Derek was in his office, reading from a medical journal and holding a sleeping Morgan in his arms, when Preston Burke gave a light knock to the door and sneaked his head inside. "Busy?" he asked in whisper, already knowing about the baby's presence in there.
"No," Derek whispered back as he put the magazine aside on his desk. "Come in," he invited him inside. "And there's no need for whispers. Nothing disturbs her sleep," he said, smiling down at Morgan.
"So she's Ms. Grey," Preston concluded as he made his way to Derek's desk. He leaned over the desk to take a better look at the baby and then took a seat in a chair.
"She is Ms. Morgan Ellis Grey," Derek smiled, making himself look like a proud Daddy. "Meredith was late for her test and she didn't have time to drop her to the daycare," he explained.
"Very generous of you," Preston smiled.
"Did you need anything?" Derek asked him then.
Preston smiled, looking slightly uncomfortable. He rearranged his glasses on his nose and cleared his throat. "I'd like to ask you something."
Derek looked curiously at him. "As long as I don't have to leave her off my arms for another hour…" he offered.
"You know, they say it's not good for the baby to spend too much time in the grown-ups' arms. It could make them whiny," Preston stated, offside with what he wanted to ask Derek.
"I know," Derek chuckled. "But I can't help it. She's so soft and warm," he said, cradling the baby closer to his chest.
"Are you cold in here?" Preston asked, still diverting from the real reason of his visit there.
"Can we skip over this part and tell me why you are here?" Derek asked him straight.
Preston smiled and cleared his throat. "I want you to be my best man at my wedding."
Derek raised his brows, completely surprised by his proposal. As he had told Meredith a while ago, he didn't have any friends in Seattle… or no one he knew about.
"The wedding is in about two months so you have time to think about it," Preston added.
"I will think about it," Derek nodded, still unable to understand how could Preston Burke –his competition for the Chief of Surgery position- ask him to be his best man at his wedding with Christina Yang. Derek shrugged to himself; apparently, he wasn't the only person in that hospital without friends.
"All right," Preston smiled and stood up. He turned around to go to the door, but after just a step, he stopped and turned back to Derek.
Derek looked at him, questioning.
"Do I think it is possible to hold her for just a moment?" Preston asked, looking at Morgan.
Derek stared at him, even more confused.
"If it's possible," Preston assured him as answer to Derek's silence.
"I don't know," Derek muttered, slowly rocking the baby. "She has rules, you know," he said in the same quiet voice.
No reply came from Preston, so Derek looked up just to meet his suspicious stare. "You'd better not be obsessed with this baby."
Derek shot him a glare, offended. "I was there when she was born. I wouldn't call that an obsession," he said dryly. He stood up and walked around the desk, stopping in front of Preston. "You can hold her."
Preston carefully checked Derek's expression before he slid his hands under Morgan and shifted her into his arms. His serious features softened as he looked down at the baby. "She doesn't look much like her mother."
"She doesn't," Derek agreed.
"Are you the father?" Preston asked him straight. Derek chuckled at first, but then he saw how serious his question had been. "You know there are rumors traveling around here," Preston added. "I don't care though," he shrugged and smiled as he took Morgan's tiny hand in his.
"I am not the father," Derek answered, almost robotically. "I am just her midwife," he chuckled, but his chuckled wasn't as light as he had wanted it to sound. Slowly he took the baby from Preston. "It was love at the first sight… for both of us," he grinned at Preston.
"You and Dr. Grey or you and Dr. Grey's baby?" Preston asked suspiciously. "And I recommend you to answer Dr. Grey."
Derek just smiled and Preston even chuckled at the reddish shade from Derek's cheeks.
"Do you want to have children?" Derek asked him.
"I want," Preston sighed and smiled at the same time. "I just have to wait a little bit longer. I hardly convinced Christina to take our relationship to a higher level. A baby is out of discussion at this point."
"She's pretty," Preston stated with admiration while smiling down at Morgan. "I can see why you are finding it hard to stay away from her."
"She's more than pretty," Derek smiled at her as well. "There's something about her…" he muttered, thoughtful. "She reminds me of someone… or something," he shrugged, clearing his thoughts. "She looks familiar."
