The Yard Work Correlation {a MerDer one shot}
Disclaimer: I think by now, it’s pretty obvious: I don’t own it.
This is for Amber (mizzougirl88 ), who relieved me of my summer boredom by giving me the prompt words “autumn, leaves, kids.” Thank you, Amber! And I really hope you like this (and everyone else, too)! :)
They first moved into their new house in the winter, and spent an entire Saturday shoveling snow off their newly paved driveway, and the porch and patio and every other snow-covered surface. It took them hours, but they rewarded themselves with hot chocolate and sex next to the fireplace.
This autumn, Matthew was born. Not exactly planned, but they weren’t not trying either. They’d chalked it up to being excellent at practicing, the result of which being better than they’d ever hoped. A beautiful, perfect baby that was half him, half her. Of course, it was obvious that he was Derek’s clone, which figured, considering she’d endured all the labor, and Derek got all the genetic glory.
Autumn in the woods, like winter, is mystical and magical and all that. But it’s a pain in the ass. Leaves don’t melt like snow does. Leaves are relentless, and they linger, and they keep on coming.
But this year, their first autumn spent in the new house, Meredith knows she gets a free pass. She swaddles their son close to her chest as she peels back the curtain and peeks out the front window. It looks like every leaf in Seattle has blanketed their property. They’d have to wade through them just to make it to the car in the driveway.
“Remind me again why we thought living in the woods was a good idea?” she asks.
Derek laughs as he pulls on his coat, rearing up to go outside and rake until every least leaf was gone, which at this point, probably meant sometime around sunset. “I love it out here,” he says.
Meredith smiles, propping their son up over her shoulder and rubbing his back. “Even with all the raking?”
“Even with all the raking.”
“Good. Because you’re on your own this year,” she tells him. “I’d help but, you know, I pushed a baby out of my body three weeks ago.”
“I don’t expect you to help,” Derek chuckles. He finishes tying his boots and walks over to them, splaying his hand over Meredith’s back. “In a few years, Matt can help me. Right, buddy?” He kisses the back of his tiny son’s head, covered in his same thick, dark hair.
“Hmm, one day,” Meredith says. She uses her free hand and tilts his chin toward her. “Have fun,” she whispers before kissing him.
“Yeah,” he says sarcastically. “If I’m not back in here by five, call 911 so they can come fish me out.”
“I offered to get you a leaf blower for your birthday…” she reminds him, giggling. “But you declined.”
“Fresh outdoors, exercise… it’s fun,” Derek replies as they walk toward the front door.
Meredith smirks at him. “That’s one word for it.”
While Matthew sleeps in her arms, she watches Derek from the window and bites her lip. He looks lean and muscular with a rake. And a shovel. Or when he’s changing the oil in her car. Or washing dishes. She frowns. All of the hormones surging through her body, and she can’t even take advantage of them because she’s off sex for three more weeks post-delivery.
Still though, if it weren’t fifty degrees outside, she’d ask him to do the job shirtless.
“Last time Daddy and I did yard work together, we made you,” Meredith whispers so as not to wake the baby curled into her chest. “Well, not outside, but-” She pauses. “I’m gonna stop talking now.”
Matt clutches onto her shirt with his tiny hand and yawns, and Meredith breathes in all of his tiny baby warmth.
Annoying leaves aside, she has to admit, she loves living out here, too.
…
Three years pass, and another autumn is upon them in Seattle. “I help Daddy?” Matt had requested a few days earlier when Derek mentioned needing to rake this weekend.
So now, Meredith was busy bundling her son up in his flannel, coat, and hat, much to Derek’s amusement. She was even more overprotective than his mother had been when he was little, and that was saying something.
“Mer, it’s not even that cold outside,” Derek grins, watching as she fits a knit cap on Matt’s head of dark curls, making sure to cover his ears.
“The weatherman said it’s blustery or whatever, and I want to make sure he stays warm. I don’t want him getting sick right before Halloween,” Meredith explains as she zips up his coat. She kisses Matt’s forehead and smiles. “All done, sweetie.”
“I go help Daddy now?” Matt asks her, his blue eyes wide and eager.
