It wasn't light outside yet when Meredith woke up the next day. She lie there, moved-still, in Derek's arms, with her left hand down on the pillow in front of her. At this point, she was over the 'I do trust him' phase. She was feeling more confident now, hours later since the proposal, as she had more time to wrap her mind what she had just accepted to do; get married.

It wasn't hard to imagine her life beside him anymore; that's how her life had been during the past months and if it would go on like that, then she had absolutely no reason of freaking out. It was a huge commitment though as Meredith had never had a serious relationship until Derek. Meredith also had never had children until Morgan and that seemed to be a quite pleasant commitment, not so easy though.

She hadn't heard him waking up, so she stirred a little when Derek put his hand over hers and intertwined their fingers. He leaned forward and traced kisses from her jaw down to bare shoulder. "That's a very nice piece of jewelry," he moaned against her ear.

Meredith giggled and shivered at the sensation of his warm breath against her skin. "An admirer gave it to me," she replied teasingly.

"Hmm. He has great taste," Derek played along with her.

"He does have."

"I wanted to buy an identical one for my girlfriend."

Meredith giggled and rolled into his arms. "I won't give her mine."

Derek smiled as brushed the hair out of her face and stroked her cheek. "I don't think she would like a second-hand ring." He propped his head up on his hand and couldn't help but smile as he looked down at Meredith. His hand left soft traces across her skin as he caressed her collar, her chest and her shoulders.

Meredith scooted closer to his chest and slowly her fingers ran across his chest. "I talked to Mark yesterday," she said quietly, not looking at him. She could feel his questioning gaze on her though.

Derek didn't know how to react to that; what to say or ask.

"Do you want to know what we talked about?" she asked, glancing up at him.

Derek ran the back of his hand against her cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Only if you want to tell me."

Meredith nodded and rolled onto her back. She tucked the sheets around her body and looked for their fingers to intertwine again before she said, "He said 'Hello, Meredith' and I said, 'Hi'. Then, he said… 'Good bye, Meredith' and I said, 'Bye'."

Derek kissed their fingers and asked her, "How was it?"

Meredith shrugged. "Surprising," she admitted. "I mean, I was expecting to a very awkward moment, but it wasn't. It was rather professional, except for the fact that he called me by my first name and not Dr. Grey."

Both fell into silence for a while, until Meredith rolled onto her side, having her back on Derek now, and nestled into his arms.

"I stopped thinking about him as someone related to Morgan," she continued, sounding mostly as if she was talking to herself. "It's better now."

Derek squeezed her shoulder and kissed it. "Life needs to move on for everyone."

Meredith nodded slowly and looked for his hand, intertwining their fingers once more. Life was moving on for everyone already, Meredith noticed as she saw the ring on her finger.

"You're really not in any hurry with the wedding?" she asked Derek.

"I am not," he answered. "I'll let you even choose the date."

Still holding hands, Meredith rolled onto her back. Derek smiled and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "How about the moving?" she asked him then.

"What about it?" he asked back as their hands traced over Meredith's cheek.

"What are we doing about the moving?"

"I don't know," he answered. "Have you changed your mind about building us a house where the trailer is?"

Meredith smiled as she briefly considered that option. "How long does it take to build a house?"

His smile became even wider as she asked him that. He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek as he kissed her. "I'll make some phone calls and I will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible."

"Ok," Meredith smiled. "In the meantime, I think it is ok for us to live here. We just need to take care of the cleaning."

"That shouldn't be so hard," Derek answered with a smile.

He leaned down as he cupped her cheek and his lips started brushing slowly against hers, his tongue parting her lips and thrusting deeply into her mouth. Meredith moaned as her arms curved around his neck and her fingers tangled into his hair. Derek slowly shifted on top of her, parting her legs as he propped his weight on his forearms.

Their lips broke apart for a moment only as they smiled at each other.

"What time is it?" Meredith asked.

Derek didn't break the gaze he was holding on her eyes as he answered, "It's early. We have plenty of time."

"Good," Meredith giggled and pulled his face down to her while her leg wrapped around his waist.

Derek groaned at the perfect contact of their bodies and, holding her face between his hands, started kissing her feverishly. Soon his hands started roaming down her body, caressing and squeezing each part of her soft skin until his hand found her breast. His lips moved lower to the curve of her neck, leaving light red marks as they sucked on its skin. In response, Meredith moaned in his ear, her warm breath sending shivers through his body.

