"Oh shoot, Dev...this is not good." She said as she watched them near the house. "Grandma is and acquired taste, you'll learn that. But I'll let you make your own decisions without bias." She told him sweetly.

Meredith stood at the door as Richard and Ellis pulled in front of the house. She was tired. She stunk and she hadn't done anything with herself in forever. And now the most judgmental person in the world was over. And this was going to be a good time, no doubt.

"Mother, Richard...what are you doing here?" She asked as they walked up.

"We came to see our grandchildren." Richard said as he gave her a soft hug.

"Don't worry, her claws are in." He whispered into her ear. "How are you little guy?" He asked as he tickled Devlin's cheek.

"What is that?" Ellis said as she pointed to the corner of the property.

"That... Oh, that's a barn." She muttered as she looked up.

"A barn! What do you need a barn for?" Ellis asked as she looked over.

"A horse and a pony." Meredith said with a shrug as she walked in the house.

"You have a horse and pony?" She asked as she followed Meredith into the kitchen.

"A pony. Jane has a horse." Meredith said as she laid Devlin down in the carrier, receiving an immediate wail. "You're okay..." She said as she rubbed his cheek.

"I don't see why you need a horse and pony." Ellis said as she sat on the stool.

"Ask Derek." Meredith said simply as she tried to calm Devlin down.

"You look great, Meredith." Richard said with a smile as he watched her.

"Thanks, even if I know you're lying through your teeth." Meredith said with a smirk.

"When was the last time you brushed your hair? Aren't you worried about people seeing you like this? I'm sure there will be tons of people stopping by." Ellis said as she stroked Delilah's cheek.

"There are rules. No one was supposed to come over until they are a month old." Meredith said curtly to her mother.

"What the hell kind of rule is that?" She said as she looked at her daughter.

"We don't want them getting sick. And they sleep most of the time." Meredith explained.

"Well, if they are sleeping all of the time, what the hell are you doing? You're obviously not cleaning the house or yourself." She said as she looked around.

"It's full time, taking care of them. Besides, I can't sleep while they are sleeping. What if something happens?" Meredith explained.

"Babies have slept for years without their mothers watching them." Ellis said as she rolled her eyes. "Where is that housekeeper of yours anyway?" Ellis asked as she looked around.

"Jane is not our housekeeper. She is Anna's nanny." Meredith said with a huff. "So tell me again... Why are you here? Because you're not even looking at my children." She said as she scooped a whimpering Devlin up.

"Can I?" Richard asked as he nodded at Delilah.

"Of course." Meredith said with a nod.

"You spoil him." Ellis said as she looked at Devlin. "He'll never be independent if you don't let him go."

"He's a baby, Ellis." Richard said as he held Delilah close.

"It's never too soon..." Ellis said as she stuck her hands out. Meredith begrudgingly handed her Devlin, who immediately started screaming at the top of his lungs. [iMy thought exactly, Dev...[/i

"How are you little guy... Clam down, calm down... Grandma has you." Ellis said in a soft tone as she attempted to calm him down. "Here..." She finally said as she handed him back. "Look at those hands. He has surgeon's hands..."

"He's a baby!" Meredith said quickly.

"He's going to be a surgeon." Ellis told her.

"Or a musician. Or an artist. Or a factory worker. As long as he's happy, he can do whatever he wants. Can't you, little man?" She said as she kissed his soft face. "No pressure here..." She said as she glared at her mom.

"Would you like to hold Devlin?" She asked Richard.

"Of course." He said as he traded her. Delilah looked into her mom's eyes and almost smiled.

"She's beautiful. She looks just like you did when you were a baby." Ellis said as she stood up and stroked her head. "Look at that tiny nose."

"Why don't you at least go take a shower while we watch them?" Ellis asked as she looked at Meredith.

"Derek will be home soon." Meredith said as she planted kisses on Delilah's cheeks. "Speak of the Devil." Meredith said as she looked up at Derek.

"Richard, Ellis... How are you?" Derek asked as he walked into the kitchen. He and Meredith both exchanged the look.

"Wonderful." Richard said as he gave Devlin a loving look.

"We were just telling Meredith that she needed to go take a shower. She needs to take care of herself." Ellis said, making it sound nicer than she originally had.

"Mer, go ahead. We're fine here..." Derek said with a smile.

