AN: As per usual I want to start my author note saying thank you for your ongoing support; you guys rock! Thanks for the comments, the likes and the favorites. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one disappointed with the decision to break Meredith and Derek forever. Just a friendly reminder, I have no plan to ever get rid of either of them. Here is chapter six, enjoy!

Take me deeper now

It had been two weeks. Fourteen days since the accident that could have left her a widow but, thankfully, did not. Derek was recovering nicely. Amelia was confident he was going to be able to go home soon enough. His cerebral functions were all intact and he was expected to make a full recovery. Meredith had come to an agreement with Owen, she was going to be on leave for another two weeks, making it a total of four. After the the month was up, if Derek was back home, she would be going back to work part-time at first and full time when he was further ahead with his recovery. Her salary would be cut back during the period where she worked part-time, but it was worth it and it was definitely the best decision for her family. Carolyn also told her that she was going to stay with them for as long as they needed her to. Meredith felt like she had deprived her of her youngest grandkids long enough. She was going to propose to Derek to host her for the entire summer, she would have been a great help for them and she was sure he was going to enjoy spending time with his mom just as much as the kids. With these thoughts filling her head she entered her husband's room, smiling and coming face to face with her sister in law.

"Hey" he smiled at her brightly, his midnight blue eyes sparkling, the infamous McDreamy smile gracing his features.

"Hey yourself" she smiled back "slept well?" she asked as she gave him a peck on the lips.

"Yeah, I did"

"Here, I brought the both of you coffee" she handed a cup to each Shepherd and sat down on his bed.

"Thanks" Amelia's voice was full of gratitude "it's been a long night, there was a pile-up on the freeway" she grimaced.

"Must have been tough" Meredith was sympathetic.

"It was, but we didn't lose anyone, so there's that to be happy about"

"It's always a beautiful day to save lives" his brother winked at her, drinking his coffee black.

The two women grinned at his antics "remind me why do you put up with this?" Amelia asked pointing at him, while grinning.

"It's totally because of the good looks" Meredith whispered, loud enough for him to hear her as well.

"Hey, I'm sick here and you make fun of me?"

"Oh, you poor baby!" his sister stuck out her tongue at him.

He pretended to sniffle and looked at his wife "where are the kids?"

"They should be here any minute, the wanted pancakes for breakfast and Zola remembered you love the french toast from the cafe right around the corner, so they stopped there to get breakfast for all of us, you included Amy"

"That was a genius idea!" her sister in law plopped down on the chair yawning.

"It was Zola's idea"

"That little girl is too smart for her own good" was Amelia's comment.

"She really is" mused Meredith.

"I can't believe how far we've come with her..." reminisced Derek "remember how small she was when she first arrived here with Alex?"

Meredith nodded and smiled "you fell in love with her in a matter of minutes" she murmured.

"How could I not? She was already perfect" he beamed.

"How old was she?" Amelia was curious.

"She was 6 months old when she was brought here to cure her spina bifida" Meredith was quick to answer, the memory of their first meeting still fresh in her mind "your brother felt an instant connection with her..."

"Yeah, she stole my lamp when I went to check her out on the very first day she was here. When I held her in my arms she stopped crying and... that was it" his train of thoughts was interrupted by a loud knock on the door "guess who?" his daughter's voice came out in between stifles of laughters.

"Oh, I don't know..." he paused to think "are you my kids?" he asked after a while.

"Yes!" they both yelled entering, followed by Carolyn.

"There you are!" he exclaimed as they scrambled his way, climbing on the bed, Bailey helped by Meredith.

"I missed you lots and lots, daddy" Zola confessed as she hugged him.

"You were here yesterday night, lovebug" he reminded her.

"But you was alone last night" she mumbled.

"Well I wasn't really alone, auntie Amy was in the hospital as well"

The little girl turned to look at Amelia "you stayed with daddy?" she asked, hope filling her voice.

"I sure did, but he slept all night... he wasn't really good company" she answered theatrically.

Both kids burst out laughing as Derek enveloped both in a bone-crushing hug "how are you, today?" he asked after he had released them.

"Good" Bailey was the first to answer, giving his dad a smile.

"Me too, we swept wif mama last night and she snores a lot" she giggled.

"Does she?" Derek feigned surprise, as Meredith swatted him on his left arm.

"Huh, huh" it was Bailey who nodded looking at his father.

"Breakfast is served guys!" Carolyn had set out everything on the table that was used to give Derek his meals. Both kids yelled enthusiastically as their grandmother pushed the table towards them.

"We buyed your favorite french toast, daddy" Zola pointed excitedly to the box containing two pieces of french toast layered with strawberries and blueberries, drenched in maple syrup.

"That was very sweet of you, guys" he grinned "I haven't had french toast in a very long time" he added as his mom handed him the to-go box.

"What do you want, Amy?" Meredith looked at her sister in law questioningly.

