Sorry it's taken me a little while to post this, but definitely not as long as it took last time. The chapter is also significantly shorter, but this felt like a good place to stop. So I don't know about anyone else, but where I live it's rained almost nonstop for two days now and the wind keeps nearly blowing my car off the road. Needless to say I haven't been going anywhere really, which gave me time to write this awesome chapter for you all!
Now I have a request, (I hate to be this person), but over three hundred people read the last chapter, and only three reviewed…which is kind of disappointing…so if you have the time please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter or the story in general, hey I'll even take criticism if you have some. So PLEASE leave a review, because reaching 100 made me unbelievably happy, but it would be awesome if even more people reviewed.
Now while you enjoy this chapter I am going out into the torrential wind and rain to go to a three year olds birthday party…wish me luck and ENJOY!
Three days later Meredith, Derek, and Olivia were on a plane to California. They had considered driving, but decided that driving that long with a three year old would not end well. So Olivia was now sitting between Meredith and Derek, with Amelia and Addison in the seats across the aisle, about to lift off. Considering this was her first time on a plane Olivia couldn't stop moving, she was incredibly excited and insisted that Derek switch seats with her when she realized he was sitting next to the window. Eventually, after they were safely in the air, Derek pulled her onto his lap and allowed her to watch out the window, where she stayed for the rest of the trip.
"Daddy it's so pwetty," she said in awe. Of course, trying to get out of the airport was much harder, Olivia wanted to stop and look at every little thing and between the five of them they had two cartful's of luggage. They finally managed to rent a car for Meredith and Derek to use and followed Addison and Amelia back to Addison's. Olivia impatiently waited to be unbuckled from her car seat then clambered out of the car and gasped,
"Momma, the beach!" she squealed excitedly, starting to run towards the sand.
"Stop, you can't go out there without an adult," Meredith said, knowing her daughter would head straight for the water. It was warmer in LA than in Seattle but since the sun had begun to set it was still pretty chilly.
"But momma," Olivia whined. Meredith gave her a look and she stopped whining then turned to Amelia, "Will you take me to the beach please?" she asked sweetly. Amelia looked at Meredith and Derek to make sure it was ok and Derek nodded,
"I'll get your bag, just make sure she doesn't go in the water," he told her. Amelia stuck her hand out for her niece to hold onto. Olivia quickly grabbed the offered hand and began skipping towards the beach, pulling Amelia behind her.
Derek grabbed Amelia's bag out of the trunk and pulled it into the house with a lot of the other luggage. Meredith and Addison followed behind with their own,
"Thanks for letting us stay here," Meredith said to Addison.
"It's no problem at all. This way you don't have to think about a hotel and all that and you can focus on other things," Addison said as she opened the door to the guest room that Amelia wasn't using, "The bed should be big enough for you two and Olivia," she told them.
"Thanks Addison, it should be fine. Once she's asleep she doesn't move for the rest of the night," Derek said as he dropped the suitcases where he was standing, "what did you all pack in these things?" he asked, sounding a little out of breath.
"You're such a baby," Meredith mumbled as she set down the lighter carry on on the bed, "I'm going to check on Olivia," she said, walking out of the room.
Olivia and Amelia were having a great time on the beach, despite not being allowed to go in the water. When Meredith walked onto the beach they were in the middle of a game of tag, which of course Olivia was "winning". When Olivia saw Meredith walking onto the beach she began to run towards her,
"Momma! Come play with us!" she cried, throwing herself into Meredith's arms. Meredith smiled and picked her daughter up, tossing her in the air. Olivia giggled and squirmed to be put down. Once her feet were on the sand, her bare feet Meredith noticed, she began to run back towards Amelia and tagged her,
"You're it Aunt 'Melia," she cried happily, running in the opposite direction. Amelia laughed and began to run after the three year old, letting her escape for a few minutes before tagging her. Olivia darted towards Meredith, who quickly moved out of the way. After a few more times Meredith allowed Olivia to tag her. Instead of running away she stood still and stared at the waves crashing onto the sand. "I wanna go in the water momma," she said pleadingly. Meredith considered it for a second,
"While it's too cold to go in the water, but I think we can roll up our pants and stick our feet in. How does that sound?"
"Yay!" the three year old cheered, bouncing up and down. Meredith and Amelia rolled up their own jeans then leaned down to help Olivia roll hers up. Then the trio made their way to the water with Olivia in the middle. She was a little intimidated at first, but quickly took to splashing in the waves that crashed over her feet. She held onto the hands of her mother and aunt and jumped through the water, squealing in happiness every time the waves hit her.
