Once again thank you for all of the comments, I am sorry if some of you didn't get a teaser, I didn't get an email notification of all the reviews and as I was coming on here to post an update I thought there was no point in sending the teaser now.

The update below hopefully will answer some questions lol, hope you enjoy...

Chapter 26

It had been three days now since Derek had discovered that he was going to be a father and three days since his last conversation with Meredith. He had only been going to see Lia when he knew that she had popped out to get something to eat or to shower. Lia was doing well and her care now could be left to one of his experienced fellows; in fact, if it was any other patient, he would have stepped back a bit immediately after the surgery. Derek was avoiding Meredith, he was at a loss as to what to say to her and with the situation he found himself in. He just didn't know what to do for the best.

He felt guilty because he knew that today was the day that Meredith would be attending Matt's funeral, she had flown back to Seattle. He should have offered her some words of support but then again, she had asked for space.

Derek was now stood on the maternity floor with Rose waiting for their appointment, he had insisted on seeing the scan of his baby for himself. He and Rose had yet to have a proper conversation as to where the future stood exactly for the two of them as a couple, and it wasn't for the lack of Rose trying. "How long did Dr. Montgomery say that she was going to be?"

"She will be here soon, Derek. You know it's lucky that Addison is a good friend of mine or we wouldn't have gotten an appointment so quickly. She is squeezing us in as it is, you know how in demand she is."

"I guess."

"Hey, Rose, I am ready for you now," Addison's voice came from behind them. "Dr. Shepherd." She nodded in greeting. She didn't know Derek that well. Their paths had yet to cross professionally since her recent transfer to the hospital. She had met him briefly when she had gone out for drinks one evening with Rose, her old childhood friend.

"Dr. Montgomery." Derek returned in greeting. "Thank you for agreeing to see us so quickly, I know that you are busy.

"That's ok, it's not a problem. Now, I think, Rose, I would like to conduct an internal exam on you first…"

"Is that really necessary at this stage in pregnancy?" Derek asked.

"It is when the mother has a history of early vaginal bleeding," Addison answered as Derek turned to Rose.

"You had some bleeding? You didn't say anything."

"I didn't want to worry you and Addison said everything should be fine…"

"And yes, it will be fine," Addison interjected, "as long as she remains stress free and takes it easy. It is vital for the progression of the pregnancy and for the sake of your baby, Dr. Shepherd, that Rose remains stress free, especially from emotional stress."

And there it was, his choice was made for him. Walk away from Rose and risk causing her to miscarry, another child of his gone, he couldn't do it. As much as it was going to kill him inside to walk away from Meredith and stay with Rose, he had to do it, at least whilst she was carrying the baby. "I hear you loud and clear. So um… should I wait here?"

"Yes, please honey, if you don't mind… It's a little personal, you know?"

"Yeah, of course, I will wait right here. I think I saw a fishing magazine around here anyway."

"Great, now that's decided, come on, Rose. I will call reception to let them know when to send you in to see your baby."

"Thanks." Derek took a seat by the coffee table and picked up a magazine thinking that this should be the happiest day of his life. He was about to see his unborn child, only it was the wrong woman who was carrying it. "Why did life have to be so God damn complicated. " He thought to himself.

"You're positive he is not going to get suspicious?" Rose asked once inside the room.

"Of course he is not. Here, let me briefly show you the recording I made. I had the patient whose sonogram picture I altered come in for an ultrasound and I made two recordings, one with her name on and one with yours. At this stage there is not really much to see, I recorded over 10 minutes but I will only scan you for a maximum of five, I will take some new sonogram pictures from the recording for him too."

"That's good, he will like that."

"Rose, relax it's going to be fine, I have watched the video again to remind me which direction to hold the probe. I am afraid it will have to be an internal scan though."

"That's ok, I will do whatever it takes to keep him and I can't thank you enough for helping me."

"That's ok, I owe you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be here today and you deserve not to have some high and mighty tramp waltz in and steal your man. And the fact that she happens to be an enemy of mine is all the better. Now how is it going on your side? Have you managed to get him to have unprotected sex with you yet?"

"No, not yet, he is pathetic. I mean seriously, what does she have?"

"God knows, I know I do not see it myself. The fertility drugs that I have given you will ensure that your fertility is boosted. There will be an egg waiting, you just need to get him to make the deposit. And I guarantee after the scan he will be at his most vulnerable. So step up the action on your side, after he has seen his baby," Addison said whilst making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "There is no way he will refuse the mother of his child. He is going to be in the correct emotional state."

"I hope so…"

"Trust me, Rose, he will. Shall we get the show on the road? The sooner we are out of here, the quicker you can get on with the baby making. I will call reception now and get him sent in."

It had been a long emotional day and now all Meredith wanted to do was get back to Lia. She stood in the terminal building looking at the screen, waiting for it to indicate that her check in desk had opened. She had arrived early at the airport after finding it difficult to remain at her husband's wake. The funeral service had been beautiful but Meredith couldn't help but feel guilty playing the part of the grieving widow. Sure she was grieving for Matt, but not in the way a devoted wife should. It was almost unbearable as guest after guest offered their condolences. After what she had done, she didn't deserve any of their sympathy and felt like nothing but a fraud the entire day.

