AN: Hi you guys, here I am with the newest chapter of this fiction, sorry I couldn't update on Friday, we had to change our plans for the weekend. Anyway, I guess some of you are on holiday (lucky you since I'm still stuck at work) because I noticed that reviews are not as much as before... I hope you're still reading and enjoying this story, because I'm having lots of fun in writing it. I have countless things that I want to write about in mind for it, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Let me count my blessings

Meredith looked in the rearview mirror, Zola was dozing off in her car seat, the book they had gotten just hours prior sat on her lap, opened on a colorful page adorned with dolphins, starfishes and seahorses. She had definitely passed her Princess stage and went straight in the dolphin and sea animals phase; they should look for a summer swim class for her to attend, maybe they could find one for Bailey as well. A little further away she could see Alex and Jo following them in his car, they were coming to their house for dinner. Sure, it was barely 4 o' clock in the afternoon, but they wanted to grill outside, so it was better to start early and Alex had to do the grilling, since Derek wasn't yet in any shape to be standing up for a long time. As they stopped at a red light she glanced nervously at her purse, biting the inside of her right cheek. The offending objects were sticking out from her purse, almost as if they were staring at her, mockingly. The last time she had taken a pregnancy test she had not been this nervous. She had just been astonished. She hadn't think that she would be able to carry a baby full term, not after they had found out that she had a hostile uterus. Bailey had been a surprise, a very welcomed surprise that is. They did not expect him to come, but they had been overjoyed with the news. She was sure Derek would be overjoyed with this eventual pregnancy as well, they had talked about adding another baby in the mix before his accident, but… were they ready? She was not so sure. He was struggling with recovery. She was going back to work on the following day, even if only part time. They already had two very enthusiastic kids who were very time consuming. But then again, they said that life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Maybe they should just embrace whatever life was going to give them. She nodded to herself and sighed. She did want another baby, another human being who was half her and half Derek. Like he repeated to her almost everyday, the two of them made pretty babies. It didn't matter that Zola was adopted, she could see herself in the stubbornness the little girl sported when she was concentrating on a new task and she could see Derek's smile whenever she wanted to convince them to agree with her on something. She could picture her in her adolescent years, using her charm smile to win her father over. With that thought in mind she smiled and called the little girl "hey lovebug, we're almost home..." she said.

Zola didn't to be woken up right before she had to get down form the car so Meredith called to her once more "did you have a nice nap, little one?"

Zola stifled a yawn and she giggled "I did, mama..." she stretched, much like Meredith liked doing first thing in the morning and looked at the book in her lap "I dreamed I was a dolphin!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"You did?!" Meredith grinned back.

"Yup, it was amazing"

"I bet it was..." Meredith stopped at another red light and turned to look at her "what did you do in the dream?"

"I swimmed a lot" she answered matter-of-factly.

"Of course you did..." Meredith giggled at her tone "would you like to take a swim class?" she asked, remembering what she was thinking about as the girl slept.

"Would they teach me to swim like the dolphins?"

"Maybe... they would start by explaining about how us humans swim, but sure... I guess they can teach you all about how the dolphins swim as well" she nodded as she explained.

"Can I do that today?" she wondered.

"I don't think so, since we're going home..."

"Aww, but I wanna swim" she pouted.

"How about we go home and search for a pool where they have summer courses?" she proposed.

"Yes! Can Bailey come too?" she asked "And Sofia?" she added her best friend right away.

"If Bailey wants he can definitely come and we can ask about Sofia coming to her moms..."

Zola nodded staring outside the window "Mama..." she said after a little while.

"What baby?"

"Why does Sofia have two mommies and no daddy?"

Meredith sneaked in a look at her daughter in the rearview mirror and gave her a sad smile "Sofia had a daddy, baby girl..." she started to explain.

"But we never see him" she was quick to answer.

"You used to see him all the time..." Meredith couldn't keep the sadness from her voice as she thought about Mark.

"I don't 'member him" Zola shrugged her shoulders, looking lost.

"But you do remember that picture of daddy and another man we have on the fireplace in the living room, right?"

Zola nodded "yeah mama, I 'member"

"Well that was your uncle Mark, he's Sofia's daddy"

"Oh yeah, there's a p'ture of him at Sofia's house near the sofa"

"I think there is more than one, honey" she smiled at her.

"Yeah, Sofi has one in her room too"

"Yeah, she does... it's from her first birthday party, you were there as well"

"I was?"

"Yes, you have that picture in the playroom from the party, you've both got cake on your face"

"Oh yeah, 't was stwabewwy cake"

"You've always loved strawberry, just like your mama"

"Yeah... stwabewwy is the best" she was quick to agree then she added "where is unca Mark?"

"He's up in heaven" Meredith's tone became somber once more.

"Oh... dat's why he's not with Sofi?"

"Yes, that's exactly why he's not here with Sofia"

"He lived with Sof and her mommies?" she wandered.

"No he didn't"

"Why? They d'vorced like Tommy's parents?"

"No baby, they never married in the first place. You know that it takes a man and a woman to make a baby, right?" Meredith was still looking at the girl in the rearview mirror.

