L A Y L A ' S P O V

"We need pizza, chicken nuggets, fries, lots of snacks, cereal and juices. Do you know if he prefers apple or orange?"

"Orange," Derek says, rolling the shopping cart to a stop beside me. He eyes me cautiously as I continue to fill the cart with copious amounts of food. "And he's three, Layla. We're not feeding an Olympic athlete."

"I know," I say, stacking some fruit roll ups on top of the capri suns. "But I want to make sure we have everything he likes."

"He's related to you," Derek chuckles, grabbing the box of cheerios I'm struggling to reach from the top shelf. "He'll like anything we put in front of him."

Spencer and Averie are going away for the weekend on a trip for their anniversary and they're trusting us to watch Aidan and I want to make sure he has a good time staying with Derek and I. Hence why we spent our morning traipsing around the stores making sure we have everything we need to keep him occupied.

Aiming to be his favourite aunt and uncle, Derek and I have a night full movies planned, games and letting Aidan eat all the junk food his little heart can handle. Or stomach. Now looking at all the candy in the shopping cart I'm second guessing my decision. Our night could go south very quickly.

"If he pukes, you're cleaning it up."

"Oh god," Derek groans, dragging his hand down his face. "We really didn't think this through."

"I thought it through just fine," I say with a devilish smile. "Which is why I called dibs on not cleaning it up."

Derek slips his hand around my waist, pulling me into him before he drops his lips to mine. "You're lucky I love you."

We spend the next twenty minutes actually making good use of our time here and picking up some essentials like bread, coffee creamer, toothpaste and other food bits to get us through the week.

I stop short of my sentence when Derek and I are in the middle of discussing whether to get fresh or frozen vegetables. "This is very domestic of us."

Derek laughs. "This is definitely one of our more wholesome Friday afternoons."

"Wholesome.. that reminds me," I say, guiding Derek out of the food section and over to the clothes. "I need new pyjamas."

The corners of Derek's mouth tug down. "But I like your pyjamas."

Anything I own that vaguely resembles pyjamas are not suitable for anyone's eyes but Derek's. "I don't have any pyjamas."

Derek frown turns into a cheeky wide grin. "Exactly."

My eyes narrow teasingly. "You're so funny. You know what else is funny?"

It's funny that I could give him one look right now that will leave him in a very awkward situation that he doesn't want to be in right here in the middle of this aisle.

Derek's face drops. He knows me too well. "Layla, please don't."

With a satisfied smirk, I turn and walk down the pyjamas aisle. I absolutely love the power I have over him. I kissed him in the car then we had to wait for five minutes for his dick to go down before we could come into the store.

I pick up the first appropriate pair I see, a cotton polka dot print and hold them up for Derek to see. "These are cute."

Derek's nose scrunches as he eyes the long sleeves and bottoms. "Too much fabric."

The point? Missed. "Exactly, I need to be covered."

Derek tilts his head, mulling over the decision. "Can I throw them out after this weekend?"

I shrug. "Sure."

With everything we needed to get now in the cart, Derek and I make our way to the checkout. We just start getting everything loaded up onto the conveyor belt when my phone rings and I dig it out of my purse and swipe to answer Averie's call.

"Hey," I say, when I put the phone to my ear. "When do you want us to come get Aidan?"

"We're at the park on 10th. Can you meet us here?" Averie says on the other end of the line. I can practically hear the smile on her face when she says, "I'm sure Derek will love to see this."

I end the call when I say we'll be there as soon as we finish up here as Derek places the last of our groceries up on the conveyor belt and the cashier starts scanning our stuff. Derek and I stand to the side as she finishes ringing us up and I take my card out of my purse.

Derek looks at me. Then at my card in my hand. Then back to me. "No."

Derek let's me win on almost everything in our relationship, except when it comes to paying for things.

"But—"

"No," Derek says again with a shake of his head when he pulls out his wallet from his back pocket. "Now go stand over there and look pretty."

