Irene's A/N: We know it's a Monday, but yesterday was a racing day and it kept me busy the entire afternoon. We hope a longer chapter will make up for that. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

The only reason Meredith is still seated solely resides on the steak part of the name of the place they have picked: Outback Steakhouse.

She looks around the restaurant where many other families are having dinner, the cacophony of silverware clattering, shrieking children and the hum of conversations almost giving her a headache. The place looks nice, including the Australian-themed paraphernalia littering the walls and the tables, but the kids seem to be having the time of their lives sitting next to a giant kangaroo.

Also, Derek promised her steak, and she wasn't backing down, even if he brought her in a seedy place where she would have questioned if they clean the tables or not. Baby really, really wants steak, the rest can wait.

"This is ironic, you know?" she grins, fiddling with the wide menu, looking up at her husband with a smirk.

Derek looks puzzled. "What?"

"Are you trying to convince me to move to Australia?" she says, gesturing with her hands to the decorations around them, a smirk still planted on her lips.

Derek chuckles. "Oh, you're funny," he grins with a McDreamy look, shaking his head, ignoring her jab to focus on their kids.

Bailey and Zola are huddled around Derek, their necks craned to look at the pictures on the menu, asking their father to read all the lines for them. Derek complies with a wide smile, stopping at each line to describe the dish.

"Oh, Daddy, a burger!" Zola squeals, finally grinning in excitement after her grimaces during the salad section. "With fries!"

"Sweetie, they don't have the special fries in the kids' menu," he says, a tight-lipped smile on his face. "See? Only regular fries."

"We can order them on the side," Meredith whispers, "I have two sides with my steak, she can take some of mine." Derek shakes his head at her proposal.

"Daddy, but...I want no cheesy burger. I want this!" Zola protests, pointing to a picture on the other side of the page.

"The one with bacon and onions?"

"Yes!" she grins.

"It's from the regular menu, the burger is going to be big," he warns.

"Oh, the hole in my belly is big. There's room for aaaaall the bacon and onions, Daddy," Zola grins, practically licking her lips in anticipation.

"Der, we'll get a doggy bag if she doesn't finish it. Order it," Meredith whispers again. "Regular fries though, the others are too much."

"So, medium steak for you, burger and fries for the lady," Derek lists, writing it up on his paper placemat with a random pen he found in her bag. "What about Bailey?"

"Chweesy bug!"

"Cheeseburger it is," Derek smiles. "You get the kiddy one, and no complaints."

"Brocs!"

"That's right, there are broccoli on the side, too; is that okay?" Bailey is practically salivating. "You don't get any fries if you pick the broccoli."

"Broca!" Bailey squeals eagerly, and Meredith giggles, shaking her head. Her son is the very first kid she has met that adores broccoli. And cauliflower. He scarfs down entire plates of them whenever she puts them on the table, and everybody is always surprised by how easily he eats his veggies. It is definitely a Dereky gene, she can put down money on it.

Zola is a little more difficult, a little more picky, but she always eats what is on her plate; if she doesn't, she at least tries some. They have a rule in the house that unless a certain food makes you physically gag or gives you an allergic reaction, you have to try it. Derek suggested this method when they started introducing solids to Zola, and it worked like a charm. Meredith herself is surprised by how much more varied her diet has become since they had to reinvent the menu for every meal. She's only grateful it's Derek who usually bothers with introducing new ingredients. By now she knows how to cook basic meals, but reinventing recipes is truly beyond her abilities.

"Cheesecake for dessert?" Derek's voice interrupts her thoughts, and she smiles at him, nodding eagerly. "Raspberry or chocolate?"

"Both?" she whines, giggling.

"I'll take the raspberry, you'll get the chocolate," he laughs. "We'll share it with the kids if they're still hungry or eat them tomorrow at home."

"Daddy, I wants Butterfingers for dessert!" Zola interjects, grinning brightly.

"Zola, you won't be hungry after the big burger you ordered. We'll share some of my cheesecake if there's still room in your belly, okay?"

Zola pouts. "But Butterfingers are yummy yummy."

"What do you mean with Butterfingers, Zo? The candy bar?" Meredith frowns. When did she ever eat the stuff in the first place is beyond her knowledge. Maybe she saw a commercial?

"Yes!" Zola nods eagerly. "It gots penut butter and yummy chocl'te. Steponmee gotted us it! I cutted it in half and shared with Bailey," she grins, then leans closer to Derek and loudly whispers in his ear: "I got the biggerst half!"

Meredith takes a second to process the sentence, then her eyes widen. "Stephanie Edwards gave you a Butterfinger bar?" she asks, her voice raising an octave. "Last night?"

Zola hums in agreement. "Auntie Amy had to talk to people so she lefted us with the nice girl with super duper curly hair! She gots her skin like me, Mommy!"

Meredith rolls her eyes, trying not to snap at her innocent daughter. She has to have a word with Edwards about giving candy to her kids without her permission. Or she could send her the dentist bill as soon as they have cavities, that could be even more interesting...

"Edwards is not babysitting them ever again. I think it's safer to leave them alone in the middle of the surgical floor," Derek grumbles, shaking his head, then mutters under his breath, "Candy bars!"

