171. Sprinkle

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's. I just borrow the characters for fun.

February 21st. The date was circled on the calendar in green Sharpie, the word SPRINKLE written in Derek's doctor scrawl. Meredith had been dreading the event since the day she learned Izzie was planning it, but as the guest of honor, she knew there was no way out. Faking labor crossed her mind, but that felt like bad karma, so she decided against it.

So now, she stood in her robe as she rummaged through her closet, one hand draped over her very pregnant belly. "Mama has nothing to wear to this thing, Lillybug," Meredith said, sighing when she saw her black prom dress hanging at the end. She pulled it out and draped it over herself for old times' sake, just as Derek walked into the room with Lilly's outfit.

"A little formal for a baby shower, but I like it. Still my favorite of all your dresses," he grinned.

Meredith smiled at him in the mirror. "Hmm, I wonder why," she said coyly. "Seriously, though, I have no idea what to wear. My last ambush baby shower was in the spring. Sundress, sandals, boom. Ready. It's much harder to look good in winter clothes, especially when I have the center of gravity of a hippo."

"Hippo!" Lilly repeated as Derek changed her diaper.

"Yeah, Mama is a hippo," Meredith agreed, hanging the prom dress back in her closet. "By Lilly's second birthday, my goal is to fit in that dress again, so you and I can... relive prom night."

Derek became distracted from diaper changing at Meredith's proposition, and he glanced over at her. "Really?"

"Really."

"Okay, then. Looking forward to it," Derek said in anticipation. "And just think, you're already thirty-six weeks. Only four to go... hopefully. As long as Jellybean doesn't camp out an extra week like Lilly did."

Meredith looked down at her belly, which barely fit under her robe anymore. "Please no camping out, sweetpea. It's nice out here, I promise. And I promise we'll have a name for you by then, too."

"We're getting closer. And if we don't come up with anything by the birth, I think we'll just see the baby and know. That's what happened with Amy. After three daughters, my parents were maxed out on girl names, and had no idea what her name would be. But when she was born, my mom held her, and knew she was an Amelia," Derek shared.

"I hope that happens to us if we can't decide. We're really getting down to the wire, and one of the biggest decisions we'll ever make still hasn't been made," Meredith said, crinkling her nose at a gray dress in her closet.

"It will," Derek assured her. "That gray one is nice."

"Too drab for a baby shower. Plus, it's snug around the middle, so you can see my weird, pregnant belly button. The less people who see that, the better."

Before Derek could slip Lilly's pink dress over her head, she pointed to her own belly button with pride. "My button!" she announced.

"Yeah, you and Mama have cute belly buttons," Derek agreed, blowing a raspberry on her belly. Lilly shrieked in delight, and both of her parents smiled at the happy sound.

"Lilly's is cute. Mine is like a button on an alarm clock. You just want to push it and make it go away," Meredith said.

"I still think it's cute," Derek upheld. "But you don't need to wear a dress if you don't want to. Wear whatever you want."

Having searched her closet from end to end with no luck, Meredith considered his point, and switched to her dresser instead. "You're right. Screw it," she said as she grabbed a pair of black leggings from the drawer. "If this thing is mandatory, I'm dressing comfy. Pregnant lady rule."

"There you go," Derek said in support.

Meredith shimmied on the leggings and a white tank top, her definition of pregnant-formal, then turned back to her closet. "I need a flowy cardigan. Pick a color, Lilly. Pink, purple, green, or blue."

"Boo," Lilly replied without hesitation.

"Blue it is," Meredith said, pulling the sweater off the hanger and slipping it over her shoulders.

"Perfect. Lilly's in pink, you're in blue; both genders are covered," Derek said as he tried to contain his joy that her wardrobe dilemma was solved.

Meredith smiled at him as she put on her boots. "You know, we could just skip this thing altogether, and relive prom night now," she said in a last-ditch effort to avoid baby shower palooza.

