26. More Laura Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

ABC is showing 4.11 tonight, so I wrote this fast so I could post it early. Maybe a little fluff can ease the pain of that horrific episode…

Derek rolled over in bed, expecting to feel the warm body of his fiancé lying next to him. Instead, when he reached his arm over, he felt the soft red sheet, no sign of Meredith anywhere. But when he heard her voice on the baby monitor, he knew exactly where she was.

"Hey sleepy head. Good morning", she cooed.

Derek laid his head on her pillow, breathing in the familiar scent that he loved as he listened to her talk to the baby.

"Did you sleep well, sweet pea?", she whispered, picking Laura up from her crib. The baby laid her head on Meredith's shoulder and put her thumb in her mouth. Meredith kissed the top of Laura's head and continued to talk to her. "I hope I can watch you grow up…when I first found out about your family, I have to admit I was a little jealous. I never had what your mommy or aunt Lexie had growing up…", she said quietly.

"I didn't have any sisters or…cousins or…anyone really. But now I do. I have a family. A family that I could actually grow close with eventually. And the more time I spend with you, the more I want that. I want our kids to have cousins. Not that they won't—Uncle Derek has fourteen, well almost fifteen, nieces and nephews. But I think that if they knew you, it would be okay too."

"I'm trying, Laur. I'm trying to be a good aunt. I've never done this…but with you, you make it easy…you make me think about having my own one day with Uncle Derek. Uncle Derek is going to be a good daddy", Meredith whispered, tears coming to her eyes as she smiled softly.

Derek's eyes, too, were becoming moist listening to her have a little heart to heart with the baby.

"He's going to be such a good daddy one day. I see him holding you, and I wonder what it'll be like when he holds our baby for the first time", she smiled, a single tear escaping her eye. "He's one of those guys that you can just look at…and you know he's sort of meant to be a dad."

"…But me? I'm not so sure I'll be as good of a parent as he will", she sighed. "I'm sort of surprised you seem to like me", she laughed softly.

"Being a mommy isn't really something I'd ever thought about until I met Uncle Derek. He always tells me that I'll make a great mom one day. I don't know. I'm going to need all the help I can get, so that's why I'm sort of glad you're here", she rambled on to the baby, who looked up at her and smiled sleepily, her thumb still tucked away in her mouth. "Uncle Derek…he makes it okay. He knows I'll probably freak out when we eventually have one, but I know that he's here for me. He'll always be here. I love him, Laur. I love him so much", she said quietly, a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.

"My point in telling you all this is that…you have a good family. You have a good family that loves you. And I…I want to be a good aunt. I want to be involved in your life. I want to watch you grow up and see you turn into this amazing person I know you're going to be. I love you, Laur", she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the baby's forehead. "Aunt Meredith and Uncle Derek love you."

Derek heard the soft patter of her feet making their way back to her bedroom with the baby. He pretended to be sleeping, but Meredith knew better. She walked over him and swatted him slightly with a pillow. "I know you're awake", she smirked.

Derek opened his eyes and smiled. "Hmm?"

"Oh don't even…", Meredith sighed, rolling her eyes. She noticed that he was lying on her side of the bed, where the baby monitor was. "You were actually eavesdropping on me?"

"I was", Derek admitted with a sigh. "But in my defense, I only woke up because you weren't here for me to hold onto. Then I heard you talking to her and…"

Meredith blushed slightly. "A-s-s."

"Meredith", he chuckled. Meredith sat down on the bed with the baby in her lap and looked at him, a slight smirk playing on her features. "Everything you said…that was beautiful…", he said honestly.

"Oh."

"Meredith", he started, gently taking Laura from Meredith's arms. Laura cuddled into Derek's chest and closed her eyes.

"What?"

"I love her, too", he said softly, gently rubbing the baby's back. "And I want to be a part of her life. I want you to know your sisters, Eric…I want you to know them. Susan would want you know them. You deserve it… and of course we'll have our own family, but we can still be a part of their family too."

Meredith smiled softly. "Okay."

"Sorry for eavesdropping", he chuckled slightly.

"It's okay", she whispered, leaning in to kiss him softly.

