He was a neurosurgeon, one of the the best. She was just starting off. He had been married with children before his wife left him before one day he received divorce papers in the mail. They had been alone ever since.
The room was silent, nobody had said a word since they had revealed the news. They weren't sure if it was because they were surprised or because they were upset.
"What does that mean?" Michael asked. Derek took a glance at Meredith but she didn't say anything. she didn't feel it was her place since they weren't her children.
even though Madeleine was on good terms with Meredith she still didn't want to make any of them feel like she had the right to come into their lives.
"It means we're getting married. I asked Meredith to marry me and she said yes,"
"so... you'll be like.. husband and wife?" Violet asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.
"Yes, not yet. eventually, we're not sure when quite yet but eventually, yes, we'll be husband and wife" Derek smiled at the way it sounded as he leaned back and took Meredith's hands into his.
"Why?" Michael asked. "Because that's what people do when they love each other very much," he spoke.
"You didn't love mom and you two got a divorce," Madeleine pointed out. "What happened with your mother and I... it was very different than what Meredith and I have,"
"Okay," she sighed. she got up off the couch and went upstairs to her room.
"But why do you want to get married if you're already together?" Michael asked. He didn't seem to understand the whole concept of marriage and why people did it.
"So we'll be together forever," he said as he was running out of answers as to why marriage was so important.
"You can still be together forever if you're not married," he said. Derek sighed and thought of more answers while Meredith giggled next to him.
"You think this is funny?" He asked her. "A little, he does have a point Derek," she smiled.
"Yeah, he's never getting married," he sighed looking at Michael.
"Well that's all we wanted to tell you kids, you can go play now," Derek dismissed them.
Both Violet and Michael ran off to play leaving Meredith and Derek alone on the living room couch.
"Do you think Madeleine was upset?" She asked as Derek pulled her closer next to him.
Her right hand was now on his chest while his right arm was around her body and the left hand placed on her waist looking into her green eyes that had a hint of blue to them.
"She didn't look upset, maybe she was surprised or she didn't really care too much. Maybe she's over it. When was the last time her mom called?" She asked softly, content and comfort in her voice.
"She hasn't called in a while. she had called a couple of times in the last few months but Madeleine never answered so she stopped calling," He sighed.
"What about you, has she called you. what was the last time you and her spoke?" she asked as she gently ran her fingertips over his slight stuble with her free hand.
"Probably not since she left, maybe once her twice since then but those were just arguments," he said.
"Arguments about what?" she asked. "the kids, her leaving the kids, those kind of things," he nodded.
"How did you two get a divorce if she was in LA and you were in Seattle?" she asked. she always asked a lot of questions. some people hated it, other people took it as a sign of interest or curiosity.
Derek took at as a sign that she cared about him and his life and what went on it.
"I got them in the mail, I was surprised she was so cooperative, usually she would be a bitch and make everything ten times harder than it had to be just for the fun of it," he said.
"Do you ever wonder if you two could have ever made it work? the marriage, the cheating, the kids. do you ever think that if the both of you had tried hard enough it would have worked out somehow?" she asked.
he didn't understand where these kinds of questions were coming from but he also knew Meredith didn't have the best history when it came to trusting people.
he knew she trusted him, but it was only to a certain extent. if he did anything that would question his loyalty to her she start to question more things about him.
it wasn't her fault. she just had trust issues and she was never fully able to trust anyone. she trusted Derek more than most but that didn't mean she didn't fear the day he would come and become an entirely different person.
hiding things, lying to her face, coming home late, hiding his phone, becoming protective over his phone, getting upset if she went through his things, catching him alone with another woman in the house when she came home earlier than expected.
those thoughts would always be there, she didn't want them to be. she wanted to be the kind of person that could fall in love and not doubt her spouse over nothing.
she had never been cheated but that was only because she had never given anyone the chance. she never dated anyone long enough for them to realize she wasn't good enough.
she had given Derek that chance numerous times and he had never taken it.. but that didn't mean he would never take it.
"No, I've never wondered that. I knew our marriage was over before than.. the cheating was the last straw even though we still tried to make it work. I think Violet was the real last straw," he said.
"Why Violet?" she asked softly. he loved her voice.
"Because Addison became pregnant with Violet months after our marriage had ended. he hadn't been intimate in months, maybe even a year before Violet was born, the only other man she had been with was Mark, you've seen him at the hospital," he said.
"If you and Addison hadn't had sex in year when Violet was born than how do you know she's yours?" she asked.
"You've seen Violet, she looks exactly like me," he said. "Yes, the hair and the eyes but... Addison and Mark both have blue eyes, and Red isn't her natural hair color and the same goes for Mark," she said. it didn't add up how he could get his wife pregnant without having sex with her in a year.
"What are you saying Meredith?" he asked. "Nothing, it's just.. nothing. you raised Violet, she's your daughter no matter what a DNA test says," she said.
"I'm going to go check on Madeleine, see if she's okay with everything and see how she's taking the news," he said sitting up and removing his arms from her.
"Okay, I should probably start dinner, it's getting late, the kids will be hungry," she said. he nodded in agreement. he pressed his lips against hers for a brief moment before he stood up and went upstairs to check on Madeleine.
she knew she had hit a nerve when she brought up that there was a good chance that Violet wouldn't be his. she didn't mean it but it was the truth, maybe he just wasn't ready to face it quite yet.
