N/A: First of all, I want to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope you all had great holidays.
Then, I hope there are still people reading this fic. I know I should have ended it by now, but honestly I didn't have time and inspiration. I could have ended it but it would have been crap for sure. I have 2 more chapters besides this one and I hope you stick with me for the end. I am very excited about the end, btw.
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Chapter 36- Future plans
Out of breath, sticky and exhausted, Mark collapsed down next to Meredith. He brushed her sweaty forehead with his hand and kissed her. "Give me a second," he murmured, before he sunk his face in the curve of her neck.
Panting, she rested her cheek against his forehead and asked, "What for?"
Mark couldn't answer right away. His breathing was still hectic and his heart sounded like it was about to rip his thorax, but after a second –as he had said- he threw the quilt off them and stood up. "Let's go."
Meredith shivered and her bare body instantly curled, protecting itself from the cold air. "Go where?" she asked, frustrated.
"To the bathroom," Mark said. "Don't you need to throw up and faint on the bathroom floor?"
Meredith gasped and grabbed a pillow, just lightly hitting him. "I never faint on the bathroom floor."
Mark chuckled, but didn't show any intention on covering her again. "So you don't need to throw up?" he asked her, almost in disbelief.
"No," she shook her head and grabbed the quilt, pulling it over her.
"Don't blame me," he muttered as he lay back in bed with her. "You always do it."
Meredith nestled against his chest, smiling. "Maybe it's because of the ring and the baby feels happier now."
Mark laughed quietly and cupped Meredith's small baby bump with his hand, while he moved closer to her and their legs intertwined. "Does this mean I get a second round?" he asked, his eyes sparkling of lust.
Meredith giggled and was about to give him the answer he wanted when they heard a door slamming outside. Both jumped up instantly and looked panicked at each other.
"Did you put the presents?" Meredith asked Mark.
"No," he muttered. "Did you?" Mark asked Meredith.
"No," she muttered, and both jumped out of bed and grabbed on the blanket. "Give it to me," Meredith insisted, pulling it towards her. "I have more to cover. You can use a pillow or something."
Mark looked around him and spotted a bathrobe in the mess from the floor. "Here. Take this," he said to Meredith, giving her the bathrobe.
Meredith didn't even look at him as she was already wrapped in the blanket and heading to the door. Mark put the bathrobe on him and hurried after Meredith, who was already outside on the hall. They saw Alicia stopping at the stairwell and carefully putting the first step down. Mark and Meredith looked at each other and then started running, Mark pulling Alicia back, holding her tightly.
"Daddy," Alicia protested with a whine.
"You need to wait a little bit, Ally," Meredith tried to explain.
"Why?" the girl asked, confused.
"Because…" Meredith looked at Mark for some help, but he was as clueless in lies as she was. "Because we need to get dressed first."
Alicia shook her head. "No, we don't. Tell her, Daddy," she said, turning to her father.
"Let her go," Crystal chuckled from the bottom of the stairs. "Everything is alright," she nodded knowingly.
Mark sighed and let Alicia go. Of course, his mother took care of her granddaughter's Christmas presents. He took Meredith by the hand and followed Alicia down the stairs.
"Where do you think you're going?" his mother scowled at them and their clothing.
"We want to be there when she sees her presents," Mark stated and ignored his mother's scowl. He picked Alicia up from the stairs, helping her go down faster. As she was down again, Alicia started running to the Christmas tree.
"He came! He came!" they heard Alicia squealing and, as they walked into the living room, they saw a puppy coming running towards Alicia. "A puppy!" she squealed deafeningly and fell on her knees, hugging her puppy.
"I told you she would love it," Meredith giggled.
"I had no doubt," he sighed, still not a fan of the pets.
The puppy, a creamy Labrador, sat on Alicia's lap and happily started playing with her.
"Let's hope he will hate the cat and this way we can get rid of her," Mark grumbled.
Meredith elbowed him and sat down on the couch, watching how happy Alicia was playing with her new friend. "Santa brought you a puppy, huh?" she giggled.
