130. Lilly Meets the Family

Disclaimer: I don't own TV shows.

"We're here, peanut," Meredith told Lilly as Mark pulled the rental car into the driveway of Derek's childhood home. She unlatched the car seat from the base, then glanced up at Derek, squished in the other side of the backseat. "I guess we should just take the whole seat in, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Although, I'm sure everyone will want to hold her the whole time," Derek laughed, looking to Lilly. "What do you say? Ready to meet the other half of your crazy family?"

Lilly reached for his face, making a delighted cooing sound at him, as though she were actually excited by what he'd said. Derek smiled at her. "Okay, then. Let's go."

The four of them got out of the car, Derek holding Lilly's car seat, while the rest grabbed as much luggage as they could. "You'd think we were staying for a month," Bridget managed to laugh, as she and Mark hoisted a suitcase from the trunk.

"That's all Derek's beauty products," Mark joked.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just you wait until you have a baby," he said. "Half of Lilly's nursery got packed for this trip."

"It's true," Meredith defended. "We have a five pound bag of just her bath supplies."

"Damn," Mark said.

"All part of being a parent," Meredith said, slinging said bag of Lilly's bath items over her shoulder, then handing a lighter bag to Derek.

"What's in this one? Want me to get it?" Mark asked, pointing to a large rectangular bag in the back of the trunk.

"That's her bassinet," Meredith said. "If it's too much for you to hold, we can come back for it."

Mark reached for it and pulled it out with a grunt. "That's okay; I got it," he said, before closing the emptied trunk. "That's everything."

"Everybody savor these last moments of quiet. Once we go in, there's no turning back," Derek chuckled, leading the way up to the front door of his mother's home. He managed to open the glass door with his elbow, pushing it open wide enough so they could all enter with the various bags they were holding.

"We're here!" he called out from the foyer.

Within seconds, the army of Shepherd adults and children appeared, ready to greet them. Meredith could barely believe how quickly they congregated, almost out of thin air, but for Derek, who had grown up in the middle of all the people and noise and chaos, it was normal. His mother was the first to approach them, wrapping her arms tightly around Derek.

"Hi, sweetheart. We're so glad you're all here," she said happily, kissing his cheek, and wiping off the lipstick she left there with her thumb. She made her rounds, hugging Meredith, Bridget, and Mark, then reached for Lilly, who Derek had since taken out of her car seat. "Hi, Lilly. I missed you so, so much."

"At least you've met her before. Many of us haven't," Kathleen pointed out playfully, as she and the rest of the family got their first real glance at Lilly.

Liz put her hand over her heart and smiled. "Oh, you guys. She's so perfect," she said in awe.

"She's beautiful," Nancy said. "We've seen about a million pictures, but to see her in person? She's..."

"Breathtaking," Derek's mother finished, hugging Lilly to her and breathing in her baby smell. "I can't believe how much she's grown since June. And look at this hair!"

Derek grinned proudly. "It gets wavier every day. Sometimes, we even see little curls when she's fresh out of the tub."

"My little brother is really a daddy now. It makes me want to cry," Kathleen said, reaching for a tissue. "Okay, my turn. Let me hold her."

"How about we all go on into the living room and make ourselves comfortable?" Derek's mother suggested, waving Mark, Bridget, Derek and Meredith out of the increasingly cramped foyer.

Derek glanced over at Bridget and Mark. "This will be you guys next year. Mom just takes your baby, and she gets passed around the room," he joked.

"We're glad you guys came. Otherwise, we'd be getting interrogated on whether or not I was pregnant yet," Bridget said. "Lilly's a good distraction. She takes the pressure off of us."

"Happy to help," Meredith giggled, smiling when she saw Kyle, Tom, and Amy walking down the steps with Adam. "Hey, there you are. It's so good to see you."

"You guys, too. Sorry we missed you coming in. The boys just woke up," Amy said, hugging each of them as best she could, Adam snuggled in the crook of her arm. "Let me guess. Lilly's already been snatched away?"

"Yeah. About thirty seconds after we walked in the door," Derek chuckled.

Meredith waved to Adam, the little boy who had once been their patient and was now their nephew. "He got bigger. And he's even more adorable than he was the last time we saw him."

"Hey, buddy. We missed you," Derek told the baby, whose hair had gotten darker and whose eyes had gotten bluer, the spitting image of a Shepherd, even if he didn't share their DNA. "All the NICU and OB nurses ask how he's doing. They all loved him. He was a little heart breaker."

"He still is, don't worry," Amy assured them.

