120. Roping & Revenge

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

As always, thank you a million times for your patience! Enjoy! And special thanks to dakotalady, who gave me the idea for the pizza oven in this chapter! :)

Meredith tiptoed out of Lilly's nursery, down the hall, and back into her bedroom. The door clicked shut softly behind her, and she crawled back into bed. Lilly was asleep in her crib, Cristina was far away downstairs, and Meredith was determined to cash in the sex rain check from last night. When she straddled Derek's waist and started kissing his neck, his eyes opened and he smiled.

"Hmm, good morning," he said. "Where's Lilly?"

"I fed her and she's snoozing away in her crib," Meredith said, pulling off her tank top and tossing it over the side of the bed. "Which means we can have Sunday morning sex."

"Horny, huh?" Derek said, chuckling when she pulled off his shirt, too.

Meredith shimmied her panties and shorts down her legs. "And naked," she said, lifting off of him. She pulled off his boxers and bit her lip adorably. "And now, you are too."

Derek wrapped his arms around her back and she leaned down, combing her fingers through his hair. "Well, this is a fun way to wake up," he said, groaning when she reached between them to run her fingers over the length of him. "Especially when you do that."

"Thought so," Meredith said. She let out a gasp which quickly dissolved into a moan when he started rubbing between her legs. "Holy crap. Derek," she panted.

He stifled her moan with a kiss, trailing his fingers down her back and landing on her ass. "You wanna... on top?" he choked out, barely able to concentrate on anything besides what her fingers were doing to him.

"Yeah," Meredith said as she raised up a little. She gripped him in her hand and gently guided him into her, moaning as he filled her. "Oh, God, Derek."

Derek swallowed thickly, trying not to move as she adjusted to him. He smiled up at her. "I love you."

Meredith splayed her hands over his cheeks and kissed him. "I love you, too," she echoed.

After a few moments, she began rocking her hips back and forth, the two of them falling into sync within seconds. Slow at first, but picking up speed at Meredith's insistence, Derek happy to let her do as she pleased. He held her hips to balance her, and she moved above him, unadulterated, wild, and completely in control.

Just as Meredith was about to twist around and ride him that way, their bedroom door swung open, Cristina on the other side. "Mer, you awake? Where do you keep the—" When she realized what she'd walked in on, she quickly retreated, pulling the door closed again.

Meredith and Derek froze, mid-action, and he looked up at her, equal parts nausea and horror etched all over his expression. "Oh, my God," he said, putting his hands over his face.

Meredith chewed on her lip, contemplating what to do, then continued moving. Derek uncovered his eyes with his hands, confused. "What the... seriously?"

"Just because she walked in doesn't mean we can't finish," Meredith said, swinging her hips in figure eights.

He was about to speak again, but she clenched around him, and his train of thought derailed completely. "Okay, yeah, keep doing that."

She smiled in satisfaction. "Thought so."

...

They finally emerged from their bedroom and went downstairs a short while later, figuring it would be best to leave a bit of a time cushion for Cristina to leave for work before showing their faces. Meredith walked ahead of him in her robe, Lilly in her arm, Derek behind them. When they entered the kitchen, Cristina was sitting at the counter with a newspaper, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Oh, my God," Derek sighed, his face already reddening.

Cristina looked up from the newspaper and waved at them with her spoon. "Morning."

"Morning," Meredith returned.

"Why aren't you at work?" Derek asked, skipping right over any pleasantries.

"OR got backed up. Surgery got pushed to noon," Cristina said. "So..."

"Common courtesy is to knock before barging into a room," Derek pointed out as he walked over to the counter.

"I'm sorry. But I swear I didn't see anything. You were both covered by the blanket," Cristina said.

Derek took a mug from the cabinet, shaking his head in disbelief. "I should've known better than to expect a groveling apology from you, Yang..."

"I said I'm sorry. We all have to live with that memory burned into our brains," Cristina said. "Would it help if I told you I made coffee?"

"Thank you," Meredith replied, knowing Derek wasn't going to say it. "Now please, let's just... not mention that. Ever again."

"Got it," Cristina agreed.

"It doesn't bother you that she walked in on us?" Derek asked, pouring himself and Meredith cups of coffee.

