"Matthew."

Derek shook his head as he reached out to place a plate of pasta on Katie's high chair tray. "I still like Chris."

"Give it up, Der," Meredith giggled, rubbing a hand over her stomach as she leaned back in her chair, her feet propped up on the chair beside her. "I'm not naming my son Christopher.

"Katie likes it," Derek argued. "Right, princess?"

"Chis ta," Katie nodded as she shoved a handful of pasta into her mouth, smearing it over her face.

"See?" Derek asked, looking pointedly at his wife.

"She's not agreeing with you," Meredith rolled her eyes. "She's just repeating what you say."

"Fine, then you come up with a better name," Derek sighed as he looked at his daughter. "Please don't be as stubborn as your mommy."

"I heard that," Meredith sighed. "Joshua."

"Adam."

"Kenny."

"Gabriel."

"David."

"Gregory."

"Wow, we suck at this," Meredith sighed.

"It didn't take us this long to name Katie," Derek said, turning from his daughter to look at her.

"Well, things were different when I was pregnant with her," Meredith sighed. "Plus we had more time. Now we only have three months left, so it feels shorter. For you anyways."

"We'll do it," Derek nodded, running a hand over her swollen stomach. "Three months is a lot of time."

"Hmm," Meredith sighed, her hand joining his on her stomach as their son kicked against their hands.

"For now he'll just stay bud," Derek nodded.

"Bud's busy today," Meredith sighed.

"You want to do anything this afternoon?" Derek asked as he turned to lift Katie out of her high chair.

"Sleep," Meredith sighed, pulling herself to her feet as she reached for a wash cloth to run over Katie's messy face.

"Well that works well," Derek nodded. "Because a certain little miss needs a n-a-p, heaven help us."

Meredith sighed as she reached for Katie. "You want to lie down with Mommy?" she asked.

"Mama," Katie sighed, leaning into Meredith's arms as Meredith shifted her away from her stomach.

"Good girl," Meredith said, moving towards the stairs.

"Are you okay with her on the stairs?" Derek asked as he trailed after them, stopping as she stared at the mountain of stairs.

"Fine, Der," Meredith nodded, starting up the stairs. "Not much longer though. She's getting big, aren't you, piglet?"

"Okay," Derek nodded as they moved into their bedroom, Katie resting her head on Meredith's shoulder.

"Here we go, sweetheart," Meredith sighed as she sank onto the bed, her entire aching body feeling relief as she leaned into the pillows. She was surprised as her busy daughter, who usually threw temper tantrums at the idea of a nap, cuddled immediately into her, her dark curls resting against the swell of her belly as Meredith's fingers moved through her hair.

"Budda?" Katie asked, hitting the top of her stomach gently, looking at it curiously when the baby kicked her hand.

"Careful," Derek laughed as he fell down beside them. "And yes, that's your baby brother."

"Maybe we should ask her for help with his name," Meredith sighed closing her eyes as she ran a hand over Katie's head.

"What do you think, princess?" Derek asked, his head resting beside hers against her stomach.

"Ex!" Katie giggled, rolling over to look at Derek's face, a wide smile covering her features.

"Aunt Lexie's a girl," Derek said. "Your brother's a boy. So we can't name him Lexie, silly."

"Lexie's Lessy," Meredith sighed, enjoying the feeling of her family resting their heads against her stomach. "Alex is Ex."

"I'm not naming my son after both Alex and George," Derek said firmly. "Sorry princess."

Katie frowned, but before she could argue, Meredith felt the baby kick hard, and Katie jumped, tears filling her eyes as she rubbed her cheek. "Ow!" she cried, looking at Meredith with a pout on her face.

"Don't cry, Katie," Derek said, sitting up and pulling her into his arms. "That was just your brother saying hi."

Katie frowned as she stared at Meredith's stomach, a confused expression on her little face.

"Make her feel it with her hand," Meredith said softly. "He hasn't been moving strong enough for her to feel yet."

"Here we go," Derek said, guiding his daughter's tiny hand to stroke her stomach. "Feel that? That's your baby brother."

"Budda?" Katie whispered.

"That's your baby brother," Derek nodded. "That's Sandy. Or Sanford. Sandy for short."

"Total girl's name," Meredith whispered, rolling her closed eyes. Her husband was an idiot.

"It's gender neutral," Derek argued.

"Have you seen Grease?" Meredith asked. "There's an entire song called Sandy. About a girl."

"Fine," Derek sighed. "Not Sandy."

"Thank you."

