Irene's A/N: Hello, readers! I am the one to blame for this delay. Exams took over my brain and my energy, so I never managed to put my weigh in for this chapter. Now the madness is about to quiet down, so hopefully the updates will be somewhat regular again.

Two weeks have passed in the story too, so I'll leave you to it. Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Meredith's hot, sweaty body curls up against Derek, while they both try to catch their breaths.

"That was a nice way to finish me off," Derek hums, kissing the crown of her head. "Literally. I think I'm going to need oxygen to breathe normally."

Meredith laughs again, snuggling against his side, her ear resting above his still hammering heart. She still feels beyond safe in his arms, protected and calm, and she's glad he's still here. She's glad they're working through some of their problems and they still manage to be together like this.

"I promised you last night when we got paged to see off the Novaks," she smiles, running her hand over his abdomen.

Priya and Peter had been ready to be discharged. Of course their journey is far from over, but their recovery has been remarkable. Meredith wants to go check on them outside of the hospital sometime soon, but between work and the kids she knows she'll have to figure out something to actually make it to their house. She's glad that their GoFundMe account received plenty of attention from local news stations and even national newspapers, so that they managed to raise enough money for them to pay off most of their medical bills.

"I know you always deliver," he chuckles, and she feels it through her body as well.

Her hand meets his on her naked belly and she sighs, relishing the quiet moments before the hectic day that is waiting for them.

"Bailey is two years old today," she murmurs, burrowing deeper into his arms.

"God, he is," Derek hums back, squeezing her gently. "You were already having contractions when Hunt informed us of the super storm coming, uh?"

Meredith smiles, searching the moment in her memory bank. A lot of her day has been erased by the pain and the fear and the surgery, but she's glad Derek has some of the best memories tucked away safely for the both of them. "Probably. I was in denial."

"You were glowing, Mere," he murmurs, kissing her hair again, running his hand down her back. "I had a feeling you were going to give birth soon."

"Really?"

"Hm," he smiles. "Then again, you always find a way to surprise me," he says, laughing a little. "I bet I can predict when you'll go into labor this time too. I'll just look at you, and I'll know," he boasts, and she lightly smacks his chest. He only keeps laughing.

"Do you think Connie will push for a C-section again?" she sighs. "Because I don't want another one. I want…"

"I know," he says. "I just want you and Oliver to be safe."

"Oliver?" she scrunches up her nose. "Remember syph nurse Olivia? That's the first thing that comes to mind."

"Yeah, crossing it off," he grimaces. "Tom?"

"I want a name with a nickname. Tom is already...nickname-y," she scrunches up her nose, and he kisses her.

"Thomas?"

"I don't know," she admits. "In the maybe list."

"Very maybe or somewhat maybe?" he asks, giving her his look.

She giggles, moving her leg to practically straddle him. "Depends," she hums, kissing him.

"On what?" he smirks, meeting her kiss eagerly, his hands running over her back.

"On how convincing you can be," she grins, nibbling at his lips while she shifts her hips closer to his growing erection.

"Is round two of morning sex convincing enough?" he growls, turning a little to check their bedside clock. "Looks like we might have fifteen more minutes."

She moans when he kisses her and moves his hand over her breast. They can do plenty in fifteen minutes.

"BIDDAY!" she hears the shriek, the door slamming, and she feels the sheet being pulled over her naked shoulders. "Bidday boy!"

Her cheeks are in flames as she turns to look at a beaming Bailey, slightly bouncing on the heels of his feet, clutching his monkey tightly.

"I guess we misjudged the fifteen minutes," Derek whispers, giving her a mortified look.

"Happy birthday, Bailey!" she forces out a smile, reaching for Derek's boxer briefs on the lampshade. She's glad that when they tore each other's clothes off they landed nearby, for once.

"Bidday!" Bailey grins, scrambling closer to the bed as Derek shimmies into his briefs undetected. "Bidday cuddle!"

Meredith sighs, allowing Derek to slip out of bed. He keeps Bailey entertained while she finds her panties and snatches Derek's t-shirt from the floor. It barely covers her ass now, but it feels like enough for birthday cuddles.

Derek is tickling Bailey mercilessly, and the boy is shrieking, trying to wriggle away from his hands and yet not moving all that far.

"Come over here and cuddle," she smiles, slipping back under the covers, patting the still warm spot on Derek's side as Derek finds something to wear too.

"What do you think? Birthday cuddles with Mommy are the best, uh?"

