123. Night Out

Disclaimer: Not mine. But I'm thrilled that Meredith and Derek got Zola back. That little girl owns my heart!

Meredith gently laid Lilly in her crib, pressing a kiss to her forehead, careful not to wake her up. She was full and sound asleep after nursing, which meant there was time for a shower. Even better, a shower with Derek. And that was one window of opportunity Meredith was not willing to pass up. She drew Lilly's shade to keep the room sun-free, then tiptoed toward the door to the nursery.

"I love you, peanut," Meredith whispered. She crossed the threshold into the hallway, and walked back down the hall toward her own bedroom. She heard the water spray hit the floor of the tub as Derek turned on the shower.

She grabbed the baby monitor off her nightstand, then gently knocked on the half-open door, peeking her head in. "Hey," she said.

Derek turned around just as he was about to step over the edge. "Crap, you scared me," he said.

"Who else would it be?" Meredith giggled, biting her lip as she tracked his naked body from head to toe with her eyes. "Lilly's asleep, so I thought I'd take a shower with you."

"Yeah?" he asked as a smile spread over his face.

"Do you mind?"

Derek laughed. "Why would I mind? Get naked," he said.

Meredith set the baby monitor down on the bathroom counter, then shimmied out of her pajama pants and panties. She pulled off her shirt, and tossed it onto the floor. "Good morning," she said, taking his hand as she stepped over the side to join him.

He closed the shower door, then pinned her against it. "Hmm, good morning," Derek returned, cupping her face and kissing her.

"I swear I didn't come in here for sex. Well, not at first," Meredith said against his lips. "What time do you have to be at work?"

"In an hour."

"Plenty of time," Meredith said, reaching for her shampoo in the caddy. "Bathing first, then sex, because my hair is dirty."

"Okay." Derek took the shampoo from her and squirt some of it into his palms.

"What're you doing?"

"Turn around," he said.

Meredith smiled, and spun around on her heels. "Okay," she said, biting back a moan when she felt him lather shampoo into her hair. "Screw the sex. Can you just stand there and do that for an hour?"

"Hmm, I want sex," Derek said, kissing her neck.

"We will. Just... yeah. Right there," she said, chills covering her body as he massaged her scalp with his fingertips.

"You saying things like that doesn't really help with the waiting..."

She leaned into him and closed her eyes. "Sorry. That sounded dirty," she admitted.

"Your ass pressed against my you-know-what doesn't help either," he chuckled.

Meredith turned around, taking his own shampoo from the caddy. "Your turn then."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Turn," she said, making a swivel motion with her finger.

Derek turned around, and she squeezed some of his shampoo into her hand. She stood up on her tiptoes, then pulled her fingers through his hair. She smiled in satisfaction when she heard a pleased groan leave his mouth. "Now you're the one being dirty."

"What?"

"Making sex noises," Meredith accused, trailing her hands from his hair to his shoulders. She wrapped her hands around the front of him, meandering her fingertips toward his groin. When he moaned again, she moved her hand closer to where she knew he wanted it, hoping to elicit another sound from him.

When her hand reached its destination, she smiled in satisfaction when she discovered he was already hardening. "Wow."

"What?"

"You. All I did was run my fingers through your hair," Meredith said.

Derek turned around, cupping her cheeks again to kiss her. "Hmm, what can I say? You're very good at turning me on," he said.

Meredith pulled him toward the water spray and they stood under it. Soap trailed down both of them, and onto the floor, racing toward the drain. She smiled at him, then handed him her loofah. "Nothing good is going to come of this, but here."

"Oh, I disagree. Something very good is going to come of this," Derek grinned, grabbing her vanilla-scented body wash and squeezing a few drops onto the sponge. He lathered it up, then rubbed it over her shoulders, and down her back. The throbbing in his groin intensified when she let out a breathy sigh. "Okay, all clean," he decided.

"I'm pretty sure you skipped eighty percent of my body," Meredith said.

He put the loofah back on the caddy hook and spun her around. "Hmm, I don't care," he said, unable to keep himself from kissing her again.

