By sunset543
Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.
Meredith and Derek were waiting for Aiden to get out of class that afternoon. Mer hadn't told him that Derek was coming today. He was expecting him tomorrow and the look on his face was completely worth it. His whole face lit up and he sprinted towards him, his bag forgotten on the floor.
"Derek!"
"Hey bud!" Derek raised him onto his hip.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, I just couldn't wait to see you, so I came early."
"What about Mom, couldn't you wait to see her either?"
"I couldn't wait to see her either," he smiled. "But don't tell her," he whispered.
Aiden giggled and looked at his mom.
"What are you two laughing about?"
"Nothing," they both said far too quickly.
"Uh huh," she smiled, leaning into Derek, putting her palm on his chest.
"How was school Aiden?"
"It was good. We learned about shapes and then we did gymnastics but I'm not that flexible."
"Well at least hockey players don't have to be flexible," Derek laughed.
"Yeah! But I could still do roly polys. That was fun."
"I'm glad you had a good day," she grinned, removing her hand from Derek's chest and ruffling his hair.
"Wanna go home?" Derek asked.
The boy nodded, retrieved his bag, giving it to Derek, and held onto each of the adult's hands.
xxxxx
They got back soon enough, and Aiden was confused when he saw a bag and suitcase in the hall.
"Are we going somewhere Mom?"
"No," she laughed. "But we do have something to tell you." They had chosen not to tell Aiden, give him an even bigger surprise!
"Derek is moving in with us. The rest of his stuff is coming later."
Her son's eyes lit up, "You're staying?"
"Yup," Derek nodded.
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah."
He looked between the adults and launched himself at Derek again.
"So you can come to all of my practices, and games, and school stuff. And you can play in the park and stay over everyday and play cars!" he gushed.
"I will," Derek chuckled, "but I have to work too bud. And I want to spend time with your mom as well as you."
"I know. You can both come to stuff! And you can pick me up from school when Mom works late, she has to do that sometimes. Then I won't have to stay at Aunt Chris'. Aunt Chris is nice, but her place is messy," he scrunched his nose, which looked so much like Meredith.
Derek laughed. "I will definitely pick you up from school. That's the good thing about being a hockey player, you don't work such long hours. But Mom put in lots of work to get to where she is, and she still has to work to stay there."
"I know," he shrugged, "I don't mind. But my bed is more comfy than other places."
"I think that too bud. Your own one is just better."
"Yeah!"
"Okay Aiden, I'll run you a bath and why don't you help Derek unpack?" Meredith suggested.
"Kay Mom. Let's go Derek. It's gonna be fun."
Derek gave an amused glance back at Mer before he was dragged up the stairs by the little boy.
xxxxx
Derek was settled in pretty quickly and Halloween came soon enough. Aiden was bouncing around in the hall with Hunter, one of his friends, dressed as a hockey player (what a surprise!). Meredith had managed to get the time off and Derek saw that she was dressed up as an adorable cowgirl outfit as he descended the stairs as a vampire. His hair was slicked back, a long cape hung from his shoulders and plastic fangs were stuck to his teeth (kind of). It wasn't overly scary, and Meredith found it more comical than scary. But that wasn't to say it wasn't hot.
"What do you think?" he asked, in a dreadful accent.
"That was bad Der," she laughed.
"Accents aren't really my strong point," he chuckled.
"I think it's cool," Aiden giggled.
"Thanks bud. See? This man knows taste."
She rolled her eyes and opened the door.
"Come on then Dracula."
You know, I was really hoping you would have dressed up as Buffy. Then I could have been Angel."
"What if I prefer Spike?" She teased.
"Never," he said in mock offence.
"Come on!" Aiden whined. "Me and Hunter want sweets."
"We're coming," the duo laughed.
They walked around the neighbourhood comfortably. The boys collecting mountains of sweets and chocolate and eventually Meredith and Derek took Hunter home and then Aiden.
He was scoffing sweets in the kitchen when Derek walked in to get a glass of water. Mer was in the shower, so he was left to restrict him.
"You should really stop Aiden."
"But they're really good," he said wide eyed, with chocolate all around his face.
"Come here," Derek sighed, grabbing a napkin, putting it under the tap, and turning to Aiden. He cleaned the mess off and took the sweets away in the process.
"Derek," he whined, giving him the eyes.
"Nice try," he chuckled.
"But..."
"You'll be sick otherwise. I know you will," he shook his head, "I don't want you to be sick. And Mom would tell me off because it would be my fault."
The boy sighed, admitting defeat, "Can I have some water then?"
"Sure bud," he handed him a cup, "It's much healthier anyhow."
"You're a health nut," he giggled.
"How do you know what that is?" he chuckled.
"Mom said," he grinned.
"Oh yeah? Well you're a sweet monster," he tickled the boy slightly.
He laughed and had to recover before he spilt the water.
