96. Chapter 96

AN: Sorry about the delay. My real life kind of demanded some attention for a while there. I'm going to do my best to keep updating regularly, but I can't see life settling down until the end of October.

Derek tore his eyes away from the OR Board at the sound of a throat clearing. Turning his head, he spotted Mark beside him, appearing grumpier than usual.

"Hey," he greeted evenly. "Haven't seen you around since I got back." It was Wednesday morning, and he had been back at work since driving straight from the airport to the hospital Monday morning.

Mark shrugged. "Didn't want to be around the new interns."

"This is a teaching hospital," Derek pointed out.

"But that's not why I'm here."

Derek sighed, knowing why Mark had come to Seattle, and with that knowledge, knowing why he was grumpier than normal. He had been surprised when he had returned to Seattle after two weeks to discover his ex-wife had moved on. From the Chief's curt explanation, Derek understood Addison had moved to Los Angeles to work with their old friends, Sam and Naomi. Though he had always expected Addison's presence in Seattle to be temporary, he hadn't expected her to leave so suddenly. And he hadn't stopped to consider how Mark would feel about that.

"So," he prompted, "Are you going to L.A.?"

Mark shook his head. "It's not going to happen."

"I've listened to you complain about Seattle since you showed up."

"You've barely talked to me since I showed up," Mark countered.

"Doesn't mean I haven't had to listen to you whine."

"I don't whine."

"You whine. Like a little girl, you whine."

"You're the girl."

"Nice comeback."

"You're the one who resorted to name calling."

Derek chuckled and shook his head, amused that they could fall back into an old routine so easily. It had happened a few times before Derek had gone on vacation, and now he felt like he wanted his friend back. "So, what you're telling me is you left New York, which you love, to follow her to Seattle, which you hate, but you won't follow her to L.A.?"

"Pretty much."

"L.A. would be good for you. It's a plastic surgeon's dream."

"Funny."

"You'd get lots of business."

"I make more money for this hospital than you do. Webber said twice as much. I'm so good people from all over are willing to travel as far as they need to come to me, despite the cost."

"I save lives," Derek countered. "And I don't choose my patients based on their annual income."

"You're just jealous that Webber likes me better than you."

"Never going to happen. Webber can't stand you."

"Whatever you say. I'm staying in Seattle."

"It's okay if you want to go after her," Derek told him honestly. "I've moved on."

"So has she. And so am I. I tried to make it work, but it's not going to happen."

Derek hesitated before pushing the issue. They weren't quite back in the friend zone yet, but he still wanted the plastic surgeon to be happy, even if it was with his ex-wife. "It really is okay. You came here for her and-"

"I didn't come here for her."

"But-"

"I didn't come to Seattle for Addison. I came here for you; to get you back."

Derek sent him a look in time to see Mark sigh and shake his head. "I know. I want to take it back now, but I already said it, so..." He trailed off with a nervous laugh.

Derek chuckled. "So, we're pretending you didn't say it?"

"I'd appreciate that." Mark cleared his throat. "How was your big vacation? Did Grey survive the family?"

"She did great; they loved her." He paused. "Lauren's engaged."

"What?" Mark had been there too, a decade ago, when Derek's sister had been stuck in an abusive relationship. He was almost as protective as Derek.

Derek nodded. "She's engaged," he repeated. "His name's Nathan. He seems like a good guy."

Mark released a breath. "If you're sure. If not, just say the word, and I'll fly out there with you to kick his ass."

"I don't think that'll be necessary. Lauren wouldn't let things get that bad again."

"Was he there?"

Derek nodded. "I promised her I'd give him a chance. And she's my sister, so technically no one is good enough for her, but she's happy. That's what counts. They're getting married in the fall."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "You better hurry up and make your own plans, or your little sister is going to be married before you."

Derek started at Mark's joke, realizing the plastic surgeon hadn't heard his news yet. "Yeah, about that...I know I said you'd be invited, but-"

"No problem," Mark said quickly, cutting him off, "If you and Grey don't want me there, that's fine. I understand. I have a lot of ground to make up."

"That's not it. You would have been invited. If we'd decided to plan a venue or something, you would have been invited. But we went with a much less stressful, and much faster, choice." He raised his left hand for emphasis.

Mark stared at his hand for a moment and then smiled. "You eloped? Congratulations."

Derek smiled and nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

"Is this a hug or handshake moment?"

