Chapter Seven: Home Sweet Home

Derek and Casey made one final trip out to their cars to get their own bags, then made themselves comfortable on the couch. Derek grabbed the remote and found an old SVU rerun to watch even though neither of them bothered to pay attention to it. They were both more focused on covertly watching Lizzie and Edwin instead.

As it turned out, Casey's plan to leave Lizzie and Edwin alone to talk was a total bust. Nothing was going to happen with George and Nora there and despite what Lizzie had said in the car after her conversation with Casey, it was obvious that she wasn't ready to be left alone with Edwin yet, let alone have a conversation with him about a potential relationship. Any time he came near her, Lizzie would quickly rush off in the other direction.

"Where's Marti?" asked Edwin, dropping his last bag at his feet with a thunk. "Shouldn't she be down here helping too?"

"She's in her room and she's in a mood," replied George. It was as much a warning as it was an answer to the question.

"Winter break just started. Shouldn't she be thrilled right now?" asked Lizzie.

"You'd have to ask Marti about that." Nora shrugged, clearly unfazed by all the mood swings that came with raising teenagers. "George and I are going to go pick up dinner. Make sure the table gets set before we get back, please."

Almost immediately after the door closed behind George and Nora, Lizzie quickly mumbled something about needing to get her bags unpacked, grabbed as much as she could carry, then fled upstairs to her room.

"Maybe I should just go talk to her real quick," said Edwin, turning to follow Lizzie upstairs.

"No!" Derek and Casey both yelled. Edwin spun around in surprise, taken aback at just how insistent they both sounded.

"That's a horrible idea, Edwin," Casey added, shaking her head in disapproval.

"You told her?" Edwin asked Derek, looking horrified. "What happened to confidentiality between brothers?"

"First of all, we did not have a pre-determined agreement of confidentiality."

"It was implied," Edwin protested.

"Second of all, no, I didn't tell Casey anything about you and Lizzie."

"He didn't have to. Lizzie told me," Casey added.

"She did?" Edwin asked hopefully.

"Casey's right," Derek continued, completely ignoring Edwin's interruptions. "Talking to Lizzie right now is a terrible idea. It's the last thing you should do and you know that."

"Fine, I know. You're right," Edwin sighed. He knew talking to Lizzie before she was ready was a terrible idea. He knew it when he'd talked to Derek on the ride home and he knew it now, too. But that didn't make waiting for a good time any easier.

"So the way I see it? You should go set the table and then go unpack your own bags or watch TV or something until dad and Nora are back with dinner."

"Why can't one of you two set the table?" Edwin grumbled on his way to the kitchen, already accepting the fact that he would be the one setting the table tonight.

"Because we were nice enough to change our plans at the last minute to drive you and Lizzie home," Derek reminded him.

"And you finished your finals yesterday and had all day today to rest and relax, while Derek and I both had to work all day instead," Casey added.

"Exactly. We're exhausted and we've earned a bit of a break tonight." As if to prove his point, Derek yawned.

"Maybe we should go upstairs and rest for a bit before Mom and George get back with dinner," Casey suggested, pushing herself up off the couch and pulling Derek along with her. He didn't even try to resist when she pulled him toward the stairs.

"You two better keep your hands to yourself while we're all home!" Edwin called from the kitchen, half to tease them and half to remind them where they were right now and all the extra risk that came with that.

"Geez Ed, I'm a grown adult. You don't think I can manage to keep my hands off my girlfriend for a few days?" Derek called back in mock exasperation.

"No, not even a little. Nothing in the entire history of your relationship says you two are capable of that."

When they got to the hallway outside their bedrooms, Derek didn't even hesitate before following Casey into her room instead of going to his own. With George and Nora out of the house and Marti locked in her room with her music blasting, this was one of their rare chances to steal a few moments alone together while they were home.

Casey clearly had the same idea as Derek. As soon as the door closed behind them, she flipped the lock and pulled Derek into a kiss. He was more than happy to follow her lead.

"For the record, I can keep my hands off of you, I just don't want to," Derek said, following Casey toward the bed. "There's a difference."

"There's absolutely a difference," Casey agreed, pulling Derek down onto the bed with her and kissing him again.

"How much time do we have?" he asked between kisses.

"Not enough." The disappointment in Casey's voice matched the disappointed look on Derek's face. George and Nora would be home with dinner far too soon for Derek and Casey to do anything more than share a few kisses. Sex was definitely off the table. Even just making out right now was risky enough.