"It probably should, but no," Meredith answered honestly, kissing Lilly's forehead, then laying her in her swing. "It's no worse than the time Alex and Iz walked in on us having sex on the counter top at the old house."

Cristina gagged as she ate another bite of cereal. "Oh, gross."

"That's why we moved into this house," Derek said, looking at Cristina. "For the privacy."

"Okay, but answer me one question. Is there any surface of this house where you two haven't had sex?" Cristina asked. "Bathroom counter? Washing machine? Couch?"

"All of the above," Meredith said with a smile.

"Eww, I slept on that couch last night," Cristina said in disgust.

"Hey, I know where you could sleep," Derek interjected, handing Meredith her coffee. "At your own house, in your own bed."

Meredith sighed. "Okay, new topic. Are the bricks and cement getting delivered today?" she asked Derek.

"Yeah. The guy said he'd drop them off by one," Derek said.

Cristina eyed them curiously. "What do you need bricks for?"

"We're building a pizza oven on the back patio. Well, I'm building it. Mer's just gonna be the bossy supervisor," Derek said, making sure Meredith caught the smirk on his face. "It's a late birthday gift to and from each other."

"I think late is an understatement. Isn't your birthday in April?" Cristina asked him.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, well, we're surgeons with a newborn. Time isn't exactly plentiful," he said. "But now that I'm taking time off, I figured I'd start. We want to have it done while it's still summer, so we can at least use it a few times before it gets cold outside."

"Why pizza?"

"Because getting a pizza delivered out here is a pain in the ass. The delivery guy always gets lost in the woods," Meredith replied. "Besides, it's one of my favorite foods, and now, Derek is going to make it for me whenever I want. That's why it's partly my late birthday gift, too."

"See? Bossy," Derek grinned, kissing the top of her head before taking the Muesli off the shelf.

"Am I going to be invited to one of these Shepherd family pizza parties?" Cristina asked.

Derek smiled at her. "An invitation would require that you leave."

The sound of Meredith's phone ringing interrupted the bickering, and she pulled it from the pocket of her robe. "Thank God," she mumbled to herself. She read the display and her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Bailey," she said, walking out of the kitchen in case Cristina and Derek started sniping again.

Lilly started to wriggle around in her swing once she woke up, and Derek dropped his spoon in his cereal bowl. "I'm coming, Lillybug," he said, walking around the counter. He unbuckled her from inside, then scooped her up. "Good morning, Princess."

When Lilly focused her attention on Cristina, Derek couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, Aunt Cristina is still here."

"She's my goddaughter. Don't you want me to spend time with her?" Cristina asked, pouring more Lucky Charms into her bowl.

"Spending time with her is different than squatting in my home, eating all my cereal," Derek countered.

"I'm pretty sure the Lucky Charms are Meredith's," Cristina said, just as Meredith came back into the kitchen. "What did Bailey want?"

"She asked me to work the noon to five slot at the clinic. She has a surgery, and wanted a fifth year to oversee things. You know, so the new batch of interns doesn't kill anyone trying to take out a splinter," Meredith said. "I told her I'd help her out. If I can bank five hours today, I might be able to leave early this week if I reach my weekly maximum. You don't mind, right?" she asked Derek.

Derek shook his head. "No, that's fine. Lilly and I can entertain ourselves while you're gone. We can nail down the measurements for the oven, then watch a little Elmo's World. It'll be fun."

"Elmo's World?" Cristina said.

Meredith smiled. "Lilly loves him. We got her a little Elmo doll a few weeks ago, and her eyes always light up when she sees him."

"Elmo's gonna be her birthday party theme," Derek said, blowing on Lilly's belly to tickle her and watching as she put on a big, gummy smile.

"Her birthday is ten months away. You already have her party theme?" Cristina asked with raised eyebrows.

"She's our daughter. She's our whole life. Of course we do," Derek chuckled. "You won't understand until you're a parent, Yang."

Cristina sighed. "Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen. Ever," she said. "So Mer, my shift's done at five thirty, if you wanted to wait. That way we could drive back together."

"You're staying over again?" Derek asked, not even attempting to mask his annoyance.

Meredith looked at him and shook her head subtly as she reached for Lilly. "Derek," she murmured.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," Cristina said, hopping off the stool.

