B for Babies

25

Meredith had several chances to open up to him. She took none of them of course. Walking by Nathan in the hall she barely smiled, didn't acknowledge him if she could help it. Guilt was bubbling inside of her, Alex knew she was struggling to keep herself together. The baby was his priority, he didn't want her stress levels to harm the child growing inside of her. She still had 10 weeks before her due date, they had time to figure all of it out. She needed to hold on for her own safety, and the safety of the baby.

Arizona kept her distance, she didn't want to get involved any more than she had but running into Alex in one of their supply closets gave her an opportunity to mention it again. It had been days since she left him in Meredith's living room, she was struggling to keep it to herself, she needed to talk to somebody and Alex was usually the person she turned to in a crisis. She closed the door behind herself and cornered him so he couldn't walk away from her.

Alex let out an annoyed sigh when he realised what was going on. The blonde looked serious, her face told him that he wasn't going to get away with anything the way he had the other night. She wanted to talk and he knew that. He let out an incredulous sigh, not sure why this was happening to him. Arizona wouldn't stop until she figured out exactly why this had happened and he knew it. "Look, I don't want to talk about it. Okay? What's done is done. I have patients to tend to." He told her, trying to make her let her guard down.

Arizona's lips popped as she opened her mouth again. "You know this is wrong Alex, he deserves to know. He's the father." She reminded him, speaking to Alex as if he hadn't been thinking about it over and over every night since he'd promised to take care of Meredith. He did think about it, he knew the risks and the consequences. She wasn't going to tell him anything he didn't already know. She would try, and he would endure every word but that didn't mean he was heartless, he already agreed with what she was about to say, he just couldn't take it all back. This was about Meredith and Meredith alone. He would take this to the grave if he had to.

"If this happened to you if Jo had moved on with some other guy pretending her baby were his, how would you feel?" She asked, trying to put it into perspective for him. It hurt hearing it like that. He knew that she was right, but it was a low blow.

"Screw you." He snapped. That he didn't deserve. He deserved a lot of things but bringing up his ex like that wasn't one of them. He didn't need this, he didn't need her meddling in things she didn't belong in. "I did what I had to do to help Mer, she's more important than the guilt trip you're trying to send me on. So screw you!"

Arizona blinked back at him. It wasn't the first time she had seen him so frustrated, but she still didn't know how to take being on the receiving end of it. She stared up at the man she admired, the young surgeon she built from scratch, he was a good man and she knew it. She just didn't know how to get past the bad thing he was doing. "Look I know that was uncalled for, but Alex you're better than this. I know you are. Meredith will be fine. This baby needs both of its parents."

"You're not Meredith's doctor, you don't get to tell us what this baby needs." He snapped, and this time she didn't step in his way, he walked out into the hallway and didn't look back at her. He didn't want to be the bad guy in this situation, but he didn't know what else to do. Meredith wanted to raise this child with him, it was her choice and he wasn't about to tell her any differently.

Meredith managed to flag down an elevator. She called out to the doctor who had stepped in it before her, all she noticed was the white coat and nothing more. When she finally stepped inside the metal room, she let out a heavy pregnant sigh. She needed to catch her breath, it was hard enough walking through the hospital on a regular day, but when she was pregnant and had patients coming out of her ears it was a complete nightmare.

"Morning." Nathan smiled, pressing the button to close the doors. He hadn't seen Meredith in days, not in this capacity. He knew she was avoiding him, but that was nothing new for him. She was always avoiding him it seemed.

"Hi." She said warily, moving in front of him so she could press the appropriate button for her stop. She leant back against the wall and closed her eyes, heart still racing in her chest. Bailey had been on her ass about taking some time off, something about being an older pregnant woman and needing to take it easy. This was her third time carrying a child this long and it was taking a toll on her body. She wasn't going to deny that, but what she was going to deny was that she needed special treatment. She was fine and she would do what she always did, work until her unborn child started pushing to come out of her.

The elevator started to move and Meredith was basking in the silence. She was sick of the sound of other voices, just needed this time to herself before her head exploded from annoyance. She only opened her eyes once the lights turned out, and they were no longer moving. "That's not supposed to happen." She said in a panic, looking over at Dr Riggs, she could barely make out his face in the darkness.

"No, it's not." He agreed, stepping forward to try and press a button, force the doors open, do anything that would make them move again. He pressed the emergency button, and crossed his fingers that somebody would get them out of there.