This Life

Chapter 31

'I'm cold,' Derek thought to himself as he lay in bed even though the duvet was covering him.

The rain which had started earlier as a damp drizzle had now turned into torrential downpour as it beat heavily against their bedroom window. The weather matched his mood.

The real reason why Derek Shepherd felt cold was not because Meredith was hogging the duvet it was because Meredith was lying on the other side of the bed as far away from him as she could be.

For the first time since they started sharing a bed together this was the first night that Meredith was not fast asleep in his arms... and Derek knew that he had no-one else to blame but himself.

The day had started off completely differently...
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Today was Beth's second birthday and the day had started off with Meredith and Derek having a very steamy quickie in the shower before Beth had woken up.

Unlike last year it would just be them. Carolyn and Michael had explained at Christmas that they would be unable to come out for Beth's birthday as Carolyn had promised to house sit for a neighbour who was going on a well deserved cruise. Sam and Gavin had thought about coming over but Meredith was still trying to recover from the mild dose of pneumonia that had literally knocked her off her feet since New Year and the last thing Meredith wanted was to pass on any more germs to a pregnant Sam.

Derek and Meredith had planned to have the birthday party in the crèche where Beth would be able to celebrate with all her friends. The party was scheduled for 3pm and Derek had made sure that his diary was for free for the afternoon.

Since meeting Addison at the medical conference in Boston Derek had been living in constant fear of his soon-to-be ex-wife turning up on his doorstep. He was determined that Addison would play no part in Beth's life and was preparing himself for a lengthy custody battle with her.

"Penny for them," Meredith said as she sat down at the table.

"Sorry," Derek said as he looked over at her.

"Derek you were miles away – I was talking to you about the house we are building in the woods..." Meredith smiled

"What about it," he snapped back as he rubbed his temples.

Meredith took a deep a breath before continuing "you need to call the electrician."

"Okay," Derek replied and then looked at Meredith who was looking down at the table biting her lip, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped," he said as he reached out and squeezed her hand.

"You were miles away," Meredith said.

"I know, I'm sorry – just... thinking about a patient at the hospital," Derek explained

"Must be some patient – you haven't stopped thinking about them since you returned from Boston," Meredith answered as she started to cough.

Derek was instantly at her side making sure she was okay.

Nearly four weeks on from the mild pneumonia and Meredith was practically back to full strength although the cough was still lingering. She only returned to the crèche full time last week and Meredith was convinced Adele was going to fire her for having so much time off.

Instead Adele welcomed her back with open arms. Meredith had been pleased that the older woman had not touched the rotas and messed them like what she had done before after the horrific shootings the previous June.

"I'm going to go and get Beth ready," Meredith said as she stood up from the table and headed upstairs.

She could not shake the feeling that there was something bothering Derek. He had been different since his return from the medical conference. Meredith remembered telling Sam about how distant he was at times and his baby sister had simply put it down to pre-conference nerves. But the conference was over and he was just the same, no in fact it was getting worse Meredith thought.