"Me either."

Derek picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "I can't wait any longer," he said as he kissed her neck.

Meredith laughed. "Impatient man," she accused, moaning when she felt him against her, hard and ready. "Okay, come on. Do it."

"Oh, I'm impatient?" he said.

He pushed into her, and Meredith had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. "Holy crap."

"Seriously." Derek paused, shaking as he tried to keep his composure, and he readjusted Meredith in his arms.

"Please don't drop me," she requested as she wrapped her legs more snugly around his waist. Derek gently gripped her ass, and she laughed. "There we go. Thank you."

He started to move, and Meredith buried her face in his shoulder to keep from being too loud. Her breath hitched into a moan when Derek bent backwards. She reeled at the sensation, her fingertips pressing into his back. "Holy... yeah. Bendy thing. Keep doing that."

"What about... your version," Derek panted. "With your leg... over my shoulder."

"What? Right now?" she asked.

"Why not?" he asked back.

Meredith shrugged. "Fine," she said, holding onto Derek as he gently set her on her feet. Before Derek could wrap his arm around her again, her leg was over his shoulder, and he laughed.

"Even after all these years, it still amazes me that you can do that," Derek said, holding her ankle in one hand, and putting the other on her lower back.

"Does my freakish flexibility turn you on?" Meredith asked. She kissed him before he had a chance to answer, and when he pushed into her again, she had to steady herself on one foot, and try not to fall onto the floor of the shower in pleasure.

"Yes, it does," Derek answered, though by that time, Meredith forgot she'd even asked the question.

They heard Lilly fussing over the baby monitor on the other side of the shower door, and they froze. "Crap," Meredith said. "Crap. Crap. Crap."

"Wait, just... she might stop," Derek said.

When the noise over the monitor quieted, Meredith breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Go. Shower quickie."

Derek picked up the pace, keeping a firm grip on her as he moved. Meredith was already balancing herself on one foot, and the last thing they needed was a shower injury that may or may not result in an embarrassing trip to the ER. He kissed her neck before moving his lips lower to nip on her clavicle. It wasn't long before he felt her tightening around him. "I'm... are you..."

"Yeah. I..." her sentence dissolved into a moan as she hit her peak. She rode out the waves, wrapping her arm around his neck, and the feeling of her drove Derek over the edge, too.

"Oh, God. Meredith," he groaned, dropping his head onto her shoulder.

When the short-lived bliss subsided, they stood there, Derek leaning against the shower wall for support, Meredith limp in his arms. She licked her lips as her breathing returned to normal. "I... we should..."

"Give me a sec," Derek said, blinking the water from his eyes. When he was sure he had his balance again, he gently took her ankle from his shoulder, and helped her set it back on the floor. "You okay?" he asked.

"My legs feel like Jell-O," she giggled, holding his hand while she steadied herself.

"Hmm, is that a good thing?" he asked.

Meredith smiled at him. "I just had a mind-blowing orgasm. Wobbly legs are well worth it," she said. She moved away from the water spray and rung out her hair. "Lilly's probably waking up. I'll get her; you can finish up."

"Fine, but you owe me a loofah sponge-down," Derek grinned, reaching for his soap.

"Deal," Meredith said, giving his wet, naked body a once-over before she opened the shower door and stepped over the side.

She patted herself dry and slipped her robe on, then walked back down the hall toward Lilly's nursery, biting her lip in satisfaction. Sex and a shower had happened within a fifteen minute span, which was a decent start to the day. She opened Lilly's door, and peeked into her crib, smiling when she saw that Lilly was awake, and smiling back at her.

"Hi, Lillybug," Meredith said softly, scooping Lilly out of her crib. She pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm not going to get into specifics, but I'm really glad you held off on crying. Mommy and Daddy were able to... multitask," she said, leaving it at that.

She gently set her down on the changing table and unsnapped Lilly's pajamas to change her. When she pulled down the front of the diaper, Meredith scrunched her nose, reaching for the baby wipes. "I should've stayed in the shower, and saved this one for Daddy."

