Children's laughter echoed around the room of the enclosed pool at the Seattle YMCA close to Seattle Grace hospital. It was mid-April and warm enough outside that kids were coming there after school and young parents were bringing their children there to let them use up energy.

In the shallow end, one such young woman held onto the hands of a small, dark haired girl who had a swim-ring around her middle. "Mommy? Can I be a mermaid?" she asked, furrowing her brow as she thought about it.

Her mother laughed. "I don't think so sweetheart. Maybe for next Halloween? I think I would be sad if you went to live in Atlantis."

"Okay. I'll just be Ariel for Halloween. Can I dye my hair red?"

"Not until you go to college. Come on, we should probably get out so that we can get home before Daddy."

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Daddy's over there," she pointed a small finger and her mother looked and smiled to see her husband crouching by the steps. She pulled the little girl over and slipped her out of the swim-ring.

"Thought I might find you two here," he said with a smile. "My two mermaids."

"Not 'til Halloween, Daddy!" the girl explained, with the air of someone far superior explaining things to a child. Not unlike the way her mother talked to the surgical interns underneath her at Seattle Grace.

He raised an eyebrow, and held open a towel as his wife handed the girl out of the pool. "Could you get her dressed, Derek?" she asked, quietly. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Sure," he agreed, scooping the giggling girl up. She was doing better at walking without support, but they never took chances on the slippery edges of the pool.

Meredith Grey sank back into the water and began to swim furiously. It was her way of working things out, of letting go of all the difficult things that she had faced at work. She was a sixth year resident now, receiving fellowship offers. Her fellowship was going to be in pediatric neurosurgery. She liked making the young lives better, of solving problems early, before they presented barriers.

It was just hard on days, like the one that she had just had, when they lost the child. Derek would have figured it out as soon as he heard what had happened. Her shift had ended before his, so she took Lyddie to the pool. It wasn't the first time. She was still touched by the fact that he had come here instead of waiting at home. She swam laps until she could finally get the image of the ten-year-old gymnast out of her head. There was a reason that interns usually spent the most time with their patients and surgeons the least.

She had come a long way from the days when she had been an intern, observing procedures and retracting constantly. Now she was the one ordering retraction and suction and watching the interns jump to obey her commands. She wasn't exactly the Neo-Nazi (that title went to her best friend Cristina Yang) but she was respected. The interns that thought she got special treatment because she was Dr. Shepard's wife were quickly put in their place.

She reached for the ladder and screamed when she pulled up to see Derek standing over her with a towel. Lyddie, dressed and leaning on her small, metal crutches laughed. Meredith pulled herself out of the pool and snatched the towel out of her husband's hands, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You think you're funny," she said, shaking her head. "Bur really, Derek, you're not. I know it must be disappointing to realize, but the truth hurts."

He kissed her cheek. "I need to keep you away from Cristina. Burke may like the snarkiness, but I'm none-too-fond of it."

"Did you seriously just say snarkiness? Is that even a word?"

"I said it, thus it's a word," Derek said, seriously, and she shook her head, her eyes focusing on Lyddie walking just in front of them.

"Lydia? You doing all right, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Mommy," Lydia called, carefully going down the steps to the locker room. She had just shifted to using the crutches nearly all the time, although they still had the child-sized wheelchair in the back of Meredith's jeep.

"I'm going to shower, okay? If you guys want to go on home, or whatever," she said, pulling her shampoo out of the locker in which she had stored it.

"That's okay," Derek said. "We'll wait outside. Come on, Lydia, I'll tell you about the surgery I had today."

"Was it a crane-i-onomy?"

"Craniotomy," Derek corrected automatically. "That was part of it." He looked up at Meredith, "That intern of yours, Dawson? He's got neuro-potential I think. Have you said anything to him?"

She shrugged. "I may have put the idea in his over-inflated head. Honestly, Derek, he's Alex pre-Izzie. But yeah, he does have the skills required." She rolled her eyes at the thought of the cocky intern she had been saddled with.

"You're cute when you're annoyed," Derek commented, picking Lydia up crutches and all and kissing Meredith on the cheek before he disappeared out of the room. She smiled to herself and climbed into the shower. The hot water poured over her and she relaxed. Her interns weren't bad, and she would only have them for a few more months. Then she would be a surgeon, on her own. She would be doing her fellowship. The thought was unreal.

