Chapter 26: Heartbeat
Derek's Point-of-View
"You set fire to a bar!" I shouted as I turned onto a downtown street.
I'd finally managed to lower my blood pressure enough to speak to my son who was now sitting in the backseat of my SUV, Delilah on the other side of him snickering in her own glory and Meredith seated next to me in the front.
"It was an accident Dad!"
"Which still doesn't explain what you were even doing at a bar in the middle of a school day! Or at all for that matter!"
"Toby and Jesse didn't want to take Mr. Patterson's test, so we skipped."
"Ok so let me get this straight." I hissed as I gripped the steering wheel "You not only skipped school, ditched on a test day, but went to a bar at the ripe age of 11 and SET IT ON FIRE?"
"We didn't go in Dad, we snuck in the back and then the zippo fell out of my hand when I tripped on a box."
"Great..that's just…great." I muttered "My son the pyromaniac. Next thing you're going to tell me about is the cigarette's you were smoking with that lighter."
"We didn't get them lit before the flames started." He informed me.
I whirled around at him as the blood pounded in my face, "Are you fu—"
"Hey!" Meredith cut me off with a harsh look, I stuffed my lower lip into my mouth and bit down to keep from screaming "Yelling at the boy won't get you anywhere but exhausted."
"Fine." I muttered.
I pulled into the parking lot of the medical office we were taking Delilah to. We all got out of the car, I reached for Winston and wrapped my fingers around the back of his neck, he stiffened up but didn't try to fight as I led him and the rest along to the OB office.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked meekly, apparently I was looking pretty intimidating.
"Eleven o'clock for Delilah Shepherd." I grumbled.
"Alright." She gulped "Have a seat, the doctor will be right with her."
I nodded and led them to the chairs, I shoved Winston into the one next to mine and gave him a look that made him know he was dead if he tried to move. Delilah flipped through a magazine with a permanent smirk on her face, happy to see her brother in trouble I'm sure. Meredith just bounced her eyes around the room as if she were looking for something.
"Delilah?" we finally heard in the doorway and all stood up. "Oh my." A blonde smiled "We've got a group today."
"You guys don't have to go back with me." Delilah mumbled.
"When you get yourself knocked up at 13 you don't get the luxury of privacy." I hissed; her smile faded as she gave me a nod of acceptance.
Meredith skipped to catch up with us as the nice doctor led us down the hallway. She seemed to watch Dr. Robbins as if she were sizing her up.
"You're pretty." Meredith said.
"Thank you." Arizona smiled at her.
"Are you single?" She asked, I felt mortified "Because he's single and I'm sure he thinks you're pretty too. You should give him your card, beside the screwed up life and the troubled kids thing he is a nice guy, and let's face it he's hot."
Arizona giggled as she opened the door to the room, I tried to keep my eyes on the floor as my face turned red with embarrassment.
"Meredith, please." I hissed at her.
"I'm actually happily married." Arizona smiled politely "But thank you."
"I'm so sorry." I whispered as we got into the room, she looked at me confused and curious "She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nine months ago."
"Wow." She arched a brow "You're being her caretaker? With a pregnant teenager…saints are less productive."
"I'm just paying for my sins." I sighed as I sunk into a chair next to Winston "No sainthood here."
Winston let out a snort, I turned with a razor-sharp glare at him.
"Oh, no, no." I muttered "You don't get to make a sound, you don't get to talk, not a single noise until I can talk back without wanting to scream at you!"
Winston cowered down.
"So, he set a bar on fire." Meredith sighed with an eye roll "That just means that there is one less hell hole on this planet, boo freaking hoo! They've made songs about this."
"What?" I frowned.
"Set fire to the Third Bar?" She raised her brow "Snow Patrol."
"Thanks Mom." Winston mumbled.
"Winston, your mother doesn't know what she's talking about, please don't feed into it."
"I am not a moron, or a vegetable!" Meredith hissed "I damn well know exactly what I am saying!"
"Quiet!" Arizona said, silencing the room "I'm trying to hear a heartbeat."
A moment later we heard the familiar thrumming sound, the soft fast paced beats that were whooshing out of the Doppler machine. I felt my heart ache as it became real for me, Delilah had a tear rolling down her face but what caught us all off guard was Meredith.
She stood up and walked over to the table Delilah was laying on, we all watched her carefully, not sure what she was going to do next. She placed her hand over Delilah's exposed abdomen and looked at her stomach as if she was soaking it all in.
A look of amazement struck into her eyes as tears glistened them.
"That's my grandchild."