115. Chapter 115

AN: I know I said this chapter would be up much sooner, and that HWA was in the works, but unfortunately my writing was put on hold for a few weeks. My dad had some medical issues and ended up having surgery. He's doing okay now, so barring any complications, or other random and unexpected issues (seriously, with the number of random, crappy things that have happened to me/my family over the past two years, I feel like I'm a character on Grey's...lol) I should be able to be more regular with updates.

Regarding this chapter, as I said in chapter 102, I'm doing season 4 a little out of order. This chapter includes the Halloween episode from season 4 (which occurs much sooner in the plot in the show). I had asked for suggestions for Mark's retaliation to Derek after Derek paid the kid to pretend Mark was his father, and I used a suggestion that I got, but I can't seem to find the review/AN where the suggestion was made. To whomever it was, thank you! And please let me know who you are!

Meredith jolted awake as the alarm screeched through the silence of the bedroom like a siren. Beside her, Derek flinched as he woke as quickly as her.

"Wha-" He mumbled, sitting up and breathing hard at the shock of being woken up in such a way. The alarm continued to blare through the room, loud and inconsiderate.

"It's the alarm," Meredith said, pressing her face into her pillow. "I guess we should have tested the volume before we set it..."

"Volume?" He asked, blinking hard as he tried to wake up.

She rolled over and patted him on the thigh. "The alarm clock," she clarified. "Now turn it off. Please. Before it bursts both our ear drums."

Finally seeming to wake up and understand what was going on, Derek turned and swiped at the new alarm clock sitting on the new nightstand beside the new bed. In their new bedroom, in their new home.

This was their second night in their apartment and their first in the master bedroom.

When the room finally fell silent, Meredith sighed. "Well, that's one way to wake up..."

Derek lay back down with a heavy sigh and slung an arm across her abdomen. "Morning," he whispered against her bare shoulder.

"Morning," she echoed. "I don't want to go to work." They'd had four full days off work to move, but now had to go back. It was hard enough getting up so early after being able to sleep in all week, but compounding that with a shrieking alarm at full volume made it several times worse.

"Me neither."

She sighed. "It's just two days. And it's two regular days. No marathon shifts. No being on call overnight."

"Mmm," he agreed.

"Are you going to get up?"

"Thinking about it," he mumbled against her.

She ran her fingers through his dishevelled hair, smiling at how groggy he was. For someone who was normally such an annoyingly chipper morning person, she was always amused when he struggled to wake up.

"Do you know how we should start off our first work morning at our new home?"

"How?"

She ducked her head to whisper into his ear, "A quickie."

Derek lifted his head. "A quickie?"

"A quickie," she repeated.

He shifted so he was hovering over her. "We definitely need to have a quickie," he murmured, ducking his head to brush his lips against hers.

She smiled against his lips as he kissed her again. "Good way to start the day."

"When did you become a morning person?"

"I'm not. It's just nice to feel well rested for once. It's going to be a good day."

He kissed her again, but then pulled back and laid his hand across her forehead. "Are you feeling okay? You went from morning person to optimist in ten seconds."

Meredith giggled. "I'm not allowed to be optimistic?"

"Let's just say it gives me reason to be concerned."

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, dear."

After arriving at work and standing in line at the coffee cart together, Meredith and Derek went their separate ways to ready for their day. Gripping tightly to her coffee cup, Meredith stepped onto the busy elevator and sighed when she noticed the buttons for every floor had been pressed. She should have taken the stairs.

The door shut and the elevator ascended one floor. The doors opened and several people stepped off. Right as the doors were shutting, Lexie hurried on.

Meredith did a double take. Her half-sister was wearing a large, red and white plaid bonnet with lace on the top and strips of fabric that fell well past her shoulders. "Morning," she said casually. She noticed a series of fake freckles on Lexie's cheeks and wondered for a moment if she was still asleep at home and all this was just a strange dream. Why she would dream this, though, Meredith had no idea.

"Morning," Lexie echoed as the elevator rose another floor, not offering any explanation for her attire. "How's the new house?"

"It's good," she answered, still eyeing Lexie's fashion choice. She mused whether they were in that place yet where Meredith, as the older sister, could say something.

"Are you all unpacked?"

Forcing herself to focus on Lexie's question and not her appearance, Meredith nodded. "For the most part."

"Is everything okay? You seem...distracted."

She opened her mouth to inquire about the hat, but then changed her mind and forced a smile to her lips. They really weren't in that place yet, she decided. It was best to just keep quiet and pretend nothing was different. She couldn't think of a simple reason for Lexie's attire, and she didn't have the time or the energy for a complex reason. "Coffee just hasn't kicked in yet," she said, motioning to the cup in her hand.

Lexie smiled, not knowing Meredith well enough to see through her excuse. The elevator opened on Meredith's floor.

"I'll see you later," she said, stepping past her half-sister and resisting the urge to look back as she made her way down the hall to the residents' lounge.

Cristina was the only resident in the lounge when Meredith pushed open the door. Leaning against her cubby, notes in hand, Cristina glanced away from her notes for just a moment to see who was joining her before her attention was back down.

"Look who decided to show up," she teased, flipping to the subsequent page of her notes.

"Ha ha," Meredith responded. "And I'm ten minutes early, thank you very much." She stuffed her purse into her cubby, smiling as she always did at the sight of the wedding picture pinned to the back – despite the four months that had passed it still felt new and exciting – and quickly exchanged her street clothes for scrubs.

Meredith was pulling on her lab coat when Cristina sighed and lifted her attention from her notes. "So, manage to get unpacked, or did you get too distracted trying to christen every room?"

Ignoring the slight heat in her cheeks, Meredith shot her best friend a glare. "We got a lot unpacked."

Cristina shoved her notes into the pocket of her lab coat and rolled her eyes. "You're an old, boring married couple already."

