Okay, after the rollercoaster of the past two chapters and their fight, everything is back to normal. Derek is the storyteller for this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well. I managed a quick update, I think I'm getting back on track...

The song for this chapter is Non Believer by LaRocca. I got attached to this song after hearing it on One Tree Hill and it's particularly dear to me. I had to use it somewhere. Listen to it, it's beautiful.

Well, I'll let you read the chapter now!

Part 25 – I Promise To Climb Back Up Here To You

Love is a trap.

When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.

Paulo Coelho

The light was softly illuminating the room. Meredith's soft snoring filled the silence as I opened my eyes to a new day. My doctor clock woke me up before the alarm, but I didn't regret a single second. She was so beautiful in the morning. Her breath hitched in her throat and I knew she was awake when she snuggled closer to me. I loosely wrapped my arms around her bare waist. Her hands began grazing absentmindedly over my skin. She shifted to lay half on top of me, gently kissing the remaining scar on my bare chest, her eyes were still shut but a small smile curled her rosy lips, preparing for a new round. Her hands were caressing everywhere, her skin touching mine in every place possible, when we heard Alice's soft prattle coming from the baby monitor.

"I'll get her," she smiled knowingly at the sound, trailing her fingers down my chest and brushing her lips over mine before standing up grabbing some clothes from the drawer.

I realized just how much I had missed her during the mornings that I hadn't been around. Not just because of the love making, mostly because of her soft hands brushing my cheeks, her sleepy lips on mine and her growls to get some more well-deserved sleep when the alarm shrieked out into the quiet. Every day Alice sounded more and more like her in the morning and I loved it.

"Get your shower, I'll get her, and I'll fix breakfast for all of us," I whispered while she tugged on the first t-shirt she found, which strangely happened to be mine. She had claimed my side of the closet as her own when she was at home and I really didn't mind it.

"You're going to work early?" she asked, a relaxed smile adorning her lips.

"Yeah."

"For the record, I'm craving waffles," she said, an evident hint of mockery in her eyes. Just like that, she had became perfect again and I regretted the time I'd missed the past week even more, probably the past few weeks, actually.

"Cravings, I miss those..." I smirked, playing along with her joke.

"You didn't seem to miss them, let's say, uh, a year ago?" She laughed, and came closer to kiss me again, before I could stand up. She had the weirdest cravings at every hour of the day and night while she was pregnant, but I would have done anything for her.

"I've missed you. I'm sorry," I whispered, when our foreheads touched and her lips hovered over mine. I knew apologizing wasn't enough. I needed to prove to her that I wasn't planning on going anywhere, as I promised. She needed something to hold on to, to keep my promise of dying at one-hundred-and-ten in her arms.

"Its okay, Derek," she answered softly, with the tone she always reserved for us, after making love. It was one of my favorite parts of her sweet voice "Go get the prattler or she'll crawl out, and I really don't like to even think about that possibility."

She grabbed my stubble with two of her fingers, gently brushed my lips again, and then walked to the bathroom, the smile lingering on her lips.

Alice's room was filled with her babbling, a quiet chat with her favorite frog. As soon as I stepped foot in her room she sat up, noticing me and stretching a perfect two-toothed smile. She was getting so big and missing two days in a row wasn't helping to push away that feeling. She turned back to her frog, so I spooned her in my arms and she giggled happily, tossing her frog in the crib and slapping my face. She loves to do that every day, when she's extremely happy, especially when she wakes up and it's a good day. She didn't really appreciate my two-day-old beard though, so she growled a little at the scratchy feeling under her small, chubby fingers. Then she held out her hand again to discover what the new new thing on my face was.

She was more curious and more aware of the world around her every day. I knew that in a blink she was going to be a toddler. I smiled and she giggled, "Da-da," with all of her morning energy. I didn't know how she could be so happy at seven after three rough nights in a row, but she was and her smile was contagious.

"Ma-ma!" she pointed over my shoulder with her chubby little hand, smiling even more widely. When I turned around I saw a gloriously beautiful, freshly showered Meredith smiling at me. I just wanted to lean closer and kiss her, and tell her that everything was going to be alright even if I yelled, because the only thing I could see in that moment was the gorgeous woman I had almost let slip out of my grasp and the perfect child she had given me. I smiled back, locking my eyes with hers after sweeping my eyes over her in a glance and saving it for the rest of the busy day ahead.

