Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy is not mine- too bad.

Rating: K-T

Meredith and Izzie cleared the table in the Shepherd's large kitchen as the rest of their friends moved into the living room to talk.

"Izzie dinner really was great," Meredith said as she moved plates from the table and onto the granite counter tops.

"Thanks, I figured I'd save everyone from a poorly made peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Izzie teased.

Meredith stopped and looked at her in mock shock at what she had just said. Izzie laughed as she turned the stainless steel sink's faucet on and gave the dishes a short rinse before setting them into the dishwasher.

"Where is dinner next Friday?" Meredith asked as she wiped the table and counters down.

"Our place I think," Izzie answered putting the last plate in the washer filling it with soap and closing the door.

Meredith nodded and the two moved into the spacious living room. The room was filled with laughter from its occupants. The wall to wall hard wood flooring and the giant fireplace with the fire in it made it all the better. The walls were painted a light beige and covered with pictures of all three Shepherd kids in different stages of their lives, as well as pictures of the group of friends.

Meredith smiled as she entered the warm room walking over to the arm chair Derek sat in and sitting down on the arm of the chair.

Derek rubbed his wife's back and pulled her onto his lap offering her his glass of wine.

"Thank you," she said taking the glass and sipping from it.

"You're very welcome," he responded as he continued to rub her back.

Meredith looked around the room at her friends…her family as they laughed and talked among themselves enjoying the company.

"Kids in bed?" she asked Derek

"Yup, Jason is asleep in the guest room; Preston just put him down,"

Meredith looked over at Izzie who had just taken a seat next to Alex. She loved knowing that in less than twenty-four hours Izzie was in for the surprise of a life time. The rest of the night the eight friends talked and laughed enjoying one of the last nights things would actually be calm.

"Mommy?" Meredith jerked awake and looked at the small child in front of her.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Meredith sat up trying not to wake Derek. Andy walked further into the room and crawled up onto his parent's large bed.

"I just went to the bathroom, and I was walking past Lilly's room and she is crying," Andy informed his mother concerned for his sister.

Meredith sighed, this happened often. Lilly was known to have horrible dreams. It was something she would grow out of but until then they not only haunted her but the other occupants in the house as well.

"You stay here," she instructed her son who nodded his head and laid down where she had just been.

Wrapping her arms around herself as she entered the cold hallway she quickly made her way down to her daughter's door.

The door, cracked open allowed Meredith enough visibility to see her daughter lying still in her bed whimpering. Meredith walked in and carefully climbed into the bed next to her daughter and took her in her arms.

Once she wrapped her arms around her daughter she was immediately alarmed. Taking her hand she pressed it on Lilly's forehead realizing that it wasn't a nightmare bothering her. Pulling her hand back to slowly woke Lilly up.

"Baby, wake up please," Meredith whispered.

Lilly opened her eyes and stared up at her mother.

"Hi baby, can you sit up please?" Meredith asked helping her daughter to a sitting position. Lilly started to cry as Meredith pressed her cheek onto the little girls forehead and cheeks and then felt the back of her neck.

"All right little girl, lay down, Mommy is going to go get the thermometer," Meredith said as she backed out of the room and down the hall to her own room. Walking through her bedroom she entered the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet she grabbed the thermometer and walked back out into her bedroom.

"Meredith? What's going on?" Derek asked sitting up in bed the sheets falling off revealing his shirtless chest.

"I think Lilliana is running a fever," Meredith answered. Derek was up immediately. Pulling on a shirt he walked with Meredith down to their daughter's room.

Entering the little girls room Derek and Meredith sat on either side of her bed. Derek held her on his lap as Meredith put the thermometer into Lilly's mouth.

"She didn't seem sick earlier," Meredith commented concern playing across her face as Lilly lay quietly waiting for the thermometer to beep telling her she could take it out of her mouth. Meredith knew as a doctor that a fever wasn't much too really worry about, but as a parent it scared her. Fevers were a sign of some sort of infection and the body trying to fight it off.

"She was pretty quiet tonight," Derek replied stroking his daughter's hair. Meredith sat there contemplating what her husband had said when the thermometer beeped.

Gently taking it out of Lilly's mouth Meredith read the small black digits,

"99.8," she read allowed.