Alicia showed her brightest smile as she turned and looked at Meredith. She nodded and heavily stood up on her feet to bring the puppy to Meredith. "See?" she said, placing it on Meredith's lap. "I didn't even tell Santa I wanted a puppy," she giggled.
Meredith just smiled at Alicia, while she felt Mark's glare.
"So she didn't want a puppy," he chuckled nervously, but only Meredith and Crystal knew he wasn't happy to hear that.
"You agreed with it, so stop whining," Meredith pointed out. Mark rolled his eyes and came to sit down with her.
"More cookies and milk," Derek announced as he joined the family as well, bringing with him a tray with cookies and glasses of milk, which he put it on the coffee table.
"Look, Deri!" Alicia wanted to show her puppy to Derek. "I love Santa so much."
Derek laughed and kissed the top of her head before he knelt in front of the couch to caress the puppy, smirking at Meredith.
"You knew about it too," Mark concluded.
"It's Santa's fault," Derek laughed.
Alicia looked up at her friend with a glare. "Don't blame Santa. Santa is good."
Though he wasn't very happy with the puppy, Mark was satisfied to see Alicia's happiness. "You'd better find him a good name. A dog name," he said, pulling the puppy by the ears.
The puppy turned and jumped on Mark's lap, sitting down and licking his hands.
"Aww," all the grown-ups reacted with laughs at the scene.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Mark couldn't hold back a chuckle either.
"It's a boy?" Alicia asked.
"It's a boy," Meredith answered.
Alicia was so happy with the unexpected present that she almost forgot about the wish list she had sent to Santa. She sat down on the floor with Derek and started thinking. She thought for a while, but then she let out a sigh. "I can't find a name."
"What about… Billy?" Derek suggested.
Alicia smiled, nodding thrilled with the name. "I like Billy."
"Billy is not a dog name," Mark pointed out.
"How about … Doughnut?" Meredith came up with a new idea.
"Yes!" Alicia decided with a shrill. "Doughnut, my puppy!" she jumped up and hug her puppy. "You're so pretty, Doughnut. I love you so much." The puppy answered to her love with a loving lick on her cheek.
"They love each other," Meredith giggled at Mark.
"Aww yay," Mark sarcastically beamed and laughed and when Meredith elbowed him. "Now let the puppy breathe and go see what other things Santa brought you. He spent a lot of money on your presents."
Alicia looked at her father, smiling. She shook her head, the same gesture she made each time she was disappointed with her father. "Daddy," she adopted a grown-up-like tone. "Santa doesn't buy the toys. He makes them in a factory with his elves and Mrs. Santa Claus makes cookies for them."
Meredith hardly abstained from laughing. "Repeat that. We want to make sure he finally understood."
Alicia didn't understand Meredith's tease toward Mark, so she took a deep breath and started repeating, "Daddy…"
"He has a toy factory. I got that," Mark stopped her.
Alicia turned to Meredith and nodded with the same grown-up-like attitude, "He understood."
Everyone started laughing then, inclusive Mark.
Despite Mark's disagreement, Meredith and Crystal conveyed not to spoil Alicia with many presents for Christmas. Most of the things she had asked Santa for were toys she already had at home but which probably her friends from kindergarten had asked too. Therefore, Alicia received for Christmas only a ballerina doll, ballet shoes and her favorite, a bicycle.
Santa Mark was more generous to Meredith as nobody forbade him to spoil her. He took out of a box a beautiful and delicate platinum necklace with a pink flower pendant. Meredith loved it without a doubt; it was beautiful and of good-taste and she was also impressed with the amount of jewelries she had received in less than 24 hours as she had never received a single one in her life. Despite all these, Meredith didn't show so much excitement and Mark noticed that.
"Santa felt very generous with you," Crystal chuckled, looking at Meredith's ring. Mark's proposal was a surprise for everyone, except for Alicia – his accomplice- and Derek. "Is this what I think it is?" she laughed, not believing a miracle like that could be possible. She came and sat down on the couch, giving a better look to the ring.
"I think it is what you think it is," Meredith giggled.
