AN: hi you guys, here I am updating just like I promised, unfortunately jet-lag gave me some issues (sleepless nights and endless tiring days), so I couldn't update earlier than now. First I want to answer greysfannn (I cannot reply to you) who asked how could Meredith be 7-8 weeks pregnant if the accident was 6 weeks ago; it simply happened like on the show, she got pregnant before the accident. I hope you will enjoy this chapter, there's a change of scenery now that Mere is back to work.

A sky full of stars

Meredith's return at work went pretty smoothly. She had prolonged her time off for another two weeks, making it a total of six weeks instead of the planned four. Owen had been very understanding and she had been content to spend more time at home, fully dedicated to her family. The kids did not fuss about her going back to work, since both Derek and Carolyn were still at home with them and she found herself looking forward to practice medicine. Meredith Grey hadn't held a scalpel in six whole weeks and she was ready to be back in the OR, ready to feel the thrill and the anticipation she usually felt before she started every surgery, eager to save some lives and spend some time soaking up medicine. She would have to start planning her new maternity leave sooner rather than later and she wanted to make sure to enjoy this unexpected pregnancy. She woke up bright and early on the first day she was due to be back, minutes before the alarm was set to ring, and stretched herself slowly. Taking a peek at the clock she saw the red digits signaling 05:48, and stifled a yawn, pulling herself out of bed to enjoy a hot shower.

When she came out of the bathroom she found Derek wide awake in bed, the McDreamy smile plastered on his face "hey, did I wake you?

He shook his head "light sleeper" he reminded her "and besides, I don't get very tired nowadays..."

"Right..." she grinned, sitting next to him on the bed.

He gathered her in a long embrace, letting his lungs fill with her lavender scent and sighing contently "I'll miss you today" he whispered warmly in her ear, his voice sending shivers down her spine.

"I'll miss you too" she confessed.

"But I bet you're happy to go back to work" he added, massaging her back in slow motion.

She grinned and nodded "I am, even if I'm going to miss you and the kids a lot... and your mom too, she's doing wonders with my cooking skills"

He burst out laughing and she hit him playfully on his left arm "hey, I've baked a chicken the other day, didn't I?!"

He sobered up quickly and nodded "yes you did and it was really good" he agreed.

"Really?"

"I ate two servings, didn't I?"

"You did!"

"Then it was good"

"I still want to learn how to make pasta though..."

"I will teach you how to make my special pasta, no worries... we have plenty of time" he mumbled "all our lives to be exact" he added for good measure.

"Hopefully..." she mumbled, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that" his voice was serious in her ear, his tone once again giving her goosebumps.

"I know you will..." she murmured back after enjoying his embrace for a bit longer "and so will I"

"Glad to know that we are on the same page" he grinned at her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was over soon, much too soon for her liking, so she tangled both hands into his hair and pulled him in for another kiss. The second one was slower, warmer, longer. She tasted him, nipping on his lower lip and he sighed into her mouth, exhaling a breath slowly. His tongue begged for entrance and she allowed him right away, enjoying the way he was caressing her tongue with his as they struggled for dominance. She moaned loudly as the kiss came to an end, both of them panting, trying to catch their breaths "that was more like it" she smirked, referring to the chaste kiss he had given her prior to this one.

"Something to remember you by" he added, his breathing still labored.

"That was the idea" she got up from the bed, smirk still in place, swaying her hips more than needed.

He groaned as he stared at her "you' re so mean" he whined "first you turn me on with your lavender smell, then you deprive me of oxygen with that kiss we just shared and now this..."

"I need to keep you on your toes" she wriggled her eyebrows as she said that and smiled sweetly "want some coffee?" she added opening the door.

"Sure" he sat up and reached for his crutches and got up from the bed, passing a hand in his untamed hair "let me go to the bathroom real quick" her giggle interrupted him and he rolled his eyes at her "I know I'm not very quick nowadays, but I'll do my best" he laughed.

"I'll turn the coffee pot on and look for some toast, are you hungry?"

"I'd like to have some muesli"

"All right you healthnut!" she giggled again.

"You could always try that, you know? It's very good and nutritious"

"It tastes like cardboard boxes" she made a face.

"That is so not true"

"I'll never be a fan of muesli, sorry about that"

"We'll see... maybe someday I will make you try it and you will like it"

"Keep dreaming" she snorted, smile still plastered on her face as she went to the kitchen.

Two hours later Meredith had called Connie's office to get an appointment and found out that she was on holiday; her assistant gave her an appointment for Tuesday on the following week. She had already told Derek about it, so he could clear up his calendar from appointments with his therapist. She was on her way to the ER now, after receiving a 911 page. Meredith cam face to face with Alex when she was only feet away from the elevator "hey, first day back!" he smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's good to be back" she smiled back "even if I miss the kids like crazy..." she mused.

"I bet they miss you too"

"They're enjoying their time with Nana a whole lot"

"I bet... they never really get to enjoy any grandparent" he motioned for her to enter the elevator and followed her in "did you get a 911 page too?"

"Yeah" she nodded as the elevator doors' dinged.

He pressed the lobby button and turned back to face her "so how is everybody?"

