Author's Note:

This fic was originally published in 2015. As of 6/2017, it has been through a final revision/re-work. If you're an old reader, I recommend you read the edited version as it will hopefully be better than the original.

This story is the sequel that continues my first fic "And Then There Were Two". If you have not read that story yet, it is probably a good idea for you to do so as this story picks up right where that one left off and you will find yourself very confused without understanding what these couples have been through.

If you're reading because you've read "And Then There Were Two", thank you so much for your continued support! This fic will contain zero character death. I can't promise that there won't be angst and sadness, but I can promise that it won't be anything like what was in my last story. This story will not be all fluff. We will be dealing with Lexie and Mark's baby, and also with a medical crisis that I am not going to disclose yet. I know some people are confused as to why I ended the last one with loose ends. I see these stories like I see a season finale on Grey's Anatomy, so I am simply going to pick this story up right were the last left off.

There is a third story in this series, so I promise to wrap up all of the story lines, tie up all of the lose ends, give no cliffhangers, and provide everyone with a happy ending!

Baby Makes Three

Chapter One

"I can't believe we actually did it," Meredith smiled as she looked over at Derek from where they lay in bed together. "I mean, I'm actually your wife. Your real wife. Like, the legal kind. The kind that has your last name. Not the post-it note kind, not the kind that people make fun of. Not the kind that can't legally make any decisions. You know, if you were to get in some kind of crazy accident or something."

"Are you already plotting my demise?" Derek laughed and rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his hand as he looked at her. "I half expected you to bolt."

"I'm all whole and healed you know. Did that, a long time ago. Before I even post-it married you, as a matter of fact. So I take offense to that. Because I've been whole and healed for a while." Meredith made a face. She didn't take offense to what he said, even if she knew he was serious. In her mind, none of that mattered. What did matter was that she was Mrs. Meredith Shepherd. She was Derek Shepherd's wife, his real wife. She was the kind of wife that had to actually file for divorce to get away, the kind of wife that people would have to recognize.

"I know you are, Mer. I know you're whole and healed. I don't doubt that." Derek smiled and kissed her gently, running his fingers through her hair. "You know, when I first met you, I knew I'd marry you. I didn't know it would take this long and be so difficult to get you to commit, but I knew."

"That was before you knew I was all dark and twisty." Meredith smiled.

"Definitely before."

She laughed, laying her head down on her pillow though she kept her eyes on him.

"How are you feeling?" Derek reached over and put his hand on her stomach.

Meredith grinned, amused at his worry. She reached down and put her hand on his. "I'm good. Not puking, so that's a plus. I mean, I at least enjoyed our reception food."

"Better than usual," He agreed, leaning over so he could kiss her. "I love you, Mrs. Shepherd." His hand left her belly to trail over her side.

"I love you too, Derek." She giggled as his fingers tickled her rib-cage, causing him to laugh as they kissed. "I'm trying to be romantic here!"

"If my memory serves me correctly, you started with the giggling." He pointed out, though he ended up just kissing her again.

"Are you arguing with the pregnant lady?" Meredith's face only caused him to laugh again and she ended up playfully rolling her eyes. "The pregnant lady is always right, you know. Haven't you figured that out by now?" She yawned, the last of her sentence sort of just trailing off as she glanced at the clock.

"Okay, Mer." Derek smiled, simply being agreeable as usual. "You should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"You're staying, right? Because nobody should have to sleep alone on the night of their wedding. Not even pregnant people."

"I'm staying." He assured her. "Right here, with you." Derek pulled her back into his arms, running his fingers through her hair as she rested her head on his chest.

"When do you think you and Addison are going to do Lexie's surgery?

He was surprised that she brought it up, especially on the evening of their wedding, but answered anyway despite the fact that the surgery was one he was actually nervous about. It wasn't every day that he performed a tumor removal on a baby that was still technically unborn. "I think Addison wants to wait another few weeks. It depends on whether or not the tumor is growing at a fast speed. If it starts getting too large, we'll have to go in sooner."