"How do you like being a big brother, Kyle? Keeping Adam out of trouble?" Mark asked him, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Uh huh," Kyle nodded.

"Kyle's been so great with him. We're really lucky," Tom said. "We actually got a hearing date last week. We're scheduled in the beginning of January, and when all is said and done, he's legally ours."

Derek gave Tom a friendly clap on the back and smiled. "That's great. We've been wondering if you'd heard anything yet."

"We were so relieved to finally get the call. We're anxious to get everything finalized. Even though he's been ours from the second we first saw him," Amy said as she smiled down at Adam, who happily sucked on his pacifier. When his eyes landed on Meredith and Derek, he stopped sucking briefly, as if he recognized them. "Do you remember them, sweetie? They're the reason you found us."

"We just did the legwork. You guys did the rest," Meredith said, quickly peeking into the living room to make sure Lilly was okay. Even though they were her relatives, to Lilly, they were strangers, and Meredith didn't want her getting overwhelmed by all the new faces.

"Whether you take credit or not, we'll always be grateful to you," Amy said sincerely.

Kyle looked up at Meredith and Derek, eagerly bouncing on his heels. "Can I go see Lilly?"

"Sure you can. Let's go try to find her," Derek said.

They all joined the rest of the family in the living room, where Lilly was currently in possession of Nancy, the sister whose uptight demeanor had made Meredith wary of ever meeting the rest of Derek's family years ago. But now, as Nancy made a fuss over Lilly, Meredith couldn't help but smile. Derek's entire family had welcomed her with open arms, and had done the same with her daughter, falling in love with Lilly seconds after meeting her.

"How's she doing?" Derek asked his sister as he slinked his arm around Meredith's waist.

"I don't think you're going to get her back until you leave," Liz said, peeking over Nancy's shoulder. She tickled Lilly's belly with her finger, and Lilly let out a happy giggle, ever the social butterfly. "Oh my God, that little laugh. How do you get anything done looking at this face?"

"Oh, we don't," Derek joked. "We used to go to the bar across the street from the hospital most Friday nights, or pick up on-call shifts together on the off chance a good case would come in. Now, we spend every minute we can with her. One Saturday, we spent her entire two hour nap time just watching her sleep."

"It's true. They've gone all Full House over there," Mark interjected.

Derek glanced over at Mark, equal parts disturbed and amused. "The fact that you know what Full House is says more about me than it does about you," he ribbed.

"It's my fault. I watched it when I was a teenager. Now, whenever there's reruns on, I make him watch," Bridget explained.

"We used to make Derek watch it, too. He wanted to watch sports, but got outvoted every time," Liz said, finally prying Lilly away from Nancy so she could get her turn holding her.

"I remember one time when Derek was in kindergarten..." Kathleen began what was sure to be a charming family memory; only to Derek, it was more embarrassing than anything.

Rather than make a futile attempt to squelch the story, he simply kissed Meredith's temple. "We've been here for five minutes, and they're ready to pop in the home movies."

Meredith leaned into him and smiled. "I need to get my hands on those..."

...

Once every relative under the Shepherd roof got the chance to ooh and aah, and hold Lilly to their hearts' content, Meredith and Derek managed to sneak upstairs with their daughter, carrying as many bags with them as they could. Derek opened the door to his bedroom after they walked down the hall, letting Meredith enter with Lilly first.

"That was eventful," Derek said as he closed the door behind himself.

Meredith kicked off her shoes and dropped back onto the bed. "I know. Lilly is exhausted," she said, letting Lilly lie on her chest. "The time difference is making her sleep schedule all loopy. Think she'll sleep tonight?"

"I think so. All of the nieces still want to play with her. I swear they think she's a doll," Derek chuckled.

"Well, the real thing is always better than the plastic version," Meredith pointed out before pausing. "Okay, that sounded like a sex joke, which I didn't intend."

"Porny," Derek accused, sitting down next to her on the bed.

Meredith laughed through her yawn. "No, just tired," she corrected, looking down as Lilly nuzzled her nose into Meredith's breasts. "Are you hungry, peanut? I guess I should feed you before we go back down."

Derek took Lilly from her while she got situated to nurse, doing a quick calculation of how the three of them would be able to sleep in the bed tonight. With the king-sized bed they had at home, there was enough room plus extra; but he wasn't sure the full sized bed in his room would sleep them all comfortably.

"What?" Meredith asked, noticing the contemplative look on his face as she set a pillow on her lap.

