Is Forever Enough?

Chapter 11

The next night, Derek stood on the deck screaming for Ava and Tyler to come inside. In the kitchen, Mark was getting frustrated as a cranky Peyton spit her baby food out at him. The girls had taken Izzie out for her bachelorette party and Derek, trying to get back into Meredith's good grace's as much as possible offered to watch all the kids. Addison and Meredith seemed against the idea, not sure Derek and Mark could handle babysitting duties but Derek shrugged it off. After all, how hard could three kids be?

Derek walked in to find Mark force feeding Peyton and the baby was screaming her head off in protest. "Um...Mark, I don't think she's hungry.." Derek advised just as Peyton spit the last bit of baby food out of her mouth and onto Mark's white polo. "Derek, she's been screaming for the past hour, she has to be hungry. I think I know my own kid!" He remarked, getting frustrated with the fact that he secretly had no idea how to calm his daughter.

Tyler bounded into the house moments later tracking mud everywhere and Ava followed closed behind. She looked like she had been mud wrestling and her feet prints were imprinted on the carpet as she followed Tyler to her bedroom. Derek was glad those two had each other to play with and picked up Peyton to try and calm the girl down. The girls had only been gone an hour...but already the boys were feeling overwhelmed. Though, neither would ever admit that.

Derek made a face and leaned down to sniff the babies diaper. He scrunched his nose and held the child out to Mark. "No wonder she's screaming...she definitely needs her diaper changed." Mark shook his head and gently nudged Derek's arms away. "Oh no. You found it, you change it!" Mark told him serious like. " Derek laughed, but handed the child to Mark more insistently. "No way, she's your kid, I'm done with that stage...mine's been potty trained for two years."

Mark looked at his daughter defeated. "Derek, come on. I love her. I do, but this whole baby stage...it just isn't my thing. Addison usually handles the diaper department." Derek looked at him skeptically. "Wait...you mean to tell me you've never changed a diaper before?"

Mark nodded yes and tried to hand her back to Derek. "No! You've been alone with her...what do you do when she needs changed?" Derek was almost afraid to ask as he watched Mark look over at the sink. Realization dawned on him and he couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, you hose your baby down in the sink...like a dog??" Derek was shocked, but not surprised at Mark's inability to take care of his own child. Mark acted offended, but Derek wasn't about to give in. "Get her diapers and I'll teach you how to do it...but I refuse to do it for you. I'm surprised Addison hasn't killed you by now."

After Derek attempted to show Mark how to change Peyton, he realized that he hadn't done it in awhile and it seemed a lot easier with Ava. He didn't remember the squirming, screaming, and twisting part. Needless to say Mark gave him his best 'I told you so' speech.

Once the job was finished, and Peyton was calm laying in the play pen Mark flipped on the baseball game and Derek went to get two beers, but then remembered the kids were upstairs. "It's quiet....too quiet. I should go check on them, I'll be back." Mark laughed, at Derek. "It's supposed to be quiet. They're kids, let them play. Don't be that guy who checks on his daughter every ten minutes. The Yankees are on!" Derek gave in, not wanting to seem like an over protective father, but the silence was still nagging at him.

Two innings into the game a loud crash was heard up stairs shaking the ceiling above them. More thumps echoed above their heads and Peyton began to cry. Mark went to comfort her as Derek fled up the stairs taking them two at a time. He was panicked, thinking the worst, but glad he hadn't heard any screams.

Mark followed closely behind and they both stopped abruptly in Ava's doorway shocked at the site before them. The room was a disaster of toys and clothes. The 5 layer book shelf that stood against Ava's wall was laying in the middle of the floor along with all the dolls, books, and picture frames that were on it. Crayons and markers littered the debris making the room look like a tornado had come through.

"Ava Grace Shepherd!" Derek said in his most stern voice, his heart still racing from the fear of either of them being hurt. He struggled not to yell, but his tone was loud and both children could tell instantly he was not happy. "How did this happen?" Both children looked down at the ground refusing to meet his eyes. "Tyler, tell us how this happened?" Mark asked, not as stern as Derek and the boy looked up at him, but still refused to look at Derek.

"We....we were playing spider man...and climbed up it and it just fell over...sorry Uncle Derek.." Tyler was looking at him now, afraid to move from his spot in the middle of the room. Derek walked over to the shelf surveying the damage and making sure the kids weren't hurt. "You two know better than to climb on furniture like that. If your mom saw this Tyler you would be in big trouble." Tyler's eyes grew wide "Please don't tell her, I'll clean it up, I promise..." He begged and Mark laughed, knowing Cristina was definitely the enforcer in that family.