"Stupid Edwin and Lizzie," Derek muttered in frustration, pushing himself off of Casey. She immediately rolled over and tucked herself against his side, one hand resting on his chest, while he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I had plans for us on the drive home."

It didn't take a genius to figure out exactly what those plans were, either. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd stolen a few extra minutes together on a secluded side road, after all. Casey didn't even need to see Derek's face to know he was doing the silly suggestive eyebrow wiggle thing he did sometimes. As ridiculous as it was, Casey hoped he'd never stop doing it.

"I was looking forward to those plans," Casey murmured, though she was equally content to stay right where she was next to Derek until dinner. "I've missed you this week."

"Missed you too," said Derek softly, brushing a kiss across the top of Casey's head. He was more than ready to have a break from teaching and coaching. Between the end-of-semester final exams both of their schools required them to give this week and his coaching schedule on top of that, the majority of their quality time lately had been spent sleeping next to each other, if that even counted. "Don't worry, I've got more plans for us later this week."

"That's what I'm counting on," replied Casey, her words slightly muffled by the way she was using Derek as a pillow.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't have a few plans of her own in mind for Derek this week. Even though they'd both been extra busy with all the things that came with the end of the semester (not to mention the piles of papers they both had left to grade), he'd still picked up on the fact that something was on her mind. Even now she could tell that he wasn't quite convinced that it was just the typical end-of-semester stress that was getting to her like she'd claimed every time he'd asked. Of course he'd noticed that she was more distracted than usual.

She needed to find the right time to tell him he was going to be a dad.

In what felt like no time at all, George and Nora were back with dinner. The sound of the garage door opening gave Derek and Casey just enough warning to straighten their clothes, fix their hair, and get to the hallway before George and Nora made it inside the house. Lizzie, on the other hand, caught them red-handed coming out of Casey's room.

"I'm not even surprised," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes and giving them a knowing smirk. "I thought you'd at least wait until mom and George were at work tomorrow to start sneaking around though."

"You saw nothing," whispered Derek.

"Not a thing," Lizzie whispered back as she slid past them on her way to the kitchen. Derek and Casey were close behind her.

"Please tell me you got extra egg rolls so Derek doesn't eat them all this time," said Edwin, jumping up from his place on the couch to help George and Nora carry the takeout bags to the kitchen.

"Are you ever gonna let that go?" asked Derek.

"Probably not," shrugged Edwin as he started arranging all of the Chinese takeout boxes on the counter for everyone to serve themselves.

"Don't worry, we tripled our order tonight," Nora reassured everyone. "There's no way Derek can eat them all this time."

"And no, that's not a challenge," said George sternly, cutting off whatever smartass comment Derek was about to make. Derek wisely closed his mouth.

"Did anybody tell Marti it's time for dinner?" Nora asked, looking around and realizing that she still hadn't come out of her room.

"I texted her," replied Edwin. "Didn't want to risk getting my head bitten off because she's in a mood tonight."

"Smart move," said George, his fight with Marti that afternoon still fresh in his mind.

The next few minutes were filled with everyone grabbing drinks from the fridge and loading up their plates with more Chinese food than anyone could possibly eat. Just as everyone was sitting down at the table, Marti finally joined them.

Derek was the first one to notice her, immediately jumping out of his seat to give her a hug. He very quickly discovered that was the wrong thing to do when she pushed past him with an annoyed groan and wordlessly grabbed a plate and started loading it up with food.

"You weren't kidding. She's definitely in a mood," Derek whispered to George when he sat down again, taken aback by Marti's icy greeting. That earned him a scowl from Marti as she took her seat across from him at the table.

"Lizzie. Edwin. How did your finals go this week?" Nora asked, purposely ignoring the slight tension that Marti's mood was causing.

Edwin shrugged. "They were fine."

"Yeah, none of them were any harder than I was expecting them to be," Lizzie added before taking another bite of her fried rice.

"My math final was a little harder than I thought it would be but I still passed. I think," Edwin admitted.

"And by 'passed' do you mean that you still got a good score or that you just barely managed to avoid failing?"

"George! Give them a break. They just finished the semester," Nora scolded while Edwin laughed awkwardly and tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't get him in trouble.

"Probably closer to the first option?" Edwin guessed.

"I guess we'll find out in a few days when your grades are posted," George conceded, letting the subject drop for now.