Once she was out of the kitchen and out of earshot, Derek leaned against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. "Okay, I get that you're her friend, and it's only been one night, but how much longer do you think she's camping out here, ballpark?"

"Not much longer. I know her being here bothers you. Owen's working today. That's partly why I want to go in, so I can get his side of the story, and see whether I have to kick his ass or knock some sense into her," Meredith said, fixing one of the snaps on Lilly's pajamas.

"Kicking or knocking, whatever you have to do, please just get her out. I like her, but I don't want to have to lock the bedroom door every time I have sex with you in our own house," Derek said.

Meredith wrapped her free hand around his shoulder and kissed him. "I know. Don't worry. I can handle it."

There wasn't much more Derek could do than take her word for it, so he smiled at her. "Okay."

...

Meredith sat behind the desk at the nurses' station in the clinic, holding down the fort for the afternoon. The first year interns were busy doing the mind-numbing, menial tasks that interns were made to do, sutures and blood work and writing prescriptions for cough medicine, and Meredith was more than happy to let them.

Her stomach growled as she scribbled notes in a chart. She dropped her pen onto the desk, and stood up, figuring it was a good time for a snack break. The interns would be fine on their own for five minutes, and she wanted to stretch her legs. She walked out of the clinic, across the ambulance bay, and into the ER. After taking the elevator up to the first floor, she turned left toward the vending machine.

When she saw Owen punching in the code on the beverage machine next to the snack one, Meredith seized the opportunity to talk to him. It was fairly secluded, and as slight as she was, she would still be able to corner him into a talk he couldn't back out of. Owen looked over at her and smiled.

"Hey," he said.

Meredith smiled back. "Hi," she said, pulling a dollar bill from her pocket. "So, uh, I guess you know that Cristina stayed over my house last night."

"Yeah, I figured," Owen said. "You're her port in the storm during a crisis. Or, what Cristina considers a crisis. But what I might consider a conversation."

"Yeah, well, about that... she told me you brought up marriage," Meredith divulged, hoping if she instigated a conversation, he'd continue.

Owen sighed, twisting off the cap on his bottled water. "I brought up marriage. That's all I did. And instead of having an adult conversation with me, she flips out, and runs to you."

"Yeah, well, Cristina and the word marriage don't exactly mesh well," Meredith reminded him.

"Look, I know what happened last time. It's not like I got down on one knee and popped open a ring box. It's just... she always talks about how happy you and Shepherd are, and I thought it was a safe subject," Owen said.

"She says that?" Meredith asked in surprise.

He shrugged. "Yeah. You and Cristina are best friends. She sees that you and Derek can make marriage work, and now parenting. There's pictures of Lilly all over our fridge. She looks up to you. And I don't know, I thought maybe she might want what you have one day. Not right now, but eventually."

"Did you tell her any of that?"

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't have the conversation planned. We were just eating dinner on the couch. Next thing I know, she's gets pissed that I would even mention it, goes off on some tangent about eyebrows and chokers, and before I know what's going on, she grabs her keys and leaves," Owen said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "If you have any insight, I'd be happy to hear it."

"Well, the eyebrow thing... is a long story," Meredith said. "And kind of explains why she reacted the way she did. Chattel, and all that."

Owen's mouth dropped. "Chattel? Does she really think I'm like that?"

"No, she doesn't. She loves you. It's just... she just gets spooked easily when it comes to stuff like that. It's not entirely her fault. Or yours," Meredith said.

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the vending machine. "Okay, well, what do I do, then?"

"I don't know. I can't answer that," Meredith said. "All I know is that she can't live with me. I don't mean to go all Sex and the City on you and be over-share-y, but this morning, Cristina walked in on Derek and me while we were..."

Owen cringed, offering an apologetic smile. "Ouch. Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. Which is why I need the two of you to work things out. Because I'd really prefer if that didn't happen again," Meredith said.

"Can you talk to her?" Owen asked.

Meredith's eyes widened. "Me?"

"If there's anyone Cristina will listen to, it's you," Owen said.

Meredith chewed on her lower lip, fiddling with the dollar in her hand. Her plan had been to get them talking to each other; not her, getting involved in the middle of it. But she knew that if she didn't, she risked many more nights of Cristina on the couch, and she knew that wouldn't exactly go over well with Derek. So she gave in.

