A/N: Wow, I've reached 100 reviews- That's amazing. I hope you all know how much they brighten my day. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Cristina was in the hallway, and she left Meredith to her own devices, so she stayed in the OR loyally next to Derek's side. His pale chest was exposed and open, and there was the explosion of red blood that interrupted the white palette as it spilled over his chest, falling in slow drips to the table beside him. His eyes were nearly closed, and his lips were growing whiter by the second. He had promised he wouldn't die, and she had made him laugh, and then it was just them in the still OR. Silence hummed, but it wasn't comfortable silence: It was an eerie silence, and all Meredith could do was pray that nothing would interrupt it. Nothing besides Cristina, that is. In fact, she was praying that Cristina would come back soon. Every minute that ticked by was like a stab to her heart. Derek needed surgery, and he needed it now.

"Mer, it hurts," He whispered, and his words faded away, but they had a dull permanence about them. They stayed stale in the air, and Meredith's tear ridden eyes blinked as she reached out to hold his hand.

"I know it does, I know," She murmured back to him, and his figure was blurry and distorted through her wall of salty tears. "Cristina will be back soon." Tick, tock, tick, tock. She watched as his lips closed and opened, sucking in as much breath as he could force into his lungs. He nodded slowly and they waited, and minutes later, Cristina was nowhere to be seen. Fear throbbed in Meredith's chest, and she squeezed his hand tighter. She was taking longer than Meredith had assumed: Cristina had left to search for any safe attendings, but that had been almost ten minutes ago.

Derek's eyes were closed, and his dry lips quivered as he spoke. "Meredith…" His voice was dry and empty, with a longing to it that made Meredith shiver.

"I know, Derek," She figured he was moaning from discomfort again, but he continued to talk, much to her surprised. Her eyes went from him to the OR door, to the scrub room, and then back to him.

"I…" He swallowed. "I don't – ever - want…you to be a-alone." Her breath twisted in her throat, and her stomach melted into a watery mess that sloshed in her stomach. The familiar dizziness had attacked her again. "I love you, and I… you deserve, love… in your life, and~" His own pain overcame him and he couldn't force himself to continue as he rolled his tongue over his teeth and winced.

"No," Her voice shook uncontrollably. "No, don't you dare do that, don't you start saying goodbye." And when she said it out loud, it all became too real to take. Her tears spilled over, and they rolled like waterfalls down her cheeks. "You promised. You promised you wouldn't… and you won't… This isn't how the story is supposed to end." Her breaths came in sobs and she tangled her free hand also into his palm. Her whole body trembled. "You have to live, Derek, please. Please." Her voice cracked and her body shook with the tension as she tried to contain her cries.

His breath fell from his lips unsteadily and he swallowed with his dry throat as his words floated papery in the room. "I'm not done… loving you. We're not done, I…" He swallowed and took another breath. "…promise." He coughed, cutting his sentence short. Meredith bit her lip and nodded at him, but the tears wouldn't stop.

"Thank you," She whispered. "I love you, Derek Shepherd. I love you so much." And she squeezed his hand again.

Meredith awoke to her alarm clock screeching directly into her ear and she moaned loudly, stuffing her face deeper into her pillow and turning away from the sound as best as she could. It did nothing but muffle the screaming machine, and she sighed loudly before smacking her hand over the Off button. She flipped over, her bare legs skimming over the smooth sheets, and she blinked her eyes open. It was only a bit light outside, enough for her to make out shapes and colors in the room, but the alarm blinked 5:30 in the morning. It was days like these that she hated work with the entirety of her being. Or, she really just hated getting up: Yeah, that was it.

She craned her neck to look at the spot to the right of her, and much to her dismay, it was empty besides the lines of wrinkles and depressions that showed where Derek's vague form had once lay. Frowning, she sighed and scrabbled her hands across her face before swinging her legs around the side of the bed and landing them on the cool floor. Her back creaked as she stood up slowly and cautiously, her hand automatically drifting to her stomach as she did so, and she felt herself smile despite herself. She had been doing that a lot lately- holding her stomach- cradling their child.

She slowly made her way out of their warm cave of a bedroom, their cozy fortress where all the rest of the world dissolved away slowly and surely. Lexie and April were already at the hospital, and Meredith was glad. Their shifts were set up in a way where she often had alone time with Derek in the house, and that fact made her very, very happy. She couldn't imagine finally having their own house, for only them and their growing family.

She grabbed her soft, red robe and wrapped it around her body before tying the string tightly around her waist, and she reveled in the feeling of the soft, fluffy fabric against her skin. She knew Derek liked that bathrobe.

She tiptoed down the stairs and they creaked underneath her feet. It was brighter downstairs, and the smell of pancakes and breakfast food wafted into her nose. She smiled and she could hear someone clanging around in the kitchen: Derek. He was making her breakfast, and she knew that before she even entered the kitchen.