"What about you two?" Nora asked, gesturing to Derek and Casey with a half-eaten egg roll. "How was your last day before break? You both had to give finals today, right?"

"It's a miracle we even got through the finals today, everyone was so bat shit crazy. Right, Case?" Derek had lost count of how many times he'd had to remind students that they weren't allowed to eat cookies and candy canes in class. Even the normally well-behaved kids were sneaking treats into class today.

"It wasn't just today. Do you know how many times I've googled if there's a full moon this week?" Casey asked. "I'm exhausted. And I still have stacks of finals to grade before report cards are due."

"Grading day tomorrow?" Derek offered, thinking of his own stack of papers to grade still sitting in the backseat of his car. "I'll make the coffee."

"Extra strong," Casey replied quickly. "I think we're going to need it."

Anything else Casey was going to say was interrupted by Marti snorting as she tried and failed to stifle a laugh. The rest of the family looked at her in confusion, laughter being the last thing they'd expected from her tonight.

"I'm sorry. It's just that Derek actually sounds like a responsible adult right now. I still can't believe he actually became a teacher," Marti explained while trying to get her laughter under control.

"It's not that unbelievable." Derek frowned in annoyance. It's not like teaching was a new career choice for him by now. She'd had years to get used to the idea at this point.

"I like to think of it as karma," Lizzie joked, ignoring Derek's comment. "A little payback from the universe for all the stunts he pulled."

"You know, I've got plenty of friends who work with Derek and they all say he's a great teacher," replied Casey, immediately jumping to Derek's defense. The look she gave Marti and Lizzie all but dared them to disagree. Marti looked like she was about to disagree anyway but wisely changed her mind at the last second.

"Thank you, Casey. It's good to know someone around here has my back." Derek scowled in Marti's direction and shoved a forkful of noodles into his mouth. To be honest, he kind of agreed with Lizzie about the whole karma thing but he wasn't going to tell her that anytime soon.

"You know, I'm not surprised at all," Nora said with a smile.

"Me neither," added George. "Derek's always been good at the things he really cares about."

"And I'm damn good at my job," Derek replied. Despite the smile on his face at the praise from his dad and Nora, Casey could hear the bite of annoyance in his voice that was directed toward Marti and Lizzie.

"Marti, how's the play going? Opening night is coming up soon, right?" Casey asked, quickly cutting off whatever smug comeback was on the tip of Derek's tongue. Derek got the hint and took a bite of his egg roll instead.

"Next month," replied Marti. "We've got a few rehearsals over break but it's all starting to come together. Most of us are off book by now and we got close to finishing some of the set pieces this morning."

"Hopefully you and your friends are taking some time to do something fun to relax over break too. I know how all-consuming the last few weeks before a show can get," said Casey, thinking back to her own years in the theater department.

"That's actually up to dad and Nora," said Marti, raising an eyebrow at them in an unspoken question.

"We'll see," said George, which was a massive improvement over the indefinite grounding he'd punished her with earlier that day.

"Anyone else feel like we're missing something here?" Edwin asked the rest of the table before shrugging his shoulders.

"I didn't exactly have permission to leave class to work on the sets this morning," Marti explained.

"Nice!" Derek said proudly, holding his hand out to Marti for a high five that she easily returned.

"Please don't encourage her," George muttered in Derek's direction.

"What's the big deal? So you got caught skipping class to paint some scenery. That's not that bad." Derek shrugged before popping the rest of an eggroll into his mouth.

"Derek!" Casey scolded, clearly siding with George on this one.

"I'm just saying she could have been caught doing a lot worse. I know I was."

"Ew!" Lizzie muttered, wrinkling her nose. That was a thought she never needed to have about Derek ever again.

"Gross," Edwin said at the same time, shaking his head.

"Oh my god," Marti groaned, covering her face with her hands, her face flushed in embarrassment at Derek's implications. And then she immediately regretted saying anything when she realized that her entire family was now staring at her.

"Oh my god!" Edwin gasped. "You totally got caught skipping class with a boy today, didn't you? No wonder you're grounded!"

"Who is he? Is he cute?" Lizzie asked eagerly.

"Of course he's cute. She wouldn't waste her time with someone who wasn't cute," Derek said like it should be obvious to all of them. Casey kicked him in the shin.