I try to sneakily slide my card to the cashier but she turns a blind eye at my gesture, all while giving me a 'make his pockets hurt' look. Unrelated note, I love her.

When we make it out to the parking lot Derek doesn't let me help load the groceries into the trunk and I'm once again told to sit in the car and look pretty while he returns the shopping cart.

When he gets back to the truck and I tell him Averie's very vague statement on meeting them at the park we set off. A short drive later we park up and climb out of the car, still confused on what we're doing here.

But as we approach, it's now clear to me why Averie wanted us to meet them here because out there there's a bunch of kids Aidan's age running around the field. "No way," I laugh. "They put him in peewee football."

"Oh my god," Derek laughs, eyes shining with pride as they follow Aidan attempting to kick the ball. "This is amazing."

We make our way over to where Averie and Spencer are standing on the sidelines with the other parents cheering the kids on.

"You are the hottest mom here."

Averie turns at the sound of my voice, face brightening with a huge grin when she sees me. "Why thank you very much," She says sarcastically, dramatically sweeping her hair over her shoulder. "I do try."

Derek squeezes my hip before he steps away from me and walks over towards Spencer while Averie and I get to catching up and she tells me all about her weird pregnancy symptoms. Her bump has really popped these past couple weeks and she likes to say now she actually looks pregnant and not just bloated all the time.

"Besides peeing fifty times a day, how are you?"

"I'm nervous about this weekend," Averie breathes deeply, fidgeting with her fingers before she turns to face me. "Not about you guys watching Aidan, about leaving him. Spencer and I have never left him for the whole weekend before."

"He'll be fine," I assure her with a comforting squeeze on her arm.

"That's the thing, I know he will." She laughs like her thoughts are crazy, dragging a hand through her hair. "It's me. The only time he's not attached to my hip is when he's sleeping or Spencer and I get an occasional few hours out for a date night."

"You can call anytime and I promise I'll send you lots of pictures," I smile. "Speaking off.." I say, trying to take her mind away from what seems to be the downside of her trip. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"

"Kinda," She shrugs. "I have my toothbrush."

My brows furrow. Talk about under packing. "That's it?"

Averie shrugs again, this time grinning. "I plan on spending the whole weekend naked in the hotel room. My toothbrush is all I need."

I laugh. "Can't argue with that. Hotel room sex slaps."

Averie giggles. "Like Spencer's hips to my as—"

Averie's mouth is suddenly covered by Spencer's hand. His focus is still on the field in front of him, but he simply shakes his head in disapproval to his wife's inappropriate comment.

Averie rolls her eyes and mutters prude underneath her breath when she tears his hand away from her mouth. "So, how was your birthday weekend?" She asks, directing the conversation back to me.

I'm pretty sure Derek would be next to reach over and cover my mouth if I went into any details about our weekend, so I try to come up with a more tame response.

After my dude and bro comments that night Derek fucked me so hard that those words will never leave my lips again. Or they will.. but only if we have no plans because let me just tell you that ache lasted all week.

We basically spent all weekend in bed and Derek's head was between my legs for more hours then it wasn't. He made me breakfast in bed, bubble baths and gave me many massages.

But the star of the show has to be how thoughtful his present was. I love jewellery but there's one necklace I wear every single day. It was my moms and when she died it was the last piece of her I could have close to me all the time. So knowing how important it is to me, Derek got me the most perfect matching earrings.

I've been looking for years to find something similar to it but somehow Derek found the perfect matching set. So I tell Averie that and tuck my hair behind my ear to show her my new jewellery.

"They are so beautiful," Averie smiles, eyes shining with excitement before they travel down to my hand. "Now all you're missing is the ring."

The coach's final whistle blowing directs our attention back to the field just in time to see Aidan running over to us all.

"Did you see me?" Aidan asks, giggling with excitement when Derek hoists him up into his arms. "I'm just like you now!"

"You're better than me," Derek says, matching his energy when he holds up his hand for a high five to which Aidan enthusiastically slaps. "You killed it out there, kid."