Meredith smiles at his reaction, his mood shifting quickly. She gets lost for a second in his twinkling blue eyes when Zola points at something else on the menu, a smile appearing on his face in all its glory. The way the kids are still huddled around him quickly makes her forget all about candy bars and incompetent babysitters, evening out her blood pressure. It looks a lot like the scene she sees every night when he reads them a bedtime story, only with a menu. Right in this second, she can clearly picture a third baby snuggled up against Derek's chest, and her heart flutters.

She gets distracted by the waitress coming to their table with her notepad and her cheesy smile, looking frazzled and a little breathless. The poor girl has probably been running around for hours in the packed restaurant; she remembers her short waitressing days, selling overpriced cigarettes and drinks to the drunk people coming into the dump of a bar she worked back in Boston.

Derek orders for the family, dazzling the young woman so much that Meredith peers at the order ticket from over her shoulder to check what she has written down. Luckily, every item is listed there, McDreamy-ed or not. For good measure, before the girl leaves, she gives her a pointed glare, then pulls Derek close and firmly kisses him. She doesn't care for a second that she's being territorial. Derek is her McDreamy.

"Eww, cooties!" Zola grimaces, covering her eyes with one hand, and Bailey's with the other. Bailey echoes her exclamation before bursting into giggles. Derek's eyes are twinkling when he pulls away, and he looks a little dazed.

"Mommies and daddies don't get cooties when they kiss each other, don't worry," he says, tickling her side so that she's forced to move her hands. He tickles Bailey for good measure too, and their son squeals in delight.

Her eyes fall on a clock near the bar counter, wishing that their meal will come quickly. When she spots the date next to the hour though her heart leaps in her chest.

"Derek!" she yelps, her eyes widening. "Oh my God!"

"What is it?" he asks, a hint of panic in his tone.

"Bailey's B-I-R-T-Hday is in two weeks. Two weeks!"

"Oh, snap, you're right," he says, his eyes wide when he checks his own watch, his frown confirming her suspicions. She wishes she had read the clock wrong.

"What are we going to do!?" she blurts, her chest suddenly feeling tighter.

"First, you're going to breathe and relax, then we are going to figure this out."

"It's not that easy!" she snaps. "I forgot! We -"

"We didn't. We're a little late in the timeline, but we're always rushing around," he sighs, smiling gently as he takes her hand. "We haven't forgotten."

Meredith stares at her little boy happily playing with his fork and giggling with Zola, untouched by her worries. She can see him getting older, his hair getting longer, his baby features disappearing the more he grows. And she almost let him down in the worst possible way.

She's not going to be able to do this for a third time. She's going to become a screw up of a mother, bent and stretched in way too many directions.

"Meredith," echoes in her ears, and her eyes snap up to meet Derek's. His hand squeezes hers again from across the table. "There's time. He doesn't need much."

"I know, I just…"

"Breathe," he hums, smiling softly, his thumb drawing circles on her hand. "We only need a cake and a few decorations, we'll invite a bunch of his friends from daycare, our friends, Sofia for Zola, then we're good to go."

"Your mom can't come in two weeks. Cristina can't come in two weeks. We need time off, we -"

"Oh, Meredith," he hums, smiling. "Mom told me that she'd be happy to come for his birthday, but Nicholas - Nancy's son - is graduating the day after. She said we can celebrate one of his birthdays at her house in the future to make up for it."

"He won't be offended, right? He won't miss his Nana or -"

"Bailey will have a blast," he grins. "I'll make sure of it."

"Just...no more rainbows, Derek. For my sanity."

Derek laughs loudly, unable to stay still in his seat, and she lets out a smile at the memory.

"Daddy, are you and Mommy whispering funny secrets about grown up stuff?" Zola frowns, concerned to be left out of the fun.

"No, just reminiscing about the past," he grins, chuckling one last time before he's fully recovered.

Meredith is only glad they can laugh about the incident at Zola's birthday. Her hand falls over her stomach, slowly rubbing the curve as the baby nudges her.

"My tummy is growling for a burger," Zola sighs, putting her elbows on the table and resting her cheeks over her balled fist, pouting. Her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk, and Meredith teasingly pokes her. Zola huffs out a reluctant giggle.

"Mommy is hungry too, we just need to be a little more patient."

"But I'm bored!"

"What about we play a game?" Derek grins smugly, as if he had found the solution to all their problems. Meredith gives him a look. Of course the man is too confident for his own good.

"What game?" Zola perks up, and Bailey stops playing with his fork as well, watching his father in expectation.

Derek slides out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, taking out a folded piece of paper. He makes a show out of opening it, and the kids are practically bouncing in their seats in excitement. She has to admit, part of her is feeling the same curiosity burn.

"Ta da!" he exclaims, turning the page towards them. "It's a quiz!"

Meredith's eyes widen when she reads the title of the computer-printed page he's holding like a herald. No way he wants to do this here, now, with the kids.

"What's a quiz, Daddy?"

"It's a series of questions, only...this is a special quiz. One that only Mommy and Daddy have taken so far. It helps them get to know each other better."

