88. Wining, Dining and Kicking

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

I really appreciate your patience. I'm banking as many updates as I can, but with school taking up all my free time, it's hard to find time to write. But I'm doing my best! Anyway, enjoy! :)

Meredith stood in her bra and panties and looked herself over in their bedroom mirror. Anyone who didn't know she was pregnant a few weeks ago definitely knew now. Her once tiny bump was ever-evolving into more than just a bump. She was twenty-four weeks pregnant today, and as luck would have it, the date was February fourteenth. Valentine's Day. And because she was married to Derek Shepherd, celebrating the holiday was practically mandatory. But she didn't mind; this Valentine's Day would be their last one with just the two of them, so Meredith decided to give in and let Derek wine and dine her.

She took her tub of cocoa butter off her dresser and rubbed some into her palms, smoothing it onto her growing belly. Her cell phone rang and she quickly retrieved it from her nightstand. "Hello?" Meredith said, tucking it under her chin while she continued to massage the cocoa butter into her skin.

"Hey," came Cristina's voice from the other end.

"Hey. What's up?" Meredith asked. She wiped her hands on the bath towel still lying on the bed and opened her closet door, biting her lip in search of what to wear.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Cristina asked, clearly exasperated that she was being dragged out to celebrate the holiday she hated.

Meredith shrugged. "I don't know. Derek just said that he and Owen made reservations. That's all I could get out of him."

"That's it?"

"Hey, I even bribed him with sex. And that's still all I got," Meredith said, frowning when she saw a slinky black dress that would have fit her a few months ago hanging in her closet. But now that her belly was growing into a basketball, there was no chance.

"Hmm…" Cristina groaned. "This sucks."

"It won't be that bad. It's actually kind of… sweet that they want to take us somewhere," Meredith said.

"…Says the pregnant girl married to McDreamy," Cristina replied teasingly.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Exactly. This is our last Valentine's Day before the baby is born, so I'm letting my husband take me out to dinner and then sex me all night long. Carpe diem or whatever," she pointed out.

"Carpe diem…" Cristina echoed. "Okay then."

"Stop mocking me and get ready. After Derek gets out of the shower and gets dressed, we're coming to pick you up," Meredith told her friend as she continued to rummage through her closet.

"You suck," Cristina sighed. "See you later."

Meredith smiled. "Yep. Love you too." She tossed her cell phone on the bed and ran a hand through her hair. "What am I going to wear?" she asked her belly. "Any ideas?"

The door to their bathroom opened and Derek emerged, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. Meredith bit her lip, trying to control the urge to pin him down on the bed and have her way with him.

"Still not dressed yet?" Derek asked with a smirk, his eyes trailing over her body still only clad in her bra and panties.

"I don't know what to wear. And until I go back to the maternity store, my choices are getting more and more limited…" she said, trying not to get all hot and bothered as Derek tossed his towel into the hamper and put on his boxers. Naked Derek turned her on more and more these days.

"Check the back of the door," Derek said, cocking his head toward their opened bedroom door.

"Why? The only thing on there is your suit," Meredith replied.

Derek raised his eyebrows amusedly. "Is it?" he asked nonchalantly, rolling some deodorant under his arms.

Meredith eyed her husband suspiciously and walked over to the door. She moved his suit out of the way, smiling when she saw what was behind it. "You bought me a dress?" she asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

"I did. I asked Izzie and Cristina's for their opinions first, then I went out and got it. Like it?" Derek asked.

"Derek." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him as best she could, her growing belly pressing into the bare skin of his stomach. "Thank you," Meredith whispered, pressing her lips to his.

"You're welcome," Derek said with a smile. "At first, I was going to go with black, but I thought the navy one would be better. I figured it would look nice, you know, with your eyes."

"This is perfect," she said, pulling the knee length, scoop neck dress from the hanger. No matter how much her belly grew, she still felt sexy, thanks mostly to her husband. Meredith knew that even when she was in labor, he would still make her feel beautiful.