...

Days off were rare gifts, ones that, before becoming a parent, meant studying or going to the post office or the grocery store and catching up on simple errands that she didn't have the leisure time to complete as a surgical resident. But now, Meredith basked in every minute spent with Lilly, even if it meant playing peek-a-boo for hours on end.

Lilly sat in her boppy seat on the couch in her strawberry-patterned footie pajamas, and watched with fascination every time Meredith covered her face with her hands.

"Peek-a-boo!" Meredith shouted softly, moving her hands away.

Lilly gave her a big, gummy smile that melted Meredith's heart every time, and she smiled back at her. "You are so cute," Meredith said, leaning in to kiss the baby's cheek. "I never thought I'd ever play peek-a-boo in my life, but I would sit here all day if you kept smiling like that."

Lilly looked at her in anticipation, and Meredith laughed. "Okay, again," she said, hiding her face. She waited a few seconds, then took away her hands. "Peek-a-boo, Lilly!"

As expected, Lilly smiled again, wider this time, and Meredith couldn't help but pick her up and hug her. "I love you," she said, breathing in the flowery, powdery smell of her baby shampoo.

There was a light knock at the front door, and Charlie hopped off the couch, trotting toward the foyer. "I hope whoever that is doesn't judge us for being in our pajamas at noon," Meredith said, cradling Lilly in her arm and following Charlie.

Izzie waved as best she could on the other side of the glass, carrying large bags in both hands, and Meredith quickly opened the door for her. "Hey," she greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored this morning, so I went a little overboard with baking. There's no way Alex and I can eat all of it, so I figured I'd drop some off over here," Izzie shrugged. "Hope you don't mind."

Meredith could smell something resembling apple cinnamon wafting in the air, and she smiled. "You can bring food over here whenever you want, day or night."

"Okay, good," Izzie said, following Meredith into the kitchen. "Oh, by the way, Derek told Alex to tell me to tell you that Adam is off the apnea monitor, and might get bumped down to the regular nursery if he can finish all of his feedings over the next three days. Not sure what the context of all that means; I'm just the messenger."

"He's a baby in the NICU. His mom died on the OR table after a car wreck a few weeks ago. Then his twin sister stroked out and died, too. Her lungs were too weak to withstand surgery. His dad died over in Iraq, so he has no one. Derek and I have been filling in as pseudo parents. He's such a good baby. We just wish there was more we could do for him," Meredith said.

Izzie frowned. "Oh, that's so sad," she said. "But he's lucky to have you two. You obviously care about him."

"Yeah, we do. I know things will work out; it's just the not knowing part that's hard," Meredith said, hugging Lilly closer to her.

"Things will work out. They always do," Izzie echoed. "Until then, how's my Lilly doing?"

"She's good. We're just having a lazy Saturday," Meredith said.

Izzie set the bags down on the counter, then reached out her hands. "Hand her over," she said.

Meredith laughed, gently passing Lilly into Izzie's arm. "We just spent the last hour playing peek-a-boo. She's very smiley today."

"Meredith Grey, Child of Darkness, plays peek-a-boo?" Izzie asked in disbelief, bouncing on her heels with Lilly looking over her shoulder.

"Yep. I play peek-a-boo and change diapers and I sing songs. I think Lilly approves of me," Meredith teased, peeking into the bags.

"Aww, you sing to her? What, like lullabies?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah, sometimes. Lullabies are more Derek's thing. I mostly sing along to whatever's on the radio. "Single Ladies" or Lady Gaga. Occasionally some Duran Duran."

"So, Mommy's teaching you the importance of your man putting a ring on it, huh? Well, that's good. It's never too early to learn," Izzie told the baby playfully.

"Hey, you mock, but she loves it. I grab a hairbrush or a spoon, and she'll watch my concerts for hours. We even have dance parties, don't we Lilly?" Meredith said.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know it's corny, but she's my baby. I don't care if I make a fool of myself if it makes her happy. Plus, it's kinda fun," Meredith said.

