HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Welcome to the epilogue! I hope you enjoy it, I certainly loved writing it :)
Epilogue 1
"Come on Dad! Drive faster," Ethan complained from the back seat.
"I'm going as fast as I can little man," he chuckled.
In the mirror he could see Aiden rolling his eyes, he was 15 now and had developed into a typical moody teenager already. Derek knew he would much rather be at the rink right now, but his little 8-year-old was threatening a screaming fit if they didn't go to the skate park so he was going as fast as he could. Meredith wanted a day to relax today so he was making sure they were out of their way. Bella, his beautiful little princess, was at Aunt Lexie's.
Ethan was definitely a fan of ice hockey, he watched it avidly and was as passionate as his brother when it came to the Flyers and the Kraken. His dad did play after all! But stunt scooting was just more important to him, and he was good too, Derek had no idea where he had picked it up.
Ethan flew out of the car, clipping on his helmet over his messy, dark curls, itching to ride around on his scooter. Aiden wasn't opposed to it, but Derek could tell his oldest son was a bit annoyed that his little brother was better at scooting than him, but it was sort of a side hobby that he only did for Ethan's sake anyway. But they still had a great bond and Aiden was protective of his brother. Besides, apparently ice hockey was more 'hardcore'. God, Cristina had drilled that into their head's years ago, to be honest she was surprised none of his kids were obsessed with surgery yet.
He clicked open the Porsche SUV boot and Ethan leaped forward for his scooter. Derek had bought the bigger car when his family had started to expand, Meredith had rolled his eyes saying he was just fuelling his obsession of Porsches, but it didn't matter. Though it was an awesome car if he did say so himself! Meredith had nearly killed him when he had been caught speeding but luckily, he was able to get himself out of it. But it was safe to say that he never did it again.
Ethan was already scooting off, elbow and knee pads strapped on securely; being the adventurous kid that he was, he had already had his fair share of scrapes and bruises, so the pads had been a good investment. Aiden scooted off behind him, J-hopping along, trying to get down the tailwhip that his brother had already perfected.
Derek was constantly told that it was uncool to have their dad watching, so normally Mer came with them and they went for a walk with Bella in the stroller, Aiden was old enough to look out for his brother, but he didn't want to do that today. He had bugged Mark for all last night and eventually had to resort to getting Mom to bribe him to make him come to the skatepark today. He had brought a basketball and was going to try not to look like the overly protective father who desperately wanted to make sure his sons never got hurt. Mark turned up fairly soon and they just messed about with it on the court next to the park. Whenever he got the chance though, he snuck glances at his boys.
Aiden was growing up faster now but the rambunctious five-year-old he had been was still so clearly present. His game was shaping up and he was playing up with the U17 squad at his school and was one of the best centremen at his club. He was proud of him and he was a great big brother to Ethan and Bella.
Ethan was exactly the same as Aiden had been, completely full of life and bouncing around like every 8-year-old should. He definitely looked more like Derek, but certainly got Mer's little nose scrunch trait, but it meant he could normally get away with everything, as could Bella, but she was too small to properly use it to her advantage yet. Ethan's hair was always completely untamed, and his blue eyes were constantly shining, a reflection of his own. Ma said that he looked exactly like him when he had been a kid.
And Bella, Bella was her little princess and looked a lot like Meredith and he couldn't be happier. She had soft tufts of blond hair and a toothy grin that had to be his, but the eyes were all Mer, that would get him in a lot of trouble too!
Right now though, he was watching them skate around, they seemed to be in the half pipe which really was just a giant hole and intermittently they popped up. Aiden was just learning to get all the way up the vertical sides without dying (which was apparently called a flyout) while Ethan was busy doing bri-flips. Derek wanted to watch properly, he really did, but sometimes he just couldn't face it, he had seen Ethan fall over far too many times before mastering tricks, but he couldn't always do it. There had been countless tears and ice cream to fix his bruises, but Ethan was as stubborn as both of his parents so wouldn't give up yet, Derek just prayed to God that he wouldn't suddenly trying to do backflips.
xxxxx
They had been there for an hour and a half or so and he found his eyes were glued to the two of them, trying to be their guardian angel like he was meant to be and had completely forgotten about basketball. He heard Mark groan but was not prepared when the ball was fired at his head at full force.
"Hey!" he remarked, rubbing his head.
"Stop trying to protect them with force or whatever the hell you're doing and just play. You dragged me away from my bed this morning, I could have had a lie in. At least try to be interested," Mark rolled his eyes.
