Once Upon An Us-MerDer

49.

Meredith's POV

We arrive at the hospital and Derek parks the car as close to the entrance as possible. On the way they're he already notified the hospital so there is a nurse waiting with a wheelchair at the entrance. She comes up to us as soon as she sees us and Derek helps me into the chair. Derek takes over from the nurse and wheels me inside. The nurse told us Dr. Robbins was available and is waiting in one of the delivery rooms on. Derek brings me up to the room and we enter. Derek lifts me up and places me on the bed in the middle of the room.

"Good afternoon." Dr. Robbins greets them with a big smile. "So I heard your baby is ready to come?"

"That's right!" I say excitedly. Derek nods his head yes and squeezes my hand. I can feel his nerves. I gently squeeze his hand back trying to calm him.

"Alright. So the first order of business is to check your dilation. You can put on the hospital gown located on the bed and take place on top of the bed. I'll come back in a second to start a quick examination." Dr. Robbins instructs and leaves the room.

"It's like, really happening now" Derek breathes while his eyes go wide.

"Yes baby, it's really happening. Are you ready for it?" I smile as I slip the hospital gown over my underwear.

"I-Yes" He says but I can hear a slight hesitation in his voice.

"What's wrong baby?"

"I just...what if im a terrible dad? What if I mess up our son? What if-" He rambles before I cut him off.

"And what if you're an amazing dad? What if our son looks up to you? wants to be you?"

"I...I just don't know...I..." he stambles. I can see a tear running down his cheek.

"Oh baby...come here" I pull on his hand bringing him closer to me. I bring his head down to my shoulder and rest it on there. I gently stroke my hand through his hair and hold him tightly in my arms. He finally manages to calm his breathing down and I feel his tense body relax.

"Thank you" he whispers. "Thank you." He takes a deep breath and stands up tall again. Dr. Robbins enters the room again and takes a seat in front of the bed.

"Are you comfortable?" she asks me.

"Yes" Derek answers, unaware of the fact the question was for me.

Dr. Robbins and I chuckle. "Yes, thank you" I answer. I look at Derek and his face turned a dark red color. I smile up at him and grab his hand.

"Shall we begin? I'll take a look at how far you are. Have you had any more contractions?"

"Yes she's had a few. They're about 12 minutes apart." Derek answers, clearly thankful he can help.

"Alright, it looks like you are only 1 cm dilated. We have to wait until 10 cm. This can take hours but it can also go very fast. I'll come back in a few hours to check up on you again. In the meen time, make yourself comfortable and relax. Page me if anything drastically changes or if the contractions are less than 5 minutes apart."

"We will, thank you Dr. Robbins." We both smile and she leaves the room. I make myself comfortable, crawling under the blankets. Derek starts pacing the room. He doesn't say anything and looks straight ahead. He is completely zoned out. I decide to let him for a while, hoping he will figure it out himself but it doesn't seem to work.

After a few minutes of watching Derek pace the room I call his name. He doesn't seem te hear me so as soon as he comes within my reach I grab his hand. I seem to have startled him and he snaps out of his zone. "Derek" I try again. He looks at me with a blank expression on his face. I pull on his hand and he walks closer to me. I move over in the bed and pat the empty space next to me. He crawls into bed next to me and I sit up straight. He rests his head on my lap and I gently caress through his soft, black curls.