46. Nine Nieces, Six Nephews
Disclaimer: It belongs to Shonda, not me.
Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! This chapter jumps ahead a month or so. :)
"Okay little guy, Mommy and Daddy will be home after work. Just take it easy," Meredith whispered to their puppy. Charlie had recently been neutered and Meredith and Derek were making sure to keep him comfy.
Derek knelt down next to his wife and kissed her cheek. "He'll be fine, Mer," he assured her. "Won't you, buddy?" Derek scratched the dog behind the ears as he lay in his dog bed, looking up at them and yawning.
"I feel bad leaving him here," Meredith frowned, kissing the top of Charlie's head. Over the past month, both of them had become attached to their puppy. Every time Meredith referred to him as her baby, he couldn't help but smile. He always knew she had maternal instincts, but since getting Charlie, they had only grown stronger.
"He has his toys and his food, and the doggy door so he can let himself in and out. I promise, he'll be fine," Derek said with a smile.
Meredith kissed the puppy one more time. "We love you, Charlie. And we'll be home soon," she said softly before standing up.
Derek handed his wife her cup of coffee and kissed her. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Meredith nodded. "Let's go."
--
As Meredith was changing the radio station on the way to work, Derek's cell phone went off in his pocket. Rather than answer the call while driving, Meredith took the phone and looked at the ID screen. "It's Nancy."
"Nancy?" Derek asked confusedly. "Pick it up."
Meredith groaned before flipping open the phone. Nancy wasn't exactly her biggest fan, and she really didn't feel like speaking to the woman who called her a slutty intern. "Hello?" she asked meekly.
There was silence on the other end for a moment before Nancy began speaking. "Who is this? Oh, Meredith?"
"Yeah," Meredith replied. "I um...Derek's driving so I answered. Do you want me to put him on or...?"
"No, that's alright. I'll just tell you. Our sister, Amy, went into labor about an hour ago with her first. I just figured I'd let you know. Tell Derek to keep his phone close by today so we can keep you updated, okay?" Nancy asked.
Meredith smiled, knowing how excited Derek would be when she told him. "Yeah, I will. Thanks for calling and letting us know."
After the two said the briefest of goodbyes, Meredith hung up the phone and handed it back to her husband. "She said Amy just went into labor," Meredith said with a smile.
"She is?" Derek asked, the surprise evident in his voice. "Oh my God..." he whispered. "My baby sister."
They pulled into the hospital parking lot and while Derek was pulling into a parking space, Meredith leaned over the console and kissed his cheek. "Yeah," she whispered. She didn't know what is was like to get news like that, but just the look on Derek's face told her he was beyond thrilled. "She said to keep your phone nearby so they can call you during the day."
"Amy's the baby of the family," Derek grinned, removing the keys from the ignition. "The rest of us were born two or three years apart, but Amy was born six years after Liz. I was eight when she was born. I wanted the last kid to be a boy, so when I found out I had another sister, I wasn't all that happy. We were always close though--probably because I always got stuck watching her while my sisters were too busy on dates and stuff," he chuckled.
"But you were the band geek stuck at home watching your baby sister," Meredith said with a small smile.
Derek laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. Mark would come over sometimes to help. That was fun."
"Congratulation, Derek. I mean, you already have fourteen nieces and nephews so you're probably used to this sort of thing, but still, I'm happy for you," she said sincerely, squeezing his hand.
"You too," he grinned. "All of them are your nieces and nephews now, too. And this is our godchild that's being born today."
"Our godchild," Meredith whispered, taking a moment to process. "Never thought I'd ever have one of those."
While still in the privacy of their car, Derek leaned in and kissed her softly. "I love you."
Meredith smiled. "I love you, too."
--
"Kristen O'Leary, three days old, born with a tumor on her abdominal region, which was then biopsied and found to be benign. This morning, surgery is scheduled to remove the mass," Meredith explained during rounds.
"Where's the mother?" Alex murmured, looking around the NICU.
Meredith smiled slightly when the newborn in the isolette grabbed onto her finger. "Recovering from the C-section after nearly slipping into a coma. And there isn't a father," she said sadly.
"Sucks," Alex said, letting out a breath.
"Yeah," Meredith agreed.
Bailey closed the chart and handed it to Alex. "Shepherd, Karev, you two are on this. Run the pre-op tests and meet me in the OR at ten," she instructed.
