Mother
The wind had started blowing harder and air felt like freezing now; it was so typical for Seattle to pass so suddenly from warm weather to a really cold spell. Meredith shivered as she came in contact with the cold air and tucked herself into her flannel jacket, while her children got out of the car and ran to the porch.
Since Derek had followed them on their way back from the park, he was soon at his wife's side, wrapping an arm around her and walking her to their house.
"I stained my dress," Jessie whined as she checked her clothes, probably for the first time that evening. "I don't like the rain," she stated, frowning.
"You should hate soccer if you like to keep your clothes clean." Derek chuckled teasingly, while he unlocked the door.
Jessie didn't answer because she was the first one who stormed inside.
"Hey! Leave your shoes by the door!" Meredith shouted after her, but it was a warning addressed to the whole family.
"How are you feeling?" Derek asked Meredith as he helped her take off the jacket.
"Better, I guess," Meredith shrugged; she propped her hand on Derek's arm to take off the boots. "It helps to not think of it and the cold air seemed to have helped me too."
"Sandy, can you take care of your sister and help her with her bath?" Derek asked, shouting after Sandy.
"Yeah!" Sandy's answer came from upstairs. "Come on, Jessie!"
"I'll take care of Scott, so you go eat something or lie down." Derek took her in his arms, caressing her cheeks lovingly.
"I ate before we left and the kids have been fed too." Meredith hugged him, resting herself in his embrace. "I'll go take a shower."
"Try a bubble bath," Derek suggested.
Meredith looked up at him, pouted. "Alone?"
Derek chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips. "Should I send Scotty to the girls or should I bring him with us?" he asked. Meredith frowned, unpleased with their choices. "I'll be all yours after I finish with him," Derek whispered in her ear, running his hand along her back, lingering lower.
Meredith giggled and pulled back from his arms, knowing that Scott was still there with them and Derek's gestures weren't proper for his age. "Go scrub him!"
Derek picked Scott up and tucked him under his arm, earning hysterical laughs. Meredith followed them upstairs and entered her bedroom.
Derek walked to the end of the hall, where one of the bathrooms was and grabbed the doorknob, pushing the door open. "Dad!" As he did that, the door slammed in his face followed by Sandy's shouts. "We're naked!" and then he heard the lock's click.
"I have to give Scott his bath. Why don't you use the bathroom downstairs?" Derek tried the door again, futilely.
"You go use that!" Sandy shouted back. "We got here first!"
"Yeah!" Jessie followed her sister, protesting.
"Oh come on!" Derek adopted a pleading tone this time, hoping he would melt them and convince them to go to the other bathroom. "He's little. It won't take me long to wash him."
"He is little, but he is the dirtiest boy his age I've ever seen. Use your bathroom, dad!" Sandy retorted. "We are in here!
Derek sighed, irritated. "Your mother is using that bathroom, so please get out now. I don't want to argue with you over my bathrooms!" Derek waited, hoping he had been firm enough and Sandy would listen to him.
And he continued to wait. Then he heard the water pouring.
"Your sister is grounded," Derek grumbled, looking at Scott.
"Yay!" Scott grinned and clutched onto his father as he climbed down the stairs to take him to the other bathroom. "But I don't want a bath," he complained.
"You have to. Don't you see how dirty you are?"
"I like to be dirty. I don't like the water, Daddy!" Scott continued whimpering.
"Of course you like the water. You like it when you swim in the swimming pool and you liked it last summer when we went to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa," Derek replied.
"But I can't swim in the bathtub," the boy complained. "Don't wash my ears."
"You have to clean up everything, Scotty," Derek chuckled. "You don't want to stink."
"Jessie and Sandy stink!" Scott protested.
"They don't stink," Derek laughed, "Because they use perfume."
"That thing stinks too," Scott retorted.
They finally got to the bathroom. Derek put Scott down, laughing. "That thing kind of stinks indeed, but they still smell better than you do right now, so get inside." He showed him the inside as he turned on the lights.
In the meantime, Meredith shut the bedroom door and started stripping her clothes off on her way to the bathroom. She turned on the water, adjusting its temperature and poured in some bubble bath. She let the bathtub fill with water and walked over to the bathroom counter to brush her teeth.
In the strong light of the bathroom, Meredith frowned as she saw her image in the mirror. She put her toothbrush back in its place, not taking her eyes from her image. She ran her fingers over her cheeks, under her eyes; she looked pale and she had purple shadows under her eyes. Meredith shuddered, scarred by her own image. 'How come Derek hasn't told me how bad I look?' she asked herself. Then she felt her stomach flipping as another wave of nausea hit. She splashed cold water over her face a few times and turned it off.
Her bathtub was now almost filled with water and overflowing with bubbles. A pleasant, relaxing scent of lavender had filled the bathroom already. Meredith dimmed the lights and took one of the candles she and Derek were keeping for their intimate baths out of the cabinet. She lighted it and placed it at the edge of the bathtub. Then she turned off the water and stepped inside, moaning in pleasure as she already felt the effect of the warm water over her skin and muscles. She lay down and leaned her head over the edge of the bathtub, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. It was silence, a complete silence, such a silence that she could feel her head throbbing in pain. Slowly the nausea faded and she drifted to sleep.
