Derek insisted Meredith stay home for several days after the incident at the hospital. After arguing to to avail, she finally gave in and stayed home. Four days. Four days of torment, of having absolutely nothing to do. Four days of playing candyland and every possible board game suitable for Anna. Four days of swimming, and nature walks, as Anna called them. Four days and she was going out of her mind. She needed to cut.

Meredith grabbed the package of ground beef and threw it in a bowl. Meatloaf. She could make meatloaf. She had to do something. It was her last day of her vacation, that wasn't a vacation. It was actually more of a torture tactic. She had to do the mommy thing. The domestic thing. She grabbed the rest of the ingredients and threw them into a bowl, mixing it with her hands.

"Oh god..." She muttered as she felt the meant between her fingers.

"Whatcha doing mommy?" Anna asked as she bounced in the kitchen.

"Making dinner." She said with a smile on her face.

"You don't cook." Anna said with a sour face.

"I do today." Meredith said as she continued. She looked down at the recipe card and shook her head.

"Will it be good?" Anna asked as she looked at the bowl and scrunched her nose.

"Of course it will be good, I'm making it." Meredith said as she glanced up.

"Oh." Anna said as she walked away with a worried look on her face. "Can we go swimming?" Anna asked with a grin.

"Again?" Meredith asked with a frown.

"It won't be summer forever." Anna said, trying to butter her mother up.

"Yeah. Fine. But I have to get this in the oven." Meredith said as she started forming her meatloaf.

Meredith slid on her new bathing suit. She was huge. Way too big. The way she looked and felt right now, she would never be the way she once was. Black. She thought black was supposed to be flattering. Not so much.

"Okay." Meredith said when she reached the front door.

"You're swimming too?" Anna asked as she looked at Meredith.

"I am today." Meredith answered as they both walked out. They walked down to the pond and slowly waded their way in.

"Mommy...how will the babies get out of your belly?" Anna asked as she looked at Meredith's abdomen.

"Um...well... Mommy doesn't want to think about that right now. It will hurt." Meredith said as she grabbed a raft and climbed on.

"But why will it hurt?" Anna asked as she climbed onto Meredith's raft.

"It just will." Meredith answered as they floated out.

"That's not an answer. And you are embarrassed or you don't want me to know." Anna said as she looked over at Meredith.

"Okay, imagine pushing a basketball out of your mouth. Now where they come out is smaller than that." Meredith said frankly for lack of a better description.

"Oh." Anna said in shock as she opened her mouth and stretched it. "Oh... "

"I don't want the twins to come. They're going to hurt you. And then they will cry. And they will keep us up all night." Anna said with a frown. "And they can't play with my toys. Everything is mine and they can't have it. And you are my mommy and they can't have you either."

"Anna, the twins will be too small to play with your toys. But no matter what, you have to share. And just because the twins are coming, doesn't mean that we won't love you anymore. We're still your mommy and daddy." Meredith said as she looked into her eyes.

"When is uncle Drew going home?" Anna said randomly.

"Not soon enough." Meredith said with a chuckle. "He's working at the hospitals around here for awhile."

"I don't want him to leave. Ever." Anna said with a frown.

"He will have to leave eventually. He has a life in New York." Meredith explained.

"But I don't want him to!" She pouted.

"You can't always get what you want..." Meredith said with a grin. "But if you try sometimes, you get what you need."

"That's fucked." Anna spat nastily.

"What did you just say?" Meredith's said with wide eyes as she sat up.

"That's fucked." Anna said loudly. She knew she was wrong, but she was in a sour mood.

"If I ever hear you say that again. You heard that from Drew...didn't you?" Meredith said with a clenched jaw. Drew was famous for saying that. Meredith and Derek were pretty careful about how they talked around her.

"OUT!" She yelled. "We are out of the water, now!" Meredith said as they climbed out. "I want you out of your bathing suit and in your room! No playing. You will wait until daddy comes home." Meredith said as they quickly walked up to the house.

"I am so disappointed in you. You never, ever, use that word! Ever!" She said as they walked upstairs.

Anna stomped to her room and slammed her door. She heard the bathroom door slam shortly after. Meredith sighed as she changed her clothes and went downstairs to finish dinner. She didn't know if what she had done was right. She's never had to deal with it. And now, she was wondering if she could.

"Hey..." Derek said with confusion as he walked in, seeing food on the kitchen table. A meal. A complete meal. A rarity, when made by her.

"Hey." She said in a Joan Cleaver way as she made her way to him and kissed him softly.

"Where's Anna?" He asked as he looked around.

"In her room." Meredith said frankly as she walked to the counter.

"Is she okay?" He asked with a slight look of worry. He was accustomed to Anna bounding down the stairs and into his arms.

"Well, she's alive. And she's lucky." Meredith said as she placed a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. "Because I nearly killed her. If my blood pressure have ever been high, it was today."

"What happened?" He said as he walked over to her.

"She was argumentative. She has been all week. And then she got a burr in her ass, and decided she doesn't want a brother an sister. Not only that, but she isn't sharing. Not her toys. Not her parents. Not sharing..." Meredith went on as he blood pressure once again rose.

"Mer- She's just worried..." Derek said defensively.

"Let me finish!" Meredith said sternly. He nodded as he stared at her. "So she went on that she didn't want Drew to leave. I told her that he would eventually and they she can't always get what you want. Her response? That's fucked! That's fucked, Derek. She said it twice. I sent her to her room. She's been there about an hour and a half. I can't-- I can't deal with it!" She said as she breathed deeply.

"Meredith! Calm down. Breathe... That's fucked?" He said unbelieving. "Where the hell did she learn that?" He said in shock.