Zola rolls her eyes. "You know Mama, you do everything together!"

Meredith laughs, as Derek chuckles. "You bet I don't know what Mommy would answer to this question?" he teases, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I don't believe you!" Zola giggles, staring at her father in awe. Meredith loves that look she gives him sometimes, when they're just so taken with one another that the entire world falls away. It reminds her of the first time she really saw them together, swaying to a tune only he knew, their smiles equally wide.

"Hm, let's see...Mommy, would you like to be famous? In what way?" he asks, his smile softening, his eyes sparkling. "I don't know, do you think Mommy wants to be famous?"

"Mommy is famous, Daddy! She saves lives, she has to be famous!" Zola beams. "And when we go eat together down in the big room all the people say hi. She's famous."

Meredith laughs loudly at Derek's surprised expression, before it morphs into a chuckle.

"No, famous people are people on TV, people whose name everybody knows, even in Australia."

"So ET is famous?"

Derek chortles. "Yes, ET is famous."

"What about the little girl who gots a prince for a Daddy? Is she famous?"

"She is. She's an actress."

"Oh, I wanna be an actress, Daddy!" Zola beams, "I wanna be famous!"

Derek laughs. "What about you, Bailey; do you want to be famous?"

"Catess!" he grins too. "Like Zo!"

It's Meredith's turn to laugh. "You want to be an actor?"

"No. Like Zo," he frowns. "An' go vroom vroom."

"You want to be an actress who drives cars?" Derek asks, amusement shining in his eyes.

Bailey nods eagerly. "Vroom vroom!"

"He can't be an actress," Zola argues, folding her arms in front of her and glaring at Bailey. "He's a boy. Boys are actors."

"I penis!" Bailey squeals, turning a few faces towards them.

Meredith can't help but giggle, especially when she sees Derek turning tomato red and smiling apologetically at the woman glaring at him from the table next to them.

"Yes, Bailey, you have a penis, so you're a boy. And Zola is right, boys are actors, not actresses," she calmly explains, as Bailey grins brightly for getting the question right.

"I vroom vroom?" he frowns, all of a sudden.

Derek smirks then. "Of course you can be an actor and race cars," he reassures, winking at Meredith. It's her turn to blush. "Speaking of movies, you know, I googled the movie I was talking about last night," he hums, his smile sobering at the mere mention of the conversation. "The actress playing Bertie, Ellen Pompeo, reminds me of you."

"Oh, I -"

"You're more beautiful, Mere," he replies, dashing her with a smile. "And you're mine, I don't need to share you with anyone. Unless he grows inside of you."

Meredith shakes her head at his cheesiness, though she can feel herself blush. She knows changing the subject is wise, now. "Would you like to be famous? I mean, more famous than you are now," she mumbles under her breath, but he still hears her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your face is on the cover of magazines and Obama personally called you for a project. You're already famous."

"Oh, I'm…" his eyes are sad when he starts stuttering, and she chastises herself for bringing that up.

"Never mind, Derek. Would you like to be famous?"

"I don't know," he replies honestly, a smile reappearing on his face. "If I had to pick a famous person to be though, I'd want to be a sportsman. Hockey player or baseball player, I think."

"I still can't see you playing hockey."

"I'll show you," he grins, wiggling his eyebrows. "I'm very good with sticks."

"Derek!" she yelps, and wins another dirty look from their noisy momish neighbor. Derek merely gives her a smoldering, bashful look.

"What about you, any desire for limelight?"

"Honestly, I would like to make a difference, more than being famous. I'd like to be famous for something I accomplished, something I created or crafted, not just because I have a great as...aspect," she says, catching her tongue just in time.

"You do have a great aspect, though," he winks again, and she rolls her eyes at him.

"You're paying for their therapy, Derek," she uses as a warning, but it only makes him laugh harder. The kids seem amused by the fact that she's glaring at him while he cackles in his seat.

"Okay, next question!" she interrupts, though she smiles softly at him. He looks so handsome when he laughs that sometimes she can forgive him a little too much.

"Alright," he says, chuckling one last time as he smooths down the paper. "Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?" he reads, frowning a little.

"You do that," she smirks, her turn to tease him. "You so do that."

"What?"

"Especially if it's bad news. Why do you do it?"

Derek opens his mouth, and she knows he's ready to deny it, but he backtracks. "I want to be understood. If I have a point, the receiver of the call needs to understand what I'm talking about."

"You're good with your words, Derek."

"It's because I think about them," he smirks, teasing her once again.

She rolls her eyes. "I like to be spontaneous."

"Oh, I know all about your spontaneity," he grins, a tell in his sparkling eyes.

"My gosh, you can dirty everything up today," she huffs, faking annoyance, before they both chuckle.

"I don't like this question," Zola complains, pouting. Bailey seems lost in his little world again.

"Okay, question suitable for children?" she asks, giving him a poignant look.

Derek scans the page at her request. "Oh!" he grins. "If we skip number four, number five is good."

"We can skip questions, right?" Meredith wonders.

