All I Want Is This

35

Meredith held her eyes closed and tried to back out all the voices around her as Mark protectively held her into his arms, gently rubbing her waist. Being pregnant wasn't a heavenly thing as she thought it would be; especially after the small infection she had suffered the night of Halloween, the symptoms emphasized and held her in bed for another 2 weeks, closely supervised by Mark himself.

It was Christmas Eve now and they had just assisted to the ballet performance organized by Alicia's kindergarten with its young performers. It had been cute and amusing in the same time, even for Cristina, who came dragged by Meredith. The main purpose of the spectacle was not only for entertaining the children and their parents, but also a raise fund from the tickets selling. Dr. Bailey with her family and Chief Webber were present there, same as Meredith's friends. The only person missing from Alicia's night, where she played a small but successful role of a fairy, was her good friend Derek.

Meredith held her eyes closed and took several deep breaths before she opened her eyes and lifted her head from Mark's shoulder.

"Do you want me to go take Ally alone so you can go ahead with the others?" Mark asked her, gently brushing his hand against her cold cheek.

"We'll go together," she smiled weakly. She knew if Alicia didn't see her in backstage, she would get worried.

"Mom is already there," he said, gently taking her hand and helping her up. He firmly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him as they headed for the backstage.

The place was crowded and any healthy person would have gone dizzy with the little girls' crying. Alicia's performance had been amazing and she had gracefully showed her talent, which thing couldn't be said about other girls who several times tripped and fell.

"Mommy!" Alicia's squeal easily distinguished from the rest of the noise. Meredith was still Mommy and Meredith to Alicia; she had started calling her Mommy when they were home too, but sometimes she was still Meredith.

"Did you see me? Did you see me?" she asked with the most brilliant smile ever. She was still wearing her purple fairy costume, which she didn't seem to want to take off, judging from Crystal's despair.

"Of course I did. I only could look at you and how beautifully you danced," Meredith praised her.

"You were actually the only one dancing on that stage," Mark laughed as he picked his daughter up, not paying attention to the frustrated mothers around him. "I think the other parents bribed the teachers to have their kids in this show," he stated with a disapproving frown. "And they were saying you wouldn't have time to prepare for it."

"Mark," Meredith nervously smiled at him, trying him to make him aware of the audience. "Let's help Ally change her clothes and leave. We have people waiting for us."

"We're decorating the Christmas tree," Alicia beamed happily.

"Izzie and George are going to help us and we also have a surprise for you when we get there," Meredith smiled at her. "So let's hurry a little bit."

Alicia frowned childishly at her, "But I like my fairy costume."

"Ally, it's cold outside," her grandma tried to explain. "You can't go outside dressed like this."

"Daddy," she tugged on her father's hand, looking for support as always.

"I agree with them this time, Al," Mark shook his head. "You don't want to wait for Santa with fever and taking pills, do you?"

Alicia frowned at him, but she didn't comment. She didn't like to have fever and feel sick. Crystal and Meredith helped Alicia dressing and gathered her things. They were almost done when Mrs. Kendrick approached them.