86. Vacation's Over

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

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Getting out of a warm bed on a cold January day was tough enough as it was, but being nineteen weeks pregnant made the daily occurrence even less appealing. Meredith nudged Derek's arm when the noise of the alarm clock blared through Derek's office. It was unquestionably their least favorite sound.

"Der," Meredith muttered, drawing her pillow over her head. "Der, shut it off."

Derek groaned as he was pulled from his sleep. He reached up to his desk and groped around until he found the clock, then flicked the off switch. The silence that permeated was bliss, and Meredith sighed. "Thank you."

"Hmm, five more minutes," Derek said, wrapping his arm around her, both of their hands finding her belly under the blankets.

She let her eyes fall closed again and just as she was about to slip back into sleep, Meredith felt the signature flutters of their daughter's movements inside her. "Sleep," she soothed, rubbing her hand over her belly.

With surgeons for parents, ones that were slaves to the alarm clock, Meredith swore that every time it went off in the morning, their daughter could hear it, and had already been conditioned to wake up at the sound.

"Hmm?" Derek murmured.

"I can feel her moving a little," Meredith giggled tiredly. "Definitely gets that from you—the morning person-ness."

Derek buried his face in Meredith's hair, breathing in the lavender. "Is that a good thing?"

"No, because I'm not a morning person," she said with a yawn.

"Today, I'm not either," Derek replied. He knew they'd have to get up some time soon, but the prospect of getting out from under the covers just wasn't what he wanted to do.

Meredith rolled onto her back and smiled sleepily at her husband. "Quickie?"

"There's an idea," Derek chuckled as his eyes adjusted to the little slats of light pouring into his office from between the blinds. He pressed his lips to her neck and smiled against the warmth of her skin.

"Derek," she moaned, arching her back at his affections. It didn't take much for Derek to turn her on, especially nowadays with her hormones on overdrive.

Just as he was about to pull her shirt over her head, the beeping of their pagers took over the quietness, and they both groaned at the interruption. "Damn," Meredith sighed.

"Yeah." Derek ran a hand through his hair then sat up on the bed. He reached for both of their pagers sitting on top of his desk and read them. 911.

"What is it?" Meredith asked.

"911. We have to get down to the pit," Derek replied.

"Awesome," Meredith said sarcastically, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Not even out of bed, and this day was already off to a hectic start.

After quickly brushing their teeth and making themselves somewhat presentable for the busy day ahead, they took the elevator down the five floors to the pit, picking up two granola bars on the way. Meredith liked to eat as soon as she woke up, both to ward off the queasiness, and feed their daughter. And they both needed something in their stomachs to keep up their energy. A morning in the pit was always unpredictable, and they needed all the help they could get.

They could hear the commotion as soon as they stepped off the elevator, and entered the double doors to the pit, holding their breaths in preparation for what they would see. "What happened?" Derek asked Olivia, who was wheeling one of the patients into the trauma bay.

"Multiple MVCs. There was a pileup on the highway about a half hour ago. They're just rolling in now," Olivia explained before disappearing into one of the trauma rooms.

"Okay," Derek nodded, swallowing the last of his granola bar.

Meredith bit into her last piece, and they both tossed the wrappers into the nearest trashcan. "We should probably go and wait for the ambulances," she suggested. "That way we can try to get dibs on whatever comes in."

"Yeah," Derek agreed.

They got gowned up, pulled on some gloves, and just as they walked outside, another ambulance pulled up to the doors. "What've we got?" Derek asked after the paramedics lifted the gurney out of the back.

"Jenna O'Keefe, age seventeen. She was involved in the pileup. Obvious forehead contusion and laceration; also complaining of cramping in the abdomen," Jill, the paramedic, explained, handing over the chart to Meredith as they wheeled the girl into the third trauma room.

"Okay," Meredith acknowledged. "Jenna, I'm Dr…I'm Meredith. Dr. Shepherd and I are going to check you to make sure you're okay."

"Okay," the teenage girl nodded.

Derek took his penlight from his pocket and examined Jenna's pupils while Meredith flipped open a new patient chart to take down notes. "You said you're having some cramping," she said. "Any chance of pregnancy?"

