A/N: So, here's the last of the fluffy chapters for a while. I hope you're all still with me, and that you continue to read and review, but after this chapter, MerDer are going to hit a major roadblock, so enjoy the happiness while it lasts

Chapter 26

November: Carolyn's Point of View

Carolyn wandered into the living room holding Caitlyn, Liz's first child and Carolyn's ninth grandchild. She looked absentmindedly out the window, looking for Derek and his wife, who had long ago become like another daughter to Carolyn. For some reason, the two of them were always the last to arrive at any family dinner or holiday, and this Thanksgiving would apparently be no different. She shook her head and smiled as she thought of Derek and Meredith. They were a wonderful couple, and Meredith had been a great addition to the family when Derek brought her home. She made Derek unbelievably happy, and for that, Carolyn would always be grateful.

The sight of headlights pulling into the driveway caused Carolyn to pause by the window, watching the scene unfold. Derek opened his car door quickly and ran around to the other side to open Meredith's door for her. Taking her hand, the two walked slowly up the walkway, laughing and smiling. Carolyn did not miss the look that passed between the two; they stared at each other as if they were the only two in the world, and she had never seen a couple look at each other in such a way before. Snapping out of her spying, Carolyn moved to the front door, Caitlyn still in her arms.

She swung the door open just as Derek was about to knock. "Well, it's about time you two showed up," Carolyn said, pulling Derek into a one armed hug and kissing his cheek before doing the same with Meredith.

"Sorry Mom," Derek said, looking at her sheepishly. "There was traffic."

"Yeah, uh, lots and lots of traffic," Meredith piped in, stammering slightly.

Carolyn appraised the two of them, and she felt herself slowly begin to smile. Derek's hair was not as kempt or tamed as he usually kept it. It seemed a little more frazzled, like it looked when he just got out of bed or when he was younger and didn't know how to style his hair yet. Meredith's skin was slightly flushed, and the bottom of her dress appeared to be wrinkled; she seemed almost disheveled. She knew that it wasn't traffic that had held Derek or Meredith up, but she decided not to say anything. Any mention of their sex life would certainly turn Meredith's face a shade similar to that of a tomato before she fled the house in embarrassment.

"Well, it's no bother," Carolyn opted to say instead. "Dinner is almost ready; I just have to put some finishing touches on some things."

"Derek, look at Caitlyn," Meredith said, reaching for the tiny four month old infant in Carolyn's arms. "Look how big she's gotten!"

As they moved into the house, Derek put his arm around Meredith's shoulder, leaning in to look at his niece. The baby was a Shepherd; Carolyn had no doubts about that. A layer of thin, black hair covered the infant's head, and she had blue eyes, the signature trademark of the family. Meredith smiled down at the baby, her voice becoming high pitched as she babbled to Caitlyn about how pretty she was. Derek was simply smiling down at her, his left hand running gently over her head and down her arm to her hand, Caitlyn's tiny fingers gripping Derek's much larger index fingers as she stared at Meredith and Derek with rapt attention.

The three of them looked like an image out of a commercial or a holiday card. They looked like such a perfect little family, if Carolyn hadn't been in the hospital while Liz was giving birth, she might have thought that Caitlyn was Derek and Meredith's child. All of Carolyn's children looked alike, and with Caitlyn following that trend, she could easily be passed as Derek's child. Meredith shifted Caitlyn into Derek's arms slowly and gently so that Derek could have a turn to hold her. Derek held her with one hand, his other arm shifting to Meredith's waist to pull her closer to him. Meredith wrapped one arm around Derek's shoulders and placed her other hand against his chest, both still smiling and talking to Caitlyn. They would be perfect parents, Carolyn firmly believed that.

As Carolyn watched the three for another minute, she studied Derek's face. He didn't look just happy or enamored by the baby as Meredith had, but his face was filled with desire, and wanting. Derek wanted a baby, Carolyn was sure of it. She would have to find a way to ask him about it later.

"Alright you two," Carolyn said, breaking the moment as Meredith and Derek looked up simultaneously. "Why don't you come into the family room with me and share Caitlyn with her parents?"

"I guess that would be only fair," Meredith giggled, stepping in front of Derek, who was still holding the baby.

"Yeah, we should see everyone else," Derek sighed, though it was apparent that he wouldn't mind just spending time with only Meredith and Caitlyn.