"Sprinkle first, prom night later," Derek compromised.

"You swear there's no onesie decorating at this thing, right?" Meredith checked.

Derek shook his head. "No onesie decorating."

"Okay, then. Let's go."

...

As soon as they pulled up in front of the old house, Meredith was tempted to hop in the driver's seat, and floor it all the way back home. Her eyes widened at the sheer volume of pink, blue, and yellow balloons that bobbed back and forth on their strings, surrounding the whole outside of the house.

"Izzie, I'm gonna kill you," Meredith mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Derek asked.

"Do you see how many balloons there are? It looks like the movie Up came to life. How is the house not floating away?" Meredith said as Derek pulled into the driveway. "This is worse than that stupid party she threw intern year. At least that one had tequila and Bagel Bites."

Derek laughed at her amusing mix of annoyance and panic, and he patted her hand. "Let's just go inside. And if we have to, we can always sneak back out to the car for S-E-X like we did the night of that party."

The option for car sex was enough incentive for Meredith, and she opened the door. "Deal."

"Are you ready, Princess? The party can't start until the big sister arrives," Derek told Lilly as he took her out of her car seat.

Lilly clapped in sheer excitement as Derek set her on her feet, and she toddled toward the front porch ahead of her parents, who followed close behind. "She shares DNA with me, you, and Jellybean. We should've just sent her on our behalf. Then we could've had car sex and prom sex."

"I think you're gonna have more fun at this than you think," Derek said as they walked up the steps.

Before he could open the front door, Izzie did it for them, her level of cheer matched only by Lilly's. "You're here! I mean, I figured Derek and Lilly would come. But I was iffy about you, Mer," she admitted, stepping aside so they could walk into the house.

"You threw a party for my unborn baby. Of course I came," Meredith said, her eyes gravitating toward the large banner hanging in the living room with the words A Sprinkle of Joy, Be It Girl or Boy! written in pink, blue, and yellow letters, which she assumed was the chosen color palette.

"We really appreciate all of this. First with Lilly's shower, now again with this baby. Our kids are lucky to have you," Derek told Izzie, hugging her after Meredith did.

"Happy to do it," Izzie replied.

Mark walked up to them with Charlotte in one arm, holding a cookie in the other. "There's the guests of honor," he grinned.

"Lolo!" Lilly said from her place in Derek's arm, her face lighting up in a smile.

"Didn't think you'd be here today," Derek said in surprise.

Mark shrugged as he broke the cookie in two, giving half to Lilly. "Bridg and Charlotte were spending the day over here, so I figured I'd tag along. Better than sitting home alone all day. Besides, I figured you needed a guy to hang out with to save you from the vagina festival," he said.

"Bagina," Lilly said, munching on her cookie.

Derek sighed as they walked into the living room where everyone was gathered. "You've gotta stop saying that word in front of her."

"There's my bestie," Cristina said when she saw Lilly, margarita in hand.

"What the... this is a baby shower. Why do you have a margarita?" Meredith asked.

"That's why I have a margarita. Instead of onesie decorating, there's a margarita decorating station set up in the kitchen. Limes and salt instead of markers and glitter pens," Cristina said before taking a sip. "So good. You're missing out."

Meredith smoothed her shirt over her belly and smiled. "I'm growing a human life. You're missing out," she countered.

"I'll pass on the occupied uterus, but I'd kill for your boobs," Cristina complimented.

"You mean the porn star boobs? Yeah, they're a good distraction from the belly button," Meredith said.

"Yeah, that thing is creepy," Cristina agreed. "By the way, I thought this was supposed to be a small-scale thing. Why does it look like a baby shower Pinterest page threw up in here?"

"Because nothing Izzie plans is ever small-scale. I'd be annoyed, but Lilly is already having a blast," Meredith said, watching as Lilly and Charlotte played with the decorations. "I'm hoping her excitement level stays this high when the baby comes."

Bridget smiled. "Not much longer now, right?"

