A/N- I know it's been ages. It didn't feel like long with real life taking over, but I have nearly baked chapters coming along nicely, and this one will be about a million words long if I keep fiddling with it. This is the first of the wedding arc, and it spans the longest time so it's not as perfect as I'd like but hopefully, it'll do the job of bridging real life and the wedding nicely. As ever thank you for reading and reviewing and adding me to your alerts. It makes me really happy that people are still out there even when I forget to reply or update. You are all wonderful!

Once the move was over, it was back to reality for Meredith and Derek. A reality that meant working opposite shifts, and seeing each other for a few minutes every few hours, or for occasional interrupted lunches and dinners if they were lucky. They were grateful that the wedding plans were finalised before they moved, or Meredith was certain that she'd be far more stressed than she already was over the whole affair. But each day that she made it through was a day closer to the wedding, and a day closer to being tied to Derek forever. And now just eight days stood between her and the rest of her life.

Having rolled in at a little after midnight the night before, the only place Meredith wanted to be at 6 am was deep under the covers in Derek's strong arms. Instead, however she was sat in the arrivals section of SeaTac airport waiting for her soon to be mother in law to get in from her flight. She'd originally planned to fly with her daughters and their families later in the week, but a call from Derek when he was booking the flights told her that being around to help with the final details, and using her extensive knowledge and wisdom to keep everyone calm, would not be a bad thing.

Curled up in the plastic seat as much as her baby bump would let her, Meredith snuggled into Derek's side, and yawned loudly. Derek tightened his hold around her, pressing kisses to her forehead and temple.

"You could have stayed in bed, mom wouldn't have minded. She knows what it's like to be pregnant and working the kinds of hours we work. She was a navy nurse for years."

"I know that." she pouted slightly, "But with you working until six today, the only time I'm going to get to see you before you have to leave is right now. Forgive me for wanting some time with my fiancé."

"I know the past few weeks have been hard, but we're working the same shifts this week, your bachelorette party is on Thursday, and we both have half of Friday off to get ready. After that we get a whole week to ourselves. No pagers, no consults, just you, me and that enormous bed you picked out." Meredith smiled. Derek was right. It was just one more week, and once it was over they would finally get some real alone time. She shifted and began rubbing circles on her round bump, trying to soothe the movement within. The week before, Bee had finally started kicking hard enough that Derek could feel it. He was overjoyed that he finally had a chance to bond with his child, relishing every tiny movement of Meredith's 21 week bump, but Meredith was finding that being repeatedly kicked from the inside wasn't the most comfortable feeling of all, trying desperately to soothe her child before the movements got too ferocious. Derek placed his own hand on Meredith's belly, letting her guide it to the right spot. He grinned widely, loving that he could almost touch bee, wishing the weeks away until the day he could see his child brought into the world and hold the little life that he and Meredith had created.

"Mom is going to love this." He informed her. "She gets so excited when there's a baby bump to rub and talk to. I'm sure the only reason she had five of us was so she'd get to do this over and over again." Meredith smiled, Carolyn had been getting increasingly excited as the weeks had gone on, requesting every little detail of her fifteenth grandchild's progress, already so proud. She was practically bubbling over the day before when she was waiting to board, knowing that mere hours stood between her and seeing her in utero grandbaby up close.

"Is that her flight now coming in?" Meredith asked, straining to hear the tinny announcement over the small crowd that had gathered to wait for their loved ones.

"I think so," Derek affirmed, his eyes scanning the people that walked in. "Look there she is. MOM!" Carolyn looked up and grinned at the pair, speeding up as she walked towards them, her arms reaching around both of them to give them a squeeze before holding them at arm's length to get a proper look.

"Oh Meredith," She sniffed. "You look absolutely radiant. You're glowing and you look so happy with that little bump, it's almost as though it was always supposed to be there." Meredith grinned. "Still tiny though, so we'll have to work on that." She joked, a hand straying to rub the bump quickly.

"Moves now too," Derek boasted, causing Carolyn's jaw to drop. "Right before you got off the plane it was kicking up a real storm. Clearly it knew grandma was coming." Carolyn scoffed.

"If bee is anything like you then she's more likely hungry than anything else. Have you fed this lovely woman yet? Or eaten anything yourself? Don't tell me you were going to go to work without breakfast young man." Derek opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure of what to say. "That's what I thought. We'll go and grab my suitcase then its breakfast for both of you." Carolyn insisted, guiding Meredith's waist with her arm and leaving Derek to follow with her carry on.

