Meredith looks up and meets the cold eyes of her mother. Another contraction begins to rip through her body. A young doctor standing next to Meredith's mom hears her comment and turns to see who she is talking to, and just as Meredith begins to cry out in pain, green once again meets blue.

Meredith stares into his deep blue eyes for the first time in months, drowning in their depths. Breathing oxygen for the first time in what seems like forever. Time stands still as the world continues to spin madly around them. The harsh words of her mother echo in the background for a moment as all else lies forgotten.

Unfortunately, Meredith comes crashing back down to reality all too soon as the pain ripping through her body takes precedence in her mind. Her knees buckle under the intensity as she screams out yet again as the spinning world begins to crumble down around her. Strong arms grip her body as she turns her head into his chest, gripping, crying, fearing. It hurts. It hurts so much. The pain in her back and abdomen. The pain in his eyes. The pain in her heart.

Derek stands there in shock. He can't believe it. He can't believe that after all this time she is standing in front of him. Why is she standing in front of him? Why is she crying? Why is his father holding her in his arms? Click. Meredith is his dad's student. Meredith is his dad's student whose mother is Ellis Grey. Meredith Grey. That is her name.

Oh my God.

Meredith is his dad's student who is pregnant. Sixteen weeks pregnant. That is what his dad said on the phone when he called to say he was bringing her in. Sixteen weeks. Sixteen weeks ago they were together. He blinks once. Twice. He tries to keep the tears from welling up. He tries. He tries because he is going to be a father. He. Father. Him.

"Derek!" his father shouts at him.

Derek snaps his head to look into the matching eyes of his father. They are full of worry. Full of worry for his student's child. His grandchild that he doesn't even know is his. He crosses the room in four long, purposeful strides. He can smell her intoxicating scent and feels like he can breathe for the first time in months.

He looks at the trembling woman that his father is trying desperately to hold up. His trembling woman. His parents scrutinize him, noticing that something is off. He bends down so that his face is near hers.

"Meredith?" he asks, her name rolling off of his tongue like he has been saying it everyday for the past seventeen weeks. Because he has. He has been saying it everyday for the past seventeen weeks. Since that fateful day he bumped into her outside of their rooms. She graced his dreams and her name has become a prayer for him.

Meredith gasps as she turns her head slightly, her eyes peeking out from behind her desperate clutch of the maroon sweater his father is wearing. "Derek?" she gasps as she struggles to breathe through the pain.

His eyes dart down to her stomach that her free hand is clutching. She can see the journey that they make and she knows what to expect next. His eyes take in her small bump, visually verifying what he has already heard. He takes in her white knuckles as she clutches the thin material of her shirt before they travel back up to her eyes.

It is a look. He asks so much with a single look. A look filled with fear. A look filled with hope. A look filled with love. She nods her head slightly, barely perceptible, but he notices. His whole future hangs on that slight inclination. He inhales sharply as his heart sprouts wings and flutters wildly around his chest cavity.

"You are nothing but a no good whore. I should have realized you would never do anything with your life."

Ellis's voice reaches his ears and a violent rage engulfs him. A sheen of red covers his irises as he stares into Meredith's tearful green seas. He places his hands on his thighs in order to raise himself to his feet. He is not going to let Meredith[ihis[/i Meredith, be talked to in that manner.

He takes a deep breath as he begins his upward movement, only to be halted by another cry of pain emanating from Meredith. He immediately forgets about the rage invoked by Ellis and turns his attention back to Meredith. She is closer to the ground as his father's grip on her is faltering. Her body is trembling, experiencing aftershocks from the numerous quakes that have ripped through her.

Derek doesn't think twice. He ignores the questioning looks his parents are sending him as he places one arm on Meredith's back and another under her bended knees. Meredith immediately releases her grip on his father's sweater as she buries her face in Derek's scrub-clad chest. She breathes for the first time in months as his masculine scent fills her nasal cavity. He can feel her hot tears through the material of his thin shirt and his heart beats against his chest wall as she clings to him desperately.

He bends his head down and places a soft kiss on her tangled hair. "It's going to be okay, Mer," he whispers. "I'm here. I'm here." Meredith nods into his chest as his soft words and hot breath caress her ear.

"What do you think you are doing with my daughter, Dr. Shepherd?" Ellis demands in a cold, harsh voice.

Derek ignores Ellis as he carries Meredith into the exam room that has been prepped for her arrival. He isn't going to waste his words on Ellis. Meredith needs him. Meredith needs him more than anything right now and that takes precedence over everything else.

