Hey, I'm finally updating here too! It seems quite a long chapter as well.

I warn you that is going to be a little bit weird chapter, that deals with something unexpected, showing a side of Meredith, who's obviously telling the story, that we all know she has but it's often forget. It's an idea that popped in my head riding a bus home. Read it and you'll understand what I'm rambling about.

I have to add that my French is seriously bad despite almost three years pretending to be studying it. Forgive me.

The title is once more borrowed from Interpol and their pretty cool Evil. I know, I always use the same songs, I'm that obsessive sometimes.

Okay, I've said it all, read and review!

Part 16 - You're Weightless, You Are Exotic

If we have no peace,

it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

Mother Teresa

Looking closely, my belly was really showing under my light blue scrub. If gossip wasn't enough, almost everybody knew then. There weren't just pensive looks, people approached me to congratulate every day, even if we never met. It was frustrating, especially for my wild hormones.

I scratched angrily my last chart, before slamming it on the nurses' desk. I looked even more pregnant, then. I snorted to my recent lack of patience, wanting so badly to go home. I had a whole night on call instead.

"Hey" Derek hushed tone and his soft kiss to my temple suddenly changed my mood. I brightly smiled back to him, knowing that he was worried by the slight frown, which softened at the sight of my smile.

"Why everybody's congratulating with me and not with you?" I blurted, sounding childish and even more hormonal.

"Oh, they are. I have my hands full..." he chuckled "You ok?"

"With some strawberry ice-cream everything would be better, but I'm holding up"

He took out a mid-sized ice-cream cup behind his back, stretching a wide smile. Out of his coat materialized a plastic spoon, before he placed it on the desk. I was too mad to even notice that he was hiding something behind his back.

"You shouldn't do that" I chanted, but grabbing swiftly the cup from his hands and opening it. The frozen smell of strawberries invaded my brain, even before I could take a spoonful and make Derek burst into laughter. He kissed me quickly.

"I knew you craved strawberry ice-cream." I smiled, before offering him a spoonful too. He chuckled, but accepted even if it was just early morning "Bailey said she needed you in the clinic" he added, before kissing me goodbye and going back to work.

Right in those moments, the world seemed to stop and wait for our bubble to burst. It was like rays of sun after a storm, before clouds would cover up everything again. The world was lighter with Derek around.

Peanut marked her presence with a flutter, forcing my hand to instinctually move to my belly. She appreciated the ice-cream.

I secured Derek's gift in the fridge in the resident's lounge, before heading down to the clinic. I met Bailey halfway.

"Dr. Bailey, Derek told me you were looking for me"

"Yes, Grey. You have been to France during your dark youth, right?"

"And?" I asked, frowning. What does my youth has to do with Bailey?

An unrecognizable voice reached my ear as she opened the door, my eyes locking to a teary, intense gaze of an African woman. She was speaking in French, that's why Bailey asked, I recognized the sound of the language.

"I don't speak French" I immediately said, feeling just as unhelpful as Bailey.

I glanced back at the woman, looking for signs to understand what was going on with her. It was the look in her eyes that kept me there, one of pure fear. She held her hands protectively over her stomach and something clicked: she was pregnant.

"I don't know what the hell happened to her, can you understand something?" Bailey asked again

"Even if I always skipped my French class I can tell you that she's pregnant. It's in her eyes." My hand immediately moved to brush my own baby.

"The only thing I know is that she had been in an accident"

"I got her" I walked closer to her bed and she helplessly looked in my eyes.

"S'ils vous plait, aide-moi"

I gently put my hand over her forearm and I muttered, in a poor French "Bebè?" touching softly her belly. Tears gathered in her eyes, before she nodded. Her dark brown hand covered mine and squeezed it. Her features softened for a moment, appreciating the slight connection we made to each other.

"Doctor Meredith Grey" I patted my chest.

She nodded faintly "Makena N'Dong"

"It's gonna be ok Makena, I promise."

