He sat in their bed waiting for her to come back from putting Katie to bed. Trying to think of the words, he needed to stay to here about the current situation with his family. He looked up as she walked in yawning.
"Tired?" He asked.
"Yeah." She mumbled crawling into bed putting her head on his chest. There were a few seconds of silence as he absently rubbed her stomach.
"Mer?" He finally said looking down to find that her eyes were closed.
"Hmm?" She answered.
"I have to talk to you."
"Tomorrow. I'm too tired right now." She said burying her head into his chest more.
"Mer…"
She groaned quietly. "Please."
"It's important."
She sighed lifting her eyes up to him. "Yeah?"
He opened his mouth to say something, but sighed. "You know I love you right?"
"Of course." She mumbled. "Discussion over?"
He chuckled. "No… Mer? My family…" He paused and thought for a second. "Want to have Christmas over here."
"What?" She said her head popping up.
"They want to come here to celebrate on Christmas."
"What?" She repeated her eyes widening.
"Calm down, Mer. Breathe." Mark said sitting up. He took her hand.
"I am breathing." She snapped and sighed. "Sorry. I'm just…"
"I know Mer." He wrapped his arms around her letting his hands rest on her stomach. "I love you, Mer."
"I love you too." She said laying back into his lap and chest. "I'm sorry, Mark." Her eyes shut. "I know they're your family, but… I can't do this again. Not now. Too much is going on."
He intertwined his fingers with her. "I know, Mer. I'm so sorry that I have to dump this on you now. They didn't tell me that they were coming or gave me any warning about this. They just sprung it on me." Meredith nodded. "And they can't hold it at Derek's trailer. They can't fit twenty people into that tin can."
Meredith's eyes popped. "Twenty eight people?"
Mark nodded sighing. "The girls' husbands and kids are flying in too." Meredith groaned. "Fourteen kids ranging from the ages three and fourteen." He laid his head on the top of her head running his hand through her hair.
Meredith groaned. "What about the house and the wedding and Izzie and Alex and Christina and George?" She rambled. "The nursery is half finished. There are boxes everywhere. The house is a wreck."
"I know." He knew it was best to let her ramble.
"I don't have time to deal with planning a party and cleaning the house. I'm pulling extra shifts, so I don't have to worry about getting behind when I go on maternity leave in two and a half months. I can't do this right now. Besides, I promised Izz that we would be at her dinner."
"I know, Mer."
She looked at her hands before turning around to face him. "I'm not letting you become me. I'm not letting you regret not spending time with your mother and father and sisters before its too late. I never want you to regret me or anything that we do." She touched her face. "All I want is for you to be happy. Do you want this?"
"Mer, all that matters is that I have you, Katie, and the baby you're carrying. That's all that matters."
She kissed him deeply. "I love you, Mark."
"I love you too."
She took a deep breath and leaned back into his embrace. "We can try to make this work."
He smiled and kissed her cheek. "You are the most amazing person I've ever met."
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Meredith walked into the hospital. It was nearly nine o'clock in the morning. Mark's shift didn't start for three more hours, so he was going to be bringing Katie in. Even though, her own shift didn't start for a half an hour, she was still there. She was there early to talk to Izzie, George, Alex, and Christina to try to figure out what to do about Christmas.
Taking a long sip from her tea, she walked across the lobby in her own little world unaware of the people around her.
"Meredith?" A voice came from behind her. She turned to look to find Derek there with his sisters and a woman who she figured was Mama Shepherd.
"Yes, Dr. Shepherd?" She asked.
They never became friends again. Partly because of the betrayal from when he cheated on her. Partly because of all the hurt he had helped his sisters inflict on her at one of her hardest times.
"Have you seen Mark?" He asked as the group moved towards her.
"Yes, but he doesn't come in until noon."
"Oh…" Derek's voice faded. "You remember Nancy, Kathleen, Marie, and Jessica, right?"
"Yeah. Hi." She said awkwardly.
"And this is my mother." He said introducing the sweet-appearing elder woman.
"Hi, nice to meet you." She awkwardly shook her hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."
"Patients?" Derek asked.
"Something like that." Meredith shrugged. "I'll see you later."
She headed off down the hall when she noticed someone or some people following her. She glanced over her shoulder to find them following her.
"Ah, is there something I can do for you?" She asked.
"We were actually wondering if you knew anything about Christmas plans." Nancy finally spoke up.
"Um… You have to talk to Mark about that." She said walking backwards. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go meet some people before I start work."
Before they could say anything, she hurried down the hall.
