"You are in so much trouble."

"I know."

"This place is a disaster."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Seriously, Derek…"

"I had nothing to do with it. I wasn't even here. It was your kids, Kathy, remember?"

"Ah, two reasons you're in trouble then. You made her handle them, and they destroyed the place."

"I knew she could handle it," Derek defended. "You had no reason to be worried."

"Oh, I was never worried for their sake, Derek," Kathy said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, "only for yours." She added with a smile.

"Right," Derek nodded as he looked down at his feet and mirrored his sister's body language.

"I knew as soon as you called to tell me about being paged that they'd take over this place."

"They're a lot more sly then I remember them being," Derek smiled.

A soft snore interrupted their conversation, ending it there. They both turned to look back at the sight they had walked in on only moments before.

The boys were piled together on the floor; sound asleep in front of the TV that was still running the Ellis Grey surgery, on mute. Beth was on one side of the couch, also asleep, with her head resting on Meredith's thigh. And Meredith, who took up the rest of the couch, had her head on a pillow and an arm securely around a slumbering Leah. She was also the one who was snoring.

Shocking.

Derek smiled again as he stared at her.

"You really love her, don't you?"

Derek turned to his sister, who was looking at him.

"I've never seen you this happy before," Kathy told him before continuing, "I mean, I've seen you happy before, but nothing like this."

He didn't even try to hold back his smile. He did that whenever Meredith was even mentioned. "Yeah," was all he could say though.

"Yeah, well, good luck with the aftermath." Kathy grinned as she made her way into the living room and lifted one of the twins into her arms. He stirred slightly before opening his eyes and quickly shutting them again.

"Hi, Mommy," he mumbled into Kathy's neck.

"Hi, Robbie," she replied, "did you have a good time today?"

"Un huh," he yawned, "we played games, and went to the park, and Aunt Meredith let us played surgeons."

"Oh really," Kathy said as their wardrobe suddenly made sense.

The boy yawned again. "We goed now?"

"Yes we're going now."

Derek lifted Beth from Meredith's side as Kathy took her son out to their awaiting rental car. He noticed Meredith tense as the chill from her human blanket was removed and with one hand pulled a real blanket from the back of the couch on top of her.

Beth stirred slightly from the movement and wrapped her arms around Derek's neck, but remained asleep. As he took her out to the car, Kathy went back in to retrieve her other boy.

After several trips back and forth, carrying both children and luggage, Derek and Kathleen found themselves standing over their last obstacle.

"Look at the grip she has around Leah." Kathy said as she leaned in slightly over Meredith.

"I know," Derek signed, "and Mer's not a light sleeper. Completely dead weight."

Kathy chuckled softly as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Do you really need her back?" Derek playfully asked his sister.

"Yeah, I kind of like her," she laughed again. "And I don't think her father would be too happy if I didn't bring her back."

"Right," Derek smiled as he nodded,

"I don't know though, I doubt you're going to be able to get her away without waking Meredith."

"Well you won't let me keep her," he chuckled, "If Mer does wake, she'll just fall back to sleep anyway. I'll probably have to carry her up to bed."

Kathy chuckled softly. "Alright, then you can pry her away."

"Thanks," Derek responded with a humorous glare.

"Just… lift her arm away."

They both leaned in slightly as Derek did what he was told. Instead of allowing him to raise her arm, though, Meredith only tightened her grip around the child.

"Well that didn't work."

"I'm not surprised. Try getting up at 5am," Derek sighed. "It takes at least fifteen minutes to convince her to let go."

"Why don't you just wake her up? You agreed that she'd just wake up anyway. At least I'd get my daughter back that way."

They both shared a laugh as Derek nodded his agreement. As he knelt to the ground, however, he noticed he wasn't staring at two sleeping forms. "Hi, Leah," he smiled softly to the infant.

Leah grumbled something completely incoherent before stretching both her little arms straight out. "Ups!" she said. "Me ups!"

Derek laughed again as he grabbed Leah from under her shoulders and slid her from Meredith's grasp. Leah wrapped herself around Derek's neck as he watched Meredith pull her arm tight against her body, trying to fill the cold, empty space.

"Me!" Leah screeched into Derek's ear when she noticed her mother standing at her side.