Her gaze softened, showing strong, but gentle features. Her hand moved again to her belly, rubbing it gently. I immediately made an ultrasound, glad to hear the heartbeat of her baby as much as she was. It was always a great sound to hear. Luckily it was strong too. She was about twenty maybe twenty-five weeks along. Just like me. I sighed heavily. Her baby was ok, just like mine. I tried to keep my mind busy to avoid drifting to scary thoughts.

"Any family? Famille..."

She shook her head and I think I got the word right. "Kenya. Seule...Alone?"

I nodded. Poor Makena, pregnant and alone in a foreign country.

"Do you speak English?"

"Little"

"You understand me, right?" I tried to speak slowly and she nodded. Thank God. "You were in a car accident?"

"Yes"

"I'm looking for some injuries, ok?"

She nodded, and moved away her hands from her belly, before looking up

"Bebè ok?" she asked in a small voice, her eyes filling with tears

"Yes, ok" I managed a small, reassuring smile

She smiled back, then I tested her leg functions and her head. As I went to check her back, suddenly her arms wrapped around my body, holding me there. I closed my eyes and I hugged her back. I could just imagine how afraid she was.

She let go first, smiling at me as I wrote something on my chart. She looked good, nothing wrong with her, luckily. I wanted to keep an eye on her overnight, but she seemed perfectly fine. And her baby too.

"Bebè?"

I felt her soft hands brush my belly, showing its roundness under my scrub. She traced her fingers gently and Peanut fluttered. It seemed a magical connection between us, like a shock through my whole body. I nodded at her, feeling my eyes prickling with tears. Makena smiled widely. Our silence told us more than any word. I touched her belly again, as gently as her, connecting even more. We were sharing a precious silence, as she was feeling a little less alone in that big hospital. I had to take care of her, in some way. Her cheeks were glistening with tears.

"It's gonna be ok, Makena. I'm gonna take care of you and your baby. I promise"

I sat next to her, then I paged Derek to tell him the whole story in person and let him go home without me. He arrived in the room when Makena was sleeping and I was filling some charts. I immediately stood up and get out to not disturb her.

"Hey, you paged?" he asked

"I'm monitoring her overnight, you should go home"

"Is everything alright?" he brushed gently my cheek with his soft fingers, immediately noticing something different from the moment he handed me that ice cream this morning. Poor Makena, nobody be there for her like that.

"You can't speak French, can't you?" I asked helplessly, my hands finding his muscular, healed chest.

"Nope, I know some words because I have an aunt in Montreal, but not really speaking. Why?"

"My patient, she's from Kenya, she speaks just French and she has no one" I sighed

"Have you tried to call the interpreter?"

"She has a bad cold"

"Damn"

"She's pregnant, around twenty-five weeks along. She's all alone" tears gathered in my eyes and he smiled shyly.

"Oh, Meredith" he wrapped his arms around me, rubbing gently my back, holding me in the moment. Peace restored.

Between us, our child moved gently. I kissed him lightly, just like his soothing touch.

"Do you want me to stay?" he mumbled softly

"We should do something to help her, Derek. I don't even know if she has a place to raise her baby..." I trailed off, feeling really helpless again.

"Try to know something more about her, then we'll figure out something, ok?"

He kissed me one last time, before heading home.

As I came back in her room, I felt Makena's stare on me.

"Hi" she smiled

"Is everything ok?"

"Ok"

I smiled back at her. She looked a little less worried and afraid. I sighed, taking back my place on the chair at her bedside.

"Daddy?" she asked, pointing at the door. Maybe she wasn't sleeping when Derek visited, after all.

"Yes, Derek" my voice softened just saying his name. I couldn't help it.

"Beautiful" she giggled and I laughed with her. The sound of her happiness was deep and joyful, almost as if nothing had happened. She had some kind of magical power to do that.

"Yours?" I asked, trying to get to know her more, as I picked up the chart again

"War"

She didn't need to add anything, tears spoke for herself. She was more alone than I thought. She really had nobody.

I reached for her hand and she squeezed it. The contrast between our skins was almost stunning: hers, a perfect shade of brown, burned by a lifetime of sun and outdoors; mine, a creamy, pale white, just slightly glowed by pregnancy hormones. Somehow connected.

"Do you have a place to stay? Home? Maison?" I stammered, hoping to get right every French word. She shook her head.