"We should get going babe," Spencer says to Averie after he checks his watch. He reaches over and takes Aidan from Derek's arms, hugging him to his chest. "Are you going to miss us?"

"Yes," Aidan mumbles lowly, clinging around his neck. "How long are you going for?"

Spencer gives his son a soft, encouraging smile. "Only a few days, but you're going to have so much fun with Derek and Layla that you won't even notice that we're gone." He holds his pinky finger up and Aidan wraps his around it. "I promise." He casts a quick look over at Averie before he drops his lips to Aidan's ear and whispers, "Your mom's going to cry now. Don't freak out."

My eyes drift to Averie and she's.. tearful to say the least. She takes Aidan from Spencer's arms, cradling the back of his head, borderline suffocating him with how tight she's squeezing him while mumbling underneath her breath about 'stupid pregnancy hormones'. "I'll pick you up first thing Sunday morning," She says. Or rather sobs.

"Not the morning," Aidan's eyes widen a fraction when he pulls back, shaking his head back and forth. "Layla promised she'd make me waffles."

"Okay, I'll pick you up after breakfast." Averie says through a small laugh while she smothers his cheek with kisses. "I love you."

We make a quick switch of changing Aidan's car seat into Derek's truck and before we know it the three of us are waving bye as Averie and Spencer pull out of the car park.

"Are you too tired for a game with me?" Derek asks with a grin, tossing the ball to Aidan.

"Too tired to beat you?" Aidan yells, making his away across the field. "No way!" He calls out over his shoulder.

Derek shoots me a wink before he's chasing down the field after Aidan and I watch in amusement as they play adorably together.

-

Spending the rest of our evening at the park was a good use of getting most of Aidan's energy out because by the time we get home, he looks wiped and is very excited that I said we all can just relax on the couch and watch a movie with dinner.

"Okay Aidan, what do you want?" I pull open the freezer. "We have pizza.. fries.. chicken nuggets.. tater tots.."

Aidan nods. "Yes."

I grin. "All of the above? Good choice."

Derek steps into me, placing his hand on my hip when he kisses my cheek. "Need help, babe?"

"No, thanks," I turn the knob to preheat the oven before I look over my shoulder and smile at him. "I got it."

Derek drops another kiss to my temple before he turns leans down. "Let's go dude," He says, tapping on his shoulder. Aidan catches the hint and hops up on his back, locking his arms around Derek's neck. "It's bath time. You stink."

Aidan's offended gasp fills the room. "You stink."

"Ah!" A half laugh, half strangled sound leaves Derek's lips as the sound of the two of them play fighting filters out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "Don't choke me."

Funny. That's the first time I've heard Derek say the  word don't in that sentence.

Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, I get back to my housewife duties. I get all the food in the oven then I make the living room all cosy by closing the curtains, turning on all the lamps and fireplace before I head to the laundry room and take the fresh bedding I washed earlier for Aidan's bed out of the dryer.

With the laundry basket in hand, I head up stairs on my way to the guest room and when I'm passing down the hallway I pause at the bathroom door when I hear Derek and Aidan talking over the gentle splashing of the water and I listen through the half cracked door when I hear my name.

"Are you going to hurt my aunt Layla?"

"No, of course not," Derek says, his tone laced with confusion. "Why would you ask that?"

Aidan sighs deeply. "Because I heard my mommy tell my dad that she's going to cut off your penis if you hurt Layla."

I try desperately to hold back my laughter. Of course she did.

Unlike me, Derek doesn't hold back his laughter. "I won't hurt her. I promise," he says, still chuckling. "She's the most important person in the world to me. Besides you."

Aidan giggles, splashing in the water around him. "Do you love her like my dad loves my mom?"

Derek cracks open the shampoo bottle, his voice soft. "Yeah, kid. I do."

Aidan is seemingly full of questions tonight. "Are you going to marry her?"

"If she's stupid enough to agree to marry me then yes, I will."