"You don't have kids, do you know how injured you can get from this sport, you don't think it scares me?"
He didn't expect what came next though, Mark started laughing, bent over at his middle.
"Why is that funny?" he asked frustrated.
"Because..." he started explaining, "that's how Mer feels every time you step on the ice, every time Aiden steps on the ice, and every time Ethan picks up his scooter."
He was quiet for a second. "I hadn't thought of it like that. I guess I just can't help it. They're my flesh and blood Mark, I have to protect them."
"Okay but you remember when you were brought into the hospital that first time you were with Meredith? Do you remember how scared she was?"
"Yeah," he furrowed his brow, "But she didn't know me that well then, it was still new."
"Yes, but she couldn't protect you, she didn't know how serious it was, she didn't know what the hell was happening. She was scared out of her mind Derek."
"Yeah," he breathed, "I always tried to be more careful after that. But I still get hurt."
"That doesn't mean she has to like it," Mark rolled his eyes, "Get it into your thick skull Derek, Meredith cares about you, she loves you, and she loves her children just as much. Of course she worries about you, call it motherly instinct or whatever. You have fatherly instinct."
"Okay fine, I see your point, but it doesn't mean I can't try and protect them."
"Well that's fine if it means actually doing something, the outcome isn't going to just automatically change with you watching them, if anything it might make it worse, in front of an audience and all that shit."
"Fine, let's play basketball then," Derek scooped up the ball and ran to Mark's net, slam dunking it through the hoop.
"Now that's just rude Shepherd," Mark frowned.
"Don't get your panties in such a bunch Sloan, call it tactics." He laughed.
"Cheating."
"Tactics."
"Cheating."
"Tactics."
"Cheating."
"Tactics."
"Really guys?"
Derek looked over to see Meredith with her hands in her pockets, looking as beautiful as ever in the sunlight.
"Mer," he grinned, "what are you doing here?" He walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head before pulling back.
"I got bored at home," she shrugged, "relaxing isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"You should Mer," he murmured, running a thumb across her cheek, "we don't get a lot of free time with three kids, it's your day off."
"Well I know that Derek," she giggled, "but it's kind of hard to relax when your sons are out at a skate park."
"Told ya Shep," Mark said behind him.
"Shut up Sloan."
"What?" Meredith asked.
"It doesn't matter. I just had my eyes glued to the two of them for a while because I was paranoid they were going to hurt themselves."
"Well now you know how I feel every time my Shepherd boys play sport."
"Told you that as well," Mark chuckled.
"Anyway," Meredith went on, "it's also hard to relax when your husband is outside playing basketball and not there to act as a good pillow." She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Well that can certainly be arranged," he whispered, wrapping his own arms around her waist and kissing her softly.
They kissed for just a few seconds before Mark said, "And that's my queue to leave, see you at training Shep."
"Bye Mark," Derek didn't even look up, kissing Meredith's neck happily.
"Derek," she giggled, "Mark, Lexie has Bella, I'll pick her up at around four." She called over his shoulder.
"Great," Mark grinned, "I'll go home then, see my favourite niece."
"Bye Mark," she shouted as he ran up the steps, before being quieted by Derek's eager lips.
Eventually, they broke apart and Meredith rested her head against his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck. He rubbed her back out of habit and leaned his head on hers. She ran a hand along his chest saying, "You know, that slam dunk was hot. After all these years I don't think I've ever really seen you play basketball."
Derek chuckled quietly, "I was alright at it in high school, but it wasn't really my thing. But clearly, I still impress you, I see that as an achievement."
"I should have known that would go straight to your head," she rolled her eyes.
"You should have," he laughed, "Do you want to sit down?"
"Yeah," she mumbled into his t-shirt.
"Come on then," he sat down on the bench, pulling her down with him.
"Hmmm," she sighed contentedly, snuggling into him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I guess I just wasn't as refreshed as I thought. It's worrying that I now depend on you to be able to relax." She said with her eyes closed.
"It's not like we're co-dependent," he smiled, "anyway, I think it's cute. I know I always relax best with you," he whispered to her.
"You have to say that" she mumbled, she always completely melted in his arms.
"No, I don't. And it's true, so I should say it."
"Kay," she said quietly, squeezing his waist.
"Just rest Mer," he kissed the top of her head lightly.
"I am."
"Good."
"So shut up."
"Shutting up," he chuckled.
"And don't move."
"Not going anywhere."
