She paused and leaned against the doorframe, taking in the view of Derek lying on her bed. Her heart contracted at the sight of him. She gave in to the yearning to take her fill of him, watching for a little while longer as he slept.

Sighing, she walked into the room and headed to her closet. Changed into a clean shirt, she dumped her orange-stained one into the hamper then made her way to the bed.

She was really exhausted. She knew that caring for a baby was difficult, but she wasn't at all prepared to discover just how difficult it was.

It took her a while to figure out how to remove the baby's clothes, afraid that she'd hurt him, but she somehow managed to undress him without any damage to the clothes, the baby and the couch. Okay, so maybe there was more than minimal damage to the couch, but c'mon, how was she to know that you're not supposed to leave a baby boy without a diaper for an extended period of time. Evading the little guy's impressive squirt of urine was sheer luck, and she fervently hopes nobody notices the yellowing stain on the couch. I knew buying those oversized throw-pillows would come in handy someday. She had finally gotten him to sleep a few minutes ago, and she set him down on Izzie's bed, leaving the door ajar so she could hear him in case he awoke.

She stared down at Derek as she stood by the bed, hesitant to wake him up just yet. She carefully lowered herself beside him over the covers, her slight weight barely causing the bed to shift. She turned on her right side to face Derek, bringing them face to face, mirroring his position. He was curled on his left side towards the middle of the bed, a pillow tucked between his legs, the other bulky pillow he embraced created the distance between their bodies.

She needed to rouse him from sleep soon, but it's been so long since he's occupied 'his side of the bed,' and she desperately wanted to prolong the pleasure of having him there again. His familiar scent filled her senses, making up for all those months she slept alone. Just a few more minutes, she bargained. She clasped her hands and put them under her cheek, giving in to the indulgence of watching Derek unobserved.

Recognizing that she was being selfish and irresponsible, she finally moved to wake him. She raised her hand to brush the wayward curl from his forehead, another indulgence she allowed herself, and then laid her palm on his cheek.

"Derek," she whispered, lightly stroking his face with her thumb.

"Derek," she repeated a little louder when he didn't move.

She gently traced his lips with the pad of her thumb, her heart tightening at the chance to carry out this long-denied practice once more, recalling all those mornings she woke him this way. A lone tear escaped her eye and fell on her pillow as she felt him pursing his lips to kiss her stroking finger, his natural reaction to this morning ritual.

She watched as his eyes fluttered open, blinking in surprise to see her face, confusion and fervent longing warring in his blue gaze. Warmth and elation soon replaced those emotions, his eyes misting at waking to her again after months of deprivation. He slowly lifted his hand to her head, threading his fingers through her hair before settling his palm on her ear, his thumb continuing to stroke her temple.

"Hey," he whispered, smiling against her thumb.

"Hey," she whispered back.

Loath as she was to disrupt this tender moment, she mustered enough willpower to pull away from his caress, her own fingers trembling their protest at the break of contact with his lips. It would be so easy to just give in to these pleasurable feelings, to ignore the agreement they made about taking space. But she recognized that taking space was indeed something they had to do for them to make it work this time. She just hoped it wouldn't take so long.

"It's 8:00. You have to get up," she said softly, unable to completely withdraw from the intimate mood.

"Thanks, Mer … for letting me sleep and for waking me," he replied warmly, still affected by the familiarity of mutual affection. "Where's Ben?"

She detected the slight --- very, very slight --- note of concern in his tone, and she decided to fluster him up a bit, a desperate attempt to dispel the dangerously addictive sense of intimacy. To reinforce her withdrawal, she shifted to lie on her back, draping her left arm across her eyes. With a teasing smile, she answered casually.

"Oh, I left him downstairs in the living room for a while, but don't worry … I found the washing machine box and put him there to serve as a playpen till we get him one."

"Haha, very funny," he smirked, two seconds too late, admittedly a bit worried at the image she had painted.

"Derek, he's sleeping in Izzie's room, and I did surround him with all the pillows I could find, so you don't have to worry," she berated with humor, removing her arm from her eyes as she flashed him a teasing glance.

"I'm not worried," he denied, feeling guilty about his earlier reaction.

"Uh-huh. Seriously, Derek, I can handle it. He's fed, clean and peacefully snug on Izzie's bed, so I think I did a pretty good job so far. But, if you want to make other arrangements …," she goaded, trying to keep the smirk off her face.

"Of course not. I know you can handle it. That's why I asked you in the first place."

"Uh-huh," she giggled, not taking offense in his obvious lack of confidence.

"No, really, Mer, I'm not at all worried," he said more convincingly.

"It's okay, Derek. I probably wouldn't leave a baby with me either," she giggled, assuaging his guilt. "But we do have to go out and get some things if Ben's gonna be with you for a while."

"Like what?"

"A playpen for one … a crib won't be necessary, I guess … a few more toys … oh, and a highchair," she mumbled the last word, flustered about her earlier experiment. I have to remember to bribe Izzie and George to keep that a secret. Maybe offering to shoulder all grocery expenses for a month will do.

"Okay, if it's not raining this afternoon, we can do that when I get back." He stretched his sore muscles and sat up, turning to face her.

"You're gonna be late," she reminded him, reaching for the abandoned pillow beside her.

"I'm going."

He leaned towards her, planting his hands on the bed to support his weight as he bent over her.

She blocked his downward movement by covering herself with the pillow, her head barely visible as she peeked through the small gap.

"What do you think you're doing," she questioned through her giggles, amused by the confusion on his face.

"Kissing you."

"Uh-uh. No kissing. We're taking space, remember," she mocked.

"Meredith."

"Sorry, you're the one who asked for space. I'm just giving you what you want," she taunted relentlessly, chuckling at his growl of frustration. "Now go and take your shower."

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over," he replied, playfully tugging at the pillow she held so fiercely over her body.

Hmmm, maybe this babysitting thingy won't be so bad after all, she mused as she watched him rise and head out of the door.

I am awfully sorry --- really, really, really, really sorry --- for not updating this story. I swear, I've attempted to work on it the past week, but writing merder is really hard when they're unhappy on the show. Sigh and double sigh. Anyway …

This story might be written mostly from Mer's point of view, because I am really having difficulty writing Derek. I tried, though, in my other stories and I had to keep putting off including him in a scene for this very reason. I'd write him in, only to delete everything I've written from his POV. Hopefully, my next attempt would be more satisfying.

Life'sTemptations, jlamb13, LuvrOMD/Kaila, Greysaddict4life, kilikina1 --- thank you very much for the comments you left. again, apologies for the lack of updates. I appreciate you reading and enjoying the story. Here's hoping you continue to read it despite my delinquency. LOL.

ManicPenguin & Skye3 --- yeah, it really is interesting to see how Mer would cope with babysitting tasks, and I'm having way too much fun, too, imagining all these things. LOL.

Murgy31 --- hey there … I know you. LOL. still waiting. pressure! pressure! LOL.

Sara/lexie/kate --- i've updated … both stories in fact. where are yours? LOL.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. I really hope you forgive me for my delinquency and continue to read this inspite of that. LOL. Thanks again.