Meredith laughed. "There was plenty of christening as well," she admitted. They hadn't checked off every room yet, but they were making progress.

"Glad to be back?"

"Somewhat. I missed surgery. But I could have used a few more days off to settle in."

"I'm not going to be able to talk to you anymore when you become all domestic and crap."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that won't ever be me."

"Good."

"So, what have I missed?"

"Not much. It's been pretty dull. Hahn had an aortic dissection, but wouldn't let me scrub in," Cristina said flatly.

"That's not nice."

Cristina shrugged, clearly trying to pretend it didn't matter.

"How's Lexie been?" She asked carefully.

Cristina shot her a surprised look, an eyebrow raised. "Three's been fine."

"I just...I couldn't help but notice her...attire. Has she been like that all week?"

"Did she dress up?" Cristina asked, suddenly attentive.

Meredith noted the gleam in her best friend's eyes and slowly nodded. What was going on? "She's got this crazy hat and freckles..."

Cristina smirked and shook her head. "Interns are so gullible."

"You made her look like she belongs on some grassy hillside with a herd of sheep?"

"I told her it was mandatory for interns to dress up on Halloween. If she chose a stupid costume, it's not my fault."

Halloween. With everything that had gone on the past few weeks, Meredith had completely forgotten. "Today's Halloween?"

Cristina nodded, shooting her a look that clearly said she disapproved of Meredith not knowing. "If you'd had your priorities straight, you could have harassed your interns with me," she joked.

"Sorry. Clearly I should have been paying more attention to the date than to flying across the country and then moving."

Cristina glanced at her watch. "We should go."

Together, they left the lounge and headed towards the intern locker room.

Meredith took a sip of her coffee and sighed.

"You seem happy."

"I'm always happy to have coffee."

Cristina cracked a smile. "No, I mean overall. You seem...happy."

"I'm not currently sleep deprived. You should try it."

"It's more than that."

Meredith shrugged. "I guess I am happy. I kind of like being married. And now, with the new house, I feel..." She trailed off, trying to come up with the right word. "I don't know. Relieved. I guess I didn't realize how much I needed to not live in that house. Too many bad memories."

"I get that your mom was a bitch, but was it really that bad?"

The sight of her mother's blood seeping across the floor flashed behind Meredith's eyes. She had to remind herself that Cristina had no way of knowing. The only person she had ever told was Derek. "Bad associations, I guess," she clarified.

"So, you're starting fresh?"

"Yes."

Cristina nodded. "I get that. I think I'm going to do that."

"You're going to move out of Burke's place?"

"If it worked for you, it should work for me."

Meredith smiled. "Good. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"I will."

"Have you told Callie?"

Cristina shook her head. "I'm sure she'll be fine with it. She's been sleeping on the couch for weeks. I'm sure she'd prefer her own room."

Meredith's smile grew. "You mean you'd still want her as a roommate?"

Cristina shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "She's not so bad. I mean, yeah, she's a little crazy, but she cooks."

Meredith chose not to push the issue, knowing Cristina was stepping out of her comfort zone to admit to these things. "Cooking is good."

"I guess Derek's going to do all of your domestic cooking now."

"What makes you say that?"

Cristina laughed. "Everyone knows you can't cook."

"I can so."

"You're a menace in the kitchen."

"And you're not nice."

"Maybe not, but I'm honest."

"I hate you."

Cristina laughed again. "Mature."

Meredith laughed as well. They rounded the final corner and she spotted her interns waiting at the nurses' station. She also spotted Cristina's interns, all three dressed up for Halloween. She bit back a smirk. "You're evil."

"You're just jealous you didn't think of this."

"You may be right."

"There's always next year," Cristina called before she strode up to her interns.

Meredith motioned for her interns to follow her back down the hallway to meet Bailey for rounds.

An hour later, Meredith muttered to herself as she wandered down the hall, several charts stacked in her hands. Somehow she was in charge of post ops, while all three of her interns were assigned to an attending for the day. Apparently it didn't matter that she had worked her ass off for the extra time off this month. Bailey had decided she didn't deserve to be in surgery.

Knowing the hospital layout by heart, she didn't even glance up as she turned the corner, but she did cry out in surprise as she collided with a solid object. The charts in her hands tumbled to the ground, but she was steadied by warm hands on her hips before she could follow them down.

The moment she met her saviour's eyes, she rolled hers. "Remember when I joked that you were hiding around corners to bump into me on purpose?"

Derek nodded, a smirk gracing his lips.

"Now I'm not joking."

He chuckled. "May I point out that it was you that walked into me?"

"Nope." She raised an eyebrow. "You set me up."

His chuckled became a full-fledged laugh. "I did not." He leaned close and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "How's your day going?"

She sighed and crouched down to retrieve her charts. "Bailey's torturing me with post ops for having time off this month."

Derek crouched as well and together that made easy work of piling the charts. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever. How's your day?"

"Quiet," he answered as they stood. "Couple consults and I have a biopsy scheduled this afternoon."

"Want to trade?"

He smiled. "I would love too, but it would probably get us both fired, and we have a mortgage to think about now..."

She laughed at the comment. "Well, thanks for the thought."

"Anytime."

"I should get back to work," she smirked, "And let you get back to hovering around corners to scare random women."

Before he could respond, a boy stopped beside them and spoke up. "Do you really hover around corners to scare random women?"

Meredith bit back a laugh as she took in the concerned expression on the boy's face and Derek's expression of uncertainty. "It's weird, huh?" She said to the boy.

He nodded.

Derek huffed. "I was not hovering. I was walking. And I got walked into. Not the other way around."

This seemed to appease the boy.

After shaking her head at her husband's display, Meredith turned to the boy, taking in his ear deformity and hearing apparatus. "Are you lost?"