"So how have things been going sweetheart?" She asked Meredith. "Tell me everything."

Derek had reluctantly headed to work once he'd dropped his two favourite women back at the house. Carolyn had been utterly blown away by the finished product, and he'd had to leave in the middle of Meredith's tour of each inch of the rooms, and her plans for her favourite spots on the land. He loved his job, but when it came to days like these, he wished it didn't take him away from all of the little moments with his family. It broke his heart that one day soon he might miss the important moments in his son or daughter's life at the hand of the hospital and the many patients that needed him. He checked his phone again as he sat down in the attendings lounge, hoping that Meredith had sent him one of the dozens of texts she usually sent when she was home and he was working. He knew that by now his mother would have sent Meredith for a nap after her sleepless night, and would herself be reading or baking or watching one of her soaps, but he was still missing the little sentiments and requests that she sent to get him through the day. He sighed at the blank screen, calculating exactly how long it was until he got to see her again. He looked up when someone walked through the door, glad it was Mark that caught him pining for his fiancée and not anyone else.

"One more week." Mark said excitedly, as he spotted Derek on the couch. "You ready for all the madness?"

"I think so." Derek confirmed. "We've gotten through everything on the list, and anything last minute, mom offered to help with in the next few days. I can't believe we managed to get it all done."

"So no cold feet? I distinctly remember talking you down from a window ledge at your last wedding." Derek tutted, knowing his last minute nerves hardly constituted as wanting to run from the place but being very aware that his doubts were far more around glitches on the day than his life with Meredith. When he'd married Addison he was sure everyone was that nervous on their wedding day, he only had to look at Meredith to know that he didn't have a reason to be nervous. She was the queen of his heart, as long as she was there, he already had happy ever after.

"God no. The night I met her at Joe's, I knew that was it. Even with Addison and everything, I knew I'd marry her. Grow old with her. She's my soul mate, my other half or whatever." He sighed softly. "I can't wait to be able to call her my wife. I'm done with the whole bachelor thing. I want the next chapter already."

"That still doesn't justify not having a real bachelor party. You have a whole day planned for Meredith and the girls, yet nothing for your last night of freedom. Let me help you plan it. I'm great at planning bachelor parties."

"You already threw me a bachelor party. I had strippers and passing out in front of Addison's parents and all of that. I like to think I've grown up since then. A few drinks at Joe's is fine. Meredith hasn't done anything like this before and she won't do it again. I want to spoil her. I'd never have gotten through my residency with the things she's had to deal with and the things I put her through. I want her to know how amazing I think she is, and how grateful I am to her friends for making her take her chances with me. Same with mom, she's been so great since I moved here, I want her to feel special too. And trust me mark, I'm freer here than I ever felt back in New York. I'm home at last." Mark smiled, he had to admit that Derek was happier than he had ever seen him, and he knew that that was all Meredith's doing. She brought out the very best in him, and Mark would be forever grateful for the return of the best friend he knew and loved, even if it did mean he wouldn't be going home with the stripper at this party.

"When's mom getting here anyway?" he asked his friend. "I can give her a ride back from the airport if you need me to."

"She landed this morning, she's at home with Mer now." Mark grinned, loving it when he was in the same city as the woman he called his mother.

"She's filling Mer with home cooked food and stories about how you used to run around naked you mean?"

"What else?" he chuckled, loving that Meredith wanted to know everything about him as a child, even if it was seriously embarrassing. "I thought we might need her this week. She has way more experience when it comes to weddings."

"I thought the decent weather was the thing I missed most about New York, but thinking about it, it has to be mom's cooking. Pot roast, or meatloaf. Fried chicken…" he was almost salivating at the thought.

"You'll have to stop by, mom won't mind. You know she always says the more…"

"The merrier. Thanks man. Hey I have to run to Callie's surgery, but page me before you go, I could do with some real food after 48 hours in this place."

"I'm going at six, if you're not ready I'm leaving you here and going back to my fiancée." Derek called to him as he ran to answer his page.

"I'll be there." Mark called back, making Derek chuckle. Making a mental note to warn Meredith about their dinner guest before they got home.

