Untouchable face

54.

Contrary to whatever his sisters believed, Derek wasn't scared of them. He was constantly annoyed by them, and found them to be very nosy, but he was not afraid of them. He loved his sisters and he wanted them to be a part of his life; but they tended to be a little on the judgmental side. He wasn't quite sure why, except that he was the only real boy of the family and he was also the only actual family member that wasn't married, but they tended to gain up on him when they didn't understand a life choice he made. And as much as he loved them, it drove him nuts and made them hard to talk to sometimes.

And this was definitely going to be a life choice they didn't like. He actually imagined his sisters would all think he was crazy, except for maybe Sophie. Generally, his baby sister was good about listening and then accepting whatever decision he had made. She was a lot like Ma in that respect. He had already talked to her about his feelings for Meredith and while at that time he had been very unsure of what way it was going, she at least knew that something was up. But the rest of them were going to think he was insane for dumping Maggie, who they had all loved.

Ma hadn't thought he was insane. She had sat up with him for hours, drinking tea and then hot cocoa while he had explained the mess his life had become over the last few months. She had listened a lot and then had been...well, she had been his mom. She had just told him she wanted him to be happy. He was happy. He couldn't get over how much happier he had been since he had ended things with Maggie and talked to Meredith. He felt lighter and his mom swore she could tell the difference. And his mom liked Meredith so that was a good thing. He had a feeling he'd need her on his side today.

It was a family dinner, and that meant his sisters would all notice if Maggie weren't around. Meredith was at work and Derek figured he needed a day off from kissing her. There were few things he loved as much as kissing Meredith after all this time. It quite literally sent shivers up and down his spine. He had a feeling they were probably kissing too much. It didn't actually feel like too much but he had a feeling anyone else would think it was. He figured they were just catching up on all the kissing they hadn't been able to do since the second they met. It was amazing.

He had no idea how long this would last, if it would manage to last forever, but he had a feeling it would. He really had a feeling this was something really big and he needed to be able to make his sisters see that. They always wanted him to have what they had, and he had a feeling he was getting there. His mom had let him have the time but today was it, today he needed to explain everything to them and hope that they took it better than he expected. He wanted nothing more to be like Meredith, what he had done was the right move and he needed to focus on that.

"Sweetheart?" Mom came into his dad's study, where he had set up camp until he could climb stairs. "Your sisters will be here soon."

"Oh...okay," he nodded, taking a deep breath.

"It's going to be okay, Derek."

"I know, Ma," he sighed.

"They're your sisters and they love you."

"I know."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I just...they really liked Maggie," he shrugged.

"Maggie was a lovely girl."

"She is, but...she's not it for me."

"I know that," she nodded.

"I just hope the sisters get it," he sighed.

"If you tell them what you just told me, they will."

"I hope so."

"They will. They want you to be happy."

"I know they do."

"And Meredith is a beautiful girl."