"Just arrived"

I couldn't leave a pregnant woman homeless.

I heard a knock on the door, then Derek peeked in. He had a bright smile as he came in the room. He greeted Makena with a broken French as well, but she smiled back. I whispered 'Daddy' to her and she giggled. Derek frowned, but kept grinning.

"I have good news. I found a place for her. Temporarily." he said happily

"You did?" My eyes widened. He marveled me every single day.

"I called the embassy, but they told me they need a couple of days to arrange something for her. As long as we can't keep her here, she can use the trailer. It's still on the land and I don't use it anymore. What do you think?"

I jumped to his neck, kissing him passionately. He found a solution! I fell in love with him all over again.

I turned to Makena, trying to see if she understood our conversation. She was gently rubbing her belly, leaving us some space, but she was clearly amused by my reaction. I broke apart from Derek, my arm still wrapped around him, glancing to her.

"Makena, you have a home"

"Home?" her eyes twinkled and she smiled.

"Derek found you a home"

She brought her hands to her face and started to cry for joy.

"Thank you" she mumbled, between tears. I came closer and I hugged her.

"Let's go home" I grinned, untangling our hug and helping her standing up.

We gathered her small amount of things in her only suitcase, then Derek drove us home. Makena remained quiet the whole ride, admiring the green hills and the Bay we passed by during our trip. She seemed comfortable during the ferryboat ride too, even if she stood a little bit far from us.

Derek wrapped his arms softly to my waist, placing his hand tenderly over my belly, I leaned into his touch.

"You are an awesome man" He chuckled at my praising.

"You changed her life, Meredith"

"I know, it feels pretty good"

"You're gonna be an awesome mother. You already are" he kissed the crown of my head, breathing in my lavender essence as he always does.

"Do you think they're gonna send her back to Kenya?" I asked after some moments of quiet, the water rolling under the boat the only sound

"I don't know. She's gonna be fine, she's a strong woman..."

"She is"

I glanced at her: she was smiling, looking out at the ocean, her tresses wildly blown by the breeze, her dark skin merging with the earth tones around her. She seemed to like being here, in Seattle.

"New York" stated Derek, out of the blue, his eyes gaining another sliver of hope "My Mom knows a place for homeless women in New York, she used to talk about this project a lot...I'll give a call to her"

He moved away, before I could even open my mouth to reply anything, grabbing his phone. I walked to Makena, leaning my forearm against hers on the rail. She smiled, taking out of her bag a small French-English dictionary. I smiled widely. She look through the pages, tracing down with her finger every word.

"Teacher" she said

"You were a teacher in Kenya?" she nodded

"Français"

I smiled. She rummaged through pages of words again.

"Blessed." stammered "Bebè blessed" she pressed gently her fingers over my belly. Tears rolled quickly down to my neck and her eyes moistened as well.

"Your baby too"

"Thank you Meredith"

"You're welcome"

Our hands locked on the rail and our gazes got lost in the ocean. I was wondering which hopes had Makena for her baby. I didn't know what to expect and I had dozens of people around me, caring for me and cherishing the arrival of this baby. Who would look out for them?

"I was right" Derek interrupted my thoughts with an highly happy pitch. "My Mom still helps in that place in her spare time and they have a free bed for Makena. They're gonna speak with the embassy, then they'll pick her from here and bring her to New York"

Maybe she understood that something big was happening, because she tightened her hold to me.

"You really have a home now" I squeezed back, a genuine smile on my lips.

We arrived to the trailer half an hour later, after some grocery shopping. She picked up something as she wanted to cook to thank us for everything. I smiled, admiring how skilled she was in the kitchen.

"Beautiful" she said, waiving around the kitchen, while I was cutting potatoes

"We built it ourselves"

She smiled. Silence wasn't embarrassing between us, I was used to silence and our minds were able to connect perfectly even without words.

The smell was delicious and cravings didn't help much. I just knew that, after my nap, I found lunch ready on the table. We sat together and my mouth watered just at the sight of the finished dish. The taste really blew my mind. Makena laughed, so did I, enjoying the meal with her.

