(Shattered...) Dreams Fulfilled

She loves you

Derek paced along the concourse where Kathleen's flight was due to arrive, and thought about the last fifteen hours of his life, when everything had turned upside down, and then, after much heartache and despair, love and hope had paved the way to the joy of a newly confirmed tiny miracle of life.

The flight was delayed twenty minutes, and he had nothing to do but roam the shops, his eyes suddenly finding their way to countless baby items scattered throughout the various shops. He smiled at the memory of Meredith's gift to him, as the words kept popping into his head...I love my daddy. He even picked up a couple of items, but decided he wanted to get something special for Meredith.

He'd convinced himself, briefly, that things had changed, that the reasons for calling Kathleen the night before were not as grave as they had felt in the midst of his despair.
Then, he saw her, and his world came crashing down as he walked towards her.

She looked up and saw him, and hurried her pace to reach him and immediately threw her arms around him. "I love you Derek, and I have missed you so much."

"Oh, Kathleen," he murmured, holding her tight, "thank you...thank you...for being here, I need you so much."

"That's what big sisters are for," she said, and pulled away from his embrace to face him, "if I called you, and said I needed you, I know you'd be there too."

"But I haven't, have I? I've let all of you down," he said, as brother and sister dealt with the emotions evoked by years of shared memories.

"Nonsense," she said, allowing him to grab her suitcase, "you're my brother, and the rest, they understand, we're family, and families support each other, and sometimes that means staying away."

"Yeah..."

"So, tell me," she said, as they started to walk, "are you going to take me to the wilderness, as Nancy calls it?"

"Yes and unlike her, you are going to love it."

"I'm sure I will, and you've got to know, you've got one jealous brother in law, dying to come out and go fishing and camping with you, but he's never been invited."

"Kathleen, you don't need an invitation, we are family...you could have come out anytime."

"Derek Christopher."

"Oh, God...here goes the lecture. You sound like Mom."

"Take that back."

"Fine," he laughed.

"You have not made any efforts, at all, to make us feel welcome."

"We don't normally wait for invitations."

"Well, it's not been a normal situation, now has it?"

"Was he ready to kill me, when I called last night?"

"He understood, no questions asked. Except, well, I did make it worth his while...you know, making up for the days I'll be gone."

"Ok... that was more than I needed to hear," he laughed.

"Derek, you do realize he & I have been having sex for years," she laughed, "and have plenty of kids to show for it."

"Kathleen, I've missed you," he said as he stopped to hug her.

"So have I."

"Do you have another bag?"

"No, this is it, figured if I need more, I can always go shopping."

"Let's go then."

They walked to his car, and when he opened the door for her, she told him, "Derek, you're not getting with it...the staying away...or keeping us away again."

"I don't think I want to."

"Good, because if you don't show up for the baptism, you're going to be disowned by your favorite sister, and she means business."

"I already spoke to her, and told her we would try."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't get pregnant just to make sure you had no more excuses to stay away."

"Now, you are being ridiculous."

"Yeah...almost as much as your detachment from us since you moved out here."

"We...we'll talk...we'll talk about all of it, I promise."

"That's why I'm here...whenever you're ready...I'm here to listen."

"Thank you, again, for flying out here."

"When am I meeting her?"

"Straight to the point."

"I'm trained for this...yes, right to the nitty gritty, since I know last night's call had something to do with you and Meredith, and I can't stay out here forever."

"Yes. It did, though the last twelve hours...let's just say things have changed, but...well, the reasons I called you, my concerns, they haven't changed."

"Is everything ok? Is she ok? Are you?"

"We will be, I'm sure of that now, but, we'll talk...later, we'll talk."

"Where are you taking me first?"

"Are you tired, do you want to get some rest first?"

"No, we don't have much time together, so I'll let you share Seattle with me, and I'll call it an early night, how's that?"

"Sounds good. I'm sorry I don't have a bigger place, where you can stay, but I made reservations for you, on the Island, you'll love the place."

"The island, as in Bainbridge, where you have your forty acres of wilderness."

"Yes, it's a beautiful place, you'll see."

"Is that where we're going now?"

"No, we're going to the hospital first."

"Does she know I'm not like Nancy?"

"She knows, but she's nervous, even with Mark acting as buffer."

"Derek, you told her she needs a buffer? That's awful."

"No, I'm sure you're going to love her, but her first experience with our family...well, it was Nancy, need I say more."

"She's not that bad, you're exaggerating."

"She was worse."

"Yeah, well, she loved Addie."

"But Addie slept with Mark."

"Technicality, as far as Nancy was concerned, well, you now, Mom's whole good old catholic no divorce guilt."

"Didn't work."

"Then why did you stay with Addie?"

"You know what...let's talk about all of this later."

"Derek, I'm glad things don't look as bleak, as they did last night."