"I'm sorry daddy..." Ava said, her eyes meeting his and he tried not to melt at her sad face knowing he needed to stay in control. "Tyler, you know better than to climb that shelf, you are older than Ava...you need to watch out for her...and Ava...we tell you all the time to stay away from it...you could have been really hurt...no treats before bed tonight."

Tyler nodded...sadly, and began to clean up the mess and Ava just frowned at Derek. "I always get treats!!" She whined, knowing she had him wrapped around her finger. "Not tonight, you broke the rules, now get cleaning." "NO!" Ava yelled and Derek looked at the girl surprised. She had her arms crossed in front of her reminding him so much of Meredith.

Derek had never seen Ava act this way before and he wasn't sure how to handle it. He was furious she was talking back to him but couldn't help but be intrigued by the new "Meredith" side of his daughter. "Ava you don't say no to me! Now clean up!" Ava stomped her foot in response testing her limits on just how far she could go.

"Ava!" He snapped, only to be met with her stubborn glare. Realizing he was not going to get anything out of her he resorted to bribery. "Fine, Tyler if you help clean up you can pick any movie you want and Ava, you can just go to bed." Ava screamed no once again and then threw herself onto her bed. She began to throw a tantrum and he walked out of the room not able to see her like that. It killed him to watch her, but he knew he had to put his foot down or he'd never hear the end of it from Meredith.

He stood there listening for a few minutes until she finally succumbed to the bribe and began to clean up. Derek smiled and walked down the steps. "And Meredith thought we couldn't do this.." He said to Mark.

An hour later Mark's pager went off and he cursed at it earning a "You said shit, you said shit!" from Tyler. Derek glared at him, not wanting to deal with the wrath of Cristina when the boy went home saying that word. "Sorry to do this to you Derek, but you know the drill..."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Derek assured taking Peyton from him. The second Mark was out the door Peyton started screaming. He changed her diaper again and offered her a bottle but nothing seemed to work. He spent what seemed like forever rocking her until she finally dozed off in the play pen.

He heard his cell phone ring from the kitchen an he ran to get it before it went to voice mail. "Hey Derek, how are things going?" Meredith's voice asked through the phone. It was loud on the other end and all he could hear was loud music. He wasn't surprised the girls were calling to check in. "Oh...everything's fine. Tell Addie to stop worrying. Peyton is asleep." He could hear Addison asking Meredith questions into the phone. "Mark got called in. But I'm fine with them."

"Oh gosh...you're alone? Do you need me to come back?" Meredith was joking but Derek was appalled but her lack of faith in him. "Oh no...hey, I'm surprised you're not drunk yet." He knew her, and expected her to be on her 7th Tequila shot by then.

There was silence on the other end of the line and Meredith came up with a lame excuse hoping he would not think too much of it. He heard Ava screaming from the living room and rushed off the phone to go see what was wrong.

"I want to watch Star Wars! You got to pick last time!" Tyler yelled. Ava threw a pillow at him and refused to give him the remote. "No, that's for boys. I want Cinderella!" Tyler made a face and threw it right back at her. "Eww...that's for girls!" The boy yelled infuriated. Derek stepped in right as Ava was about to throw the remote at Tyler's head.

"No one is watching anything. It's bedtime, now go get your pajamas on!" The two kids whined and huffed up the stairs in protest. A loud cry could be heard from the play pen and Derek walked over to pick up the baby who was impatient and crying louder now.

He walked her around like he had done before and tried singing like he would do with Ava but nothing seemed to work. She was crying so hard her whole body was turning red and he was beginning to panic not knowing what to do. He thought about calling the girls...but didn't want to give in just yet.

Finally he sat down on the couch giving up and flipped on the end of the Yankees game giving in to the girls screams. His head was pounding and he felt his patience running out. He commented parts of the game out of habit, used to having to do it for Ava. After ten minutes the cry was silent...and seemed content to listen to the soft sounds of Derek's voice. He smiled at the peaceful child, and laid back to watch the rest of the game.


It was well past midnight when Meredith finally got home from the bar. The lights were still on and she was surprised thinking Derek would have been in bed by then. Even in the dim glow of the foyer she could spot the mud stains that made a trail into the kitchen.

