Suggested listening:
"Back 2 Good"- Matchbox 20
"Katherine?"
Meredith looked up from her place on the bed and frowned.
"Elizabeth?" she offered.
Derek shook his head and considered his next choice:
"Abigail?"
Meredith wrinkled her nose.
"Abby for short," Derek suggested.
Meredith sighed and glanced down at the list in her lap.
"What about Ava?"
"That won't work," Derek explained, buttoning his shirt, "There's already an Ava in the family."
Meredith gave an accepting shrug and crossed Ava off the list.
"Ella?"
"No good," Derek denied apologetically.
"There's already an Ella?" Meredith grumbled exasperatedly.
"Sorry Mer," Derek walked around the bed to where she sat propped up against the pillows and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Nine nieces and five nephews. That is a lot of names, you know," he teased.
"Uh-huh," Meredith rolled her eyes and grinned, pulling the Big Book of Baby Names (a gift from Izzie) towards her.
"What about this?" Derek pointed at the page and Meredith read the name, and then looked up slowly with an incredulous look.
"Cassidy?" she exclaimed. "…I mean, I know you're into the whole fishing, land-with-a-view, trailer thing, but Cassidy? She's not a cowgirl, Derek, she's-" Meredith stopped short and scowled as she realized that Derek was laughing at her. "Fine," she pouted. "What would you have done if I had liked that name?"
"We would have gone back to Ava; I don't care if my sister did chose the name first-" Derek placed a finger under Meredith's chin and titled it until she was forced to look up at him. "I love you," he pressed a kiss to her lips, "But I have to go-"
"Which means that I get to stay and pick a name-" Meredith offered happily.
Derek laughed.
"This ten hours between shifts thing is really working in your favor-"
"Yep," Meredith agreed.
"-but you, Meredith Grey," he continued, "are not choosing our daughter's name without me."
Meredith pretended to pout.
"But Derek-"
"Nope-" Derek feigned disinterest.
"-I can't clock in at the hospital for another three hours, and you're leaving me alone with a very large, very diverse book of baby names-"
"Bring it with you," Derek suggested. "Meet me in the cafeteria for lunch, and we can start on the 'M' names-"
"Fine," Meredith agreed, "But we aren't doing it like that. I like to skip around-"
"Mallory," Derek recited, "Melissa, Michelle, Mary, Makayla-"
Meredith pushed him away.
"Go," she ordered, "I have a baby to name-"
"I love you," Derek said again, cupping her face with his hands and kissing her gently, "And I love you-" He placed his hands against Meredith's round baby bump and kissed her right on the belly button. "Bye Cassidy-" he called in a teasing, sing-song voice, and dodged the playful shove he received from Meredith as repercussion.
At one-thirty that afternoon, Meredith plopped down in the corner table of the cafeteria beside Derek, a dissatisfied frown on her face.
"Here-" she slid the Big Book of Baby Names towards him and sighed.
Derek was curious.
"What's wrong?" he asked cautiously.
"This stupid schedule has me all messed up," Meredith complained. "I have to wait ten hours between shifts. Ten!"
"Oh," Derek observed carefully, "…I thought you knew that-"
Meredith glared at him.
"Don't mock!" she huffed.
Derek barely stifled his amusement.
"I'm sorry," he apologized solemnly.
"Derek!"
"What, I am. I'm sorry-"
Meredith frowned.
"Fine," she huffed.
There was a long pause, during which Derek watched Meredith spread peanut butter across her corndog.
"Um, Meredith…" Derek hesitated.
"Yes?" Her voice carried the tone of someone forcing calm, but she didn't look up at him. Her attention was focused on the peanut butter.
"…Mer?" Derek tried again. This earned him an irritated glance.
"What?"
"People are staring-"
"Well, this is what I like," she insisted. "Peanut butter. And if I want it on my corndog-"
"It's not that, exactly," Derek cut across hurriedly, "…I think it may be more to do with the perma-frown on your face-"
Meredith's gaze softened and she sighed.