Derek chuckled. "After your little comment, I think we should stick to a handshake."

Mark shook his hand and then clapped him on the shoulder. "This is fantastic. I'm happy for you, man. Grey's good for you."

"She is."

"Where is she?"

"At home. Sleeping. She's been out since I drove her home last night."

"Right. I guess she had to supervise the interns for their first shift."

Derek nodded. "Thirty-six hour shift. And to make it worse, our flight home was delayed on Sunday. We didn't land until Monday morning. She was up for about sixty hours." He chuckled. "I tried to wake her up to say goodbye this morning. She mumbled something at me that I couldn't understand, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what words she used."

Mark laughed. "Remember our first shift with interns?"

"I remember being extremely annoyed by their questions. And I happen to remember answering your interns too because you ignored them and jumped on a surgery."

Mark shrugged. "And I happen to remember you wanted in on that surgery too and I beat you."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"You were never good at accepting defeat."

Derek's pager went off before he could respond. He pulled it off his waistband to read the words scrolling across the small screen. "Consult in the pit. I have to go."

"Saved by the page."

"I won more surgeries than you did in residency," Derek responded as he returned his pager to his waistband.

"That's only because that attending hated me."

"All of the attendings hated you."

"They didn't know a good thing when they saw it."

"No. You were just an ass."

Mark shrugged. "Still. They wish they'd been nicer to me now."

Derek shook his head. "On that note, I'm going to the pit."

"Have fun on your consult," Mark called after him as he walked away. "And congrats again!"

"You paged," Derek drawled as he walked into the trauma room.

Bailey barely glanced at him as she shoved a chart into his hands.

"Nice to see you too, Dr. Bailey," he responded wryly as he flipped open the chart. Although he had seen Dr. Bailey over the past two days, she hadn't slowed down enough for them to exchange even a sentence. The added callousness to her personality, he assumed, was due to being passed over for Chief Resident.

"Maria Walters. Fifty-three. MVC. GCS of eight."

Derek passed off the chart and pulled his penlight out of his pocket. "Has she been conscious at all?" He asked as he checked the patient's pupils.

"No."

"Hmm, pupils are sluggish. Let's send her for a scan in the next thirty minutes."

Bailey motioned to the ER resident who had been assisting the trauma. The resident nodded and reached for the phone to call the Imaging Department.

"Any labs back yet?" Derek asked.

"Not yet," Bailey responded. "But I've been promised results within the hour."

"Good."

The ER resident hung up the phone. "They can take her now."

"Good. We'll take her up," Derek offered, motioning to Bailey. With the interns and junior residents off for the day, they would have to do some of the more menial tasks themselves.

They worked in silence to get the patient to the elevator and then up to the Imaging Department. The tech helped them prepare the patient for the scan, and once the patient was in the machine, Derek headed for the imaging booth. Bailey sat next to him.

"So," he began, as they waited for the first images to appear, "How was your last two weeks?"

"Remember all the other times I told you about my personal life?"

Derek felt his brow furrow. "No."

"Then what makes you think I'm going to start now?"

He faltered for a moment. Bailey was much more abrasive them normal. "I wasn't trying to delve into your personal life, doctor Bailey, I was just trying to pass the time."

She sighed. "I spent my last two weeks working. Without any interns there's been more work. Add to that you being on vacation and Addison and Burke leaving-"

"I'm not allowed to go on vacation? I work more hours than any other attending in this hospital."

Bailey smiled at that. "You're allowed; though I think the only reason you're here so much is because you don't know what to do with yourself when Grey's working and you're not."

"Now that's not entirely fair..." He complained, though she had a point. He often built his schedule around Meredith's and often stretched his shifts so they could drive in together.

Instead of replying, she turned to stare at him.

"What?"

"I am not a gossip."

"Okay. Did someone insinuate that you were?" He asked, confused.

"Far too much gossip goes on in this hospital," she continued, without responding to his question. "I don't listen to it and I don't spread it."

"Okay."

"But I've heard the same rumour from several sources over the past two days."

He smirked. "And here I thought you just said you don't listen to gossip?"

"There's a difference between listening and hearing."

Derek chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. What is it that you've heard?"

"That you married my intern last week."

"Technically, she's not your intern anymore," he said with a smile, "But yes, we got married."

She studied him for a long moment, before speaking, "You didn't push her into anything?"

He shook his head. "It was as much her idea as mine. We didn't want to deal with the stress of planning a wedding neither of us was interested in. We were on vacation and we had the idea and...we got married."

