A/N: So... Yeah. Sorry this took so long to get posted. I've been working on it like crazy, but it was giving me trouble. I rewrote it at least three times. AND I had to pack and get things in order to come back out to school, so that took up time as well. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews. Keep 'em coming : ) Cheers!

Meredith had volunteered to do the dishes.

She wasn't trying to avoid the kids. Or Derek. Or use it as an excuse to hide out. She just felt like lending a hand after Derek had spent the morning over the stove. And entertaining the kids.

She wanted to do something to help out. She wasn't good at the kid thing, at that she was trying. But dishes she could do.

She actually ended up having a decent time sitting at the table with the kids. After she had settled in across from Derek, the kids were on her like a moth to a flame. It was non-stop talking. Question after comment. Comment, question. The kids were so excited to have Meredith sitting with them, excited to have someone new to talk to, that they would stop eating after every bite and give their entire attention to her, no matter if she was speaking or not.

According to Derek, the look on her face was "irreplaceable". She did the best she could in answering the kids, humoring them, but it was still overwhelming. She wasn't use to having so much attention on her at once. Well. Not the good kind anyway.

She was impaled from the left. Then from the right. Twin number one wanted to know this, twin number two had to tell her about that. Beth liked her eyes. Twin two liked her hair. Leah yawned in the distance. Derek laughed at it all.

Meredith couldn't stop her neck from snapping back and forth. She had tried to keep up with everything that was going on, but it had proved to be a difficult task. She had lost track of everything that was being said and had turned to Derek with pleading eyes that screamed "save me", while the expression of insecurity grew across her face. Derek had ceased his laughter and smiled back to her, nodded, and then muttered something to the kids about their food. Meredith had missed what he was, but the commotion slowed down to a tolerable pace as the children shoveled more of their pancakes into their mouths, now stopping only every few bites to say something else.

After the children had settled down a bit, Meredith finally had a chance to clear her mind. And a chance to breathe. She had refocused and adjusted herself and spent a good half hour finishing breakfast with them, relishing their enthusiasm and conversation as well as their precociousness.

A small smile worked its way onto Meredith's face as she rinsed off the last sticky dish. From breakfast alone, she realized it really wasn't that hard being with the kids after all. Spending time with them. Listening to them. Really, she found herself actually enjoying it.

Granted, she wouldn't want to do it 24/7, but the morning so far had at least made her see differently and accept the whole babysitting thing.

Even more now that Derek had taken them in the other room.

Meredith unloaded the dishwasher to make room for the dirty ones. She stopped for a second when she heard a fit of giggles just beyond the doorway of the kitchen. Her smile reached her eyes as the thought of what they could be doing to Derek entered her mind.

Derek really knew what he was doing when it came to kids. She couldn't get over it. She knew he had a big family, but she didn't realize how involved he was with them.

He knew things about them. He knew how to do things with them.

He knew them.

And she was learning.

After putting away the clean dishes, she turned on her heels to reload the dishwasher with the dirty ones. Just as she was finishing up, she heard the barstool slide across the floor behind her. Meredith abruptly turned around to see Beth climbing onto it and settling herself at the island, coloring book in hand.

Meredith froze, staring at her.

Beth didn't seem to notice. She was more concerned on which picture in her book she wanted to work on. She flipped through the pages a bit then when she decided on the one, she stopped and lifted her head, her eyes landing on Meredith.

"I forgot my crayons."

Meredith blinked. Was she supposed to… "I'll get them," she said as she saw Beth debating on how best to get down from her seat.

Remembering the piles of crayons on the table during breakfast, Meredith rushed to grab them, but when she got there, the crayons were gone.

Crap.

"I. Ah… I thought you were with your uncle. Playing… or something," Meredith said, trying to distract the child as she looked around for the crayons, lifting random objects, moving things around in the kitchen.

"They're boys," Beth said, flipping through her book some more. "They're in there wrestling each other up. Uncle Derek tried to be referee, but then they climbed on him and messed up his hair. He wasn't happy after that, but he was laughing. I think he was kiddin'. Anyway, I don't like wrestling, so Uncle Derek told me I could color more, 'cause I like to color…"

Meredith tried to listen to what she was saying. She did ask her after all, but… Where the hell are the damn crayons.

The kid wanted to color. She didn't like to roughhouse. She wasn't a boy. That's the information Meredith absorbed from her story. She needed to find those crayons.

She jerked her head around looking for where they could be, Beth still chatting away in the distance. She didn't move the crayons, she was sure of that. She didn't see the kids move them. When they were done eating, Derek helped her clear the table and the kids went back to coloring. At the table. With their books.

"And the crayons," Meredith finished her thought aloud as she ran a hand through her hair.

"There on the shelf. In the bowl," Beth said from behind.

Meredith turned her head to see the young girl sitting sideways on her seat, letting her legs dangle, and pointing to the hutch on the other side of the table.

