Secret smile

38

Her only blood son was late. He was generally the most punctual person she had ever met and now he was running late. It was okay. She had her other two children with her and she was quite certain that her son's tardiness had something to do with the tiny blonde woman that he called his best friend that seemed to be attached to his hip. Because before, Derek would never be late. He would have been obsessed with getting to supper on time. He would have come in smiling and ready to spend time with his family. Or at least, he would have before the accident. Before the accident, he would have been on time and laughing. But ever since his wife and daughter had died...he just came on time. He came because he had to, because it was better for him to be around people.

She had appreciated that he had at least known not to pull away from his family but at the time she would have given nearly anything to see her boy smile again, or at least really smile again. She hadn't even known what to expect when she had come here. From Derek's voice on the phone he had seemed happier. And Mark and Sophie had sworn he was doing better. And he was smiling.

Katherine couldn't remember the last time she had seen her son smile and laugh with anyone. Or she could, she could so clearly remember her son laughing and joking with Amy and Sarah the day before the accident. Sarah had been so rambunctious that day, running around and begging for a dog, and Derek had spent the entire day laughing, completely oblivious to the hell his life was about to become. Except she was quite certain her son wasn't living through hell anymore. He wasn't perfect, she had seen the sadness in his eyes that hadn't been there before, but he had smiled and laughed and kissed his best friend. Her son had kissed his best friend. It had been soft and simple and she was quite certain neither of them had thought she had noticed but she had.

There was no way she couldn't notice the soft kisses the two shared, or the way their hands always seemed to be entwined. It was...she wasn't sure what it was. She had wanted to watch them more, but after Derek had dropped her off here at Sophie's, the two friends had left to go...somewhere. She still wasn't sure where they were going, there had been so much whispering between the two of them, private whispering she hadn't wanted to intrude on.

She couldn't wait till they finally arrived. She still couldn't quite believe the change that had come over her son and she was anxious to see more of what they were like together. Because she was quite certain the man who had picked her up at the airport had been a version of her son that she hadn't seen in much longer than she ever really wanted to think about. Her family was gathered in the family room, Brian's hand over his wife's pregnant belly, while her son, the little boy she had all but adopted years earlier, sat with his charming and very young new girlfriend. She adored Lexie Grey, loved the girl's nervous rambling and the way she seemed to be able to calm Mark down and put him in his place. But right now, she wanted to see more of Derek and Meredith.

"We're here!" Derek's voice suddenly came from the front door. "Sorry!"

"It's Derek's fault!" Meredith's soft giggle followed Derek's apology.

"It is not Derek's fault. It is Meredith's fault."

"Derek! We agreed it was your fault!"

"No, you said it was my fault, I never agreed to anything."

"Silence is agreement."

"Silence is not agreement."

"Yes it is."

"No. It's avoiding your tiny ineffectual fists."

"My fists are no ineffectual!"

"They are."

"I'll show you ineffectual, Derek Shepherd."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be," Meredith giggled and Katherine smiled as she walked into the living room to find Meredith hitting Derek's bicep.