Derek stared at his wife as she polished off the last of his cheesecake. He'd offered to take her out for a nice dinner when she'd realized that her nice dresses were not going to fit for very much longer. And now, two hours later, he was surprised that she hadn't already popped from all the food she had just consumed.
His wife had always had a healthy appetite, but he'd never seen her eat as much as she had in this meal. Four bread rolls, an entire steak, her baked potato and half of his, as well as her chocolate cake and his cheesecake had all somehow made it into his wife's stomach, and as she polished off the last bite, he briefly wondered if it was possible that she was eating for more than two. Possibly six or seven.
"Done?" he asked with an amused smile.
"Hmmm," Meredith moaned. "That was the best dinner I think...ever."
"I'm glad," Derek smiled as he pulled his wallet out, throwing some bills onto the table as he stood. "Ready to go?"
"Ready," Meredith nodded, taking his outstretched hand. He pulled her to her feet, and shook his head as he stared down at her. "God, you're hot, Mer," he said.
Meredith giggled as she leaned into him. "Are you expecting me to put out, Mr. Shepherd?" she asked.
"I'm sure hoping for it," Derek laughed, pulling her closer to him. "What do you think?"
"I think," Meredith whispered in his ear. "That there's a very real possibility that I spent a ridiculous amount of money at Victoria's Secret, purchasing lingerie with a much larger cup size than I previously have."
"Oh," Derek moaned, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "Home. Let's...home."
"Later," Meredith nodded, pulling away from him. "First I want desert."
"Desert?" Derek frowned as he followed her out of the restaurant. "What was the chocolate cake? And the cheesecake?"
"Warming up," she shrugged.
"Well...what's the sex then?"
"That's your desert," Meredith giggled, brushing a hand over her stomach. "Baby wants ice cream."
"I think our baby is going to be fat," Derek laughed, resting a hand on her stomach as well.
"Excuse me?" Meredith asked, pushing his hand off of her stomach and stepping away from him.
"Crap," Derek muttered. "Mer, that's not what I meant. It's just...baby's hungry. That's good, it means he's growing."
"But you think he's growing too much," Meredith stated. "He's making me fat."
"I never said that," Derek shook his head, reaching for her. "Come on, Mer, I'll get baby's ice cream. And then we can go home and have our own desert."
"I'm not really in the mood anymore," Meredith whispered, crossing her arms over her stomach.
"Mer," he breathed, reaching for her. "Don't do this. I'm sorry, let's just get back to our date."
"I don't want to," she shook her head, turning to walk towards their apartment.
Derek sighed as he moved to catch up with her, wondering when he would learn to stop talking. Meredith was right, he was a complete and total idiot. Only an idiot would utter the word fat within hearing distance of his pregnant wife after she'd promised him a night of hot sex. Idiot.
"I'm going to see if Beth's home," Meredith muttered as she stopped outside of Beth and Nathan's apartment door. "Go on home. I'll be there later."
"Mer," Derek breathed.
"I'm fine, Derek," she rolled her eyes.
Derek sighed as he moved to their apartment, letting himself in and heading directly towards the bedroom. He shook his head as he pulled his coat off and threw himself onto the bed, inhaling Meredith's scent as he buried his face in her pillow. He was going to have to figure this out. Somehow, he had to figure out how to be able to handle the mood swings, because he was reaching the end of his rope. No matter what he did, his wife got mad at him, and he just wanted to feel that he wasn't completely useless in her life.
The front door slammed, and he pulled the pillow off his head to look at Meredith as she appeared at the top of the steps.
"You didn't follow me," she said, tears in her eyes.
"I...what?" Derek frowned.
"You didn't follow me," Meredith repeated. "I know I'm fat Derek. I'm sorry, I'm trying really hard to make sure it's just my stomach that gets bigger, but I know my hips are a little bigger too, but as soon as baby comes..."
"Meredith," Derek frowned, quickly standing to pull her into his arms. "That is so far from the truth."
"Really?" Meredith whispered, looking closely at him.
"I'm sorry, Mer," he whispered. "I'm trying to be a good husband, I really am. I know I'm not doing what you need me to, and I wish I could."
Meredith frowned. "Derek, you're doing everything and more," she said softly. "I already knew you were a good husband, but now...you've completely outdone yourself."
"It doesn't feel that way," Derek whispered. "I feel completely useless."
"What?" Meredith asked, pulling him to the bed and pushing him down onto it before curling into his arms. "Derek...that's completely insane."
"I know," Derek sighed, running a hand over her stomach. "And I just...I'm trying so hard to make sure you get everything you need or want, but I can't do it. I keep messing things up. So I'm sorry."
"Oh, Derek," she sighed, squeezing his hand as he leaned in to kiss him softly. "I love you. And I know that I've been acting crazy lately, and you're bearing the brunt of that. So I'm the one who's sorry because you've been more amazing than I've ever thought possible. Every single craving, mood swing, any time I've yelled at you or cried over some stupidly cheesy commercial...you've been there. And you never complain. It's amazing, and if it's possible, I love you even more now than I did before we got pregnant."
Derek looked at her closely, love and confusion filling his eyes. "I know that I love you more than I did when we got married," he whispered. "Because the thought of you keeping my baby safe inside of you...there's nothing more perfect to me in the entire world."
Meredith giggled softly. "Baby's very happy that he has such an amazing daddy," she whispered as she cuddled closer into Derek's arms. "I'll try to stop the mood swings."
