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Moments, they are times in our lives when things happen, events take place, words are exchanged, new memories are started and lifetimes are formed. Some moments are bad, things you never want to remember, words that you push so far to the back of your mind that they never prove to be an issue again, events that change your perspective on life. Some moments are good, those that are always in the back of our minds and are brought back very easily, events that make you smile and warm your heart. Then there are those unforgettable moments, the most amazing memories and the most amazing events, those are the moments that you never want to forget.

It had been three weeks since she had stepped foot on the elevator that would seemingly change her life forever. Three weeks since she had told Derek that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Three weeks since she had been the happiest that she could ever remember being. They were getting married tonight, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

"Hey," Derek said as he approached his soon to be wife, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.

"Good morning," she replied leaning into his touch, "it's a gorgeous day to get married."

"Hmm it is." He smiled as they looked out over their land.

"I wish we didn't have to go to work…" she pouted turning around in his arms and hooking her hands behind his neck.

"It will fly by, and about ten hours from now we'll be married."

"Mmm, Meredith Shepherd; sounds amazing, don't you think?" she asked him, looking up to him with a twinkle in her eyes, "What?" she asked when he continued to stare at her.

"You're changing your name."

"Yea you know," she said grabbing his hand as they turned to walk back to the trailer, "Grey holds nothing but bad memories for me. This is my chance to start life over, to be happy, to have the name of the man I love. Is that ok? That I change it I mean, because if you don't want me to I don't have to."

"Mer," he stopped them turning her to him and looking in her eyes, "I love that you are taking my name."

"Really?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

"Really." He brushed his thumb across her cheek and then leaned in to kiss her on the lips. "Come on, let's get to the hospital." He smiled at her as he grabbed her hand and walked her to his car.

"Well aren't we in a hurry," she chuckled as he opened the car door and waited for her to get settled.

"The way I look at it the sooner we get there, the sooner we get to leave and the sooner you become Mrs. Shepherd." He winked at her, "That does sound good."

"It does doesn't it." she laughed again as he shut the door.

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Eight hours. She could make it through an eight hour shift, it was just a normal day, a normal day that possibly had a surgery here or there, a few sutures, maybe even a MRI or two, just a normal day, that ended in the fact that she was going to be Mrs. Derek Shepherd. She smiled to herself as her soon-to-be name rolled through her thoughts again.

"Hey," she said to Cristina as she walked into the locker room to change into her scrubs.

"Big day!" an unordinaryly chipper Cristina said as she literally bounced out of the chair she had been sulking in moments before. "Biggest day of your life!"

"Cristina, seriously, the whole peppy maid of honor thing, so not you." Meredith replied as she shook her head.

"Really? Thank God. Wait…is this going to last? This whole…calm thing you got goin on. I'm not going to have to drug you or shave off your eyebrows am I?"

"No! I'm fine, really. I don't really care about the actual ceremony, I mean yea it will be a wonderful moment in our lives, but it's the marriage I want. It's letting the person that I love know how much I love them." She finished smiling at a shocked Cristina.

"You really have changed haven't you?" Cristina asked.

"I guess…I think I'm just becoming more aware of what I want in life, and that's Derek."

"I'm happy for you." Cristina said sincerely.

"I'm happy for me too. Now I'm going to go start rounds because I have a wedding to be at tonight." She smiled as she walked out of the locker room.

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"It's wedding day!"

"Iz, I just heard you down at the nurse's station." Meredith laughed as she walked into Izzie's room.

"Mer! It's wedding day."

"It is," she smiled, "how are you feeling."

"Better than ever. And even if I wasn't I'm going, right Bailey, you said I could go."

"I said you could go." Bailey shook her head in agreement.

"Wedding day!" Izzie clapped her hands as Meredith's pager went off.

"It's the Chief, I need to take this. She's doin alright?" Meredith asked looking at Bailey.

"She's doing wonderful." Bailey answered with an honest smile.

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"Sir you paged?" Meredith asked approaching the Chief.

"Yea, Derek wanted to give this to you himself, but he got pulled into an emergency craniotomy so I told his I would give it to you."

"I'm sorry sir I don't understand."

"You're wedding present."

"What! I'm supposed to get him a present, are you kidding me. Seriously, shouldn't our lives together be the present. Tell him to take it back, whatever it is I don't want it."

"A colon…"

"A what?"

"It's nonrefundable from what I understand and it's about to go under in OR 2, but if you don't want it I can find another available resident."

"A colon…he got me a solo surgery."

