"So, how about we get you out of that hospital gown?"
Meredith's mouth falls open in shock as Derek wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at her.
She opens her mouth to reprimand him, but as the words form on the tip of her tongue, she feels something in her stomach.
"Oopmf," she says as she places her hand on her stomach.
Derek immediately drops the smile from his face, as he thinks that something is wrong, and rushes to her side.
"What is it, Mer? Are you in pain? Is it the baby? Do you think it's your stitches again?" he rambles as he begins to examine her, searching for the cause of the strange noise she uttered.
She looks up at him and that is when he notices the huge smile on her face. He stops in his tracks, his mouth open, the next question on the tip of his tongue and his brow knit in confusion.
"He kicked me," she whispers through the tears that have started to form in her eyes.
Derek's mouth falls open as he stares at her in awe, the amazement of parenthood not having fully settled in yet.
"He kicked you?" he asks in a barely audible whisper, almost as if he didn't think this moment would ever come. Five hours ago they didn't know if he would make it, and now he is kicking. He is kicking.
Meredith bites down on her lip as she nods, grabbing his hand as she pulls the blanket down, exposing her swollen abdomen. She places his hand on the area that she feels the baby kicking. He seems too shocked to speak, to move, to breathe. He waits, every ounce of his being focused on the area where his hand is. Not only is he touching her soft skin, he is waiting. Waiting to feel the baby kick for the first time. His baby. His son. Their son.
And then he feels it.
A tiny flutter. Barely noticeable. But it is there. But it is there and he feels it. He feels it. He feels him. Moving. Under her skin. Inside of her. Something that they created. Together.
He isn't exactly sure how long he stands there, his hand on her abdomen, his mouth slightly agape, the area under his palm the focal point of all his attention. It is when she places her hand on top of his that he finally manages to look at her through tear filled eyes.
"He kicked," he whispers again, his voice still full of disbelief. It is almost as if the baby up until this moment was just a thought, but now that thought has been transformed into reality.
Meredith smiles softly at him and nods, opening her mouth to speak as there is a knock at the door and his mother enters the room. She pauses in her tracks, noticing the tears in their eyes, and her son's hand on Meredith's abdomen.
"Oh…I'm sorry…" she says as she begins to turn around.
"No. Wait," Meredith tells her.
Mrs. Shepherd pauses and looks at Meredith.
"Do you want to feel him kick?" Meredith asks the expecting grandmother.
A huge smile crosses Mrs. Shepherd's face as she walks over to the side of Meredith's bed.
"Of course I would," she tells Meredith as Meredith grabs her hand, getting ready to place it on her abdomen.
"You have to move your hand, Derek," Meredith tells him as she giggles.
He cocks his head to the side and smiles at her as he moves his hand, happy to just hear her giggle again but also feeling cold at the loss of touch.
Mrs. Shepherd's smile grows as she feels the flutter under her hand. "He is a strong one, isn't he?" she asks as she laughs.
"That's good right?" Meredith asks in a worried voice. "I mean…that he is kicking…after the surgery…that's good, isn't it?" Meredith asks as Mrs. Shepherd glances at the monitor.
"It's great, dear," Mrs. Shepherd says as she turns back to Meredith. "I thought you were going to get into some more comfortable clothes?" she asks as she notices Meredith is still in her hospital gown.
"I was…but he kicked…and…when can I go home?" she asks as the thought suddenly strikes her.
"I hope by home you mean back to my house," Mrs. Shepherd tells her seriously as she sits down on the end of the bed.
"Well, I…I…seriously? I mean…I don't want to be a burden…and…I still have to get my things…and I really don't want to be a burden to anyone…I'll be fine…seriously…I will be fine.." she rambles on as she becomes mesmerized by a certain loose thread at the end of the blanket.
Derek chuckles as sits down in the chair next to her bed. She turns to him, a scowl on her face. "What?" she asks in a slightly offended tone.
"You are always cute when you ramble," he tells her as he cracks his McDreamy smile.
A blush creeps up Meredith's neck and into her cheeks as she focuses on her hands. "Look, Mer," he begins, reaching over and placing his thumb and forefinger under her chin, forcing her to look at him, "I don't want you to worry about your things. My dad and I will go get them. There is no way in hell I am letting you walk up all of those stairs," he says in a serious tone before standing up and leaning over her bed, one hand resting on the raised rail and the other on the pillow next to her head. "Second," he says as he leans down close enough to her that she can feel his hot breath against her face, "you are not a burden, you could never be a burden. Never. You…are the very opposite…you…relieve the burden of life…you make…you just…and I…you just need to know that you are not a burden," he says seriously as he struggles to find the words to express how he feels without scaring her too much.
"Okay," she whispers after a moment, unsure of what else to say.
"Okay," he reaffirms with a nod as he smiles brightly at her.
"I'm glad that's settled," his mom says as she gets up off of the bed. She begins to walk towards the door to allow Meredith to get changed. She pauses in the doorframe and turns around. "Oh, and Derek, you better not hassle the poor girl just because she will be under the same roof as you," she tells her son in a serious voice before leaving the two alone.
Meredith's mouth falls agape. "The same roof?" she asks him, confusion on her features.
"Oh yeah," Derek says with a mischievous smile. "Did I forget to tell you that I'll be staying at my parents for the next month while they renovate my town house?"