"Uh uh," Bailey nods, sprinting for his spot on the bed between them.

"Happy birthday, Bails," she hums, pulling him into a hug. She takes a deep breath and smells him, cradling him close, remembering the first time she held him, when he fit so perfectly in her arms. Now he's a wriggling ball of energy, clutching at her t-shirt, giggling and leaving sloppy kisses on her cheek. "I love you so much, Monkey."

"Mama, too!" he beams, pulling away from her a little and showing her his hand, both index and medium finger lifted up, even though his thumb is outstretched as well. His pudgy hands are getting slimmer and slimmer, just like all his baby fat is disappearing. He's becoming lean and stronger and sure of himself. "Daddy, too!"

"Yes, you are two years old," Derek smiles, his grin so wide, just like when he told her for the first time how perfect he was. How perfect Bailey still is. "Happy birthday, buddy."

Bailey giggles as Derek pulls him in his arms for raspberry kisses all over his face and belly, his little legs kicking and squirming until they're both breathless and Derek is cradling him much like he did when he was a newborn. Bailey is so big already.

"How did you get here?" Derek sighs, kissing his forehead as Bailey snuggles against his chest.

"Jump!"

"You jumped out of your crib?" her eyes widen, and so do Derek's, when he nods eagerly.

"Painennen!"

Derek chuckles. "Bailey, you're not Spiderman. Little boys can get hurt if they jump out of cribs."

"Caful," he says seriously.

"You jumped out carefully?" she questions, moving a little closer to her boys to ruffle Bailey's hair.

"Yes!" he giggles. "I big!"

"Yeah, you're getting so big," she sighs, as she sneaks her hands under Bailey's armpits and picks him up from Derek's chest. "You don't even fit in my arms anymore," she sighs loudly, her façade cracking for a second.

Bailey's eyes widen, and he puts his hands on her cheeks, giving her a heart-melting smile that looks exactly like his father's. "I fit, Mama."

Her eyes fill with tears. "Oh, Bailey," she sighs, pulling him into a hug, closing her eyes as his breaths fan her collarbone and his hands encircle her neck. "I love you so much."

"I wub too." She feels him smiling against her skin and she squeezes him a tidbit tighter. "Baby?" he asks then, dangling from her neck to poke her stomach.

"Still half asleep," she smiles as he scrambles down to put both of his hands over her belly. She guides him to where he can feel his brother rolling, and Bailey's smile widens even more.

"Baby!" he giggles. "Bay's bidday!"

"Oh yeah, he's happy it's your birthday, Bailey," Derek grins, running his hand down Bailey's messy hair. "Probably looking forward to cake, too."

"I want cake!" they hear from the open door again, Zola grinning in her princesses pajamas, holding her Iowa unicorn tightly as she makes her way towards the bed.

"There's time for cake. Now is snuggle time," Derek smiles, pulling her on the bed and kissing her cheek good morning.

"Happy birfday, Bailey," she grins, pulling her brother into a squeezing hug. Bailey hugs her back just as tightly, and Meredith feels more tears come to her eyes.

Zola starts talking to Bailey about all the perks about being the birthday boy and she moves closer to Derek, needing to hold his hand or touch him, feel him there, knowing she's not dreaming all this. They're really here, a family of almost five, enjoying their day off.

Bailey is two.

"You gets 'pecial breakfast!" Zola squeals. "Whaddya want?"

"Pacakes!" Bailey grins, clapping his hands in excitement. Zola looks equally thrilled.

"Daddy, makes us pacakes, please?" Zola smiles sweetly towards her father, charming him with her best puppy dog look. Meredith can see him cave. Not that he was putting up much resistance before the look either.

"Is pancakes okay with you, Mere?" he smiles softly, squeezing her hand. "We have all day for round two," he murmurs, giving her a mischievous smile.

"Pancakes are fine," she grins, pulling him close for a quick kiss.

"I help!" Zola bounces off the bed quickly, ready to get to the kitchen and start breakfast.

"Thank you, Zola. Come on, let's give Mommy a minute to go to the bathroom," he grins, grabbing Bailey and swinging him over his shoulder as their son giggles madly, Zola grabbing his free hand as the trio moves outside of their bedroom.

Meredith sighs loudly, running her hand over her belly as Baby kicks her gently, her eyes closing for a second. She does need to go pee now, but she relishes the second of quiet Derek gifted her with.

