This is it.

I have already said million things about this story and I still can't put my finger on the fact that I finished both my stories. Many projects are under development but you have to be patient, real life has a definite predominance over everything right now.

I hope you liked this story. All the reviews I recieved were really positive and motivating so I encourage you to review every time you find something interesting in a story or even something that you think it's not really right, writers always appreciate.

I think I have properly replied to all the people who left their reviews or messages, if not -because I have been away from the computer most of the week- well, here's my moment to thank you all, from the most faithful readers who gave a feedback to each chapter, to once again all of you who read anonymously. It's partially because of you that this story has an end.

For this final chapter, I decided that it was going to be Derek's insight, like some kind of closure of the circle or something. It's set, as you can expect from the quote, a few years later than the rest of the story. I hope you won't mind the change...

I changed the title last minute even at the end of the road, this time it's a line from Correatown's All The World (I Tell Myself). They featured it on Grey's and it was wonderful. It gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it properly.

Enjoy this epilogue then, no more rambling until you'll reach the end!

Epilogue - I'm Ready to Believe

Five years had passed;

five summers, with the length

Of five long winters!

William Wordsworth

It was a bright night in Seattle. The post summer chills were already palpable. The perfect night for a date.

It was our wedding anniversary, so we had decided to go out for dinner. Alice was going to stay with Cristina and Owen, since Lexie and Mark were home with their six-months-old little boy, James. We didn't usually go out to dinner, but we had practically been forced by all our friends to take a break and spend some time for ourselves.

"Daddy?" Alice's pouting face peeked through the door while I was dressing up for the night.

"Hey Peanut, what's wrong?" In the three years she had been with us it was rare for her to not be smiling so it must have been something serious.

"Do you really have to go to the date tonight?" She stood still, lingering at the doorframe.

"Come here," I held her in my arms and we sat on the bed. "I want to do something nice for Mommy," I explained, trying to sound really convincing. We had expected some kind of tantrum before we left so I had prepared a little speech.

"I know. I'm gonna miss you tonight."

"We're going to miss you too," I smiled at her and she relaxed in my arms.

"Don't go," she pleaded in a soft voice, knowing that I was too easy to convince with that tone and those eyes, Meredith's puppy dog eyes in a slightly different color.

"Have you seen Mommy in her new dress? She's gonna be so beautiful tonight." I tried to change subject and, for a while, it seemed to work.

"The one we gave her for her birthday?" She looked pensive for a moment, trying to understand exactly the one I was talking about.

"Yeah, that. She wants so badly to wear it, but she's always at work."

"I know. It's a beautiful dress Daddy," she sighed.

"Promise me you won't be sad when Mommy comes out."

She nodded into my chest and I hugged her tightly. "Promise," she mumbled, relaxing in my arms.

"You hug me just like you hug Mommy," she mumbled into my chest after a moment of silence, while I held her firmly in my arms. She was a big girl, but it was still easy to hold her tight.

"Yeah?" I didn't actually understand what she wanted to tell me so I remained vague, hoping for an explanation.

"Um-hm, when she's sad or tired you hug her tight and she's happy again," she said matter-of-factly, and it still amazed me how observant she was about little things like that.

"Are you happy now?"

"A little." She sat quietly, before asking "How much do you love Mommy?"

I chuckled. She had been asking those kinds of big questions lately, so I simply answered her, "So much that I can't even tell you."

"And so you bring her out to dinner," she scrunched her nose up in the same way that Meredith's when she was thinking hard about something.

"That's right. Do you remember what day today is?"

"It's your an...en...what was that word, Daddy?" she stammered

"Anniversary, the day me and Mommy got married," I replied with a smile. Actually it was the day we'd signed the post-it, but we still considered it our official marriage.

"Anniversary," she echoed.

"Just like that," I smiled again, feeling even more proud of her.

"Why can't I come with you?" she pouted a little.