All of the hospitals that had offered her a position were also offering high positions to Derek, but they preferred to stay at Seattle Grace, where they were comfortable and where they had the support of their not-so-conventional family. Izzie still lived in the townhouse, now with Alex, and paying rent. She, Derek and Lydia had moved into the house on Derek's property the summer before, and George and Callie were about to move out of the townhouse and into an apartment.

None of them had seriously considered leaving Seattle, although Cristina had received a great offer from Patience Hospital in New York City, Derek had decided to decline any offer of the chief position and so Burke was sure to get it. It was odd, Meredith thought, once she had considered Seattle as just another stop on the road of her life. After her residency and after other things had been taken care of she had thought that she would move on.

Now there was no where else she would rather be.

Her mother was still at Roseridge, it had been a long time since she was really lucid, but she was doing well enough. It was hard to see her that way, but Meredith took Lydia to see her whenever she could. There had been too long when her mother was shut out of her life.

She finished showering and changed clothes in the shower stall. From the locker she retrieved her purse and headed out to find her husband and daughter. They were sitting on a bench, watching a group of teenage boys play tennis. Lydia clapped her hands whenever one of them hit the ball, her green eyes sparkling.

"Ready to go, sweetie?" Meredith asked, running her fingers through the curly black hair.

"Can I ride with you, Mommy?" Lydia asked. "My Sandy's in Mommy's car," she explained to Derek, and he smiled.

"Well, if your doll is in there, I guess you should ride with her. I have a stop to make first anyway. I have to get groceries for dinner."

"You're cooking?" Meredith asked, as she opened the door to help Lydia climb into her car-seat.

"Oddly enough, I have no desire to be poisoned tonight," Derek commented, grinning. Meredith pulled her elbow back to hit him in the chest.

"Totally uncalled for," he reprimanded. "What kind of example are you setting for our beautiful little girl?"

"My cooking is not that bad, Derek," Meredith objected, trying to ignore the look that went between father and daughter. Somehow, at five, her daughter had perfected the placating look that Derek often used towards Meredith.

"No…. but the fire department called, they're going to lose our address."

"Derek Shepard, do you enjoy sleeping on the couch?" Meredith asked, closing Lydia's door and putting a hand on her hip.

"You know," he said. "You keep threatening that, and yet it never seems to work." He leaned in and kissed her, pushing her back against the driver's door.

"Talk about low blows," she murmured, with her lips against his. "Go do your shopping then, Emeril." She pushed him away gently, and raised an eyebrow at him. She saw the pained expression cross over his face, the one that was calculating just how many hours there were until Lydia would be in bed and the house would be theirs. Meredith smirked and ducked into the car.

"That, Lydia," she commented, "Is called mind-over-boy-parts." Lydia giggled, and Meredith flipped on the radio. Lydia hummed along with the 80s station and talked to her baby doll happily.

Meredith drove the familiar route back to their house, still resisting the automatic turns to get to her townhouse. When they pulled into the driveway she parked and smiled. This was how it was supposed to be. She unloaded Lydia who hurried into the house. As soon as she opened the door, the saved-from-the-pound golden retriever puppy, Spock ran between her legs and out onto the property. Meredith shook her head. He would be back.

"Can I go out and play with Spock? Lydia asked.

"How about not?" Meredith said. "It'll be dark soon. Why don't you take off your shoes and color a picture for Daddy?"

Obediently Lydia plopped down on the floor and took of her tennis shoes, followed by the braces that she wore on her legs. In the house it was easier for her to crawl or be carried, instead of working so hard to walk. Once she was older and had a little more stamina they would repeal that, but for now it was about pacing.

Meredith carried her into the kitchen and set her up with crayons, paper, and a cup of water before sitting down on the couch. It was a balancing act. There were days when one of the others took Lydia home if Meredith and Derek had a late shift, or when Lydia scampered around the hospital when any other child should have been at home. Her forts were in empty exam rooms, not on couches as most children. She knew the use of many medical supplies and had even hidden in galleries to watch surgeries.

She was quite obviously the daughter of two neurosurgeons.

"Mommy? Where's the indigo?"