She had committed adultery when Matt had shown nothing but love towards her. She betrayed their vows and everything their marriage stood for, if anyone deserved condolences it was Matt himself for being married to a cheating whore. She didn't deserve to be happy now and was even doubting her decision to stay in New York with Lia. Perhaps she should come back to Seattle and suffer, as punishment for her cheating. She suddenly became aware that somebody was staring at her and as she turned around, her eyes clashed with Violet's, Matt's secretary. "What was she doing here?" She thought to herself.

"Mrs. Carlisle…"

Meredith frowned at her. "Since when have you started calling me Mrs. Carlisle, Violet? You know I have always insisted that you called me Meredith. After all, when did you even call Matt Mr. Carlisle when there was not a client around?"

"I- I um…" Violet began to stutter and looked visibly distressed when Matt's name was mentioned.

Meredith thought it was only natural; she had worked with him a long time, his death was bound to be a shock to her. "It's ok, Violet, what are you doing here, are you going away?"

"No, I actually came here to see you, I knew your flight was not due yet. Could we talk? The coffee shop over there looks quiet." Violet nodded in the direction of a nearby coffee shop.

"Sure," Meredith said looking puzzled as she led the way over to the coffee shop and ordered two cappuccinos.

"This isn't easy," Violet said as they both sat down. "And I am not sure why I am bringing this up now…"

"Look, Violet, if it's about your job, I will give you a strong recommendation…"

"No, it's not that…"

"Then what is it?" Meredith was trying her best to decipher Violet's behavior, she was acting incredibly nervous and for the life of her, she couldn't work out what she would have to be nervous about… Unless…?"

"I am really sorry, Meredith, we didn't mean for it to happen…"

"How long?" Meredith instantly knew what Violet was apologizing for.

"You have to believe me neither of us wanted to hurt you and especially not Lia…"

"I asked how long you were sleeping with my husband?" Meredith interrupted her.

"Two years," Violet nervously answered.

"Two years?" Meredith repeated before she burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Violet looked cautiously at Meredith, she had tried to imagine how Meredith was going to react, but bursting into laughter was not a reaction she had expected. She was suspecting that the laughter would lead onto something else though.

"I have been feeling so guilty for recently sleeping with Derek and you two have been carrying on a full blown affair behind my back for two whole years?"

"Derek?" Violet questioned in a confused tone. "Who is Derek?"

"If you must know, Derek is the love of my life. We were together when we were younger but we were forced apart by our parents when I was sixteen. I had not seen him in almost twenty years but it turned out he was Lia's doctor."

"I don't understand."

"We slept together and I felt so guilty as soon as Matt returned to Seattle from his urgent business trip." Just for a brief second Meredith didn't see the instant look of guilt which passed over Violet's face and she continued. "I was going to tell him about Derek… Wait a second, it was you, you called him for the urgent matter…There was no urgent situation with a client, was there? He flew back to see you. Was he in your bed when I called with news of Lia?"

"Meredith…"

"I knew it, God I cannot believe I was so stupid."

"We didn't mean to… We just couldn't help it…"

"No, Derek and I couldn't help it, we had a long history together that went back years and years. You and Matt had a cheap little fling and you took him away from his daughter."

"I loved Matt, if it hadn't been for Lia getting sick, he would have told you sooner. He was leaving you but he didn't want to hurt Lia."

"Sure he didn't. God I have been such an idiot, all the late nights, missed ballet recitals. He was with you and he left his daughter's sick bed whilst she was suffering with a life threatening condition, to fly back to have a booty call with you. God and I thought his death was my bad karma, when it was his own."

"How can you say that?" Violet asked as tears started to spill down her cheeks.

"That's it, you go ahead and cry because you have no one to blame but yourself, it's your fault that he is dead. If you had been able to control your sexual urges, he would have been at the hospital by his daughter's bedside where he belonged. He would never have been driving back to the hospital." Violet was now openly sobbing as Meredith stood up. "That's it, you cry harder because thanks to you my daughter no longer has her Dad and I certainly know that I have wasted enough tears over him," she finished saying before she walked away leaving Violet alone violently sobbing in the coffee shop.

As Meredith continued to walk away, she tried to gain control of the mixed emotions that were surging through her as she started to question her entire marriage to Matt, particularly the last two years. She felt a mixture of feelings that ranged from anger to hurt, betrayal to relief. Things though seemed a lot clearer to her than they had in a long time and one thing for certain was that she would be staying in New York. Her conscience was now clear and the last emotion that was keeping her from going to Derek, the guilt she was feeling over Matt, had been erased. She was free, they were now free to build their lives as they should have done nineteen years ago.

Or so she thought…

Would love to hear your thoughts... If you would also like a teaser from the next update please let me know.

Jen xxx