Chapter 9: Getting to Know Each Other
"Those tacos...they were great. Thanks." Meredith breathed, coming down the stairs after she made sure her daughter was in bed.
"My pleasure." Derek smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed them."
"Dawsyn was upstairs saying she wants you to come back." Meredith breathed.
"I can do that...if it's okay with you."
"You want to come back?" Meredith giggled, sitting on the other end of the couch. "That's really brave."
"Or I'm just a pushover." Derek laughed.
"Pushover?"
"When it comes to kids...I am."
"I see." Meredith nodded.
"I have a lot of experience with kids." Derek said.
"Oh...you have kids?"
"Oh...No. Nieces and nephews. I have four sisters."
"Wow...that's crazy."
"I can't even keep track of how many there are anymore." Derek laughed.
"I thought one was overwhelming."
"Piece of cake."
"You've never raised Dawsyn."
"That's true." Derek smiled. "She reminds me of one of my nieces."
"She does?" Meredith whispered, watching him as he sat on the other end of the couch.
"Yeah...Ali." Derek smiled. "She's ten...Quite a piece of work."
"I never thought I would make it this far with Dawsyn." Meredith whispered. "I mean...when they handed her to me in the hospital, I thought I wasn't going to make it five months."
"It's great...what you're doing. Raising her on your own."
"It was that or adoption."
"Well I'm glad that you kept her."
"Most days...me too." Meredith smiled.
"I don't know if I could have handled a kid...even not being single."
"I couldn't...not at first."
"I thought about it."
"Thought about what?" Meredith whispered, pulling her feet up to her side.
"Having a kid...Starting a family." Derek sighed.
"On your own?"
"No...With my wife. Well, ex-wife."
"You're divorced?"
"Yeah." Derek nodded.
"Oh..."
"I lived in New York...Met her during med school. Got married after graduation."
"Downhill from there?" Meredith asked.
"You could say that."
"Sorry...I shouldn't have said that."
"No...It's okay. It was a pretty nasty divorce."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah..."
"So um..." Meredith cleared her throat awkwardly.
"She cheated on me." Derek blurted out.
"Oh...oh that's..." Meredith shook her head, her eyes back on Derek. She wasn't sure he struck her as the guy a woman would cheat on. He was the guy a girl wouldn't give up. "That's really bad."
"With my best friend."
"Ouch." Meredith giggled.
"It's not funny." Derek said, unable to keep himself from smiling.
"Sorry it's not funny..." She laughed, pushing her hair behind her ears.
"What if I told you I walked in on them?"
"Then, I would feel really bad for laughing." She smiled.
"I walked in on them." He chuckled.
"Now I feel really bad."
"I think it would have ended even if I hadn't."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"At least you knew...that it wasn't going to work."
"We got married too fast...too young." Derek shrugged, looking at Meredith. "We just...drifted."
"And the best friend?"
"I haven't spoken to him."
"Hmm...'
"He's called me...e-mailed me."
"And?"
"Everytime I see his name...I see him in bed with my wife."
"Ex-wife." Meredith corrected.
"Right. Thank you." Derek laughed.
"Not a problem." Meredith winked.
"Now...I'm here." He smiled.
"You're here."
"Mmm..."
"Thanks for the tacos."
"You're welcome."
"I don't think Dawsyn's ever seen homemade tacos that look like tacos."
"What about lasagna?"
"She likes take out."
"Take out lasagna?" Derek frowned.
"Yeah."
"Then, I definitely have to come over again."
"To make lasagna?"
"And garlic bread."
"I like garlic bread."
"I make the best garlic bread." He grinned.
"I don't believe you."
"I guess I'll just have to prove it to you then."
"I guess so." She giggled, looking away from him.
"I look forward to it." Derek laughed.
"Me too." She breathed, looking back up at him.
"Hmm..."
"Yeah..."
"So do you think differently of me now that you know I'm divorced?" Derek joked.
"Nope."
"That's good."
"Am I supposed to?" Meredith asked.
"Some people do..."
"I'm not some people."
"I knew that the first time I met you." Derek smiled.
"At least I don't have room to judge you."
"I wasn't exactly the perfect husband."
"That's...I was never a wife so I have no idea what the perfect husband was supposed to be...but you couldn't have been that bad." Meredith whispered.
"I was pretty bad." Derek sighed.
"Derek..."
"This is probably way too much information."
"No...no it's okay." Meredith shook her head quickly.
"What about you? What happened with med school?"
