Disclaimer: same old story, folks

I kinda had a crappy day today, so I thought, what could make me feel better than posting a new chapter? So here we are.

The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe is a great song, believe me. Painfully realistic and soft all at the same time. Worth a listen.

This is from Derek's PoV and there's another time span, but it's all explained. The title in the scroll menu is shortened and doesn't make much sense, I already know that, I'm sorry, but I'm picking titles way too long. Cutting the initial rambling, enjoy the chapter and make me even happier reviewing!

Part 7 – We Fell Through The Ice When We Tried Not To Slip

What are days for?

Days are where we live.

They come, they wake us

Time and time over.

They're to be happy in:

Where can we live but days?

Philipp Larkin

March rolled over February in a blink of the eye. Seattle's chill was slowly warming up and we were able to leave home when the sun was already up. The holidays rush at the hospital was over and everything seemed muffled, waiting to blossom just like spring.

I was beginning my rounds when my phone rang in my pocket.

"Addison?"

"Hey Derek" her tone was urgent, hurried, like she was off to surgery or something. Then I placed all the pieces together.

"Oh God, Amy"

"She's fine. She's in labor. She asked me to call you after a while and tell you she's gonna be fine but I ignored her" she giggled

"I'm coming over immediately"

"Tell them I asked you for a consult and bring Meredith as a façade resident"

"Damn, this is good. Maybe Richard will give me an helicopter as well" I heard her chuckle

"If you tell him the whole story, maybe"

"Thank you for taking care of her, I owe you one"

"We're more than even, Derek, believe me"

"See you there"

"Bye Derek!"

I immediately paged Meredith to the nurses' station. She looked at me concerned as I practically run there.

"What's going on?"

"It's Amelia, she's having the baby" I said almost breathless. A small smile appeared on her lips

"You're flying there today?"

"I wanna ask Richard for an helicopter. If it doesn't work Addison told me to pretend it's a consult for her. You're coming over, right?"

"Of course. I'm going home to pack a few things then we can go, ok?"

"Thank you." I kissed her softly and she began to walk away, muttering an almost inaudible "Helicopter" to herself, chuckling.

Before she was too far I remembered to ask her "Do you know where Richard is?"

"He has surgery at 9, I had to scrub in with him"

"I'm calling him" I needed to leave immediately

"Derek, calm down, everything's all right, she's not going anywhere"

"I have to be with her"

"You'll be with her. Just wait for the Chief. And breathe" she leaned in and kissed me softly, before walking away for real to go home.

I found the Chief half an hour later, walking in the building, after I searched the whole hospital, hoping for his early arrival.

"Richard!" I called through the lobby

He walked closer with a smile. "'Morning Shepherd"

"I need to go to LA" I blurted

"Why? True story, I know you have something already planned" he smirked. He knows me too well to not notice.

"Amy, my little sister, is having her first child" I hurried

"I can give you a couple of days off starting tomorrow"

"She's alone. No father. None in my family knows or they will be already booking flights and hovering. Please, she's my little sister"

"Shepherd"

"You want the plan? Addison needs a Neuro consult on a case" I throw my ace

"Fine. Go. That's what I'll write in the report for the helicopter" he shook his head with a smile

"How do you know I was about to ask you that?" I smirked

"It was obvious"

"I need a resident for help. Grey is my pick" I tried to convince him

"Oh c'mon, afraid to fly alone?" he teased

"She's family"

He glanced at me, then gave up "Fine, pick Grey and the helicopter and get the hell out of here for the next three days. Just because you two had gained so many hours in the OR and you had an awful past year."

"I owe you one. Thank you so much!"

Meredith came back right behind the Chief, who glared at me for letting her out of the hospital during her shift. We were still in scrubs when we hopped on the helicopter and we flew away. I called Addison to know exactly how and where Amelia was when we were almost in Los Angeles, but she didn't answered. At my third call was Naomi who picked up the call for her.

"Addison?" I held my breath, the fact that she wasn't picking up wasn't exactly reassuring.

"No, Derek, it's Naomi"

"Is everything alright? How's Amy?" my heart began to sink slowly

"Yeah, everything's fine. The baby is born a few minutes ago, everything looks good. An eight pounds little boy" A Shepherd boy. Finally a little boy. A boy.

"Thank God. I'm coming there, I'm landing right now" I avoided thinking further about the baby boy.

"Are you on a helicopter?" she asked, before I could hung up

"Yeah" the corner of my lips curled automatically

"You're crazy, Amelia was right. Room 3581" he added

"We'll be right there" I smiled, hanging up.

"Is everything ok?" asked Meredith, clearly sensing my concerned voice as Naomi answered.

"The baby is born. Eight pounds little boy"

She smiled with me, squeezing softly my hand, her mind aligned with mine on the same thoughts, then we unbuckled to step outside. I tried to decipher the mazy hospital, when we finally found Addison in an aisle.

"Helicopter?" she immediately said with a grin. I simply nodded

"How's Amy?" I asked immediately

"She did great. Naomi told me you called..."

"Yeah, I'm gonna see her"

"Derek, breathe." I felt Meredith's calming hand on my shoulder. She tried to reassure me, locking her eyes to mine, squeezing gently my shoulder, then we followed Addison to the nursery to bring the baby to Amelia and gave her some more time to rest.

I immediately recognized him: just like every other Shepherd baby my sisters had. A beautiful sleepy boy with dark hair and a blue bodysuit. Peaceful newborn attitude as well.