"Hmm…good morning."

"Morning", she mumbled against his lips.

"It's sort of a shame she's awake…", he joked.

Meredith shook her head. "Dirty dirty man."

"Hmm…maybe", he smirked, leaning in to kiss her again.

"No. You are", she giggled.

"Fine", he sighed. "I can wait until tonight."

"Think you're getting lucky again?"

Derek nodded. "I do", he grinned.

"We'll see", Meredith giggled, shrugging her shoulders noncommittally.

"Whatever you say, Dr. Grey…", he said playfully, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too", she whispered.

Laura looked up at them and laughed. "Lub", she said, patting her cheeks with her hands, waiting for them to kiss her.

They both did leaned in and kissed her cheeks and she squealed happily. "And yes, we do love you", Derek smiled.

Meredith squeezed Derek's hand. "We do."

--

After lunch, Derek was planning to take Meredith's car to the automotive shop to have it serviced. The trunk of the car wasn't shutting correctly, so Derek decided to take it to the shop on one of their days off to have it looked at. Because Meredith wanted to stay home with the baby, Mark offered to follow Derek in his car so he would have a way back home.

When Derek left, Meredith was left all alone with the baby. She was slightly nervous without having Derek by her side, but was fairly certain that she could handle being alone for an hour or so. Laura got sleepy after eating lunch, so Meredith put her down for her nap. She decided to clean up the house a bit before calling Cristina. She hadn't talked to her best friend in a few days, and she wanted to catch up.

"Hey", Meredith said after Cristina answered the phone.

"Hey", Cristina replied. "What are you doing?"

"The baby is asleep and I'm bored", Meredith sighed, getting a popsicle out of the freezer.

Cristina scoffed. "Oh God."

"Fine. Call me names, mock me endlessly. I know you want to", Meredith shrugged, plopping down onto the couch with her snack.

"You and McDreamy having fun playing house?"

Meredith giggled. "We are actually. She's a good baby. And an excellent sleeper."

"Why aren't you and Derek taking advantage of this time to have screaming, hot sex?"

"He's out with Mark. They're taking my car to the car whatever", Meredith said. "We had sex last night though."

"Thanks, I needed to know that", Cristina smirked, laughing slightly.

"It was good, too", Meredith sighed. "I was on top and—"

"Stop. Now." Cristina rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Meredith was a little too free with the sex details. "That's more than I need to know."

Meredith laughed. "Fine. I'll stop."

"So the kid's actually behaving? Lucky you", she said, attempting to avoid a conversation about Derek and all of the porny things he did to her in bed.

"Yeah, she is. We don't want to give her back tomorrow afternoon", Meredith giggled.

"You guys are going to be the family that dresses the same when they go to get the family portrait", Cristina teased.

"That's tacky. I wouldn't do that", Meredith said, shaking her head.

"Derek would."

"Yeah, probably", Meredith laughed. "So I was thinking…we should go to Joe's one night after work this week." Ever since she and Derek had gotten engaged, Meredith felt like she was skipping out on her best friend to spend time with him. Cristina was the constant in her life when Derek wasn't around, and she was grateful to her friend for sticking by her side. She and Cristina needed a night out with their friends like they used to have.

"Yeah. That sounds good", Cristina said, her voice sounding happier.

"Okay, good", Meredith smiled. She heard Derek's cell phone ringing on the end table next to the couch. Apparently he'd forgotten it when he left with Mark.

"Hold on a sec. Derek's phone is ringing…", Meredith said, reaching for the phone and checking to see who was calling. The name she saw on the screen was the last she expected to see.

Addison.

"Crap. Addison is calling him. What do I do?", Meredith asked nervously.

"What the hell? Why?"

"What should I do?"

"Answer it", Cristina said simply.

"Crap. Okay. I'll uh…call you back", Meredith told her friend.

"Good luck", Cristina said, trying to stifle a laugh as she hung up the phone.

Meredith flipped open Derek's cell phone and swallowed before speaking. "Hello?", she asked nervously.

"Meredith?", Addison asked confusedly.

"Yeah, um…hi…Addison", Meredith said quietly, silently cursing herself for taking Cristina's advice and answering the phone.

