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Although she and Derek technically lived alone, Meredith's house was in close enough vicinity to the hospital that it was often used as a pitstop by the residents and interns. A few nights after their trial had been published Lexie declared that she would be crashing there after Bailey had unexpectedly extended her shift.

Derek had already gone to bed and Meredith was about to when she arrived, looking harassed and exhausted.

"Do you guys ever eat?" Lexie demanded, tearing open the refrigerator and scanning the contents. "Or do you live off of shredded cheese and Greek yogurt?"

"We're at the hospital most of the time, Lexie," Meredith reminded her gently. Groaning, Lexie plucked an apple off the bowl in the center of the table and collapsed into a chair.

"Today was a nightmare," she groaned through a mouthful of apple, and went on to lament about the 93 year old comatose woman she had been in charge of babysitting since 6am that morning.

Despite the fact that it was nearing midnight, Meredith slid a mug of coffee across the table to her sister. "The joys of being an intern."

Lexie snorted. "Right." She began absentmindedly shifting through the unopened pile of mail on the table. "Hey, was there a news reporter at work today to interview you and Derek.? Thats insane. I mean, you guys are pretty much -" Suddenly Lexie paused as she stared down at a piece of mail she had come across.

"What is it?" Meredith said, mechanically reaching out and snatching the pamphlet from under Lexie's nose. She felt her face drain of color when she realized what it was.

"I didn't know you wanted kids!" Lexie squealed happily. It was a Pathways to Parenthood pamphlet, decked out with an image of a grinning woman holding a perfect, smooth baby. Meredith thought it must be a doll or something. She had never seen a real baby lie that still.

"I don't know if I do yet," Meredith rushed to explain. "I mean… I was thinking about it. I was looking into it. Not yet, though." she let out a strangled laugh. "Not for a while."

Lexie looked at her suggestively. "Would it be Derek's?"

"I don't know!" Meredith snapped, flustered. She wasn't willing to admit that she spent most of her free meantally planning out a nursery in the spare bedroom. Or that she was now conducting meticulous research as to the best brand of diapers. (So far: Pampers.) She glanced at Lexie wearily. "Please don't tell anyone. I'm honestly just considering it. Barely."

Lexie held up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "My lips are sealed."

"Thank you," Meredith breathed in relief.

Lexie tilted her head to the side, smirking. "But would it be Dr. Shepherd's?" she gasped. "McBaby!"

"Lexie!" Meredith snapped. Her sister smiled pointedly at her and rested her face on the back of her hands. Defeated, Meredith sighed deeply. She tilted her head back and stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah. It would probably be Derek's."

Lexie giggled triumphantly as she discarded her apple core and reached for a banana.

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The following morning, after Lexie had left to go to the hospital, Meredith slipped out of bed and went downstairs with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The pile of mail was still strewn out across the table where they had left it. She picked up the Pathways to Parenthood brochure and stared down at it.

There was a phone number on the inside cover. Before she could stop herself, Meredith grabbed the phone from the wall and punched it in. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she held it against her ear, listening to the dial tone.

Someone answered at the third ring. "Hi, thank you for calling -"

Meredith slammed the phone back down on the receiver and sagged against the counter, breathing heavily. Something was stopping her.

It occurred to her that hiring a surrogate would be admitting defeat. Placing a hand gently over her stomach, Meredith whimpered. She felt strangely empty, like she would never be able to do what her body was meant to.

Suddenly Derek entered the kitchen, shirtless and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He saw Meredith and froze. "What's wrong?"

Meredith shook her head and forced a smile. "Nothing. I'm fine." She furtively discarded the pamphlet and crossed the room to Derek to place a light kiss on his cheek. "I was just thinking about the future."

Derek smiled as he picked up the coffee pot and poured some into a mug. "Oh yeah? What was going on?"

"Oh, you know. We were 110. You were an old, bald coke addict and I had Alzheimers. I kept on asking who you were, but you wouldn't answer because you couldn't remember either."

Derek nodded seriously. "Because of the coke."

"Because of the coke," Meredith grinned. She sat at the kitchen table and watched Derek go through the motions of preparing breakfast. He still remembered that she liked hers sunny side up; he hadn't even had to ask.

She looked down and swirled her coffee idly. "What do you think of the name Henrietta?" she asked, hoping to sound off hand.

"Too many syllables," Derek answered immediately. He slid an egg onto a plate and handed it to Meredith. "What about Martha?"

Meredith shook her head vehemently. "Gross. I had a lab partner named Martha."

Derek cocked his head. "What was wrong with her?"

"Nothing! I just don't want to name my baby after my college lab partner."

Smirking, Derek sat in the chair across from her. "Ah. So we are discussing baby names."

Meredith nearly choked on her coffee when she realized what she had implied. "Oh my god. I'm sorry -"

Derek silenced her by placing a hand on her forearm. "How about Gwendelyn?"

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AN: I'm thinking about wrapping this story up within the next few chaps. There will definitely be a sequel, but I don't think it would be appropriate to tack a baby storyline onto this same story; it has enough substance to be its own.

Please review and tell me what you think/suggestions you have!