"Someone's talkative." Kathy smiled as she took Leah from her brother. "Hi little Leah."

Leah ignored her mom and instead began to play with the necklace that sat on her neck.

"Did you have fun today?" she asked the tot.

Leah responded with a bunch of gibberish nonsense before ending with, "quishy bye-bye."

Kathy nodded. "Well, okay," she laughed, not having a clue to whatever Leah had just said. "We should get going, though," she told Derek before turning back to Leah. "Want to say bye-bye to your Uncle Derek?"

Leah replied with gibberish once more and put her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I'll take what I can get." Derek smiled as he kissed Leah on her forehead, "Bye Leah."

She waved slightly as Kathy turned to face Derek. "Alight. Bye, baby brother," Kathy smirked as she wrapped her free arm around him. "And thanks for everything. Tell Meredith thanks, too. You know, considering you did ditch her and all."

"Hey," Derek replied, feigning hurt.

Kathy giggled. "Bye, Derek."

As Kathy walked out the door, Derek felt an overwhelming sadness wash over. He stood in the hallway and looked around at the leftover toys his sister decided to leave behind- for next time.

Next time.

He was saddened that he couldn't be there with them today. He missed his family a great deal living on the opposite side of the country. Every moment he got to spend with them he considered precious.

Derek slid his hands into his pockets and solemnly walked back into the living room.

And he couldn't help the smile that grew when he looked down as his sleeping girlfriend.

He always smiled even at the thought of her; she was more precious to him than anything else. And he was more than proud of her for taking control today and not hiding away.

"Meredith," he called as he stood over her.

She didn't move. Maybe he really was going to have to carry her to bed.

"Mer," he said again as he bent down to her level. He reached out and tucked a bit of her falling hair behind her ear and her eyes slowly opened. "Hey," he spoke softly.

She closed her eyes and stretched in place before sighing and cracking her eyelids open yet again. "Hi," she choked out. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to bed," he smiled.

Meredith lifted her head and looked at the room, finally realizing where she was. "I'm on the couch."

"Yeah," Derek chuckled. "Everyone's gone."

And then she remembered why she was on the couch; suddenly she felt wide-awake.

"Stop laughing," she snapped. Which only made Derek laugh again. "You are not allowed to laugh. You're in trouble," she told him as she sat up more.

"Mer…"

"No. Derek. You're in so much trouble."

"Meredith…"

"You're not getting away with this."

Derek sighed again. "Mer, come on."

Meredith chucked the blanket off and got to her feet, standing on the couch, making sure to tower over him. "Do you have any idea what I've been through today?" she began her rant, "My house is broken, my brain has been fried, and I'm so freaking tired it's insane. I had more energy doing my 48 hour shifts than I did chasing those kids all day."

Derek smirked. He knew he should keep his mouth shut, but he found her adorable when she was angry. "You have enough energy to yell at me," he said. "Why don't we use that energy elsewhere?" he added as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ohhh," she groaned as she climbed from the couch and shoved her finger in his face. "I don't think so, Loverboy. You don't get rewarded for stranding me here alone so you can just get that out of your head right now."

"It's always in my head," he said seriously as he looked at her with his dreamy eyes.

Normally she would have fallen for his look. He knew it was a weakness. But right now she was wired only to yell. "Today has been hell. Do you realize that?" she asked him as she looked away.

"Mer, were they really that bad? I mean seriously?"

"Yes!" she yelled, almost as if it were a natural instinct. "Well. No… They weren't awful but they weren't great, either. It's hard. I mean really, really hard," she told him as she felt herself calming a bit, "I don't know what I'm doing. I was never taught this stuff. You were. You were, and you left me here. Alone."

"Meredith. You did fine with them."

He could almost feel her rolling her eyes at him. "How would you know?"

"Because I saw the kids when I came home. Everyone one of them still had all their fingers and toes. They were breathing perfectly fine, and resting peacefully." Derek took a step closer, wanting to fill the gap between them, wanting to fill his void of longing for his family. "Meredith, you did fine, just as I thought you would." He wrapped his arms around her and was grateful when he felt her arms embrace him in return. "I know your mom wasn't around much, and you feel clueless with all this stuff, I get it, I do… but…" He shrugged as his head shook back and fourth. "You're a natural."