"So am I."

"Ok, so we go to the hospital, I meet Meredith, see Mark, and then what do you have planned for us?"

"Figured we'd grab a bite for lunch and then take the ferry to Bainbridge, let you settle in, and then I take you to see my land...and we talk."

"Sounds like a good plan, though I'm not that hungry, I ate on the plane."

"They fed you? Not much of that on planes lately."

"You called me at two in the morning, and I had less than 4 hours to get to the airport, of course I got fed, flew first class, and you're paying for it."

He laughed, "more than happy to pay for it, though, Kathleen, you and I both know you'd have done that anyhow."

"Damn right, I'm not going to take the money with me."

"What are you telling Mom and the girls about coming out here."

"I didn't, we're telling them I'm out here for an emergency consult."

"How are you going to pull that off, a psychiatrist on emergency consultation?"

"Clinical trials that I've been working on back home are being researched out here, nobody will question it."

"Does your mind ever stop thinking," he stated as he pulled in to his assigned parking.

"Rarely," she laughed, "with all the kids in this family...and my teenagers, can't afford not to be thinking ahead of them, all the time, just you wait, till you have kids," and since she was getting out of the car, missed seeing the smile on his face.

"Kathleen, I've got a favor to ask."

"Derek, trust me, from what I hear, you love her, and you intend to marry her."

"From what you hear?"

"You forget, we all keep in touch with Mark, and I did speak with him this morning."

"I love her, Kathleen, and I don't want her upset, there's too much going on right now, and I'll tell you about it, I will, but I want you to meet her, before we talk I want you to meet her, so you can understand...all I love about her."

"I'm not Nancy, I'll make up my own mind about her."

"Fair enough," he said as they walked towards the hospital entrance, and he dialed Meredith's number.

"Hey, where are you?"

"Are you back?"

"Yes."

"Cafeteria, having lunch."

"Ok, see you in a few minutes."

Meredith began to fidget with her watch, just as Mark approached the table where she sat with Cristina, Izzie and Alex.

"Grey, I owe you," he said placing a cup of coffee in front of her, and leaning close whispered for her ears only, "don't react to what's in it, pretend it's coffee."

She looked at him, surprised by the gesture and took a sip of the drink, and smiled as the taste registered.

"Pretty good coffee, isn't it?"

"It is, thank you."

"We can't drink alcohol on the job, but thought this would do, given the bet is over and all...interesting...all it took was...nine...nine days," he emphasized and she joined in his laughter.

She felt his presence as he walked in the cafeteria, and their gazes locked, lost in the pleasure of their secret, the tiny secret shared between them.

"She's perfect for you," Kathleen whispered to him.

"How do you know who she is?"

"She's with Mark, the one sharing in laughter with Mark."

"You still haven't told me, how you know it's her."

"Her eyes were on you the minute we walked in, and they haven't wavered."

"You're right, it's her."

"She loves you. I can see it in her eyes."

They reached the table, and Derek leaned down to kiss her, as Mark took Kathleen in his arms and embraced her.

"My favorite shrink, I have missed you."

"I've missed you too," she said hugging him back and kissing him on the cheek.
"Now, explain to me why you are flirting with Meredith, and more importantly, why Derek hasn't decked you?"

Meredith was pleasantly surprised by her openness, and said a silent prayer of thanks she was not like Nancy. The rest of the observants were curiously taking in the exchange.

"Meredith," she said, surprising her with a kiss on the cheek, "I am absolutely delighted to finally meet you."

"Kathleen...I'm...I'm delighted...truly...to meet you as well."

"I gather you are all residents, and since Derek has lost his manners, I'm, Kathleen, his much wiser sister."

"Older sister," Derek commented, and sat next to Meredith.

"Stop now, Derek Christopher, you know we don't pay attention to age in our family," she said and proceeded to make small talk with the group and Mark, as she noticed the intimate looks between Meredith and Derek.

"Told you, she was different than Nancy."

"Yes, you did."

"Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes."

"Did you have a healthy lunch?"

"I did, " she said smiling, "and look Mark brought me coffee."

"Should you be drinking..."

"Taste," she said, "handing him the cup."

"Meredith..."

"Please..."

He did as she asked, and smiled, reaching for her hand, and kissing her.

"Good coffee Mark, nice blend."

"I thought so, I figured you weren't here, so I'd feed her addiction, make up for placing the bet and all," he laughed.

"Mark, you and Derek are still acting like children placing bets?"

"Kat, this hospital has taken bets to a whole different level, and your brother and Meredith here, have truly risen to the occasion."

"Do I kill you now, or later," Derek stated.

"Wait till later, after you feed us tonight. Come on, Kat, let me show you around, Shep and Grey are about due some alone time, it's been what two hours since they saw each other?"

"Mark, stop teasing them."