"We'll get back to it later, don't worry. I'll mark it to-do," he smiles, rummaging in her bag to look for a pen again. Of course he has no qualms sifting through her stuff, she sighs, rolling her eyes.

"I surely have one in the zipped pocket," she directs him. Her reward is a grateful smile when the pen appears from the depths of her tote.

"Are you all ready?" he says, his voice changing pitch a little, somehow becoming deeper, holding up everybody's attention again. "The question is…"

"Daddy!" Zola squeals, followed by another impatient "Dada!" coming from Bailey.

"When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?" he reads quickly, and Derek is almost breathless at the end.

"Mommy singed to me last night!" Zola grins. "Gotcha, Mama!"

Meredith's cheeks heat up for a second. "I did sing to the kids a couple of nights ago, yes," she admits.

"Itty bitty pa!" Bailey smirks, throwing up his hands in the air.

"Yes, the Itsy Bitsy Spider," she agrees, her cheeks now burning as Derek keeps smirking, arms folded against his chest.

"Daddy singed Rock the Cashba with me in the car!" Zola grins again, and it's Derek's turn to become crimson.

"So, I can't sing kids' songs but you belt out The Clash's songs while you take them to daycare?"

Derek clears his throat. "Sometimes?"

"What else do you sing with Daddy?" Meredith asks Zola, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"Single Ladies! We dance together, too!" she exclaims, though she covers her mouth quickly, her eyes wide. "Sorry, Daddy, that was s'posed to be our secret!"

"So much for secrets," he mumbles, chuckling awkwardly.

"Wow," Meredith giggles, shaking her head. "I can't believe I missed all of your Beyoncé dance parties."

"I always make sure you're not home," he mutters, taking a deep breath.

"Daddy dances so silly! He makes me laugh lots!"

"Dada illy!" Bailey parrots, nodding his head.

"Oh, you've seen him dance too?" Meredith grins, Bailey agreeing eagerly. "I need to install cameras to catch you three dancing," she hums, making Derek turn even redder.

"Mere, -"

"It's the cutest thing I've heard you do for a while. Seriously, I want to see."

"You can't laugh," he warns, though he's finally smiling away his embarrassment.

"I promise I'll try," she grins, biting her lip already to restrain herself.

"Meredith, -"

"You are a decent singer, Derek. I won't mock you about that."

He rolls his eyes, though he chuckles. "It's the dancing that worries me."

"You can't be worse than Ronnie Miller, I promise you."

Meredith can see the relief spreading on his features when their dinner is delivered and they have to postpone the quiz.

An hour later, Derek is stuffed. Behind his driver's seat, Bailey is already conked out from a full tummy, and Zola has her hand resting on her belly, much like her mother does in the passenger's seat next to him. Between their seats are their to-go boxes. They're all set for dinner tomorrow.

"Mama, I think I'm having a baby, too!" Zola blurts.

A smile spreads across Meredith's face. "Are you, now?"

"Yes, my belly is getting big!" Zola says loudly. Through the mirror, Derek sees her arms stretching to her sides, to show them just how big her belly is getting.

He and Meredith chuckle together.

"You're just full, sweetie. You ate too much food," Meredith explains.

"Is that how you feel all the time? Like you eated too much food?" Zola's curiosity blooms. Derek smiles at his daughter's inquisitiveness, and he's a little bummed that he can't help Meredith answer this question, because he doesn't know nor will he ever know what it feels like to carry a baby inside his belly.

He sees Meredith smile in the corner of his eyes. "Not exactly," she replies.

"When what do it feel like to have a baby inside your belly?" is Zola's next question.

"Well," Meredith says, elongating the word and pausing for a second to think. "It feels like you have to pee all the time, and I'm always hungry. Then sometimes, when your brother is kicking, I feel like I'm being hit with a hammer from the inside out."

"Owie!" Zola gasps. "But you can't be hungry now, you just eated, and you isn't peeing."

"Oh, but I bet I'll eat the leftovers before I go to bed," Meredith giggles. "And I'm going straight to the bathroom as soon as we get home."

"But you can't eat my lefty-overs, Mama!" Zola protests.

"I won't, Zo," Meredith laughs. "I promise."

"You can have mine if you want," Derek offers, knowing Meredith didn't leave behind much more than a bite or two. Her eyes light up. He extends his hand to take hers, giving it a gentle squeeze as he pulls the car into the driveway.

Meredith, as she said she would, makes a mad dash directly to the bathroom when they enter the house. Derek puts the leftovers away while Zola and Bailey plop on the couch. Zola reaches for Meredith's iPad.

"Daddy, can we call Nana?" she asks. It's been a couple weeks since they've video chatted with his mother. He did speak with her a few days ago, when they'd discussed Bailey's birthday and Nicholas's graduation. He'd forgotten to mention the conversation to Meredith, though. His mother had been the one to bring up Bailey's birthday. Derek is ashamed that his mother remembered before him.

He can't wait to tell his mother that her grandson to granddaughter ratio is increasing. She'll be thrilled to hear she's going to have a seventh grandson.

Meredith enters the living room before he can answer Zola's request.

"What's going on?" Meredith asks, sitting in between the two children. She's not wearing any make-up, but her cheeks glow. She looks ethereal.

