Chapter 4

They see a wheelchair with a person in it slowly being wheeled in. Meredith was being pushed in by a nurse, the baby asleep in her arms. She smiles softly at Derek, exhaustion clear on her face.

"There you are, you missed quite an adventure." Meredith jokes, smiling. He swallows hard; eyes trained on her, roaming her body and landing on her stomach. He couldn't believe that he didn't notice her belly. She wasn't a big woman by any means but he would've noticed if she had a baby bump.

"Mer," He says softly. "I-what happened today? What's going on?"

"Yeah, remember when I said my cramps were really bad?" She starts out. "Well, it turns out they weren't cramps. They were contractions." The nurse helps Meredith get situated in bed with the baby. She closes her eyes for a moment.

"I think I'm going to leave and let you two talk." Cristina says, starting to head out then she turns to Derek. "Are you figuring it out now?" She quips. He doesn't answer. His eyes are locked on Meredith and the baby in a state of shock.

Once they are alone, Derek takes a seat on the bed as Meredith smiles at him tiredly.

"We have a baby." She whispers softly.

"I-I'm gathering that," Derek whispers back. "Are you okay? I mean...the both of you."

"Yeah, we both got a clean bill of health. Addison tried to explain what happened but I couldn't listen to anything at that point. I was kind of busy being in pain and having my own freakouts." She chuckles softly then looks down towards the baby.

"She is beautiful, though." He says. She pauses for a moment, her eyes flickering between the baby and Derek.

"Do you want to hold her?" She asks. He goes to reach for her but stops, feeling just how shaky he was. "Maybe later. I'm too shaky right now." He breathes out, staring at the tiny creature in her arms.

"She looks so much like you. How did this happen? You and Izzie were both complaining about cramps yesterday." Derek says, still confused. She shakes her head and smiles lightly. She was still unsure.

"I still don't know. One minute I told Bailey I was going to go lay down for a bit...next thing I know, she's here." She smiles softly. "Derek, how do we not screw her up?"

"We're gonna try our hardest. But I'm scared we kind of already did. We didn't know about her."

"Well according to Addison, that wasn't our fault. Even though I feel like it is my fault. We could have really hurt her Derek, I could have. '' Meredith whispers, her eyes watering.

"Mer," He says softly, cupping her cheek. "You wouldn't have done anything to hurt her, I know you." She looks around the room before responding.

"You do realize our life has just very much changed." She smiles, trying to lighten the mood.

Their conversation gets interrupted when the baby starts to whimper. Meredith smiles softly, stroking the baby's cheek with her finger.

"We're both not sure what we're doing but maybe we can do this." She says softly, a little hesitant. She was starting to panic again.

"We can. I'm rusty but I've cared for newborns before. We can do this." He says firmly but just as softly, trying to reassure her somehow.

"I hope so." She smiles, getting lost in his eyes.

"You know, I didn't believe anyone when they told me.'' Derek laughs, still not believing any of this was real.

"I'm not surprised. Addison once told me that you need to see it to believe it." She laughs, remembering how much Addison really knew.

"Well in this case, can you blame me? I mean, I just saw you this morning and you didn't look pregnant." He responds, laughing as well.

"No." She giggles. "Why would you believe your ex-wife who's been nothing but kind to me?" She looks up at him a little seriously now.

"We have to thank her somehow Derek. If I had to choose, she'd be the one I'd want to do that with all over again. She was so incredibly calm and what I needed. And God, it had to be so awkward."

"I can imagine." Derek laughs softly. "You look tired, Mer." He whispers, caressing her face with his hand.

"It's been a long day." She agrees, yawning.

"Here, let me take her. I'm okay now. You need to get some sleep." Derek smiles. "She can hang out with Daddy while Mommy gets some well deserved sleep."

"But you were shaking before." She says, remembering what he said earlier.

"Okay, scoot over." Derek smiles, getting up from the bed. She scoots over, watching as Derek climbs into bed next to her.

He gathers them up in his arms, holding them tight. Meredith lays her head on his chest, making sure the baby was secure before closing her eyes and sighing in content.

Derek kisses her head softly. "Sleep, I got you."

"I love you." Meredith whispers softly.

"I love you, too." Derek whispers back, looking from her to the baby. "More than you know."