Both of them stopped and held their breaths as they heard a muffled whimper coming from the baby monitor.

"Tell me it's just in my imagination," Meredith whimpered quietly.

As answer to that question, a loud crying started sounding in the baby monitor and Derek smiled apologetically at her.

"Can you go to her?" he asked her. "I really need to shower."

Meredith sighed and smiled sympathetically. "I am sorry."

Derek pressed a strong kiss against her lips, lingering a moment longer as Meredith kissed him back. "I am sorry too," he sighed and moved off her.

Cujo burst in, barking at them from the doorway. "We heard her!" Meredith groaned as she stood up.

Derek chuckled and handed her the bathrobe. "He just wanted to be sure."

"Yeah," Meredith giggled. "As if it would be impossible not to hear her."

She wrapped the bathrobe around her and Derek pulled her into his arms for a short embrace and quick kiss. "I'll be in the bathroom if she goes back to sleep." He told her with lust in his smirk.

Meredith giggled as she pushed him away and headed for the door. Little Morgan soon calmed down as one of the grown-ups had her in care, but contrary to their expectations, she didn't want to go back to sleep. After she had her diaper changed, she spent a lovely and quiet moment with her Mommy in the rocking chair. That's how Derek found them minutes later.

"The water was running cold," he sighed as he walked in. He still couldn't stop from smiling as he looked at them.

Morgan was lying in her mother's arms, chewing her fingers as usual and waving her hand as Meredith was holding it. Hearing Derek's voice, Morgan wanted to see, so Meredith held her upright.

"She has started recognizing the voices, I noticed," Derek stated, crouching in front of the chair. "Did I tell you we had a fabulous ride with the ferryboat yesterday?" he asked Meredith, grinning up at her.

"You did," Meredith answered with a giggle. "And not just once."

"Yeah. I am kind of bragging," he chuckled smugly.

Meredith laughed as she playfully hit him with her leg.

He hadn't told Meredith yet about meeting Thatcher on the ferryboat and about the talk he had had with him. He had wanted the dinner to be perfect and, knowing how much that news would mess Meredith up, he chose to say nothing about it. This morning neither looked like the right moment to tell her. Everything looked so perfect in their life in this moment and he wanted to keep it this way for a little longer. Derek stood up and took Morgan from Meredith. He held her up in the air, laughing along with her infectious giggle. He kissed both of her cheeks before he brought her into his arms.

"You can shower and then you can take Cujo out of a walk while I feed Morgan," Derek told her. Cujo barked once, hearing something about a walk.

"What?" Meredith looked visibly displeased with his plan. "Why don't you go and walk Cujo and I feed Morgan?"

Derek smiled teasingly. "Because you brought Cujo home."

"But I am Morgan's mother," Meredith wasn't going to let him win that so easily.

"But still, you brought Cujo into the house."

Meredith narrowed her eyes into a glare.

"Or you could just let him outside in the backyard," Derek chuckled.

Meredith stood up from the rocking chair and put her arms around Morgan and Derek as she kissed Derek first and then Morgan. "Don't let him outside too long. It's raining."

Derek carried Morgan downstairs, with Cujo leading their way. "Be a little patient, Cujo," Derek called after the dog as he saw him heading to the door. But then he heard a key in the latch. He shifted Morgan on his hip and curiously waited to see if that was Ellis making another unannounced visit.

The door opened and Cujo happily barked and waggled his tail as he saw Claudia stepping inside. He wanted to see if he could sneak outside, but Claudia was much faster and caught him by the collar and pushed him back inside. "Not alone, Cujo."

"He might have big needs," Derek chuckled. "We'll leave him out in the backyard.

Just then Claudia saw Derek.

Morgan surprised everyone when, seeing Claudia, she clapped her hands and squealed delightfully.

"I think she has missed you a lot," Derek muttered, watching Morgan's smile with shock.

"Aww," Claudia giggled and walked over to them. Morgan knew how to play and have all their attention. She played shy and hid her face against Derek's shoulder, giggling when Claudia took her hand and kissed it. She pulled her hand back and curled it between her and Derek, still giggling.

"That's an impressive change," Claudia stated.

"It is," Derek nodded. "She's still drooling, but she's much better. She's no longer Ms. Cranky."

"That's good," Claudia smiled. "I am sorry for showing up this early. I couldn't sleep and I thought I could come and help you with Cujo?"