"Four weeks. I'm anticipating a fifth, because Lilly came late. I'm hoping for no late checkouts this time around, though," Meredith said.

"Okay, who's ready for a game? We have pin the sperm on the egg, guess the melted chocolate in the diaper, or guess how big Meredith's belly is," Izzie announced to the room.

Meredith visibly winced at each of the three horrible choices. "Is that the same sperm and egg game we played at my last baby shower?"

"Yes. I would've nixed it, except you vetoed onesie decorating," Izzie pointed out.

"Fine. Lilly, which game should we play? The gigi one, fake poop one, or the one with Mama's belly?" Meredith asked her daughter, the only one besides Izzie who would enthusiastically participate.

"Poo!" Lilly answered.

Mark held up his pink frosted cupcake in support. "Good answer!"

Derek laughed at Lilly's immediate response, wrapping his arm around Meredith in support. "That's what you get for asking Lilly to choose."

...

Once the party games had been played, Meredith was eager to forget that portion of the sprinkle, so she was relieved when the food was served. It was mostly appetizers and sandwiches, but with a kicking baby in her belly, reminding her to eat, it may as well have been a full course meal.

"This makes up for all of the glitter and cupcakes and sperm games," Meredith said, her plate piled high with mini grilled cheeses and crab cakes. "Can you cater the birth, Iz?"

"I know you're kidding, but I will," Izzie promised.

"You mean like whipping up a batch of muffins in between cervical checks? That's friendship," Cristina said before biting into a quiche.

"Is it weird that I'm jealous? Not of the friendly cervical checks, but that Izzie gets to be there when my niece or nephew is born," Lexie said, giving Lilly a piece of her spring roll.

"Have you seen childbirth in action? Not as mystical and magical as you might think," Callie chimed in.

Mark nodded, echoing her sentiment. "Amen."

"Excuse me?" Bridget asked in feigned offense.

"Except when you gave birth to Charlotte, obviously," Mark amended.

Meredith laughed. "Izzie just happens to be the OB of the group. That's why she gets to be there. Once the baby is born, you're all welcome to visit."

"You need to send out a group text announcing the sex, too. Callie and I have a hundred on a boy," Arizona said.

"I have seventy-five on twin girls," Mark disclosed.

"It's not twins," Derek said.

"I'm not ruling out the possibility yet. If Shepherd sperm can conquer birth control, it can make more than one baby at a time, am I right?" Mark upheld.

Derek felt his face heat in a blush, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere, so thank you, I guess."

"Are all of you really betting on the sex?" Meredith asked.

Cristina nodded. "Yeah. Why, do you want in?"

"No, I don't want in," Meredith said, placing her hand on the bump that had officially taken over her lap. "Boy or girl, we're in love either way."

"What do you think it is, Lilly? A brother or a sister?" Bailey asked.

Lilly pointed to Meredith's belly and smiled with pride. "Bubba sissy," she replied.

"See? She thinks it's twins, too. There's still time to place your bet, Lilly," Mark joked, he and Charlotte sharing a fruit kabob.

"No twins. It's hard enough picking one name. Picking two at this stage of the game is an impossibility," Meredith said, the mere thought giving her anxiety.

"So, you really have nothing picked yet? I was sure you were bluffing this whole time," Lexie said in surprise.

"We have a few in mind. Nothing definite yet, though," Derek said.

"Would you use another 'L' name?" Izzie asked.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, if we both loved the name. Inspiration just has to strike. The sooner, the better, too."

"Maybe opening some gifts would help," Izzie suggested.

Knowing there was no way out of gift opening, either, Meredith smiled in agreement. "Sure, yeah. That'll be... fun," she said. "I really hope no one went overboard. Lilly and the baby are so close in age, so we have plenty of hand-me-downs already. And I promise, whatever gender stuff we don't need is getting donated to the hospital."

