New Beginnings

Chapter 6

It was a late Saturday afternoon and Meredith was home alone. Again. She had never felt so lonely in her whole life. If it wasn't for the constant swift kicks to her ribs then she would be completely alone.

From the moment she had found out she was pregnant, she had wanted to give her child more then she ever had. A proper family. But that had complete crumbled within the first few weeks. Now here she was. A single mother. But what she knew was that she was going to be ten times the mother ever was to her.

But she was amazed. Amazed at how her body had changed. Her stomach continued grow and grow. She was about to pop. Meredith loved it. The new stretch marks that decorated her body, her boobs which now a size bigger, her new curves and even her swollen ankles. All of it. It would all be worth it in the end.

Knowing she couldn't just sit around any longer, she slipped on her trainers and headed out of door. Heading out of her apartment building, she stepped out into the sun and took a deep breathe in, appreciating the good weather for once.

"Meredith!" Meredith's eyes flew open and she looked around for the person that the voice belonged to. Her eyes searched and searched until they feel upon some familiar eyes.

"Derek, hey." She smiled sweetly at him, as he jogged up to her side. "You not working today?" She asked, running her hands over her bump.

"Nope, day off, believe it or not." He laughed as he watched Meredith lovingly rub her bump. "Where are you heading off to anyways?" He asked, taking in her appearance.

"Oh, just for a walk. I'm going insane sitting indoors all day." Meredith replied.

"Right, don't let me keep you." Derek smiled and turned to walk away from her.

"You can come." Meredith watched as Derek turned back to face her. "I mean as long as you aren't busy, forget it. You're probably busy." Meredith rambled causing Derek to smile.

"I can come." He looked down, checking his watch. "I'm meant to be meeting Mark in half an hour but he can wait." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you sure?" Meredith hesitated, watching as he nodded his head. "Alright, let's go."

They set off, falling into step with one another, enjoying the comfortable silence between the two of them.

"Have you thought of any names?" Derek asked. "For the little one." He smiled at her.

"Oh, I have. There's a few that I like but there isn't any that I'm absolutely in love with." Her pace slowed down as she felt some powerful kicks.

"Do you need to sit?" Derek asked, concern etched over his face as he grabbed her arm, his other hand going down to her lower back.

"No, I just need a minute." She winced as she was kicked in the ribs. "As much as I love being pregnant, I'm not going to miss this." She laughed as her daughter finally stopped kicking.

"You all good to go?" Derek asked, taking the time to look at her face properly, looking for any sign of doubt.

"Yeah, let's go." She smiled up at him, letting him now that she was perfectly fine.

Derek kept his hand on her lower back as they walked down the street, towards the park.

"So are you going to tell me any of the names you've got?" Derek asked, carrying on the conversation.

"No." Meredith giggled as she watched shock spread across Derek's face. "I'm keeping them to myself until she's born, I don't want anyone stealing or judging them." She replied.

"Well I definitely won't be stealing them." Derek shrugged, a slight sad or disappointed look on his face. "And I would never judge you, ever." He spoke up seriously.

Meredith turned and stared at him, realising how close they were actually standing now. Derek reached up and tucked the loose piece of hair behind her ear, his thumb running across her cheek and he started leaning in.

"Baby wants ice cream." Meredith interrupted, watching as Derek shook his head and laughed.

"Well, we better get baby ice cream then." He kissed the top of her head before they walked to the nearest ice cream shop.

Once they had grabbed their ice cream, they headed back to their apartments, laughing. His arm was still around her lower back as they walked up the steps. Walking Meredith to her door, he cleared his throat.

"So, I have some things being delivered for the little one, it's not a lot, just some of the essentials." Derek said, as he rubbed the back of his head, nervously.

"Derek." Meredith was speechless and didn't know what to say. "You didn't have to do that, I mean, wow. Thank you." She reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

That's how they stood, wrapped in each other's arms until they pulled apart.

"I better go meet Mark." Derek said as he pulled out his phone, seeing missed calls and texts from Mark.

"Of course, go." Meredith turned and unlocked her door. "See you later?" She asked or more questioning.

"Yeah, if I'm not back too late then is it alright if I come round?" He simply asked.

"I mean if you want to, not the best of company at night." She laughed simply.

"Got it, right I better go, see you later." Derek turned and started walking down the hall before he heard Meredith shout out.

"Bring cheesecake!" She shouted out, watching as he found stood at her door with a giant smile on her face.

Derek laughed as he shook his head before carrying on walking out of their apartment building. He couldn't believe that someone could have such an impact on his life and he couldn't wait for the future that awaited them. For both of them.