"Are you seriously still not talking to me?" Derek asked as he leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen a week later.
"I'm talking to you," Meredith nodded, not looking up from the grilled cheese sandwich on the stove in front of her.
"I got home an hour ago and you haven't even looked at me," Derek sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm busy," she shrugged. "I'm feeding your children. They're completely sucking up anything I eat."
"That's the fifth grilled cheese you've eaten since I've gotten home," Derek observed as she poured ketchup over the sandwich.
"Are you saying I'm eating a lot?" she demanded, turning to look at him with raised eyebrows.
Crap. "No," Derek shook his head quickly. "I'm just wondering how many sandwiches you're going to make before you start talking to me. Because you have to do so eventually."
"I am talking to you."
"Arguing doesn't count."
"Funny," Meredith rolled her eyes. "You seem to like arguing. It's all you've been doing."
"Is this still about Liz?" Derek asked with a groan. "I thought we were over that, it's been a week."
"Still about Liz?" Meredith repeated. "Derek, she's your sister. And she's pregnant. And now she thinks you hate her."
"I don't hate her," Derek snapped. "I'm letting her stay in my house since she's refusing to tell Mom."
"Our house," Meredith argued. "And that means nothing. She needs her big brother, not a room."
"She doesn't have anywhere else to go," Derek said. "It's something. She needs to live somewhere."
"She's terrified to tell your mother!" Meredith cried. "She wants help from her big brother."
"I am helping."
"I've got news for you, Derek Christopher," Meredith snapped. "Locking your pregnant sister away in the corner of our house is not helping anyone, especially her. Or your pregnant wife."
"I can't force her to tell Mom."
"Yes you can!" Meredith replied. "Derek, you are the glue that holds this family together. Everyone turns to you when they need someone because we all know you can handle it. Liz turned to you when she needed help, and you brushed her aside like she meant nothing."
"She didn't turn to me, she turned to you," Derek replied, collapsing into a kitchen chair and running a hand through his hair.
"What?" Meredith asked with a frown.
"When I tried to talk to her the other day," Derek sighed. "She said she needed you. She would never have come here if it was just me."
"Oh," Meredith said, blinking in surprise.
"So I'm not letting her down," Derek said. "She asked me to give her space. And I'm giving her space."
"Derek," Meredith sighed, moving closer to him. "I'm sorry if I've been putting pressure on you. But I think she needs you to push her. If she doesn't have your support, there's no way she'll be able to tell your mom. She needs to know that her big brother is okay with this. She looks up to you, Derek, and she's never disappointed you before. This is killing her."
"She wants you," Derek shook his head.
"She wants me because I was in her place four months ago," Meredith whispered. "She needs me to tell her it's normal to think you're going to throw up so much that all of your internal organs will come up. She needs me to hold her hand during the sonogram appointments and reassure her that every little symptom is normal. She needs you for everything else, Derek. She needs you to reassure her that this doesn't change who she is, that she still has a place in this family."
"I'm sorry," Derek whispered, tentatively reaching for her hand. "I just...I'm in over my head with this, Mer."
"Think of it as practice," Meredith giggled. "For when the girls are dating."
"No dating until they're thirty," Derek shook his head. "No, make it forty."
"I don't think they'll like that," Meredith smiled, standing on tip toes to kiss him gently. "Should we both go talk to her?"
"Sounds good," Derek nodded, taking her hand and leading her towards the stairs. Before she made it up the first three steps, the front door burst open and Mark stormed in.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"What?" Derek asked.
"Lizzie," Mark replied. "Addison just told me."
"Mark, she's fine," Derek sighed. "We've got it under control."
"The hell you do," Mark frowned. "I'm going to buy a gun."
"What?" Derek and Meredith asked together.
"I've got to hunt this Shawn jackass down," Mark ranted. "I'll need your help, Shep."
"You're not buying a gun," Derek rolled his eyes. "We don't need this right now, Mark, Liz is upset enough."
"She should be upset, that bastard screwed her over."
"Mark, can you please just let me take care of this?" Derek snapped. "Once she's accepted this, then we can think about Shawn."
"You're just going to let her go through this by herself?"
"She doesn't have much of a choice!" Derek replied. "She won't even tell Mom!"
"Derek," Meredith said, reaching out to grasp the banister as another hand went to her stomach.
"You have to force her to tell your mom!" Mark said. "Otherwise she'll never do it."
"She's scared right now, she needs time."
"That's rich, coming from the guy who called me ranting at midnight about how upset he was that his sister was completely irresponsible."
"Derek," Meredith breathed, moving to lean against the wall.
"I got over it," Derek shouted at Mark. "Yes, I'm disappointed, but she's still my sister. I'm going to help her take responsibility."
"Stop it!" a voice shouted from the stairs and Derek and Mark both turned to see Liz standing in the middle of the staircase. "Stop arguing over me like I can't make my own decisions!" she cried. "I'm pregnant, not brain dead. I can take care of myself and this baby."
"Liz," Derek sighed. "We're just trying to make sure you're taken care of."
"Derek," Meredith said firmly from the corner of the stairs, and he rolled his eyes as he turned to look at her.
"Mer, I really don't need a lecture..." his eyes widened as he saw her leaning heavily against the wall, clutching her stomach tightly. "What's wrong?" he asked as he rushed to her side.
All the anger in the foyer rushed out of the room as Mark and Liz rushed to her side as well.
"I think I'm having contractions," Meredith breathed, clutching Derek's hand tightly.
"Real contractions?" Derek breathed. "Or Braxton Hicks?"
"I don't know, Derek," she snapped. "I've never had contractions before."
"Well...how long are they?"
"I think that was the first one," Meredith breathed, shifting her weight to him. "Derek, I'm only six months. They can't..."
