Chapter 14 –Family

"Daddy?" Daniel asked his father as he jumped out of the car.

"What is it?"

Daniel sighed as he looked up at Derek. "I want to stay with Mommy," he stated sadly.

Derek knelt in front of him and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. You're going to stay with her. But we did have fun last night, didn't we? I taught you to play cards."

Daniel smiled slightly and slowly nodded his head. "Why don't we stay with Mommy? She's sad with you?"

"I think she is," Derek tried to explain. "But I am going to talk to her now. Come inside," he stood up and took his hand. "I have a surprise for you."

"What?" Daniel smiled excitedly.

"It's a surprise, so you have to find it yourself. Let's go," he led their way to the house.

Carolyn must have heard the car, because she was there to greet them, when Daniel ran inside. The boy stopped briefly, cautiously looking at his grandma, before he smiled and ran into her arms.

"My boy!" Carolyn scooped him up and kissing him. "Look how big you are!" she beamed at him. "And handsome, too!"

Daniel giggled, delighted with the compliments, and wrapped his arms around her neck, confessing, "I'm happy to see you."

Carolyn laughed and smiled at Derek, who stayed behind, to give them some space for their moment.

"I'm happy to see you, too," she told Daniel. "I had to come for your birthday. We're going to spend a few days together."

Daniel smiled, obviously thrilled with the idea. Although he hadn't spent a lot of time with his grandma, Carolyn Shepherd had many children and grandchildren around her to know how to win a child's heart.

Derek walked up to his mother and gave her a kiss. "I forgot you were supposed to arrive yesterday," he admitted apologetically.

"Same as you forgot to mention it to Meredith," she admonished him.

Derek looked around for Meredith. "Where's Meredith?"

"She must be sleeping, still."

"I'll go…" he wanted to leave them to go see Meredith, but his mother stopped him.

"I made coffee," she told him, clearly wanting to talk to him before letting him go to Meredith. "Did you have breakfast?" she asked Daniel.

The boy answered with a shake from his head.

"We knew you would expect us with something," Derek explained. "Besides, he just woke up."

The kitchen smelled like fresh coffee and sweet flavors of pancakes, which made Daniel's stomach growl loudly and the others to laugh.

Derek poured himself a cup of coffee, moaning. "How I missed your breakfast."

Carolyn chuckled. "Meredith doesn't cook much, huh?"

Derek laughed. "She still has a lot to learn."

"Good thing you know how to cook," she said as she put Daniel in a chair. She walked up to her son and asked, in a slower voice for Daniel not to hear, "I hope you made the right decision, Derek. He needs to know where his family is."

Derek nodded and smiled wearily. "It's been… a bit difficult. But we'll work it out," he reassured her.

"Let's see it happening," she nodded.

"I am going to take a cup for Meredith, too," said Derek, turning to the coffee pot for a refill.

"I don't think…" Carolyn wanted to stop him, knowing Meredith wouldn't take well the smell of coffee in the morning. But then she seemed to have changed her mind. She just smiled and shook her head, sending him away.

A bit confused, Derek took the cups.

"I am coming," Daniel said quickly when he heard Derek going to his mommy.

Derek looked back at Carolyn for her help. It was better to talk to Meredith first, before anything else.

"Why don't we wait for them here?" Carolyn took her grandson's hand to stop him. "They need to talk," she explained.

Daniel looked at his grandma and then at his dad, before going back on his chair, admitting, "They need to."

"See?" Carolyn laughed at Derek and waved him goodbye, to go and talk to Meredith.

Upstairs, Derek found Meredith still sleeping. Slowly he walked into her room, not to make a noise. Maybe the smell of fresh coffee would wake her up otherwise he was determined to let her sleep. He was a bit worried about her after seeing the way she looked the last time he'd seen her.

He put the cups on the nightstand and then he climbed in bed with her. He laid behind her, gently caressing her hair and breathing in its scent. There was no doubt that she was the love of his life, and he would never be able to forgive himself for not giving a real chance to their relationship from the beginning, as well as he would never be grateful enough to Nancy for bringing her back into his life.

Derek moved closer and hugged her. Meredith moaned softly and leaned her back against his body, starting then to wrinkle her nose and wake up.

Derek leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. Her eyes fluttered opened and smiled sleepily as she saw him there.

"Hey," she greeted him with a sleepy smile. She rolled onto her back so they could look better at each other.

"Hey," he smiled down at her, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"Daniel?" Meredith asked.

"Downstairs with mom," he answered.

Meredith just nodded her head once.

"I missed you," he said, stroking her cheek and leaning down for a kiss.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, but as their mouths met, Meredith pushed him away, with a face of disgust.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, alarmed by her reaction.

Meredith sat up, holding onto her stomach. "It's your breath."

