"Here's your pudding, Mer," Derek said, forcing a smile onto his lips as he carried a cup of chocolate pudding into the living room where she was seated on the couch with his mother.

"What?" she snapped.

"Chocolate pudding," Derek said, handing her the cup. Or trying to hand her the cup as she stared at him.

"I don't want pudding," she snapped. "Why would you think that? I really wish you weren't an idiot."

"You asked for it," Derek replied.

"Well I don't want it anymore," Meredith replied. "Why can't you just leave me alone for once?"

"I'm trying to take care of you."

"Well, you're just annoying me."

"Fine," Derek snapped. "I'll just leave you alone."

"Fine," Meredith crossed her arms over her belly, staring at the TV as it boasted some stupid soap opera.

Derek stared at her for a moment before he turned to his mother. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"I'm just fine, Derek," she said. "I'll be home in a few days, you don't need to wait on me any longer."

"Okay," Derek nodded, his eyes on his pouting wife. "Fine. Since I'm not needed here, I'll be at the hospital."

"Derek," Emma sighed.

"Call me if anything happens," Derek said before pressing a kiss to his mother's cheek and walking out of the room. A moment later, the front door slammed closed behind him.

"Meredith," Emma said softly, looking at her daughter in law carefully as tears streamed down her face. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Meredith whispered, wiping tears from her eyes as she stared at the TV in front of them.

"It's alright to talk to me, dear," Emma said softly.

"Mom," Meredith whimpered, turning to look at her mother in law with tear filled eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Oh, darling," Emma smiled, pulling Meredith to rest against her shoulder, rocking her slightly in her arms. "It's alright. Let it out. Just let all the tears out, it's okay. You're alright."

"I don't know why I'm crying," Meredith sobbed. "I'm…my babies are healthy. I'm healthy, and Derek is being completely amazing. He's doing everything he can and being absolutely amazing, getting me anything I want. But I'm so horrible to him, even though I don't want to be."

"That's normal, dear," Emma smiled. "Your hormones are completely out of your control right now. I know exactly how you're feeling. I was pregnant five times, remember."

"You do?" Meredith whispered, looking up at her with wide eyes, looking more like a child than her pregnant daughter.

"I do," Emma nodded, smoothing hair back from Meredith's forehead. "When I was pregnant with Derek, I kicked Michael out of the house for two days. He was annoying me."

"Seriously?" Meredith giggled.

"I did," Emma laughed, a brief flash of pain filling her eyes. "He had changed Nancy's diaper wrong."

"So you kicked him out?"

"He spent two nights on the couch in the back of his store," Emma said. "Before I finally got back to normal and told him he could come home. But I wouldn't let him change a diaper until Derek was born."

"Oh," Meredith giggled.

"He handled it very well," Emma nodded. "Just like Derek is doing now. He's going to be a wonderful father."

"Derek misses him so much," Meredith whispered. "He thinks he won't be a good father without Michael here to guide him."

"I suppose I understand that fear," Emma sighed. "But he already is a good father. He loves those girls to death and they're not even born yet. And he's waiting on you hand and foot."

"That's what I keep telling him," Meredith said, reaching for her stomach and frowning slightly.

"Meredith?" Emma asked. "Is everything okay? You look a little pale. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Meredith sighed. "Just…hard kicks. And cramps. And I have to pee. Again."

"Get used to that," Emma said with a smile as Meredith pushed herself to her feet, standing still for a moment. "Meredith?"

"I can't…" Meredith breathed, stumbling slightly before she grabbed onto the edge of the couch. "I think I need to sit down."

"Here," Emma jumped to her feet, ignoring her own pain as she guided her daughter in law to sit back down on the couch. "Meredith. Are you okay?"

"I need to sit," Meredith murmured.

"You're sitting," Emma assured her. "What's wrong?"

"I can't see," Meredith sighed, leaning to lay down on the couch. "So…tired."