"Whatever is left is fine by me"

"There is french toast with maple syrup and berries, there is a stack of pancakes and even a couple of waffles..."

"Uhm... I don't know, it's a hard choice" Amelia was conflicted.

"How about we share?" Meredith's idea was met with a nod and the two women proceeded to divide the food, leaving some pancakes in a styrofoam box, so they would stay warm.

The family ate mostly in silence for the following minutes, Derek and the kids huddled on the bed, with Meredith sitting at the foot of the bed, while Carolyn and Amelia were on the chairs. The breakfast was interrupted by Alex, who knocked on the door and got in, to see how Derek was doing.

"Hi uncle Alex!" Zola waved happily as she munched on a bite of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup.

"Hi kiddos!" he grinned at the two kids.

"Hi unca Ales" Bailey waved, copying his big sister.

"I came by to see how your daddy was doing"

"He's good" Zola was quick to reply "auntie Amy says he sleeps lots and lots"

"Well, he needs the sleep to recover and go home with you guys"

"Don't you wanna share house with us?" she asked innocently.

"Of course I do, but I bet you miss your home and I'm sure your daddy will want to go there when he's all better"

"I do miss my room, sleeping with mama and Bailey is kinda funny" she giggled "they both snore"

"I don't!" Bailey's tone was resolute.

"Yes, you do!" Zola stuck out her tongue at him.

"You guys, behave..." Meredith stepped in to block a possible banter.

"Okay" they both answer concentrating on the food once more.

"How are you doing, man?"

"I'm feeling better, thanks... can't wait to go home, honestly"

"I bet" Alex sat on the last empty chair.

"Hey, do you want some pancakes?" Derek pointed to the still full box sitting on the table.

"I haven't had breakfast yet..." he mused "are you sure you guys are all set?"

"Have breakfast wif us, uncle Alex!" Zola yelled, just as Bailey nodded.

"Zola, honey... remember to use your inside voice when we're visiting daddy"

"Oopsie, sorry mama" Zola grinned, oblivious to the maple syrup smear covering her face.

"It's okay... finish your breakfast now, or we'll be late for Daycare"

"Can't we stay here?" she wined.

"No miss, you know that daddy has therapy to do. You will see him for lunch" she reminded her.

"I wanna stay wif daddy too" Bailey looked at his mom, his baby blues filled with unshed tears.

"I know you do guys, but we want daddy to get all better, right?" the kids nodded "We need to let him do therapy, so he can get better and he can come home with us, understood?"

"Yeah" both kids sniffled.

"You will see me very soon, lunch is just four hours away" Derek reminded, poking them under their armpits and eliciting a giggle from each of them.

"Four hours is forever" Zola complained, her brows set in a straight line.

"Yeah, it is" Bailey supported her, the kids were ganging up on the adults.

"How about this guys... my shift ends at four in the afternoon, I could come pick you guys up and we could go get cookie supplies and go back to my house and bake, if your nana comes with us and your parents agree, of course" Alex looked at both Derek and Meredith sheepishly.

"Sounds good" Derek grinned, just as Meredith nodded.

"I like the idea" Carolyn was on board instantly.

"And I could help you guys as well, I'm off at the same time this afternoon" Amelia piped in.

"Yay!" Bailey was the one who excitedly yelled this time "quiet Bay, you don't want mama to get mad... we need to use inside voice" Zola reminded him.

"Oopsie" he smiled, much like she had done before.

"Okay then, uncle Alex, auntie Amy and Nana will come pick you up early and you will go make cookies and then you'll come here and we'll have dinner all together"

"Can we have piza?" Zola smiled sweetly at both parents.

"Don't you ever get tired of pizza?" Derek shot back.

"Nope" she popped the p and looked at her father like he was out of his mind.

"How can you get tired of pizza?!" Alex laughed out loud.

"Exactly!" Amelia was the first to agree as Meredith nodded.

"Okay then, let's have pizza for dinner, I want a vegetarian one though"

"If you behave we'll even bring you a salad" his mother winked at him, making the rest of the room burst out laughing.

The day went on as planned, the kids had a blast baking with Alex, Amelia and their grandma. Alex turned out to be pretty helpless in the kitchen, as expected, and the kids found that very funny. Jo came home when the baking was in full swing and she joined forces with the little ones, making fun of his lacking kitchen skills. It was Bailey who asked Jo and Alex to have dinner with them and the two of them agreed eagerly. Zola suggested to call auntie Cristina and uncle Owen as well and a pizza with the family became a proper party in Derek's room. The following day Derek's recovery suffered a setback. His leg had been hurting and bothering him in the latest days and, after some tests, Callie confirmed her suspicions. He suffered from a blood clot. Thankfully it did not need surgery, a cycle of blood thinners was going to suffice, but this new development meant that Derek was not going to be able to go home as soon as it was planned. He felt really tired after Callie had administered him the first dose of his treatment, since he had been awake most of the night because of the pain in his leg; he fell asleep almost instantly.