Derek buttoned up his light blue dress shirt and flashed her a grin. "That's what I was hoping you'd say."

"Any chance you can tell me where we're going?" she asked coyly, seeing how much she could get out of him. "If you tell me, then I might just be able to put what I learned in my Cosmo to good use… you know, the issue with the words "50 Sex Positions Guaranteed to Have Your Man Begging for More" written on the cover…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm," Meredith hummed, walking over to him and turning around.

Derek tied the back of her dress and she spun around to face him. She was beautiful, so glowy and pregnant that his breath caught in his throat. Meredith still had a little over three months to go, and he knew that she'd only grow more gorgeous with each passing week.

"God, you look amazing," he said softly, running his hands down her bare arms.

"Well, like I said, I'll let you take this dress off of me with your teeth the second we're home tonight if you tell me what you have planned," Meredith bribed, smoothing out his wet hair with her fingers. She pressed her cheek to his and licked her lips. "There's even a few pregnancy positions in there… about ways I could ride you that'll make you scream…"

"Hmm…" Derek moaned, swallowing thickly at the images whirling around in his mind. "Coselli's," he confessed.

"Coselli's? How the hell did you get a reservation at Coselli's?" she asked.

Derek smiled. "I operated on Mrs. Coselli a few years back. Saving the owner's wife has its perks," he winked.

"Apparently," Meredith giggled. She walked over to her bureau and began putting on her usual light makeup, a smile on her face. "You're definitely getting sex for this."

"You're gonna have to show me this Cosmo," Derek told her, sitting down on the bed to put on his shoes.

"Oh, I plan on it," Meredith said, rolling some lip gloss on her lips. "Besides, you look pretty sexy right now. Even if we were going to McDonald's, you'd be getting laid tonight."

"Well, we should get going then. The sooner we go out, the sooner we come home," Derek pointed out.

Meredith took her heels from her closet and set them at her feet. "Come here. I need to use you for balance. I'm having center of gravity issues lately…" she sighed, holding onto Derek's arm as she slipped her heels on.

"Center of gravity issues?" Derek asked.

"The bigger she gets, the less steady I am," Meredith explained, recalling what she read in one of her pregnancy books.

"She's definitely growing," Derek grinned, proud of his daughter's accomplishments, even though she was only a foot long and still living in his wife's uterus.

"Hmm… we need to stop saying 'she' and find her a name soon," Meredith told him as she smoothed out the shoulders of his suit jacket, making sure he looked his best.

"We'll find one, I promise," he said, kissing her cheek. "Next weekend… you, me, and the baby name book."

"Izzie asked if we could go over next Saturday so you could help Alex do… man stuff. Lifting boxes or something. I don't know. I said yes once she told me there would be cake involved," Meredith explained.

"Afterward then," Derek said.

He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him. "Hmm…" Meredith hummed, breathing him in. "Sounds good."

"Ready?"

She nodded, lacing her fingers through his. "Yeah, let's go."

…

"I can't believe we're doing this," Cristina groaned from the backseat of Meredith and Derek's car, gazing out the window like she was kidnapped inside.

"It's Valentine's Day," Derek and Owen said in unison.

"We don't do Valentine's Day," Meredith reminded them. "Well, I guess I do… a little bit. But it's not my fault. Pregnancy hormones make me sappy."

"It's romantic," Derek said, looking over at Meredith and smiling at her.

She rolled her eyes amusedly. "No it isn't," she said. "I mean, fine, it's nice. But it's not nearly as nice as a night in with sex on the couch. Low frills."

"I'm with her," Cristina agreed, slinking back into her seat and crossing her arms over her chest.

Derek reached for Meredith's hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it. "All the sex you want later on tonight," he grinned.

"Oh God, please stop talking," Cristina groaned. "Thinking of you two doing it on the couch is more than I can handle."

Owen laughed. "You know, all we wanted to do was take you ladies out for a fun night. Secret location, good food—"

"They're taking us to Coselli's," Meredith blurted, figuring that if Cristina found out afterward that she knew about it, she would have to suffer her friend's wrath. Neither of them particularly liked surprises, especially when Cristina likened a night out to handing over her free will.