I feel like a giddy three year old standing outside this door right now. I wasn't expecting this conversation to be pulling on my heartstrings the way it is. Derek and I haven't had this talk yet and in a way I like that I'm getting his perspective on it without the pressure of the big conversation.

"Is there going to be a baby in her belly like my mommy has?"

Derek's laugh is lighthearted. "Someday. Maybe. If she wants one."

"Do you want one?" Aidan asks, voice filled with curiosity.

Aidan is hitting him with all the hard questions tonight. That kid deserves some ice cream for that one.

"That's not my decision, kid. That's up to Layla."

And Derek deserves some ice cream for that answer.

I tip toe away from the door as quietly as possible, trying to hold back my laughter as Derek starts rambling, trying to explain that answer and escape the birds and the bees talk when Aidan asks the inevitable why? question kids love so much.

I make up the bed in the guest room and lay Aidan's pyjamas on it and change into my own before I'm back downstairs, taking the food out of the oven, slicing up the pizza and plating everything else up.

I have all the food layed out on the coffee table and I just settle onto the couch and get the movies loaded up on the tv when I hear them start to come down the stairs.

I look over my shoulder as their voices approach. "How was it?"

Aidan rubs at his squeezed shut eyes. "Derek got the shampoo in my eyes."

"Oh god," I take Aidan from Derek's arms, tilting his head back to get a better look. "Did you flush it out?"

Aidan opens his eyes long enough to give Derek a side eye. "With water as cold as ice."

Derek's eyes are wide and he throws his hands up. "I panicked!"

Aidan lays his head on my shoulder, his cute grumpy face directed at Derek. "You blasted the water in my face!"

Derek sweeps his hands out, dropping his voice. "I panicked!"

Rolling my eyes at his dramatics, I focus back on Aidan. "I'm sorry," I say, rubbing my hand up his back. "I know it sucks."

Aidan looks up at me. "Did Derek get shampoo in your eyes too?"

Now it's my turn to give Derek a side eye. "Yeah, sure. Shampoo."

Derek need to work on his aim. Face does not mean eyes. Mouth does not mean eyes. Seems simple. You would think he wouldn't mess it up. He does.

"And that's my queue to leave," Derek winces, tugging off his soaked T-shirt. He drops a quick kiss to my temple before he heads towards the stairs. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

Aidan and I get all cosy on the couch and he scrolls through the movie selection before he decides on us watching finding nemo. Before I put my phone down I send Averie some of the photos I took of us at the park today along with a few of Aidan tucked in beside me, happy out with his plate full of nuggets. Before we know it, Derek is stepping back into the living room freshly showered.

"Dude," Derek's shocked gasp is directed at where Aidan is cuddled into my side. His offended eyes travel to where we're sharing a blanket with no room for him to join. "That's my girl."

"Yeah," Aidan says completely unbothered, dipping his nugget in ketchup before he takes a bite, his focus still on the movie. "And what about it?"

There was been few times I've seen Derek flabbergasted so I can't help but laugh at him when I mouth you just got owned to him.

Derek swipes a chicken nugget from Aidan's plate in a piss poor attempt to get back at him and sticks out his tongue at him for good measure. I couldn't decipher who the three year old is in this room right now if you payed me.

"Hey!" Aidan gasps in offence, shocked face when he turns to me. "Layla, he's bullying me."

I laugh at Derek. "You big baby. Sit down."

Derek huffs lowly when he sits down on the opposite side of the couch when Aidan nestles back into my side. Derek's eyes are narrowed at Aidan and I can't see his face, but knowing Aidan, he definitely just gave Derek a sucker look.

-

Honestly, kids movies hold my attention span for longer than I'd care to admit.

"Layla, do you think he's asleep?" Derek whispers, trying to lean over and look to where Aidan is laying between us, facing the opposite way. "I can't tell."

"Wait," I whisper back, knowing what scene in the movie is coming up. "We'll find out in a second."

When we're greeted with silence and not giggling when he touched the butt is said, we know that can only mean one thing.