"And she's happy?"

"We both are. Very happy."

Bailey cracked an uncharacteristic smile. "Then I am happy for you both."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. You both deserve to be happy."

"Scans should be up any moment," the tech said as he entered the both, having positioned the patient in the machine.

Sure enough, the scans came up immediately.

Derek sighed and lifted a hand to point at the screen. "She's got a subarachnoid haemorrhage."

"I am perfectly capable of reading a scan," Bailey snapped.

Derek returned his hand to the table and turned to the tech. "Can you call up to the OR floor and see if anything is available? We need to get to this right away."

"Absolutely," he replied, stepping out of the booth.

"Do you want to scrub in?" Derek asked Bailey.

"I am a perfectly capable senior resident. I have better things to do with my time than watch you perform a craniotomy."

"I'm not questioning your skills. You can assist."

"I am a general surgeon who doesn't need to assist on one of you surgeries. I have surgeries of my own to perform."

"Duly noted," he muttered. Obviously she felt like she had something to prove after Callie Torres had been awarded Chief Resident.

"OR three is available," the tech stated as he returned to the booth.

"When?"

"I told them you needed it immediately."

"Thank you. Let's get her back onto the gurney." He stood and made his way to the door to help the tech, but stopped in the doorway. "Doctor Bailey, I've never questioned your skills or abilities in this hospital. Hell, my wife is alive today because you saved her life." He shook his head at the unwanted memory. "You have nothing to prove to me. When I returned to work Monday morning I completely expected to see you in the role of Chief Resident. If it were up to me, you'd have the job."

Bailey stared at him for a moment. "Thank you."

He offered her a warm smile. "Any time."

"Move your feet!" Meredith demanded as she shuffled into the living room, balancing an extra large pizza in her hands. Cristina, who had strewn herself across the couch when Meredith had headed to the front door to pay for the pizza and Izzy had headed to the kitchen for drinks, muttered something under her breath and refused to move.

"Fine. But if you don't move, you don't get any pizza."

"Or anything to drink," Izzy echoed, clutching to three bottles of water.

Cristina groaned and very slowly sat up.

Meredith plopped herself down in the middle of the couch and set the pizza on the coffee table beside the pile of cell phones and pagers.

"Drinks," Izzy commented as she sat on the empty end of the couch and passed Meredith two bottles of water, one of which she kept and the other that she dropped into Cristina's lap.

All three reached for a slice of pizza, and when they were settled on the couch, Cristina reached for the remote to restart the video.

"Is it sad that we're home recovering from a long shift and we're watching a surgical tape?" Izzy asked.

"No," Meredith and Cristina said at the same time.

Izzy shrugged. "Didn't think so."

"What else would we be doing?" Cristina asked.

"Normal people do things on their days off. Normal things."

"We're not normal, Iz," Meredith commented as she polished off her first slice of pizza and reached for a second.

Izzy, who was barely half way through her first slice of pizza, sent Meredith a look. "Well, you're not normal. Seriously, how can you eat that much that fast?"

Meredith glared at her. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten since yesterday." It was early afternoon now.

"Neither have I," Izzy countered.

Ignoring her roommate, Meredith took a large bite of her second slice and turned her attention back to the aortic repair on the television screen. They had specifically chosen a cardio procedure to uplift Cristina's mood. Silence fell between the three off duty surgeons and lasted a good ten minutes, before Cristina sighed.

"The only thing better than watching this would be doing the repair myself."

Meredith nodded her agreement. "Yup. Though I have to admit; it's nice to be sitting. I cannot believe how tired I was." Derek had driven her home the night before and she hadn't even been able to stay awake during the short drive.

Meredith groaned as a hand squeezed around her shoulder and then shook her gently, pulling her from much needed sleep. She pawed at the source of the annoyance, only to hear a soft chuckle. And then another hand ran up and down her arm. She felt hot breath against her face and then familiar lips on hers.

Try as she may to ignore Derek's affections, her body responded on its own and she kissed him back. This time she groaned when he pulled away.

Opening her eyes, she glared at him and hooked her fingers into the collar of his shirt to pull him back to her.

Derek chuckled and acquiesced, kissing her hard for several long moments before pulling back again. "We need to go inside," he whispered.

"Inside?"

He smirked and ran his fingers through her hair. "Inside," he confirmed.

