The long awaited Part 2 is here! I know I said you could wait until the 6th of January, but I never expected to cut it so close to the deadline. And I'm still not satisfied with this silly little story.

Today is the day that marks the end of the Christmas holiday season in Italy with the coming of the Befana, basically an old lady who brings sweets and chocolate to all the kids in stockings. Also, if you're familiar with the Reyes Magos tradition from Spanish-speaking countries, basically the Befana is similar. Still, she brings more chocolate, everybody should embrace this tradition.

Okay, without further ado,part 2 from Meredith's POV.

Enjoy!

Part 2

They've been talking for a while in the cozy living room after lunch, the tree twinkling merrily, Zola playing on the carpet, oblivious to the chatter of the adults, or maybe too focused on her blocks to be bothered by the easy laughter and the gleeful tales of the past few years.

Meredith moves her eyes from one speaker to the other, studying Lizzie and Amelia tease Derek, while Nancy and Kathleen sip their eggnog, the husbands watching a football game with the older boys. Derek looks delighted with the swarm of little girls coming and going, asking for something silly, or begging him to have a tea party with them. This is his element.

She sighs, imagining Christmas in a few years. She's not sure she's ready for a baby yet, but she knows that when the time comes, when she will not break into a cold sweat at the mere idea, he will be the most amazing father.

"Uncle Dewek!" Noah, Lizzie's youngest, comes barreling down from the playroom, his smile wide and mischievous. "You gotsa come watch the game!"

Derek grins. "I want to spend time with my Mommy, Noah-boa."

Noah frowns. "But, -"

"Tell your daddy to stop bugging me. And no, I'm not turning into a girl, either." Derek smirks, anticipating the teasing comment his brother-in-law would surely drop.

"You no look like a girl." Noah frowns, and Meredith smirks at the seriousness in his look.

"Exactly!" Derek laughs, tickling Noah, who squeals loudly. "Tell your father that."

"Okay-dokey!" Noah grins, hopping back to the playroom.

"It seems to me that you are turning into a girl," Amelia quips, and Derek sends her a playful glare.

Meredith misses the quirky reply because she suddenly feels a hand grabbing at her knee and squeezing gently. She looks down and sees Zola standing up beside her, her eyes wide and curious as she holds onto her and the armrest.

She smiles, whispering a low "Hi" to the little girl. Zola grins, bouncing on her legs, and almost falling on her bottom. Meredith reaches out to steady her.

She keeps her attention on the little girl, ignoring for a beat more the conversation happening around her, afraid that Zola would somehow get hurt if she falls down. The girl has a determined look on her face, she grunts and shifts and pulls up one of her legs, bending it slightly, reaching even higher, holding onto her even tighter.

"Do you want to sit on the couch and chat with us?" Meredith asks, still smiling. Zola reaches for her with a hand, swaying precariously. "Alright, Zo."

Meredith smiles as she picks up Zola and lifts her on the couch, only Zola shrieks when she's about to be put on the cushion. Meredith remains with the little girl swaying mid-air, her eyes wide, Zola wriggling happily in her hold now.

They have quite a long staring contest, until Meredith gives in and sits the girl in her lap. Zola giggles, clearly having achieved her final goal. She also has no intention of letting go of Meredith, she relaxes in her arms instead.

Meredith tickles her a little, winning a giggle in return, and then another when she repeats the gesture. Zola is so happy she almost falls backwards in mirth. Meredith is quick to steady her, practically bringing her against her chest, allowing her laughter to subside quietly.

"You're a silly girl," Meredith grins, rubbing Zola's back as the girl rests her cheek over her breast and wraps her little hand around her hoodie at her side. Meredith lets her be, the warm weight of Zola against her comforting and strangely familiar. Of course she stiffened a little at first, taken aback by the amount of trust Zola put in her, but the more the baby leans against her, the more it feels right.

When she looks up towards Derek, he's almost in tears. He's smiling so widely his cheeks must hurt, she's sure. She sends him a questioning look and he just shakes his head, chuckling. Everybody is looking at them then, and she blushes. The safest option is turning back her attention to Zola.

Zola is now looking up at her, and playing with the zip in the front of her hoodie, enthralled. She's quiet now, and it doesn't take long for her to fall asleep, especially from the moment Meredith starts rubbing her back in slow, rhythmical circles.

Meredith smiles when Derek moves from his armchair next to his mother to the empty seat beside her on the couch, and she's even happier when he wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her closer, leaving a quick kiss on her temple.

"I'm a little jealous of you," he whispers in her ear, his grin so wide it melts her, his hand going to rest on Zola's back.

"Wanna hold her?"

"No, you two look cozy together." He caresses Zola's cheek, who buries her nose even deeper into Meredith's sweater, and scrunches up her nose. "God, she's cute."

"She is," Meredith replies breezily, resting her head on his shoulder as she keeps looking at him. "Ours are going to be just as cute."

When she says that, Derek's eyes turn glassy and a disbelieved smile blossoms on his lips. He just kisses her, because she knows he has no words to express what he's feeling. She has a hard time explaining the lump in her throat as well. He kisses her and pulls the two of them closer to his side, under his arm, protecting them.

This feels right.

"She could be our little girl," he says, his eyes still glimmering, his whole body humming with happiness and expectations.

Meredith frowns for a beat, studying his expression. He's serious when he says that. Very serious.

"We want to start a family, and she needs one. My mother can't keep her forever, and who knows where she'll end up when they throw her back in the system. Let's adopt her."