"Ok, nothing to worry about. Just a low grade fever," Derek told Lilly but looking at Meredith.

"I'll go get you some water ok?" Derek asked the little girl. She nodded as he got up and walked out of the room and down stairs to the kitchen.

"Come on girlie lets get you in some cooler pajama's," Meredith said picking her daughter up and setting her on her feet in front of a chest of drawers.

Changing her and putting her back in bed, Meredith propped her pillows up so that she could easily drink the water Derek was bringing up.

Shortly after Derek came in the room with water in Lilly's favorite cup. The small child drank it quickly. Taking the cup Derek looked down at his little girl and frowned. He hated when they got sick, it made him feel powerless waiting for medication to kick in or a fever to break. It wasn't something he could physically fix like surgery.

Twenty minutes later Derek and Meredith left Lilly sound asleep in her bed after giving her children's cold medicine.

"The fever will break by morning," Derek reassured his wife as he kissed her temple.

Walking back into their room Derek picked Andy up out of Meredith's side of the bed and carried him into his own room. Exhausted he came back into the room and laid down wrapping his arms around Meredith. Looking at the clock he realized he had three hours before they had to be up.

"Derek," Meredith called out in the darkness.

"Hmm?" He replied sleepily.

"We can't take Lilly to my dad's tomorrow,"

Derek sighed, "Meredith she'll be fine,"

"No, I don't want her there if she is sick," Meredith replied. The three kids were going to be with her father for the day. Thatcher still wasn't around much but usually once a month he asked to have the kids for a couple of hours while Meredith and Derek worked to spend time with them.

"Plus, if she is sick I don't want the boys catching it or any of the other kids there to get it either," Meredith reasoned.

Derek tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her hair,

"Who is off tomorrow?" he asked

"Izzie and Alex aren't off until six, and then they're busy… Christina and Preston are working until four and then they are supposed to pick the kids up from my dad's and keep them over night, but I don't want Lilly to get Jason sick again or the boys. Callie is working until twelve, but I think George has tomorrow off," Meredith answered.

"We'll call George in the morning," Derek reassured her. Meredith nodded and tried to fall asleep.

"…oh! And here is her favorite bear," Meredith shoved another item into George's already full hands. George turned and dropped everything on his kitchen counter. He had watched Lillian Shepherd since she was three weeks old, but Meredith's 'dropping off' routine never failed.

Derek held his daughter close as he stood in George's kitchen watching Meredith go through Lilly's bag. Lilly shifted under the three blankets and the heavy rain coat she was wrapped up in to ward of the chill and the pounding rain outside. At six when he and Meredith had woken up, Lilly's fever hadn't broken but had spiked to 100.5. Derek hated leaving her but he had a job he was obligated to do as well and she would be in wonderful hands at George's place… well technically he and Meredith still owned the townhouse but George paid the rent.

After getting married Derek had done what he always dreamed of doing. Taking his land he had built a huge house for the two of them along with landscaped the front and back of the house tuning it into his and Meredith's dream home. It suited them and their kids well, plus George and Izzie had been able to stay in the townhouse until Izzie moved in with Alex and Callie had moved in with George.

Looking at the clock on the wall he realized that they had fifteen minutes to be at the hospital. They had already dropped the boys off at Thatcher Grey's and were now dropping Lilly off at Georges.

"Mere, we need to get going," Derek told his wife kissing his daughter's hot forehead.

"Ok," Meredith sighed turning to face Derek and taking Lilly out of his arms and into her own.

"Alright baby, Uncle George is going to take care of you until we get off of work, I love you pumpkin," she said to the little girl.

Lilly nodded sleepily. Derek came up and over Meredith's shoulder kissed his daughter's cheek running his hand over it.

Meredith reluctantly handed Lilly over to George who took her gently. Lilly closed her eyes and leaned her head on George's shoulder.

Derek took Meredith's hand and led her out into the hallway.

"Don't forget to give her that cold medicine at 11 George!" Meredith called from the door.

"I know Mere don't worry about it, we'll be fine," George replied looking down at Lilly.

Derek walked up to him,

"Page me if you need anything," he whispered before waving at Lilly and leading Meredith out into the pouring rain.

