A/N: I hope you're having a great holiday season! I've really been enjoying reading all the Addek Christmas stories people have been posting, so here's my contribution. I know another (incredible) writer on this site is already writing a story with a similar premise, but this story is different enough that I thought it was worth sharing.
Originally, my plan was to post all eleven Christmases in one story; but the story got very long, so I decided to split it up. The good news is that everything's written, so I can update quickly.
Here's the first installment; I hope you like it. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Happy Holidays!
Eleven Christmases, Eleven Messes
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don't clean it up too quickly.
-Andy Rooney
1. First Christmas
Their first Christmas together wasn't traditional. Messy, but not traditional.
"I'm exhausted," Addison admitted.
"I know," Derek agreed. "I guess a week of back-to-back finals will do that to you."
Addison nodded in agreement. "I just want to crawl into bed and sleep until New Year's."
Derek chuckled. He had to admit, Addison had a point. Their first semester in medical school had been brutal, and their intense finals schedule had been the icing on the cake.
"Are you sure you're not going to regret not going home for Christmas?" Derek asked.
"Trust me, the last thing I want to do is join the sea of last minute travelers rushing home for Christmas. Besides, Archer won't be there, and I'm way too tired and incoherent to spend a WASP-y Christmas with my parents. You should go home for Christmas, though," she told Derek, as she folded down her comforter and climbed into bed. "It sounds like Christmas with your family is nice."
"I'm not leaving you alone on Christmas," Derek insisted as he joined his girlfriend of six months in bed. "Besides, Christmas with my family is always loud and crazy. And after the week we just had, the last thing I want to do is deal with all the noise and craziness."
"Really?" Addison asked uncertainly.
"Really," Derek smiled, kissing the tip of her nose sweetly.
"Next Christmas we'll do something fun," Addison yawned. She brushed her lips against Derek's. "I promise."
"I don't know," Derek chuckled as he pulled her into his arms. "I still think this Christmas is going to be fun."
They woke up on Christmas morning feeling much more awake than they'd anticipated.
"I thought we'd at least sleep until noon," Addison said, glancing at the clock on the nightstand.
"Nope," Derek chuckled. "It's not even seven."
Addison turned to her boyfriend. "What's the first thing your family does on Christmas morning?"
"Open presents," Derek answered automatically. "Doesn't everybody?"
Addison shook her head. "My family doesn't. We always start Christmas with a very long, very formal breakfast."
"Oh. Uh, sounds fun?"
"It's not," Addison chuckled. "But Bizzy and the Captain find present opening a lot more tolerable after they've had a bloody Mary or two."
"Even when you were a kid?" Derek asked in surprise.
"Especially when my brother and I were kids."
"You poor thing," Derek said sympathetically. He extended a hand to her. "Come on."
Addison looked at him uncertainly. "Where are we going?"
"To the living room to open presents and celebrate Christmas like normal people."
Addison accepted her boyfriend's hand and they made their way into the living room.
"I'll even let you open the first present," Derek grinned.
He was about to make his way to the tree to retrieve a present, when he felt Addison pull at his arm. He looked at her curiously, and saw a mischievous glint in her eyes.
He chuckled. "Is there something you'd like to unwrap before you we start unwrapping gifts?" he asked coyly.
She shrugged suggestively. "Something … or someone."
That was all he needed. He crashed his lips against hers, kissing her heatedly. And she kissed him back just as urgently. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer, and she raked her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair as she kissed him deeply.
She slipped his Columbia sweatshirt over his head, carelessly tossing it aside. And he removed her silk pajama top. They continued to hastily undress each other, flinging each other's pajamas in every direction.
She laughed when his sweatpants landed in the Christmas tree, knocking a few ornaments to the floor. But she was quickly distracted because his lips were back on hers, and he lowered her to the ground gently. He trailed feather-light kisses down her neck, and she gasped as he entered her.
And just like that, they started their own Christmas tradition.
The first thing his family did on Christmas morning was open presents. The first thing hers did was have a big, fancy breakfast. They decided, then and there, that the first thing they would do on Christmas morning was each other. Christmas morning sex.
"I love you," Derek whispered, as they cuddled beneath the tree, their naked skin still glistening.
Addison smiled. It wasn't the first time he'd said these words to her. But it was Christmas, and that made things different … special … magical.
"I love you too, Derek."
They lay there a few minutes longer, enjoying the feeling of being close to each other. After a while, she climbed on top of him and kissed his lips sweetly.
"I guess we should get dressed … and clean this up," she said, gesturing to the living room, which now had discarded pajamas, ornaments, and even some Christmas tree branches scattered across the floor.
