The door had just closed behind Callie and Arizona when yet another clap of thunder woke Zola. So it was rather awhile before Meredith was able to return to the living room. When she did step into the great room, Derek hadn't moved much at all. He had collapsed backward onto the comfortable couch, hands over his tired eyes, but stood when he heard Meredith enter.

"Wanna go to bed?" he asked, trying to put on a normal show, but Meredith was having none of that.

"Derek," she warned, the unspoken worry being that if they didn't talk about it now, it would fester until one of them tried to drown themselves in the bathtub. He caught on and shifted nervously before revealing what was on his mind.

"Am I egomaniacal?" he asked, and Meredith was shocked by his tone of voice. Where he was usually confident, as if he knew the answer to each question before he asked, he now sounded genuinely worried. Meredith sighed deeply and crossed the room to wrap her arms around Derek's waist before she answered him. He rested his chin atop her head in a way that she knew made him feel like her protector; like there were a separate, unbreakable unit from the rest of the world, and in that moment, the house was silent.

"Well," Meredith began, and she felt his body tense around her in anticipation. "I wouldn't say egomaniacal. I wouldn't even really say arrogant. Cocky, yes. But it's charming. Cocky works on you."

"Is that what Arizona was talking about?" he wondered aloud. "I mean, I know you find it charming. It's your job to find it charming. But could I come across that way?"

"No," Meredith said firmly. "She was upset, and stressed. We all are. Nobody – well, except Mark – thinks you're egomaniacal, and I'm pretty sure he was joking most of the time, anyway."

Derek, however, failed to laugh at her feeble joke. "Do I make things worse?" he asked, his voice almost inaudible.

This time, Meredith ducked her head enough to free herself from his grip before leaning back in his strong arms to look into his eyes.

"You fixed me," she pointed out. "I was dark and twisty and on my way to certain alcoholism. My mother tried to kill herself. I tried to kill myself. But I'm here. I'm a wife – your wife. And a mother. This time five years ago, did you think we'd be married with a baby and another on the way?"

Derek's hand drifted to her stomach, remembering, and the ghost of a smile drifted across his fatigued face. "No," he admitted.

"Exactly. You saved my life so many times over, I've lost count. You saved me, Derek. And you saved Zola. And you will save the hospital. You're a doctor, you make things better. Don't worry about what Arizona said one stormy night when we're all staring the loss of everything we know in the face." Derek stared at her for a moment before mimicking his action of years ago and holding a hand to her forehead, and was met with a smirk and a giggle from his wife. "Calm in a crisis, remember?"

"You don't freeze, you move forward," he echoed. "What would I ever do without you?"

"Luckily for you, you'll never have to find out. Come on," she coaxed, taking his hand and pulling him towards the kitchen. "Just because we're old and married doesn't mean we can't still be fun. Kitchen counter sex?"

But just as Derek let out a low growl from the back of his throat and lifted Meredith onto the granite surface, there was a flash that illuminated the entire room accompanied by a giant clap of thunder. As if on cue, Zola let out an ear-piercing shriek simulataneous with the frustrated groans of both parents.

"Looks like the universe has other plans," Derek groaned. "I'll go settle her down, I'll see you in the bedroom?"

"Deal."