AN: First of all I just want to tell you guys that I'm stoked to have reached, and passed, the 100 reviews, thanks for the support you give me. I'm really sorry for the delay, but work doesn't seem to slow down this summer. I want to reassure both Patsy and the other anonymous reviewer who were worried about me not updating this, maybe it will take me some time, but I already have the entire layout of this story planned and I will finish it. Hopefully this week and the next should be quiet, so I'll have lots of time to dedicate to writing, with the shorter hours. Enjoy chapter ten!

I can't keep my eyes off of you

Recovering was proving to be quite a lengthy process. He had known that already, but Derek was hating the slowness. Just like any other surgeon he was an over achiever. Being stuck at home, having to do therapy and suffering with memory loss were things he would much rather not deal with. The memories were coming back to him in bits and pieces, but he didn't feel like they were resurfacing fast enough. He was still battling with uneasiness as he scrolled through pictures of the last three years and he detested asking about every happy moment he spotted on paper. Earlier in the week he had remembered the day Bailey was born. The emotions he had felt as his son came to the world came back to him in an emotional memory. He could still feel the pain and despair he had gone through when Meredith was undergoing emergency surgery. He had waited for news about her well-being with Cristina, who had reminded him how important Meredith was for the both of them.

"He looks like her" he mused, looking at Cristina as they were both sitting on a gurney in the dark hallway "did you see him?"

"Uh, no I didn't" she shook her head, coming out of the stupor she was feeling.
"Yeah, he looks like her…" he sighed, trailing off "his apgars are good" he added, feeling extremely proud of his newborn son "he's gonna be fine" he whispered, nodding to himself.
"He's gonna be great" she nodded as well.
"Cristina?" his voice sounded broken and unsure as he tried to fill the silence that was engulfing them.

"Hey… Meredith Grey has survived a bomb, a drowning, a gunman, and a plane crash, and she's still here" she was quick to reassure him, enunciating all the times Meredith had had close encounters with death "she's gonna die when she's like 90, old and warm in her bed..." she added for good measure, managing to draw a smile from him "she is not gonna die today" she promised as he nodded and she took his hand into hers "today she's gonna be fine…"
"I hope so" he mumbled, too afraid to fathom the thought of his life without her in it.
"She has to be" Cristina's voice sounded like a mantra as she added "she's our person" they shared a knowing look and settled down to wait for news about her.

Like every other day since she had known her, Meredith had proved how extraordinary she was on the day of Bailey's birth. It never ceased to amaze him what a wonderful woman she was. When they had first met she had tried to pass as a surgery-hungry, fresh out of med school girl doing her best to prove her mother wrong. But he had known, right from their first meeting in that bar, that there was a lot more about her than what she was trying to let on. He was always astounded by her big heart, despite all that she had gone through, Meredith could still see the best in other people, she had done that with him even after his wife had showed up. She had done it once more when he had batted his mother's ring in the woods. And, even if his memory was still fuzzy, she had also done it not so long ago, taking him back even if he had screwed up with a research assistant. She had done it with Alex, who had become a big brother figure for her, but had started out just like a pain in her butt. She had done it with Cristina, who turned out to be her person and was by her side during her most important battles, but started out as her competitor. She never gave up and pushed everybody else to do better and prove themselves everyday. He couldn't imagine a better mother for his kids, thinking how afraid she had been of becoming like her mother he couldn't help but laugh. She was a whole other league. Sure Ellis Grey had been a pioneer in medicine and a role model for many women who became Doctors, but her daughter was even more amazing. She was a competent surgeon and an attentive mother, while also being a wonderful wife and friend.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked when she woke up and she found him lost in his musings.

"You" he answered honestly, closing the distance separating them, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

She sighed when the kiss ended and curled herself up in his embrace, scratching her nose with the back of her right hand "what about me has you smiling at 7 in the morning?" she pressed.

"Just everything about you makes me smile at every hour of everyday" he mumbled pressing a kiss on her head.

"You're very romantic today" she giggled.

"And you are amazing" he countered, a big smile still plastered on his face.

"Stop all the compliments, you're going to make me blush" she chastised him.

"I like it when you blush, you're even prettier than usual…" he wiggled his eyebrows seductively.

"You're such a flatterer!" she grinned.

"I aim to please" he shrugged.

