Disclaimer: If we owned Grey's, there would never be repeats...it would be non stop Grey's all year long.

It was a lot later than I had planned, Meredith was probably terrified. I had been surprised she hadn't called, and now she was sleeping. Laying in our bed and looking entirely beautiful. I felt bad for her, ever since she had met me her life had been so hard, but still when she slept she always looked so peaceful. And beautiful. Things would get better. We had each other.

I kicked off my shoes and crawled into bed next to her, wrapping myself around her, placing my hands on her swollen belly, where our daughter was, for once, still. I needed to stay this way with her forever. I needed to just lay here and not move. Not think. Not do anything but be there for her and for Meggie. I took a deep breath and was surprised when the tears finally came.

I bit my lip to hold back the sobs as my shoulders softly shook. I couldn't hold the tears back but I refused to sob. I refused to wake Meredith up. She looked beautiful, she needed sleep and I couldn't wake her up. Not with this. Right now I just needed to hold her, to feel my everything next to me and to feel my daughter in her stomach.

"Der?" she murmured, obviously still half asleep as she shifted slighly in my arms, but didn't turn around. I was holding her too tightly as the tears spilled onto the scrub top she now wore to bed almost every night. "Derek?"

I shook my head quickly, letting a small sob out as my body shook even more. "Mer..." I gasped. "Oh Mer..."

She sat up and and looked at me, her eyes wide with panic. "Der, what is it?" she asked softly. "What, your mom...Mom...she didn't..."

I shook my head quickly, closing my eyes tight as I curled up to her closer, nearly on what was left of her lap. "She's...she's..."

"Derek?" she ran her fingers through my hair, her other hand softly rubbing my back. "Breathe. Breathe, Der."

I tried to, I really tried to breathe. It just wasn't happening, not tonight. Not after everything we had been through these past months. "Mer..." I whispered.

"Derek, you're scaring me little," she said softly as I put my hand over her stomach, trying desperately hard to breathe, to stop crying.

"My mom..." I gasped. "She's...it's...she's okay."

"What?" Meredith stopped rubbing my back as she stared at me. "What? What do you mean she's okay?"

"She's...she's..." I whispered in between sobs. "Remission, she's in remission."

"Oh my..." she trailed off as we sat together, my hand still on her stomach as each sob shook my body. Suddenly, I felt her hit me, hard. "You're such an ass."

"What?" I asked, confussion coming through my tears. "What?"

"You scared the hell out of me!" she shook her head. "You come in here sobbing and I'm thinking she's dead!"

"Sorry," I hiccuped attempting to pull myself back together. "It's just..."

"I know," she nodded as she ran her fingers through my hair again. "I know."

I shook my head quickly, moaning softly as she played with my hair. "I've, we've, been through so much in the past months. So much Mer."

"I know," she whispered. "But it's okay now. We're okay now."

I nodded quickly and pulled her close again, rubbing my hands along her back and holding her close to me, loving the feel of her against me. "Thank you."

"For what?" she whispered.

"For staying by me," I sighed, my breath still rugged from my sobs. "You didn't want a relationship, you didn't want to give me a chance, and you did. And everything has been tested. Everything. I would have...I would have understood if you had left. It would have killed me, but I would have understood."

She didn't say anything for a minute, she just lay there, her head against my chest. "I thought about it," she whispered. "I told Mark...I told him...and he told me that you, that you're different. That you still believe in things. That we loved each other. And, I do. I didn't, I didn't want us. Or anyone. I just...I wanted to be alone. But then you came. And I...I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered. "And things are going to be better now, from now on, they're going to be better. I will never give you a reason to leave."

"I wouldn't...I couldn't leave even if I wanted to," she sighed. "You're...I don't know. You're Derek."

I laughed quietly and brushed my lips over hers gently. "I'm glad I'm Derek. But you won't want to. Ever again."

She caught my lips with her teeth, kissing me deeply. "Der, you're...you're it for me. I'm done."

"I know," I nodded. "You're it for me too."

"And, well, you're the father of my daughter," she smiled, bringing my hand to rest on her stomach. "And my son. You're his daddy. I can't imagine you not being here."

I leaned forward and kissed her stomach. "How did we end up here? A year ago...we were somewhere completely different. And now, how did this happen?"

