Stepping out of the thought-provoking shower, Meredith shivered as the cool air wrapped around her freshly shower steamed arms. She wrapped the towel tighter around her chest and walked over to the mirror, her feet flat on the cold tiles. Her hair dripped with watery saturation, and hung in stringy, wavy clumps.

Carefully, she unwrapped her towel from herself and immediately yanked her fluffy red bathrobe from the hook it swung on, replacing it over her damp body. She tucked it around her and tied it, teeth chattering, before flipping over to wrap the damp towel around her head, twisting it until secure. There was a knock on the door before it opened, and the steam clouded out, escaping from the small room. "Meredith? Are you almost done?" Derek's voice called through the fog, and he coughed with emphasis. Meredith glared at him.

"No."

He frowned and made a show of checking his watch, "We have to be at the restaurant in twenty minutes…" He didn't like to rush her, but this was his family, and they tended to be very punctual people.

She found herself shrugging, "Don't worry, I'll be done by then." She pushed past him and walked back into their room and towards their closet, immediately leafing through the many button down shirts and jeans she owned. She sighed. "I have nothing to wear…" She mumbled, rubbing her forehead before returning to separate the clothing items that clumped together messily on the hangers.

Once again, Derek seemed to be right behind her, "What do you mean? You have all of these clothes, and…" She could feel his hot breath on her neck, and she pursed her lips with a sigh.

"Derek…" She spun on her heels and put a palm gently against his chest, smoothing down a wrinkle in his dark blue button down. "I need you to take a step back. I love you, but I really just need to you back off for ten minutes. So I can get ready." I just want to be approved by your family. "Please?"

He exhaled and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry…"

"It's okay, but just… Yeah. I'm kind of drowning in this whole thing and I just need a few minutes of space." Derek frowned and nodded before walking away, and Meredith turned back to her closet with a deep breath. She scanned the selection, tearing through options with her eyes, and she finally tugged out a black dress. It was plain, a simple V-neck, but it was the best option she had, so she slipped out of her bathrobe and changed, glancing at their clock that sat dauntingly on the nightstand. Time ticked. She may have forced herself to look nonchalant when Derek was losing his patience, but the last thing she wanted to be was late. They had promised they'd meet the rest of the family (even Nancy) at the local Chinese joint, but time was ticking.

Derek entered their room again, holding a newspaper. He flopped down on their bed and the sheets rustled as he leafed through the thin black and white print, and Meredith fumbled back into her closet- this time getting on her hands and knees to find an acceptable pair of heels. She reached blindly into the black corners of the darkness until her fingers fell on the smooth material of a heel, and she grasped it, yanking it and whatever shoe was closest next to it. She smiled triumphantly when she had successfully found a pair of plain black heels. Perfect. But then she frowned: More plain black for Meredith.

With a sigh, she picked them up and trotted back into the bathroom, throwing them on the ground at the same time as shaking off the towel that was still plastered to her head. She heard Derek from the other room, "Hey, take a breath!" And she rolled her eyes with a scoff. As if she wasn't rushing already. She yanked a brush through her tangled wet hair before flipping the hair dryer on and blasting it at her golden blond strands, turned brown with the water. She flipped and shook and tried her best to get every bit of moisture she could out of her head full of hair.

By the time her hair was done, or almost done, being dried, Derek had finished whatever he was reading and now sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his watch. 5 minutes. She had 5 minutes, and those were very small minutes. She was too busy trying to make her face look presentable. The women had already seen her beaten and sluggish in the hospital room- Speaking of hospital, she frowned at the stitched up gash on her upper forehead, something she could cover up, and it stung, physically and mentally. She dragged black eyeliner in a thin line on her upper lash line and smeared black mascara up her eyelashes, blinking and saying a silent prayer that she wouldn't poke her eyes out.

And when she sat to put her shoes on, her head throbbed, and so she took a minute to just lay against the door and shut her eyes. Just a second. With the trauma from earlier that day, she still felt weak-which was to be expected, but she refused to accept that she had overworked herself. Sure, Bailey had said she just got out with a few bumps and cuts and that her main problem had been shock, but she had been in a car crash. The idiot who ran the stop light didn't get out as lucky as her- Actually, he didn't get out at all- he was stuck in the ICU with multiple internal injuries. She had been lucky. But it didn't change how nervous she was now.