After Bailey and their fellow residents exited the NICU, the two began running the pre-op labs on the infant. "So how's married life?" Alex asked with a grin.
Meredith giggled. "Pretty damn good. So are you popping the question any time soon?" she asked while taking the baby's temperature.
"I'm trying. I've been trying almost every day for a month. But every time I do, something always comes up," Alex sighed before laughing a little. "I was practically down on my damn knee last night when Iz got an emergency page."
"Hmm," Meredith murmured in sympathy. "You'll find the right time, Alex. And when you do, she'll be thrilled."
Alex looked at his friend and smirked. "Since when do you do the happy thing?" he asked jokingly.
"I'm married to Mr. Sentimental. It was bound to happen," she shrugged.
Derek popped his head into the NICU and smiled when he saw Meredith. "Two centimeters," he grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
Meredith smiled widely. "Good!" she exclaimed. "Keep me updated."
Alex furrowed his brow. "What was that?"
"Oh, Derek's sister is in labor with our godchild," she laughed.
"Who? The mean one who insulted you?" he asked, letting the baby hold onto his finger as he listened to her heartbeat.
Meredith smirked. "No, not her. His youngest sister, Amy," she informed him.
"Youngest? How many of them are there?"
"Five kids. Four of which are girls," she giggled.
"Five?"
Meredith took down some notes in the chart. "Fifteen nieces and nephews."
"So I guess you two will be adding your dozen to the family tree?" he asked with a grin.
"Not a dozen," she corrected. "No way...we'll add our two and call it a day."
"Two? That's all? Dude, come on..."
Meredith rolled her eyes. "Three is the limit--and that's assuming we survive two."
"You will," he said simply. "I'm the oldest of three. My mom raised all of us practically by herself. If she can do it, you two can do it."
"Thank you, Alex," Meredith said with a soft smile. She and Derek weren't having kids for a while yet, but Alex's vote of confidence in her really did make her feel like maybe they could actually do it one day. One day, they'd be making the call to the rest of the family announcing news of their own.
--
"Mark!" Derek called when he saw his friend heading down the hall. When he got no response, he yelled his name again. "Mark!"
Mark spun on his heel. "Hey."
Derek caught up to him and the two headed into the elevator. "Amy's in labor."
"The baby's having her baby?" Mark asked with a grin. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah. She's two centimeters as of an hour ago. My sisters take turns calling," Derek laughed.
Mark leaned against the side of the elevator wall and sighed. "I wish we were there."
"Yeah, me too," Derek agreed. "Mom is probably a mess."
"Probably," Mark laughed. "I'm surprised she isn't sending you pictures of Amy in the hospital bed."
"I'm waiting for those," he joked. "You're coming to the baptism next month, right?"
Mark shrugged. "I guess. I'm invited, right?"
Derek nodded. Even after everything that had happened, Mark was still a member of the Shepherd family, and always would be. "Yeah. Mer and I are flying out. You could come with us."
"Are you bringing the puppy with you? Or is Grey gonna be able to handle a few days without her pride and joy?" Mark asked teasingly.
The two men stepped out of the elevator and began walking toward the coffee cart just outside the entrance to the hospital. "I haven't brought that up yet," he laughed. "I'm hoping she'll let Stevens and Karev babysit. She's attached to him. It's cute though."
"Probably not so cute when you want sex," Mark pointed out as they reached the small stand. He winked at the short blonde cashier in an obvious attempt at flirting. Derek made it a point for both of them to order and pay quickly, and go straight back inside. It was bad enough he slept with every nurse at Seattle Grace. Sleeping with the coffee cart lady was plain unacceptable.
"Not so cute then, no," Derek agreed. "We've been creative lately, so it all works out."
Mark eyed his friend curiously. "Creative?"
"Charlie prefers our bed to his own," Derek sighed.
"That dog sounds like quite the cock block," Mark said, sucking in a breath after taking a sip of the hot beverage.
Derek laughed. "Please don't call him that in front of Mer..."
"It's the truth."
"He just got neutered. Give him a break," Derek said as they stepped back onto the elevator to head back upstairs to the surgical floor.
Mark winced. "Ooh. Ouch."
"I think he's fine. Mer rocks him like a baby and cuddles him. It's actually pretty entertaining," Derek chuckled.
The two men stepped off the elevator and Mark smirked. "Does she bottle feed the thing too?"
