Here's chapter 2! Disclaimer's in the first part. I'm trying their naming parts after song titles, so let's see how long this lasts. And I feel obligated to add the second disclaimer that it will NOT stay this fluffy. And this chapter is mainly transitional--just a warning.


"You gonna get out?" Meredith turned to Derek as he stalled the car but apparently was going to make no further move.

"I was just going to sit here." Derek's tone was either deadpan or completely serious; she couldn't tell. However, he turned the engine off and unbuckled his seat belt so she decided to drop it.

Cristina answered the door wearing a t-shirt Izzie had brought her back from a vacation that read 'Let Me Get My Gosh-I-Really-Care Face On' and loose jeans. Her hair, which she'd pinned back during the recital, was wild and unruly. She held a squirmy Cooper in her arms. "Hey guys, come in," she turned almost immediately to head towards the kitchen. "Don't let Mickey out behind you," she called back. Meredith knelt down to quickly pat the shaggy collie/lab mix that had sauntered over.

Derek shut the door as his wife followed Cristina. "Cristina! We're supposed to leave in like three minutes to get there at six. You're in a t-shirt and jeans." She peered into the kitchen, where Preston was doing a stack of dishes with the girls and Cristina was feeding Cooper.

"Relax. I do hot in my sleep. I'll be fine. Do you want to feed Cooper? Cause that needs done before I can get ready."

"I got it, Cristina. Wouldn't want Meredith to get baby food on her sweater." Derek smirked. Cristina looked surprised, but obliged.

"You look nice," Preston called from the sink. He was wearing dark jeans and a hunter-green sweater.

"Thanks. You, too. How'd the surgery go?"

"Patient's going to be fine. She'll be playing soccer again in about three months." Preston smiled. "Derek, you want some wine or anything?"

"Nah, thanks, I'll wait till we get to Izzie's," Derek concentrated on make airplane swoops with the spoon.

"We had pizza tonight," Avery told Meredith excitedly. "But then Dad made us clean."

"Of course he did, he wouldn't be your daddy if he didn't." Meredith smiled.

"We had to vacuum our bedrooms too, because the babysitter's coming."

"Preston, seriously, you pay for a twice-a-week maid and your kids still vacuum? Isn't that a little oxymoronic?" Derek blew a raspberry at Cooper, who burbled and laughed.

"Nah, they still have to clean. Wouldn't want them becoming spoiled brats." Preston carefully swiped a dish and smiled at the shine.

"See, done." Cristina entered, smiling triumphantly in black cigarette pants and a plum cowl-necked sweater. "Where are my boots?"

"Back door," Burke called.

"Thanks. Where's the sitter?" Cristina hurried away.

"She should be here soon." Burke called back.

"We're taking Cooper—I called Izzie, don't freak. Can you grab the portable bassinette, Meredith? It's at the top of the stairs."

"Yeah, I've got it." Meredith headed towards the stairs as the doorbell rang. "Got that, too."

It was the babysitter; a smiley freckly eighteen-year-old. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

"Charlotte, come in. The girls are in the kitchen." Preston said from behind her. "This is Dr. Meredith Grey, a friend of ours."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Grey." Charlotte smiled.

"Charlotte!" Avery called. "Come in here! We have leftover pizza for you."

Meredith headed up the stairs, with Burke following her. "I should get the girls' pajamas." He explained.

"…bedtime about eightish. No more snack tonight either; they both had plenty of pizza." Cristina was finishing up instructions to Charlotte. "Make sure they brush their teeth. There are DVDs in the living room and they've got enough toys to fill an airplane hangar. Just make sure they put it away, right Aves?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why are you taking to me and not Nelle?"

"You're the oldest; you be the responsible one." Burke said. He held up the pajamas. "These are theirs; I figured it would be easier. They'll be on the couch."

"Cool," Charlotte nodded. "I think that we got this, right, girls?"

"Yeah," Avery said. "Don't worry, Mom. We'll be good."

"Okay." Cristina said. "I think we're set." She hugged Avery, "Be good. Watch out for your sister."

After receiving another hug for her father, Avery said, "Have a good time. Derek, Meredith, are you coming over tomorrow? We can have lunch; it's Sunday."

