Sorry it took so long. I have been working on my mini-movie script and time kind of got away from me. Here's part 2; hoping to get chapter 12 up soon.
Later that night after dinner, the kids were in the living room watching a Disney movie while Meredith and Derek were catching up with Carolyn in the kitchen.
During dinner, Carolyn had found out that not only was Meredith pregnant, but pregnant with twins. Meredith and Derek still weren't sure if they were going to tell anyone the gender of the babies, but they decided that Carolyn of people should know, so Meredith gave Derek the joy of telling his mother that the twins were a boy and a girl.
To say that Carolyn Shepherd was excited about the news of her newest grandchildren would be an understatement.
Meredith was sitting at the island counter that sits in the middle of the spacious kitchen, as instructed by Derek, as Derek helped Carolyn clean up from dinner.
"So, do you two have names picked out?" Carolyn was now very interested in knowing everything she could about Meredith's pregnancy.
"Well, we decided to name them after my sister, as a memory type thing. So we're naming them Marcus Alexander and for the girl, well we still need to think of a first name for her, but her middle name will be either Alexandra or Lexie." Meredith could see the tears that were welling up in Carolyn's eyes at the mention of Mark's name. Years later and it was still hard on everybody that knew the plastic surgeon, and even harder on Meredith on Lexie's behalf.
"That's a nice sentiment." There was quiet in the kitchen for a few minutes before Carolyn spoke up again. "It's ashamed you two won't be able to stay long enough for all of the girls to come over. They would all love to see you two and the kids."
Discreetly, Meredith rolled her eyes at even thinking of seeing Nancy. Ever since she met Nancy in person all those years ago, she couldn't stand the woman—so much to the fact that she avoids her at all costs. Lizzie was a bit different; ever since she and Meredith had a truce after Meredith revealed her pregnancy with Bailey to Lizzie, they had begun talking. Meredith had only met Kathleen a handful of times, so there wasn't really much she could say about the woman other than the fact that she wasn't as bitchy as Nancy. Her favorite Shepherd sister, though is Amelia—even with all of their fights and arguments, which had been far and few between.
"Yeah, it's a shame… we'll catch them next time," Derek replied as he watched his wife roll her eyes. Thankfully, Carolyn didn't see Meredith's action. "But for this short trip, we're happy to spend it with just you. The kids missed their Nana."
"Which is why we're going out into the city tomorrow. I want as much time with those two as possible," Carolyn declared as she finished putting the dried dishes back into their proper place.
The next morning, Meredith and Derek got their two children ready for a day out in New York City while Carolyn was finishing breakfast. They had sat down just like that had the night before and ate a quick breakfast before they headed out into the city.
They first headed to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Carolyn was excited to take Zola and Bailey on their first museum visit because it was her tradition to take all of her grandchildren on their first trip to the museum. Meredith and Derek hung behind where Carolyn was guiding their children through the museum.
Meredith was watching as Zola was interested in everything Carolyn was pointing out while Bailey was following his grandmother around. Derek noticed her watching on and squeezed Meredith's hand.
"We're halfway there with the twins," Derek said in a low whisper.
Meredith smiled and looked at her husband. "Yeah, I know. Feels like we were just finding out I was pregnant yesterday."
"Well, in all fairness, we did just find out a month and a half ago," Derek said with a chuckle. All he received in response was a gentle punch in the arm.
Silence followed them as they followed Carolyn's trail through the museum. "I'm glad that nothing too serious happened to you that day. I honestly don't know what I would have done if you were…I don't think I would have been able to handle four kids by myself. Just…thank you, for everything that you have done recently. And, I'm sorry about all the fighting we've done in the past year. I just wanted you to be happy," Meredith said softly, avoiding eye contact with Derek.
Derek stopped them in their tracks before gently holding Meredith's arms. "I am happy right here, right now. With you, Zola, Bailey and the twins. And I don't want to go back to the period where we were living on separate coasts. And I don't want you taking all the blame, because it was my fault too. I'm the one that wanted us to go to D.C; I'm the one that expected you to up and move with me; I'm the one that took a more demanding job rather than stepping back like I told you I would. It's more my fault than yours."
Meredith hugged Derek tightly. "Just don't leave again. I can't do this by myself. I need you there with me."
They had eventually caught up with Carolyn after their brief stop. Zola was going on about everything that Carolyn had just showed her while Bailey was held in his grandmother's arms.
Unfortunately, their returning flight was due to leave in a few hours, so they needed to end their trip shortly. Seeing the devastating look on Zola's face made Meredith's heart break.
"Zo, I hear there's a really big Toys R Us around here somewhere. How about we go there and buy you a new toy? You can play with it on the plane on our way home." Meredith tried to bribe her daughter, as bad as that made her feel. Zola's eyes were wide when she heard the words fall from her mother's mouth.
The five of them returned to Carolyn's house and had a very brief time of talking before the Seattle Shepherds had to leave for the airport.
On the flight back, Zola and Bailey were fast asleep, thanks to Carolyn's city exploring. Meredith and Derek were talking in quiet whispers about what needed to be done to the house before the twins arrived.
Working on the next chapter tomorrow. I'll have time between my first morning class and first afternoon class. I'm going to do a time jump of a few weeks next chapter, to get further in Meredith's pregnancy.