Disclaimer: If we owned Grey's Anatomy we'd be at the hospital with the Dempseys right now. Instead, this update, it's for the twins.
It had been almost a week since the dinner at Meredith's house. To say I was still on cloud twenty was an understatement, I had discovered that there was at least a cloud fifty. Possibly sixty. I had spoken to Meredith almost every night since then, and to Dillon just as often. He loved telling me what he had learned in school, the friends he had made, and the legos he was currently playing with. I couldn't believe how quickly our lives had blended together. Just a month ago I was struggling to get her to agree to a date and now it was like we had been like this forever. More importantly it felt like this would continue forever, I just couldn't imagine it any other way. I used to look at couples like us and wonder how they managed to stay so happy. Now I couldn't imagine not being this happy.
It was a Friday afternoon and I was off in six hours to go enjoy a meal with Meredith. I had been over to the house once during the week and had spent time with both Meredith and Dillon. And while I loved that kid with every bit of me, I couldn't wait to be alone with my Meredith. It was Lucas's week to take Dillon, and I was hoping with every fiber of my being that he wouldn't do what he does and cancel.
I wanted sex. I wanted to lounge around naked. I wanted to spend a night drinking wine and watching grown up movies and enjoying my girlfriend. I loved her son, I did. But I needed my Meredith time. My cell phone rang, suddenly interrupting my thoughts. "Shepherd," I said answering it.
"Derek," Meredith's voice sent shivers down my spine, until I realized that the tone was not good. It wasn't good at all.
"Hun, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
"Lucas," she sighed and then changed her tone. "Dillon, honey, Mom's on the phone. Go watch Brother Bear."
"He cancelled on you, didn't he?" I said, smiling as I visioned Dillon jumping to grab the phone.
"Yes," she replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Derek, I'm so sorry. Can we reschedule?"
I sighed, trying to hide my frustration with the situation. It wasn't Meredith's fault a flakey ass was the father of her child, and it wasn't fair that I took it out on her. She didn't need that. "No need to reschedule, Mer. We'll just change our plans. How about we take Dillon to the movies?"
Are you sure?" she asked, doubt tingeing her voice. "I mean, he'd love to see you, and he's in a mood because his dad was supposed to take him to the zoo tomorrow. But I know how much you wanted...well you know."
I groaned, I couldn't help it, I groaned. "I did want it, and that part will definitely be rescheduled. But I want to see you and Dillon. So yes, I'm sure."
"Okay," she said. "We'll take Dillon to see a movie." I could hear Dillon shouting something about Happy Feet in the background and then asking if she was talking to me. "Derek, he wants to talk to you. Just so you know, he's being throwing temper tantrums for the past two hours."
"Put him on," I said, chuckling softly.
I could hear some scrambling and then Dillon came on. "Hi Derek!"
"Hey bud, you're not giving your mom a headache are you?" I asked him.
"Nope!" he replied. "Derek, will you take me to the zoo tomorrow? My daddy was supposed to take me but he's being a mean poopy head."
I thought about my schedule for the next day, I had the day off but I had planned on doing a few other things that needed to get done. But I definitely didn't want to be classified as a mean poopy head. "If it's okay with your mom," I told him.
"She'll say yes," Dillon said confidently. "Cause she's your girlfriend. So she'll say yes. Derek, are you gonna see a movie with us tonight?"
"Yep," I said, faking enthusiasm that I definitely wasn't feeling.
"Okay," I could imagine him nodding on the end. "We're gonna go see Happy Feet, kay? It's about p-guins."
"Sounds good, bud," I told him, not having to fake the smile on my face. He was hard to stay frustrated with.
"Okay, Mommy says I gotta get off the phone, cause you're at work. Are you at work, Derek? Have you surgeon brains today?"
"Yep. And I need to get going to surgeon another brain," I told him.
"Okay," he said. "Here's Mommy again. Bye, friend!"
Again I heard the scrambling on the other end. "So apparently I'm going to the zoo tomorrow."
She giggled. "So I heard. He likes penguins the best. And elephants."
"I'll keep that in mind," I told her.
"Thanks, Derek," she sighed. "It's really, well, it's painful for him when Lucas does this."
"It's not that easy on you either," I said.
She sighed again and I imagined she was wringing her hands. "It's fine. At least he has a daddy. That's more than, well, um...that's more than a lot of other kids. And Lucas does love him. He's just busy."
I was the head of neurosurgery at one of the busiest hospitals in this city and I wasn't as busy as this Lucas jerk. But I wasn't starting this fight. "I know, Mer. So I'll be by in a few hours."
"Okay," I could hear the smile creeping into her voice. "Dillon says good luck on your brain surgeon."