Following them she stepped into the kitchen only to cringe. It looked like a bomb had went off with dirty dishes and stains littering the floor. She was surprised, because Derek was usually the clean one...always making sure the house was in order before she got home.

Curious to find Derek and check on the kids she made her way up the stairs only to stop in utter disbelief as Ava's room came into view. The room which had been "cleaned" by Tyler and Ava looked worse then ever. On top of the already turned over book shelf there were dozens and dozens of clothes strewn across the room. The falling shelf instantly worried her along with the empty bed and no sign of the kids.

With nervous anticipation she began checking the guest rooms and bathroom until she came to her room and found Ava and Tyler curled up in her bed. The scene was utterly cute but anger pushed through her again when she saw the tv still on playing a horror movie neither of them should have been watching. Moving closer she found that both children were covered in mud and chocolate. A half eaten gallon of ice cream sat on her bedside table melting down it and the carpet beneath it.

She stomped out of the room in a sudden wave of anger not understanding where Derek had been to let this happen. Though Meredith was usually the enforcer with Ava, it was usually only because she worried, a lot. Derek was more mellow but usually kept a watchful eye on his daughter at every minute. "Derek Shepherd, where are you? I swear to god if you don't stop spoiling that child I'm going to kill you." She called to the empty hallway listening, and getting no response.

She was frustrated now, after being at work all day and out all night, and having to be in a wedding the next day, she was tired...and not at all in the mood to clean up the disaster of a house. She made as much noise as possible, using her stiletto heels she had borrowed from Addison to stomp down the steps.

Instead of searching all the rooms she swaggered right into the family room ready to freak out at her husband. The lights were low and the tv was running on low creating a dim noise in the background. She could see his figure laying on the couch and grew even angrier wondering why he had gone to sleep and left the kids to themselves.

She moved to stand directly in front of him only to have her breath hitch in her throat as she took in the site of Derek, who was deep into sleep with Peyton curled onto his bare chest. His one arm wrapped loosely around the girl and his other fell down the side of the couch where his shirt lay clearly discarded.

She stood, silent, watching the gently rhythm of his chest moving in and out in time with the babies. All her anger disappeared, and in his sleep he seemed to frown and then wrap his arm more protectively around the child. She smiled, at the memory of finding him many nights in the same exact position when Ava was an infant. Derek had taken a few weeks off when she was first born, and for days, the only place Ava would sleep was on her Daddy's bare chest.

Meredith flicked off the TV and instinctively ran her hands through his dark waves. For the first time since realizing she was pregnant, she could see them having another baby together. It made her happy, thinking that maybe telling him wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Derek jerked awake at Meredith's touch causing Peyton to let out a whine, but not enough to wake her up.

Still groggy from sleep he took in her form standing over him. He thought it was a dream not used to waking up with her anymore. Without saying a word he let her gently take Peyton out of his arms. He gazed at her, not able to take his eyes off her sexy form. She had on a black tight halter dress that accentuated her curves in all the right places. Like a horny teenager he glanced at her exposed cleavage as she bent over to put the baby in the playpen.

He shook off his porny thoughts as she looked up and he sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep where's Addy?" He asked searching around for his t-shirt. Her eyes took in his muscular chest and instantly wanted to touch him. "Um..." She stuttered trying to get the imaged of a naked Derek out of her head. "She was too tired to drive all the way out here so I said we'd keep the little one for the night. You look tired, how did it go?" Derek sighed and settled back down onto the couch pulling his shirt on over his head.

"Well....as soon as Mark left Peyton turned into Rosemary's baby and wouldn't stop crying...I'm kind of glad we only have one now...because 3 against one is just not fair." Meredith's frown went unnoticed by Derek and she tried not to dwell on the fact that he could not want more children, but was too tired to dwell on that.

Seconds later Derek shot up suddenly remembering he had not put the kids to bed. The look on his face was pure panic and he bolted up out of his seat. She giggled and watched him walk out of the room not sure if she should just let him worry for himself. Thinking it would be too mean she ran after him, stopping him at the steps.

"Derek, they're sound asleep in our bed....you have a huge mess to clean up tomorrow..." He stopped abruptly and turned towards her moving incredibly close. "So....it's still "our" bed then?" his voice rough and raspy from sleep. She watched as he looked her up and down desire suddenly taking over.

Meredith met his gaze and his eyes turned dark. "Of course...it's always going to be..." She couldn't even finish her sentence because his gaze was so intense. He leaned in to kiss her and moaned deep in his throat at the sudden feel of her soft lips.