Jenna shook her head. "No. I broke up with my boyfriend back in August, right before I started college. I found out the ass was sleeping with someone else, so I broke it off. I live in Chicago, but I go to school here. Haven't talked to him since. No sex for me," she sighed.

"Okay," Meredith nodded, trying not to show her amusement over the teenage drama. She remembered those days, and had no desire to revisit them. "Are these cramps like menstrual cramps? When was your last period?" she asked.

Jenna's face turned red in embarrassment and she cocked her head toward Derek. "Not in front of the hot doctor," she gasped.

Derek couldn't help but laugh. "I have a wife and four sisters. Believe me, I've heard it all," he replied nonchalantly as he palpated the girl's skull to make sure it checked out okay.

"Um…" Jenna tried to recall. "Oh, around New Year's. About two weeks ago."

"Okay. So it shouldn't be cramps," Meredith deduced. "Are the pains sharp or dull?"

"Sharp. I think I banged my stomach on the steering wheel when I hit the car in front of me. I've been in pain ever since then," Jenna answered.

Derek scribbled his name down in the chart and looked to the girl. "Okay, your head checks out fine. I'm going to have Dr. Sloan come in to sew up your forehead," he told her. He smiled at Meredith on his way out of the room, and she smiled in return.

"Okay, can you lie back for an exam? I want to check your abdomen so you can tell me where the pain is," Meredith said.

Jenna reclined back on the table and lifted up her shirt, and Meredith began pressing her fingers into the girl's torso, trying to determine the source of the pain. "It might be undiagnosed appendicitis, and the accident triggered your symptoms. Or you may have ruptured your spleen," she explained. "Let's just check to make sure—"

When she felt a mass underneath Jenna's skin, she bit her lip in confusion. Meredith had a hunch, but wasn't going to say anything until she knew for sure. "I'll be right back; I need to go get something. Sit tight," she said comfortingly, patting Jenna's shoulder.

Meredith left the room and went in search of the nearest ultrasound machine. When Derek spotted her looking around, he waved her over. "Mer, what's the matter?"

"I need an ultrasound machine," she said.

"Jenna has fluid buildup in her abdomen?" Derek assumed.

Meredith shook her head. "No, I think she's pregnant."

"What?"

"There's a mass under her abdomen. A mass with a head, and a back, and a butt. I can feel it," Meredith explained.

"She doesn't look pregnant at all," Derek said.

Meredith ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Yeah, I know. Which is why I'm confused."

"I'll tell Mark to wait before he goes in. There's an ultrasound machine in room five."

"Thanks," Meredith said softly.

She wheeled the machine into Jenna's room and turned it on before addressing the girl. "I'm going to do an ultrasound. I need to check for…I just want to check to see what's going on inside."

"Okay," Jenna replied.

Meredith squirted the blue gel onto the girl's abdomen and spread it around with the wand. She swallowed hard when an image came over the screen, and she saw what she suspected. A baby, one that was already full term.

"Jenna," Meredith started.

"What the hell is that?" Jenna asked, looking to Meredith in disbelief. "Oh my God. No. No, there's no way…"

"Jenna," Meredith said quickly, in an attempt to calm the seventeen year old girl down.

"No. I can't be. I just had my period two weeks ago. You don't get your period when you're pregnant. This makes no sense," she said, tears filling her eyes as panic washed over her.

"Some women have spotting throughout their entire pregnancies that they mistake for their periods. It happens," Meredith explained.

Jenna continued to shake her head as tears slipped endlessly down her cheeks. "I... no, this is crazy. No."

"Okay. It's going to be okay," Meredith said comfortingly, taking Jenna's hand as it hung limp at her side. "I know this is scary, but I need you to try to stay calm. Those pains you've been having are contractions. The accident brought on labor. So you just need to stay relaxed, okay? I'm going to check the baby's heartbeat to make sure it's okay, and then I'm going to take you up to OB."

"I can't. No, I can't. This is…I didn't—I can't have a baby today," Jenna sobbed, gasping for air and squeezing onto Meredith's hand.

Meredith wracked her brain for what to do in this situation, but like Jenna, this was unfamiliar territory. Any pregnant woman she'd treated in the past knew she was pregnant well before she was already in labor about to become a mother.

