A/N: Sequel to Never Alone. I had written this story before, but I couldn't keep up with updates. Hopefully, this time will be better.

Chapter One

It Takes a Village

Meredith smiled proudly as C.J. marched into the gym with his classmates. It was easy to spot him. He looked like a mini version of Derek with his dark brown hair. She watched as the teacher led the graduating students to their seats. She was distracted for a moment as Nicky tried to wiggle out of his aunt's lap. Both Amy and Owen tried to get him to settle down. Meredith wished Nicky could be like his twin sister. Abbey was content in sitting in her mother's lap and watch her big brother's kindergarten graduation ceremony. Then again, that was the difference between the twins.

Meredith wished Derek could be there with them, but he was still working. Like Meredith, he grew unhappy in his teaching job. He loved his students, but he didn't want to teach biology anymore. He wanted to spend more time with his family. With five kids including a special needs child and twins who still needed attention, it was hard to get one on one time with each child. Luckily, there were plenty of babysitters who were willing to help out. Especially Owen and Amelia.

The two parents were grateful, but they still needed an income. Meredith still worked part time at a clinic and they couldn't live on her salary alone. Derek's writing career hadn't taken off, but he didn't want to give up. He found a job as a bartender at the bar across from the hospital where Meredith's friends worked.

"How is it that Abbey is so well behaved?" Amelia whispered as she continued to struggle with the toddler. "Can we switch?" she asked pleadingly. Meredith knew it was time to go into mom mode. She let out a heavy sigh before she gently pushed her daughter out of her lap. "Thank you," Amelia said gratefully.

"You owe me," Meredith replied as they switched kids. She gave her son a stern look and did her best to convince him to sit down on her lap. After a few struggles, he finally gave in and they were able to watch the ceremony. When it came time to announce the graduates, Owen hurried with the rest of the parents who wanted to get a closer picture of their graduate.

"Three down, two more to go," Amelia told her. "They grow up so fast, don't they?" Meredith nodded. "It makes me want to settle down with Owen. For good." Meredith didn't respond. Since Amelia and Owen had started dating, they had broken up twice. They were together for the third time and they seemed committed to stick to it. They decided to take it slow and they were just now planning to move in with each other again.

"Well, you will have all evening to spend time with Owen," Meredith reminded her. The Shepherd family was invited over to Alex's and Jo's house. They just had a new baby and they wanted to show her off to their friends. The kids were excited to meet their honorary cousin. Especially Katie and Morgan. "We'll only be gone for a couple of hours. It's already been a big day for C.J." Amy nodded understandingly.

Just then, they heard C.J's name and they clapped and cheered. C.J. smiled proudly as Owen snapped a few photos. Meredith was happy he was willing to cooperate. With C.J's Asperger's, she knew it was hard for him to cooperate with certain things. But he was always happy to see his Uncle Owen. The two had a special bond. When it came to his lessons, he always wanted to work with Owen and Owen tried to be there for him as much as he could.

Owen returned to his seat and he showed off his pictures to the others. "I'm going to send these to both Derek and Addison," he told them. Unfortunately, Addison had moved to Los Angeles for a new start. Not to disrupt their lives, she didn't take the kids with her. The kids missed her, but they talked to her every week. And Derek and Meredith sent her daily updates.

It wasn't long after the graduates received their diplomas that the ceremony was over. There were a few more pictures with the graduate and his siblings before C.J. was done. He was ready to leave. As promised, Owen took him out for ice cream while Amelia and Meredith waited for the girls to come out.

Once everyone was rested and Derek had returned home, the Shepherd family headed to the party. When they arrived, the kids immediately wanted to go to the front door. However, Derek and Meredith called Katie and Morgan back so they could help bring gifts and food into the house. The girls groaned, but they obeyed their parents.

Katie and Morgan let C.J. ring the doorbell and Alex opened it. He hugged his nieces and nephews before he took the food from the girls. He led them into the living room where everyone surrounded the new mother and baby. Besides the new parents, there was Dr. Bailey and Dr. Webber. Meredith could also spot Arizona Robbins and Cristina Yang.

