"I heard the second most beautiful pregnant woman in the world is craving tacos and quesadillas," Mark announced as he walked into Derek and Meredith's bedroom a week later.
"Oh thank God," Meredith giggled, reaching eagerly for the bag of take out that he was holding.
"Shep got pulled into to an emergency surgery," Mark sighed as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Apparently it's good practice for me to take care of you, since Addie will be in your place in a couple months."
Meredith giggled as she bit into a taco, reaching for the soda Mark had placed on the nightstand. "It's only true practice if it's two in the morning and you have to drive an hour there and back to the nearest Taco Bell," she said. "I thought he was going to kill me."
"Yeah, Shep said something about that too," Mark laughed. "How are you feeling today?"
"Completely and totally bored," Meredith sighed. "Derek...he gets to go be a surgeon and do exciting things and...go downstairs. And I'm stuck up here with baby sitter after baby sitter."
"We're not baby sitting," Mark laughed. "But no one wants you left alone. We worry about you."
"I know," Meredith said as she shoved more taco meat into her mouth. "They want me to do this for another ten weeks."
"I know it sounds like forever," Mark sighed. "And Shep's trying like hell to get his pat leave early."
"What?" Meredith asked, looking up quickly. "Why? He needs to put more hours in before the girls come."
"You're on best rest, Grey," Mark rolled his eyes. "You really think that whipped husband of yours is able to concentrate on surgery? He's constantly worrying about you."
"But...he can't take ten weeks off," Meredith frowned. "He's a resident, he'll fall behind."
"That doesn't matter to him," Mark shrugged. "And God knows that if Addie ends up in this position, I'd be doing the same thing."
Meredith bit her lower lip as she stared down at the half eaten quesadilla in her lap. "It would be really nice to have him here," she sighed. She looked at Mark for a moment before she asked, "Why can't he just take the time off? If he wants to, he should be able to."
"Apparently the chief's giving him a hard time about it," Mark sighed. "Don't tell him I told you that."
Meredith narrowed her eyes. "What the hell is she doing now?" she asked. "Did she say something?"
"She says that if he wants to stay in the program he won't let this distract him from surgery," Mark said.
"What?" Meredith yelled, sitting up in bed. "Seriously? Who the hell does she think she is?"
"Calm down, Grey," Mark breathed, reaching out to push her back into the pillows. "Shep will have my ass if your blood pressure spikes. I'm supposed to be distracting you."
"She thinks she can...seriously?" Meredith asked. "Seriously? Isn't there some kind of law or something that says when a man's wife is sick and exiled to bed he can take time off of work?"
"There is," Mark nodded. "But apparently if Shep takes it, he won't be allowed back to the residency at Seattle Grace."
"What?" Meredith shouted again, starting to swing her legs over the bed and preparing to get out of bed.
"Oh, for God's sake, get back in bed," Mark rolled his eyes. "There's not much anyone can do about this, Grey. She's the chief of surgery, no one else has as much power as her."
"She's purposefully putting Derek on more shifts because she knows I'm sick," Meredith said. "That stupid bitch."
"Look, pretty soon he's going to go onto pat leave and until then we've got plenty of people keeping you company," Mark nodded. "Hell, some of your students even called Derek and told them they would come visit."
"No," Meredith shook her head. "Get me the phone. Derek left it on the dresser when he left."
"What?" Mark frowned.
"Get me the phone," Meredith sighed. "I've got to tell that bitch how it's going to be with Derek."
"Meredith, I don't think..."
"I swear to God, Mark, if you don't get me the phone I'll get out of bed and get it myself," Meredith snapped. "And after I'm finished talking to the woman who gave birth to me, the woman who makes me angrier than anyone I've ever met, I'll take all that anger out on you. And don't think because I'm a million months pregnant I won't be able to kick your ass."
"Right," Mark nodded, moving to the dresser and reaching for the phone.
