The journey to here

13

By four months together, doing whatever it was we were doing, Meredith and I still were not exclusive. We went on dates, we slept together, we acted as though we were in a relationship, but we still hadn't made it public knowledge. Nobody knew we were together, and nobody seemed to think we were together.

But one day, everything changed.

I'm a pretty person; that isn't me being vain or conceited or stuck up. I've had to fend off unwanted advances from expectant fathers from the moment I started my internship. Ever since I was a little girl, my Mom always told me I'd make the perfect trophy wife because settling down and having children was what pretty people just do. But I did something with my life, and I'd spent the better part of my adult years being hit on by men who's wives were big and pregnant with their babies.

Needless to say, I was used to it. I learned to smile politely and brush off any uncomfortable comments. But Meredith, apparently, was not.

I was sitting with her at lunch, no big deal, we acted as if we were talking over a surgery that we were expecting to be performing later on in the week, when a patients husband approached me.

"Excuse me, Dr. Montgomery?" He asked with a smile. I knew immediately that this impromptu visit had nothing to do with his wife, who was currently in labor. I would've gotten a page if anything worth mentioning had happened; his wife had a history of being in labor for days on end, this was round three for her. Everybody knew what to expect.

"Mr. Adkins" I greeted, friendly enough "how's your wife doing?" It was always a good idea to bring up their wives when they came to speak with me, one on one.

"Same as before" he quickly dismissed the topic, not getting into further detail. I looked at Meredith, who rose an eyebrow curiously. "I was actually wondering if you had a second, I've been surrounded by irritable people all day it would be nice for a conversation with someone as pleasing as yourself"

Meredith coughed beside me awkwardly. "Actually, Mr. Adkins as much as I'd love to sit and have a pleasant conversation, I'm working with an intern right now" I answered politely "but I'll be back to check on your wife in a couple of hours if you'd like to speak with me then? Ask any questions, address any concerns you may have" I was trying to turn this back around to focus on his wife.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to interrupt. A smart and beautiful woman like yourself must have a busy schedule. Have a good day, Dr. Montgomery" he smiled and walked away, leaving Meredith and I to our conversation.

"What the hell was that?" Meredith asked me, looking as confused as I did the first time a pregnant patients husband asked if I ever 'played doctor' with my significant other.

I shrug nonchalantly "It's not a big deal; sometimes husbands feel under appreciated when their wives are giving birth. So, they just kinda try some moves on me, the happy doctor who isn't swollen and stretched six ways to Sunday"

Meredith looks disgusted, like she'd just eaten something that had gone sour. "That's sick and wrong on so many levels"

I nod in agreement. "It isn't right, I know. Their wives are in agonizing pain and they think it's alright to ask me how my cervix is doing" I shudder in discontent "it's disgusting"

"It's amazing what some people will do for the attention of a pretty girl. I mean, look at me" Meredith gestured to herself "I practically smashed your head against a wall kissing you. That is a grand gesture"

I just laugh.

~

By four in the afternoon, Mr. Adkins' wife was making more progress than I had originally expected. If all went as planned, the baby would be born within twenty four hours. Usually, when the baby was born and they saw just how amazing their wives really were, the husbands left me alone. Usually. Other times, I'd just get more rude and perverted comments thrown my way such as 'I think you should take a turn in the stirrups' or 'I'm dilated just looking at you'.

"He's been staring at your ass for the last ten minutes" Meredith said under her breath, as we stood at the nurses station just outside of Olivia Adkins' room, where her husband was trying to be discreet in his perversions.

"He's been following me around like a lost puppy, all but asking me to fuck right in the middle of the hall" I sigh, signing a chart and handing it back to the nurse "it's getting out of hand"

Meredith looked angry at this point; if steam could come out of her ears, she would've looked like a tea kettle. She was not a fan of this guy, and frankly, neither was I. He was creepy in the 'lurk around while you go to the bathroom' kinda way.

"He needs to know to keep his eyes off of what isn't his" she growled lowly. I was itching to touch her, but I knew I couldn't. Not here.

"I'm yours, Mistress" I whisper "only yours" sometimes Meredith got possessive, which was fine with me. She wasn't the kind of person to tell me what I could and could not do, but if somebody was making unwanted advances towards me she got angry quickly. It helped calm her down when I reminded her who I belonged to. Because I belonged to her, through and through.

The one time I didn't calm her down, she'd had an x-ray tech (who asked me if I wanted to go out with him and didn't seem to know what the words 'not interested' meant) in tears. It wasn't something you see every day, all one hundred and twenty pounds of Meredith Grey making a grown man cry with a lecture about 'respect' and 'modesty'.

"Baby girl, you are perfect" she smirked at me "absolutely perfect"

"Excuse me, Dr. Montgomery?" Mr. Adkins was again, demanding my attention. I was half tempted to tell him where to shove it, but I didn't want to deal with the complaints I'd get later on from Richard who'd claim I harassed a patient.

"Can I help you, Mr. Adkins?" I ask him, a hint of irritation creeping into my tone.

"Addison, call me Tom, really. I just wanted to-" he was interrupted when Meredith, ever the impatient and impulsive individual, leaned over and pressed her mouth firmly to mine.

It wasn't a quick peck, far from it. Her mouth moved with mine in a way that it hadn't in front of other people before. Her soft lips were welcome, and it was almost hard to have her pull away.

"Listen, pal" Meredith turned to face Mr. Adkins, red in the face and all hell hath no fury. "I've had to deal with you harassing Dr. Montgomery all day. And I've had it; I'm done. You need to lay off, because she deserves respect and to be spoken to professionally, not by her first name. Don't disrespect her by calling her Addison when you didn't earn the right to even be allowed to acknowledge her amazing existence in the same room as your scumbag one" I thought she'd stop, but she kept barrelling on through. "Furthermore, your wife is literally tearing apart her body to have a baby YOU put into her. YOU made a baby with that woman in there, YOU are married to her. So go in there, hold her hand, feed her ice chips and tell her she's doing a damn good job at destroying her body to bring a life into the world. And for the love of all that is good in this world, leave my girlfriend alone"

Only when Mr. Adkins awkwardly shuffled away with a look of pure shock on his face, did I register that everyone around us was staring.

"Cats out of the bag now" Meredith shrugged, leaning over to kiss my cheek "I'll see you later, I'm sure you'll want to talk" and with that, she's off to go about the rest of her day as if half the hospital didn't just see her tongue in my mouth. As if she didn't just expose the biggest secret I'd been keeping for four months.

Far from angry, relieved and happy if anything, I went about my day too.

If she wanted people to know she was seeing me, then she obviously wanted to keep me around for a while. And that was something I was perfectly okay with.