Meredith sighed and stood up to go dig through the box of crayons and hope against hope that Spock hadn't eaten the color. It would not be the first time.

Cristina Yang walked quickly through the hospital towards the locker room, hoping that she would not run into Burke. Of course, he had the talent of always showing up when he was not wanted.

"Cristina? Is your shift over?"

"Um…. Yeah," Cristina said, stopping and turning to him.

"Have you thought any more about what we talked about?"

"Some, but you know, I had a three car pile up and I spent all day trying to teach the sub-nurses that an intubation tube is not the same as an IV tube so--."

He cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You have plenty of time to think. Just think about it, okay? I'll be home by ten."

Cristina nodded and turned to go into the locker room and change. On her way to the car she flipped open her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Mer? What are you doing?"

"Discussing the benefits of bird's egg blue versus ocean blue for the sky, why?"

That right there is my problem, Cristina thought as she climbed onto her motorcycle. "Can I come by?"

"Sure. Derek's being Iron Chef tonight, so we won't be eating for a while."

"S'okay, you don't have to feed me, I just need to ask you something."

"You've made me curious. Come on up, you know Lydia would love to see you."

"'Kay, bye," Cristina said hurriedly, closing the phone and kicking on the motor. She didn't get to ride as much anymore, since she and Burke usually carpooled, but recently his schedule had changed. It was refreshing the weave through the streets, with the only thing to think about being balance, which came naturally, and not getting run over by any of the jackasses on the road.

The ride to Meredith's did not take long, and she was somewhat relieved to see that only Meredith's car was in the driveway. Their insane dog located her and was jumping all over the place as she cut the motor. "Down, Rover," Cristina grumbled. "Honestly, didn't they learn their lesson the first time?"

She went to the front door and opened it, not bothering to ring the doorbell. The mad dog ran in ahead of her and she heard Lydia cry out: "Spocky!" from the kitchen. She followed the sound of voices to find Meredith sitting at the island with a magazine and Lydia surrounded by paper and crayons.

"It looks like Hobby Lobby blew up in here," Cristina said, and Lydia whirled around on her chair.

"Aunt Cristina!" she cried, hurling herself out of the chair. Cristina caught her and allowed the child to hug her. Only Lydia.

"Hey kid," she said, smiling. "What are you doing?"

"Not playing outside," Lydia informed her. Cristina looked up to Meredith, giving her the so your daughter look.

"More specifically?"

"Coloring a picture for Daddy." Cristina set the girl back into her chair.

"Looks good," she said, going over to Meredith.

"So, spill. What'd Burke do now?" Meredith was smirking, and Cristina wanted to leave right then and there, but she did not. Instead she went to Meredith's refrigerator, mourning the lack of liquor and grabbed a soda. She cracked the can open and pushed herself up on the counter next to the sink.

"He didn't do anything. Just this morning, and he always does this in the morning when he knows I'm not coherent. Anyway, this morning he brought up the 'c' word again."

"Cookie?" Lydia asked, intently, staring at them from her seat. Both women looked over at her.

"Lyddie, baby, why don't you go get Spock's food and put it in the bowl in the laundry room?"

Lydia slid onto the floor, giving them such a look that Cristina almost expected her to say 'I know when I'm not wanted'.

"Meredith? She is so your daughter. It's just a little bit scary."

Meredith sighed. "I know. Derek says if it weren't for her hair he would think that I could asexually reproduce. Well, he always says that after a forty-eight hour shift when we haven't had sex in a while, but still. Oh no, you are so not changing the subject. Burke brought up kids again?"

Cristina swallowed a mouthful of Coke. "Yeah."

"And?" Meredith said, going over to the counter to put the crayons back in the box.

"And what?" Cristina said.

"And, what did you say?"

"I said I needed to think. I mean, I do. Need to think."

"It's a big decision," Meredith said wisely. "Or it would have been," she amended, "If I'd actually had a decision to make…." She trailed off pensively.

"Mer? We're talking about me now," Cristina reminded her. "I just don't think I have the Mommy-gene, you know? You do. You do the cleaning up, and the kissing and the tucking in thing."

"It's not a gene," Meredith said. "I mean, let's face it, I never had the best role-model…. Actually, I take that back. My mother was a very good mommy when she was around. It was mom she wasn't so great at. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Cristina said.

