32. Changing for the Better
Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.
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Derek had been home now for a few days, and Meredith was in full nurturing mode. Derek's bruises were becoming less noticeable, and he could certainly get back to the hospital, but he was off work until tomorrow, which drove him crazy. Meredith had been taking care of him, making sure he kept ice on his injury, and didn't do anything to further fracture his rib. She was calling him every few hours at work to make sure he was okay. And of course, he was fine.
Derek actually found it adorable that she cared so much. Every time she would call, he would laugh and tell her to get back to work. But that didn't keep her from calling. When she came home at night, she would refuse to let him cook, which made for some pretty interesting dinners made by Meredith herself. Surprisingly, some of it was actually pretty good. Meredith had pretty strict rules when it came to him resting and healing. She even denied him sex for almost a week now because she wanted to make sure he was fully healed before that kind of physical activity.
During her lunch break, she pulled out her cell phone, resulting in laughs and smirks from her friends sitting around the table.
Meredith looked at them curiously. "What?"
"How many times have you called him today?", Alex asked amusedly.
"Just twice", Meredith said defensively. She pressed number one on the speed dial and waited for his answer.
"Mer, I'm fine", Derek chuckled after he picked up the phone.
"What are you doing?", she asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Laundry", Derek replied.
"I said I'd do it", Meredith scolded. "You're not supposed to be lifting."
"Mer, I can do a load of laundry. It's no problem", Derek said with a smile.
Meredith sighed. "What else did you do today?"
"Oh, you know, cleaned the rain gutters, rearranged the furniture…", he teased.
"Derek—"
"I'm kidding. I got myself some coffee, did some paperwork, and now I'm doing some laundry", Derek said, laughing slightly.
"Fine. You can do some laundry, but then I want you to rest. You're coming back tomorrow and I want to make sure you're okay", Meredith explained, blushing slightly as her friends stared at her. She got up
from the table and walked out into a hallway. She swore she could hear her friends laughing in the background.
"I could have come back to work days ago. I'm fine, Mer. But I'll rest, I promise", he smiled.
"Okay", Meredith said softly.
"Get any good cases today?", Derek asked.
"I'm scrubbing in with Bailey to correct an omphalocele on a newborn", Meredith replied as she leaned against the wall. "And later I'm going to the gallery to watch the neuro fellow do a cranial nerve reconstruction."
"Hmm…busy day", Derek concluded with a grin.
"Busy day", Meredith agreed. "I miss you here."
Derek smiled. "I'll be back tomorrow."
"Which is why you need to rest. So go lie down—and don't cook. I'll stop for food on the way home", Meredith said, brushing some hair out of her face.
"The overprotective thing…it's cute", Derek smirked.
"Shut up", Meredith shot back, unable to hide the smile on her face. "I have to go finish lunch then get ready to scrub in. So I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay", Derek responded with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too", Meredith said softly. "Bye."
After hanging up, Meredith rejoined her friends in the cafeteria. "How's McDreamBoat?", Cristina asked amusedly.
"McDreamBoat. That's a new one", Meredith giggled. "He's fine."
"Like you knew he would be…", George added.
"I just wanted to make sure", Meredith replied, taking a sip of her water.
"It's been quiet at night these past few days. You two haven't…", Alex hinted amusedly.
Meredith blushed. "No, we have not."
"Shocking", Cristina replied sarcastically with a mouthful of chips.
"Oh, leave her alone", Izzie said in defense of her friend.
"Thank you, Iz", Meredith whispered. The sound of her pager interrupted them. "I have to go prep my patient."
"What have you got?", Cristina asked curiously.
Meredith grabbed her white coat off the arm of her chair and stood up. "Omphalocele on a newborn in OR one."
"Boring", Cristina sighed.
"You're on ortho. You have no room to make fun of me", Meredith shot back jokingly.
"You're on the vagina squad", Cristina reminded her. "So technically, I can make fun of you."
"Shut up", Meredith called out as she made her way to the NICU to prepare her patient for his upcoming surgery.
--
Meredith was making her way to the OR with the small baby boy when she passed by Cristina in the hallway.
"Heading into surgery?", Cristina asked, looking at the tiny baby in the isolette.
Meredith nodded. "Yeah. Can you call Derek in an hour? Just check in on him for me…"
"Oh, you can't be serious?" Cristina asked dryly.
"I'd do it for you", Meredith countered as the two walked down the hall.
"What do you want me to say to him?"
"Just ask him if he's okay and if there's anything he needs. And ask him what he wants me to pick up for dinner", Meredith explained.
Cristina rolled her eyes. "You owe me for this."
