Meredith sighed as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Derek was standing over the stove. Her stomach had finaly started to settle a little from the morning sickness that had ironically set in the night before, and she felt okay for the first time in a week. She had to feel okay, because Mark and Addison were finally coming back to New York to visit and she had to try to act like a normal person until they found out.
"Hey," Derek said as he looked up from the stove to press a kiss to her lips. "How are you feeling?"
Meredith sighed. "Okay," she said. "I just have to try and act like I'm normal while Mark and Addison are here."
"Well, with the way things have been going, I'm pretty sure that we're horrible secret keepers," Derek laughed. "Beth knew and so did Mom."
"Yeah, well...they've both been pregnant," Meredith shrugged. "Hopefully Mark and Addie are clueless enough about pregnancy to not recognize any of the signs."
"God knows that Mark is," Derek laughed as he poured some soy sauce onto the skillet over his vegetables.
"And hopefully Addison..." Meredith trailed off as the scent of the soy sauce hit her. "Oh God."
Derek turned to her and recognized the look of nausea on her face. "Mer..." he sighed. "What is it?"
"The soy sauce," she groaned. "I'm not...can you just get rid of it?"
"Of course," Derek nodded, pushing the contents of the frying pan down the drain. "It's gone, I'll open some windows."
Meredith nodded as she rested a hand o her stomach, watching as Derek opened the window in the kitchen, then moved to the living room to open that window as well. "Mer, come in here," he called. "The smell's not as strong, and you can stretch out on the couch."
Meredith walked slowly into the living room, one hand over her mouth as the other rested on her stomach. Derek smiled at her in sympathy as he helped her towards the couch, gently easing her down and then crouching down beside her. "Do you still think you're going to be sick?" he whispered.
"I don't think so," she whispered. "I just want to lay down for a minute."
"You can do that," Derek nodded, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. "Is there anything you think your stomach could handle for dinner?"
"Hmmm...Meredith shook her head. "Can you just make spaghetti or something? With no garlic. Cause the smells...not good."
"Of course," Derek nodded, running a hand over her hair.
"Hello!" Addison called, knocking on the door to the apartment and opening it quickly.
"Come in," Derek said, standing from the couch.
"I know we're a little early, but...Mer are you okay?" Addison asked as she looked down at Meredith who was lying on the couch with her head buried in a pillow.
"Just a little stomach problems," Derek said sympathetically.
"I'll be fine," Meredith sighed.
"Where's Mark?" Derek asked.
"He ran into Nathan in the hall," Addison rolled her eyes. "They're going over a play by play of the last game."
"Oh," Derek laughed. "Come help me in the kitchen."
"Sure," Addison nodded. "What are we having?"
"Spaghetti," Derek nodded. "Mer's request."
"Of course," Addison laughed. "We brought wine."
"Oh," Derek said, smiling quickly. "Thanks."
"What's wrong?" Addison frowned.
"Nothing," Derek said quickly. "Just...can't believe I forgot the wine."
"Okay," Addison nodded slowly, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Alright, the party can start, Mark Sloan is here," Mark boomed as he walked into the apartment.
"Mark!" Addison hissed, turning to the living room. "Mer's asleep, you have to be quiet."
"She's asleep?" Mark frowned.
"She doesn't feel good," Derek sighed. "Just...try to keep it down?"
"Sure thing, Shep."
"Don't worry about it," Meredith groaned as she walked into the kitchen a hand over her stomach. "Hi Addie."
"Hey Mer," Addison smiled, pulling Meredith into her arms. "You look fantastic. Something's different."
"Yeah, I look like crap," Meredith sighed.
"Hey, Mer," Mark grinned pulling her into a hug. "Nice new chest."
Derek frowned. "What the hell are you looking at my wife's chest for?" he demanded.
"It's kind of hard to miss."
"Oh God," Meredith groaned, clapping a hand over her mouth as she ran out of the room.
Mark frowned. "I was just kidding I didn't mean to make her sick," he said.
Derek rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot," he said. "Are you wearing cologne?"
"Of course."
Derek sighed. "Alright...you have to shower."
Addison and Mark both frowned. "Derek, what's going on?" Addison asked.
"Mer's pregnant," Derek smiled softly, unable to hide his excitement any time he talked about the baby. "The morning sickness just hit."
"Oh," Addison nodded. "That makes sense." She turned to Mark. "You have to leave. Or get rid of the cologne somehow."
Mark sighed as he reached for his coat. "I'll run back to the hotel and shower," he sighed. "Sorry, Shep, if I had known..."
"We weren't actually planning on telling anyone yet," Derek laughed. "Which is a little ironic because pretty much everyone knows. I'm going to go check on her, Addie, can you watch dinner?"
"Of course," Addison nodded, reaching over to stir the pasta.
"Mer?" Derek asked as he walked into their bathroom, sinking onto the floor beside her. "Are you okay?"