"Fine. I'll talk to her. But if she shows no signs of leaving, Lilly and I will be camping out with you, so we won't have to witness the eventual fight to the death between my husband and your girlfriend," Meredith warned.

Owen laughed slightly and nodded. "Okay." He smiled at her. "Thank you, Grey."

"You're welcome," Meredith said.

"And I'm sorry about the whole... Cristina barging in thing," he repeated.

Meredith stuck her dollar bill in the slot, and the machine sucked it through. "Yeah, that story stays between us," she said, pushing the button for a bag of cookies.

"Got it."

...

The drive home from work was rainy and silent, Cristina in the driver's seat, navigating the raindrops, and Meredith in the passenger seat, mulling over her conversation points. So far, her only argument was that if she stayed, Derek might actually go crazy, which would be bad, because she preferred a sane husband. It wasn't exactly compelling, but she figured it was easier than talking Cristina Yang into the merits or marriage, which she knew would be futile at best.

"Does Derek usually cook dinner, or should I stop at a drive-thru?" Cristina asked, pulling Meredith out of her thoughts.

Meredith glanced over at her. "What? Oh, yeah, usually, when he can. Lilly is kind of a full time job."

"Don't tell him I said this, or I'll kill you, but I think it's actually kind of cool that he wanted to stay home with her. I always assumed his superhero neurosurgeon ego needed to be validated by surgery," Cristina said.

"Was that a compliment?" Meredith asked.

"I'm not saying I'd ever kiss his ass, but he is a good surgeon," Cristina shrugged, turning onto the dirt road that led to the house.

Meredith smiled. "He likes staying at home. I wish I could, too, but that's really not an option right now," she said. "Next July can't come fast enough."

"Big, bad attendings, rocking the navy scrubs... that's when you get all the real power," Cristina said.

"All of the lower level residents are afraid of you already," Meredith pointed out.

"Yeah, but the darker scrubs are more intimidating. You have to admit, it's hard to look threatening in powder blue," Cristina said, pulling her car next to Derek's in the driveway.

Meredith laughed, picking up her bag from the floor. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

They got out of the car and sprinted up the walkway to the house, trying to dodge the rain. Meredith pushed open the front door, overcome by the smell of something cooking. There were a lot of things she loved about Derek, but his chef skills were especially appreciated after a day at work.

She set her bag down in the foyer and smiled. "Guess he did make something."

"Good. I'm starving," Cristina said, following Meredith into the kitchen after they both kicked off their wet shoes. "You get hot morning sex and home cooked meals. I kind of hate you; you know that, right?"

"Jealous," Meredith said in a sing-song voice.

"Well, yeah," Cristina admitted.

Derek looked up from the counter, smiling when he saw Meredith enter the kitchen. His smile faded a little when he realized Cristina was with her, but he didn't say anything. "Hey, I'm glad you're home. Just in time," he said, gently handing Lilly to Meredith.

"What'd you make?" Meredith asked, hugging Lilly to her chest and pressing kisses on her cheek. "I missed you, peanut," she told her.

"Homemade pizza. I've been Googling landscape designs for the oven, and it made me hungry," Derek said as he took one pizza out of the oven and set it on top of the stove. "Plus, I know you love pizza, so... win-win."

"Thank you," Meredith said, laughing when Lilly grabbed some of her rain-dampened hair and held it in her fist. "What's on it?"

"I made two. Veggie one for me. Artery clogging, meaty delight for you," he joked, taking the second pizza from the oven.

"Okay, I'm on my feet most of the day. I'm allowed to spoil myself once in a while," Meredith defended. "Is that pineapple, too?"

"Mhm," Derek said. He took the pizza cutter from the drawer and cut each pie into even triangle slices. "You know, you're lucky to have me..."

Meredith smiled at him from across the counter. "Does this mean I have to put out?"

"Well, there's no hard and fast rule, but you can if you'd like," Derek said, handing her a slice.

Cristina sighed. "Can I just have a slice before you two start doing each other on the counter top?" she requested.

Derek dropped a slice of pizza onto her dish. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Cristina replied, helping herself to a can of soda from the fridge. "I'll be in the living room."

