up into the valet line of the restaurant
"About fucking time" Meredith said as she snapped out of her half nap/ half dazed state
"Good evening sir" The valet said as he opened Derek's door "Awaiting guest?"
"No my date's throwing a tantrum in the back seat" Derek said shaking his head
"You know what, you can have dinner by yourself" Meredith said as she got out of the car while the valet attendant opened her door "I'll be at the bar" she spat as they walked inside, leaving the valet crew slightly confused
"Welcome to Refrains, can I get the reservation name" she hostess asked with a smile
"Shepherd for two" Derek said roughly
"Ah Dr. Shepherd we've been waiting for your arrival
"It'll actually be for one, which way is the bar?" Meredith asked
"I'm sorry" The hostess said confused
"You know what fine Meredith go to the bar, I will enjoy the reservations I had to make 4 months in advanced for" Derek snapped
"Go to hell, I'll get a taxi back" Meredith said as she spotted the bar and headed that way
"Table please" Derek said shaking his head. The hostess led him to a special area of the restaurant where a private table for two was set up overlooking the river and the ferries
"Celebrating anything special?" She asked awkwardly
"Nothing really, just wanted to have a special night for the two of us, obviously that's not going well. I didn't realize how much traffic we'd hit on the way up, thank you for accommodating us… or me… whatever" Derek said sitting down.
"Did you want a list of wines and appetizers?" she asked
"List of the wine would be perfect"
"Two glasses?" she asked "One for the lady?"
"Hell I don't know, bring two anyways" Derek said
After thirty minutes of Meredith not coming around, Derek began to get a little nervous. Maybe she left… he though. He hadn't planned on the evening going to bad, He had brought Meredith clothes to change into and picked her up after a long day of lectures. The hour-long drive had turned into a two and half hour trip. She probably hadn't eaten since she left their apartment that morning since she rarely had time for lunch.
"Sir did you want us to start bringing out the courses?" The waitress asked
"Yes please" Derek said sipping on more wine
"You should go talk to her" The lady said softly "she doesn't look too happy either dining alone"
Derek made his way through the restaurant with his wine glass and spotted her at the bar. A flash of jealousy shot through hi as he saw Men surrounding her at the bar. But he remained calm knowing it wasn't her fault.
"Going for the blonde?" A guy said leaving bar
"Yeah" Derek said
"God luck man, she's a tough cookie" he said shaking his head. I t made Derek smile on the inside, no matter how many hit on her Meredith always told them she wasn't interested, even when she could the opportunity to get back at him, like right now. He used a blindsided approach. She was turned to the left munching on an appetizer some guy most likely sent her way so he sat on the recently opened up bar stool on her right.
"So is this a good place to eat?" He asked to get her attention. She turned slowly, he leaned a little closer and whispered something in her ear "There's food at the table". Meredith smiled and got up, hooked her arm in his and they left the bar together. On their way to the table Derek passed the same guy that tried to get Meredith earlier
"Whoa dude, good job. What sweet words got you this hot thing" he said patting him on the back
End of Flashback
"I do not have hanger problems" Meredith laughed as Derek told his version of the story
"I beg to differ" he chuckled "Anyway we are here" Derek said pulling the car into the valet line
"Derek, this is the Breckenridge Resort" Meredith said shocked
"Happy Birthday, Mommy" Derek said "You deserve a special trip too, because you are the reason we have that princess in the car he said leaning over to give Meredith a quick before the valet opened the doors to their car
"Ewwww" Emma giggled from her car seat
Hello... it's me...
It's been forever. Not going to lie, when the plot got all crazy and more characters died off I lost interest in the show. But i continued to read fics... that's when I realized how awesome the fix world is... that you can make the story, the plot be what you want it to be... I have found the rest of the story on my computer and will continue to post if there are still readers out there.