"My breath?" Derek laughed, taking it as a joke. "I brushed my teeth, you know. It's just coffee. I brought you one so don't pout."

Meredith's face crumpled with disgust. "Take that away," she said and quickly got out of the bed and ran into the bathroom.

Completely puzzled, Derek was a second late to go after her. In there, he found her down by the toilet, puking. He knelt beside her to hold her hair. "Meredith? Is there something wrong or are you pregnant?" he asked, starting to put the symptoms together for a diagnosis.

Meredith finished with the first round of puking. She wiped her mouth and looked at Derek, exhausted. "So it wouldn't be something wrong if I am pregnant?" she asked.

"Are you?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders and nodded at the same time. "I think I am; almost positively 'am'."

That was a complete shock for Derek. He was rubbing her back, but he was doing it automatically; his thoughts were in complete chaos at the moment. Meredith was looking at him, waiting for a word from his side.

He smiled and cupped her face. "I love you."

Meredith smiled wearily, "I love you, too."

"Good," he sighed with relief. "Because I terribly missed you all this time we didn't speak to each other."

Meredith giggled and wrapped an arm around his neck, leaning in for a kiss. She was also the one to pull away. "Brush your teeth," she groaned and bent over the toilet, again.

"You should, too," Derek joked as he stood up. "Your breath is not fresh air either after all this puking."

Meredith seemed finally done with the nausea. She got up and came beside Derek at the sink. They looked at each other in the mirror as they brushed their teeth and started to laugh together. They spat and washed their mouths before they leaned against the sink, looking at each other.

"So you're pregnant. Again," a grin grew up on Derek's face as he said those words.

Meredith smiled. "It didn't take you long this time either."

Derek laughed and pulled her into his arms. "We're meant to have many beautiful babies." He lifted her and placed her onto the sink, with her legs wrapped around his waist. "It's going to be awesome this time."

"I wouldn't say so," Meredith giggled. "You have no idea how it feels to get sick out of nothing."

"Yes, but you'll have me to sooth your pain," he reassured her, stroking her cheek. "Was it better with Daniel?"

Meredith shook her head. "It was exactly like this time. You're mom thinks it's going to be a boy."

Derek frowned. "She can't know that."

"She said you were just as bad as Daniel and this baby when you were in her womb."

"Still," Derek refused to accept his mother's prediction.

Meredith giggled, kissing him on the cheek. "Don't tell me you wish for a girl."

"It would be nice," Derek stated. "A little sister for Daniel to take care of."

"It would be nice for who?" Meredith laughed. She didn't have any siblings, but she imagine how it must be to be a big brother and watch for your baby sister.

Derek held her by the waist as he bent to her belly. "Please be a baby girl."

Meredith laughed, running her fingers through his hair. "I wouldn't be worried if it's not a girl. By the way things look, we might have a baby even before this one starts to talk."

Derek put his arms around her, looking into her eyes. "I love you, Meredith. And I want us to grow as a couple, because it's you that I want to raise my children with. Even if they're all boys."

"Me? All by myself with the Shepherd clan boy?" she laughed.

"You will be loved," he grinned.

"I hope so, if all the boys will torture me like this during the pregnancy."

"That's why we have to try for a girl until we have one."

Meredith just laughed. She leaned to him and kissed him, luckily this time without the nausea to hit. The kissing came with touching and soon the things were heating up for them.

"Let's never sleep separated again," Derek asked as he carried her into their bedroom.

"I completely agree."

As Derek put her down on the bed, Meredith's stomach started to growl. Derek looked up at Meredith, surprised with how loud it had sounded.

"I haven't eaten much lately," Meredith laughed, apologizing.

"I guess it's ok if we have breakfast first," Derek smiled, crashing his lips against hers.

Meredith giggled, holding him to the bed for a few more seconds, while they kissed.

"Do you cry easily when you're pregnant?" Derek asked as they headed downstairs. He remembered the way she looked the previous morning when he went to see her.

"Pretty easily," she smiled apologetically. "But I cried a lot yesterday, so I hope it won't happen again, soon."

Derek furrowed his brows, not liking to hear that she had cried that much.

"No," Meredith smiled reassuringly. "Damon and I watched cartoons together and I cried."

Derek gave her a funny look.

"I know. You should experience this. I think your mother and I have unique pregnancies," Meredith laughed.

Derek comfortingly rubbed her back. "I hope I will be able to make it easier for you."

She smiled at him and took his hand as they walked into the kitchen.

"Right in time," Carolyn called as they saw them coming.

Daniel looked up from his plate and smiled at his mother. Meredith kissed her son and took a seat at the table.

"I made you a fruit salad. It's nutritive and it doesn't cause nausea," Carolyn stated, placing a bowl in front of Meredith. "How are you feeling this morning?" she asked her.