Derek laughed. "Stop mocking my wife," he said jokingly as his pager went off.
Mark grinned as Derek began walking toward the emergency patient's room. "I wasn't!"
--
"Okay, Karev, what's our main concern here?" Bailey asked as the three of them stood over the operating table in the OR.
"Excessive bleeding," Alex answered.
Bailey nodded. "And why is that, Grey--Shepherd?" she corrected herself.
"Because of her size, too much blood loss, even if we have enough supply, could be fatal," Meredith replied.
"Right. So how do we minimize that risk?" she asked them.
Alex cleared his throat. "We resect the tumor slowly, piece by piece, to avoid hemorrhaging."
"Good," Bailey said. "So which one of you wants to cut?"
The two looked to their former resident confusedly. "What?" Meredith asked.
"You're third year residents. My babies. If you can't do this, then I've done my job very wrong," she informed them. "Now, who wants to start?"
Alex looked to Meredith and nodded. "You can if you want."
"No," Meredith shook her head. "You do it. I'll get my turn," she said graciously.
She could see her friend's grin behind his mask. "Thanks."
Meredith simply nodded, holding the abdominal tumor in place while Alex made the primary incision. She already got to do a corpus callosotomy thanks to her husband. To take this opportunity too wouldn't be fair, especially because Alex wasn't married to a fancy, important neurosurgeon.
During the surgery, one of the nurses entered the room holding a mask over her face. "Dr. Bailey, Miss O'Leary, the baby's mother, started seizing a few minutes ago. Dr. Shepherd just started working on her in OR two."
"Do they know what's wrong with her?" Bailey asked, turning away from the table momentarily.
"They noticed a small bleed on an earlier CT scan, but it should have resolved itself. Dr. Shepherd seems to think it ruptured, so he's going to go in and attempt to fix it," the nurse informed them.
Bailey nodded. "Okay, well, keep me posted." After the nurse left the OR, Bailey sighed. "Poor thing. Her mother's having brain surgery, and there's no father to begin with."
"I'll stay with the baby. I mean, afterward. She shouldn't be alone," Meredith offered.
"That husband of yours is a miracle worker. I hope she's able to pull through," Bailey breathed.
Meredith smiled slightly. "Yeah, me too."
--
After the young newborn's surgery, Meredith was taking the baby to the NICU where she could be monitored closely. On her way to the elevator, Cristina stopped her. "Hey, Mer."
Meredith held the door open so her friend could enter. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"Oh, is this the kid? Derek just finished the surgery on the mother. He's on his way to CT to make sure everything is clear. Oh, and he wanted me to tell you that...Kathleen called. And Amy is six centimeters," Cristina said, reading off a small piece of paper she had scribbled the information on. "What the hell does that mean?"
Meredith giggled. "Derek's sister is in labor."
"And his family is calling with updates on her cervical changes? You married into one close-knit family, Mer," Cristina joked, patting Meredith on the shoulder.
"I think it's sweet how much they all care about each other," Meredith shrugged.
The elevator doors opened and Cristina held them open so Meredith could exit with the isolette to take back to the NICU. "One person's sweet is another person's creepy."
"Yeah yeah," Meredith sighed.
"McDreamy said he'd meet you up here when he's done," Cristina called out as the doors shut.
Meredith shook her head and laughed. Leave it to Cristina to mock a happy family. She wheeled the baby down the hall and stopped momentarily to grab a yellow gown off the shelf. After slipping it on, Meredith gave her finger back to the baby who had been holding onto it since leaving the OR. "You okay, sweet pea?"
The small baby whimpered slightly as Meredith checked the sutures to make sure none had popped open. "I'm going to need my hand to take down some stats. But then I'll give it right back, okay?" she whispered, gently pulling her index finger from the baby's tight grip.
She flipped open the chart and began recording the baby's vitals when the sound of footsteps interrupted her. "Hey," Derek said softly, coming up next to her.
"Oh. Hey," Meredith replied, smiling slightly. "How's the mom?"
"She should be fine. I have one of Yang's interns getting a CT now, but I think everything is good," Derek nodded. "How's she doing?"
"She pulled through surgery like a pro. She's getting fussy though. The anesthesia's wearing off and I think she's hungry," Meredith replied, putting the chart down on the table.
Derek nodded, rubbing the baby's leg with his finger. "Well, we should probably feed her then."
