disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Casey's Kids
Derek woke up the next day, surprised because he couldn't remember at first where he was. Once he realized, his memories of everything that happened yesterday came floating back. He remembered that when he woke up the nurse had explained to him about how he ended up here and then told him the doctor would give him more details. He was frustrated when he found out that he couldn't remember part of his life. He wanted to know what his life was like, and more importantly, where Clara was. He didn't care that he was married to Casey. He was sure he could straighten it out and be with Clara.

He didn't think about that so much today because once he opened his eyes, he saw two women in the room with him. Both were looking at the pictures on his windowsill. He remembered doing the same thing yesterday. Some were drawings from children he didn't know and others were photographs. Some he recognized but most he didn't.

He didn't look at the pictures today though. He just stared at the two women. One was about average height, straight, long, blonde hair and the other was taller with curly, short, dark brown hair. Derek with his well-trained eye saw immediately that they both had fit bodies, and assumed that they did some form of exercise to get the bodies they had.

They both turned when Derek made a sound. This gave him a chance to look at their faces. He noticed that they were both beautiful, not overly beautiful but not average looking either. He wondered why they were in his room but he got his answer quickly.

"Oh good, you're up," the blonde said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Derek realized that both women's expression looked like they were peeved and he became angry. Who were they to be hostile at him? He had only been awake for a day now.

"You don't know who we are, do you?" the brunette asked. "See I told you," she looked at the blonde.

"I don't care, we still have to tell him how we feel," the blonde told her.

"Oh no! I don't know who you two are, but I hate talking about feelings so don't you even dare Blondie," Derek said getting angry.

"Blondie? Did he just call me Blondie?" the woman asked the other.

"Calm down. Just remember why we're here," the brunette said to her.

"Right," the blonde said, now looking at Derek. "Hi," she said with fake enthusiasm in her voice. "This is Anna," she said pointing to the brunette. "And I'm Sabrina, Sam's wife. We're co-owners of the dance studio with Casey, who is also our best friend."

"We're your friends too," Anna butt in, plopping down in the chair beside the bed. "You just don't remember. We met in university the first year. We saw each other often," Anna explained.

Derek looked at the two women. He hoped that something would ignite his memory to remember these two but nothing clicked.

"I'm sorry but I don't remember you," he said. This gave him a new wave of frustration.

"No, worries, that's not why we're here. Well, not the main reason," Anna said.

"I hope you remember yesterday's confrontation with my husband and Casey because we are going to talk about that," Sabrina said.

Derek was about to say that he didn't remember just to get these two women off his back. He assumed that these women who were friends with Casey were as annoying and whiny as she is. He didn't get a chance to speak though.

"If you don't remember, let me refresh your memory," Sabrina continued.

"You implied that my husband was cheating on me with Casey. Then when Sam tried to punch you for disgracing my name as well as Casey's, she stepped in the way and Sam ended up hitting her."

"Not cool man," Anna added.

Derek took what he thought back, Anna seemed to be cool, cooler than Casey. He wondered if he was friends with Anna first and that she was more loyal to him than Casey.

"So we're here to tell you that we met you when you were eighteen but this was when you were in a slump. We didn't meet hot-tempered Derek. So… we are friends with the Derek who married Casey, not the jackass you were when you were eighteen," Sabrina continued.

"Yeah, and the next time you insult one of my friends, Sam won't make it in time to punch you first because I will personally do it," Anna told him. Derek realized that he had no such luck: Anna was not loyal to him, but to Casey.

"Why are you guy so worried about Casey?" he asked them. "I'm the one that was in a coma." Both Anna and Sabrina changed their expression from angry to worried and nervous. Derek wouldn't have thought anything of it but their expressions trigged a memory.

"Yeah, so I'm here on a hockey scholarship, can't get these muscles by just lying on the couch," Derek said, flirting with a girl. Derek recognized that he was again at the party that Casey was almost raped. Only, he was downstairs in the living room instead of upstairs. The girl giggled but they were interrupted by someone touching his shoulder, causing him to turn to look at them.

