AN: Hello my dear readers, I'm back with the newest chapter of my story, I can't believe I'm on chapter 12 already. Thank you all so much for the likes and the followings, but especially for the reviews cause they make me really excited. I wish you all logged in to review so I could answer to all of you personally. Work is finally a little calmer now, so I have more time to concentrate on writing. Here is the chapter that, I think, you've all been waiting for, enjoy!

I just need you now

Once she had done her part Meredith put the test on the bathroom sink and Derek set up the timer on his phone. The two of them just stared at each other for a short while. Their lives could change forever in exactly three minutes, a matter of 180 seconds. Could they make it with three kids? They had not managed with the addition of Bailey right away, but they were finally balancing their busy lives with two kids. Could add in a third one shake things up too much?

"I hate this part" she finally confessed, twisting her hands nervously.

"I'm sorry I wasn't with you for this part the last times" his voice sounded apologetic, mentioning both of the times she had taken a pregnancy test.

"It wasn't exactly your fault" she reassured him, her voice soothing.

He just nodded, leaning over the sink to peer at the number on the cell phone screen "it will be okay" he said to her once more.

"Yeah I know that" she nodded as well "it always ends up okay with us" she stated, her voice sure, her eyes bright, her smile big.

"It sort of is, huh?" he agreed smiling proudly at her.

"Yes" she smiled back "just don't pull another stint like this one on me" she threatened.

"I will do my best" he promised.

"You need to be by my side" she added, her voice breaking at she thought back at the fear she had felt when she saw him motionless on that hospital back, six weeks before.

"I will definitely be by your side" he promised locking eyes with her; she stared into the midnight blue pools and found herself believing, her heartbeat quickening, butterflies flying loose in her stomach.

"I love you so much" he added, leaning down to press a kiss on her temple.

"I love you too, more than I ever thought I would ever love someone" she admitted.

His response was cut by the ringing of the timer and they both turned to look at the white test on the sink.

"Grab it" she whispered, since he was closer.

He did as instructed and took the thin object in his hand, without looking at it "what does it say?" she asked.

"I don't know, I haven't looked yet" he answered, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Kind of hard to know if we don't take a look" she tried to joke, her voice tense.

"Want to look down at the count of three?" he proposed and she just nodded.

"One.. Two… Three" both heads looked down finding the 8 letters they had been hoping for, accompanied with the note 7-8 weeks.

"I'm pregnant…" she finally mumbled.

"You are!" he exclaimed enchanted.

"I'm a little scared, but also really happy"

"I'm over the moon" he agreed.

"Want me to take the second one just to be sure?"

"Yeah, why not" he passed her the second box and finally sat down on the chair they had in the master bathroom.

Waiting didn't seem as excruciating the second time around. Probably because a huge weight had been lifted off of their shoulders by the outcome of the first test. They were both equally thrilled to see the same response on the second test and they hugged each other fiercely.

"Are we crazy to embark in another pregnancy right now?" she asked once they had left the bathroom and sat down on their bed.

"Some people might think that, yeah…" he conceded "but I really don't care about what other people think, what really matters to me is if we are happy with this and I believe I can say that we are"

"Yeah, we're definitely happy" she sighed softly.

"You will need to set up an appointment with Connie I suppose" he murmured as he settled on the bed and she molded into his embrace.

"Yes I definitely need to do that, I'll call her tomorrow as soon as I get back to work"

"Make sure to schedule an appointment on a day when I can be with you, I can't wait to see out baby…" he grinned goofily.

"Of course" she agreed, grinning back.

"I want to wait before we tell other people" she added, as she caressed his torso with her right hand.

"I agree, we should definitely wait until you're in your second trimester"

"But I might have to tell Alex" she mumbled.

"Why's that?"

"He sort of busted me picking out the test earlier… he went all big brother-y on me and insisted that I came home and talked to you about it immediately… like I wasn't going to do that already" she snorted.

He stifled a laugh "there was a time when you wouldn't have come to me right away and Alex wouldn't have insisted on it" he reminded her "you're both grown up so much"

"Yeah, considering that we were basically raised by wolves I'd say we turned out pretty great" she smirked.

He laughed out loud and she laughed with him, hugging him hard and long like her own life depended on it. He inhaled her lavender scent and sighed, breathing her in, tangling his left hand in her blonde hair, caressing her back with his other hand. She kissed him fully on the mouth, tasting him, the mint from the toothpaste mixed with a vague coffee taste. His tongue begged for entrance in the warm cave of her mouth and she allowed it, moaning in pleasure as their tongues met and a jolt of electricity sparked through her core.

"You taste so good" he moaned slowly, his lips barely leaving hers.

"So do you" she reassured him, climbing on his lap, straddling him.

"Think we have time for a quickie?" he asked hopefully.

"I was hoping you'd ask that" she purred into his ear and giggled.

When they emerged from their bedroom they found Carolyn, Alex and Amelia busy marinading the beef and preparing the vegetables to accompany dinner. Jo was still playing with Zola and Bailey in the playroom.

"Do you guys want some help?" it was Meredith who asked as the two of them stepped out of the room.

"Sure, you can peel some potatoes" Carolyn smiled at her daughter in law.

"I'll go check up on Jo and the kids"

"Yeah, you better... who knows what they might be up to with Jo" Alex smirked at Derek as the older man started limping towards the playroom.

"Oh come on, we trust you with our kids, why shouldn't we trust Jo" Meredith chuckled at Alex and he sticked his tongue out at her "come peel the potatoes, Mere" he grumbled.

"Afraid I'll peel faster than you?" she challenged.

"Bring it on, Grey!"

