"I'm just going to take a shower, okay?" Dean said, going towards the bathroom that our room led into.

"Okay," I said back. I rubbed my very pregnant belly. I was eight months along and it was getting closer and closer to having the babies. I honestly couldn't wait to meet these babies and to not be pregnant anymore. I felt huge and was pretty much ready to just do this.

I heard the shower water going on and so I picked up the open book that was sitting on my bedside table and began to read it. I finished a chapter before I heard the shower water go off. I was a pretty quick reader and the chapter was fairly short. I could hear Dean humming to himself in the bathroom as my cell phone began to rang. Strange… I looked over at the caller ID and my eyes widened a little as I saw the number. I hadn't heard gotten calls from that number in about two years. My heart quickened. Should I answer it or just ignore it? But no, I couldn't just ignore it. I owed him that much.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Hi, Meredith," the voice over the phone said.

"Hi," I replied.

"It's uh, it's Nate," the voice said back.

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, I know. Uh, how are you?"

"Good… good. Um, look, I know that this is kind of weird, but I'm in town this weekend and was wondering if we could meet up… just talk a little," Nate replied. I took a deep breath, not knowing what to say back to him. I owed him an explanation, didn't I? Nate had been there for me through all of my marital problems with Dean so I knew that I needed to do this.

"Uh, yeah, I guess we could. Why is that you're in town?" I asked.

"Oh, my girlfriend and I are visiting her parents. Funny how it led me back here… I just thought we could talk about everything that happened and, I'm sorry, if this is really weird. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Nate started.

"No, no! It's fine. I'll uh, I'm sorry, can I call you back, though? How about tomorrow?" I asked, seeing Dean come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow then," he said back.

"You too," I replied, before hanging up and putting my cell phone back on the bedside table.

"Who was that?" Dean asked.

"Uh… Nate," I replied.

"What?" Dean asked, tensing up.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Wait… are we talking about the same Nate that tried to steal you from me?" Dean exclaimed.

"Dean, he didn't try to steal me from you!" I stated.

"Meredith, he kissed you when he knew we were married. He frickin' met you at the park every day," Dean replied.

I sighed, "I know." Dean and I didn't say anything for a moment before I told him, "He wants to meet up and talk. He's in town now. That's why he called."

"No," Dean said.

"Dean!" I protested.

"He's one of the reasons that our marriage almost fell apart!" Dean yelled.

"I know, Dean, but… he was here for me and I feel like I owe him that much. I owe it to him to talk about everything that happened," I replied.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Dean asked, firmly.

"How could you even ask me that, Dean? I'm here, with you. I didn't run away with Nate. I'm pregnant with your children, aren't I?" I asked back, angry that he even had to ask me that question. Of course I didn't have feelings for him but Nate had been such a good friend to me and I felt like I'd been an awful one. I wanted to at least say thank you for that and hopefully make up for it in some way or another. I felt like we needed that talk so that we could just get everything out of the air and not feel so uncomfortable anymore. I mean, when he called, almost didn't pick up. That's how uncomfortable things were now, but we used to be such good friends.

Dean took a moment to collect himself, "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even needed to ask you that."

"Dean, I love you, not Nate or anyone else. He was a really great friend to me and I… just kind of threw him out when I needed to fix things with you and I feel awful about that. He just wants to talk, Dean. Besides, he said that he's in town because he's visiting his girlfriend's parents that live here in Sioux Falls. He's with someone else. This would be two friends, just talking," I reasoned.

"Yeah, alright. But if he tries anything," Dean started.

"He's not like that, Dean," I said, cutting him off.

"I trust you, Mer. It's him I don't," Dean replied.

"I know, baby, but you don't have anything to worry about," I reassured. I then laughed a little.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Nothing, just go put some clothes. You're too sexy in just a towel," I giggled.

Dean chuckled, "I love you."

"I love you," I said back.

The next morning, I'd called up Nate and we met up at a coffee house in downtown Sioux Falls. After Nate ordered coffee and I got some tea, we made some polite, small, casual small talk, just kind of getting warmed up to the talks that we were about to have. It was so weird. Usually, I was practically pouring my soul out to Nate within two seconds but here we were… making small talk.

"So how have you been?" I asked.

"Good, how about you?" he asked back.

"Good… I'm pregnant," I replied.

"I can see that," Nate chuckled.

"So you're doing the whole meet the parents thing already, huh?" I asked, curiously.

"Oh, no. We've actually been together for about a year now and it was Abby's birthday this weekend so they invited us over to celebrate it," Nate replied.

"Abby is…" I started.

"My girlfriend," Nate answered.

"Oh, nice. Well, congrats on a year," I said.

"Yeah. So… boy or girl?" Nate asked.

"What?" I asked back out of confusion.

"The baby," Nate clarified.

"Right," I chuckled. "Both, actually. We're having twins."