"Seriously?" She eyed him as if he were crazy, causing him to chuckle yet again.

"Alright, you may not have the social skills part with kids down yet, but the caring thing you do." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger for a few extra moments before pulling away slightly. "You are not your mother," he told her. "You can never be your mother because you have a caring instinct that she never did."

"She was a doctor," Meredith argued, "of course she cared."

"She cared for her patients, she was programmed for that, but she somehow misplaced the family gene."

"Well, I definitely didn't inherit anything family related from my father, so I couldn't possibly…"

"You got it from you," he told her, the statement forcing her to finally look into the eyes she tried to avoid. "You are not your parents," he told her again, trying to drill it in her mind.

Meredith stared into his eyes. She always felt safe when she looked into his eyes, but this time she felt something more. She felt something unlike never before.

She felt home.

"Okay," she finally said.

"Okay," he repeated with a small smile. "Mer?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it safe to ask about the cuffs now?" He tried hard not to laugh, failing when her eyes widened and she pulled her wrist into eyesight.

"You've got some carpentry to do," she told him with a glare.

He laughed again. "What happened?"

She pulled away from him completely. "I told you today was torture." She dangled the cuff for him to see again.

He chuckled again.

She gave him a shove. "Stop laughing!" she said.

"I'm sorry, Mer." He steadied his balance. "But… Did they like… lock you up somewhere?" He asked, the humor still evident in his voice.

"We couldn't find the key," she told him, still glaring.

Derek laughed as he stepped away and over to a cabinet in the living room. He returned seconds later holding up a safety pin. "You're avoiding the question, Mer."

"I'm not… avoiding."

"Then how did you end up cuffed?" He pulled a reluctant Meredith towards him and made her lift her wrist to him. "Gift for me?" He smirked again.

She tried to pull away, but he could tell she was holding back a smile. "No," was all she said as he jiggled the safety pin in the lock and removed the cuffs from her wrist.

He held them up with a smile.

"Whatever," she grumbled.

"Come on," he wined, "tell me."

"Tell you what?" she sarcastically asked. "How I was almost beaten to death by a stroller? Or how I was cornered by my sister at the park? Or did you just want to tell me how I suddenly became "aunt" Meredith to those kids, huh?"

"Well…" Derek stood back a little dumbfounded. "I was just kind of curious about the handcuffs, but…"

"They colored all over my wall," she blurted.

Derek sighed. "I'll repaint it," he told her.

"And they beheaded Izzie's teddy bear."

"We're surgeons," he smirked, trying hard not to find that funny. "It can be fixed."

"And I probably have a perforated eardrum from all the wailing Leah did."

"Oh Mer," he responded in a coddling tone as he kissed her ear. "Let me make it up to you." He kissed her again.

"You're not getting sex," she told him.

He moved lower, kissing her neck.

"You just can't kiss your way out of this, you know."

"I know." He kissed her neck again.

"And you can't just… You can't…" Her voice faded away as his lips moved to the opposite side of her neck.

She leaned into him, but her senses kicked in moments later and she pushed him away. "Derek, no."

He pulled her hair ever so slightly, extending her neck, and he kissed her again. "No?"

"Oh…" Meredith moaned as her eyelids suddenly became heavy.

"Mer," he breathed into her ear.

And then she snapped out of it. "Derek. No."

"Mer," he breathed again, sounding more defeated then anything.

"No, Derek. I'm mad at you. You don't get sex when I'm mad at you."

Derek smirked as he bent his head and kissed her; unsurprised when he felt her go weak in the knees, and unsurprised when she deepened it.

"I'm not after sex," he told her when they finally broke apart for air, "I just want to make it up to you. I'll do anything you want."

She kissed him this time. "You'll repaint my wall?"

He kissed her in return. "Saturday when I'm off."

"You'll... let me pick the next movie we see?"

Derek chuckled before kissing her again. "Don't I always give in anyway when we go?"

Meredith giggled softly. "True," she nodded.

It was the first time she had giggled since they had started this conversation and he hadn't realized how much he had missed it until now. He loved the sound of her giggle. He loved it even more when he was the cause that brought it on. "I wanted to be here with you today."

"I know," she sighed. "I guess… I mean, I know I'm not mad at you. I'm just mad about what you did; what you had to do."