"I can't believe I have to go back to work in four days" she complained, burrowing her nose in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent, a mix of his aftershave, soap and something that was uniquely him.

"Don't worry about that now" he soothed, caressing the small of her back "we still have four more whole days"

"And then I'm only going back to work part-time" she perked up, before she placed another kiss on his mouth. What had started out as a soft kiss soon became demanding and needy, both of their tongues battling for dominance. Once air became a necessity the two of them released each other's lips, both panting, their hearts pounding in their ears.

"You know" he whispered after a brief pause "it's still early enough for us to truly enjoy each other's company" he suggested.

"What did you have in mind?" her voice was sultry in his ear.

"Well, for starters I'd like to remove this bothersome shirt" he growled in her ear, pulling on her pajama top.

She shrieked with laughter as he insinuated his hand underneath the cotton of her shirt tickling her and she climbed into his lap to remove his t-shirt as well.

"Too bad you can't follow me in the shower" she pouted.

He stared at her, amazed at the gleam in her eyes and at the naughty grin she was sporting "what did you have in mind?" he wondered.

"I was thinking about the infamous bendy thing" she tried to sound innocent as she started toying with the waistband of his pants.

His eyes went huge and he sighed loudly as he stared at her "have mercy" he whined, before she descended on him, kissing him forcefully.

"Maybe we cannot do the bendy thing, but I'm sure we can work something out.." she purred.

"I sure hope so" he agreed "but I'm not forgetting the bendy thing, just wait until I'm out of this cast" he promised.

"I'll be counting the days" she grinned as she took off her pajama pants.

After a more than satisfying early morning together the two of them emerged in the kitchen and found Carolyn, Amelia and the kids busy with breakfast preparations.

"Hey guys, did you sleep all right?" Carolyn smiled at both of them.

"Yeah, wonderfully" Derek answered a gleam in his eyes, as he got close to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek, bending down to kiss both kids right after.

"How about you guys?" Meredith inquired as Amelia offered both of them a cup of coffee.

"I swept gweat mama!" Zola grinned at her as she hugged the little girl and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Did you sleep good as well, buddy?" Derek was hugging Bailey close to him and he nodded in response.

"What are you guys making?" Meredith asked after she took a sip of coffee.

"French toast!" Zola was clearly excited.

"Amelia went to the Farmer's Market at the harbor to buy bread and she found these amazing berries" Carolyn pointed to the blueberries and the raspberries that were sitting on the counter "so we decided to make French toast, we wanted to surprise you…"

"I didn't know there was a Farmer's Market at the harbor" Meredith sounded surprised as she looked at Amy.

"It's a new one, since the one in Seattle is really popular they decided to have one on the island as well"

"Good, we should go check it out one of these days, since I'll still be stuck at home" Derek snatched up a blueberry.

"No stealing daddy" Zola swatted his arm away.

"I need to taste them, check if they're good enough, baby" he grinned at her and she grinned back once he gave her and Bailey a blueberry each.

"Tasty" she decided and her little brother just nodded in agreement.

"Go sit down, did you forget what the therapist said? You don't need to force the recuperating process" Meredith pointed to one of the stools and Derek obediently sat down, watching his family making breakfast together. It was an enthralling process to watch, seeing the four of them laughing as they mixed eggs and milk and they washed the berries so they could put them on top of the bread before drenching the whole thing in maple syrup. There was a time, not too long ago, when he had given up on the idea of being a dad. It had never been the right time with him and Addison, they were both focused on their careers and neither of them wanted to take a step back and concentrate on kids. It had just been the wrong relationship. With Meredith it had been different, from the very first day, when she kicked him out of her house. Here they were, almost eight years later, with two kids and the beautiful house in the woods he had worked on for so long, he was definitely living the dream. It was Amelia that woke him up from his daydream "here's your French toast" she said poking him in the ribs and handing him a plate "Zola was the one that placed the berries" he looked down on the plate and smiled his slice of toast was full of red and blue berries shaped in a wobbly Z, she had learned a couple of days before that Z was the first letter of her name.

"Great work on your Z, honey" he praised and she rewarded him with one of her bright smiles.

"You teached me good, daddy" she grinned, as she swallowed the first bite of her breakfast, right after Meredith had cut it up for her.

"Wow, you guys... this is the best French toast ever!" he complimented, turning to give both kids a high five.