"You told her?" Owen asked Derek in shock.

"Blame Mer. She bribed me with new sex positions from her Cosmo," Derek said in his defense, switching lanes to he could turn into the restaurant parking lot.

"Oh, that Cosmo," Cristina recalled. "The purple one with that supermodel on it?"

"That's the one," Meredith said happily. "I told Derek that if he confessed, we could do the pregnancy ones. Three seconds later, he caved."

Derek maneuvered the car into a parking spot then cut the engine. "Of course I caved. Who wouldn't?"

Meredith laughed, opening her car door and stepping out. "Whoa," she said, grabbing hold of Owen's arm to steady herself in her shoes.

"You okay?" Cristina asked as she and Derek walked around to the other side of the car.

Derek looped his arm through Meredith's and kissed her temple. "Center of gravity being a pain in the ass again?" he chuckled.

"Haha," Meredith said wryly. "You try walking in a new pair of heels with a baby growing inside you. It's not easy."

"Why'd you wear heels?" Cristina questioned as the four of them entered the restaurant.

"Because I bought them a while ago, and this was my first chance to wear them. Plus, they look good with this dress Derek got me," Meredith shrugged, resting one hand on her belly.

"Wow," Cristina said in awe, her eyes gaping at the bump under Meredith's dress.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"Nothing. It's just… usually you're in scrubs. I never noticed how big you were," Cristina explained.

Derek waved over to the two of them. "Table's ready," he said as he and Owen waited for them before following the hostess.

"Um… thank you?" Meredith asked, wondering if that was Cristina's way of offering an offhand compliment.

"I'm not making fun. I'm just… there's really a little person in there," Cristina said, smiling slightly at her friend. No matter how blasé Cristina pretended to be about the whole thing, Meredith knew that once her daughter was born, Cristina, too, would be excited.

"Yes there is," Derek grinned, pulling back Meredith's chair for her. "Twenty-four weeks today."

"No kidding?" Owen asked as he sat down next to Cristina on the other side of their table. "Only… sixteen weeks to go now."

"And so much to do still," Meredith said. "Nursery, furniture, name…"

"The other day, I overheard Stevens ordering baby-themed party favors out of a catalog. So at least you know the baby shower is taken care of," Owen joked as he opened his menu.

Meredith laughed. "I think she's more prepared than we are."

"Any more names picked out yet?" Cristina asked.

"A few," Derek shrugged. "Apparently, we're picky name choosers."

"Well, it's her name. It's a big decision. I want to make sure we pick the right one," Meredith said, her stomach growling as she read over the menu.

Italian food was her favorite, and tonight, she didn't care about carbs and calories. And when a basket of bread sticks was placed on their table, any trace of guilt she had was discarded. Before the waiter could introduce himself, she was already biting into one. "Oh my God," she moaned. "Forget everything I said in the car. This cheesy Valentine's Day restaurant thing is fine with me."

And once their entrées arrived, Meredith vowed that any time Derek wanted to wine and dine her at a fancy restaurant, she'd let him. Derek watched as she twirled some fettuccine alfredo onto her fork and he smiled.

"Our daughter likes Italian food?" Derek assumed, biting into a piece of his marsala.

"Yes, she does, which is good. If she didn't, I'd be very sad," Meredith teased, thankful that the nausea she'd had early on in her pregnancy had passed. There were days when certain foods made her queasy. But for the most part, she could eat anything and everything she wanted.

"So twenty-four weeks? How big is she now?" Owen asked conversationally as he popped a piece of chicken into his mouth.

"The baby? She's uh… almost a foot long now," Meredith said, smiling. "I can definitely feel her. No major kicks yet, but sometimes I know when she's moving around. She does it very gently," she giggled, her hand gravitating toward her belly.

"That's creepy," Cristina said, taking a sip of her wine.

