Reaching Forward

13

Standing in front of her full length mirror, Meredith sighed. It seemed that she couldn't get her blue jeans buttoned or zipped. Her pregnant stomach had now grown to the size of a cantaloupe but she had gotten into these pants last week! Sure, they were tight last week but they at least went on. Now, they wouldn't even zip. Izzie had commented to her last week that she'd gladly go with Meredith to go maternity clothes shopping but she scoffed at the idea. It had to be too soon for that...right? Besides, she'd had seen a good bit of maternity clothing as an intern and well, it was down right hideous. But what could she do? She had already gone up a size in pants and if she went up another they would fit over her stomach but look like a circus tent everywhere else on her lower body.

"Meredith, come on! We're going to be late!" Izzie's voice rang from downstairs.

Groaning, Meredith decided to give up on the pants and threw on her scrubs. At least they had elastic in them. Swinging her bedroom door open with her purse on one arm, she trod down the stairs. Izzie and Derek were waiting impatiently for her. Well, it was mostly Izzie who acted impatient seeing how Derek did not want to mess with an overly hormonal Meredith. When she reached the bottom of the steps, Izzie raised on eyebrow, "You're already wearing your scrubs?"

They began walking out to Meredith's jeep, "I didn't have anything else clean."

Izzie didn't believe her for a second, "Uh huh, ok, or it's time to take me up on my offer to go get you some maternity clothes."

She lied yet again, "I seriously don't have any clean clothes, alright?"

Getting in the car, Izzie sat in the backseat while Derek drove and Meredith sat beside him. Usually, George was with them but his father was in the hospital and he had stayed over night. Buckling up, Izzie replied, "I know they say ignorance is bliss but I'm not sure how much bliss you'll be able to experience when you have nothing to wear."

Even though Izzie had a good point, Meredith was not going to give in that easily, "Even if I do need maternity clothes, all of them are ugly."

Derek finally decided to enter this conversation, "I think you'll look cute."

She glanced over to him, "Seriously? I'm not about to wear some kind of denim jumper that has sunflowers all over it. I rather just wear scrubs everyday. And did you seriously just say cute?"

Starting the car, Derek drove onto the road and began their trip to the hospital. Izzie shook her head at how stubborn Meredith was being, "Well, you know that eventually even your scrubs aren't going to fit and you're going to have to get some maternity versions of those."

Looking at Izzie through the rearview mirror, she said, "Well, at least they'll be issued by the hospital and won't look hideous."

Sighing, Izzie rolled her eyes, "You're impossible!"

"I have to be if I'm going to get all huge and the last thing I want is to accentuate that by wearing something that makes me look like a Teletubby." Meredith said as a matter of fact.

Izzie, who was fed up with this, instructed, "Look, I know this chic place that sells maternity clothes for the modern woman and we're going after work no matter what."

Turning around to look Izzie in the eye, Meredith began, "First of all, how do you know about this place? Secondly, did you really just say maternity clothes for the modern woman?"

Folding her arms, Izzie replied nonchalantly, "I've worked the maternity ward a little more than you have and I've over heard conversations between expectant mothers. That's how I know. Secondly, yes, I did just say that."

Exasperated, Meredith sighed, "Fine, I'll go to this place just to get you off my back. That doesn't mean I'm going to buy anything though."

Smiling triumphantly, Izzie dropped the subject until later that evening. And by doing so, there were a few moments of silence in the car until Derek spoke up, "Meredith, I think you need to have your hearing checked. I mean you asked both of us if we really said something. I'm concerned." He said in a playful tone.