Meredith sat down. "My mother was very good at taking care of people. Once Daddy left she went into damage-control mode. She became a mommy. A good one. But then, as I got older, she missed a step. The step where you gradually let go. When I was about twelve or thirteen we become just people living in the same house. She worked more, thinking I was old enough to be on my own. But I wasn't, not really. But hey, we're talking about you here," she said, attempting to brighten her voice, but Cristina wasn't fooled. She noticed the way Meredith had sank into the past, calling her father 'Daddy', her eyes unfocused.

"Mer-."

"No. We're not talking about me.

"Cristina, I think that you would be a good mother. We can all help you with the mommy bit, and really it comes naturally. You do what you have to do. Before Lyddie the most I knew about disabilities was the medical terms and symptoms. Now I can navigate her services with my eyes closed, as well as bandage an ouch with only a band-aid, no scalpel required." Meredith smiled. "Easy, it's not. There are days when I'm so tired I literally can't think.

"Once, Derek drove home and I fell asleep in the car and did not wake up until the next morning. He brought me inside, put me in my pajamas, put Lyddie to bed and I never even moved. But it's worth it. Whenever Lydia smiles, or uses a phrase I know she got from me, or tells George he's such a woman…." Cristina laughed. "Kids don't care if you make mistakes; they care if you love them. You love Lyddie, and she's my kid. You're better at the supportive thing than you think, you know. I mean, hello, you're my best friend."

Cristina nodded slowly, and Meredith smiled.

"Is he talking about having kids or--."

"No. Adopting. He knows, our careers, and he's afraid. You know Burke, he gets all paranoid if I so much as catch a cold, and no matter how many times Izzie tells him that the chances of it happening again…." She shrugged.

"Better safe than sorry," Meredith said, wisely and then laughed. "Since when have I thought that?"

"Since you birthed a Disney princess?" Cristina suggested.

"Hey, Ariel is not your ordinary princess," Meredith said in defense. "And I think it's a phase." At that moment the first notes of "Under the Sea" came from the living room, and Cristina raised an eyebrow.

"Lydia?" Meredith called. "What are the DVD player rules?"

"Oops. Mommy, can I watch Ariel?"

"Ex post facto, but yes you can. Ask first next time!"

"Okay!"

"Is she reading your textbooks yet?" Cristina asked. It was a joke, because once when she was three Lydia had gone into Meredith's office and stared raptly at the pictures in Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body for two hours.

"No, but her favorite bedtime story is A Visit to the Sesame Street Hospital. Does that mean anything? She can almost read it by herself."

"I thought you were reading her Austen."

"I am. Derek reads her picture books. She can't go into kindergarten sounding like Elizabeth Bennett all the time."

"Oh, so you do want her to make friends under thirty?" Cristina said, and Meredith scowled at her.

"Don't judge," she said. "Your kid will probably be the next Doogie Houser."

"You watched that, didn't you?"

"Only to mock it. I grew up in a hospital, remember?"

"Am I the only one out of our year who never watched that? Even Evil Spawn admits to it."

Before Meredith could reply the front door open.

"The man is home from foraging," Meredith whispered and Cristina laughed as Derek came in loaded down with groceries, Lydia attached to his leg. Meredith went to help him unload, as he set Lydia on the island so she could pull items out of the bag.

"Noodles!" she cried in delight. "Are we having spaghetti?"

"When did she learn how to pronounce that?" Meredith asked, pulling out a jar of spaghetti sauce. "I was seven before I could say that right."

Cristina coughed. "I may have had something to do with eliminating the word 'pasketti' from your five-year-old's vocabulary," she admitted.

"Is it weird that it's taken me a full three minutes to realize that Cristina Yang is sitting on our kitchen?" Shepard asked as he poured water into a saucepan.

"Probably not," Meredith told him. "Am I allowed to toss a salad, or will I somehow cause the lettuce to wilt?"

"Probably not." He looked over at Cristina, "Watch her to make sure she doesn't put mayo on it instead of dressing."

"I never actually did that," Meredith grumbled as Cristina snickered.

