I am on a role tonight... Here is the latest installment!

When dinner was over, they remained sitting at the table. Three empty wine bottles now adorned its surface, along with empty plates and used cloth napkins. Lexie liked the way the table looked, it had so much character. Mark's hand was still holding hers, and Lexie relished the feel of it. She had never felt like she belonged anywhere, but with Mark's hand in her own, that no longer rang true.

"That was wonderful, Mrs. Shepherd," Lexie said.

"Thank you, Lexie," Carolyn said. "I am glad you liked it."

"Yeah, Mom," Mark chimed in, "It was great. I have missed your pasta."

"It was good because you helped, Mark," Carolyn said kindly. "Do you remember when you used to help me cook when you were little?"

"Oh, please don't tell that story," Mark said.

"No," Derek said with a grin. "Please do."

"Well," Carolyn said, directing her comments at Lexie and Meredith, "When the boys were little they used to spend the afternoons in my kitchen doing homework. Now, Mark always finished first and Derek refused to let him help him, so Mark had nothing to do while he waited for Derek to finish. Soon, I started to give him cooking lessons."

"He wore an apron, and everything," Derek said with relish. "It was precious."

"Nice," Mark said.

"It was," Carolyn agreed.

Mark groaned, "Well, now that we have revisited the scars of my childhood, I'll just do the dishes."

"I'll help," Lexie offered.

"Derek," Mark said, "Why don't you take your mother and Meredith into the other room and talk?"

Derek glared at him, causing Mark to grin.

Once the dishes were all in the kitchen, Lexie and Mark began a system. She would rinse them and he would dry them and put them in the drainer.

Hands deep in soapy water, Lexie grinned at him, "So an apron, huh?"

Mark laughed. "What Derek doesn't remember about that story is that his sisters used to come and help as well."

"Aw," Lexie said, "A heart breaker even back then." She tapped the side of her nose with her wet pointer finger. "I get ya."

When she moved her hand away, she left a small amount of soapy bubbles behind. "Here," Mark said, "You have something right…" He then grabbed a handful of bubbles and rubbed them on Lexie's face.

She sputtered and then grinned, wiping the soap away, "Oh, it is so on!"

Soon, soap was flying everywhere as they laughed and played like children. Mark tried to catch her, but she was too quick for him. In no time at all, they were both soaking wet and covered in bubbles.

"Lexie Grey, come back here," Mark said with a laugh. When he finally caught her, they slipped on the wet floor, and fell in a tangle of arms and legs with Mark on the bottom, and Lexie sprawled on top of him.

***

The atmosphere in the living room was quite opposite from the kitchen. Meredith and Derek were sitting on the couch, while Carolyn sat in a chair and looked at Meredith as if she were a puzzle she couldn't quite figure out.

Derek was once again trying to tell his mother about the clinical trial when Carolyn asked, "Do you like children, Meredith?"

Meredith sputtered, "Most…I mean some…"

"I was just wondering because we have a lot of children in the Shepherd family. Does that appeal to you?" Carolyn's words held no malice, but rather curious inquiry.

"Yes," Meredith said. "I want children."

Carolyn nodded.

"Mom, why don't we—"

"Go find Mark and Lexie," Carolyn said to Derek. "Meredith and I are going to have a little chat."

***

Lexie was laughing so hard, she could barely breathe. "Smooth, real smooth Dr. Sloan."

"Hey, you're one to talk, Little Grey," Mark said with a laugh. He reached up and smoothed the wet hair away from her face.

"Psh, I am totally graceful. If somebody hadn't made me lose my balance."

"Well, if somebody hadn't been running on the wet floor," Mark countered, his eyes light as he looked at her. "You will be the death of me, I can feel it. My back can feel it too."

Lexie laughed. "Okay, Grandpa."

"Hey!" Mark protested. "That's Dr. Grandpa to you."

Lexie was shaking with laughter, and Mark used that opportunity to cup her face in his hands. He was about to kiss her when Derek walked in.

"What happened in here?" He asked, looking around the room.

Lexie and Mark scrambled up from the floor, looking like guilty children.

***

"You're probably wondering why I want to talk to you," Carolyn said.

Meredith wondered if she should feign ignorance, but then decided that she had had enough. "Well, yeah," Meredith replied. "You have made no secret of your distaste for me, so yeah, Mrs. Shepherd, I am wondering why you want to talk to me."

"Meredith, I don't dislike you," Carolyn said. "I hardly know you. I came to Seattle with every intention of liking the girl who had stolen my son's heart." Carolyn sighed. "When Addison…well, you know. When she hurt Derek, I really and truly hated her. She had been one of my favorite people for so long, but what she did to Derek… that was unforgivable to me."