He shook his head. "No, my mom works in the cafeteria. She said I could come up and look for Dr. Sloan. Do you know him?"

Meredith glanced at Derek. "I have a hundred post ops to check in on. Can you take him?"

Derek nodded and motioned for the kid to follow him. "What's your name?"

"Ryan," he said as he followed Derek down the hall.

"Hi Ryan, I'm Dr. Shepherd. How'd you like to make twenty bucks?"

Meredith shook her head as Ryan's answer escaped her as the two traveled too far down the hall for her to hear.

It took her two hours just to visit and asses each patient she was assigned. Most were stable, but a few would need some supervision. Dropping by the Nurses' Station, she passed the charts across the desk with instructions to page her if any issues arose. The nurse nodded, but then caught her eye and offered a suspicious smile, as if she knew something.

Meredith smiled back, uncertain. With a nod, she turned around, but before she could take a step, a pair of nurses walked by, both shooting her the same smile as the first. One glanced downwards from Meredith's eyes and then whispered something to the other that Meredith couldn't make out.

She felt her brow furrow as she glanced down at herself, suddenly self-conscious that she'd been walking around with a stain on her shirt or with her fly open. No stains that she could see, and scrubs didn't have flies. From her own downward glance, there was no reason for her to be attracting stares. What was going on?

She left the area, meaning to check the surgical board to see if there was anything she could observe. Halfway there, she received same smile from an ultrasound technician she barely knew. Ignoring it, she continued, but then passed a pair of interns. The first shot her a quick glance and then whispered something to the other intern, whose head shot around to stare openly as Meredith walked by. She whispered something that sounded like 'how far,' to the other intern. Meredith ignored their eyes on her back as she walked past.

Still feeling incredibly self-conscious, she arrived at the OR board and frowned at the lack of activity.

"Grey," Bailey greeted, stepping up beside her.

"Dr. Bailey," she said quickly, not wanting to give her Chief Resident any more reason to be made at her. "I just finished with the post ops. I was checking the board, but there's nothing. I'll head down to the pit-"

"There's no need. I've got plenty of help down there."

Meredith faltered slightly. "Uh, where do you want me, then?"

Bailey pointed to fifth patient listed on the board. A senior resident was performing an appendectomy in OR 2. "Why don't you go observe?"

"An appy?" She's seen plenty of appys. She definitely didn't need to waste her time watching another one from the gallery.

"Just take it easy and enjoy the down time."

"Take it easy?" Meredith practically stuttered the words. In the few hours since she had first seen Bailey that morning, the senior resident had completely reversed her attitude towards Meredith. First she was taking too much time off and now she needed to take it easy? "Dr. Bailey, I just had four days off. I'd much rather be productive."

Bailey sighed in that way that told Meredith she couldn't actually force her to watch the appy but wished she could. "Just take it easy. No one's going to think less of you."

Before Meredith could question her odd behaviour, Bailey was gone.

Wondering for the second time if she was dreaming, Meredith shook her head. "Why is everyone acting crazy today?" She whispered to herself.

Deciding the pit was her best chance of seeing some action – she would just dodge Bailey if she saw her – Meredith headed towards the hallway that would take her to the elevators, but she stopped when she spotted the boy from earlier sitting with Mark in a conference room. Wanting to make sure he was getting the help he was looking for, and knowing Mark wasn't the most empathetic person in the world, Meredith knocked on the door. After hearing a muffled, "come in," she opened the door.

"You found him," she greeted Ryan, who offered her a smile.

"You two know each other?" Mark asked, his tone slightly exasperated. "Do you know his parents?"

"His mom works in the cafeteria," she responded, remembering from earlier. She approached the table, noting the many piles of papers and folders. "What's all this?"

"Letters from kids in my class," Ryan answered before Mark could respond.

"Letters to me," Mark added. "He has the internal structure to hear. He just doesn't have the canal or the external structure."

Ryan nodded. "I thought if I came in with my letters that Dr. Sloan would feel sorry for me and do the surgery for free." He shot a hopeful glance towards Mark.

The plastic surgeon sighed. "Look, I'd like to help. I would if I could."

Meredith was surprised to hear genuine regret in Mark's voice.

"But pro bono surgery-" Mark continued, only to be cut off.

"You should know that on my way in here this morning three different people thought I was in a costume." Ryan motioned to the hearing apparatus on his head. "My head looks like a permanent Halloween costume. I just thought you should know that." He glanced at Meredith, looking for support.

She offered him a smile. "You're good."

Mark sighed and continued what he was going to say before being cut off. "The problem is that pro bono surgery isn't just about me giving my time. The surgery you're asking for requires OR time, an anaesthesiologist, a general surgeon to remove cartilage from your ribs, and at least two surgical nurses."

After watching Ryan's face fall with every word Mark was saying, she couldn't help the wave of desire to help that washed over her when Ryan's eyes fell to the table in defeat. "Couldn't you ask them for help?" She asked Mark quietly. Yes, it would require a lot of help, but compared to many other surgeries, it would be relatively minor. And short. A couple hours only. The plastic surgeon was the most important team member to get onboard, and he was clearly willing to help.

He turned to her. "I could, but they wouldn't agree. Not for me. I don't have any social capital. The nurses hate me. They've gone so far as to form a club that's all about hating me." His gaze left hers as he continued, "And the other doctors don't owe me any favours because I've never done any for them," he admitted, before sighing and turning back to Ryan. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wish I could help. I would if I could."

Ryan looked up from the table and bravely met Mark's eyes. He nodded, accepting defeat, and though he was clearly fighting tears, he was accepting the answer.

Meredith felt her heart tug at his expression. She had to do something. "I have social capital," she blurted before she realized what she was thinking. "Well, I don't, not really. No one knows me, but they knew my mother."

Ryan's eyes snapped to Meredith, suddenly filled with hope again.