"Silly Derek, you nearly made me drop the water."
"Sorry," he grinned mischievously. The two of them smiling like madmen.
xxxxx
Meredith came down soon after and saw the two of them whispering. They noticed her and Aiden was first to speak.
"We've been expecting you," he giggled, stroking a stuffed cat he had got a while ago.
"Oh really?"
"Uh huh."
"What's with the cat?"
"Like in the film Mom. What's the cat called Derek?"
"I think it's Mr Tinkles," he furrowed his brow.
"Mr Tinkles?" Meredith raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, this was quick thinking. I haven't watched a Bond film in a while," he defended playfully.
"I guess I can accept that excuse," she pondered.
"Before you ruined our magnificent scene, we were talking about watching a film. Wanna watch with us?"
"I would love to watch with you," she grinned, leaning on the table next to Aiden, Derek the opposite side.
"Nothing too scary though Aiden. I don't want you to have nightmares."
"I won't. We're watching Scooby Doo," he grinned.
"Well let's go then Shcoob."
Aiden hopped from the chair and raced into the next room to set the film up.
"Hey. You smell like lavender," Derek breathed her in, his nose in her slightly damp hair.
"My conditioner," she smiled into his chest.
"I know, I love it." He leant down to kiss her gently.
"Good, cuz I'm not changing it," she giggled.
He grinned back and kissed her again.
"Come on!" They heard from the other room.
"Someone's getting impatient."
"Let's go, can't keep him waiting."
He stole another kiss and followed Mer into the living room to watch Scooby Doo with Aiden. What better way to spend Halloween!
xxxxx
Because of the way the Stanley Cup competition had been scheduled this year (for some inexplicable reason it had taken place later), the training camps hadn't opened until November 3rd. But now they were at the starting end of January after having spent an amazing Christmas with his family and Meredith and Aiden, as well as a small, private New Year's party. He had now spent a total of two and a half months living with Meredith and Aiden and the routine they had fallen into was a comfortable and loving one. He left the camp each day early enough to pick Aiden up, help him with his homework, then cook a meal in time for Meredith to get home. She was exhausted most days and he admired how she had managed everything by herself for five years.
Today was no different, except Mer had to stay at the hospital for her late shift. It wasn't overnight, but she didn't expect to be back until gone midnight, so the two boys had a guy's night in.
"When are you gonna start playing games?" Aiden asked as Derek put in a DVD. He asked the exact same question almost every day and Derek was all too willing to answer today.
"Well bud, I've actually got my first game next Saturday. On the 10th."
His shimmering green eyes went wide, his mouth slack in amazement.
"Really?"
"Yup. And you bud, have front row seats." Derek sat down and drew him closer.
Aiden climbed into his lap to hug him properly.
"That's so cool."
"Thanks bud," he chuckled, "it'll be Seattle Kraken's first game so I'm gonna need your support."
"I'll definitely support. I'll be the best supporter you've ever seen. Hey, can I be Seattle's mascot?"
"I think we've got one. Unless you want to dress up as an octopus?"
He scrunched his nose, "I don't wanna be an octopus, they have too many legs."
"Well then you can be my personal mascot," Derek reasoned.
"I'll be the best mascot," he nodded. Seeing the movie in the background, he swivelled so that his back was on Derek's chest. "It's starting."
"Ready."
"Don't talk."
"Promise," Derek chuckled again, the low rumbling reverberating on his back. Aiden felt warm with Derek's arms around him. He still found it gross when he saw him and Mom kissing, but he could live with it because Derek was awesome. He helped him with his homework and cooked better than Mom and was really cool. He always played with him and took him to hockey practices and helped him with his technique. He liked living with Derek, and he got to see his cousins and grandma and grandpa, which he had never had before. And Uncle Mark was cool, sometimes he hung out with them but sometimes it was just him and Mark and he always gave him loads of chocolate. Mom didn't like it, but Aiden thought it was funny. Elliot and Lucas were also cool, but he didn't see them all the time cuz they went to a different school, and he loved the rest of his cousins too. Andrew and Liam sometimes watched old hockey games with him, and Hailey and Ella taught him how to play marbles, he thought it would have been boring, but it was fun! He still loved Aunt Chris, Uncle Alex, Uncle George and Aunt Lexie, but they weren't kids, so it wasn't the same. He loved his new family so much and he loved Derek the most, he was nice. He settled back against his chest and watched the film sleepily. It was only 7:00 though so he tried to stay awake...
xxxxx
Derek had put Aiden to bed a few hours ago and now he was half asleep in his and Mer's shared bed, tossing and turning. It was impossible to sleep without Meredith, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. He glanced at the clock and saw that it read 12:15, hopefully she would be here soon. Sure enough, she came in silently a few minutes later, got changed and slunk into the bed. Shifting to get in the right position, he put his arms around her waist and rested his face at the back of her neck.