Blinking groggily, she pulled her gaze from his and then frowned as she realized their surroundings. She was sitting in the passenger seat of his car, which was sitting in their driveway. Derek had opened her door and removed her seatbelt, and was hovering as close to her as he could. "Oh."

He pecked her lips and then tugged as her hand. "Come on."

Staggering to her feet, Meredith allowed Derek to close her door and hook his arm around her waist. She leaned against him for the seemingly long walk up the driveway. The front door was unlocked – Izzy and Alex had left before her – and Meredith pushed open the door. She was about to step inside, when Derek stopped her. She barely had time to shoot him a questioning glance when her world tipped.

She gasped, and grasped at him for balance, and before she knew it, he was holding her in his arms, one behind her back and the other under her knees.

"What are you-" She was cut off by his lips on hers.

"Threshold," he whispered as he carried her over it.

"Threshold," she echoed with a giggle. "Okay." He hadn't carried her over the threshold of their hotel room the night they'd gotten married because they'd been too caught up in each other in their frenzy to consummate their new marriage. Hours later, when she had been spent and sated and lying in her husband's arms, he had promised to do the threshold thing when they got home. And, technically, this was the first time they were home together. With the late flight and having to go straight to the hospital after arriving back in Seattle, Meredith had forgotten all about the threshold thing.

Derek shut the door behind them and turned for the stairs.

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do," he interrupted. "It's part of the experience."

She giggled again, but didn't complain as he carried her up the stairs. It reminded her of the time, months ago, when she had fallen asleep while he fished one morning, and she had woken up to him carrying her back to the trailer. That had been the day she had told him she didn't know how to swim. It had prompted their list of things to do, which had in turn resulted in their trip to the Bahamas.

Which had resulted in their wedding.

It was all kind of circular and amazing.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Derek turned for their room and pushed open the door. Meredith reached to switch on the light and shut the door. He spun them towards the bed and before she knew it her back was against the mattress and his weight was on top of her. He kissed her hard for several moments, before sighing and rolling so he was lying beside her on his back.

She reached for his hand. "We're home," she whispered. The last time she had been in their bedroom she had been exhausted and panicked. It had taken her three attempts to leave a coherent message on Derek's cell phone while she struggled to pack her suitcase through the tears in her eyes.

"We're home," he echoed.

"And we're married."

Beside her, he exhaled, and she could tell he was smiling. "We are."

"I'm happy."

"Me too."

"Really, freaking happy," she added. "Because I really, freaking love you."

Derek rolled onto his side, facing her, and shinnied close. "I love you too, Mer," he whispered, pressing his lips to her cheek and draping his arm across her, "More than anything."

They lay together for a long moment, and then he kissed her cheek again and stood. He reached a hand to her, which she took, and pulled her to her feet.

"I've never been so tired," she complained as she kicked off her shoes and left them in a heap by the door.

Derek's arms snaked around her waist in a moment. "I've heard you say that several times," he whispered, his breath hot against her neck.

She shivered and burrowed herself into his warmth, her mind too fuzzy with the pull of sleep to come up with anything witty to say in response.

One of Derek's arms held her tight against him, supporting her, as the other hand ran lazily up and down her spine. Meredith allowed her eyes to close, trusting him to hold her. She was so tired and he was so warm that she was pretty sure she could fall asleep standing up in his arms.

After a long moment, Derek kissed the top of her head. "Let's get you into bed."

She lifted her head from his chest to meet his eyes. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd be able to come up with some dirty comment about what you just said."

He laughed. "If I thought you were up to doing more than sleeping right now, so would I."

She smiled at him. "Tomorrow," she promised.

He pecked her lips. "I'll hold you to that."

"I'm sure you will."

He released her, and she quickly stripped off her pants, top and bra, and pulled on the soft, thin tee shirt she had stolen from Derek so long ago. The mattress was soft when she finally slid under the covers.

Derek was quick to follow suit, and once he was in bed beside her, he reached his arms around her and pulled her against him.

"It's early for you to go to bed," Meredith mumbled, despite how much her body craved a good night of sleep in his arms.

His lips pressed against the back of her neck. "I don't care how early it is," he whispered, "I want to fall asleep with my wife, in our bed."

Meredith felt a flutter in her stomach at the term. "I like being your wife," she murmured, sleep pulling at her. "You're a really good husband," she added. And then she slept.

"Sleep is for the weak," Cristina proclaimed, pulling Meredith's mind back to the present.