Bailey lays his head across Meredith's lap, resting his back against the couch. His eyes peer at the swell of his mother's belly. Zola hands Meredith the iPad.

"Call Nana!" Zola orders.

Meredith cocks her head at Derek, who's still standing in the kitchen. "Do you think your mom would be up for talking?" Meredith asks. He glances at the clock. It's about seven o'clock, which means it's ten o'clock on the East coast. His mother was always a night owl, so he figures she's still awake.

"Let me call her, and we'll see if she can Skype the kids," he smiles, adding quickly, "We need to tell her about the baby, that he's a he." Meredith responds with a closed-mouth smile and a nod, but she doesn't reply verbally.

His mother is delighted to Skype with them. In fact, seconds after he has her on the phone, his mother's face is lighting up the iPad as initiates the has positioned a kid on each side of her, the iPad propped on her belly, and Derek stands directly in back of Meredith behind the couch.

"Nana!" Zola screams at the top of her lungs when she first sees her grandmother on the iPad.

Bailey parrots his sister, "Nana!"

"My, oh, my, look at how big you're getting." He sees his mother's eyes widen.

"We're all getting big, aren't we?" Meredith blushes, looking back and forth between their two children and then ahead at their third, who is not visible for his mother.

"Mama's belly is getting HUGE!" Zola reaffirms.

"I'll take your word for it, since I can't see it," Carolyn chuckles, a spark evident in her eyes.

"That's because my belly makes the perfect iPad stand now." Meredith giggles softly.

"Here," Derek says, extending his arms to take the iPad off Meredith's belly.

"What are you doing?" she shrieks, putting her hands on the iPad too, surely shaking up the screen for his mother.

"Well, Ma can only see your belly if someone else holds the iPad," Derek smiles.

"Oh, you're kidding me. I am not your pregnant model," Meredith argues, gripping the iPad firmly.

"Come on, Mere, I just want Ma to see how gorgeous pregnancy looks on my wife," Derek says, flashing her a bright smile. She looks beautiful when she's being argumentative, too.

"Derek, if she doesn't want me to see, that's fine. No need to be pushy," his mother's warning tone comes through.

"Pushy?" Derek gasps. "I'm not being pushy, am I, Mere?" He frowns, eying Meredith. She exhales grumpily.

"No, you're just being your normal self," she quips, though he's not sure what that means.

Leave it to Derek to volunteer her for stuff she doesn't want to do. She knows he has good intentions, but still, she thinks the whole ordeal is silly.

"It's not like your mother hasn't seen a pregnant woman before," she tells Derek.

"True. But she's never seen you pregnant before," he shrugs. She sighs, thinking that once you've seen one pregnant woman, you've seen them all, but she decides to relent then.

She hands her husband the iPad. "Here." Then she stands up and takes a few steps back away from the iPad, allowing his mother a full view of her bump.

"Mommy is bootiful!" Zola exclaims.

"Booty-ful!" Bailey echoes, clapping his hands and giggling. Meredith feels her cheeks warming as she steps forward and snatches the iPad from his hands, returning to her seat between the children.

"You look great, Meredith. Pregnancy looks good on you," Carolyn assures her.

"Are you feeling better? You're in the middle of the second trimester, so I'm hoping the nausea has quelled."

"It has," Meredith says. "Your mints were a godsend during the first trimester. Now I just get queasy around foods with tomato in it, specifically pizza. I think it's because that's what first made me throw up."

"It might be," Derek's mother admits. "When I was about five weeks pregnant with Derek and Lizzie, I threw up eggs. I couldn't eat eggs for the remainder of my pregnancy or for the next two years. Even the scent of eggs made me nauseous, and I love eggs! Fortunately, my body stopped rejecting them eventually. It did take time."

Meredith groans, begrudgingly disappointed, since she really does - did - love pizza. She's reminded of the time when she threw up eating chocolate chip cookies as a kid and didn't eat chocolate for at least three years. Now she can't believe she survived three chocolate-less years. "So you're telling me it might be a while before I can eat pizza again." She gives Bailey and Zola an apologetic look. "Sorry, kids."

Zola rests her chin on Meredith's slender shoulder. "It okay, Mama. Auntie Amy still woves pizza! We eats it with her." Meredith feels better knowing that her kids don't have to go pizza-less just because she can't stomach to inhale its scent now.

"So, remind me, when are you due again?" Carolyn asks.

"September 21st," Meredith sighs, recollecting the date firmly in her mind. Considering it's barely May, September feels like forever away, though she knows the months would fly by, and they still have so much to do to prepare for baby number three. She still hasn't fully digested that they're going to be welcoming a third addition to their family, and that the children will soon outnumber the adults.

"Bailey was three weeks early, though," Derek reminds her that they probably have even less time to plan than she initially thought. She cocks her head, meeting Derek's gaze down on her and the kids. His eyes sparkle and a cheerful smile spreads across his face. "This little man might be, too."

Carolyn Shepherd practically squeals like a little kid. "Oh, it's a boy, is it? Am I getting another grandson?"