"Derek," Anna said when he looked at her, "do you know where Casey is?"

"Why?" he asked, getting angry. He didn't want to hear that name.

"We can't find her and well, we're afraid," Sabrina said.

She was standing beside Anna. Sam was behind her, holding her waist. Derek looked at all of their faces and saw real concern in them. He wouldn't have given much thought of it if Sabrina and Sam had just approached him but when Anna was worried - it was serious.

"No I haven't seen her but she has to be around here somewhere. Sam, Sabrina, take the basement. Anna, take the main floor, I'll look upstairs."

He did it this way because he didn't want to run into Casey and he was positive that Casey wouldn't be upstairs. She would never have sex at a party. She was certainly not that type of girl. He wasn't even sure if she ever had sex at all.

Everyone nodded and started looking for Casey. Derek turned to the girl that he was talking to. She looked a bit upset, probably because he wasn't paying enough attention to her.

"Sorry, duty calls," he said walking towards the stairs.

Derek slowly climbed up the stairs. He wasn't looking forward to interrupting the happy couples who were behind the closed bedroom doors. When he was almost at the top of the stairs, he heard a scream that he could only hear. The scream was loud but the music had drowned it out, making it impossible for anyone that wasn't on the top floor to hear.

Derek ran the rest of the way towards the scream. For some reason he knew it was Casey on the other side, logic was on his side too. Anna, Sabrina, and Casey always stayed within visual range of each other, in case one needed help. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Without even thinking, Derek put his foot to the door, pressing on it with all the force he had and kicked the door down.

What he saw on the other side made him positively murderous. There on the bed, was Jared on top of Casey as she was desperately trying to fight him off. He didn't seem to have heard the intrusion until Derek shoved him off of Casey.

Derek blinked a couple of times, focusing his eyes at the reality around him. He had no idea who Jared was or why he had been angry with Casey. It was like watching TV.

Anna and Sabrina stared at him. "Derek, are you alright?" Anna asked slowly.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, fine. Listen, I'm sorry about what I said to Sam, it won't happen again. As for Casey though, you need to know that I'm still in love with Clara," he told them.

Derek saw both women about to open their mouths but neither got a chance to say anything because a man that reminded Derek of a bear, due to possessing the body of a weightlifter, came into the room.

"She's coming," he said, closing the door behind him and running to Anna's side.

Sabrina quickly changed the subject, having a fake smile plastered on her face. "Yes, I'm Sam's wife and this is Anna, and her boyfriend Jason," she said.

"You won't remember Jason though, we just started dating," Anna quickly added as the door opened and Casey walked in, followed by Sam.

Once the door opened, both Sabrina and Anna laughed and Jason joined in once Anna nudged him in the ribs. They all turned to look at Casey and Sam, as if they had no idea that they arrived. Anna and Sabrina didn't want either to know that they came to yell at Derek on their behalf. Casey would disapprove immensely and Sam didn't even want Sabrina to see Derek.

Casey gave Anna and Sabrina a weird look as Sam just stared at Sabrina. He told her yesterday that she was not allowed to see Derek and he explained why. He thought he was clear but apparently, Sabrina didn't care about what Sam said.

Sabrina was actually hoping that if anyone caught them, it would just be Casey, but she figured that she should have realized that Sam would go with her. After what happened yesterday, she was surprised that Sam didn't also order Casey to stay away from Derek.

"Oh hey," Anna said after a brief pause of silence. "We just wanted Derek to meet us. Well, we did. It was good talking to you, see you later Casey," Anna said quickly, pulling Jason out the door with her.

Sabrina tried to follow her lead. "Well that was my ride and I have to do things before I pick up Adam-"

"Stay," Sam ordered, interrupting her. "I'll give you a ride in a second. I have to get back to the store anyways."

Sabrina just nodded. She was hoping that she could have prolonged the argument she was bound to have with Sam. She knew that he just wanted to protect her, but she didn't need protection from Derek. The only one who did was Casey.