She offered him a small smile. "I can try to make this happen."

Mark stood and shot her a look that said he hoped she would be able to do it, but didn't actually think it was possible. "Fine. If you can make it happen, I'm in."

"Thank you!" Ryan called as Mark left the room. The moment the door was shut, he turned back to Meredith, excited and eager.

Meredith sat and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, kid, let's figure this out. I need something to write on."

Ryan passed her a clipboard from his pile of letters.

Pulling a pen out of her pocket, Meredith wrote 'EARS' in large letters across the lined paper and then underlined it. "Okay, like Dr. Sloan said, we're going to need some help." She wrote 'plastic surgeon' on the first line, followed by 'Dr. Sloan.' She then added a large checkmark. "We've got our plastic surgeon, but we still need a general surgeon." She wrote 'general surgeon' on the second line, followed by 'Dr. Bailey' and added a question mark. She added three more lines: anaesthesiologist, surgical nurses and OR.

With a sigh, she placed her pen back in her pocket and stared at the list. "We should start with the OR. We can't ask people to help until we know when we'll need their help. And then we'll try to get Dr. Bailey on board. She'll be the best choice for a general surgeon."

Ryan nodded.

Meredith glanced up at him. "We're going to have to ask Dr. Webber for the OR and supplies. And he's not going to be very willing to help. Neither is Dr. Bailey. So, we're going to have to come up with a strategy."

"A strategy?"

Meredith nodded.

"What kind of strategy?"

"You know that sympathy thing you did with Dr. Sloan?"

Ryan nodded.

"Something like that."

After unashamedly using the memory of her dead mother to convince the Chief to donate an OR and equipment to their cause, and then securing an anaesthesiologist, Meredith decided it was time for a break. "I need a coffee, how about you?"

Ryan laughed. "I'm eleven. I don't drink coffee."

"Well, you have to drink something. We deserve to celebrate. This is easier than I thought."

"I like chocolate milk."

"Well, then, coffee and chocolate milk it is." She led them down the hall, only to be run into by a navy clad form while rounding a corner.

"Okay, now I know it's on purpose," Meredith stated as she met her husband's eyes after their second collision of the day.

Derek offered a breathy chuckle. "It's clearly you doing the hovering around corners," he countered.

"Liar."

He rolled his eyes, but moved away quickly. "I'm being paged to the ER. I'll see you later."

"You just know you're going to lose the argument," she called as he hurried down the hall.

Ryan glanced at her as they continued towards the coffee cart. "Does that guy really hover around corners?"

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "No. We just seem to have a habit of running into each other."

"So, why did you accuse him of doing it?"

"I wasn't really accusing him," she explained. "It's just become a joke between us." She paused for a moment, hesitating. "He's my husband," she told Ryan. "So, it's...kind of funny that it keeps happening."

Ryan nodded, accepting her explanation. "Is he a surgeon, too?"

"Yes."

"Do you think he would help?"

"He would absolutely help if he could," she said honestly. Derek had been involved in multiple pro bono surgeries in the near year and a half she had known him. "Unfortunately, he's not the right type of surgeon."

"Like you?"

"Kind of, though I'm just a resident. I don't have enough training to help you. He has the wrong kind of training."

Ryan fell silent for several minutes. It wasn't until they were approaching the coffee cart that he spoke up again. "You're wrong, you know."

"Wrong about what?"

"You said you didn't have enough training to help me. Dr. Sloan has all kinds of training, I'm sure, but he couldn't help me. You're helping me now."

Meredith smiled. "Well, you deserve it."

"You don't know that. I could be a horrible kid for all you know. I could be a bully."

"You don't really strike me as the bully type. And I have a pretty good gauge of character."

"Still, you're doing all this to help me..."

"You're welcome," she told him, knowing what he was trying to say. Maybe she wasn't helping to save a life today, but she was helping to change one for the better.

Ryan fell silent again as Meredith ordered a large coffee and a chocolate milk. She then motioned to an empty set of chairs by the front doors. "Let's sit and work on what we're going to say to Dr. Bailey."

"Okay," he said, following her.

A nurse passed them, sending Meredith the same look she'd been receiving all day; a strange smile and then a downward glance. She turned to Ryan before sitting down. "Do I look strange to you?"

Ryan shook his head. "No."

"Are you sure? People have been looking at me strange all day."

Ryan glanced at her and then shrugged. "I'm sure."

She would have let it go, but a group of ER interns sauntered past on their coffee break. Several stared openly at Meredith, and then leaned in close together, exchanging what she could only guess was money. "...forty on March..." She thought she heard from one of them, followed by snickers.

What was going on?

When they turned their attention back on Meredith, she glared at them, challenging. They quickly shuffled away.

With a sigh, Meredith sat. She'd finish trick-or-treating for ears and then she'd figure out what was going on with the staff of the hospital. She had been subject to stares and whispers several times before – when her relationship with Derek had first come out, after the bomb, after the near-drowning, after the wedding – but she hadn't done anything gossip-worthy in months.

Shaking her head, she forced her focus back to the task at hand. There were ears to be made.

Fifteen minutes later, after rehearsing their lines twice, Meredith spotted Cristina and Izzie at the coffee cart. She waved.

They momentarily forewent the coffee cart and approached her. Cristina appeared stone faced, but Izzie was positively giddy. "Meredith!" The blond called, practically bouncing up to her. "I'm so excited!" She pulled Meredith to her feet and then hugged her.

"Uh...I'm excited, too?" She responded. She sent Cristina a questioning look over Izzie's bouncing shoulder.

Cristina glanced at Meredith's coffee cup, and then back up at Meredith. "If the rumours are true, then you really shouldn't be drinking that, especially after the one you had this morning."

"What rumours?"

"That you're pregnant."

Meredith stuttered. "That I'm what?"

Izzie pulled away. "It's okay. Everyone knows."