"She's a baby and most of the babies look alike," Preston answered.
"No," Derek disagreed with a shake from his head. As he looked up at Preston, his eyes gazed past him, outside the office. "Is that…. Ellis Grey?" he asked.
"What?" Preston turned in a sudden, following his gaze. "She is," he was as shocked as Derek was as they stared a woman outside the office who was reading something from a chart.
"Did you know she was coming?" Derek asked, taking a step closer to the door.
"No," Preston admitted and walked ahead, opening the door, with Derek closely following him. "Dr. Grey?" he asked, his hands and thoughts shaking of emotion.
"Dr. Grey," Derek didn't need any confirmation to know for sure who that woman really was.
Ellis Grey looked up from the chart the first time she heard her name. She looked at Preston and then at Derek and the baby and then looked around her. "Am I on Pediatric floor?" she asked, honestly confused.
"No," both men chuckled nervously.
Ellis looked at them again, this time at Derek in particular and at the baby he was holding.
"I'm Dr. Preston Burke," Preston held out his hand.
"Yeah, I recognized you," she shook his hand absently. She was still checking curiously at Derek and Morgan. "And you are?" she asked, letting her hand slip off Preston's and directing it to Derek.
Derek frowned, visibly offended of not being recognized. "Dr. Derek Shepherd," he shook her hand less enthusiastic.
"Oh yes. I've heard of you," she answered and then her eyes flickered on the baby. "I thought you were a neurosurgeon."
"I am," Derek smiled. "She's a friend's baby. She's actually…"
"I am sorry but I don't have so much time right now. I will be around her for another couple of hours so maybe we'll talk later," Ellis interrupted him as she started sprinting down the hall, before Derek could introduce her to her granddaughter.
"I will escort you for a while," Preston offered and left with Ellis, leaving Derek staring dumbfounded after them.
"That was your grandma," he whispered in Morgan's ear. "Your grandma saw you but she didn't know who you were," he muttered, mostly talking to himself than to Morgan.
Derek walked back into his office, still trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He knew already about the cold relation between Meredith and her mother and he also knew that along with the baby's father, she didn't know if her only grandchild was a girl or a boy. Derek took a seat down on the couch and cradled Morgan in his arms. She slowly opened her eyes and yawned. "You should have woken up a minute ago. Your grandma Ellis saw you."
Morgan watched him with curious eyes and her face started twisting in grimaces as she started whimpering. "You don't care much about her, do you?" Derek sighed and fumbled through her bag. He took out one of the bottles Meredith had prepared for her and left to heat it up and feed her.
Meredith was one of the first interns who left the exam room. As she was out of there, she darted towards Derek's office to retrieve her daughter. Around the corner, Derek showed up in her way, smiling.
"How did it go?" he asked her.
His question was left without answer as Meredith looked worriedly at him. "Where is she?"
"Who?" Derek asked confused.
Meredith gasped with anger. "My daughter!" she snapped. "Where is she?"
"Oh," he chuckled as he understood what she was talking about. "She's at the nurses station," he said tilting his head to a side.
"What is she doing there?" Meredith snapped walking past him to the nurses' station. She stopped dead in her track and gasped once more as she saw all the females gathered around her baby. "You were supposed to watch her!"
"I was watching her, but I saw you coming," Derek explained.
"And she's not a pimp, so go and bring her to me," she scowled.
Derek took a defensive step back and didn't comment as he turned and went to take Morgan from all the ladies, who were cooing to her.
"Is this why you wanted to stay with her? To get easier to the women?" Meredith scolded as she took the baby from Derek.
"I'd never do this," Derek defended himself. "They saw her and they wanted to look closer."
Meredith rolled her eyes as she turned and headed towards Derek's office.
"How did it go?" Derek followed her, trying to make her forget about the little incident with Morgan and the women.
"It wasn't that difficult," Meredith shrugged.
As they reached into Derek's office, Derek closed the door. "Your mother is here," he informed her.
Meredith looked at him, confused.
"Your mother is here at the hospital," Derek said. "With work I think," he added quickly, not wishing to let Meredith misunderstand.