"Okay," Meredith said. She sat on a stool at the counter, Lilly cradled in her arm. "Thank you for feeding my friend."

"I think feeding her is a bad idea," Derek chuckled. "She's like a stray cat. Feed her once, and she'll keep coming back for more."

"Yeah, well, about that. I talked to Owen, who asked me to talk to her. Apparently, the fact that I'm married makes me qualified for stuff like this," Meredith said as she took a small bite of the pizza, testing the temperature on her tongue.

"Stuff like what?"

"I don't know. Relationship crap," Meredith shrugged. "By the way, this is really good."

"Good," Derek grinned. He took two cups from the cabinet and took the bottle of white grape juice from the fridge. "So, do you have your marriage-promoting PowerPoint presentation ready?" he teased her.

Meredith laughed. "I should probably make one of those. I'm hoping the words will just come to me. If that means resorting to bribery out of desperation, I'll do it," she said as he put the juice in front of her. "White grape?"

"Or as I like to call it, wine substitute for parents," he said.

"Clever," Meredith said before taking a sip. "How was Lilly today?"

"She fell asleep a little after you left, which was good, because that's when the brick guys came by. I told them to put everything in the garage for now because I didn't want it to get rained on. Once she woke up, she got a new diaper, had a bottle and we watched Elmo, then we did some oven research. Productive afternoon, right Lilly?" he said, smiling at his daughter, who was busily sucking her thumb, watching them as they talked.

Meredith leaned down and kissed Lilly's forehead. "I missed her. Working in the clinic on a slow day is like watching grass grow. But I managed to study up for my surgery tomorrow. Plus, you know, I successfully roped myself even further into Owen and Cristina's problems, which was fun," she said.

"You rope because you care," Derek said supportively.

"Yeah, well, I have to stop roping."

"If it results in Cristina going back home, I'm all for the roping," Derek said.

"Me, too," Meredith said, clanking her juice glass against his. "To roping."

"To roping," Derek echoed.

"Are we even using that word correctly?" she asked.

"I don't know," he chuckled. "In context with you, yes. If I were having this conversation with anyone else, probably not."

Meredith smiled at him, amused. "That's sweet."

...

Derek sat next to Meredith on the couch after the three of them had eaten dinner, waiting for the start of the baseball game. He glanced at his watch. "Want me to give Lilly a bath before the game starts?" he asked.

"No, I will," Meredith said. She looked down at Lilly in her arm, who was busy playing with Meredith's finger that was gripped in her tiny hand, fascinated at how it bent when she pushed it down. "Is that amusing to you, Lillybug?" she laughed, tickling Lilly's foot lightly. Lilly smiled up at her, and Meredith smiled back. "You are so cute."

"Yes, she is," Derek agreed, leaning down to kiss Lilly's belly. "You sure? I don't mind."

"No, watch the game. I'll take care of it," she said, subtly raising her eyebrows at Derek and cocking her head toward Cristina, who was paging through a surgical textbook in preparation for her surgery tomorrow.

Derek got the hint and nodded. "Okay."

Meredith turned toward Cristina. "Come on. You're gonna help me give her a bath."

"What? Why?" Cristina asked, looking up from her pile of notes, strewn all over the coffee table.

"Because you're her godmother, and you said you wanted to spend more time with her. Bath time is the perfect opportunity," Meredith said, standing up from the couch.

Cristina sighed, saving her page with a pen and shutting her reference book. "Fine."

"Lilly would appreciate a little more enthusiasm," Meredith joked as she headed toward the stairs, Cristina begrudgingly trailing behind her.

"Lilly would appreciate her Aunt Cristina kicking ass at her cardio surgery tomorrow with Altman," Cristina amended.

"It's an annuloplasty. You've assisted on those before," Meredith said.

"Yes, assisted. Teddy said she might let me do it myself depending on how damaged the valve is once we cut the guy open," Cristina said. "So if I end up killing him, I'm blaming you."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Okay, you do that," she said, walking into her bedroom, then the en-suite bathroom off to the left. "Ready for your bath, Lilly?"

"What do you need me to do?" Cristina asked.

"Get the bucket from the cabinet under the sink, and fill it up with warm water until the tub is like half full," Meredith said, pointing to the pink baby tub on the bathroom counter.