"Everyone but me, apparently," she hissed.

Izzie's expression fell. "You mean you're not pregnant?" She practically whispered.

"No!"

Cristina shot her an amused smile. "Well, everyone thinks you are."

"Why?"

"Apparently Sloan told some nurses... Alex heard it from his interns. He told us. There are already bets about due dates. A lot of people seem to think that's why you got married so quickly, but seeing as you got married four and a half months ago and you're not obviously showing, there are bets about whether Derek knocked you up and you found out and got married, or whether you got pregnant afterwards. People are trying to see if you're showing, but hiding it under scrubs and a lab coat."

The stares and whispers now made sense. "Well, this is just freaking awesome," Meredith said sarcastically. "I'm going to kill Sloan."

Ryan, whom Meredith had momentarily forgotten about, cleared his throat. "Can you wait until after my surgery to kill him?"

Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"This is Ryan. Sloan's going to build him some ears." She turned her attention to Ryan. "Don't worry. When I'm through with him, Sloan's going to owe me a hundred ears. Are you sure you only want two?"

Mark was, unfortunately, in surgery when Meredith had stormed onto the surgical floor, ignoring all of the glances that quickly shot downward from her face and smiles that she now understood. Instead of being able to berate her husband's best friend like she wanted to, she was forced to focus on her task at hand. Convincing Bailey to help had been much easier than expected. She had clearly heard the rumour, as evidenced by their earlier conversation about Meredith 'taking it easy,' so maybe she didn't want to upset her former intern in her 'condition.' She had also offered to secure scrub nurses and get back to Meredith. Too tired and too frustrated to attempt to counter the rumour to Bailey, Meredith simply said nothing about Bailey's behaviour.

With all of the pieces in place, Meredith sent Ryan to find his mom and have her sign the appropriate forms. She left instructions to have him page her when he returned with his mom after her shift was over.

She then rounded on her assigned post ops, who were all doing well. She made a few minor adjustments to medications and ordered only one set of tests. The nurse who ordered the tests for her blatantly glanced at her midsection, and even went so far as to step into Meredith, as if to see if she could 'accidentally' feel a baby bump. Meredith turned on her heel before any contact could be made. She was barely a few steps away, and definitely not out of earshot when she heard the nurse say to another nurse, "Put me down for twenty on the shotgun wedding."

"Are you sure?" The other nurse asked. "She'd have to be five months along..."

"If she hasn't popped yet, she could be hiding it. They probably think if they wait to let people know, we'll forget when they got married." She laughed. "They probably planned to go with the premie excuse."

Meredith didn't hear the rest as she walked out of earshot. She swallowed hard as she rounded a corner into an empty hallway and paused to calm her thoughts. It wasn't the first time she had heard comments like that in the past few hours. Despite the fact that she knew she and Derek had a strong relationship, and that they'd gotten married for the right reasons, it hurt that so many people seemed to think otherwise. Was it really so inconceivable that she and Derek had gotten married because they wanted to be married and not because they felt they had to get married? Was it really so inconceivable that he had wanted to marry her? And what made matters even worse was that people were getting more and more bold with their comments and volume. What had started out as glances and whispers had become full-fledged staring and not-so-quiet comments. It pissed her off that people were making such blatant comments within her earshot.

With a deep breath, Meredith pushed on towards the Nurses' Station. The moment she rounded the last corner, she felt a smile tug on her lips as she spotted her husband at the desk, making notes in a chart, a cup of coffee on the counter. He could always make her feel better. She walked up to him and bumped his hip with hers.

"Hey."

He looked up and smiled. "Hey."

"So..."

"So," he echoed.

"Is that all you have to say?"

He turned so he was leaning sideways against the desk, facing her directly. "Is there something I'm supposed to say?"

"It's your stupid friend who started all of this."

"All of what?" He asked with a chuckle, reaching for his coffee, clearly thinking she was joking about something.

"Have you not heard the rumours?"

He took a sip of his coffee. "What rumours?"

She rolled her eyes at the sparkle in his. He wasn't one to spread gossip, but he loved hearing it.

"Do you not realize that everyone is staring at us right now?" She could feel the eyes on her back. "That they've been talking about us all day?"

"That's not true." He looked away from her eyes, his gaze going over her shoulder. He frowned and then glanced around the room. "Okay, you may have a point. Why are they staring?" He took another sip of coffee.

"Because they all think I'm pregnant!" She hissed.

Derek made a strangled noise and then coughed as his sip of coffee went down the wrong way.

Meredith resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. It served him right for trying to drink at a time like this.

After one last cough, he placed his coffee onto the counter and met her eyes. "What? I don't even...what?"

"How can you possibly not have heard that? People have been staring at me all day. They're trying to figure out how far along I am."

Derek blinked. "Wait. Back up. You said... Are you...?"

"No! And I'm going to kill your stupid friend for this."

Derek ran a hand through his hair. "Mer, I have no idea what you're talking about. Start from the beginning. You're not pregnant. Or...you think you may be? Why do people think..."

She noted the concerned expression on his face and forced herself to take a breath. This wasn't his fault. And he was the only other person in the world who knew with absolute certainty why they had gotten married and how secure their relationship was. "I'm not pregnant," she whispered, "And I don't think I am, or that I could be."

He nodded, and she couldn't help but recognize a small glimmer of disappointment in his eyes. "Okay."

"But there's this rumour that I am."

"Which is why people are staring."

"Yes." She nodded. "And apparently it started with Mark telling a bunch of nurses this morning."

"Mark?"

She nodded. "There are already bets about due dates. And bets about whether or not me getting pregnant is why we got married. People think I've been hiding a baby bump under my scrubs."

He shook his head. "How have I not heard a word?"

"I don't know, but-"

"I mean, seriously, not a single word. When did you hear about it?"

