A/N: I'm updating this as often as I can. Please, don't get too upset if it takes a while. I own nothing.

"McDreamy knows your back," Cristina announced as the door opened and the gang started to flood in. "And so does he-who-must-not-be-named-yet. Apparently one of the nurses have a very large mouth."

"As if we didn't already know that," Izzie snorted as she immediately went to the playpen in the corner, picking up the giggling baby. "Where did the pack-n-go come from?"

"Apparently Addie knew I'd need one," Meredith laughed. "She shipped it overnight without me knowing."

"That's still weird," Cristina muttered as she popped open a beer that George had just handed to her.

"No. Not weird. Hot." Alex smirked as he grabbed his own beer, popping it open and sitting down on the couch beside Izzie - who was too busy cooing at Lilly to notice anything else.

"It's kinda hot," George agreed as he threw himself into an armchair that was placed in the corner.

"You two living in the same house has obviously effected George," Meredith mumbled as she leaned against the armchair, patting the top of her friend's head.

"You have no idea, Mer. He's just as bad as Alex sometimes now." Izzie shook her head in mock disgust as she cradled the baby to her chest, rocking her gently back and forth. "Now are we going to talk about how hot it is that you sleep with Addie or can we please get to the fact that you have a freakin' daughter?"

The four others laughed as the blond stared Meredith down, something that did little to intimidate her as Lilly gurgled quietly in her arms. Figuring that they should go ahead and get this over with, the dirty blond sighed and scooted back onto the arm of the chair, crossing her legs.

"Her name is Lillian Marie, though she usually goes by Lilly, and she's seven months old. I left Seattle when I found out I was pregnant with her; I was four months into the pregnancy and didn't want to terminate it. Although I knew who the father was-"

"Which is who?" Izzie and George interrupted at the same time, the latter nudging Meredith's leg.

"I'm getting to that," she waved them off impatiently. "Although I knew who he was, I didn't think he'd want anything to do with her so I talked to Richard and I decided it would be best for me to leave. I headed down to LA where he got my internship switched over to St. Ambrose Hospital. I didn't tell any of you because I needed to do it by myself. I needed to prove that I could do it and that I wasn't my mother, that my daughter wouldn't be a rag doll that I pushed away."

There was a knock at the door, making her pause in her story as her eyes swept the room in confusion. Who in the hell? Panic set in as various ideas went through her mind, causing her to shake her head and jump up from her spot.

"I'm not here," she muttered quietly as she started edging towards the kitchen door. "I'm not back."

Cristina, who was at the end of the couch and closest to the door, pulled herself up from her spot and stepped around the walk-in space. It was quiet for a minute before they could all hear the door opening, her voice loud as she blocked the person from coming in.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I heard Meredith was back and I wanted to talk to her."

They all knew that voice. They worked with the person it belonged to everyday. They had all long ago learned to hide when they heard it coming, in fear that they would be questioned as to Meredith's whereabouts and if she was coming home soon.

The voice alone made Meredith's stomach churn.

"She's not here. She's still off wherever it is that you made her run off to!" The door slammed then, probably in the man's face, before they heard the distinct click of the lock and Cristina's footsteps as she came back into the living room.

"Is he the father?" Alex wondered out loud.

"No way," George answered before anyone else could. "She'd have the hair."

"He's not the father," Meredith confirmed as she took her seat back on the arm of the chair.

"Then who the hell is it?" Izzie hissed, careful not to disturb the sleeping child in her arms.

Once again Meredith was interrupted, this time by Alex who was snapping his fingers as he sat forward with a determined look on his face. "I got it!"

Everyone turned to face him now, eyebrows quirked as they silently asked him who he thought it was. Meredith was curious if he could figure it out without her having to say.

"Sloan," he said seriously, his eyes focused on his dirty blond friend to see her reaction.

"No way!" Izzie replied immediately, not noticing the blank expression on Meredith's face. She shook her head, glancing now to the woman across the woman who was sitting there with her hands twisting in her lap. "Sloan, Meredith? Really?"

"Seriously," Meredith sighed. "You're holding Mark Sloan's daughter."

"Holy friggin' crap. Holy crap." Izzie stood up now, going back over to the playpen and easing the sleeping child into it. After covering her up and making sure she stayed asleep, she crossed the room over to the pack of beers and grabbed one. "Does he know?"

"No," Meredith replied quickly. "I wouldn't have told him and not have told you guys."

"I knew he wasn't just trying to piss Derek off," George muttered to no one in particular. "That man was looking for you way too hard just to be trying to piss someone off."

"They did get into that one good fight though, when Derek walked up behind Sloan while he was asking Iz about Meredith for the millionth time." Alex smirked as he obviously replayed the scene in his mind, shaking his head to something the others couldn't see.

"I thought Derek was going to hit me at first," Izzie remembered as she popped open the beer. "Sloan tried to walk away but Derek just wouldn't let it go. Addison had to pull them apart."

"Chief was pissed," George included. "Threatened Derek with a suspension if he didn't get his act together. No one knows what he told Sloan, but he held him back after he had dismissed Derek."

"That must have been when Richard warned him off about me," Meredith mused out loud.

They were all quiet for a minute, simply listening to the sounds of the room and absorbing all the new information they had just been given. Meredith was glad to be home, back around her friends. It wasn't long, though, before Izzie was popping in with another question.

"So, when are you going to tell him?"