Meredith's attention went to Jo as she brought her daughter over to the Shepherd family. She bent down to the children's level so they could see the baby up close. "Guys, I would like you to meet Sarah Marie Karev." Katie and Morgan were simply enchanted with her. The little kids looked at her with fascination.

Jo let them look before she got up and turned to Derek and Meredith. They gave her a smile. "She's beautiful," Derek complimented. "Can I hold her?" he asked. Jo nodded and carefully put the baby in his arms. He looked down at the baby and smiled at her. "Hello Sarah. I'm your Uncle Derek."

Meredith watched the scene fondly before she followed Alex into the kitchen and began helping him take the food off of the trays. "So how is the new dad?" she asked as she put her own tray down on the kitchen island. "Are you enjoying the sleepless nights?"

Alex gave her a look. "Very funny. At least I don't have to worry about the terrible twos for a couple of years. Are you enjoying that stage?"

"I will when both of my kids are potty-trained," Meredith replied. "Abbey is picking up on it. It's Nicky who is having trouble. They are supposed to attend preschool in the fall and the school won't accept them if they aren't potty-trained."

"Don't worry about him. I'm sure he will pick it up soon," Alex assured her. "Besides, you have all summer to work on it. You're a great mom, Mere. Why do you think Jo and I chose you and Derek as godparents?" he asked. Meredith knew he had a point.

The conversation was interrupted by Abbey running into the kitchen. She went past her mother and right into her Uncle Alex's arms. He gave her a wide smile. "Hey, how's my niece? Do you want to play with your favorite uncle?" Abbey nodded. "Alright. I'll take a break from hosting duties and play with my favorite nieces and nephews. Let's go find your brothers and sisters." Meredith followed him into the living room and joined the party.

After several guests took their turns in holding the new baby, Meredith finally was able to hold little Sarah. Holding her reminded her of the day Morgan was born and she held her daughter for the first time. Now Morgan was eight and she just finished second grade. And Nicky and Abbey were growing up too. Despite being born premature, the twins were doing well with hitting their milestones.

"I do hope this doesn't encourage you to want another one anytime soon," Mark said as he and his son made an appearance. Ben went to play with his cousins. "We can't keep up with you and Derek already. Six would be just showing off."

Everyone laughed as Derek looked at his friend. "Very funny. As much as the kids would love to have another sibling, we're not planning to expand our family. We're free to send the kids your way. That way, you would know what it's like to take care of five kids. Speaking of kids, where's the rest of your family?" he asked, referring to Lexie and little Elijah, who was born just three months ago.

"Don't ask," Mark replied, not wanting to discuss it in front of the other guests.

The party continued until the doctors began to get pages from the hospital. They couldn't ignore their call of duty and Alex and Jo decided to end the party early. Alex and the other doctors went to save the day. Jo wanted to go with them, but she was on maternity leave. She let Mark, Ben and the Shepherd clan stay and help Jo clean up. The girls were more than willing to help while Ben, C.J. and the twins continued to play. Mark and Derek eventually wandered to another room and Meredith knew they were going to talk about why Lexie didn't arrive with Mark and their son.

As they were finishing up, Alex returned to the house. He greeted everyone before he spoke. "Derek and Meredith, do you think we can talk for a few minutes?" Meredith nodded. From his tone of voice, she could see it was serious. The adults made sure the kids were playing nicely with each other in the den before they returned to the living room.

Jo put the baby in the nursery before joining them. She sat down next to her husband on the sofa as Alex spoke again. "Look, we know you already have a lot of kids and Mark and Lexie has asked you to watch over their kids if something has happened to them." There was a short pause. "But Jo and I have been talking about our wills and who we would want to watch over Sarah if we're not here to raise her."

Derek and Meredith began to understand where this conversation was going. Derek was the one who spoke up first. "You don't have to say anything. Meredith and I would be happy to take care of Sarah if we had to."

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" Jo asked, trying to hold back her tears. She wasn't expecting them to agree so quickly, but she was happy they were willing to take their little girl in if there was no other choice. "We don't want her to be an inconvenience."