"You don't have to," Derek shook his head. "I can handle it, Mer. I guess I'm just... trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do to make you happy."
"Oh Derek," she sighed. "You're doing it. I promise, I have never been happier than I am right now. With you taking care of me and your baby growing inside of me...Derek, my life is completely perfect."
Derek sighed as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I guess maybe I'm freaking out now."
"Freaking out?" Meredith frowned.
"I'm scared as hell, Mer," Derek whispered. "What if we lose our baby like Kathleen lost hers? What will wew do if that happens?"
"I don't know," Meredith shook her head as she ran a hand over her stomach. "But I feel okay, Derek. There's nothing wrong with baby, and I made a deal with him remember?"
"I know," Derek laughed. "I'm just...that fear is always there. In the back of my head."
"Me too," Meredith admitted softly. "But we can't let that dominate our lives. Baby's healthy and so am I. It's normal to be scared, but we can still be excited. He's starting to grow a lot faster now. In case you couldn't tell by the amount of food I've been eating."
"I wasn't going to bring it up again," Derek laughed. "But I am a little concerned about going broke with feeding you and Baby."
Meredith giggled. "Well, maybe you can get us some ice cream to curb Baby's desires, and then maybe I'll satisfy some of your...desires," she purred in his ear.
"Oh," Dere breathed, nodding slightly. "Ice cream, right. Be right back."
Meredith giggled as she watched him walk towards the stairs before moving towards her closet, finally feeling good enough to spend the night in her husband's arm. It had been too long since they'd spent an entire night together, solely focused on each other, and she couldn't wait to show her husband just how amazing he really was.
XXXXX
"Oh God," Derek panted as he collapsed on top of her hours later, breathing hard against her chest. "Mer..."
"That was...Derek, you're....god..."
"I know," Derek smirked, littering kisses along her collarbone.
"So not what I meant," Meredith giggled breathlessly, turning on her side to face him, linking their fingers together. "I don't want to lose this."
"We won't," Derek assured her. "We're in this, Mer, you know that. Forever. That's what we are."
"When baby comes, we're going to be busy with him," she whispered. "Or her."
"We will," Derek nodded. "But Mer, we'll always have us. I promise that we will never be that couple who becomes so busy being parents that they forget how to be married. We'll always be us."
"Promise?" she whispered.
"I promise," Derek whispered. "Remember when we were about to start med school?"
"I was scared that we weren't going to have any time for each other," Meredith whispered.
"And have I disappointed you at all?" Derek asked.
"There was the time you forgot about our date because you were flirting with my sister," Meredith giggled.
"I never flirted with your sister," Derek rolled his eyes. He paused for a moment, his fingers in her hair before he whispered, "Have you talked to Lexie lately?"
"No," Meredith sighed. "I...I'm afraid if she knows that I'm pregnant than she'll tell her dad and he'll realize that he wants to have a grandchild and try to be all close to me just because he wants to be a grandpa."
"I'm sensing a but," Derek murmured.
"But...if he can't be my dad, how can he expect to be my child's grandpa?" Meredith whispered.
"I think you're right," Derek sighed. "I just wish he weren't so...pathetic."
"Me too," Meredith sighed.
"But you could tell Lexie," Derek whispered. "She knows how you feel about him, I'm sure she would be able to keep it a secret."
"I know," Meredith sighed. "I just haven't seen her since a couple weeks after we found out, and I don't know how to tell her. It's not like we're actually sisters, really. We're just some weird friend sister type people. And I don't know her that well."
"You could just tell her," Derek murmured. "She'll be happy. It means she'll be an aunt. You know how much you love being an aunt."
"It is amazing," Meredith giggled. "I guess I could let her be an aunt."
"Baby's going to be spoiled with so many aunts," Derek laughed.
"That just means he'll have more love," Meredith sighed. "And there will be more people to watch her when we're in class."
Derek smiled as he wrapped an arm around her. "We'll never hire a nanny," he whispered. "That's the one thing I'll insist on. Daycare's okay, but nannies...I don't like the idea of it."
"Good," Meredith nodded. "I hated my nannies."
"And I hate that you had to go through that," Derek replied.
"But we won't put our baby through that," Meredith said. "So it's okay."
"What's going on, Mer?" Derek whispered.
"We're going to be good parents right?" she whispered, curling into him. "Our baby's not going to be completely messed up?"
"Of course not," Derek laughed. "He or she is going to have so much love that they're not going to know what to do with themselves."
"Good," Meredith nodded. "I want to make sure that I'm a mom. Because my mom wasn't really a mom. She was too busy being a surgeon."
"You'll be a mom," Derek nodded. "And I'll be a dad. And we'll both put our kids above our careers."
"Thank you," Meredith whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too," Derek replied, pressing a kiss to her lips.
"You know what would make me love you even more?" Meredith whispered.
"What?" Derek asked, amusement playing on his lips.
"Chocolate cake."
"Chocolate....okay," Derek sighed, knowing that he had to nod and smile. Meredith was actually acting normal now, and he didn't want to risk her going completely mental on him for not getting her cake. "I'll be right back."
"Thank you," Meredith sighed sweetly, kissing him firmly. "I love you."
"I love you too," Derek sighed. "And I love baby."
"Baby loves you too," Meredith whispered, pressing his hand to her stomach.
"I'll be back soon," Derek smiled. "Chocolate cake and all."
Meredith grinned as she fell back on the pillows. Her husband was amazing. Completely and totally amazing.