disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5: Derek's Plan

Casey sighed when she walked into her house. She was carrying all of Derek's possessions from the hospital without any help from him as he dragged in behind her.

His attitude was explained by his feelings that he was going to live in his own personal hell with Casey. He remembered vaguely back in the days, when he wanted to move into residence to get away from Casey; and now, he was stuck with her.

Derek hadn't made Casey's life any easier since he met her kids like she had hoped. Other than being caring towards their kids, he would only give her one-word answers or ask questions about Clara. His goal was to frustrate Casey to the point that she would kick him out: resulting in a divorce and him free to be with Clara. He didn't want to just ask for a divorce because he was sure everyone would turn on him but if Casey asked, no one would be mad. He noticed that all of his friends and family were very loyal towards Casey. It seemed to them that Casey could do no wrong. So, it was up to him to get out
of this marriage.

He came up with this idea after Casey left from the hospital with his kids. So, as Casey carried in everything that she could, Derek just walked in, kicked off his shoes and threw them as far away from where they were suppose to go. He saw Lily though quickly picked up his shoes and put them in the right spot. He shook his head: he was going to have to corrupt his kids. He assumed Casey was sucking all the fun out of their lives.

"Now this is the living room," Casey said, putting the items that were in her arms on the floor. "Kitchen's over there, dinning room," she continued pointing. "Upstairs to the left and middle are the kids' rooms. To the right is the master bedroom-"

"We're not sleeping together are we?" Derek asked in a panicked tone, he would rather sleep on nails than share the same bed with Casey.

"No. Until you feel comfortable, the room is yours. I'm sleeping on the couch and I've moved most of my things into Lily's and Ella's rooms so the room is yours," Casey explained to him. He was a bit taken back from this. The Casey he remembered would never give up her room.

He nodded as Ben said, "Mommy, I'm hungry."

Casey glanced at the clock, a little shocked at how much time they had spent at the hospital. "I'll get lunch started right away. Is pasta alright with everyone?" Casey meant this to be a rhetorical question. She knew that her kids loved pasta. She began to walk to the kitchen but Derek's voice caused her to pause.

"No," he said, still standing where he was.

Casey turned around. "Oh, well, what about turkey sandwiches?" she asked. She knew Derek loved any form of meat. Although, she also knew that Derek liked pasta too.

"No," he said again.

"What about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Ella interfered. She remembered from the stories that her mother always told her that her father could never resist it.

"What kind of jelly?" Derek asked taking of his hostile eyes from Casey and looking kindly at his daughter.

"Blueberry," Ella said.

He hesitated but finally said "Fine."

Casey smiled. "Alright, I'll just take these bags upstairs and I'll start lunch." She said while grabbing the bags.

The children then began to climb the stairs, heading towards the washroom to wash their hands and Casey followed, carrying the much too heavy bags up the stairs. As Derek watched her, the thought of her falling crossed his mind but he couldn't bring himself to offer help. He didn't want to make Casey possibly think that their marriage could work. It couldn't. After they were out of sight, he wasn't sure where to go. He settled for the couch and turned on the TV.

Casey, with her kids following behind her, came back downstairs as soon as he sat down. Derek caught her glancing at his kids, indicating to them to go sit with him. She then walked to the kitchen as his children moved toward him. Ben climbed onto his lap and the twins sat beside him.

---

After lunch, Derek played with his kids with Ben's action figures and the twins' Barbies. He was informed that Sam, Sabrina, their children, Anna, Jason, Darrin, and Emily were all coming over for dinner. Casey only invited her close friends because their family had a bit of a party at the hospital. Also, they all believed that it was best for Derek to interact with people he didn't remember, hoping that it would help his memory.

Casey was preparing a home-cooked meal, one of Derek's favourites while her thoughts consumed her. She was hoping that soon Derek would warm up to her and stop giving her the cold shoulder. She was happy though that Derek treated his kids like he treated Marti. Humming to herself and trying not to eavesdrop on her family's conversation, she was unconscious to Lily's constant glances towards the kitchen door while she was playing.

"What is it?" Derek finally asked her because he was confused that she wasn't as interested in the game as the other two were.

