DEREK
Meredith and I are in the bedroom. my sister picked up the kids and Meredith said she was tired. Meredith gets dressed into her silk pyjamas and get's under the covers.
"I don't know how you can be so tired," I say. "it's called being a woman," she says. "what? how does that even make sense?" I say. "get a uterus and you'll know," she says. I decided not to ask any more questions or else might get answers I don't want.
after a few minutes, there's a knock at the door. "come in," I say. the door opens and my mother walks in. she looks at Meredith for a second before she looks at me. "Derek, can I see you for a bit?" she says. I nod. I get out of bed and walk out of the room.
"what is it?" I ask as we stand in the hallway. "your father wants to give you something," she says. I roll my eyes. "and what's that?" I say. "better you hear it from him," she smiles. she kisses my head before she walks away.
"he's outside," she says. I walk downstairs and go outside. I see my father sitting outside. "Ma said you wanted to talk to me," I say. "yes, sit," he says pointing to the seat next to him.
"is it going to take long?" I ask. he sighs. "No. when you were a kid you always talked about getting married, you remember that?" he says. "yea, I'm surprised you did," I say sitting down in the seat.
"I gave your mother two rings when we got married. I bought one, the one she always wears, and this one," he says. he grabs something from the table next to him. he opens a small black velvet box and hands it to me.
"your mom spoke with Meredith and so did I, she has a good job, she's a good person, she's good with kids, and she'll make a good mother and wife one day. my father gave me this ring, and his father gave it to him and so on... and now I'm giving it to you and one day you'll give it to your son," he says.
I take the box from his hand and look at the ring. "what do I do with this ring if I'm supposed to buy her another one?" I ask. "you don't have to buy her another one, you can give her this one or get her another one, or both. just as long as the ring is passed down the family, it's an heirloom," he says.
"Good to know, thanks," I say getting up. "I'm sorry for not being there," he says as I'm about to leave. "you should be," I say before going back inside. I close the box and put it into my pocket. I don't think I'll be able to forgive my father for it.
"did he give you the ring?" she asks. "yea, how does it work? I buy Meredith one to ring to wear and then put this one we put away?" I ask. "a little, you propose with this one and then you find one that you think she'd like and then you give her that one and then a wedding band," she says.
"oh," I say. "he means well," she says. "who, dad?" I ask. "yes, he had a talk with Meredith a bit ago," she says. "what about?" I ask. "I don't know, he just came inside and said that she's right for you and that he was going to give you the ring," she says.
"Alright, thanks," I say. she smiles as I go upstairs. I go back into the bedroom and see Meredith asleep in bed. I take the ring out of my pocket and place it in my bag where she wouldn't see it.
I get back in bed and lay down next to her. "Meredith," I say, turning onto my side and pulling her into my arms. "Hmm," she hums as she stirs a bit. "when we broke up did you think we were going to get back together?" I ask.
"when?" she asks in a raspy voice. "how times have we broken up?" I ask. "I don't know," she whispers as she rolls over and presses her face into my chest. "I thought it was just once," I say. "I'm too tired to remember," I say.
"Well, did you?" I ask. "I don't know, I tried keeping my mind off it and I focused on work instead," she says. "you didn't even think about me?" I ask. "I tried not to, every time I did think about you I would cry, so I didn't," she says.
"that's cute," I smile kissing her forehead. "me crying is not cute," she says. "yes, it is," I say kissing her again. "Me in pain is cute to you?" she says lifting her head from my chest and looking at me.
"No, that's not-" I say. "you're an idiot," she says, pushing me away and rolling over onto the other side of the bed. "Meredith," I say. "No, I'm tired, Derek. you can apologize some more later," she says.
"fine, sorry. have a good nap," I say, kissing her cheek. "we're arguing about this later," she says pushing me away. "I said I'm sorry," I say. "I don't care," she says with hurt in her voice.
"Meredith, are you crying?" I ask, sitting up. "No... I can't believe I ever thought about having children with you," she says the last part quietly. Damn it