"Of all the incarnations of Meredith, I think I like this one the most," Izzie said.

"And which one would that be?"

"The mommy one."

Meredith smiled at her daughter. "That's how I feel about Derek. I mean, I always knew he'd make a good dad, but to see him with her is just... I don't know how to explain it. He's a world class surgeon, and he put his career on hold for Lilly and me. He gave up cutting brains open and saving lives to be here with her, and give baths and bottles, and watch Elmo's World. That's the most romantic thing he's ever done for me. I know that sounds silly, but..."

"No, it's not," Izzie cut in. "There's not too many guys out there that would do that, but Derek's one of them. I think that's pretty damn awesome."

"Me, too," Meredith said softly.

Izzie scanned the kitchen, taking notice of the bottles in the sink, burp cloths slung over the chairs, and piles of laundry waiting to be loaded into the washer. She looked to Meredith. "So, I take it you two don't get out as much as you'd like?"

Meredith shrugged. "Ehh, we try. It's hard with alternating schedules and a three month old baby." She laughed in spite of herself. "We almost had to stop having sex this morning because she was fussing over the baby monitor. Luckily, she stopped, and we were able to, you know."

"Finish?" Izzie filled in, amused.

"Yes," Meredith admitted. "And not to be porny, but it was shower sex, which doesn't happen nearly as often as it should."

"Wow."

"Anyway, we make the most of it. Last weekend, Derek picked up a movie on his way home from work, and we watched it together after Lilly fell asleep. We ordered pizza had a semi-date night. It didn't matter that we were both in sweatpants, folding baby laundry. It was just nice to spend time with him," Meredith said, taking the containers of food out of the bags.

Izzie hopped up onto a stool at the island counter, then turned Lilly around to sit in the crook of her arm. "When's the last time you guys went out?"

"Um..." Meredith flipped backwards through her mental calendar, and bit her lip. "I think when Derek's mom visited for Lilly's baptism. She practically kicked us out the door and told us we had to."

"That was when Lilly was three weeks old. Now she's three months old. I think you're due for another," Izzie said.

"Oh. No, that's—"

"Come on, why not? I'd watch her over here," Izzie tried to persuade her.

"What about Alex?"

"I'd bring him along. We don't have any plans," Izzie said.

Meredith smirked. "Yeah, because I'm sure he wants to spend his Saturday night babysitting."

"Don't make me play the guilt card. I'll do it," Izzie warned.

"What guilt card?" Meredith asked.

Izzie let Lilly grab onto her finger and hold it in her tiny grasp. "I was supposed to watch Lilly on your anniversary, but she stood me up."

"That's because she was gassy and cranky. Believe me, that would've been fun for neither of you," Meredith laughed, reaching into the cabinet for two plates.

"Fine. But you still owe me," she upheld. When Meredith didn't budge, Izzie added to her argument. "Wouldn't it be fun to get out of the house for the night with Derek? Joe's been asking how you are. You haven't been there in months."

"I know. I miss him," Meredith said, taking a knife and two forks from the drawer and walking around the counter. She sat down next to Izzie, smiling at how relaxed Lilly looked with her. "Fine. As long as Derek's not too tired when he gets home from work, you can watch her."

"Really?" Izzie asked.

Meredith sighed playfully. "Yeah, well, when you bring a bakery's worth of food to my house, it's kinda hard to say no," she said, biting into the apple cobbler.

"All part of my plan," Izzie said proudly.

"I don't doubt that."

...

"Okay, I have her pajamas laid out on the changing table. She had a bath this morning, but if you get bored, feel free to give her another one. She loves the tub. Bottles are in the fridge. She likes them a little warmer than lukewarm, which is about twenty seconds in the microwave. What else, what else..." Meredith rattled off as she went through the checklist in her head.

Alex sat on the couch, trying not to laugh at Meredith's worrisome mommy side. He looked down at Lilly, who was resting in his arm. "She wasn't always like this, you know." Lilly smiled up at him with her thumb in her mouth. "You're cute, kid," he said, smiling back at her.