Crystal smiled at her and then at her son, with her eyes almost tearing. "Congratulations," she said, with her voice full of emotion. She hugged Meredith and then she stood up and walked in front of her son, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him.
"Mom," Mark protested with a whimper, feeling like he was a boy again and he was being kissed by his mother in front of his friends.
Crystal laughed and gently slapped him.
"Congratulations, Meredith," Derek walked over to them, wanting to give Meredith a hug, but stopped and made a step back as he noticed her inappropriate clothes.
"You should go upstairs and get dressed," Crystal laughed.
"I think we should," Meredith flushed, embarrassed, and pulled the blanket over her bare legs with Mark's help.
Alicia needed her Daddy's help to help her unwrap the doll from its box, so Meredith went upstairs ahead. She had just walked out of the bathroom when Mark walked into their room. He smiled when he saw her. She was as beautiful as the first night she slept over to his apartment; the night when he first saw her with her wet hair and wearing his brown shirt.
"Do you think we should continue from where we left it off?" she giggled and walked over to him, hugging him.
Mark pushed her wet hair out of her face and kissed her. "We should," he whispered against her lips, slowly started walking her backwards until she fell on the bed. He lay down on top of her, making sure his weight didn't press entirely against her body. His lips captured hers and his tongue thrust into her mouth, while her leg sneaked under his bathrobe and wrapped around his waist. "You're very flexible for a pregnant woman," he moaned against her ear. He pulled back a little to be able to look into her eyes, "You didn't like your present from Santa so much."
Meredith smiled and traced her fingers across her necklace. "I love it. It's just that I am not used to this kind of gifts."
Mark sighed, running his fingers through her hair. "You have to tell me what kind of presents you prefer."
"I prefer those kind of presents that only stay in your memory; nothing material," she answered.
Mark furrowed his brows, confused. "Orgasmic presents only?"
Meredith giggled as she heard that. "You would like that, wouldn't you?" Mark smirked lustily at her as answer. "You should have learned by now that I am not a material woman."
"I learned that," he smiled. "I just have to get used to you."
"You have time," she giggled, reaching up for his lips.
"I have," he agreed and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her feverishly.
Their moment was soon interrupted when they heard someone struggling with the doorknob. Before they could separate from their embrace, Alicia opened the door and ran inside.
"Daddy," she stopped pleadingly beside their bed, ignoring their position. "I think my puppy is sick."
"What do you mean he's sick?" Meredith asked, pushing Mark off her.
Alicia nodded at her, visibly worried. "Grandma says he's sleeping, but I touched him and he didn't move."
Meredith stood up, laughing. "Probably he's sleeping indeed. He traveled a lot to get to you, so he's tired now."
Alicia kept looking at her worryingly and then at Mark. "He's tired?" she asked quietly.
Mark groaned, beyond annoyed with the interruption.
"Why don't you go and take a shower?" Meredith suggested. "A cold one," she smiled teasingly.
Mark didn't taste her sense of humor. He just leaned to her and kissed her before he stood up and headed towards the bathroom.
"Come here," Meredith said to Alicia, patting the bed.
Alicia smiled and climbed up in the bed with Meredith's help. She sat down and sighed as she smiled up at Meredith. "I wanted to play with the puppy."
"You'll have enough time to play with him," she reassured her.
"Why does Santa come only for Christmas?" Alicia asked her very seriously.
"Because this is the tradition. He comes only on Christmas," Meredith tried to explain.
"Why?" Alicia insisted.
Meredith sighed and thought about an answer. "He doesn't have snow the rest of the year," she found an answer.
Alicia looked at her, thoughtful, and Meredith didn't like that as that meant Alicia had a reply. "There isn't snow outside and he came last night," Alicia pointed out knowingly.
Meredith had to admit Alicia was more intelligent than her. "He doesn't have enough time to make all the toys he receives requests for."
Alicia thought about that explanation and nodded, taking in that answer. She crawled next to Meredith and both lay against the pillows. "When will the next Christmas be?" she asked Meredith.
Meredith wrapped her arms around Alicia and brought her resting with her head on her stomach. "The next Christmas will be next year. We have to wait a year."
