Chapter 71: Happy Anniversary (Part 1)
Derek awoke to the feel of his wife's lips gliding softly across his. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her before deepening their kiss. After a while, Meredith leaned slightly back from him and carefully said, "Hau 'oli la Ho 'omana'o. Aloha au la 'oe."
He grinned and then started laughing really hard. Meredith sat up and crossed her arms over her chest - which caused them to rest on top of her protruding belly - and glared at him. Unfortunately for Derek, this made him laugh harder. "Mer," he said, and reached for her as she got out of bed. She was surprisingly fast though, and he missed her. "Crap," he mumbled and finally stopped laughing as the door to the bathroom slammed.
Derek got out of bed and walked to the closed door to knock on it. "Meredith, come out. I'm sorry."
He could hear her mumbling angrily as she moved about - presumably getting dressed. "Meredith," he said again and then jumped out of the way as she flung the door open and stormed back into the room. "I'm sor -"
"No," she cut him off and surprised him with her angry tone. "I don't want to hear your apology, Derek Shepherd! You think you're the only one who can be sweet and sentimental in this marriage?"
Derek was trying to concentrate on what she was saying but finding it a little difficult. He was distracted with actually seeing her angry. She flailed her arms and her cheeks were flushed.
"Derek!"
"What?"
"You're not even listening to me," she sighed, shaking her head.
"I am," he insisted, "but Mer, you're over reacting just a little bit. I understand it's the pregnancy -"
She made a really startling, seriously angry sound that rendered Derek speechless. He continued to stand in the middle of the room in surprise as his wife turned and left. He waited, fully expecting her to slam back in and finish yelling at him. When she didn't, he walked to the door and opened it to look in the hallway. He truly expected to see her there. So, when he didn't - he felt even more shocked.
"Fuck!" Derek grumbled under his breath and shut the door. He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed loudly. His beautiful, pissed-off, extremely pregnant wife had stormed off to go - God knows where. All because he'd thought she was cute for trying to say something to him in Hawaiian.
He found his cell phone and called her. When he heard her phone ringing in the room he sighed again in frustration.
"Great," he mumbled, "just great." Fighting with his wife was certainly not what he had planned for their anniversary.
Meredith sat on a chair on the empty café lanai and watched the waves crash ashore. Now that she'd had a little while to calm down, she realized she probably had over reacted to Derek laughing at her. Damn hormones, she thought. It had hurt her feelings that he'd laughed at her attempt at sentimentality, but she probably shouldn't have stormed out of their room. Oh well, she sighed, so she wasn't perfect. What a crummy way to start their anniversary; having an asinine argument with her wonderful husband.
"Ian," she said and rubbed her belly. "Your mommy is an idiot. I need to go and apologize to daddy." Meredith giggled as her son chose that moment to kick her and her stomach growled with hunger. "Okay, I get it. I need to feed us, too." She wiggled herself to the edge of the chair and then carefully pushed herself to her feet.
Meredith went to the hotel restaurant and ordered breakfast for her and Derek. She asked that it be delivered to their room and then walked toward the elevators. She wanted to get this apology business over with and move about enjoying their first anniversary.
Derek was getting antsy waiting for Meredith to return to their room. He really wanted to go looking for her, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable on his own in Maui. His sight was still limited and the worry of losing it completely again was always in the back of his mind. If that should happen – he didn't want to be walking around the hotel on his own. So, he waited for her. He was slightly worried because she was running around hugely pregnant and without her cell phone. He was still pissed at himself for laughing at her. He wished they could get back in bed and start this day over – the right way.
Derek was pacing the room when he heard the card key in the door. He went over and pulled the door open for Meredith.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.
"Meredith –"
"Derek –"
They both laughed a little because they'd said the others name at the same time, too. He reached for her in the same moment that she moved into his arms. He shut the door behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head and said, "I only laughed because you were so adorable trying to tell me something in Hawaiian. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"I know," she sighed against his chest. "You're right; I completely over reacted. I'm also going to cop out and blame it on being pregnant."
Derek chuckled and replied, "I wouldn't call it a cop out, Mer."
"I am sorry, though."
"Don't be," he said, rubbing her lower back. "You were right about me not listening, too. Not that it was intentional. I was just mesmerized with seeing what you look like when you're angry."
"Really?" Meredith couldn't help but giggle at his confession. "What do I look like – a deranged person?"
"No," he chuckled. "You look hot."
She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Then she said, "You're just trying to start the day over and hope to get lucky this time."
"Would that be so bad?" He asked and then kissed her again, longer and deeper this time.
"No," she sighed, "except –"
She was interrupted by a knock on the door, and a voice calling out, "Room service."
"Room service?" Derek asked.
"We're hungry," Meredith said, patting her belly and grinning. "I ordered breakfast before coming back up here."
"Good thinking," Derek said and opened the door. They had their breakfast – pineapple coconut pancakes, hash browns, sausage and fresh fruit – on the lanai.
"I know I ordered a lot," Meredith said and giggled.
"It's okay," Derek said, chuckling with her and smart enough to leave it at that. As they sat and watched the ocean and the beach, Derek pulled Meredith into his lap and whispered, "Happy Anniversary."
Meredith looked at him, smiled and whispered in return, "Hau 'oli la Ho 'omana'o.