"That's ok," Derek chuckled. "We could need some help with Cujo."

"Oh so you both want to spend time with Morgan," she laughed.

"You can't blame us," Derek laughed too.

Claudia nodded.

"But you need to have some coffee first," Derek said. "I don't have to be at the hospital right away so I can take him outside for a walk later."

They all went to the kitchen and Derek let Cujo outside first before he put Morgan in her highchair, while Claudia put to make some coffee.

"How's Meredith?" she asked.

"Meredith's doing fine," Derek stated and Claudia could sense a shrill of happiness in his voice.

She turned and smiled suspiciously. "I would say she's doing more than fine."

Derek laughed and the sparkle in his eyes proved Claudia she was right. Derek gave Morgan her spoon and let her play with it while he kept grinning at Claudia.

"Ok, that's a mean thing to do," Claudia laughed. "You look like you need to share it with someone."

Derek laughed and nodded. "I asked Meredith to marry me."

"Oh," Claudia gasped and laughed, visibly happy to hear that. "And she said yes."

"She said yes," Derek nodded.

Claudia laughed as she gave him a congratulatory hug. "It was about time you two make this thing official."

"I know," Derek agreed. "We won't hurry with the wedding though. I think Meredith needs more time."

"She might need more time," Claudia nodded her head, agreeing. "She's still newly mom."

"We also talked about moving in together," Derek said. Claudia looked at him confused as she knew they were living together already. "Yeah," Derek chuckled as he understood her confusion. "I mean moving in another house. I have other big news to tell you."

"Another one?" she gasped then. "She's pregnant again?"

"No, no," Derek hurried to clear that out. "Not yet anyway," he added with a chuckle. "Morgan can sit upright by herself now."

Claudia looked over at Morgan and she saw she was indeed not leaning against the chair anymore. "How long was I gone?" she asked herself under her breath.

"It's exhilarating the speed they grow up with. So we are expecting her to start crawling soon and then she will be all over the place. We're thinking about moving into a new house. One of our own," Derek said. "How's your son doing?" he asked her, changing the subject.

"Christian is much better. Thank you for asking," she gratefully smiled at him. "He needs to stay in the hospital for the rest of the week though but Dr. Bailey says he will make full recovery."

"I am glad to hear that," Derek smiled sincerely. "Did you think about my idea?"

"The kindergarten?" she asked.

"Yes,"

Claudia turned and filled two mugs with coffee. She brought them at the table and gave one to Derek. "I am not sure I want this," she admitted apologetically. "I would be taking care of the administration mostly and… I just want to spend time with the children."

Derek could not believe he was hearing that. "We could hire someone to take care of administration. You'd be Morgan's teacher."

Claudia still didn't look convinced. Derek sighed disappointedly. "So you might leave us in a couple of months."

Claudia sighed as she set down at the table beside Morgan. She picked the spoon up as Morgan dropped it and gave it to Derek to wash it. She took Morgan from her seat and put her on her lap. "I talked to my son and… he's not very thrilled with this idea."

"He wants you for his baby only," Derek understood.

"Yes," Claudia nodded. "And to be honest, I wouldn't want to work as teacher either. I have to admit that… I am old and…" she smiled sheepishly. "I am doing fine with one or two children, but more are… too much."

Derek sighed, disappointed.

"I have some news to give you too," Claudia smiled. "My son and his wife are moving back in Seattle in a few months; before the due day."

"That's great. I am happy for you," Derek wanted to look like he was happy for her, though he was very disappointed with the thought of losing Claudia in a couple of months.

"And that's not all," Claudia continued. "They say they wouldn't have any problem if I keep taking care of Morgan after the baby is born. As long as I think I can handle both of the children and… I think I can."

That sounded like a good idea to Derek. "Morgan would have the chance to socialize with other children. Grow up with one."

"Exactly," Claudia nodded. "But I am thinking to bring Morgan to my house, this way I can have my grandchild in a familiar place too. What do you think Meredith will think of this arrangement?"

Derek had to admit that he hadn't thought about that. Meredith had her ideas of how to raise Morgan and she had hired a Nanny to have someone taking care of her daughter only. Although she would have to send Morgan to kindergarten one day. "I will talk to her and see what she thinks of this. Now let's have the breakfast ready."

