Forever and a day.

Home time

Meredith sat on the bed, with her legs bent up and Summer resting on her legs. She was dressed in a simple white onesie with little grey rabbits decorating it.  Their bags where packed and they were ready to go home, Derek had just gone down to this car to collect the car seat. Meredith ran her finger across Summer's plump little cheek, before reaching down to grasp her tiny little hands. In this moment she felt complete, it was like a piece of her was missing but Summer had filled that space. But how she wished Lexie was here for this, she would have loved her. A small tear ran down her cheek in which she quickly wiped away.

Derek entered the room carrying the car seat and the pink blanket that Amelia had brought for them. He saw that Meredith had been crying so placed the seat down before joining her side.

"Hey Mer, are you alright?" He brushed the loose hair that had fallen from her ponytail back behind her ear. She eventually turned her head to look at him.

"Derek, I'm perfect, right now in this moment I'm perfect but I kind of wish Lexie was here to meet her, but she will never get that chance. So I've been thinking, about Summer's name." Meredith said seeing the confusion etched across Derek's face. "Oh, I want to keep it as Summer of course but I'm thinking of a middle name. What do you think about Alexandra? Like for Lexie? So it would be Summer Alexandra Grey-Shepherd."

Derek knew how much this meant to her. "I love it, and she will know all about her auntie Lexie, you will tell her all the stories." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Right, it's home time for my girls, are you ready?"

Meredith nodded her head before getting up to place Summer in the seat, she looked so tiny. They wrapped her in the blanket and stood back to just look at her. Meredith leaned her head on Derek's shoulder whilst he wrapped his arm around her back.

"Shall we get going then? Amelia is dying to hold her again and was pissed that I said she couldn't come with me to get both of you?" Derek said causing Meredith to giggle.

"Yeah, let's go home." Meredith said as they move apart from one another. Derek reached out and picked up the car seat whilst chucking the bag over his shoulder. With his free hand he reached out and grabbed Meredith's and together as family they made their way out of the hospital.

After they had got comfortable in the car, they set off home with Derek driving extra careful. Meredith joked with him saying it would be Summer's first birthday by the time they got home if he didn't step on it a little bit more. When they were about half way home Summer started screaming from the back seat.

"Oh, Der you'll have to pull over somewhere, she's hungry." Meredith said with a slight worry in her voice as she didn't like to leave her screaming for too long. Derek swung the car into a shopping centre car park and then ran round to help Meredith out of the car. Once she was comfortable in the back seat, she took Summer out of the seat and got her in the right position before allowing her to latch on. She sucked on Meredith's nipple with a great force.

"Woah, she is really hungry." Meredith said whilst stroking her cheek. Derek was sat back in the front watching them when his phone rang again.

"It's mom, I'm just going to step out and answer." Derek said before climbing out of the car. He quickly spoke to his mom who was wondering where they were and if everything was alright. Once Derek had convinced his mom that everything was perfectly fine they just had to make a quick stop and they would be home soon, he hung up the phone and made his way back to the car. When he was back he saw that Summer had finished feeding and been burped and now Meredith was changing her nappy.

Derek could see how exhausted Meredith was still so took over for her and telling her to get back in the front seat and relax. Once Summer was all cleaned and changed, Derek placed her back her seat before making his way back to the drivers seat. When he climbed in the front he saw that Meredith had fallen asleep and couldn't help but smile. He buckled in his seatbelt and set off for home. Both of his girls were fast asleep and now he just needed to get them home.

Once they arrived back at the house, he parked the car and turned to see that Meredith was still sleeping. He didn't have the heart to wake her up but he knew that they would want to take Summer into the house for the first time together. Gently, he reached over to stroke her cheek causing her to stir and rub the sleep out of her eyes. She sighed and stretched before smiling tiredly at Derek.

"Are we home already?" Derek nodded his head whilst staring lovingly at her. "We better get in then, see everyone." Meredith moved to unbuckle her seatbelt and reached for the handle before Derek pulled at her arm stopping her. She turned to look at Derek with confusion. "Derek what is it?"

"I just want to enjoy this moment for a bit longer when it's just us three, cause it's going to be chaos for the next few days. So for now I just want to enjoy you two. Oh and the peace and quiet." With this they both laughed before settling back in their seats for a bit. This was disrupted when they saw Amelia standing at the front throwing their arms up and shouting to them to ask what they were doing.

"So much for peace and quiet, ay?" Derek sighed before exiting the car. "We are coming Amy, just relax." Derek made his way round to Meredith's side of the car and making sure she got out without any trouble. Then he made his way to the back to grab the car seat out of the back. Meredith reached for the bag before Derek stopped her. "Leave that, I will grab it later, let's just get you two inside." He wrapped his arm around her and had his hand resting on her lower back, guiding her into the house.

Upon entering the house she was greeted with hugs from everyone, Carolyn then insisted that she takes a seat on the chair closer to her. Meredith didn't argue and immediately collapsed into the seat and watch as Derek unbuckled Summer and handed her to Amelia. Michael, Carolyn and Derek stood around Amelia admiring Summer and Meredith sat back taking in this moment. She could feel her eyes beginning to close as exhaustion took over her body. In the spot next to her she felt the chair dip and opened her eyes to see Derek there, she smiled before closing her eyes again and then resting her head on his shoulder.

"Mer, why don't you go up to bed? Get some proper sleep, if Summer gets hungry then I will give her a bottle." Derek said pressing a kiss to forehead and rubbing his hand up and down his arm.

Meredith didn't hesitate in getting up on to her feet slowly and making her way towards the stairs. "Hey,I don't want you to think I'm being rude but I'm going to go up to bed, I'm so exhausted. Thank you for everything you guys."

Everyone insisted that she goes up and before she knew it, Meredith was changing into one of Derek's shirts and crawling into bed to bury her face into Derek's pillow. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Derek left it a good amount of time before he and Summer made their way upstairs. Once he got to the room he saw Meredith curled up on her side, small snores came from her mouth and Derek smiled at this. He knew she completely out of it and finally getting a decent amount of sleep. He walked over and placed Summer in the Moses basket, ensuring she was sleeping before making his way to the bathroom. Quickly, he got himself cleaned up and decided to join Meredith for a quick nap.

With Meredith being on his pillow, he slipped in next to Meredith on her side before wrapping his arms around her. Even in her sleep, her body moulded into his. Derek buried his nose in her hair and then was asleep himself. This is what it was all about, spending time as a family.