Merder: Different Circumstances

Chapter Forty One

With only a month left before the wedding, Meredith and Derek's house was finally finished and ready to be attacked by Meredith's bridesmaids. After almost eight long months of not being allowed near the land, Derek was taking Meredith over for the grand reveal that night and everyone believed that Ashley was more excited than the two of them put together.

Even though Meredith wasn't allowed near the land, Derek made sure that he had Ashley's approval on all of the decisions before he went ahead, as she knew better than him how to decorate a house. For Ashley, she was finally getting the big family home she had always dreamed of as a child, even if it was 16 years late.

Amongst the chaotic life of building a house and planning a wedding, Meredith and Derek had continued trying for a baby, but the excitement was slowly wearing off. Derek was trying his best to keep their hopes high, but Meredith was slowly beginning to lose faith and he knew it wouldn't be long before she spiralled if they didn't have either a positive test or an answer soon.

"It's negative." Meredith said walking out of the bathroom door and throwing the test in the bin, a weekly ritual they had fallen into.

"It will happen soon Mer, I promise you. We're going to get a positive result and we will have our baby." Derek reassured, pulling her into his arms and placing a small kiss on her head. "If we don't have a positive test before our wedding, we will go as soon as we get back from our honeymoon."

"I'm so sick of all of this wedding talk, I just want it over with so we can visit a specialist." Meredith harshly retaliated, shrugging herself out of his embrace and walking over towards the door. 

Derek just let out a sigh, unsure of what comfort to provide to his fiancee and a little hurt by the lack of excitement regarding their wedding. It only took his silence for Meredith to immediately regret her words and she turned herself back around to face him once again.

"Sorry, that wasn't fair of me to say."

"You're not excited for our wedding?"

"I am, but I'm more excited for the actual marriage. It's such a big day, and I appreciate what everyone is doing for us and I love celebrating with your family. But it's not us. We're... well you know, more personal than that."

"You want something smaller?"

"No I'm not saying that I-"

"Mer, be honest with me?"

"Maybe, I'd appreciate a smaller ceremony, but your mom is so excited and so's Ashley and Lexie and Amelia and..."

"It's our wedding day." Derek argued with a smile on his face. "Here's what we'll do, we will keep our big wedding day, everyone is really excited for that and when we're there we will really enjoy it. The day before, me, you and Ashley can organise to have a smaller ceremony, just the three of us. We can say our vows to each other and then go out for lunch together before your bridesmaids ship me off to Mark's for the night. Then at our big ceremony our vows don't have to be as personal, how does that sound?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect." Meredith said, the smile on her face growing to match Derek's as she walked over to place a kiss on his lips. "Thank you."

Their day at work was quiet, with only a couple of small scheduled surgeries each, some follow up appointments and consults in the pit. When 6pm came around, Meredith was practically dragged Derek to the attending's lounge so they could leave the hospital and she could finally see their house. 

Ashley had agreed to meet them there after a study session at school, leaving just the two of them on the ferryboat over together. They sat on the top deck and watched the water, until the docking bay was in view and once again Meredith was pulling Derek towards the car. 

"Put this on." He insisted, handing her a tie for over her eyes. 

"Derek, what the hell we're in the car."

"Shut up! Put it over your eyes, Ashley wants to do a grand reveal once you are out of the car." He replied, bursting out into a fit of laughter.

Obliging, Meredith put the tie over her eyes and rested her hand over Derek's on the gear stick, a way of reassuring herself after losing one of her senses. The journey was only ten minutes, as the roads were quiet and Derek enjoyed pushing the boundaries of the speed limit, but to Meredith it lasted far too long as her excitement bubbled. 

"Okay, I'm going to get out and then come round to help you out." Derek said once they pulled in. 

Already waiting for them leaning on her car, Ashley jumped up when Meredith was leaded out of her door and went over to the two of them. 

"Ready?" She asked, making Meredith almost scream at the shock of another person having joined them.

"Yep."

Derek pulled the tie away from Meredith's eyes and let her take in the house in front of her, her eyes going wide. Ashley beamed at her reaction and clapped her hands in joy, grabbing Meredith's hand and pulling her towards the front door. 

"This is the most excited I have seen you in months Ash."

"Shush Dad. Okay, so Meredith all of the decorations have been done inside but if you don't like any I completely understand and you can change them I won't take offence."

"Ashley, open the door and let me in before I die of anticipation."

"Sorry."

Meredith was led inside and immediately fell in love with the large open family space that had been created. Not only had this been Ashley's dream as a child, but also her own. She couldn't help herself but take a moment to imagine cooking family meals in there with a newborn in her arms or a couple of children running around the couch. 

Their bedroom was on the same floor, but had been left undecorated, only having a large bed in the middle so that they could stay the night. Ashley had insisted that Meredith could make all of her own decisions on that room, no matter how many times her father begged her to let him choose the decor for it. 

Being led around upstairs continued to amaze her just as much, with bedrooms and bathrooms behind every door and another smaller living room separate from the open plan downstairs. 

"I'm going to grab our bags from my car." Ashley said, having intended for them to spend the night.

Meredith thanked her but was left confused as to why they hadn't entered one of the upstairs rooms, just off the main corridor. As she went to follow Ashley downstairs, Derek grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her back to the closed door. 

"This is in anticipation for our future." Derek explained, turning the handle down. 

In the centre of the room was a cot, with a changing table against one side and a rocking chair next to a window.

"These were all mine from when I was a baby, being the only boy meant that I got different nursery furniture than the shared pink and green colours. It's not decorated yet, because I know you will want to do that as a family, but that's what this room is waiting for."

"Thank you Der, I love it." Meredith whispered placing a kiss to his lips before leaning into his chest as she envisioned nights spent in the rocking chair with a baby cradled to her chest.