"Hello sweetheart." Carolyn beamed as Meredith came into the kitchen after her nap. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hmm, yeah," Meredith smiled, glowing after her sleep. "Bee's getting hungry though, kicking away like you wouldn't believe."

"Really?" Carolyn raised her eyebrows excitedly, and wiping her hands on the towel that hung from her apron. "May i?"

"Oh, of course." Meredith said, taking her hand and positioning it over the spot that bee was nudging against.

"Oh my word, it's so strong already." She breathed, her other hand going to her mouth as she blinked away tears. "Number 15. Really takes your breath away doesn't it?"

"Mmmm I love it. I'm still getting used to it though. I've known I was pregnant for a while now, but every time I feel the kicks, I realise that there's really a tiny person in there, one I can actually feel. It blows my mind. Derek can't get enough though. He's convinced we're having a soccer player."

"Convinced it's a boy no doubt too. His father was the same. After he was wrong about Kathleen and Nancy, I think he was rather taken aback when Derek's little penis appeared on the screen." Meredith laughed, never tiring of hearing about Derek's early life.

"I think he'd like a boy, but either way he's going to be a brilliant dad."

"No doubt about it." Carolyn agreed. "Even when he was little, he was very paternal. He'd take one of his action figures and look after it like he would a child. Or he'd steal one of his sisters' dolls or find a frog and push it in a stroller." She turned her back to a grinning Meredith and served up a large bowl of the soup she'd been making on the stove, adding a small bread roll straight from the oven onto a side plate before placing it in front of her pyjama clad future daughter in law who attacked it hungrily, Moaning in appreciation as the flavours hit her tongue.

"I wondered for years if Derek would get to be a father. Addison was uninterested in children of her own it seemed, and I could see the pain it caused him. Then he calls me one Friday evening to tell me he's met a young lady called Meredith, and I knew, even all that time ago that I'd end up across the table from his beautiful wife as she got ready to give him a child. He's so happy now, he's almost a different person. I'm so glad he found you sweetheart." She told Meredith as she spooned a portion of soup for herself, her back still turned towards her future daughter in law. Meredith put down her spoon, and stood up, wrapping her arms around Carolyn from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder, bee nudging against her back.

"Thank you for raising such a wonderful human being. Without him. Without any of this. I'd be a very different person. Before him, I existed, and now I'm suddenly alive. It's like I thought I was fine, I went through the motions and now..." she paused to try and fight the tears on her face.

"Now you know what you were missing, and you don't know how you managed alone." Meredith nodded. "When that little one comes that feeling is even more intense. And it's horrible to think about life without them, but that fear, knowing you have something to lose. It makes you fight a hundred times harder when things get hard. Even on the worst days, they make you want you want to face the world. If it weren't for the five of them, I'd have been lost after Christopher died, but they kept me strong. They kept me going long enough to face the future, and embrace all that I still had to love about the world." Meredith smiled at her mother in law blinking away the tears in her eyes.

"Hear that bee, even grandma knows how perfect you're going to be. And I think she might just love you almost as much as mommy and daddy."

"That I do little one. You're a very special person to grandma. Now tell mommy to eat up her soup so she can tell me more about what we have left to do about this wedding."

"Ready man?" Mark asked, as he grabbed his bag from the attendings' lounge a little before six that evening.

"Yeah, I just have to drop of these charts and then I'm done." Derek rubbed his face with his hands, his exhaustion beginning to show after his long day. "Three surgeries I had to scrub in on after you left, I even had to skip lunch. Meredith texted me twice, and I haven't been able to look at my phone until now. I will be glad when this week is over and I can just spend some time alone with her."

"I'll bet you will." Mark chuckled, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm sure she's looking forward for doing you in the hotel room too."

"Mark, would you grow up. There's more to my relationship than just sex. And you better not have told Meredith what I have planned."

"Having felt the wrath of the Shepherd women over the years, do you really think I'm stupid enough to tell Meredith anything you have planned for her? My chest still hurts from where Nancy waxed it for spying on her sleepover in the tenth grade. If I told Meredith anything, I'd have less hair left than one of those funny looking bald cats." Mark cringed and Derek chuckled, grateful for a moment that he'd had sisters that stuck up for themselves when he was growing up.

