Damon watched the scene from afar through a crack in the semi-open door. Meredith was in her room filled with the pale light of the late January sun, standing in front of a full length mirror looking at her reflection. She was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of white panties. Her long legs were lifting as she tried fit into a pair of jeans.

"Damn it," she yelled from in the room as she tried to button the front.

She laid down on the bed, sucked in her stomach, and tried to pull the zipper up. After struggling with a pair of pants for fifteen minutes, she stopped.

"Forget it, I give up," she said as she threw the jeans into a corner. She reached into her dresser and pulled out a pair of pale blue shorts with the stretchy waistband.

He inched towards her room and knocked on her door gently.

"Come in! Oh, I forgot you were here, Damon. Sorry."

"So, what was all the yelling all about," he asked, trying not to sound guilty.

She sighed loudly.

"It's those damn jeans! I could fit into them a couple of weeks ago and now…I'm lucky if I can wear anything that isn't made of spandex or lycra!"

Meredith turned back to the mirror and stood so that she could see her profile. She lifted her t-shirt up slightly to look at her belly and she rubbed it with her hand. In Damon's eyes, that was the only thing that had changed; the rest of her body was completely the same. She still had that strong, lean torso that complimented her long legs. Even now, she was gorgeous in his eyes.

"Look at me, I'm fat! I'm a whale," she said as she turned to Damon.

Damon couldn't help but laugh a little at Mere. She wasn't generally that insecure.

'It must be all those changing hormones,' he thought.

He walked over to her and made her look in the mirror.

"Look at yourself," he said. "You know, nothing about your body has changed except for the whole belly thing."

"But look," she said as she pointed to her stomach. "Even my belly button is sticking out now! Is that the reason those jeans don't fit?"

"News flash, Mere, you're six and a half months pregnant. You're lucky that you could fit in those jeans a couple of weeks ago. But, you got to realize that you're not going to be able to really wear anything of a while…not that that's a real problem," he said as he gave her a devilish smile.

Meredith rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Like that would happen. No body wants to see me like that. I'm just not…attractive right now. Yeah, that's the word, attractive."

Damon turned her around completely to look at him. He lifted Meredith's chin and looked at her as some of her dark strands fell over her eyes.

"I'm telling you right now that there is someone who finds you attractive."

And then he finally did was he had been waiting to do for a long time. He kissed her, and the kiss wasn't just a peck. It was filled with longing and passion. But, she wasn't kissing back. He stopped and backed off to look at her. They stood eyelevel facing each other in an awkward standoff.

It was Meredith who spoke next. She walked closer to Damon so that they were touching.

"You call that a kiss?"

Then she pulled him closer by the neck and started to kiss him with the same passion Damon had earlier. The kiss was filled with the same longing and tenderness as before only it was from Meredith. It might have been the very first time that Damon had been caught completely off guard.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

'The phone's ringing,' his mind told him.

Damon had just gotten to bed one hour ago after his he went out feeding; that made it five o'clock in the morning.

"Can't a guy just rest a little bit?"

He went to move his arm and found that he couldn't; because Meredith was laying on it. With little effort he was able to move her off with out disturbing her sleep. He kissed her forehead before he reached to answer Meredith's phone. But, by that time, the answering machine had picked up.

'Oh, well,' he thought as he wrapped his arms around Meredith.

"Hi, you've reached the Saltzman's. We're not here at the moment, but leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!"

"Hey Mere, it's Bonnie, is Damon there by any chance? I tried to call his place but there was no answer and goddess only knows when he's going to get an answering machine. Anywho, if you talk to him, let him know that I'm looking for him. I need to speak to him immediately. Let's just say it's a matter of great importance. O.K….I…I need to go."

Click.

'What was that all about,' he asked himself.

She had sounded nervous and even a little frightened over the phone. Why would she want to call him? There was only one answer to that; it must be an emergency.

Damon moved Meredith off of his arm again, but this time, he woke her up.

"Hey, where're you going," Meredith asked sleepily as she readjusted herself on the bed.

"I have to go out, but I'll be back soon. Don't worry," he said as he threw on a shirt and jacket.

Meredith rolled over in bed as Damon closed the door behind him.