When she did, though, he was a sight for sore eyes. His hair was unruly, clearly not having been brushed yet, and his tight blue pajama shirt hugged him in all the right places. His arm muscles flexed as he flipped a pancake expertly, and he smiled brightly at her with his white teeth when he saw she had entered. His bright blue eyes were sparkling and lively. "Good morning," He said, and he surveyed her up and down, grinning as he saw she was wearing his favorite bathrobe.

"Morning," She chirped, and she smiled back at him. She slid into one of the stools at the counter across from where he was flipping his pancakes and watched his forearm muscles bob and move. She licked her lips. "You're making me breakfast."

"That I am," He nodded with a smile, and then asked, "Coffee?" She nodded largely and he reached up into a cabinet to wrap his fingers around a mug, pulling it down as it clanged on the counter. He pulled the coffee from the coffee maker and dumped it into the mug, letting it slosh in the cup. He slid it across the counter to Meredith and she looked up at him and smiled widely before bringing it to her lips and slurping noisily. The warm drink fell down her throat and she let out a content breath.

"Thanks," She said. She watched as he placed a fourth pancake onto one big plate. "How long have you been up?" She asked, curiousity bubbling in her throat.

"Probably around twenty minutes," He said, after his eyes quickly surveyed the clock rapidly. "Yeah, twenty minutes." He picked up the container that held the batter and carefully poured the remainder of the batter into the center of the griddle pan that sat over the stove. It sizzled and bubbles formed over the heat as steam wafted up towards the ceiling.

"It smells good," She observed before taking another hearty gulp of her coffee. It was bitter, but it was a good bitter, the kind that made her feel more awake. She smacked her lips.

"Yeah? I figured you could start getting used to real breakfasts," He chuckled.

Meredith scowled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that things like cold pizza - oh, and old Chinese food- do not count as breakfast anymore, now that you're feeding two people," He retorted, and he smirked at her stomach.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, I have 'real' breakfast all the time."

"What did you have yesterday?"

She paused, muttering, "Cold pasta. But that was just yesterday, I was running late."

"Day before that?" He prompted, and he flipped the pancake after checking the state of it's cooking.

"Uh… Chinese food…" She said dryly.

"And before that?"

"A leftover sandwich…" She said quietly, rolling her eyes again as she felt her cheeks flush in defeat. She looked down and took another swig of coffee in order to buy sweet time.

"Told you," He protested. "You could use some real breakfast food, therefore, I am making you real breakfast food." He then smiled, his blue eyes sparkling with pride, and she couldn't help but to smile back while shaking her head.

"Whatever, Derek." She said, and watched him as he flicked off the heat on the stove and dump the final pancake on the plate. Steam floated from the pile on the plate, and Meredith sniffed it with a smile.

"Hey, could you get out two plates?" He asked as he moved to the fridge, rummaging through it as he squatted down to grab the butter. Meredith nodded and hopped off the stool, her hair swishing across her neck as she bounced towards the cabinet that held the plates. She reached up to gather two, but before she knew it, Derek had wrapped his hands around her small waist. He nuzzled his head into the nape of her neck and breathed in her familiar lavender scent, and she felt a shiver run up her spine. His hands slid up her waist, underneath her bathrobe, and he pinned her against the cabinet to kiss her deeply, their lips mashing perfectly as he worked his tongue. He moaned quietly and casually into her mouth, enjoying himself, and enjoying her. His hands slid lower on her, falling below her waist, and she slapped his arm with a laugh. "Hey!" He grinned coyly and smacked her butt lightly, and she giggled as she arched her back. He played with the strings of her robe.

"I can't resist!"

"I know," She smiled. She placed her palms on his chest and kissed his jawline. "Do you want me to get the plates or no?"

He pouted, "Fine," And he took a step away from her. Meredith winked at him and turned back around to grab the plates. They gritted together, screeching with that awful noise, and she set them on the table before plopping down in a chair. Derek did the same, only bringing the plate of pancakes, the butter, and the maple syrup and setting it onto the table.

Meredith immediately reached for the pancakes with her fork and scooped it onto her plate happily, and skidded the butter towards her across the table. She soaked it into her pancake before dumping the syrup- the real kind, not the crappy kind- onto her pancake. She smiled up at him, who looked very amused. "What?" She said, pausing before shoving a piece of the pancake in her mouth. It melted under her taste buds and she closed her eyes and smiled, sighing and relaxing back into her chair.

"You just turned my pancakes into walking heart attacks," He observed, before cutting a piece of his own stack into a neat square and forking it into his mouth. She scowled.

"No, I just made them better."

"Are you saying my pancakes weren't good in the first place?" Derek teased. Meredith smirked.

"No, they're delicious," She laughed. "They're just better with fat and sugar on them."

"I see," He nodded and laughed. He still didn't completely understand, but he shrugged, eating quickly while trying to savor the taste.

"Thanks for breakfast," Meredith smiled after swallowing a large bite. She smiled at him, and he smiled back fully. She leaned across the table to kiss him quickly on the lips, and her lips tasted sweet and sugary as the kiss lingered on his. He smiled through the kiss as she sat back down. There was a spot of syrup that sat on the chest area of her robe, and Derek laughed. He stared: Nope, not just a glance, a full on stare.

