This is the LAST CHAPTER :(. Thank you all so much for the support on this story. Be sure to review this last one, the sequel will be out in about a week

In response to Pat's review- Izzie answered Derek's landline bc she and Alex moved into his trailer after he and Meredith officially decided to live together (in chapter 15 or 16 I believe)

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Meredith stood with her back pressed up against the wall outside the scrub room, feeling an odd sense of deja vu.

Oh yeah. Because she had been here, and done this before. The medical journal she was holding weighed heavily in her hands. Its pages were still marked with the same sticky notes she had placed there months before.

She trusted Izzie implicitly. At first, of course, her advice had been to fill a room with a thousand roses and to hire a violin player. Once she caught on that Meredith was discussing her own proposal, she had suggested something much more simple. And possibly even more creative than Cristina's idea to pop the question mid craniotomy.

The scrub room door swung open and Derek stepped out. Despite the fact that it felt like a fist was currently clenched around her heart, Meredith grabbed his sleeve and held him back.

Derek stopped, looking pleasantly surprised. "Meredith."

"I… um… having something to ask you," she trailed, holding up the journal. Derek looked at it with interest.

"Not another clinical trial?"

"Actually, yeah," Meredith said. She could feel herself easing into the roll. "I think I really have something good here. Even better than our last one."

Derek snorted. "In that case, you must have found the cure for cancer in Modern Healthcare."

"Not quite," Meredith said teasingly. She handed Derek the journal. "It's on page 25. Why don't you look at it?"

"Fine. Sure," Derek agreed, looking at her oddly as he took the magazine. Meredith felt her heart hammering against her ribcage. At least if she passed out, she was already in a hospital.

Doubts swarmed her mind as Derek flicked through the pages. He could say no, he could be upset that she had proposed before he had the chance to. Maybe he liked doing things the traditional way. Even worse - He could have been joking when they had discussed baby names.

Finally Derek landed on page 25, where she and Izzie had carefully laid four tediously sharpied post it notes. Each one of them had a word -

WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Stunned, Derek looked up at her. Meredith breathed a sigh of extreme relief when he grinned.

"Meredith," he said softly.

She nudged him. "It's a question."

He snapped the book shut and stepped closer to her. She could feel his breath on the side of her neck. "I don't deserve this."

She placed a hand on his chest. "No, you don't. But I do."

He frowned for a moment before nodding in acceptance. Meredith poked him in the ribs. "It's a question, Derek."

He smiled. "I think you would be incredibly insulted if I answered, because I think you already know what I'm going to say."

Derek planted a soft kiss on her lips, and Meredith immediately reciprocated, grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him down towards her.

She deserved this. She deserved to be happy, and to start her family. She didn't want to wait another minute. Derek could make up for everything along the way.

Who knows how far they would have gone, if not for Cristina freezing at the end of the hall. "Oh my god!"

Laughing, Meredith pulled apart from Derek and grinned at her friend. "Maybe I'm not so hopeless after all."

"Maybe not," Cristina said, dumbstruck. She glanced between the two of them and shook her head. "Whatever. It's cool, as long as you don't put me in a poofy yellow bridesmaids dress. Might I remind you that you weasled your way out of my wedding."

"I was overseas!"

"Shhh," Derek mediated, rubbing Meredith's shoulder. "It's alright. Don't worry about the dresses, Cristina. I'll choose the color. I'm thinking of a nice charcoal blue."

Cristina eyed him critically. "And don't make Tina the flower girl. Its degrading."

"We're not going to have a flower girl. Its going to be a small, understated wedding," Meredith insisted, looking mostly at Derek.

Cristina snorted. "When you work here? Good luck. You're better off eloping." She turned and headed back down the hall.

Derek glanced at Meredith sideways, a small smile playing on his lips. "You know what? Thats not a half bad idea."

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