She stared at him for half a second and she shrugged. "How do you know?" she asked conversationally.
"I saw her," Derek answered. "And she also saw Morgan." Meredith's eyes flickered on him again. "But she didn't know it was her granddaughter," Derek cleared up.
He could read a little disappointment in her eyes as she heard that. Meredith looked away and tried to ignore the information. It wasn't anything important.
"I understand if you want to cancel the dinner tonight," Derek said softly.
"No," she smiled faintly. She sighed as she put the bag on her shoulder and leaned down to kiss Morgan. "She's here, but she's not here to see me," she explained. "I have to take her home now. Did she eat?"
"Yes. I gave her a bottle," Derek said. "I will give you ride home," he put a hand on her back and walked with her out of the office.
Derek looked at the house as he got out of his car and smiled, seeing the lights on. He walked onto the porch and knocked once. No sound came from the inside, so Derek fumbled through his pockets and took out a key. The key twisted into the latch and Derek opened the door. That far his friendship with Meredith had gotten in the last 6 weeks.
"Meredith?" he called from the doorway, scanning the surroundings.
"Come on in!" her voice came from upstairs.
Derek walked into the house and shut the door.
"I will be right down!" Meredith shouted.
"I will be here," Derek answered and took a seat on the stairs. Then he heard Morgan's whimpers. He stood up and turned to the stairs. "Is everything all right there?"
"Yeah. Someone's being very cranky this evening," he heard Meredith sighing and Derek thought she was trying to put the baby to sleep. "Do you need help?" he asked her, already putting his foot on the first stair.
"No, no!" she answered quickly, panting. "Give me a second."
"I am coming upstairs," he said, but he stopped as soon as he spotted Meredith already coming downstairs. His eyes locked on the black gown she was wearing, forgetting to breathe as he watched her delicate silhouette moving swiftly down the stairs.
"Am I too dressed?" she stopped and gave look down to herself.
His eyes lingered on her v-neck and swallowed a lump. "Definitely not too dressed," he chuckled.
"Derek," Meredith giggled.
Derek tore his eyes from her body and just then, he noticed that Meredith was carrying Morgan in her carrycot. From her seat, Morgan whimpered and frowned while pinching nervously her pink dress.
"Why is she dressed up?" Derek chuckled, leaning down to pick her up from the carrycot. "Are you having a date with your babysitter tonight?" he asked her as he cradled her into his arms. "Where is the babysitter?" he asked Meredith. "We're going to be late."
Meredith smiled at him, biting her lip. She walked past him down the stairs and put the carrycot on the table. "Strap her in."
"Meredith," Derek turned and looked at her serious.
Meredith let out a sigh before she looked at him. She nervously tucked her hair behind the ear. "We are taking her with us."
As he heard the determination in her voice, Derek shook his head disapprovingly, also disappointed. That should have been his first date with Meredith and he had been looking forward to having her just for himself for at least a couple of hours. Secretly he was hoping he would take his relationship with Meredith to an upper level.
"I can't let her alone with a 16-year-old, whose mind is bathing in hormones. She's my daughter and I am not willing to take any risk," Meredith explained.
"But you said you knew her parents and she's a responsible girl," Derek almost pleaded her as he tried to change her mind.
Meredith wasn't so easy to convince though. She shook her head firmly. "She's still a teenager," she mumbled.
"Meredith, that's an exclusive restaurant. We can't bring a baby with us there. Besides, the reservation is for two,"
"Seriously?" Meredith laughed at his explanation. "Did you hear that, Baby Morgan? I guess you won't be able to sit on your own chair and eat from your own plate tonight," she replied sarcastically to Derek while talking to Morgan.
Derek chuckled to himself as he admitted that he hadn't given her the best explanation.
"If she's not coming, then I am not coming either," Meredith told him. "We don't even have reasons for celebration yet."
Derek looked at her for a moment and he leaned down and kissed Morgan on the forehead before he carried her back to her carrycot. He had made great efforts for getting that reservation, so he had no other choice but try and prey that Morgan would have a quiet evening.