I tried to explain her how the dishwasher worked, but I also told her that washing dishes was the only thing that helped me cool down after a long day at work or after an argument with Derek. She told me some of her Kenyan life, how school worked and how life was hard there. We used no more than one hundred words during the whole conversation, but we understood perfectly what we wanted to say. When I yawned, she giggled.

"Bed?"

It was barely dinner time, but I was already worn out. We had tea together in the afternoon, during our chat, so I wasn't even hungry. Time really flew by.

"I think I'm going to sleep, yeah" I giggled too "Derek will be home soon"

"Wait" She went out, maybe to take something from the trailer where she stored her things, then she came back with her dictionary and a strong but soft and colorful piece of cloth. I thought it was her typical dress and she wanted to show it to me. I smiled, but then I marveled when I realized that it wasn't a dress, it was a baby wrap. Something I've always wondered how women made them and she was putting it on in front of me! Awesome. Her gestures so accurate and caring, almost like she's always done that.

"Teach" she smiled, pointing to me "Gift Meredith"

"It's for me? I...It's yours, we can buy one together, that's yours..."

"Yours Meredith. Makena teacher"

I giggled, then I let her wrap the robe around me. First, she made the classic African back wrap, that I should use when "bebè big" as she said, then made the front wrap, something I've never really seen, because it could be clearly used only for the first year at the longest. All the turns and twists and ties were fascinating. At the fourth try I almost managed the front wrap, even if it took me a little longer about the back one.

When Derek entered in the room, the puzzled look on his face made both of us laugh. He smiled, trying to understand why I had that robe around me.

"It's a baby wrap, nothing dangerous" I tried to reassure him. He laughed hard.

"Mom called, Makena is going to leave tomorrow morning, I'm gonna bring her to the airport at 9" a hint of sadness clouded his voice and his eyes lost the twinkle for a second.

"Okay" I answered quickly, the same sadness having the better of me as well

I finally tied again the wrap, getting it right at the first try. Makena smiled and I hugged her.

"Bonne nuit" she smiled, hugging me back.

"Thank you so much. Good night"

I went to bed after silent promises to keep in touch, knowing that maybe we could visit her once we would fly to New York, exchanging mails when she'll learn some more English, getting to know our children once they were both born, as they would be so close in age...giving her a family, practically. And she leaned into that, into us, taking all, but giving back as well, with wrapping lessons and delicious meals.

When Derek joined me in bed, I immediately cuddled to him, realizing I was crying as I felt his chest becoming wet under my cheek. He gently rubbed my back, wordlessly soothing my storm of hormones. It wasn't a farewell, in the end. I just couldn't stop cry.

He caressed me endlessly, softly tracing his fingers through my back, then tenderly placing them over our Peanut and kissing my forehead.

"She moves every time you take care of me like this, you know..." I placed my hand over his. My sobs were calmed, just broken sighs from time to time.

"She's beyond magic, I can't wait to feel her" he whispered

"Makena said she'll be blessed" my mind drifting back to all the memories of the last days spent with her

"She will, I promise"

He kissed me once more, then I snuggled into his chest and we began to nod off, wrapped into each other's arms.

"Mer, what were you doing in the kitchen?" he asked, a small smile playing on his lips immediately

"She taught me how to do baby wraps. You know, the ones African women always use to carry around their children. Do you like them?"

"You mean, you could safely wrap a child into a piece of cloth?"

"I've always loved to do that. Google it if you don't believe"

"You can do that?" he wasn't doubting my abilities, he was just confused

"Yes" I answered proudly and I know he didn't need more

He smiled, then kissed me. "Can't wait to see our Peanut in there"

I locked my gaze to his, before leaning my head back on his chest and drift to a long, deserved night of sleep.

AN: Told you it was a weird chapter. I hope you liked it anyway, because I loved writing it.

The fascination of baby wraps is all mine, but Bailey used something like that as well, so I thought, why not?

Thank you for reading this chapter and I'm sorry I haven't updated before but I was busy with life, updating 'Soft Shock' and getting into 'Me And You', my new one-shot, set in early S4.

Stay tuned!