"Do you think it will work?" Meredith finally got brave enough to ask the question that had been on her mind since they'd found out about her sister's baby. "I mean, do you think you'll be able to fix it, or do you think that maybe it's..."

"Mer." Derek shifted so he could look at her. Even if she wasn't coming right out and saying it, his concern was that his wife would end up projecting the trouble with Lexie's pregnancy onto their baby. The last thing he wanted was for her to become obsessed with making sure their baby didn't have the same birth defect. Things were already on edge enough, and he knew it was all too easy for both Meredith and himself to get into a pattern of fear again. "Lexie's in good hands. She's in the right place. Addison is the best of the best. You know that."

"I know. But, there's still a chance, right? There's still a chance that the baby could die? Or have some sort of neurological impairment?" She wasn't easily assured by his words, but her fear wasn't for herself or for their baby like he worried it was. Meredith was worried for Lexie. She was scared that her sister would have to go through the same heartbreaking pain that they'd gone through. It was something she wouldn't wish on anyone. The pain of losing a baby, born or not, was something that was unexplainable. It was too much, for anyone, and definitely for Lexie.

"There's always a chance, Mer."

"What chance? I want to know the truth, Derek. What are the chances that they won't end up with this baby, or that the baby will have disabilities?"

He sighed. More than anything Derek wanted to protect her. He wanted to protect her even if in the back of his mind he knew that she didn't need protecting. He knew that his wife was strong, that she was capable of handling just about anything. There was no use though, of lying to her. He knew that. She'd figure it out anyway. They were both surgeons, and even if she was just a resident, she'd figure it out. "The chance of death with a tumor growing so quickly at the gestation she's at is probably about thirty percent. And from the ultrasound, which wasn't really much to go by, I would say that the chance of the baby having some level of neurological impairments is probably about fifty percent. But there's really no way to know, Mer. There's no way to know what is going to happen. Only time can tell us that. Addison's main concern is premature labor. I think she's pretty convinced that we won't be able to avoid that one."

"They don't deserve this," Her voice was soft, her arm wrapping around her stomach almost protectively. "Lexie and Mark, they don't deserve this. Lexie's so, fragile. She isn't like me, Derek. She's happy and bubbly and all hopeful about everything. Do you know what this will do to her? And Mark, he's barely recovered from drinking. What if..."

"Meredith." He put a hand to her chin, looking into her eyes.

"I'm scared." She whispered. "The pain of losing Grayson, it was too much. I don't want my sister going through that. I don't want Mark going through that. He's Mark. He's McSteamy."

There was no helping the smile that appeared on his face at the mention of the nickname she and her friends had first given his former best friend. "I'm a good surgeon, right?"

"McDreamy." Meredith smiled back, slowly starting to calm down.

"And Addison, she's pretty good, right?"

"Derek..."

"I'm serious, Mer. I know you're scared. But we're good at what we do. And we're going to do everything we can to keep Lexie and her baby safe. I'm going to do my best work." He kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep. Okay?"

"Goodnight, Derek." She finally closed her eyes, though their conversation was still fresh on her mind.

** GA ** GA ** GA **

"Hey, you okay?" Derek stepped into the hallway bathroom after coming down the stairs, still working on buttoning up his shirt the next morning. A frown settled on his face when he saw her leaning over the toilet, no doubt losing her breakfast.

Meredith didn't answer at first, sort of lurching forward a bit as her stomach turned over once again, rejecting the cereal she'd had just twenty minutes ago. "Doesn't taste so good the second time around." She mumbled, sinking down against the wall when she was finally sure she was done being sick.

"How long have you been like this?" He sighed and knelt down next to her, not about to leave until he was sure that his wife was okay.

"This morning? A few minutes, but I got sick a couple times last night too."

"Maybe you should take the day off, Meredith. I know you hate to do that, but..."

"Just, can you get me some water? I'll be fine." Meredith wasn't about to stay home just because she was getting sick. She was determined to be at work despite her misery.