"It's probably just Braxton Hicks," Derek said, trying to remain calm. "But we're going to take you in just in case."
"I was supposed to avoid stress," Meredith whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. "The yelling..."
Derek's eyes filled with guilt as he met Mark's eyes over Meredith's head. "I'm sorry, Mer," he murmured.
"I'm sure everything's fine, Grey," Mark nodded, reaching for her other arm to help her to the car. "Shep's right though, we'll just take you in to get checked over. There's no hurt in seeing your kids anyways."
"Derek," Meredith whimpered.
"It's okay, Mer," he nodded. "Mark can drive, I'll sit in the back with you in case there's more pain."
"The girls," Meredith whispered. "They have to be okay."
"I'm sure they're fine," Derek said, kissing her forehead as he settled her into the back seat, trying to swallow his own fear. He would never forgive himself if his fight with Mark had caused problems for his wife and daughters.
XXXXX
"Derek, you don't have to carry me," Meredith sighed as he opened the front door a couple hours later.
"You're officially on bed rest now, Mer," Derek said as he made his way carefully up the stairs. "I'm not taking anymore chances."
"Derek," she sighed as he settled her into their bed. "You don't need to feel guilty. Dr. White said the fight didn't have anything to do with the contractions."
"I know," he nodded. "I'm going to get a TV up here so you can watch movies," he nodded. "I'll set up a DVD player next to the bed so you don't have to move to change movies."
"You don't have to do that."
"And I'll clear out the romance novel section of the bookstore."
"I hate romance novels."
"And Mark will come out every day with the newest magazines," Derek said. "I can't get off work yet, but I'm going to make sure that someone's always here."
"Derek," Meredith breathed, reaching for her hand. "This is going to be a really long couple months. I really don't want you freaking out until we go to the hospital."
"I know," he sighed. "I just... I know you, Mer, and you're going to get bored."
"Of course I'm going to be bored," Meredith sighed, leaning back into her pillows. "I'm already bored."
"It's what's best for the girls," Derek said softly.
"I know," she nodded. "But you don't need to go overboard, Derek. You can bring me my knitting, and my friends will come over to keep me company when you're not here. And if you really want to, you can bring a TV up here. But I'm just going to relax, get ready for the babies to be born. That's what I'm supposed to be doing, right?"
"Of course," Derek sighed. "Maybe I'll call Mom and see if she'll mind staying here until the girls are born."
"She doesn't need to do that," Meredith shook her head. "She has a life, Derek, she can't just give it up for two and a half months."
"She's dealing with Liz right now," Derek sighed. "But once that's straightened out, I'm sure she'll be willing to come out here and spend some time with you."
"Derek, I'm fine."
"She was on bed rest with Caitlin," Derek said, reaching out to run a hand through her hair. "She'll know good ways to occupy yourself."
"Okay," Meredith sighed.
"I'm so sorry, Mer," Derek whispered, leaning into her.
"For what?" Meredith frowned, looking down at him as he lifted her shirt and pressed his lips against her belly.
"I was supposed to make sure nothing happened to you," Derek whispered. "And now you're on bed rest."
"Derek, this isn't your fault," Meredith frowned, running a hand through his hair.
"It is," he nodded, running his hands over her stomach. "Daddy's so sorry, girls. He loves you so much, and he's so sorry he scared you."
"Derek," Meredith breathed as she felt a tear fall onto her stomach. "I was going to end up on bed rest eventually anyways."
"But this is my fault," he breathed, inhaling sharply before he sat up, pulling her shirt back over her stomach. "Are you hungry? I'll make you anything you want."
"No," Meredith shook her head, grabbing his hand to pull him back towards the bed as he started to stand. "You're not walking away, Derek."
"I'm not walking away," he shook his head. "You need to eat."
"No, I need to make sure you know that none of this is your fault," she said. "I know we haven't exactly been ourselves lately, and I'm sorry if I've been short with you since we found out about Liz. But I love you, Derek, more than anything in the world. And there's no way I'm letting you blame yourself for me going on bed rest."
"Fine," Derek sighed. "It's not my fault."
"And now you're avoiding," she frowned. "That's my thing, not yours."
"I'm not avoiding, Mer," Derek shook his head. "I just need to take care of you. I didn't before, and I need to do it now."
"Derek," Meredith sighed, pulling him closer and pressing his hands against her stomach. "You feel that?" she asked as he felt several strong kicks against his palm.
"Yeah," he smiled softly, leaning down to kiss her stomach.
"Those are your daughters," Meredith whispered.
"I know that, Mer," he laughed slightly.
"They're big and strong," Meredith whispered. "Because of you. Every single craving, every meal I've wanted at two in the morning, you've provided it for me. And they are going to be so smart when they're born because their daddy reads to them every single night. They love you already, Derek."
"They're not even born," Derek sighed.
"They're not," Meredith agreed. "But Derek, you know something I've never told you?"
"What?" he asked.
"When you're not here," she whispered. "At work or whatever, and the girls are still. Or relatively still, because I'm convinced that they never sleep at the same time. But that's not the point. The point is that when you come home and say hi to them, they immediately start kicking like crazy."
"Really?" Derek whispered, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Why do you think they're always kicking like soccer players?" Meredith whispered. "They know your voice, Derek. They love you."
"Oh," Derek breathed, leaning down to kiss both sides of her stomach. "I love you too, my beautiful little girls."
"You take care of us, Derek," Meredith whispered. "I would never have gotten to this point without you."
Derek sighed as he moved up to rest his head against Meredith's chest, allowing her to rock him gently and run her fingers through his hair. He loved her completely, and he had to make sure that nothing else went wrong with this pregnancy. Otherwise he would never forgive himself.