"Where do you think?" Meredith said as she finished putting everything on the table.

"Drew!" They both said loudly.

"What'd I do?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen, just coming home.

"You are a bad influence on my daughter." Derek said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Why?" Drew asked as he walked in.

"She said "that's fucked" today, Drew!" Meredith raised her voice. "You!" She said as she poked him in the chest.

"Why me?" Drew said in shock.

"Those are your famous last words..." Derek said. "I'll deal with this, but Drew, you have got to control the language." He said as he shook his head and walked off.

Derek had no idea how he was going to handle this situation. She is six. A six year old, saying the dreaded f dash, dash, dash. Too young. And even with all of the nieces and nephews, he still wasn't prepared. He softly knocked on his door. He'd have to figure it out quick. Real quick.

"Anna?" Derek asked softly as he cracked the door open. She quickly ran from the floor where she was playing with her toys to her bed.

"Mommy's mean!" Anna cried out angrily as she buried her head.

"Why is that?" Derek asked as he sat down next to her and stroked her hair.

"She grounded me nor no reason!" Anna lied as she looked up at him with her bloodshot eyes.

"Really?" Derek said in shock. "So mommy lied? You didn't really say a bad word?" He asked as he gave her the look.

"No. No I didn't!" She said boldly as she sat up.

"Now you are lying, my dear." He said as he gave her the warning look.

"I didn't know." Anna said with a smirk.

"I think you know a bad word. In fact, you are quite quick to point them out!" Derek said quickly as he stared her down.

"Mommy's mean" Anna said again.

"I am very, very disappointed in you. You know that mommy is tired. The babies are taking their toll on her. And you are now adding to that. You should know better." He said forcefully.

"I don't like the twins!" She said as she rolled away from him.

"Why?" Derek asked quickly.

"Because they are going to take you and mommy away from me and I will be all by myself. That always happens. That's what Kayla says." Anna said as she rolled over and looked at Derek.

"So this Kayla. A six year old. She's had a lifetime of knowledge, huh?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yes! And it's not funny." She growled.

"Anna Banana, I promise you that mommy and I will love you just as much as we do now, when the twins are born. We will be busy. But so will you. We will need your help." He said with a smile.

"I'll help, but I don't wanna." She grumbled as she started to climb off of her bed.

"Okay. But I have a feeling you will want to." Derek said with a knowing grin. "So let's see, you are not going to say bad words again, and you aren't mad at mommy anymore..."

"I'm still mad at mommy, she's a tattler." Anna said frankly.

"That's what mommies and daddies do." He said with a shrug. "Mommy wasn't being mean. She just wants to do what's best." He explained. "Now let's go eat. Mommy cooked a big dinner."

"But mommy can't cook!" Anna giggled.

"I know. But don't tell her that. We don't want to hurt her feelings!" He said as he grabbed her tiny hand and led her downstairs.

"I'm sorry, mommy." Anna said as she took her usual spot at the dinner table.

"Okay, honey." Meredith said. She made sure not to say it'd okay. Because it wasn't. She knew better, she knew better than to say it.

"Looks good, Mer." Derek said as he sliced a piece off and placed it on his plate.

"It smells safe." Drew said with a laugh as he filled his own plate.

"It's safe!" Meredith said quickly. "I promise. Not that it'll taste goof. I only guarantee that it won't kill you." She said as she served herself. Derek took a small bite. It was a test bite, to see if he could stomach it. He didn't notice, but she caught it. In fact, everyone now had their attention on the brave man.

"It's good." He said with a smile. "Really." Derek said as he took a bigger bite. Drew decided to be brave.

"It is good!" Drew agreed as he swallowed his bite.

"Good job, mommy." Anna said with a proud smile.

"You finally found something you can make." Derek said happily.

"Even though it made me nauseous to make it." She giggled.

"So, I think I may have to go back to New York soon." Drew said with a frown.

"Oh." Meredith said quickly, since no one else had. "That's good, right?"

"It's fine." Derek said with an approving nod.

"No!" Anna shouted. "Uncle Drew, you live here. You are family." She said boldly.

"Anna, I have responsibility." Drew explained. "Just because I am going home, doesn't mean I won't be back." Drew said with a smile.

"Really?" Anna asked happily.

"Really." He said with a smile.

"Okay." She finally agreed. "Okay."

------------------

"So Anna, she's okay?" Meredith asked as she looked up at Derek.

"Yeah. She's just- She's used to being number one. We've- We've done good. Too good. She's a spoiled brat. But she'll be okay. She will just have to get used to it." Derek said as he fluffed his pillow and laid down.

"Oh..." She said as she placed her hand on her stomach. "They're kicking, both of them." She said with a smile. Derek placed his hand on hers.

"Just wait until they get bigger, and strong." Derek said with a grin.

"Or six. When they turn six. That will be..." Meredith trailed off.

"Yeah." Derek agreed with a sigh. "But we'll do it." He told her as he kissed her on the head.

"So Drew's leaving...Drew your watchdog." Meredith said with a chuckle.

"You caught that?" Derek asked.

"That he has been up my ass? Yeah, I caught that!" She laughed.

"I just want to protect you." Derek said as he pulled her near.

"I know." Meredith returned with a smile. "Hey, maybe we should have a cookout." She suggested with a smile. "Maybe Anna would brighten up. And Drew will be leaving..."

"That could be fun." Derek agreed.

"Yeah?" Meredith asked as she looked up.

"Yeah." He told he as he pulled her closer.

"I'm tired." She said with a yawn. "Anna is more exhausting than working a double.

"Just wait. Soon it will me times three..." Derek muttered before closing his eyes.

"Times three..." Meredith said unbelieving. "Three..."

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