Alicia rolled onto her back so that she could look up at Meredith. "Is a year long?" she asked her.
Meredith chuckled, caressing her forehead. "Why are you excited about Santa's next visit? You're not even playing with the presents he brought you this year."
Alicia shrugged. She didn't know exactly why; she was just thrilled with the idea of receiving Santa's visit.
"While we wait for Santa, the baby will be born," Meredith explained and rested her hand above Alicia's head, on her stomach.
Alicia rolled over and knelt beside her. "The baby is still there?" she asked.
"The baby is still here," she nodded. "It's needs to grow before coming out."
"Why does it have to grow inside?" Alicia asked innocently. "The baby can grow with us here. In my room."
Meredith giggled at Alicia's reasoning. "It needs a special place to grow and that special place is in its mommy's tummy. All the babies grow there."
"They can't grow in Daddies' tummies?" she asked.
Meredith shook her head. "No."
"Why?" Alicia's question came out naturally and Meredith anticipated it.
"Because women have special bodies. Their body is specially designed to hold babies inside," she explained.
Alicia stared at her for a moment. "You're special," she concluded quietly.
"You'll be special too when you'll grow up and be pregnant," she said.
"Will I have a baby in my tummy?" Alicia asked in awe. "When?"
"Not right away," Meredith laughed. "You have to wait many years to pass."
Alicia took in that answer and nodded. "So after the baby is born, Santa will come again?"
"You're obsessed with Santa," Meredith chuckled. "The baby will be born and then there will also be a wedding. I will get married to your Daddy."
"I know," Alicia smiled proudly. "Do you like the ring? Isn't it pretty?" she asked, taking Meredith's left hand to look at the ring. "I bought it."
"You did?" Meredith laughed.
Mark came out of the bathroom right in that moment and he overheard Alicia's last statement. "You say you bought the ring, Al?" he asked.
Alicia laughed and stood up, running to the edge of the bed to welcome her Daddy. Mark scooped her on his arms and lay with her in the bed, next to Meredith. "Who gave the credit card to that lady?"
"You did," Alicia answered.
"So who bought it?" he asked.
"I did," she answered innocently.
"I think she chose it and you paid for it," Meredith cut in. "So you bought it together."
Alicia agreed with her. "We bought it together."
"Besides assuming my merits what else were you talking about?" he asked them.
"Ally was asking me when Santa would come next," Meredith explained.
"Next Christmas," he answered. "And if you're wondering why do you have to wait for the next Christmas, then I will tell you it is because there's no snow for Santa's sleigh the rest time of year," he explained, smiling smugly at Meredith.
Meredith smiled knowingly, waiting for Alicia's reply.
"No, no," she shook her head, adopting her grown-up-like attitude again. "It's because he doesn't have time to make all the toys for children if he comes everyday."
"Silly me," Mark chuckled, kissing his daughter.
Alicia laughed and mounted on his stomach, holding his face in her tiny hands. "I love you, silly Daddy."
"I know you do. Who wouldn't love a silly daddy?" he laughed, kissing her again.
"I love you," Alicia stated, getting off him and sitting between Mark and Meredith.
"We were also measuring the time in events until next Christmas," Meredith looked at him. "The baby and then… the wedding," she mentioned the wedding quietly.
"Did you establish the order of these two?" he asked her.
They hadn't had time to discuss over the wedding date and Meredith wasn't sure about how long he wanted their engagement to be. "No. Do you have any suggestion?"
Mark shrugged, giving an evasive answer, "I don't really care."
Meredith didn't like his answer as she didn't know what that mean. Mark saw that. "Do you have any suggestion?" he asked her.
Meredith shook her head.
Mark thought about something for a moment and then he looked at Meredith. "Do you want a big wedding?" he asked her.
"No. I don't even know that many people," she said.
"Great, then we'll get married in about … 2 months," he said. "Now it depends on how long it will take you to get a wedding dress. Usually people plan the wedding months or years ahead only so that the bride can have enough time to have her dress ready."
Meredith laughed as she heard that and shook her head as answer. "I don't need a special dress. Not the dress makes the day special."
