B for Babies

9

Pregnant Meredith laid sprawled across her sofa, one hand buried in her packet of Doritos, the other being licked clean of the chocolate she had already devoured. Usually in her times or stress and crisis she would be swigging on a bottle or wine, or downing shots of tequila in her bedroom. "Screw you medicine." She thought to herself, cursing whoever it was who discovered that alcohol and babies don't mix.

Alex was asleep in her bed, because Maggie was starting to get suspicious about their sleeping arrangements, he had offered to sleep on the floor, but really that wasn't something she was going to make him do. It was growing harder as the weeks went by, harder for them to pretend that they were a couple, and that this baby was something more than just a surprise bundle from hell.

That wasn't to say that she didn't love her unborn child, she did and she always would. It was complicated, even more complicated than her sister wanting to go on a double date with her and Alex. Riggs as her plus one.

That was not going to happen, she'd already used her foetus as an excuse, but Maggie wasn't letting her off that easily.

No of course not.

She's invited him round for dinner, and there was nothing Meredith could do about it.

Alex groaned when she sat down at the end of the bed. He was quite a grump when he was woken up, she didn't care though, she needed him awake and thinking of excuses.

"He's coming here." She said to him, looking over at Alex, who was trying to shield himself from the lights. He had no idea what she was talking about, and really he was just trying to wake himself up now that Meredith had started the job for him. "Who?" He asked eventually, sitting himself up against the pillows.

"Nathan." She answered quickly as if he wasn't paying attention to her, he let out a small chuckle at the look on her face, and Meredith ignored that of course, right now wasn't the time for laughter. "This is serious, what are we going to do?" She asked him, nudging his arm as she moved herself to lay beside him. "We are not those kind of people, we don't do double dates, especially not at our own house."

"Why is he coming here then?" Alex asked her, drowning because he was still completely lost, and honestly Meredith's questions weren't helping at all.

"My sister wants to date him." She answered, thinking about how she really should have kept it in her own pants.

"And why does she need us for that?" He asked, finding the whole think absurd right now. It didn't help that he'd stayed up all night and only had a few hours sleep thanks to this interruption.

"Because she has a crush and she is acting like a teenager. This is what teenagers do, they ask their friends on their dates. Even though we are not her friends." Alex zoned out as the woman beside him kept talking on and on about Maggie and Nathan. He knew things were complicated, but as far as everyone was concerned, this baby was theirs and they had nothing to worry about.

"Where are you going?" Meredith asked when he had climbed off the bed. He pulled his shirt up over his head before turning back. "I'm having a shower, if we have to do this dinner thing I'm going to need to not smell like an OR room."

The four adults sat opposite each other at the dinner table. Maggie had gone to the effort to decorate the dining table, candles provided the only source of light, and Meredith thought it might actually be romantic if this were a real date. Alex was on his best behaviour, actually talking to Nathan so Meredith didn't have to. "More wine?" She asked the other's before pouring herself some of the children's apple juice into her own glass.

"Mmmm yummy." She hummed, trying to be polite, despite wishing she was vegging out on the sofa again.

"You know I didn't even know you two were a couple, and now you're having a child together." Nathan said soon after. The question felt like it was burning into Meredith's chest, she placed a hand over Alex's and smiled.

"Well you know you can't help who you fall for." She said with a big faux smile. Alex wrapped his fingers around her wrist, and pressed a kiss to her temple. "The baby wasn't planned. It just sort of happened..." he added as he turned back towards the other couple. He didn't know why Nathan was acting like this but he didn't appreciate it at all.

"I guess not." Nathan said softly, his eyes looking right at Meredith as he said it.