"Alright, deep breaths. Just relax. Everything's fine. From what I can tell, the baby is healthy. And you're healthy, too. We'll just sew up your forehead, get you upstairs, and call your parents. We'll work everything out, okay?"

Jenna shook her head frantically. "No, I can't call my parents. They'll kill me. They still think I'm a virgin. How can I tell them they're going to be grandparents in a few hours? Besides, they live a thousand miles away. No. Can't do it," she insisted.

"Jenna, you're a minor. Legally, I have to contact them," Meredith said, her hand on Jenna's shoulder. "And I'm sure they'll just be relieved you're okay."

"No they won't," Jenna continued to cry. "Damn it."

"I know this is…a lot. I can't even imagine," Meredith said sympathetically. "But just because you didn't know, doesn't mean you can't handle this. You have options here. This isn't the end of the world. Everything will be okay. I'm here for you."

Jenna wiped her eyes with the tissue Meredith handed her and dropped her head into her hands. "Can you…call them? I don't know how to tell that to my parents."

"Sure," Meredith agreed, smoothing Jenna's hair with her fingers. It's what Derek did for her when she was upset, and she knew Jenna could use any comfort she could get.

...

Meredith put the phone back on the receiver and ran a hand through her hair. Telling parents their seventeen year old daughter was pregnant and in labor was almost as bad as telling the family their loved one didn't make it off the table alive.

Derek walked out of another trauma room after doing a consult for an accident victim, and walked over to his wife. "What's going on? Where's Jenna?"

"I took her up to OB. She's getting settled in," Meredith replied.

"So she's pregnant?"

Meredith nodded. "Yeah. In labor; two centimeters dilated. And her parents live in Chicago and probably won't be able to make it in until sometime tomorrow."

"How'd they take the news?" Derek asked.

"She's their pregnant seventeen year old kid. They're pissed," Meredith said regretfully, adjusting her scrub top over her belly.

"Sucks," Derek sighed. "So what're you gonna do?"

Meredith got up from the chair behind the desk and smiled at her husband. "I'm going to be there for her. She needs someone, so…"

Derek grinned at her. Meredith always stepped up to the plate when people needed her, whether she knew them or not. He admired that about her. "Okay. I have a surgery, but I'll come up later, see how things are going. Did Mark ever stitch her up?"

"He's up there now," Meredith nodded, grabbing Jenna's chart.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything. Love you," Derek said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek as his hand went to her belly.

Meredith put her hand on top of his and smiled at him. "Love you, too."

...

"Did you talk to them? Are they mad? Just tell me. I can take it," Jenna said, panting slightly as a contraction came over her.

Meredith quickly took hold of Jenna's hand and let her squeeze it as hard as she had to until the pain passed. Watching someone else in labor was making her nervous for the day when she would have to go through it, even if that day was still five months away. She patted Jenna's forehead with a damp cloth and smiled.

"They probably won't be able to make it out here until tomorrow because of the storm in Chicago. And they're not…thrilled, but they told me to tell you that they love you," Meredith admitted. "It's going to be okay."

"They'll tell me to give her away. Or him. I don't even know what it is," Jenna said, letting out a long breath as the contraction subsided.

"No one can make that decision for you, Jenna. Only you can make that decision," Meredith responded. "Would you like to know what you're having? I can check for you."

"Do you know what you're having?" Jenna asked, looking to Meredith's pregnant belly under her scrubs.

Meredith smiled. "A girl."

"How did I not know?" Jenna swallowed, wiping a tear from her eye. "I've had a baby living in me for nine months. And I had no idea. If that doesn't make you feel like the worst parent in the world, I don't know what will."

Meredith handed Jenna a tissue off her nightstand and pulled a chair over, taking a seat next to Jenna's bed. "No, it doesn't. If you had known, things would be different. But you didn't, and no one can fault you for that, Jenna," Meredith said. She paused, letting her hand fall to her belly.

"You know, my husband and I tried for five months for a baby. And when we saw that positive sign on the pregnancy test, and then saw her on the ultrasound for the first time, and found out she was a girl…it makes you realize how lucky you are. I know it doesn't feel like it, but this is blessing, Jenna."