"We should go into the kitchen to help mommy," Lily stated, shifting her gaze from the door to him.

"Do you help your mom cook a lot?" Derek asked her.

"Yes," she said. She did not notice the train of thought that Derek had.

"And we help her clean too," Ella added, proud that Casey considered them as helpful instead of a nuisance.

"How often?" he asked them.

"Everyday," Lily said.

"I help too," Ben added.

Derek quickly got up, muttering that he would be back. He stomped over to the kitchen and slammed the door that led to the dining room and connecting living room. He knew in a divorce that he would want full custody of these kids. Casey was treating them like slaves.

Casey looked up in shock, jumping a bit at the sound of the door slamming shut. She had been so engrossed at making the meal that she didn't know what was wrong.

"What happened?" she asked him, completely concerned.

She stopped cutting the vegetables and placed the knife down on the table to give Derek her full attention. She was going to check on her kids but Derek's face made her stop. She understood immediately that nothing was physically wrong. No one was hurt but Derek was angry with her for some reason. She had no idea what it was. She waited patiently for Derek to answer her question.

"Are you happy?" Derek asked her roughly.

She was stunned at this question. Many people have always asked her if she was happy since Derek was in a coma and she usually gave them one phrase. She decided to use it now.

"As happy as I can be," she said.

Derek shook his head. He knew that Casey was not on the same page as he was.

"No. I mean, how could you?" he clarified.

Casey was a bit taken back. She wasn't sure what to say. She could tell that Derek was trying to keep his temper down to a minimum for their children but she didn't know how to give him the answer that he wanted.

"How could I what?"

"Is that why you wanted kids?" he asked her. Casey was about to say something but he continued. "To treat them like slaves? Oh cook this, clean that while mommy takes a nap?" he asked her. He stopped controlling his voice at the end, practically yelling at her.

"I don't do that-"

"Lily and Ella just told me that they help daily! Do these kids have any fun or do you just give them one chore after another until they're wiped out."

Casey stayed very calm. She picked up the knife and began chopping up the vegetables. "Derek you know me. Does that really sound like me. Would I make them cook and clean and do nothing to help?" she asked him.

"I remember your terrible babysitting techniques. You tried to shove as much education and healthy food down our siblings' throats!" Before Casey could react, the kitchen door burst opened.

"That's not true! Mommy doesn't shove anything down our throats!" Lily shouted, running to her mother. Once again, her children were trying to protect her.

"What's going on here?" Casey heard a male voice demand behind her.

She turned around, seeing Sam walking quickly to the kitchen. She guessed that she didn't hear the doorbell over Derek's shouting. It was a good thing that Ella answered it. She quickly put the knife down, and pushed Lily behind her. She was blocking Derek from Sam.

"Nothing," Casey said calmly. "Lily, go back into the living room. Go play with Liza."

Lily nodded, feeling that the worse was over. Even if it wasn't, Uncle Sam would protect her mother from her father. No one spoke until Lily was out of hearing range.

"What did you do now?" Sam asked, looking over Casey checking to see if she was hurt. Then he scowled at Derek.

"Nothing. Just trying to protect my kids from their slave owner mother!" Derek's voice grew louder as he informed Sam. Sabrina then entered the kitchen, glaring at Derek.

"Can you keep it down, you're kind of scaring the kids. No wonder Ella opened the door quickly and pulled Sam in," Sabrina said.

Derek paused. He had no idea how loud he was. He didn't mean to scare his kids. He mentally resolved that he would have to try to control his temper when they could hear.

"Sorry," he said calming down a bit.

"Now, what's this about Casey being a slave owner?" she asked him.

"Nothing," Casey denied.

"Nothing? She gets our kids to help cook and clean everyday," Derek said through his teeth. He was trying very hard not to yell.

Sabrina and Sam then shocked Derek by laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked them, still trying not to yell.

"It's just that," Sam said since he recovered faster than Sabrina did, "Casey probably is the least slave drive mother ever. She never asks her kids to do anything except make their beds and put their dishes into the sink. They volunteer."

"Volunteer, sure."

"It's your fault you know," Sabrina informed him.