"We'll be fine," Izzie promised for the tenth time. "She's such an easy baby. I could leave, and even Alex could manage on his own."

"Pizza, baseball, Iz's chocolate cake in the kitchen... as long as Lilly doesn't poop, we're good," Alex said.

"See? Nothing to worry about," Derek said, putting his wallet in his back pocket.

Meredith dropped down onto the couch to zip her boots. "Oh, that reminds me. Extra diapers are next to her pajamas on the changing table. There's powder there, too."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Leave. Now."

"We're going," Meredith said. She leaned over the couch and kissed Lilly's nose. "We'll be back, peanut. Have fun with Uncle Alex and Aunt Izzie. We love you. And distract Aunt Izzie so she'll stop cleaning."

"I clean because I care," Izzie said, already folding a freshly laundered basket of baby clothes next to her on the couch.

"We're just going to Joe's, so we shouldn't be long," Derek said, kissing Lilly's forehead. "Love you, Princess."

"Just go and have a good time. We can hold down the fort," Izzie said.

Derek put his hand on the small of Meredith's back and the two of them walked toward the front door. "Thanks again, guys. We appreciate it," he said.

"No problem," Alex said. "Just one keg party, we swear," he joked.

"Very funny!" Meredith called out, stepping out the door first.

Derek grabbed his keys off the table in the foyer and closed the door behind him after he walked outside. "So, this was a surprise, huh?"

"Well, it's almost the end of September, and our last date night was the end of June. As much as I hate to agree with Izzie, she's right. We need some 'us' time," Meredith said, sliding into the passenger seat after Derek unlocked the doors.

He sat down in the driver's seat, buckling his seat belt. "We do. And it'll be fun."

"I have a stack full of pictures in my purse to show Joe," Meredith laughed as she pulled on her own seat belt. "I used to be the girl that went to bars to get drunk and pick up hot guys for sex. Now, I'm the breastfeeding, off-alcohol mother who goes there to show off pictures of her baby to the bartender."

"I happen to love both of those Merediths," Derek said, backing out of the driveway. "How exactly did Stevens convince you to get us to go out?"

"Cobbler and guilt."

Derek laughed. "Well, that'll do it."

When they arrived at Joe's twenty minutes later, the walk down the steps and into the bar felt strangely familiar, but still foreign. Everything looked the same; the only thing that changed was them. From a married couple that went there a few times a week, to parents that usually spent their nights in with their baby.

The bells hooked on the top of the door jingled when they entered, and when Joe spotted them, he waved his hand in the air and smiled. "Hey, you two! Long time, no see!"

"Hey, Joe," Meredith said as she and Derek walked toward the bar.

"Good to see you again," Derek greeted.

"Double scotch, single malt?" Joe guessed, reaching for a glass from the shelf.

"Thank you," Derek nodded.

Joe handed Derek his drink, then looked to Meredith. "How about you? I'm guessing no straight tequila?"

"No, I think those days are over, at least for a while," Meredith smiled. "I'll just have water with lime, please."

"So, between Cristina and Izzie, I've already seen about a hundred pictures of her, but please tell me you brought some with you," Joe said as he filled her water glass.

"Yes, we did," Meredith said. She set her bag on the bar stool and rummaged through it until she found the small stack. "Here you go," she said, swapping the pictures for her drink. "There's a double of the one on top that you can keep, if you want."

"God, she's gorgeous," Joe complimented. "And that smile... sorry, Shep, but she looks just like Mer."

"You think so? Usually, Derek gets all the credit for that," Meredith said, taking a sip of her water.

"Meredith went through fifteen hours of labor. It's only fair that Lilly looks like her, too," Derek teased.

Joe flipped through each picture, the smile on his face widening with each one. "And to think, this all started because the two of you walked into my bar that night."

"Yeah, well, there's a reason this bar is an institution around here. And it means even more to us," Derek said, slinking his arm around Meredith's waist.