"Daddy, budda come now?" Katie asked.

"Not now, princess," Derek said, his own hand joining hers in stroking her stomach. "In about three months. He has to grow in Mommy's tummy for a little longer."

"I no wait," Katie sighed.

Derek laughed, the warm sound filling Meredith's body with happiness. There had been a time not too long ago at all when she had thought that she would never hear that sound again.

"I don't want to wait either," he said. "Daddy's waited a long time for a son, but we want him to be healthy, right?"

Katie sighed. "Play with budda?"

"You'll have to wait a little while to play with him," Derek said. "He'll be really small when he first comes, and he won't do much besides sleep. But a few months after he's born…"

Meredith tuned his voice out as she opened her eyes, smiling softly as she looked at the two of them. Derek was holding Katie in his lap as they both stroked her stomach, her daughter looking so much like Derek did in surgery as she stared at her stomach. Katie looked so much like him, from her sparkling blue eyes to her dark curly hair, and she felt unexpected tears prick at her eyes. She had been so close to losing this, so incredibly close to never spending a day in bed relaxing with her family again, and now she couldn't believe that he was here.

"Mer?" Derek's voice pulled her out of her trance, and she shook her head as she quickly wiped her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she nodded. "Just…hormones."

"Oh," Derek said, leaning down to press a kiss to her stomach. "How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Fine," Meredith sighed, her eyes dropping closed again. "Tired. But…happy."

"Well, I'm very glad that you're happy," Derek said. "Do want to try eating again?"

"Definitely not," Meredith shook her head. "He's sitting on my stomach."

"He can't help it," Derek said. "And John needs his strength."

"Henry's too busy for me to eat," Meredith sighed. "You might want to talk to him about that."

Derek smiled as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Do you think that you could drink a milkshake?" he asked. "Katie and I can go down and make it for you right now?"

"Strawberry?" Meredith asked, suddenly craving the taste.

"Would I make you anything else?" Derek asked. "Come on, princess, let's go make Mommy a milkshake."

"No!" Katie said, flinging herself onto Meredith's chest. "Mama."

"It's okay, Der," Meredith said with a soft smile. "She's fine. And pretty soon she's going to have to share us."

"Okay," Derek said, planting a kiss to the top of both of their heads. "I'll be right back."

"Say bye Daddy," Meredith said, hugging Katie close.

"Daddy go," Katie sighed.

"I see where I'm wanted," Derek laughed, walking out of the room.

"You love me more than Daddy today?" Meredith asked as she looked down at her daughter.

"I love budda," Katie said, reaching out to rub Meredith's stomach again.

"Oh you love Tyler the most?"

"No Ty la," Katie shook her head, a frown on her face.

"You sound like your father," Meredith sighed. "But I guess that's not a bad thing. You could sound like your Uncle Mark."

"Mark!" Katie giggled.

"I don't think your daddy will let you name the baby Mark," Meredith said. "But it would be funny to see his reaction."

"Mark," Katie nodded, turning to Meredith's stomach. "Hi baby Mark."

"Please tell me that she's kidding," Derek sighed as he came into the room.

"I don't think she is," Meredith smiled, sitting up and reaching for the tall glass he was holding out to her. "Maybe we should listen to her."

"Definitely not," Derek said firmly. "And I can't believe that you're not letting me name him after me and you want to name him after Mark."

"I didn't actually suggest it," Meredith said. "She came up with it herself."

"Well, given my history it's just a little unnerving," Derek sighed as he sat down on the bed and tickled Katie's tummy, causing her to fall onto her back in a fit of giggles.

"If I had the energy, I would kill you for that statement," Meredith frowned.

"I know, Mer," Derek said. "I was kidding."

Meredith looked at him closely for a moment before she reached to set her milkshake on the night table. "I don't think you were," she said softly. "Derek, I would never do that to you. You know that, don't you? I'm not Addison."

"I know, Mer," Derek sighed. "But…I woke up a month ago, and Mark had completely taken over my role in this family."

"He didn't," Meredith shook her head. "Derek, you're Katie's daddy. You're my husband. And no one but you will ever fill that role. No one."

"I know," Derek sighed. "But…I guess I can't help the fear."

"Well, it's a stupid fear," Meredith frowned. "Mark helped us because he knew that's what you would have done for Lexie if he'd been in a coma."

"I know," Derek said, his fingers moving through Katie's hair as her eyes drifted closed. "I just…think about if you woke up after five months and Lexie had been here, taking care of me and Katie. You'd doubt it, I know you would."

