DISCLAIMER: I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters.
Chapter Ten; Seventeen Weeks
The weeks passed by in a blur, with Meredith trying to work extra hours in the OR to make up for those she would be missing with maternity leave. She was excited about the prospect of meeting her baby but really wasn't looking forward to missing out on so much at work. Since they'd chosen their specialties however, the hours had become slightly less strenuous and she'd requested to not have interns for the period between now and when she returned back at work after baby Shepherd's birth. The morning sickness continued to strike her through every day without fail, and Meredith was getting quite skilled at throwing up and managing to hold her hair out of her face.
"That's the fourth time this morning," Derek said, when Meredith walked into the kitchen. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Baby just clearly doesn't like eggs," Meredith replied. "Or strawberries."
"Or bacon, or pancakes, or waffles," Derek continued.
"Well Mini's fussy!" Meredith replied, rubbing her belly gently. "Baby does like cold pizza though!"
"That's really not healthy Mer, you know that," Derek sighed, sipping his coffee.
"When you are able to carry our child in your uterus for nine months and then pop him or her out of a very small hole in your body, then you can choose not to eat cold pizza. For now, Mini thinks pizza is the best option and I'm inclined to agree."
"Fine," Derek said, waving his hands in surrender and stifling a grin. "Pizza it is."
Meredith pulled a slice out of the fridge and sat on one of the stools at the kitchen, munching quietly.
"What time do you start today?" Derek asked her as he grabbed his briefcase and laptop.
"I don't," she replied. "I've got the day off. For the ultrasound, remember?"
She pointed to the post-it note that had been on the fridge for the past few weeks.
"I wrote it into Patricia's diary," she said. "Ten o'clock at Dr Partridge's private suites."
"Okay," Derek said. "I'll be there. Bye Mer, bye baby!"
He kissed Meredith quickly and then her stomach before practically running out of the house and jumping into the Porsche.
"Bye!" Meredith said with a laugh as she walked over to the fridge. "Well baby, what do you say to another slice of pizza?"
By mid-morning, Meredith had pulled on a pair of maternity jeans and a green flowy top. She was definitely showing noticeably these days, she realised as she analysed herself side-on to the mirror. A neat little bump protruded, still quite low but very obviously pregnant, especially on a woman with such a small frame as she. She said goodbye to Lucy before grabbing a bottle of water and heading out to her old jeep. She drove across town to the suites of Doctor Partridge, her new obstetrician, who had been recommended by Addison. Meredith had felt a little awkward when Derek told her about his conversation with Addison, but he insisted that she seemed perfectly happy, and that she was in a serious relationship with somebody called Sam.
She walked into the reception area, looking around to see if Derek was there yet. With nobody else in there but other pregnant women, she told the receptionist her name and sat down with the latest copy of the Journal of Neurosurgery, reading up on the latest technique for tumour resections in the frontal lobe. A few minutes later, her name was called and she wrinkled her brow. Derek still wasn't there, and she didn't really want to do this without him. She went into the office anyway, and perched on the examination table.
"Good morning Doctor Grey," said a curly-haired brunette as she swept into the room quietly. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Doctor Lauren Partridge."
"Call me Meredith," Meredith smiled, extending her hand. "It's lovely to meet you. My husband Derek promised he'd be here, so I was hoping we could leave the ultrasound to the last part of our appointment? I know he'd be disappointed if he missed it."
"That's absolutely fine," Doctor Partridge smiled. "Now let's check a few other things."
Meredith answered a series of questions, was weighed, prodded and poked and then finally, twenty minutes later, they were at the ultrasound.
"Do you know if your husband is still coming?" Doctor Partridge asked. "I just have another appointment in a few minutes and we need to check these measurements."
"I paged him," Meredith muttered. "And texted him. Let's just do it."
She settled down further on the table, and lifted up her top as Doctor Partridge squeezed on the rather cold goo. A few seconds later, Meredith couldn't help the tears in her eyes as she saw a perfect profile of her baby. At just over seventeen weeks, she could see a perfectly developed nose and chin, and saw the dense white of the spine as it curved along the bottom of the screen. Doctor Partridge checked the direction of the blood flow in and out of the heart, and measured.
"Would you like to know the sex?" she asked, her hand poised to move the ultrasound wand.
"That would be great," Meredith smiled.
She watched the screen as the ultrasound picture moved between the baby's legs. In that instant, she analysed and started to smile, a grin spreading across her face.