"Hey"

"So I talked to Clemens, he referred the tumor patient to somebody over at Seattle Pres..."
"Great. Uh, take a look at the shirt that I bought Zola today. It's-it's-it's in the bag on the counter"
"Meredith, guys don't get all goo-goo over baby clothes..."
"Just look!"
"What is this?" Derek had a bewildered look on his face.

"It's only three weeks so I shouldn't even be telling you... I mean, I still have a hostile uterus, and terrible things are constantly happening to us, which is why I haven't told anyone. I haven't even told Cristina. So if you tell anyone, I-I swear, I will kick you out of this house that you built!"
"Don't worry. And good things happen to us! We're gonna have another baby..." he grinned
"We are gonna have another baby" she grinned back.

He awoke with the biggest smile on his face and found Callie staring at him "are you okay?"

"I'm great" he replied, the memory still fresh in his mind.

"I'm monitoring your condition, I need to se how you are reacting to the blood thinners" she continued looking at him "are you in pain?"

"A little" he answered honestly, the grin still plastered firmly on his face.

"Some pain is normal, you know that, but too much pain is not okay" she was a bit nervous, because this was her friend Derek she was taking care of "the physiotherapist will be by right after lunch and you'll start some exercises that can help you and you'll following this therapy until we make sure that the clot is gone, all right?"

He just nodded "don't worry, I'm sure we caught it early enough" he tried to reassure her.

"I really don't want to perform surgery on you if it's not necessary"

"I'd rather not have you operate on me either"

"Okay, that being said... tell me how is it going, what's up with the huge grin on your face?" she plopped down on one of the chairs, since she had promised Meredith to wait for her in Derek's room while she went to have a consult with Bailey on a patient she had been taking care of since last winter.

"I just retrieved another memory" his voice was beaming with pride.

"Wow, that's great! Care to elaborate?" she gave him a full smile.

"I remembered Meredith telling me she was pregnant with Bailey" his eyes were sparkling, his voice soft, the smile still present on his face.

"Aww, I bet that's a really great memory"

"It's the best... I hope to retrieve some more, maybe better ones" he shrugged his shoulders "do you think I'll be able to sleep better tonight?" he asked after a brief pause.

"I hope so, the clot was the reason of your insomnia, because it was causing you pain, the treatment you're undergoing is pretty aggressive, so I believe the pain should subside substantially"

"Sounds good" he grinned once more.

"What sounds good?" Meredith's voice came from the threshold.

"The therapy Callie has set up for me"

"I hope the pain in his leg will go away in the next 48 hours"

"And you don't plan on operating him, right?" Meredith wanted to make sure.

"No, I don't. Surgery is only necessary in 5-6% of the cases actually, this blood clot doesn't appear severe enough to justify surgery" Callie's tone was reassuring.

"Okay, it does sound good" Meredith's smile matched Derek's now.

"He does have another good news for you actually"

"Really? What is it?"

"I just remembered you telling me that you were pregnant with Bailey" he beamed, his dark blue eyes twinkling with joy.

"You did? That's an amazing news!"

"Yeah..." he nodded "does Zola still have that pink t-shirt?"

"She does, actually, it's pretty tight for her now, but I want to keep it forever..."

"Yeah, it's definitely something that I want to hold on to" he agreed.

"I still hope for Sofia to become a big sister someday..." Callie's musing made both of them turning towards the dark-haired woman "oh, did I say that out loud?"

"You definitely did and I don't see anything wrong with it" came Derek's answer.

"Except I don't have the raw material at the moment" she muttered.

"Well, that could be a problem..." Meredith's smile was tentative.

"I'll leave you two to your matters. Remember the physiotherapist is coming at 1:30"

"I'm not going anywhere, I swear" Derek crossed his heart and laughed.

"All right, see you later" she closed the door behind her.

"This is really fantastic news" Meredith's smile was huge, making her entire face glow with happiness.

"Yeah, I can't stop thinking about it..."

"I think it's a good sign"

"Yeah, me too... I hope it means I will get some other memories back"

"You know, I was thinking to ask your mom if she wants to spend the summer with us" her proposal caught him by surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. The kids love her and she would be a great help through your recovery once I'll go back to work. She hasn't spent enough time with Zola and Bailey.. what do you think?

"I think it's a great idea" he was quick to agree.

"Good, we'll tell her tonight then"

"When is Cristina going back to Switzerland?"

"Next weekend..."

"You should invite her to come visit as well"

"Yeah, I was thinking about that..."

"Good" he smiled, the twinkle in his eyes still making them bright.

"Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Nah, it's not too bad... you know I will be okay, right?"

"Yes, I know" she tried to smile back.

"I'm not going anywhere" he promised.

"You better!" she challenged, closing the distance separating them with a hug.

I hope you enjoyed the latest installment. Derek got another memory back, yay! Also, sorry for having him suffer from a blood clot, but I'm trying to be truthful with this story. Stay tuned for more!