A/N: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback so far! I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I did writing it! I hope you enjoy this next one! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.

Derek was ecstatic, they had beaten the Bruins in a shutout, the day before, and the day before that he had kissed Meredith Grey. He didn't know what had come over him but as she told him to prove it, he was helpless but to lean those few inches closer to see what it was like to have her lips on his. It had left him dazed and once he had come to terms with it, he had smiled all the way back to the hotel and he felt his grin was even wider now. He was going to teach Aiden a few tricks of the trade as he had promised and he couldn't wait to spend time with him.

He had asked Meredith if he could pick Aiden up from her house, seeing as she had surgery this morning and she had accepted gratefully. He jumped out of his car and ran up the steps before ringing the doorbell and it opened to reveal Meredith standing in the doorway.

"Hi," he greeted happily.

"Hey," she smiled, "Aiden is ready but he's just collecting everything together."

"Great. Good luck in your surgery today."

"Oh, thanks. It's only a craniotomy, but it's nice having some independence in the OR," she smiled.

He grinned at her explanation, he could tell she was keeping a load of other comments in, probably for his benefit, but he could see that while ice hockey was his passion, surgery was definitely hers. He heard Aiden crash down the stairs, a backpack on his back, his stick trailing behind him. His massive kit bag was in the hall and Derek picked it up with ease. It was certainly lighter than his own kit that was for sure.

"Derek! Let's go, I wanna learn to play real good," Aiden said passionately.

"Well we don't want to keep you waiting do we? I'll see you later Mer, I can look after him until your shift ends if you want?" he offered.

"Really? It's not going to bother you?"

"Of course not. I want to spend time with him. And I realise you probably have a long day today so it's not a problem," he shrugged.

"Thank you so much Derek," she sighed and hugged him awkwardly, the hockey bag in the way slightly.

Less than a second later, a small hand tugged on his and he was tugged out of the door by the impatient 5-year-old.

"Okay bud let's go," he chuckled, "I'll see you later Meredith."

"Bye Derek."

He smiled and let Aiden drag him to his car where he threw the kit onto the back seat and told Aiden to sit in the front. He started the engine and backed out of the driveway, The Clash already blaring out of the speakers.

"This is such a cool car," Aiden admired.

"Thanks bud, I've always loved cars. I used to want to be a racing driver, but then I played hockey," he smiled.

"Yeah hockey's definitely better," Aiden said, scrunching up his nose, just like his mother.

"Oh, this is a good song," Derek remarked, and turned up the volume. He moved to the beat as much as he could, and Aiden looked at him strangely.

"What music is this Derek?"

"It's The Clash, the best band you will ever hear, believe me," Derek tried to convince him.

"Okay," Aiden shrugged, and started bopping as well. Derek grinned and sang the words himself, keeping his eyes on the road.

By the end of the song, Aiden was singing along as well, and Derek loved that he could share all of this with him, it felt almost like a privilege.

They got to the rink and padded up as quickly as they could and skated onto the rink and Derek took out all the pucks he could find, distributing them on the ice. He dragged the goals out from the store cupboard and put them in the right place, corresponding to the paint on the ice. He was thankful that the ice rink had been up to rink, there was no way he would have got to do this otherwise.

"Right then bud, are you ready to learn a few tricks of the trade?" Derek asked.

"I was born ready," Aiden grinned.

"Let's go then."

Derek led him through a warm-up and a few skating skills, likely ones that he had already learnt the day before, but he didn't complain. Afterwards, he decided to take him through a few slap shots to try and help his technique. He got frustrated pretty quickly when they kept missing, but he realised the power he could get behind it and he just needed to try and fix his accuracy. Derek was amazed by his determination and watched him as he lined up shot after shot and practiced for as long as he could until finally Derek realized what time it was. He had rented it for a few hours in case Aiden had enough energy, but at this point it didn't look like he was going to stop. After some argument Derek managed to persuade him off the ice and back to the car.