Derek handed Lilly to her, smiling at how easily Lilly just curled into Meredith's chest and started to nurse. "Nothing; this bed just isn't as big as ours. I know we brought the bassinet, but she prefers sleeping between us."

"Maybe if she falls asleep after I nurse her later on, we could give it a trial run. If she doesn't protest, maybe she'd be okay for the next couple nights," Meredith suggested.

"Yeah, we can try that," Derek said. He spotted one of his childhood photo albums sitting on his bookshelf, and got off the bed to retrieve it. After sitting back down next to Meredith, he flipped it open. "I know you always like looking through these in search of blackmail," he teased.

"That's not true... most of the time. You were an adorable little boy," Meredith giggled, her breath catching in her throat when she saw a photo of Derek at six months old, the age Lilly would be in just two weeks. "Oh my God, she looks so much like you."

Derek smiled, glancing from Lilly to the picture. "Wow. She really does."

"Your hair and eyes. Your chin. Even your little facial expression. All Lilly," Meredith said, stroking her daughter's rosy, soft cheek with her finger.

"Whenever I look at baby pictures of you, I think you and Lilly look identical, minus the hair. I guess it depends on whose baby book is open," Derek chuckled. "And right now, we're in a house full of Shepherds. When we went to your Dad's for his birthday and were surrounded by Grey's, Lilly looked like your little clone."

"The Greys are a small village compared to the continent of Shepherds," Meredith teased as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Keep flipping. I haven't seen these before."

"Okay," Derek said, turning the page. A slight blush crept over his cheeks when he spotted a baby photo of himself on his stomach, wearing nothing but his birthday suit and a big, gummy smile on his face. "Yikes. This is mortifying."

"Oh, shut up. You watched me push our baby out of my hoo-hoo with my legs all up in the stirrups. You don't get to be embarrassed by your tiny baby hiney," Meredith said with a smile. "Look at the little dimples!"

"I don't have dimples," Derek said, confused.

"I wasn't talking about those cheeks," she said, pointing to Derek's baby bottom in the picture. "Now I know where Lilly got hers from."

"Please don't share that tidbit with Mark, or I'll never hear the end of it," Derek requested.

"I won't. Although, I'm looking forward to your mom's story about the ultrasound where she found out you were a boy, and how happy she was to see a little penis on the screen after having two girls."

"Yeah, that's one of her favorites. She especially loves telling it with a lot of people around," Derek sighed playfully.

Meredith patted his thigh in sympathy. "I think it's adorable," she said, looking down when she felt Lilly slip off her breast, fast asleep after only nursing for a few minutes. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "All done?" she said.

"Someone was tired," Derek whispered, helping Meredith fix her shirt to keep Lilly from being accidentally woken up. "Did you want to rest up here with her while I go downstairs?"

"No, I'm good. If I fall asleep now, I probably wouldn't wake up until morning. And Lilly's passed out. I don't think all the chaos going on downstairs will even faze her," Meredith said, holding Lilly to her chest as she carefully got up off the bed.

They retreated from the enclave of Derek's bedroom and headed back downstairs. The noise had settled slightly since they arrived, though the younger kids were still playing off in the family room. They went into the living room where Derek's mother was sitting with his sisters.

"Where did all the guys go?" Derek asked as he and Meredith sat down on the couch in front of the window.

Kathleen pointed to the kitchen. "Cooking. Since the girls cook Thanksgiving, we thought it was only fair they handled the pre-Thanksgiving dinner," she said.

Derek looked curiously to Mark. "Why are you still in here?"

"I was waiting for you, to make sure you didn't sucker your way out of it," Mark replied.

"Why would I do that?" Derek asked, pressing a kiss to Meredith's cheek and the back of Lilly's head. He hoisted himself off the couch with a grunt. "It was so nice to sit down for ten seconds," he chuckled.

"You both flew across the country today. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you sat this one out," Linda said, always the doting mother, even to two grown men.

"No, it's fine. We'll catch up. Mer, do you want some water?" he offered, wanting to make sure she stayed hydrated after traveling all day, especially because she had just nursed.

Meredith smiled at him as she gently rubbed Lilly's back with her fingers, the baby still sleeping on her chest. "Thank you," she said.

"Coming right up," he said, following Mark into the kitchen.

All of Derek's sisters and his mother turned to Meredith, and Meredith blushed under their gaze, which wasn't anything short of awestruck. Before she could ask why, Kathleen jumped in. "Okay, we all know he's too humble to talk about what a good dad he is, so we need the stories," she said.

"Start at the beginning," Liz requested. "And don't skimp on the details."

