The month of September was in full swing; Trees were dropping leaves in various shades of orange, red and brown, enticing those walking by to step on their dryness and hear the snappy sound crunching beneath their feet. The nights were cooler, the days windier and temperatures were starting to dwindle. People were less cranky as a result, as it had been a hot summer with temperatures at an all time high. Seattler's were tired of sweaty days, scorching nights and actually prayed for summer to end.

Meredith and Callie were most happy about the decline, seeing as Callie was now in her ninth month and Meredith in her eighth. To be pregnant in the summer was a curse. Even in the winter pregnant women were hardly ever cool, always complaining about the heat—and of course, after having an extra twenty pounds in front was a great way to keep the body temp high.

Throughout their pregnancies a kind of friendship had begun between the two women; The two unborn children a kind of bond that sealed them together. A surprise to both, considering that Meredith had once been the woman standing between Callie and George. The woman that George had given his heart to; Only Callie had stolen it back—and for that Meredith would forever be grateful. The two woman shopped together, lunched together and attended yoga classes for pregnant women. There had been a newfound respect that neither of them had counted on, but were grateful for.

George was now completely over Meredith and was taking his roll of soon to be father and husband—he'd proposed to Callie during a surgery and she'd accepted. He and Meredith had talked about it after and she was now certain that George really did love Callie and that they would have the kind of loving relationship that she and Derek had. They loved their condo and had a wonderful nursery all set up for their new arrival, which was due any day now. Nervously, George waited and every time Callie put her hand to her abdomen, he peppered her with questions. "Are you alright? Are you contracting? Even though he was driving her crazy with incessant questions, she was happy because he was in full swing; he was loving her as she needed to be loved and that was more than enough.

On this particular evening, the four of them were out for dinner with Denny and Izzy, whom they had not seen a lot of over the past six months or so. Denny, being a Marine Biologist, had been traveling around the world and Izzy, of course, had been right there beside him. Preston and Cristina had come at the last minute and joined the group. It was one of the first times that they had been out with everyone as a couple. As they raised their glasses in preparation for Derek's speech, Meredith couldn't help but notice how happy all of the couples looked. All of the men were dressed in suits and ties and the ladies all wore dresses. Meredith wore a silk gown of silver that reached below her knees with a pair of matching sandals with no heels, as she was afraid to wear anything that might make her trip and fall. Callie wore a dress of red that reached her ankles and Izzy wore a dazzling black v-neck dress that clung ripely to her figure, with a pair of black high-heel pumps. Cristina had even dressed up for the occasion, wearing a dress of periwinkle blue that ended above her knees.

"To friendship." Derek announced grandly, lifting his glass. Everyone joined in and as they toasted each other. "And to more good times in the future with our best friends."

"Here, here!" Everyone lifted their glasses and toasted one another.

"So..." Derek began, as he sat back down at the table and put his arm around Meredith, who in turn put her hand on his leg comfortably. "Callie, how are you feeling today?"

The dark haired beauty grinned and ran her hand along the top of her hugely swelling abdomen. "Like I've swallowed a water-melon." She looked over at George. "He thinks that I've got more than one in there."

George raised his eyebrows. "I swear I can feel more than one in there!"

Cristina tossed off a small piece of her roll and tossed it at him. "This coming from the same man who thought that babies came from Santa Clause."

"Come on!" He tossed back, grinning. "I was five at the time. I think I've learned a thing or two since then!"

"You wish." Izzy dead-panned. " Remember the time that George thought that our patient..." She snapped her fingers trying to remember the name. She looked over at Meredith and Cristina, hoping to find help. "you know...the one with the..."

"Gas...for lack of a better word." Cristina supplied dryly. "Mrs. Johnson."

"That's it!" Izzy laughed, buttering her dinner roll. She addressed Denny and the other men. "Mrs. Johnson was pregnant and he wanted to send her down for an ultrasound when all it really was...she was..." She laughed so hard she couldn't stop and Denny reached over and put his arm around her, grinning. "Come on honey...spit it out."

"Oh ya!" Meredith set her glass down, remembering. "Mrs. Johnson!" She began to laugh hard, thinking back to the patient that had been a topic of conversation for months after word. She doubled over, trying to catch her breath, every few seconds looking back up at George's red face, laughing harder.

Preston and Derek looked at each other and shrugged. Neither of them rarely listened to hospital talk and if they had, they had not heard this story. "So, what happened?" Preston asked, leaning forward, resting his chin in his hand.

"I don't think that anyone here cares." George said to Meredith, between clenched teeth.

"Oh, on the contrary." Derek said, lifting his wine glass and taking a sip. "We'd love to here the story O'Malley."

George groaned and looked over at his fiancé for help.

"Don't look at me babe." She giggled. "There's nothing that I can do to help you."

"Thanks a lot." He mumbled, but leaned over and kissed her cheek just the same.

"Okay, okay." Preston's voice boomed over all of the laughter. "So, what happened?"

Meredith, Cristina, Izzy and Callie looked at one another and burst out into another fit of laughter. Finally, Cristina, the only one who could speak leaned forward. "Fine...I'm fine now." She cleared her throat. "So, Mrs. Johnson comes in to the hospital and says she's been having these pains. She's a pretty big woman so George thinks that she's pregnant. He gets her into a room and starts to examine her...not asking if she's pregnant...just assuming that she is..."

"Never assume, Georgie-boy." Izzy interjected. "Never assume."

"Shut up blondie." Cristina snapped affectionately. She turned back to the group, who were now fully captivated by her story. "So, he's assumed that she's pregnant and he starts to examine her..." Remembering, Cristina began to laugh again. "He bends down to examine her and she goes and lets out this huge, earth shattering fart...right in his face!"

The whole table roared with laughter.

"I'm not done yet!"

"So, anyway." Izzy picked up the thread. "Then she tells him that she feels one hundred and ten percent better and goes to get up off of the table and George asks her about the baby. She says 'what baby' and he's left feeling really stupid..."

"Not unlike right now." George mumbled, red-faced.

"and he says 'but aren't you pregnant?' and she slaps him right across the face...hard! And then she walks out the door!"

"Oh George!" Meredith, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Don't be mad! It was funny...really funny."

"Ya, I gathered that."

"I've got a funny story." Callie said, patting her stomach.

"Really? What is it?" Derek asked. "More Georgie-boy antics?"

She smiled, but it actually came out as a wince. "Well, my funny story is that...my water just broke."

She said it so calmly, everyone stopped and stared.

"Your water broke?" Preston asked.

"Um, hum." She answered, rubbing her belly. "I think we should go."

"Your water broke?" George squeaked, throwing his napkin on his plate. "Is this a drill?"

"No George. If this was a drill do you think my lap would be soaked?"

He looked down. "Are you sure?" He stammered.

"George!"

"Well..." Preston stood up. "Let's get you to the hospital."

Just then, Derek's beeper went off. He pushed his chair back and stood, frowning, as he checked the number and message.

The rest of the table stood as well. "What is it?" Meredith asked.

He looked up, uncomfortable. "Well it looks like the trip to the hospital won't be a wasted trip."

"Why?" Izzy asked, putting on her coat.

"Because Addison's in labor too."

TBC