"Everything is going all right... Derek remembered Bailey's first birthday and Zola's first time on the tricycle the other day, he was so happy about that..."

"Sounds great" he grinned "he hadn't recover any memories for a while, right?"

"Yeah, he was getting kind of bummed about that" she shrugged her shoulders "sometimes I'm afraid of what will happen when the memories will stop coming back..."

"Well I don't think you have to worry about that just yet, he's still getting memories, he retrieved a lot of those, right?"

"He remembered quite a few" she nodded as the two of them left the elevator.

"Just have a talk with the other Shepherd" he proposed "you can maybe do some exercises that can trigger the return of more memories"

"Yeah, she will have him start working on that from next week" she nodded, biting the inside of her cheek, her gaze lost on the far side of the ER lobby.

"It will be ok, Mere" he reassured her, his tone light but firm "even if he won't recover every memory he lost he has remembered a lot of things already"

She kept nodding "I just hope he will accept that, cause I know I can and I know the kids are just happy to have their daddy home"

"He will accept that, he know he got lucky. What really matters is that he's home, with you guys and he gets to spend the rest of his life with you" he reminded her.

She felt tears prickling in the corner of her eyes "you're going to make you cry and I really don't want to do that at work" she gave him a stern look.

"Sorry, it's just the truth" his smile was sheepish.

"You've just earned the godfather spot" she grinned at him.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course! You are my best friend, along with Cristina"

"Cool... I'd love to"

The two of them were interrupted by the arrival of two ambulances, one was transporting two kids and the other their mother; two other ambulances were on the way with their father and the drunk driver who had caused the accident. Alex went to work on the 6 years old boy who had suffered a trauma in his abdomen; Arizona went to work on his little 22 months old sister who looked like she was in good shape, but you could never know with kids as small as her, since they couldn't speak yet. That left Meredith working on their mother along with Amelia; she had a gash on her head and a hematoma in her abdomen. After taking her to get a CT scan and finding the source of both hematoma they decided to open her up and operate on her at the same time. The surgery took them six hours, but it was successful. When they came out of the OR they wheeled her in the ICU and found out that her husband was there as well. He had suffered a broken collarbone, sternum and femur; Callie had operated him and fixed the collarbone and the femur. He also had some minor scratches and a big headache, but other than that he was fine and the same thing went for the kids. The entire family was safe and sound. It was a good day. After she was done with post-ops she felt her stomach rumble with hunger and looked at the time, it was already 3:15 p.m. "hey, want to grab a bite in the cafeteria?" she found herself face to face with Alex.

"I haven't had lunch yet" he went on.

"Me neither, let's go..." she agreed.

The two of them found the cafeteria almost empty, only Arizona and Callie were there, sitting at the same table. Alex and Meredith both grabbed a salad with chicken, he added fries and a soda and she added a shake, then they went to sit with the other two.

"Wow, long morning" Callie smiled at the two of them.

"You can definitely say that" Meredith countered quickly, stealing a fry from Alex's plate.

"Hey" he swatted her hand away.

"No shake for you" she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay, okay... you can have a couple of fries" he agreed.

"You guys are like a couple of kids" Arizona laughed as she sipped her soda.

"Well, he's kind of the brother I never had"

"And you're almost like my annoying little sister" he shrugged, grinning.

"You wish! At least you would have had someone to copy notes from..."

"That would have been useful" he agreed.

"Isn't it kind of weird that you only had sisters?" Callie mused out loud.

Meredith thought about it "it wasn't really probable, was it?!"

"Three half sisters, no half brother" Arizona was counting on her fingers.

"That we know of" Alex smirked as he stole a sip from Meredith's shake.

"Seriously?!" Meredith threw him a dirty look and the other two laughed.

"Well, with your mother you never know" he defended himself.

"I doubt another one will come around... but you're probably right, you can never tell with my mom" she made a face as she bit down on her salad.

"Hey, how's Derek doing?"

"Pretty good, he remembered some more and he's always happy when that happens"

"I can totally understand that" Callie nodded.

"I just wish he wouldn't worry about remembering all the time, a day will come when he won't remember anything else..."

"Yeah, I know, but you know how Derek is..." Arizona's voice trailed off.

"Hardheaded?!"

"Like any other surgeon" Alex defended him.

"We kind of are like that" Callie agreed.

"I know that, but what can we do... I wish there was a magic wand I could use and he would get all his memories back, but nothing like that exists "

"Just give it time... it's only been 6 weeks" Arizona reminded her.

"I can give it time, no problem... it's Derek the one that hates to wait"

"Well, men are impatient, we all know that" Callie gave her input.

"Yes, we do!" Meredith laughed.

"Hey, why do I feel like I'm under scrutiny here?!" Alex whined.

"No reason" Meredith laughed.

"I need to hang out with more men" he lamented.

"You secretly love it"Arizona reminded him.

Meredith grinned along with Callie and stole another fry. It was good to be back to work, even if she missed the kids and Derek like crazy.

So I hope you liked the chapter. Next one will be Bailey's birthday and the appointment with Connie... leave me a review and let me know what you thought. I should update between Thursday and Fridaym stay tuned for more.