As they entered the family room, Liz looked up from her conversation with Nancy. "Oh there she is!" Liz exclaimed, reaching for Caitlyn and taking her out of Derek's arms. "I was worried she had been kidnapped or something.

"No, she was just enjoying spending quality time with Uncle Derek and Aunt Meredith, weren't you Caitlyn?" Derek said, looking down at Caitlyn and smiling again. "She looks great Liz."

"I know, she's getting so big, soon she'll be walking and it'll terrify me," Liz said and Caitlyn began to fuss in her arms.

"Derek dear, can you come help me with something in the kitchen?" Carolyn called from the other end of the room. She watched Derek look to Meredith, as if to make sure she was alright. He always did that when he left a room or was leaving Meredith alone for a while to talk to someone. It must be some sort of instinct to make sure she was comfortable and happy. He is just so protective of her, Carolyn thought happily as Derek nodded to her and headed for the kitchen.

"Caitlyn is just precious isn't she?" Carolyn said as she handed Derek the squash to dish into a large bowl.

"Yeah, she is" Derek responded, a wistful expression flitting across his face.

"You would make a great father," Carolyn said, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah?" Derek asked, looking up hopefully. "You think so?"

"I know so," Carolyn replied firmly. "Have you and Meredith talked about having kids at all?"

"A little," Derek nodded. "She says she wants them, but she wants to wait a while, because right now wouldn't be the most convenient time. And I don't blame her, she shouldn't have to jeopardize her career or put it on whole because I want a baby now."

"So you want one soon?" Carolyn pressed.

"Well yeah," Derek said after a minute. "I'm old enough, and I'm almost where I want to be in my career, and I feel ready, but Meredith isn't. She's still in school, and she at least wants to be done with her internship before we try again. At least she's skipping a year of Med School, so hopefully we'll be able to talk about it again in another two or three years."

"I don't mean to sound rude, or to offend you," Carolyn continued. "Because I think that your plans are reasonable and well thought out, but what if this plan isn't perfect? Life is messy, and accidents happen; what will you do then?"

Carolyn watched Derek's facial expression change as he thought about this. First Carolyn saw a flash of hope which was quickly replaced by a look of pain before becoming impassive.

"Uhmm, I don't know," Derek stuttered. "We would have to talk about it, but it will be something that Meredith and I would handle if we came to this."

XXXXXX

Christmas- Meredith's Point of View

"It's going to be fine."

"No Derek, it is not going to be fine!" Meredith snapped as she ran a cloth over the coffee table in the living room. "My mother is coming!"

"But isn't that a good thing? I mean she wants to spend Christmas with you. That's a positive improvement right?"

"Yes, in theory, it was nice that she finally cared enough to invite herself over. But in reality, this is terrifying. She's never been here before, so I bet she'll have a ton of great things to say about our tiny apartment. God, why did I say yes?"

"First of all, our apartment is not tiny," Derek called from the kitchen, where he was cooking a ham. "Second of all, you said yes because she's your mother."

"Not a good enough reason," Meredith mumbled as she finished straightening up the living room. At that moment, their doorbell buzzed, causing Meredith to jump up. "Crap! She's here!"

"Well then go let her in," Derek laughed as he moved from the kitchen into the hallway.

"Do not laugh!" Meredith hissed. "This is not funny, this was a mistake."

Meredith crossed the hall in three steps, and slowly opened the door. Ellis Grey stood stiffly in the doorway, wearing a black wool coat and a pair of gray slacks, and looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Hello Meredith," Ellis said as she stepped into the entryway. "Derek."

"Hi Mom," Meredith said cautiously, obviously trying to gauge her mother's mood.

"Doctor Grey," Derek said, stepping forward. "Let me take your coat. How was the trip down?"

"It was fine," Ellis said. Meredith took Ellis on a brief tour of their apartment, which Ellis was surprisingly positive about. She made no negative comments of the size, or wall color, or furniture, which really through Meredith for a loop. Ellis did, however, drill Meredith on med school; her experiences, classes and professors.

"Well, you are only in your second year of medical school, I'm sure it will get more difficult as you continue," Ellis' response to Meredith's statement that her classes were not as difficult as she expected.

"Actually Mom," Meredith said, her gaze falling on Derek quickly. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she continued. "Since I took some classes at NYU over the summer when I was an undergrad, and because I became an LNA to work at the hospital, the Dean of Columbia said that I had enough credits to graduate a year early. So I'm technically a third year med student, and I just finished my clinical rotation in pediatrics, and I'll be doing a surgical rotation next semester."

