Disclaimer- I could never come up with that finale. That was magic. That was a 'legend'. That so wasn't mine.

Summary- Year by year, Meredith and Derek watch their daughter grow up and teach her the lessons that life has to offer.

A/N- So my brand new, not-one-shot story as promised!! This is just the prologue type thing, and if I get some positive feedback on this, I might continue it. The real first chapter is mostly done-ish, so let me know if you want to read more!! About the parings- I didn't know what to do with them besides MerDer, so I made Izzie/Alex, George/Lexie, and Callie/Erica, just to follow the finale. But they have small parts in this story; it's very Meredith/Derek centric.

The light patter of rain drops on the windowpanes that normally reminded Derek of the miserable Seattle weather, but today it came as a welcome relief. Today, just for today, he needed something concrete and to remind him that this day wasn't a beautiful and perfect dream. Derek stood up suddenly, walked out of the room and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and breathed in. Then out. And in again. No, everything was still in the same place.

He could hear the murmur of residents and nurses talking about him in their hushed conversations, smiles permanently plastered on their faces. Synchronized beeps and mechanical sounds from the machines in patient rooms thumped in Derek's head. And mostly, the cries of newborns screaming their presence to the world made sure of that.

No, it was all extremely real, the smells, the sights, the feelings. Derek turned and walked down the hall, his feet instinctively taking him to where he wanted to be most.

Thinking through the last twenty- four hours, Derek felt a smile grow subconsciously. She was intoxicating, absolutely intoxicating- all Derek needed to do was to think about her, the way she smelled, the velvety softness of her skin against his fingers, the perfect feeling of her in his arms, and he would be smiling like an idiot. Besides Meredith, Derek never thought that he could feel this way about anybody.

"Shep," Derek looked up and saw the chief walking towards him with a smile on his face. Everybody was happy today.

"Hey," Derek suddenly frowned, hands in pockets. "Oh, please don't tell me that you have a case for me." Richard smiled and patted him on the arm.

"No, I just wanted to say she's beautiful." There it was again, that all consuming face-eating grin. Derek could literally feel his eyes lighting up and sparkling.

"Thanks. She looks so much like Meredith." If possible, Derek's smile widened. So did the chief's, and he patted him again on the arm before walking off. No one would believe it, but Derek saw a little skip in his step. Grinning to himself, Derek continued down the hall. Nurses would stop and say congratulations, hoping to get some semblance of a conversation with Derek Shepherd, but today, he was allowed to talk to anyone he wanted to about the new love of his life.

As he approached the nursery, Derek saw crowds gathered around the glass window and was immediately worried that with the amount of people pressed against it that it would break onto his yet to be named daughter. Approaching quietly, Derek listened to the conversations of the residents, nurses, interns and even to his shock, some attendings.

"See I told you she would have blue eyes. Look at those! They're just like his…so dreamy," two interns giggled loudly, oblivious to Derek's sneaking presence.

"Oh, look at her nose! She's got the Grey nose. Hopefully that's not all she's got," the residents said, pooling their money together. Thinking more about the resident's conversation, Derek frowned. He didn't even know what half the hospital was still saying about Meredith, and she didn't care. But he did, especially when she had just blessed him with something so perfect.

"Oh my god, the lucky thing has got his hair. Hearing this, Derek ran a hand through his curls and looked around for someone he recognized. Through the crowds of people, Derek spotted a tall blonde pushed closer to the window than anyone else, using her elbows to her advantage if anyone invaded her personal space.

"Iz," he called. "Izzie!" And it suddenly went quiet to the extent that not even the babies were crying. Everyone turned to stare at him, and Derek suddenly felt extremely self- conscious. Everyone backed away slowly, retreating into the hallways and then running down them, away from him. Seemed like it was a scene from a movie, Derek thought.

"She's so beautiful, Derek," Izzie said quietly when he turned back to her. Again, with the smile.

"She looks like Meredith," he repeated.

"She does. But she has your eyes," she said, turning from Derek to the baby. "And your hair," at this Derek laughed.

"She's beautiful," Derek whispered, a little to Izzie but mostly to himself. He couldn't believe the beauty before him. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He laughed slightly when he saw his daughter move slightly, waving her tiny fists in the air. She was unbelievable.

"Have you and Mer named her yet?"

At this, Derek sighed. "No. Everything that we come up with is too girly, too not girly, too old-ish or too Derek." Izzie turned to him.

"Too Derek? What is that?" Izzie asked. Derek laughed.