"But I wanted to keep practicing Derek," he pouted.

"I know bud, but I hadn't rented the ice for long enough and there was a session on after us. We'll go again, I promise."

"Ok, that's good. You're moving here soon right?"

"Yeah I am, I'll probably be living here after the Stanley Cup, before the new season starts."

"So, you'll still come and see me?"

"Of course, bud," he said, ruffling the boy's hair, "I'll see you as much as I can, if your mom lets me."

"She will, she likes you. She talks about you just as much as I do," he laughed.

"She does?" he breathed, feeling himself go red.

"Yeah, and she goes the colour you just went." Aiden observed.

Derek chuckled at his innocence and cranked up the radio again, thinking about how much Meredith apparently talked about him, and how much he talked about her.

They got back to Meredith's house quickly, and Aiden crouched at the door and flourished a key in front of Derek's face that he had taken from under the mat.

"Thanks bud," he said, unlocking the door. Derek dropped Aiden's stuff in the hall and asked, "Do you normally have a shower after you skate?"

"No, I have a bath though," Aiden shrugged.

"Ok, well I'll run you one and then I'll make us lunch."

"Thanks Derek, I'm super hungry."

"Well you worked extra hard during that session so that doesn't surprise me," he smiled, "come on let's run you that bath."

Derek ran the bath as fast as he could, checking the temperature every so often, and took Aiden's dirty clothes and dropped them in what he assumed was the laundry basket before Aiden got in obligingly. He grabbed all of the necessary bath toys that consisted of numerous soldiers and a few ducks, which didn't really go together, but worked in the mind of a 5-year-old. They played 'Battle ducks' for a while, which Derek had to admit was a pretty fun game before he was sent to the kitchen for lunch.

They ate quickly and immediately afterwards Aiden was desperate to play with some of the new games he had got for his birthday. They spent the next few hours playing various games until they switched on the Cars movie and Derek sat with Aiden who chatted throughout the film. Apparently Marty was the best car and that NASCAR sucked. Derek smiled and agreed with them, saying they just turned left all the time anyway, and settled back to watch the film with the little boy.

xxxxx

Meredith trudged through her front door much later that evening after various surgeries she had ended up scrubbing in on. Thankfully most of them had gone well and she smiled as she smelled some delicious tomato sauce that Derek had likely made and found some pasta in the oven, simmering at a lower heat. The man was a God send.

She left the bake there in search of the two boys, shuffling towards the living room and the sight she saw almost brought tears to her eyes. Aiden was snuggled in Derek's arms, up against his chest, clutching his stuffed lion. Derek was sleeping sat up, Aiden on his lap, and his head resting slightly on Aiden's. She smiled adoringly at the two of them. It was strange that Derek had fallen so well into their lives and they weren't even seeing each other, but as of this moment, she wouldn't have it any other way.

She kissed the crown of Aiden's head who shifted even closer to Derek and Derek's larger arms wrapped even more closely and protectively around him. She ran her hands through the raven locks she had longed to do for so long and felt a rush of something she didn't completely understand. He was still asleep, and she tentatively kissed his lips, softer than she had done the last time, yet she got the same rush. Something inexplicably comforting and shocking all at the same time.

She ran her hand over his hair again, and went to eat her pasta, not wanting to disturb them. After doing so, she padded back into the living room, sat down, and rested her head on Derek's shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist. She got comfortable and was lulled to sleep by the boys' regular breaths, tired after a long day.

xxxxx

Aiden woke up a while later, still in Derek's lap. He saw that Derek had one of his arms around Mom, the other around him. Mom had one arm around Derek's lower back and then the other was around him and clutched at Derek's hip. He snuggled closer to the warmth they had created and drifted back to sleep contentedly. He could get used to this.

xxxxx

When Derek awoke the next morning weighed down by two of his favourite people, he smiled softly to himself, watching them kindly for a minute. Meredith must have come home late, and they had ended up lying down on the couch. Aiden was spread on top of him, Meredith's head was in the crook of his neck, a protective arm over Aiden and reaching to Derek's hip. He kissed both of their heads and tried to edge slowly out from under them. He took Aiden in his arms, who was still limp with sleep, edged off the couch and laid him back down with his mom. He kissed them again and moved softly to the kitchen.

