AN: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, once again I have been busy. But this one is long and very intense, so you have that to look forward to:)

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The next morning, Meredith was awakened by the phone on her bedside table. Derek's arm was a dead weight around her waist. Shoving him off, she lunged forward and grabbed the receiver before it went to voicemail.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Meredith." It was Lexie.

Meredith squinted at the glaring red numbers on her alarm clock and frowned. "It's 6 in the morning."

"I know. Sorry. This is urgent," Lexie ploughed forward. "I was talking to George the other day. He said you used to have a dog - Doc?"

"Yeah," Meredith trailed, unsure of what Lexie was getting at. She became aware of a low hum in the background of the call. "Are you driving?"

"Molly's moving, and her new apartment doesn't allow pets. I completely forgot. I told her I'd take care of her dog," Lexie rambled. "Except, I've never had a dog before. Mom was allergic. And me and George's apartment… I can't have a dog in that apartment, Meredith."

Sighing deeply, Meredith ran a hand down her face. "You want me to take Molly's dog."

"Just for a little while," Lexie gushed apologetically. "He's super sweet. A little big, but - he's super sweet. His name is Baby."

Meredith snorted. "Baby?"

"Molly got him in college. She thought it would be funny, because he's part great dane."

Meredith sat up in bed and flicked on the bedside lamp. Apparently she was awake now. "How far out are you?"

"20 minutes."

"Fine."

"You'll take him?" She could hear the relief in Lexie's voice.

"Yeah, I'll take him," Meredith grumbled. "Derek is gonna kill me."

"Thank you so much. You don't even understand," Lexie blurted. "You don't have to go out and buy him anything. Molly gave me all his stuff."

"Yeah." Standing, Meredith sighed deeply. It looked like she would be getting dressed now.

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"Thank you so much. Again. Really. I cannot thank you enough."

"Stop thanking me, Lexie, or I'll bring Baby to the pound." Meredith accepted the leash Lexie was extending towards her - on the end was a massive, white splotched dog. Actually, dog was a generous term. It better fit the definition of a horse.

Shutting the door, Lexie stepped inside. "What did Derek say?"

"He's still sleeping," Meredith said. She hadn't bothered to wake her husband. It was easier to spring things on him as a surprise. That way, she didn't have to listen to his complaints about how they didn't have room for a dog.

Instead of leaving, Lexie followed Meredith into the kitchen. Baby trailed behind them. "This is actually perfect timing, really," she said slowly. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Meredith poured two mugs of coffee - one for her and one for Lexie - and sat across from her at the kitchen table. "Yeah? What?"

Lexie inhaled sharply. "First, I don't want you to freak out. And I don't need an answer right away. Just sleep on it."

"Okay.."

"I want to be your surrogate."

A beat passed. "No," Meredith said flatly. "Absolutely not."

"Meredith, listen -"

"You're a RESIDENT, Lexie! You haven't even started your career yet!" Meredith exploded. She buried her face into her hands. "Oh, god. No, no, no. I could never ask you to -"

"You're not asking. I'm offering."

"And I'm saying no," Meredith fired back vapidly. "Derek and I have barely discussed this. You can't spring this on me like this, Lex." She was mortified when she wiped her eyes and her hand came away damp.

"Meredith." Lexie reached across the table and grabbed her wrist. "You deserve this. You deserve something good. I'll be fine. Molly was able to stay at work until the last few weeks of her pregnancy, and she's a teacher. It won't put too much of a dent in my career. I won't be the baby's mother, so I won't need a full maternity leave. A month at the most. Come on. Look at Cristina, she did it!"

Meredith choked on a last. "Cristina's water broke in the middle of a valve replacement." (She had heard the story told by both her and Burke on multiple occasions.)

"Don't say no yet. At least think about it."

Meredith sighed deeply. Her eyes trailed to Baby, who had taken refuge under the kitchen table. "What does the dog have to do with this?"

Lexie chuckled. "I'm a big believer in signs. From the universe." Meredith gave her a puzzled look. "The dog's name is Baby," she clarified.

"Oh." Meredith nudged Baby with her socked foot. "Yeah, you're right. Baby."

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"Lexie wants to do WHAT?"

It was seven AM when Derek finally ambled downstairs, and their newly acquired dog wasn't even the greatest of his concerns.

"I told her no," Meredith said matter of factly. "I told her I would think about it, but the answer is no."

Derek tilted his head to the side and sat down with his own coffee. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you say no?"

"Because!" Meredith exclaimed, shocked that Derek would even consider allowing Lexie to be their surrogate. "She's only a resident! I've only known her for what? Six months?"

"Do you not want a baby?"

Defeated, she slumped back. "Of course I do. I want a baby more than anything, but -"

"But what?"

Meredith met Derek's eye. "I want it to be my baby."

"It will be," Derek said calmly. "You know that. Its gestational surrogacy, the baby will biologically be ours."

She shook her head vehemently. "No, no. You don't get it." her voice cracked. "I wanna have the baby. I want to be PREGNANT."

For the first time since last night, she recalled her encounter with Owen Hunt. I operated on you. After you got shot. Fury began to build in the pit of her stomach. "Goddammit, Derek, I wanna get pregnant."

Derek held her gaze. "You know you can't do that," he said evenly. "I thought you had come to terms to it."

Meredith scoffed. "No, I accepted it. Do you think I'm ever going to come to terms with something like that?"

"I think you could. Eventually."

"Says you," Meredith spat. "Nothing bad happened to you, Derek. You chose your wife, I left. You divorced Addison by choice. You did my clinical trial by choice. You slept with me by choice. And you fucking married me by choice! And what did I get? Two bullets to the gut and a hysterectomy. Because of you." she laughed humorlessly. "I must be some kind of moron."

Derek frowned. "You aren't making any sense, Meredith."

"Of course I'm not." she stood up abruptly. "Fine. Lexie can be our surrogate. Let me know when you need an egg, I'll get the petri dish."

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AN: Told you it was intense.

I know that this story maybe be headed in a controversial direction, but if everything went smoothly, where's the fun in that?

Lets get this bad boy to 40 reviews