Ellis stared at her daughter for a minute, appearing to study her, and Meredith couldn't help but swallow nervously. She felt her face becoming hot, and she was expecting her mother to begin criticizing her for something, anything. She was beginning to think that Ellis would not see this as a sign of Meredith's intelligence, but rather her laziness and would believe that Meredith was cutting corners and not getting a full medical education.

Much to Meredith's surprise, a slow smile spread across Ellis' face, and it was the first time Meredith could recall her mother really smiling like that.

"Well, that is just wonderful!" Ellis exclaimed looking brightly at Meredith. "Very extraordinary. You must have a gift for medicine."

Meredith had never heard her mother praise her before, she had always condemned Meredith if she didn't do well or was apathetic if Meredith did well in anything. Warmth seeped through Meredith at her mother's words; she never realized how badly she sought her mother's approval until she actually had it, and it felt wonderful. She felt tears well in her eyes, overcome with emotion and joy in the fact that her mother finally recognized all of Meredith's hard work and achievement. She turned to Derek, beaming, and he grinned back at her, unable to hide his pride in her.

"I'm sure you'll go on to do wonderful things, not like Meredith," Ellis continued, staring straight ahead.

Meredith's stomach plummeted at those words; her mother wasn't proud of her. She didn't think that Meredith was extraordinary or would go on to do great things. Though all of the happiness bled out Meredith quicker than it rushed in, rather than be replaced by sadness, Meredith was just confused. Her mother was speaking to her as if she wasn't in the room, as if she was talking to someone else.

"Mom?" Meredith said cautiously, reaching out her hand and gently placing it on Ellis' wrist. "What are you talking about? I'm Meredith."

Ellis blinked sharply a few times, her gaze shifting back to Meredith, as if she hadn't realized she was there. "What?" Ellis said, her voice clipped. "Oh right, Meredith. Good job, you seem to be doing wonderfully with Medical School. I'm glad you are putting the effort in."

"Thanks Mom," Meredith said quietly as Derek stood up.

"Well, I believe that dinner is ready if everyone is hungry," Derek said, urging everyone into the kitchen to sit at the table.

The dinner passed quickly and smoothly. It was quiet; there wasn't much conversation, which Meredith didn't mind, grateful for the fact that Ellis wasn't being overly critical. In fact, Ellis was downright pleasant, though she did seem a little spacey. Ellis sometimes appeared to be off in her own world until Derek or Meredith prompted her.

About two hours later, the dinner had ended, and Ellis was getting ready to leave.

"Mom, are you sure you don't want to stay overnight?" Meredith asked as Ellis pulled on her coat. "We have a pull out couch in Derek's office, you can stay here and sleep there if you want."

"No, no," Ellis said, buttoning up her coat quickly. "I have an early surgery tomorrow morning, so I must get back to Boston tonight."

"I thought you said you had a surgery in the afternoon, not the morning?" Derek interjected.

"Oh, did I?" Ellis responded, thinking hard. "I must have been mistaken. I will have to check my schedule when I get home, and I really must be going." With that, Ellis pulled Meredith into an unexpected hug.

"Merry Christmas Mom," Meredith said as she pulled away.

"Merry Christmas Meredith. Goodbye Derek," she nodded to the couple.

"Goodbye Doctor Grey," Derek said, and Ellis soon departed.

Derek lopped his arms around Meredith's waist and pulled her backwards to his chest. "See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" he said softly into her hair.

"No," Meredith admitted. "But she was acting strange. It's like she didn't know me for a minute. It was weird."

"Yeah," Derek agreed. "But she said that she was proud of you, that must have been nice to hear." He kissed the top of her head, and Meredith spun around in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Yeah, it was," she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly on the lips. "I'm kind of in the mood for bubble bath, wanna join me?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Derek laughed as he pulled her towards the bathroom.

XXXXXX

March- Izzie's Point of View

Izzie looked over at her clock. "Crap!" she said out loud, immediately reaching for her phone. Today was Meredith's twenty fourth birthday, and she had been meaning to call her all day. But Izzie had been having problems with Alex recently, and it had taken over her thoughts. It was now seven o'clock in Washington, which meant that it was ten at night in New York. That's not too late, Izzie thought. Meredith will still be awake. Maybe she can help me figure out what to do about Alex.