"Thank you, Cris", Meredith smiled sweetly as they approached the door to the operating room.
"I hate you", Cristina sighed as Meredith handed her friend her cell phone.
"You love me", Meredith smiled, cocking her head slightly. "Okay, I have to go. Call him in an hour. And don't tell me you forgot."
"Fine", Cristina conceded, putting the cell phone in her pocket. "See you."
Meredith smiled. "Okay."
--
An hour later, just before Cristina was about to scrub in on her ankle allograft surgery, she decided to follow through on her promise and call Derek. She went to Meredith's contact list on her phone and quickly found Derek's number. She dialed and waited for the answer.
"Mer", Derek laughed.
"It's not Mer. It's Cristina", she corrected.
"Oh. Hi. Why are you…?"
Cristina rolled her eyes. "I was told to call and check in on you. How are you doing?", she asked unsympathetically.
"She told you to call me?", Derek asked amusedly.
"She's in surgery, so she made me do it", Cristina explained. "And I'm supposed to ask if there's anything you need. And what you want for dinner."
Derek laughed. "I've never heard the compassionate side of Cristina Yang before."
"Yeah, whatever", Cristina smirked.
"Tell her that I'm fine. I don't need anything. And whatever she wants to pick up for dinner is fine with me", Derek said with a smile.
"Great."
"Good", Derek grinned. "Oh, I forgot. If you wouldn't mind, could you remind her to pick up some condoms? We're all out."
"Okay that's—more than I needed to know", Cristina groaned, walking toward her patient's room.
Derek sighed. "Please?"
"Fine. But you owe me for this", Cristina warned.
"I'm your boss", Derek reminded her, amused at the entire scenario.
"I'm also your fiancé's best friend. And we're talking about condoms", Cristina argued.
"Fine. I'll let you scrub in on something", Derek conceded.
"Fine", Cristina nodded. "I'll tell her to pick up the condoms."
"Thank you, Yang", Derek smiled.
"Yeah", she mumbled. "Alright then. Bye."
Derek laughed. "Bye."
--
Meredith was sitting in the NICU taking down post-op notes on her patient when Bailey walked inside and stood next to her. "Yang asked me to give you this", she said, handing Meredith her cell phone and a folded piece of paper inside.
Mer,
McDreamy is fine. He doesn't care what you get for dinner. And you need condoms.
-Cris
Meredith blushed slightly and laughed before putting both the note and her phone into her pocket.
"Do I even want to know?", Bailey asked as she checked the baby's vitals.
"I told Cristina to call and check up on Derek", Meredith giggled softly.
"How's he doing?", Bailey asked.
"He's good. I think he's ready to come back", Meredith smiled.
"Good", Bailey nodded.
"How's this little guy doing?", Bailey asked with a smile, referring to the tiny baby who had just had his corrective surgery.
"He's fine", Meredith replied. She rubbed the baby's arm softly with her finger and smiled.
"You're good with them", Bailey pointed out.
Meredith looked at her boss curiously. "Hmm?"
"You're good with babies", Bailey complimented.
"Oh. Yeah, well, I like them", Meredith shrugged.
"You and Derek ever talk about kids?", Bailey asked as she recorded the baby's stats.
"We want them eventually. I'm not sure when, but we do want them", Meredith replied, smiling softly.
"It'll change your life—for the better, of course", Bailey added with a smile. "It's tough, but it's worth it."
Meredith let out a deep breath and smiled as the baby grabbed onto her finger. "Did you ever think you were just way in over your head?"
"What do you mean?", Bailey asked.
"Like…maybe you were just a little bit crazy thinking you can do it all?", Meredith asked honestly.
Bailey closed the chart and looked at her. "Everybody thinks that. It's human. But don't let the fear get the best of you, Grey. You can do it. Some days, you're gonna wonder why you put yourself through it, but then you take a step back, realize everything you do have, and you know. You know why you toughed it out. Once you have your own one day, you'll get it. Right now, all of that is in the future. But when you actually do it, it's completely different. You'll see…"
Meredith smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Bailey."
"Sure", Bailey nodded, smiling slightly. "After you give the parents an update, you can go home for the evening."
"They were asking…can they see him?"
"Yeah, they can see him", Bailey responded.
"Okay", Meredith replied with a small smile. She grabbed the chart and made her way to the waiting room to inform the parents of their son's post-op condition. After taking them back to the NICU to see their son, Meredith changed out of her scrubs in the residents' lounge.
"I'm getting dinner on the way home. Any preferences?", Meredith asked her roommates.
"Anything is fine", Alex replied, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Okay", Meredith nodded.
