A/N-Thanks so much for the reviews and follows and favourites, they really make my day and encourage me to keep writing. Here's chapter 12. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own it, I just wish I did!

Over the next few days, Meredith began to realise just what she'd agreed to. She was willingly going to meet the woman that had brought Derek into the world and raised him. And she was meeting the woman who thought she was good enough to be with her only son. A son who had chosen her over his own wife mere months ago. She knew it was a step she needed to take, and she knew that Derek was desperate to see his mother again, having only spoken to her during their weekly phone calls since he moved to Seattle just over a year ago. Derek had been close to his mother, and Meredith knew that she'd got on well with Addison, even after the affair, so Meredith had a tough act to follow.

Cristina had laughed in her face when Meredith told her what she'd agreed to in a sleepy, post sex fog, filling her head with tales of Burke's 'momma' and warning her to keep a close eye on her eyebrows. When she thought about it, neither her nor Cristina had much luck with mothers, even their own, so she went to Izzie, whose sunny optimism put Meredith much more at ease with the situation.

"She's going to love you!" Izzie exclaimed as she wrote up her post-op notes for a colectomy patient she'd scrubbed in on. "If you keep the dark and twisty at bay, and don't even think about cooking anything at all then you'll probably be fine. Just keep telling her how wonderful her son is, that's all moms want to hear. Just breathe Mer, you already have something huge in common."

"Really? And what's that?" Meredith questioned sceptically, looking at the OR board to see if Derek was still in surgery. He'd been trying to tell her something about his mom's visit, but she'd sparkle pagered herself onto a paeds case with Dr. Hahn and had to run and prep the patient immediately after rounds, and Derek had gone in an hour before she'd finished. Izzie finished her chart, depositing it on the trolley and dragging Meredith towards the cafeteria.

"Isn't it obvious? You both love Mcdreamy more than you love anything else. She can't take that away from you. Even if she hates you, she isn't going to stop you loving Derek, and I don't think even his mom could stop him loving you." The pair filled their trays and paid before sitting down next to George and Alex, Lexie sitting nervously on George's side. Meredith shot her a small smile, their relationship gradually improving again after her conversation with George.

"You really think she'll like me?" Meredith asked picking at her salad with her fork.

"Mer, you spent almost an hour on the phone to her, and neither of you hung up, she probably already likes you. Meeting her is a big deal, I'll admit, but Derek isn't going to let her say anything bad. He's hopelessly in love with you, he wants you to meet the other most important woman in his life. Take it as a compliment!" Izzie sipped at her soda as Meredith shoved an enormous forkful of salad leaves into her mouth.

"You're meeting Derek's mother?" George asked, finally realising the reason for Meredith's insecurity.

"Dude," Alex offered, clearly thinking the same as Meredith when it cam to meeting the mother.

"Alex," Izzie scolded, "This is a good thing, it means he wants you to be a really big part of his life, and not just here in Seattle where it's just the two of you, but his family too. I think you should be happy." Meredith screwed up her face as she thought about Izzie's words. Alex continued to smirk as he ate his sandwich.

"And anyway," George added, "You probably have a few weeks before she comes anyway. I'll have the rest of my stuff out and you'll have had a chance to get used to things, and Izzie will be there too. Izzie's right, it'll totally be fine." Even Lexie nodded at that, not feeling it was her place to say so, but knowing that Meredith's friends were right. Meredith stabbed at her salad again, thinking about meeting the woman that she'd only ever spoken to on the phone, where she could escape. She continued chewing as Hahn walked over to their table.

"Grey, I need to go back in on the Smithson baby, are you in?" She asked, knowing Meredith was fairly committed to their case from earlier in the day.

"Absolutely," she said taking a large sip of her drink before depositing her tray and following towards the OR for a few hours distraction from her thoughts.

MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD

"Hey," Derek said as Meredith walked up to him after her surgery, coffee for both of them in her hands. "How was it?"

"It was good, the patient is alive, and the family have been informed. Lexie is with her now."

"Good." He said wondering how to broach the subject of the phone call he had just ended. "So my mum called, she has her flight information." Meredith nodded as she signed the chart the nurse had passed her. "She couldn't get a flight when she wanted to so she's coming this weekend." Meredith wished she hadn't taken a sip of her coffee at that minute; she choked on her mouthful, spluttering it over Derek as it dripped out of her nose and down her scrubs.

"I'm sorry what?" She choked out putting her hand to her nose to stop the dripping.

"Er, she's coming this weekend instead. Look do you want to get yourself cleaned up and we can talk about this later, you know minus the coffee."

"Please." She groaned as she walked away, mortified at her display. Cristina looked up from her cubby when she saw Meredith walk in immediately bursting out laughing at the sight of her friend.

"Dare I even ask?" she giggled as Meredith pulled off her wet scrubs groaning at the fact it had begun to soak through to her shirt underneath.

"Derek's mother changed her flight; she's coming this weekend instead. Derek thought the best way to tell me was when I had a mouthful of coffee, most of which he is now cleaning up off of the nurses' station countertop." She began to giggle herself at the absurdity of the situation. "God Cristina, my house is still a dormitory for residents, how am I going to have it mom-worthy by Friday?"

"Why don't you just use the sparkle pager for a really high profile case and stick with it the whole weekend, then you don't even have to worry about it? And anyway, Derek lived in a trailer in the woods for like an entire year, I think even a messy frat house is better than that. Just remember to clear up your condom stashes." Meredith's eyes grew wide as she thought about all the draws and cupboards in every room that held condoms just in case they needed one spur of the moment. Cristina just laughed more before dashing off to answer a page. Derek walked in just as she left sitting down next to Meredith on the bench and grabbing one of her hands.

"Not my finest work." He chuckled looking at the pile of laundry at her side.

"Not so much." She agreed giggling slightly.

"I didn't know how to tell you, I didn't want you to freak out and you know spit coffee everywhere." She giggled more, leaning into him slightly.

"There's so much to do Derek, just getting all of the condoms up to our room is going to take all week, I haven't properly cleaned in about a month. Even if everyone helps it's still not going to be anywhere near good enough." She looked at him, defeat spreading across her face.

"Meredith, my mom had five kids, and two jobs. Do you think she had the time to make our house perfectly tidy? D'you think she really cares about a little mess? She has 15 grandchildren, and all her kids are doctors. You think she minds mess?"

"Yes," Meredith gave up, "you're her only son, she probably wanted you to find someone who'd clean up after you and look after you and pop out little chatty babies and make cookies and make Halloween costumes and all those sorts of things. She wants bright and shiny Derek, I'm not even close."

"Meredith, she already loves you, she just wants to see you in the flesh. She knows you're a doctor and you're busy, she's been through that five times herself. The condoms, we will move, but the rest doesn't matter. We'll set her up in Izzie's room, cause it smells the best, and we'll go from there. My mom never really liked Addison, but she grew to love her because I did. She still tells everyone about speaking to you on the phone that time and how wonderful you were to her, how much you obviously love me. She'll just be glad that she doesn't have to sleep in the trailer. Trust me, you'll love her, and she'll love you. So quit worrying and kiss me." She obliged, letting the kiss linger until they were paged to their various duties. "I love you Meredith grey." He called back at her as he ran to the pit as she met Bailey at the nurses' station. The two women shared a knowing look, and Bailey smiled at her warmly as though agreeing with what everyone else had told her. Maybe meeting the mother wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/N- Reviews would be awesome :)