Meredith smiles, too, looking back to the iPad. Derek's mother is beaming through the screen. "Yes, we just found out yesterday. We're having another boy!"

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear. Little boys are so much fun. I only had one, you know, so to hear there's a chance that the gender ratio might actually even out with my grandchildren is exciting to hear! You know, I've always imagined Amelia having boys…"

Derek chuckles. "Well, I don't see Amy having kids anytime soon, if ever. She runs every time the guy takes out a ring."

Meredith slaps Derek's knuckles; his hand has been gripping the head of the couch behind her and the kids.

"What?" he frowns.

"So she has commitment issues. I had them. She just needs a guy to chase her. Obviously he's not the right guy if he doesn't chase her," Meredith shrugs.

"Oh, I definitely did my share of chasing," he smirks.

"If I remember right, though, I had to chase you when you wanted to propose," she throws back, her memory falling back to the time he'd hit her engagement ring into the woods. The engagement ring his mother had given him. She bites her lip, not knowing if Derek had ever told her about that. He'd found the ring, so it's not like it mattered, though she never wears it. She can't wear jewelry in the OR! He's never said anything about her lack of wearing rings, because they never did get wedding rings to wear. They don't need rings to show their affection for one another.

"Hmm, this sounds like an interesting story. Do tell. I'll grab popcorn," Carolyn giggles through the iPad.

"Tell, tell, tell!" Both kids chant.

Meredith feels her cheeks warming, and she looks up at Derek, hoping for him to save the day.

"Well, there's really not a whole lot to tell," Derek shrugs. "But, if you insist." He reaches his arms out and scoops up Bailey, then slides beside Meredith. "Your nana had given me a very special ring to propose to Mommy with. She said, 'She's the one, Derek. You have to marry her.' But Daddy was very, very scared. He was afraid she would say no…"

"Why would Mommy say no? She loves you, Daddy," Zola squeaks.

"Well, yes, she does, but just because you love someone, that doesn't mean you want to marry them," Derek answers quickly.

"Why nots?" Zola frowns.

"Because marriage is a big step," Meredith helps out. "Mommy loved Daddy for a long, long time, but it took her a long time to know she wanted to marry him."

"Oh," Zola says.

"Anyway, Daddy was scared, so he kept running from Mommy. Mommy even thought that I didn't want to have her babies anymore, which wasn't true. I wanted to have all her babies, and I told her that. But I didn't know she wanted to have my babies until she told me. And that's when I knew she was ready for Daddy to ask her to marry me. Daddy was about to ask her, but then something happened. He had a very, very bad day at work, and he was sad, so he went and hid at the trailer. You know, the one your Uncle Owen lives in now."

"Uh-huh," Zola and Bailey both nod.

"Well, Daddy hid out there for a really long time, until your mommy came and found him. Turns out, your Grandpa Richard told Mommy that Daddy wanted to propose, so she asked me where the ring was. Well, Daddy was very, very upset, so he kind of bat the ring into the woods…"

"You batted Mommy's ring into the woods!" Zola gasps loudly.

"Derek Christopher Shepherd! You bat your grandmother's ring into the woods?!" Carolyn shouts; she has a piece of popcorn in her hand now. She wasn't kidding about making popcorn.

"It took me hours to find it, with Richard's and Mark's help, but I found it," Derek admits.

"What happened when you finded it?" Zola asks.

"Well, you know what happened. I found your mommy, and I gave her the ring, but… she gave it back."

"She gave it back?" Zola gasps, and Bailey echoes a gasp. "But why, Mommy, why'd you do that?"

"Because it wasn't the right time," Meredith answers simply. "You see, my friend Izzie was very, very sick, and you daddy was the only person in the world who could save her life, so he needed to save her life first."

"Oh, Mommy! Did Daddy save her life?!" Zola gasps.

"Well," Meredith giggles. "We're all here right now, aren't we?" She meets her husband's sparkling blue orbs and a smile comes across his face.

"She wasn't going to marry me if I didn't save Izzie," he admits. "So I did...I saved Izzie, and then I proposed to your mommy right after the surgery."

"How?!" Zola asks. "Did you pose to her in the scrubby room?"

Derek laughs. "Not quite, Zo. Actually, I proposed to her in the elevator."

"The elevator?! But wasn't there other peoples there?"

"Your Grandpa Richard helped me out in ensuring there weren't, and he also made sure your mommy got on the right elevator. She almost didn't," Derek admits.

"Oh!" Zola says. "And then you signed the posty-note?"

Derek smirks, squeezing Meredith's hand. "And then we signed the post-it note, correct. And we had you and Bailey, and soon we'll have your new baby brother."

"Babies!" Bailey chirps.

"I not a baby! I a big girl," Zola argues.

"Why, yes you are," Meredith agrees with her daughter, still unable to grasp how much Zola is changing every day. In another year, she'll be going off to kindergarten, which will be a bittersweet moment. Three kids under the age of five is going to be a challenge, she knows. She has no idea how they'll manage, but they will. They have no choice but to manage.

