Take Two
Chapter 54
-xx-
Whitney's eyebrow rose as he ran his thumb over the palm of her hand. "Derek, you're talking in circles. What are you trying to get at?" she asked softly.
He chuckled; his nerves were getting the best of him. "I'm asking if you'll move in with me," he spurted out. His lips pursed together once he got the words out.
Whitney grinned in his direction as he tightened the grip on her hand. It was a nice change to see him as the nervous one in the relationship. He was always so calm, cool and collected that it made her happy to see the other side of him.
"Whit?" he asked softly. Every second that passed without her answering him made his heart race. "I know this is soon-"
"It is," she agreed as she cut him off. Whitney shrugged her shoulders as she watched the panic cross his face. "Everything about us has been fast." She pursed her lips for a second before releasing a deep sigh. "Are you sure about this?"
Derek nodded. "It's selfish," he began. Derek reached for his whiskey for his liquid courage. She was making this harder than he expected her to. "But I don't want to miss any part of this pregnancy. The only place I ever want to be is by your side."
A simple smile settled across Whitney's lips at his admission. "I want you to be there for everything," she agreed. "I just don't want to rush in to something this big. I've done it before and it all blew up in my face."
She watched as his jaw clenched at the slight mention of her estranged husband. Without even naming him, Mason Rivers was a constant battle in Derek's mind. He could not wait for her to be rid of that excuse of a man forever.
"And I have a rental agreement," she added. "I can't just up and walk away from it."
That reasoning would have held weight with Derek if the apartment building was not such a mess. Mason was able to not only find her, but walk up to her apartment door without the bat of an eyelash. And on the few nights that he had spent there, he agreed with Whitney's assessment of how horrible her neighbors were.
"I'm not Mason," he reminded her. When the words hit her, he could see the pain cross her face at the reminder. "None of this is going to blow up in your face, Whit. I'm here for the long haul."
She nodded, but pursed her lips. Derek could see tears starting to gather in the corners of her eyes. "I know," she muttered.
"There is nothing for you to worry about," he continued. "I am not like him, Whit." She nodded. "I fully intend to spend the rest of my life making you feel like the amazing woman that you are."
Her lips slowly parted in to a smile, much to Derek's chagrin. "My appetite may be back, but my head is still all over the place." She rolled her eyes, mostly to clear the tears away but because she was frustrated that her emotions were getting the best of her again. "I just," she started and sighed. "I find myself so guarded now because of him."
Derek adjusted his grip on her hand and nodded. "I get it, Whit," he said softly. "I've had my fair share of shitty relationships. It wasn't until I met you that I realized what my future could look like."
"I think that qualified as more than shitty," she retorted. Her eyes were clearing up and the vibrant blue color was coming back to the surface. "Are you sure?" she repeated.
Derek nodded. "I want nothing more than to provide you with the life you deserve," he offered gently. "I want to be able to wake up next to you every morning."
Whitney re-positioned her hand so she could intertwine her fingers with his. She sighed at the comfort the small action gave her. "Let's do it," she said softly. Her eyes locked on his deep brown orbs as she nodded. "I'll see what I can do about my apartment."
"We'll take care of that," Derek urged. "You should be in a safe environment while that baby is growing in your belly." The smile that took over Derek's face when he mentioned their baby made her knees weak. He was so happy about the pregnancy; it was written all over his face.
With her left hand, Whitney ran her hand over the base of her water glass. "You should know something though," she said quietly. It was going to take away from their current excitement and happiness, but she promised to always be honest and up front with him. "I texted Mason before we left the house."
His expression was tough to read. He was still happy about her agreeing to move it, and just overall excited about their new future, but the news was unsettling to him. "Why?"
She cleared her throat and shrugged. "To clear the slate," she replied. "So we can have that in person talk that we need to have. I will tell him that I'm pregnant, and he has the option to sign the divorce papers, or be brought to court."
Derek ran a hand over the bottom half of his face and sighed. "Did he answer you?" She shook her head. "Please do not see him without me being there."
