159. Three Months Down, Six to Go

Disclaimer: I'm not a fancy TV show owner. I just borrow the characters for fun.

So sorry for the insanely long wait! Between school and sickness, writing has been taking a backseat. As always, thank you for your patience; it means so much to me!

It was the second week of September, and officially the end of Meredith's first trimester. She woke up with a smile on her face despite the incessant blare of the alarm clock, and celebrated the occasion with what started as a lazy round of morning sex, but ended in a quickie when Derek got paged into work.

And now, Meredith stood under the warm water of the shower, trying to relax as best she could. Although doing so was made difficult because Lilly was on the other side of the curtain, playing on the bathroom floor with her foam blocks, chatting her mom's ear off.

"A bock, Ma," Lilly said, holding up a blue block in the air.

Meredith peeked out of the curtain for the hundredth time and smiled at her daughter. "Yeah, you have a blue block."

"Boo bock," Lilly echoed. She swapped a blue block for a green and showed it to Meredith. "Dis?"

"That's a green block," Meredith said as she squinted to prevent shampoo from running into her eyes.

"Geen."

While Lilly was temporarily satisfied with those answers, Meredith closed the curtain once again and began rinsing the soap from her body. She swiped a hand across her small, slippery bump and glanced down at it. Between her growing belly and the already increased cup size of her boobs, she knew she'd have to spill the beans about her pregnancy soon.

So far, the only ones privy to the information were Derek, his mom, Mark, Bridget, and Cristina. And for the past week or so, Izzie's been giving her suspicious looks, almost as if she senses her friend's occupied uterus, but doesn't want to pry. No official plans had been made yet on how to announce Jellybean's existence, but she and Derek both knew the time for it was drawing closer.

"So Lilly, you're going to hang out with Uncle Alex today. Doesn't that sound fun?" Meredith asked, combing conditioner through her hair.

Lilly tapped her blocks together in celebration. "Yex!" Lilly cheered.

"Yeah. He offered to watch you while Mommy and Daddy are in surgery. I have a whole list of fun stuff for you guys to do. He'll laugh at me and tell me I'm crazy, but that's okay. When he's a parent one day, he'll understand," Meredith said. She peeked out of the curtain again and found Lilly surrounded by unwrapped tampons straight from the box.

"Lilly, what did you do?"

Lilly held one in each hand and smiled proudly. "A mouse."

"You have a very active imagination," Meredith couldn't help but laugh, rinsing her hair out as quickly as she could before Lilly could wreak anymore havoc. She gave herself an extra minute to enjoy the warm water, then turned off the faucets. After wringing out her hair, she reached for her towel on the hook, and wrapped herself in it before stepping over the side.

"Hi," Lilly greeted.

"Hi, you. Having fun out here?" Meredith asked.

"Fun," Lilly echoed as she unwrapped another tampon from the box.

Meredith sighed in amusement. "There's a lock on the toilet and the bathroom cabinet. I'm kind of impressed that you found the only thing not locked away in here. On the bright side, I have a few months before I need to use them again," she said, grabbing her phone off the shelf. "Lilly, smile for Mommy."

Lilly cheesed it up for the camera so Meredith could snap a picture, and Meredith sent if off to Derek. "You can explain this one to Daddy."

...

Derek chugged a large sip of coffee as he walked to the nurses' station with an armful of charts. It was only 10:00, and he already felt like he'd worked a full shift thanks to the morning spent running around the ER doing consults after a back-to-school prank gone wrong at a local high school. After setting the charts and his coffee on the desk, he pulled his phone from his pocket, an immediate smile spreading over his face when he saw the picture Meredith sent him close to an hour ago.

"Oh my God, look at her," Derek said, showing Mark his phone screen.

Mark surveyed the picture with curiosity. "Are those tampons?"

"Yeah. Mer was in the shower, so Lilly entertained herself," Derek chuckled, saving the picture in his library. "This is what you have to look forward to a year from now. Instead of Charlotte being swaddled in her swing, she'll be decorating your bathroom floor with tampons."

"Maybe she's giving you a hint that you need to buy her more toys," Mark suggested.

