Meredith looked at her beautiful baby girl. Ellis had fallen asleep after breastfeeding. She was an amazingly easy baby. She already had curly black hair that reminded Meredith so much of her husband. She hugged the baby closer to her. And she realized what she had to do. She picked up her phone and searched her contacts for Carolyn Shepherd. It was fitting that the first person she told about her baby be Derek's mother.

The phone rang four times, and Meredith worried that Carolyn wouldn't be there. It was 11 a.m. in San Diego, and 2 p.m. in New York. But finally she heard Carolyn's voice. "Meredith is that you?" Carolyn was shocked to hear from her daughter-in-law. She hardly ever called, and she hadn't heard from her since the funeral. Her friend Alex had called several times asking if she had heard anything from Meredith, and the answer was always no. Amelia had also told her that she hadn't heard from Meredith since she left town. Carolyn had been hoping to spend some time with her son's children, but she thought Meredith would surface sometime. And today she had.

"Yes."

"We've been so worried about you, all of us. Are you okay?"

"I'm good. I have some good news for you. You have another granddaughter, Ellis Grey-Shepherd."

"You had a baby?" Carolyn was shocked. She had never imagined that Meredith might be pregnant.

"Yes, Derek and I had another baby. She looks just like him."

"That's wonderful." Carolyn thought for a moment. She wasn't sure what Meredith thought about death and religion; they had never talked about it. But Carolyn's strong religious faith gave her much comfort. "I don't know whether you believe in God, but I believe and I believe that Derek is in heaven, and he knows about his little girl. He is with his father, and Mark, and your sister Lexie, and they are all looking after you and the children."

Meredith didn't know what to say.

"Would you like me to come and help out with the children? Managing three children is a challenge."

"Thanks for offering to help. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. You will have an opportunity to meet Ellis and see Zola and Bailey soon. But right now I just wanted to let you know I had Derek's baby girl. I'll send you a photo by email."

"Thanks for calling. And if there is ever anything I can do to help, just call. I'll get a flight immediately. I know how hard it is being a single mom, and how hard it is to lose a husband you love. So please call anytime of day or night."

"Okay. Thank you. Good-bye."

Carolyn sat down and called Amelia. She was in surgery, but she called back an hour later. "Hi Mom, what's up?"

"Meredith called."

"That's great. Did she tell you about the baby?"

"Yes, when did you learn about the baby?"

"This morning. I was going to wait to call until we got a report from Alex. Her friend Alex was her emergency contact, so he is on his way to help out."

"I would have been happy to help."

"Me, too, Mom. I wish I'd known she was pregnant. It's great to know that Derek has another child."

"I can't wait to meet her."

"You haven't booked your ticket yet?"

"No, Meredith said she would let me know a good time to visit. And she just sent me a photo of the baby. I'll email it to you. She's beautiful, with a lot of black curls just like you and Derek."

"I'll give you a call after we hear back from Alex."

"Sounds good. Take care."