"Meredith," Emma gasped, tugging on her hand and pulling her to her feet. "We're taking you to the hospital."

"No," Meredith sighed, reaching out for balance. "Three…months."

"We need to go to the hospital," Emma said. "Just hold onto my arm, I won't let you walk into anything."

Meredith stumbled with Emma to the car, collapsing onto the seat as Emma hurried to the driver's side. "Meredith, dear, don't go to sleep," she said firmly. "I need you to stay awake."

"Nap," Meredith whispered, leaning against the window.

"No nap," Emma shook her head, stepping on the gas a little harder. "Tell me about the girls. Tell me about your babies."

"Babies?" Meredith asked. "Whose babies?"

Emma tried to swallow her panic, wondering what in the world had happened. Meredith had been fine only moments before, and now she was disoriented and dizzy, in pain and unaware of the fact that she was even pregnant. This was not right, not at all.

XXXXX

"Please, Mark," Derek begged as he sat behind the desk in the ER. "I need to cut."

"I'm not trading surgeries with you," Mark insisted. "Especially to sit in the pit."

"Mer and I had a fight," Derek said. "I need to cut, escape."

"What are you and Grey fighting about?" Mark asked. "I need to make sure to add it to my list of things not to do when Addie's at this point."

Before Derek could say anything else, the ER doors burst open and an intern stumbled in. "Dr. Shepherd, we've got a woman five months pregnant," he breathed. "Cramping and slight bleeding, she's dizzy and doesn't know what's going on."

"Alright, page Dr…." Derek's voice trailed off as he saw his biggest fear before him, Meredith on a stretcher, her eyes slightly glazed over as she looked around the ER. "Meredith!"

"Shit," Mark breathed, calling up for their doctor before he rushed to Meredith's side as well.

"Derek," Meredith gasped, reaching for his hand. "I…where am I?"

"You're at the hospital," Derek frowned, glancing up as he saw his mother enter the ER. "Mer, what's going on?"

"I…I remember pain," Meredith whispered. "In my stomach. I was in the living room and now I'm here…Oh, God, Derek, I'm not miscarrying, am I?"

"You're not miscarrying," Derek shook his head, trying to stay strong. "You…this might be pre term labor."

"I'm only twenty one weeks," Meredith gasped. "What…it can't be labor."

"It happens, Mer," Derek whispered, fear filling his eyes. "We're going to get you into a room and Dr. White will meet us there."

"Derek," she whispered. "The girls…"

"Mer," he said softly, leaning down so he was face to face with her. "They'll do everything they can to stop labor from occurring now."

"And if they can't?" she asked. "Are they strong enough to survive?"

The pain that filled Derek's eyes was enough of an answer for her, but she turned to Mark anyways. "Mark," she whispered. "Will our babies live?"

"They'll most likely be fine," Mark said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Right now you need to stay calm so you don't have another dizzy spell."

"Derek," Meredith breathed. "Becky and Melanie. They can't…I love them."

"I know Mer," he whispered. "I love them too."

"They can't die," Meredith breathed, clutching her stomach. "They can't leave me."

"Just calm down," Derek said, swallowing his panic as he and Mark began to wheel her towards the elevators. He had to be strong for Meredith and not break down like he suddenly wanted to. Everything had to be okay.

XXXXX

"Alright, Meredith," Dr. White sighed half an hour later. "You gave us quite a scare there."

"Is everything okay?" Meredith asked, tears streaming down her face as she clutched Derek's hand tightly.

"Yes," Dr. White sighed. "You're not in labor, and sometimes your body is just overwhelmed with the stress of providing for three people."

"What does that mean?" Derek asked. "She still has three months left."

"I'm going to recommend as little stress as possible," Dr. White said as she began applying gel to Meredith's stomach. "I'm not putting you on bed rest yet, but I'm strongly going to recommend you stop working, or at least cut back on your hours significantly."

"I'm done," Meredith nodded. "I…what else?"