Derek laughed. "Our house is already overflowing with her toys. Last night, I found a stuffed monkey under my pillow."

"You think you have a lot of toys now? Just wait until the next one comes along. That woodland mansion of yours will be bursting at the seams," Mark pointed out as he scrawled his illegible signature to a patient chart.

"Oh, I know. I'm fully prepared to surrender my office at some point to expand their playroom," Derek said.

"So when are you guys making the big announcement?" Mark prodded.

"Well, today's the first day of Meredith's second trimester, so probably soon. I'm leaving it up to her," Derek replied.

"If she doesn't announce it soon, her boobs will do it for her," Mark said.

Derek sighed, taking the last sip of his coffee, then tossing the cup into the trash. "Mark."

"Oh, come on. You know I'm right. Those things have their own ZIP code," Mark upheld with little room for rebuttal.

"That's because she's pregnant and breastfeeding. I barely even get to touch them. At least my kids benefit from them, even if I can't," Derek said before pursing his lips in a pause. "This is weird. No more conversation about my wife's breasts."

"That's sweet; thank you," Meredith giggled as she appeared behind him, Lilly in her arm.

"Hey. I just saw the tampon picture you sent," Derek said, giving them both a kiss on the cheek. "Were you driving Mommy crazy this morning?"

"A cazy," Lilly echoed.

"I need to hold her. I haven't held Charlotte since I left this morning, and I'm having baby withdrawal," Mark said, holding out his arms. Lilly reached for him immediately, sensing that he needed a dose of her charm.

"It's hard coming back full time after spending weeks at home. It gets easier though, I promise," Meredith assured him.

"If we'd known you wanted some quality baby time, we would've asked you to babysit today instead of Karev," Derek said, taking the heavy diaper bag from Meredith's shoulder and slinging it on his own.

Mark knitted his brow in confusion, Lilly casually reaching into his pocket for his penlight. "Karev's watching her? How'd you rope him into that one?" he asked.

"He volunteered. That's what happens when you give someone your house. You get a lifetime of favors. Plus, who can resist this pretty face?" Meredith said, twirling one of Lilly's dark curls with her finger.

Lilly smiled, her blue dress bringing out the color of her eyes. "Pitty," she agreed.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. The kid's abscess exploded right before surgery to lance it, so I've been dealing with that all morning," Alex greeted, handing his post-op chart to the nurse behind the desk.

"You're just in time. I want to go over her schedule," Meredith said.

"Alright, what do I need to know?" Alex asked.

"She just ate breakfast before we left, so she'll be hungry again around noon. The sippy cup with the pink lid is breastmilk, and the one with the green lid is her baby apple juice. Usually she takes the milk first, and sips the juice while she plays. After that, I switch to water," Meredith explained.

Alex nodded, assuming she was finished giving her instructions. "Got it."

"For lunch, I packed her pasta wheels in the blue container. I threw some cooked broccoli in there, too. She might spit it out, but give it a shot. In the orange container, I have her puréed peaches. There's spoons in the side compartment. I packed her cereal puffs for a snack later on. Just give her one at a time, though. If you sprinkle them in front of her, she'll try to shove them all in her mouth at once," Meredith continued while Alex, Mark, and Derek listened in silence to her rambling.

"She hasn't had a poopy diaper yet today, so I'm sure that's coming. Put some of the diaper cream on her butt after you wipe her. A few of her molars are coming in, and we're trying to stay ahead of the diaper rash. She'll probably nap around two. Oh, and make sure her shoes stay tied. She loves to untie them, and then she trips over them because she got my klutzy gene," Meredith said.

"Are you really the same chick who used to bring home guys you met in bars?" Alex asked in both mockery and awe.

"Shut up," Meredith said. She took two stapled sheets of paper from her pocket and handed it to Alex. "Here. I wrote it all down, too, since I'm sure you zoned out five seconds after I started talking."

"Thanks," Alex said, taking the papers from her. "Want me to potty train her, too?"

Meredith smirked at him. "Very funny. But hey, if you can manage to get her out of diapers in the afternoon you're spending with her, that would be great," she played along. "Come here, baby girl. I need a hug."