"Usually this is something the mother should do," Meredith pointed out sadly, watching as Derek seemed to calm the baby down with his touch.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "She will eventually. But for right now, this little girl is hungry. Aren't you, Kristen?"
"Okay, I'll get her set up. The IVs and monitors have to stay hooked up to her. Could you go ask one of the nurses? They have the special formula or whatever," Meredith said, lifting open the side of the isolette to pick up the baby.
"Yeah," Derek nodded. "I'll be right back." When he returned with the small bottle a few minutes later, he walked back into the NICU to find Meredith sitting in a rocking chair close by with the baby in her arms. "Here you go," he said, handing it to her.
Meredith smiled, adjusting the baby so she could eat more comfortably. "Ready to eat, Kristen?" she whispered, smiling when the baby began drinking from the bottle without fussing.
Derek fixed the girl's sock and looked to his wife. "Did you hear about Amy?" he asked with a grin.
"Six centimeters. She's almost there," Meredith smiled. "Think she'll deliver today?"
"It's only 11:30 in the morning in New York . I think so," he nodded. "I'm surprised she's progressing this quickly. Most of my sisters are usually in labor for days. Nancy was in labor for fifty hours with her first..."
Meredith cringed. "Damn. That makes me glad I don't have Shepherd genes."
"Me too," he smirked. "Otherwise, I think it'd be illegal for us to be married," Derek pointed out, wiping the baby's chin with a cloth.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Shut up."
The sound of Derek's cell phone interrupted them, and Derek quickly pulled it from his pocket. "I'll be back," he said, exiting the nursery so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping babies.
Meredith rested her head on the back of the rocking chair, wondering about her little guy at home. Sometimes, she just wanted to bring him into work. It pained her to have to leave him at home by himself for such long hours, but she knew there was little she could do about it. And days like this, when she was surrounded by babies, there was nothing more she wanted to do than pick him up and cuddle him. He had become like a child to both of them.
As Meredith sat there gently rocking, she thought about what they would do with Charlie when she and Derek went to New York for a few days. Leaving him at a kennel was out of the question. She figured she could probably get Alex and Izzie to babysit. Izzie liked stuff like that. Meredith was pulled from her thoughts when Derek walked back into the NICU, a grin on his face. "Eight now."
"Wow," Meredith said, slightly shocked. "Lucky her."
Derek laughed. "I'm sure Nancy is calling her a bitch behind her back."
"Probably," Meredith giggled.
"So how's your day been?" Derek asked.
Meredith pulled the empty bottle from the newborn's mouth. "Pretty good. Bailey let us do surgery practically by ourselves," she grinned. "Here. Want to burp her?"
Derek smiled. "Sure," he replied, taking the baby from Meredith. "By yourselves?"
"Uh huh," she yawned. "Oh, watch her sutures. We can't irritate them."
"I know," Derek chuckled. He walked back over to the isolette and gently laid the baby down so she was facing away from him. "I learned this trick a while ago," he said with a smile as he began rubbing the baby's back. Meredith looked to her husband curiously.
"I did gyny rotation too," he smirked. "And I was married to a neonatal surgeon for eleven years. You learn things..."
"Guess so," she agreed. "You have no idea how much I want to sneak out of here early and go home," Meredith sighed, pulling over a chair and resting her head on his shoulder.
Derek kissed her forehead. "You feel okay?"
Meredith closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I'm just worried about Charlie."
"I'm sure he's fine, Mer. Probably sleeping on our bed," he said jokingly.
"Probably is," Meredith giggled. "So when we go visit your family, I guess he can stay with Alex and Iz," she suggested, letting the baby grab hold of her finger once again.
"Sounds good," Derek nodded. "Would you mind if Mark went with us?"
"Like flew there with us? No, I don't care. As long as we don't have to share a room with him," she teased.
Derek smirked. "We're staying in my old room, you know."
"Aah, the room you took all those girls home to?" Meredith giggled, pulling a pen from the pocket of his lab coat to record the baby's stats again.
"I never brought a girl to my room. I lost my virginity in med school, remember?" Derek asked with a laugh. "You'll be the only one."
Meredith cocked her head slightly and studied her husband's face for a moment. "You miss them, don't you? Being home...your family."
Derek shrugged. "Sometimes. Usually, I don't. But days like today...I miss them. Having you helps though," he said with a soft smile.
"I love you," Meredith whispered, kissing his cheek as she replaced the pen back in his pocket.