"Oh. Hi, Meredith. I was just wondering if Derek had Amy's phone number. I talked to Linda a few days ago and she told me she was expecting. I wanted to call and say congratulations. I called Linda a few times, but she isn't answering. I would have called one of his sisters but I'll be stuck on the phone for hours", she laughed. "Linda's probably just off babysitting the kids or something", Addison explained. "So how are you doing?"

Meredith bit her lip. "Good, yeah. I'm good. How are you? How's LA?"

"It's great. You know, the sun, the surf…"

"You surf?"

"No. I don't…surf. But if Derek asks, tell him I do", Addison laughed.

Meredith giggled. "Will do."

"So congratulations to you, too, on the engagement…", Addison said sincerely. "I'm really happy for you guys."

"Thank you, Addison", Meredith said with a small smile.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before either of them spoke. "So look, I know this is weird, but it really shouldn't be. Weird, I mean. I don't want you to think I hold anything against you. And I hope you feel the same way about me. Everything that happened—it's for the best", she said definitively.

"It is", Meredith agreed. "And um, thank you, Addison. I'm glad we can be…friends or whatever…even after everything…"

Addison laughed. "I'm coming to the wedding. That says something, right?"

"I guess it does", Meredith replied amusedly.

Addison sighed. "I never hated you, you know?", she admitted, the sincerity evident in her voice.

"I didn't hate you either", Meredith said honestly. "Derek, maybe, but not you."

"The guy's an easy scapegoat", Addison laughed jokingly.

"That's true", Meredith giggled.

"He's a good guy, though. He loves you, Meredith", Addison said genuinely.

"Yeah. I love him too", Meredith said softly.

"We sort of had this conversation when you were on morphine, but I figured it'd be nice to tell you that now that you're not…high", Addison laughed softly.

"We did?"

"I didn't think you'd remember", she said with a smile.

"Well, thank you, Addison", Meredith said softly. "I…thanks."

"You're welcome, Meredith."

They were interrupted when they heard Laura crying in the background. "Is…is that a baby?", Addison asked in shock.

"Yeah", Meredith replied, jogging up the stairs to get Laura from her crib. She didn't stop to put two and two together, and recognize what must have been going on in Addison's mind.

"Oh, so you two…you…Derek didn't tell me that when he told me you were engaged…I mean it makes sense…it's been a little over nine months since I left", Addison stammered.

All of the sudden, a light bulb went off in Meredith's brain. "Oh! No no no", Meredith said quickly. "We don't…I didn't…we didn't have a baby. We're watching my niece…"

Addison sighed. "Oh wow. I…sorry. When I heard a baby crying, babysitting was not what popped into my head", Addison laughed.

"You thought we…"

"Yeah", Addison confessed.

Meredith giggled. "Nope. No baby for us. Well, not yet. We want to, but not…not until after we're married and settled into the house…", she explained.

"So you two are watching Laura?", Addison guessed.

"Yeah", Meredith nodded, tucking the phone to her chin as she lifted the baby out of the crib.

"How is she?"

Meredith smiled. "She's good. We've had her since Wednesday night. She's going back home tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be tough to give her back", she joked.

"Getting attached, huh?"

"Yeah", Meredith smiled softly, holding the baby close. "She's such a good baby. And Derek is so great with her…"

Addison smiled. "Derek was always so good with his nieces and nephews back in New York. He's going to be wonderful father one day", Addison said sincerely.

"Yeah. He is", Meredith agreed. She heard a car door shutting in the driveway and quickly went downstairs to let Derek in. "He just got home actually, so he can give you the number. Sorry…for keeping you so long", she apologized.

"Oh, no it's fine. It was nice to catch up with you. I miss you guys."

"We miss you, too", Meredith said, opening the door for Derek. He looked at her confusedly, wondering who she was talking to. He took Laura from her arms and blew raspberries on the little girl's belly.

"Okay, well, I'll put him on…"

"Okay, thanks. Nice talking to you, Meredith", she said kindly.

