Okay, I can do this. This isn't so bad, she convinced herself. She had spent the last half hour in the kitchen, feeding Ben his early breakfast. The schedule Ruthie left stated that the baby normally ate at 7:00 in the morning. She argued that an hour ahead of schedule wasn't bad at all, impressive even.
She had sent Derek to bed soon after she had agreed to help him baby-sit. He looked really bedraggled, and he did have a surgery scheduled in a few hours, so she insisted that she'd be fine with the baby while he napped. Besides, she expected Izzie to be up soon, and she'd know what to do. Derek didn't look too convinced, but he dragged himself up to her room anyway. It helped that the baby took an inexplicable liking to her, and she wasn't going to question it. To be honest, she thought that the baby was going to sleep as well, considering he had a very active night. He didn't want to sleep, so she figured she'd do the next thing on the list, which was breakfast. That's how she ended up in the kitchen.
"Aren't you the sweetest little thing? Yes, you are," she cooed uncharacteristically, since no one was around to witness it.
"Holy crap! Is that a baby?" Izzie screeched as she ran eagerly towards Meredith.
"Oh thank God! Want to take over," Mer asked, vacating her seat for Izzie.
"Uhm, Mer, why is there a baby in the kitchen?" George finally said from the kitchen door.
"This is Benjamin, Ben. He's Derek's nephew … long story," she explained, looking at Izzie with repulse and mockery as the blonde made sickening high-pitched baby babble.
"Um, okay, but what is he doing here, in the kitchen, in this house" George repeated, the same repulsed and mocking expression on his face as he watched Izzie.
"Ben's staying with Derek for a while, and he needed some help babysitting."
That got her two roommates laughing, and she rolled her eyes at them.
"What? I've been doing a good job so far. I mean, I fed the kid," she defended herself.
"You call that feeding? Judging by the orange puddles on the floor and table, I'm willing to bet he only had about two spoonfuls of the stuff! By the way, I'm not helping you clean up the mess," Izzie exclaimed.
"Well, I was trying to feed him, but he kept reaching for the spoon. How would I know he'd make this much of a mess," she defended.
"Mer, what exactly do you mean by helping Derek baby-sit," George asked worriedly, still dazed by the patches of orange that decorated the kitchen.
"Uhm, well, he has a surgery this morning, so I'll be watching Ben till he gets home after lunch," she said, frowning as she rubbed vigorously at the new stain on the table.
"He's leaving the baby with you … alone … all morning?" George asked incredulously. "He's a brain surgeon! I would have expected him to be smarter than that."
Izzie, still babbling much to the annoyance of her roommates, set the spoon down and lifted the kitchen towel, which Meredith tied around Ben's neck as a bib, to gently wipe the baby's mouth. She let out a high-pitched shriek, startling the kitchen's occupants.
"Holy! Meredith Grey!!! What the he-e-e-e-ey did you do," she managed to avoid swearing in front of the baby, frantically fussing over him as she continued to shriek.
"What?" George and Mer said in unison, becoming agitated with Izzie's continued frantic movements.
"Are you out of your mind? You tied him to the chair?" Izzie threw Mer a just-how-dumb-can-you-be glare.
Curious about what Izzie had just said, George finally dared to move closer to the baby, gasping in horror, and amusement if he were to be honest, mirroring Izzie's expression. With the kitchen towel no longer covering the baby's body, he could see that Ben was strapped to the dining table chair, a blue cord (he strongly suspects it was from the laundry line) crossing his little body four times, before it ended in a carelessly drawn ribbon at the armrest.
"Seriously?!? Meredith!" George said aghast, but his lips started to twitch, ruining the effect.
Izzie, already over her initial disbelief and exasperation, started to untangle the cord binding Ben to the chair, alternately glaring at her friend and cooing assuredly at the baby.
"What? I didn't want him to fall from the chair. Besides, I padded him up with a pillow, so it wasn't like he got hurt or something," she defended again, peering over Izzie's shoulder in confirmation.
"Mer, are you sure about this? I mean, can you really take care of a baby," George questioned doubtfully.
"Maybe I should call the hospital and ask for a day-off. I'm sure someone would switch shifts with me," Izzie volunteered.
"Brilliant idea, Iz," George said with relief.
Meredith rolled her eyes at them.
"You don't need to do that. I've been watching him by myself for an hour now, and he's still alive and kicking. I think I've done pretty well, considering. Besides, he's been up all night, so I'm guessing he's ready to sleep."
"No, I'm going to stay," Izzie insisted, nuzzling the baby's cheek.
"Izzie! Seriously, I can do this. I mean, how hard can it be to watch him till Derek gets home?"
"Okay, fine, then here, you clean him up," Izzie said, handing Ben over.
Cringing slightly at the orange gunk all over his shirt, Meredith hesitantly took possession of the baby, firmly gripping him by the underarms, a foot away from her body.
"No sweat. Izzie, stop hovering. I can do this. You guys better get ready for work. Leave, go!"
"Fine, we're going," Izzie snapped back as she moved to leave the kitchen. She turned back with a twinkle in her eye, gleefully saying in a sing-song voice, "Oh, Mer, by the way, I think he needs a diaper change!"
I'm awfully sorry for not updating sooner. It's just so difficult to write MerDer when he's not being McDreamy on the show. I'll have another chapter up today or tomorrow.
Thanks for the reviews!