Chapter Twenty-One: Back Where They Belong

Mark opened the door to the house only to be faced with complete silence. The silence was worrying so he headed up the stairs to see if everything was okay.

"Meri" he called. "Are you here?" he asked as he slowly ascended the stairs.

"Hey you're home" she said with a smile as she came out of their bedroom wearing a simple pair of jeans and pale blue sweater, she was drying her hair with a towel.

"Yeah, so where do you wanna go?" he asked unbuttoning his shirt ready to jump in the shower.

"I've made reservations for that Italian place we went to a few weeks ago, we both liked it" she said running her hands down his now bare chest.

"Sure, I will jump in the shower then" he said as she continued to stroke his chest. "If you hadn't already had yours I would ask you to join me" he said with a cheeky smirk.

"Be quick, reservations" she said as she gave him a quick kiss before he headed into their ensuite bathroom.

"You look nice" Izzie commented as she walked into the kitchen noticing Meredith there drinking a glass of water.

"Mark and I are going out" Meredith told her. "So don't worry about us for dinner" she added.

"So you're going to tell him" Izzie commented.

"Yeah, today's little incident made me realise I can't hide this for much longer" she said with a smile.

"Can't hide what for much longer" Mark asked hearing the tail end of their conversation as he entered the kitchen pulling on a shirt.

Meredith smiled at the glimpse she received of his well toned chest. "I just can't hide my undying love for you any longer" she joked kissing him on the cheek.

"If you say so" he fired back. "We better get going" he said taking her hand. "Later Izz."

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"Do you want wine?" Mark asked after him and Meredith had been seated at their table.

"Ah not tonight" she replied.

"The Meredith I know would never turn down alcohol, has Bailey got you on some kind of medication" he asked suddenly.

Meredith shook her head. "No medication I ah just don't want wine" she replied shakily.

"May I take your order?" the waitress asked breaking the tension that had risen between the couple. "I'll have the lasagne without the red wine in the sauce and with salad" Meredith said noting the odd look that Mark had given her.

"And for you sir?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have the spaghetti with pancetta and olives" Mark told her.

After the waitress had left Mark turned his attention back to Meredith. "Meri what is going on?" he asked.

"Can we at least eat first" she pleaded. "You may not like what I'm going to tell you" she said softly.

"You haven't changed your mind about us have you" he asked suddenly worried that she was having second thoughts about this.

"Of course not" she convinced taking his hand in hers. "I love you" she said sincerely.

Mark rubbed Meredith's hands in his freezing when he noticed she wasn't wearing her rings.

"You're still not wearing your rings" he said slightly harsher than he had meant, pulling his hands away.

Meredith looked down at her bare finger where the rings used to shine so proudly. "I guess I forgot" she said softly.

"You forgot" he snapped. "You forgot that we're married" he ranted.

"No I didn't mean it like that, with work I only take them off when I scrub in so I guess I just didn't get around to wearing them outside of work" she tried to explain.

"Where are they?" he asked trying to remain calm about the situation it just upset him that she hadn't been displaying the main symbol that she was his.

Meredith brushed her hair to the side and reached around the back of her neck and undid the clasp on the chain that held the rings. She slid the rings off the end of the chain and held them up to him.

"You've had them with you all this time" he breathed.

She simply nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "I kept them close to my heart always" she whispered to him.

"Sorry I snapped" he said to her caressing the side of her face with the back of his hand. She shivered at his soft touch. "It's just…I thought we were making our marriage work…us work… and well those rings symbolise everything that there is between us" he told her softly.

"I know I'm sorry, I will wear them from now on I promise" she whispered placing a soft kiss on his lips. She pulled away as the waitress appeared with their meals.

"Let's put these back where they belong" he said softly as he slid the rings back onto her finger and kissed them before turning his attention to the meal that had been placed in front of him.

"I am so full" Mark exclaimed after finishing his meal.

"That was amazing, even better than last time" Meredith agreed.

"Okay we've eaten, now can we please talk about what happened today" Mark asked pressing for Meredith to tell him what was going on.

"Okay before I tell you, you have to promise not to be mad. I love you and that's all that matters" she said firmly.

"Okay" he said. "But Meri you're worrying me" he said honestly.

"Okay so I'm just going to say this because if I don't I'm going to lose my nerve and then we will be back to square one" Meredith rambled.

"Mer you're rambling it's adorable but it's distracting" Mark said with a smile.

"I'm pregnant" Meredith said quickly.

Mark's face went from a look of shock to one of pure excitement. He flew to her side of the table and wrapped his arms around her. "Why would I be mad? Meri this is fantastic" he exclaimed pressing his lips against her forehead.

"When did you find out? How far along are you?" he shot at her excitingly.

"Last week, and I'm about 7 weeks along" she whispered waiting for Mark to realise what had happened 7 weeks ago.

The colour drained from his face when it dawned on him that 7 weeks ago they had had random sex at the prom and Meredith had still been seeing Derek.

"It may not be mine" he whispered as he saw the tears flow down her cheeks as she simply shook her head.