"Okay, uh..." Meredith pondered for a few moments before she spoke. She had millions stories filed away in her brain, but trying to remember one on the spot was intimidating, especially in a room full of Derek's mom and sisters. "Well, he still loves telling everyone about her birth. He spares no details, even when it comes to my water breaking in the hallway, and how long I pushed for."

"It's so sweet," Bridget interjected. "He's a like a little kid on Christmas morning."

"Yeah, he is," Meredith said softly, feeling Lilly's hand grip onto her shirt while she slept.

Derek came back into the room with Meredith's water glass, and grew suspicious when all the conversation came grinding to a halt. "Aah, I see how it is. You all want me to think you're not in here talking about me..." he assumed.

"Exactly. Now shoo, so Meredith can keep talking about you," Kathleen said from her spot on the couch.

"You can't boss me around anymore," he said, handing Meredith her water.

"I'm still your big sister. I've been bossing you around since Mom and Dad brought you home from the hospital," Kathleen reminded him.

Derek chuckled. "You were four."

"Yes, and I was damn good at it," his sister said playfully.

"Fine. I'm going," he said, looking to Meredith. "Nothing too embarrassing. I have a reputation to uphold."

"I'll do my best. Thank you for the water," Meredith smiled.

Once Derek was out of earshot, Meredith picked up where she left off. "Oh, there was this one time when I had just gotten home from work. I was on-call overnight, and it was early the next morning. Anyway, I went into the kitchen to put on some coffee when I heard Derek singing to Lilly over the baby monitor that was on the counter. He was trying to get her back to sleep after feeding her. I just stood there with the coffee pot in my hand and listened. It's like when she was born, he just went into daddy mode. I mean, I knew he would, but seeing them together, it's like that's his purpose. He loves changing diapers and rocking her to sleep as much as he loves saving lives."

She blushed at her rambling. "Sorry. I didn't mean to go on and on. I just... he's a really great dad."

Derek's mother blotted her eyes with a tissue and smiled. "Oh, sweetheart, don't apologize. I'd love it if you sat here for days, and told us stories like that one."

Meredith took that as her cue to continue, always excited to talk about Derek and Lilly. She talked for over an hour, sharing all she could: Lilly's penchant for peeing on him, their matching Clash tee shirts, the way they both slept with a hand on their chest, made the same grumpy face, and his determination to turn her into a New York sports fan.

Derek's mom and sisters reveled in all of it, listening with delighted interest, and Meredith was happy to share it all. While she spoke, she couldn't help but notice the sad smile etched on Bridget's face, but she couldn't exactly pause to ask if she was okay. And then Derek came in and announced that dinner was ready, so she decided to put a pin in it, although she already had a hunch.

...

Meredith nursed Lilly after dinner in the den where it was secluded and peaceful. Lilly was already full of sweet potatoes she'd eaten at dinner, but Meredith wanted to make sure she got the chance to nurse in case the baby slept through her feeding later on that night, exhausted after the excitement of the day. Derek and Mark had been roped into a football game in the backyard with all of the nephews and brothers-in-law, so the house was finally quiet. Meredith was so focused on Lilly's sweet, little sucking sounds that she barely heard Bridget pad into the room.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know you were in here nursing," Bridget said softly, turning around.

"No, it's fine. You can sit. Your husband saw my boobs once when I was nursing in the attending lounge at the hospital. Really, nothing fazes me anymore," Meredith giggled, patting the couch cushion next to her.

"He told me. He felt so bad," Bridget said as she gently sat down, careful not to disturb Lilly.

"Is everything okay?" Meredith asked, cursing herself for bulldozing right into talking when she planned on easing into it. "Sorry, I just... when we were all talking earlier, I noticed that... it just seemed like something was bothering you. If you don't want to talk about it, it's totally fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, that's all."

"Yeah," Bridget said before sighing. "Well, actually, no. No sense in lying to you."

Meredith frowned. "What? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I guess I just figured I'd be pregnant by now. We've been trying for almost six months—which I know isn't long at all, but still, I really thought when we came out here for Thanksgiving, we'd be making an announcement."

Meredith's heart squeezed inside her chest, and she hugged Lilly closer. "Bridge..."

"Sorry. I don't want to unload on you, especially when you're spending time with Lilly," Bridget said, shifting uncomfortably.

"No, don't feel that way. Unload all you want," Meredith said in support. "And you're right, six months isn't long. You don't have anything to worry about. It takes time. And I know me saying that probably sounds hypocritical, but honestly, I'm still shocked I got pregnant as fast as I did. Derek and I started trying in May, and I didn't expect to get pregnant until the following May rolled around. Even Dr. Halloran was surprised when I called in October and told her we got a positive test."

