Disclaimer: If we owned Grey's, Meredith wouldn't be in the ocean. Actually, the ferryboat thing wouldn't have happened at all. The entire episode would have been Derek and Meredith having sex.
I pulled another box out of Land Rover, loving the idiotic smile on my face. Today was the day. I was moving in, moving some stuff from the trailer to the house, most of my stuff actually. Because Meredith's house was my house now. Mine, her's and Dillon's. For the last week I had been busy with work and asking Meredith constantly if she had changed her mind, if she was sure she was ready for this. She had promised she was, numerous times. Every time we spoke on the phone, I asked her, and every time she giggled and said she was ready. And Dillon seemed excited as well, talking about pancakes every morning and stories every night. I was starting to think that I had been invited into the Grey household because of my dad's pancake recipe.
Meredith leaned against the door, a smile spread across her face as I brough another box to the door. "Apparently I have a lot of stuff," I laughed.
"Apparently," she laughed. "Need any help?"
"No, no" I shook my head. "You're good just standing there. Very good at just looking beautiful." I kissed her quickly and squeezed past her.
She giggled and followed me to her, no, our bedroom. "So I was thinking," she grinned at me.
"Thinking? Should I be worried?" I said, placing the box on the ground near our bed.
"I don't think so," she came up behind me, her hands straying to my fly. "Lucas is picking up Dillon for the weekend. It's your first weekend in my house. Maybe we should, I don't know, christen some of the rooms."
"Christening rooms sounds like a brilliant plan," I said, kissing her hard, my hands grabbing her ass and pulling her close.
"Mommy!" Dillon's voice came from the hallway just outside the room. "Mommy, I can't find my shoes!"
"You better go help with that," I said pulling away. "And I have a couple more boxes to get. After Dillon leaves, we will christen all the room."
"More boxes?" she raised her eyebrows at me, and I noticed the small amount of panic immediately.
"Just a few small things," I shrugged.
"You have too much crap," she rolled her eyes. "Is there anything left in the trailer?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "I think I might have left some old textbooks from school there. Mer, this is my home now."
"I know," she nodded quickly before turning to go help Dillon find his shoes, but stopped at the door. "And I am very happy to have you here."
"Happy to be here," I smiled, heading back to my car to get the last of the boxes. Even my vehicle looked right in the driveway. I knew we wouldn't be here forever, that eventually we'd build a house on my land. But for now this was home.
I was just closing the trunk when another car pulled into the driveway just behind me. I turned to find Lucas staring at me, hatred written across his features. A part of me wanted to kill the man, but I instead raised my arm in greeting. He slowly got out of his car and stood in front of me, eyes blazing. "Dr. Shepherd," he growled.
"Dr. Kelley," I greeted him, fighting to keep the smile on my face. Meredith didn't need us fighting outside our house.
"Mind if I ask what the hell you're doing?" he stared at the boxes in my arms.
"Moving in," I told him, not trying to keep the smug grin off my face.
"Moving in," he repeated slowly. "You're going to live with my son?"
"Him and Meredith, yes," I nodded.
He made a low guttural sound in his throat and then stalked off towards the house. "Meredith!" he called. "Meredith Grey, I would like to speak with you!"
"Lucas, slow the hell down!" I yelled running after him. Meredith didn't need this fight.
"Daddy!" Dillon came running down the stairs and latched himself around his father's waist. "Daddy! Can we go get ice cream and then to the zoo? Can we, Daddy, please?"
"Later, Dillon," Lucas responded sounding angry. "I have to talk to your mother, right now."
Dillon looked up at his father and then looked at me. "Should Sam and I go up to my room?" he asked, tears springing to his eyes.
"How about you come and help me unpack some of my stuff instead?" I offered holding out my hand for him to grab. I wanted to be there for Meredith but right now our son needed me more. Meredith would have me after the fight, and I knew she'd be fine. She could handle the ass that Lucas was.
"Dillon, go up to your room," Lucas ordered. "I want Dr. Shepherd and your mother here together."
I nodded to Dillon quickly, giving him a sad smile. "Your mom and I will come talk to you later. You and Sam go play," I offered a lot more gently.
He ran upstairs and Lucas turned to me. "You shouldn't encourage the way he treats Sam," he told me gruffly. "He needs to understand that it's just a bear. Not a person."