"Sorry," she mumbled, pushing her tray away in sudden disinterest.
"What's wrong, Baby?"
"Nothing," she insisted, "Only that I haven't had a surgery all day because by the time I was allowed to come in they'd all started without me-" A hint of irritation leaked into her voice, and she quickly quelled it. "I mean, how am I supposed to be a resident to my interns if they're running around unsupervised for three hours until I even get here?" she continued. "It's just not fair-"
"Cristina is keeping an eye on them," Derek offered rationally. "They're taking turns. Alex had them with his interns this morning-"
"But they're mine," Meredith defended, "And they'll miss out because they're being picked second to everyone's own interns! They hate me-" she added miserably, "-I know it."
"They don't hate you," Derek soothed quickly, "They probably like you more now they realize how lucky they are they didn't get stuck with Cristina as their resident-"
This earned Derek a half-smile.
"It's just, your mother is coming in two weeks Derek, and we've never met," she pointed out despairingly. She tried to hide the anguish in her voice. Meredith was determined to accept Derek's family coming to stay. "Less, than two weeks, actually," she corrected herself, "and we've done nothing with the nursery, Derek, we haven't even talked about where the nursery will be-"
Derek hesitated uncomfortably. He had not talked to his mother, or Nancy or Kathleen for that matter, since he had broken the news of Meredith's pregnancy. Technically, he had uninvited them. Although technically, he had not told Meredith this.
"I thought we decided the nursery would be in George's old room," Derek intoned, deciding to avoid the subject of his family for the moment, "It's right across the hall-"
"But Derek, what about George?" Meredith asked, as if this were the utmost matter of importance.
Derek hesitated.
"What about him?"
"Where will he stay?" Meredith exaggerated. "He and Izzie aren't really together anymore…I don't think. And there's still Alex, and Izzie, and-"
"Izzie has a room already," Derek reasoned calmly, "Alex can move out of George's old bedroom and into the room downstairs. George is moving out with your…with Lexie, remember? And that leaves George's old bedroom free to use as the nursery, and it's right across the hall, which is perfect."
Meredith gave Derek a withering look.
Derek hesitated.
"…What?"
"Are you really that upset with my sister, Derek?" she inquired, her freak-out apparently diminished. She pulled her tray back towards her and resolutely set about finishing her corndog.
"Um, I was under the impression that I just resolved any setbacks involving where our daughter's nursery would go," he reasoned, "I don't recall saying anything negative about Lexie-"
"There!" Meredith accusingly jabbed her corndog in Derek's direction. "Just now. It's Lexie, and you've been saying 'Lexie'-"
"What does it matter how I say it, Meredith?" Derek demanded irritably. "It's 'Lexie'. Your 'half-sister'. Whatever. I distinctly remember you being upset with me when I befriended her, and now you're upset because why? Because I'm unhappy that she refused to deal with Thatcher? Because she left the job to you?"
"Yes," Meredith insisted, growing just as annoyed.
"Well I am," Derek refuted. "She was assisting in the OR when she got those pages, and she ignored them. And there I was, operating right beside her, and the entire time, those pages were about Thatcher down in the ER, and she just left someone else to deal with it-"
"So what? She didn't know it would be me-"
"But it was!" Derek insisted. "You trusted her, and at the first sign of trouble, she leaves you to clean up the mess!"
"Whatever, Derek," Meredith threw back, pushing her chair back and standing up with her tray. "You're annoying us-"
That was Meredith's new thing. Now, it was never just 'I'm hungry' or 'I'm bored'. It was always 'We're' or 'Us.'
As in: Meredith and the baby.
Derek sighed and closed the book of baby names as he watched Meredith stomp off. Two days ago, he had delighted in Meredith's newfound acceptance of the baby within her, of her dedication to their daughter. But right now, because apparently both his wife-to-be and unborn child were 'annoyed' with him, he was -understandably- less than amused.
