Sometime between January and Ellie's birthday on Feruary 9th, the baby started to walk, and Meredith and Derek's lives were never the same. When Derek was stuck at the hospital Meredith was stuck between chasing after the baby and baby-proofing the house.

"Zo, can you help mommy with your sister?" she called to the 7 year old, who was watching Alice in Wonderland for the 10th time in the other room. She sighed sassily and got off the couch, coming into the kitchen.

"Ellie, come watch Alice with me," she said, picking up her little sister and all but dragging her back to the couch. Meredith sighed and continued making dinner for the four of them; Derek would be home soon. She poured the pot of boiling spaghetti into the colander and drained the water, dividing it evenly onto four plates before hesitating, making room for a fifth plate. Despite being engaged, Amelia somehow always ended up at their house at the end of the night, something that Meredith had always been meaning to ask her about but she hadn't gotten the chance to because life had gotten in the way.

Soon enough the door opened and Derek walked in the door followed by Amelia. Meredith let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, but it was one she held every night until Derek came home. She remembered that night almost two years ago, when Derek didn't come home, when she almost lost everything. It was just something she did without realizing it.

"Hey guys, how was the hospital?" She asked, juggling plates, cups, sippy cups, and everything else, taking Ellie's pasta out of the microwave and letting it cool down a bit before putting the pasta pick-ups on her high chair tray. Derek kissed her on the cheek and she smiled warmly.

"Zola, Bailey, get in here, it's dinner time!" she called, feeling like her pregnant belly was getting in the way everywhere and she yawned, flopping into her seat and digging in.

"Hospital was good, Amelia's on-call tonight, did a few surgeries, routine," Derek said as he slid into his spot at the head of the table. Zola and Bailey sat across from Meredith, with Amelia sitting next to her, and Ellie's high chair at the corner between Meredith and Derek.

Meredith nodded; she was tired. At 24 weeks she just wanted to sleep all the time but she had to work, she had to keep up, but with three kids already she wanted to drop, frankly. Derek could see it in her eyes and he rubbed her hand.

"Hey, Amy and I will take the kids and you can sleep okay?" he smiled, and Meredith smiled back.

"Thank you," she whispered, kissing his knuckles.

Ellis's birthday came and Meredith couldn't help but be excited about her youngest turning one. She dressed her in the same dress Zola had worn and watched her toddle around the house as friends and family arrived. Ellie marveled in the delight of Nana Carolyn, who couldn't seem to put her youngest granddaughter down, while being excited about the fact that she was getting another granddaughter pretty soon.

Meredith rushed around the house, making sure everything was perfect, especially the cake. Ellie was obsessed with Winnie the Pooh and had made Derek order a cake with Winnie the Pooh characters, even though she knew Ellie wouldn't remember today at all. There were sisters, there were residents and attendings, and there were even interns running around, interns that Meredith was tempted to tell to return to the hospital but she held her tongue. Finally Nancy cornered her with a grin.

"Sit down, everything is going great," she said, holding Ellis in her arms. Meredith smiled at her daughter but Nancy pulled her away laughing.

"You sit, find someone to talk to," she giggled, and Meredith zeroed in on Addison, who was watching Henry and Bailey play with trucks in the corner of the room.

"Hi!" she said, flopping down on the couch. Her baby bump had by now surpassed her other two at 26 weeks and she basically hated everything. Addison eyed her, noting the fake smile and laughed.

"You really would rather be doing so many other things than hosting a one year olds birthday party right now wouldn't you?" she laughed, and Meredith couldn't help but grimace.

"Is it that obvious?" she laughed, sitting back with her hand on her belly. For a split second Addison was jealous, that Meredith got the happy ending with Derek, with three kids and one on the way, but she realized she was perfectly happy with her life. She had Jake and Henry, and they were in the process of adopting a baby girl. It was just weird how life had worked out.

"I'm just tired, this one is taking it's toll on me. It was hard with Ellie and Bailey had me all freaked out that I was going to lose him because my first pregnancy was a miscarriage because Derek got shot in front of me, and before that I was in fertile, so the fact that I've thus far had three healthy pregnancies is a near miracle," she said, hands resting on her bump as she watched her little blonde boy play with dark-haired Henry. Addison's eyes went wide.

"Wait, Derek what?" she exclaimed, turning more towards Meredith. Mer, to her credit, bit her lip. She had known there had been a shooting but Derek…

"Yeah…we've been through a lot here. Shootings and plane crashes and superstorms and car crashes. We lost a lot of people in the shooting. Lexie and Mark died in the plane crash. I almost died in the storm, I was in DIC, and well..the car crash…" she said, turning her head. Despite the fact that Derek survived, she hated to think about it; she hated to think about any other outcome. Despite everything, Derek had made it.

"I knew about Mark," Addison said quietly, with a small sigh.

"Amelia and I mourned together, I don't remember who called, if it was Derek or Carolyn or Webber but someone called to tell us he was gone and it was horrible," she said, her eyes getting wet before she brushed her hand across them and sighing, looking up. It was something Meredith couldn't think about; if she thought about Mark, she thought about Lexie. Nodding, she forced herself off the couch and reached for Addie.

"Come on, let's find adults," she smiled, nodding towards Amelia and Owen, who were together with Lizzie and Kate.

After chatting with some of the sisters for awhile, with Amelia gushing over her ring and her plans for the wedding, Meredith and Derek decided it was time for cake. She tracked down Ellis, who was being cuddled by Arizona, and brought her to her cake, which was on the dining room table with the rest of the food. Their guests gathered around and Meredith grinned, again warmed by the family that kept on growing as they sang happy birthday to Ellis, who was clapping her hands at everyone. Bailey, Zola, Sofia, and Henry blew out the candles on the cake, and Ellie snuggled her head into Meredith's chest, giggling her soft baby giggles.

Derek passed out cake to everyone while Meredith grabbed a piece, letting Ellie have her first taste of sugar. She liked it overall and ate most of her tiny piece of cake, getting most of it all over her face while everyone took photos of mother and daughter, the two of them looking so similar. For a moment, Meredith wished her mother were alive and well, here at the party to see the family she had created from scratch, and her eyes teared up for a second before the moment passed. Thatcher lurked in a corner and she offered up a smile to him, to the man who had lost a wife and daughter, and struggled to find a relationship with another daughter and three of his grandchildren. Today though, she didn't have the strength to try with him; she was just too damn tired from the party and carrying the baby and remembering people she loved.

Maybe someday, though.

Ahhhhh schools out! Just my two finals on Friday! Hope you like this one!