Mark handed Lilly back to Meredith, who kissed her forehead. "I love you, Lillybug. Have fun with Uncle Alex, okay?"

"If you're looking for something to do, just take her to the gallery to watch a surgery. Meredith and I will be in OR 2, but she's also partial to general. Bailey's got a Whipple in OR 3 that Lilly would enjoy," Derek suggested.

Alex glanced in Mark's direction in search of an ally. "Are you listening to this?"

"I would've found it weird before my kid was born, but now I get it. Buck up, Karev. You'll need to know all this one day," Mark said before grabbing a patient chart from the bin and walking down the hall.

"Love you, Lilly. Can I have a kiss for good luck?" Derek asked.

Lilly planted a kiss on his cheek. "Lub."

"Thank you, Princess."

"Okay, I'll text you when we're out of surgery. Thanks again for watching her. We appreciate it. If you have any questions, just call me," Meredith said as she finally handed Lilly to Alex.

"We'll be fine. She loves her Uncle Alex more than she loves you two anyway," Alex joked, bouncing Lilly in his arm. "Come on, beautiful. Let's go find something to do before your mom pulls more instructions out of her pocket."

Lilly blew them a kiss as she and Alex proceeded toward the elevator, and Meredith blew a kiss back to her. "Bye, Peanut!" she called out.

Derek picked up their patient chart off the counter and tucked it under his arm. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Meredith said. "You know, this is a good way to have afternoon dates, just the two of us. We can write a pretend surgery on the board, ask our friends to babysit, and you and I can sneak out to lunch. Or spend a few hours in the on call room."

"Lilly's almost one and a half. Why haven't we thought of this before?" Derek asked.

"Probably because she still thinks we're cool, so we want to spend as much time with her as we can before she swaps us out for her much cooler friends in a few years," Meredith postulated.

"True."

Derek knocked briefly on their patient's door before entering, smiling at the couple on the other side. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Glennon. Dr. Shepherd," he introduced.

"Please, call me Scott. This is my wife, Deidre. It's good to finally meet you in person," Scott returned, he and his wife shaking his hand, then Meredith's.

"Likewise. I'm Dr. Grey, the other surgeon on your case," Meredith greeted.

"We're so grateful to finally be here. It's been a long few months. Finding surgeons trained in fetal surgery isn't easy," Deidre said, her hands splayed over her very pregnant belly.

Derek smiled at them in reassurance. "We're happy to help. Dr. Grey and I have been prepping for weeks, so we're confident that we can remove your son's tumor in utero."

"So, how does this work?" Scott asked.

"First, Dr. Halloran, the OB attending, will make the incision to expose your uterus. Once we have enough exposure, we'll use an intraoperative ultrasound, so we know the position of the baby and the placenta throughout the surgery. Dr. Halloran will place a few stay sutures to keep the placenta adhered to your uterus, and then she'll do the hysterotomy, which is just a small incision made in the uterus," Meredith explained.

"Just enough so we can access his tumor. No more than a few inches," Derek clarified.

"Right. And to make sure he's stable throughout surgery, we're actually going to expose his little foot to measure his pulse ox, which tells us if he's getting enough oxygenated blood through the placenta. We'll also place an IV into the saphenous vein of his leg, so we have access to give him any IV fluids, blood, or meds," Meredith said.

"Before we begin debulking the tumor, we'll also give him a paralytic and a narcotic injection into his thigh muscle. I know it sounds scary, but it's basically the same as the anesthesia you or I would get before surgery. It keeps him still and sleeping to prevent him from wiggling around," Meredith said with as much comfort as she could.

"After all of that is completed, we'll expose the sacrococcygeal teratoma, and remove as much of it as we can. Depending on the intricacy of its blood supply, we may be able to remove it all. Once we're done, we'll replace any lost amniotic fluid with a special warmed IV fluid, suture the uterine incision, and then suture your abdominal incision," Derek finished.

Deidre nodded slowly as she absorbed all the information, releasing a long breath. "And this is safe? I mean, I know you wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe. It's just that the doctors back home said there's a lot of risks involved with fetal surgery, and they suggested waiting until he was born."