"To Dillon he's a brother. He'll out grow it eventually, right now it works for him," I said, smiling and shrugging. I was moving in with Meredith today. Lucas wasn't going to get to me, nothing was.
"Lucas, what's your problem?" Meredith came into the foyer, a concerned look on her face. "Dillon just walked past me crying."
"He's less than happy with my relocation," I said, walking over to Meredith and pressing a comforting kiss on her forehead.
Lucas seemed to wince slightly at the contact between Meredith and I but he just frowned and turned to Meredith. "What the hell is your problem? When Kimberly moved in, we talked about it together. We decided together that it was okay for Dillon. We sat down together and explained it to Dillon. Don't you think it's my right to know when another man is moving in to my ex girlfriend's house?"
"Sorry, Lucas. This thing with Derek was kind of spur of the moment, and I knew you wouldnt approve, so we just went with it," she shrugged.
"You just went with it?" Lucas blared. "He's my son, Meredith! I need to be involved with his life and yet every fucking second you're making decisions without me!"
"He's also Derek's son!" Meredith argued much to my joy. "And maybe I shouldn't have done this without talking to you, but it's my house and my decision."
"Excuse me?" Lucas came to her, towering over her small frame. "Dillon is not Derek's son. I am Dillon's father. I have always been Dillon's father."
"And now he has two. Derek is part of Dillon's life, a huge part of Dillon's life," Meredith argued.
"He's your fucking boyfriend, Meredith!" Lucas fumed. "He's my son and I'm not letting someone else raise him! I'll be talking to my lawyer about this."
I noticed panic fill Meredith's eyes and I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly, silently reminding her to breathe. "Lucas, there's real no reason to bring this lawyer stuff into it."
"The hell there isn't," he growled at me. "I want full custody of my son. It's about damn time someone responsible raised him."
"You won't get it," I told him, my voice calm, cooly calm.
"And why not?" Lucas asked. "I've been here for him for six years. I've taken him to the doctor, held him when he's sick. What the hell have you done, Shepherd? Take him on a fishing trip?"
"The custody battle wouldn't be between us," I told him. "It would be between you and Meredith. And Meredith is twice the parent than you are."
He laughed a little, a smirk playing on his features. "Meredith wouldn't know the first thing about being a good mother. Not to mention, she's living with her boyfriend who she barely knows. I'm sure that will go over well. Especially once Kimberly and I are married."
"You and Kimberly are getting married?" Meredith said, sounding a little shocked at the announcement.
"I proposed to her last night," Lucas grinned. "And you know the courts love it when there's a stable home environment."
"This is stable. Derek and I, this house is stable," Meredith argued.
"The two of you could break up at any second," Lucas sneered. "And God knows it will happen. You're not exactly the marrying type, are you, Meri? Even when a child's life could be better."
"Derek and I, it's different. He's not going anywhere. Derek is, one day we'll get married," Meredith said, sounding quite sure of the fact but still looking at me with some fear in her eyes. I smiled slowly to let her know she was right, that one day we will get married.
"Meredith," he stepped forward, his voice dropping to a whisper as he stroked her cheek, "I know you better than anyone. And I know you won't marry Derek. And I also know that Dillon will be better off with me. You know it too."
Tears filled Meredith eyes, tears and doubt. "You have no right to judge what Derek and I have. You have no right. Derek and I, it's not like it is with other guys, and I love him. Your son loves him. You...you don't, you shouldn't do this," she said, squeezing my hand.
Lucas smirked at her and then turned towards the stairs. "Dill pickle, let's go!" he called and then turned to Meredith. "You'll be hearing from my attorney Monday morning."
"You're an ass," I seethed, letting anger take over for just a second.
"I want to protect my son, Shepherd," he smiled as Dillon came down the stairs, Sam in his arms, his back pack shrugged over his shoulders. "How about we let Sam stay the night with Mommy, Dill pickle?"
Tears filled Dillon's eyes as he held Sam tighter. "I can't go without Sam," he said, his voice filled with unshed tears.
"Dill, buddy," Lucas bent down, "sooner or later Sam's going to have to stay home. You can't carry him with you everywhere. What do the kids at school say?"
"They...they like Sam," Dillon said, tears tracking down his cheeks.