"Kathleen, you have no idea what those two are like, it's like watching...let me see what's a good comparison..."he paused, and with a grin quickly added, "almost makes you think of a baby on a two to three hour feeding schedule, they can't function if they don't see each other that often," he stated and roared at the warning looks he got from both Meredith and Derek.

The others exchanged the corresponding comments and pleasantries, before leaving Meredith, Derek, Mark and Kathleen alone.

"Kathleen, I've got to check on some labs that are pending, do you mind, waiting around with this idiot for a while?"

"Not at all, I'm looking forward to a tour, from the man whore's perspective."

Meredith joined in the conversation, "Kathleen, do you mean he's had that nickname since before he got here?"

"He's had that nickname way back to college days."

"Oh," Derek interrupted, "make sure he tells you all about his newly formed club."

"Really?"

"Shep, you're pushing your luck...I'm willing to make allowances for Grey, after all, she is going to make me..."

"Mark," they both said simultaneously.

"This is interesting...now, Derek do tell me, why you're not bent out of shape with Mark flirting with Meredith, we did hear about his stitches..."

"They're friends, and he knows," he said looking at Meredith, "what she means to me."

"Besides, Kathleen...the most important thing is she's made it possible for me to be a..."

"Mark!!!"

"What? It's not a secret, the entire hospital knows she agreed I'd be the best man at your wedding."

"Derek, you are getting married?"

"We are," Meredith answered, surprising them all, "we just haven't talked about a date yet," and reaching for Derek's hand gently squeezed it.

"Meredith, that is wonderful," Kathleen said while reaching out to hug her, "you have no idea how happy I am to be here."

"I'm glad you're here too," Meredith said with heartfelt emotion as shed felt the need to hug her back, and for the first time in her life allowed herself to believe, she could, she would be part of a loving family. Derek's family.

"Ok. Mark, I'll meet up with you in about twenty minutes."

"Kathleen, I'll see you tonight, Derek has a wonderful meal planned."

"As long as Meredith is not cooking, we should be fine."

"Mark, that's awful."

"He's actually right," she laughed "I'll see you later," she said as she and Derek walked away holding hands.

"Mark, what's wrong, when I spoke to Derek last night, he was...hurting and broken, and now, what's changed?"

"He's going to talk to you...let him tell you, but, Kathleen, they're ok, they are going to be ok, and last night, it looked like there was no hope for them."

"What changed?"

"What changed," he said, and she noticed the unusual reflective gaze, "love changed, the power of their love for one another."

"Mark Sloan, you are a man of hidden complexities."

"He's my brother again. Finally," he said, emotion evident in his voice, " he forgave me."

"I'm glad, for you both, you need each other."

"Yeah...we do. But, Kathleen, she's...she's my sister now too."

"You are a surprise to me...but I always knew you had it in you."

"Wait till you get to know her, you're going to want to protect her too."

Meanwhile, Derek and Meredith walked to get the rest of her lab results.

"Dr. Shepherd, I'm so sorry, we've had two people call in sick with the flu, and we are terribly backed logged. I was able to get the first tests done, but the quantitative blood work hasn't been processed, but we will have it later today."

"Thank you, I'm out for the afternoon, but, I'd appreciate it if you could have it sent up to my office."

"Dr. Shepherd, I could pick it up, if you'd like, since we need to start treatment as soon as possible."

"That's good, yes, Dr. Grey, that would be fine."

They walked away, and he said quietly, "let's go to my office for a few minutes."

"Derek, I really like Kathleen, do you think she'll like me? I mean...when she goes back...and your mother asks, and your other sister...I mean, they already know Nancy hates me...and I was the slutty intern...and I was, but now...well, time has gone by, and we're together...and you..."

"Meredith, breath," he stopped, and smiling at her opened the door to his office.

"I think she liked me."

"She loved you."

"I don't know about that, but like...that's fine..."

"Meredith, she's going to love you. She already thinks you're perfect for me."

"She does. Really?"

"Yes, really."

"I liked her, a lot."

"Good. Hey, I missed you," he said, drawing her close and kissing her, then teasingly added, "your lips still taste like milk," and both laughed.

"Derek, I could not believe it, when he brought me the cup, and told me not to react and pretend it was coffee."

"He's taking his godfather role very seriously."

"It's kind of cute, but I almost killed him when I thought he was going to say something."

"He's not going to. Trust me, he ...he values our friendship, what we just got back, he values that too much to risk it again. We both do."

"I'm glad Derek, you two need each other. I've got to go, I'll meet you at the trailer after work."

"Take it easy, don't over do it."

"Yes, dad."

"I worry about you," he said, caressing her abdomen, "I worry about you both."

"We're fine," she said, placing her hand over his, "right baby, we're both fine."

"I love you Meredith," he said and brushed her lips lightly with his.

"We love you too."