They were quiet after that, Meredith's breaths fanning his neck. He traced circles on her back, and watched his sons scoot. There were older kids around as well, although a lot of them were just sitting around not doing much. But then there were the ones that were actually skating. There were skateboards, scooters, BMX bikes and even rollerblades. It was fair to say that the latter two were severely outnumbered but there were plenty of others speeding around. Derek had to at least admire the talent they had. Ethan had tried to teach him before, but it was clear that his talents lay elsewhere!
"Hey bud," he saw Aiden scooting up to him.
"Hey Dad," he smiled.
"You good?"
"Yeah I'm just tired. When did Mom get here?"
"Only about 10 minutes ago."
He nodded and sat down, his cheeks red.
"Want some water?"
"Yes please, I'll go and watch Ethan after."
"Here you go," he gave him a bottle of water he had fished out of Meredith's bag, "You don't have to if you're tired bud, we can watch him from here," he smiled.
"It's fine Dad," Aiden laughed, "I want to watch him anyway, just because he's younger and better than me doesn't mean that he isn't a prodigy."
"Maybe he's the you of stunt scooting," he nudged him.
"You thought I was a prodigy?"
"Of course you were, you still are. I've never seen a 5-year-old make a slapshot that well that quickly. And you play for the U17s bud, I think that means you're a bit of a prodigy."
"Thanks Dad," he beamed proudly. "If Mom wakes up tell her I say hi. I'm gonna go watch Ethan and I can boast that he's my brother," he smirked.
"Okay bud," Derek chuckled, "Tell him only 30 more minutes though."
"Okay, can I get my roller blades though?"
"Sure, they're in the boot," he tossed him the keys.
"Thanks," Aiden caught them and ran back to the car.
Derek leant back against the back of the bench, completely relaxed. His family was amazing. All those years ago, when he still played for the Flyers, he couldn't have imagined his life turning out this well.
Epilogue 2 – 4 years later
Ethan was excited. His brother had been drafted to play for the Philadelphia Flyers and after only 20 games he was being put in the starting line-up. AIDEN WAS A STARTING CENTREMAN FOR THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS! Ethan was proud of him, he had been watching his games since before he had learned to walk and had developed a fascination for the game that was as strong as his sister's. Though he wasn't as good a player as his brother… obviously. As he had grown up, he had become the kid that could recite scenes from Star Wars films and could practically name all of the bones in the body (thanks to his mom). Yet he still managed to hold on to an element of coolness in the eyes of his fellow classmates. He was a half-decent skater, despite his genes, but his main passion was still stunt scooting and he would do it as often as he could, he would find time to get down to the skate park, no matter how much homework he had!
And now him, Bella, Mom and Dad were on their way to Calgary to watch him play. Thankfully, the game was on Saturday so all of them could go. Mom had made sure she got the day off, just like she had with Aiden's first game. Dad was practically bouncing in the first seat and the eagerness just kinda spread from him, Ethan was hyped up already and nothing had happened yet. They had all gone to see his first game when he got a few minutes off the sub bench, just like a lot of rookies, and Dad had gone to see a few home games and ones that had been relatively close. But this time was different, he was freaking starting! Sure, players were never on for long, but it meant that he got more gameplay and more exposure. And he was looking forward to it. It was so freaking cool. His brother was in the NHL! He still couldn't quite believe it. He wasn't one of those siblings that got jealous that his parents favoured one of them more and thought that the oldest child got everything. It was incredibly hard to discern, otherwise impossible, to tell if they favoured one of their kids more than the others. They were so overprotective and proud of them all, and the love between his parents made for such a safe, supportive environment and Ethan couldn't ask for better parents.
"Alright, here we are. Let's go!" Dad grinned, hopping from the car.
"Yay! Are we gonna see Aiden more this time Daddy?" Bella asked.
"Yup, he's definitely playing today. You'll get to see him skate all over the rink."
"Awesome!" Bella grinned. Bella was a typical Tom boy and wouldn't be seen dead in a dress. She played soccer at a local club and was a know-it-all when it came to school. It was pretty annoying sometimes, but that came with the territory of having a sibling! She was currently sporting a Flyers shirt (with Shepherd on the back, naturally), joggers, Nike trainers and a cap, much like his own. He wore practically the same thing but had grabbed his hoodie on the way out, with which he refused to put the hood down. It was comfy!
Dad took Mom's hand and walked towards the centre, they had to run to catch up with them. They walked into the complex, skipping the queues and went straight for the food. He gravitated towards the pizza stand and silently begged Mom to get him some.
"Pepperoni?" Mom laughed.