She dialed Meredith's number quickly and waited while it rang. It rang three times, and still no answer. Maybe she's asleep, after all, it is a Thursday.

The phone was answered on the fifth ring. However, no one greeted her right away; but she could distinctly hear the voices of Derek and Meredith.

Meredith, do not answer that phone!

But it's Izzie! She's probably calling to wish me happy birthday!

Meredith, you seriously cannot answer the phone right now. We're-

I know what we're doing, and if you want to continue, I suggest you shut up.

I should never have let you drink that much.

"Shut up! Hi Iz!" Meredith's voice came through the phone, out of breath and a little high pitched. This was Meredith's drunk voice, and Izzie knew it would be an interesting phone call.

"Hey Mer!" Izzie said. "Happy Birthday! I'm sorry, I meant to call earlier, but Alex and I got into a fight so it kind of distracted me."

"Don't worry about it," Meredith said, still panting. "Derek," she heard Meredith hiss, her voice quiet, as though she had pulled away from the phone. "Stop moving!"

I can't! Izzie heard Derek say, or rather whine, or moan. You try not moving when you're in this position.

Well, figure out how to stop.

You never should have answered the phone.

She is my friend! I haven't seen her in months, and we haven't talked in like two weeks!

And you thought now was the opportune time.

"Mer!" Izzie shouted, trying to get her friends attention.

"Oh yeah!" Izzie heard more shuffling as Meredith placed the phone back against her ear. "What's up Izzie?"

"Er, I was just wondering how your day was?"

"It was great! I had class, and then Sadie and Addison took me out for some drinks, and then-Oh Derek!" Meredith suddenly stopped speaking, her words ending in a moan as she said Derek's name.

"Mer? Are you alright?" Izzie asked.

"Perfect," Meredith gasped. "Then Derek took me out to dinner. -Oh!- And he got me this really nice bracelet-God! And then he..mmmm… took me to the bar where we met, and I drank some more and played darts, and here we are." Meredith seemed to be growing more and more out of breath, and Izzie was getting more confused as their conversation continued. "So, what's new with you Iz?" Meredith asked, and Izzie could here Derek groan in the background. However, Izzie really wanted Meredith's advice, drunk or sober, so she launched into a tirade about what an ass Alex was being about the whole long distance relationship situation. Meredith continued to moan, whine, and make weird comments until Izzie couldn't take it anymore. She understood that Meredith might have been drinking, but this doesn't explain this weird behavior.

"Uh, Mer?" Izzie asked.

"Yes," Meredith half asked, half moaned.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, talking to you?"

"No, you aren't just talking to me, I can hear Derek in the background, what are you two doing?" Izzie demanded.

"We are not doing anything," Meredith insisted. "Right now."

Great, Izzie thought. "Well, what were you doing?"

"Um, we may have been having sex," Meredith admitted sheepishly.

Maybe have been having sex? Derek's voice filled the phone, and he was obviously positioned very close to Meredith. Suddenly, everything fell into place, and Izzie felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment despite the fact that she was three thousand miles away. We were not finished having sex, we were right in the middle, we still are right in the middle-

"Meredith!" Izzie exclaimed, cutting off Derek's rant. "Are you having sex with Derek while on the phone with me?"
"Not intentionally. We were having sex, but I told him to stop moving so I could talk to you. Though apparently, he is not so good at following the stop moving directions." Meredith sounded perfectly rational, which was a testament to how drunk she really was if she thought that made sense.

"But Mer, why would you answer the phone?"

"Because you're my friend, and I miss you," Meredith said simply, and Izzie was touched by her kind words.

Alright, this is ending now, Izzie heard Derek say, and she heard shuffling on the other end of the phone.

"Izzie?" Derek's voice filled her ear.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Listen, we appreciate you calling to wish Meredith a happy birthday, but we were in the middle of some pretty decent, mind blowing sex here, and I would really like to get back to it. I'll make sure Meredith calls you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Izzie said, and with that, she heard a click as Derek hung up on her.

Izzie shuddered, but couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief. She could not believe that Meredith had actually answered the phone during sex. No one and nothing ever interrupted Meredith and Derek while they were having sex, Izzie knew; she had been Meredith's roommate for two years. She had never thought that she would ever have to hear Meredith and Derek having sex again; apparently she was wrong.