"Oh, wow. Congratulations. Twins… that's a big deal," Nate noticed.

"Yeah, we're a little nervous how that's going to go with four kids in the house but I guess it'll prepare us for a future of three sons and only one daughter. Knowing John and Jude, hopefully these two will be a bit more calm so that we don't have a household full of… Tasmanian devils. Those two just have so much energy!" I replied.

Nate chuckled, "How are John and Jude? They must be a lot older by now."

"Yeah, John just turned three a couple of months ago and Jude will be seven this year, in August," I replied.

"Woah! How'd that happen?" Nate asked.

"I have no idea," I replied.

"Thanks for meeting me, by the way, Meredith," Nate said.

"It's no problem. I wanted to. I uh, kind of had to persuade Dean with being okay with idea though. He wasn't exactly too happy about it," I said back.

"Right. Sorry about that. If I caused any trouble or-," Nate started.

"No, not at all! I wanted to come here. I… I thought it would be good if we could just talk about it all, clear the air, you know?" I asked.

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, then and now. I really was well intended. I mean, you were my only friend when I first moved here and that's all I intended it to be. I didn't think that… well, you know, that I'd have feelings for you," Nate replied.

I nodded, "I didn't think I would either but… I don't know I think I wasn't in a good place and you were there for me and I want to say thank you for that. You were a better friend to me than I was to you."

"Not at all," Nate said.

"Yes. You listened to me and all of my stuff with Dean," I said back.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you kept me from being cooped up in my house with the scrapbook containing pictures of my ex-wife. Look, Meredith, you really were a great friend to me, whether you believe it or not. I get why we had to go our separate ways. You had to fix things with your husband and I… needed to not fall for a married woman," Nate said.

"I'm sorry, by the way, if I did anything to-," I started.

"No. I think it all worked for the best. Abby is great and I really do love her," Nate replied.

"That's great, Nate. Hey, you know what? Why don't the three of you come over for dinner tonight? It's the least I can do to say thank you," I said.

"You sure Dean will be okay with that?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He'll be fine," I replied.

"Alright, sounds great. What time?" Nate asked.

"How does seven sound?" I asked back.

"Perfect," Nate replied.

LINEBREAK

"Meredith, I really don't like this," Dean pouted.

"I'm sorry, babe. I just, it slipped out and I thought it would be a good idea at the time. Besides, he's bringing over his son and his girlfriend. Dean, he doesn't have feelings for me," I said, coming up behind him and massaging his shoulders.

Dean groaned, closing his eyes, "Well if you do this, then maybe I'll be okay with it." I continued massaging Dean's shoulders until I heard a knock at the door.

I giggled, kissing his cheek before saying, "It's probably them. I'm going to go get the door and let them in. Be nice."

"If I have to," Dean murmured.

I opened the door and smiled warmly, greeting Nate, his girlfriend, and his son. His girlfriend was a couple of inches shorter than him, and had short, wavy brown hair. She smiled, seeing me as the three of them ushered into my house.

"Hi, I'm Abby. Thank you so much for inviting us over. Sometimes I feel like I know nothing about Nate's past so it's good to finally meet an old friend of his," Abby greeted, holding her hand out to shake mine. I took it, shaking her hand.

"Oh, no worries at all. I'm glad that you guys could come over," I replied.

"Meredith!" Tommy exclaimed, coming over to hug me. I hugged him back.

"Woah, you've grown up so much!" I exclaimed, laughing a little.

"That's because you don't come visit us at the park anymore," Tommy replied.

"I'm sorry. It's just that ever since you guys moved, your park is about an hour away from my park which is kind of a long drive," I said.

"Yeah, but you should come visit our park sometimes. Hey, is Jude here?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, she should be upstairs. I'm actually going to go check up on Jude and John. Why don't you three go into the living room? My husband is in there. Dean, we have company," I said, leading Tommy, Nate, and Abby into the living room where Dean sat, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hey," Dean said, looking over at Nate once.

"Hi," Nate said, realizing that Dean was sending some very unfriendly vibes.

"Alright, I'm going to go check on John and Jude. I'll be back," I said. I then leaned in to Dean, kissing him on the cheek once and whispering in his ear, "Be nice." I honestly was a little nervous to leave them all alone, but I think they'd be fine. Besides, it'd give Dean an opportunity to see that Nate was obviously madly in love with his girlfriend and for him to maybe break the ice a little bit.

I went up the stairs, going into Jude's room, where John was sitting on the floor playing with his cars and Jude was making his bed, "Hey, boys, we have company. Nate is here. He's an old friend of mine. We used to meet him in the park."

"Hey, we stopped seeing him after a while," Jude noticed.

"I know, it's because they moved away," I replied.

"He's here?" Jude asked.

