Hello hello!

Here it is! Finally! The new chapter! I know a lot of you have been waiting anxiously and I can't tell you how much I've appreciated everyone's patience and words of encouragement.

I hope this was worth the wait!

Enjoy!

Chapter 16

If someone offered her a million dollars to sit still for 5 minutes, Meredith was positive she'd never see a dime of it.

Derek just got off the phone with Kathleen a few minutes ago and passed on the message that the three sisters should arrive soon; just in time for dinner. To say she was anxious was an understatement.

It wasn't that she didn't want to meet the rest of Derek's family. Honestly, she thought it was a little odd that they had been married for over a year and she hadn't met them yet. But still. It wasn't as if Nancy's visit had gone well.

As their arrival drew closer, Meredith was left alone in the living room to her own, overly neurotic thoughts. She could hear Carolyn moving pots and pans while she finished dinner and the light clinking of silverware coming from the dining room where Amelia was setting the table.

Meredith was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice Derek's presence until he seated himself closely next to her on the couch. She jumped slightly at the touch of his firm hand on her bouncing knee. Calming a short instant later, she offered her husband the most convincing smile she could manage.

"What's wrong?" he whispered into her ear. They were both resting back into the couch with Derek pressed closely against Meredith's side.

For a brief moment, she allowed her body to calm at his touch as his warm breath tickled her neck causing Meredith's eyes to fall closed. Derek started rubbing soothing circles on the inside of her knee with his thumb and her legs finally stilled.

"Nothing," she breathed.

"I don't believe you," Derek whispered again. Despite her closed eyes, she could hear the teasing grin in her husband's voice.

"That sounds like a personal problem," she teased back, still relaxing with her eyes closed.

He chuckled low in her ear and placed a firm kiss against her temple. When he pulled away, she finally turned her head to face him.

"I may be a little nervous," she confessed quietly.

"About meeting my sisters?" His voice was tinged with slight confusion.

"Of course about meeting your sisters, Derek. What else? It's not like Nancy likes me and who knows what she's told your other two sisters. I'm sure they've all heard about the slutty intern who ruined your marriage. I can't imagine that after hearing all about your dirty mistress they have the best opinion of me."

"First off, don't call yourself my dirty mistress. And Mer, I've told you. My marriage was over long before you ever came into the picture. Hell, it was even over before Addison slept with Mark. You are not to blame."

"Well, that's clearly not how Nancy saw it."

"Don't you worry about Nancy. And don't worry about Liz and Kathleen either. They know better than to believe a word that comes out of Nancy's mouth anyway."

Meredith shifted her eyes to her hands that were starting to fidget in her lap.

"Hey," Derek interrupted her squirming hands by placing his lager one over hers. Cocking his head to the side, he tried to get her to meet his eyes.

"No one is going to make you feel unwelcome or uncomfortable. I won't let them. They may not have met you, but they have heard my opinion of you and I promise it was glowing," Derek offered with a flirty smile.

Looking into his eyes, it was impossible for Meredith to not want to believe him. And the way they crinkled at the corners when he smiled at her, never failed to make Meredith melt.

"You'll be okay," he concluded before leaning in to peck a quick kiss at the corner of her mouth.

She nodded slowly, maintaining eye contact with the captivating blue eyes across from her.

"I'll be okay." Meredith let the words out with a sigh. And she really almost believed them.

"About the baby," Meredith began cautiously, "I mean, we're leaving on Saturday so that really only leaves tonight and tomorrow to tell them about him…or her," Meredith added on with a smirk. "When did you want to tell them?"

"You're okay with telling everyone?" Derek honestly wasn't counting on Meredith coming around on telling his family while they were here. He knew miscarrying again still weighed heavily on her mind.

"You should get to tell them in person," Meredith nodded. "I feel like I should tell you something though," she said with a guilty expression. "Your mom already knows."

"What? How?"

Thankfully he seemed more confused than upset which helped to put her more at ease.

"She told me this morning that she's heard me getting sick every morning since we got here and it wasn't too hard to put together. I'm sorry you didn't get to tell her, Derek."

Meredith's face twisted in pain as the guilt started to sink in again. And for some reason she couldn't explain, she could feel tears begin to prick at the back of her eyes.

At the sight of his wife's eyes begin to cloud over with tears, Derek immediately set out to right whatever suddenly seemed to be causing her pain.

Sitting up straighter to better face her, he took Meredith's head in his hands and wiped a stray tear away with his thumb.

"Meredith, what's wrong?"

Sniffing to try to control the sudden onslaught of emotions, she tried her hardest to form an answer to his question. Unfortunately, as soon as she attempted to speak, a sob bubbled out instead.

"Mer," Derek sighed, folding her small frame against his chest. Meredith tucking her face into the crook of his neck, Meredith quietly sobbed. Letting go of every irrational emotion that was trying to escape.

Her sob slowly morphed into sporadic gasps which eventually calmed into the occasional sniffle. All the while Derek just held her, whispering the occasional 'It's okay' or 'I love you' into her hair.

Eventually, Meredith pulled away from Derek's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she sniffed again.

"It's okay," he answered sympathetically. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know," she shook her head with a strange combination of a groan and a giggle. "Damn hormones," she cursed, wiping the wetness off of her cheek with the back of her hand.

Derek merely sat patiently beside her, allowing her time to compose herself.

"Uhg," she groaned. "Think you can handle this for the next six months?" Meredith asked, only half joking. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose was red, and her face was flushed from crying, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of a time she looked more beautiful to him.

"Oh yeah," he smiled, pulling her in for another hug and reclining them both against the couch. "I think I can handle this."

He held her for a moment longer before shifting in order to see her face. "Mer, I don't care if my mom already knows. And even if I did, it's not like I could be mad at you for it. It's not your fault your morning sickness has been especially bad this week and that my mother is ridiculously intuitive. You know I'm not upset, right?"

"I do," she mumbled in response. "I honestly have no idea where that came from."

"You were probably right when you blamed the hormones," he snickered.

"Hey, you don't get to laugh at me. It's your fault I'm like this."

"My fault?" he questioned in mock offense. "I don't seem to recall you being an unwilling participant in creating the reason for you hormones."

"Yeah well that's your fault too. Try being resistible for once in your life."

"Yes, dear," he resigned, sensing this was one argument he wasn't going to win.

The doorbell rang suddenly, causing Meredith to jump from her place in Derek's arms.

"DEREK!" Amelia called loudly from the dining room. "THE WOLVES ARE HERE!"

"Amelia!" their mother scolded from her spot in the kitchen.

"Shall we greet the wolves?" Derek asked.

"Well when you put it that way," Meredith trailed off sarcastically. Nevertheless, the two rose from the couch to get the door.

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