"I don't know," Meredith got her hug from Avery. "We'll see, okay?"

"Alright. I'll see you later, then." Cristina and Burke had Cooper bundled up and were ready to go. With final hugs and kisses, the two couples left.

"How many people did Izzie invite to this party?" Cristina said.

"I don't know. I'm not sure how long this is supposed to last, either." Meredith said, swinging open the car door and helping Cristina place the car seat in the middle. Cooper hated car rides for some reason, so he always went in the middle so he wouldn't see the window. Meredith slid in on one side of him, Cristina on the other, and the husbands up front. "What'd you guys bring?" Meredith nodded to the gift.

"Espresso machine."

"Perfect."

"You?"

"Blender."

"Typical."

"I know. Don't make fun of me, it's the only thing I could think of."

"Yay! You guys got here on time."

"I told you we'd be early." Meredith walked in.

"Yeah, but it's you four. You say 'I'll be early' and I think, 'okay, so they're going to be about five minutes early.'" Izzie led them into the kitchen.

"Thanks, Iz. You know, we could just go get lattes or something until five minutes before this starts." Cristina shrugged off her coat.

"Want any wine?"

"Yeah, sure." Derek said.

"I'll take one, too." Preston said, reaching for glasses.

"I want one, too, but first let me take Cooper up to your room." Cristina said, waltzing out with the baby.

"You guys are just lucky that you've got pregnant ole me for a designated driver." Meredith smiled and turned to Izzie, "What do you need help with?"

"Right now Alex is in the living room picking out CDs—can you counterbalance all his crap?"

"I heard that!" Alex called good-naturedly from the living room.

"Honey, acoustic stuff doesn't count as music!" Izzie yelled back. She and Alex, after completing residency, had decided to move—not as a couple but as two friends sharing an apartment—to L.A. for fellowships in neonatology and high-risk obstetrics and plastic surgery, respectively. Three months ago, after those had finished, they had moved back to Seattle as a couple. Izzie was now working at Seattle Grace, while Alex had joined a private plastics practice a few blocks from the hospital. Nobody knew the exact details, or how serious they actually were this time, but they had purchased the house and spent the weekends doing things like going to Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma and working on their DVD collection.

"It's okay, I added one of yours for every two of mine," Alex said, coming behind Izzie and kissing her neck as she poured wine.

Izzie rolled her eyes, "That's all I'm going to get, isn't it?" she slid a wine glass to Burke and then one to Derek. "Do you want water or something, Mer?"

"I'll get it later."

"Okay, Cooper's down for the night," Cristina strode back into the room. "How many people did you guys invite?"

The two looked at each other. "We actually sent out invitations….like thirty maybe. Our new neighbors, some people at the hospital, anyone we could remember from three years ago." Izzie said slowly.

"Yeah, but you told anyone else."

"So…maybe fifty?" Izzie guessed. "You know, most people don't come. You have to invite more people than you expect to show up. It's like overbooking an airplane."

The other four looked at her doubtfully. "What? It won't be like that one time." Izzie said, looking specifically at Meredith's skeptical face.

Derek cleared his throat. "Anyways. What do you need help with?"

"There's mini-quiche in the oven that needs watching—" she surveyed her help. "Cristina, can you do that?"

"You're giving me oven-watching duty?"

"Do you really want to assemble canapés or frost cookies?"

Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Frosting cookies?"

"Trust me. It'll work." Soon Izzie had Burke assembling canapés, Meredith topping bruschetta, and Derek slicing lemons and limes for drinks. Izzie herself was frosting cookies and Alex was allowed to organize the treats onto plates. Cristina kept rushing upstairs whenever Cooper cried on the baby monitor. Finally, she just chucked it at Burke, "Your son, too. Do the manly-bonding thing."

"I'm assembling the canapés. You have oven-watching duty."

"Bite me."

"Guys—not here, not now. No biting; you just had a baby." Meredith teased over the bruschetta. "Let me hog the spotlight for once; you've had it for five years."

The doorbell rang again. Izzie looked at her watch. "Hopefully that's George; he said he would show up early too." She went to answer it.

Minutes later, George and his wife, Kayla, walked in. Kayla was a pediatric nurse. They'd been married for six years and had a three-year-old, Michael. "Hey, guys, I brought wine."

