How do we move on from this?

14.

Carolyn watched Derek and Meredith closely. Derek stood closely at her side, not taking his arm from around, keeping her closely pressed into her side. Meredith sipped at her water, which was unusual for her. At any family gathering she always had a glass of wine and this is when the realisation hit her. She gasped and moved towards them until Christopher grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Don't." He smiled and shook her head at her. "Leave them to it, they are happy." He wrapped his arm around Carolyn's shoulder. "I know you know." He turned and smiled down at her.

"You know as well." Carolyn laughed and rolled her eyes. "How do you know? Did Derek tell you?" She frowned at this which cause Christopher to laugh.

"No he didn't tell me, but look." He pointed towards them. "He is acting the same way he did when she was pregnant with Sophie, so it's obvious. Meredith is pregnant." Christopher shrugged his shoulders before taking a sip from his drink. "They will tell us when they are ready, just leave them."

They stood back and watched as Derek lead Meredith out of the room, her hand tightly grasped in his.

Derek took Meredith outside to the porch, where they could finally have some alone time. Meredith stood in front of Derek, leaning her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in his hair.

"We should tell your parents." Meredith whispered, keeping her eyes staring straight ahead. Derek turned his head and looked for any sign of doubt on her face. He reached up and brushed the loose curls behind her ear.

"Are you sure? We can wait, we don't need to them yet." He kissed the side of her head and felt her body relax into his.

"I think it's time, cause if we don't tell them now then they will definitely know soon." She tan her hand over her stomach, which was getting bigger and bigger everyday. "I'm ready, as long as you're ready to tell?" Meredith turned and looked at Derek.

"We can tell them, just mom and dad today though." Derek nodded his head before cupping Meredith's face in his hands and brushing his lips against hers. "We will wait till everyone has gone and then we will tell them." He watched as she nodded her head and placed her head on his shoulder, wrapping one another in each other's arms.

The usual hustle and bustle of the usual Sunday Shepherd lunch continued throughout the rest of the day. The large group of kids running around, begging Derek and Mark to join in. Meredith sat back and smiled as Derek was play fighting with their nephews.

One by one the sisters started to leave with their families until it left just Meredith and Derek alone with his parents. Derek walked up to her side and took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

"You sure about this?" Derek waited until she nodded her head before pressing his lips to hers, pulling back to smile at her before joining his parents in the kitchen.

"Ma, dad, we have something we need to talk to you about." Derek watched as Carolyn and Christopher looked up from their cups of coffee and looked towards them.

"Right... so we have some news." Derek's voice began to shake until he felt Meredith squeeze his hand. "We wasn't prepared for this and it will probably come to be as much as a shock to you as it was for us, but we...Meredith's pregnant."

Carolyn and Christopher smiled widely before getting to their feet and joining Meredith and Derek side. Christopher quickly hugged Meredith before moving to Derek, slapping him on his shoulder.

Carolyn cupped Meredith's face in her hands, as they both shed some tears. Tears of joy but also tears of heartbreak. Heartbroken for the fact that Sophie wasn't here for this. She whispered reassuring words to Meredith before kissing her on the forehead and then pulled her into her arms.

The rest of the evening was spent celebrating the news of their new addition that would be joining the family and talking about how Sophie would have adored being a big sister.

Whilst things weren't exactly perfect for them, but things were falling into place. Slowly but surely. It's funny how life works out sometimes, it makes you hit rock bottom in order to find out who strong you really are. But on the other side, it gives you what you need before you even know that you needed it.