"Derek, -"

"Think about it, okay? I know it's big, just think about it."

Meredith nods, still a little disbelieved as she tries to follow the conversation happening in the room once again. The women seem oblivious to what they have just discussed, and she's grateful. Her head is a mess enough as it is, she doesn't want other people knowing how much she's freaking out.

Because she is, freaking out.

She could become Zola's mother. Will they even consider her a suitable parent? Only, Derek's expression is almost worth all the fear. She still has a billion issues to work through, but wouldn't she be happy if she ended up pregnant with a surprise baby? Zola can be their surprise baby. A baby she doesn't even have to suffer through labor for. Zola wins a lot of points in her book.

Zola, almost sensing her troubles, shifts in her arms, snuggling up a little higher, her head now resting practically in the crook of Meredith's neck, her breaths warm and comforting. She could have this every night when she comes home. Every single night.

"I'll think about it."

Derek kisses her temple once again, and he's smiling once more. He rebutts something at Amelia, Meredith totally missing the context of the whole conversation, only that Derek starts laughing and she feels so safe right in this moment that the whole trip was worth it, if only for this moment.

Maybe being this little girl's mother is not as crazy as she thought it could be.

Two years later

"Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Meredith lets out an amused breath as she watches Zola barrel towards her clutching a stethoscope and a stuffed bear. Her festive sweater makes her fit in perfectly with the rest of her cousins, and the more Meredith looks at her, the more she can't believe they're here for the third year in a row.

Planes have crashed, family members have died -heck, Meredith herself almost died-, friends have left them, and yet, Christmas at the Shepherd is a constant. There's still the same magic in the air of the very first time.

"We gotsa sturgeon Emma's bear!" Zola yells as she brushes the branches of the Christmas tree, almost knocking over a couple of ornaments; Carolyn doesn't seem overly concerned.

"What happened to her bear?" Meredith asks seriously, watching Zola move closer and closer.

"His belly hurts lots and lots, and his head feels funny."

"Aw, so we need to wait for Daddy, too." Meredith grins.

"Hey, I'm pretty good at fixing heads," Amelia interjects from her spot on the other side of the room, watching the interaction, amused. The rest of the sisters are sitting in an haphazard circle as well, and they all have smiles on their faces.

"But my daddy is the bestests!"

They all laugh at Zola's antics, and almost as if he heard Zola mentioning his name, Derek shows up in the room, their six-month-old son in his arms, his sleepy eyes still not quite fully awake as he rests his little blonde head on his father's shoulder.

"He sounded hungry when I picked him up," Derek says, grinning broadly as he sits next to Meredith on the couch and studies her and Zola together.

Meredith reaches out for her son, then kisses his cheek. "Don't worry, Bailey, Mama has got you," she whispers, before offering him her nipple.

The boy suckles happily, oblivious to the rest of the large family chatting around him and cooing nonsense. Meredith is pretty sure he doesn't care much about anything beyond her breasts and her hand on his back now.

"Momma, what 'bout Bear?"

"What if you ask Daddy for a thorough diagnosis and then I'll schedule his surgery?" Meredith grins, watching as Zola thinks about her proposition with a serious expression on her face.

"Daddy," Zola starts rambling all about the bear's symptoms, much to Derek's amusement. She's clearly the child of two surgeons, there's no doubt about it. The rest of the family seems impressed too, tough not really surprised.

Meredith watches her daughter grin as Derek plays with her, and studies them together. It never gets old, really. It always feels like a miracle having her there, even after all the custody battles they had to fight to adopt her, or the battles with her health and her shunt, Zola is thriving. She's a bright three-year-old, she makes friends easily, she's a delight to the family and she loves her little brother so much Meredith is pretty sure her heart might implode every time she watches the two of them together.

She might not have been the one to make Zola or give birth to her, but she definitely fits better than any other child could. She's perfect for their family, and she made Meredith feel a lot less overwhelmed when the stick turned blue just a few months after they had gotten the papers for a more permanent adoption.

Surely, the adoption wasn't an easy process, especially since she had gotten really attached to Carolyn in the few months they had spent together and it was hard to bring her back to Seattle all alone at first, but they were able to ease her into their lives, and she made them complete. They had to work harder to keep their marriage going and not to have the romance fizzle out, especially when both her and Bailey demand their constant attention, but now things are settling into a routine, and it's a pretty good routine.

There are nights, still today, when Meredith comes home and sees her family waiting for her on the couch, that she doesn't believe this can be her life. She watches Bailey and feeds him and hopes he will grow into a fine man, and she can't believe she and Derek made him. She watches Zola and all the great things she does and the accomplishments she achieves, and she can't believe Derek even suggested adopting her in the first place.

And yet, she wouldn't change a thing if she went back.

She leans against Derek's shoulder now that he only requires a hand to surgeon the bear, and he wraps his arm around her and Bailey as he laughs with Zola. She listens to them interact and squeezes her hold on his arm.

When he turns to look at her with his full-on McDreamy smile, she knows Christmas will always be her favorite holiday. They did get a pretty great Christmas miracle the very first time they came together to this house, and Meredith had no intention of missing another Shepherd Christmas in here, until something really big kept them from flying back. She can't help but love Christmas to bits when she remembers about that very first night.

She's sure that no matter where they are or how she found them, as long as she can look at her family and see their smiles, the Christmas magic will never fade from her life.

I know it was a long time coming, but I hope it was worth the wait. Maybe next year I can do even better!

Thank you for reading and loving this story!

-Irene