"A nightgown would do just fine to me," he stated, smirking at her.
"A princess dress," Alicia cut in, beaming. "You will look like a princess," she said to Meredith, full of excitement.
"No. I will just look like… a very pregnant bride," Meredith giggled.
Mark showed a firm opinion over Meredith's statement as he furrowed his brows and disagreed with a glare. "No pregnant wife if mine is fat. She's just pregnant with my child. Now seriously speaking, we can rush the wedding. How much will you be showing in two months?" he suggested.
Meredith circled her baby bump thoughtful. "I will be nearly 5 months, I think. I shouldn't be showing much. But do you think it is possible to prepare the wedding in two months?"
"If you don't want the reception, we can get married by the end of this week," he said.
Meredith laughed at first, but stopped quickly as he saw how serious he was. "Are you afraid that I might change my mind?"
"No. I just don't want to feel the stress of the wedding for too long," Mark answered matter-of-factly. "I can wait for as long as you need to, just don't mess the house with brides' magazines and other things like these."
Meredith was a little disappointed with his answer. Deep down she had hoped he was afraid of losing her, but then, his confidence over their future was optimistic and that encouraged her.
"I only have my friends which I want to my wedding," she said.
"And I have mom, Derek and his family," Mark added. "I think we can convince them not to make plans for that day."
"We just have to set a date then,"
Alicia's gasped interrupted their discussion. As they looked at her, they saw her smiling brightly at them. "We have to invite Santa!" she beamed.
Meredith and Mark groaned in unison.
"I doubt that he will be able to come, but we'll send him an invitation. Just in case," Mark joked, but Alicia didn't get it and nodded in agreement. "Good," Mark laughed of her. "Now other plans."
Meredith and Alicia looked at him and shrugged.
"I have an idea," he said. "If you will be a good girl next year- and I have no doubt of it- we could invite Santa on the Christmas Eve here."
"Yes! Yes!" Alicia squealed.
"A promise is a promise, Mark," Meredith pointed out. It wasn't the first time Mark made promises to Alicia and then he acted like he had never said anything.
"I can keep my promises," he frowned. "Especially a serious promise like this one. Besides, I am sure you will make sure the promise will become real. This in case I change my mind."
"Don't change your mind, daddy," Alicia pleaded him. "Keep your mind, please!"
Meredith laughed and pulled Alicia to her. "He will keep his mind. I will make sure of it," she said, smiling at him. "Next Christmas will be a special Christmas. You'll have a little brother or sister."
"Yes," Alicia smiled, thrilled. "I want a sister. I don't want a brother."
"We'll have to wait and see," Meredith explained.
"You don't know?" Alicia asked, a little disappointed.
"Not yet," she answered.
"Why? You have to have a sister," Alicia was almost pleading Meredith.
"Hey!" Mark cut in at Alicia's reaction. "What's with this antipathy toward the idea of having a baby brother?" he asked Alicia.
"I don't like boys," Alicia frowned. "Boys are stupid and dirty. Nobody likes boys."
"I hate that school!" Mark glared at Meredith.
"Those are pretty rough words, Ally," Meredith cut in as peacemaker. "Boys are not that bad. Your father is a boy and I like him. You like him too."
Alicia shook her head, disapproving. "He is a big boy. I like big boys. I don't like little boys," she stated.
Mark turned pale hearing that while Meredith anticipated his reaction and rubbed his back comfortingly.
"She will like old men," he muttered, staring terrifyingly at his daughter.
"Let's not overreact, Mark. She's just a little girl. She doesn't know anything about boys," Meredith tried to comfort him. "You'll have to love the baby even if it is a boy," she said, looking at Alicia.
"One thing I want to set clear from the beginning," Mark said. "I don't want to name the baby after any of our parents."
"Maybe we should started thinking about some names for it," Meredith suggested while playing with Alicia's hair. "Do you have any idea how to call the baby, Ally?"
Alicia rolled onto her stomach, propping her chin in her hands as she stared at Meredith's abdomen. "Can't we just call it Baby?" she asked, not very thrilled with the new topic of their discussion.