"Please Mom," he smiled.
"Me too," Bella piped up.
"Coming right up," Mom took out her purse to pay the guy. Soon enough, they all got their pizza, even Dad, after some persuading from Mom, and went back to find their seats.
Everyone was seated pretty quickly, and before he knew it, the warm-up was over and the game was starting. Peering over some guy's head, he tried to find Aiden, quickly picking out the bright orange Shepherd shirt, skating to the face-off. Wow! That was a big deal for a rookie! The crowds were cheering, and he could barely hear Dad shout next to him, "You've got this Aiden! Skate 'til you fly bud!"
"Fly 'til you die!" Bella and Ethan shouted.
Mom was also shouting something incomprehensible; he was too far away to hear.
xxxxx
Meredith could feel her grin going from ear to ear, her boy was starting for the team his father had been played for so many years. He was carrying on a legacy alright! She couldn't be more proud of him, he had fought to get where he was and the stubbornness in him meant that he hadn't given up, and it clearly paid off. The game had started but she wasn't keeping track of good plays or shots on goal or any of that. She could only watch her son skate, he was so focused and clearly fit with the team dynamic that they had going on and it was like an instinct that he moved to the right place, pass to the right person, break through lines when he could. He was amazing. He had already had some shots on net and she had watched ice hockey long enough to know that he was good. You could spot it from a mile away. She could only imagine how happy Derek was right now.
xxxxx
Derek was unbelievably proud of his son. When he had first seen him skate, he knew that he was going to be something special. The boy had talent, that much had been obvious. Hence the reason he was standing here right now cheering him on. Aiden was the fresh blood of the group but already seemed like he was fitting in, even AV liked him, that never happened that fast. He could feel the grin on his face as he watched his son move around effortlessly. He knew what he was doing, Derek could see other teammates giving him support and he did the same to them, that was the boy he'd raised! Derek had loved seeing him grow and develop to where he was today. He had loved watching his college games, he had been captain of Boston College and was a natural leader, but these games were different. And Aiden wasn't a snob that thought he was above everyone else because he had been a captain before, he just stuck his teeth right in and he had the strongest work ethic Derek had ever seen.
They were into the second period now, the score tied at 1-1. The Flyers were now shooting towards their end, they were right on the curve with a good view from the lower stand.
xxxxx
Aiden was exhausted. They weren't kidding when they said you needed to be fit. He had been on most of the game and would have to be switched pretty soon. However, while he was on, he was sure as hell going to try his hardest.
A crack between the defensive line opened and he tapped his stick eagerly, hoping to receive it on the off chance that he could break through. Joel passed it forwards and he skated forward in anticipation, receiving it on his offside. He brought it round, now past the blue offensive line, swerved and dodged, tricking the goaltender and using his ever-effective wrist shot to flick it into the top right hand corner.
The horn blared and he skated off, away from the goal. He grinned widely, skidding to a stop before he hit the glass, fist pumping the air in the process. He couldn't believe it; he'd scored his first goal in the NHL! His team swarmed towards him and as he looked around, he saw his family on the opposite side.
Mom had joyous tears in her eyes and was smiling as widely as him, Ethan and Bella were holding onto each other, jumping up and down. Then he saw Dad. His dad was staring directly into his eyes, the grin plastered on his face was one that he had never seen before. It was familiar, like ones he had seen in the past, at his old games and the ones he'd been to in the past few months, but it was different. There weren't words for how it affected him, he felt like he had won. He had a great career ahead of him, friends who supported him and his family who loved him for all they were worth. Dad's eyes sparkled and he could sense the proudness radiating from him. He clapped loudly then drew Mom close to him, who was clapping just as eagerly, and they watched as his team engulfed him in a giant hug. He received claps on the back, ruffling of his hair, well, helmet, and a punch on the shoulder from the captain himself. It was such an amazing feeling; he was on top of the world!
The horn came to a stop, but the fans kept roaring. He was released from the group hug as they all skated back to their positions. But before he did, he went up to the glass on the opposite side of where he was standing, right in front of Dad. He grinned even wider (if it was possible) when he realised what he was doing. They performed their little handshake from when he had been five years old at that Stanley Cup Final and he smiled at him, then his mom, then his brother and sister.
"Love you guys," he whispered.
"Love you too," they all mouthed back. Just as he had done all those years ago.
Ok this really is the end. I promise. And I want to reiterate what I said in the last update. All the support I got for this story and my writing from all of you means a lot, I can't thank you enough for that!