I Wanna Be Yours

"Chapter 25"

"Meredith –"

"Derek, breathe."

Meredith smiles when Derek inhales loudly, looking at her with puppy dog's eyes, then exhales just as loudly.

"It's just...I've never left him with anyone that wasn't my mother overnight. Ever. I'm freaking out more than him right now."

Meredith's smile widens at his admission. She feels entrusted with a precious gift right now, and while she is slightly scared herself, she needs to appear calm and confident so she doesn't freak out Derek more than he already is.

"Derek, I've been here for a couple of mornings in preparation for this. I know where his physical therapist works. I know to move the elf –"

"Shit, I almost forgot about Dash!"

Meredith grins. "See, I'm ahead of you."

"I swear, I need to put an alarm to move it these days. Too many things going on." Derek shakes his head sadly.

"Hey, you're killing this holiday season, so far. Thanksgiving was amazing, this house looks like the North Pole, and David is happy. He is happy. What more would you need?"

"I don't know," Derek says, sighing.

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The way Derek said goodbye to David before leaving for work was almost heartbreaking, yet too cute to even put into words. David, of course, has not realized the magnitude of this until after dinner, when instead of Meredith leaving for the night, she tells him to get in the shower, get jammies on and brush his teeth.

"Meri, you're not leaving tonight? You having a sleepover?"

Meredith smiles. "Yeah, remember? Daddy is at work and I'll be here with you overnight."

David hums, nodding, a frown on his face. "Can you help me pick out jammies and a book?"

"Of course!"

David's room is full of dinosaurs and cars and trains, a true boy room, with a cartoon sharks comforter and blue tones all around. His selection of books is almost as wide as his selection of toys though, with two full bookshelves to choose from.

"These are my favorites!" David says, picking out two slim picture books. He giggles at one of these. "You know, before I knew how to read, Daddy used to read this to me and always said 'Are you my daddy?' instead of 'Are you my mommy?' isn't this silly?"

"A little bit," Meredith smiles, though she understands Derek's motivations. It's sweet that David can call him out on this now, though.

"See, it says 'Mommy'. Em-o-em-em-wye. Mommy!"

"Good job, David! I think you can read all this by yourself by now." Meredith laughs as he shakes his head.

"Noooo! I just know a couple of words. Mommy is easy. Lots of the same letters. Like daddy."

"That's true."

"Can you read it to me?"

"Certainly. Shower time and teeth brushing first, though."

"And jammies, or we'll read naked!" David laughs loudly, as he saunters to the nearby bathroom, shedding his clothes in the process.