She followed the direction of her tiny finger and saw the tips of several colorful crayons emerging from a bowl, just as Beth had said. Derek must have cleaned them up when she started on the dishes.

Meredith gave the child a closed smile as she walked over to the hutch and gripped the bowl in both hands. They were right out in the open. She even looked on the hutch, how did she miss it?

For a moment she felt foolish. Then she felt foolish for feeling foolish.

She was freaking out over missing crayons. But. Why?

They were just crayons.

Beth didn't seen to be worried. She didn't care that Meredith was oblivious. Or that she took forever to find them. She really didn't even make a comment towards her, with the exception of actually letting her in on where the crayons were. Instead she waited patiently at the island, and continued telling Meredith about playing with her brothers and uncle.

Meredith looked down in to the bowl and stared at the crayons. There was something about them, though. Something she was missing.

She couldn't remember the last time she had used them, actually. She use to color a lot when she was small, but at some point, she just… stopped. She wasn't very artistic, but coloring books had lines to follow. It was practically foolproof. Which was the main reason she loved doing it.

Then it hit her.

She remembered coloring pages and tearing them out of the book to give to her mother. When she would finish one, she would write "To Mommy" on the top of it and leave it on the kitchen counter, with pride, for her to see the following morning.

They were always gone when Meredith went to check. It made her smile when she thought of her mother taking her pictures to work, hanging them up in her office, showing them to her coworkers. It took Meredith a while to realize her mother didn't do either of those things, but instead she disposed of them in the kitchen trashcan.

When she had mentioned it to her father, he tried to rescue a few from the waste, but they were already ruined. When she had confronted her mother, her only response to her daughter was that coloring was "childish". It was obscure to her that five-year-old Meredith was just that: a child.

So she stopped.

Meredith looked up from the crayons. Beth was staring at her.

What was she suppose to say? 'Sorry. I mentally unlocked a lost, traumatic, childhood memory involving wax crayons and my dead mother'?

Meredith swallowed back the memory and raised the bowl at a slight angle towards her. "Got them." She then walked over to the kid and placed the crayons next to her.

She sighed. What now?

She couldn't leave Beth alone in the kitchen. She couldn't tell her to stop coloring, go away. The dishes were done; the table and counter were clean.

She sighed again and leaned against the island, across from Beth, and propped her head up with her arms.

Meredith peered at Beth, who was digging through the crayons looking for the right one. When she found the one she needed, she started straight away on her new picture.

She stopped for a moment and looked up at Meredith. "Thank you," she said as her smile grew, reaching her blue eyes. She tilted her head to the side, then looked down at her work, letting her silky curls frame her face.

Meredith gasped in surprise. She had spent the whole morning with Beth and her siblings. Several hours, not only in the same house, but in the same room with them. But she didn't notice…

She didn't realize…

She sat there and gawked at Beth, but what she really saw was Derek. She looked so much like him; she could easily be mistaken for his daughter, without a doubt.

Her eyes were piercing blue; they could stop a heart.

Or melt one.

She had the hair, too. Full. Think. Dark chocolate brown curls that stopped right at her shoulders. Actually, the shape of her face resembled Derek's also, but in a softer more feminine way. She really was a gorgeous little girl.

Her quirks even matched Derek's. The head tilt. The smile. Even her optimism.

She seemed surprisingly at ease being in a strange home, sitting across from someone she didn't know all that well, telling her everything and anything. She wasn't shy, that's for sure.

She was polite, but outspoken. She was very bright. And she was too wise for her age. Meredith was sure this kid would grow up to be anything she wanted to be. And if she went into the family business, she would become a world-renowned surgeon in any field she desired.

Beth would easily excel in every part of her life.

Just like Derek.

Sure, Derek had misfortunes here and there. He lost his father when he was young. Had a failed marriage under his belt. But that wasn't his whole life. These were just things that set him in directions to be the person he is. And most of those paths in his life took him to good things. He had his dream job. He had his sisters, his nieces and nephews, his mother. And he had Meredith.

According to him, he had it all.

It was enough for him. He was set in life. His job earned him more money a year than most people see in a lifetime. Ha could buy anything he wanted. He could go anywhere. Do anything. But that didn't matter.

Family. That's what mattered to Derek Shepherd.

He would spend the day babysitting, just because he loved his sister, and her kids. And he would spend the day babysitting just to be around Meredith.

Family.

They were his family.

Beth rummaged through the bowl of crayons, snapping Meredith back into reality.

Meredith shifted her eyes onto Beth's creation. "What are you coloring?"

Beth adjusted herself in her seat, scratched her nose and beamed at Meredith. "Hello Kitty," she said, obviously prod of her work of art.

Meredith gave a weak smile in return and nodded slowly. Of course.

"You wanna color with me?"

Meredith looked into the little girls eyes. They were shining back with aspiration and excitement. She couldn't tell her no. It would break her heart.