"I don't know. Ask Meredith. They both laughed slightly, cut off eventually by the sound of a pager. Derek immediately grabbed at his, completely ready to throw the stupid contraption on the ground and step on it if it was calling him to the ER or a trauma room. Izzie sighed.

"Don't worry. It's mine. Sloan. I think you're under strict orders from the chief that you get no cases today anyhow," Izzie turned, not before Derek caught her mutter lucky as she ran off. He laughed to himself- the eager resident would rather stay and watch his daughter than go assist Mark on a surgery. But he could definitely understand where she was coming from. The surgeries could wait for today. And tomorrow. Maybe for a while, even.

I'm all yours from now on, Derek thought silently.

MDMDMDMD

Derek stood, leaning against the doorway of Meredith's room, smiling as her eyes fluttered open. She smiled weakly at him and then instantly frowned.

"Where's my baby?" she asked.

Derek inwardly smiled at her motherly instinct as he eased himself onto the bed beside her. He dropped light kisses on her forehead, eyes and cheeks before whispering: "at the nursery."

'The place that makes people toxic," Meredith said slowly and quietly with a laugh. Derek smiled at her and leaned in to push some of her hair out of her eyes, and letting his hand rest on the top of her head.

"Did Cristina come by?" he asked. Meredith shrugged and blinked, her eyes staying closed longer than they should have.

"Maybe," she said softly.

Derek frowned at her one word answer. "You okay?"

Meredith nodded and shifted slightly. "Yeah. Happy, tired. Mostly happy, though." Derek smiled.

"Not so dark and twisty after all, Mer," he whispered and traced a finger down her cheek, her skin almost as smooth and flawless as their daughter. She caught his hand, laced her fingers through his and squeezed.

"Not so dark and twisty after all," she agreed as Derek laid down gently beside her, pulling her body as close as he could to his.

MDMDMDMD

"Hey, princess," Derek whispered when the nurse wheeled his daughter into Meredith's room. He kissed Meredith's forehead gently before slipping out of the bed and picking up his daughter expertly in his arms. She was the perfect weight, not too heavy like other babies where if you held them enough, your arms felt like falling off, but not too light as an unnoticeable weight either. She was perfect in every particular. She cooed slightly, and Derek rocked her gently in the hopes of not waking Meredith. The slight noise didn't go by unnoticed and Meredith immediately opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

"What's wrong with her?" Derek turned slowly to face Meredith and leaned in to capture her lips with his own.

"Nothing. Why would something be wrong?"

Meredith narrowed her eyes at him. "She was crying." Derek rolled his eyes.

"She's a baby. Babies tend to do that, Mer." Meredith sighed and gently ran a finger down her daughter's cheek, just as Derek had done with her.

"Can I hold her?" she whispered to Derek, her hand resting on top of his.

"She's yours too," Derek said as he carefully shifted the sleeping baby to Meredith's arms. He watched with interest as she instinctively supported her head, pulled her pink blanket closer around her and whispered sweetly to her when she began to stir. How Meredith could show her own daughter this much love when her mother had shown her none whatsoever was a miracle, he thought. But it was part of who she was.

"Derek, she's so perfect," Meredith whispered to him, two tears rolling down her cheeks. Derek brushed the tears off her cheeks and slipped an arm comfortably around her shoulders, pulling Meredith closer to him.

"She's perfect," he agreed. He sat back slightly and watched Meredith and their daughter interact. Derek closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of their breathing and Meredith's quiet voice whispering low words to her.

"I'm going to love you forever. No one is going to love you as much as mommy does. Except maybe daddy. But that's it. I'm going to love you forever," Meredith whispered quietly, but not quietly enough so that Derek couldn't hear. He sat up and pressed his lips into Meredith's hair, still smelling the familiar scent of lavender.

"I'm going to love you forever, too. Both of you," Derek said.

Meredith turned and looked deep into his eyes. She had never really understood the meaning of forever until now. She hadn't really understood it when she told Derek she loved him for the first time, or when he had said it back to her, or when they had stood at the alter and said promises until death do us part. Those were glimpses of forever, but this, Meredith thought, this family and this love was the real forever. Nothing could ever break what she felt for Derek and their daughter from this moment forward. This was forever right here. This was the real until death do us part.

She leaned in and kissed him, a long sweet kiss full of life promises and love. "We're forever, Derek. This is for forever."

MDMDMDMD

They were interrupted when Izzie ran into the room, hands on knees, breathing hard. Meredith and Derek looked at her quizzically.

"She wasn't in the nursery, just wanted to check she was here." Izzie looked up and saw Meredith and Derek on her bed, holding the baby. "And now I'm interrupting. I can go…I'm going," she said, pointing towards the door.