"There's risks to any surgery, and this is a major one. But right now, you're only seven months pregnant, so every day spent waiting increases the likelihood that the teratoma keeps growing and feeding on your son's blood supply. This surgery allows us to remove the tumor while keeping your blood circulating through him by the umbilical cord," Derek said.

"So Deidre is kind of like a battery pack keeping him fully charged?" Mr. Glennon asked.

"That's an excellent way to put it. Yes," Derek agreed.

"And Dr. Halloran, she's good? I mean, you'd recommend her?"

Meredith subconsciously smoothed her hand over the bump still hidden under her scrubs. "She's one of the best. She's actually the doctor who delivered our daughter. So she'll be there the whole time, and we'll also have NICU staff right there in the OR."

"And Scott can stay with me?" Deidre asked.

"Absolutely. Once we get you settled in the OR, we'll bring him right in. He can sit by your head the whole time," Derek promised.

"Do you have a name picked out for your son yet?" Meredith asked.

"Connor," Scott replied.

Meredith smiled at the two of them. "Well, Connor's got a whole team assembled just for him. Your little guy is in excellent hands."

"Okay, good. Thank you both so much," Deidre said, visibly more relaxed than she'd been a few minutes ago.

"It's our pleasure. We'll see you in the OR in just a half hour or so," Derek said.

He and Meredith went back out into the hall and began walking toward the OR where the surgery would take place. Despite the long, intricate surgery looming in front of them, Derek couldn't help but let his mind sidetrack for a moment. "Connor. I like that. We should add it to our list whenever we make one."

"Connor is a boy's name. Shepherd sperm only manufactures girls," Meredith teased, though given the boy-girl ratio in the Shepherd family, it was an accurate assessment.

Derek laughed. "True. Maybe our future fictitious grandson, then."

...

An hour had gone by since Alex had been put on babysitting duty, and he was beginning to realize that playing with a one year old was more exhausting than he'd once thought. So far, they'd built block towers, read a few books, and picked flowers from the small garden outside the hospital entrance. And now, per Lilly's request, they were in the gallery, watching her mommy and daddy's surgery taking place below.

Lilly sat in the chair next to Alex, looking up at the TV screen which showed Dr. Halloran's hands performing the hysterotomy portion of the surgery. Alex glanced at Lilly, unsure if he was more horrified or impressed that she didn't flinch at the scalpels and organs and blood.

Meredith and Derek waved at Lilly from their spot at the OR table, and Lilly wiggled her tiny bottom in delight. "Mama Da!" she cheered, waving back at them.

"You're brave, kiddo. I've seen some interns pass out watching this stuff," Alex said.

"Should you be letting her watch this?" Lexie asked, dropping down in the seat on the other side of Lilly.

"You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

Lexie shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. "Hiding from the interns. Apparently, my face is non-threatening, so if they have a question, who do they come to? Me. So I'm hiding. Besides, how often do you get to see fetal surgery around here?" she pointed out. "What have you two been doing?"

"Chasing her around outside while she chased butterflies. Those chubby legs can run," Alex said.

"A sip?" Lilly requested.

"Sip," Alex echoed, decoding the baby babble in his brain. "Oh, you want your sippy cup? Alright, let's see here," he said before pulling the diaper bag onto his lap. "We've got milk and apple juice. Take your pick."

Lilly pointed to the sippy cup of breastmilk with the pink lid. "Dat."

"Here you go," Alex said as he handed it to her.

Lilly happily accepted it, holding it in one hand while she twirled her hair with the other. Once she was settled, she leaned back in her chair and continued watching the surgery taking place below, as if she belonged there like any other surgeon.

"Hey, did it start yet?" Izzie asked, sitting down in the chair on the other side of Alex. She leaned over him and kissed the top of Lilly's head. "Hey, pretty girl."

"Halloran's just finishing the hysterotomy," Alex said, noticing the wet drops on his pant leg. "Crap, I dripped breastmilk on myself."

"There's a sentence I never thought I'd hear you say," Izzie laughed, rummaging in the diaper bag for a wipe. "Here, blot it. It's just breastmilk; there's nothing weird about it," she said before veering the conversation in a different direction. "You know what is weird, though? Her boobs. They're huge. Has anyone else noticed, or just me?"