"I didn't get caught with a boy," Marti insisted. At least that part was true. Even though she refused to feel ashamed about her relationship with Kayla, it didn't make this particular conversation any less mortifying, especially when she wasn't ready to tell everyone else about their relationship yet. Growing up with four older siblings taught her early on that the more she denied something, the more they'd tease her about it and the longer they'd drag it out. It was much better to meet them head-on and deflect their attention instead. "And even if I was with a boy, he wouldn't be the first boy I've dated. I've had boyfriends. You've met them," she added for emphasis, just to remind them how ridiculous they were being right now.

"Marti has a point," said Nora, coming to her rescue. "Besides, I want to catch up with my children I don't get to see every day."

"Yeah, are you guys dating anyone?" Marti asked, eager to shift the attention away from herself. She gestured between Derek and Casey, then Lizzie and Edwin, with her fork before using it to stab another dumpling.

Lizzie immediately choked on her soda while Edwin quickly started stumbling over his words to deny any relationship of any kind.

"Nope, not dating anyone right now," added Lizzie when she stopped coughing, her voice still strained and higher pitched than usual.

Derek and Casey would have both been laughing at the whole situation if Marti hadn't just thrown them under the bus too. If there was any doubt in either of their minds that she knew about their relationship, it was gone now. She looked just a little too proud of herself.

"Not really. Nothing serious, at least. With work and coaching, I'm lucky to even have time to sleep and eat. Maybe when the hockey season wraps up." Derek shrugged like he wasn't completely lying through his teeth. Marti definitely didn't buy it, but she didn't call him out on it in front of George and Nora, either. That was good enough for him.

"What about you, Casey? You must have more free time than Derek right now. You're not coaching anything," Marti said, turning her full attention to Casey now.

"Not really. Work still keeps me pretty busy," replied Casey, taking her cue from Derek's lie. Meanwhile, Lizzie was trying her best to get Marti to shut up without Nora or George noticing.

"Really? Nobody? I don't believe that at all." Marti smiled innocently. (It was anything but innocent).

"Well, there's this other teacher I know and we've hung out a few times," Casey admitted casually, ignoring the subtle what-the-hell look Derek was sending her while trying not to get noticed by George and Nora.

Marti's eyes lit up in delight. This was better than anything she expected Casey to say. "Tell me everything."

"Yeah. What's he like?" asked Derek, pointedly narrowing his eyes at Casey. "He must be pretty new since I've never heard you mention him before."

"Would she really tell you anything about her love life though?" Edwin asked, not letting the chance to taunt Derek pass him by. "It's not like you two hang out all the time or anything, right?"

Derek looked like he was going to murder Edwin any second now, that traitor. The last thing he needed to be doing was drawing attention to just how much time Derek and Casey spent together in Toronto in front of George and Nora. Lizzie tried to hold back a laugh at the faces Derek was making but only managed to turn it into a snort instead.

"I'm sure Casey will tell us if and when there's something to share," said George, cutting everyone off. His tone of voice made it clear that any and all dinner table interrogations were over for the rest of the evening. He quickly changed the subject to hockey, which got Derek, Lizzie, and Edwin arguing about something that happened in a game a few days ago while Casey, Nora, and Marti were happy to sit back and enjoy the rest of their meal, casually chatting about their holiday plans for the coming week.

Marti was the first to excuse herself after dinner. As soon as the dishes were in the sink, she grabbed a bottle of water and disappeared back into her room, saying that she'd see everyone tomorrow. At least this time she wasn't sulking.

"Goodnight, Smarti!" Derek called after her and got a quick over-the-shoulder wave in response.

"Glad to see she's in a slightly better mood," observed Edwin, waiting for Marti to be out of earshot just in case.

"Let's just hope it lasts," added Derek.

"Anybody have plans tonight?" asked Nora in an attempt to steer the subject away from Marti. "George and I were thinking we could go pick out a tree. See if they still have any good ones left."

"Cutting it close again, huh?" Edwin shrugged, completely unsurprised by their procrastination. This happened every year and somehow they always managed to find a decent tree that everyone could agree on.

"I assume that means you don't want to come with us then?" Nora asked.

Lizzie and Edwin both shook their heads, explaining that they already had plans to meet up with some old friends from high school before everyone got pulled into family holiday celebrations and couldn't get together. After a brief moment of panic that she and Edwin would somehow wind up at the same place tonight, Lizzie was relieved to find out that they were going to bars on opposite sides of town.

"I should go get ready. Jamie's picking me up soon." Lizzie stood and pushed her chair in, then headed up toward her room. "Thanks for dinner!"