"I won't," she promised. "I'm not taking any chances with him. I will protect this child with everything I have."
Derek nodded at the affirmation. "We'll cross that bridge when we need to," he responded. "For now, I am going to enjoy this dinner with the most beautiful woman in the world." She blushed at the compliment. "Mason is not even on the radar for the rest of the evening."
"Sounds perfect to me," she answered softly. Whitney grinned as she watched him take a sip of his whiskey.
She wanted to pinch herself; there was no way this was real life. The man across from her all but promised her a happily ever after, something she had forgotten about since she was twenty-eight years old.
"Have you started thinking about names?" The question startled Whitney. She glanced up at Derek from the hole she was staring through the table. She shook her head. "There are a lot."
She giggled. "I haven't really thought about it," she admitted. "I guess I want to know what we're having first." Derek attempted to open his mouth, but Whitney held her hand up. "You can say 'I told you so' if they say it's a boy, but shush until then."
Derek laughed at her reaction. He was not even sure he knew for a fact that they were having a boy. He hoped more than anything that it was a boy. His girlfriend was stunning, and he knew any daughter they had would be beautiful like her mother. Derek was worried about watching the boys around any daughter he had.
He saw himself a father of boys, anyways. He would teach them how to play football, and how to protect their mother. Derek was sure they would take after him when it came to picking up the ladies.
"I have to tell you, Whit," Derek said as a smirk crossed his lips, "it's not going to be easy to name a baby with me." Her eyebrow rose in his direction. "I've dealt with a lot of people in my years with the FBI. I refuse to name a baby the same name as some of the people I've met along the way."
"How did JJ do it so easily?" Whitney asked softly.
Derek shrugged. "She's not as picky, I guess," he answered. "I know we'll come up with something perfect though."
Whitney smiled at his words. "Did you want to incorporate your dad's name?"
She could sense his hesitation across the table. He was weighing the options in his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "If it's a boy, it would be nice to have my Pops' name in there somewhere. But what about you? You lost your dad, too?"
Whitney shrugged her shoulders as she picked up the glass of water and took a hearty sip. "No," she said justly. "He wasn't a dad – he was a drunk that couldn't have cared less about having kids."
Derek pursed his lips at her harsh words. He knew enough about her mother, step father and siblings, but she never spoke much about her biological father.
Not long after she had told Derek about Mason, they had spent the early hours of the morning sharing a bottle of whiskey and spilling secrets about themselves.
"Is that why I was so attracted to Mason?" she asked absent mindedly as she dangled the near empty bottle of whiskey from her fingers. "Because my dad was the exact same way? Was I just following in my mom's footsteps?"
Derek looked across the steps of the back porch at the blonde as she stared out across the backyard. Her lips were set in a hard pressed line as her eyes narrowed on something in the distance. He knew from his career that it was a tendency to follow what she recognized in to a relationship, but he was far too inebriated to try to explain that right now.
Whitney's eyes turned back to the black man as she reached across to hand him the bottle. "My father was a piece of shit, so it only makes sense that I found my way in to a marriage with an asshole."
"My dad would have loved you," he offered. It was his way of trying to break the tension at the table. Whitney's eyes lit up as she turned back to him. "We had this long talk after he found me playing kissy-face with my first girlfriend." Derek shook his head gently with a smirk crossing his face. "Told me I'd meet someone great one day, and all this time I thought it was just something dads said. It took thirty-four years, but the wait was worth it."
Whitney smiled at him. "He raised a great man," she complimented.
Derek nodded. "I've spent all this time trying to be like him," he admitted. "He was a hell of a cop, but an even better dad."
"You're an amazing FBI Agent," Whitney replied. "He'd be really proud of you." Derek nodded once more. "But you're going to be a great father, too."
"If I'm half as great as he was, I'll be happy," Derek answered softly.
-xx-
where did all of my love go?
hit me up with some ideas of what Baby Morgan should be named! are they having a boy or girl?