"Good. Cause I've only just finalised everything. Her OB checked in to say she has no problem with her flying and she gave me a list of contacts she has near where we're staying just to be safe. And the insurance company has said that because she's between four and six months, it's an ideal time to fly so that's covered. I just need to pick up the clothes I ordered for her and pack a few toiletries. The rest I can probably get at the airports."

"She really has no idea about any of it?" Mark shook his head din disbelief that his friend that couldn't keep a surprise secret for his entire childhood could have pulled off such an incredible feat.

"Well, I doubt she envisages a week spent entirely on our own at the house, but I'm not convinced she has any idea that we'll be on a flight to our honeymoon a little over 24 hours after we say I do either."

"As if you didn't have enough women that think you walk on water, a surprise honeymoon pretty much makes you an object of affection for every woman in Seattle." Derek chuckled, shrugging on his jacket and retrieving his keys.

"Well there's only one woman I care about fawning over me, and I think its high time i got home to her."

"What about Meredith, doesn't she fawn too?" Mark quipped.

"You're an ass you know that." Derek told his friend as they parted ways at the lobby. "I'll see you at the house in 40."

"Mm Derek says he's bringing Mark home with him, he should be back in around 45 minutes." Meredith told her mother in law, trying not to spray her with crumbs as she read the message on her phone screen.

"Good job I made extra then." She chuckled, "How are those brownies?"

"Oh they're amazing. I can just about manage the packet mix kind with Derek's help, but these. Oh my god." Meredith put the last bite into her mouth and reached for another whilst they were still warm.

"It's my grandmother's recipe. It was always a favourite of mine when I was pregnant too. It's nice being able to serve them up to someone who isn't counting every calorie that passes their lips. Not that you'd ever need to sweetheart. You never seem to put on a pound!"

"You're welcome to make anything you like." She joked, rubbing her stomach as Bee kicked, showing their appreciation. "Me and calories never really did match up. I ate pizza or grilled cheese for breakfast almost every day before Derek started staying over, and I still managed to lose weight."

"You're one of the lucky ones. Amy's just the same, her sisters always hated her for it. Now is there anything else you want to go with the fried chicken? I've done a potato salad for the boys, and corn on the cobs, and your mac and cheese of course. I think it might need something else though. Perhaps coleslaw. What are you in the mood for sweetheart?"

"Anything with lettuce is a win with me at the moment but you've already done so much today, you don't need to do any more."

"I can toss a salad in no time and I can whip up coleslaw for Mark. You, Go put your feet up sweetheart, you're going to need all the rest you can get this week. And we need to keep that little one nice and healthy" Carolyn insisted, knowing all too well how draining the next few days would be even if they were going to be tremendously exciting.

"Are you sure? I feel like I've not been any help all day." Meredith bit her lip, hating feeling like any kind of burden.

"You are cooking up my grandbaby in there, and you're going to making my son a very happy man in a few days. Dishing up a few meals while you rest is the least I can do."

"I love you, you know that right." Meredith told her mother in law, instantly warmed by the smile she got in return.

"I do, and I love you too Meredith, both of you. If you're going to watch Oprah, can you turn the volume up? I like to listen to it when I'm cooking." Meredith did as she was told, marvelling at the changes that had been made since she'd last tuned in months beforehand. The smells from the kitchen had her sated, and very nearly drifting off when she heard the front door, jolting from her near slumber, and scrabbling for the remote as Mark's voice boomed from the foyer.

"Mom? Meredith?"

"We're back." Derek called as he and Mark wiped their feet on the mat, closing the door on the light rain that was freshening things up outside. Meredith padded through to greet them, her Dartmouth t shirt and an old pair of sweatpants highlighting her tiny bump. "I missed you," he murmured as their lips met, Meredith giggling when bee nudged against his stomach. "I missed you too little one." He told bee rubbing a hand over Meredith's belly.

"Where's mom?" Mark asked Meredith, when he felt he could get a word in.

"She's in the kitchen. She won't let me help though. Says I have to rest because I'm growing the future of Shepherd-kind in my uterus."

"Too right." Derek agreed. "Did you have fun today?"

"I had a really good nap, and your mom made me lunch, then we went for a walk on the land, spoke to the florist to confirm everything. Called the caterers to make sure they were prepared for your nieces' on again off again vegetarianism, and left a message with the ferry guy just to make sure he's okay with people coming in slightly earlier to set up, then she made me brownies and started on dinner while I watched Oprah. I was almost asleep again when I heard you come in."