"Thank you," Meredith snapped, grabbing the phone out of his hand and holding it up to her ear. "Dr. Grey please...I don't care if she's in a board meeting, this is her daughter and it's important...I know she's running a hospital, but I swear if you don't put her on the phone right now I will sue your damn hospital for malpractice for the time my mother in law was released with an unnoticed broken rib."
"Emma never..." Mark stopped talking when Meredith turned to stare at him with flashing eyes.
"Thank you," she said into the phone.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mark asked when Meredith leaned into the pillows, waiting to be placed off of hold.
"Getting my husband the time off he deserves," Meredith replied. "Mother," she said. "I don't care. Why the hell are you making my husband's life a living hell? He's a good man and he's bending over backwards to make sure that this pregnancy is as easy as possible for you and doesn't need to deal with a horrible boss on top of worrying about me and our babies...I know that you hate me and wish that I had never been born but what the hell have I done to you in the past two years that makes you want to lose my babies...I'm not being dramatic, I'm supposed to be avoiding stress, but this is definitely not avoiding stress. So if you have any human bones in your body, you would just give Derek the time off he needs. For your grand daughters. Thank you...Fine. Good bye."
She slammed the phone into the bed and collapsed against the pillows, hot tears stinging her eyes.
"You okay?" Mark asked hesitantly, leaning forward to squeeze her hand gently. "You have to breathe, Meredith."
"I know," she sighed. "Just...God, Mark, why can't she leave me alone?"
"Hell if I knew," Mark sighed. "Addie made me call my parents about the baby and the wedding."
Meredith looked at him closely for a moment. "You don't talk to your parents?" she whispered.
"Hell, I all but moved in with the Shepherds," Mark said. "You know that."
"Yeah," Meredith nodded. "I guess I never really thought about where your parents are."
"They kicked me out when I was twelve," Mark shrugged. "Said if I loved the Shepherds so much I should move in with them. So I did."
"Oh," Meredith breathed.
"People like our parents should never have had kids," Mark said softly.
"No," Meredith sighed. "They shouldn't have. But Derek says he's glad they did."
"Shep would be completely lost without the two of us," Mark laughed.
"He really would be," she giggled. "It's kind of scary."
"You wonder how you're going to be a good parent when your own parents barely even knew you existed?" Mark asked.
"Yeah," Meredith breathed.
"I completely freaked out when Addie told me she was pregnant," Mark nodded. "You know my earliest memory is when I was five. I was so excited to go to school, and my mom actually took me to the store to get a new backpack. She bought me a Superman backpack, with a matching lunch box. Thing probably didn't cost more than ten dollars, but when we got home, my dad was drunk. He beat my mom around for buying it without telling him, and then told me that I was a baby for wanting a lunch box like that."
Meredith stared at him as she blinked back tears. "I'm so sorry, Mark," she whispered.
"I met Derek the next day," Mark said, smiling softly. "Emma picked him up at school, and when she noticed I didn't have a back pack, she gave me Derek's from pre school. And then she took me home and realized that no one was there to take care of me, she took me home. And from there on out, I had two wonderful parents, a brother to wrestle with, and four annoying sisters. Or, at that time three. Caitie wasn't around yet."
"I'm glad they took you in," Meredith smiled. "They're amazing."
"They are," Mark nodded. "But now that I'm going to be a dad..."
"You're afraid you're going to be like your real parents," Meredith nodded.
"I'll never hurt Addie," Mark said firmly. "I watched my dad smack my mom around too much for that. I love her too much to ever lay a hand on her. But I can't help being afraid that when I'm a dad, I'll be more like my own dad."
"I know what you mean," Meredith sighed. "I'm terrified of ending up like my mom. But Derek says I already love my girls more than my mom ever loved me."
"That much is true," Mark smiled. "You think your mom would ever have taken a year and a half off of work for you?"
"I know," Meredith nodded. "And you're going to be a great dad. Addie told me how you recorded your voice so that when you're on call overnight the baby can hear you say good night."