Meredith squishes him in her arms, as if she’s trying to hold onto his babyhood for as long as she can, though she knows her little guy is only going to keep growing up.
Matt turned three a few weeks ago, and they still can’t believe how fast the years went. From learning how to swaddle to potty training to registering him for preschool. Added to the fact that every day, he looks more and more like Derek, and it was enough to bring Meredith to tears.
“Yeah, you and Daddy can go rake now,” Meredith says. “I’ll have hot chocolate waiting. Maybe. If the pot doesn’t bubble over or explode.”
Matt’s mouth forms a tiny O shape. “Mommy cook?” he asks. Even his three year old self knows that his mother’s skills are lacking in the kitchen arena.
Meredith looks up to Derek, and she notices how his smile comes to reach his eyes. “What? He said it, not me.”
“Mmhmm,” Meredith responds, unable to hide her amusement.
Derek holds out his hand for his son. “Come on, Matt. Let’s go outside and do manly things. This summer, I’ll teach you how to fish.”
“Fish?” Matt asks excitedly as the two of them brave the outdoors.
Meredith knows that as far as husbands go, she won the metaphorical jackpot. Derek cleans and fixes things and is the most incredibly hands-on, wonderful father she’d always knew he’d be. But he’s still a guy, and under all that hotness, he’s kind of a dork, a man-boy that makes her think that sometimes, she has two children instead of one.
She laughs as she watches her two favorite guys rake the leaves. Well, not so much rake as gather up piles and then jump into them. Meredith can hear Matt’s squeals of laughter from inside the house, and it does warm, gooey things to her insides.
She quickly pulls on her shoes and coat, and runs outside to join them. Derek can make the hot chocolate once they come inside. It’s probably safer that way, anyway.
“Hey!” Derek calls out over Matt’s laughter. “What’re you doing out here?”
Meredith smiles at him as he scoops their son up out of the leaf pile. “Figured I’d join in,” she says.
“Well then,” Derek grins. Before she has time to react, he scoops her up into his arms and gently tosses her into a cushy leaf pile that sits at least four feet off the ground.
“What are you…? Derek, no!” Meredith screams, arms flailing in the air. She lands with a soft bounce and scrambles as fast as she can to get up. “Payback’s a you-know-what!” she warns him, careful not to use any expletives around their three year old.
She pounces on him and they fall back into the leaves, Matt clapping nearby, delighted by his parents’ immaturity. Meredith kisses her husband, smiling against his lips. “You’re so paying for that later.”
Derek grins up at her. “Looking forward to it.”
“Again!” Matt cheers, his curls peeking out from underneath his hat, his cheeks rosy and happy.
Meredith reaches for the little boy and settles him between herself and Derek. The leaves might never get raked, but right then, it was impossible to care.
Once Matt was settled into bed that night, worn out from playing outside, fresh out of the bathtub, and a sippy cup full of hot chocolate, Meredith and Derek lie on the couch, relishing the quiet, which wasn’t easy to come by because of their energetic toddler. The only sound came from the crackling of the fireplace.
Meredith shifts closer to him under the blanket and sighs contentedly. “I had a lot of fun today.”
“Hmm, me too,” he says softly, leaning in and kissing her.
“You know, the last time you and I did yard work together, you got me pregnant,” she reminds him playfully.
They’d been talking about having another one for a few months now, so Meredith decides to use this as her opportunity. And after today, the thought of giving Matt a brother or sister to run around in the leaves with is kind of all she can think about.
Derek grins, his eyes blue and sparkling in a way that makes her weak at the knees. “All in a hard day’s work. We’re impressive.”
“We should do that again. You know, keep up with tradition…” Meredith says, moving to straddle his lap. Her fingers worry the curls on the nape of his neck and she bites her lip.
“Yeah?”
She nods, smiling. “I want another one.”
Derek replies by kissing her, and she kisses him back. They make love by the fireplace, their mugs of hot chocolate forgotten about on the coffee table.
Nine months later, their daughter is born on a hot afternoon in July. And they’re both convinced that there’s a correlation between doing yard work and making babies.