He gently lays her down on the hospital bed, the sheet gathering around her moving feet. The back of the bed is raised so that she isn't forced to lie flat on her back. Derek removes his arms from her body and begins to move away so that he can walk around the bed, but she reaches out and grasps his hand. Her nails dig into his flesh, creating crescents from their pressure.

Derek laces the fingers of his right hand through hers before bringing his lefts hand to her face. He gently wipes away the falling tears from her now sweaty face before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"It will be okay, Mer. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. But I need to put the fetal monitor on you. We need to make sure the baby is okay. Is that alright?" Derek asks, the threat of tears evident in his voice.

Meredith nods before reluctantly relaxing her grip on his hand. He smiles down at her before moving to the other side of the bed. He lifts her shirt up over her stomach and feels the air flee from his lungs in a sharp exhalation. Her beautifully round flesh, flesh that he used to know, flesh that he could still taste, stares back at him. Flesh that now houses their growing child. Theirs.

The tears gather and threaten to fall as the enormity of the moment begins to overwhelm him. He has found her. He has found the woman that he realized was the love of his life the moment he woke up after their last night together and she was gone. He has found her and now, now he has also found their unborn child. An unborn child that he already loves in a manner in which he has never known. Everything he loves is in this room. Everything he loves is on this bed. Everything he loves is in pain.

A quiet knock on the door redirects his attention away from her and he meets his mother's worried eyes. His mother stalks into the room, her lab coat now on, and his father is behind her.

"I…she…I was about to hook her up to the monitor," Derek says as he stumbles over his words.

His mother looks at him with a curious expression, his strange behavior not going unnoticed by her.

"Derek, dear, what is it?" she asks with concern in her voice.

He looks at Meredith as he runs his hand through his hair. Just as he opens his mouth to speak, another contraction rips through Meredith's frail frame. She cries out in pain as she curls her body up in a ball. He immediately rushes to her side and grabs her hand. He kneels down in front of her as he runs the fingers of his free hand through her hair.

"Breathe, Mer, just breathe. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you are hurting. We will make it better. My mom will make it better," Derek whispers, the tears now falling freely down his cheeks.

He looks up to his mother, who is staring at him with a curious expression. "Please, Mom, you have to help them. You have to," Derek pleads.

His mother stares at him with a shocked expression. And then it clicks. Meredith is Derek's Meredith. Derek is Meredith's Derek. They met on the cruise. Her son and Meredith. They fell in love without telling each other. Meredith is carrying her son's child. Her son's son. Her grandson. She feels the tears well up in her own eyes as another figure appears in the doorway.

"Maybe if you are lucky the little bastard will die and your life won't be ruined you little slut. I should have gotten abortion just as you should have. I knew that having a daughter meant that she would be a failure. At least you haven't disappointed me there," Ellis remarks with a snide expression from the doorway.

Mrs. Shepherd turns to Ellis.

"You don't have a daughter," Mrs. Shepherd says in a voice full of anger as Meredith whimpers behind her. Derek tries to comfort her, but the physical pain and the emotional pain is almost too much to bear.

"Excuse me?" Ellis responds with narrowed eyes.

Mrs. Shepherd takes a few steps towards Ellis. "I said you don't have a daughter. You have treated her like shit since she told you she was pregnant. You disowned her when she refused to get an abortion. You don't have a daughter. You lost your daughter. You lost your daughter and I have gained her. She is my daughter now and so help me God, Ellis, if you hurt her…" Mrs. Shepherd trails off, pointing a finger at Ellis.

The room is still and silent. Derek is both shocked and proud of his mother. He has never heard her swear before, but she stood up for Meredith. She made Meredith a part of the family. Meredith is a part of his family.

"Where do you think you get off?" Ellis asks in a hiss.

Mrs. Shepherd points to Meredith as she responds. "That wonderful young woman is carrying my grandson, and I will NOT have you bring my family down."

Mrs. Shepherd turns around and begins to hook Meredith up to the monitors. Ellis stares at them for a moment before huffing and storming out of the room. Dr. Shepherd stares at them with shock on his face as Mrs. Shepherd places the monitor on Meredith's stomach.

"I'm going to go get an IV and then I will be right back." She leans down closer to Meredith, tears twinkling in her eyes. "Welcome to the family, dear," she smiles at her before turning and exiting the room, her husband following.

"We're having a son.." Derek says in wonder.

Meredith looks up at him. The pain is dull at the moment, and she can't stop a small smile from curving her lips.

"We're having a son," she sighs as she rests a hand on her abdomen.

So I know that Mrs. Shepherd has already welcomed Meredith the orphan student into her family...but this was Meredith the woman who is carrying her grandson..so yeah...this update was kind of big...and I hope you like it..because I had a hard time getting it started...let me know what you think.

-Marci