Is Forever Enough?

Chapter 22

It was a week later when the shrill sound of Derek's cell phone entered his hazy dream. The sound grew louder and louder, more real and annoying as he opened his eyes and managed to focus on the blaring light of the alarm clock.

Groaning, he fumbled for his cell phone slamming his hand onto the nightstand in the process. "shit." He groaned when he finally managed to get the phone and flip it open. "Shepherd." His brain was foggy, it was hard to even pay attention to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Derek, I'm at the front door, come let me in." He barely recognized the voice of his best friend. "Mark...what are you doing?" He sighed annoyed and ran his other hand through his hair before rubbing his eyes.

He felt Meredith stir next to him, her warm body curling up against his back. "Who is it?" She mumbled dryly without bothering to open her eyes. "I'll be right down." Derek muttered into the phone.

Curling up closer to him she wrapped his arms around him not wanting him to go. "Mark's here." Opening her eyes she looked at Derek confused. She shivered as she sat up allowing the blankets to fall away from her naked form.

"It's three in the morning what the hell does he want?" "Ugg..I don't know but I'm going to kill him." He responded gruffly, exhausted and not feeling like leaving the comfort of his warm bed.

Finding his clothes in the darkness proved difficult and he cursed as he tripped over a shoe. "Dammit. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to turn the light on." He was exhausted, and could tell Meredith was too by the way she plopped back down under the covers.

They had stopped having sex due to his lack of sleep for about day and to their surprise it was actually him who resumed it, not Meredith. She had dealt with her cravings surprisingly well. Though he was exhausted, his body had gotten used to the constant sex.

Meredith buried her head in her pillow blocking out the light until Derek managed to get dressed and excited the room cursing Mark as he bounded down the stairs.

Fastening his belt in a frantic tired haze, Derek reached the front door and threw it open to find Mark waiting there impatiently. His phone was to his ear and he slammed it shut. "It's about damn time!" He told his friend annoyed before looking at his half dressed form. The expensive suit Mark was wearing created a huge contrast to the ratty jeans and no shirt Derek was sporting.

"What the hell are you doing here Mark?" Derek asked not even trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Mark didn't answer, instead he pushed the door out of Derek's hand and shoved past him.

Once the shock had worn off, Derek followed his friend as he stumbled around the dark house and into the family room. Mark appeared to be drunk, and Derek thought that was the case, but his friend was far to stable on his feet to be drunk.

"Mark, come on what is going on?" Mark had sat down on the sofa and was just staring into space. Derek's patience was wearing as he thought of the nice warm bed that awaited him.

Derek followed Mark's gaze to the mantel where Mark was focused on Meredith and Derek's wedding portrait. "You know, marriage is a funny thing. It's all happy and great for awhile...and then it just stops." Mark wouldn't look at Derek and Derek sat stunned confused as to what he was talking about.

"What?..." Derek began, but was cut off by an evil laugh from Mark. "Oh don't act like you don't know...it's great and then it just goes to hell. Marriage is a giant whole that sucks the life out of everything." His voice was growing louder now and looking at his friend, Derek could tell for the first time that he was angry. He was always the calmer one with anger. Where Derek just flipped out and avoided, Mark bottled it all in...until he couldn't anymore.

"Keep your voice down, the girls are asleep." Mark laughed again, a cackeling, hurtful laugh and then stood up to face Derek. "Ha. You think things are so great now, just wait until you're not good enough for her...she'll want more, they always want more." Derek shook off what he said and stood up to face his friend.

"You need to sit down and explain what is going on, if you wake up Ava I'm going to kill you." Pushing at his shoulders Derek shoved him back into the sofa just in time to see Meredith enter the room.

She looked at Derek first, then to Mark, then back at Derek trying to wrap her mind around what was going on. "Um...what's going on?" She asked looking at Derek and hesitantly taking a few steps into the room.

"It's just Mark, I don't really know...why don't you just go back to bed?" Derek said unable to keep the frustration away. Mark was clearly not himself, and he didn't want Meredith around to witness it.

Meredith stared at Derek, eying him up before she shook her head no and went to sit down next to Mark. "I'm already up. Is...he drunk?" Mark was strangely silent, and just sat, staring at the floor. "I don't think so." Derek replied before groaning and leaning back against his chair.

"What's wrong Mark?" Meredith asked like he was a child. Mark just rolled his eyes and refocused on Derek. "I'm telling you, just wait, after your babies are born she'll need more, she'll want more than you can ever imagine and then poof, suddenly she's trading you in for a newer model." Derek widened his eyes and was going to say something before Meredith beat him to it.

"What the hell is wrong with you Mark? Addison would never cheat on you, if that's what you're insinuating." Meredith was annoyed, and not happy with the comments he was making. "You really want to know? You want to know what a marriage is really like?" Mark stood up again, angry now and Derek jumped to his feet to push him back down, not sure about his intentions.

"Sit down, or get out," He growled looking at Meredith out of the corner of his eye. She was concerned, but not afraid, it was only Mark after all. A little sliver of annoyance crept into Derek's mind over the fact that Meredith wasn't scared of Mark, she just sat, ready to take on whatever his problem was.

"Mark what the hell, just tell us. That's why you're here isn't it?" She spat, not afraid of his weird behavior. "Addison's pregnant. There is that what you wanted to know? She's pregnant and she did it on purpose." Meredith looked at Derek and they just sat in silence, taking in what Mark had just said.

It didn't surprise Derek, Addison had told him she wanted another baby, and soon, but could Mark really be that unhappy about it? "She's pregnant...that's amazing, she's wanted that for so long.." Meredith rambled before Mark cut her off with another laugh.

"SHE wanted it. You girls are all the same. We talked about it Meredith. We decided ONE child. One. Not two. Even one was a stretch for me. She knew that when she married me."

"Accidents happen Mark." Derek snapped not happy with the way he was talking to Meredith. Mark rolled his eyes in amusement. "Yeah accidents happen when you stop taking your birth control for two months."

Derek was silent. Not sure what to say. It was Meredith who did the talking. "So, let me get this straight, you didn't want more children and she got pregnant, last time I checked it takes two to have a baby...you should have thought about that before you had sex without a condom." "She was supposed to be on birth control!" Mark nearly yelled back at her. Meredith was getting angrier by the second and stood up to face him.

"So you what? Blame this all on her and then walk out? So she's pregnant...maybe you didn't want it, but she is so deal with it!" "Oh please Meredith, don't act all Mother Teresa like. You're the one that hid your pregnancy from your own husband. Addison had the decency to tell me, she just went behind my back about it, I told you...you're all the same." Meredith snapped and lunged at Mark but Derek was there to stop her.

If Meredith wasn't pregnant he probably would have let her beat him to a pulp. "Hey, Meredith calm down. He doesn't know what he's saying." Meredith shook him off as much as her expanding form would allow. Mark had struck a nerve and she was angry and humiliated.

"Fine, I'll go back upstairs like a good little wife. But tell me Mark, does walking out on your pregnant wife and child make you feel like a good husband? Does it!? Knowing she's probably at home crying her eyes out? How does that make you feel?" Meredith didn't have to look at Derek, he knew she was partly talking about him, he put his arm around her waist but she shrugged it off and left the room without looking at either of them.