"Derek!" She hissed. "So not the issue."

"Right," he offered her an apologetic smile. "I'll talk to Mark and-"

Meredith caught sight of the plastic surgeon walking by. She pushed away from the desk and called out, "Sloan!"

Mark stopped and shot her an amused look. "Dr. Grey-Shepherd, not the most professional way to speak to an attending..."

"Then tell me, how is spreading rumours about a resident appropriate?" She demanded. She felt Derek's hand on her arm as he appeared beside her, clearly ready to calm her down if he needed to.

Mark grinned. "That reached you already? I love this hospital. I only said something this morning."

Meredith felt the same surge of anger she had felt in the first weeks of her internship when she had ended up pinning Alex to the lockers and Derek had had to pull her off him before she pummelled him. Mark had, for some reason that escaped her, done something thoughtless, and she had been hurt by the result, and he didn't seem to freaking care. In fact, he appeared gleeful at her reaction.

She exhaled, trying to keep her cool. "What the hell gives you the right to make up rumours about other people? Is your life really so pathetic that that's the only way you can get people to talk to you?" She remembered his tone that morning when he had admitted to the nurses hating him and having not ever done anything for the other doctors. She had felt sympathy at the time, but now she was pissed, and was not above using it against him. "The nurses won't talk to you so you lie for a minute or two of attention? Really? People say all sorts of bad things about you, and I've always thought in the back of my mind that you're actually a decent human being, but I guess I was wrong."

Mark's grin fell away. Hurt shot across his face before he could mask it, but Meredith refused to let herself feel bad about causing it.

"Seriously, what the hell is your problem? I've spent all day trying to help a kid that came to you for help, but that you couldn't help because you're a jackass and everyone hates you. And you turn on me?"

"That's not what it..." He trailed off. "It had nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me? You spread a rumour about me."

"And Derek. It was to get back at Derek."

Meredith glanced at her husband and then back at Mark. "What? What could you possibly have to get back at Derek for? For sleeping with your wife? Oh, wait, that was the other way around," she said dryly.

Mark swallowed hard as her comment hit home. "I was just trying to... He set me up with the kid, so I wanted to get him back."

Meredith turned to Derek, who glanced uncertainly between the two of them. "Why don't we go somewhere more private," he suggested, guiding Meredith out of the open and into a conference room. Mark trailed behind them.

Once the door was shut, Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the plastic surgeon.

Derek's hand landed on her back. "I paid that kid twenty bucks to pretend Mark was his father," he explained.

"What?"

"The kid that you're helping. When I took him to see Mark, I paid him twenty bucks to pretend he was looking for Mark because Mark was his father." He glanced at Mark and then back to Meredith. "I didn't think retaliation would be...this."

"I was just going for the same theme," Mark added.

"How long did you think the kid could be yours?" She asked.

"Uh," Mark hesitated, "A few seconds."

"And did Derek tell the entire hospital that the kid was yours?"

"No."

"So, you had a scare for a few seconds and no one else knows about it."

Mark hesitated, but nodded after a moment.

"Then you're right, it is the same," she said sarcastically.

"It's really not a big deal," Mark said. "It's just a rumour. I'll blow over in a few days."

"You're a jackass," she hissed. "It's not just a rumour. Do you have any idea what people are saying? There are people who think that's why we got married. Do you really think that's not a big deal? Do you think it's okay that people think the only reason someone would marry me would be if they knocked me up?"

"Hey," Derek spoke up immediately, squeezing her forearm. "No one thinks that."

She shook her head. "They do," she said quietly. "There's a bet. They think we're ashamed and trying to hide it as long as we can and that when I give birth we're just going to say the kid was early."

Derek swore under his breath. "Well, it's not true."

She turned her attention back to Mark. "You want to play some stupid practical joke on Derek, fine, but think it through. And if you involve me again, I'm filing a complaint with HR."

Mark nodded.

"And you're going to fix this. I don't care if you have to call every single person who works here and explain the situation, but you're going to fix it, before it gets even more out of hand."

"I'll start right away."

"And be quick, because we're giving that kid ears at six."

Mark started. "You pulled it off?"

She nodded. "It's amazing what you can do when you don't treat the rest of the hospital like they're beneath you."

"You're right," he agreed. "I'm going to...change that."

"Ryan's getting his mom to sign forms. He's going to bring her up and page us when she's off work. She's probably going to want you to go over the procedure. Bailey's in surgery until four thirty, but she's agreed to be the general surgeon."

"I'll make myself available," he said quickly, before adding, "I'm impressed. I really didn't think you could pull this off, especially at such short notice."

"It was for a good cause. People recognize that."

Mark hesitated, before sighing. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever. Just fix it."

Mark nodded and quickly let himself out of the room.

"Mer," Derek whispered once they were alone.

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

He sighed and pulled her into a comfortable hug. "If I hadn't tricked him this morning, he wouldn't have retaliated."

"Well, you're a bit of an idiot for doing that," she admitted, "But he crossed a line."

Derek chuckled at the first half of her comment. "He did cross a line. He's never been good at...foreseeing the consequences of his actions."

She pressed her face into his shoulder and inhaled.

"Do you really believe that people think you're pregnant and we're ashamed of it?"

"You would too if you'd dealt with all the crap all day."

He hugged her tighter. "I don't know what people are saying, but you know the truth."

"I know. I just...I didn't realize what people thought of me; of us."

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

"They think we had a shotgun wedding. They think you only married me because I was pregnant."

"And what about the year leading up to us getting married? Why do they think I was with you then?"

She shrugged. "You were hurt and on your way out of a marriage. And I was...there."

"Hey," he said sharply. "That is so not..." He trailed off and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I love you so much, Meredith."

"I know. I just... I always knew there were some people who disapproved because I was an intern and you were an attending. But I thought it would get better with time. I'm a junior resident now. I thought... I thought it was getting better. I didn't realize it wasn't just the intern thing."

