A/N- this is not dissimilar to what happened in the show, I just think there's a more tactful way of bringing it in to the show. I've tried to show a little of how much Meredith has grown without Derek even realising, giving him more faith in her too. Enjoy :)

Derek was nervous. Maybe even terrified. He'd been up way before the alarm going over what he'd say to Meredith to get her on board with his plan for them. It'd only been a week since their fight. They weren't even properly moved in yet, and here he was bringing up the possibility of building them a house for their future children. She had barely gotten over George's announcement and he was about to hit her with even more change. He knew she would probably think it was way too soon, but if he was honest, he'd been waiting for her to freak out and send him away long before now, and she hadn't, so maybe it was the right time. She had forgiven him for kissing rose when he was waiting for her to be ready, she'd been the bigger person, letting him in even after he'd let her down. He didn't know if there'd ever be a perfect time but if he didn't tell her his plans then he just might explode with excitement. Though if he was being honest, he had a feeling that if it wasn't now, then he'd never find the guts. Walking into their room he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and kissed her.

"Hi," Meredith breathed as Derek kissed her neck, taking her by surprise when he walked into her bedroom as she was slipping on a pair of jeans and a sweater ready for work. Opening her eyes again, she spotted the cardboard tube in his hand. "What's that?" 'the next ten years of our lives' he thought, trying to find the right words.

"Um... don't freak out ok, this is just an idea, it doesn't have to be right away, I just wanted to show you. Get your opinion. It doesn't mean anything or anything, I'm just putting it out there." He explained pathetically, as Meredith's brow furrowed in confusion and apprehension at how the contents of a cardboard tube could make him think that she was about to flip out at him, and run for the hills.

"Okay." She whispered, emphasizing the second syllable. "Why am I gonna freak out? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything yet; I just wanted to get your opinion on something. I…" he stopped when Meredith took the tube from him, opening it and emptying the contents onto the bed.

"What are these, blueprints?" she asked as she unrolled the blue papers, and laying them in front of her. "Why do you have blueprints?" he looked at her, scared that she might just jump out of the window, his expression softening somewhat when he saw that she was smiling. "Kids' rooms, big bathtub, room for swing set…" she read off, pointing to each room as she spoke its name. "Are you buying us a house Derek?" she grinned up at him, making his heart skip a beat as he saw the thrilled look in her eyes, and her utter excitement at a place of their own. "Cause you know I have a house, we're in it right now."

"Well, I sort of wanted a house that was just ours, without our strays, and rather than just buying someone else's place, I thought maybe I'd build us one instead. That way it's ours, it's just our memories there." He said sitting down behind her on the bed and pulling her into his lap. "I've got room on my land to build on, and I thought that it'd be nice for our kids to grow up with the big back yard, the lake and the trees. I could teach them to fish, and we could camp outside on warm nights, and our bedroom could have a view of the whole of Seattle. We could have a deck and a grill and…" he rambled feeling her excitement building as he told her about each feature of his plan.

"How many kids are we gonna have?" Meredith asked turning in his lap so she could see his face.

"I was thinking maybe five?" he told her honestly.

"Five?" she gasped, convincing Derek that she was as he thought about to run, before she giggled at the scared expression on his face. "I was thinking maybe two. I have to give birth to them remember!" her giggle. His favourite noise in the world, one that he wanted to hear every day until the day he died.

"Well, we can just see how it goes with those two, and see from there." She looked disapprovingly at him before putting her hands on his cheeks and kissing him with all that she had. As they pulled away, she hopped out of his lap and headed towards the door, turning around just before she left the room

"Two Derek. I don't think I could cope with five chatty children with perfect hair and god complexes."

"Okay mer." He told her, following her out of the door, "Two would be perfect."

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"Hey guess what?" Meredith questions Christina as she enters the residents lounge "Derek's building us a house in the woods."

"Really?" said Cristina smirking at Meredith's revelation. "And that's not all, he wants us to have five kids Cristina, five!"

"Are you freaking out?" Cristina asks, confused by how calm Meredith seems with Derek's suggestion.

"Actually, no." Meredith confessed, "I'm actually kind of excited about the whole thing. I think I've grown up at last."

"Wow!" Christina chuckled, "well I guess I'm proud. Go have five little mcdreamys with perfect hair and tiny little scalpels in the woods with all the nature. I'll be here when you're ready to freak out!" Meredith laughed, knowing that even just a few months ago house plans would have scared her, and she'd've done all that she could to avoid them and Derek for coming up with it. Cristina smiled at her person. The pair of them were so close that often they didn't need words, they had facial expressions, mannerisms that spoke volumes. It was one of those moments. Much like Ellis, Cristina found it hard to say how proud she really, but Meredith knew that Cristina was honestly happy that things were going right for her friend. Their moment was interrupted when their former resident came hurrying in the door.

"Yang! Grey! What are you still doing in here?" Bailey scolded. "Rounds started two minutes ago!"

"Coming dr. bailey" they called back, following quickly behind their senior resident, both of their faces lit up with matching smiles. Even with entire lifetimes that were evidence to the contrary, it seemed as though Meredith may be getting her happily ever after after all.

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"Cristina said she was proud of me today." Meredith informed Derek as they walked across the parking lot after a long day of surgeries.

"She did?" he asked as he opened her door for her before walking around to undo his own.

"Yeah, now that I'm all grown up and healed." She giggled. "She did agree with me though," she added

"what's that?" Derek enquired wondering what the twisted sisters were about to hit him with.

"We're gonna need a much bigger bathtub than you suggested if we're gonna have those five chatty children."

"Done!" he agreed placing his hand on her thigh, smiling at how well things were coming together. He laid down the plans, and she'd stayed happily by his side now all he had to do was just make good on them.

A/N- Yay, house plans! I think the house is so typically Derek that it needs to be there. I'm having a lot of fun with grown up healed Meredith so I think I'm gonna lay off the freak outs for a while and just let her be happy :)