Derek grinned. "I love you, too."
--
"We're home, Charlie!" Meredith called out to their puppy as they walked in the front door. Their shift seemed to drag on forever, but they finally made it back home. All Meredith wanted to do was lie on the couch with her family.
She pulled her shoes off, smiling when Charlie scurried into the living room to greet the two of them. "Hey you!" said happily. "How's Mommy's little boy?" she asked, scooping the brown and white puppy into her arms and kissing the top of his head.
"Hey Charlie," Derek smiled, petting the dog. "What did you do today, little guy?" he asked as the three made their way into the kitchen.
Upon entering, Meredith gasped slightly when she saw a piece of shredded paper on the floor. "What did you do, huh?" she asked, gently placing the dog on the floor. She picked up the paper, unable to do anything but sigh when she saw what it was. "He ripped apart the gift certificate we had hanging on the fridge."
"The Ikea one?" he asked, accepting the shredded gift certificate. "Charlie, how'd you reach the fridge?"
"Maybe it fell," Meredith shrugged. "You chewed apart a hundred bucks worth of home furnishings, Charlie. That's bad. We don't eat gift certificates," she gently scolded.
Derek threw the small piece of paper in the trash. "Real tough, Mer," he chuckled.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "He's little. He doesn't know any better," she said. "Charlie, from now on, you eat your food in your doggy bowl. Paper isn't food."
"At least he didn't chew up the furniture," Derek rationalized, running his hand through his hair.
"That you know of. We haven't inspected the damage upstairs yet," she giggled, unable to get angry at her puppy.
Derek groaned. "Maybe we should get a baby gate or something."
"We can't," she argued. "He loves our bed. Don't you?" Meredith asked softly, picking the puppy up again.
"We can't even discipline a dog. Our kids are going to get away with murder," he chuckled.
"Derek, look at the face," she pouted, holding Charlie in front of him. "You can't be mad at him."
Derek laughed. "I'm not mad at him...but I am hungry..." he said, kissing her. "...and horny."
Meredith smiled coyly at him. "Well, if you do the cooking thing for me, I'll do the sex thing for you."
He grinned, pulling her in for a hug with the dog in between them. "Marriage is fun."
Meredith giggled. "I like it so far."
While Derek was cutting vegetables, Meredith was busy folding a load of laundry at the kitchen table. She smiled slightly at how normal this was. In many ways, Meredith still clueless about this whole marriage thing, but was a good kind of clueless. Not every day was glamorous, but she didn't want that anyway. All she wanted was Derek, and of course Charlie. They were her family, and she loved them.
Derek's cell phone rang once again, as it had been doing all day. Derek looked to Meredith and smiled, knowing that this was the call they had been expecting. He wiped off his hands on a dish towel and flipped open his phone. "Hey Nance." As Derek received the details, a smile covered his face, and Meredith swore she saw tears in his eyes. "How much?" he asked before pausing. "How's Amy?"
Several minutes later, Derek said his goodbyes and ended the call with his sister. "She had him a few minutes ago," he grinned.
Meredith dropped the shirt she was in the process of folding, quickly pulling him into an embrace after she walked over to the counter. "Congratulations," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "What's his name?"
"Kyle Thomas...Thomas after his dad," he replied, wiping a tear off his cheek. "He weighed six pounds, two ounces. Tiny, but Nance said he's a screamer," Derek chuckled.
Meredith ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm so happy for you," she smiled, kissing him softly.
"Nancy said they're gonna e-mail some pictures over soon. I can't wait to see him," he breathed.
"How's Amy?" Meredith asked.
Derek nodded. "They said she's good. Tired, but thrilled," he replied, running his fingers down her spine.
Meredith kissed him again quickly. "Why don't you go call Mark and I'll finish up here?" she offered.
"Okay, yeah, thanks," he said with a smile as they pulled apart their embrace. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
As Meredith stood at the counter, tossing a piece of carrot to Charlie who was sitting by her feet, she couldn't tear the smile off her face. She loved seeing Derek happy, and knew that one day, the look on his face when they had their own baby would be even greater.
To pick things up a bit, I'm skipping ahead a month in the next chapter when they visit the Shepherd family. Mer hasn't met any of them yet except for Derek's mom and Nancy, so I think there's a lot I can do with their NY trip in the chapters to come.
Reviews make my day. :)