Cristina did as Meredith asked, and Meredith took off Lilly's baby-sized sweatpants and tee shirt. She waited until the tub was filled up before removing Lilly's diaper, then tossed it in the trashcan. "Okay, here we go," she said, gently putting Lilly into the tub.

Lilly kicked her feet and wiggled her toes under the water, splashing a few drops onto Cristina. "Does she enjoy this, or is she building up to a freak out?" Cristina asked, wiping the water off her jeans with her hand.

Meredith laughed, cupping her hand under the water and pouring it onto Lilly's upper body. "She actually loves it. I don't think she's ever cried in the tub."

"Well, if she's just gonna lay there and behave, how is this a two person job?" Cristina asked.

"It's not. I just thought we could talk or whatever," Meredith said casually as she reached for the baby shampoo.

It took Cristina all of five seconds to figure out Meredith's agenda, and she narrowed her eyes. "You talked to Owen."

Knowing that denying it wouldn't help the situation, Meredith just nodded in admittance. "Uh... yeah. I did," she said.

"And you thought trapping me during this cutesy baby bath time would make me more inclined to talk to you about my love life?" Cristina assumed.

"Well, no. Usually Derek and I give her a bath together, but he's been the on-duty parent most of the day, and I wanted him to be able to relax. This was just the only time I could think to get you alone," Meredith said, sopping a wet wash cloth over Lilly's dark hair.

"Uh huh. Okay. Well, whatever he told you—"

"He told me you were just talking over dinner," Meredith interrupted, squirting a dollop of Lilly's shampoo into her hand. "He said he wasn't trying to propose or anything."

"I know that."

Meredith lathered the shampoo through Lilly's hair, making sure not to get any in her eyes. "So, what's the problem, then?"

"There is no problem," Cristina defended.

"You just... don't ever want to marry him?" Meredith asked, trying to tread lightly.

"I'm not that person. I don't want the house and the two-point-five kids and the picket fence crap. I'm a surgeon. I don't want to settle," Cristina said.

Meredith glanced over at her. "Do you think I settled?"

"No. You married Derek and built a house and had a baby because that's the life you wanted. You were both ready," Cristina explained.

"Yeah, but look how long that took us. It doesn't happen overnight," Meredith said. "I'm not saying you have to have the house and the kids, or even get married. But at least hear him out. I mean, look at me and Derek. If I bolted every time he wanted to have a conversation with me, we wouldn't have any of this."

"You kind of did bolt, though. A lot," Cristina said.

"I know. But then I realized that was stupid. It didn't get us anywhere, or change how I felt about him. I knew he was the one. He could piss me off, but I still loved him. And the whole talking thing? Really not that bad," Meredith said, putting her hand behind Lilly's back to lean her forward, then carefully rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.

"So, what are you saying? That I should go home and pour my heart out to him?" Cristina asked.

"All I'm saying is that you should hear him out, because he loves you. You owe him that much," Meredith said.

"Well, what if marriage and babies are a deal breaker? Surgeon is the only title I ever wanted. That, or Super Woman. Wife and mother? No," Cristina said, wiping a drop of water off Lilly's forehead before it could drip into her eye.

Meredith smiled at the gesture. "Well, that was very motherly," she couldn't help but point out.

"Just because I don't have the mom gene doesn't mean I'm a cold-hearted bitch. I don't cackle evilly when babies cry," Cristina replied.

"Hey, I'm not saying you need to have a baby. That gives you more time to spoil mine. Right, Lilly?" Meredith said, smiling at her daughter. She squirt some of the bedtime bath soap in the water and swished it around with her hand. "And if he wants kids, then that's something you have to know. But you won't know unless you talk to him. And really, I think you need to give the guy more credit. He loves you, Cristina."

"Hmm," Cristina groaned. "I hate you."

"You love me. You just hate that I'm right," Meredith said, gently cleaning Lilly off with a soapy wash cloth. "And because Owen's on call tonight, I'll even let you stay over again. But tomorrow, you're going to talk to him. And if you don't, and you end up back over here tomorrow after work, you're going to be giving Lilly a bath by yourself while Derek and I have sex on the couch. Got it?"

"Eww," she said. "Fine. I'll talk to him."

"Good."