"It's just little things. I made sure to put that on the invitation," Izzie assured her, handing one of the small, wrapped boxes to Meredith. "This one is from Lexie."

Meredith peeled off the polka dot wrapping paper, then opened the gift box. Its contents were covered with a few layers of tissue paper, which she lifted to reveal the gifts underneath. When she did, she saw three outfits, one for a girl, one for a boy, and a neutral one.

"Lex, you didn't have to get three," Meredith said gratefully.

"Shut up. Of course I did. One for my possible niece, one for my possible nephew, and one that works either way," Lexie countered.

Derek pulled the tiny, blue, pirate pajamas from the box and held them up, he and Meredith both looking at the outfit in awe. "We're so used to pinks and purples and princesses. It's strange to think we might need boy clothes."

"I know. How do you even raise a boy? Or two girls?" Meredith asked.

"Or three, if I win the bet," Mark included.

"You're not winning that bet," Meredith said firmly. "These are adorable, Lex. Thank you."

Izzie handed her another gift from the pile, reading the tag on the bag. "This one's from Bailey."

"I do?" Lilly asked.

"Of course you can help," Meredith said, letting Lilly pull the tissue paper from the bag.

Lilly pulled and crumpled, piece by piece, and Derek laughed at the mess she was making. "We'll clean it all up, I swear," he said.

"She also knows how to build suspense," Meredith added.

When Lilly finished removing all of the tissue paper, she pulled the first present from the bag. "Pitty, Ma!"

"It's very pretty. Can we say thank you to Bailey?" Meredith asked.

"Tankoo," Lilly echoed, holding the newborn-sized, mint green dress in the air.

"You're welcome," Bailey said with a smile. "I know you said unisex clothes, but I never got to buy girl stuff, so I went a little overboard with the dresses and frills. It's addictive. If Tuck had been a girl, I probably would've gone into debt just buying girly clothes."

"Oh, it's dangerous. When I was on maternity leave with Charlotte, bored out of my mind, I online shopped for weeks. The UPS guy and I were on a first name basis," Bridget said.

"Yeah, Meredith and I will need to get second jobs if this is another girl. Brain surgery can't pay the bills for two sparkly, pink wardrobes," Derek teased, though given how many clothes Lilly had, he could barely imagine that number multiplied by two, plus all of the dress-up attire that seemed to grow each week.

Lilly pulled out cone-shaped objects amidst the many dresses Bailey bought, and showed them to Derek. "Dis?" she asked.

"Are these pee-pee teepees? I remember using these with my nephews," Derek recalled.

"Yeah, I used to use them with Tuck. Trust me, if you're having a boy, you'll need them," Bailey said wisely.

"What the hell is it? Like a hat for the pe—" Mark asked before Meredith cut him off.

Meredith pointed her finger at him in warning. "Don't say it. If you say P-E-N-I-S, Lilly's gonna say it."

"Fine. Is it a hat that goes over the... pee-pee?" Mark rephrased, wincing as he said it. "God, it's painful saying that."

"No more painful than hearing your one year old daughter say the actual word," Derek reminded him.

"When you need to change the diaper, you just put it on top of the you know what, and it saves you from getting peed on. I got you the twelve pack, since you'll go through at least three a day," Bailey instructed. "If you have a girl and don't need them, the nursery at the hospital always gives them to the new parents."

"Thank you, Dr. Bailey," Meredith said. "And just a heads up, you're our twenty-four-seven help hotline if this one's a boy, since we'll have no idea what we're doing."

"Anything you need," Dr. Bailey pledged.

Lilly pointed to a large gift in the pile, eager to keep the momentum going. "Dat?" she requested.

"Sure, let's open this one," Derek said with a slight grunt as he lifted it onto his lap.

"That's from Alex and me. Alex built the frame, but I made the rest," Izzie said.

"Did you say frame?" Cristina asked in mild horror.