"I thought you were making waffles" she joked, walking in to scoop Alice into her own arms when she held her little hands out to her, then she quickly kissed me, a habit that we almost lost.

"We were busy figuring out what a two-day beard is. I'll make waffles right away." I smiled at the baby nuzzled in her arms, who giggled when I tickled her round belly.

"That's fine, we'll have to grab them at the cafeteria or we're gonna be late."

"Right, you have your big surgery."

I smiled at her, as Alice brushed Meredith's cheeks to check for signs of a beard on hers too and we both laughed. I left them in the nursery, while I took a quick shower, then we headed to the hospital after giving Alice a bottle and gladly sipping our coffees.

The work day started out hectically: two incoming traumas in the ER and all the neurosurgeons in the department were busy with all kinds of stuff after a bad pile-up on the I5. I had to postpone my big surgery with Meredith of four hours, waiting for an OR to clear.

I had a whole hour to plan some things before I needed scrub in: I wanted to surprise Meredith. We both needed some time for us, but we'd used our leaves and various sick days in the first few months after Alice was born. We weren't going to be able to get a week off anytime soon. Besides, Alice was still too little to be left alone for more than a night, let alone an entire weekend or a whole week. She had to be at least eighteen to be left alone an entire week without us!

"Richard," I called when I spotted man on the other side of the hall. He walked closer.

"I heard you have great business in an hour..." was his way to say hello.

"You heard right. I'm just asking..."

I began speaking, before he cut me off, visibly worried "What the hell do you want to do in my OR?"

"It's not about the OR," I smiled. I had a long record of overthrowing rules in the OR and he had a right to be worried.

"Good. Meredith's scrubbing in with you? I saw her gloat to Yang this morning," he smirked.

"Yeah," a grin stretched across my face just thinking about her face and Cristina's. "I may need something Chief."

"Alice's sick?" he immediately became concerned again and in that moment I realized that if I didn't quickly get to the point we would have to spend my whole free hour in the hall chatting.

"No, not at all. I just want a weekend off, any weekend."

"Long weekend?" he looked at me carefully, frowning at my request.

"I want to take the girls to the beach."

"Girls?" he really looked amused and I couldn't blame him.

"Yeah, don't mind my bad word choice," I chuckled. It felt right, though, they were certainly my favorite girls. He laughed, leaving his chart on the desk and sliding it to the nurse.

"Okay Shepherd. You and Meredith have the first weekend in September off already, right? I'm just adding one day to your planned vacation. You have to get your shift covered on your own, and be back on Monday at seven sharp or I'll kick your asses. Both of you, I'm leaving Alice out of the argument," he smiled softly. I knew he had a soft spot for her.

"Thank you. I really owe you one." I patted his shoulder, grateful that everything was going as planned.

"Derek," I was walking away when his voice stopped me, his eyes a little concerned. "Is everything alright between you and Meredith?"

"Yeah," I sighed, but it was easier lying than admitting that I had been an ass for the past few weeks.

"Good. I thought that this was a make-up trip, something seemed wrong."

"No, it's just a family vacation. Thanks for caring though," I dismissed, before dwelling some more on the fact that Meredith had looked off the whole time and I had never noticed.

"Go get your cool surgery done, Shepherd!"

He was the one to walk away then, and I stood there, motionless, for a second, before rushing to my OR.

Meredith was already scrubbing in and greeted me with a soft kiss, before going into the sterile room and starting to interact with the little girl on the table. I could hear her giggling through the glass and I realized once more how much I missed that sound.

"You know, I have a girl just like you? She's littler though..." she trailed off, trying to settle the girl on the table a little more comfortably.

"Girl?" the soft brown eyes of the girl flickered in surprise to Meredith and they begged for more details.

"Yep, her name is Alice." The simple way she spoke her name gave away how much she loved her.

"I, Lisa," the girl smiled brightly, and I realized that it was my turn to slice through the peaceful atmosphere.

"I know. There's Dr. Shepherd," she said, tilting up her head and smiling at me as I walked in the OR. Her eyes were grinning, just like her perfect lips behind the mask and once more, something snapped in my heart, feeling like an even greater ass for hurting her.

"Ottor Shep!" The little girl smiled too, her eyes meeting mine, just the slightest hint of doubt there.

"Hey Lisa, are you ready?" She nodded, the smile faltering a bit.

"I walk?" Her tone was serious but hopeful as the anesthesiologist put the mask on her small face

"I'll do my best, I promise."

