A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. I really appreciate them. I can't believe I got another chapter up this soon. I assume that babies go to the doctor before they are three weeks old but I made it three weeks in the story just so it goes with the time line and everything. So yeah. LOL. Thanks again.
Today was the babies three week check up and Meredith was running around like a crazy person trying to get them ready. Ever since they had gotten home from the hospital the boys had hated getting in their car seats. This created a problem for Meredith so she always had to start getting ready earlier than normal.
When Meredith finally had the boys buckled and they had stopped crying she heard the back door open. She went into the kitchen to see who it was.
"Derek? What are you doing here?" Meredith asked.
"Today is the boys' first check up, right?"
Meredith nodded her head.
"I'm here to go to the doctor with my sons."
Meredith nodded her head and grabbed a few bottles from the cabinet. She threw them in the diaper bag and went into the living room where the boys were waiting. She slung the diaper bag around her shoulder and picked up both car seats.
"Here, let me take one." Derek offered and Meredith shook her head.
"I've got it."
Meredith then led the way out to the car where she put the seats into the back seat and put the diaper bag on the floor. She got into the front seat and waited for Derek to get in the car before they left.
"So how have you been?" Derek asked.
"Fine." Meredith lied. You could see the bags under her eyes. She was obviously not getting any sleep.
"That's good." Derek said. He could tell that she was lying but didn't want to push her any further.
"How have the boys been?"
"Good."
"That's good."
Before Derek could ask anything else Meredith spoke up. "Can you please cut all the small talk? It's not helping any. This is weird enough as it is. I don't know why you even bothered coming with me."
"Because I love you and those are my children back there. I want to help you. I want to be there for both them and you. Please Meredith." Derek pleaded.
"No. You kissed your ex-wife Derek. You kissed her." Meredith spoke gently.
"I know, and I'm sorry."
"Then why did you do it?"
"I don't know. She kissed me and it just felt...right. But then when we pulled apart, all I could think about was you and how I had betrayed you. I couldn't believe that I had done that and I realized that I don't love Addison. I love you."
"I wish I believed that." Meredith scoffed.
Derek sighed. "I wish you did too."
Meredith pulled into the doctor's parking lot and turned off the car. She took the keys and placed them in the diaper bag. She then went to the trunk and took out the double stroller. Derek came around to help her with it but she just pushed him away.
"I can do it. This isn't the first time I've taken the babies out. We go out every day. It's how I stay sane."
Once Meredith had opened the stroller she took the two car seats out of the car and snapped them into stroller. She then locked the car and began to walk ahead of Derek.
"When you take them out, where do you go?" Derek asked.
"We go food shopping or just for a walk. I haven't had time to work out so I can't go buy clothes. As soon as they are a little older I'll take them to the gym with me."
"If you want to work out I can watch them for you. I can watch them today." Derek offered.
Meredith shook her head. "They're a lot of work. They both eat around the same time and they always need to be changed at the same time."
"Are you saying that you don't trust me to watch my own children?" Derek laughed.
"Yeah, I am. They are a lot of work."
"Well I'm sure that if you can do, I can do it too." Derek snapped.
Meredith let out an angry laugh and began to walk ahead of Derek. When they got up to the waiting room, she took a seat close to the wall leaving no room for Derek to sit next to her.
"Cameron and Daniel Shepherd." A nurse called from the doorway.
Meredith stood up and pushed the stroller towards the door.
"I'm sorry Doctor Grey but there isn't going to be enough room for the stroller. Do you mind just carrying the boys?"
Meredith shook her head and unsnapped both car seats. "Where should I leave the stroller?" She asked.
"If you could fold it up and put it in the corner. I'm sorry. It just takes up to much room." The nurse said.
"It's no problem, I understand." Meredith said.
She placed both car seats on the ground and walked back out to the waiting room where she proceeded to fold the stroller. After several attempts, Meredith kicked the stroller in frustration. Derek walked over to her and took her in his arms. For the first time in weeks, she accepted his touch and let she cry on him.
"Shush, it's okay." Derek soothed.