Meredith laughed. "No, Iz, stay." Izzie didn't object at all and sat herself down on the edge of Meredith's bed. "Iz, didn't you have a face reconstruction with Mark? You were talking about it all of yesterday."

Izzie shrugged. "I wasn't concentrating to my full potential or whatever so Sloan kicked me out. Just as well," she said, cooing over the baby.

Derek laughed at the resident so easily distracted by the arrival of his daughter. "Who's the little baby?" Izzie asked in a voice specialized just for babies, "you're the little baby! Yes you are, you are? Aren't you just the cutest thing? You look just like your parents, you really do."

Izzie continued, tickling the baby gently and softly. Meredith rolled her eyes and gently motioned for Izzie to hold out her arms so that she could hold the baby. Izzie's eyes widened for a second and changed almost instantly, eagerly holding out her arms to take the baby.

Meredith furrowed her brow in concentration and bit her tongue between her lips, working hard on passing the baby over without waking her and not trying to move too much in the process. Derek shifted his hand lightly on the small of her back for support, in case she needed it.

"Oh, you guys, she's so perfect," Izzie murmured.

Derek shot Meredith a knowing glance before replying proudly. "We know." Meredith laughed and leaned her head on Derek's shoulder. Izzie rocked the baby gently in her arms, whispering sweet words to her and suddenly sighed, jerking both Meredith and Derek out of their thoughts.

"Dammit, I want one! When is Alex going to step it up?"

Derek laughed knowingly. "Not anytime soon. Trust me." Izzie narrowed her eyes at him and Derek raised his hands in mock innocence. "Just calling it like I see it."

Izzie gently but quickly shoved the baby back into Derek's arms, everyone amazed that she was still able to sleep through the noise and movement. Like Meredith, Derek thought.

"Oh my god, watch it!" Izzie yelled loudly when she collided with a tall body as she turned for the door. He caught her arms and held her steady, in case she fell.

"Love you too, Stevens. But I'm here to see the Shepherd kid, not you." Izzie narrowed her eyes at Mark. He smiled at Meredith and smirked at Derek.

"Now this kid would be really unlucky if she had your nose, Derek," Mark joked as the baby was placed into his arms. Derek's eyes stared into Mark's head wanting it to explode.

"I have a daughter and all you can say is that you hope that she doesn't have my nose," Derek said in shock.

"I had the baby, Der," Meredith slipped in quietly. Izzie eased down on the bed next to Mark, peering over his shoulder to get a closer look at the baby.

"Mer, whose side are you on?" Derek asked.

"Yes, Der, Meredith had the baby. And for the record, she's on my side." Mark said.

"I broke my nose three times, two of those times, thanks to you," Derek stated.

"I'm on nobody's side. I have no sides," Meredith replied quietly, lying back slowly. Derek immediately dropped the banter and turned to her quickly just in case he was needed. Meredith smiled at him and grasped his arm gently. "Thanks," she whispered.

Derek shrugged. "It's what I'm here for, Mer." A look of disgust passed Mark's face.

"Okay, that's just gross. Both of you. What happened to the dark and sad, or whatever you called it?"

"Dark and twisty?" Derek supplied. He shrugged. "We want to be bright and shiny from now on."

"I think it's sweet," Izzie offered.

Mark snorted. "I don't."

The baby gave a loud cry and all conversations and movements stopped immediately. Mark looked up quickly at Derek, but to his surprise Derek didn't offer any help to him. Mark awkwardly rocked the baby, moving her back and forth, patting her gently and to everyone's surprise, the loud crying ceased. Mark stole a glance up at Derek, who was careful to not show too much emotion in the scene he just witnessed or laugh out loud entirely.

"No guy is ever going to be good enough for you, kid," Mark whispered. Derek smiled and leaned into Meredith, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He had to say it, Mark walked right into it.

"Now that was sweet," Derek said, carefully containing his laughter. Meredith and Izzie both laughed instantaneously.

"Shut up, Shep."

MDMDMDMDMD

"Oh, god everyone is happy. Like Mary Poppins type happy," Cristina groaned loudly when she entered the room propelled in by George and Alex, pushing her with all their strength.

"She's glad to see you guys too," Alex said sarcastically, standing up suddenly and letting Cristina and George drop to the floor. Cristina looked ready to jump on Alex and rip his eyes out.

"So let's see the baby," George said quickly, standing up and moving to Meredith's side. Meredith pointed at Mark, who had not let go of the baby for the past hour, claming he needed practice for when he and Izzie had one. George looked over Mark's shoulder at the sleeping bundle in his arms and sighed.