"Yeah?" She said, grateful to get away.

"Of course." he said as he kissed her softly.

"Okay..." She muttered as she looked at Devlin, who caught her eye and started to cry.

"He'll be fine. Won't you, Dev?" Derek said as Richard handed him to him. "Go."

"Fine..." She moaned as she slowly marched up the stairs, hearing his heart breaking.

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

"Delilah..." Meredith pleaded as she bounced the baby gently. "It's okay... You're okay..." She said as she walked around with the colicky baby. Devlin listened to his sister cry and began to cry himself.

"Please stop. Please." Meredith asked her as she held her up and looked into her eyes. She looked at the tears that were pooling up and threatening their way out.

She tried everything. Rocking them. Holding them together. Letting them cry. Nothing stopped it. Delilah was colicky and Devlin was a mama's boy. He wanted all of the attention. She sat down and attempted to get Delilah to nurse with no avail. Devlin's cheeks turned red as he cried harder. Meredith carefully picked him up with her free arm and sat back down in the chair. She looked at them both as tears fell from her own eyes.

This was the way it had been. Derek was back to work. She had convinced him to go back to work. He didn't want to. He nearly begged her to let him stay home. But she knew he needed to get back to work. Back into his routine. And she had to be able to do this. For both of their sake's she needed to be able to take care of her own children.

She there she sat, tears running freely from her eyes. She didn't wail. She didn't make a sound. She didn't want to risk making them worse. She didn't want them to know that she was stressed out. Then they would feed off of her distress and things would be ten times worst. She moaned when she heard the phone ring.

"I'm sorry, guys." She said as she laid them both down and ran to the phone. "Hello?" She said tiredly into the phone.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Derek asked quickly as he listened to them cry in the background.

"Nothing they're fine. We're fine." She said desperately into the phone.

"I'm on my way home." He told her firmly.

"No, Der... We're fine." She moaned as she looked over at them.

"I'm sorry Mer. I wanted to come home last night. I was too tired. I don't think I could have driven." He told her with a sigh.

"It's fine, Der. We're fine." She told him with and irritated tone as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Just... Just do whatever you have to. Work, cut. Whatever."

"Meredith, if you need me, I will walk out of here right now." He said into the phone as he read the papers in front of him.

"The office needs you. Your patients need you. Just- Just come home when you can, okay? Later." She said with a sigh as she rubbed her face.

"You're sure?" He asked as he began signing the papers and throwing them to the side.

"I'm sure." She said with a fake smile that he couldn't even see.

"Okay, I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She said softly as she hung up and ran back to the twins.

"You don't want to be here, do you?" Jack asked as he stopped at Derek's door.

"Well..." He said with a sigh. "I do. I really do. I want to do both." He said with a nod.

"But?" Jack said as he stepped in the office and sat in the chair in front of Derek's desk.

"Mer was crying. I didn't even have to hear her. I just know. And the twins were wailing in the background. I just don't want her to be upset." Derek said as he glanced up at Jack. Jack grabbed the photo of the twins and Anna off of his desk and looked at it.

"Go home." Jack said as he sat it back down. "I can handle this."

"No, Jack. I didn't come into this practice to put everything on you. You may be an asshole, but you don't deserve that." Derek said with a smirk.

"Well, I can speak for myself, and I may be and asshole, but you are a dumb Jackass." He spat back. "Go home."

"..."

"Listen, I want to do it. Besides, at the end of the year, we can compare hours, and I will have you beat to hell." Jack said with a smirk.

"Let me finish this up." Derek said with a moan. "But only if you're sure."

"I'm sure." Jack said with a nod as he stood up and walked out.

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

Meredith sat there, elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. It was too much. They wouldn't stop. She just wanted them to stop for a few minutes. She needed her head to quit pounding. Her ears were hurting. Her eyes were burning. And she was horny. Yes, she'd admit it, even being exhausted, her body was screaming for sex. She looked up wide-eyed as they both got quiet. She smiled and sighed as she saw their closed eyes. That is, until the doorbell rang. Then there was the wails. The loudest wails imaginable.

She jumped off the couch. She was going to kill them. Who ever it was, was sure to be dead. She was going to beat them to death with her ineffectual fists. They broke her silence. Her few seconds of pure joy. Of wonderful silence, ruined by...

"You son-of-a-bitch!" She said as she lunged at him with her fists.