Derek caught up with Meredith later that evening -at the end of his shift- and quickly fell into step beside her as she strode across the lobby.
"Hi-" he ventured, risking a sidelong glance in her direction.
Meredith cast him an irritated look.
"Hi," she answered, albeit begrudgingly.
"I'm sorry," Derek tried, "about earlier…"
"It's fine."
"Oh." Derek hesitated, and Meredith paused to drop a stack of files at the front desk. "Are you going home?"
"No," Meredith replied vaguely, "I have a million things to do-"
"Oh." It was all Derek could say, apparently. "…What kind of things?"
A withering stare from Meredith.
"Important things, Derek," she informed irritably, attempting to pull on her coat. Derek stepped forward and helped her close the buttons over the curve of her belly. With considerable effort, Meredith managed to lean down and reach into her bag. "Here-" she pushed a handful of paint samples into his arms, "-which of these do you like best?"
Derek flipped through the various colors. Pink: light pink, dark pink, magenta. Green: spring green and fresh cut grass and one that was more the color of limes. Yellow like sunshine and violet and even the palest of eggshell blue. Derek looked up.
"For the nursery?" he asked, and Meredith looked impatient.
"Yes."
"Oh." Again. What was wrong with him that he suddenly couldn't say anything else?
"I don't really like pink," Meredith observed, and Derek realized his consideration had been lingering over that very hue.
"Okay…" Derek hesitated. "This one's nice," he held up the yellow, but quickly revoked that decision and held up a lavender color when he saw the expression on Meredith's face.
"Lavender?"
Derek couldn't tell is she was pleased or indifferent. He nodded.
"I like it," Meredith agreed, and it was with conscious effort that Derek managed to stifle a sigh of relief. She took the sample and the rest were tucked unceremoniously back into the bag, and Derek thought how odd it was that they had just chosen the color of the nursery in the middle of the lobby at Seattle Grace.
"So that's it, we're painting the nursery?"
Meredith picked up her bag and headed for the sliding glass doors of the entrance. She glanced over her shoulder.
"Yes."
Derek hurried to catch up.
"Just like that?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight?" Derek didn't think he had heard her clearly.
"Yes Derek, tonight," Meredith repeated. "I told you. There's a million things I have to get done before your mother gets here-"
"About that-"
It was as if he had just told Meredith that he had uninvited his mother and sisters. It was as if she knew, just like that, that he was keeping something from her. She paused, and slowly turned to face him.
"Derek…"
"Mer-"
"About what, Derek?" she pressured, "There's something you aren't telling me!"
Meredith hated secrets. Hated them. And if there was even the slightest chance that she was being kept out of the loop, Derek was done for. She would find out.
"About…my mother," Derek covered, "She won't mind that the nursery isn't painted yet-"
Meredith narrowed her eyes.
"You did tell your mother about the baby, didn't you?" she put a hand to her belly as she said this, as if ready to take great offense if Derek had anything to say to the contrary.
"…Yes," Derek said truthfully, "I told her. She knows-"
"She knows," Meredith reiterated. "And she took it okay, just like you said-" It was more a statement than a question. Just tell her what she wanted to hear. Just tell her.
Derek swallowed.
"She knows. And she took it okay."
Meredith visibly relaxed.
"Okay," she said finally. "Good."
"Okay," Derek agreed, putting a hand to her lower back and attempting to lead her towards the parking lot. He was exhausted. He couldn't have sex with Meredith, but he could go home and take a hot shower and curl up in bed beside her… "Now let's go home-"
"Derek!" Meredith exclaimed, turning to look up at him. "We can't go home. We have to go to Home Depot!"
"Meredith-"
"I told you, we're painting the nursery. And there's still Christmas shopping to do and I have to learn how to make a roast, because we'll have to feed your mother and sisters and they aren't vegetarians, are they?" She was rambling, and suddenly panicked at the idea of having to prepare a vegan meal for Derek's family.
Derek sighed.