"But you and Mark seem so…" Meredith trailed off.

"I don't blame him for what happened," Carolyn said. "You have to understand something, Meredith. It was an open secret in our family that Mark was in love with Addison. We all knew it, and we all pitied him for it. And I knew as well that given an opening, he would take it. I blame Addison for what happened, because she knew how Mark felt about her and she let it happen. She was as casual with Mark's feelings as she was with Derek's. And as far as Derek and Mark's friendship, well, that is between the two of them. But Mark is like a son to me, and I will always be on his side too."

Meredith nodded, signaling Carolyn should go on.

"When I met you today, I couldn't read you," Carolyn said. "Tonight, I wanted to see what kind of person you are. Maybe it was wrong, but you have to understand how important this is to me Meredith." Tears gathered in Carolyn's eyes, and Meredith automatically reached out her hand towards Carolyn's. "He's my baby boy, and I need to know that you will be good to him."

"I understand," Meredith said.

"I think you do," Carolyn said. "I think I am going to like you."

Meredith smiled, relieved that the feeling was mutual.

***

Derek was very quiet at first, surveying the kitchen. Finally, he said, "Lexie, would you excuse us? Mark and I need to have a little conversation." Derek's face was utterly blank, and Mark looked at him with a confused look in his eyes.

"Of course," Lexie murmured. "I'll just go. I need to get back to the hospital anyway. George has his solo surgery later tonight." Lexie looked at Mark. "I am just going to go home and change first."

Mark nodded imperceptibly, so that only Lexie would know he understood.

She left the kitchen and walked down the hall, stopping on the edge of the living room, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything. When she saw Meredith and Carolyn smiling at each other, Lexie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi," Lexie said, stepping into the room. "I am gonna go now. I need to run home and change before George's solo surgery."

"Oh, right," Meredith said, making a metal note to return to the hospital. She then noticed that Lexie was wet. "What happened to you?"

"I lost the battle to the sink," Lexie said with a grin.

"Who is George?" Carolyn asked.

"He is a fellow resident," Meredith explained.

"That's nice," Carolyn said, smiling at Meredith.

Lexie looked back and forth between the two of them and then grinned at her sister. "I will see you later."

"Okay," Meredith said. "And Lexie?"

"Yeah?" She said, turning.

"Thanks."

Lexie nodded and quietly let herself out the front door.

***

In the other room, Derek looked at Mark calmly and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"With Lexie," Derek said calmly. "What are you doing?"

"Derek—" Mark began, but Derek cut him off.

"I remember asking you to stay away from her, Mark."

"Derek, you don't understand—"

"No, you don't understand," Derek said. "It was not negotiable, Mark. I understand that you have to work with her, and I could even understand a sort of casual friendship, but what I just saw cannot happen again. Lexie is off limits, Mark."

"I don't remember giving you permission to run my life," Mark snapped.

"I am not running your life," Derek evenly replied. "I am telling you to stay away from my sister."

"She's not your—"

"She will be. Soon enough, she will be. So I am asking you, as my best friend, to stay away from her."

"It's not that simple," Mark said.

"Wrong," Derek replied. "It is that simple. Stay away from her, Mark."

"But…"

"You owe me," Derek said quietly. "You know you do."

Mark felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with his wet clothes. He looked at his best friend and wondered if Derek had ever really forgiven him. "You'll always have that, won't you?" Mark said, matching Derek's quiet tone. "No matter what happens, you'll always be right and I'll always be wrong."

"No, Mark," Derek said. "That is not what this is about. I forgave you for Addison. This has nothing to do what happened between you, and me, and her. This is about the fact that I have been your best friend since we were little kids and I was always there for you. So I am asking you to stay away from my sister."

Mark squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the counter with both hands. "I have to go," he whispered, fleeing the kitchen. He walked straight out of the house, grabbing his jacket without stopping.

"Mark!" Carolyn called. "Mark!"

Derek went into the living room where she and Meredith were sitting.

"What happened?" Carolyn asked.

"I warned him away from Lexie again," Derek said.

"Oh, Derek," his mother sighed.

"What happened?" Meredith asked.

"He didn't take it well," Derek replied shortly.

"Have either of you considered," Carolyn said, "that you may already be too late?"

Meredith and Derek looked at each other and then shook their heads. "No way," Meredith said. "If they had hooked up we would know. The whole hospital would know."

Derek nodded. "There is no way they could keep that a secret."

Carolyn shook her head. "You could be wrong."

A/N: Review, S'il Vous Plaît!