"Yeah?"

"And I'm not saying you have to keep the baby. Or give the baby away. But I just want you to know that this day doesn't have to be the worst one of your life. It can be the best one, if you want it to be," Meredith said, thinking to the day when their daughter would be born. Even the thought made her heart beat faster in her chest.

"Can I see it? The baby, I mean. Can you tell me what it is?" Jenna asked.

"Sure," Meredith replied. She turned on the ultrasound machine and rubbed some gel over Jenna's abdomen with the wand, waiting for the baby's image to appear on the screen. She moved wand down to the baby's legs and tried to get an angle to sneak a peek between them. She saw what the sex was almost immediately and smiled. "Definitely a girl," she said.

A smile came over Jenna's face, too, as she stared at the screen. "Really?"

"Really," Meredith echoed.

"And she's okay?"

"She's perfect," Meredith reassured her. She printed out an ultrasound picture and handed it to Jenna. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Jenna stared at the photo and swallowed thickly. When she looked to Meredith, her eyes were glossed over with tears. "I don't know what to do."

"Just…wait. It's okay to think about it. And I'm here if you want to talk," Meredith offered. She wasn't really qualified in the psychiatric field, but it was the least she could do. There was no hurt in talking, something she learned not too long ago.

Jenna dropped her head back onto her pillows and turned her head toward Meredith. "What would you do?"

"You mean…with the baby?" she asked. Jenna nodded. "I don't know. I mean, when I was in college, sleeping around occasionally, depending on how crappy life was that week, I wondered sometimes what I'd do if I got pregnant. By the way, I'm not endorsing this," Meredith informed her. "Don't do it. Don't sleep around in college. That's my PSA."

Jenna laughed a little at Meredith's speech and waited for her to continue. "But you never got pregnant…"

"No, I didn't," Meredith said. "But I could have. The thing is, no one expects you to have to make decisions like this when you're seventeen. And if I were in your shoes, I don't know what I'd do. This whole thing was just sprung on you, and you have to make the hardest decision of your life, for you and for your baby."

"I already love her," Jenna confessed, placing her hand over her belly that didn't look at all like there was a baby inside.

"I don't want to influence you in one direction or the other. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, okay?" Meredith said supportively, patting the back of Jenna's hand. She felt her daughter's fluttering inside her belly and smiled to herself. If there was ever a time when she was thankful for the baby growing inside her, it was now.

...

While Jenna was taking a nap to build up her energy after getting an epidural, Meredith decided to sneak out of her room and go find Derek. He texted her and asked if she wanted to have lunch in his office after his surgery, and really, getting some alone time with her husband was all she wanted.

Meredith turned the knob to his office door and smiled when she saw him filling out paperwork at his desk. "Hey."

"Hey," Derek returned, pushing the paperwork aside. "You okay? How's Jenna doing?"

Meredith walked over to him and draped her white coat over the back of his chair, overtop of his. "She's sleeping. After she reached four centimeters, she got an epidural. I wanted her to rest up for when she'll have to start pushing in a few hours."

"Good," Derek nodded. He stood up and Meredith's arms wrapped around him almost immediately. Derek returned the hug, running his hands up and down her back. "What's this for?"

"I just…needed a hug or something," Meredith shrugged, letting herself unwind. The day was far from over, and she could really use this time to recharge.

"Always happy to do that," Derek said. "How's Blueberry?"

Meredith giggled. "She's good. I felt her moving around the whole way up here. I think she knows food is coming," she teased.

"Or maybe she knew Daddy was up here," Derek grinned.

"Maybe," Meredith played along. "So what did you get me?"

"Tuna salad, light on the mayo, with a side of pickles," he said as they walked over and sat down on the couch. "And some strawberries, just like you asked."

"Thank you," Meredith said, kicking off her shoes and resting her head on his shoulder.

Derek kissed the top of her head. "Everything okay? You seem…"

"Nothing, it's just…" Meredith let out a sigh and reached for her food off the table. "I feel bad for her. For Jenna. She's all alone."

"Not alone-alone," Derek pointed out. "You're there for her."