"You were very persistant," she laughed.

"I was," I nodded. "We owe this all to me. You would have passed this up. This, Mer."

"You used your five year old niece as bait, Derek," she giggled. "You used her to pick me up. I think we should owe it all to Talulah."

"She can be the flower girl," I smiled. And even though I had been happy with Meredith for months it was the first time the smile felt full.

"Oh, she will be," Meredith nodded. "Along with Meggie."

"Meggie? We're waiting that long?" I asked.

"Another two years," she sighed. "I just...I...Derek, I'm dark and twisty."

I nodded slowly. "I can wait. But Mer...you're not as dark and twisty as you like to think."

She rolled her eyes. "Ellis Grey as a mother...the daddy issues...the boys in the bars...a son from a previous so-called relationship. What are they calling it besides dark and twisty these days?"

"The life of Meredith Grey," I laughed. "A hard life with a very happy ending."

"Oh, you're supposed to be my happily ever after?" she giggled. "Where's my white horse?"

"I can get you a white horse," I nodded.

"And a castle," she smiled. "And a sunset. We're supposed to ride off into the sunset or something."

I laughed and kissed her quickly. "I will find that sunset. As for a castle...maybe I can trade in the trailer."

"No," she shook her hed, taking my hand. "The trailer is the perfect castle."

"That's why I love you, you're willing to accept my trailer," I laughed.

She giggled and then brought my hand down to her stomach. "She kicks more than Dill did," she said softly.

"She's excited to meet me," I smiled. "She knows how much I've wanted her."

"How many?" Meredith asked.

"Twenty," I shrugged. "You?"

"Twenty!" Meredith giggled, hitting me on the shoulder. "I hope you plan on being pregnant for at least sixteen of those."

"So you're willing to have four?" I asked.

She smiled softly. "Four including Megan. So three more. Yes."

I smiled brilliantly and kissed her again. "We're going to need a bigger house."

"We will," she whispered against my lips. "This house is big enough for Dill and me. But for five kids and us?"

"Five kids," I smiled. "I guess we're going to need to get that castle."

"And where do you plan on finding a castle, oh great and wise King Derek?" she giggled.

"I will build one for my queen," I laughed.

"Where?" she asked as she reached up to push my messy hair off my forehead.

"My land," I nodded. I hadn't even thought of it before but now it seemed like the perfect idea.

"Oh, Derek," she sighed, a smile on her face. "By the water?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "We'll put the master bedroom so it's over looking our sunset."

"It has to be completely separate from the kids," she nodded. "So we can have sex all we want."

"I like the way your mind works," I laughed and then kissed her deeply.

She moaned a little in my mouth, her fingers playing with my hair as she breathed deeply. "Der..."

"Mer, we can't," I said shaking my head.

"Addison would never know," she giggled breathlessly. "I feel fine."

"I am not risking it, Mer," I groaned.

"I know you want to," she sighed as her hand went down to where my erection was already making itself known.

"I always want to," I breathed lifting her hand away. "But I also want my daughter to be healthy and born at 9 months. I'm not risking it."

"It needs to be nine months," she sighed. "Actually, you realize I won't be able to have sex for six weeks after she's born, right?"

"I'm trying not to think of that," I smiled.

"We can't keep our hands off of each other for five seconds," she groaned. "How are we going to do it for the next three and a half months?"

"I don't know," I groaned. "But the second you're good to go, we're leaving Dill and Meggie with family and leaving town."

"Sounds good," she nodded. "To the bed and breakfast."

"Just the two of us," I smiled. "And a lot of sex."

"We won't even pack clothes," she giggled as she nuzzled my neck, her stomach against mine.

"Good," I said. "We should get some sleep."

"We should," she nodded. "And tomorrow, we have things to do."

"Things?" I asked.

"Yeah, things," she nodded as her eyelids drooped. "Brith plans and nursery plans and house plans..."

"Thos things," I nodded, shifting slightly to hold her close. "I love you, Meredith Grey-Shepherd."

"I love you, Derek Shepherd," she murmured.

I smiled and held her close, my hands resting on her stomach where my daughter slept. Now I could be happy, really amazingly, fully happy.

A thousand angels dance around you, I am complete now that I found you