"She'll fall asleep in a few minutes," Meredith reassured him. She had waited for a dinner like this too, but now –when their first date was becoming reality- she found out she couldn't leave her baby girl with whomever. She sighed discreetly, relieved and content, to see Derek complying with her wishes. "Thank you," she leaned down to his ear as she whispered.
Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled genuinely. He picked the carrycot up and walked Meredith to the door.
Meredith and Derek smiled at each other when Derek took Morgan out of the car and the baby let out a sigh. He wasn't that worried about having a baby with him at the restaurant as during the ride, Morgan had fallen asleep.
"Good evening," a young host greeted them with a polite smile.
"Good evening," Derek smiled. "We have a reservation for Shepherd."
As she heard that, the host glanced at the baby, obviously not approving her presence there.
"She's sleeping and she will be sleeping for another couple of hours," Derek said, hoping to help a little and convince her not to deny their evening.
"We'll leave as soon as she starts whimpering," Meredith added.
"But she won't because she has just fallen asleep and nothing disturbs her," he also mentioned.
The girl let out an exasperated sigh, but as she looked at Morgan again and watched her peaceful sleep, a smile crept across her lips. "I will walk you to your table," she told them and took two menus as she walked ahead.
Meredith and Derek smiled at each other as they followed the girl. They put the carrycot on a chair beside them and both ordered the food. Morgan had many people stopping by their table just to glance at her and compliment her cuteness.
"To a flawless test," Derek toasted, holding his glass of wine in the air. "And to a good tutor," he added, smirking.
Meredith laughed and held up her glass of water. "To whatever you say." Derek made a slight grimace at her toast. "And to Morgan's first night out," she added, smiling.
Derek chuckled as he held up his glass for Morgan. "And from what I can see, she will have many other nights out. You should start looking for a nanny already if you don't want to take her to the daycare."
Meredith grimaced at the word 'daycare' and shook her head. "I will but it's still too early. My maternity leave ends in two months and I am planning to spend as much time with her as I can in these two months. And speaking of Morgan…" she paused so that she could grin at Derek. "He signed the papers."
Derek smiled, but it wasn't one of his best smiles. It was good news that Morgan's father was giving up his rights as parent because this way he would allow another man to come into her life – when the time would be right-, but he also felt a little unsure of this decision; it was making him feel somehow guilty and he couldn't explain the reason.
"That was easy," he mumbled.
"I knew he would sign them right away," she shrugged. "Now it's only a matter of weeks until my lawyer makes the papers."
"Are you sure this was the best decision?" he couldn't help it and had to ask her as if her answer would clear his conscious.
"He signed the papers immediately and this says a lot," Meredith answered. "I am trying to do the right thing here. He didn't want the baby and I birthed it against his will. It was stupid of me and I am not even sure why I tried to piss him off."
"What if…" Derek wanted to ask her, but he didn't have the strength to do it.
"What if something happens to me?" she asked, guessing his question. Derek nodded slowly. Meredith sighed as she looked down to her plate, thoughtful. "I thought about that too. She has a grandma I don't talk to that much and a grandpa who hasn't seen me in 20 years," she muttered. She bit her lip as she glanced at Derek. "You can have her," she said, looking into his eyes.
Derek stared at her for a moment, dumfounded.
"If you want her," she added when she read his shock.
Derek gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course I want her."
"After my death or whatever," she pointed out.
Derek grimaced at her words. "Do you realize how … sad this is?"
Meredith forced a smile as she looked down. "I know," she muttered. "But you're not a stranger anymore. Besides me, nobody knows her better than you."
"Let's change this topic, please," he suggested, both of them starting to feel depressed already.
"Gladly," she shuddered, just thinking at that possibility. She leaned down and gently caressed Morgan's cheek while Derek reached across the table and took her hand.
"The main purpose for this dinner is to enjoy us and … be somewhat special," Derek smiled comforting.
Her face became brighter again as she smiled at him. She felt the warm feeling of safety as he held his hand over hers and her heart fluttered when Derek pulled his hand.
"Did you talk to your mother?" he asked her.
Meredith sighed loudly, shaking her head to their new topic; another one she didn't like. "I told you she was not here to see me," she mumbled. "And why do we have talk about me all the time? We've known each other for over a month now and I don't know anything about you while you know almost everything about me."