"Only because Alex grabbed the jar," Cristina pointed out. The time they were referring to was a dinner they had had when Meredith and Derek first moved into the house. Burke had cooked most of it, but everyone had pitched in. Since Meredith went crazy seeing people doing so much work in her house they had let her make the salad. And she had almost put mayonnaise in it.

"Shut up," Meredith said, as she began chopping carrots. "Are we feeding you after all?"

Cristina shrugged. "Do you mind? Burke wants to have you all over next weekend for dinner."

"Okay. I think we're both off on Saturday," Meredith said. "Whoa, Lydia Ellis freeze and let me help you!"

Lydia had been silently sliding down towards the stool under the island in an attempt to get down. Meredith guided her gently to the floor.

"Lydia, ma belle, tu dois demander pour quelqu'un t'aider," Cristina chastised in French. Lydia shrugged.

"Makes me wish I'd paid more attention in high school French," Shepard grumbled.

"You wanted me to help you make sure your child had language exposure," Cristina pointed out. "S'not my fault she's practically Parisian."

"Tu es culpable, completement," Meredith said, with a smirk. She had learned French in college, but not as much as Cristina whose second major had been French literature. Derek, however, could barely order a meal in Spanish.

"English, por favor," he said, with a sigh.

Meredith smiled and handed him the jar of Oregano. "Bella," she said and he rolled his eyes.

Lydia looked back and forth between the adults from her spot holding onto the edge of the counter a smile on her small pink lips. Cristina had to admit, she was adorable.

"If you two do have kids," Meredith said, "our kids are never going to speak English to each other…."

"Are you having kids?" Shepard asked and Cristina glared at Meredith who sheepishly popped a cherry tomato into her mouth.

"Maybe. Don't mention it to Burke. I know you two are now fishing buddies which freaks me out, but don't mention it to him. We haven't really decided."

Shepard nodded as the water came to a boil.

Derek never really minded the constant houseguests. Meredith was always happy when her friends were around, and he was surprised to find that he got along well with them, even if most were several years younger than him. His wife was their age, after all. Still, that night he had a slight feeling of disappointment when he noticed Cristina perched on the counter. She had not lingered after dinner, though, and as he listened to her motorcycle speed off into the distance he turned to his family.

Meredith was loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher, and Lydia was helpfully arranging the silverware in the dishwasher tray. He smiled and went over, putting his arms around Meredith's waist. She leaned back against him, her head resting gently on his shoulder.

"What do you say we get the little one into bed?" he said quietly, as Lydia had her face licked by Spock.

"Sounds good to me," Meredith murmured. "Lydia, bath time."

"But Mommy, I went swimming!"

"Yes," Meredith agreed, "But you also are letting germy old Spock lick your face."

"Spock's not old, Mommy. He's a puppy."

Derek laughed as Meredith picked Lydia up to carry her to the stairs. Derek followed.

"Do I have to?" Lydia asked, as Meredith set her down in front of the stairs in the hallway.

"Grace said you had to practice stairs, sweetheart," Meredith said gently. "Just to the landing, okay? Then Mommy will carry you."

"No," Derek interjected, "Daddy will carry you. Mommy looks tired."

"I'm all right," Meredith murmured distractedly as she climbed up backwards to be in front of Lydia as she pulled her body up the first step. Derek stood behind to catch her if she slipped.

It was difficult to watch the little girl fight her muscles to lift herself up each step, but they had both listened to the therapist tell them that it would help, and had seen with their own eyes how much progress she had made over the years.

"Halfway there, baby," Meredith encouraged as Lydia grimaced on the fifth step. "You're doing so well!"

"Okay," Lydia murmured, and Derek fought the urge to scoop her up and put her on his shoulders. Meredith was better at this, at the pushing just enough part. After what seemed like forever she made it to the landing and her small face broke out into a grin. "I did it!"

Meredith hugged her and kissed her fiercely, just before Derek lifted her up and put her on his shoulder to bound the rest of the way up the stairs. She giggled and laced her small fingers into his hair. "Yay, horsey!" she cried.

Meredith drew her bath while Derek helped her take off the small pink sweater and jeans. She grabbed onto the handrails that he had had specially installed to walk by herself to the bathroom, beaming as she did it even though she had been using them since they moved into the house. Once she was in the bathtub Meredith sat on the toilet directing the washing while Derek sat against the door, attempting, to little avail, to avoid getting splashed.

