A/N: I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be publishing new stories until my old ones are finished. But I just finished watching the season finale of Grey's, and I couldn't stop this one-shot from being written, and it flow so smoothly that it all came together in less than half an hour of writing (also, I'm supposed to be studying, so there may have been some procrastinating involved there!). I think the story summary is pretty much self-explanatory for this one - this story, especially the first half, is inspired by Meredith's speech to Amelia before the wedding, and goes off the idea that Meredith has now accepted Amelia as her family, and we all know how protective Meredith can be of the few people she considers family. As for the second half of the story, well, I just couldn't help myself from going a bit cliche, as you all may agree when you get there.

Please enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Carolyn Shepherd sighed as she looked out the window at the rain and settled in on her couch with a cup of coffee. It had been a long month since her last conversation with her youngest child, and although she occasionally wondered if she should pick up the phone and call her daughter, she kept telling herself she was doing the right thing. It wasn't called tough love because it was a walk in the park.

As she leaned forward to pick up the remote, her cell phone began to ring. Picking it up, she frowned at the name that flashed on the caller ID. She called her only daughter-in-law two or three times a month, and although their conversations were always pleasant, Meredith Grey had never once called her, not even when Derek had been killed - that call had come from Amelia. So as she picked up the phone and swiped at the screen, she had a growing pit in her stomach as she tried to imagine what could have happened.

"Meredith?" she said, pressing the phone to her ear and setting her coffee cup down. "What's wrong? Has something happened to one of the children?"

"The children are fine."

Carolyn frowned. Meredith's voiced seemed strained, as though she were forcing it to remain level. "Is it…is it Amelia then? Did she fall off the wagon again?"

"I don't understand you at all," Meredith said.

"Excuse me?"

"My mother was a bitch," Meredith said bluntly. "She did the best that she could, she loved me the best way she knew how, but at the end of the day, the woman was a horrible mother. I respected her for what she did professionally, but I still don't understand her personally."

"Meredith, I don't…" Carolyn began in confusion.

"I used to be jealous, you know," Meredith continued, almost as though she were talking to herself. "I used to be jealous of Derek, because he had Amelia and Nancy and Kathleen and Lizzie, and because they all had you. This big, beautiful family, with a mother who loved them all unconditionally, who was always there when they needed her."

"You have that now too, Meredith," Carolyn pointed out. "You're part of this family."

"That's very sweet," Meredith replied. "But I don't want that anymore."

"You don't?"

"My mother and I had a lot of fights over the years," Meredith said. "And she was not shy with her opinion. But at least when she was mad, she had the decency to show up and tell me to my face."

Carolyn sighed as recognition finally dawned on her. "This is about Amelia's wedding, isn't it?" she asked. "Meredith, I know my daughter a lot better than you do, and I've been there, done that when it comes to her impulsive decisions."

"You haven't seen her since Derek's funeral," Meredith pointed out. "And it had been at least a year before that. Don't pretend that I don't know her, because she and I have been through hell and back together these last few years, Carolyn."

"Meredith, she's been on and off with him for over a year," Carolyn said. "What makes her so sure this is going to stick? She rushes into things and then when they don't work out, she turns right back to drugs and alcohol."

"Derek and I were on and off for a long time," Meredith reminded her. "Hell, he was married to another woman when I met him. And yet you gave him your engagement ring to propose to me after we'd only been back together a few months. I get that you put Derek on a pedestal, that you thought he was better than all your other children, but can't you see how hypocritical that is?"

"Derek did not have the history of bad decisions that Amelia does," Carolyn protested.

"Which brings me to another thing," Meredith said. "How do you know this is a bad decision? Have you even met Owen Hunt? Have you seen him with Amelia? Have you seen Amelia with him? How can you sit there, three thousand miles away, and act like you know a damn thing about this relationship?"

"If Amelia has a problem, I'd prefer to discuss this with her," Carolyn said.

"And I'm sure she would too, except that every time the two of you talk, you go on a judgmental tirade about something you know nothing about," Meredith said. "Do you have any idea how much she cried on her wedding day? Do you? It was hard enough going through that day without Derek. She was devastated that you couldn't put aside your feelings and be there for her. She almost didn't go through with it."

"Perhaps that would have been for the best."

"You would not say that if you'd seen them together," Meredith said. "God, Carolyn, she loves him so much. She loves him the way Derek loved me. And after everyone she's lost - her father, and her baby, and her ex, and Derek…how can you blame her for not wanting to wait once she realized that?"