"Congratulations," Doctor Partridge said. "I'm sure you can see that, and I can see you're thrilled."
"Definitely," Meredith grinned, wiping away a stray tear. "Thank-you so much. And I apologise on behalf of my husband, this really isn't his style at all."
"Oh that's fine Meredith," she smiled, switching off the machine.
Later that night, Meredith was sitting at the kitchen counter, hunched over a bowl of strawberry ice-cream, when she heard the garage door open. Derek walked in the door, kicked off his shoes and ran a hand through his hair. He opened the fridge and grabbed a beer, cracking it open before finally looked at Mer and gave her a tired smile.
"Long day?" she asked, stirring her ice-cream.
"Really long, the longest," he replied, shutting the fridge and moving towards her. "How was yours?"
Meredith stood up, holding the post-it with the words "Ultrasound, Tuesday, 10am" on it, and stuck it on his beer bottle.
"Shit," Meredith heard him say as she walked up the stairs to their bedroom. "Shit, shit, shit!"
Meredith walked into their bedroom, slamming the door behind her before walking straight into the bathroom and reaching for her toothbrush. She was too angry for words, so she relieved some of the pent-up rage by squeezing the toothpaste tube more forcibly than necessary and gritting her teeth firmly.
"Meredith," Derek said from behind her. "Meredith, please."
"Don't even try to explain," she replied as she spat a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink. "I made this appointment at a time that was specifically supposed to be suitable for you."
"I forgot," he started to say, pleading with her.
"You forgot?" she repeated incredulously, throwing her tiny fists down by her sides.
"I finished an emergency craniotomy and fell asleep in my office, on my desk. When I woke up, I was about to be late for the tumour resection I've had booked for a week and it must have slipped my mind. I am so sorry, Meredith."
"I told you this morning," Meredith said tearfully. "I reminded you. I wrote you a note and put it inside your briefcase, and another stuck onto the screen of your laptop. The post-it has been on the fridge for almost a month now. I wrote it in Patricia's diary and you knew I had the day off which is why I wasn't in that resection surgery with you! How could you possibly forget?"
"Meredith," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Mer, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say. How can I possibly apologise?"
"You can't," she replied angrily, feel emotions running rampant through her pregnant body. "Just leave me alone."
Derek walked closely behind her as she left the bathroom but she kept pushing him away. He folded his arms around her stomach, trying to hug her but Meredith elbowed him in the stomach and he finally let go, taking a step backwards and tiredly running a hand through his hair as he always does when he's stressed.
"Mer," he said quietly. "I love you."
Meredith lifted her eyes to look into his, and she began to cry harder, tears tumbling out of her eyes and tracking down her cheeks, landing on her protruding pregnant stomach.
"I really wanted you to be there," she whispered. "I really, really wanted you to be there."
"I'm sorry," Derek said, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head.
Meredith wiped a tear off her chin and reached into her bedside table, retrieving a roll of pictures.
"Here," she said, passing them to him. "I didn't want to bring these home for you. Luckily Doctor Partridge seems to be a lot more forgiving than me, as she stowed them in my purse when I turned around to clean myself off.
I wipe away a tear off my chin and pull out a roll of photos from my pocket.
"I don't know how to make this better," he said, holding the pictures but not looking at them, his eyes trained on her face and her very sad eyes.
"I hate that you left me there alone," Meredith said, starting to sob quietly again.
"I hate myself for leaving you there alone," he replied quietly, rubbing her back gently.
"You can't just not show up Derek," she said. "There are times when I really need you there, and now, when I'm pregnant with your child, is one of those times."
"I know," he told her, hugging her close. "I know and I'm so sorry."
She lead him to the bed, where he sits and she snuggles into his lap, placing his hand on her stomach.
"This is Mini's face," she told him. "Totally got my nose, luckily."
He laughed, and rifled through the rest of the photos, exclaiming over their baby's perfect lips or the curve of her beautiful spine. He paused as he hit the last one, turning Meredith's head to face him.
"It's a girl," he said in awe, pointing out the three small white dots between the baby's legs. "We're having a baby girl."
"We are," Meredith said, kissing him gently.
"Now," Derek said softly, trailing his hands down her sides. "Am I still in the dog-house, or can we go to bed."
"I'm pretty sure we're already here," Meredith said as the ultrasound photos fluttered onto the floor and she kissed him deeply.