"Because it's a special day when we pretend that we just got married, and when it happened, you weren't with us yet," I tried to worm my way out of an actual answer.

"Oh." She was surprised. "How long was it just you and Mommy?"

"More than a year, but I've known her since the day she started working as a doctor."

"Why did you want to marry Mommy?" Another big question.

"Because she is the most amazing woman I've ever met. She's kind and she brightens up my day when she laughs." I bet that if Meredith had heard that answer she would have burst out laughing.

"She's your princess!" Alice smiled widely.

"Yes, she is." Once again, my corny answer would have thrown Meredith into fits of laughter, just like Alice was.

"But Daddy, you're not Prince Charming!" She shook her head, amused.

"Why not?" I tickled her feet and her belly and she started laughing, crawling away from my grasp.

"Because you are a neurosurgeon."

God, she was able to say that straight all ready.

"Mommy is too," I said.

She frowned, but laughed quickly at the realization. Then she froze on the spot and her jaw dropped open.

"Mommy is a princess," she uttered in astonishment.

I turned around to see what had her so astonished, and immediately realized that Meredith was indeed a princess: she was standing in the door; a bright smile on her face, the gifted midnight blue dress perfectly fit her even more perfect curves. She was glowing in the light coming from behind her in the bathroom. Her hair was flowing freely over her shoulders and still a little fuzzy from the hair-dryer. I had never seen her that beautiful, even her after-shower glow was more intense than usual.

"A princess?" her smiled widened, lighting up the room, her voice sort of angelic.

Alice was still mesmerized by the view and so was I.

"Mer, that dress is gorgeous. You really look like a princess."

"Corny." She came closer and kissed me quickly on the lips, before opening the closet to pick out a pair of matching shoes, heels. It had been months since she had worn heels. My smile grew even wider.

"Mommy you are so beautiful for your anitersery," Alice added, still a bit in awe and once again misspelling the word.

"How long have you been talking to Daddy?" She looked at me and smiled widely, making me melt from the inside-out again. Five years of marriage and she was still able to do that.

"A while, I was sad that you were going to dinner without me, but now I'm not." Alice's quick answer was followed by a sincere smile.

"Why were you sad?"

"'Cos I didn't know how beautiful you are for Daddy."

She held Alice on her lap and kissed her forehead.

"Are you sad about being with Cristina tonight?"

"No. You're Daddy's princess Mommy," she said, matter-of-factly, as Meredith placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"So I've heard," she giggled in her musical pitch. Then she whispered in Alice's ear, "He's my prince too."

Alice giggled as well and their smiles matched. They were so perfect together. Alice's dark locks were brushing Meredith's breast, where Meredith's hair was laying as well. The way she was cradling Alice in her lap was so motherly, so perfect, and so was their unified giggling.

"Derek, you'd better get dressed or we're gonna be late," Meredith said, finally snapped me out of the trance.

"A prince's never late Daddy."

They laughed again, sharing some kind of girly joke that I would never understand.

I put my tuxedo on and did my hair in the bathroom. When I went back to the bedroom, Meredith was brushing Alice's hair. I lingered quietly in the doorway, admiring the scene as long as they didn't notice me.

"French braids?" Meredith asked. It reminded me so much our first Christmas together at home in New York.

"Can you make two braids Mommy?"

"Of course."

Meredith's quick and steady surgeon's hands made the first braid in a few moments.

"Tie please."

I chuckled. She looked like she was clipping an aneurism. Alice passed her a hair-tie and Meredith turned to smile at me, motioning to keep quiet a little while more. I grinned back.

"Daddy I know you are there," Alice said in a singing voice. We both laughed. "Can I see if you really look like a prince?"

While Meredith worked on the other braid, I came in front of Alice and showed her my black suit.

"Mommy's beautifuler but you make a nice prince Daddy." I chuckled at her statement.

"Mommy is always more beautiful than everybody else." I smirked at Meredith as she asked for another hair-tie.

