For some reason Meredith held out that little hope that this would be the final wedge that pulled the Shepherds apart. However for some reason it made their relationship stronger. Derek and Addison could now be found holding hands as they entered the hospital. Derek kissed her whenever he passed her in the hall way and whenever they got of elevators together there was always a smudge of her ruby red lipstick on his mouth. It seems Derek's little infidelity had been the nudge they needed to reevaluate their lives together and their reason for trying to stick it out. So now Meredith moped around the hospital running labs checking charts and occasionally scrubbing in on Burke's surgery since Addison had her black listed to any of Derek's surgeries. He barely spoke to her now. All of their witty banter and flirting had ceased. Whenever he passed her in the hall way he gave her a curt nod "Doctor Grey." He'd say and be on his way. Since the incident Meredith had sworn off tequila and picking up random guys at Joe's, rarely even venturing out to share a coke with Izzie, George, and Cristina. So far, in her short stay at Seattle Grace Hospital, she had become the intern who was sleeping with the attending and the intern who had slept with the married attending who was trying to work out his marriage. Meredith was still an amazing surgical intern, she even found herself being praised by the chief more, maybe he was trying to downplay her love life and try and get everyone to focus on her thriving career.
"I'll give her one thing," Cristina said as she ate her salad in the cafeteria, "I would not be able to handle all the whispers and constant chattering."
"She's holding up the best she can Yang." Alex said. Surprisingly he had been very supportive and protective of Meredith after the affair.
"Look's like evil spawn found himself a heart." Cristina commented.
"We've gotta do something. I mean, she's a shell of the person she used to be." George whispered ripping his banana peel open.
"Hey guys." She said as she placed her tray down next to George.
"Hey Mer." They all said in the sympathetic voices. She rolled her eyes opening up a magazine and reading.
"Mer you look a little pale. Are you ok?" Izzie asked. Meredith did look pale as if she had been throwing up.
"I'm fine I just have a bug." She said. Izzie raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner.
"What?"
"Nothing, you just look a little shitty. That's all I'm saying."
"Thanks. You guys have all been great but I'm a grown woman fully capable of taking care of myself. So if I say I'm fine, I am." She received a few shrugs and "okays" and went back to reading her magazine.
"Oh god what is that smell?" she asked George as he held up his tuna fish sandwich.
"Ugh, tuna." She murmured making a beeline for the bathroom. Izzie and George got up but Cristina motioned for them to sit back down.
"I got it." She said racing off in the same direction as Meredith.
Meredith was slumped over the toilet seat emptying out her breakfast as Cristina knocked on the door. She opened the bathroom stall noting that it was the exact same wheelchair stall that she had taken her pregnancy tests in.
"Why is it that pregnant chicks always want to lock themselves in the larger stalls?" Cristina asked.
"What?"
"Your pregnant dumb ass. The nausea, the hormones, the change in your body. I was pregnant once too you know." She said taking a seat next to Meredith.
"Do you think the rest of them know." She asked quietly.
"No there're completely clueless. They bought that whole 'virus' story you fed them."
Meredith wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "What am I gonna do?" Cristina shrugged.
"Now I'll be known as the pregnant-intern-mistress." She sighed.
"Meredith we really need to talk about this." Izzie said shouting at the bathroom door Meredith had locked herself into.
"Yeah Meredith please come out of there." George added.
"No my surgical career is over." She shouted from the inside.
"Meredith, there are plenty of pregnant interns, you'll just be banned from x-rays and strenuous surgeries." Izzie tried.
"So you've told Bailey and the Chief?" George said. The door opened revealing Meredith. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying she had done, but still she was gorgeous. Motherhood definitely agreed with Meredith Grey.
"Yeah I told them, and they decided that I wouldn't be assigned to too many hard surgeries and no x-rays." Meredith said walking into her room.
"So do they know who the father is?" George asked. Meredith shook her head.
"No, but I'm pretty sure they have a good idea."
"Hey Mer I was um, reading up on Lamaze classes and they have some pretty good ones in the area. So George, Cristina, and I were thinking that we could you know all check 'em out together. You know, we could go in alternating rounds." Izzie offered rubbing Meredith's back.
"Thanks you guys." Over the next few weeks, surprisingly, the news of Meredith's pregnancy didn't spread. However the changes of her body were obvious. Her usually svelte body started to fill out and her breasts began to swell. If anything some thought that she was putting on a little pity weight. She hardly ever worked with the Shepherds but found herself working with Derek on Sara Michaels's case, a toddler with an aneurysm.
"Good morning, Mr. And Mrs. Michaels. I'm Dr. Shepherd I'll be Sara's doctor and this is Dr. Grey she'll be assisting me." He said avoiding her gaze.
"Hey there sweetheart." Derek said bending down to Sara's level. The little girl was painfully shy and buried her face into her mother's jacket.
"Its okay sweetie, Dr. Grey is just gonna run you down for some x-rays." Derek rubbed a finger against the toddler's cubby cheek garnering a laugh.
"Dr. Grey, you better stay with her throughout the duration of the x-ray. Keep her calm." He addressed her, his eyes never leaving his patient's chart.
"I can't." Meredith blurted out. The Michael's looked to her with looks of confusion.
"And why can't you?" he asked in an annoyed fashion. A tone of voice Derek had never used with her ever.
"Because," she said blinking back her growing tears. "I'm pregnant."
Derek's head snapped up, his blue eyes met her piercing green ones and softened visibly.
"Oh Meredith." He said as she left the room in a hurry.