He sighed, knowing better than to argue with her. "I want you taking it easy today at work. And you need to make sure you're eating and drinking something, especially since you're throwing up like this. You could become dehydrated."

"I'm scrubbing in with you on that craniotomy at eight, remember?" She got up slowly, giving her body time to figure out how to stand up straight without feeling like the room was spinning. She grabbed the spare toothbrush from the drawer, quickly getting rid of the taste in her mouth. "Come on baby, work with me here a little." She looked down at her belly. "Mommy has a big surgery today. The kind I can't miss. So you're going to have to find something better to do than make me sick. Okay? I mean, we could make a deal. I'll buy you that cute little giraffe in the gift shop at the hospital, and you give me a day off from the puking. You're making daddy hover. I hate the hovering." She rested her hand on her stomach, smiling as Derek came with her water. "Thanks."

"Are the two of you having a good conversation?" He grinned.

"As a matter of fact..." Meredith took a couple sips of her water then put the cup down on the counter, glancing at her watch. "We made a deal. Baby gets that cute little yellow giraffe in the gift shop if I get a day off from being sick."

"Is that so?" Derek laughed, placing a hand on her belly as he kissed her. "About that craniotomy..."

"I've been waiting three days, Derek."

"I know. But you come before a surgery. There are craniotomies all the time, Mer. Just make sure you're feeling okay. Otherwise, you can scrub in on the next one."

"Scouts honor." She held up three fingers, smiling. "Happy and healthy, or you get Cristina."

"Better make good on that deal with your mommy," Derek looked down at her belly. He knew she could tell her clothes were fitting differently and he could definitely see the thickening around her waist, but it wasn't yet noticeable to anyone else.

"Daddy doesn't like mommy's best friend." Meredith made a face, heading to the car with him. "But that's too bad for daddy because she's your godmother. And she loves you, even if she acts like she doesn't really do babies."

"She doesn't." Derek opened the car door for her.

"She likes our babies." Meredith argued.

"No offense Mer, but I'm not really sure that babies and Cristina go in the same sentence."

"You never know. She could surprise you." Meredith argued.

** GA ** GA ** GA **

"I hope your wedding was worth it, because Owen's driving me crazy."

"Derek's being all concerned and protective. It's annoying." Meredith stood at the nurses station with Cristina, leaning over the counter as she glanced through a patient's chart.

"He's insisting that getting married is a good idea. I don't get married. I tried that, with Burke. But that was it. No marriage for me, not again."

"Derek tried to tell me that I shouldn't scrub in on the craniotomy. The one he promised me. He promised me a week ago. And I'm his wife now. Shouldn't that count for something?"

"I told Owen no. I told him no about ten times. But he says you did it. He says you did it so we should do it."

Meredith glanced over to her. "I threw up fruit loops this morning. Fruit loops are gross when they come back up. Really gross. And they burn."

"Owen wants babies too. He never really said much about them before, but he wants them now. He wants them now that you're having babies, and Lexie's having babies. I don't even like babies!"

"The baby and I made a deal. We had to make a deal, just so I can do my surgery. I made a deal with my ten week-old fetus. And Derek laughed."

"I'll take your craniotomy. If you don't want it. I'll take it."

Meredith shot her a look and headed off to check on her patients. She was interrupted though by the all-too familiar feeling from earlier that morning. "I thought we had a deal." She mumbled, quickly heading toward the bathroom.

"Dr. Grey, is there a reason your charts from last week ended up in my stack? My stack?!"

"Dr. Bailey. I can't, I'll be right back."

"Doctor Grey!" Miranda wasn't having any of the excuses, putting her hands on her hips as she demanded attention.