She exchanged a look with Izzy, and then laughed. "Whatever."

"What time will Derek be home?" Izzy asked, after Cristina had obviously redirected her attention entirely on the television.

Meredith shrugged. "I don't know. He texted me to say he was going into surgery an hour ago. I don't think he had anything else scheduled this afternoon. He should be home relatively early." She smiled at the thought.

Izzy bumped her shoulder. "I can't believe you're married."

She smiled. "I kind of can't either. It's...strange."

"Good strange or bad strange?"

"Good strange. Definitely good. Just...new."

"Have you decided if you're going to change your name?"

"No. I haven't decided anything. I haven't had a chance to even think about anything yet." She reached for the chain around her neck without thinking.

Izzy offered her a smile and made to say something, but was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. All three girls leaned forward and picked their phone off the table.

"It's mine," Meredith said, lifting her cell to her ear. "Hello?"

"Meredith?" Asked a female voice that Meredith couldn't immediately place, but definitely recognized.

"Uh, yes," she stammered, trying to pinpoint who she was talking to.

"I hope I didn't wake you. Derek said not to call until the afternoon, because you were to finish a thirty-six hour shift last night."

Someone who knew her and Derek, but didn't work at the hospital... Meredith sputtered as she realized she was talking to her mother-in-law. "Jane. Hi. Yes, long shift, but no, I wasn't sleeping." She stood and left the living room for the privacy of the office.

"Good." There was a pause, and Meredith felt her heart thud in her chest. In her exhaustion the night before she had forgotten to question Derek on his mother's reaction to their wedding.

"Derek told me the good news," Jane continued, "And I have to say I am so happy for you both. Congratulations."

Meredith opened her mouth, but no words came out. Congratulations and happy family members were basically unheard of entities in the Meredith chronicles. She was out of her element. Unable to think of anything to say, she curled up into the corner of the couch in the office and clutched the phone to her ear.

"I wanted to officially welcome you to the family."

Tears formed in her eyes and she had to swallow a lump in her throat before she could speak. "Thank you," she managed to say quietly.

"We're glad to have you, Meredith."

The sincerity in Jane's words caused more tears to form in her eyes, and try as she might, Meredith couldn't get rid of the lump in her throat. She would not cry. Not over this. She wasn't one of those girls who got overwhelmed. She would not cry. She wouldn't. Really.

"Meredith?" Jane prompted gently when she received no response.

She sucked in a breath. "I'm sorry," Meredith said, cringing at the waver in her voice. "I just... You caught me off guard and I'm not... I'm not used to...this."

Jane was silent for a moment, but Meredith could hear her breathing. "Get used to it," she eventually said, "We're your family now, officially."

"Okay," Meredith whispered. "I... Thank you."

"Thank you," Jane countered, catching Meredith by surprise. "Thank you for making my son so happy. Meredith, when he called to tell me the news, he was so happy; so upbeat. I don't think I've ever heard him so positively joyful. And you did that for him. When you came to visit I saw a spark in his eyes that I haven't seen in a long time." She paused. "It's a mother's dream to see their child so happy."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, but in the privacy and darkness of the office, Meredith didn't bother wiping them away. "He makes me that happy, too," she admitted.

"I could see that. You're a good fit."

Meredith smiled at this. "Does that mean you're not mad that we didn't invite you?" Derek had assured her it wasn't a problem, but she still worried.

"Of course not. I've been to plenty of weddings. As long as you're both happy, then I'm happy for you. Though, Derek did promise me a picture."

Meredith laughed. "We'll send you one when we get them."

"I'll expect it."

They spoke for several more minutes, and when Meredith hung up, she was surprised to find herself smiling. It was nice having a mother-in-law like Jane. Wiping away any remaining dampness from her cheeks, Meredith headed back across the hall to the living room. She swiped a third slice of pizza from the box and sat between her friends.

"You okay?" Izzy asked.

"I'm fine."

"You look like you were crying."

Meredith made a face as she realized her eyes must still be red. "I'm fine," she repeated. "Really."

Izzy stared at her for a long moment, but let it go.

"Was Mama Shepherd pissed about the wedding?" Cristina asked.

Meredith smiled at the term 'Mama Shepherd' and shook her head. "The opposite. She was happy."

Cristina made a face. "Weird."

"I know," Meredith said with a laugh.