"He's out," Derek chuckles quietly, sitting up and gently lifting Aidan into his arms. "I'll put him up in bed."

"It's barely eight o'clock," I groan when I check the time on my phone. "He's probably going to be up at five in the morning."

Derek heaves an amused sigh as he ascends up the stairs. "That's going to be fun."

I start picking up our plates and clearing away our dishes before I take them out to the kitchen and start to rinse them off.

"I take it back."

I look over my shoulder to see Derek standing with one shoulder resting against the door frame watching me, his head slightly bobbing. "Take what back?"

He crosses the room and his hands slide around me, his body pressing into me from behind. "What I said earlier," He murmurs, nuzzling his head into my neck. "These pyjamas are working for me."

My laugh is lighthearted. "Shut up."

Derek's hands move to my hair and he runs his fingers through it and gathers it on the top of my head and loosely ties it up into a messy bun for me. It's taken lots of practice, but he's got the hang of it now.

I reach for the paper towels and dry off my hands. Derek's still pressing into me, one part of him in particular. So I laugh, rolling my head back into his shoulder. "Don't even try it with me tonight."

"For future reference," Derek grips my chin, directing my focus to him. "I'm going to try it every night with you."

"Well, pack it in." I already pre warned him that he was getting nada this weekend when Aidan is staying with us. "You're not getting anywhere with me tonight."

"Fine," He chuckles, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. "I'll take what I can get."

Before I know it I'm scooped up into his arms and he takes us back into the living room. My back sinks into the soft cushions when he drops me onto the couch and Derek's body covers mine. He sighs with contentment when I'm in his arms and he's wrapped around me like a koala.

"Derek?" His questioning hum is muffled into my neck. "Were you feeling neglected today?"

Today was the first time in a long time that our attention wasn't solely focused on each other and right now someone seems a little needy. I can practically hear his pout when he says, "No."

I try and fail to even move an inch beneath him. "Then why am I being suffocated right now?"

Derek's nose grazes the underside of my jaw before he gently nips at my neck. "You can talk. You're fine."

Our next few minutes are filled with soft touches, our breathing melting together, lips fused with
tender kisses and light pecks, my quiet laughter as his stubble tickles the sensitive skin on my neck when his lips travel to the base of my throat.

"Derek?"

Derek's nose nuzzles mine gently. "Yes, my love?"

"I heard what you said earlier," I say, wanting to test the waters on this conversation. "And I think I'm just stupid enough to agree."

"Yeah?" Derek says, grinning. He doesn't say anything, but he knows exactly what I'm talking about. "You are?"

"For the right price."

"The right price?" He parrots back, with an amused smirk.

My expression matches his. "I'm prime marriage material. It's going to cost you."

"How about everything I'm worth and a million dollars?"

"Fine, I'll settle." I give him a teasing, halfhearted shrug. "One more thing?"

Derek raises an amused eyebrow. "You want my kidneys too?"

I laugh, shaking my head. "No, but.." I swallow before taking a breath. "What if I don't want kids?"

"Okay," Derek says, not skipping a beat. "Then we won't have kids."

"Okay?" I repeat in disbelief. "That's it?"

Derek's eyes soften at me. "Layla, if you have decided you don't want to have any kids then I'm not going to try to change your mind."

This man. If it's possible, I think I fall in love with him more and more with every second that passes. "So if I don't want kids?"

"Then we won't have kids."

My heart aches at the sincerity in his eyes. "I'm enough for you?"

The look in Derek's eyes deepens and he frowns like me even questioning that hurts his heart. "Yes, Layla. You're enough for me. More than enough for me."

After I lost my mom when I was younger I swore to myself I was never going to have kids because I would never want them to experience that kind of pain. Now that I've grown older, I know that that was just a decision I made out of my grief. I know that I can't live in fear of what if's and I don't want that to stop me from experiencing life.

I smile softly. "I think I do want to have a kid someday."

