So this is the epilogue. And It makes me happy! The song is by Brett Dennen, in case anyone was wondering and is one of my favorites so it's definitely worth a download. Enjoy!

The One Who Loves You The Most

When the sky is falling from above you
And the wind is raging from the coast
And you want someone who truly loves you
I will be the one who loves you the most

When you forgive your imperfections
And you've auctioned all your clothes
And you look to see your true reflection
You will be the one who loves you the most

Months later, Lillian Ellis Shepherd comes screaming into the world and Derek is unsure of what to do with himself. Addison shows him where to cut the cord, and Lillian is whisked away to be tested and cleaned, and Meredith grabs at the back of his shirt, pulling him back towards her position on the bed.

"Is she – is she ok?" her eyes are pleading and her brow is sweaty. Derek tends to her with a wide smile decorating his face.

"She's perfect," he pushes some of the hair off her forehead before leaning down to kiss it. Meredith lets out a long sigh, and beams, and he brushes his lips against her cheek. "She's absolutely perfect, and she looks just like you."

A tired laugh slips from her lips, and Derek is happy to see his wife smiling. After months of coaching and counseling, and despite the trials of the past, Derek cannot help but believe that everything is going to go smoothly this time around. "You're lying," she giggles, adding, "We both know that you can't tell this early."

"I can tell," he buries his nose in her matted hair and kisses her temple, before they are interrupted by the nurse bringing back their daughter, wrapped in a blanket, diapered, and freshly bathed. She places her in Meredith's arms and Meredith and Derek are entranced by their daughter's tiny, squirming form. Derek extends his finger and grins when she squeezes his tightly, and moves her other fist to her mouth.

"I want Jake to come see her," Meredith says softly. "Before we both fall asleep." Derek nods and presses his lips to the side of Meredith's head once more, breathing her in. He tears himself away from them, and glances behind him before he slips out the door and makes his way down the familiar halls of Seattle Grace, preparing to announce to his friends that he had just become a father for the second time around.

Somewhere, in the back of Derek's head, worry taunts him, and memories of the first few months of his son's life want to turn over the grin that threatens to split his face in half. But the image of Meredith's bright face and the sound of his daughter's cry, strong and healthy, erase the clouds of the past until he is left with nothing but hope, hope and pride.

"Daddy? Is she here?" Jacob's voice interrupts his thoughts and he looks down at the little boy and tries not the laugh at the sight of him. He's too happy to lecture whoever let him eat the chocolate that has left telltale stains on his clothing, and instead picks up Jacob, dinosaur print long underwear, rain boots, fireman's hat and all, and spins him around once in the air. Jacob laughs until he is out of breath and finally Derek sets him down.

"I brought a car!" He holds the matchbox toy high in the air for his father to see. "So that she can play while she's here! Aunt Izzie told me I have to learn how to share now, and I'm starting now, I'm being a good sharer see?" His words tumble out of his mouth at breakneck speed and Derek laughs in response, mussing Jacob's curly locks with his hand.

"She's not going to be able to play for awhile, Jake, but thanks for being so good."

Jacob beams, and Derek turns his attention to all the others in the waiting room, who are looking at him, smiling, although tired, and waiting expectantly for the news. "Meredith's doing great," he announces. "And Lily, too, they're great but tired."

They breathe a collective sigh of relief and Cristina, true to form, is the first to speak. "You made us wait long enough!" she groans, and rises to her feet, rubbing her lower back, her own pregnant belly jutting out awkwardly. "Now this one just has to decide to slide out and we can be done with this whole damn waiting room thing, I'm a surgeon for fuck's sake."

"Language!" Izzie, George, and Burke warn simultaneously, gesturing to where Jacob stands, seemingly oblivious to the adult conversation that is taking place over his head. Cristina places a hand on the bump that her and her husband have tried for years to create and groans.

"Don't lecture, when you lecture the baby moves," she scowls, yet, even Derek can tell that despite her cold exterior Cristina is celebrating in her own way, and he can detect the faintest hint of a glow decorating her features. He watches her with knowing eyes as the others bombard him with questions about the size, the length, how Meredith is doing, why on earth it took him so long to come out and tell them, and he answers dutifully, yet still in the baby induced haze.

Finally, Derek manages to interrupt them, "Meredith wants Jake to come in before she gets to tired. So if you'll excuse us," he scoops Jacob up into his arms, despite the fact that he's getting to big to be carried and accepts the balloon and bouquet that Izzie insists he takes to decorate Meredith's room.

"Mommy hates flowers," Jacob whispers to his father, once they have made their way down the hall. "Aunt Cristina and I tried to tell Aunt Izzie, but she wouldn't listen."

Derek laughs, "She tends not to," he admits to Jacob and stops before entering the room where Meredith and Lillian await. "Now, are you ready to meet your little sister?" he asks Jacob who is already nodding enthusiastically. "You have to be quiet, because she's little, and so she has little ears, and little ears can't handle big noises quiet yet." Jacob nods again in agreement, and Derek turns the handle and opens the door, pleased to find that the room has since cleared and to see Meredith sitting up in the bed, Lillian sleeping in her arms.

"Hey there," Meredith says, looking up from the baby. "I'm so happy to see you!"

Jacob squirms down from his father's arms and rushes to his mother's side, excitedly letting losing hold of the balloon. "I want to see her, I want to see her!" He looks up his father apologetically and lowers his voice to a whisper, "I can't see her from down here."

Derek grins and sets the flowers down, bringing the rocking chair closer to the side of the bed, pulling Jacob up into his arms so he can get a better view of his sister. His nose wrinkles, immediately. "She's … small and … pink," he observes and Meredith and Derek look over him at each other, their eyes bright with laughter.