"Whoa! Whoa! Mer, stop!" Drew shouted as he grabbed her wrists.

"You asshole! You woke them up!" She said as she started to bawl. "Fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds there were asleep and you woke them up!" She said a she collapsed on his chest with tears falling from her eyes.

"Mer... It's okay, honey." He said as he rubbed her back.

"Okay? Ha! I haven't slept. They cry and cry. And whine. And poop. And pee. And suck my boob off then poop again." She said loudly as she walked back over to them. He followed her over to the sofa.

"Oh my God..." He said as he picked Delilah up and held her close. She looked at him with wide eyes and stopped crying. "She's beautiful..."

"Dev... You must be chopped liver." She said as she picked him up, he quickly quieted down and struggled to look around.

"I thought you said they wouldn't shut up." Drew said with a chuckle, as he sat on the sofa.

"They wouldn't..." She said with a sigh as she laid her head back. "Thank you. I don't know what you did, but thank you." She said as she grabbed a blanket and began nursing Devlin.

"You know, Mer... I thought you would be a hot mom. I guess I was wrong." He said with a chuckle.

"Screw you." She spat as she looked over.

"Gladly." He said with a smirk.

"You know what? At this point I don't care what I look like." She said with a shrug. "I haven't worn jeans in weeks."

"That's just wrong." Drew said with a smirk. "I think this creature wants to eat." He said as he looked over.

"Dev's almost done." She said with a smile.

"She looks like you. I mean she really looks like you." He said as he looked at Delilah.

"You can't tell yet. Although I have this sinking feeling that Devlin is going to have Derek's nose." She said as she pulled him from under the blanket and laid him on his shoulder.

"Oh no... Not good. Uncle Drew can fix that." He said as he winked at the baby.

"No he will not." Meredith said as she kissed his nose. "Derek's nose is perfect."

"Apparently love is blind." Drew said with a smirk.

"It is." She said as she handed him Devlin and grabbed Delilah. "So why are you here?"

"To see the rug-rats." Drew said with a shrug. "I have to see my cutest niece and nephew. I have to admit, they got their looks from you, not Der."

"You're lucky he's not here." Meredith told him.

"Why isn't he here. I expected him to retire." He said with a laugh.

"I made him go. He can't sit here all day." Meredith said with a frown.

"Apparently that backfired on you." Drew said with a laugh as he looked down at a sleeping Devlin.

"Apparently." She said with a shrug.

"So... Is it really that bad?" Drew asked.

"I wouldn't trade the crying and the spit up for the world." She said with a smirk.

"That's good, Mer." He said as he patted her shoulder. "Really good."

"What's going on here?" Derek said with a smirk as he looked at the two of them sitting on the sofa.

"I saved your wife." Drew said smartly.

"From what?" He asked as he looked at her.

"I'd say she was about two seconds from jumping out your bedroom window." Drew told him frankly.

"Mer..." Derek said as he have her a concerned look.

"I'm fine. I just-- They wouldn't stop crying." She said with a frown.

"Apparently I have the magic touch." Drew told him smartly.

"I told you I would come home." Derek said as he sat down next to her. He lifted the blanket and kissed his daughter's head. "Way too tempting."

"Oh god..." Drew said as he rolled his eyes.

"Not much longer..." Derek said with a smirk. Meredith rolled her eyes. "Have you eaten?"

"Oh yes, I made a gourmet meal." Meredith snapped.

"Okay, then... Dinner would be a good thing." Derek said as he stood up. "Drew, if you're going to stay here and mooch, at least get off your ass and help." Derek said loudly.

"Oh yes, I really need to mooch. I make more in one quarter than you do in the year." He said as he lad Devlin down and followed.

"Well, apparently I went in the wrong field." Derek said with a chuckle. "Although I'd rather have smart people than bigger boobs." Derek said as he grabbed the food out.

"Not me, my man. Not me." Drew said smartly.

"So how long are you staying?" Derek asked as he began cutting up chicken strips.

"Forever. I thought I'd just move in. You look like you need another kid..." Drew laughed.

"Well, you can stay in the barn." Derek said quickly.

"I'll stay as long as you need me." Drew told him. "So how is operation: Keep Mer safe going?"

"Everything has been fine. I think we're safe." Derek said happily.

Or not.

The dark cloud is looming...