"Congratulations Meredith." The chief said as he patted her on the back.

Her first solo surgery, this was defiantly one of those amazing moments.

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The successful surgery didn't take long, but proved to be a very annoying moment for her. The Chief was constantly breathing down her neck, making comments on every little thing she did, both good and bad. Then in walks Derek's best man and literally threatens her about becoming the new Mrs. Shepherd. After scrubbing out Meredith made her way to the locker room to change into her street clothes and head back to the trailer to get ready. She was sitting on the bench putting her shoes on when Derek walked in.

"Hi." She smiled at him.

"Hi." He said sitting down next to her on the bench.

"You!" she poked his chest, "Best wedding present ever! And you know why?" she asked raising her eyebrow.

"Why?" he smiled.

"Because now I get to go home and put on a pretty white dress, and get my makeup done and have about five tons of hairspray put in my hair, but it's ok because in less than three hours we're going to be married."

"Hmm…forever."

"Forever." She said leaning in to kiss him.

"Hate to break up the pre-wedding sex, but I have orders straight from Queen Barbie herself to get Mer home and ready." Cristina said barging into the locker room.

"She's right I do need to get going." Meredith said keeping her arm on his chest.

"Think of it this way the sooner you let her go the sooner you get to rip the dress off of her." Cristina stated.

"Cristina…" Meredith hissed.

"What it's not like you two have never done the nasty nasty or discussed just how fast he's going to…"

"Alright, I'm leaving before this get's anymore embarrassing." Derek interrupted, "I love you, I'll see you shortly." He leaned down and kissed Meredith on the lips.

"Ok…" she smiled.

"You really are happy," Cristina said after Derek left.

"Incredibly…come on let's go, I'm ready to get married."

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An hour and a half later she stood in front of a floor length mirror soaking in her image. After hours of trying on poofy dress after ugly dress, she had come across a simple, yet elegant dress that she instantly fell in love with. It was made of stark white silk, plain, no beading, no lace, no frills, just the way she wanted it. It reached to the floor and was followed by a slight train with the fitted cut accentuating her slender form.

"Mer…" Cristina gasped, "you look…" Meredith turned around to face her friend, "amazing."

"You think?" Meredith asked, turning back around to look in the mirror. After all these years of thinking she wasn't going to get married, that she wasn't a white dress kind of bride, it was here and it was very, very fitting.

"Yea, I do."

"Thanks you, Cris, for everything, your support through all of this, you've been amazing."

"He's it for you Mer, he's the one. He's going to take care of you, even if he is an ass sometimes."

"Cristina…"

"No seriously Mer, the way he looks at you, it's like you're his whole universe, like time literally stops, nothing else is going on, no one else exists, it's just you and him…he loves you." Neither one said a word as both were trying to fight back the tears that threatened to overflow, "look at me," Cristina said wiping her eyes, "you've turned me into a freakin sap."

"Haha, come here," Meredith said opening her arms.

"What we don't hug."

"I'm the bride if I say we hug, then we hug, even if it is just a millisecond."

Only it wasn't a millisecond, it was moments, moments where two friends, two sisters shared a lifetime of gratitude, of love, of hope for the future.

"I love you Mer."

"I love you too Cris."

They separated, both drying their eyes when there was a small knock on the door.

"Hey, you ready?" Lexie asked as she popped her head in the door.

Meredith turned to smile at Lexie and then back to Cristina.

"Yea, let's go get married."

"You have your vows memorized right, I don't need to write them on your hand real fast?" Cristina asked lifting up the short train.

"No Cris, I'm good, we honestly didn't prepare anything, we told each other we were going to speak right from the heart, say what we felt in that moment. All I have to remember is, I give you my heart, my whole life."

"Aw that's so sweet." Lexie broke in as the three women stopped walking.

This was it, the moment that was going to change her life forever, the moment she had been looking forward too for so many years now. Behind a wall of trees and shrubs stood her future husband, the man she had promised to always love and to never run from. In a matter of moments they were going to begin their lifetime.

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It wasn't hard for them to pick a location to get married; it was really the most sensible location. It's where they had first realized that they had fallen in love with each other, it's where they rekindled their romance only a few months ago and where they had made their engagement official. So what better place than the land they planned to spend the rest of their lives on.

They had decided on no music because the traditional trumpet voluntary just wasn't them, so she was going to follow the bridesmaids down the aisle to the sound of grass crunching beneath her feet, of the wind blowing in from the shore, and of the waves crashing against the side of the cliff, it was their perfect nature wedding.