"Hello sweethearts," Carolyn greeted as they walked towards the smell. "Dinner's on the table. Fried chicken and sides." Mark ran up to Carolyn and hugged her ferociously before running into the dining room.

"Nearly forty years old and still can't get enough of my cooking. How was work Derek dear?"

"Absolute hell without this beautiful woman. Though home cooked food and a night in doing wedding prep might just make it better."

"Good." Meredith grinned. "And if you play your cards right I'll even share my mac and cheese."

"Now how could I resist that?" He grinned, guiding Meredith to the table, and kissing her once more before they sat down. Just eight days and he'd have everything he'd ever dreamed of.

"So paper at the bottom, then the shredded stuff?" Mark asked, picking up the delicate tissue paper squares in lavender and indigo and putting them in the bottom of the box as Meredith had instructed. It certainly wasn't the way he had anticipated his Sunday evening, but Meredith had insisted he help, having eaten with them every night since Carolyn's arrival two days previously.

"Yeah, but the paper needs to overlap at an angle so you can see both colours." Meredith answered as she tied the ribbons on another box. "Mark, what are you doing? Go build the boxes, Derek you're going to have to have to swap."

"Here sweetheart, two chocolates, one of the surgery cookies, and one packet of the fudge hearts and then confetti, and put them in neatly." Carolyn told him, moving along the sofa to let her son in.

"You're a slave driver," he teased kissing Meredith on top of her head.

"You said my day could be perfect." She quipped. "Now don't let me forget to put the bits I got the kids in here when we're done. Can't be their favourite aunt if I forget them, can i?"

"Why is there so much prep for this wedding anyway? It's one day." Mark frowned, still annoyed at having been told off.

"I want it to be special. I only plan on doing this once. I want to remember it even when I'm all Alzheimer-y. I get to be a part of a real family. I want everyone I know and love to share that. Even you."

"Gee thanks Grey, so good to feel loved."

"When you get there you'll feel the same way. Suddenly the way the tissue paper is in the boxes and the colour of the flowers and where everyone sits will become a big deal. You think if it were for anyone else, anything else that id care even half as much? You think I would have spent my time away from the hospital having people's names engraved onto things or discussing cookie designs? I don't do other people's wedding, but I've dreamt of ours since the day I threw Derek out of my mother's house on my first day as an intern. So many people have helped get us to today, it's our way of saying thank you, showing them what they mean to us. They get to share in what we have, what they helped to create. I don't expect you to get it, but I do expect you to build those damn boxes!" Derek chuckled, and Mark glared at him. She wasn't even his sister in law yet and already she had the Shepherd temper down.

The final few full days at the hospital before the wedding were a blur of surgeries and nervous excitement for Meredith. She had avoided any major freak outs with Carolyn's help, and three home cooked meals a day certainly helped with keeping her mood balanced despite the hormone carnival that took over whenever things got difficult. Taking a brown paper bag to school had always meant badly prepared, incredibly strange combinations of food when Ellis had forgotten to leave out lunch money or shop for groceries when Meredith was a child, but this week it meant deliciously filling treats from Carolyn that left her hungry for the moment she got home to more. She knew she had to work Friday morning, but that didn't stop her from counting down the hours to six pm on Wednesday, and the official start of the wedding festivities, starting with her, Derek and a tub full of bubbles.

Carolyn was curled up in front of a soap when she finally arrived home, Derek had insisted that she put her feet up and let him cook that night after all she'd done for them during the week. He'd finished at lunchtime that day, after being paged a little after midnight for an emergency consult, reluctantly leaving his warm bed and his beautiful fiancée. He'd headed up for a shower once he'd welcomed her home, leaving her to look in the refrigerator knowing that there would no doubt be something delicious to tide her over until he served up his culinary masterpiece. She took a bite of a muffin that Carolyn had baked the day before, placing it on the side when she heard the doorbell.

"Mer can you get that?" Derek called down to her, his footsteps heading towards their bedroom. Meredith walked through to the foyer, trying to figure out who could possibly be all the way out there at that time of the day. They were so far from other houses that the mail man was the only one who ventured onto the land other than their friends, but neither were commonly found knocking at this time of the evening. Cautiously she opened the door, swinging it wide when she saw who was waiting.

