Ever The Same

39

Derek's mother had been right. He needed to talk to Meredith. The only problem was, he had barely gotten the chance. At dinner, everyone else had been there and Derek thought this was a conversation they needed to have in private, and tonight, they both finally had the night off. Meredith had been off the whole day but Derek had to work in the morning, and he was nervous about getting home and talking to his wife about his fears.

He parked his car in their driveway and walked into the house, overwhelmed by the smell of paint that had been all to familiar when they were renovating the house. "Meredith!"

"I'm not in the kitchen!" She shouted, evidence of a light giggle in her voice as he stood in the entryway.

"Meredith..." Derek groaned, knowing exactly what she was doing as he walked into the kitchen, only to see his five month pregnant wife standing on the kitchen counter, painting above the cabinets. "Are you kidding me?"

"It's green." She said, lifting her brush from the tray she was holding in her other hand.

"Get down."

"I'm painting."

"Meredith...Get down...Please."

"Why?"

"Because...I want to talk to you. And you need to get out of this room."

"I will after I finish up here." She replied, rubbing her nose on her arm before placing the brush over the wall.

"Meredith!" Derek said, louder than he had intended to.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Will you please...get down?" He breathed, running his fingers through his hair before closing the can of paint.

"What's the big deal?"

"You're painting...and you're pregnant and your standing on the counter and it smells...Please come outside with me."

"But I'm not done."

"Mer...Please..."

"One second." She bit her lip, moving on her tip toes, causing Derek to jump.

"Mer...God...." Derek ran his hands through his hair, watching as she balanced herself on the counter. "Could you get down now?"

"Fine." She sighed, turning around as she nearly lost her balance.

"Come on..." Derek sighed, holding his hand up to help her down.

"Do you like the color?" She asked, leaning into his arms as he lifted her down.

"I'll tell you once we get outside." He said, taking her hand and leading her out of the kitchen.

"I started to paint the bathroom but I'm not sure if I like the color so I started in the kitchen...but I think I need to put up new curtains."

"You're joking right?"

"No...I was thinking we could use the ones that your sister bought on the clearance rack...they're actually perfect and...."

"You're trying to kill me." Derek muttered, as they walked out onto the porch.

"No..." She giggled.

"Meredith...I don't...I don't even know what to say."

"You don't like the color?" She scrunched her nose.

"That's not what this is about." He sighed, sitting on the loveseat on the porch.

"What is it about?" She asked, sitting on his lap.