Suddenly, as she dragged her hand across her leg, she felt it. Stubble. Stubble and hair on her bare leg, because she had forgot to shave. "Crap!" She snapped angrily, yanking her hand through her hair and cursing under her breath.

At that, Derek was up and to her side immediately, assuming she heart herself or the baby was doing something. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"I… I forgot to shave my legs!" She snapped, and she could feel her lip quivering. Her hormones were off the charts.

"Oh," Derek said, and he exhaled, standing back up from his crouched position. "That's fine, Meredith. Are you ready to~"

"No!" She snapped, and she shakily forced herself to her feet. "No! I'm not! Stop… rushing me! I'm not ready to go! You've been hovering all day, and I'm overwhelmed, Derek!" Her emotions were running away from her and she felt it- pregnancy hormones weren't something to be fiddled with- and she could clearly know that she was overreacting, but she didn't care. "It's not fine! I'm wearing this black dress that I'm going to look stupid in anyways, and I need to shave my legs!"

He frowned and swallowed, regarding her carefully, "Meredith, I'm sorry, I just thought it~"

"S-Stop! I'm not ready, I'm not…" Her teeth chattered, and she looked up at him desperately, fearfully, with tears that glimmered in her eyes. "Derek I'm not ready, I'm not ready…" She whispered, and it was then when she exploded into a fountain of tears, crying suddenly and unexpectedly. "Oh, god, I'm not ready. They're not going to like me. I'm not good with f-families, and I don't…"

Derek's expression folded into understanding, finally realizing the reason for her outburst. "Meredith…" He said softly, and he pulled her reluctant form into his arms gently and carefully. He leaned down to kiss her lavender smelling hair. "They already love you."

"You don't know that," She said, her face muffled into his chest. "You don't know what they're thinking.

He sighed, at lack of words for a second, but he felt her hands holding his arms- the thing she did when she was miserable, or in desperation- and he kissed the top of head again before tilting her chin up to look at him. "But I do know my sisters. And their reaction to you today, well, it was definitely a good one."

She sniffled. "But Nancy…"

Derek laughed softly, "No, you can't listen to anything Nancy says. She has no idea what she's talking about. Meredith, listen to me. Any of them would be crazy not to love you. You are the love of my life, and they are my family- therefore, they are you your family too. You need to take a minute to breathe." She nodded at him and licked her lips, taking a shuddery breath.

"Okay. Okay." She swallowed. "Okay." Her expression softened and she blinked up at him, "Thanks, Derek."

XXX

Much to Derek's surprise, they were only five minutes late, and none of his sisters were looking upset (Well, with the classic exception of Nancy, but then again, basically everything was an exception for her.) Everyone was sitting down, chatting and babbling happy as they sipped what looked like different colored teas. Jennifer was the first one to notice them walk up to the table, and she smiled widely, "Der! Meredith, hi guys!"

"Hey," Meredith said, and smiled genuinely, immediately taking the seat beside her and across the round table from Nancy, who refused to meet her eyes in the first place. Derek took the seat next to her as well as Kathleen. Immediately she picked up the menu and stared at it, unblinking, trying to run through impressive things she could say to the family surrounding her.

Amelia took a small sip of the tea that wafted steam from it's cup and grinned at them, "We were just talking about that clinical trial you had published, for inoperable brain tumors, you know."

Meredith smiled widely and nodded at Derek, but her head was already pounding. She was overwhelmed, and her headache seared, just like the doctor had warned her it would. She forced her smile to last and let Derek talk for her, "Oh yeah. That was great." He snuck a smile at Meredith, who smiled back and winked.

"It really was impressive. My firm gets the magazine delivered to our office, and it was so funny to have a magazine with your giant face on it," Kathleen said with a cool smile. After taking a sip of tea she teased, "Not sure how much I liked the picture, though."

"Oh, thanks." Derek rolled his eyes and laughed, setting his menu down. "Meredith said the same thing."