As each one made it down the aisle, first Lexie, then Cristina, then the bride herself, Meredith and Derek's hearts began to beat a little more rapidly and their smiles grew a little bit wider and brighter with each step. This was the moment they had been waiting for, they had started their day off in each other's arms watching the sun rise and now, as the sun was setting, they were promising each other their lives.

As Meredith approached the alter she smiled at Derek.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to share with Derek and Meredith a very important moment in their lives. In the year's they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. Derek and Meredith, we are here not only to witness your commitment to each other, but to wish you happiness in your future life together. Marriage is founded on sincerity and understanding which leads to tolerance, confidence and trust. We believe that those qualities which have attracted you both to each other can be best developed during a life spent together. A happy marriage will enable you to establish a home with love and stability where your family and friends will always be welcome.

"If you would take each other's hands please."

Meredith smiled up to Derek before grabbing his hands, which he willingly excepted, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles as the minister continued.

"These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

"Derek and Meredith, it is your love that has brought us together here today. May 14, will always reign as a special moment for you as the day you vowed to love each other in all ways, always.

"Show each other that you can be trusted and counted on for comfort when facing difficult times, and celebrate abundantly the successes and joys life brings your way. Let your love lead the way and be more important than anything else. May your love grow deeper and sweeter with each passing day…we will now exchange vows."

Still holding on to each other's hands, they smiled as one another before Derek began to speak.

"Meredith," he said her name so quite, so full of love, "I've been trying to remember when I realized that I was in love with you. And I can't…because the truth is I've always been in love with you." He paused rubbing his fingers over the back of her hands, "There was a time when you wanted to know who I was, now you do, you know everything about me and you love me just the same. It takes a very extraordinary woman to do that and you, Meredith, are that woman…you are the love of my life, the candle that lights my world, the fire that heats my soul…you are my lover, my best friend, my happily ever after…so today, and all the days of our lives, I give you my heart, my whole life." he said placing a wedding band on her finger, flashing one of his genuine smiles.

"Derek," she paused, trying to contain her emotions by smiling at him, "I never believed in the words true love or happily ever after until I met you. You did something no one has ever been able to do…you turned my dark and twisty world into a bright and shiny place I used to only dream of visiting…our story is one that people spend a lifetime chasing after, one that very few get to experience. One where love is unconditional, one where the princess gets her knight in shining whatever," she giggled, "a story where we live out our happily ever after…I love you Derek, I am so in love with you…you are my saving grace, my soul mate, my dream come true. On this perfect night and every single night from now till the end of time I give you my heart, my whole life." she finished sliding the platinum band down his finger.

She laughed as Derek brought his hand to rest alongside her cheek to wipe the tears away.

"Derek and Meredith, as you live and love throughout the years, may you realize all the joy that marriage can bring, and know that all your days have been happier because you have shared them with each other. You have declared before all of us that you will live together in marriage. You have made special promises to each other, which have been symbolized by the joining of hands, taking of vows, and giving and receiving of two rings. By the power vested in my by the State of Washington, I know pronounce you husband and wife…you may kiss the bride."

Derek shook his head at her smiling face as he placed both of his hands on either side of her face and brought her lips up to his in a passionate kiss.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips as he pulled back.

"I love you."

"Ladies and Gentlemen it is my pleasure to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Derek Shepherd."

There is was, that moment, one of those amazing unforgettable moments, she was a Shepherd, she was Derek's wife, her heart fluttered at the idea.

"You are gorgeous," he said wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in for another kiss.

"Mmm, we're married." She smiled.

"Hmm, this" he said pulling her left hand to his lips, "is forever."

Life is full of moments, good and bad, those from the past and those of the future. But what you need to know about the past is that no matter what happened, everything works together to bring you to a certain moment in life. The co-workers that you moved in with because you couldn't afford the house by yourself become your family, and the one night stand you planned to never see or talk to again becomes the love of your life. These are life's best moments and they are all happening right now. So the question is, will you choose to make the best of them?

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AN: This is it, I liked the way that it ended, them married and most of all happy so I decided to leave it here!! I hope you got from the little scene with Izzie that she is doing better and Derek obviously didn't have to go back in and do surgery, so in this world Iz and George are still very much alive!!!

I have a couple of other ideas in my head for some stories this summer and there is defiantly one in the planning between myself and McDreamydreamsofme, so look for that too!!!

Big thanks to all of you who continued to read and stuck with it and of course all of your amazing reviews…I couldn't do without ya'll!! - K