"It's not creepy," Meredith countered, rolling her eyes. "It's amazing. And guess what? She has hair. And eyelashes. And eyebrows. Oh, fingernails too."

"She's the size of a… what was it? Papaya?" Derek said, looking over to Meredith for confirmation.

Meredith nodded. "That's what the book said. But she feels bigger than that. If I still have sixteen weeks to go, I can't even imagine what this will look like on my due date," she laughed, pointing to her burgeoning bump.

"Is the entire Shepherd clan flying out for that event?" Cristina asked.

"Uh, I hope not," Derek chuckled, smiling when Meredith stole a piece of shrimp off his dish. Since they met, she'd always been very 'family style' with his food, but since getting pregnant, it was becoming a daily occurrence, something he found adorable.

"Big family, Derek?" Owen asked.

"That's an understatement," Meredith answered humorously. "Our daughter will be the… sixteenth grandchild; tenth niece."

"Oh wow," Owen replied. "Impressive. Are you two the last ones to add your own to the mix?"

Meredith smiled. "We are. And because Derek is the only son…"

Owen nodded in understanding. "Aah, chaos."

"My mom mails us clip-outs of nurseries from catalogs. And yesterday, my sister Liz called me at work with a list of names that she and my other sisters like. Subtlety really isn't their thing," Derek chuckled. "That's why Mark and I are like brothers. I needed an escape from all the estrogen."

"Has he set a wedding date yet?" Cristina asked.

Derek quickly shook his head 'no' in hopes that Meredith wouldn't see, but it was too late. "What?" she asked her husband. "Did he?"

Derek sighed. Mark told him the wedding date yesterday in passing, but Derek was hoping to keep it from Meredith until the formal invitation arrived in the mail. "Yeah. They did…"

"Well?" Meredith asked.

"May 22," Derek confessed, bracing himself for what Meredith might say.

Cristina pursed her lips together, but managed to laugh anyway. "Sorry," she told Meredith apologetically when she shot her an angry look. "It's just funny."

"Oh, yeah," Meredith agreed sarcastically, an amused smirk on her face. "Leave it to him to get married when I'm nine months pregnant. Exactly seven days before my due date."

"That's the only day the church had an opening. Apparently, Bridget wanted to do it in April, but everything was booked up. May 22 was the only free Saturday they had until July," Derek explained, recalling what Mark told him.

"Well, it'll probably be our last outing before she's born. So even if I'm waddling and huge, we may as well make the most of it," Meredith shrugged.

"What if your water breaks during the ceremony?" Cristina asked.

"Well then, I guess we're not making it to the reception," Derek said, winking over at Meredith as she bit into her breadstick.

She placed her hand over her belly and smiled at her husband. "Guess not."

Cristina sighed audibly and shook her head. "You two should be on Hallmark cards," she said.

"Oh, stop. They're happy," Owen said in their defense.

"Just wait until you're knocked up one day. The warm, gooey hormones are uncontrollable," Meredith warned her.

"Are you kidding me? I don't want kids," Cristina laughed. "But I promise I'll be the best damn godmother ever."

"Babysitting?" Derek asked.

Cristina contemplated for a moment before speaking. "When she's potty trained—unless Owen volunteers to change diapers for me."

"You couldn't handle a diaper?" Owen asked, chuckling.

"I could. I just choose not to," Cristina decided as she chewed. "Will you two even need babysitters? We're going to have to drag you away from her."

Neither Derek nor Meredith could deny that, however much they wanted to counter Cristina's claim. A night in with their daughter would trump everything else.

"True. But if we can be convinced to go on a date night here and there, you'll be the one we call… if for some reason Izzie can't," Meredith added. "She already called dibs on babysitting first." She turned to Derek and smiled. "By the way, she also decided that she and Alex are the godparents for the next baby."

"She called dibs on that, too?" Cristina asked, not that she was really surprised that Izzie would do such a thing.

"It's Izzie. Of course she did," Meredith giggled.

"Guess that means you have to have a second kid no matter what then," Owen pointed out.