It was dinner time when Meredith heard the front door open. She was in the kitchen, cleaning up. Izzy was in her room and Cristina had gone home. Hoping it was Derek, Meredith dried her hands and turned for the kitchen door in time for the door to open and Derek to appear.

"Hi," she whispered breathily as she hooked her hands behind his neck. She had been waiting impatiently for him to get home for hours.

Derek's arms snaked around her waist and his lips found hers. Before she knew it, he had backed her against the counter. She moaned and deepened the kiss. Her fingers found his hair. She loved his hair.

He pressed against her in response. Cleary he had been impatient about this moment too.

Just when she thought she couldn't go without oxygen for another moment, he broke the kiss, breathing hard as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Hi," he whispered between pants, his hot breath on her neck giving her goose bumps.

Her arms dropped around her shoulders and she hugged him tight. "I missed you today."

"Mmm, we should quit," he murmured. "Then we can stay home and have sex all day."

She giggled. "Sounds like a good plan."

He lifted his chin from her shoulder and pecked her lips. "We're newlyweds. It's expected of us."

"I totally agree."

He kissed her again.

"But food first," she mumbled before he could deepen it.

With a groan, he pulled away. "Fine. But only," he paused to kiss her, "Because," kiss, "I," kiss, "love," kiss, "you." Kiss.

"I love you too." She kissed him one more time before pulling away and heading for the stove. "And because I love you, I made sure dinner was almost ready." She turned on the burners under the two pots sitting on the stove.

Derek joined her, glancing suspiciously at the pots. "You didn't cook, did you?" He lifted one lid, revealing water. He closed the lid and lifted the other. He made a face at the red sauce.

She swiped her hand playfully at his chest. "That's not nice."

Derek grabbed a spoon and stirred thoughtfully at the sauce. "Seriously, Mer, did you cook?"

"Izzy cooked," she admitted, glaring at Derek for his relieved expression. "We made a deal that she made dinner and I get to clean up. But we didn't know what time you'd be home, so she already ate and we just have to heat up the sauce and cook more noodles."

"Smells good."

"Why did you wait to say that until after I admitted I didn't make the stupid spaghetti sauce?"

He smirked and kissed her cheek. "Didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"You're an ass."

"You're stuck with me."

"Yeah, well, then you can do the cooking from now on."

He pecked her lips again. "Agreed."

Meredith grumbled and moved to sit on the counter by the stove. "Fine. But that means you get to do the stirring."

With a chuckle, he did so, and then closed the lid. With a thoughtful expression, he also turned down the burner. "Cooking lesson one; the highest setting isn't always the best setting."

She glared at him.

He sauntered over to her, pressed between her dangling legs, and buried his face into the crook of her neck. "You smell like lavender," he whispered, the roughness of his cheek brushing against the smooth skin of her neck.

Her hands found his back, which she rubbed through his shirt. "I just had a shower."

"That's too bad. We could have shared..."

She felt a rush of anticipation wash over her. "We still can."

He kissed the very sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder and pulled away to check on dinner. He gave the sauce a good stir and then added some noodles to the now boiling water.

"What did you do today?" He asked when he returned to her arms.

"Cristina came over. She and Izzy and I watched surgical tapes."

"How's she doing?"

Meredith shrugged, and was comforted when Derek wrapped his arms around her waist. "I don't know," she admitted. Cristina obviously wasn't okay, but Meredith wasn't sure how not okay she was. And though she didn't feel guilty exactly about her own flourishing relationship in comparison to Cristina's failed one, she still felt bad for her friend. "She doesn't really talk about it..."

"It hasn't even been three weeks," Derek reminded her. "Give her some time."

"I know. I just want her to be happy."

He smiled at her. "That's because you're you. And you care so much about everyone around you."

She felt heat trickle into her skin, but ignored it. "I talked to your mom today."

Derek flinched. "And I forgot to warn you that she was going to call..."

She giggled. "Yes, you did. But it's okay. It was...nice. She sounded really happy."

"She is really happy. I told you she would be."

"I know you did. I just..." She sighed. "The family thing, you know?"

He kissed her softly. "I know. But they're your family now, too, so get used to it."

She giggled. "That's what your mom said. She told me to get used to it."

Derek chuckled and shrugged. "I guess it's a Shepherd thing."

Meredith smiled and stared into his eyes.

"What?" He whispered after a long moment.

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just...happy."

He sighed and gifted her with his trademark smile. "Me too, Mer."