"Am I allowed to notice stuff like that? If I am, then yeah, I've noticed," Alex agreed. "Why, do you think she's pregnant?"

"She has been eating a lot of saltines lately," Lexie recalled.

"Why not just ask the source? Lady Chatterley here will spill the beans," Alex suggested, cocking his head toward Lilly.

At the mention of the word 'bean,' Lilly's eyes lit up and she pulled the sippy cup from her mouth. "Bean bay?" she asked.

"Who's bean bay, Lilly?" Izzie prodded.

Lilly pointed to her belly, all too eager to share the news. "Mama baybay," she said with a smile.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Lexie said with wide eyes. "Lilly, is Mommy having a baby?"

"Mama baybay," Lilly nodded in confirmation.

"I knew it!" Izzie said, practically jumping out of her chair.

Alex snickered, popping one of Lilly's cereal puffs into his mouth. "You do realize Lilly is one, right? She might not be the best source for accurate info," he reminded both of them.

"Are you kidding? She's the offspring of a Grey and a Shepherd, which means she's chatty and a genius. As far as reliable sources go, she's top notch," Izzie argued.

Lilly held her hand out to Alex. "A poof?"

Alex put a cereal puff in her palm. "Here you go, kid. You've earned it."

...

The fetal surgery was well underway, and although they'd already been standing over the OR table for four hours, the adrenaline made it seem like mere minutes. It wasn't every day that the opportunity to do a fetal surgery presented itself, and the magic of it was even keeping Meredith preoccupied from the fact that she'd had to pee since she stepped into the OR.

"Pulse ox is holding steady at one hundred; bleeding is controlled. Connor hasn't given us any trouble. You've got a cooperative, little guy in here," Derek said in an attempt to calm the Glennons' nerves. "How are you doing, Deidre?"

"Good. I'm good," Deidre replied nervously.

"Good. You're doing great. We've removed almost the whole tumor. The baseball is now a golf ball," Meredith said as she suctioned the area around the tumor for better visualization. "How squeamish are you with this stuff, Scott? If you'd like to see your son, you're more than welcome to sneak a peek of his foot."

"Can I?"

Derek nodded, gesturing toward Connor's exposed foot. "Sure, take a look."

Scott peeked over the blue surgical drape, frozen in awe when he saw his son's tiny foot. Meredith could see the tears build in his eyes, and she forced herself to keep her own emotions in check, not an easy task with a baby growing inside her, one that very much enjoyed making her sappy at inappropriate times.

"Would it be okay if I took a picture?" Scott asked.

"Go for it. Something to show him when he's a teenager," Derek chuckled, waiting for Scott to snap a quick photo before he and Meredith continued debulking. "Is he your first?" he asked conversationally.

"No, we have a five year old, Luke. I can't wait to show him the picture when we get home. He'll think it's the coolest thing ever," Scott said.

"Connor was a surprise baby. When we told Luke he was getting a sibling, it was like Christmas morning," Deidre said with a smile as she became more relaxed.

Derek's eyes flicked to Meredith's from across the table, the only two in the room aware of the little plum-sized surprised housed in Meredith's uterus. "Oh, yeah? I bet Luke was happy to find out he's getting a brother."

"Yeah. We actually got his reaction on tape. It was a happy moment in the midst of all this tumor stuff. We were planning to be surprised by the gender again, like we were with Luke. But then the doctors found the tumor at Deidre's sixteen week ultrasound, and we decided we should find out. You know, in case he... didn't make it," Scott said, almost unable to finish the sentence.

Finding the opportunity to veer the conversation to a happier place and get advice from seasoned parents, Meredith decided to take the chance. "So you were surprised with Luke's gender. What's that like?" she asked, hoping it didn't sound weird or nosy. "It's just... we found out we were having a girl, so we got to plan ahead."

"We talked about it a lot. But eventually, we decided why not, you know? Either way, boy or girl, it's a gift," Deidre said.

Derek glanced up at Lilly in the gallery, who was nearly asleep in Alex's lap, but fighting to stay awake and watch the surgery. He smiled at her, and even though half of his face was covered by a mask, Lilly smiled back. "Sure is," he agreed. "Best gift in the world."

