Is Forever Enough?

Chapter 36

Hours later, once the sky was dark and Ava was officially out for the count Derek crept into his bedroom dismayed by how quiet it was. Meredith never had come downstairs, which was rare, even after a fight. He found it hard to believe her and the babies could go without dinner and he couldn't help but worry about her.

The bathroom light was on and he had an overwhelming sense of Deja vu once pushed the door open and his eyes were flooded with his very naked wife in their jacuzzi tub. Her new addiction was baths. Every free moment she had lately she spent in the tub. He assumed it hard carrying around two kids, though she never complained.

She turned slightly at hearing him in the doorway and gave him a half nod of permission before sinking even lower into the bubbles effectively hiding her breasts. When he said they needed some time alone he hadn't meant 5 hours...but he assumed she knew that.

Neither of them said a word. She didn't kick him out, so he took it as his invitation into the room. It was steamy, a cloudy film had already covered the windows and mirrors telling him she had been there awhile.

She paid no attention as he shut the door behind her. She pretended to be swishing the bubbles around herself, but he could tell she was really listening curiously. He came closer and closer and each step towards her felt like a bridge between them.

Meredith heard him pad closer and didn't have to look up to tell that he was standing over her. His figure cast a tall shadow over her white body and she shivered with the chill his opening the door had brought into the room.

Neither of them spoke. The room was filled with a tolerable silence until he leaned over and sat down on the plush bench that was usually used for towels and clothes. The bathroom had always been Meredith's room of the house. She hadn't requested much when the built the house, but their master bathroom he had had almost no say in.

"You missed dinner." His voice sounded loud against the hollowness of the bathroom. She turned her head towards him and looked at him with sad eyes as if to say 'I though it's what you wanted...' the sadness turned to confusion before she turned her head back to it's resting position on the back of the tub.

They shared so many looks that he automatically could read her without even trying to. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if they both weren't so expressive with their eyes.

"Sorry...I took a nap and then...well here I am." He smiled, though it barely reached into his usual grin and tried not to think that she had really stayed in their room all night on purpose.

"I put Ava to bed. She was worn out." He watched her frown at that, and she sighed not meaning to miss putting her to bed. "Sorry/..I just...needed to cool off." His mind flashed back to the beginning of the weekend...when she had let him escape upstairs for just the same reason and he decided not to press the issue. The were human, they needed space sometimes...it was normal.

They fell back into silence, this time a more awkward one and he got up and walked away from the tub. She didn't expect to feel so disappointed by his departure, but it left a sudden empty feeling in her gut.

Before she could shake it off he was back standing beside her with a two terry cloth towels in his hands. She didn't look up at first, though she could hear him fumbling and moving around.

Finally her curiosity got the best of her and when she did look up, she came face to face with his naked body. "How's the water?" He asked, and leaned over the other end of the tub to flip on the hot water.

She had a great view of his ass and couldn't help but let her tongue sweep across her bottom lip in excitement. "Cold...it's getting cold...what are you doing?" She asked, knowing full well what he was doing but still not believing it.

She wasn't sure why she was so surprised when he stepped into the tub beside her and pushed her body forward so he could sit comfortable behind her. They had done this tons of times when they first moved in, though like the moonlit nights on the balcony, they got less and less frequent as the years went on.

"I'm warming it up for you." He whispered huskily into her ear and she shivered for a whole different reason than the cold. The new, hot water coming in created a warm feeling mixed with the chill that had been there. His body, which was now fully surrounding her made her feel safe and comfortable.

He spread his legs out on either side of her and then pulled her body back to him so that she was almost draped across him. She backed right into his lap and his breath hitched as she bumped against his already growing erection, but other than that they didn't acknowledge it's presence.