I Will Follow You Into the Dark

EPILOGUE

Meredith and the girls moved to Seattle at the end of January. The family settled into a larger apartment across town while the house was being built. The girls loved their new school and made new friends very quickly. They were excited to be in the same school district they'd be in once they moved into the house. They settled in and joined a recreational soccer team and found a terrific new piano teacher. They also found that there was a wide selection of cute boys in their school. This was a good move for them all the way around.

Meredith and Derek were married on Valentine's Day on a ferry. They didn't take a honeymoon trip. There was no need. Life truly was a honeymoon for them now.

Six months later, they moved into their large, comfortable house. The cool basement was party central for the girls' friends, and the master suite was party central for Meredith and Derek. With a floor in-between, neither group was annoyed with the noise made by the other. Well, not often, anyway.



Five years later:

Meredith and Derek were cooking dinner together. "Honey, I'll be right back. I'm going to check on Jenna and Josh."

"God. That girl," Meredith said in complete frustration.

"What?" Derek said grinning at her, "She can't help it that she inherited her mother's love of tequila and her stepfather's libido." They both laughed. "I'll go break up the party," he said quietly, "They've been alone too long."

A few minutes later, Derek came back upstairs and resumed his work helping with dinner. "Remind me to set the alarm. They were so engrossed that he'll try to come back for more. Either he'll sneak in, or she'll sneak out."

"You were so smart to make sure we set alarms on those windows," Meredith said, looking at him admiringly.

"Yeah."

"Was she mad?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah. But she knew I'd kick him out. I'm a guy, and she's beautiful, but she's my stepdaughter. I can only tolerate so much of those two and their hormones."

"Yeah," Meredith said grinning, "go figure."

As they worked, Derek bumped into Meredith on purpose so that he could apologize and pull her in for a kiss.

"Ew!" the nearly five-year-old boy with an unruly head of dark curls squealed and covered his eyes.

"Sorry, son," Derek said, sounding not at all sincere, "I can't help it. I love your mommy too much!"

"But kissing on the mouth is gross, Daddy," the little boy responded.

"I'll remind you of that in about ten years," Derek said chuckling.

"I'm not ever kissing a girl," the little boy said emphatically. "Except for Mommy and maybe Ariella and Laura. And then only on the cheek. And I'll blow kisses to Jenna, but she's too kissy with Josh. She has kissy cooties, so I'm staying away from her."

Meredith and Derek giggled. The doorbell rang. The little boy ran to answer the door. Derek followed him, yelling admonishingly, "You know you're not supposed to open the door by yourself. Wait for Daddy!"

"Sorry, Daddy," he said sheepishly as he stuck his head back inside the now opened door. "Go play," Derek said smiling down at him and ruffling his hair lovingly.

Finally arriving at the cracked door, Derek pulled it open and looked out to greet their visitor. As soon as he recognized who was there, he stood absolutely still. He stared out the door with a look of utter shock on his face. He leaned heavily on the doorknob and willed himself to stay upright.

"Oh, my God!" he gasped before breaking down and sobbing.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Meredith wondered what was keeping Derek so long. "Who was at the door, baby?" she asked her son. "Some stranger," he said. "I'm sorry. I won't open the door again."

"It's OK, Baby. We just want you to be safe," Meredith said to him tenderly. "Keep an eye on Laura for me. I'm gonna go get Daddy for supper." "OK, Mommy!" he said, thrilled to be trusted to be the big kid. He walked over to where two-year-old Laura sat in her high chair playing with some stacking cups.

"Derek?" Mer called as she walked toward the door. "Derek, honey, supper's ready....."

Meredith inhaled sharply when she saw her husband. He was bawling like a baby. He was falling apart. After all the years of healing, he was completely engrossed in those horrid memories again.

"Oh, my God!" she said when she realized who was on the front porch with him. Tears falling down her face, she ventured outside, too.

Derek and Mark stood there clinging to each other. Derek couldn't seem to stop crying. He cried for the guilt and the loss and the pain and the gratitude and the words never spoken.

He was rambling. "How? Where? Oh, God. I love you, Mark. I never thought I'd see you again."

When Meredith took his hand, he looked over at her in disbelief, "It's Mark. He's here. He's not dead. Mer, it's Mark....."