"Meredith..."

She raised her head to meet his eyes. "There are a lot of people who think there's only one reason we're together, and I'm certain not a single one of them is thinking 'she could do better.'"

"I think that," he spoke up, meeting her eyes with a soft smile.

"Derek..."

"It's true," he insisted. "I think you could do so much better than me, Mer. Every day I feel lucky to have you."

She smiled at his attempt to make her feel better. "Thank you."

He kissed her. "Ignore what people say or may be thinking. We know the truth. Our friends and family know the truth. And in fifty years, when we're just as happy as we are now, everyone else will know as well."

A wave of calm washed over her. He had this innate ability to make things better, and even though she didn't always understand how he did it, she was grateful. Maybe the people with nothing better to do than gossip about others believed some things that weren't true, but Meredith and Derek knew the truth. And Cristina, Izzie, George and Alex knew the truth. And Lexie, probably. And despite his idiocy and jackass-ness, so did Mark.

"I love you," she told him.

He smiled and pressed his lips to hers. "I love you, too." He kissed her again. "Now, let's get through the day. You can give a boy some ears. And then we'll go home together. How does that sound?"

She smiled. "That sounds perfect."

"Good." He paused. "I'm sorry about Mark."

"It's not your fault. And I know he didn't mean for it to go this far. I just..." She sighed. "I was just surprised, I guess. I thought people knew by now..."

"Most do," he assured. "People just like scandal. And keep in mind, our jobs are interesting, but I'm sure some aren't. People need to amuse themselves somehow."

"Still...I wish they'd just leave us alone."

He smirked. "It could have one upside."

"And what's that?"

He pecked her lips. "When we do get pregnant, we can place our own bets and make a killing."

She swatted at him, but couldn't contain her laughter.

He laughed as well. It felt nice, to laugh together with her husband after the frustration of her day. She hooked her arms loosely around his abdomen, gifting herself with one more minute of peace before she would have to return to her patients.

Derek hummed as she settled against him and then rubbed her back with his warm palms. "Did you knew it was Halloween today?"

She shook her head. "Not until I got here. Kind of lost track of the date."

"Me too. And it's too bad. We could have dressed up."

She giggled.

"What? We could have. Some people did."

"You mean Cristina's interns? She tricked them into it."

"More than just them."

"I'm not dressing up, Derek," she said dryly.

He pulled back far enough to meet her eyes. His were sparkling with humour. "Next year," he urged, "We could do a couple's theme costume."

Meredith stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. When she pulled back she whispered, "Not a chance."

"Come on," he insisted. "We could think of something surgically themed."

She rolled her eyes, but played along, knowing he was joking with her. "Like a scalpel and a clamp?"

"Or a brain."

"A brain? How would we possible dress up like a brain?"

"I'll be the left hemisphere, you be the right."

She laughed out loud at the mental image. "Why do you get to be the left?"

"I'm the logical one," he deadpanned.

She laughed again and pulled out of his arms.

"Where are you going?"

She pecked his lips. "I need a hemispherectomy," she called as she left the room.

"That hurts, Mer," he called jokingly after her.

Ryan's surgery started promptly at six. Mark, clearly uncomfortable in her presence, was nothing but polite as he lead the surgery, thanking everyone for their help several times and doing his best to allow Meredith to observe and assist without actually speaking directly to her. Bailey, someone who misses nothing, clearly noticed the plastic surgeon's strange behaviour, but didn't comment. She did her part, and then stuck around to watch the end result.

Mark was just finishing the last sutures when Meredith headed for the scrub room to scrub out. She wanted to accompany Ryan to recovery before she went home.

She had just ripped off her gloves and stepped up to the sink when the scrub room door opened.

"Good surgery," Bailey commented.

Meredith offered her superior a nod and a smile. "It was."

"It was a good thing you did for that boy. His life will never be the same."

"He deserved it."

Bailey made a 'tutting' sound as she joined Meredith at the sink. "Grey, you need to learn to take a compliment."

Meredith sighed. "Sorry. I'm having kind of a bad day."

"Does that have anything to do with the rumours that you're pregnant and then Mark Sloan taking me aside before surgery to tell me you are not pregnant and that he caused the whole misunderstanding?"

"I..." She trailed off. What was she supposed to say? "Yeah...I guess."

"Care to tell me how that little misunderstanding took place?"

She scrubbed harder at her hands. "Derek played some stupid, small joke on Mark, and Mark's reaction was to tell the entire hospital that I was pregnant."

"And people took it too far."

Nothing got past Bailey. "Yeah," Meredith admitted. "They've been saying...things."

"You haven't had it easy, but you made the choices that have led to where you are now." Bailey said. "An intern and an attending..." She shook her head, "Not an easy start. Rarely attempted, and even more rarely succeeded at." Definitely a reference to Cristina and Burke's failed attempt. "And now that you're a resident, you're still dealing with the fact that you've got a personal relationship with an attending that no other resident has. Add that to your parentage, and now you've got two famous last names to carry for the rest of your life."

Meredith inhaled and then slowly exhaled, reining in her temper. "Dr. Bailey, no offense, but my personal choices are exactly that. Mine. I've never used either of my last names to get ahead. And I'm definitely not with Derek to get ahead. I love him, and I'll deal with the consequences that causes."

To her surprise, Bailey smiled. "That's the surgeon I know."

"What?"

"Stop moping over hospital gossip and remember who you are."

"Who I am?" She echoed.

"You are a resident at one of the top teaching hospitals in the country. And you were my intern, so you're one of the best residents in the program. When I first found out about you and Shepherd I was angry at you and I did everything I could to challenge you, but you never backed down. That's when I knew how strong you were."

Meredith stopped scrubbing her hands and turned to stare at her mentor.