"No Mer, they aren't vegetarians-"
"Good," Meredith gave a happy nod, "Because Izzie's going to teach me to cook, and I don't think she knows many dishes for vegetarians-"
Derek was simultaneously apprehensive and amused that Meredith thought she could learn to cook anything more than a grilled cheese in less than two weeks.
"That sounds good, Mer," he agreed absently as she continued to ramble, "But can't we wait until the weekend to do these things-" he tapered off at the look on her face. "…What?"
"Seriously, Derek? Seriously?"
Derek figured it was better to remain silent.
"You're the one who thought is was a good idea for your family to visit, and now it's like you've just lost interest! If you don't want them to come, then call your mother, and tell her, because I have more important things to be worried about if you don't-" she stopped, and Derek's thoughts drifted to her review with the board, drawing steadily nearer. Of course, she didn't know that he knew. "Besides, then nursery has to be painted whether they come or not," she finished indignantly.
Derek was tempted to add that they still had almost four months to paint regardless of whether his family came, but thought better of it. He imagined Meredith trying to lift the heavy paint cans by herself. Imagined her alone in George's old room at two in the morning, executing her version of "painting" all over the four pretty, white walls. Derek frowned.
"Let's go to Home Depot," he consented wearily. Besides, she shouldn't be around the fumes.
Hi guys! First off, thanks for all of the great reviews! When I finally typed up this chapter, it was more than double the normal length, so I split it in half. I chose Matchbox 20's "Back 2 Good" because Meredith and Derek are really trying to get back to a better place. Meredith is worried about her impending review with the hospital board, although we've only looked at that through the eyes of George, the Chief, and Derek so far. We will get to look into what Meredith is feeling about that particular situation soon. Also, Derek is upset with Lexie. Haven't seen much of her since the whole Thatcher incident, but we will, and in more ways than one. Not the next chapter, but the next. That's how I'm planning it, anyways. So yeah, Derek is upset with her, but does Lexie really even know it? Not really. Not yet, anyways. She's dealing with her own conflicting issues about the whole thing. But Meredith? Well, she's pretty much accepted it. She wouldn't truly be trying to move past the whole situation with her dad if she was letting Thatcher's hurtful words go, but still holding resentment towards Lexie, would she? So she's actually standing up for her half-sister, which is a complete turn-around from ten chapters back or so.
Now that Meredith has also accepted Derek putting his family on her, she's determined to get it right. So she's kind of panicked about getting everything together in time, and kind of upset because now Derek's seems to have this 'whatever' attitude. When really, he's trying to make a decision about whether to go through with having his family come to stay or not. He thought it was a good idea, and kind of in the back of his mind, he knew how his family would react, but now that they've actually proven to him what they think of the whole situation, he's experiencing definite reserve. Also, he's thinking about what Mark said about how Meredith's going to freak when she experiences how Derek's family can truly be, and now realizing that it might not be such a good time to put this on Mer. And Meredith's only experience with Der's family was Nancy in the real Grey's Anatomy, and well...we all saw how Nancy acted towards Meredith then, didn't we?
Another thing I thought I'd add. I actually do like the name Cassidy, and was strongly considering it as a choice for the name of Mer/Der's daughter. But sadly, a friend was awesome enough to point out than another author is currently using that name for a Mer/Der/baby storyline. I'm trying to remain unique, so their daughter's name will have to remain a mystery! But I hope you will like it, because I already know what it is, lol. Also, Meredith is almost seven months pregnant, and I just wanted to give you a kind of visual: Meredith is small anyways, and the baby is also a little on the small side for being almost seven months developed, so Mer's not very big. Big for her, of course, and big for Derek because he's used to seeing her as this stick-thin, tiny person, but not exceptionally big for being seven months. If that makes sense? Like maybe, how five or six months looks on a normal person? I hope this helps. Finally, I just wanted to say again thanks for all of you who review each chapters, members of the site or otherwise! I wish I had time to respond to all of you, even though some of you don't have accounts and I can't:( But really, thanks, you guys are all awesome! Updates soon!