A muffled ring of a phone made her stir. She listened carefully to the sound she thought she had heard. It was indeed a phone; her mobile phone was ringing.
"Enough with my moment." She sighed as she stood up halfheartedly and stepped out of the bathtub. She wrapped a bathrobe around her, blew off the candle and walked back to the bedroom. The phone was still ringing and she heard it in her bag. She fumbled after it and flipped it open as she found it.
"Hey, Mer!" Addison's cheerful voice greeted her. "Are you busy?"
"Not anymore," Meredith grumbled; she crawled into the bed and sat in the middle, tucking her legs beneath her. "We spent some time at the park and now we're cleaning ourselves up. How are you?"
"Big, heavy and tired," Addison groaned.
"I feel the same, except for the big and heavy part." Meredith giggled.
"You should have told me you were going to the park. I would have sent Josh with you guys! He drove me insane with that idiotic PlayStation. He likes to have the volume turned to maximum," Addison stated and sighed, sounding exhausted.
"I have three, Addie, and yours would have sent me straight to a hospital bed." Meredith groaned. "Where's Mark anyway?"
"He's on call tonight. Oh and speaking of number three," Her voice became thrilled. "Izzie made me a scan today."
"Today? Didn't you have the appointment next week?" Meredith asked, confused.
"I did, but the baby has been kicking a lot lately and really bad, so Izzie and I decided to check what's going on in there," Addison said. "I'm scared, Mer," she said, but she sounded rather amused than scared.
"Why?" Meredith was now really confused.
"Mark wasn't there with me," Addison replied.
"Ok, so? Is something wrong with the baby?" Meredith asked, suddenly worried.
"No, no," Addison giggled, hurrying to clear that up. "I'm carrying twins, Mer! Girls!" she squealed in the phone, making Meredith pull away from it wincing. "Mark's going to freak out."
"Tell me about," Meredith giggled. "Congratulations, Addie! I know how much you wished for a girl. But how come you didn't see the second baby before? You're nearly 6 months along with the pregnancy."
"Oh you know how it happens. The second baby is smaller, but it looks good and their heartbeats sound in unison; that's why neither of us noticed there was a second heartbeat. I'm so happy, Mer!"
"I know." Meredith smiled, honestly happy for her friend. "Don't worry about Mark. He still has some weeks left to get used to the idea."
"He has to get used to it. Now I'm a little worried about Izzie," Addison said, sounding concerned.
"About your pregnancy?" Meredith asked knowingly.
"Yeah. She's had 3 miscarriages so far. I don't think I did the right thing when I agreed to have her as my doctor. It must be terribly difficult for her."
"I'm sure it is," Meredith answered. "But she would have felt even worse if you had avoided her."
"That's true," Addison sighed. "I talked to her today about a surrogate mother for their baby. She and Alex can have babies, but she can't take the pregnancy to term."
"That's a good idea. I told her about it too. What did she say this time?" Meredith asked.
"She's still has doubts. She wants to feel and experience everything with the baby."
"I understand her perfectly," Meredith sighed. "But nothing compares with the first moment when you hold your baby in your arms."
"I was thinking..." Addison meant to say something, but paused, hesitating. "No, never mind."
"What is it?" Meredith asked, curious, not wishing to let go.
"It was a stupid thought." Addison laughed, sounding embarrassed. "Now..."
"Tell me, Addison!" Meredith cut her off, determined to find out whatever that thought was.
Meredith could hear her sighing. "Maybe she would find it comforting if ... if the surrogate mother was a person close to her."
Meredith was left speechless. She hadn't thought about that. "But... but you're pregnant already." She stammered.
A short silence fell between them before Addison found the dare to speak again. "I'm not her only friend," she said, barely audible.
"Me?" Meredith asked with a low voice. Her? A surrogate mother for Izzie's baby?
"Or Christina," Addison added hesitantly.
"I don't know what to say," Meredith muttered. "I haven't thought about this."
"It's a lot to think about, I know, so... it was just a thought anyway; a silly thought. Now tell me, what's wrong with you?" Addison changed the subject swiftly.
Meredith sighed and forgot for the moment of Addison's suggestion. She lay on her back, holding a hand over her stomach. Now that Addison asked, Meredith could feel again the fatigue and the nausea. "I think I need a break, Addie; at least from work."
"Then take the day off tomorrow. Stay home and sleep as much as you feel you need to. Tomorrow is a school day so you'll have the children away the whole morning. I'm sure the Chief would agree," Addison suggested.
"It sounds tempting," Meredith muttered sleepily.
"It's tempting and do it. Now I gotta go. I heard my little monster in his room so I have to go check on him."
"Ok," Meredith smiled. She knew how hard to control Josh was and she often sympathized with Addison; she already had 3 children. "Congratulations, Addie for the babies!"
"Thank, Mer! I'll talk to you tomorrow. I really have to run and check on him now; I think I hear bangs from the next room," Addison said in hurry.
"Hurry up and tie him down." Meredith giggled.
"I wish it could be that easy," Addison laughed. "Bye, Mer!" Meredith didn't have time to reply because the line went dead.
She put the phone aside and closed her eyes, relaxing. 'It could have been worse', she thought, remembering Addison's struggles with her son.