"Yay. More alcohol." Meredith said.

George reddened slightly, before grinning. "Yeah, more for us." He said, grabbing a glass.

"George, you wanna pour nuts into nut bowls and place them strategically around the living room?"

"Don't yell at me if I strategize incorrectly." George said, grabbing the mix and heading into the living room.

"Kayla, can you get the ice into the buckets?" Izzie said, slightly helplessly.

"Got it."

The eight of them worked quietly for almost twenty minutes. Everything was almost ready when the doorbell rang for the first time. "Dammit!" Izzie exclaimed. "I hope it's not the neighbors. I barely know them, I don't want things not being ready. I hope it's a nurse or something."

"You invited nurses?" Cristina's voice was a mix of surprise and scorn.

"Yeah." Izzie said in her best 'duh' voice. "I'll go get the door."

Luckily for Izzie, it was Cassandra Whitmore-Fielding, a 26-year-old fifth-year resident who had interned under Cristina. Cass had been a sort of a whiz kid; she'd attended kindergarten but then had been homeschooled till she was 12 and started high school. She had graduated from Penn State with honors in chemistry and microbiology at eighteen and then had gone to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. With her late birthday, she'd started her internship at Seattle Grace at 21—when most of her peers were just getting their med school decisions. Brainy but well-adjusted, she'd married a same-year intern their third year and she was very close to Cristina.

"Hey, Derek, Meredith. Hey Cristina. Hey Chief. Hi Alex. Hey, Kayla." Cass, like most of the younger residents and interns, always deferred to Burke as 'Chief,' even in friendly settings. When Webber had retired three years ago, Burke had been named Chief over Derek, but Meredith thought that Derek personally got the better deal: he was given a raise and virtual autonomy over the entire neurosurgery department, which was becoming the go-to one in the entire Northwest. While he was still accountable to Burke, it was like they shared the job—they checked-and-balanced each other—but Burke got the title, the prestige, and the paperwork. She turned to Izzie, "Tom couldn't come; he's very sorry about it. I brought a collection of sea salts." She held out the square hickory box to Izzie.

"Thanks," Izzie smiled warmly. "Well, we're not quite set up yet—but eat anything you'd like; I promise it's all delicious. And feel free to look into any rooms that you want. That's the point of this."

"Except if you go upstairs and wake the baby; I'll have to kill you." Cristina replied as she watched the timer slowly count down.

"Oh, but I want to see my godson." Cass teasingly cooed.

"The baptism's still not for another two weeks; I have time to replace you." Cristina replied.

"Not me, though, right?" George said, walking into the kitchen. "Cause I have cool Christmas gifts picked out already."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Not you, George. Not yet, anyways." Meredith knew that George had been Burke's push and Cristina had only totally given in because she had no other names available. George was absolutely thrilled about it, though. He and Cristina got along much better than they had in their intern days, but he still aggravated her at times. A lot of times. The timer beeped, and she pulled the quiche out of the oven.

"Good, we're ready." Izzie sighed as she put the quiche on to plates.

It wasn't a moment too soon. The rest of the guests started trickling in. Bailey arrived with Tucker. She was now Chief Attending; she was becoming well known and respected in her own right—not just as Webber's latest prodigy. Callie came with her husband Brett, a pharmacist. Some surgeons from Alex's practice arrived and they exchanged manly back-slap-hugs. Neighbors showed up and were quickly introduced to the hospital staff. Meredith was quickly caught up in conversation with their next-door neighbor, a sixtyish grandmotherly type named Lily. Interns, residents, and attendings circulated throughout the room. Music wafted between the two rooms. Alex's taste was much better than Izzie let on. Izzie led tour groups through the downstairs, showing off the screened-in porch, the new refrigerator, the DVD collection.

The music became louder as Meredith snagged a bottle of water and went into the living room to find Derek. Not seeing him, she crossed to Cass, Cristina, and a group of interns. Suddenly, from behind her, Derek grabbed her wrist and twirled her around. "Hey," she said, smiling teasingly. "I wanna dance."

"You know the rule about dancing."

"Rules are for breaking."

"Not this one. I only break this one for special occasions. Weddings. Anniversaries. Things that have Hallmark cards."