"The coffee didn't do any good to her," Derek frowned at his mother.

Carolyn chuckled. "I guess I could have told you. I'm sorry, Meredith."

"That's ok. I didn't know how to tell him anyway," Meredith giggled, popping a grape into her mouth.

To those that had seen her the last couple of days, she looked much better this morning. Her face was bright, same as her eyes, not dark and tired as they looked before. She looked pregnant now.

"So?" Carolyn questioned, looking at them.

Derek took Meredith's hand and smiled at his mother.

"Ok," she chuckled. "Then I can congratulate you." She walked behind Meredith's chair and gave her a small hug, and then Derek stood up and hugged his mother. "I can't wait to meet my new grandson."

"Or granddaughter," Derek frowned. "Stop telling Meredith stories. None of us can know what sex it has."

"Some of us might now, Derek," Carolyn contradicted. "You should study more about this."

"He wants it to be a girl," Meredith said.

"He will be thrilled to have one more son to go out fishing or watching racing cars," Carolyn reassured her.

Daniel had stopped eating and he was looked curiously at them, now. They were talking about something he wasn't understanding. Derek was the first one to see the look on his face.

"We're going to have a baby, Danny," he told him.

Daniel looked at his father. "Why?"

Derek looked at Meredith.

"Because it's time for a new baby," she answered.

Daniel looked at his mother. "Why?"

"Don't you want a baby brother to play with?" Meredith asked him.

"Or a baby sister?" Derek quickly cut in.

"No," Daniel answered sincerely.

Meredith and Derek looked at each other and then at Carolyn.

"He has no choice, so he will get used to the idea," she reassured them.

"I don't want a baby," Daniel stated calmly and continued eating his breakfast.

"Well, the baby will come anyway," Derek told him.

Daniel looked up at his father and then at his mother, saying, "He can't play with my toys."

"If it's girl, she will have her toys," Derek replied. Meredith elbowed him, scolding him for his answer.

Daniel looked at them and shook his head with disapproval. He looked determined to stick to his statement, so it didn't bother him to continue his breakfast; his grandma had cooked for him some delicious waffles.

"What if..." Meredith had started to mutter, but Derek gave a squeeze to her hand, reassuring her.

...

Derek could start beaming all over the place now. She had the result to her pregnancy test. Holding the piece of paper in her hand as she went to find Derek, Meredith didn't know how exactly she was feeling about this. With Derek around, now it was something new and a bit scary. She was excited at the idea of having a new baby, but she was worried about how Daniel would feel, also. Now, this was the real new start for them as family.

As she turned around the corner, she saw Derek at the nurses' station. It took him a second to notice her there. He looked up at her, smiling questioning.

Meredith smiled and ran her hand over her belly. She saw him laughing and squeezing excitedly Tyler's shoulder before he hurried to her.

He pulled her into his arms, holding her face between his hands and kissing her.

"Do you need anything? How are you feeling?" he asked her. "Maybe you shouldn't walk that much around the hospital. And make sure you don't get too many long surgeries."

"Derek, you're annoying, already," she smiled.

Derek lifted her face to him and kissed her softly.

"I am worried about Daniel, Derek," Meredith sighed.

"Don't be. We'll make sure he will stay in the center of our attention too. It shouldn't be difficult to share us with someone else."

"I don't know," Meredith didn't sound convinced, because for a long while, Meredith was all his.

"I will make sure we'll spend some quality time just the two of us. Actually, I know what to get him for his birthday," he smirked at Meredith. "We'll go out fishing. Something like camping."

Meredith sighed.

"What? Don't you think it's a good idea? The weather is fine."

"Damon has the same plan," she said.

"What?" Derek burst.

Meredith rolled her eyes. Some things would never change.

"I don't mind," he said quickly when he saw her reaction. "But he didn't come to ask me permission."

Meredith just looked at him.

"He asked for your permission," he understood.

"Derek, I think this is the best present for Daniel. He will get to spend a nice day with his best friend and with his best Daddy."

Derek was still pouted.

"Grow up, Derek," she rolled her eyes. "Aren't you best buddies now?"

Derek looked at her and then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "He had to steal my idea," he grumbled.

"Do you want to have sex?" she asked him.

Derek's eyes grew wide at her question.

"I am serious."

"Are you craving?" he asked her.

"Not yet. I was thinking it would comfort you a little bit."

Derek smiled. "I don't really have time now. I have to go back to a consult, but page me if you urgently need me. I will track you down immediately and be with you in an on call room."

Meredith giggled. "Is it the patient with inoperable tumor?"

"Yes."

"I read something about it. Do you have some time?"

Derek checked his watch and nodded. "I will be with you in 10 minutes."

.-.

N/A: And this way Derek gets a little fame as surgeon, too. Stick around for the last chapters.