"Did you?" Kathleen raised her eyebrows, laughing softly as she looked over at Meredith.

She bit her lip and nodded, a small giggle escaping her lips. "Yeah. I mean, I love all of Derek's pictures, but…"

Kathleen finished her sentence for her, "…but did they have to choose that one?" Meredith laughed at her remark, and so did Derek.

Carolyn swatted at Kathleen's arm and smiled with a warning, "Kathleen Shepherd, be nice to your brother." She glanced in Meredith's direction and winked, "You too, Meredith."

Derek smiled smugly, "See? I have mom on my side."

"Speaking of being a mom…" Carolyn blurted, and she looked at Meredith, her eyes gleaming. "You're going to be a mother, Meredith! And Derek, you're going to be a father…."

"Oh God…" Amelia groaned.

"Hey!" Derek said defensively, and Amelia smirked and then laughed. Meredith giggled at their friendly banter. She wasn't used to being with all of them at once. Her headache was still pounding, and it was hard to focus on anything.

"For the record, I think you two will be great parents," Jenny piped up with a big grin. Her hair was curled nicely around her small, young face, and she looked so innocent and kind. Her large eyes fluttered happily.

Meredith wasn't used to any type of praise. She never had been. So she felt her face flushing into a shade of warm red and she nodded, "Thanks. Derek will make an excellent father." She glanced to her side at Derek, with a small smile. He smiled back gratefully and mouthed a thank you. "He grew up with such a great family, too. So he's kind of got experience," She said, laughing nervously. Under the table, she fiddled with her fingers, thinking of what happened to his dad and wondering if she said the wrong thing.

Carolyn smiled genuinely and nodded, "Thank you. We tried our best to raise him right."

"Well, you did. He's perfect," She said, her words running away from her. Her head pounded, and she winced.

Amelia scoffed, "Well, he wasn't so perfect when he used to draw pictures of fish all over my bedroom door." She glared, "…in sharpie."

"What?"

Derek's face flashed red and he scowled, "Okay, that was once. And I was mad at you."

"Hold it…" Jenny put her hand up and glared at him. "You did it to my door, too. You and your freaking obsession with freaking fish." Meredith tried to hold in a laugh, and she eyed Derek, amused. "Not cool, Derek."

Derek glared at them defensively, "Well, you were both being obnoxious and you got what you deserved. End of story."

Meredith laughed softly and looked at him, gently putting a hand over his on the table. "Derek, you know I love you, but… fish? Seriously?" She continued to laugh for a moment until her headache grew even heavier and she stopped, taking a moment to wince and look down at the table, visibly distressed. Oh, and Nancy still hadn't said a word.

Derek smiled, but frowned when he saw her pained expression, "Are you okay?" His eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"I'm fine." She said softly. "It's just my headache."

Carolyn's voice floated from across the table, "I have aspirin, if you need any."

Meredith smiled sadly and shook her head, her words grateful, "Thanks, but I actually have some pain meds in my purse that the hospital gave me." She then proceeded to reach down under the table, careful not to fold over too far, and she searched under the white tablecloth for her purse. Blindly, she didn't feel it, and she began to pout until she realized that she had been rushing so fast that she hadn't brought it in from the car. She was back up at the table and she frowned at Derek, sighing. "I left it in the car. I'll be right back. I'm sorry…"

She felt his warm palm on her arm, and she looked at him with a frown. He said softly, "You can sit, I'll go get it."

She forced a smile, "No, really. I'll be right back. Plus, I have the keys…" And she looked at the table, addressing them all apologetically. "Sorry, everyone, I'll be right back."

Nancy rolled her eyes, but Meredith ignored it as Kathleen waved her hand, "Go ahead, you're fine! Car accidents suck that way."

And Meredith nodded and quickly turned on her black heels, scurrying out of the restaurant as fast as she could. She was overwhelmed. Everything was too much for her right then, from trying to impress his family to watching every word that came out of her mouth, and along with the headache, she felt like she had a giant weight attached to her shoulders and was pulling her down.