...

Meredith rubbed her hand over her hidden belly as she walked out of the staff restroom, smiling at Derek who stood in the hall waiting for her. "Next time we scrub in on a surgery, remind me to pee first."

"I thought you did."

"I did. Remind me to go a second time," Meredith said.

Derek laughed, putting his hand on the small of her back. "Alright, will do," he promised. "So, I take it the whole gender talk gave you some ideas, huh?"

"Maybe. I've just been thinking it might be fun to be surprised. Jellybean was a surprise anyway, so why not just make it a theme, you know?" Meredith pondered, hitting the elevator button.

"We can do that," Derek agreed. He pressed the button for the fifth floor once they got on the elevator, and the doors closed with their usual swish. "Izzie and my sisters will hate us, but it could be fun to keep it a surprise."

"Okay, then. Until my Type A brain forces us to find out, we'll hold off," Meredith said.

After stepping off the elevator and walking the few feet down the hall to the attending lounge, they could already hear the sound of Lilly's laughter echoing on the other side of the door.

"Mama Da!" Lilly nearly belted out as soon as her parents entered the room. She dropped the block she'd been holding, nearly knocking over the tower she had been building with Alex and Izzie.

Derek scooped her into his arm and kissed her cheek. "Hey, you. We missed you so much today. Did you have fun?"

"Bock," Lilly replied.

"You played blocks with Uncle Alex and Aunt Izzie?" Meredith asked enthusiastically.

"I need a nap," Alex said as he sprawled out on the floor amidst the block pile that surrounded him.

"Oh, come on. As far as babies go, she's perfect," Derek boasted playfully, following Meredith's lead and dropping down onto the couch against the wall.

Izzie laughed, beginning to pack up Lilly's foam blocks in the zipper bag. "She is. He just didn't expect all the running and dancing and playing horsey," she said before switching to the more pressing topic at hand. "She's so smart, too. She talked about so many things. Nemo, Gammy, Cha-Cha, Lolo, Baby Bean..."

Meredith froze in the midst of fixing Lilly's shoe, hoping to play it as cool as she could. "Oh?" she asked casually, knowing Derek probably had the same dumbfounded expression on his face as she did.

"Yeah. Naturally, I had a follow-up as to who that was, and Lilly was happy to fill us in. Lillybug, where's Baby Bean?" Izzie asked.

Lilly smiled proudly and immediately pointed to Meredith's belly. "Baybay!" she said, proving her point by lifting up the bottom of her mom's shirt to show her audience.

Izzie gasped when she saw the small bump revealed underneath, her mouth agape in awe. "Oh my God. See, I told you!" she said, nudging Alex's shoulder.

"Damn, she was right," Alex said.

Meredith nodded in amused resignation, kissing the top of Lilly's head. "Yeah, twelve weeks today."

"I didn't know you guys were trying," Izzie said.

"Oh, we weren't. Baby number two is sponsored by an IUD that got defeated by Derek's very determined sperm," Meredith giggled, tapping her fingers over her belly.

Knowing she would ask to see it, Derek pulled one of the sonogram pictures from his wallet and handed it to Izzie. "Best unexpected surprise ever."

"Look how sweet," Izzie gushed, tracing her finger over the blobby, white outline of the baby. "Oh, you guys, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Iz," Meredith replied. "I hope you don't feel left out. Cristina knows because she caught me puking in the bathroom a few weeks ago and figured it out, and Mark knows because he watched Lilly while I got the IUD taken out. We swear we were going to make the announcement this week, but Lilly beat us to it."

Izzie waved it off, too busy making a fuss over her in-utero niece or nephew. "Well, it's a good thing she's so smart and chatty, then."

"A surprise baby was bound to happen eventually, right? I mean, Mer's been balling Shepherd on a daily basis since intern year," Alex pointed out.

"You kiss my kid with that mouth?" Meredith asked, tossing one of Lilly's foam blocks at him.

"You know I'm right," Alex upheld.

Meredith smiled, patting Derek's thigh with her hand. "Fine, you're right. And in case you hadn't noticed, that worked out well for me."