Meredith shook her head. "It's not okay. It's not. I'm tired. I am so so tired. I haven't gotten any sleep in weeks. They wake up every three hours and then I have to feed them and change them and by the time the second one goes to sleep the first one is almost ready to get up. I'm exhausted. Sure Izzie and George help, but not all the time. They don't help in the middle of the night because they have work. And then they're gone during the day so it leaves me with the two babies for hours on end. I can't do this anymore Derek. I just can't. And If I wasn't so fat...I'd still have you. But I lost you. I know that's why you went back to Addison because she's skinny and only had one baby and she gets sleep at night. I had two babies and I'm fat and I don't get any sleep. I'm not stupid Derek; I know that why you left me and I hate myself for that, I just..." At that point Meredith continued to cry and Derek just held her.
"I didn't leave you because you are fat. You are beautiful, and I love you the way you are. I would never ever leave you. Do you understand?" Derek questioned.
Meredith nodded.
"And when we get home today, I'm going to watch the boys and you're going to take a long bath and then take a nap, okay? We're going to make this work."
Meredith nodded her head.
"Now, explain to me how we fold this up." Derek asked.
"You just...you just twist the little thingy on the handle bar."
"Okay."
Derek folded up the stroller and placed it in the corner of the room. He then went over to the boys and picked up their car seats and followed the nurse into the exam room. When Meredith walked in, she went over to Derek and hugged him. She didn't let go until the doctor came in.
After the doctor's office, Meredith and Derek went out for lunch. When they got home Derek made a hot bath for Meredith while she prepared the babies' bottles. When Meredith got out of the tub, she went into her room and fell asleep. She must have been sleeping for awhile because when she woke up she heard Izzie and George fighting down the hall. She rolled over to see what time it was and found Derek lying next to her.
"Hey there sleeping beauty." Derek smiled.
"Hey." Meredith scooted closer to Derek and rested her head on his chest. "How long was I sleeping for?" She asked.
"About five hours."
"Oh my God. How are the boys?"
"They are sound asleep in their bassinets."
Meredith smiled and walked over to them bassinets. Cameron had his pacifier in his mouth and Daniel was sucking on his fist. She looked back over at Derek and noticed the big smirk on his face.
"What?" Meredith asked.
"You have no idea how beautiful you are."
Meredith blushed. "Thank you for watching them." She said as she changed the subject.
"Mere...?"
"What?"
"You really are beautiful. You're perfect."
"Don't lie Derek. Look at all this blubber." Meredith showed him her stomach.
"You just gave birth to two babies. You're perfect the way you are."
Meredith gave in and smiled. "Thank you."
"Are we good?" Derek asked.
"We're on our way there." Meredith said as she crawled back into bed.
The two woke a few hours later when Derek's cell phone started to ring. Meredith jumped up and grabbed the phone to answer it. Derek sat up next to her and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Who is it?" Derek asked.
"Um...it's Addison." Meredith stated.
She handed Derek the phone and got out of the bed.
"I'll be downstairs making bottles for the boys. Don't make too much noise or both of them are going to wake up screaming their heads off."
Derek watched as Meredith left the room. He sighed inwardly. He knew that she was upset, but he still had to talk to Addison.
"Derek. Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. What's going on?" Derek asked. He could hear Alexis screaming in the background. "Is she alright?"
"She won't stop crying. I don't know what to do. Derek, I'm going crazy."
"Is she wet? Or hungry?"
"Derek, no. She's not wet, and she's not hungry."
"Okay, I'll be over in a few minutes."
"Thank you Derek."
Derek sighed and walked down the stairs. He found Meredith in the kitchen filling two bottles. She had a frown on her face, and her eyes were filled with sadness.
"Alexis won't stop crying. I have to run over to Addison's."
Meredith placed the bottles on the counter and turned to face Derek.
"Okay." Meredith said. "I'll probably be sleeping when you get in so try not to make a lot of noise."
Derek nodded his head. "Bye Mere."
Meredith didn't say anything. She picked up the bottles and placed them in the bottle warmers.
Derek walked over to her and kissed the top of her head. "I won't be out long. I promise."
"Yeah." Meredith mumbled.
With that Meredith walked past Derek and up the stairs with the two baby bottles in her hands. Derek sighed. He knew that he shouldn't be going over there but at the same time he had to. Alexis was his daughter and she needed him. But then again he was leaving Mere once more with two infants.
Derek watched as Meredith walked into their bedroom and closed the door. He picked up his keys and then walked out to his car.
When Derek arrived at Addison's house, she was waiting outside on the steps with Alexis. Alexis wasn't crying but as Derek got closer and closer he could see her tear stained face.