Sam then looked at Derek. "Well I see that you've met my wife," Sam said to him.

"Listen Sam, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was stupid," Derek replied.

Sam paused for a brief moment. Eighteen-year-old Derek never apologized. He was now starting to understand what Casey had said about how Derek's mature emotions were coming to Derek faster than his memories.

"It's alright," he said to him. Derek held up his fist, Sam lightly punched it, and both men smiled.

"So Derek, do you remembered anything else since yesterday?" Casey asked him.

Derek glared at her. "No," he snapped, angry at her assumption. It felt like she was nagging at him and he couldn't believe that he married 'Casey the whiner.'

Casey flinched at the complete one-eighty in his mood swing. This was exactly like him at eighteen. She remembered walking on eggshells around him, as did the rest of their family. They had no idea what would set him off and when he did, they hated being around him. Casey knew that only his memories would bring him out of this and she would just had to wait.

"She was just asking," Sam said, his anger starting to build also.

Casey then glared at Sam. She had talked to him yesterday, telling him that he had to remain calm and stay Derek's friend no matter what. Derek needed them. Sam then relaxed. "Sorry," he mumbled to Casey.

Casey then smiled, looking back at Derek. "That's alright. I'm sure your memories will come back in no time."

"Whatever," Derek brushed her off.

Sam ground his teeth and Sabrina bit her lip. Casey had talked to all of them. She told them that just because Derek was an angry teenager; it didn't give any of them the right to become one too.

Bree then came in, sensing the thick tension in the room. "Hey Derek, here's your breakfast," she said cheerily, trying to brighten up the mood. Casey smiled back at her and allowed her to pass, setting the tray of food on the table. Derek looked at the food
in disgust.

"When do I get to go home?" he asked her.

"It depends how fast you recover. You have been sleeping in a bed for five years so it'll take some time for your body to recover," Bree told him.

He groaned and Casey touched his hand. "Don't worry, you'll be better in no time and I'll be here every step of the way," Casey tried to reassure him. Derek quickly ripped his hand out of Casey's and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said again.

Casey quickly hid the hurt from her face but everyone except Derek noticed it.

"Casey, we should go. You have to pick up Ben soon," Sam said to her.

Casey looked at Sabrina. "Can you pick him up today? I promise it will be the last time."

Sabrina nodded and Derek grunted. "Go pick up your kid. The only person I want here anyways is Clara."

"Bree needs help," Casey said.

Everyone looked at Bree and she nodded. "Yeah, I need help, and who better than your wife to help me."

Derek groaned again. "Please do not call her that!"

"She's sorry. No one will call me that," Casey quickly said, hoping to calm Derek down. She then looked at Sam and Sabrina. "Go, I'll be fine."

They both stayed where they were. She then rolled her eyes. "Darrin's coming soon," she told them. As if on cue, Darrin walked into the room.

"Hey," he said, strolling up to Casey and kissing her bruised cheek. "I'm Darrin." He put his hand forward, waiting for Derek to shake it. After a couple seconds of Derek just staring at the hand, he dropped it to his side.

"I'll see you guys later," Casey said to Sam and Sabrina, hinting for them to leave.

"See ya," Sabrina said, hugging Casey and touching Darrin's shoulder. Sam didn't say anything. He just nodded to Derek once, then took Sabrina's hand, pulling her out of the room.

No one said anything for a few beats and Darrin instinctively grabbed Casey's hand. He had done this many times when he felt Casey needed support. He figured that she needed support now, seeing Derek's hostile appearance. Derek saw the gesture and became even angrier than he was before.

"So you have a lot of guy friends. Was it lonely when I was here? I was almost dead so you decided to cheat on me?" Derek asked Casey casually like he just asked her about the weather.

"Derek, I never cheated on you," Casey said calmly. Darrin didn't say anything. After all, what could he say when Derek had just implied that he did it with Casey. "Can I have a minute alone with him," Casey asked Darrin and Bree.

"No," Derek said before Darrin or Bree could say anything.

"Sure, I need help carrying something in anyways. Darrin," Bree said, ignoring Derek's reply.