She wasn't going to make it. There was no way that she would make it to the bathroom. She was going to puke right there in the hallway. Right there in the hallway where people could see, where doctor Bailey could see. And then she'd know. Doctor Bailey would know that something was up. And people would know. People would know about the baby. And then Derek would find out she was still sick. And if he found out she'd lose her craniotomy. Meredith groaned and grabbed the garbage can from behind the nurse's desk, leaning over it just in time to throw up what was left of her breakfast. "I'll do the charts. Right now. Or, after my surgery." She sighed, taking a moment to catch her breath before she put the trashcan down and stood up.

"Grey." Miranda Bailey frowned, looking at the resident skeptically. "Is there something you need to tell me? Because I'm pretty sure we all ate the same danged food last night. So I don't want to hear that it was something you ate. And I hope you're not walking around this hospital with a fever. Not even those interns are fools enough to come to work with a bug. Do you understand me?"

"Doctor Bailey..." The color was draining from her face, and as the room began to spin, Meredith knew she had no choice but to get off her feet despite the scene she was already causing.

Mark Sloan slid his arm around her waist just as she started to sink to the floor, sliding a chair underneath her before she even had a chance to realize what was going on. "No offense, Meredith, but you look like crap."

"Don't tell Derek." The first words out of her mouth only earned an amused look from the man standing next to her, but she did take a few minutes after that to take in some deep breaths in an effort to get her body back to some sort of equilibrium.

"The craniotomy. I know, he told me." Mark laughed, glancing over to Miranda who was still there with her hands on her hips, obviously trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Please, Mark."

"Get up, Grey. Get up, and shut up." Miranda took over again, demanding answers from her despite the feeling that was already making its way into her mind.

"I'm a Shepherd now." Meredith reminded her, trying to change the subject.

"Grey!" Miranda wasn't having any of it. "Exam room four. Now!"

Mark decided to simply stay out of the way, knowing better than to get involved. "Don't worry. I won't say anything." Despite his promise, he headed off down the hall to find Derek, doubting that his friend's new wife would even make it to the operating room in the next thirty minutes, not with Miranda Bailey hovering over her.

"I'm going to give you a chance to tell me what's going on. Otherwise I'll let Dr. Shepherd know that you'll be covering the pit rather than scrubbing in on his craniotomy. Because if you're walking around here getting people sick, if I take some sort of stomach bug home to my son..."

"Doctor Bailey." Meredith sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall as she sat down at the exam table. "I don't have any kind of stomach bug." She insisted. "I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant." Miranda didn't look like she approved, sort of just taking a moment to watch the girl in front of her before she decided how to respond.

"Ten weeks." She added, trying to figure out how to read her.

"And just when were you planning on telling me? When you told the rest of these fools around here?"

Finally it was clear to Meredith that she was happy, "We were going to tell, Dr. Bailey, as soon as I felt like we were out of window for a miscarriage."

"A miscarriage?" Bailey rolled her eyes. "You aren't having any miscarriage, Grey! But if you don't slow down and take care of yourself, you're going to end up back at home again. No dang craniotomy is worth being sick over. And to think I thought you were better than the rest of those fools running around here, smarter." She shook her head. "If I find out you're putting surgeries above your health, I'll be making your schedule myself. Do you understand that?"

"I understand, Dr. Bailey. Derek's making sure I'm under lock and key. Don't worry." She smiled and got up from the table. "I'm going to be late."

"For the dang craniotomy." Miranda stepped aside, letting her go even though it was definitely against her better judgment. "And eat something, Grey, before you hit the floor!" She sighed, watching her go. "Fools. All of them."

** GA ** GA ** GA **

"Doctor Grey. I didn't think you'd be joining us. We were just about to page doctor Yang." Mark's surprise was obvious when he saw Derek's wife walk into the operating room.

Meredith made a face, though the only part visible over her surgical mask was the obvious frustration in her eyes. He'd promised not to say anything, and she was all too aware that it was still early enough for Derek to throw her out. "I don't know why you'd say that. I'm here, early." She pointed out.

"Everything okay, Dr. Shepherd?" Derek looked across the operating table to her, eyeing her carefully.