"My fault?" Derek asked, shocked completely.

"Yeah, you always told Lily and Ella to go help Casey. Of course, Ben would want to help too after seeing his sisters do it. It's the copy-cat syndrome," She explained.

Hearing this, Derek grumbled and walked away. Sam followed him, hoping that a friendly conversation will lighten his mood. Sabrina began to help Casey finish up with the food. Once she was sure Sam and Derek couldn't hear them anymore, she turned to Casey.

"So, how are things?" she asked her.

"Fine," Casey said, not looking up from her task.

"I mean really, how are things?" she asked again.

"Fine - really."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"It's just going to take time. He's still adjusting," Casey claimed.

Sabrina nodded, letting the topic drop. They silently finished preparing dinner as the other guests arrived. First Anna and Jason then Darrin and Emily.

At dinner, Casey couldn't stop beaming when she looked at Emily's goofy face. She was practically head over heels for Darrin. Darrin wasn't able to let go of Emily's hand and whenever he and Casey made eye-contact, he flashed her, the same goofy expression Emily had. Casey was so overjoyed that she brought together two people that she cared about.

In her eyes, the dinner was a success. Everyone, including Derek seemed to be enjoying themselves. Casey was even happier when Darrin mentioned the trip to the Children's Museum and Sam asked Derek if he would come. After a moment's hesitation and Ben saying, "pretty please with a cherry on top," Derek agreed. He simply couldn't resist Ben any more than the rest of them could. The dinner was such a success that Derek and Casey even shared a smile for a split second before he realized what he did.

After the dinner was finished and everyone left, the good mood that Derek was in seemed to have left with them. The kids were asleep and Casey began to clean up. There wasn't much to clean. The dirty dishes were the only housework that Casey had to do before calling it a night.

"That was very nice of you, for agreeing to go to the Children's Museum with us. You didn't have to, we would have understood. Thank you though," she said.

Derek just nodded, looking at the floor. "I didn't do it for you," was all he said.

"I know but thank you anyways," Casey replied.

Derek grunted again. "I'm going to bed," he said, walking up the stairs quickly.

"Goodnight," Casey called after him, only getting the sound of the door closing as a response. She sighed and then went to do the dishes. Soon after, she fluffed up the pillows on the couch and went to sleep. She hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

---

Derek waited until he was sure that Casey went to sleep. He was afraid she would interrupt him, claiming that she needed something from the room and he didn't want to get caught. He knew that if he did, Casey would tell Sabrina and Sabrina would tell Sam. He didn't want Sam to be angry at him because he felt like that he was the only friend he had. Sure he liked Anna and Jason. They were easy to be friends with and Emily had always been his friend but he just wasn't close to them as he was to Sam. He knew that Sabrina just tolerated him and he had no idea where Darrin stood. He definitely wanted to keep Sam as a friend so he had to do this secretly.

Derek quietly opened the laptop that Casey owned. As he turned it on, the screen filled with a family picture. They were at the beach, sitting on a blanket. Derek was holding Lily and Ella in his lap while his arm was around Casey's shoulders. It was clear that Casey was pregnant and he assumed that this picture had to have been taken only three months prior to the accident. He knew that Ben was born on the day he was in a coma. He figured his recent accident caused Casey to realize that she may be losing income and she had one of her classic panic attacks. Something that was so typical for Casey. He just couldn't comprehend that maybe Casey cared about him.

He quickly pushed Casey out of his head. Now wasn't the time to think about her. He went to 'Google' and typed in Clara Brown. The results that first popped up weren't very helpful. It turned out that there were more Clara Browns than he thought. He spent practically half the night trying to find her only to realize that maybe Clara might have married and changed her last name. It pained him to imagine another man touching Clara, being the one she talked to about her day. Clara was like his air. He needed her to survive.

After he decided that he would just have to figure out Clara's last name now, Derek began thinking about lawyers. He knew a bunch of them, since he was the son of one but he had to decide who would be the best to represent him in a divorce. He wanted to plan before Casey had a hint about the custody battle that she was going to endure. When Casey asked for a divorce, he would be one-step ahead of her.

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