Darrin just nodded, at a loss because he didn't want to leave Casey alone with Derek but he couldn't say no to Casey. They both walked out and Casey shut the door behind them. She then sighed and turned, looking at Derek. Derek recognized that look, and for once he recognized Casey's emotion: anger.

"You need to stop this," she whispered harshly.

"Stop what? Showing my feelings?" he asked her. He wasn't yelling but it wasn't exactly a normal voice either.

"You can't just keep saying stuff like this to our friends. You can yell at me all you want but you have to stop being rude to Darrin, Anna, Sam, and Sabrina. They don't have to stay and wait for you until you get your memory back, but they are and you're driving them away. So stop," she said.

"Fine, I won't tell them how I feel, happy?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied, opening the door, signalling to Bree and Darrin that she was done.

---

Darrin and Casey stayed with Derek the rest of the day. They tried to help him with his memories and like Casey asked, Derek was polite to Darrin but rude to her. Before Casey left, she asked Derek if he would like to meet his kids. He screamed a 'no' and Casey left quickly, telling him that she would be there tomorrow. He muttered 'don't bother' but Casey ignored it.

Darrin and Casey got into the elevator in complete silence. He didn't speak until the door was closed.

"You're not honestly going to bring Lily, Ella, and Ben to meet him, are you?" he asked her.

"Not tomorrow," she joked looking at the elevator's closed doors. She didn't want to turn and meet his gaze.

"I was hoping for 'not ever'," Darrin admitted. Casey then turned to him. She couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes.

"That isn't Derek their father," Casey said. "That's teenage Derek, the one who had an anger management problem."

"Yeah, I remember you told me about that. I still can't believe that he acted like that."

"That's because you met him a couple months after Clara dumped him. He was depressed at that time. He only got angry at me then," she said, walking out of the elevator towards her car. She unlocked it and was about to open the door but Darrin closed it. He had her trapped her by stretching out his arms, placing his hands on the car on either side of her head.

"It doesn't matter. I don't want you or your kids near him. All he's doing is causing you pain."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Did you and Sam have talk a yesterday? He banned me from seeing Derek too. I'll tell you what I told him, I'm seeing him. You don't have to, that's your choice but I'm sticking with Derek."

Darrin sighed and dropped his arms. "Fine. Just remember that I'm always here if you need me," he told her.

"Did Emily call you yet?" Casey asked trying to change the subject. She was afraid Darrin was going to tell her that he didn't want to see Derek again.

"Yeah, we have a date tonight."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Casey said clapping her hands together. "You have to tell me tomorrow how it went!"

Darrin laughed. "Alright, I will but don't be disappointed if it doesn't go well," he warned her.

"Scouts' honour," she said before opening her car door.

"Talk to you later," he replied, walking to his own vehicle.

---

The next few weeks were hell for Casey, although she would never admit it. Yet everyone else figured Casey was going through hell. Casey though, had been through hell these past few years and when Derek woke up, she felt like she finally got out. She wasn't about to complain at this second chance.

Casey went everyday to the hospital. She spent the morning with Derek before she had to pick up Ben. Derek still insisted that he didn't want to see his kids, although he met all of his nieces and nephews and Sabrina and Sam's kids. She saw an improvement with Derek. Although he would snap at her most of the time, still resenting her because he wasn't married to Clara, there were moments that he was pleasant.

He remembered some things about his life but Casey noticed that his memories didn't come back in order. Derek could remember some of the courses he took in university, the professors, and working at the store that he and Sam started but he never remembered anything to do with being with Casey, or how he and Clara broke up. Casey was hoping he would remember more about the night they went to the party but he always told her no when she asked him about it. She didn't want to mention why it was important because she was afraid that he would get angry at her. She just had to wait until he remembered.

Casey was getting excited though. It had been more than a few weeks and the doctor said that Derek was recovering faster and faster everyday. She was told that he could come home soon and Casey made the necessary arrangements at her house to give Derek space. She planned to sleep on the couch and she moved most of her stuff out of the master bedroom into Lily's and Ella's rooms.

