Part fifteen:

Christina stopped dead still in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Derek glanced up at her and put his finger to his lips. He kissed Penelope's hand and she whimpered in her sleep, but stilled again once he'd rested her hand on her belly. He strode out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. "She had a really rough night," he said softly.

"Yeah, but the question remains – what are you doing here? They should have called ME – you hate her. Why the hell would you be here?" Christina hissed. "Why would you come here like this? Are you really so damn invested in making my mother unhappy that you'd –"

"She called me," Derek said, his voice low and tight. "She was worried about making you come back when you have your exams today –"

"Fuck my exams!" Christina exclaimed. "I am her daughter – she should have called me. My place is here with her during the worst of –" She glared at him and said, "And why would she call you anyway? You're just some guy she used to fuck back in the day."

Derek's hands fell to his sides and clenched into fists before they relaxed. "I love Penelope," he said very softly. "And I'm here for her because she asked me to be. It hurts me knowing she's in pain and suffering so much – because I love her."

"Mr. Morgan, this isn't the first time she's been through this," Christina said.

"No, but she had your father to help her," Derek said. "And she doesn't want to go through this alone."

"She's not alone," she snapped, getting right in his face. "She has me. And Luca. She is our MOTHER and we wouldn't let anything happen to her – you, I don't even know about you. You fucking – you fucking LEFT HER the day she found out she was pregnant with me, you piece of shit. How the hell does she know that you aren't just going to drop the ball again? Just – no, don't even talk to me. Get the hell out of here. Go home. Fuck off. I don't care – just don't come back here again. DON'T."

"Wait, you know I'm your father?" Derek said.

Christina threw up her hands. "Oh for fuck's goddamn sake, is that all you got out of that?" she cried in exasperation. "Yes, I know you're my biological father – I've known since I was like 10! Because, contrary in every way to you, my father was not a coward. I asked him if I was adopted because I don't look a thing like him, and he told me about you. So… yeah. I know. I've known. And I made my peace with knowing that you didn't want to know me – because I had Mama and Daddy to pick up the slack. But that doesn't matter, does it? Get out and don't come back – I am not about to let you hurt my mother any more than you already have."

The door opened behind her and Penelope said, "Stop yelling – the whole world can hear you out here." Her voice was shaky and weak and she was clutching her IV pole hard enough that her knuckles were stark white. Her right arm was in a sling and she was looking more than slightly disgruntled at having to be on her feet.

"Mama, you shouldn't be up," Christina scolded.

"You, shut up," Penelope said in clipped tones. "Haven't you already said enough?"

"Mama –"

"I called Derek because I promised him that I would call him if things got bad," Penelope said, looking over at him. "We've been making an effort to fix things between us."

Christina gaped at her. "What? Oh – oh no you didn't. After all that talking to you gave me about Jack and not hooking back up with him because he was just after my money, you've turned around and done the very thing you told me to avoid?"

Penelope swayed dangerously on her feet, the combination of radiation which had already been dripped into her veins and painkillers making her dizzy and sick. Derek dove past Christina and grabbed her before she collapsed. "Come on, enough tough girl act," he said softly. "You need to be in bed before you start throwing up."

"They started the treatment?" Christina asked.

"Yeah, first thing this morning," Derek said, guiding Penelope back to bed. "She's got another bag to go this evening yet."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Penelope protested weakly.

"Mama – why didn't you say –"

"Because I didn't want you to worry," Penelope sighed. Derek settled into the chair again, holding her hand, daring Christina to say another goddamn word about how much he didn't love her.

"Mama…"

"And you leave Derek alone," Penelope said firmly. "Derek is not Jack. He doesn't want your father's money. Believe me, I offered to get his roof repaired and his bathroom remodeled –"

"Woman, how many times do I have to tell you, we do just fine," Derek scolded, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Stop offering."

"See?" Penelope sighed.

Christina bit her lip. She hesitated a moment, then said, "So this is real, then? A real thing? You've already forgotten Dad and how happy you guys were? It hasn't even been a month!"

"I don't want to take Rossi's place," Derek said.

"You aren't," Penelope assured him, squeezing his hand. "Chrissy, I know this is hard to understand – because I don't really understand it myself. But right now – all I know and all you need to know is that Derek and I still love each other very much and he's helping me through this. Like you and Luca are – but not the same way. I'm fighting so I can maybe be around to see my grandkids someday, but no pressure or anything," she said, closing her eyes against a wave of nausea. "Fuck – Derek – bedpan –"

Christina stood there, helpless, as he held the pan and let her mother be sick. It echoed painfully back to when she'd seen the same scene played out over and over and over again… And she saw the concern and worry and love that she'd thought would be missing without her father there. God, that hurt – to know that someone else could love her mother as much as her father had! But she knew her mother's prognosis wasn't good… so maybe it was good to just let her be happy for a while?

"Mama, you should've told me they were starting things today," Christina scolded softly. "I would've been here to help –"

Derek looked up and shook his head. Penelope moaned and fell back against the pillows, exhausted. She didn't even try to pick up the conversation again, just drifted off into a fitful doze.

He took the bedpan into the bathroom and cleaned it out, then came back into the room. He pulled Christina to the corner and whispered, "I know you don't like me very much, and I can't say I blame you. I've done a lot of chump shit to your mom and I want to make it right. Okay? And if that means cleaning up when she gets sick and holding her hand through the worst days of her life, so be it. Anything to have back some of the time we've lost."

Christina nodded and sighed. "What happens if she decides to go back to Virginia for the rest of her treatments?" she asked.

He didn't even hesitate. "I'll quit my job, pack up the kids and move back to Virginia," Derek said firmly.

It was extreme, but the way he said it had her convinced that, yeah, he would. And woe be to anyone that said otherwise. "Just for her?" she asked.

"Isn't that what you do when you love someone?" he asked.

That was all she needed to hear.