Dreams On Fire

Enough Love

Meredith Grey did not do bedrest. Nor did she take well to being pent up in the house, alone, all day, for two weeks.

On the first day, she tried to sleep in. She tried really hard. Derek left the house at 7am with Zola and Bailey, dropping Zola off at kindergarden and Bailey off at the hospital daycare. Meredith said her goodbyes and crawled back into bed. It was a dreary, rainy day, the rain pouring down from the sky and pounding the ground, flooding the city. Today she was content to stay within the comforts of her home.

Trying to go back to sleep proved useless, however. She couldn't get comfortable in any single position, even as she tried to hug her pregnancy pillow that promised comfort and sleep. Without Derek next to her it was useless.

Finally giving up, she decided to take a bath. Derek had come through on his promise to give her a bathtub that covered both her boobs and her knees, so she decided to stay in there awhile, soaking in Epsom salts to relieve her swollen feet, her belly just barely visible above the water. But then the water cooled off and she was forced to climb out and throw on some sweats, ready to do anything around the house.

It was a week before Thanksgiving and she sighed, standing in the middle of a messy living room, absentmindedly caressing her bump. Toys were everywhere, books were everywhere, medical journals were everywhere...how did they manage to live in this house? Oh, that's right. They lived more at the hospital than they did in the house lately. She started with the toys, putting them back in the kids respective toy chests, putting Zola's Barbies back in their dream house, and Bailey's little Lego men back in their little ships. Books went back on the bookshelves, and medical journals went into a neat pile on the coffee table until she and Derek could decide which ones were getting tossed. Already the living room looked 100% better than it had half an hour before.

Wandering into the kitchen, she somehow got into the business of cleaning out the fridge, something they never did. Every surface got scrubbed, and two hours later Meredith came to the realization that she was nesting. It had never happened when she was pregnant with Bailey because she was simply never home when she was pregnant with Bailey. Realizing she was on a streak, she figured she'd wash all the bed linens and all the dirty laundry; once everything was in the wash did she realize how exhausted she was and she fell asleep on the couch.

That was just day one.

Day two started differently, with Meredith sleeping through Derek's alarm. When she woke up, it was past 11am and she was shocked she had managed to sleep that late. Really, she hadn't slept that late since she had managed to have an afternoon schedule at Dartmouth. Taking her sweet time to get up, it was nearly noon before she wandered into the kitchen and had a piece of toast with some tea. 26 week old baby Shepherd demanded food, and when she wanted food she got it. After that, Meredith realized she could do whatever the hell she wanted. Rigging her phone up to the Bluetooth speakers they kept in the kitchen, she put on one of her favorite songs and had a dance party by herself, letting loose and having fun, throwing her head back and laughing. The past six months had been nothing but stress, what with the accident, Derek's rehabilitation, and the first few months of her pregnancy, that she was grateful just for four and a half minutes to dance it out and do what she wanted. Of course it had to me modified for the baby, but once the song was over she felt free and couldn't stop smiling.

But she was bored. Two weeks at home was still pure hell for her. She left music playing as she did chores around the house, picking up toys and making up beds, making sure the guest rooms were ready for family coming in Wednesday night. She even decided to cook dinner, slipping potatoes in the oven to bake and cooking chicken in a pan close to when Derek and the kids would be coming home.

When Derek came home and saw Meredith in the kitchen he stopped short, enjoying the sight, the two kids running in the house to greet her. He left his coat and bag by the door, entering the kitchen with a smile and slipping an arm around her waist, giving her a tender kiss on the forehead. "Who are you and what did you do with my wife?" he joked, as she laughed. "Taste this," she grinned, blowing on a piece of chicken with mushrooms on top, offering it to his open mouth. He was wary, but once it was in his mouth he made a curious face before swallowing. "I see you cooking, you offered it to me, and it actually tastes delicious," he teased her, as she swatted him away. "I told you I can cook!" she yelled, as he headed towards he bedroom to change into sweats. Soon he returned and she was serving chicken marsala to their family, adding a glass of red wine to his place setting and she sat down, cutting up a piece of chicken for Bailey. "You cooked," Derek repeated, eyeing her from the other end up the table. She laughed and looked up from Bailey's plate, returning to her own. "Yes, I have many talents, including cooking," she smirked, digging into her own food with a laugh. Maybe now Amelia and Maggie would let her help cook on Thanksgiving.