"Don't forget about the condoms", Cristina yelled out as Meredith began walking out of the room.
Meredith turned around and rolled her eyes. "A little louder next time, Cris."
"Just wanted to make sure you knew", Cristina shrugged, shimmying out of her scrub pants and into her jeans.
Meredith laughed. "I remember."
--
Meredith arrived home an hour later with takeout from a little Italian restaurant, along with a box of condoms. "Hey", she said with a smile. She walked over to the couch and kissed Derek's forehead. "How was your day?"
"Boring", Derek laughed. "Yours?"
"Good. So Cristina called you…", Meredith mentioned as the two walked into the kitchen.
Derek grinned. "Yeah. She called. That was interesting."
"I heard you told her to get condoms", Meredith said with a smirk. She set aside Izzie and Alex's food in the fridge and walked back over to the table to join Derek.
"We were all out. It was an emergency", Derek said with a cocky smile.
"Because we can't go a night without", Meredith said, rolling her eyes.
Derek laughed. "I just think it's better to be prepared."
"I guess", Meredith agreed. "But from now on, you're buying them. The kid at the cash register always looks at me like I'm a horny teenage girl. It's embarrassing. Besides, you have the penis", she pointed out.
"Can't really argue with that", Derek smirked. "And fine, I'll buy the condoms from now on."
"Thank you", Meredith smiled. "So what did you do today?"
"Nothing. Just the laundry and work stuff. I missed you", he said softly, kissing her cheek.
"I missed you too", Meredith smiled. "And I missed neuro."
Derek took a sip of his drink. "I would let you scrub in tomorrow, but I already told Cristina that she had first dibs on any surgery."
"Why?", Meredith asked with a giggle.
"For asking her to ask you about the condoms", Derek explained.
"That's Cristina", Meredith shrugged.
"Oh, I almost forgot…", Derek said excitedly. He got up from his chair and walked out of the kitchen. Moments later he returned with an envelope.
"What?", Meredith asked curiously.
"We got this in the mail today", he smiled, removing the contents from the envelope.
"What is it?", Meredith asked, taking it from his hand.
"It's a picture of our new little nephew—and godchild. Amy and Tom mailed us an ultrasound picture", Derek beamed.
"Really?", Meredith asked softly as she admired the 4d ultrasound picture. "It's so clear…"
"The note they sent along with it said that they almost didn't find out what it was because he was facing away from them the whole time. But then he turned around. And he's all boy", Derek beamed.
"There's definitely a penis there", Meredith giggled, pointing to the aforementioned body part. "Oh, Derek, he's beautiful."
Derek kissed Meredith's temple. "Yep. He is."
"Nine nieces. Six nephews", Meredith smiled.
"Hmm…", Derek chuckled.
"And they really want us two to be the godparents?", she asked softly.
"Yeah", Derek smiled.
"How far along is she now?", Meredith asked.
"Five months", Derek said with a grin.
Meredith looked over at him. "And we're still flying out there in October for the baptism?"
"Yeah—I mean, I'd like to", he said with a nod.
"Me too", Meredith whispered, leaning in to kiss him.
"I love you", Derek murmured against her lips.
Meredith smiled. "I love you too."
"You keep staring at the picture", he chuckled.
"It's my sort-of-nephew—in utero", she pointed out with a grin. "Kind of amazing..."
"It is, isn't it?" Derek kissed her cheek and took another bite of his salad.
"I want to buy a little frame for this", Meredith smiled, holding onto the small picture.
"Good. I want everybody to know who he is", Derek grinned. "I called my mom today too. Just thought I'd let her know that I was okay."
"How was she?", Meredith asked.
"She panicked for a few minutes, but then once I assured her I was okay, she calmed down", Derek chuckled.
"Good", Meredith smiled. "So what else did she say?"
"Well…", Derek began.
Meredith looked at him worriedly. "What? Something bad?"
"No no no", he assured her. "It's just—every year my sisters and their families all go to Disney World together. The only week they could get off this year is the week of the wedding. They didn't book it yet, because they wanted to see if we minded…", Derek explained.
"Do you want them to come? They're your family so if you want them to be there, I want them to be there too", Meredith said. She really didn't mind either way, but if Derek wanted his sisters there, she wanted to make sure they were.
Derek laughed. "This is going to sound terrible, but I sort of wanted to keep it small anyway."
"So I guess your mom wouldn't come either", Meredith said, the disappointment evident in her voice. She and Linda had gotten to be extremely close, and she was actually looking forward to seeing her again.
"Oh no—my mom wants to come to the wedding. She said she wouldn't miss it for the world", Derek said with a smile.