"Long day," he murmured.
"Yeah," she sighed, snuggling into him.
"I'm glad you're back."
"Me too. Love you."
"Love you too," he kissed the nape of her neck and fell into a peaceful sleep.
xxxxx
Putting on the light and dark blue colours felt surreal. The iconic logo on the front of the jersey drew his attention, small stitches forming the space needle/anchor on his shoulder and Shepherd printed in bold across the back. He had to admit, it was a freaking awesome jersey. Pulling his socks up, he glanced around the changing room. The new team had bonded throughout the training camps and Derek felt safe in saying that they were all his friends. Mark sat to the right of him, chatting away to Coleman from Tampa. The new skipper, Erik Johnson from Avalanche, was prepping the goalie, Darcy Kuemper. Then sat next to him, was Zach Sanford. Previous winner of the Stanley Cup with St. Louis Blues.
"You ready Shep?"
"I was born ready Sanford," he grinned.
"Nervous?"
"We have nothing to be nervous about, this is a solid team. It's the Canucks who need to be nervous."
"I'm liking the spirit," the younger man grinned.
"Alright," a booming voice called out, silencing the room. Ron Francis was an outstanding manager, being a former centre player, he could give Derek a lot of pointers and he felt his game already improving. It was good.
"It's game time boys. We've prepared for this, we know our strategy, we can do this. Our loyal fans are out there waiting, now go and release the kraken!"
His teammates cheered, tapping their sticks on the benches. They all stood up and walked up the walkway. The chant could be heard from the very bottom. Derek smiled to himself, they weren't called Krakheads for nothing! As they skated out, the arena lit up, blinding lights flashed into his eyes and the crowds gave up their chant and hollered as loudly as they could. It was insane, the music was pumping, the entire space was electric with excitement. Seattle was a great place to be.
xxxxx
Meredith was dancing around at home, her hair flying every which way while music blasted as she folded laundry. Derek was at training despite only having played a game two days ago, which he had won, and Aiden was at school. It wasn't often she got the house to herself, so she was damn well going to take advantage of it. Derek moving in was one of the best decisions she'd ever made. When all of his stuff had arrived and things started to fall into place, it became like he had always been there. Like this was the only place he had ever meant to be. Sure, they had their fights and disagreements, but what couple didn't? The only trouble was that they were both so stubborn that sometimes they found themselves fighting over stuff that could have been solved weeks before. But the arguments were in a serious minority to the rest of their lives. By now, various pictures had been stuck onto the fridge and some framed ones were dotted around the place. They had formed their own little family. And every day, she saw Aiden becoming more and more accustomed around Derek and was by no means shy to cuddle up with him or both of them if it came to it. Occasionally, he ended up sleeping in their bed. The first time it had happened, he hadn't even batted an eyelid, like it was totally normal. And Meredith couldn't be more grateful.
But living with two guys was exhausting sometimes, especially the crazy five-year-old she seemed to have raised. And with both of them playing mountains of sport, it led to mountains of laundry, so here she was, stuck folding laundry. But at least she got to dance around like no one was watching. Folding the last pair of shorts, she almost didn't hear the phone ring. She shut the music off and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Meredith, it's your mother."
Meredith internally groaned. "Hello mother."
"I've rung about a conference I'll be attending. It is in Seattle and I will be staying at the house for the few days I'm there. And I'd love to see Aiden again."
Meredith felt a stir of anger in her stomach. She understood wanting to stay here while she attended a conference but announcing it straight out was rude, even if it was her own house... technically. But of course, she was Ellis Grey, no need to be polite about it. And she hadn't seen Aiden since he was 3 months old. He didn't remember her at all. Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd were the only grandparents he had, and she would love to keep it that way.
"With all due respect Mom, Aiden doesn't remember who you are. And I'm living with my boyfriend."
Ellis ignored her first sentence and jumped straight to Derek, "You have a boyfriend?"
"I do. We've been together for nearly half a year now. He loves me and Aiden and he moved in a few months ago."
"Does this man have a name?"
"Derek Shepherd. He's a hockey player."
"A hockey player? So, while you're making all the money to clothe Aiden and feed all of you, he's off playing a petty game. Good choice Meredith, he's probably a gold digger, get rid of him."
"Mom," Meredith said frustrated, "If anything, people would think I'm the gold digger. He makes nearly $5 million a year and he's the alternate Captain of Seattle's new team. He's doing pretty well for himself," she replied in a sarcastic tone.
Her mother huffed disdainfully. "I expect to meet him Meredith. He is likely nothing more than a glorified jock with a big ego. I'll see you Wednesday." All Meredith heard then was the dial tone.
Just great. Now she would have to explain to Aiden that he actually had another grandmother who just couldn't be bothered to come and see them and then tell Derek that he was being forced to meet her mother. She groaned to herself, this was going to be the week from hell.