peace

chapter 15

Meredith looked in the mirror as she struggled to button her jeans over the small bump. When she went to work this morning, she swore there was no bump, but now, when she examined herself in the mirror, there was a bump. She could tell she was pregnant. Ten weeks along, her baby was the size of a strawberry. It was growing organs and limbs and causing Meredith to be tired, achy, and sick. But it was all worth it because she could see a bump. She could see her child.

She squeezed into her jeans and ran off to Derek's office. He would want to see the bump. Derek had always been asking for updates on the pregnancy and what was happening. He had made her any food she wanted, given her massages, and held her hair back when she got morning sickness. He was basically the best person to have around when pregnant.

She grabbed the door and flew it open. "Derek there's a bump-" She halted as she saw Derek standing at his desk, and a tall fabulous redhead standing across from him. They were obviously arguing.

The woman turned to Meredith, "This is a private conv-"

"There's a bump?" Derek interrupted her.

Meredith glanced between the two of them, "Yea it showed up today."

"That's amazing!" Derek exclaimed.

"You're pregnant?" The woman asked.

"Um- yea." Meredith said uneasily.

"How far along are you?"

"I'm ten weeks." Meredith answered.

"I'm Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, the new head of OB. Are you one of Derek's patients?" Addison asked.

"The new head of OB?" Meredith asked with wide eyes staring at Derek.

"No, she will not be the new head of OB, because she isn't staying in Seattle." Derek stated.

"Derek, I already talked to Richard and put the paper work through. It's done. I am here and there is nothing you can do about this." Addison said.

"Why, why are you doing this Addison?" Derek asked.

"This is- I'll tell you when we are alone." Addie said quietly. "let's go back to your place and we can discuss this more."

"You can speak in front of Meredith." Derek rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to have this fight in front of one of your patients!" Addison hissed.

"Mer isn't one of my patients."

"Mer?" Addison said, realizing what had happened. "Derek." She pointed to Meredith's stomach, "Is that your baby?"

"Yes." Derek said plainly.

"I should probably go." Meredith said.

"I'll go with you." Derek added.

"Derek, we can make this work. I cheated, you cheated. We can get a fresh start, go back to New York." Addison pleaded.

Meredith felt a wave of rage flow through her body, and she decided to do something that she will later blame on her pregnancy hormones.

"No. You do not get to compare what Derek did to what you did-"

"You don't-" Addison tried to interrupt.

"You slept with his best friend. You could have slept with anyone else in the world but you decided to take the away his best friend. Then you convinced his sister to hide your secret. So you took away Derek's wife, best friend, and sister. Until a few months ago, he was a disaster. He didn't talk to anyone besides yelling because you filled this kind, sweet, funny man with rage. You did your best to destroy him. So one night, he made an effort to move on. Sure, you two are legally still married, but when your husband moves away and stops answering your phone call, it's safe to say that that's a breakup. You don't get to make him feel bad for trying to put back together what you broke. And you definitely don't get to try to get him to abandon his child." Meredith yelled. "Now. We are leaving." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the office. As soon as Meredith slammed the door, Derek wrapped his arms tightly around her. He rested his head on her shoulders with his face deep in her hair.

"Thank you Meredith." He whispered.

"You're me family. I have to stick up for you." She responded.