Derek laughed. "Well, lucky for her, we want two kids anyway," he said, leaning down and picking up Meredith's napkin when it fell to the floor.

"Thank you," Meredith said softly, taking his hand under the table and squeezing it gently.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Cristina and she sighed as she bit into her garlic bread. "Like I said: Hallmark Card."

…

It was nearing ten o'clock when they finally made it back home, and even though she was getting tired and her feet were starting to hurt from wearing heels, Meredith was determined to keep up their Valentine's Day tradition of sex.

She tossed her shoes into her closet and smiled at him. "Sex time."

"Finally," Derek chuckled as he leaned in and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Hmm, yeah," Meredith murmured against his lips. "Finally."

Just as Derek reached around to untie the back of her dress, Meredith gasped, her hands flying to her belly. "Holy crap!"

"What?" he asked in a panic. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"She's kicking! Like, really kicking!" Meredith exclaimed as she took his hand and placed it a little below her rib cage. "Do you feel that?"

Derek's breath caught in his throat when he felt the tiny thumps of his daughter's feet inside Meredith's belly. "Oh my God," he whispered.

"I've felt her move before but not like this," Meredith said in awe, her hand right next to Derek's.

"She must be running out of room in there," Derek chuckled. He felt another kick and nearly jumped in surprise. "Wow, she's got powerful little legs."

"She still has sixteen weeks worth of growing to do. I hope she's able to make herself comfy," Meredith giggled.

Derek threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her, languidly pressing his lips to hers over and over. "Our daughter is awesome," he whispered, trailing one hand down her back and around to her belly again.

Meredith smiled, and tears gathered in her eyes. "She really is."

"I love her so much," Derek said softly, resting his forehead against hers. "And you."

"We love you, too," Meredith replied as her fingers began working on the buttons of his shirt, nimbly undoing each one.

"What're you doing?" Derek asked.

"Undressing you so we can have sex," she said simply.

"But she's… what if…" Derek sputtered, his hand still planted on her bump.

"What if what?" Meredith looked to him, a confused expression on her face. Derek had never been hesitant when it came to sex before, so she couldn't help but be baffled.

Derek shrugged. "You know… what if she does that while we're…"

"Having sex?" Meredith finished for him.

"Yeah."

"It's happened before," she said, gently easing her husband back onto their bed after she finally succeeded in removing his shirt. "It's okay."

"Wait, you've felt her moving while we were actually… doing it?" he asked.

"Why do you sound so freaked out? It's sex. Don't forget, sex is what made her," Meredith reminded him, finding his reaction highly amusing.

"I know, but still," he upheld. "What if she knows we're about to, and that's why she's…"

Meredith rolled her eyes and laughed. "Warning you?" she guessed. "You do know female anatomy, right? Derek, seriously. My hormones are on overdrive. I need sex, and I need it now. I need you."

"Okay," Derek chuckled, finally giving in and untying the back of her dress. "But if she kicks again, tell me so I can… evacuate," he requested.

"Did you really just say evacuate?" Meredith teased him. She reached around and unhooked her bra, freeing her fuller breasts. When she saw that his eyes were instantly drawn to them, Meredith smiled. "Still want to keep worrying, or do you want to have sex?"

Derek quickly pulled both his pants and boxers off, then hooked his fingers through her panties, trailing them down her long legs. "I wanna have sex," he grinned, chuckling when Meredith gently pushed him back into the pillows.

"Me too," she said. "And I'm on top."

"Fine with me," Derek said, his breath hitching in his throat when she ran her fingers over his groin.

"Hmm… I thought so," Meredith whispered as she settled herself on top of him, rolling her hips in figure eights. She leaned down and kissed him. "I love you."

He smiled at his wife, beautifully pregnant and glowy. "I love you, too."

"Last Valentine's Day before we have a baby," Meredith said.

Derek ran his hands over her smooth thighs and moved them up to her hips, their daughter housed safely between them. "Then let's make tonight count."