The Results of Your Lies

Chapter Sixteen

One month later.

Charlotte was about to turn 4, in fact, her birthday was just tomorrow. Charlotte had invited all her friends from school and daycare. Her friends from daycare included Gabbie, but she hadn't known she was her half sister just yet. Neither of them knew.

The next day, the entire house was decorated. Derek hid his belongings in Meredith's room as to Addison not looking around and seeing his things and assuming they were dating again. Of course, they wanted to, but didn't in their best interest for Charlotte and Gabbie. Addison, of course, would be attending because of Gabbie. Meredith and Addison hadn't quite spoken much in the past month. Neither had Derek spoken to her either for that matter.

"Mamaaaaaaaa" Charlotte came in from another room running into Meredith's arms. "This party is great, Mama. Thank you so much." She turned to Derek. "Thank you toooooo, Daddy"

"Of course, Charlotte, how could we not do something big for your first birthday with both you mom and dad?" Meredith commented.

Derek and Meredith smiled and looked at each other. They were both filled with happiness at that moment. There would still be twenty minutes until everyone arrived at the house, but they wanted to be ready beforehand just in case people showed up fashionably early.

"Um... Mom" Charlotte muttered. "I have a question..."

"What's up, hon?"

"Well... at preschool all my friends' moms and dads kiss and hug... you and daddy never do."

"It's different with us Charlotte... We used to, but there was a lot of things that happened that I'm not sure you could completely understand."

"Oh... okay. Will you ever, though?"

Derek laughed. "We'll think about it sweety."

Charlotte giggled. Her parents being together was the greatest thing she'd wanted, she'd even dreamed of their wedding on a beach where she was the flower girl.

For the record, Derek wanted to marry Meredith, too. He knew it wouldn't be soon but he'd hoped his entire life for them to get married and have more children. Maybe three. He'd never confess this to Meredith, though. He'd never confess his undying love for Meredith, not now at least. He'd never confess the fact that the first night in the bar when she was simply just a Girl in a Bar he'd known he loved her. He knew he wanted to marry her about a month into their relationship, but for obvious reasons he knew that wouldn't happen for years.

Derek poured himself and Meredith a glass of sparkling mineral water in champagne glasses from the cupboard. They had no plans to drink before a bunch of four year olds came and played in the back yard.

Meredith tried breaking the obvious silence. "So..." But it just became even more silent.

"The guests are going to arrive soon. Is the bouncy house all filled up." Derek knew the silence was too loud and that it was clear it was filled because the loud buzz it made had turned into a faint buzzing.

The party was excellent. Charlotte opened all of her presents and got everything she asked for. She'd even gotten her father as an early birthday present about two months earlier. When she blew out her candles, she'd secretly wished for her parents to get back together. She'd never tell them because she didn't want them to feel pressured to get into something they couldn't. She'd wished for her parents to have their happy ending just like Cinderella. She wanted to be the daughter of two parents with the greatest love story in history.

After the party, Charlotte had been asleep and it was around midnight. Meredith and Derek just finished cleaning up the downstairs. Derek's belongings still filled Meredith's room. He'd still had a few things back in Manhattan, but now that Addison had agreed to sign onto a six month contract so Derek could figure things out. This didn't come with grace, though.

"Can I just sleep in here tonight? All my things are in here, and I don't want to move them. I can even sleep on the floor if-"

"Of course, Derek. You don't have to sleep on the floor."

"You're an angel, Mer."

"Oh, suck up."

Derek and Meredith fell asleep. They were covered by the same blanket, but spread out on the large bed. There wasn't tension like there may have been weeks ago. They were completely comfortable with each other.

What they didn't know that night was that Meredith and Derek would wake up to each other cradling one another in each others arms. Another thing they didn't know was that Charlotte would interrupt their deep sleep.

"MAMAAAA DADDY" Charlotte screamed, waking the two of them.

"Charlotte," Derek greeted her, half asleep.

"Um..." Charlotte was going to say, but with the level of shock she and both her parents had on their faces filled the room with silence.

"Good morning, my love. Why don't you go play with your toys so your dad and I can talk, then we'll both come and play with you." Meredith said in a rather raspier voice.

"Okay, Mama." Charlotte skipped out of the room.

Meredith stared at Derek in pure shock. Not only had Charlotte walked in on her parents in the same bed and spooning each other, even though fully clothed, she'd still seen them, not to mention the day after she'd wished for them to have their fairytale come true.

"Derek..."

"Meredith..."

They looked into each others eyes, as if their eyes were the ones communicating rather than their mouths. They were saying all the words they couldn't bear to say out loud through their beautiful shining eye contact. She stared into his glowing blue eyes, as he gazed into her sparkly green eyes.