"Fanks dada" it was Bailey who answered first.

"Thank you for making it"

"We should definitely do this more often" Meredith had to agree as she put another bite in her mouth.

"Maybe we should make it a weekly tradition" Derek's proposal had both kids nodding excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess we should" Meredith winked at them and Amelia smiled as she added "can I be invited every week, then?"

"Of course!" Zola smiled sweetly at her aunt.

"Okay then, I can go pick up the berries every time you want"

"It's a deal" Meredith took another sip of coffee and relaxed, seeing her kids so happy literally warmed her heart.

On the last day before she was set to go back to work Meredith had organized a mommy-daughter date with Zola. They were going to have breakfast together, then to the aquarium and to Pike Place Market for a quick stroll and a nice lunch. In the afternoon they were meeting at the mall with Alex who was going to help them buying party supplies for Bailey's birthday party. His party was a little less than three weeks away. They were going to take advantage of the little boy's birthday to celebrate Derek's progress in his journey towards recovery as well.

"What took you guys so long?" Alex approached them as soon as he spotted Meredith's car.

"Someone wanted ice cream" Meredith answered pointing to the little girl enjoying a strawberry cone covered with sprinkles.

"Why didn't you wait for uncle Alex?!" he asked trying to sound mad as he poked Zola in the ribs.

"I was hungry" she giggled as he helped her to get out of the car.

"You're always hungry" Meredith chastised her with a smile.

"So are you mama" she answered sweetly, licking her cone contently.

"I gotta agree with the little lady here... you eat a lot for being so tiny!"

"Shut up, you eat a lot more than me" she was quick to defend herself.

"Maybe, but I'm a man..."

"Whatever..."

They entered a shop dedicated to party supplies. Zola had convinced Meredith and Derek to give Bailey a jungle teamed party. The little boy had been obsessed with Madagascar lately and both parents agreed with the four years old. They found matching paper plates, cups, tablecloth and napkins with the four main characters and the infamous penguins on them. Zola took her job of picking out a piñata very seriously and they ended up getting one shaped like Marty the zebra, who was Bailey's favorite character. They even found little bags containing party flavors to give out to all the guests, to thank them for coming. Satisfied with everything they found, they went to the bakery next to order cake. They settled on a big fruit cake with the portrait of the characters from the movie in the center and the writing Happy Birthday Bailey! right below it written in chocolate. Zola convinced them to go to the toy store next, since she wanted to pick out Bailey's present. She found a plush toy of Marty and shrieked with joy. Since she had been such a little helper Meredith decided to give her a present as well and she, unsurprisingly, settled for a colored book about dolphins and sea creatures. She loved to read with her parents, especially with her daddy. After they were done at the toy store they entered the supermarket to get some of the food in advance and to pick up the stuff they needed for dinner as well, Carolyn had given them a list.

"Can you go get the zucchini?" she asked Alex "I'll meet you right by the tomatoes" she added as she speeded the other way.

Five minutes later she hadn't come back yet, so Alex went to look for her. She found her in the pharmacy aisle, staring at the boxes in front of her "are you all right?" his voice was concerned.

"Yeah, I'm great" she dismissed him right away.

"What are you doing here?" he pressed, noticing she was staring at various pregnancy tests.

She stayed silent, biting on her lower lip "I remembered this morning that I'm definitely late" she mumbled.

"Wow... that's huge" he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you could say that..." she shrugged "the universe definitely has a funny sense of humor" she grimaced, picking two boxes and settling them in the shopping cart.

"Hey, it will be all right" he reassured her.

"Yeah, I know that... it's just that I would have wanted Derek to really be recovered, you know..."

"He we'll be okay soon enough" he soothed her.

"Yeah I know...and besides, I still need to take the test first" she placed a kiss on top of Zola's hair, she was busy with her newest book, but smiled at her mom.

"You're going to tell, him, right?"

"Of course I am, I'm telling him as soon as I get home" she smiled as they walked towards the register.

"You'll make it, even if there's gonna be three of them" Alex's voice was 100% sure.

"I hope so..."

"I know so" his tone was defined as they started to unload their stuff.

Hope you liked it, most of you had guessed it already... chapter 11 will be posted on Friday, because it's almost ready, this is to hoping you'l forgive me for the delay of chapter 10. Leave me a review, please!