My Mcfamily, my Mclife

7.

MEREDITH

Bailey fell asleep after a few minutes. the redness went down a bit from the cold water. I pulled the covers to his neck. I kissed his forehead and turned off the lamp. I closed the curtains and went back into the other room.

I saw Derek cooking at the stove. he turned around and looked at me. "Hey, have you seen Bailey? I saw him come down here but I haven't seen him," He says. "Where's Zola?" I ask. "she's in the bathroom washing up for dinner," he says.

I walk over to him. I take the spoon out of his hand and place it on the counter. I turn to him and look him in the eye. I lift my hand and slapped him hard across the face. I felt my hand sting after his face turned to the side from the slap.

"What the hell was that for!" he says with his hand on his cheek, looking at me.

"did you enjoy that?" I ask.

"No, Of course not!" he says.

"then don't hit my three-year-old son," I push him against the counter.

"Meredith, what are you talking about?" he says.

"Don't play stupid, Bailey came downstairs bawling his eyes out saying you hit him," I say.

"oh, Meredith, that was an accident, I didn't mean to hit him," he says.

"then why was his cheek bright red? if it was an accident it wouldn't have been that bad," I say as I start to feel tears burn my eyes.

"Meredith, it was an accident, I didn't mean to hit him. he was jumping on the bed and I wanted him to get off, I went to grab him but when I did he moved, my hand hit his face and he fell off the bed, Meredith, I promise you, I would never hit one of our kids you know that," he says walking towards me.

"I'll believe it when I hear it from Bailey," I say before going back into our bedroom. I go into the bathroom and take a quick shower. I'll ask Bailey about it later when he wakes up.

after I finish my shower I put on some clean clothes. I go back into the bedroom and see that Bailey is still asleep. I grab a book from the bedside table and read a bit on the bed next to Bailey.

****

after thirty minutes, I hear Ellis start to cry on the monitor. I place my book down and leave the room and go into Ellis' and Scout's room. I open the door and see her laying in her crib. I walk over to her and lift her out of the crib.

I sit down in the rocking chair and take out my breast and let her latch on. after she was fed and I fixed my clothes, I laid her on the changing table, I changed her diaper and changed her clothes after I saw that she had peed through her clothes.

I picked her up and brought her into the living room. Derek was sitting on the couch with Zola sitting next to him watching tv. I walk over to him and placed her in his arms.

"don't hit her," I whispered sarcastically as I handed her to him.

he looked at me and glared as he took Ellis. I walked back into the bedroom where I saw Bailey was finally awake.

"you're awake, did you sleep well?" I ask.

"Yes," he mumbled while rubbing his eyes.

"Bailey... can I ask you something?" I say sitting down next to him.

He nods.

"When daddy hit you, was it an accident?" I ask. He stays silent.

"We're you jumping on the bed and daddy tried helping you off but when you moved he accidentally hit you and you fell off the bed?" I ask. He nods slowly.

"I'm sorry, mama," he says looking up at me with tears in his bright blue eyes.

"It's okay, Bailey. You didn't do anything wrong, Daddy still should have been more careful and his hand shouldn't have been near your face," I say.

I lift him into my arms and place him on my lap. I kiss his cheek, "do you want to go see daddy?" I say. He nods.

I stand up with him on my hip, sucking his thumb and his head on my shoulder.

I walk into the living room where Derek is still on the couch with Ellis who is playing with her tiny hands.

"Someone wants to see you," I say. Derek turns to look at me then at Bailey. He raises an eyebrow at me and I nod.

I place him on the other side of Derek's lap and then take Ellis and place her into the bassinet before going into the kitchen to cook the rest of dinner.

Derek

Meredith goes into the kitchen whilst Bailey stays on my lap. He looks down and stares at his hands.

"I'm sorry that I hit you. I was just trying to get you off the bed," I say rubbing his back.

"I know," he whispers.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you," He says.

"I know," I kiss his head.