"Look at that little man" I lightly touched his cheek, but he didn't flinched. "Let's go find Mommy" I added, turning to Addison to see if I could pick him up and go to Amelia's room. It was painful and amazing all at the same time, this brand new life. She nodded, smiling, so I wrapped him in his blanket and I scooped him in my arms. Holding a newborn was overwhelming, especially considering the fact that my newborn would have been almost ready to join us. Meredith was smiling widely and stroked the baby's fist while I held him, but I noticed her glassy eyes. A stranger wouldn't have, but it was so obvious for me that my heart ached for a moment seeing her -our- pain. We silently walked to Amelia's room and, as I opened the door, my little sister had tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face.

"Oh my God you're here!" she gasped, surprised

"I promised" I walked closer and I placed the baby in her arms, after kissing his forehead. "He's beautiful Amy"

"Yeah" she whispered, immediately scanning the little bundle in her arms and admire his perfection.

I sat next to her and I saw Meredith walking out, giving us some space.

"Thank you Derek, for everything. Mom called me for Christmas and told me about you and Meredith. I'm so sorry for your loss..." she said dearly, looking up at me

"Amy, let's focus on the boy in your arms, not ours" I cut her off

"They would have been pretty close kids"

"Yeah" I sighed, gazing out of the window to hold the tears that were already pooling in my eyes.

"Are you ok of being here?" she asked, a slight, almost unnoticeable concern in her tone

"Of course we are. We're ok. We've seen Dylan on Christmas and it was like taking off the training wheels. We're trying again, but that's a secret" I winked, lighting up the mood a little. Amy has always been a good secret-keeper.

"Good, I'm happy for you guys."

"I'm happy for you, sis. He's gonna be a great guy" I glanced at him again

"I'll do my best to raise him that way"

"Have you chosen a name yet?"

"Robert"

"After Dad?" our eyes met and I read many feelings in hers

"I had a feeling about him after I found out I was pregnant. I hope he deserves that..." she looked down again

"Of course you can name him after Dad. Nobody dared, but it's such a perfect name for him."

"It's Robert Derek actually" she whispered, unsure. My heart swelled with pride "I want you to be the godfather and if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't even be a baby right now"

"What do you mean?"

"You, living after getting shot, gave me hope. Seeing the love you share with Meredith gave me hope, because you were a broken man and she picked up your pieces. You gave me hope"

"Amy you really want to see me crying, right?" I teased, tears blurring the sight of her wide smile. She wanted to name her baby after me!

"Maybe. You've always been the tough big brother" she giggled

"I'm honored to be his godfather Amy, seriously. It's...you're giving me hope too" I admitted. We would have had our boy someday

"I just wish you won't mind if Addie is the godmother" she smirked

"Not at all. She earned it, believe me"

"I think I'll keep living with her and give away my apartment. It's nice to have someone around, you know..." she trailed off

"Robert would be a great company soon"

"Too soon." she sighed, looking at the baby in her arms again "I'm afraid Derek"

"I know. But everything will turn out right, just like Mom always said" I smiled. Mom was such an optimist, sometimes.

"I think you should call her. Or maybe I should. It's her grandson"

"She won't kill you if you call her" she' can't kill anybody, not even a fly

"Can you call her for me? Made up a great story" her eyes silently pleading me

"I'll simply tell her the truth"

Robert whimpered in her arms, breaking the sudden silence between us and she immediately pulled him closer to her chest, trying to soothe him. "Just go, if you don't want to see your little sister's boobs!"

I laughed, kissed her forehead then I went out. I told Meredith I was going to call my mother and she just nodded, walking in the room before I could close the door.

The phone rang twice, before she picked up the receiver

"Mom?"

"Hey Derek, you're not working?" her warm, reassuring voice arrived in my ear

"Nope, I'm in LA at the moment, with Amy"

"Is she alright?" she was immediately worried

"Yeah Mom, she's fine. She just wants you to come over because it's been a while that you two don't see each other and she misses you" I started off lightly

"Amelia Mary would never admit she misses her mother. What happened?" she's too good at sensing lies

"She's fine" Where to begin?

"Ugly truth Derek. Was she in a car accident? Is she back in a dark place?"

"Nope, Mom. She..." I hesitated, trying to make truth sound as normal as possible, considering the circumstances. Vain try.

"Split it out, grown boy"

"She had a baby boy today. Robert Derek. 8 pounds. Happy and healthy. I'm the godfather" I didn't even breathed between each sentence, rambling and closing my eyes at the same time, fearing a smack on my head even if she was on the other side of the country.

"She what?" she would have totally smacked me

"She gave birth to your grandson today" I sighed heavily, my eyes still closed

"Amy was pregnant!" her pitch as high as her surprise. I am a dead man.

"Mom, nobody knew. She didn't tell anybody but me and I told Meredith only. She asked me not to. She's living with Addison at the moment. They're gonna be fine"

"Is she seeing someone?" worst question ever

"No. And she expects you to be mad over this"

"Your sister is crazy. I'm coming over right now!"

She hung up and I sighed in relief. Finally the secret was out and Amy was lucky I had three whole days off to protect her from Mom's outburst. And a mad Carolyn Shepherd was definitely something nobody shouldn't witness.

AN: All right, we have Robert here! Don't think I named him after Pattinson. My dad's name is Roberto, which is the Italian form for Robert and I just liked the sound when I was trying out names. It's lame, I know, I kinda suck in naming.

So, a Shepherd boy and an angry Mom, what's gonna happen?

Thanks for sticking like caramel to my stories, I really appreciate your feedback. I hope to be able to update soon, but I told you the period is getting everyday more hectic. Stay tuned!