"I get that," he told her with a sigh. "I'm sorry I left." He leaned in and hovered his lips in front of hers. "I would have loved staying here with you and those kids," he said as he pulled back a bit. "But I will make it up to you, I promise."

Derek was slightly surprised when she kissed him, but he was not about to protest by any means.

"I just hope I didn't do any damage to them," Meredith said as they pulled apart.

"Meredith, they're fine. And you should be, too." Derek told her. "You were wonderful with them this morning when I was here."

"Yeah, but that was when you were here. Then you left me remember?" she said it as a statement while she crossed her arms, creating a barrier. "We were fine until you left. Then I had to be in charge. Then I had to make sure their limbs remained intact and that they didn't fall in a well or something."

"What?" Derek questioned, laughing, but she ignored him and continued on.

"I'm not good with all that."

"You're fine with all that," he tried to reassure her.

"You don't know that." She looked to the floor and he could tell she had a bit of shame on her face. He honestly felt bad for her. He knew she was wonderful with the kids, that she was a natural despite how she had been raised. What he wasn't sure of, though, was how he was suppose to get his point across and make her see that she really was amazing.

But before another word could be said, they both turned suddenly when they heard the floor creak in the entranceway followed by an, "oh."

"Oh, Good. You're up," Kathy said as she shifted her weight, holding a child in her arms.

"Kathy…" Derek said slightly confused.

"Sorry to just barge in, but the door was still unlocked and I didn't want to ring the bell incase you were sleeping… But you're awake, so… Good."

Meredith stared at the women before her. The almost-rambling women who looked a hundred times more laid back and down to earth as she was now wearing a navy blue tracksuit and flats and had her hair pulled up in a ponytail.

She still looked fashionable, of course, but definitely more of a comfortable style than Meredith had seen her in earlier in the day.

"We only got a few blocks away before Matty woke up. He wouldn't stop crying because he didn't get to say goodbye to his Aunt Meredith."

"Oh, Matthew." Meredith moved across the space and took a willing Matthew from his mother. She held him up so they were face to face and she could still see the tear marks down his cheeks. "Don't cry, buddy," she told him.

"I goin' miss you," the boy replied in a whisper as he looked down at his hands.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Meredith matched the smile that crossed his face at her statement. "I know I live far away from you, but you can call me if you want to. And you can talk to me that way."

"Really?" Matthew smiled brightly.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, really. And If I don't answer, you can leave a message even. That way I can call you back."

"Okay!" Matthew said now completely ecstatic. "Come on, Mommy!" He turned in Meredith's arms to face his mother. "Let's go home so I can call Aunt Meredith!"

Kathy smiled as well, grateful that her little boy was no longer upset. "Thanks Meredith," she said softly as she took the boy from her.

Meredith smiled gently in return. "Yeah," she squeaked.

"Hey, what about me?" Derek pouted.

Matthew laughed. "Bye, Uncle Derek."

"No hug?" he continued to pout as he extended his arms.

Matthew smiled and reached his own arms out.

"Oh I get it," Derek said, pretending to be mad at Matthew, "You'll go to Aunt Meredith but I have to come to you. I see how it is."

Matthew laughed again as he wrapped his arms around Derek. "She's pretty," Matthew told him shyly.

He knew Meredith was blushing without having to even look at her. "Excellent point," he told his nephew before turning to Meredith and winking at her, causing her to blush even more.

"Ok, ready to go, Matthew?" Kathy asked as she snuggled her son against her.

"Yup!" he said cheerfully.

"Alright. Maybe we'll at least get to the hotel now," Kathy laughed.

Derek laughed in return. "Drive safe," he told her and kissed her cheek and ruffled Matthew's hair.

"Bye, guys," Kathy said as she once again walked to the door.

"Bye, Aunt Meredith!" Matthew waved over Kathy's shoulder. "I call you later!"

Meredith smiled and waved.

As soon as the door was shut, Meredith felt his arms wrap around her from behind and his chin make contact with her shoulder. "I won't say I told you so," he whispered into her ear.

"Derek…" she sighed.

"Meredith, you can't tell me now that you don't believe me. If that wasn't proof…"

"They probably only liked me because I let them get away with things."