"I guess I'll get busy with the vegetables then, since you guys are clearly in charge of the potatoes" Amelia laughed as she looked at the two friends.

"How are you making them?" Meredith was still trying to learn as much as possible in the kitchen.

"We're going to make a stir-fry" supplied Amelia as she cut a yellow bell pepper.

"The kids will love it, you'll see" Carolyn promised as she grabbed a wok for the vegetables.

"I love stir-fried vegetables" Meredith used to eat them almost everyday when she was in college "are they easy to make?"

"They're pretty simple, but very tasty" was Carolyn's response as she grabbed some soy sauce and mixed spices to season the vegetables.

"Next time you need to show me how to make them step by step" she whispered to her mother in law.

"I sure will, but I'm pretty sure you'll get the hang of it by tonight" she grinned at the younger woman "next time we'll make stir-fried vegetables with chicken or prawns"

"Looking forward to it" was Meredith's answer as she busied herself with the potatoes.

"We're making both roasted and mashed potatoes, since Bailey said that mashed are his favorite"

"Oh yeah! He loves mashed potatoes, Derek always makes them for him" Meredith interrupted Carolyn smiling.

Derek found the kids and Jo having lots of fun in the playroom. Zola was trying to teach Bailey how to play Candyland and Jo was helping her in the process

"But I don' wanna pick cards" Bailey was looking at his sister, challenging her.

"That's just how it works, Bay" Jo soothed him.

"I jus' wanna pick my fvorit color" he pointed to one of the blue spots on the board.

"Nah huh, you gots to pick a card from here" Zola said in a stern tone.

"Why?" ha asked once more.

"B'cause" she shrugged her shoulders and looked at Jo.

"That's no answer" he grumbled.

"Zola is right, sweetie" Jo cut in and smiled at the toddler "the rules say that we have to pick one of the cards from the stack"

"Me no likes the rules" he mumbled in a whiny voice.

"Rules are there for a reason, Bay" Derek entered the room and sat down on the oversized armchair where they usually sat down to read a story to the kids.

"Hi daddy!" Zola grinned happily and went to sit on her father's lap, giving him a hug.

"Hi pumpkin" he grinned back.

"Wanna play wif us?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah daddy, play!" Bailey added excitedly.

"I wish I could play with you guys, but I cannot sit down on the floor with my broken leg" he reminded them.

"Oh, right..." Zola nodded.

"You can wead to us" Bailey was quick to propose.

"That I can do" he agreed "what do you guys want to read?"

"G'night moon" was Bailey's response.

"But that's for sleep time" Zola disagreed.

"Oh yeah..." the little boy paused to think some more "how 'bout The vewy unwry cat'pillar" he tried again.

"Oh, I like it!" Zola shrieked excitedly, jumping on the floor to go look for the book in the white and green bookcase they shared in the playroom.

"Want to sit down and listen to the story as well?" Derek grinned, looking at Jo who was still sitting on the floor.

"Sure, I'd love to" the young doctor sat next to Derek and the kids "I never had a parent reading stories to me growing up" she murmured.

"Aww, that's bad" Zola patted Jo on the back "mama and daddy wead to us all the time" she added, handing her father the brightly colored book.

"That's what good mommies and daddies do" Jo smiled at the girl.

"Daddy is super good at stories, he makes voices" she added, as she curled up on her father's lap next to her brother.

"I can't want to listen to him then..." Jo couldn't help but smile. When she had kids someday she hoped to be as good of a parent as Meredith and Derek were, she was pretty sure Alex would have become a great dad someday, even soon. She smiled to herself and settled down to listen to the story.

When the kids were put into bed the adults all sat in the living room, nursing coffee or tea and munching on some cookies.

"Does anybody want more coffee or tea?" Meredith asked since she wanted to get some more tea for herself.

Amelia, Owen, Alex and Jo all nodded "yes please" added Amelia.

"I'll come help you out" Alex got up with her.

"Are you two all settled?" Meredith looked at Derek and Carolyn, who both nodded, showing her their mugs still half-full.

Once they were in the kitchen Alex started the coffee maker, then turned to look at Meredith "so we didn't have a chance to speak alone after we got home this afternoon..." Alex mumbled as Meredith put on the kettle to make tea for herself and Amelia.

"Well, you basically sent me in my room to speak with my husband" she complained good-naturedly.

"I thought it was a good moment, since the kids were busy with Jo"

"You were right" she nodded "I took both tests..." she added, trying not to smile.

"You did?" he stared at her, motioning for her to go on "what did they say?"

"They were both positive" she murmured "you cannot tell it to anybody" she added quickly "I need to make sure the tests were right, I'm calling my ob-gyn tomorrow when I get back to work"

"Sure it's not like I was going to shout it from rooftops or anything" he mumbled sheepishly "I'm really happy for you guys" he added grinning.

"We're very happy too" she confessed "just a little worried about adding another baby to the mix with all that's been going on"

"I'm sure you guys will manage" he reassured her, spying the coffee pot who was starting to brew "if there is one thing we all know if that you guys can survive absolutely anything"

"Thanks Alex, I hope so" she smiled back at him.

"You're an amazing mom, Mere. You're so much different from your mother, you don't have to worry even for a minute to become like her..." he let his voice trail off and gave her a one armed hug.

"You remember the conversation we had when your brother came visit?" she asked.

"Yeah, I had already told you that you were going to be a great mom" he smirked "and I was right" he added for good measure.

"You really are a great friend, Alex"

"So are you, Mere" he smiled again, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

The two of them went back in the living room carrying various mugs and some more cookies, ready to enjoy a nice night together.

So this was chapter 12, I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope I did it justice, I kind of like the way it turned out... anyway drop me a line and stay tuned for more.