She narrowed her eyes, "What?"

"You have a little, uh, syrup on your," He gestured to his chest area and she looked down to the corresponding area on herself, and she rolled her eyes, licked her finger, and rubbed at it. Derek swallowed and continued to stare.

She looked back up at him, "You're staring."

"No, I'm not!" He argued, immediately looking back up at her face.

"You're such a boy," She laughed heartily and strained to get the remainder of the mess off, and he laughed too. She got almost all of it off and lifted her gaze back up, only to find him staring at her again: Only this time, he was actually looking at her face, into her gorgeous blue-green eyes. She looked at him, tilting her head curiously, "What is it?"

He cleared his throat and pushed his plate away from himself, signaling that he was finished, and then met her eyes. "I had something to ask you. Well, I had something to…tell you." He said. Her face screwed up into a frown and she nodded distantly.

"Okay. Wait, is it something bad?" She said, the words rushing out of her mouth like a waterfall. Even the thought that he was mad at her about something she didn't know she did made her nervous. She swallowed thickly.

"No!" He shook his head rapidly, and she felt a weight lift off of her shoulders. She exhaled and let her eyes flutter shut in relief. "No, it's not."

"Okay, good." She said, nodding at him, prompting him to move on. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed soon after, and she shifted in her chair and continued to look at him. "Derek, what is it?" The worry returned, because he clearly looked like he was having a hard time telling her whatever he needed to tell her. "Spit it out."

He nodded and sighed, leaning forward in his seat. "My family's coming to visit." He blurted it, and the words rushed out, tumbling in a jumble of messy syllables and overlapping each other like messy waves in a current-filled river. There was a sharp silence afterwards as Meredith stared, and her stomach turned to water.

My family's coming to visit. "Oh, I like your mom," She said distantly, too distantly, her voice cold and flat like a robot. But I don't know if your mom likes me, she didn't dare to say, but her heart sank in her chest. The last time his mom had been to visit had been a few days after he had been shot. They had gotten along pretty well, but the memories of the last time Meredith saw her still made her heart pound.

Before she had left to go back to the east coast, Carolyn had gone to see Meredith to say goodbye. She had walked in on Meredith sobbing in Derek's room, completely losing it and letting her guard down to everyone and everything. She had been so shocked that Carolyn had seen it, that she had the worst reaction she could have possibly hoped for.

Meredith sat, the tears falling so hard that she didn't know how to contain herself. Derek was laying, looking cold and empty and unconscious in his hospital bed, and Meredith was sitting beside him. Her head was in her hands as she sobbed harder, her breaths coming fast and raw and uneven. "I should have told you I was pregnant when I had the chance," He couldn't hear her, which was the exact room why she was saying it. "I should have told you. Maybe things would be different. Derek, oh, Derek, I should have… I should have told you. And now you're here, and I…" She wept into her hands harder and harder, her body rocking and shuddering as she tried to catch her breath, which seemed to slipping from her grip every time she came close. "…I, I, I…" She sputtered weakly and stared at his broken form. "I told Mr. Clark to shoot me, instead, and I love you, I love you so much," She cried, and she tried to hold herself to cradle herself. "You begged, you begged, and I couldn't do anything about it, I wanted to… I would have taken that bullet for you, Derek, I… but you were far away, and I…" She sobbed harder, unable to hold her emotions in. Her tears fell down her cheeks nonstop, and she could try to dry them all she wanted, but they'd simply get wet a moment later.

There was a shuffle outside the room, and Meredith spun, the tears still falling, only to see Carolyn Shepherd staring at her, wide eyed. She clutched her purse as tight as she could between her fingers, and her expression was dripping with concern and horror. Meredith had given her the 'sugar-coated' version of what happened when she first arrived: She had said nothing about the begging or the miscarriage. And Carolyn had heard everything.

Shock and denial flooded Meredith's brain, and before she could stop herself, she cried, "Go, please, just…" And she collapsed into her hands again, overwhelmed by everything and everyone, all at once.

And Meredith was more than afraid that Carolyn was still holding that to her. She didn't even want to think about how Carolyn liked her after that. They hadn't talked since that, months ago. Meredith rubbed her hands together as Derek continued.

"Mer…" He tried his hardest to chose his words carefully. "Not just my mom. My whole family."

Whole family.

Meredith froze in that instant. She was not good with families. "I-I have to shower," She stuttered, avoiding his gaze as she stood up. Dishes clattered as the table was shoved, and she scrambled to get away from the table. She rushed away from him, running as fast as she could up the stairs, tears of confusion and worry stinging her eyes. She wanted more than anything for Derek's family to accept her, but she just didn't know if that was going to happen.

A/N: Well, what do you think about that? I've always thought that they should have shown Derek's family, or mom at least, coming to visit him. I mean, he does love his family.

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Thanks to everyone for reading!