She knows quiet will be a chimera by the time they will have all of Bailey's friends and their friends in the house, celebrating his birthday. And before that there's the shopping trip for the groceries and the last of the party stuff, on top of going shopping for the big boy bed that is Bailey's birthday present.

The day will be long, but she knows it will be worth it every second. Even if her body is already aching and she knows she'll have a full-blown headache before mid morning instead of the dull one that is already building in the back of her head.

It will be worth it.

The mall is swamped. Meredith immediately regrets saving the party shopping to the day of the party, as if she didn't learn anything at all from Zola's fourth birthday party. Of course it's the first full day they've both had off since the day Dr. Ryan had ordered she take off. Their lives are a constant cycle of last-minute plans. Every day is a crisis. At least Derek won't be picking out the decorations this time around. There will be no rainbow crises today.

Maggie and Amelia are on Decorations and Cake Duty with her and the kids, while Derek and Owen are working on Project Big Boy Bed. She and Derek already picked out Bailey's new bed in a catalog. All the boys have to do is pick it up and set it up, so it'll be ready for the party. They've taken Owen's truck to transport it.

It's funny that Bailey chose today, of all days, to escape his crib. They had preordered his new bed two weeks ago so it would arrive in time for his birthday. It couldn't have arrived with better timing, either.

The bed was Derek's idea, and Bailey still has no idea it is coming. It's a surprise, and she hopes he will like it. He barely has room to stretch in his crib now, with as much as he's grown in the past few months. He's grown at least three inches.

At least they won't have to buy a new crib for the new baby. It will go downstairs, into the soon-to-be nursery. Amelia wasn't keen on sleeping closer to their room, and Meredith and Derek have both come to the conclusion that it will be better to have the baby as close as possible to their bedroom, so they won't have to deal with running up and down the stairs when the baby cries, like they had to do with Bailey when he was small. This arrangement will definitely be more efficient for late night feedings.

Derek and Owen painted the walls last weekend - Derek's favorite color, indigo -, and now Bailey's old crib will be moved into the small room. Now, they just need to decorate - which Maggie and Amelia have already volunteered to aid.

"Oh, look at this!" Maggie squeals, picking up a cute blue onesie with a panda bear in the center. "You have to get this, Meredith!"

"Panda!" Bailey giggles, immediately recognizing the animal on the outfit.

"It's Bailey's birthday," Meredith cordially reminds her half-sister. "We're shopping for him, and only him today." Meredith pats her son's head. Bailey and Zola are both sitting in the blue racecar cart. The number 77 is on the side of the car.

"Vroom vroom!" Zola cries. "Move car, move!"

Meredith pushes the cart past the baby clothes aisle, so the children feel like they're in control of the cart. "Right!" Zola orders, and Meredith follows Zola's orders, since it just so happens that the party decorations are to the right.

"We need a theme," Meredith declares. "And no rainbows." Her head throbs at the thought. She's had a dull headache all morning, and just the thought of rainbows intensifies the pounding in her skull by magnitudes.

"Vroom vroom!" Bailey echoes his sister, also placing his hands on his wheel. The car cart has two wheels.

"Cars? Should cars be the theme?" Meredith takes Bailey's suggestion into consideration. It would be fitting, considering the bed Bailey is getting for his birthday.

"Panda go vroom vroom!" Bailey says.

"What about zoo animals and cars?" Maggie suggests.

"They're his favorite things in the whole world," Amelia chips in. "Of course, you already know that, right, Maggie? At least, you should, if you're going to win Best Aunt, after all. But alas, you won't. When Bailey sees what I got him for his birthday, I'm afraid there will be no competition…" Amelia snickers. Yep, the competition for Best Aunt is still in full force.

"Oh, I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure the competition ends when Bailey sees what I got him," Maggie quips, her tone amplified with confidence.

Meredith rolls her eyes. "I wish you'd just tell me what you got him. Shouldn't I get to approve it first?"

"Nope!" Maggie and Amelia both respond at the same time.

"Because you can't take it back if he's already opened it," Amelia insists. She adds, "It's a rule."

"Yep," Maggie agrees.

"So you're basically confirming that whatever you got him, I won't like it," Meredith frowns, vivid mental images tantalizing her brain. She pictures a four-legged furry creature slobbering all over Bailey with its large, wet tongue. Meredith really hopes that neither got him a puppy. The last thing she and Derek need is poop all over the floor. It's bad enough that they're signing up for two more years of baby diapers when Bailey is almost potty trained. She can't be bothered to deal with dog poop too. Plus, they're not home long enough to give a puppy the proper attention it would require.