Lilly tore off a large piece of wrapping paper with help from Derek, and they both wore matching expressions of confusion when they finally succeeded in opening it. "You built a diaper cake?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's got three tiers of newborn diapers, and I attached some baby bath soap and a rubber duck. I went with yellow and green ribbon, so it worked for a boy or a girl," Izzie explained.

Meredith examined the thoughtful present, in awe of the time and detail that went into it. "You really made this from scratch?"

"Yeah. I built it while your actual cake was in the oven. Only took a few hours from start to finish," Izzie said.

"So, you built a three tier diaper cake and a three tier actual cake?" Cristina clarified. "You really are a Pinterest board come to life."

Izzie smiled. "Thank you... I think," she replied. "I knew you guys needed newborn diapers, but just giving you a box of diapers was boring, so I decided to turn it into something fun."

"This is adorable. Thank you, Iz," Meredith said genuinely.

"You're welcome."

"Should've saved that for last. I got you breast pads, baby socks, and pacifiers. If I'd known about the creativity rule, I would've made a mobile out of them or something," Cristina said as she munched on a blue frosted cupcake.

Meredith laughed. "A mobile made of breast pads sounds horrifying. But I'd appreciate the love behind it."

And by the time all of the gifts were opened, both she and Derek were nearly overwhelmed by the generosity of their friends, who had not only given presents to their unborn baby, but all of whom had included Lilly, too. Before her pregnant lady hormones inevitably arrived, Meredith used the time to express her gratitude, hoping Derek would pitch in if her composure crumbled.

"I promise I'm going to keep this short, mostly because I really need to pee. But I just wanted to thank you for coming today," she began, her hand traveling to its usual spot over her belly.

"Derek and I knew as soon as Lilly was born that we wanted her to have a brother or sister. We just weren't expecting it to happen again so soon. It was scary at first, trying to figure out how we'd be able to give a hundred percent of ourselves to two babies and two very demanding careers. When I was growing up, all I'd ever experienced was one of those things being chosen over the other. And every time, I was the other thing. So it scared me to death, wondering if I'd let the same thing happen to my kids," Meredith said, looking at Derek who stood next to her, Lilly in his arm.

"But Derek... he showed me that it was possible to have both, and so far, we've found a way to make it work. And you guys are a huge reason why we're able to do that every day. I really mean that. Seriously, you threw me two baby showers in two years, even though you didn't have to. You're always there to help us with Lilly. You love her like she's your own. You go above and beyond every time. Lilly loves you guys as much as we do, and boy or girl, we know this baby will, too. The four of us are so, so blessed. And I just, um... yeah, thank you," Meredith said, barely getting the words out before the waterworks surfaced.

Derek wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "It's true. We love them all so much, don't we, Lilly?"

Lilly smiled, already wearing the Big Sister t-shirt she'd received. "Lub."

...

The day was drawing to a close, but thanks to a second wind, courtesy of all the leftover pastries and her nesting phase kicking into overdrive, Meredith was determined to sort through the sprinkle gifts and get as much of it organized as she could.

"Lilly's still sound asleep. Playing with Charlotte all day wore her out," Derek said as he joined Meredith on what was left of the couch.

"It was a good day," Meredith said, cutting the tag off of a giraffe outfit. She neatly refolded it, then placed it atop the growing pile of Jellybean's new unisex clothes. "It's official. Our kids have quadruple the clothes we do, and one of them still lives in my uterus."

Derek picked up a pair of Elmo pajamas, which were shorter than the length of his arm. "It's crazy to think Lilly was this small not too long ago."

"Right? The newborn socks are smaller than my thumb. You forget how tiny they are those first few months," Meredith said softly.

"Yeah, you really do."

"And how weird is this?" Meredith added, pulling one of the boy outfits from its gift bag. "Something blue with baseballs on it looks totally out of place in this house."

Derek chuckled. "You mean Lilly's Princess Tea Party Wonderland?"

"Yeah. It's weird, isn't it?" Meredith asked.