"Dillon, you're six years old, you can't carry around a teddy bear forever."
"But Sam's my brother, Mommy and Derek said he's my brother. Right, Daddy Derek?" Dillon asked looking up at me with pleading eyes.
Lucas's eyes darkened at Dillon's words and he stared at me, murder in his eyes. "Right, bud," I smiled at him, ruffling his hair.
"And I can't go without him," Dillon told his dad, fire in his eyes that made him look even more like his mom.
"Fine," Lucas snapped. "Go wait in the car."
Tears filled Dillon's eyes again. I hated Lucas, no one should make Dillon cry this much. I crouched down and reached my arms out, welcoming him into a hug. "Bye, bud. Your mom and I will see you on Sunday night."
"I don't wanna go," he cried in my arms. "I wanna stay here with you and Mommy!"
"You have to go, bud. But we'll be here waiting for you. Go like the good boy I know you are and I promise you'll get pancakes Monday morning before school," I offered hugging him tight. I really wanted to grab him and carry him upstairs, because I didn't want him to go either, but that just wasn't an option.
"Do I have to, Mommy?" Dillon turned to his mother. "Daddy's being mean. Please let me stay."
"You know I can't. And your daddy is just mad Derek and I, you'll be fine," she said, crouching down to take her turn hugging her son.
"Car, Dillon. Now," Lucas growled.
Dillon turned and gave Meredith and I one last pleading look. I silently mouthed I love you and tilted my head towards the door indicating that he should go. Dillon slightly nodded and headed out the door, even as sobs shook his body. I turned back to Lucas. "Like I said, you're an ass."
"Let's get one thing straight," he barked. "Dillon is my son. You are not his daddy. And I will make sure a court supports that." He turned and stalked out the door, slamming it shut behind him.
"Meredith?" I asked, turning around to find her standing beside me, her face burried in her hands.
"He's going to take away my son," she sobbed. "He's going to take Dillon."
I pulled her into my arms, running a soothing hand up and down her back. "No, he's not, Mer. Dillon's not going anywhere."
"I've never seen him like that," she sobbed into my chest. "He's never like that. He looked like he wanted to kill me."
"He wanted to kill me, Mer," I laughed against her hair. "He's just feeling threatened and he's an ass. I hate the way he talks to Dillon. The man is an ass, but he's not taking our son anywhere."
"He's never talked that way to Dillon before," she sighed. "He loves Dillon. He does. I've never seen him speak that way to Dillon. And he's getting married."
I pulled her closer, holding her as tight to me as possible. "Do you want to get married?" I asked her, holding my breath, half expecting her to freak out.
"What?" she pulled back and stared at me. "What?"
"Do you want to get married?" I said, smiling at her. "We love each other, we live together. We both know we're heading that way. And Dillon would have a steady, secure home here. We could get married."
"Derek, it's too soon. I barely know you. I mean, you're a doctor. And you're great. And Dillon loves you. But, seriously? Seriously!"
"Seriously, if you want to get married, the offer is out there," I said with a shrug, running my hands through her hair. "Now, a year from now, ten years from now, I want to marry you."
"Derek," she breathed my name, tears still staining her cheeks.
"Meredith, you don't have to answer me, I don't need to know now. I'm just putting it out there in the universe," I smiled softly at her.
"Okay," she nodded. "I can't tell you now. But, it's out there. It's on the table. Which means it will always be on the table. Always. Forever. And sooner or later you will want an answer." She was rambling again, god I loved it when she rambled.
"Sooner or later I want an answer. Actually not an answer, just a hint that you're ready to answer. So I can ask my lady properly," I told her.
"Oh," she nodded as she looked down at her hands. "Maybe. Someday. Soon...ish."
"Soonish sounds good," I said, kissing her quickly. "You called Dillon my son."
"He calls you daddy," she shrugged. "And you love him."
"I do," I nodded. "And I will fight tooth and nail to keep my son."
She nodded and cuddled into my chest. "Derek, I know I said we should christen all of the rooms..."
"If you don't want to that's fine," I whispered into her hair.
"Can we just get a glass of wine and go to bed?" she whispered.
"Whatever you want, Mer," I said, taking her hand and starting to lead her towards the kitchen. "But tomorrow night we chirsten the rooms."
One again and until the end, I am never weary of holding your hand.