"Uh huh. Go ahead and go see him and then we'll start dinner," I replied. Jude nodded and then went downstairs to go see Nate.

"Are they staying for dinner, Mommy?" John asked.

"Yeah. Why don't you come with me and we'll go downstairs and make sure your daddy's being nice to all of our guests," I replied, picking John up as the two of us went downstairs together.

"It's a great house you have here. It's looks perfect for raising children," Abby said, looking around.

"Yeah, that's why we got it. We uh, there wasn't enough room in the apartment for a family and we wanted to start one," Dean replied.

"Huh," Abby said.

"Okay, dinner's ready. I think we'll eat in the dining room tonight because I don't think there's enough room for us all to sit at the kitchen table," I said, getting everyone's attention.

"Great," Nate said back.

Dinner had been kind of awkward. I was attempting to talk with Abby, Nate, and Dean all night, but Dean seemed very unwilling to participate in the conversation. Then again, I guess I understood but part of me felt like he should at least try.

"Abby, Nate tells me that you're a genealogist," I started.

"Oh, yeah. It's such interesting work!" Abby smiled.

"I bet," I replied.

"You're a teacher?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, I teach 11th grade English right now. It's… I love it. Dean is actually teaching auto shop as well over at the school," I said back.

"Oh, nice," Abby said.

"Dean?" I asked, seeing if he'd elaborate. Of course, I knew he wouldn't. He had been cold this entire time.

"Yeah, it's cool," Dean murmured.

"Dean," I sighed, under my breath. Nate looked over at me and I just shrugged. Dean noticed the exchange.

"Look, I'm sorry that I'm not going to be nice to the guy that tried to steal my wife," Dean said.

"Wait, what?" Abby asked.

"Go ahead. Tell her how you kissed my wife when you knew that she was married. We were having problems and you took advantage of that!" Dean challenged.

"Dean, please, stop," I hissed.

"No. You want me to say something? Fine, I'll say it. My wife may be ready to be friends with you again, but I sure as hell am not," Dean said, before getting up from the table and leaving the dining room.

"Will someone explain what the hell just happened?" Abby asked.

I sighed, shooting Nate an apologetic glance. I hadn't intended for any of this to end up the way that it did.

LINEBREAK

"Dean, do you want to tell me what was running through your mind back there?" I asked, coming into our bedroom. I had just turned on a movie for the boys, right after Abby, Nate, and Tommy left. Tonight's dinner had been a little too eventful and a lot less successful than I thought it would be. I guess Dean and Nate were never really going to ever be able to be friends – no matter how much I wanted them to be.

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Just sit there and act like the guy didn't play a part in what went wrong between us two years ago?" Dean asked.

I sighed, "No, you're right. Asking him over for dinner was too much. Just because I was ready to be friends it didn't mean that you were. I shouldn't have pushed you so much. I was just kind of setting myself up for all of that, wasn't I?"

"Yeah," Dean replied, in a 'well duh' tone.

"It's just, I don't know, I guess a part of me thought that if you saw that he had moved on and had a girlfriend and stuff, then you would be able to move past everything and be friends with him. He was a great friend to me and I guess I thought maybe you two could be friends eventually," I confessed, feeling really stupid. It had been a horrible idea and it was even worse that I was just realizing that.

"I know. He was a great friend to you and you were making me friends. But Mer, I can make friends myself, I promise. I'm a friendly guy," Dean joked.

I laughed, "Yeah, I know. You're a little too friendly, actually."

"You never complained," he winked.

I rolled my eyes playfully, "I'm sorry about tonight. I really shouldn't have put you in that position."

"It's alright. It's over now, you know?" Dean asked back.

"Yeah, alright, well I'll just going to make a quick phone call. The boys are watching Finding Nemo in the living room, so if you're done pouting, we'd love to have you in there," I teasing.

"This will make it all better," Dean said, pulling me in for a few sweet kisses. I smiled, before pulling away.

"Okay, I'll see you out there," I replied, before leaving the room. I went outside onto the front porch and called Nate. He picked up at about the third ring.

"Hey," Nate said.

"Hey," I said back. "Look, I'm sorry about tonight. I just realized what a bad idea it was… Dean's… he's not ready for this. I should've thought about him more. I guess I was just excited that you guys were in town and- and honestly, I wish you two could be friends. I can see now that that probably won't happen for quite some time."

"Yeah, and don't apologize. It's alright, Meredith," Nate replied.

"So, I guess this is goodbye for now?" I asked.

"Guess so," Nate replied.

"I hope I didn't cause any trouble with Abby," I said.

Nate chuckled, "No, she's fine. She understands that it was a part of my past and that I do love her."

"Good. Well, I better get going. The boys are watching Finding Nemo," I replied.

"Alright. It was good seeing you, Meredith. I uh, good luck with everything," Nate said.

"You too. Bye," I said back, before hanging up the phone.