Meredith embraced her in a tight hug. "Are you kidding? She would never be an inconvenience. Even if we did have Ben and Elijah with us, we would still make room for Sarah."

Derek nodded in agreement. "You're part of our family. That means she would be welcome in our house anytime."

Alex gave them a smile. "Thanks," he replied as he embraced his friend in a hug. "That goes for your family too."

They pulled away as they heard arguing in the other room. "I think that's our cue for us to leave," Derek said. "I'll start gathering the troops." Meredith and Alex were right behind him, knowing he would probably need help.

Once they said their goodbyes, they piled up in the van and headed home. There was chatter for a little while, but the parents soon found out their children were fast asleep. Even the two older girls were sleeping. Derek looked at the time before turning to Meredith. "Do you think we gave Owen and Amelia enough time to themselves?"

"Well, we have been gone all evening," Meredith pointed out. "I really do wish they would make up their minds. One day they're dating and the next day they're not. Were we this much trouble when we were dating?"

Derek tried not to laugh. "Do you really want me to answer that?" Meredith realized he was right as she remembered their issues. He let out a heavy sigh. "Amelia is a lot like you. She has commitment issues and she's afraid of repeating the past."

"Maybe it's time to face her fears so she can move on with Owen," Meredith suggested. Derek didn't answer. She changed the subject. "It's crazy, isn't it? It seems like everyone wants us to look after their kids."

Derek smiled. "I think it's even crazier that we agree to watch all these kids. I'm sure Owen and Amelia would ask us too if they had kids." Meredith laughed. "I suppose we are setting a good example by taking care of our blended family as well as we have." He let out a heavy sigh. "I still feel bad that I missed C.J.'s kindergarten graduation."

"It's only kindergarten," Meredith told him as she took his hand. "You still have twelve more years with him."

Her parents laughed. "Good to hear because I don't want the kids to grow up yet," Derek replied. "I want them to stay kids as long as they can." There was a short pause. "How much longer will the girls get to stay kids?"

"We have a few more years before they start junior high," Meredith replied. "That will be fun."

"We can always send them to Addison in Los Angeles," Derek said. "She will straighten them out."

"Doesn't she have a new boyfriend now? Jake somebody?" Meredith asked. She had only heard about it from Katie, but she wasn't sure if she had heard wrong. Derek nodded. "Are you okay with that?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, she deserves to find someone who makes her happy. The true test will be when he meets the kids. Addison says he likes kids, but I'm not going to believe it until I see him with them. She's bringing him with her to Seattle when she comes and visits next weekend."

"Don't worry. I'm sure your first meeting will go fine," Meredith replied. "If he doesn't exceed your expectations, then you can chase him away." Derek smiled. "Did you have a chance to talk to Mark?"

Derek nodded as he gestured to the kids. Meredith knew that was the sign to wait until the kids were out of earshot. Meredith waited patiently until after they arrived home and the kids were settled in their bedrooms before Derek told her about Mark's problem. Little Ben was jealous of the attention his new baby brother was getting from his parents.

"Maybe they should ask Lizzie for help," Meredith suggested. "After all, she's a child psychologist."

Derek nodded before he turned to Owen and Amelia. "We need to talk." Meredith looked at him. She was not prepared for this. What did he want to discuss with Owen and Amelia? "I know it's none of our business. I don't want to play the overprotective big brother, but we want to know where you guys stand on your relationship. We do want to see you guys move on to the next step, but it's hard seeing you guys break up and get back together again. It's hard on the kids."

"We only broke up once," Amelia reminded him. Derek gave her a look. "Okay, it was twice."

"We do understand where you are coming from," Owen added. "Right now, we're pretty stable in our relationship. As for the next step, we're planning to move in together. That way, all the kids can have their own bedrooms and we can have some privacy and focus more on our relationship."

"I know the kids are going to be disappointed, but I will still be around to help out," Amelia promised. "Both of us will be."

"Good because we might need it with all of the kids who might be moving in our house," Derek joked.