"You were small and pink when you were born," Meredith informs him. "But you grew, and so will Lily so she won't be small and pink forever."

Jacob's lower lip quivers slightly, "But you said that we'd be able to play." He holds up the toy car, "And I even brought something to share with her."

Meredith smiles, "You can play with her in a little, and I'm sure she's really happy that her big brother wants to start sharing his toys with her so early, but babies that have just been born can't really do much."

Jacob sighs loudly, in exasperation. "So what will she do now?"

"Eat a lot, and sleep mostly," Derek contributes. "And cry; she can't talk so all she can do is cry for everything."

"I'm going to help her learn to talk so we can understand her better," Jacob offers. "Because I don't think I'm going to want to listen to crying all the time."

Derek laughs for the millionth time, "That's great Jake."

They are silent for a while before Meredith questions Jake, "Do you want to hold her?"

He looks up at his father for approval and Derek nods, approvingly. "I don't want to break her," Jacob's eyes widen.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen, and she's not too heavy."

Jacob hesitates for a second, and then holds his arms out form his position on Derek's lap. Meredith hands Lillian over, first to Derek, who gently places her in Jacob's arms, his own ghosting beneath his sons as a means of safety. Lillian squirms, and blinks her eyes open, staring up at the one who came before her, in silence and pressing her tiny fist up against the fabric of the knit pink cap the nurses donned on her.

"She's looking at me," Jacob whispers in awe, and moves his sticky lips to give his little sister a wet kiss on the forehead. To this, Lillian responds with a loud shriek that is brief, and does not commence into tears. "I think she likes me!" Jacob adds, proudly, beaming up at his mother.

They sit like this for a few minutes, Jacob admiring his little sister, until her eyes shut and she falls into a quiet sleep. Jacob and Derek juggle the baby until Derek has her and stands to set her in the bassinet that sits next to Meredith's bed. He looks up from laying Lillian down, and sees Jacob slipping out of his boots and climbing up the bed and into his mother's arms, and Derek finds himself overwhelmed with emotions. He sinks back into his seat, and watches Jacob mumble a sleepy, "I love you mommy," and can tell that Meredith is squeezing him a little tighter, pulling him into a hug to tell him that yes, she loves him too. Eventually the day catches up with him, and Jacob has nodded off to sleep, too, his breathing heavy and laborious with exhaustion. Derek fights the desire to squeeze himself into bed next to his family and instead settles on taking Meredith's tiny hand into his own.

"I love you the most," he whispers, and Meredith smiles over their son's hair, turning onto her side so that she can see him better. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"Don't say that," she bites her lower lip, "I know you're just trying to butter me up so maybe I'll try to have sex with you sooner."

Derek suppresses his laughter and pulls her hand up to his lips, brushing them against her fingertips. "You know me too well."

Meredith giggles, and Derek notes that her eyelids grow heavy with sleep. "We should go, let you get some rest," he starts and Meredith is quick to silence him.

"Stay," her eyes are pleading and her brow furrows, "At least for a little while."

"OK."

Meredith's expression softens and she shuts her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply. "What are we doing here? And I mean in the figurative sense, not the literal," she manages to quip and this makes Derek happy because it is evidence that his wife is still there.

"We're being a family," he says, seriously, and pulls the chair closer to the bed, so that he is leaning on the extra space behind Jacob. Meredith runs her fingers down his cheek and doesn't say anything for awhile.

"I never felt like I had a real family before," she admits, "So this is what I've been missing out on."

Derek laces his fingers through hers. "Let's see if we're this excited about it when we take Lily home and she's screaming at 3 o'clock in the morning to get her diaper changed."

"No," she replies, "I think I can even handle that." She bites her lip again and Derek can see that she is getting progressively drowsier. "Or maybe I'm just still high off the epidural."

They laugh, and once again lapse into a comfortable silence. This time, it is Derek who breaks it. "You do realize that you're glowing."

Meredith makes a face, "I'm not the only one who's lighting up the room, mister."

"I'm just saying."

"Well," Meredith smiles. "I mean, it is pretty amazing, the fact that we just added another little person into the world." She sighs and lets her head sink back into the pillow.

Derek's eyes sparkle and he rises to his feet, leaning down to give Meredith a long kiss. "You need to rest," he urges, and she pulls him down for another kiss before letting him move to scoop up Jacob, who barely stirs.

"I wish you could stay," she mutters.

"I'll be back, in the morning, first thing," he answers while bending down to scoop up the rest of their belongings.

"Promise?" she asks, her voice getting smaller and she drifts closer to sleep.

"Always," he responds, "I always promise."

Meredith murmurs something incoherent and Derek gives them one last look over his shoulder before exiting the room, and taking his son home.

---

In the weeks that follow, Derek is still there, and once they have a free moment from caring for Jacob and Lillian, it is Meredith holding Derek's arms above his head, panting, and grinding into him with her thin hips. It is Meredith who rolls them over for the second, third, fourth, and fifth time, until they have lost their breath completely and can only speak to wonder how many times they can do it again before one of the kids wakes up. The final time is slower, and replete with Derek's whispered promises, and I love yous, and moans into her sweaty hair, as they make up for lost months. In the end, when Meredith is gathered neatly into his arms, her face buried into the crook of his neck, and they are now the good kind of exhausted, Lillian's cries cut through the air and they cannot help but smile at their daughter's perfect timing.

---

It's so weird to be finished with this story, and it makes me kind of sad because I like the little world that I created. Maybe I'll do a sequel or something, but part of me wants to try something completely different and throw a new set of issues at them. Thanks to everyone who has read and responded! Hopefully the next few weeks won't be crazy for me and I'll have time to write something new. I have lots of ideas floating around.