Meredith returned the smile and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."
"So you don't mind if they don't come? Because if you wanted them to—"
"It's better this way, I think. The smaller the better, right?", Meredith asked.
"Exactly", Derek agreed. "More time for the two of us to spend together." He reached over and kissed the top of her hand.
Meredith smiled. "I like that."
"So there's going to be about fifteen people I guess", Derek said with a shrug.
"I think I can handle that", Meredith giggled. "It's just all of our friends and your mom—plus Molly, Eric, and Laura…doesn't sound too scary."
"I don't know…Laura may be planning some sabotage", he laughed jokingly.
"Yeah, probably", Meredith giggled. "Lexie said that Laura keeps talking about us."
"That's because we're a good aunt and uncle", Derek smiled as she stole some food off of his plate.
"I guess we are", Meredith smiled before biting her lip. "So I talked to Bailey today…"
Derek looked at her curiously. "About what?"
"She asked if you and I ever thought about having kids", Meredith explained softly.
"What did you say?", he asked.
"I told her we did. Then she went into this thing about how it's tough, but worth it. And she said all of these sweet things. And then you showed me our nephew's ultrasound picture, and I just—I was wondering when you wanted to—I mean, when do you think we should—I know we're not even married so it's probably too early to even talk about it, but I was wondering when you might—we might—want to…", she stammered.
Derek smiled lovingly at her. "Start a family?", he finished.
"Yeah", Meredith nodded. "I mean, I know we want to, but we never really talked about when we wanted to."
"A few years?", Derek asked softly.
"How long is a few years?", she asked, staring at the ultrasound picture in her hand.
"How long do you want it to be?", he asked gently. He knew that this was a conversation they needed to have eventually anyway. And he really did want to know her thoughts.
"Well, this July will be my third year of residency. I'm not really going to have a more flexible schedule until my fifth year. And even then it's not going to be cut back by much. So…I don't know…", Meredith sighed. "I don't want to have one right away, but I don't want to keep putting it off either."
Derek nodded in understanding. "Well, maybe two years then?"
"Two?"
"Three?", Derek asked gently, not wanting to freak her out.
"I was thinking like…a year or a year and a half", she admitted, biting her lip.
"That soon?", he asked curiously.
Meredith shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, you're going to be thirty-nine in a few weeks. And I'm going to be thirty-two this summer. That's not old or anything. I just…ugh, I don't know."
Derek smiled at her. "How about we start trying around our one year anniversary in July. That's a little over a year from now", he suggested. "You probably won't get pregnant on the first try anyway."
"I don't know…the Shepherd's seem pretty fertile", Meredith smirked.
Derek laughed. "Well then, if it happens, it happens", he shrugged. "If we make a baby on the first try, that's fine. And if it takes some time, that's okay too…the way I see it, we're always going to be busy. There's always going to be a reason to hold off. But that shouldn't stop us from doing what we want to do."
Meredith leaned in and kissed him softly. "Yeah. You're right."
"So…what are you thinking?", he asked, tucking some hair behind her ear.
"I think that would be a great way to celebrate our anniversary", she said with a genuine smile.
Derek looked at his fiancé and a grin came over his face. "Okay then."
"Okay", Meredith whispered.
"Did we just agree on something without fighting?", he asked with a laugh.
"We did", Meredith giggled.
"You know that making a baby requires double the sex we usually have…", he smirked.
Meredith ran her fingers through his hair. "Does it?"
"Every day. And night", he replied, pulling her onto his lap.
"Fun", Meredith murmured as she pressed her lips against his.
"Lots of fun", Derek agreed. "I want to have some fun with you right now."
"I don't know", Meredith said nervously. "Is it too soon?"
"We can take it slow", he whispered, gently kissing her neck.
Meredith tilted her head to the side. "Hmm…yeah?"
"Mmhmm", he murmured.
"Will you let me do all the work?", she asked quietly, running her fingers through his hair.
Derek laughed against her skin. "I guess I could…"
"Okay then", she whispered. She took his hand and led him out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving the food abandoned on the table.
A year ago, neither of them thought they'd be planning a wedding, much less deciding on when to have a baby. Soon they would be husband and wife. And within two years, they could even be parents. It still amazed them how much things had changed for the better, despite all they had been through.
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Also, I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. I'm a nursing major in college, which means my free time is dwindling as the semester goes on. I'm trying to write whenever I have some spare time. So if I skip a week here or there, just know that I haven't abandoned this. And I will update ASAP. Writing this helps me keep my sanity, and I love all my faithful readers. :)