Meredith smiled. "You too, Addison." She handed the phone over to Derek, who looked at gaping-mouthed. Meredith just giggled as he handed Laura back to her.

Meredith went into the kitchen with the baby, letting Derek catch up with his ex-wife. She understood that they had known each other for close to thirteen years, and that they were still close like family. She wanted them to be friendly and able to talk to each other.

Derek entered the kitchen as Meredith was pouring some apple juice into a bottle for the baby. He came over and kissed her cheek. "I can't even imagine what you two talked about", he chuckled.

"She's nice, Derek. I could actually see myself being friends with her", she told him, putting the bottle on the tray of the high chair. Laura smiled at the two of them before taking a sip.

"That would certainly be a first…you and my ex-wife hitting it off", he laughed, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her neck.

Meredith tilted her head back and smiled. "We talked about you…"

"Yeah? What did you say?"

"She said you're going to make a great d-a-d-d-y one day", she said softly, spelling out the word to avoid a possible crying fit at the word.

Derek smiled. "She did?"

"Yeah", she replied before starting to laugh. "When she heard Laura crying, she assumed we'd had a baby."

"Me and you?", he asked confusedly.

"Mmhmm" she sighed, melting into his touch.

He smiled against the soft skin of her neck. "One day."

She turned around in his arms to face him. "Yeah."

"I love you." He pulled her close and kissed her tenderly.

"I love you too", she breathed as they pulled apart. She rested her forehead against his and enjoyed a quiet moment with her fiancé. He rubbed his hands up and down her back and she sighed contentedly, laying her head against his chest. Derek peppered soft kisses to the top of her head, breathing the scent that was uniquely Meredith.

They remained in their embrace for a while before Laura decided that she wanted attention. "Pay?", she asked, looking at them with her wide green eyes.

Meredith turned her head to face her. "You want to play, pumpkin?"

Laura nodded and clapped her hands excitedly. Meredith and Derek pulled back from their hug and walked over to the baby. She lifted her hands over her head and Derek picked her up from the high chair. "Let's go play, Princess", he said happily as the three made their way into the living room to play with their little niece.

--

"Are you almost done in there?", Meredith asked with a giggle as she and Derek knelt by the side of the bathtub. Laura was kicking her hands and feet happily in her pink bath seat, splashing water all over Meredith and Derek.

"I don't think she is", Derek laughed, flinching back slightly when Laura splashed some water in his eye.

"Do you like the bathtub, Laur?", Meredith asked, checking to make sure the water was still warm.

"Baf!", she squealed, putting the little yellow wash cloth in her mouth.

Meredith laughed. "I don't think she's tired."

"Doesn't seem like it", he chuckled.

"Duck", Laura giggled, picking up her little rubber ducky and gliding it along the surface of the water.

"You like your duck?", Derek asked happily.

She nodded and hugged it close to her chest before handing it to Meredith. "Thank you", Meredith laughed, holding the dripping duck over the tub.

A few minutes later, Laura decided she was done and looked up at them. "Up", Laura said clearly, reaching her arms up to be taken out of the tub. Meredith got the towel and Derek picked her up and out of the bathtub before handing her over to Meredith, who wrapped her up and held her close.

"Are you all clean now?", Meredith asked softly, kissing Laura's wet head and laying her down on the bed.

"Keen", Laura repeated with a smile, shivering slightly as Meredith dried her off.

Meredith picked the baby up and held her against her chest to keep her warm. She dried Laura off thoroughly before laying her back down on the bed. "Derek, can you hand me a diaper?"

Derek smiled and handed Meredith one of Laura's diapers from the bag. She sprinkled some powder on her and fit the diaper around her waist with ease. "There we go", she said softly, tickling Laura's little feet.

"What do you want to wear, Princess?", Derek asked, holding up a pink sleeper with cows in one hand and a purple one with yellow polka dots on it in the other.

"Cow", Laura pointed, smiling slightly at the little pajamas.

Meredith laughed. "Okay." Derek handed her the pajamas and put them on the girl's tiny body. "All dressed", Meredith smiled, picking Laura up off the bed and kissing her cheek before handing her to Derek.

"I'm going to go get her bottle. I'll be back", she said, kissing his cheek as she left the room.