The girl looked at me first, and then to Meredith, who touched her arm lightly before the anesthesia kicked in. It was such a motherly gesture that it reminded me of what a good doctor she was becoming, and how scary it was to think about the remote possibility that it could have been Alice on my table. Maybe not my table, but an OR table anyway. I shrugged the feeling away, but she still noticed.

"You okay?" Meredith whispered behind her mask, her body's close proximity providing a kind of comfort and understanding. Probably the same thought was racing through her mind as well. My eyes twinkled with her favorite smile, just to see the expression mirrored on hers.

"It's a beautiful night to save lives. Let's have some fun," was my answer.

She moved across the table, carefully observing and keeping up with my tricky questions every time I asked. I couldn't help but meet her gaze from time to time, when I stretched my neck or my fingers during the procedure and I was always rewarded with a smile.

When we scrubbed out we were both tired, but the excitement of the surgery just about made me forget it completely: we had given leg function to a two-year-old girl that had never walked, surgeries like those where the reason why I had wanted to be a surgeon in the first place.

Meredith's tired smile brightened the scrub room and the grin we shared was so intimate and tender that I hated to open the door, interrupting the idyllic gaze between us.

"Lunch?" she managed to ask, her smile still on when we both snapped out of our little cocoon.

"Snack I'd say. It's almost dinner time." We both laughed, walking out of the room.

I couldn't help but hold her hand on the way to the cafeteria and she didn't really seem to mind it. It was actually nice to intertwine our fingers so intimately in public, even if we've never displayed affection so directly at the hospital. Since she had gotten pregnant with Alice it was easier though: everybody stared anyway.

"Thank you for letting me assist," she said. Her smile widened as we sat down with our trays in a far corner of the cafeteria, looking for some quiet. I let her do about one-third of the procedure and close up. I've never seen her that happy.

"You did great," I replied and I didn't need to fake it. She was one of the most promising residents I've ever met.

"You want me to monitor Lisa through the night? I'm on-call," she offered, sighing at the mere idea of staying here a little while longer and leaving Alice home.

"She'll be glad to see a familiar face."

"You'll have to fix dinner for Alice. I forgot to freeze leftovers yesterday." She smiled apologetically in the cutest way.

"We are going to miss you tonight."

"I know. I'm going to miss you too." I laced my fingers through hers over the table and she smiled softly.

"It's going better, right?" she asked, after chewing a huge bite of her sandwich, breaking the quiet that had settled comfortably between us. Silences between us had always been comfortable when we were happy.

"Us?"

She nodded, still chewing the following bite. "Yeah, I think so," I admitted, knowing that I was the one that screwed things up.

"How do you think it happened?" she asked innocently, and I have to admit I'd asked myself that question many times while I was lying on the cold grass in our yard.

"We were too busy, maybe. It was hard to adapt to all the new things this year has brought us," I guessed and she nodded.

"I'm glad we realized it on time."

"Do you think we need more family time?" I subtly revealed my first card for the plan for the first weekend in September.

"Maybe, maybe not, we don't have any more days off anyway; we'll just have to make the best out of what we have," she sighed, her tired figure screaming that she needed a break from everything and she didn't know how to get one.

"When is our first day off together?" I played dumb, rubbing her hand with my thumb.

"The first weekend in September, we should plan something that day; maybe take Alice to the zoo or something."

"Zoo?" a small smile appeared on my lips.

"Kids are keen on animals," she mumbled. She had that old look of uncertainty in her eyes, as if everything she did for Alice was wrong and she wouldn't ever be good enough. "A farm would be better though, so she can touch animals and see them running free or whatever. Right?" She carefully analyzed my reaction, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, I think she'll love it," I smiled, because the way in which she rambled was close to perfection. One more thing I missed.

"Okay, you don't like animals," she dismissed, when I didn't add anything.

"I love animals and I love how hard you work to make our daughter's life so special. And I love you." I caressed her cheeks with my fingers, quickly kissing the tip of her nose.

"I love you too," she blushed, hiding her smile.

"And the blushing. I love it as well."

"I am not blushing!"

"If you say so." I inched closer and kissed her softly on the lips, ending the teasing. I had to plan a visit to a farm during our little vacation, then.

AN: Things are going better and we are back to the old fluff or almost there. I hope you're happy with it.

What did you think about the last Grey's? Apart the adorable baby, you know...I don't mind them adopting, even if I didn't liked the business-like wedding. I'm more disappointed in that than anything else, but anyway...