B for Babies

19

It had been only an hour since they group of couples arrived at the cabin. Meredith had already made nine jokes about this being a horror movie waiting to happen, Alex had already complained about bugs four times, and Maggie was onto her second round of making sure everybody was okay.

Meredith had retreated to the bedroom she was sharing with Alex. She sat down in the middle of the bed with her legs spread out, back pressed against the mattress in the only position that made her feel any sense of comfort. Alex closed the door on his way in, set down their bags and let out a long winded sigh. "This weekend is going to suck for you." He told his best friend, walking over to sit himself down on the corner of the same mattress. "No alcohol." He added when she gave him an unappreciative glance. He kicked off his shoes and swung his legs around to make himself more comfortable. He could hear faint voices from outside in the living room area, could practically picture the four other adults sitting there talking to one another. He was certain that Owen was only here because Amelia was just as desperate as Maggie to make this family situation work, he wasn't sure about Nathan, probably trying to worm his way into Meredith's life again, and for that Alex was already annoyed by his presence.

"You can drink for me. It'll be like me living vicariously through you." She told him, moving foot over to kick his back gently, mostly just to make contact.

"Wouldn't you rather I didn't drink too, we're all in this together or whatever." He shrugged, not expecting her to be happy about his consumption of alcohol in front of her. He probably wouldn't give it up even if she asked, but it was surprising regardless.

"I'm not that selfish." She huffed, rolling onto her side, even though her belly was in the way, and it made her feel awfully uncomfortable.

A knock at the door stopped Alex from saying something, he looked over at Meredith as if to ask her if it was okay for him to call out, if she wanted to stop their alone time from being interrupted. She just smiled and rolled onto her back once more, a relieved sigh fell from her lips as she instantly felt more comfortable.

It was Maggie on the other side of the door, she'd pulled her hair back and looked more relaxed than Alex had seen her in a while, that was saying something since they lived in the same house currently. "You two want something to eat? I packed a lunch before we left." She asked sincerely, eyes darting over towards her sister, who was still sprawled out on the bed, while Alex stood in the doorway.

"We'll be out soon." Meredith answered quietly, she knew that realistically she couldn't hide in this bedroom the entire time, even if that's all she wanted to do. Alex closed the door once Maggie had retreated back towards the kitchen.

"You want me to bring you back a plate?" He asked as he walked over to where Meredith was laying. She shook her head and closed her eyes, rubbing her eyes. She was trying to work up the courage to get up, to face this social situation she never wanted to be involved in. The one where her sister was trying to shack up with the man she slept with, and her dead husband's sister who was now married to her best friend's ex husband. It was a mess and she didn't want to be surrounded by it. She sat up and allowed Alex to help her onto her feet. "It's not too late you know, you can back out of this arrangement, tell people that I was a big old slut who was wrong about paternity." She said to him, hands still gripping Alex's biceps. She didn't want to make him live in her mess, even if it seemed too late to back out. Alex was somebody she cared deeply for and this was more of a punishment than a favour.

"Shut up." He said as he shook his head. He knew what she was doing, trying to isolate herself so nobody could hold anything against her. She wanted him to escape so that he couldn't turn around and blame her for involving him. He just stepped back, allowing room for Meredith to pull herself together.

Sat across from each other at the dining room table, Maggie and Amelia were engaging in a conversation about egg salad. Meredith sat down beside her sister, her eyes followed as Alex walked around to sit in the space opposite her. Containers filled with homemade creations were opened, plates were filled with various components of what Maggie called lunch. Meredith wasn't all that hungry, but she knew her lack of an appetite had more to do with the company around her, than her actual stomach. She ate a mouthful of everything provided, cleared her plate mostly to feed her baby.

Alex's eye wandered throughout the meal, falling between Nathan and Meredith, who were both off in their own heads. He tried to keep involved in the conversation, but the other three were all overtaking the flow of conversation anyway. He offered to clean off the dishes, through the kitchen he could overhear voices, Amelia made the decision to watch something together, three other voices chimed in to disagree over film selections, but Alex could only hear the deafening silence coming from Meredith.

A movie was set up on the old television screen set in the stone covered wall. Maggie and Nathan sat together on one chair, Owen and Amelia huddled up on another, while Alex and Meredith sat on two recliners side by side. Meredith felt like her head was too full to concentrate on anything happening on the screen, she closed her eyes and faked being asleep, when all she really wanted to do was retreat to her bedroom and lock the door. The guilt was weighing heavily on her chest, and in that moment she missed Cristina.