"Yeah, my friends are gonna be here soon too," said Edwin, a few steps behind Lizzie. "I gotta get ready too."

"Remember to make good choices!" Nora called after them.

"You know they're gonna be hungover tomorrow, right?" Casey asked.

"So hungover," Derek said, not even bothering to hold back his laughter.

"Oh they're definitely gonna be hung over tomorrow," agreed George.

"But at least neither of them is driving," Nora pointed out. "Seems like a good choice to me. So what do you say, either of you two up for some Christmas tree shopping tonight?"

"Not tonight." Derek shook his head. "I've been awake since the ass crack of dawn and the only thing I want to do is sleep for a week."

"I'd love to go with you guys but I'm half asleep already," added Casey, yawning just to prove her point.

"Then go get some sleep. Nora and I can take care of the dishes and the tree tonight."

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping."

"Casey, you're exhausted. Go get some sleep." Nora gave both Derek and Casey a final hug, then shooed them both out of the kitchen. Neither of them needed to be told again.

It didn't take Casey long to get ready for bed and make herself comfortable with a book, planning on reading until she fell asleep. She'd barely had time to read for fun this semester and she definitely planned on making up for lost time while she was on vacation.

A few chapters into her book, she heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening and closing and figured that her mom and George were finally leaving to go tree shopping. She barely had time to mark her place in the book before Derek was letting himself into her room and locking the door behind him.

"Marti knows, doesn't she?" he asked without preamble, immediately taking his usual place in bed next to Casey. "I don't know how she figured it out. I know it was my fault that Lizzie and Edwin found out, but I swear I didn't tell Marti."

"I know you didn't tell her," Casey reassured him. "I don't know how she figured it out, but yeah, she definitely knows."

"She is freakishly observant," Derek agreed. "You don't think she's gonna say anything, is she?"

"I don't think so. Don't you think she would have said something by now if she was going to?"

"She could just be waiting for the right time to blackmail us with it," joked Derek.

"She wouldn't really do that, would she?" asked Casey, suddenly worried about what lengths Marti would actually go to in order to get something she wanted.

"Probably not," Derek reassured her. "She's devious, not heartless."

"I'm sure you're right." At least, that's what Casey wanted to believe.

There were a few moments of comfortable silence between them until Derek broke it again. "So, about that other thing you said tonight at dinner."

Casey immediately cringed and buried her face against Derek's shoulder. "Can we just pretend I never said anything?"

"Oh no, we are definitely going to talk about this new guy you're apparently dating," Derek said softly, reaching out to squeeze Casey's hand to reassure her that he wasn't actually mad. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know!" Casey mumbled into Derek's shoulder before pushing herself into a sitting position so they could be face to face. "It just didn't feel right to tell them I was single. I couldn't do it. Not this time."

"I didn't like saying it either," Derek admitted. "It felt wrong to say there wasn't anyone serious in my life. Because you and me? We're as serious as it gets and I never want you to doubt that. You're never getting rid of me."

"Good. And for the record, I've never doubted you or us," said Casey. "You're it for me. No matter what happens, we deal with it together, right?"

"Damn right we will," Derek promised, squeezing Casey's hand tightly in reassurance again.

"Love you," Casey murmured, immediately squeezing his hand back.

"Love you too," Derek replied easily. "So, it's finally time to have The Conversation, huh? We're really doing it?"

Casey didn't need to ask him which conversation he meant. There was only one conversation it could be. The only conversation they kept putting off. When they first got together, it made sense not to tell their parents they were dating. The relationship was new and they were still figuring it out for themselves, still figuring out how they fit together as a couple. By the time they knew there was something to tell, they still weren't ready to tell their parents. The relationship was still too new and neither of them was ready to test it under the strain of their parents' inevitable disapproval. Then when they both got teaching jobs in Toronto, it was easy to build a life together so far away from the scrutiny of their family. It started to feel like they could avoid it indefinitely.

Until now, apparently.

"Yeah, I think it's finally time to tell mom and George that we're together," agreed Casey.

Surprise! This story is not as dead as everyone thought it was. I'm a little shocked that people were still finding it and adding it to their alerts.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to revisit these characters again. It do have more chapters planned but I've had to put writing on the back burner in order to survive this whole teacher shortage thing that's happening right now. This whole story is going to be a marathon and not a sprint.

This is also crossposted over on AO3 under the same username. Feel free to go check things out over there too. Rumor has it I posted a new Dasey story over there that I haven't gotten around to uploading here yet...