"They make Hallmark cards for a lot of things these days. Including housewarming."

"Nah, it's gotta have a section. Whole one. Big, across the wall section."

"Kay, if there's no dancing, I gotta know what the surprise is?"

"Again—trusting Avery is never a good idea."

"She's a smart girl though—the genes are there."

"Damn right the genes are there." Cristina walked over. "You talking about my kid?"

"Your kid knows something. He knows something. And they're being sneaky and possibly even collaborating. And I wanna know what it is." Cristina's demeanor shifted slightly. "Oh, my god. You know what it is too. You're being sneaky with him."

"I know nothing; I see nothing; I heard nothing." Cristina walked away.

Meredith turned pathetically to Derek. "You all know. And you won't tell me." She looked up hopefully. "A dance would help."

Derek laughed, one of his great laughs that showed his teeth. "Not on your life." He took her hand. "Come on. Let's mingle."

"As long as there's no shop talk. Secrets and shop talk on the same night don't mix well with pregnancy hormones."

"Honey, we're practically at a surgical convention. Shop talk is inevitable."

"Not if we avoid Burke. And Cristina. And Cass. She shop talks a lot too." Meredith said darkly.

"Meredith, help in the kitchen!" Izzie called.

"See? Rescued." Derek walked over to Burke, probably to discuss something boring and surgical.

Bailey was in the kitchen with Izzie, helping her arrange more truffles on a plate. "Hey, Bailey," Meredith said, eating a truffle.

"Evening, Grey. Enjoying the party?"

Meredith shrugged. "My best friend and my husband are plotting something with a five-year-old. And I actually care."

"Slightly ridiculous."

"Yeah, I know." Meredith said. She perked up, though. "You know pretty much everything. Do you know what's going on?"

"You think that I pay that much attention?"

Meredith's eyes narrowed. "Great, so you're in on it too. I know you, Miranda; this is how you operate."

"I operate with a scalpel and sometimes with sarcasm; you're completely off base here."

"Okay, okay, I get it. They've sworn you to secrecy."

"Who's sworn you to secrecy?" Izzie asked, laughing as she finished a conversation.

"Derek and Cristina. Or maybe just Derek." Noticing a change in Izzie's demeanor, more obvious than either Bailey's or Cristina's had been, she said, "Oh, god. You too. I'm just going to wait it out. But you tell them, I have my guard up. They're not going to trick me with whatever they're planning."

"Mere, don't get all anal and hyped. Just go with it. Surprises can be good."

"Look at my track record with surprises." Meredith pointed out. "Do either of you like that track record?"

"It's sort of like your dating record." Izzie said, straight-faced. Meredith lobbed a carrot at her, which Izzie caught as it rolled down her chest and then ate. "I'll just take this tray out."

"Seriously, Meredith," Bailey headed out, "You need to quit being paranoid and thinking about what they are going to do with you."

"Right." Meredith said, "Sit back, enjoy things. Got it."

"You might like it." Bailey called over her shoulder.

"Right," Meredith smiled down onto her truffle tray.

The party lasted several more hours; they were the last four to stumble out after having helped Izzie and Alex clean up enough so that they could go to bed without feeling guilty.

"Night Derek. Night Mere." Cristina yawned as she exited the car with a sleeping Cooper. "Avery will probably call you tomorrow and ask you to come to lunch."

"Kay. We'll be waiting. Night." Meredith called.

"Good party." Derek said sleepily as they drove home.

"Yeah. Izzie was very happy with it."

"Sure got a lot of kitchen things."

"Don't complain; now she'll be baking…stuff…and bringing it in for us on a regular basis."

"I love walking into the hospital and seeing one of those baskets on the nurses' station." Derek's eyes were closed, but a close-lipped smile spread across his lips.

She drove silently through the streets, navigating confidently back to her—their—house. Burke and Cristina had intentionally chosen something close to Meredith and Derek, and it was a short drive back home.

They walked upstairs quietly, too tuckered out to do anything else. They poured themselves into their clothes and dropped into their bed. "Love you," Derek whispered into her hair, massaging her belly and spooning himself around her.

Clutching his arm and nestling herself deeper into his body, she murmured back, "Love you, too."