After all, she was family.

"A… Sure," Meredith said as she stood up straight and braced herself against the island.

Beth's smile grew. She ripped her picture out of the coloring book as Meredith walked around to sit next to her.

Once she was seated, Beth slid the book over to her, then moved the bowl of crayons between them.

Meredith opened the book and flipped a few pages until she found one to color. "This one okay?"

Beth leaned over and looked at the picture Meredith was referring to. "Yeah. That one is one of my favorites."

"Are you sure, then?" Meredith said as she lifted the book. "I could color a different one if you want."

Beth stopped her before she could turn the page. "No. That's one of my favorites. I want you to color it. Kay?"

Meredith smiled at her. "Okay." She sat the book down and smoothed it out. Beth watched her as she looked at the bowl of crayons, trying to decide on the color to use. She caught Beth's gaze and looked back at her. "I haven't done this in a while."

Beth reached into the bowl and pulled out three pink crayons, all different shades. "Can't go wrong with pink," she said as she handed them to Meredith.

She laughed softly as she accepted the crayons from Beth. She looked down at the picture lying in front of her.

Forget babysitting, THIS was overwhelming.

Meredith looked back over at Beth. Without saying a word, Beth took one of Meredith's crayons and colored a small mark on several spots of the picture. She handed the crayon back to Meredith and started work on her own again.

Meredith laughed again and shook her head. It wasn't the first time she felt unintelligent this morning. By now, though, she didn't even care.

Beth was having fun. That's what mattered.

She started coloring the spots Beth had marked for her. When she was almost through with those, Beth grabbed a different crayon from the bowl and did the same thing for her again. She then handed the crayon to Meredith for her to continue on.

They worked in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Every once in a while Beth would comment on the good job Meredith was doing. Meredith would laugh and respond by telling her the same.

She worked diligently on the picture. Staying in the lines. Following the colors Beth chose. When she finished her first picture, she held it up to Beth for approval. Beth smiled at her job well done and took the coloring book to find a new one for her.

She handed it back to Meredith, open to a fresh one, and continued to help her by choosing the crayons and placing the color marks on the picture.

Meredith shook her head as she chuckled. She watched as Beth refocused on her own, adding detail to select parts, darkening the color here and there. She really was a perfectionist.

Beth looked up at Meredith, then down to her blank page, and back.

Meredith got the hint and began to color away at her new picture.

She was about halfway through when she felt a new presence towering behind her. She looked up form her work and grinned sheepishly.

"Look Uncle Derek!" Beth yelled happily as she held up her masterpiece.

"That's gorgeous, Beth," Derek replied smiling. "Yours, too," he said softly to Meredith as she tried to hide the picture with her elbow.

"It's not finished," Meredith pouted playfully, slightly embarrassed to be coloring at all.

"Well. What you have done so far is beautiful," he countered, placing his hand under her chin.

Meredith gave him a closed smile and leaned into his touch. The warmth of his skin was such a comfort. It made everything else go away. And she loved him for that.

She loved him for just being.

Derek smiled back and her, sharing a tender moment. It didn't last long, though, as Beth interrupted by saying something about how well Meredith had been doing.

"I'm glad to hear it," Derek smiled to his niece. "She's full of surprises."

Meredith rolled her eyes. He'll pay for that one later.

She shifted her attention back to her coloring, but stopped once more when she realized only Derek was in the room with them.

"Where is everyone else?" Meredith questioned, surprising herself at the tone of concern in her voice.

Derek laughed softly. "The boys are playing chess, but Leah kept stealing their pieces, so she's in her playpen being entertained by her stuffed animals now."

Meredith raised her brow at him. "Playing chess?"

Derek laughed again. "Well, their version of it. They just kind of set the pieces up wherever and move them around," he said, mimicking the motion with his hand. "They enjoy it, though."

"Glad to hear it." Meredith replied, using his own words. She tilted her head to the side. "You changed your shirt," she observed.

"I did," he responded.

"I thought you were playing with the boys."

"I was." Derek stopped and looked over at Beth, who was tuning them out and concentrating on her work. "Mer… can..." He shifted his attention back to her. "Can we talk? Out in the hall?"

Meredith looked over to Beth, then nodded and removed herself from her seat. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Beth, we'll be right back, alright?" Derek said, ignoring Meredith's query.

"Okay," Beth said, barely taking her eyes away.

Derek took Meredith's hand and led her back through the kitchen door. "Derek," Meredith said, her tone both questioning and commanding.

Once they were in the hall, away from all the children, Derek stopped and turned to her.

"What is going on?" she repeated.

He looked into her eyes, tilted his head to the side, and gave her his McDreamy smile.

But there was something missing.

He was trying to cover for something.

She didn't like where this was going.

"…Derek"

I know. Cliffhanger. I'm mean. But more to come. And hopefully soon. ; )