"Make sure you're getting enough to drink," Dr. White said. "It seems that dehydration may have played a role in your dizzy spell earlier. Your body is giving the water you retain to the babies first, so you've got to make sure you drink enough to keep you hydrated as well. Eat healthfully, and make sure you take your vitamins."

"Alright," Meredith nodded, her eyes trained on the screen as the babies appeared. "They're okay, right?" she whispered. "Derek? Becky and Melanie are okay?"

"Everything looks good, Mer," Derek nodded, staring at his daughters. "They're moving a lot, aren't they?"

Meredith smiled slightly as she watched one of her daughters gently kick the other on the screen. "I felt that," she breathed as one of the babies did a somersault.

"She's showing off," Derek breathed, relief filling his voice. "Making sure we both know they're completely okay."

"Baby B's just asleep, right?" Meredith asked. "I mean, sometimes one of them sleeps while the other one plays, but…she's just asleep, right?"

"Everything looks good," Dr. White nodded, turning off the machine and snapping her gloves off. "I'm going to want to see you every two weeks, Meredith. And make sure you call if there's any problems, from cramping to bleeding. Those babies have fourteen weeks until they're full term, so even though they may survive if they're born now. We want to keep them in there as long as possible, so make sure you encounter as little stress as possible."

"She will," Derek nodded, helping Meredith sit up.

"One more thing," Dr. White sighed. "No more strenuous exercise. I'm not sure if you've been doing yoga or pilates, but no more. And no more sex either."

"What?" Derek and Meredith asked together, causing Dr. White to smirk slightly.

"Orgasms can trigger labor," Dr. White explained. "Sex is normally okay until the third trimester, but in cases like this it's safer to avoid it completely."

"But…it's sex," Derek stated with a frown.

"Derek," Meredith hissed, slapping his arm. "Thank you, Dr. White."

"Be sure to call if anything changes," Dr. White nodded. "And make an appointment for two weeks."

"God, Meredith," Derek breathed, turning to her with wide, wet eyes. "Please, do not ever do that to me ever again."

"It's not like I actually chose to do that," Meredith sighed, running a hand over her stomach.

"You're sure you feel okay?" Derek asked, his hand joining hers.

"Yeah," Meredith sighed, leaning into him. "Derek, I'm sorry I'm a complete bitch right now."

"No," he said. "You're completely exhausted, I'm the one that's sorry. You're carrying my babies, I should be more understanding."

"Okay, well…maybe you have a point," Meredith giggled, reaching up to cup his cheek. "We're okay, Der."

"I know," he nodded. "Let's go tell Mom."

"Mom," Meredith breathed, clutching his arm as she stepped into her pants. "Is she okay?"

"Mark was taking her to get looked at," Derek sighed. "But she was pretty much healed, I'm sure she's fine."

"Good," Meredith nodded as she pulled her shirt over her head, leaning into him. "I'm sorry, Der."

"It's not your fault," Derek shook his head. "We're just going to be more careful for the next few months, that's all."

"No sex," Meredith sighed.

"No sex," Derek frowned. "Which is…how exactly am I supposed to look at that body and not touch?"

"I'll find other ways to help you out," Meredith giggled, kissing him softly. "I love you, Derek."

"I love you too," he breathed against her lips.

"Becky and Melanie love you too," Meredith said.

Derek smiled as he felt a swift kick delivered to his belly. "I love you too, girls," he whispered. "Don't ever scare Daddy like that again."

"Or Mommy."

"Or Mommy," Derek said, kneeling down and pressing his lips to her stomach as he ran his hands over it. "Maybe you didn't like that we were fighting. But don't worry, it won't happen again."

"It probably will," Meredith giggled. "Because Daddy's an idiot."

Derek rolled his eyes as he kissed her stomach again. "Mommy's lying now," he said. "But she's right, we will fight again. But we love each other a lot, so we'll always make up. You don't have to scare us like that. We love you too much, Melanie and Becky."