Chapter One
Meredith was sitting on her bed looking at the clock. Another day was about to begin and she had to face it. Things had been interesting since she moved to Seattle from Boston. She'd found love, then lost it, and then regained it once again. Unfortunately, she found love in the arms of one of her bosses, which made work difficult sometimes. It was especially difficult when he was with his wife. Sometimes she didn't know how she got out of bed in the morning when he was with his wife. Now that he was back with Meredith, she had a reason to get out of bed in the morning, but she didn't dare tell anyone that.
Her alarm went off.
"Another day begins," she mumbled as she buried her head in her pillow. She shook her head and got up.
Meredith got up and went to the bathroom. She was so happy that she got there first. That meant that there would actually be hot water for her shower. She wouldn't have to take some cold shower after waiting for George and Izzy to finish their showers.
Meredith climbed into the shower. She heard footsteps in the hall.
"Don't be long," she heard Izzy call. "I need to take a shower, too."
Meredith tried to ignore her roommate. She wanted some peace. She'd barely slept the night before. She just couldn't get to sleep. It wasn't that she wasn't tired. She just couldn't get to sleep.
"Meredith, did you hear me?" Izzy called again.
Meredith sighed. "Yeah. I'll be out when I get out."
"There's no need to be rude," Izzy replied as she heard Meredith's snapping comment.
"I'm not being rude. I'm just trying to relax, which you're making a bit hard."
"You had all night to relax. Now it's time to get up and get moving."
Meredith continued showering. She hoped if she kept quiet that Izzy would go away, but there was no such luck. Izzy kept calling from the hall, and it wasn't just her. Now George had joined her. Actually, they were starting to fight over who would go next. Izzy said it was her turn next since she had been waiting. Meredith just wished they would be quiet. Sometimes she hated having roommates.
Meredith was finally finished. She toweled off and got dressed. She was greeted by the not so happy faces of her roommates when she opened the door.
"It took you long enough," Izzy said as she pushed her way into the bathroom. "I hope there's still hot water."
"I wasn't in there that long," Meredith replied as the door shut.
"You were in there long enough for my feet to start hurting," Izzy responded.
Meredith stifled a laugh. If Izzy's feet were hurting after such a short period of time, she couldn't imagine how bad they would feel after a long day at work.
Meredith went downstairs and had some coffee. Finally, she had some peace. It was better to have peace under the running water of the shower, but peace while having some hot coffee was good as well. Meredith looked through the fridge for something to eat. There was some left over pizza. Meredith didn't exactly eat normal breakfasts. She always had something quick.
She was ready to go. She wanted to be on time this morning, and her roommates didn't need her to give them a ride, so she got in her car and left for work.
Meredith got to the hospital just as her boyfriend did. She smiled as she saw him walking towards her. She was early, so she had time to hang out with him. She just hoped he wasn't there early for surgery because then her happy time with him would be interrupted.
"Hi," he said as he gave her a kiss. "How are you this morning?"
"I'm okay," she replied. "I've been trying to have a peaceful morning, but it hasn't quite worked out that way."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied. He wrapped his arms around her, and she finally felt relaxed. Just as she was starting to feel good, she noticed Addison getting out of her car. Meredith sighed. She still felt uncomfortable around that woman. It was well established that Derek would rather be with Meredith, but Meredith still felt like she was the other woman whenever Addison happened to be around.
"Hello, Meredith," Addison said as she walked up to the couple. "Hello, Derek."
"Addison," Derek said as he turned to see his ex-wife. He felt uncomfortable being there between his ex-wife and his girlfriend.
"You two look uncomfortable," she said quickly. "It isn't because of me now, is it?"
Meredith wanted to be honest. She wanted to tell her that it was definitely because of her, but she didn't. This time she was going to keep her cool. She had won. Derek was hers. They didn't have to fight. She was sure that things would be just fine as long as she smiled and kept her mouth shut. So she tried.
"Meredith, are you okay?" Derek asked as he saw her faking her smile.
"I'm fine," she responded.
"You don't look fine," he responded.
"He's right," Addison said.
"I promise that I'm okay," Meredith replied, but now she wasn't feeling okay. Maybe it wasn't just that she was faking the smile. Maybe something about her didn't look okay because something wasn't okay.
"You look like you should sit down," Addison said as concern grew in her voice. She didn't like that Meredith had taken her husband, but she still had some compassion in her.
"I'll be fine," Meredith replied. "I just didn't sleep last night."
"Oh," Derek said as he grew concerned. "What kept you up?"
"I don't know," she responded as she began to feel more and more uncomfortable. She was starting to feel sick.
"Meredith, you need to go sit down," Addison said sharply. "You look like you don't need to be on your feet."
"I don't really have a choice," Meredith replied.
Addison knew that she shouldn't say anything else, so she decided to go inside. Meredith suggested that Derek and she go in as well.
Meredith finally got to the locker room and changed into her scrubs. Cristina came in.
"Meredith, you look sick," she said bluntly.
"I don't feel well," Meredith replied.
"Well, what's wrong?"
"I just ache and feel like I'm going to be sick. Maybe I have the flu."
Cristina laughed. "When I thought I had the flu, I ended up being pregnant."
Meredith was silent.
"You don't think you're pregnant, do you?"
"I don't know."
"Well, get one of those pregnancy tests and find out."
"I don't have time to get one."
"Yes, you do. You're just afraid to give up your parking space. There's a market around the corner. You could probably get back just in time for rounds."
Meredith grabbed her purse and ran out the door. She hoped Cristina was right. She needed to find out. She practically ran all the way to the market. She grabbed a test and paid for it, then ran back to the hospital. She was actually back before rounds, so she went ahead and took the test.
"I can't believe it," she mumbled after the time was up. The test was positive. How could it be positive? She was sure that they'd used protection every time. How was this going to affect her career? How was she going to tell Derek? She couldn't be like Cristina.
"So?" Cristina said as Meredith came out of the bathroom. "Are you?"
"Yes," Meredith mumbled. "I am."
"The place I went—"
"I'm not doing that."
"You're having it?"
"Yes."
"But you're in this program."
"I can do both. My mom did."
"I can see wanting to be like your mom as a doctor, but as a mother?"
"What's wrong with the way my mom was a parent?"
"Well, was she ever there for you?"
"Well, no, but that doesn't mean—"
"Yes it does."
The door swung open and it was time for rounds.
"When are you going to tell him?" Cristina whispered as they finished rounds.
"Soon," Meredith replied. She saw him coming down the hall. "But I don't know that I can right now."
"Meredith," he called.
"Too late," Cristina said as she walked away.
"Hey," she said as he came closer.
"You still look like you feel bad," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder.
"I still do," she responded. "We need to talk."
"That's never a good thing to hear," he responded as she led him to an empty room.
"I don't know if it's a good thing or not," she said as she finished pulling him into the room.
"What is it?"
"I just found out."
"Found out what?"
She paused for what seemed like ages.
"Found out what?" he asked again.
"I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"I'm pregnant."
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know."