After ten minutes or so Lydia let out a huge yawn.

"Dunk your head, kiddo," Meredith said. "It's almost time to get out."

Lydia sighed dramatically, but ducked under the water. Meredith glanced at Derek as she slid down to shampoo Lydia's hair. "She gets the drama queenness from you," she accused, and he raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Maybe not," Meredith conceded.

"Is queenness a word?" Derek asked, teasingly as Meredith squirted Johnson & Johnson's shampoo on her outstretched palm.

"It is now," she said. "Head back Lyddie."

Once Lydia was dry and in pajamas it was time for her to choose her bedtime story reader. Usually it was just whoever was home, but tonight she had a choice.

"Is Binggy in the next chapter?" she asked her mother seriously from the edge of her pink-covered bed.

"No," Meredith said, obviously trying not to smile.

"Okay. I want Mommy tonight."

"She wants Mommy tonight," Meredith repeated, smiling and picking up Pride and Prejudice.

Unbelievable, Derek thought as he kissed Lydia good night. "Good night, my angel. Love you to the moon and back."

"I love you too, Daddy," Lydia said, happily sliding under the covers.

Meredith smiled at him, slipping off her shoes and getting into the bed next to Lydia, "'Elizabeth, as they drove along, waited for the first appearance of Pemberly woods with some perturbation…."

Derek gently closed the door and headed back down the stairs. Spock waited at the bottom, wagging his tail. "Pride and Prejudice? The kid's five," Derek said to the dog. "And yet, she's still too young for Harry Potter."

He laughed to himself and went into the living room to wait for Meredith. She came down five minutes later, smiling.

"Out like a light," she said. "Although she tried valiantly to stay awake until Mr. Darcy appeared on the scene."

Derek shook his head. "Does she even understand it?"

Meredith shrugged. "I guess it's like a kid watching a PG-13 movie. A lot of it goes right over their heads, but they like the story. She obviously understands it if she prefers it to Green Eggs and Ham."

"Except that she can read that one," Derek pointed out as Meredith snuggled against him on the couch. She smelled like Lydia's shampoo, and it was sweet.

"Details," Meredith said, with a smile. "She's doing so well, Derek. It amazes me."

"I know," he said, kissing her. "You're doing a great job, Mer."

"We're doing a great job," she corrected, with a smile.

He smiled back, loving the light in her eyes.

"It's too quiet here," Meredith sighed, after a minute. "I mean, without George or Izzie yelling about something…. Not that I'm wanting us to open up for boarders or anything, but…." She trailed off.

"I know of one solution to that," Derek said, huskily, moving his lips to her neck.

"Are you saying….?" she asked, the question ending in a gasp.

"We can't let Burke get ahead of us. I'm very competitive," Derek murmured, as he teasingly ran a finger down her side. "And Lydia does want a baby brother or sister."

"Lydia….also…wants….a….hamster," Meredith pointed out in gasps as he finally slipped his hands under her shirt.

"We can't have nearly as much fun with that one," Derek pointed out, before pressing his mouth against hers and letting his hands slide down to the button on her jeans. "They bite," he added, nipping gently at her earlobe

Meredith moaned in agreement and put her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his.

"Patience, love," he said, gently, but then she ran her tongue across the side of his neck and he did not have nearly as much patience. Her small fingers were nimbly unbuttoning his shirt when the doorbell rang.

"Don't answer it," Meredith groaned. "Please Derek."

"It's probably one of your insane followers," he pointed out, gently sliding her shirt down. "Izzie's probably pushed Alex off of the Space Needle."

"He'll live, he's a hard head," Meredith grumbled sitting up.

"If it is one of yours, we'll get rid of them quickly. I'll find a knife or something," Derek said, as he went to the foyer. Meredith muttered something that sounded like 'I'm perfectly fine with being an accomplice' as she turned on the living room light.

Derek straightened his clothes as he went to the door, Meredith following, looking so dejected that he almost laughed at her. When he opened the door Derek's smile faded and Meredith said, "Addison."

A/N Review! In My Daughter's Eyes will be updated when I finish the next chapter of it…. Soonish!