"I know, Baby," she said smiling through her tears. She reached up and held tightly onto Mark, too.

Almost unnoticed, a quiet woman stood nearby. When Derek finally let go enough to just have his arm around Mark's shoulder, Mark turned and smiled warmly at her.

"Derek, this is Sam. She's my wife," he said, putting his other arm around her shoulder.

"You're married? You're back, and you're married?"

"Yeah," Mark said beaming. He chuckled and nodded toward the house, "Can we come in?"

"Sure. Yeah. Of course. Come on in." Derek said, rambling and still hyped up from the incredible surprise before him.

"Dinner's ready. Have you eaten? Stay and eat with us," Meredith said as she leaned in to talk to Sam and get to know her.

Mark and Sam raved about how adorable the children were when they saw them. Then there was an uncomfortable silence as the emotions that this reunion was stirring hit a fever pitch. "Why is everyone so quiet?" the little boy finally asked. "Daddy's surprised to see his friend. He's missed him for a very long time," Meredith explained. "Oh," the little boy said, still a little uneasy about his father acting differently.

"My name is Mark, what's yours?" Mark asked, extending his hand and squatting down to be on eye level with the little boy. Derek got completely choked up when he heard his son say, "Hey! My name's Mark, too." Mark teared up and smiled as he took the hand the little boy offered for a shake. "I'm your Uncle Mark. And that's your Aunt Sammi." "Nice to meet you," the young Mark said as he shook Mark's hand proudly. "You're pretty," he said to Sam.

Talk at the meal was light. Everyone discussed how wonderful everyone else looked, and Derek and Meredith kept beaming and saying how happy they were to see them.

Meredith went up to put the kids to bed. As she left, Derek followed her out of the room and she hugged him tightly. "I'll be back. Go see your friend." Derek teared up again at her words. "I know. I know this is staggering. You need to go talk to him now, OK?"

"OK," Derek said, his voice full of emotion. Kissing his kids and telling them to have sweet dreams, Derek went back into the den to face the past that almost killed him.

After pouring a round of drinks, Derek settled down on the sofa. "So, tell me what happened. Where have you been?"

"I've been in a sunflower field tanning," Mark said with a grin. "For 25 years." They all laughed. Meredith returned to the room and sat down next to Derek, taking his hand into hers and kissing his cheek. "How about you guys? You've been married for what—at least 25 years now?"

Derek and Meredith burst out laughing. "If you only knew," Derek said, kissing Meredith tenderly.

They sat through the wee hours talking and telling their stories. Mark had remained a prisoner of Sam's father for 25 years. He had brokered a deal for her freedom—a deal that left him a prisoner in a dangerous place. He never tried to escape--he remained there to ensure her safety. In addition to actually working in the fields, he had taught the local children to read and speak English—some of the adults, too.

"She's the one, Derek," Mark said, leaning over to kiss Sam. Derek smiled at him, happy that his friend had also found true love. Mark smiled at his misunderstanding. "Well, she is the love of my life and the woman who reined in the permanent bachelor. But she's also the one who helped me get you to safety." There were fresh tears as both Meredith and Derek hugged Sam and thanked her for the risks she took to save Derek's life.

Sam had moved to Boston shortly after she helped Mark get Derek to safety. She went to school and started her career but never married. She wrote her father constantly, telling him of her love for Mark and begging for him to protect him. On his deathbed, Sam's father had given Mark his freedom and information on Sam's whereabouts. They found each other and married instantly.

Once everyone calmed down a bit, Mark told them how he and Sam had searched for Derek. Nancy was the one who had gone out of her way to help them find him.

"Nancy, huh?" Derek said, looking over at Meredith.

"Yeah, she was great," Mark said, nodding toward Sam.

"She owes me....owes us," Derek said.

"Why?"

"It's a long story," Derek said, not wanting to get into it. They continued talking well into the night. Derek broke down on more than one occasion out of pure happiness and surprise and relief. Meredith went up to check on the kids, while Derek was telling Mark and Sam their story. This time Mark was the one in tears. "So many years....."

Mark and Sam informed Derek and Meredith that they were expecting a child. Sam was working so that Mark could finish school. He had decided to become a teacher. They discussed the fact that, after Mark finished school, they might consider relocating to Seattle. "To be close to our real family," Mark said with tears in his eyes.