He had already mixed the batter for the pancakes when Aiden came in in the pyjamas he had made him change into last night, rubbing his eyes, still holding his lion.

"Hey bud," Derek smiled.

"Hi," Aiden croaked tiredly, hopping onto a bar stool, "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes, your favourite," Derek announced.

"Awesome. Can I have lemon and sugar?"

"You sure can bud," he said, pulling out various drawers and cupboards trying to find everything.

He could have sworn he had seen some sugar earlier when he had been looking for the ingredients. Aiden found the lemon juice and Derek eventually found the sugar. He poured the first set of batter onto the pan and said, told Aiden he was going to check on whether Meredith was still asleep. He went back to the living room, Aiden trailing behind him.

He smiled again when he saw Meredith still sleeping, completely content, without the stress of the previous day worrying her features. Derek put a silent finger over his mouth to make sure Aiden was quiet, kissed Meredith quickly on the cheek and took Aiden back to the kitchen, flipping a pancake before it could burn.

"Derek?"

"Hmmm?" he said, inspecting the pancakes.

"Why do you kiss Mom?" Aiden asked.

Derek nearly dropped the spatula he was holding, thinking about the kiss they had shared a few days before, when he realised that Aiden was talking about what he had just seen.

"You know how your Mom kisses you?" he asked after clearing his throat.

"Yeah?"

"Well, she cares a lot about you, and I care a lot about your Mom, so I kiss her on the cheek or forehead sometimes," he explained.

"But Mom loves me, do you love Mom? Are you her boyfriend?"

Derek coughed, "I, um, I care about her bud, just like I care about you," he avoided, kissing the top of his head. Though he was still curious, "Would you want me to be your mom's boyfriend?"

"I don't know, would you be all kissy and stuff?" he enquired, scrunching his nose.

"Yeah bud, that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do," he chuckled.

"Well I wouldn't like that, cuz I think it's gross. But I'd get to spend more time with you right? You'd live with us?"

"Maybe, if we did date each other."

"That would be cool. Would you be my dad then?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, if you want me to be."

"I've never had a dad, and you're cool, can you be my dad?"

Derek laughed slightly.

"You're getting a bit ahead of me there bud, but I promise, even if I'm never your mom's boyfriend, I will always be there for you."

Aiden seemed to accept the answer and Derek turned back to the pancake, putting it on a plate. Derek wasn't in love with Meredith, sure they had spent a lot of time together, but they weren't together together. He did care, that wasn't a lie, but he wanted to ask Meredith out before he thought about anything else, but he couldn't help think about the voice in the back of his head screaming at him that he desperately wanted to be Aiden's father someday.

He put the plate in front of Aiden and gave him the sugar and lemon, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to leave it to a five-year-old, but if he went overboard then he could jump in. Meredith came in a while later as Aiden dug in to his second pancake.

"Morning sleepy head," Derek smiled.

"Hey. You know I'm not actually tired this morning," she smiled.

"That's cuz Derek's real comfy," Aiden nodded.

"He is," Meredith agreed. Derek grinned at the two of them before turning back to Meredith, "Pancake?"

"Mmmm. That sounds great."

"Good."

She sat down at the island next to Aiden and they looked so alike in that moment that he couldn't shake it. He loved being in her kitchen when it was just the three of them. He handed Meredith a plate and a cup of coffee then leaned against the kitchen island, watching mother and son eat, listening to Aiden's early morning ramblings. He loved it, and he knew more than ever that he wanted to be permanent it their lives someday, he just had to ask Meredith out on a date.

A/N: So Aiden is getting even more used to having Derek around and Derek is being his usual self, already thinking about a lifetime! There should be another update tomorrow so beware :)