"I think you'll like what I got him," Maggie smiles genially. "It's educational, I swear."

"My gift is educational, too," Amelia quips.

"I bet yours doesn't…" But Maggie stops herself before she spills the hint. Bailey is too busy pretending to race his sister in the cart to even notice his aunts are talking about his birthday present. "Hey, Mer, since you won't find zoo and race car themed decorations, maybe you could get race car plates and zoo cake?" Maggie picks up a stack of plastic-covered race car themed paper plates off the shelf.

"Or you could get zoo plates and race car cake!" Amelia pitches, picking up a stack of plates with an array of zoo animals pictured.

"Let's have Bailey choose which plates he wants," Meredith shrugs. She pats her son's shoulder, trying to grasp his attention. "Bailey, do you want the car plates or the zoo plates?" Maggie and Amelia both eagerly show Bailey the plates. He only glances at them.

"Vroom vroom!" he responds. "Vrooom!"

"I guess he wants the car plates," Meredith shrugs, taking Maggie's plates from her and setting them in the cart.

"Yes!" Maggie exclaims. "Ha, that's one point for me. Bam, take that, Amelia Shepherd! Who's in the lead, huh?" Maggie heaves. She's fired up. But then she blushes, looking slightly embarrassed.

Amelia groans, setting the zoo animal plates back, and then she grabs the matching zoo cups next to the plates. "Well, Bails. You want zoo cups, right? See the cute panda?"

"Vroom vroom!" Bailey squeals as Maggie reaches for the race car cups.

"You want the race car cups, too, don't you, Bails?" Maggie smiles.

"Vroom!" Bailey practically growls, and Maggie sets the cups in the car, a bright, proud smile spread across her face.

"Pffft, he barely even looked at the plates and cups. He's only saying vroom because he's in the car right now," Amelia rolls her eyes. Bailey continues to say vroom. Meredith and Maggie just shrug, though.

They gather everything else they need for the party, including balloons, chips, and soda. Meredith knows Derek won't be happy about the soda, but she was craving Squirt and she knows both kids also love Squirt. Plus, it's caffeine-free.

As they're heading toward the check-out line, Meredith spots a whiteboard. "Maybe you two should start a point system, you know, to keep track of who's in the lead of your contest," Meredith smirks.

"I'm in," Maggie shrugs nonchalantly. "What about you, Amelia? Are you up for the challenge?" Maggie wriggles her eyebrows.

"It's on," Amelia retorts, snatching the whiteboard and placing it in the cart.

"Well, I start with two points, then, since Bailey picked my plate and cups," Maggie smirks.

"No, that's not fair. That was before we were keeping track. Let's start keeping track at the party. Whoever's present Bailey likes more gets twenty-five points, then we'll start a point system for them. Pizza trips are five points, et cetera."

"Works for me. We can map out the point system later," Maggie suggests.

"Deal," Amelia gives the thumbs up.

"Come on, let's go, we still need to get the cake," Meredith hisses, not caring if she sounds impatient. She waves for her sisters to follow her to the check-out line. The pounding inside her brain makes her feel like her skull is going to crack in half before the party is half over. The store's bright lights and the loud crowds of shoppers aren't helping, either.

She hears a baby screaming, but thankfully it's not hers, and another child is fussing because his mom won't let him get candy. She feels sorry for those poor moms, because she's been there and knows what it feels like when children don't behave in the store. Meredith stares at her own two children, who are both still blissfully entertained by the car cart. Whoever designed the car carts was a freaking genius.

The throbbing in her temples continues, though.

They need to go before her head combusts. Thankfully she knows of a nice small bakery closeby that sells zoo animal themed cupcakes, so picking up the cake shouldn't take too long.

"Got it?" Derek walks backwards, gripping hold of one end of the box that holds his son's brand new bed. Owen is on the other end. He's never been more thankful for Owen Hunt, who not only offered use of his truck, but also volunteered to help set up the bed. Owen had overheard Derek and Meredith talking about Bailey's new bed a few days ago in the OR and had benevolently offered to help.

"We're good," Owen says, the box now steady between the two men as they carry it into the house.

"We've got to hurry. They might be back any minute," Derek says, guiding the box around, so Owen is now walking backward toward the stairs.