"By the way, if you plan on having sex tonight, please let me know ahead of time, so I know to use the downstairs bathroom instead," Cristina requested.

Meredith rolled her eyes amusedly as she rinsed Lilly off. "Okay, we weren't even loud this morning. If you wouldn't have walked in, you wouldn't have even known."

"Yes, but if I know what's going on behind the closed door, I don't want to be near it," Cristina said.

"Fine. If things start getting hot and heavy, I'll text you," Meredith promised, just to appease her. "I'm really glad you don't know what we're talking about, Lilly; otherwise, you'd be scarred for life," she said. She looked to Cristina. "Can you grab that yellow duck towel from the shelf? I'm gonna pick her up and pass her to you."

"She's done?" Cristina asked, taking the towel and shaking it out.

"Easy, right?" Meredith said. She picked a wet Lilly out of the bathtub and kissed her forehead before letting Cristina take her. "Wrap it around her so she doesn't get cold, or she might pee on you."

"That really happens?" Cristina asked as she swaddled Lilly in the towel.

Meredith laughed, dumping the bathwater into the sink. "More than you'd think, yeah. She just peed on Derek a few days ago."

Cristina made a face. "And you really wonder why I don't want kids?"

"Shut up."

...

After showering, Derek walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, smiling when he saw Lilly laying on Meredith's chest, sound asleep in her monkey pajamas. "Someone was tired, huh?" he chuckled, peeling back the covers and getting into bed.

"She fell asleep right after I burped her. I think having super fun Aunt Cristina here wore her out," Meredith giggled softly so as not to disturb Lilly.

"Oh yeah, she's a laugh a minute," Derek said sarcastically. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. "How was bath time? You guys talk about anything?"

"She saw through my plan about three seconds after Lilly was in the tub. Apparently, I suck at being subtle. But yeah, we did, actually. I convinced her to go talk to him."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

Meredith nodded. "Yep."

"How'd you do that?"

"I don't really know. I just started talking. Nothing really scripted, just about me and you," Meredith told him. "About how stupid it is to be freaked out by conversation, when that's basically the thing that can solve the problem. I mean, break-up sex was dirty and fun, and we got a lot of orgasms out of it, but what did it do besides keep us from talking?"

Derek hugged her closer, grateful that the days of sex without relationship benefits were long gone. "Hmm, I know."

"Now look at us. Conversation-having, married grown-ups with an awesome baby," Meredith said.

"A very awesome baby," Derek said. He looked at his daughter and smiled. "God, she's amazing, isn't she?"

"I know. I don't get how Cristina can think this is settling," Meredith said, trailing her hand up and down Lilly's back.

Derek's smile dissolved. "Did she say that?"

"She didn't mean us. She meant her. To her, being anything other than a surgeon is trying for second best. That's just who Cristina's always been. She has that in common with my mom. I don't hold it against her. For me, though, just being a surgeon would be settling. I mean, at the end of the day, surgery is surgery. It's your job, you know? As much as I love my job, it's not my whole life," Meredith said. She kissed the top of Lilly's head, smiling when Lilly scrunched her nose in her sleep. "This is my life. This is the life that I wanted. You and her."

"Me, too," Derek said.

"Thanks for sticking with me; otherwise, I probably would've settled, spending my childbearing years inside the four walls of the hospital, and turning to stray cats and tequila for companionship," Meredith said.

Derek laughed. "Wow. That bleak, huh?" he said. "But really, I knew you were the one a long time ago. Even if you didn't want me to stick, I was sticking."

She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. "Me, too."

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, and Derek reached over to pick it up, so that Meredith wouldn't jostle Lilly. "Cristina texted you. Want me to open it?" he asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Meredith said.

"I need to pee. Are you two having sex or not?" Derek read off the screen. He rolled his eyes and began typing a response.

She craned her neck, trying to read the message he was sending back. "What are you saying?"

"I told her to put in some earplugs or up the volume on her iPod for a while," he said in satisfaction.

"I'm too tired to have sex tonight," she laughed.

"Me, too. I just like to mess with her," Derek grinned, pressing send and putting her phone back where it was. "Payback's a bitch."

Meredith smiled. "Normally, I'd think that was mean, but she did walk in on us this morning. I think that warrants a little torture."