By the time she threw the door open to the outside, her headache clawing at her brain, she took a sharp inhale of air as she realized that rain was pouring. Literally. Dumping in sheets on every car, trickling down windshields, smashing the streets, filling and splashing into puddles- It was absolutely pouring, an entire downpour. Meredith groaned loudly and dragged her hands through her hair, trying to figure out how fast she could get to her car and back. For a second she considered just running back inside and pretending like everything was fine, but her headache was putting her in a fog, and she had a family to impress. Derek's family. Which, by marriage, was her family too. She couldn't let a freaking headache ruin her night, so… she ran.

Lightning flashed and her feet splashed in the puddles, and she could already feel her hair sticking to her face. Wetness seeped through her dress and drenched her slowly as she yanked at the car handle in distress, only realizing then that it was locked. She clicked the unlock button on the keys fiercely, her finger turning white from intensity, and she yanked and pulled and leaned into the seat of her car, feeling her back getting drenched in the downpour. Her bangs stuck to her face as she messily and blindly shuffled around under the front seat until her hands finally met the smooth straps of her purse. She yanked it and she heard many things fall out of it's open top and scatter to the ground, but she didn't care. She wrapped it up in her hands and slammed the door, running through the rain back into the restaurant, her legs shaking.

By the time she was in, she was drenched. Drips of water trickled down her face from her soaked hair, and her dress stuck to her skin in all the wrong places. The soles of her shoes were squishy with rain, and she licked her lips, trembling. She clutched the purse in her hand and stood in the foyer of the restaurant, fumbling through it's scattered contents. Sure enough, she found the bottle of pills, and swallowed one down without any water. She stuffed it back in her purse and frowned, catching her reflection in the window. Her makeup was smeared, and her hair stuck to her face. Her dress clung to her, and although it was black, she could see the outline of her bra quite well. Not to mention the fact that she was dripping all over the freaking carpet. She cursed under her breath and her brain began to force herself back to the Shepherd's table.

She wished she didn't have to hear the chorus of gasps as she sat back down, plopping angrily and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She stared at the table cloth and watched the drips from her bangs splash onto her lap. Her hands were shaking and she felt their stares. "It was raining. Really hard." She said flatly, trying not to sound as negative as she felt.

She felt Derek's hand on her shoulder, "Do you want my coat? Are you cold?"

Numbly, she shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

Silence fell across the table for a few moments, and it bit at everyone. Meredith hated it. She hadn't meant to ruin anything, or make anything awkward, or silent. Congrats, Meredith, you screwed things up again, she told herself. Her heartbeat thrummed nervously in her ears.

"Your hair is so pretty," A voice rose from beside her, and she blinked, turning to look at Jenny, who smiled supportively. "Even when it's wet."

She exhaled and smiled gratefully. "Thanks." She paused, and looked across the table at Nancy, who clearly didn't look very amused or happy. She actually looked like she would have rather been anywhere but there. Swallowing, Meredith's thoughts ran through her head like a never ending train- Nancy was Derek's sister. So as hard as it was, she had to treat her like family. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Nancy, and her voice was careful as she said, "Nancy, how's your family?"

Nancy looked at her like she was an alien from another planet. She rolled her eyes, "They're fine." Carolyn eyed her and sighed.

Forcing a smile, Meredith nodded, "That's good." She reached over to get her tea, but because she was paying so much attention to Nancy, she pushed it right over and it toppled, the hot contents dumping over the table. And it immediately poured, rushing towards Nancy's direction, and it dumped off the table, landing on her lap. She stood up and shrieked, "Bitch!"

Everyone's eyes went wide and Meredith could feel her lip trembling. Her hand flew to her mouth, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Nancy glared at her, "You did that on purpose!" She hissed through her teeth, and Meredith felt her whole body trembling.

She stood up from the table, her dress still dripping, and her thoughts pounded her head. She felt sick. She felt like she had single handedly just blown everything, and she felt tears prick her eyes. Shaking, her voice weak and quiet, she stuttered, "I can't… I have to go, I'm sorry…" And then she ran.

A/N: I am SO SO SO sorry that took so long! I have been so busy lately.

But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) Meredith is really overwhelmed with the whole concept of family (although I'm pretty sure Nancy deserved that hot tea all over herself…) And it's a very new thing for her.

Comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!