"Mark keeps telling me not to stress, that it'll happen when it's meant to happen. It's just stressful," Bridget said.

"Is Halloran concerned? She doesn't sugarcoat things, so if something were wrong, she'd tell you," Meredith pointed out.

"No, she just said that it's normal, and that if it doesn't happen within a year, we could discuss fertility drugs and things like that," Bridget said. "Eve hearing 'fertility drugs' scared the crap out of me."

Meredith shook her head in dismissal. "Don't think about that. You've only been trying for a few months. It's only the end of November. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about," she assured her.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid. And it doesn't help that two of my kindergartners have twenty year old mothers, or that another mom is pregnant with her eighth," Bridget managed to laugh.

Meredith laughed, too. "Well, that's not going to make you feel any better," she said. "Really, it's going to happen. And when it does, you'll wonder why you were so worried in the first place."

"Were you? I mean, I know you and Derek weren't trying for very long, but still. Were you scared that it might not happen?" Bridget asked.

"Of course," Meredith said truthfully. "I think it's human. Before I met Derek, I didn't even want kids. Then after we got married and decided to start trying, having a baby was all I could think about. The first few times we tried, I felt like it was all business, you know? Tracking everything and planning when to have sex and how often. But then, I stopped stressing so much and we had fun with it. Once there was no pressure, that's when it happened. Nine months and one week later, Lilly was born," she said softly, brushing her finger over the baby's cheek.

"I hope Mark and I can tell a story like that one day," Bridget said, smiling at the way Lilly stretched her toes in her tiny socks.

"You will. And I know this sounds very Derek-y, but optimism is a pretty powerful thing," Meredith said. She squeezed Bridget's hand with her free one that wasn't holding Lilly. "Everything's going to work out."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Meredith echoed, just as Lilly unlatched. She discreetly covered herself, then wiped the corners of Lilly's mouth. "Right, Lilly? Tell Aunt Bridget she has nothing to worry about."

Lilly yawned sleepily, smiling at both of them. Bridget tickled the baby's belly with her finger. "How can I not be optimistic when I see this face?" she said.

Meredith readjusted her shirt, then draped the burp cloth on Bridget's shoulder. "Do you want to burp her?" she offered. "I know I'm probably biased, but even her little burps are cute. They'll lift your spirits. Plus, you're going to need the practice."

Bridget laughed as she accepted Lilly, holding her to her chest. "I'd love to," she said. Once Lilly was situated over her shoulder, she turned toward Meredith gratefully. "Thank you," she said softly.

Meredith smiled. "Any time."

...

The day was finally over, and both Meredith and Derek felt like they had been awake for a week straight. This morning, they woke up in Seattle; and now, they were across the country in Derek's childhood room. Meredith walked into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, holding her toothbrush.

Derek was already standing at the sink, brushing his teeth, and Meredith wrapped her arms around him from behind, burying her nose into his tee shirt. He smelled woodsy and clean like his soap, and she breathed him in.

Once Derek gargled and rinsed, he smiled. "Hey. Where's Lilly?"

"Sleeping in her bassinet. I think she might actually sleep through the night in there," Meredith said, her eyes closed, still holding onto him.

"Really?"

"Mhm," she murmured.

When she still didn't release her hold on him, Derek laughed. "Are you awake?"

"Barely," she yawned, squeezing him a little closer. "Mostly I'm just hugging you."

"If you let me turn around, I can hug you back," Derek said. Meredith loosened her arms and Derek turned toward her, hugging her back as promised. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Thanksgiving and all. I'm just grateful. You know, for you and for Lilly. I can't imagine life without either of you," she said softly, her head resting on his chest as her conversation with Bridget played over and over in her mind.

Derek kissed the top of her head. "Me either."

She let herself revel in the warmth of his arms for a minute longer before pulling back. "I need to brush my teeth before I fall asleep standing up, which I could very easily do right now," she giggled.

"I'll go get the bed warm," Derek said, handing her the tube of toothpaste.

Meredith squirt a dollop onto her brush, then peeked her head out of the bathroom where he was pulling down the covers on the bed. "I call the race car pillow," she said.

"Fine. I wanted the superhero one, anyway," he teased.

Meredith smiled at him. "Good."

...

(For those that are interested, I'm writing a post-Flight one shot. It should be posted within a day or two, so be on the lookout!)