Derek settled back onto the bed and held Laura in his arms. "You sleepy, Laur?", he asked softly, gently rubbing Laura's back.

Laura looked up at him with wide awake eyes and smiled. "Seep?"

"Yeah, sleep", he chuckled.

"No", she said, playing with Derek's tee shirt between her fingers.

"I don't think she's falling asleep any time soon", he informed Meredith as she walked back into the room with Laura's bottle.

"Guess you're not getting lucky tonight", she said with a giggle, handing him the bottle before walking over to her dresser for some pajamas. "I'm going to go get changed out my wet clothes. Be right back."

Derek laughed. "Okay." Laura was squirming out of his arms so he decided to let her go. Laura rolled onto Meredith's side of the bed, propping her head on her pillow. "You're adorable, you know that?", he laughed, kissing her forehead and propping a pillow next to her so she wouldn't roll off.

Meredith walked back into the room and giggled. "What are you doing?", she asked jokingly with her hands on her hips.

"She likes your side of the bed", Derek laughed. He got up from his spot, which was quickly replaced by Meredith. "I'm going to change."

"Okay", she said softly. Meredith lay down in the bed and propped Laura up slightly with a pillow and handed her the bottle so she could feed herself. "Here you go, sweet pea."

Laura inched herself close to Meredith, leaning her head on Meredith's chest. Meredith wrapped her arm around the baby and cuddled her.

Derek walked back into the room and froze, smiling as his fiancé held their little niece close to her as she drank her bottle all by herself.

Meredith looked up at him confusedly. "What?"

"You", he said, getting in Meredith's side of the bed so Laura was in between them.

"What?"

"You're in complete aunt mode right now", he said softly, pressing a kiss to her lips.

Meredith looked down at the baby and smiled. "I don't think she's tired."

"You're wide awake, huh?", Derek chuckled, wrapping his arm around Meredith. "What did we feed her?"

"I gave her some of my popsicle tonight, remember? Because of the molar that's growing in. I thought the cold might help it", Meredith explained, playing with Laura's hair in between her fingers.

"There's probably not enough sugar in that to make her this wide awake", Derek yawned.

"You better not fall asleep on me", Meredith warned, giggling slightly.

"I'm not", he chuckled, kissing her cheek.

"So what should we do?", Meredith asked, noticing that Laura's bottle was nearly empty.

"We can just lay here with her for a while until she gets sleepy", Derek suggested.

Meredith nodded. "Okay."

Laura took the almost empty bottle from her mouth and handed it to Meredith before crawling into her lap. Meredith set the bottle on her nightstand and scooped the baby up into her arms.

Laura rested her head on Meredith's shoulder and began sucking her thumb. Meredith reclined a bit more in the bed and rubbed the baby's back, hoping she would fall asleep. After a few minutes, Laura dozed off slightly, and Meredith looked to Derek. He nodded slightly, signaling for Meredith to carry the little girl across the hall to her crib.

They went into Izzie's room, laid Laura down, and tucked her in under the soft pink blanket before silently exiting the room and closing the door. However, as soon as they made their way back into their own bed, they heard Laura crying on the baby monitor.

"I think she might be teething. It's probably hurting her. Either that or she just wants to be with us", Meredith said as Derek kissed her cheek and left to go get the baby from her crib.

"Does this mean no sex?", he asked as he walked out the door.

Meredith shook her head. "No sex."

"Babies...they're a real deal breaker", he joked.

"Go get her", Meredith laughed, dropping her head back onto her pillow.

Laura had been such a good sleeper the past few days that they thought they'd have no problem getting her to sleep tonight, but it looked like it may be one of those nights. Neither of them minded though. They cared about their little niece and would spend the whole night making sure she was okay. Because they loved her.

I really wanted Addison and Meredith to be in a good place. Addison is coming to their wedding, and it's important that they talk before the actual wedding day, don't you think? :P

This chapter was originally longer, but it was getting way too long so I decided to split it into two. The next chapter is the last Laura chapter. Hope you guys are still enjoying the story so far. I have lots of fun writing it.

Reviews make my day!