Just a bit of fluff for your entertainment.
I stared at the television sleepily that afternoon; it had been three days since I had caught the chickenpox and I was becoming ever so agitated with the three children fighting constantly over the remote.
"Mom…" came Charlie's voice.
I groaned.
"I swear…I am going to throw the cable remote down into the river!" I told her as she walked into the room scratching her arm. "And don't scratch!"
"Mom, you've got a visitor…or two…" she said.
I looked up and saw Cristina enter the room, letting loose a slight chuckle and shaking her head. I looked behind her to see Izzie following.
"Hey," I said with a smile.
"Ha…nice spots…" Cristina giggled.
I shook my head.
"Shut up!"
"Do you want me to make some soup or something Mer?" Izzie asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.
I shrugged.
"Nah, I think Derek is coming home early anyway…" I told her. "And I am hanging out for his pasta tonight,"
Charlie groaned.
"Not pasta…" she cried.
"Charlie…" I sighed. "Please don't argue with me…I don't have the energy…"
Cristina rolled her eyes.
"Where are the other kids?" she asked Charlie.
"Fighting over the cable remote…" Charlie answered.
Cristina folded her arms.
"Meredith…why don't you have more than one television with cable on it?" she asked.
"Because it would mean more arguments over who had the better room for watching television!" I told her.
Charlie shook her head.
"I'm with Aunty Cris on that one, mom!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Cristina, can you go and see if Mia and Riley need anymore calamine lotion?" I asked.
Cristina's eyes widened.
"Meredith, they're nine and twelve, I am certain that they can cover their own spots!" she exclaimed.
"Cristina, please…" I sighed.
She glared at me and grabbed onto Charlie's arm.
"You can help," she told her.
Charlie groaned.
"But they're whiny little brats!" she cried.
"When you use that voice…you sound like a whiny little brat!" I told Charlie.
Cristina and Charlie left the room and Izzie sat on the edge of the bed.
"So how are you feeling?" she asked me kindly as she put her hand to my forehead. "Mmm…you're a bit warm…maybe I should go and see if you have something for the fever…"
I laughed.
"Iz, I'm fine, seriously…" I assured her.
But Izzie didn't buy my response as much as I didn't buy saying it.
"No, you're not!" she shot back. "Now stay under those blankets or I will strap you down with Riley's duct tape!"
My eyes widened.
"Okay…" I answered.
--
That night, Derek came into the bedroom to find me half asleep in bed; it was relatively late, and I'd really tried my best to wait up for him.
"Sorry I'm late honey," he sighed.
I rolled over and looked at him with a sad look; I'd missed him so much that day, and it was always when I needed him that surgery got in the way. But that had been the case since we'd met.
"It's okay," I answered.
He lied next to me and brushed my fringe from my eyes as his fingertips grazed my spots gently.
"Don't…it makes them itchy…" I told him.
"Have you been in the pine tar sols bath?" he asked.
I shook my head.
"It's gross…" I whined.
"You have been a surgeon for ten years, probably seen more things than most people your age…you've been through years of changing dirty diapers and yet you can't get into a bath of pine tar sols?" Derek cried.
I shook my head.
"I guess so…"
"I'll run you a bath…" he said as he got up and turned the knobs on the deep Victoria style bath tub.
Opening cupboard doors, he squirted the solution into the water, turning it a shade of yellow. I sat up and stared at it, scrunching my nose and frowning at the smell.
"That's so gross…" I commented.
Derek laughed.
"Hurry up and get ready for your bath…" he told me.
I decided that I could make this bath incredibly interesting; so being as seductive as I could in my sickness, I walked into the bathroom and pulled my shirt over my head to reveal a new black and lacy bra.
"Mer…" Derek nearly choked on his words.
I pushed my pyjama pants down and stepped out of them, so that the matching panties were now visible.
"Oh my god…" Derek's voice was raspy and hoarse.
Luckily for my intentions, I had only a few spots that covered my body, so when I turned around to fiddle with my bra strap, Derek reached out gingerly for my arm.
"Meredith…"
I whirled around to stare at him for a moment, feeling his body pull me closer and gaps closing between us as every inch faded by the instant.
"Even with spots…you're still the sexiest woman ever…" he whispered in my ear.
"Think you can handle the gross bath?" I asked with a giggle.
"I'm sure I can…" Derek answered as he pulled me closer and suddenly our bodies meshed together, forming the perfection of a lover's dance.
--
I felt a small tug on my hand the next morning as the sun greeted me; a rarity in Seattle's frequent rain.
"Mom…"
I didn't register to the voice and assumed I was dreaming.
But then it came again.
"Mom…"
I opened my eyes to see Mia staring back at me.
"What's up baby?" I asked.
"I can't sleep…"
"How come?"
"Bad dream…"
I frowned sympathetically and pulled the covers back for her to climb under.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
She shook her head and her lower lip trembled slightly.
"What's wrong angel…?"
"I don't want dad to go away again…" she said sadly.
I felt my heart melt.
"He won't go away again darling, I promise…" I told her sincerely.
Mia buried her face in my chest and cried harder.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" came Derek's voice as he exited the bathroom and saw Mia.
Mia looked up as he came and sat on the bed gently. He leaned down to rub her back.
"Dad…I don't want you to ever leave…" she sobbed.
Derek felt his eyes fill with tears.
"Honey, I'll never go away again…we're a family again, nothing will break us apart…" he promised.
"Do you promise?" Mia asked.
"I promise…" Derek answered. He tried to make her smile. "Now come on, let's make some breakfast,"
And at that moment, I watched my daughter walk with her father out my bedroom door, knowing that our lives were indeed on the mend; for the good and bad, we were certainly on our way back to where we were.
Strangely enough, I knew that things couldn't stay the same for long, so later that morning when I stared at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test, I knew that there was more to this equation than met the eye.
Well, I hope that this has placed a nice new twist on the story; another baby in the family could certainly bring about a lot of change for Mer and Der.
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