"So," Carolyn says, "I'm planning on blocking a few weeks in September to come out and help you guys out. I know you refused my help when Bailey was born, but you're going from two to three, and let me tell you, you're going to be thanking me later. I hear three is actually harder than four. I never had three, since I went straight from two to four, but I remember when Nancy went from two to three, and let me tell you, she was thrilled to have me around…"

"Well, I think I have my life more in control than Nancy," Derek mutters.

"You're not saying no," his mother insists.

"Ma, we have Amy, and Meredith's sister Maggie. I think we're going to be okay. Really, you don't have to…"

"I don't have to, you're absolutely correct, but I want to. I'm not asking, Derek. Kids, how would you like it if Grandma came and stayed with you for a few weeks when your new brother comes?"

"Yesss! We can eats pancakes and bake cookies every single day and have lots and lots of fun!" Zola cries. "Please let her come, Daddy!" Zola runs over to Derek and twists her arm around his elbow.

"Nana fun!" Bailey seconds his sister's pleads.

Meredith smiles. "We'll be really lucky to have you, Carolyn. Really, I remember how crazy things were when Bailey was born. We were lucky to have our friend Callie staying with us then, and yes, I'm sure Amelia and Maggie will be more than willing to fulfill their aunt duties, but the kids need their grandmother, too."

"Then it's set. I'll book a flight for early-to-mid-September," Carolyn says.

"But what if the baby's late and doesn't come until October?" Derek argues.

"I don't think the baby will be late, Derek," Meredith insists. "I have a gut feeling he'll be early. I already feel like I'm about to explode, which is why we need to hurry up on the name game."

"And we need to start on the nursery, too," Derek adds.

"Well, at least you know the gender now, so you know which colors to go with. I didn't find out with any of you five, so I always stuck to gender neutral colors," Carolyn says. "You know, they say the color yellow is toxic and can be linked to developmental issues in kids? It has toxins in the dye. I read that in one of my magazines. Maybe that's why you were always small for your age, Derek."

"I've heard that," Meredith's eyes widen as do Derek's. "They say the color blue is the most pleasing on the eyes, so I think we should stick to painting the walls blue."

"Blue is good," Derek agrees. "I like blue. We could paint the walls indigo, though."

"Your favorite," Meredith teases, knowing him too well.

"Well, I should get to bed. It's pretty late here," Carolyn says in the midst of a yawn. She adds, " You kids be good." They can see her waving on the iPad.

"Bye, Nana! Wove you!" Zola waves back.

"Wove you!" Bailey echoes, also waving.

Derek glances at his watch. His mother was right; it is awfully late in New York, since it's almost nine o'clock in Seattle, and he and Meredith both have surgeries scheduled for tomorrow. Meredith only has one surgery scheduled, per Dr. Ryan's orders, and it's scheduled for the afternoon. He has a nine o'clock scheduled, so he'll need to be there before her, though something tells him she'll want to go in when he does. He won't stop her, as long as she promises not to jump in the OR except for the one surgery she has planned.

It's the kids' bedtime, and he offers to take Zola to bed while she takes Bailey. Zola is self sufficient in changing into her PJs. He waits outside while she does, and watches Meredith help Bailey change into his new panda pajamas. His kids are ridiculously spoiled; they have everything he didn't have as a kid.

He had a good enough life as a kid, but his father owned his own store and his mother was a nurse/stay-at-home mom. His mother received social security checks after his father died, but she stayed busy working as a part-time nurse at a nearby women's clinic. However, she spent the majority of her time volunteering and helping people for free. She didn't want to be compensated for her work, and she donated all of her spare change to charity.

They weren't poor, but they weren't wealthy by any means. Also, shop owners certainly didn't make the kind of money that surgeons did. He has more money now than his mother and father had ever dreamt of having.

Derek knows that money doesn't buy happiness. Growing up, he considered himself happy. He didn't have the latest gadgets and the newest toys, but he was happy. He spent a lot of time playing outside with Mark and Lizzie, and playing pretend. Would he have been happier if he'd owned the whole toy store like his do now? Maybe, maybe not.

His kids seem happy, though, and that's all that matters. He looks around Bailey's nursery, eying all the toys in sight, and he realizes he has no idea what to get his son for his second birthday. A new stuffed animal doesn't seem enough. It's what his father got him for his second birthday. Derek fondly remembers a picture of him holding the stuffed monkey, whom he'd cordially named Curious George.

Bailey has at least fifteen stuffed monkeys, so a new monkey wouldn't excite him. He wants to get his son something that will bring a big smile to his face.

But he has no idea what that will be, because his son has everything.

Maybe having everything isn't everything it's cut out to be.

He sees Meredith cradling a fully pajama-formed Bailey, before she sets him on the ground and walks with him into the bathroom to help him brush his teeth. She's glowing like a goddess as she passes him. At the same time, Zola opens the door; she's wearing a pink nightgown, and she looks like a princess.

"Okay, Daddy, I ready for bed!" she exclaims. "Sing me a song!"

"First you need to join your brother in the bathroom and brush your teeth," he says firmly.

Zola scoffs. "There no room," she points to the bathroom. She's right; the kids' bathroom is small. There's only one sink, and there's a cup on each side: one for Bailey's toothbrush and one for Zola's toothbrush.