"Yeah? You do?" Derek grins, eyes shining with a certain glimmer of the possibilities of our future. "You want to have my babies?"

My eyes widen. "Woah. What's with the plurals? Let's start with one."

Derek's smile is warm. "One, ten, none. Doesn't matter. I'll love you forever no matter what."

His lips are on mine again before they're travelling to my cheeks, nose and forehead while he presses soft, teasing kisses into my skin. But when his lips travel down my neck in a more intentional way, kissing in the way he knows I like, I can't help but start giggling.

"Why are you laughing?" Derek asks, shocked that I would even dare. "I'm doing some of my best work here."

"Finding nemo is still playing. This isn't very sexy."

"Okay," Derek grins before he covers my eyes over with one of his hands. "Let me set the mood."

The movie stops. The sound of the buttons on the remote clicking fills the room for about ten seconds. And then when Marvin Gaye's let's get it on starts playing, I can't help but laugh even harder.

I burst into more laughter. "You are such a dork."

Derek's gaze is challenging. "A dork you agreed to marry and have kids with. That doesn't make you any better."

Derek and I groan in unison when the sound of my phone ringing cuts into our conversation. I try to reach for it on the coffee table and I can't, so Derek moves to grab it for me.

"Oh," He says, turning the phone to me after he pauses the song. "It's your brother."

My eyebrows draw lower when I take the phone from him and swipe to answer the face time call. Adam never calls me this late so it must be important.

"Hey, wh—oh my fucking god!"

I almost head butt Derek from how fast I sit up to focus on my phone up because I was expecting to see my brother but what I'm looking at is a baby. A newborn.

The phone pulls back and now in the frame is my beautiful, exhausted sister in law in her hospital bed with the baby on her chest, my smiling brother tucked tightly into her side.

"She's here," Violet says, grinning ear to ear. "And perfect."

"She?" I gasp. I have a niece. I think I might be vibrating with pure and utter joy. "It's a girl. Derek, it's a girl."

Derek chuckles when he grabs my hand to put a stop to where I'm excitedly tapping my hand to his chest before he peaks his head into the cameras view. "She's beautiful," He says, smiling softly. "Congratulations guys."

Violet and Adam give us a quick run down of the labour and birth, telling us how much she weighed and measured but I'm only half listening as I stare at my adorable new niece. She looks like a complete doll, chubby cheeks and long eyelashes with dark wispy ringlet curls on her head.

If we weren't babysitting I'd be hopping into the car right now to drive through the night to go meet her. I look towards Derek. "We need to go to Chicago."

Derek's focus is on his phone beside me and he places his hand on my inner thigh and squeezes. "I'm already booking flights for next weekend."

"That's perfect," Adam says, nodding. "We'll be in the hospital for a few days and that will give us time to get settled at home too."

The baby is sleeping soundly and Violet looks like she's on the verge of falling sleep herself. "I'll let you guys go get some sleep," I say. "Send me on all the pictures."

When I end the call Adam sends me loads of photos of the baby almost immediately and I'm still giddy as Derek and I spend the next ten minutes swiping through them all.

I know the conversation was very recent, but I have serious baby fever right now. I raise an intrigued eyebrow. "So we agreed we're having a baby.."

Derek chuckles, already knowing where I'm going with this. "Not yet."

"Why not?" I whine, swiping through all the adorable photos where she's swaddled in a little pink blanket. "Look how cute she is."

When Derek doesn't answer me I look over towards him. He's sitting back on the couch, staring at me. His bottom lip is tucked between his teeth while his eyes drag up and down my body.

My eyes narrow. "What?"

"Fuck," He says in an almost breathless whisper as his thumb glides across his bottom lip. "You're going to look so hot pregnant with my baby."

Is that seriously what he's thinking about right now?

"Derek, how can you even think—actually, yeah, I will."

-

A/N: 5000 words later, the chapter is done. I clearly cannot write short chapters😅 but I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Any cute moments you want to see of these two in Chicago?🤍