Luckily, with a few daily doses of anti emetics, and keeping herself as hydrated as possible, Meredith was able to continue their season in Australia. Night after night they danced to sold out audiences, and Meredith couldn't have been happier. The Australian crowd was amazing, as was dancing in the Sydney Opera House every night, but as the weeks went by her bump grew. By the time they were boarding the plane back home, she was already 16 weeks pregnant, carrying small since she herself was so tiny, but none the less she was four months along.

"Kevin's going to kill me. His star dancer pregnant and no longer able to fit in costumes? I'm dead," she said as she settled into her seat on the plane. Sighing, she ran her hand through her ragged, hair-product damaged hair, shaking her head a bit. She was so nervous to return to class and have him see her growing baby bump, knowing she would be out for fall, winter, and spring seasons.

She didn't have to wait long; the day after they arrived home in New York Meredith nervously entered the studio, a long, cozy warm up piled over her leotard to hide her small bump. She wasn't the first company member to get pregnant; Lizzie had had a baby the year before, but she was still nervous nonetheless.

Warmups were to come off after plies, and as Meredith took in her sweater, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Baby bump, front and center. Everyone was staring at her and began to whisper, and she just wanted to run and hide.

Class went by quickly, and afterwards she was called into Kevin's office.

"Meredith! Congratulations on your pregnancy. I think we'll be able to work around it and let you dance another month or two before letting you go on leave." Meredith quickly smiled; she wasn't ready yet to quit dancing for six whole months.

"Really?" she asked, and he smiled sweetly at her.

"Yes, you know some costumes are more forgiving than others, you can play smaller roles in some of the ballets we have planned fall season.

So she did just that.

Two months later, at six months pregnant, Meredith took her leave from the company, choosing instead to sit out rehearsals and performances, although she still took class with them everyday to keep up her form. Dancing pregnant was an entirely new thing and she had to adjust her body to it, which was interesting, but she was happy.

In between classes, rehearsals, and performances, she and Derek had started to look for a small apartment of their own, instead of the large communal one they lived in with their extended family.

They finally found a penthouse on the other side of Central Park; 6 bedrooms and baths with numerous amenities they never knew they wanted. It was perfect for the family they had planned for themselves, and over the next few months they slowly moved out of the huge group apartment and into their own quiet one.

The nursery was the most fun to decorate out of the entire three floors of the penthouse, however. Pink walls, with a ballet theme naturally. Meredith had fun finding creative ways to use old pointe shoes to decorate the room, with tiny tutu's decorating the lamps and even one of her first ones framed and hanging above the white crib. It had been a difficult project to take on, decorating the nursery herself while Derek was performing every night, but she was proud how it had turned out. One night over a late dinner, they were discussing names.

"She should have a good, strong name. Something not so common, something pretty," Meredith said with a smile, her hands rubbing smooth circles over her baby bump. Derek smiled back at her, unable to keep from smiling. He loved watching her interact with her bump; he knew how badly she wanted this baby, even though it kept her from dancing.

"We should name her Juliet," she teased him, after all the times she danced the famous role. He let out a laugh and shook his head.

"I like Madelyn, Charlotte, Cecelia, Sophie…"

"Sophie. I like Sophie," she smiled, her green eyes sparkling.

"Sophie Elizabeth, so she can have my middle name," she said, breathing out.

"Sophie Elizabeth Shepherd is beautiful," he said, leaning over and giving him a kiss.

It was so odd to watch Nutcracker as an outsider. But night after night she sat in the front row of the darkened theater, watching her family and friends dance the roles she knew so well for sold out audiences. It was weird to be able to predict their steps, but she did, sometimes wishing she was up there dancing like she had been doing every year since she was ten. Just one year of a reprieve and then she'd be back to dancing sugar plum most likely, with Derek as her prince.

Nutcracker season went by quickly, though, and soon she was reaching her due date, which made her nervous. She wasn't sure she was ready to have a baby, but everything was set up. Her sisters and the company girls had thrown her a baby shower, and their penthouse was outfitted for everything baby, and suddenly Meredith found herself in the nursery night after night with Braxton Hicks, unable to sleep and sitting in the plush rocker, imagining herself holding Sophie in her arms. Until one night, she woke up, a pain ripping through her stomach.

"Derek, I think it's time," she said to him, and he sat up straight in bed, panic in his eyes. She was calm however, massaging her belly gently as she moved to get up. As she did so, a trickle of water ran down her leg and she turned red.

"I'm just going to change," she sad, slightly embarrassed as she changed into clean underwear, along with leggings and a comfy sweater. The baby bag was packed, as were both of theirs, and soon they were on their way to Mount Sinai, tucked away in the back of a cab. They were going to have their baby!

Sorry for condensing everything into one chapter, I feel like no one is interested in my stories anymore so I figured I'd just condense her pregnancy into one chapter before the birth and moving on to gauge who's still reading and whatnot. Please review! My last two stories didn't get reviews so I have no idea who's reading and who likes things or not anymore