---

It was now Wednesday and the doctor said that he could leave the hospital on Friday. Casey told him this and he seemed excited too but he still didn't want to see Lily, Ella, or Ben. Casey thought that he would want to see them when he came home so she didn't read deeply into Derek's assumption of where home was.

It was after Casey left that morning when Bree came in during the evening, serving Derek's dinner that all havoc broke loose. It wasn't anyone's fault, but Bree felt that it was hers. Well, it was her words that set him off.

"Hey Derek," Bree said carrying the tray that contained food.

"What's for dinner?" he asked her.

"Spaghetti and meatballs with peas and corn on the side. Jell-O for dessert," she said putting the tray on the table.

"I can tell you one thing, I'm going to miss this food when I'm out of here," he told her.

"Why?" Bree asked him.

"Because my dad will do all the cooking since Casey has moved out and he sucks at it," Derek informed her.

"Derek," she said confused. She paused but then asked him, "You know you're going home with Casey right?" He had always been polite to her these past weeks that she had forgotten about his temper.

"What! No I'm not moving in with Casey! No way!" Derek let out incredulously. He was
so over come with anger he threw the tray off the table. "Get out!" he yelled at her. "Get! Out!"

Bree bolted out of the room and locked the door, afraid that Derek would storm out since he was able to walk. She ran to the phone and dialled the only number she could think of. She was praying that the phone would be answered while hearing Derek destroyed the room.

---

"Mom, can I have a cookie?" Ben asked Casey.

"Finish your vegetables first," she instructed him. Ben began to complain as the phone rang. "The faster you finish them, the faster you can have a cookie," she said reaching for the phone, causing Ben to stop speaking.

"Hello," she said into the phone.

"Casey, you need to get here, Derek is having a fit! I don't know what to do! He seems to be tearing the room apart!" Bree cried into the phone.

Casey didn't waste any time. "I'll be right there," she said hanging up the phone. "Get your shoes and coats on now!" Casey said to her children as she grabbed her cell phone and dialled Sabrina's number.

There was no answer on her cell phone and Casey remembered that Sabrina never charged her cell phone anyways. She then called the house number as she locked her front door and jumped into the car. She made sure that her children were strapped in before she started driving. There was no answer at the Sabrina's house either. She remembered Sam was at the store and Sabrina was probably there too. Anna was at the studio so she couldn't bother her. Lizzie worked on Wednesday nights and Edwin and Marti were too far away to drop off her kids and get to the hospital quickly. Darrin was on another date with Emily, his third this week and her mother and George were out celebrating their anniversary. For the first time in five years, she had no one to take her
kids. It didn't matter though. She decided that she would just get Bree to watch them while she talked to Derek. Derek didn't have to see them, and they didn't have to see Derek.

Bree sighed in relief when she saw Casey come in, carrying Ben in her arms as Ella and Lily were on either side of her. Casey saw two hospital security officers standing outside Derek's room and knew that Derek was having a terrible fit. She sat Ben down on one of the chairs in front of Derek's room and instructed Lily and Ella to sit and stay where they were.

"Thank goodness you're here. He doesn't want to see anyone, he just keeps screaming," Bree told her as they heard Derek stomping back and forth.

He wasn't throwing things so Casey assumed he didn't have anything to throw as he kept screaming. Casey recognized this tantrum as she had witnessed them many times before. When she was a teenager, she was usually the root cause of them and she had a funny feeling that she caused this one too.

"Watch them, and if it gets too loud, get them to the café, please," Casey told Bree and she nodded. Casey walked towards the room as the hospital security officers allowed her to pass.

She ducked just in time before a picture frame hit the wall above her head. As she closed the door, she looked on the floor and saw glass everywhere from things that use to be vases, and picture frames. Ripped papers, which were once their children's artwork were strewn all over the floor. She then noticed that Derek was only wearing socks and he was walking on glass. She didn't see blood anywhere but that didn't mean anything.

