Something was poking him in the stomach.

Derek groaned as he scooted closer to his wife, or as close as he could with her ever growing belly in between the two of them. He'd just gotten off a thirty six hour shift, and he needed sleep. He didn't need something poking him in the stomach while he was trying to sleep.

Meredith sighed loudly from beside him, and a moment later her stomach left his as he felt her roll onto her back.

"Come on, girls," he heard his wife murmur. "Mommy's trying to sleep. Please stop kicking."

Kicking. In his wife's stomach. His daughters were kicking in his wife's stomach, and suddenly sleep wasn't as important to him as he opened his eyes and reached for her belly. "Mer," he breathed.

"Derek?" she frowned. "I thought you were passed out. You were exhausted when you came home."

"I was," he smiled, running his hands over her stomach. "Until our daughters woke me up."

"Our daughters?" she frowned. "How…"

"Mer," Derek laughed as a particularly strong kick was delivered to his palm as it rested on her stomach.

"You felt that?" she breathed, tears coming to her eyes. "Derek…you felt her? Can you feel both of them?"

"I felt them," Derek smiled, moving his hand to the other side. "I can feel her too. I can feel both my babies."

"Here," Meredith said, grabbing his hand and moving it around her belly where there were even stronger kicks.

"Wow," Derek breathed, tears filling his eyes. "They're…really in there. My babies are in your stomach."

"They've been in there for five months," Meredith giggled. "That's why I look like I swallowed a beach ball."

"You look beautiful," Derek replied, pressing his lips against her stomach. "Daddy's proud of his girls. You're getting so strong."

"They're getting cramped," Meredith sighed. "They don't have a lot of room. It's going to get worse."

"Hmmm," Derek nodded. "We're halfway there."

"I know," Meredith sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Which is…insane. We have so much to do."

"I have the next two days off," Derek nodded. "We'll go shopping and get everything we need."

"Good," Meredith said, settling back into the pillows. "We need lots of stuff."

"Two of everything," Derek nodded.

"Cribs and highchairs and car seats, a changing table, a dresser…Derek, the list never stops."

"I know," he sighed, resting his head against her stomach. "We'll be fine, Mer. We've still got three months."

"Not if I'm put on bed rest," she sighed. "Which I almost definitely will. So we have to do it. Now."

"Mer, it's two in the morning."

"So?"

"So…no stores are open."

"We'll go online," she said, pulling back from him and pushing him out of bed. "Go get your laptop."

"But…sleep," Derek sighed.

"Sleep?" Meredith cried. "You want to sleep when our daughters have nothing?"

"They don't actually need anything right now."

"But they will," Meredith nodded. "We can't wait until they're born to buy this stuff."

"Well…no, of course not," Derek shook his head. "But it can wait five hours."

"No it can't," Meredith shook her head. "What if I go into pre term labor in an hour and we have no stuff?"

"What?" Derek asked, rushing to her side. "Are you okay? Dizzy? Pain? Cramping?"

"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes. "I'm making a point."

"Don't make points like that," Derek said with a frown. "It freaks me out."

"Fine," Meredith said. "Just go get the computer."

"Going," Derek sighed, running a hand through his hair. Her mood swings hadn't been that bad, but when she got like this, he knew he just had to agree with her requests, even if every single bone in his body was just begging to cuddle in bed and think about their daughters. "Here we go," he sighed as he walked back into the room, plugging the computer into the wall.

"What?" Meredith frowned, looking up from her pregnancy book.

"The computer," Derek said. "You wanted to shop. For Becky and Mel."

"Oh," Meredith sighed. "We can do that in the morning."

Derek inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment before he forced a smile onto his lips and set the computer on his night table. "Whatever you want, Mer," he said as he climbed back into bed.

"Hmm," Meredith sighed as she turned onto her side, her back facing Derek as she snuggled into his chest. "Do you think they'll be identical?" she whispered as he turned the light out and pulled her closer, smiling at the soft kicks that were delivered to his hand.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I kind of hope not."

"You do?" she asked, running her fingers along his forearm.

"I'll love them completely if they are," he nodded. "But…I don't know, I guess I just want them to be their own people. That will be so hard for them if they look exactly the same."

"They'll be happy, won't they?" she whispered. "They won't grow up to be dark and twisty?"

"I keep telling you that the dark and twisty isn't a flaw," he smiled. "It makes you you. And it makes you strong."

"But I don't want them to grow up like me," she murmured.

"They won't," Derek promised. "They have a father that loves them more than anything in the world, and will never walk away from his family. And their parents love each other and will never ever get divorced. Their mother…well, she's the most amazing mother in the world."

"Derek…" Meredith sighed.

"It's true," Derek whispered. "You're already an amazing mother. You're taking an entire year off of work to make sure our babies are cared for by a parent for the first fifteen months of their life."

"No nannies," Meredith whispered. "After I go back to work, when they're a year old… they can go to daycare at the hospital or stay with your mom, but we're not hiring nannies."

"No nannies," Derek nodded. "They'll love spending time with Grandma. Mom did it for Meg, and now she's doing it for Michael and Joey. She'll do it for Becky and Mel."

"Good," Meredith smiled.

"What do you think they'll look like?" Derek whispered, smiling as a hard kick met his palm.

"I don't know," she whispered. "Well, they should definitely have my nose."

"And your smile."

"Your eyes."

"Your giggle."

"Your hair."