"Think of what?" Meredith asked as she walked into the kitchen

Morgan looked up at her mommy's voice and same as earlier she squealed and clapped her hands as she saw her Mommy. Meredith almost had tears in her eyes and looked at the others as she could not believe what Morgan just did have been real.

"She's very cheerful today," Derek nodded, laughing.

Claudia stood up and brought Morgan to Meredith. "Good morning, Meredith."

Meredith first dropped several kisses on her baby's cheek, laughing along with her giggle, before she smiled at Claudia. "Good morning."

"May I see it?" Claudia asked Meredith, glancing down at her left hand.

Meredith looked at Derek and asked, "How far the news spread?"

"Don't be mad. He didn't say anything, actually, but you could have guessed easily," Claudia said. She took Meredith's hand and admired her ring. "It's very beautiful."

Meredith's cheeks turned bright red as she sheepishly giggled, "It's nice." Derek laughed, noticing her bashfulness.

"Congratulations, Meredith," Claudia said, giving Meredith a hug.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled.

A scratch and a whimper were heard coming from the backdoor and Claudia went to let Cujo in. Cujo ran inside, leaving wet prints on the floor as he went to Meredith and Morgan. Sniffing Meredith and making sure everything was ok with Morgan, Cujo shook off the water from his fur, spraying everything around him.

"Ok, so the dog needs to go," Meredith stated, annoyed with the drop-stains and the smell of wet dog. "I meant it when I said I want a clean place for Morgan. Cujo is not clean for her."

Derek and Claudia looked worriedly at each other as Meredith seemed to be very firm with her decision.

"You can't do this, Mer," Derek pointed out.

"That's right," Claudia nodded.

"We will be more careful next time we let Cujo outside in the rain," Derek added.

"Since when are you taking the dog's side?" Meredith asked, glaring at Derek in particular. "You didn't like him in the first place," she told him.

"But he proved to be a good dog for Morgan and a faithful friend," he answered. "You know it very well too, now you're just mad because he shook in here."

Derek was right and Meredith knew she had overreacted. She still glared at Cujo as she walked past him and sat down in a chair.

"Pancakes or toast?" Derek asked Meredith and Claudia.

Claudia shrugged, leaving Meredith to choose. "Pancakes," Meredith smiled.

"And some rice with milk for Morgan?" Claudia asked.

Meredith nodded. "That sounds good. Maybe some food for Cujo too," she said as she saw Cujo biting one of the table's legs.

Everyone laughed as they saw him, including Morgan though she didn't know why. "I will do it," Derek said and took a meat can out of the closet.

Cujo jumped up quickly at the well-known sound and ran to his bowl, impatiently waiting for his breakfast.

"Now what was I supposed to think?" Meredith asked them, returning to what she had overheard when she walked in.

Claudia and Derek glanced at each other.

"Claudia's son and his wife will move back in Seattle in a couple of months," Derek said.

"Oh," that reminded Meredith of the fact that she might lose Claudia soon.

"I was thinking…" Claudia started hesitantly. "I've become very fond of Morgan and I would like to keep taking care of her. My daughter-in-law will have a few months of maternity leave, but then I would like to take care of my grandchild too. I was thinking, and they agreed too, …. I could bring Morgan to my house and this way I could take care of both babies. I assure you I wouldn't have any trouble."

Meredith thought about it for a moment and then she nodded. "It doesn't sound bad. I will think about it."

Derek smiled impressed at Claudia. He looked questioningly at Meredith then as they heard a beeper in the living room.

Meredith sighed, hoping the call wouldn't ask her to skip breakfast with Morgan and Derek. She took Morgan with her as she went to go and check on the message. She came back in kitchen, sighing disappointed.

"It's an emergency and I have to be at the hospital," she told them.

Claudia came and took Morgan from Meredith. Like she could sense that her mommy was leaving, Morgan changed her mood drastically. She held her hand out to Meredith and gave it a strong squeeze when Meredith took it.

"Be a good girl for Claudia," Meredith kissed her daughter.

That was all it took for Morgan to understand and start crying.

"Don't cry," Claudia tried to sooth her. "Mommy will be back soon."

But Morgan started crying even louder, almost screaming and holding her arms to go to her Mommy. Meredith knew that taking her back from Claudia would cause Morgan even more pain, so she kissed her hand and let go of it. "Call me if something happens" she told Claudia.

Morgan was now crying and fussing desperately in Claudia's arms as she also saw Derek saying goodbye from her Mommy.