Derek looked at the clock 3:00 pm he had six more hours and then judging on whether or not something happened he would be off the clock. Meredith however was working towards her fellowship and had twelve more hours.

Standing at the nurses station he glanced over at the O.R. Board. Meredith had been in surgery for four hours and hadn't had time to call George all day, neither had he.

Thinking that he should, he reached over for the phone when his pager went off. Pulling it off the waist band of his scrubs he looked down at the screen.

"The Chief?" he wondered allowed.

Shrugging he headed towards the Chief's office. Knocking while open the door he smiled at Richard Webber.

"Richard," he greeted.

"Derek, how are you?" Richard asked looking up from a chart he was going over.

"Ok, waiting for this shift to be over. Lilly is home sick," Richard frowned and nodded before motioning Derek to take a seat.

"I got a call from Addison today," he started. Derek looked up,

"Really! How is she?" He asked he and Addison had moved on and begun a sort of friendship. She and Meredith had never warmed up to each other but at least got along.

"Good, she is well, but there she needs some help," Richard started

"What kind of help?" Derek asked apprehensive.

"She has a preemie, and he needs a splint. She said she would have some one in New York handle for her but it's a delicate procedure and she wants the best. I guess this child has been through enough already," Richard explained

"So she wants me to fly to New York and do this surgery?" Derek asked

"Yes, it would be three, four days tops," Richard tried to persuade him.

"What about Jenkins or Calhoun or…" Derek was cut off

"She wants the best of the best Derek and that is you," Richard sighed as he leaned forward on his desk. Derek sat back in his chair and let out a frustrated breath.

George held Lilly close as he tried to get her to go into the bathtub full of cold water.

"Uncle George its too cold!" she protested tears rolling down her face

"I know Lils but it will make you feel better," all day she had been shivering as her fever slowly jumped. Now at 101.9 George was getting worried.

"No! It hurts!" Lilly exclaimed as he lowered her into the tub.

"Lillian, sweetheart calm down," George tried to calm her down.

The little girl screamed and thrashed as George put her into the bathtub. Once in there she quieted and silent tears fell down her cheeks.

"Five minutes Lilly," George tried to calm her brushing the tears off her cheeks.

Five minutes later he unplugged the bathtub drain and wrapped the little girl up in a big towel drying her off and changing her into the extra pair of pajama's Meredith had packed.

Laying her down on the couch he turned on the TV to Cartoon Network where they were playing Scooby Doo as part of their afternoon programming.

Grabbing the thermometer off the coffee table he tried taking her temperature again.

"No!" Lilly pushed his arm away frustrated.

"Lillian Grace, I need you to be still and let me take your temperature," George warned. Hearing his tone Lilly complied and opened her mouth.

George stuck the thermometer under her tongue and waited. She had become a pro at taking temperatures in the past few hours.

George waited and once the device beeped he took it and read it. 102.5.

That was too high. Looking at the clock it read 3:30. Lilly needed to go to the hospital something wasn't right.

Meredith walked out of the scrub room and towards the nurses station. She needed to call George and check on her daughter and then at five she needed to call Christina and make sure she had gotten the boys ok.

Walking up the counter she reached for the phone when her pager went off.

911- George O'Malley- ER.

In an instant Meredith was off and running down to the Emergency Room.

"Richard, I don't think you understand. I have a family, a wife and three small children. I can't just up and leave for a few days with no warning," Derek tried to reason.

"Derek I wouldn't be asking you if I thought there was a chance someone else would be able to do the surgery as well as you," Richard replied.

Derek sighed and ran is hands over his face and through his hair- a sure sign that he was frustrated.

"Look Derek, it's what Saturday? You leave tomorrow morning and you'll be back in town by Tuesday. Long enough to do the surgery, observe the patient for a day and then come home," Richard explained.

Derek eyed him wearily.

"What time do I need to be in New…" Derek was cut off by his pager going off.

911- George O'Malley- ER.

"Shit!" he swore getting up from his chair and running out of the office and down towards the Emergency Room.

Ok so I didn't mean to take that long to update… midterms suck! Any way I will be updating again soon since it is the weekend and then next week I only have two days of classes and then I get a couple days off just so I can write and update for you!  Ok well until next time have a great weekend!

-Loti