Status: Coming Soon!!

Who Knew Then? (What We Know Now?)

I Promise

Kassidy

“Everything looks all right, but you look like you didn’t sleep well,” Dr. Rose said. I was back at the office, but instead of Marc and/or Lindsay, Derek was at my side. I hadn’t been sure about him coming, mostly because I didn’t want to end up dragging him along to an appointment he would most likely find boring when he could be sleeping, but he’d insisted that he wanted to be there.

He’d phoned me this morning about forty-five minutes before my appointment, wondering if I’d needed a ride. I’d sheepishly admitted that I’d been planning to take a taxi, and he’d immediately put his foot down, deciding he would pick me up and drop me off, seeing as the rest of the team wouldn’t be back in New York until around lunch time. After that I’d assumed he would want to go run some errands or something while I went in, but instead he’d quietly asked if he could come with me. I’d sat head bobbing in the waiting room, leaning on his shoulder and trying not to fall asleep until the nurse called out my name, and while he’d been hesitant at the door had sat faithfully by my side the whole appointment. He’d even reached to hold my hand when we could hear Izzy’s heartbeat, which choked me up every time.

“Our flight got in late last night,” Derek offered, covering for my tired lack of concentration, and she nodded.

“And with the way your sleep patterns work that probably threw you off. Well, all in all I’d say everything looks good – and you’re sure you still don’t want to know the sex?” she asked.
“Still positive,” I managed a smile for her, which she returned. Derek shifted awkwardly, and I looked to him.

“Can I ask something?” Derek was running a hand through his hair, which he only did when he was really nervous, which confused me. I didn't know why he'd be nervous - and he'd assured me he wouldn't feel uncomfortable when he'd insisted on coming in to the appointment with me.

“Sure, what is it?” Dr. Rose looked to him expectantly. He seemed to stammer and get embarrassed over the direct attention, and looked to me almost apologetically, like he was about to do something he thought I would disapprove of.

“Can I get a copy of the last ultrasound picture?” he blurted, his face turning red. I had to admit, it was heartwarming to hear those words come out of his mouth, and Dr. Rose just smiled at him and assured him one of the nurses would bring us a copy out to the waiting room before we left. After that she figured we were all ready to go, and only wrote another prescription for the pre-natal vitamins before sending us on our way.

“I really hope you don’t think I’m out of line,” he sheepishly said as we sat in the waiting room for the nurse to bring the copy. He’d been wringing his hands and then rubbing them on his jeans for the few minutes we’d been sitting down.

“No, I’m just curious as to why you want one,” I replied, and he looked down at his feet. It took him a few moments to compose his reply, and he opened his mouth a few times to speak, but no words came out. Finally he looked up at me, took a deep breath and words came out.

“Because you mean a lot to me, and so does Izzy. I mean, you two are kind of part of the team, you know? And I wasn’t kidding when I’d teased you before about wanting one in my stall at the rink for good luck,” he answered.

“That’s really sweet,” I allowed, gushing a tiny bit, and he managed a small smile for me. Derek was a wonderful guy, and he always put everyone he cared about before himself, something that was really endearing. He would do anything for his friends, family and teammates, something that he made sure everyone close to him knew.

Soon the nurse had called my name, and I stood up. She came over and handed a small brown envelope to me, before leaving. I turned to Derek and handed it to him, and hesitantly he opened it and slid the picture out. His hands shook ever so slightly, and it took him a moment to turn the picture and actually look at it. Once he did he stood there nearly staring – his eyes moving over every millimeter of the picture, taking in every tiny detail. It took him nearly five full minutes to snap out of the trance, and finally those huge blue eyes met mine for a millisecond before returning to the ultrasound, looking at the photo almost longingly - his gaze intense and darkening the blue of his eyes.

“Izzy’s looking pretty big already, huh?” he asked quietly, and I nodded. His voice was soft, the way I imagined a father’s voice would be the first time he looked at an ultrasound of his baby. To think I’d never hear Jared do that almost made me cringe inside, but I pushed away the thoughts of him to answer Derek, and Izzy decided to help as I felt the pressure against my ribs.

“You don’t have to tell me; little critter’s developed a habit of pushing against mommy’s ribs,” I groaned, making him chuckle as he wrapped an arm around me and led me to his car. Izzy pushed harder, this time winding me slightly, and making me lean against the hood of Derek's car for a moment to get a hold of myself. Derek had stood beside me, worrying over me like I was going to fall to the ground or have a seizure at any moment.

"I'm fine - honest. Izzy just managed to wind me a bit, that's all," I assured him, and after a few more moments he seemed to believe me, helping me into the car and shutting the door for me before getting in on his side.

“Um, do you want to grab some lunch?” he asked after he’d opened and closed my door for me and finally got in on his side. I debated for a moment, sensing the he meant as more than just friends.

“Derek, I…”

“I really do mean as friends Kassy. I know Jared’s still part of your life, whether you want him to be or not,” he cut me off, and then took my hand. “But if things don’t work out and you need someone to take care of you and Izzy, you’ll have me. Even if it’s not a romantic thing, you’ll have me.”

“Really?” Why was I so stupid to not have feelings for such an incredible guy as Derek?

“I promise.”
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So... a little more Derek in this one :) I'm really starting to like him... don't know if that's good or bad yet! What do you think?