"Oh she's cute. Cuter than any of the babies we used to look at in the nursery. Remember, when we were interns?" Meredith immediately went a shade of bright red and looked down at her hands. She could feel Derek's eyes staring holes into her body.

"I didn't know you did that," Derek stated simply.

"Yeah, who would have thought, the Queen of Dark and Twisty melting over the tiny tots," Mark added in when he saw the opportunity. Meredith turned a brighter shade of red and Derek shot Mark a if-you-make-her-cry-or-hurt-her-in-any-way-whatsoever-I-will-personally-kill-you look. Derek thought that he could hear Meredith mutter the word relaxing, but he wasn't sure.

"She's cute, George," Meredith said back to him, when her face had returned a normal color again. George smiled. Alex joined George's side, looking over Mark's shoulder.

"Hey, Shep, she has your eyes. And the hair obviously," Alex said, assessing the baby carefully. Derek smiled proudly.

"She has Mer's nose and ears though. And her mouth."

"That's why she's lucky," Mark added in. Everyone sighed at Mark ruining the perfect moment.

"I thought we dropped the nose thing," Derek said. Mark shrugged and shook his head no.

"Why is Sloan with the one with the baby anyhow?" Cristina asked, moving closer to the group, but still keeping her distance.

Meredith shrugged. "Then you hold her." Cristina stared blankly. "Mark, give

Cristina the baby." Everyone looked at Meredith in horror, even Cristina. Mark slowly handed Cristina the baby, both of them keeping a hold on her neither one willing to let go and step back.

"Mark, let her hold the baby," Derek said, after about two minutes of exasperating shifting back and forth. Mark reluctantly let go, leaving the full responsibility of the newborn Shepherd baby in the arms of Cristina Yang.

"What do you think, Cristina?' Meredith asked after a long silence. Cristina shrugged.

"She's okay, I guess. But no more. I swear everyone is getting less dark and twisty thanks to this," she said, gesturing to the bundle in her arms.

Derek frowned. "This has a name, Yang." Everyone, including Meredith looked at him.

"No she doesn't," they all said in unison. Derek sat back in thought.

"Derek, you better not be thinking of more Derek-y names," Meredith said, as if reading his mind.

"Beth," he said.

"No."

"Lorraine"

"No."

"Mary,"

"Could you come up with something less Derek, please?" Meredith asked, exasperated.

Derek frowned. "Then you come up with one."

"Rebecca," Mark suggested.

"Katherine," George said.

"Megan," Alex offered.

"Elizabeth," Izzie proposed.

"Julia," the Chief said as he walked into the room, immediately catching on to the conversation. Meredith and Derek both sighed.

"No, no, no, no" Meredith said. "And Elizabeth is already being used as a middle name, after Derek's mom," she said to Izzie. Izzie looked somewhat pleased. Meredith flopped back onto the bed and pressed the heel of her hands into her eyes. Cristina passed the baby back to Derek, who welcomed his daughter with open arms.

"We're never going to find a name for her Derek," Meredith sighed.

Derek smiled at her, though slightly unsure of himself. "We'll find one, Mer. They're tons of names out there."

Meredith now looked close to tears. "And we've heard half of them and they're just not right," she said. Everything went quiet.

"Cassidy," Cristina said suddenly, through the silence. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. Meredith and Derek sat in silence and slowly turned to each other.

'Cassidy. Cassidy Elizabeth Shepherd," she said quietly, looking at the baby in her arms. Meredith smiled a smile like no other.

"That's the name," Meredith whispered. All at once, noise broke out in the room, loud comments on the new Shepherd baby's name and what they thought of it. Cristina smiled smugly, looking pleased with herself, and Mark looked angry that Cristina's suggestion had been taken and his hadn't.

Meredith sighed and drew Derek's arm around her, moving close into his body. "She's our Cassidy, Derek," she whispered to him only, stroking a finger down Cassidy's cheek.

Now, he's wrapped around her finger

She's the center of his whole world,

And his heart belongs to that sweet, beautiful, wonderful, perfect

All-American Girl

-Carrie Underwood

A/N- I'm not sure if I like this. I liked the idea originally, but I'm not sure if I wrote it in the correct way. Anyhow, if you want to see this continued, let me know by leaving a review, or if you have something to say, leave me a review. You know the drill. I do have more of this story, a whole 20 chapters worth, but I won't continue it if there is no interest in it. Let me know!!

So…yay or nay?