"Very," Derek said. He picked up a pair of pink ice cream cone pajamas and laid them beside the baseball ones. "It's either the unexplored territory of a little boy, or double the princess tea parties."

"Well, boy or girl, Lilly will make tea parties a requirement. If it's a boy, he'll probably participate for the first three years until he figures out he can protest," Meredith predicted. "Is that when the fighting starts? I'm clueless about sibling stuff, since I didn't meet mine until I was thirty."

"Yeah, probably. Speaking from experience, if it's a boy, he'll bug her just for fun. And if it's a girl, they'll bicker about everything imaginable," Derek said. "But at the end of the day, they're best friends."

Meredith smiled at the thought as she pulled a newborn diaper from the diaper cake. "All worth it, then."

"Yes, it is."

"Oh my God, I forgot how small the diapers were, too," Meredith said, flipping it over in her hand. "Remember when Lilly's little hiney fit in these?"

"Hmm, and how she'd wiggle her skinny thighs so much that it would fall right off," Derek recalled. "Or if we didn't put it on fast enough, she'd just pee on everything."

"And how we had to fold the front down for the first two weeks until her umbilical cord fell off," Meredith said, her mommy brain getting lost in a nostalgic fog. "It's like we blinked, and now she walks and talks, and will probably master potty training on the first try."

Derek pressed a kiss to the top of her head, the familiar lavender scent still a comfort after all these years. "It goes so fast," he said into her hair. "But on the bright side, we get to do it all over again."

In the midst of their quiet moment, the rubber duck that had been sitting on top of the diaper cake fell off, landing on Meredith's lap with a thud. The happy, blue-eyed duck stared up at her with its cheerful beak smile, and Meredith sighed. "These stupid rubber ducks. Some people are haunted by ghosts; we're haunted by tub toys."

"Can't escape them, no matter how hard we try," Derek replied, tossing it into one of the gift bags.

"I always thought they were creepy," Meredith said. "They seem to multiply like rabbits around here."

"That's because Lilly loves them, and people keep buying them for her," Derek pointed out. "Hopefully Jellybean isn't as much of a fan, so we can cut back, and they won't overtake our house."

"I keep wondering how they'll be different. Like will this one come out blonde and bouncing off the walls, or will she look and act just like Lilly?" Meredith pondered out loud.

"Either way, he or she will be perfect. But for your sake, I'm betting on blonde this time around. It's really only fair that one of our kids looks like you, since you do all the work."

"Well, not all the work. You happen to be an excellent labor coach," Meredith complimented, deciding that her burst of energy needed to be spent doing other activities. "And you're very, very good at getting me pregnant."

Derek grinned, which only grew when she climbed into his lap. "I am, aren't I?"

"Mhm. And you sat through the entire sprinkle today, and didn't complain once. I think I owe you some eggplant time for that," Meredith hinted.

"Eggplant?" he asked.

"I need to find new words to substitute for penis, so Lilly won't say it. And since that eggplant emoji always reminds me of your penis, I thought it was a good choice," Meredith explained, her lips traveling to his neck.

When a shiver went down his spine, and blood was shunted to the lower region of his body, all he could do was hum in agreement. "Good, yeah, eggplant works."

"Not here, though. I can't do it in front of the diaper cake... and the bibs and onesies," Meredith managed to say between kisses.

"Bedroom?"

"Kitchen," Meredith responded, lifting off of his lap.

Confused by her choice, but not protesting, Derek took her hand and followed her lead. "Kitchen?"

"Sprinkle leftovers," Meredith said as though the explanation were obvious. She hopped up onto the counter top next to a Tupperware container, and plucked a cupcake from inside. "You know what's better than sex? Sex and cupcakes at the same time."

"Making the most of these next four weeks, huh?" Derek asked, kicking off his jeans and boxers.

Meredith smiled at the sight of him and licked some of the yellow frosting off her cupcake. "Yes, we are."