"You know women, it might take them hours to get back," Owen chuckles.

"Not Meredith. She's the fastest female shopper I know. Hell, she might be the fastest shopper I know. She's even faster than me. She gets what she needs and gets out of the store as quickly as she can," Derek laughs.

"Meredith might be a fast shopper, but she's with the kids and Maggie and Amelia. It's bound to take her a little longer than usual," Owen notes.

Derek chuckles. "What do you know about shopping with my sister and Maggie? Have you gone shopping with them before?"

"Um...uh...I...well, I've just known enough women in my life to know that they like to shop," Owen replies, grunting as he angles the box so they can transfer it upstairs.

"Believe me, I know women," Derek sighs. "When Amelia was a little girl, she would beg me to go to the store with her on Saturday mornings. Let's just say, the only thing that got her out of the mall on those days was the fact that the mall closed at eight o'clock."

"Wow," Owen laughs. "I can't say I'm surprised, though."

"Most of the time we didn't even buy anything. She just had to try on every outfit in the mall, and she pretended to be a model and I was her audience," Derek shudders at the memory.

"Maybe you should let Zola do that," Owen suggests.

"Don't give her any ideas," Derek frowns, knowing that his daughter is a little more fortunate than he and Amelia were as kids. Zola already has ten times as many outfits as his sisters ever had when they were growing up. Amelia was just fortunate enough that she didn't have to share clothes like Lizzie, Kathleen, and Nancy did, since she was so much younger than her sisters, and Mom had given away all the baby clothes by the time Amelia came around, she did get to wear new clothes.

"I think it'd be fun. If I ever have a daughter, I'll take her to the mall every day and let her try on whatever she wants," Owen divulges.

Derek chuckles. "Oh, you wait. Just wait."

"Waiting. Yeah, I'm good at waiting," Owen says, grimacing.

They reach the top of the stairs, and Derek sets down his end of the box to relax his arms. "Owen, I have no doubt in my mind that you will be a dad one day, and you'll be a great one. A little girl would be lucky to have you as her dad."

"You think?" Owen's eyes light up.

"I do," Derek pats the box. "But you can't wait forever; you're not getting any younger. It's been a year since Cristina left, so you should start moving on. Chances are 'the one' might be right under your nose."

Owen raises his eyebrows.

"You know, Maggie is nice. I could see you two together…"

"What?" Owen's jaw drops ajar. "Maggie Pierce?!"

"Yeah, she's nice. You'd make a cute couple," Derek winks, lifting his end of the of the box again. "And we'd be in-laws!" Owen pulls the box into the nursery, not responding to Derek's comments. Derek struggles to tell what Owen is actually thinking of his suggestions, but he releases a loud sigh when he enters the room. "At least we don't have to tear down the crib," he says, changing the subject as he stares at Bailey's crib, which will soon become his new son's. "When you have kids, Owen, make sure to have them two years apart. Really, it couldn't be more perfect timing, and the kids will have automatic bestfriends."

Owen sighs. "I'll just be happy with one kid. I'm an only child, so I wouldn't mind just having one…"

"Oh, you have to give your a kid a sibling. That way they learn how to share and how to interact with other kids. Trust me, once you have one, you'll want more," Derek laughs.

"It will be neat to see how much they look alike," Owen admits. "Do you think the new baby will look like Bailey?"

"I don't know. I imagine they'll look somewhat alike, I guess. I know Meredith is hoping he gets my hair. Personally, I wouldn't mind if he has her eyes. I know odds are we'll have a blue-eyed child, though, since both of Meredith's parents have blue eyes. My mom has brown eyes, and my dad had blue eyes. Amelia and I are the only ones with blue eyes out of my siblings," Derek says.

"According to biology, though, the dominant gene doesn't carry over into the recessive gene pool," Owen adds, his eyes widening. "You know, I've always sort of hoped my children would have blue eyes."

"Cristina's eyes were very brown, and I doubt she had the recessive gene for blue eyes," Derek points out. Owen doesn't even flinch when Derek mentions Cristina's name, instead he just sighs.

"You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize how wrong Cristina and I really were for each other," Owen admits.

"Her moving to Switzerland is the best thing that ever happened to you," Derek admits, and him and Meredith, but he keeps those thoughts to himself. He knows Meredith would rip his head off if he ever said that to her, but it's true. He finally feels like he has his wife to himself, instead of Cristina always third-wheeling.