"It's not the same as having family though. She has no husband; her jerk of a boyfriend cheated on her. And her parents are across the country. She's got no one but me, a stranger she met a few hours ago."

"Yeah, but she has you for a doctor. You—who only met her a few hours ago—care about her, and treat her how you'd treat your own daughter," Derek said. "If her family can't be here, I'm sure she feels lucky that she has you."

Meredith swallowed a bite of her tuna salad and placed a comforting hand over her belly. "If anything, it makes me feel lucky I have you," she said, smiling at him. "When she's born, I know I'll have you."

"The whole time."

"Good," Meredith said softly.

"What's she having? Does she know?" he asked, twirling some noodles from his Styrofoam cup onto his fork.

"A girl," Meredith replied. "She doesn't know if she's keeping her yet, though. I guess she won't really know what to do until she's actually holding the baby in her arms. I don't think I could do it…give my baby away."

"I couldn't. I mean, I don't know what's it's like to carry a child, but…" Derek rested his hand over Meredith's belly and smiled slightly. "I'd give my life for our daughter in a heartbeat. From the minute we saw that plus sign on the pregnancy test, I was in love with her."

"Me too," Meredith whispered, leaning over and kissing her husband's cheek.

"But I guess it's different when you're seventeen…college student with your whole life ahead of you."

"…And didn't know you were pregnant until you're in labor," Meredith added, running her hand through her hair. "That sucks."

Derek sighed heavily. "Yeah it does."

Meredith grabbed her small container of strawberries, another of her recent food cravings, off the table and opened the lid. "Any other good surgeries planned for the day?"

"Spine tumor removal in an hour," Derek said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"God, I miss coffee," Meredith sighed when she got a whiff of the steam coming from Derek's cup. "Are you trying to make me jealous?" she giggled.

"Sorry," he laughed. "I know I'm breaking the rules, but I was desperate. That surgery is going to be long, and I need all the help I can get."

"That's okay. One of us should drink it," she said.

"Once we're both up all night with a newborn in a few months, I'll probably be doing espresso shots every fifteen minutes," Derek joked.

Meredith smiled at him amusedly as she bit into another strawberry. "And I'll be the one with our baby attached to my boob, drinking decaf tea and pretending it's espresso," she replied.

"If I could do it all for you…labor, birth, giving up caffeine…you know I would," Derek said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"You know, I…kind of love being pregnant. And after what happened to Jenna, I appreciate it more. The feeling of knowing that there's a baby in me. A baby we made, that depends on me for everything," Meredith said, her hand going to her belly like a magnet. "She's worth giving up caffeine for."

"God, I love you," Derek whispered, leaning in and kissing her.

"Love you," Meredith moaned against his lips as they picked up where they left off that morning, and her fingers flew to the drawstring of his pants. "Do we…can we?" she murmured halfheartedly.

"Yeah," he replied, kicking off his shoes. He leaned back on the couch and Meredith rolled on top of him, smiling when Derek snaked his hands up her shirt. "Door locked?"

Meredith nodded, trailing kisses along his neck while he started to pull her scrub top over her head. "Uh huh."

When she felt Derek's fingers slip into the waistband of her panties, she tipped her head back in pleasure. The constant sex drive was another perk of pregnancy. Any time of day, she was ready to go. "Mmm…" she hummed, running her fingers through his hair.

Both of their pagers sounded, breaking off their pending sex. Again. Meredith groaned as she grudgingly slipped off Derek's lap. "You've got to be freaking kidding me. Twice in one day," she ranted.

She grabbed their pagers off the table, and read them. Her stomach turned when she saw the message staring back at her. "Damn it."

"What?" Derek asked while readjusting his clothes that were in the process of being taken off.

"911 for Jenna."

"Why'd they page me?" he wondered aloud.

Meredith shrugged as she quickly pulled her scrub top back over her head, then grabbed both of their white coats. "Dunno," she said, tossing Derek his. "Damn it."

"It'll be okay," Derek tried to assure her. He opened his office door and they practically ran toward the elevator. While they waited for it to arrive, he took her hand and squeezed.

Meredith leaned into him and sighed. "Hope so."