Where You Belong

86

The sound of hurrying footsteps, and then the sound of the kitchen door swinging open, interrupted the surprisingly comfortable conversation going on at the table.

"Uncle Derek!" Exclaimed the small boy who ran into the kitchen. "You're here!"

Derek barely had enough time to move his chair back from the table in order to catch his very excited nephew.

"Mommy told me you would be here!" He continued as Derek scooped him onto his lap. "I missed you so much, Uncle Derek," he added as he hugged his small arms tightly around Derek's neck.

"I missed you too, buddy," Derek returned with a smile, hugging his nephew.

"Nice to see you too, Jake," Jane prodded, laughing at how her grandson had completely ignored her, his grandmother, as well as his grandfather, aunt, uncle and Meredith.

"I missed you too, grandma," Jake responded, flashing a happy smile towards his grandmother, his arm still around Derek's neck, "But Uncle Derek has been gone for ever and ever!"

Derek smiled and turned the boy so he was sitting sideways in his lap. "Jake, there's someone very important I want you to meet. This is Meredith."

Meredith felt her heart melt just a bit as the young boy, who looked so much like his uncle, offered her a bright, toothless smile. "Hi!"

Her heart melted just a bit at the sight of Derek and his nephew together, not that she'd ever admit that out loud. Jake, with his blue eyes and unruly, dark brown hair, was exactly what she would have pictured Derek as looking like when he was a kid; Jake was what she had pictured her and Derek's son looking like. Not that she would have admitted she had pictured what any theoretical future children she and Derek had together would look like.

"And Meredith, this is Jake."

"Hi, Jake," Meredith responded, laughing as the little boy stuck out his hand. She shook it.

"My whole name is Jacob Derek Shepherd-Walsh, but everyone calls me Jake," Jake informed her. "And I'm seven."

"Are you named after your uncle?"

He nodded emphatically. "Uh-huh. Because when I was born I looked just like him."

Meredith smiled. "You still look like him."

Jake smiled and leaned into Derek. "Are you Uncle Derek's girlfriend?"

She nodded, flashing her eyes hesitantly to Derek and then back to Jake.

Derek smiled warmly. "She's not just my girlfriend, Jake. She's my fiancée; do you know what that means?"

Jake shook his head.

"It means we're going to get married."

Jake stared at her for a long moment, his face scrunched as he thought about what Derek had said to him. "Does that mean you're going to be my aunt?"

This time she really did hesitate. This was all new to her. And she was hyper aware that Jane and Brian were watching the exchange. "I, uh..." Her eyes flickered to Derek's. He offered her a warm smile and a nod. She took a breath and turned her attention back to the young boy. "That's exactly what it means."

Jake smiled. "That's so cool. I'm a really great nephew."

She smiled at his exuberance. "That's good. I...I've never been an aunt before."

Derek whispered something she couldn't hear in Jake's ear, and then the young boy jumped off his lap and onto Meredith's, wrapping his arms around her neck in a tight hug; just like he had done to Derek.