"Mer," Derek chuckled. "You don't let me get away with things. I still like you," he smiled, and laughed even harder when she elbowed him and wiggled from his grasp. "Ow." He smiled as he rubbed his rib cage, making sure to make a big show out of it.

"I barely touched you, you big baby."

Derek continued to rub his ribs. "Admit it, Meredith."

"Admit what? It was a tiny little nudge," she said.

"No," Derek responded. "Admit that you are not a failure. That you are no where near being a failure," he stepped forward, "and admit that those kids loved you."

She crossed her arms.

"Meredith, admit it." He stepped forward again. She took a step back, and he laughed. "Mer…" He wrapped his arms around her, forcing her to stay put.

She sighed, shifted her weight, and said just above a whisper, "Fine."

Derek smiled, relieved that he could convince her. Finally. "Meredith, say the words."

She sighed again. "Fine. I'm not a failure."

"And…"

"And what?" Meredith asked. "I said it, now leave me alone."

Derek laughed. "Mer." He kissed her quick. "Come on."

"Fine. I'm not a failure and… I um. I'm okay… with kids," she said. "There. Satisfied?"

He laughed again. "You're wonderful with kids, and yes, I'm satisfied. With that anyway." He kissed her neck and ran his hands tightly down her sides.

"Hey, what did I say about being mad at you and the whole no sex thing?"

"I thought we established you're not mat at me, only at the situation. And we did have a fight."

"And I'm mad."

"But not at me," he said with a smirk. "Make up sex," he added with his brows raised.

Meredith felt her shoulders drop. She knew she had lost the battle. He won.

He always won.

"I hate you," she sighed shaking her head.

"Yeah, right," Derek said as he leaned in and kissed her.

"No… Seriously…" She moaned and ran her hands through his hair.

"Seriously," he moaned in return.

"Seriously… Enjoy the couch." Meredith smirked against his lips before pulling away and walking towards the staircase, leaving a rather stunned- and turned on- Derek standing in the hallway.

He was in a daze. It took him a moment to realize what she said- and that she actually left him.

Left him standing there.

"Mer…" he whimpered, unable to move.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at him.

He looked like a sad little puppy.

Meredith cocked her head. "Well if you're going to cry about it…"

"I'm not crying," he defended before allowing a smile to play at his lips. "Begging, yes, but not crying."

She couldn't help but laugh. She really didn't want him on the couch; she wanted him wrapped around her. She loved sharing a bed with him and always left lousy whenever one of them had to stay a night at the hospital, but she wasn't about to cave. He had to suffer at least a little bit.

"I know you can't sleep without me," he smirked. He smirked as if he knew that was exactly her debate- then smiled sweetly. "I know I can't sleep without you," he told her seriously.

Meredith thought for a moment before allowing a tight smile to stretch her face and she climbed a few steps. "Well I know another little guy I can call up. I don't need you. I bet he'd come cuddle with his Aunt Meredith." She continued to climb the stairs, smirking at him.

Derek was yet again in disbelief. His anxiety quickly faded away as he realized that was her way of revoking his sentence on the couch. He laughed before yelling, "I don't think so!" and ran after her.

Meredith laughed in return as she bolted up the rest of the stairs- with him trailing after.

He caught her at the top and wrapped his arms around her. "You're mine." He told her before kissing her deep once again.

Meredith sighed as they pulled away from each other. "Only yours," she confirmed. "Thank you, Derek."

"You are amazing," he said in return before kissing her deeply.

They worked their way towards the bedroom and Meredith couldn't help but feel a hundred times lighter. Even though the day had been stressful and covered obstacle after obstacle, she was glad she went through it. And she was glad she had Derek to calm her in the end.

They smiled to each other once more and he kissed her again. They broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other, trying to get their needed air.

Meredith closed her eyes and shifted her forehead to his lips. "It was a good memory day," she whispered softly before looking into his smiling eyes and kissing him again.

OK. Well that's the end :) I hope you all liked it and thanks so much for your reviews. More would be incredibly awesome. haha. Sorry the update took so long but it's nearing the end of the semester and unfortunately I had to live in reality for a while. The epilogue is rather short so hopefully I'll have it up next weekend, but no guarantees- due to finals and all that wonderful stuff. Thanks again for all your support, though. I have several other stories in the works and a few oneshots, so more will come :)

Once again, reviews would would be awesome!