"I know she thinks she feels that way about him," Carolyn said. "But…"

"No," Meredith interrupted. "Until you've seen them together, you don't get to finish that sentence."

"She's my daughter."

"Which is why you should want her to be happy," Meredith said. "It's why you of all people should not be the reason she can't be fully and completely happy with her life."

"You're saying she's not happy?" Carolyn asked.

"As someone whose mother disapproved of pretty much everything I did in life, including loving Derek, I'm telling you that she is happy, but she could be happier," Meredith said. "There is a part of her that's still a little girl, longing for her mother's approval and love. You took that away from her from you refused to be there on her wedding day, and every day that you don't make an effort to understand what Amelia and Owen have, you're keeping her a little bit unhappy. So take it from the little girl who's never going to get her mother's approval - you need to get over yourself and be there for her."

"Meredith…"

"And this may be crossing a line, but I don't care, and I think Derek would be okay with it," Meredith said. "As much as she drives me crazy, Amelia is my family, so don't for one second think that you'll be welcome in my home to visit your grandchildren unless you've made things right with my family."

An hour later, Amelia Shepherd hung up the phone and sat down in a chair in her new dining room, staring at the phone in her hands as though she couldn't quite comprehend that the conversation has actually taken place.

"Hey, who was on the phone?" Owen asked as he strode into the kitchen and opened a cabinet door to get a glass. Getting no answer, he set the glass down and turned to look at his wife. "Amelia? Sweetheart?"

"It was my mother," Amelia said quietly, still not looking away from the phone in her hands.

"Okay," Owen said slowly, walking across the room and kneeling at her side. "What did she want?"

Amelia shook her head. "She apologized," she said in disbelief. "My mother called to tell me that she's sorry she didn't come to our wedding."

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" Owen asked.

"She wants to come for a visit," Amelia said, shaking her head. "She wants to come to Seattle to see me."

"Alright," Owen said. "Well, we have an extra room."

"She said she wants to see for herself if it's true," Amelia said.

"If what's true?"

"Meredith called and yelled at her," Amelia said, shaking her head as she let out a laugh. "I can't figure her out, one minute I think she hates me and the next she's yelling at my mother for me."

"Meredith doesn't hate you," Owen assured her.

"I guess not," Amelia said. "Apparently she told my mother that I love you like Derek loved her. That's what my mother wants to see."

"Meredith said that?" Owen asked in surprise.

"Derek loved her more than I've ever seen someone love someone, and Meredith knew it," Amelia said. "And she's right, you know. I do love you the way Derek loved Meredith. I think that's why this still scares so much."

"Why?"

"Because Derek didn't get his happily ever after," Amelia said tearfully.

"Oh Amelia," Owen sighed, reaching up and cupping her cheek with his hand. "Nobody gets a happily ever after, it's a myth. It has to end for everyone at some point."

Amelia rolled her eyes. "That is not encouraging," she pointed out.

Owen laughed and shook his head. "We're doctors, we see the worst life has to offer, day in and day out," he said. "I can't promise you that fifty years from now, we'll be sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs watching our grandkids play in the yard. I hope we are, but I can't promise you that, and anyone says they can is lying. What I can promise is to love you the way that Derek and Meredith loved, which is as long as there is breath is my body, as long as I am alive, I will love you and I will be in love with you. No matter how bad things might get, or how much your mother might hate me."

"My mother won't hate you," Amelia said with a sad smile. "I just hope that when she's here, she won't still think this is a mistake."

"Even she does, remember what I said? It doesn't matter," Owen said. "The only thing that matters is you and me."

"I know," Amelia said. "I'm trying to stay positive here, I really am."

"What else is going on here?" Owen asked knowingly.

Amelia hesitated and sighed. "I don't know, I'm just freaking out," she said. "But at least I know that even if my mother isn't on board, even if she doesn't approve…well, at least we've got your mom, so the baby will have one grandmother who won't think he's a mistake."

Owen nodded and squeezed her hand gently. "My mother loves you, Amelia," he said, pausing as her words finally hit him. "Wait…the baby?"

"I know we hadn't really talked about it," Amelia said. "And it's only been a month since the wedding, and we hadn't really made plans, and I didn't intend for it to be like this, but…I took a test this morning."

"We're having a baby?" Owen asked gently.

Amelia nodded. "Is that okay?"

Owen laughed as he stood up and pulled her to her feet, wrapping one arm around her waist as the other came to rest on her stomach. "I'm having a baby with my beautiful wife," he said. "Amelia, nothing in this world has ever been more okay than this."

And as he kissed her, Amelia found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe this time Owen was right…maybe this time, things could be more than okay.