"Is she okay?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, she's fine. She'll be fine." Addison answered.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm good. I just I got a little frustrated and I didn't know what to do for her."
"Hey, it's okay."
Derek sat down on the step next to Addison and put his arm around her.
"Every first time mom makes mistakes sometimes. It's natural."
"Not Meredith. You left her for three weeks and she took care of two babies all by herself. I can't even take care of one. I'm a failure, Derek. And I just want to cry. All I want to do is cry but I keep telling myself that I have to stay strong for the baby. That the baby needs me but I find myself so...so useless. When she cries like that I just want to call you and tell you to take her. But I can't because I have to stay strong for her." Addison handed Alexis over to Derek and walked inside. She came out with a car seat and a bag full of Alexis' things. "Derek, please take her. Just for the night even. I can't do this. I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt her. Please."
"Addie...you won't hurt her."
"Yes I will. Just take her please."
With that Addison closed the door to her house. She walked over to the window and watched as Derek tried to understand what had just happened. She knew that she needed to get help, but she needed Derek to understand why. She slowly closed the shade and walked into her bedroom where she took two Tylenol and laid down.
When Derek got back to Meredith's, the lights upstairs were still on. That meant that she was still awake. On the ride home Alexis had fallen asleep. Derek picked her car seat up and carried it up to their bedroom. Meredith was on the bed staring at the phone and only looked up when she heard the sound of Alexis' rattle.
"I'm home. I told you I wouldn't take long." Derek tried to lighten the mood.
"I see you brought someone with you."
"Yeah." Derek placed the car seat on the ground along with the diaper bag. "Addison needed a break."
"Where were you when I needed a break?" Meredith snapped.
"If I remember correctly you wouldn't let me help you."
Meredith looked down at her lap.
"Plus, I don't think Addison's break is the same as yours. She was near tears when I got there. She's going to see a doctor in the morning. If I were you I'd watch what you said next time."
Derek took Alexis out of her car seat and walked into the twins' nursery. He placed her in one of the cribs that the twins were not yet using and laid down on the day bed that they had put in there for midnight feedings. A few minutes later Meredith walked into the room holding one of the twins. She sat down at the foot of the bed and tickled Derek's foot.
"We'll make this work Der. I promise. We'll find a way to make this work."
Derek looked up at her. "I know." He said and then pulled her down next to him. He kissed the back of her head. "We should probably go back to our room before we fall asleep. We want to be able to hear Cameron if he wakes up."
"But what about Alexis?"
"I think it's best if we leave her in here. I'll hook up the baby monitor but if she comes in our room we'll have three babies waking up all at the same time."
Meredith smiled at him. "I knew that brain of yours was good for something."
"Go put Daniel back in his bassinet and I'll be in in a few minutes, okay?"
"Yup."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Derek woke up a few hours later to Alexis crying through the baby monitor. He rolled over and looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. He switched the monitor off and sat up in bed.
"Derek I can get her if you want." Meredith said from across the room where she sat with Daniel and Cameron sleeping her arms.
"When did you get up?" Derek asked as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.
"About an hour ago. Cameron leaked through his outfit so I decided to stay up with them after I changed him. I figured it was better than to go back to sleep for a half hour."
Derek nodded. " Did the boys eat yet?"
Meredith nodded her head. "They just finished. I have to put them back in their bassinets so if you want I could really take care of Alexis for you."
"No. You go to sleep. I'll be fine."
Meredith smiled. "Okay."
After putting Alexis back to sleep, Derek crawled in bed next to Mere. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt the warmth of his body next to her. She turned to face him and smiled.
"I've missed you." She said.
"I missed you too."
"I bet you I've missed you more."
"No way." Derek joked and kissed her softly on the lips. "Now get some sleep. In a few hours we'll be up again."
Meredith smiled. "Okay super-daddy."
The next morning the couple woke up to the telephone ringing. Both of them jumped up in bed praying that it hadn't woken the boys. Derek turned it on immediately and pressed it to his ear.
"Hello."
"Derek, it's me, Addison."
"Oh. Hi. What's going on?"
"I'm bringing Alexis to New York. We're going to be living with my mother until I have everything together. I'll be by your place in a half hour to get her."
With that Addison hung up, leaving Derek with a very shocked look on the other end of the phone.
A/N: Wow I got another chapter up. So what did you guys think? Let me know by reviewing lol.