Zola nodded "yeah, you 'xpained to me that to make a baby you need a man and a woman who love each other lots and lots"

The woman smiled and went on "your uncle Mark and aunt Callie really loved each other very much and they made a baby together, that baby is Sofia, but Callie was already in love with aunt Arizona so when Sofia was born aunt Zona adopted her, are you following me lovebug?"

Zola nodded "aunt Callie and uncle Mark loved each other and made Sofia, but aunt Callie was in love with aunt Zona so she 'dopted Sofi"

"Very good sweetie" she smiled "anyway since aunt Zona adopted her, Sofia has two mommies and one daddy"

"Even if her daddy is up in heaven?"

"Yeah, even if he's up in heaven. He loved her very much and he loved you a lot as well"

"Really?" she sounded a little surprised.

"Well, of course sweetie. Uncle Mark was your daddy's best friend and he loved you with all his heart, he was so happy for your daddy and me when we finally signed the papers and got you forever" she grinned reminiscing the day Janet had taken Zola home to them and turned to look at her daughter after she had parked the car in the garage.

"Were you happy mama?"

"I was ecstatic... I was overjoyed... so insanely happy that you were finally back home with us" she said turning around the car to unlock the car seat.

"I'm happy too mama" she whispered grinning, closing the book in her lap.

"You are, huh?"

"Yes mama, I'm very happy you're my mommy and daddy is my daddy"

"That's really great to hear, since we've waited a long time for you baby girl..." she confessed.

"You did?" Zola climbed down from the car and looked up at Meredith.

"Yeah we did..." she took her hand into hers and smiled "we were trying so hard to have a baby, but it wasn't coming and we were getting a little desperate and then you came along... your uncle Alex brought you here all the way from Africa and your daddy saw you and fell in love right away, he called me over to meet you and the same thing happened to me. We knew you were our baby from the first moment we saw you" she explained.

"Just like I know you're my mama and my daddy" she whispered once more.

"Just like that" she nodded and turned to look at Alex and Jo who were approaching.

"Need a hand with all those bags?" it was Jo who asked.

"Yes please!" Zola grinned at them.

"You still need to show me that cool book you got" Jo went on, pointing to the object in Zola's hand.

"We can watch it together with Bay" she proposed.

"Sounds like a good plan"

The foursome entered the house chatting animatedly "we're home" it was Zola who called out.

Bailey ran towards his sister right away "hey!" he shrieked.

"Can I show Bay the book, mama?"

"Sure, go ahead"

"You comin' Jo?"

"Yes miss Zola" Jo put the bags she was carrying down and followed the two kids in the playroom.

"I'll help you with the grocery Mrs Shepherd" proposed Alex "so Meredith and Derek can put away all the stuff for Bailey's party" he added, giving Meredith the chance to speak with Derek privately.

"Did you guys find everything?" he asked balancing a bag in his right hand along with one of the crutches.

"Yeah we did, we settled on a Madagascar theme"

"Good idea" he grinned thinking about the many times they had watched the movie recently.

"Let's go put the bags away so I can show you" she mumbled, grabbing the rest of the bags.

After she had showed him the stuff for the party and they had put it away safely Derek took a moment to really look at Meredith "are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You look tired" he supplied.

"I feel tired" she conceded.

"Do you want to take a nap? I'm sure my mom and Alex can take care of the dinner preparations"

"I need to talk to you first" she said slowly.

"Okay, of course" he sat down on the bed and patted the spot to his right.

She let herself fall on the bed and turned to look him in the eye "you know how I've been feeling really tired lately?" she finally asked.

"Yeah and I'm sorry that it's my fault"

"It's not" she stopped him right away "you didn't ask to be involved in a car accident"

"Well, no... I didn't" he agreed.

"Anyway, I've been really tired lately and today it finally hit me" she paused and looked at Derek once more "I'm late, Derek" she confessed, her voice so low he could barely hear her.

"Late as in..." he looked at her, eyes wide.

She retrieved the two boxes from her purse and showed him.

"Oh wow... a baby?" he asked.

"Maybe... I should take the test to be sure" she mumbled.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"A little, it's just that we talked about it and now it might be true and..." she trailed off.

"What?" he placed his right arm around her and draw her close to him.

"I'm afraid that the test will be negative" she finally confessed.

"I really want another baby as well" he murmured, closing the distance separating them with a kiss on her lips "let's just do this and see what the test says" he coaxed her in his sweetest voice.

"Yeah, let's do this" she got up and walked to the bathroom, Derek hot on her heels.

"Are you ready for the longest three minutes of our lives?" she asked, opening one of the boxes.

"As ready as I'll ever be" he reassured her.

"Okay then..." she trailed off sitting down on the toilet "it's kind of funny to think that me peeing on a stick could be the beginning to one of the best news of our lives..." she grinned nervously.

"It is..." he put one of his hands under her chin, forcing her too look him in the eyes "whatever the test will say it will be okay" he smiled at her.

"Yeah... I hope it will be positive" she confessed.

"Me too" he quickly agreed giving her another kiss.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but chapter 12 is already on the way, be sure! I hope to post it between Friday and Saturday. Leave me a review and let me know if you enjoyed chapter 11, I hope I did well with it.