It's not that he doesn't like Cristina, he does, but he enjoys having alone time with his wife, and they've had more alone time in recent months than they ever had when Cristina was around, and the best part is Meredith almost never mentions Cristina. Before, even when she and Cristina were at a rough patch and not speaking, she talked about her constantly. Now, she barely mentions her name in conversation. He's sure she misses her, but they both have separate lives, and he's not even sure if Cristina knows Meredith is pregnant.

Owen sighs. "You could say that, yes," he agrees.

"You'll find the right girl for you, Owen. Keep the faith," Derek encourages.

"I hope so," Owen says. "It's just...how do you know? I thought Cristina was the one when we were together, and she wasn't…"

"Believe me, Owen, you'll know. I thought Addison was the one at one point, too, otherwise I wouldn't have married her. You have to be with the wrong person to know who the right person is when they come around," Derek grins.

"That's good advice," Owen admits.

"Hey, take it from someone who's been there," Derek winks, and then he adds, "Maggie and you could have a blue-eyed child, you know, if she has Ellis's recessive gene for blue eyes. I can see you two having a kid with dark, curly hair and bright blue eyes."

Owen says nothing.

They move the crib aside and begin assembling the toddler bed.

"I could see your and Meredith's son having dark, curly hair and bright blue eyes," Owen confides, staring at a photo of Derek and Meredith with Bailey when he was about six or seven months old that hangs on Bailey's wall. Derek's hair is a little longer in the picture, his brown locks evident like they always are when his hair gets on the longer side. He hates them, because they make styling his hair in the morning a challenge, but he knows Meredith loves them.

The photo was taken a few weeks before Derek was asked to move to DC, before chaos erupted in their house. They all look so happy. Amelia took the photo, Derek remembers; it was just a couple days after she'd arrived in Seattle.

"All that matters is he's healthy," Derek says. "He could have purple hair and eyes, for all I care. As touch and go as this pregnancy has been, I'll be happy as long as we have a healthy baby boy. Of course, the worrying doesn't end when he's born…"

"It just begins," Owen agrees.

"Yeah, at least when he's inside Meredith, I know he's safe and sound, and I know exactly where he's at. When he's out, now, that's a whole different story. I can't count the number of times I've blinked my eyes when out with Bailey and Zola and had a mini-heart attack when I looked down and they were not in their last spot."

"Kids," Owen shakes his head, sighing deeply. Derek observes the sense of longing in Owen Hunt's eyes. The guy desperately needs to become a dad sooner rather than later.

"They're a blessing and a curse," Derek laughs. They have Bailey's brand-new race car bed put together. The car is bright blue. Now they just need to make the bed for him; they have ordered indigo race car printed sheets and a comforter.

"At least you know you have a good gene pool," Owen shrugs, crushing down the cardboard box.

"Hmmm?"

Owen's cheeks redden. "Well, you know, pretty people don't always make pretty babies. Genes are weird, but all of the Shepherds are very attractive." Derek isn't sure where Owen is going with this conversation, but he finds it strange.

"Umm, thanks?" Derek's eyebrows twitch.

Owen sighs, elaborating, "I met your sister Lizzie a couple years ago..."

"Lizzie is happily married," Derek chuckles, though he's not sure how true that is; he's always found Lizzie's husband to be a bit of a jerk, and he never understood what Lizzie saw in him. "With five kids," he adds, realizing that might not be a

turn-off for Owen.

"Oh!" Owen's eyes widen. His cheeks blush even redder. "No, I mean...I wasn't saying...I don't like your sister...Lizzie…I mean I like her, but not like...um...I was just saying she's very pretty, and I...I think I'll shut up and take the crib out…"

"You can put it in the baby's room," Derek says; it's strange referring to his old office as the baby's room, but he might as well get used to it. "I'm just going to finish making the bed, and we're good to go."

"Gotcha," Owen says, rolling the crib out of the room.

"You need help?" Derek asks, thinking of the stairs.

"I think I'm good," Owen gives him a thumbs up, and Derek doesn't question him. Owen was in the army, so he is strong.

Derek's sole focus is getting the bed ready before the birthday boy returns home, which the monkey clock on the wall tells him will be any minute now.

Nicole's A/N: I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I really enjoyed writing Derek/Owen, since I think there was some potential for an awesome brothership there, though in this story Derek still has no idea about Amelia and Owen (He will eventually, obviously. Right now he's in a bit of a bubble.) Maggie and Owen?! Hmm…