"You've had to overcome a lot of misconceptions to get where you are. So hold your head high, Grey. Don't let this get to you. Don't mope over hospital gossip. You're better than that."

"Okay," she said quietly, unable to come up with more words. She could barely remember Bailey being nice to her before, let alone giving her compliments.

Bailey finished scrubbing her hands as well and turned for some paper towel. She passed a sheet to Meredith when she turned back. "Do you know what I thought when I heard the rumour?"

Meredith shook her head.

"I thought 'good for them.' I saw a strong, happy couple who were going to have a baby. I never thought it was a factor to you getting married." She smirked, "Plus, if you could be that far along and still be that skinny, I might have to do something about that."

Meredith laughed, but sobered quickly. "Thank you, Dr. Bailey."

Bailey nodded. "You're doing well in the program. You just need to learn to ignore all of that," she motioned towards the hallway in an attempt to refer to the hospital as a whole.

"I'll try."

"You're a surgeon, Grey. Surgeons don't try, they do."

She smiled. "Okay, then I will learn to ignore them."

"Good."

"And, really, thank you. It means a lot that you would say these things. I kind of thought, after this morning, that you disapproved of me taking so much time off."

"You worked for that time off."

"Then why-"

"Because I would punish any resident who took any vacation time off in their residency."

Meredith smiled in understanding. "Thank you for treating me like everyone else."

Bailey smiled. "My pleasure." She hesitated before continuing, "You seem happy, Grey. I'm not used to it, but I'm glad to see it."

"Me too. It's...nice." She hesitated, but thought if Bailey could continue with something personal, so could she. "You were the reason," she said quietly, "That I knew it was possible...to do more than just be a surgeon...like my mother."

Bailey took a breath. "It takes a lot of work, Grey. Don't ever forget that."

An hour later, Meredith was sitting at Ryan's bedside, making notes in his chart to document his recovery. He'd woken from the anaesthesia briefly, and she was confident he would suffer no ill effects from the surgery.

Footsteps at the doorway caught her attention, and she looked up to see Mark ushering Ryan's mother into the room.

"Here he is," Mark announced. "Like I said, he did great in the surgery. The ears should heal with only very minimal scarring, shouldn't be noticeable at all."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Sloan," she said, gratefully, as she approached her son's bedside and took his hand.

Mark shot an anxious glance towards Meredith before responding. "It's like I said, the thanks is owed to Dr. Grey. She made this happen."

Ryan's mother turned her attention to Meredith. "Thank you."

Meredith offered her a soft smile. "He's a good kid."

"He is," she said with a nod, staring lovingly at her son.

Meredith passed off the chart to Mark and went to leave the room, but his footsteps followed her out.

"Meredith," he called softly.

She paused, trying to decide whether she should bother chastising him for using her first name.

"I'm sorry." The integrity in her tone caught her by surprise and she turned to face him. "Everything you said to me was true." He offered her a wry smile, "Harsh, but true."

"I'm sorry that it was so harsh. I was upset and-"

"I deserved it," Mark said with a wave of his hand. "I was trying to get back at Derek, but I didn't think." He paused. "I'm going to fix this. I promise."

He was extending an olive branch. She recognized that, and felt the urge to do so herself. "You don't actually have to call every single member of the hospital staff..."

He offered her a smile. "Maybe not, but I will make sure they all know the truth."

"Thank you."

"I really am sorry. You're Derek's wife, and Derek..." He trailed off with a sigh. "Derek was the only family I had for a long time. I'm trying to make up for a lot more than one rumour here, so you have to know that I would never had said a thing if I'd have known the result would be this."

"I'm not going to tell him to stop being your friend," she said. "I'm not that kind of wife."

"No, but Derek would make that decision all on his own if he thought he needed to." Mark glanced around, as if checking to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. "He's different with you than he ever was with Addison. I've known him practically my whole life and I've never seen him like he is with you with anyone else. If he thought being my friend would upset you, he'd cut ties without hesitating."

Meredith surveyed him for a long moment. Part of her wanted to correct him, to say Derek wouldn't do that, but another part of her agreed. Derek let her be independent. He rarely stepped into her interactions if she was having trouble, but he'd definitely be impulsive with his own if he thought it would help her.

Eventually she nodded, telling Mark she understood what he was trying to say. "I'll make sure he knows I don't want him to stop being your friend. Just don't give him any reasons to think that." She paused. "And maybe, after you've fixed the mess you caused, we can have you over for dinner or something, to see the new place?"

Mark smiled. "I'd like that."

With a nod, Meredith turned her attention back to Ryan. His mother was sitting gently on the side of the hospital bed, stroking his hair. "I'll have my intern monitor him over night."

"Okay," Mark responded. "I don't expect any problems." He paused. "It was a good thing you did today, for the kid. I'm surprised you pulled it off so easily."

Meredith allowed herself a small smile. "I'm a little surprised myself, actually, especially considering the fact that it was my first time trick-or-treating."

"Your first time?"

She shrugged. "Do you think Ellis Grey had time to take me? She never even got it together to make a costume." She shook her head, "Plus, she said it was rude to knock on peoples' doors and ask for food."

Mark expelled a dry laugh. "Sounds like my parents. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get past that, but you..." He trailed off and offered her an encouraging smile, "The apple fell pretty far from the tree, huh?"

Surprised by his words, she took a moment to respond. Ellis definitely wouldn't have wasted a day putting together a pro bono surgery for a kid, especially when she wouldn't get the credit for doing it. But Meredith knew it was important. Ellis also wouldn't have taken time off to travel across the country with Thatcher to see his family. And she wouldn't have wanted to spend any time painting with Thatcher, or working together to move into a new home. Meredith was doing things her mother would never have dreamed of. Good things. Worthwhile things.

"Yeah," she said eventually, "I guess it did."