"That's true," Mark smiled softly. "I can pretty much guarantee that my dad never did that."
"Exactly," Meredith smiled. "You'll be a good dad, Mark. And a good uncle."
"We're quite the pair, aren't we, Grey?"
"We're pretty lucky," Meredith sighed. "The Shepherds adopted both of us as one of their own."
Before Mark could answer, the front door opened and heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. "Hey Mer," Derek smiled as he entered the room. "Hi Mark."
"Derek," Meredith breathed, her eyes lighting up as he crawled onto the bed beside her and kissed her gently. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently someone told off Dr. Grey," Derek said with a smile. "And I've gotten an extended leave of absence."
"Oh," Meredith said with an innocent smile. "Well, we should really thank whoever that was."
"We should," Derek laughed, leaning forward to kiss her again. "Thank you."
"She told you," Meredith sighed.
"She did," Derek said, lacing their fingers together. "And I love you for it."
"Really?"
"Really," he nodded. "Although there's someone I don't love so much for telling you what she said in the first place."
"Well, now that you're back you can take care of her," Mark said, standing and moving towards the door. "I'll see you later."
"Mark," Meredith called from Derek's arms.
"Hmm?" Mark asked, turning to look at her.
"Thanks," she said.
Mark smiled slightly as he nodded. "No problem, Grey," he said before he turned to walk out of the room.
"How are you feeling?" Derek asked as he turned back to Meredith.
"Good," she nodded. "Mark brought me tacos."
"I know," he laughed. "And I bought a bunch of taco meat so there won't be any more two AM ferry boat rides."
"Right," Meredith nodded, biting her lower lip carefully.
"Mer," Derek asked, looking at her closely. "What's wrong?"
"I know it sucks to drive out there," Meredith sighed. "And you really don't have to if you don't want to..."
"But..." Derek prompted.
"But the Taco Bell ones taste so much better," Meredith whispered.
"Oh," Derek laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "I'll keep going to Taco Bell."
"Really?" Meredith whispered.
"Really," Derek nodded. "Anything for my girls."
"Becky and Melanie say thank you Daddy," Meredith sighed as she brought his hand to her belly.
"You're welcome, girls," Derek smiled, kissing her stomach softly. "So...I don't have to work anymore."
"Which is amazing," Meredith sighed, leaning into him.
"I'll wait on you hand and foot," Derek smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Anything you want."
"You better," Meredith sighed, trailing her fingers over his t-shirt. "Thank you."
"For what?" Derek asked.
"For taking care of me," Meredith whispered. "I know that you never thought of anything else, but...I couldn't have done this without you."
"You're carrying my babies," Derek breathed. "What else would I be doing?"
"I know this is what you want to be doing," Meredith whispered. "And that's what I love about you."
"What's going on in that head of yours?"
"Liz has to do this alone," she whispered. "You've been so amazing with the cravings and the foot massages and making sure I have everything I need. I can't imagine doing this myself, and your sister has to do it."
"She'll be fine," Derek nodded. "She's moving back in with Mom, who is forcing her to tell Shawn. He may be a jackass, but he's going to want to take care of this baby. Which at least for the next eight months means taking care of Liz. And she has all of us."
"I know," Meredith sighed. "Just...thinking about her going through this alone makes me so much more grateful for you. You've been completely amazing."
"Just doing my job," Derek said. "I'm your husband, Mer. And a father now. I take care of my girls."
"I know," she giggled. "I yelled at my mom until she agreed to give you as much time off without any consequences."
"That's the feisty girl I married," Derek laughed. "I hope my girls get your determination."
"Me too," she giggled. "They're going to be amazing, Der."
"They already are," he said, laughing slightly as he traced the outline of a foot on her stomach. "Two and a half months."
"Then we'll really be parents," Meredith breathing, watching as Derek trailed his fingers over her stomach. "And then our lives change forever."