"She'll be fine," Derek reassured her.

Meredith nodded and gave one last worried look to her daughter before she hurried to leave.

Morgan didn't seem like she would calm down anytime soon and, alarmed by Morgan's constant scream, Cujo looked like he was going to start barking soon. Any attempt of calming Morgan down failed and Derek had to take over.

"Now we're throwing a little tantrum, huh?" Derek said as he took Morgan from Claudia.

Something in his voice sounded like a reproach to Morgan. She didn't like it, but her scream was calming down. She kept crying, but she did it in a lower volume as Derek took a seat in a chair and put her on his lap. Derek tried to distract Morgan by showing her various things like, spoons, bowls, napkins, whatever was on the table in that moment. Morgan was calming down for a brief second only and then she was starting fussing again, desperately looking around.

Derek had another idea of how to distract Morgan. He rolled her sleeve up and let her bracelet shine in the light while he waved her wrist so that Morgan could see it. Suddenly, as she saw her bracelet, Morgan stopped from crying. She kept whimpering, but she was no longer looking for her Mommy. She started pinching and slapping her bracelet.

Derek sighed with relief. It wasn't the first time that Morgan cried and he had no idea how to calm her down. He kissed the top of her head and told her, "We'll have a talk about this when you will be older."

"She has such mood swings," Claudia noticed.

"I know," Derek nodded. "And I have to admit that I am a little worried because of this."

"She's little. She's checking the field to see what she can get from you later," Claudia chuckled. "Usually, children do it when they are a little older than her, so you should be careful with Morgan."

"It's hard not to spoil her and it's even harder to see her crying the way she just did," Derek confessed.

"Anyway, I wouldn't call it tantrum right now," Claudia said. "Children cry when they see one of their parents leaving."

Derek agreed with a nod. "Now there's no need for such drama," he softly told Morgan. "Daddy is still home and he has time to have breakfast with you." Derek had the weirdest, but also the most heart-warming feeling as he talked to Morgan about himself as her Daddy for the first time.

As he looked up, he saw Claudia's smile. "Things progress fast with you two."

"Yeah, well… we didn't actually talk about this," Derek smiled faintly. "But I will be her mommy's husband. One day. I will be her father then."

"That's true, but let me give an advice," Claudia said. "Talk to Meredith about this before she hears you. You never know how she could react."

Derek was worried now. "But she told me I was already Morgan's father. She told me several times."

"Still. Talk to her," Claudia suggested.

"Do you think she might not accept it? She already accepted to spend the rest of her life with me."

"I think she might accept it. You said she already told you about your role in Morgan's life," Claudia assured him. "You know what? Forget I mentioned it. We have to get the breakfast ready."

Derek took in what Claudia had told him. Maybe she had gotten to know Meredith very well and she had a good reason to give him such advice. He stood up and put Morgan back in her highchair. Morgan whimpered and wanted to go to him.

"We're right here," Derek told her and kissed the top of her head, before he went back to mixing the ingredients for breakfast.

"Talking about Daddies," Derek said. Claudia proved to be a wise woman and a good listener, so it felt easy for Derek and Meredith to go and look for advices to her. "Morgan and I met Meredith's father yesterday."

"Why am I not surprised?" she rolled her eyes. "I am sure you didn't meet by accident."

"We didn't," Derek nodded. "I talked to him and asked him to stop stalking Meredith. I asked him either to come and talk to Meredith or to leave her alone."

"What did he say?"

"He said he doesn't know what to tell her. So I told him to sit back and figure out before coming back to look for her," Derek answered. "Now I don't know how to tell Meredith. Should I tell her?"

"Don't," Claudia shook her head. "Why would you do it? Meredith would expect him and though she might not admit it, she would be disappointed. Let him come to her whenever he feels ready."

"You're right," Derek nodded. He sight and leaned against the counter as he smiled at Claudia. "Thank you."

"No problem," she smiled at him.

Derek heard his phone ringing and so did Morgan. She whimpered and asked to go to Derek, if not, she was going to insist.

Derek checked his phone and saw it was his mother that was calling. That could be the right opportunity to let his mom now about his engagement. He took Morgan's hand and kissed it, telling her, "I'll be in the next room. Now play nice with the bracelet. Can you watch her?" he asked Claudia then.

Claudia rolled her eyes, smiling, "If I want to receive my paycheck."

Derek chuckled and nodded. "I won't be long."