"Oh um...that's..." Meredith took a deep breath, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Dawsyn."
"And then you left?" Derek breathed.
"I had just been accepted...I was tying up the loose ends and I had already moved then I found out I was six weeks pregnant."
"What did you do?"
"I blew it off at first...I waited a few weeks then dropped out of college all together and moved here to Seattle."
"Did Dawsyn's dad come with you?"
"No...he um...he didn't come."
"That was his biggest mistake." Derek whispered.
"It's not a mistake he knows about." Meredith admitted quietly.
"You...didn't tell him..."
"It's messy and it was just better that I not tell him." Meredith explained, looking down at her lap.
"I can understand that." Derek nodded.
"Dawsyn doesn't."
"She will."
"She's written letters to her father every month since she was six."
"What do you tell her?"
"I don't know." Meredith shook her head. "She stopped asking for his address and now she just hands them to me. She still thinks he's going to write her back."
"She'll understand when she gets older."
"Hmm..."
"I do know that she's lucky to have you."
"I don't think she feels that way."
"She's eleven and is in love with sixteen-year-old pop stars that you won't let her see. But she's lucky to have you." Derek smiled.
"Hey, she could have gone." Meredith held her hands up, giggling a little.
"She is sorry."
"She is now."
"There will be other Jonas Brothers."
"She could have gone...she could have had fun, but she chose to run off in the hospital and..."
"If she hadn't, you wouldn't have seen me again." Derek smiled.
I...that's beside the point." Meredith blushed.
"It's true."
"It doesn't matter if I saw you again or not."
"Doesn't matter how?" Derek laughed.
"Well, I mean...what's the difference?"
"I wouldn't be here if she hadn't run off...You wouldn't have had my tacos..."
"Two times I see you." Meredith replied, taking a deep breath. "Well three counting my collision with a gurney, but I mean besides that we're just two people that my daughter caused to..."
"Meet..." Derek breathed.
"No...I met you in the bookstore."
"Right. The bookstore..."
"Right."
"Meredith..."
"Yeah?" She giggled.
"Wow...I um...I haven't done this in a while." He laughed.
"You haven't what?"
"Will you go out with me?"
"What?" She continued to laugh.
"Will you go out...with me? To lunch...or dinner..."
"Oh..."
"You still have stitches and can't go back to work for another day so...What do you say?"
"I have an eleven-year-old." Meredith replied. 'I'm boring, I don't always do my hair, and..."
"You're not boring." Derek laughed.
"I'm sure you can find a million other women who are probably smarter and more put together to have lunch."
"I want to have lunch with you."
"Oh, you want to have lunch with me." Meredith breathed.
"Yeah..."
"Just lunch?"
"I um...Yeah...Just lunch...
"Right." Meredith nodded.
"Tomorrow...You pick the place."
"Um...what about that Sandwich shop right by the hospital?" Meredith suggested, her face turning to a frown. "Sorry, that was stupid. You probably hate places close to the hospital. That was stupid really...really stupid."
"I love that place." Derek laughed.
"Oh..."
"One o'clock?"
"Sure."
"Okay. One o'clock." Derek smiled, standing up from the sofa.
"Yeah..." Meredith replied nervously.
"Then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah...tomorrow." Meredith stood, walking with him to the door.
"Thank you for having me over."
"Thank you for introducing my daughter to homemade tacos." Meredith giggled, leaning against the door. "You're her favorite person right now."
"That's very flattering." Derek laughed.
"Well, you're not the meanest Mommy ever."
"I don't really think I can respond to that."
"You don't have to." She giggled.
"On that note..." Derek laughed. "I'm going to...go home."
"Okay...so...tomorrow..."
"One o'clock..."
"Yeah..." Meredith smiled weakly. "Tomorrow and if you change your mind, it won't hurt my feelings. Not that I don't want to go. Just if you don't want to, it's okay."
"I'll see you then." Derek smiled, opening the door.
"See you tomorrow."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Bye." Derek laughed, stepping out of the door.
"Bye." Derek laughed, stepping out of the door, with a smile. He hadn't meant to tell her all about his ex-wife and the divorce, but it just came out. He was relaxed around her and felt like he could tell her anything. It was a weird feeling but a good night, laughing, eating, and talking with Meredith and her eleven-year-old daughter.
It's so sweet that Meredith and Derek are getting to know one another. Derek was open about his past, while Meredith is nervous, taking her time. Dawsyn is purely funny! Enjoy!