"Almost…" Derek smirked, trying to avoid that kind of conversation. "So I still have some research to do."
"Derek," she looked at him, serious. "Who are you, Derek?"
"What do you mean who I am?" he laughed. "Derek Shepherd, neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace hospital."
"That's right. I know Derek Shepherd the neurosurgeon, but I don't know Derek Shepherd the person," she pointed out. "To me… you're still a stranger and considering the actual relationship between us and what I just told you about my daughter, I think it's my turn to ask questions."
Derek gave her one of his genuine smiles as he played with his fork in his plate. "You know some things about me," he answered. "I was married to Dr. Addison Montgomery and…"
"No," she stopped him, shaking her head disapprovingly. "I don't want to know about you and Dr. Montgomery. I want to hear about you and your ex-wife, for example. Like… why did you break up?"
As she asked him that, Meredith easily could read pain in his smile. From all the possible questions, why had she chosen that one, she blamed herself.
"I love babies," he answered then, the same genuine smile on his face.
"I know that already," she agreed.
Derek chuckled but his chuckle was sad too. "She was pregnant with my child and she chose the career over the pregnancy," he looked down at his plate as his words came out as murmur. "I am not obsessive of your baby," he reassured her. "But I like to … to see them growing, living their innocence and becoming extraordinary human beings. We tried to make things work. 11 years weren't so easy to give up on."
"11 years?" Meredith asked, surprised.
"That's even sadder," he smiled at her. "You discover the person you share your life with after 11 years."
"I am sorry," she muttered apologetically as if she had anything to do with his condition. "So you don't believe in marriage anymore."
"I do believe in marriage," he answered, very convincing. "But now I keep my eyes wide open as I look at the people around me."
Somehow, she didn't believe that. He was either just starting opening his eyes or his sight wasn't so good. Her baby girl was looking more each day like the man he considered his best friend, his brother.
"What have you found out about me so far?" she asked.
"I found out what an extraordinary person you are," he answered.
"Stop saying that," she shook her head disapprovingly.
"I won't. You made mistakes… terrible mistakes, but you assume the consequences and this makes you extraordinary," he reassured her.
She glanced at him and smiled gratefully. "Would you marry me?" she asked jokingly.
"I would," was his straight answer, which left Meredith speechless. "I would," he repeated and smiled as he reached for her hand again. "What else should I tell you about me? My family is a big family. My dad passed away years ago, I have mom, my four sisters and their husbands, and … a couple of nephews now," he chuckled. "Besides my father's death, we like to consider ourselves a normal family… happy." Derek gave a light squeeze to her hand before he let it go. "I will let you know more about me in time."
She smiled and for the first time in months, she felt hopeful.
Derek pulled the car in front of Meredith's house. While she got outside, Derek started unfastening Morgan's carrycot from the backseats.
"I think they won't receive us there if we don't bring Morgan with us," Derek laughed as he carefully picked the baby up into his arms.
"I won't go there again!" she stated. "They wanted to take her pictures… like she was a monkey or their mascot," she giggled.
Derek laughed and kissed the still-sleeping baby before he put her back into the carrycot. He wrapped an arm around Meredith's waist as he walked them to the door.
He handed her the carrycot and took her other hand. "I want more than your friendship, Meredith," Derek confessed, smiling while his eyes were piercing hers. "But I don't want to rush you." As he said that, Derek took her face between his hands and his lips brushed against hers. "Good night, Meredith," he smiled as he took a step backward.
"Will you come tomorrow?" she muttered.
His smile became even brighter. "Definitely," he reassured her.
She stayed on the porch until Derek's car was out of her sight. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the door and biting her lip, as the sweet taste of his lips was still lingering over hers.
She shook her head and returned to reality. It wasn't raining that evening in Seattle, but the weather was windy. She shivered and unlocked the door, hurrying to bring Morgan to warmth.
As she closed back the door, Meredith looked curiously at the house. Something was different. As she tried to find out what was different, Meredith realized. The lights were on. "Did we leave the lights on?" she asked Morgan-without expecting an answer.
Walking into the living room, Meredith shrieked. "Mom!"