"I trust you, Derek," Meredith stated flatly.

"I know," Derek sighed. "Look, I'm going to put her in bed, and then we can talk, okay?"

"Okay," Meredith whispered, tears filling her eyes as she tried to stop them. Stupid hormones.

"Don't cry," Derek shook his head as he leaned in to kiss her. "It's good talking."

"Good talking," she nodded, wiping her eyes.

"I'll be right back," he nodded as he moved towards the door.

Meredith leaned into the pillows, running a hand over her stomach. "Your daddy wants to talk," she whispered. "So you should sleep. Because Mommy's not sure she can handle this discussion if you're moving around all the time."

She sighed as she cradled her stomach protectively, sighing in relief as she felt him calm down inside of her. "Thanks, baby," she whispered.

"Hey," Derek sighed as he walked back into the room, collapsing onto the bed as he reached over to turn on the baby monitor. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," she sighed. "He's sleeping."

"Good boy, bud," Derek said, reaching out to touch her stomach. "Are you mad?"

"Not mad," she sighed. "Just…scared."

"You don't have to be scared," Derek promised, squeezing her hand. "I love you, Mer. Nothing in the world changes that."

"I know," Meredith whispered. "I just…I don't love Mark. And he never…he was just trying to help. There was never a time that he was trying to replace you or hit on me or be Katie's father. He's married to my sister, Derek."

"I know that," Derek sighed. "But that doesn't mean it wasn't hard to wake up and find five months of my life gone and my best friend doing everything I should have been doing."

"But we wanted you to do it," Meredith whispered. "I would have given everything to have you take care of Katie while I was throwing up, to have you take us to Home Depot to decorate Katie's now room. It should have been you. Not Mark. I love Mark like he's my brother, but he's not you."

"I know," Derek said, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I trust you, I do."

"It doesn't feel like it," Meredith said. "If you don't think that I'd stay faithful while you were in a coma, I don't really know where that leaves us."

"We're still Derek and Meredith," he said. "We're still the couple that went through complete hell and ended up madly in love."

"But you don't trust me."

"Mer, try to think about this from my perspective," Derek said softly. "I wake up, thinking that I've been asleep for a few hours, and I find out that I've missed out on five months of my life, my baby girl is no longer a baby, and you're five months pregnant. I'm allowed to be a little insecure about what I missed out on during those five months."

Meredith sighed as she shifted to look closer at him. "Derek, I'm trying to understand what you're saying," she said. "But…maybe it's my stupid pregnant brain or maybe I just don't get it, but I'm trying to get it. I really am. You were asleep and I couldn't do it. Mark wasn't the only one who helped, he was just here most of the time to make sure nothing happened."

"It's not that Mark was the one doing it," Derek sighed. "It's that I missed out on it. I never heard Katie call me Daddy for the first time, I wasn't there to find out I was having a son, or to help make sure that you were taken care of. I should have helped Katie pick out her princess furniture, I should have made sure that your cravings were filled and held your hair back when you were throwing up."

"And you would have if you could have," Meredith whispered. "I know it, Derek. And I wish I could help you through this. I really do, Derek, but I think this is something you have to work through on your own."

Derek sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah," he said softly. "I guess it is."

"I love you though," Meredith said, reaching for his hand to rub her stomach gently.

"I love you too," Derek said. "And I trust you, Mer. I never thought that anything happened between you and Mark. I just hate that I had to miss all of this. But I'll find a way to be okay with it. I promise."

Meredith sighed as she leaned into his arms. "Will you stay with me while I nap?" she whispered.

"Of course," Derek said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he ran a hand over her stomach. "I love you. Both of you."

"We love you too," Meredith whispered, turning onto her side so that her swollen belly pressed into his side.

She closed her eyes tightly as she felt herself drift out of consciousness, a small smile coming across her lips as she felt Derek slide down her body to rest his head against his stomach. His voice comforting her as she drifted off to sleep.

"Hey bud," he said softly, his hands working over her stomach. "Mommy said you're sleeping, but I want to promise you something. I know I haven't been here for the first few months, but everything will be different now. I'm going to figure out how to not feel so guilty about being here so I can be the best daddy in the world. I think I'm already a pretty good daddy to your sister Katie, but I promise that we're going to have a lot of fun together. I promise, buddy, you're going to have an amazing life. This family is already completely wonderful, and you're going to make it so much better. Not to mention I'll finally have another man around here to protect me from those mean Shepherd women. And once you're old enough, I'll take you down to the lake…"