Derek stood on the deck watching his wife and sister with his daughter. They all seemed to be having a good time and Derek couldn't help but smile as he watched them. He loved the innocence that Olivia possessed and managed to project onto the adults around her. His loved his life before she was born, but now he couldn't imagine life without the tiny human. After a few minutes Addison joined him on the deck,
"Looks like fun, you should go join them," she suggested. He shook his head,
"Sometimes I just like to watch, it's almost as fun as joining in," he said. She nodded in understanding. Addison made her way back inside, ordering dinner and making hot chocolate for Olivia and pouring glasses of ginger ale for everyone else. Normally she would pour wine, but she knew that Meredith could not drink it while trying to get pregnant and Amelia had been struggling with drinking so ginger ale was the best choice for the night.
Derek continued to watch his family play on the beach while thinking about having another child. They had Olivianna, even though the doctor said it would be nearly impossible for Meredith to get pregnant, but would they be able to have another child? Hopefully Naomi would be able to do something for them that their previous doctor had not and there would be a positive outcome from this trip. They hadn't told Olivia yet that they were trying to have another baby. In the first place they weren't sure how she would take it, but they also didn't want her to get excited about having a baby brother or sister and then have something go wrong and they didn't have a baby. They decided that once they knew for sure that a baby was in their future they would tell Olivia about it. They could only hope that she was accepting and excited about it. He was shaken from his thoughts as he heard one particularly loud scream from all three on the beach. He looked up worriedly, and then began to laugh once he realized no one was hurt, they were all just soaked. Apparently they had misjudged the size of the last wave; because Olivia was now soaked from head to toe and his wife and sister were wet from the waist down. He held back his laughter as they made their way up from the sand onto the wood. Amelia pulled out towels and handed one to Meredith and one to Derek for Olivia.
"Did you see that daddy!" she asked excitedly as Derek rubbed her hair dry. Not giving him time to answer she continued rambling on about how the wave had crashed over her and how strong it was, nearly pulling her away from mommy and Aunt Melia. He was a little relieved actually that the three year old had not been traumatized by the rush of cold water and bundled her up in the towel, carrying her inside where he nearly ran into Addison.
"I thought we weren't going into the water tonight," she said laughingly as she took in the three soaking wet bodies.
"Change of plans," Amelia grumbled as she went upstairs to change clothes.
"Dinner should be here soon, I ordered pizza" she called as Derek and Meredith followed Amelia, she could hear Olivia cheer from upstairs. Ten minutes later they were all sitting around Addison's table on the deck watching the rest of the sunset, all of them now dry and in clean clothes. They had turned on heaters so that once the sun went down and the temperature dropped they would not be that cold.
"Daddy can we go swimmin' morrow?" Olivia asked as she shoved some pizza into her mouth.
"We'll have to see 'Liv, it might be too cold. And mommy and I have a meeting to go to. So you're going to hang out with Amelia and Addison," he told her. Olivia grinned; she had quickly taken to her Aunt and had started calling Addison aunt as well, for lack of anything else to call her. Of course Amelia and Addison were hard for the three year old to say, so it came out more as Aunt Addie and Aunt Melia. The two women had agreed to watch Olivia while Derek and Meredith met with Naomi as they too had quickly taken to the little girl sitting at the table.
"Ok daddy. What we doin'?" she asked, looking at Amelia and Addison.
"We could go to the park if you want," Addison suggested, Olivia perked up,
"YES!" she shouted excitedly, "I love the park! There slides?" she asked. Amelia nodded,
"Slides and swings and things to climb on," she told the three year old. Meredith and Derek looked at each other,
"Just watch her carefully," Derek warned, "she has no fear and tends to jump off of anything, regardless of how high it is." Addison and Amelia nodded,
"We won't let anything happen," Addison assured the worried parents. Derek nodded as Olivia climbed into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Are you tired sweetie?" he asked, rubbing her back softly.
"Nuh-uh," she said stubbornly, rubbing at her eyes furiously.
"Oh ok," he said, still rubbing her back, knowing that would put her to sleep faster. Sure enough, not even five minutes later, she was sound asleep on her father's shoulder. Even though she was asleep Derek continued to rub her back and stayed at the table talking with the others. After about twenty more minutes everyone decided it was time to go to bed as they all had to get up early in the morning. Derek laid Olivia in the middle of the bed before getting ready for bed himself. Then him and Meredith climbed into the bed and quickly fell asleep with their little miracle between them.
So what did you think, pleaseeeeeee review!
It makes me mad that I'm turning into the person who says this…but the more reviews I get the faster I will update!