She smiled, looking over to him. "I'm great." She insisted, stepping to the side of the table next to Mark who was only there to make sure their patient escaped the procedure with minimal scarring.

"Okay then," Derek smiled and turned his attention to his patient, glancing at the clock. "Lets get started." He took the scalpel from the scrub nurse. "It's a beautiful day to save lives."

He really was charming. Too charming. The kind of charming that made her think of dirty elevator sex right there in the operating room, right there in the middle of a craniotomy. Meredith smiled, her eyes on him for a minute while he made the initial cut.

"Okay, you guys have to stop. I know you just got married, but come on." Mark made a face, looking from her to him before he shook his head. "It's going to be a long five hours."

"You could always go, doctor Sloan. I mean, if my wife is bothering you." Derek offered, though his attention was focused on the open brain in front of him.

It wasn't until later when Meredith was just about to open her mouth to say something that she was suddenly just too aware of the smells in the room. The cleaning agents combined with the smells of the drugs that were being used along with some of the other smells such as latex and plastic hit her with a fury, causing her settled stomach to suddenly launch into a series of flip-flops that left her more nauseated than she'd even been when she was throwing her guts up that morning. She tried to calm things back down, closing her eyes as she took a few deep breaths. There was no way she was going to miss out on that surgery, though she knew throwing up all over the floor wasn't really an option.

"Meredith?"

"Doctor Grey…Shepherd?"

It was the sound of one of the scrub nurses voices that finally pulled her back into reality. "Huh?" She frowned when she realized they were all staring at her, even Derek. Her eyes met his. "I'm fine." It was a quick response, and only earned her a concerned gaze.

"Scrub out, doctor Shepherd." Derek insisted. He could already see the color draining from what he could see of her face.

She quickly shook her head. "No, I'm okay. I was just, thinking." It was a convincing argument, even to the man who usually saw straight through her.

"Go ahead and make the cut." He watched as the scrub nurse handed the scalpel over to her. He was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, once.

Meredith suddenly realized she hadn't even heard what he'd originally asked her to do, so she was relieved when he began to talk her through it. Within minutes though, after she made the cut and as she was helping him suction, she realized an okay situation was going downhill quickly. A sharp pain shot through her lower belly, and she fought to hold in a gasp, though she jerked just enough to cause her husband to utter a not so nice word. "Sorry!" Her apology was instant.

"Big Grey…" Mark caught her wince, even if she tried desperately to hide it. He looked over to Derek, trying to figure out if he should say anything else.

"I'm fine." She insisted, putting her focus back on the surgery.

"Meredith." Derek could see her fading, and he stopped what he was doing. "Can someone please escort doctor Shepherd out and make sure she gets something to eat? And some water." He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

She didn't argue with him. That time, she didn't argue with him. The pain wasn't like her last pregnancy. It wasn't a contraction pain, or at least she didn't think it was. But then again, there was no way to be sure. All she knew was that her body was protesting no rest. Her body was screaming at her to sit down, and she knew she had no choice. Nausea was causing the room to spin, and as the walls began to close in on her, she was aware of her husband semi-shouting her name just before she dropped to the floor.

Mark caught her just before she hit the tile, gathering her into his arms. "I'll take care of it." He assured his friend who looked like he might bolt right there in the middle of his craniotomy.

"She's pregnant," Derek blurted it out, just like that. In that moment, it didn't matter that she'd be upset with him. What mattered was making sure his wife and his baby were okay. "Make sure someone takes a look at her. Page doctor Davis." He knew it was probably overboard considering nausea and dizziness and sensitivity to strong smells was normal with pregnancy, but he didn't care.

"She'll be fine."

Derek wasn't convinced, but as the nurse alerted him to changing vitals in his patient, he knew he had no choice but to continue with the surgery. He would have to trust Mark Sloan with his wife, and with his baby.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! Reviews are so motivating for updating and so great to read!

Yes, this does semi-resemble the first chapter in the last story. That was done on purpose. Don't panic! Cross my heart…it is not the same!

*Revised 6/2017