Meredith sighed, rubbing her chest as she poured herself a tall glass of milk. According to Beth, milk was the only thing that could alleviate the intense heartburn that had started a few days before. She'd finally been able to alleviate the pain in her chest that morning, but then she'd eaten spaghetti for dinner, since it was the only thing she could cook and Derek was at Kathleen's apartment. She was still banned from visiting her sister in law, but Derek seemed to be there every waking moment.

She knew it was nothing personal. If she were to lose the baby that she was carrying, the last thing she would want would be to have another pregnant woman constantly hanging around her. But she missed her husband. The perfect, amazing husband and father he'd been for the past month had turned into a ghost, a man who slept beside her every night and kissed her stomach every morning before he left to go take care of his sister. He didn't even know what she was going through right now.

Derek had no idea that her jeans were now just a little too tight, or that the only way she could get her chest to stop hurting was to drink a tall glass of milk. He had no idea that his baby now had fingers and toes, or that their baby's eyes were beginning to develop. He hadn't even recognized that her breasts had grown another entire cup size, and if he were to realize one thing about what was going on with her, she knew that would be it.

She glanced up as the door opened and her exhausted husband walked in. "Hey," she said, walking into the foyer, still clutching her glass of milk tightly in her hands.

"Mer," he frowned. "What are you doing up?"

"Heartburn," she shrugged. "No big deal."

Derek frowned. "You're drinking milk," he stated. "You never drink milk."

"It helps with the heartburn," Meredith shrugged. "It's the only way I can get to sleep."

Derek's brow furrowed even more. "Since when has that been a problem?" he asked.

"Just a couple days," she shrugged. "It's really not a big deal, Der."

Before he could respond, there was a quick knock on the door, and Nathan poked his head in. "Hey, Mer, Derek," he said. "Sorry it's so late. I just wanted to tell you I had to run out for a late night taco run, so I picked up some more milk for your heartburn. I also grabbed some bubblegum, it's been helping Beth."

"Thanks, Nathan," Meredith smiled as she reached for the offered items. "I'm just finishing off the last of my milk now."

"No problem," he smiled. "I um…I'll see you in the morning?"

"Sounds good," she nodded.

Derek frowned as he watched Nathan leave, then turned back to Meredith. "Nathan knows about all that?" he asked.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Derek, do not pull out the jealousy card now," she snapped. "Nathan is my friend. I've been spending a lot of time with Beth, and he's noticed what's made me feel better. He knows you're busy, and he's just trying to help. You'd do the same for Beth. So do not go all green on me now."

"I'm not jealous," Derek shook his head, reaching for a kitchen chair. "I just…I should know these things. I should be doing this for you, not Nathan."

Meredith shrugged. "It's not a big deal," she said. "Kathleen needs you."

"Kathleen has a husband," Derek replied. "And my mother. I left you alone."

Meredith sighed as she walked over to him, settling herself in his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm fine, Derek," she said softly. "I don't need you to take care of me. I just…I missed you."

Derek swallowed hard as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mer," he whispered.

She smiled softly as she took one of his hands and rested it on her belly. "Your baby has fingers," she whispered. "And toes."

"He does?" Derek whispered, his eyes lighting up.

"Mmmhmm," Meredith whispered. "And eyeballs."

Derek smiled as he ran a hand over her stomach, her t-shirt pushed up on her stomach. "Your stomach's bigger," he said softly. "Just barely, but…it feels different."

Meredith bit her lower lip as she looked down at him for a moment. "Come on, Der," she whispered, taking his hand and pulling him towards the stairs. She quietly led him up to their bedroom and watched as he stripped down to his boxers. When he slid back into bed beside her, she pulled her shirt over her head, smiling as Derek's eyes widened, taking in her new figure.

"Mer," he breathed, reaching out to stroke her stomach gently before his hands moved to her enhanced breasts. "They're…huge."

Meredith smiled softly. "I wondered when you would notice," she said.

"I can't…Mer, how did I miss this?" he whispered.

"You were being a good brother," Meredith whispered. "It's only been a couple days."

Derek shook his head. "I may have been a good brother," he sighed. "But I was a bad husband. A bad father."

"That's not true," Meredith whispered. "Derek…don't do this. I love you. Baby loves you. Let's just…be us right now. Okay?"

"Us with sex?" Derek asked hopefully.

Meredith giggled. "Maybe," she said.

"Do they still hurt?" Derek asked, reaching out for her breasts again.

"Not as much as they did," Meredith shrugged.

"Can I…" Derek smiled softly as he gently moved to press kissed along the underside of her breasts.

"Please," Meredith moaned, holding his head to her chest. "Derek…"

"Hmmm," Derek moaned, suddenly sounding more like the husband she knew and loved. "Do I get to keep these?"

"What?" Meredith asked, laughing slightly as she pulled his head back to look into his eyes, darkened by desire.

"I want to keep these new boobs," Derek grinned.

Meredith laughed as she pulled back from him. "I have news for you, Derek Christopher, but these boobs are pretty soon no longer going to be for your enjoyment," she said. "They'll be feeding your child."

"I know," Derek nodded. "But until then…they're mine to play with."

Meredith giggled as she sat back on his lap. "I know you want sex," she said softly. "But I'm…Derek, I have heartburn like I've never had before. And I'm still nauseas, and…I just don't feel sexy."

"You're sexy," Derek nodded, leaning forward to take her earlobe into his mouth. "You're incredibly sexy."