"Am I beautiful?" Alice asked, as soon as Meredith had finished.

"Gorgeous. Mommy is excellent at braiding, isn't she?" She nodded, and kissed her mother's cheek before I could pick her up and kiss her cheek as well.

We arrived at Cristina's half an hour later and Alice didn't protest for a second about being left there. She gave us a couple of tight hugs and a big kiss each, and then she led us to the door, saying that she had to play 'cool games with Aunt Cristina'.

We walked back out to the car, laughing, and I grabbed Meredith's hand. She was so beautiful that I had to check if she was still real from time to time. I opened the door for her and she smiled.

"You can stop being so attractive, you'll get lucky tonight anyway."

"Can't wait!"

"You wanna skip dinner?" she smirked wryly.

"I think I can hold it off a couple more hours." She giggled. "You are so beautiful tonight." I brushed my hand over her thigh and she shivered, our gazes met in the silence of the car.

"That's not helping with the whole holding off thing."

"I know." It was my turn to smirk.

Her radiant glow filled the space between us during the silence of the ride. The millionth conversation we'd liked to have start was simply kept silent. Then a lonely tear flowed down her cheek.

"What's that?" I brushed it away with my thumb and she leaned into my touch.

"Nothing, I'm just happy to be here after five years," she replied sincerely.

"There's no need for tears."

"I know. I can't help it. I'm sorry," she sighed.

"It's okay, you can tell me." I tried to understand what was going on that had made her cry.

"Five years ago I never thought our life could be so perfect. I mean," she sighed deeply. "You got shot, and I lost a baby..." she paused again, brushing away another lone tear. "I know we had our moments and our fights after that, we are tired most days, and we can barely breathe on others, but I never expected all of it to end up this way. Thank you Derek," she finished smiling widely and I did the same, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Thank you. You are the one that made everything happen. I love you."

"I love you too."

I squeezed her hand again and, as soon as we were out of the car, I kissed her passionately, not giving a damn about the other people in the street. She relaxed into my arms and giggled, all the tears forgotten.

"Newlyweds?" the waiter asked, after we entered the restaurant and she led us to our reserved table.

"We've been married five years today, actually," I smirked proudly.

"Congratulations!" she seemed somewhat shocked and never asked anything personal again.

"You scared her, Derek," Meredith teased, grabbing my hand.

"I never meant to."

She giggled, and we continued with our dinner, talking about anything and nothing, like we always did.

The food was lovely and Meredith of course appreciated every single thing. It still amazed me how much she could put into her skinny body, and she even playfully sneaked her fork to my plate to steal some of my food. Eventually she leaned back in her chair and put her hand on her stomach, finally full. I had a sudden sense of dejà-vu, but I decided to come back to the thought later and just enjoyed the satisfied smile on her face.

"I can't eat anything more," she pointed out and I smirked back.

"Not even dessert?"

"I'm always up for dessert," she teased.

We walked back to the car holding hands and the waiter said goodbye with a smile. Maybe she wasn't that afraid anymore.

"That was a good date," she stated, sitting in the car.

"It's not even over yet."

"All your favorite things tonight," she whispered in my ear, before she kissed my cheek. Her gaze then drifted outside the window.

"What's on your mind?" I asked again, she seemed back in the same place she had been while we were riding to the restaurant.

"Alice."

"She keeps my mind busy too."

"I was braiding her hair and I realized that she's gonna be four soon. I can braid her hair and she can say neurosurgeon, Derek. She's a big girl," she said, almost scared of what she had just voiced.

"I know. She's smart."

"She is." She turned finally to me and her eyes were brimming with tears. "It breaks my heart that we're going to miss so much from now on."

"Why?" I didn't understand exactly what she meant.

"She's gonna get all big and independent and in a blink she'll be off to school, and then college, and then she'll be out of our reach."