"If it's alright with you, could I hang this up on the bulletin board?" Joe asked, cocking his head toward the picture collage of friendly patrons hanging behind the bar.

"I'm sure if Lilly could talk, she would be honored," Meredith giggled.

"Good. Now, whenever someone asks who that adorable baby is, I can do some humble bragging about how fate used my bar to get her parents together," Joe said with a smile as he stuck Lilly's picture to the bulletin board.

"That oughta help you sell a few more beers," Derek grinned, tossing a few dollars onto the bar for his scotch.

"Couldn't hurt," Joe agreed, pushing the money back toward Derek. "First round's on the house. I'm just glad to see that you're both still alive..." he joked.

"I know, we suck," Meredith sighed playfully. "If it wasn't socially frowned upon to bring babies to bars, we'd have Lilly in here every weekend."

"Well, until she's old enough, I at least wanna see you two in here more than once a year," Joe said.

"Our friends pretty much hold raffles on who gets to babysit her, so we should be able to work something out," Meredith promised.

"Good," Joe said. "So, can I get you something to eat?"

"We're gonna go find a booth, so we'll browse the menu," Derek said.

Joe handed Meredith back the stack of pictures and smiled. "Okay, just let me know."

Meredith and Derek walked over to a nearby booth, far enough from the bustle and noise that they had some privacy, and each took a seat on opposite sides. "I missed it here," Meredith said.

"Me, too," Derek said. "Especially considering most of our alone time happens in bed or in the shower... not that that's necessarily a bad thing."

"Very true," Meredith smirked, reaching for a peanut from the basket.

"So, I called my mom yesterday," Derek said.

Meredith laughed. "A little non sequitur, jumping from shower sex to your mom, but I'll roll with it."

"Even if I tried to find a segue from one to the other, I wouldn't be able to," Derek chuckled. "Anyway, I had some time between surgeries, so I figured I'd give her a call. We got to talking, and she gave me the usual sister rundown. Anyway, she told me that Amy and Tom were looking to adopt."

"Really? Since when?" she asked.

"Well, Tom was adopted," Derek said.

"I didn't know that," Meredith said, cracking open a peanut shell.

"Yeah. His biological mother had him when she was a teenager. He was placed with his adoptive parents the day after he was born. They adopted two more kids after Tom. It's always been important to him, so when he and Amy got married, they knew it was something they'd eventually want to do. And Kyle is two now, so they're ready for another baby."

Meredith reached across the table and squeezed Derek's hand. "That's great. I'm happy for them."

"Yeah, well they applied over a year ago, but so far, they've had no luck. They've had a home study, passed all of their clearances, and now they're just waiting. They were supposed to adopt a little boy back in March, but the birth mother changed her mind at the last minute. It's been hard on them," Derek said.

"Oh my God," Meredith frowned.

"Yeah," Derek sighed, before perking up a little. "But then, I told my mom about Adam."

"Our Adam? Baby Adam?" she clarified.

"Yeah," Derek said, unable to contain the grin that slowly spread over his face. "So, twenty-four hours later, one thing led to another. My mom called Amy, who called her adoption social worker, who got in contact with Seattle Grace's social worker."

Meredith cleared her throat to keep from choking on her water as she put the puzzle pieces together in her head. "They want to adopt him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God," Meredith repeated.

"Nothing's set in stone yet, but they're hoping to fly out here next week," Derek said.

Meredith raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Kyle, too?" Meredith asked. Derek nodded. "Well, where are they staying?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't know yet. I didn't want to offer up our house until I checked with you."

"Derek, they're your family. Well, our family. I don't mind if they stay with us. We have room," Meredith said.

"Okay, then. I'll call them in the morning," Derek said.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me this sooner."

"I was going to tell you when I got home tonight; then the chance to go out and have Mommy and Daddy time fell into our lap, so I figured I'd wait. This seemed like a good place to do it," Derek grinned, taking a sip of his scotch before holding it up.

She clanked her glass against his. "You're always full of surprises, Derek."

"That's a good thing, I hope?"

Meredith smiled at him. "Yes, it is."