Is Forever Enough?

Chapter 100

"Are you sure you guys can handle this?" Meredith directed her question towards Izzie and Lexie as she stepped into the living room. Her make-up was on, her shoes were on and her hair was perfect. Well, as perfect as it was going to get, she thought with a frown.

"Seriously, Mer...we'll be fine." Izzie told her in an overly joyful voice. Scanning the room that was littered with baby accessories, Meredith sighed. Ava was happily showing off her new bracelet to Lexie, Izzie was cradling a whimpering Ella, and as usual, Caroline was sound asleep in the pink swing that sat to the right of the fireplace.

Eying up Ella, Meredith tried not to sound concerned, even though her face was broken out into several lines of worry. "I know, Iz. I trust you, I do...it's just the three of them can be a handful. Ella gets into these crying fits that can be overwhelming when trying to handle Caroline and Ava as well...." Meredith would have continued rambling in worry, but Izzie spoke up, effectively interrupting her.

"Don't worry. I can handle her crying. Lexie will be here with me and then Cristina will be here, so it wont be that bad. Ava is pretty self sufficient, so I'm not concerned with being overwhelmed. I'm sure Ava will help us out anyway." Both Meredith and Izzie glanced over at the four-year-old whose lips were turned up into a proud smile.

"I'm a big helper, mommy."

"I know, Ava." Meredith replied with a smile, even though it didn't do much to alleviate her concerns. She trusted Izzie and Lexie, she knew Ava would most likely be on her best behavior, but she couldn't shake the feeling of dread that leaving the babies for the night was creating in the pit of her stomach.

"We'll be okay, Meredith, don't worry." Lexie assured with some hesitation. In return, Meredith smiled again and shifted from foot to foot. She had only had the heels on for twenty minutes and already her feet were killing her.

"It's no use, she's still going to worry." Derek said as he came into the room and stood next to his wife. He had two small overnight bags in his hands and sat them down at Meredith's feet. "We have to get going if we're going to make our dinner reservations on time." He told her softly, knowing that she knew that already.

Glancing around the room he took note of how calm and stress free it was. It seemed Izzie and Lexie had everything under control, and looking back to Meredith's sexy form, he couldn't wait to get out of the house. Noticing Derek's lustful expression, Izzie pretended to gag. "Seriously, you two need to leave before he tries to do you right here." Scrunching up her nose she continued, "There are children in the room!"

"I agree, we need to go." Derek laughed, even though his cheeks were red with embarrassment. Meredith sent him a hesitant look, and he knew it wasn't going to be as simple as he thought.

"Derek, we've never left them for the night like this, I'm allowed to be nervous. Why aren't you more nervous?" The accusation in her voice erased the smile right off of his face.

"I am nervous." He assured, trying to derail a possible argument before it could begin. "But, we need to get used to this sometime. They will be in good hands and we won't be that far away if they need us to come home." Crossing her arms over her chest, Meredith narrowed her eyes in a defensive position.

She was scared, and nervous, and not even sure she could have a good time with Derek while she worried over her children the entire night. Derek was staring at her with such desperation that it almost took her breath away. Even with her lingering concerns, there was no way she could say no to him. They needed the night to themselves...she just hoped that everything would turn out okay.

The room was silent for a second. Everyone was staring at Meredith, waiting for her to make the next move. Derek was sure she was going to change her mind, but as she uncrossed her arms and took in a slow, deep breath, he knew she wasn't going to.

"Did you make up extra bottles?" She wondered.

"Plenty of them." He replied immediately, unable to hide his triumphant smirk.

"And you left them all the instructions?"

"Three pages worth." Izzie jumped in, trying to assure her friend, even though she thought three pages was a little excessive. Meredith however, seemed impressed by the page number. Derek could tell she was beginning to feel better, but it didn't stop her from adding more questions.

"The monitors, what about the monitors? Do you know how to work them? What to do if they go off?"

"Yes." Lexie said, but Izzie just rolled her eyes.

"Meredith, we are doctors, you know. The apnea monitors are a piece of cake."

"And neither of their monitors have gone off in three days. Addison thinks they won't even need them after their next check-up, so don't worry." Derek told her. Her dark pea coat was folded across the back of the sofa and he picked it up and ushered her arms into it, even though she was barely paying attention to him.

"Even we have gotten confused with the monitors." Meredith defended, pushing Derek's arm away as he tried to tug her hair out of her coat collar. Doing it herself, she took a deep breath, and buttoned up her coat. "All right....so we're dong this?"

"We're doing it." He agreed, trying not to smile at the fact that she had pushed him away.

"Alright, let me just say goodbye to them."

"Okay, I'm going to put these in the car." Derek left without waiting for a response and Meredith wasted no time in stepping over to Izzie.

"She finally calmed down." Izzie told her, holding out her arms in case Meredith wanted to take her. Instead, Meredith just bent over and placed her lips against Ella's forehead.

"No." She whispered, shaking her head. "Once I get her in my arms I won't want to give her back." Meredith teased, but her tone was serious. The baby didn't stir at her soft touch, and she took it as a good sign.

"Ava, come say goodbye to your mom." Izzie told her in a stern voice that made Meredith laugh.

"Goodbye, mommy!" Ava exclaimed from her position on Lexie's lap.

"Ava, why don't you get up and hug her." Izzie said once again, taking on the parental role.

"It's okay, Iz...she was upset earlier, I'm glad she seems to be okay with it now. See you in the morning, Ava, I love you."

"I love you too. Don't forget your love things!"

"Love things?" Lexie questioned, not understanding Ava's term.

"Don't even ask." Meredith said as a blush crept across her features. "No love things!" She insisted, but Derek's fake gasp from the doorway made her turn to face him. She hadn't even heard him come back in.

"No love things? I'm offended."

"Derek...."

"I thought the point of getting away alone was to..." He started, but Izzie cut him off.

"Alright, you two need to go. I don't need to hear this. Go, go!" She would have pushed them out of the room herself had Ella not be in her arms.

"Alright, we're going." Meredith said, as if she had finally come to the conclusion that it was alright to leave. "Hold on, I need to say goodbye to Cara." She ignored Derek's sigh as she walked over to the swing.

"Mer...we have ten minutes to get there and it takes twenty." He reminded her, trying not to let his impatience get the better of it. While Meredith spoke to the baby in a voice so soft that he couldn't hear it, he turned his attention to Ava. "Will you be a good girl, princess?"

"Yes. Aunt Lexie said we could have a movie party."

"A movie party? That will be fun." Ava seemed excited as she went on and on about the things they were going to do. He was glad she didn't seem upset about them leaving, he was sure Meredith would have changed her mind if Ava had been miserable.

"Okay, let's go." Meredith said as she came towards him. "We need to leave right now before I change my mind."

"We won't even be gone twenty-four hours, Meredith." He argued, but she sent him a glare that told him arguing with her would get him no where. "Alright, we're going. The number for the hotel is on the counter and you should have both of our cell phone numbers."

"I'll call to check in once we get there." Meredith said, and it was Derek's turn to shoot her a look.

"Or maybe, before bed." He corrected, hoping that they would be able to at least eat dinner before calling home.