"That would be great!" Derek said, beaming as he had not in ages.

Later, Meredith and Derek showed Mark and Sam to their guest room. Despite its comfort, Mark couldn't sleep. He wandered back downstairs so that he wouldn't keep Sam up with his tossing and turning. He found Derek there. He was staring into the fire. "Hey," Mark said upon finding him there.

"Hey," Derek replied. "You OK?"

"Yeah."

"It's just so overpowering," Derek said. "I can't remember when I've been happier."

"When you found Mer?"

"No. When I got her back. That was the best moment in my life. This? This is a close second. I love you, man."

"We're still brothers," Mark said. "We'll always be brothers, Derek."


If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark


*********

The next afternoon, Derek and Mark were out back having a beer and watching the kids play while the women were out shopping for food for the evening meal. Derek's cell phone rang. He noticed who was calling and elbowed Mark. "This is Jen. I can't wait for you to meet her. She gives me as much hell as you ever had."

"Hey!" he said as he answered the call.

"Hey," Jen muttered.

"You're coming tonight, right? We have friends in town. I can't wait for you to meet them."

"Is one of them a masseuse? I need a massage."

"Sorry. No masseuse. You sound tired. You OK?"

"No. I'm not. I've been chasing two little kids around all day, and I'm about to give birth to a 20-pound octopus that hasn't let me sleep in months. I am far from OK."

"We'll watch the kids tonight, and you can relax."

"Derek, we've been friends a long time. You still owe me for the Mer thing."

"Yes, I owe you my life," he said without hesitation.

"Well, I need your help."

"Name it," he said, wondering what she needed.

"It's Patrick. He always wants to have sex."

Derek tried to muffle his laugh. He knew that laughter would send his hormonal friend into killing mode. And he wanted time to be friends with Mark again. "Well, sex is good, right?"

"No."

"It used to be good," he said, trying to remind her how she and Patrick used to be second only to Meredith and him in the "can't keep their hands off each other" department.

""Well, sex is not good when I'm this pregnant. What's wrong with him? I'm as big as a house! Why does he always want sex?"

"I always want sex," Derek said. Mark's eyebrows were raised as he listened to half of this crazy conversation.

"You're the human hormone," Jen said grumpily.

"That I am," Derek said grinning.

"Well, you have to do something. I just can't do this."

"Jen. I love Patrick. But I cannot have sex with him."

"Smart ass," Jen said, smiling a bit at his joke.

"It's just a few more weeks. He'll live."

"Not to hear him tell it," Jen muttered.

"I'll talk to him for you. Maybe Meredith and I can keep your kids and give you two some alone time. So that he can romance you."

"I don't feel sexy. I can't. Unless......Is your friend that hot plastic surgeon off Grant's Anatomy? That might revv me up."

"No, but he used to be a manwh***. Maybe he'll sleep with Patrick."

"Hey, Mark," Derek said loudly, "Will you sleep with Patrick?"

"Is he hot?" Mark asked in response.

"He wants to know if Patrick is hot," Derek said proudly.

"Mark. Mark who? THE Mark?" Jen stammered.

"Yeah. He showed up last night."

"Oh, my God, Derek!" Jen squealed. "That's HUGE!"

"I know. It's amazing. So get your crabby pregnant ass over here tonight. You have to meet him."

"Wouldn't miss it," Jen said a little more relaxed by this news. "Derek, I'm so very happy for you."

"Me, too," he said, clinking his beer bottle against Mark's and taking a swig. "Don't wimp out of me, Jen. I want to have dinner with all of my favorite people tonight."

"It's always about you, isn't it?"

"I can't help it if I'm the luckiest man in the world," Derek chimed in.

"I can hear you grinning, Shepherd," Jen said, smiling.

"Yeah I do that a lot these days," Derek responded.

"What ever happened to that miserable excuse for a man I met so long ago?

"He got his life back," Derek said as he watched his children playing and his friend chasing them around the slide.

"He sure did," Jen said.

This was the story Jen used to encourage her devastated clients. Watching the things that had happened to Derek all these years had been quite the case study. And it was proof. Real, tangible evidence that even for someone who had no hope and for whom everything looked dark and painful, there was always a chance that life could turn out perfectly after all.









THE END.


Thank you all for reading this story.