"Tell him I said thanks. Bye Meredith," I said.
"Bye, Der," she replied and then hung up. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair and then looked down at the chart for my next brain surgeon, as Dillon called it. I read through it quickly, making notes here and there as I walked towards the elevators. It was going to be another night with Dillon and Meredith. And I was excited. But still, I needed sex. As selfish and horny as that sounded, I needed sex.
It wasn't a bad thing to want sex with your girlfriend. There was no way wanting some sex with your girlfriend was bad thing. We had only slept together the one time, and as much as I loved the fond memories, I needed more. Suddenly someone knocked into me, causing me to drop the chart to the ground. "Watch where you're going!" I snapped at the younger doctor.
"Sorry, Dr. Shepherd," the doctor, a cardiology resident, stammered. "I, uh, must not have been paying attention."
Dr. Kelley. I had seen him around. He was one of the best the hospital had. "Well you might want to start," I grumbled. Taking out my anger at him wasn't exactly fair. But if I wasn't getting any, someone had to pay and it couldn't be Meredith.
"Sorry," he said again. "I was told you, uh, needed a consult?"
He was here for a consult and I had managed to snap at him. "I do. Sorry for snapping at you," I told him, grudgingly. I hated apologizing.
"It's fine," he nodded. "It's been a long day."
"Tell me about it," I told him, running my fingers through my hair. "My girlfriend and I had plans tonight. But her son's father flaked out so our plans got...changed."
"That's awful," he fell into step next to me. "Dead beat dads seriously piss me off."
"They definitely make my life more complicated. I love the kid, I do. But I just...I just want my girlfriend," I told him. I didn't even know why I was talking about this with a complete stranger, but I felt the need to vent.
Before he could answer, I heard a familiar voice call my name. Well, actually, the entirely embarrassing nickname that I never wanted anyone to hear ever. "McDreamy, I need to talk to you," Cristina Yang came around the corner, stopping to face me. "Now."
I gulped. Cristina was scary, even though I had now seen her interacting with Meredith and the rest of the family, she was still scary. Becky Karev had said surgery was hard core, and the only word to describe Cristina was that. Hardcore. "Yes, Dr. Yang?"
"In private," she growled, flashing one hell of a look towards Dr. Kelley. It was common knowledge that the two best cardio residents at Seattle Grace were Dr. Yang and Dr. Kelley. And the look she gave him sent a clear signal that she could eat him alive. Yes, definitely hardcore.
"Umm...okay," I said, clearing my throat awkwardly. "Dr. Kelley, head to the room, I'll meet you there in a few minutes."
Dr. Kelley nodded and left, but not before Cristina gave him another death look. "Ass," she said and then turned to me. "Okay, McDreamy, we have to get a few things straight here."
"What things exactly?" I said, shuffling back and forth on my feet as I always did when I was nervous. Something told me that the thing we had to get straight had to do with Meredith.
"I get that you may be some hot shot neurosurgeon," she started. "And I get that in some ways, you're my boss. But right now, you're none of that. You're the guy who is dating my best friend. Got it?"
"Yes," I said nodding my head slowly, fighting off the urge to call Meredith for help. She would know how to handle this, Meredith knew things like that.
"Okay," she stepped forward and stared at me, her eyes blazing. "If you hurt her or Dillon, I'm going to kill you and make it look like an accident. Got it? And if you're thinking I can't do that, I can. And I will. Screw her up, and I'll kill you."
There was no question in my mind that she spoke the truth, that she really would kill me. "I have no intention of hurting either of them," I told her.
"You better not," she growled. "Because she likes you and if you are just fucking with her, I will tear you to shreds. She's my person. And Dillon is the only kid I've ever been able to look at and not hate. So I'd consider everything seriously before you start spouting your shit about loving her again."
I took a deep breath. Meredith might not be ready to hear the depth of my feelings but something told me it was exactly what Cristina needed to hear. "Cristina, I love her. God I love her. And I love Dillon. They're both part of my life now, and I'm not planning on hurting them, I'm not planning on fucking with them. I'm in this, Yang. I'm in this for good."
She stared at me for a second, and I tried to keep my cool. If I fidgeted, she would think I was lying. And I wasn't. I loved Meredith. But Cristina's death glare was frightening. Worse than my mom's. "Fine," she nodded and then walked away, not saying another word.
That had to be some kind of test, that had to some kind of test God had decided to throw my way, to make sure I was good enough, worthy enough to have two such beautiful and wonderful people in my life. Or karma kicking my ass for temporarily hating Dillon and the cramp he put on my sex life. Cristina Yang was my punishment. But at least now someone in Mer's family knew how I felt.
"I know it doesn't sound so cool, but baby, I'm in love with you."