"His cologne," she groaned, leaning into him. "Can you...I don't want him to leave, but I can't..."
"I know, Mer," he smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I told them."
She sighed as she cuddled into his arms. "Apparently we suck at the who secret keeping thing," she said.
"We do," Derek laughed, a hand moving to her stomach. "Does your stomach feel better?"
"There's nothing left in there to throw up," she whispered. "But I still feel nauseas."
"Oh, Mer," he sighed, pulling her close. "Do you want to just have some crackers?"
"Yeah," she whispered. "Can you help me up?"
"Of course," he smiled, getting to his feet himself, then pulling her into his arms. "Are you sure you feel okay?"
"I'm not going to stop my life because your child is sucking the life out of me," she sighed. "I'm fine."
"Okay," Derek nodded slowly, knowing better than to argue with her on this particular topic.
"Hey Mer," Addison smiled as they made their way back downstairs. "How's Baby Shepherd?"
"He's fine," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Enjoying Mommy's misery."
Addison smiled sympathetically. "Well, you look fantastic," she said. "And the sickness shouldn't last too long."
"I hope not," Meredith sighed.
"We sent Mark to shower," Addison said. "And I put the wine away. I'm sorry, we really had no idea."
"Don't worry," Meredith smiled. "You had no way of knowing. And if you guys want to have wine, I'm totally okay with it."
"We'll wait and see," Addison shrugged, taking Meredith's arm and leading her into the living room. "Derek can take over dinner again, I want to hear everything."
"Sure, Derek can take over dinner," he muttered. "It's not like I have a wife or child to take care of."
Meredith giggled as she leaned up to kiss him. "It's my job to take care of baby right now," she whispered.
"And it's my job to take care of you."
"I'm fine, Derek," she whispered. "Go make dinner."
"Going," he smiled, pressing one more kiss to her lips before moving back to the kitchen.
"So..." Addison said, pulling her legs up under her on the couch as she stared at Meredith. "I want to hear everything."
Meredith smiled softly. "There's not really that much to tell," she shrugged. "I'm six weeks along, due in March. And so far...my boobs are swollen, I'm exhausted, and I throw up all the time."
Addison smiled as she reached out to stroke Meredith's stomach. "It sounds like hell," she sighed. "But Derek's excited."
"He is," Meredith said, unable to stop the wide smile that spread across her face. "I told him on Father's Day. We don't really have a reason the celebrate Father's Day, or at least we didn't, so he didn't even realize what day it was. And I just left a card for him on the table."
"That's sweet," Addison said softly. "He's wanted kids forever."
"I know," Meredith smiled. "He talks to my stomach more than he talks to me. And he's read three pregnancy books, cover to cover."
"You're so lucky," Addison sighed. "I'll be lucky if Mark even notices when I get sick."
"That's not true," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Mark loves you. He pretends to be shallow, but he'll be ecstatic when you two have kids."
"I hope," Addison sighed. "So...I don't want to burst the happy bubble or anything but what are you going to do about school?"
"I'm going to stay in first semester and take off second," Meredith sighed. "I'll fall behind, but that way I'll have a couple months to get ready for the baby, and then I won't have to go back to school until he's five months old, which is a good time to start having longer periods of separation."
"Wow, you've really thought this through," Addison said. "I'm impressed."
"Derek wants to take the semester off too," she sighed. "But I told him that's stupid."
"He should be okay if he just takes a week or so off," Addison nodded. "He'll still be around a lot."
"Mmmhmm," Meredith nodded.
"Alright, I'm back," Mark announced from the doorway. "Am I allowed to come back in?"
"Are you wearing cologne?" Meredith asked.
"No."
"Aftershave?"
"No."
"Then come in."
Mark smiled as he approached the couch. "Sorry about that, Grey," he said. "I wouldn't have worn it if I'd known."
"It's okay," Meredith smiled.
"Am I allowed to hug you as congratulations?"
"Of course," Meredith giggled, getting off the couch to hug him tightly. "Thanks Markie."
"Alright, get your hands off my wife, Sloan," Derek warned from behind them.
"Hey, I'm just offering her comfort," Mark shrugged. "It can't be easy having your kid kicking around inside her."
Derek rolled his eyes as he moved to Meredith's side and pressing a hand to her stomach. "She loves that kid," he said. "And dinner's ready."
Meredith smiled slightly as she leaned into him. "Thanks, Der," she whispered.
"You feel okay?" he whispered.
"Hmmm," she whispered, taking his hand and pressing it to her stomach. "I think he's going to let me eat."
Derek smiled as he rubbed her stomach gently. "Good job, Baby Shepherd," he whispered. "Listening to Mommy and Daddy already. We love you."
"Let's eat," Meredith smiled, dragging him to the table where Mark and Addison were already sitting. She smiled as she looked down at her food, glad to be able to actually eat and spend some time with her friends.