"Derek stop!" she cried over his screaming.

Derek glared at her. He didn't realize that she came in. He just saw the door open and wanted to chuck something at someone. "This is all your fault!" he glared at her as he walked towards her.

Casey held her ground. She knew Derek wouldn't hurt her. Derek wasn't violent towards any of his family members when he was mad. He just liked to throw things.

"How is this my fault? Did I break all these things?" she asked him.

"Oh you know what I mean," he said, throwing his arms up in the air and pacing away from her.

It amazed Casey that he didn't break any skin on his feet from walking on the glass. She then saw a path that Derek must have laid out for himself – one that was mostly glass free - of the big pieces anyways.

"What happened Derek?" she asked calmly.

Derek glared at her. "You failed to tell me that I was going to your home!"

"No, I've told you for a week now that you're going home," Casey denied.

"No! I'm going to your home, not mine! Was this a trick to see your stupid kids!" he asked her.

Casey closed her eyes, hoping that her kids did not hear that, or if they did, that Bree would take them away.

"They're not stupid," she said loudly, hoping that if outside her kids would hear. They both paused because they heard a screech outside the door.

"Ella no!" Casey heard Bree cry as Ella threw open the door and hugged Casey. Casey then looked quickly at Derek: there was no doubt that he knew this was his child.

Derek couldn't believe it when he saw the child that grabbed Casey's leg. She wasn't the spitting image of Casey, or him, but she was the two of them combined. He noticed that the child seemed to be trying to protect her mother because she was afraid of him. He looked past her, seeing another girl that was identical to the one holding Casey's leg and a boy that was squirming to get out of Bree's arms. Unlike the girls, this child was a spitting image of Derek, with only a few traits of Casey's traits. Derek realized, that these
scared children were his, all his. What shocked him even more was the memory he remembered from seeing these faces.

"Here, you go," the nurse said handing one child to Casey wrapped in a pink blanket. "And here you go," the nurse said, trying to hand Derek the other child.

Derek quickly backed up. "No, just hand her to her mother," he said.

Casey then scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to hold them sometime Derek," she said. "He's worried he'll drop them," Casey explained to the nurse.

"I will hold them when their one," Derek said confidently.

"You're going to wait a whole year to hold your children?" the nurse asked him. "That's a long time. Here, I'll help you," she said.

Derek continued to shake his head but the nurse, who could have been his grandmother, wouldn't hear any of it. She handed the child quickly to Derek, letting go when she was sure that Derek had the child secure.

"Support the head," she instructed. "There, that wasn't so hard," she said. "I'll give you two some privacy," she said leaving.

"Wow, they're beautiful," Casey said to him.

"They take after you," he replied. "Which one do you have?" he asked her.

"Lily, you have Ella," Casey said confidently.

"How do you know? I could very well have Lily and you have Ella," Derek said.

"Nope, I know."

"How?"

"I just do," Casey said smiling.

It was then that he noticed a purple bracelet on the child's wrist that he was holding. He looked at the child Casey was holding and saw that she was wearing a pink bracelet.

Casey saw his gaze. "It was Edwin's idea. The one who has a purple bracelet is Ella and Lily has the pink one," she said.

Derek continued to stare at his children. He then looked at Casey, seeing fear in her eyes. He looked at what he had done and remembered what he said. "Sorry to scare everyone," he said, glancing at the girl holding Casey's leg. He noticed her wearing a purple bracelet on her wrist. "I didn't mean to scare you Ella," he said to her. "I just broke some glass and got excited. Your mom was just helping me clean it up."

Casey looked at him shocked. He knew which child was which. "Ella, leave the room please until we can clean up the glass," Casey ordered. Ella nodded and left the room. Casey closed the door behind her and looked at Derek.

"Sorry, I didn't know they were here. I never expected them to be here," Derek said quietly.

"Couldn't find anyone quick enough. I wanted to see that you were okay," she told him.

Derek nodded. "Well, let's clean up this mess so that I can meet my kids."

Casey beamed, happy that he said his kids, instead of hers.

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