"Or Junior," Mark suggested and Meredith gave him a disapproving look.
"Baby Junior," Alicia had an idea.
"No," Meredith shook her head. "What about…. Meghan for girl or … Gavin for boy?"
"Why Meghan with 'gh' and not just Megan?" Mark asked her, confused.
Meredith shrugged, smiling at him. "It is different and it sounds interesting. Don't you want a special name?"
"I like Gavin, but I don't know about Meghan," he said.
"Alexandra!" Alicia beamed as the idea struck her. She stood up on her knees and smiled at them. "Like Princess Alexandra from the story."
Meredith and Mark looked at each other. They didn't know exactly which Princess Alexandra she was talking about, but considering the fact that Alicia was thrilled with the name and she seemed to associate her unborn sister with a princess, they agreed with the name.
"Alexandra is a pretty name," Meredith stated and Mark nodded.
"Princess Alexandra is very pretty," Alicia thought she needed to inform them. "Stay here," she told them urgently while she ran to the edge of the bed and hopped down, disappearing out the door in a flash.
"Who is this princess?" Meredith asked Mark, giggling.
Mark chuckled and moved closer to Meredith, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "She must be a new celebrity. Do you think she will be back soon?" he asked, nibbling her earlobe.
Meredith giggled and tried to push him away. "You wouldn't have time to finish."
Mark dropped her earlobe from his teeth and sighed against her ear. "I can't wait for the honeymoon."
"I can't wait either," she sighed too and rested her head against his.
Alicia came in running and bringing a book with her. She threw the book in bed and jumped, clanging on the sheets as she tried to climb up. Mark grabbed her by her pajama and pulled her up. She made herself room between them again and opened the book.
"This is Princess Alexandra," she said, showing a picture of a fairytale princess, first to Mark and then to Meredith. She has a pink puppy and her name is…"
"Pixie," Meredith giggled. "I remember this story now," she said, laughing at Mark's amused face.
"Breakfast is ready," Crystal announced from the doorway, just sneaking her head inside.
"We eat waffles," Alicia informed them with a nodded.
"Oh yes," Meredith moaned and threw her legs over the edge of the bed to stand up. She stopped when she saw Crystal's serious look as she walked inside.
"I need to tell you something," Crystal said, smiling at them. She came and sat in the bed and Alicia ran to sit with her. She welcomed her granddaughter onto her lap with a kiss. "After Holidays I will move into your old apartment," she said, looking at Mark.
"What? Why? What have I done now?" Mark asked, worried.
"You haven't done anything yet," his mother chuckled. "Nothing wrong anyway. I just think you should live on your own as a family. I mean, I will be here anytime you need me to sit with Ally and when the baby will be here I will come and help you with anything you need, but you need to learn how to leave on your own."
"I don't understand," Mark said, confused.
"I will explain it to you," she said. "First of all, any of you can't cook and I think it's time for you to learn. You need to be able to feed your children properly. Secondly, you need to learn how to deal with … your privacy. Be more discreet and offer your children a decent environment."
"So you're leaving us," Mark muttered in disbelief.
"Mark, she's not leaving us," Meredith seemed to have understood. "She wants us to be more responsible."
"That's right," Crystal smiled. "Besides, it's not… cool to live with your mother anymore."
"Mom, are you having an affair with someone?" Mark gasped.
"Mark!" Meredith hissed, slapping his arm.
"I don't have an affair. It's not such a bad idea though. I am still young," Crystal mussed.
"Just introduce me to the loser when you find him," Mark grumbled and got out of bed as his morning with Meredith was over now.
Meredith and Crystal smiled at each other.
In all this time, Alicia stared them. "I don't understand," she muttered.
"Grandma is moving in Daddy's old apartment. The place where you lived before," Crystal explained.
"Why?" Alicia didn't look pleased either.
Crystal smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. "Because you have a family now and that's how a family looks like. But I will live close and we can see each other every day. I just won't be sleeping here anymore."
Alicia sighed, but managed to smile and looked like she understood now. She wrapped her arms around her grandma, smiling. She did have a family now and she liked the way her family looked.