"Maybe we do want them to be identical," Derek laughed.

"No," Meredith sighed. "I want them to be them. Not some weird version of the Olsen twins who do everything together."

"They might look the same, Mer, but we're never going to dress them the same, and they will definitely never talk in sync or do any of those weird twin things," Derek laughed.

"It might be funny when they pretend to be the other to confuse Mark and George," Meredith giggled.

"But they won't fool us," Derek said.

"We're they're parents."

"I can't wait," Derek whispered.

"Halfway," Meredith sighed.

"I'm scared, Mer."

"Scared?" she asked, struggling to turn onto her side to look at him, cupping his face in her hand. "Why are you scared?"

"I'm going to be a dad," he whispered. "Or…I am a dad, kind of. And I've never been happier, Mer, I swear to you. But there's still a part of me that has absolutely no idea what I'm doing."

"I know," Meredith whispered. "I feel the same way."

"But you know kids," Derek protested. "You have a degree in early childhood. You know what to expect."

"That doesn't mean I'm ready for it," Meredith whispered. "I know when a newborn will smile, that they'll smile for the first time around six weeks, that it's better for us to let them cry if they're fed, dry, and happy. I know every developmental milestone, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to help my own babies through it, to understand what it's like to watch something I've created go through all of that. We'll learn together, Derek, it's part of being a parent."

"Are you going to take childbirth classes?" Derek whispered.

"I…hadn't really thought of it," Meredith whispered. "Do you want me to?"

"It's up to you," Derek shrugged. "I mean, we already have the appointment for a C-section, which I'm entirely glad about. It would be way too much for you to give birth naturally, and I don't want you to be in that kind of pain."

"That makes two of us," Meredith smiled. "But maybe childbirth classes would be a good idea. They tell you how to swaddle, feed, take care of a newborn."

"I'd go with you," Derek sighed. "If you want to, but it's completely your decision."

"I'll think about it," Meredith promised.

"That's all I ask," Derek smiled.

"Can we go back to sleep now?" Meredith whispered.

"Of course," Derek smiled, leaning forward to kiss her forehead before kissing each side of her stomach. "Sleep time, girls. Mommy's tired."

XXXXX

Derek smiled softly as he settled onto his side of the bed later that morning, placing the tray of French Toast on his bedside table. His wife was completely beautiful as she slept, her hair falling in her face and her hand resting on the swell of her belly. He felt a sudden rush of emotion rush over him as he looked at her, still unable to believe that the most amazing woman in the world was carrying his babies, that she was keeping his daughters safe and warm until they were ready to come into the world and meet them.

"Mer," he whispered, leaning forward so his lips were against her ear. "Wake up."

"No," she muttered, curling into herself.

"Yes," Derek laughed. "I have French toast. With peanut butter, just like Mel and Becky like."

Meredith sighed as she looked up at him. "I hate you."

"You love me," Derek said. "I'm the father of your children."

"Give me my food."

"So romantic," Derek laughed, handing her the tray.

"Romantic?" Meredith asked as she spread the peanut butter of the French toast, then poured syrup over it.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mer."

Meredith froze with her fork halfway to her mouth before she let it clatter to the plate, turning to look at him with wide eyes. "Derek," she breathed. "I completely forgot. My stupid pregnant brain is forgetting absolutely everything, and I don't have a Valentine's Day present for you even though you've been the most amazing husband ever."

"It's okay, Mer," Derek laughed. "You're giving me two babies. There's not much else I can ask."

"But…you've been amazing," she breathed.

"So have you," he nodded. "And I have a present for you."

"Where is it?" she asked, looking around the room.

"You'll have to come see it," he smiled. "Are you going to eat?"

"I want my present," she said, moving the tray to the night stand and getting out of bed. "Where is it?"

"Come here," he smiled, taking her hand and leading her into the hallway. "Close your eyes."

"Derek," Meredith protested.

"Meredith, please," Derek said softly.

"Fine," she said, squeezing his hand as she closed her eyes.

"Thank you," Derek said, kissing her cheek quickly before leading her forward. After a moment, he stopped walking and said, "Okay, open them."

Meredith opened her eyes, blinking in surprise as she found herself in the middle of the nursery, complete with furniture and decorations. "Derek," she whispered, blinking back tears.

"We can change anything you want," Derek said. "But I tried to do this the way you would want so you wouldn't have to worry about it."

Meredith looked around at the light green walls, smiling at the stencil paintings of butterflies, bunnies, and other animals. There were two white cribs, one on the wall beside the door, another on the wall perpendicular to it. Soft plush letters spelled out each of their daughters' names, one over each crib, and a padded rocking chair sat beneath the window. There was a changing table beside the closet, and a small dresser sat in the corner beside one of the cribs. A soft white carpet sat beneath their feet, and there were already teddy bears set in each crib. "It's perfect," she whispered.

"You really like it?" Derek asked.

"I love it," she sighed. "How…"

"I did it while you were at school," he smiled. "Mark and George helped, and so did Liz. I'm serious, Mer, if there's anything you don't like."

"No," she whispered, moving to sit in the rocking chair. "I love it."

"Good," Derek nodded, moving to kneel in front of her.

"But…pictures," Meredith said. "Of us and your mom and our friends…they need pictures in their cribs to know who their family is."

"We'll get pictures," Derek nodded, leaning forward to kiss her stomach. "This is your nursery, my beautiful little girls. It's all ready for you, when you get here."