Six and a half years into the marriage ...

Mark had noticed his wife had become slightly more distant. They still talked, but they were getting busier and they had been so close before and he saw it slipping away. He had forgotten their last two anniversaries and he wanted to make up for it in any way possible. He was determined to make the marriage last, so he was cooking dinner that night. They would start with a nice shrimp cocktail and then have ceaser salad, followed by the main course of lobster tail, blue cheese mashed potatoes, and his mother's recipe for broccoli casserole. He'd been planning it for a couple of weeks and was nervously awaiting her arrival. The past few nights, she'd been on-call at the hospital, but tonight she was free and he had told her he had something planned. He had sent her gifts throughout the day ... flowers, candy, jewelry ... with little cards hinting at what was to come. The clues were short, silly poems and he was rather proud of them. He had only seen her once that day -- when she ran up to him at lunch to give him a quick kiss and to thank him for the flowers. She promised she'd be home by 6 and ran off to scrub in on surgery.

The large clock in the kitchen now read 7:45 and Mark was slumped in a chair, drinking the bottle of wine he had just opened, not even bothering to get out a glass. She hadn't called. He assumed she had run late in her surgery and she didn't want to trouble one of the nurses to call. After all, he never did. He only called when he would be staying at the hospital. And so, when his phone rang at 8:15, he knew what was coming. One of her patients had had complications and the surgery had run long and now he was having more complications in recovery and she would have to operate again. She was the type to always follow a case through to the end, and he loved that about her. He was the same way, though, and it was a major reason why their marriage was in the state it was today. She didn't know how long she'd be and he told her they would re-schedule, that she should feel free to get a drink with her friends before coming home. She promised him they would do it tomorrow night and he tried to believe her.

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Three Year Anniversary ...

Each had planned a "date". Mark started things off with a picnic down by the docks.

Meredith: I can't wait to see what you "cooked".

Mark: Hey I can cook.

Meredith: I bet you packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Mark: They're your favorite.

Meredith: Sweetie, I only tell you that to make you feel better.

Mark: Seriously?

Meredith: No. I love them. Just like I love the strawberries and champagne you packed.

Mark: How did you know? Am I that predictable? Are we getting into a rut? Three years and we're already an old married couple.

Meredith giggles.

Meredith: Did you just call me old?

Mark: What? NO! No ... no ... I meant ...

Meredith: God you are way too easy.

Mark: I resent that.

Meredith: No you don't.

Mark: Very true.

Meredith: So these strawberries aren't going to put themselves into my mouth ...

Mark: We're very demanding today.

Meredith: I thought I'd try something new. Izzie's being rude and sarcastic and cold. I'm being a diva. Sarah's being sweet.

Mark: Sarah cannot do sweet.

Meredith: Of course she can't. And to think, I'm missing out on watching it all go down just so that I can sit here and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with you.

Mark: Oh, you poor thing.

Meredith: This diva thing is kind of fun.

Mark: I always knew you had a power hungry whore in you just itching to come out.

Meredith: It's very addicting.

Mark: Just think ... in a few years, you can really be a diva. And I'll be your King.

Meredith: Ooh! We can be the royal bitches of medicine!

Mark: You do know I'd have to divorce you if you kept this up.

Meredith pretends to looked shocked.

Meredith: Oh please. You wouldn't know what to do without me.

Mark: Did I tell you Derek called?

Meredith: No! What did he want?

Mark: Just called to wish us a Happy Anniversary.

Meredith: And ...

Mark: And ...

Meredith: What aren't you telling me?

Mark: He told me if I screwed this up, he was getting me a mug that said "World's Biggest Idiot." And he saw your mother last week.

Meredith: So how about those strawberries?