It dawns on him: There isn't room for one more.

His eyes focus on Meredith growing belly. It looks bigger every time he looks at it, and he's sure he's not imagining its expansion. All in all, he knows that's good. Very good.

But they're running out of time.

He spins around in a circle, realizing there are only three bedrooms upstairs. There's Bailey's and Zola's, and there's the guestroom, where Amelia has been staying. The guestroom has been occupied by numerous people who've stayed with him; he would hate to get rid of it, and he doesn't want to ask Amelia to move out. They're going to need her help more than ever when the baby comes.

Downstairs, there's the playroom. But the kids need their playroom. Yes, they have a play area in the living area, but the living room isn't spacious enough for all of their toys.

That leaves his office. His office that he barely uses, anyway, since he does most of his work at the hospital or sitting on the couch with his wife. The office had been his refuge last year when he and Meredith were constantly fighting and barely making eye contact. He spent hours in his office then, avoiding her.

But they're past that. He doesn't need the office anymore, so it can become the nursery.

"Mere, I know which room can become the nursery," he suggests as she guides Bailey out of the bathroom back into his bedroom, while Zola takes Bailey's place, running her toothbrush under the water, then squeezes the bottle from the middle of the tube, squeezing out a tad more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush. He cringes silently, but doesn't bother scolding her tonight

"Hmm?" Meredith hums, lifting Bailey into his crib. Derek realizes then that Bailey's crib is almost too big for him. He has just enough room to stretch out his legs. His sisters always waited until their children escaped them crib themselves to move them up to a big boy or girl bed. Bailey hasn't escaped yet, but it'll only be a matter of time before they'll need to upgrade him to a toddler bed.

His heart sinks, remembering when Zola first escaped her crib. Meredith was pregnant with Bailey the morning that Zola interrupted their morning sex. Maybe they need to upgrade his bed sooner rather than later, before the escaping happens. The last thing he wants is to be caught off guard, especially considering the amount of sex they've been having lately.

"My office. I don't need it anymore," he says confidently.

"Are you sure about that? I thought you liked having your own space, and with three kids…"

"I'd rather spend time with my family. If I need space, I'll go to the hospital. When I'm home, I want to be with you and the kids. I don't need the office," he states his case firmly.

"Okay, but then He-Baby will be away from his sister and brother. Maybe we could turn the office into the guest room and the guest room into the nursery? That way he'll be with the other kids. I don't want him to feel left out…"

Derek swallows, realizing how awful Meredith calling their son He-Baby sounds. They need to agree on a name soon.

"It's not like Amy's going to live here forever, but she's welcome to stay for as long as she wants and I don't want to take her room away from her. She'll think I'm kicking her out, and that isn't true," Derek frowns.

"You're not taking her room away, you're just moving her downstairs," Meredith insists.

"Mere, I really doubt she wants to be closer to our bedroom," Derek whispers, wiggling his eyebrows. "If you know what I mean."

Meredith shrugs it off. Bailey is already fast asleep. "She probably hears more up here than she would downstairs. You know, thanks to the vents and all."

"True," Derek sighs in defeat. "I'll ask my sister what she thinks."

"Daddy, it's singing time!" Zola pompously interjects.

"Are your teeth all clean? Let me see," Derek asks his little girl, who smiles brightly on command to showcase her pearly whites.

"All cleaned!" she announces, skipping into her bedroom.

"Well, since your brother is already asleep, I can join, too," an affectionate smile spreads across Meredith's face, and she follows Derek to Zola's room. Zola crawls into bed, and he and Meredith both take a seat on opposite ends of the bed.

"What should we sing?" Derek asks his daughter, who's in the midst of a yawn.

"Itsy Bitsy Spider!" Zola replies easily after finishing her yawn.

"Of course," Meredith says warmly; it's been one of Zola's favorite songs since she was a baby. He remembers it being one of the only songs that put her straight to sleep when she was little; he and Meredith used to sing it to her every night.

"The itsy bitsy spider went up the waterspout," Derek hums.

"Down came the rain and washed the spider out," Meredith adds in song voice.

"Up came the sun and dried up all the rain," Derek sings.

"And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again," Meredith and Derek conclude together. Zola's eyes are now shut.

Meredith leans her head against his shoulder, and they sneak out of their daughter's room together. When he sees the wrinkles around her eyelids and feels the extent of his own exhaustion, he knows Meredith won't be fulfilling her promise to finish him off tonight. He can wait.

He, too, feels mentally and physically exhausted, and he barely accomplished anything today. His muscles feel like mush. It makes absolutely no sense. On the days he's on the go nonstop, he has an unlimited supply of energy. On a day that he's spent the whole day relaxing, like today, he feels dead inside. Now he thinks he understands why Meredith tries to stay active.

Derek notes the hunger in his wife's eyes.

Leftovers, then sleep.

Nicole's A/N: We know many of you are back in school, but we hope you're still with us. We haven't been getting much feedback lately, so if you're still reading, if you could, please take a few seconds to leave a review and let us know what you think. More reviews = more motivation for us to write and update faster. :)