"She's not that big," I smiled, trying to reassure her. It still amazed me how much she cared for Alice. I had imagined many times what a perfect mother she would be, but this, the real thing, went far past my expectations.

"I know," she sighed. I pulled off to the side, lifting her up onto my lap, and wrapping my arms around her. Then the tears began flowing. Out of nowhere she was crying like a baby and I didn't know exactly why so I just held her close and waited.

"Slow deep breaths Mer," I whispered in her ear. She melted into my hug, defenseless. I rubbed her back until her sobs were subsiding.

"Sorry," she muttered, sniffing and wiping away the last of her tears.

"It's okay, I'm here." I kissed her forehead. "You know, Alice told me that I was hugging her just like I hug you when you're sad? But she added that, after my hugs, you're happy again," I joked and she was able to crack a small, albeit a tear-stained one. "Let's go home, okay?" I suggested and she nodded, brushing her lips over mine as a thank you gesture and letting me go. She had always been more confident with gestures than words and that was one of the many constants in five years of marriage.

She was smiling and glowing again as soon as we got home. I kissed her deeply right after closing the door, ready to take that amazing dress off of her, having the house child-free for once seemed like the best possible end for an already perfect evening out.

"Wait," she muttered, as we paused for a breath. "I need to pee," she giggled and ran upstairs.

I kissed her again as soon as I caught up with her, then I let her go. When she left I stared at her, rummaging in the drawers looking for God knows what. Her perfect curves led to a glowing face, without a trace of the fresh tears. I didn't know if I could bear a second more of waiting.

"Mer, you're hot tonight."

She turned to me and grinned, so I stood up and went to kiss her. Before we knew it I was lying on top of her on the bed, my hand gently brushing over her hips and her belly, playing around with the waistband of her panties.

"You wanna do the thing in the shower? It's been a while..." she suggested, a lusty grin on her lips.

"I'd love to."

She sneaked out from under my touch, and grabbed my shoulder as soon as she stood.

"Are you ok?" I asked, concerned as soon as I saw her losing her balance. She had been weird all night and that was just the icing on the cake.

"Sure, just dizzy," she shrugged it off.

"Mer, are you pregnant?" I blurted out.

It was out of the blue and I knew it, but she just looked so pregnant that I was almost positive about her answer. Not so much about her reaction, because she smiled, instead of hitting me with the first thing that she could reach as I expected. We had planned to start trying in a few months, going away just the two of us to the beach like we had planned more than three years ago, but we hadn't exactly been careful in those last few months.

She smiled and kissed me, before answering, "Yeah, I might be," and disappearing into the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bed, motionless for a little while more and, when I walked into the bathroom she was staring at her reflection in the mirror, a smile still painted on her face.

"Mer…" I went closer to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She leaned back against my chest and we stared in the mirror.

"I don't know Derek. I wanted to have some blood-work done tomorrow and find out. That's what I was thinking about in the car."

"So you think..." I trailed off. It was big. A very big anniversary surprise and I was still shocked.

"I grabbed a test before I left yesterday, just in case you put the pieces together. You're smarter than I thought..." she giggled, and then she turned to face me, and kissed me, holding my hands tightly between us. She was probably panicking.

"Have you taken it?"

"I was going to do it with you. I'm scared of doing it on my own," she admitted, looking down at our linked hands.

"I'm here if you want to," I answered, a little bit nervous as well.

"Do you?"

"I think that it's better to do it tonight. You can have your blood-work tomorrow anyway, but this way we have more time to process it all and talk about what to do," I reasoned.

"Even if it's negative?"

Her answer surprised me but I still suggested, "We can talk about this all night long."

She took the test out from the drawer and I gave her some privacy, stepping out of the bathroom. I heard her put the test next to the basin, and then the door opened and her fresh hands grabbed my shirt. She leaned her cheek against my chest.

"Der, what are we going to do if it's negative?" she mumbled.

"You want it to be positive?" my smile widened.

