I don't usually write story, but Jess kept telling me to write one so I did. This is my first one, an Addek story, formerly titled "My Lame Attempt at Writing" but Jess vetoed it and we decided that "Baby" will do. Please read and give your honest review, I'll appreciate it even if you say "stop writing, you suck", then I'll just go tell Jess "I told you so!".
Disclaimer: I don't own Derek and Addison…
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"1…2…3…4…5…"
Derek mentally counted as he traced each finger of his newborn son's right hand. Derek had counted them when Michael James Shepherd was first placed in his arms, ten fingers and ten toes—perfect. Yet two days later, and 10 hours after he and Addison brought him home from the hospital, Derek still found himself counting, marveling, at the little bundle in a blue onesie lying beside him.
A year earlier, Derek would never thought he would feel this happy and content with his life. A year earlier, he and Addison were picking up the pieces of their broken marriage and struggling to fix it. He knew he still loved his wife but there are days when the image of her and Mark in bed together came back and caused him so much pain that he'd lashed out at Addison for a stupid reason or no reason at all. And Addison, being the redhead that was Addison, would often lost her temper and snapped back, leading them to a series of heated arguments—which somehow turned into violent kissing, and, inevitably, sex. Derek was almost sure that in one of the lusty and heated sex from their arguments, he and Addie had created their baby boy.
"6…7…8…9…10…"
He moved to Michael's left hand. The house, which they built on the land the trailer used to sit on, had finally calmed down. Their family members, who had come to town to see their new baby had called it a night and were either asleep in their guest bedrooms or in the trailer, which now sat on the backyard. The four grandparents had, at last, surrendered Michael to his parents, much to Derek's delight. Not that he minded the cooing grandparents, but it was nice to have his son with just him and Addie.
"Hey, Daddy…" Addison said softly as she emerged from the bathroom and crawled to her side of the bed.
"Hey, Mommy…. He's sleeping with us tonight. The grandparents hogged him all day, I barely hold him."
Addison laughed and reached over to give him a soft kiss. "Okay."
She snuggled back to the baby between them while Derek moved his hand to their son's right foot, continuing what he was doing before.
"1…2…3…4…5…"
He started counting Michael's tiny toes. Their perspectives changed when they found out about the baby because they realized in less than nine months, there would be another person with them that they were responsible and had to care for. It was unexpected, and both of them had been scared for they were obviously still on shaky grounds in their marriage, but they knew it was time to really put things back together.
Michael was never unwanted, unexpected—very, but never unwanted, and so they put down their guards and their stubborn heads and worked harder to make things between worked the way they once did. In the months to come, they had brought everything out on the table, from his absent before Mark to the affair to Meredith, from how Addison stayed with Mark after he left to how he met with Meredith when he walked Doc in the morning. It hurt like hell for the both of them, but they got over it eventually—and he had learned to forgive her.
His came out of his reverie when Michael made a small noise, then stretched his arms over his head before continuing his sleep.
Addison chuckled. "He sleeps like his daddy…"
"And with the hair, he'll probably have his mommy's temper…" Derek received a playful slap on his arm as he teased her about Michael's hair color, which matched Addison's.
"I have to say, we did great in the hair department for he has fabulous hair..." She replied, stroking a finger in their son's curls.
Derek grinned. "Oh that's a given, Baby, we have fabulous hair…"
They shared a laugh and he reached for Michael's other foot.
"6…7…8…9…10…"
The past months leading to Michael's birth had been a rollercoaster ride for both of them. Obviously, the trailer was not going to cut it with the addition of the baby, so they had moved out of it to an apartment while their house was built on that land. They started going to marriage counseling again, with a different therapist this time, and there were days when the session brought so many pain and anger and tears. It wasn't easy for them, especially for Addison with the pregnancy hormones raging, but they got through it together. Then there were easier and happier days when they had gone to doctor appointments and watched their baby's ultrasound, shopping for baby things, picking up furniture for their new house, and having their stuffs sent in from New York, including the rest of Addison's clothes and shoes collection.
Then there were the little fights over what color the nursery should be, what names to be bestowed upon their son, and getting Addison's cravings at some ungodly hours of day. Then there were the hectic moving days, where Addison had thrown a hissy fit when Derek didn't allow her to do any moving things in her state of pregnancy, but she finally calmed down when he finally let her organized her wardrobe in the specially-built-for-her walking closet. Within a few days, with the help of friends and moving guys and a very bossy decorator—also known as his wife, they finally settled in their new house. Things had taken turn for the better in the last months and they had found themselves falling in love with each other again, and Derek felt the most content he had ever felt in a long time.
He looked over to Addison, who was lying on her side with a hand lightly rubbing the baby's tummy and watching him counting Michael's toes. He reached over and kissed her.
"I love you, Addie."
"Hmm, I love you, too, Derek."
He lay back down on his side and laced his fingers with hers.
"Ten fingers and ten toes?" Addison asked, yawning.
"Yep, ten fingers and ten toes. Baby is perfect." He replied before the both of them drifted off to sleep.