"Oh my god!" she squealed as all four Shepherd sisters reached in for a group hug. "What are you doing here? Derek said you couldn't make it until Friday."

"We made him lie. We couldn't miss your bachelorette party." Kathleen told Meredith, who stood dumbstruck as each sister wheeled inside with their luggage, utterly convinced she might be dreaming.

"But where are the kids?" she asked, having never seen any of the Shepherd women more than a few miles away from their children.

"The guys have them. They have a list of everything that needs to be done and when, and we'll meet them on Friday and bring them over to the hotel." Lizzie piped up, an unusually large grin on her face.

"They'll handle it. It's been a while since we skipped town without them, but the kids are getting older so they can help out a little, especially with the little ones." Nancy offered while Meredith fought for coherent words.

"And we get time out with our new sister, I mean good god Mer look at that belly, it's still so tiny. Is there really a Shepherd baby in there? I swear my sisters were all huge by the halfway point." Amy joked, earning evil stares from her sisters. Meredith grinned and nodded rubbing her belly.

"One beautiful, on track Shepherd." She confirmed. "And kicking around now as well."

"Oh my god, how is it far along enough to do that already." Lizzie gasped, reaching in to rub Meredith's bump, frowning slightly when Bee merely rolled over in their sleep, not at all concerned by the chatter that had erupted. The buzz of the hospital, and the noise of the ER lulled the baby to sleep, and an onslaught of Shepherd women seemed to have had much the same effect.

"How was the flight?" She asked, knowing that landing in Seattle was hardly a pleasant experience much of the time.

"With no kids? It was bliss. Just wish we'd made Lizzie sit on the outside, her bladder apparently is tiny." Amy quipped, earning her a shove by her older sister.

"I'm a nervous flier. But you're one to talk. Once you got that drink in you, you were going more than I was." Lizzie retorted. Kathleen rolled her eyes, knowing that at this point there was little that was going to stop their bickering.

"What about Nancy?" Amy started, her nostrils starting to flare as the three began arguing over the plane ride and their having to share rooms growing up.

Kathleen rolls her eyes at her sisters' bickering. "How've you been?" she asks Meredith, taking a real opportunity to look at the bump that was her first paternal niece or nephew.

"Great actually, I freaked out a little the other day about how much needed doing but mom sorted everything so I'm just counting down the hours now. I can't wait until Saturday, but…"

"Part of you is ready for it to be over?" Meredith nodded, smiling as Derek descended the stairs, trying to avoid his sisters as he made a beeline for Meredith and Kathleen. He pressed a kiss to Kathleen's cheek before snaking an arm around his fiancée's waist.

"Surprise." He chuckled softly kissing her softly.

"Derbear!" Lizzie exclaimed, looking up from the squabble and wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's so good to see you."

"It's great to see you too. Congratulations on not spilling it before now."

"Where are you harbouring mom? She promised she'd be here when we got here." Nancy pouted at her little brother, craning her head to see if she could spot the middle aged woman.

"I think she's keeping an eye on dinner while I had a shower. We were finishing table decorations last night and then I was paged at midnight so I thought it best to get one in before you got here. But you were early and Mer was late so it'll have to wait now."

"It's alright Derek we already know you smell." Amy joked, hugging her big brother, Nancy following suit.

"Girls, dinner's on the table." Carolyn called, the three younger Shepherd sisters running towards the sound of their mother's voice.

"Still not a girl, mom." Derek called back as he walked towards the kitchen.

"How else do you propose I get the five or six of you to the table all at the same time? You always used to come anyway."

"That still doesn't change the fact that I'm not a girl."

"We can always tell Meredith about the summer you decided to be one." Nancy smirked.

"So dinner?" He proposed, preferring that at least some of the trauma of his childhood was left in the dark.

"What?" Meredith raised her eyebrows, utterly intrigued once again by her fiancé's childhood.

"You really don't want to know, can't we talk about anything else? I made lasagne today."

"Derek shush, your future wife needs to hear this. So, he was around 9, maybe ten and Mark was at camp, so it was just the five of us, and Derek decides he doesn't want to be the only boy anymore…" Nancy began. Derek groaned and put his head on the table. Meredith grabbed his hand and squeezed, the smile on her face not fading for a second.

Carolyn grinned. It was wonderful to have six children under one roof again, and already so inclusive of their newest little sister.