"Derek, I'm serious," she said, pushing him off of her. "I'm sorry if I was just teasing you, but I'm just…not I the mood."

Derek nodded, finally seeing the seriousness in her eyes. "It's okay, Mer," he said softly. "I know you're not exactly feeling the best right now."

"Thank you," Meredith whispered softly, her eyes falling on the bulge in his boxers and smiled softly. "I'm not being fair to you though."

"It's okay, Mer," Derek shrugged, a hand sneaking into his own boxers. "I can take care of myself."

"Hmmm," Meredith nodded, reaching out to pull his boxers down. "I'd rather do it myself," she purred, smiling as she took his entire length into his mouth. His hands threaded through her hair, guiding her mouth to please him, and she felt her heart swell at the fact that maybe her husband was back after all.

XXXXX

Meredith groaned as she woke the next morning, reaching for Derek's pillow to cuddle into. His side of the bed was empty, which didn't surprise her, and she breathed in his scent as she rolled onto her back, trying to go back to sleep.

As soon as her eyes closed again, she felt the familiar pain of heartburn rip through her chest and she groaned as her eyes snapped open and she stared at the ceiling. Milk. She needed milk and the stupid milk was in the stupid refrigerator down the stupid stairs.

She sat up in bed and reached for Derek's T-shirt, slipping it on before she stood on shaky legs. Before she could start walking towards the stairs, however, she was shocked to see her husband walking up the stairs, a tray of food in his hands.

"Hey," he frowned. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"What are you doing here?" Meredith countered as she sank onto the bed, watching as he placed the tray in her lap.

"I live here," Derek laughed.

"But…you should have been at Kathleen's," Meredith said.

"Oh, Mer," Derek breathed. "Kathleen's got her husband and her daughter. And my mom. I hate that she's in pain right now, but I can't sit around there thinking that I can help her while you're here alone. You're my first priority, Mer. I would never forgive myseslf if something bad happened to you or baby and I wasn't here."

Meredith smiled softly. "I'm glad," she whispered.

"That's always been true, Mer," he said softly. "You know my family, if one of us has a problem, we're all there, trying to help. But we can't help with this, Mer. I shouldn't have abandonded you, especially when Kathleen doesn't really need me. And it wasn't fair me to just leave you here."

Meredith shrugged. "It's fine, Derek," she sighed. "It's not like you missed anything important. It was only a couple days."

"I hate that I missed anything," Derek whispered.

Meredith set her fork on the plate for a moment and examined her husband closely for a moment before she reached out to run a hand through his hair. "What's wrong, Der?" she asked softly.

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"Scared?" Meredith asked, smiling as he pushed the food to the side and pulled her shirt up, resting his head against her stomach, stroking the skin lightly.

"Of losing baby."

"Oh," Meredith breathed, her hands going to stroke his hair. "Dr. Perkins said everything's okay."

"I know," Derek sighed. "I just…Seeing what it did to Kath and Chris, I don't know what I would do."

"I love him so much," she whispered.

"Me too," Derek nodded, his waves brushing against the skin of her stomach. "I don't know that I would handle that, Mer."

Meredith took a deep breath, her hand falling from her husband's hair to her abdomen. "I made Baby a promise," she whispered.

"You did?" Derek whispered, amusement in his voice.

"Mmmhm," Meredith nodded, her hand moving back to his hair. "I told him that if he makes sure he'll stay in there until the thirty eighth week at least, then I won't complain about any of this pregnancy stuff. No matter how much it sucks."

"I like that promise," Derek laughed, moving to press his lips against her stomach. "You should listen to Mommy, baby. She's really cute. But she gets really mad when you don't listen to her. Believe me, I know from experience. So you should start good listening habits now."

"You're crazy," Meredith giggled, watching as her husband's eyes lit up as he gently stroked her belly.

"I wish I could feel him."

"I can't even feel him yet."

Derek sighed. "I just want to meet him."

"Me too," Meredith whispered.

Derek sighed as he sat up, smiling softly at his wife. "What do you want to do today?" he asked.

"I….what?" Meredith frowned.

"I'm going to completely spoil you today," Derek said. "Anything you want."

"Is that actually different from any other day?" Meredith giggled.

"Well, if you're going to say no…" Derek sighed, moving to get out of bed.

"I didn't say that," Meredith said, pulling him back onto the bed with her. "I want…can we spoil baby today?"

"You say that because spoiling baby means spoiling Mommy," Derek laughed.

"No," Meredith rolled her eyes. "We can buy him presents."

"It's kind of hard to buy him presents when we don't know he's a he," Derek pointed out.

"There's plenty of gender neutral stuff we can buy," Meredith exclaimed, getting out of bed and reaching for clothes. "Stuffed animals and books and…" she trailed off as she stared down at her jeans. Her jeans that wouldn't button.

"Mer?" Derek asked. "Everything okay?"

"You ruined the laundry again!" Meredith cried.

"You won't let me do laundry anymore," Derek replied, trying not to smile. His wife was adorable.

"Then how come my jeans don't fit?" Meredith shouted, flopping down onto her back as she sucked her stomach in and tried to button them.

"Baby's just making himself known," Derek said softly.

Meredith frowned as she looked at him. "But they fit yesterday," she said. "Does it change that much overnight."

Derek nodded as he leaned over to kiss her stomach. "Good job growing, baby," he whispered. "But now we're going to have to buy Mommy some new clothes."