"Yes! No, wait, no...I don't know, Derek. We didn't talk about it, I'm freaking out, okay?" she finally reacted as I had expected her to.

"Slow deep breaths," I said, more for me than for her.

I kept rubbing her back, trying to soothe her worries, but unable to know what I really wanted either. Another baby could be amazing and special, but even more tiring at the same time. Alice alone was a big, huge commitment, another baby would be overwhelming. But then, thinking back on the baby we had lost and the hollow space between me and Meredith that had been created, I realized that Alice was the only thing that filled it and that this possible baby was all ready gaining its own little spot in our lives. It would be hard to let go of that thought. We hugged each other silently, both too busy with ourselves to share anything more than our quiet support.

Meredith looked at my watch and closed her eyes, whispering, "It's time."

"Okay. It's gonna be fine," I tried to convince the both of us.

"Can...can you look at it?" she stammered. "I'm not good with this emotional stuff, you know," she admitted, briefly tightening her hug.

"I'll do it. Do you want to sit down?"

"Yeah, just in case I feel dizzy again."

I grabbed the test, and then Meredith's hand and we sat on the bed. I sat on the edge, while she leaned her head on my shoulder, sitting cross-legged. She placed her hand over the one of mine that was holding the test, squeezing it.

"I love you Derek," she said, then let go of the hold.

"I love you too," I said back, before sliding my hand off to reveal the result.

Meredith looked down, and then looked up at me smiling widely, every trace of worry replaced by her recent glow.

"I really love you Derek!" She draped her arms around my neck and kissed me hard, her joy overwhelming. Then she placed her hand over her belly, bringing mine with it. I gently rubbed her smooth skin, kissing her again but unable to wipe the smile off of my face.

"We're having a baby." I finally processed. The test was positive and I was going to be a father again.

"Crazy, huh?" she laughed, throwing her arms around my neck again and leaning in for another kiss. Our faces were just a few inches apart, and our grins mirrored each other's. Meredith's eyes had a twinkle that was lost in our everyday routine. It wasn't every day, we were having another baby!

"Want to celebrate?" she smirked lustily, when we stopped for air after another adoring kiss.

"Are you okay?" I checked, all of a sudden the need for her to be fine was more important than anything else.

"I'm freaking out. Are you?"

"I'm scared too."

"It's gonna be okay."

"I know."

"We'll figure things out. Maybe after a long, calming bath..." she smiled again

"Maybe." I grinned then it faded a little "No, wait remember what the doctor said about the bath back when we were waiting for Alice?"

"We can figure things out in bed, then..." she kissed me, sitting on my lap and straddling me, her eyes full of joy. "I'm pregnant, Derek," she said with a smile, before another deep kiss.

I laughed, she rolled over on the bed and I lied down on top of her. I took off her dress and stared at her flat belly, knowing that soon it would grow miraculously. She smiled and trailed her fingers through my hair as I crouched down to kiss her belly, both our faces still wearing matching grins.

We were going to be parents all over again.

AN: I just wanted to finish the story with an happy note. It could be open for a sequel, but I'm more than positive that there's never going to be one anytime soon. I'm too busy with other projects to even start thinking about making a sequel of it. It can be done, simply not soon and probably not ever. Don't get your hopes up...Maybe with a lot of convincing though...

Well, I hope you enjoyed this last bit and I also hope it wasn't too confusing the whole five years thing. It's five years from the post-it, not exactly five years after the end of chapter 30, I hope it was clear enough from the start.

It's gonna be a goodbye for this story then, but stay tuned that I might post a new story sometime soon. Well, as soon as it's nearly done I'll think about posting it. Or them, I might have a couple of projects up my sleeve too, who knows ;)

I already said thank you to my Beta, Cheomara7, but once more won't hurt and then thank you so much agan to you, readers. I enjoyed every single second of this experience mostly thanks to all of the people that stopped to read every chapter. You have been wonderful!

I'm gonna miss writing this story so much...

~Irene