Forever and a day.

Co-parenting

Since splitting up, Meredith had moved out into a small 2 bedroom apartment, it was perfect for her and Summer. She tried to make it feel as homely as possible but that just didn't seem possible without Derek there but she didn't know if they would ever be back to that time in their lives again.

It was a late Saturday morning when Meredith heard a knocking at the door, with Summer on her hip she made her way over to the door. Opening the door, she met with Derek who was holding a bunch of flowers and a small teddy.

"DADA!" Summer squealed and clapped her hands, reaching over for Derek. He came in and placed the flowers down before reaching out for Summer and squeezing her in his arms.

"Der, the flowers are gorgeous, thank you." Meredith said holding the flowers up and inhaling their scent. It was awkward between them. They didn't do awkward.

"Thank you for letting me come over today. I know these last few months, I've been a shitty partner and father, and I'm sorry for that. But these past few weeks, I've stopped drinking, completely, I've gone back to work and oh, I'm teaching Amy to drive. I think I might end up bald by the age of 22." They both giggled before silence engulfed them again. "I hate this. I hate how awkward it is, like this isn't us. I did this to us."

Derek placed Summer on the floor and watched as she sped off to her toy box. He smiled as he watched her go. He turned to face Meredith. She stood their fiddling her fingers. Eventually, she looked up to him and saw the regret and vulnerability, she couldn't resist and made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She lay her head on his chest whilst he rested his head on top of hers. They stayed like this until Summer approached them with a toy, so they separated to go and play with her.

Together as a family they played all afternoon, eventually, stopping when Meredith got up to make dinner. She whipped up something quick for all of them as they sat and ate as a family. Speaking about the family and how everyone was slowly getting back to themselves. Dinner was finished and Meredith started to do the dishes when she noticed Summer yawning.

"Hey Der, would you mind taking Summer and giving her a bath and getting her ready for bed? She's missed her daddy and I can tell you've missed her." Meredith said as the collected up the dirty plates.

"Yeah I would love to, thank you." He stood up taking Summer out of her chair and she cuddled right in to his shoulder. He left the kitchen and made his way through the apartment. Derek couldn't believe how well Meredith was doing, he just truly wished they were going through this together. He never thought that they would never be together but here they were. He was just thankful that Meredith still allowed him to be in Summers life after the shit he had pulled.

Whilst he was giving Summer her bath, she fell asleep so Derek gently scooped her up and made her way to her room. Quickly, he got her changed and placed her down in her crib. He stood and just watched her. He couldn't believe how much she had grown, her hair was now a light brown but had his curls. She still had her chubby cheeks and her eyes were still a bright blue, with tiny specks of green.

Eventually, he forced himself out of her room, closing the door to and made his way back to the kitchen. Meredith had completely cleaned up from dinner and was now wiping down the sides.

"She's asleep, fell asleep before she even got out of the bath." Derek said as Meredith turned around to smile at him.

"Oh yeah, she does that a lot, loves the water she does." Meredith dried her hands on the tea towel before leaning on the side and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look Meredith can we talk, like properly." She pushed off the side and together they made their way through to the living room and took a seat.

Derek sighed and rubbed his hands together before speaking.

"Mer, there are no words to say how sorry I am, I treated you like shit. But I am so grateful that you still allow me to stay in Summers life, I came so close to losing her, both of you. I know I was grieving but we all was, I just didn't know how to deal with. You was there for my family and I thank you for that. I truly hope one day that me and you can get back into a good place like we was before but for now I will work every day to show you how much I love you." He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at Meredith who had unshed tears resting in her eyes. She reached out and placed her hands in his, squeezing one another's hand.

"Der, I would never take Summer away from you, never. As for me and you, it just can't happen right now. But I will always love you, you gave me one of the greatest gifts, Summer. You also gave me a proper family. I love you too and I always will." She leaned into his body and they embraced one another.

Before they knew it the night had come to an end and it was time for Derek to head home. Meredith walked him to the door to say goodbye.

"Look Der, I am going to get you a key cut, so you can come over whenever or in case anything happens you know." Meredith said as she held the door open for him.

"I'd appreciate that Mer, it would mean a lot." Derek said before reaching out to hug and then waving their goodbyes. He watched as Meredith shut the door before making his way out to his car. Driving home he felt better then he has done in a long time, he was determined to get his family back together and that started with fixing his relationship with Meredith.

Things were slowly getting better, they weren't perfect but things were moving in the right direction. Derek drove home with a smile on his face and couldn't wait to tell his mom about their evening. He was getting his family back.