"Wait," Derek said, pinning her down as she tried to get up. "It's Christmas morning. And some of the best messes in the world are created in the living room on Christmas morning." He pressed his lips to hers. "So, let's not clean this up too quickly."
2. With His Family
They spent their second Christmas together with his family.
"This is pretty idyllic," Addison smiled as she watched Derek's nieces and nephews tear into their Christmas presents.
"You mean crazy and noisy?" Derek corrected.
Addison shrugged. "It's a welcome change from what I'm used to."
"Okay, you two," Carolyn said, approaching her son and his girlfriend. "We have about a half hour until the children realize they're hungry and start clamoring for breakfast. You two are on breakfast duty." She turned to Addison. "In this house, everyone helps out. I hope that's okay."
"Of course," Addison said with as much sweetness as she could muster, trying not to take Carolyn's presumptuous tone to heart.
"Addison's a great cook," Derek informed his mother.
"Is that so?" Carolyn asked.
Addison wanted scream that she was the farthest thing from a good cook … that she was a can't-even-boil-water bad cook.
She, of course, stayed silent.
"She's a great cook," Derek repeated.
"Well, I can't wait to taste your chocolate chip pancakes then," Carolyn smiled.
Addison sighed. Carolyn may have been smiling at her, but she'd lived with Bizzy for enough years to be able to detect hostility behind even the sweetest smile. And her hostility radar was buzzing loud and clear.
"Derek," she scolded, once they were alone in the kitchen. "Why would you tell your mother I'm a good cook?"
"Because you are."
"Honey, we both know that's not true."
"You could be a good cook," Derek insisted. "You just don't trust yourself."
"With good reason," Addison chuckled.
"Come on, you haven't set off a smoke detector in months."
"I'm not sure that translates into me being a good cook."
"Relax," Derek laughed. "We're just making chocolate chip pancakes. They're really easy to make."
Addison looked at her boyfriend doubtfully. "I hope so."
It turned out they weren't easy to make. Not for her, at least. Derek's pancakes were perfect, but each pancake she attempted was worse than the last.
"I don't get what I'm doing wrong," Addison admitted scrutinizing yet another inedible pancake.
"That's impressive," Derek chuckled, peering at the pancake. "You somehow managed to both burn and undercook it. That takes skill."
"Shut up," Addison muttered, swatting Derek playfully with her spatula. "Your mother's not going to be impressed."
"So?" He dipped his hand into the bowl of pancake batter and smeared some on her cheek. "Stop trying to impress her."
"Derek," Addison scolded, laughing as she tried to wipe the batter off her face.
"You missed a spot," Derek teased, swiping some more batter across her jawline.
"I did miss a spot," she agreed with mock seriousness. She dipped her index finger into the batter and playfully smeared some on the tip of his nose. "Much better," she approved.
From there, things kind of just devolved. He covered her with pancake batter. She covered him with pancake batter. At one point, they broke out the flour and started throwing it at each other.
They were so involved in covering each other in batter and flour they didn't hear the footsteps that were approaching the kitchen.
"Messy!" Derek's four-year-old niece, Leah, exclaimed clapping her hands in delight.
"What's going on?" seven-year-old Austin asked his mother, looking at Addison and Derek in confusion.
"I'll tell you what's going on," Nancy told her son, as she and Kathleen exchanged an amused glance. "Uncle Derek is head over heels in love."
"It's actually kind of sweet," Kathleen admitted. "It's—"
"What in the world is going on in here?" Carolyn interrupted as she walked into the kitchen. "What happened?"
"Grandma, Uncle Derek is head over heels in love," Austin parroted. "That's what happened."
Nancy and Kathleen chuckled, but Carolyn seemed less than amused.
"Is everything okay, Mom?" Derek asked, giving Carolyn a charming smile.
Carolyn folded her arms across her chest. "You two have 'til the count of three to clean this mess up."
3. With Her Family
"I'm sorry, "Addison apologized, gently rubbing her boyfriend's thigh, as their car trudged through the streets of Manhattan.
"Addison, you have nothing to apologize for, "Derek insisted, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"Nothing except my family," Addison said quietly, looking down.
"Hey I resent that," Archer piped up from the back seat of the car. "And I don't get why you're apologizing to Derek about our family. I've met his family; they're nothing special."
"Archer, I have no problems with throwing you out of this car," Derek threatened.
"You wouldn't do that," Archer countered, calling Derek's bluff. "Besides, Addie wouldn't let you."
"Don't push your luck, Archer," Addison warned her brother.
"I thought your parents did a nice job decorating the house for Christmas," Derek cut in, changing the subject.
"They hire people to decorate for them," Archer informed Derek proudly.
"The house looked like a museum," Addison muttered. "An impeccably decorated museum … but still …"
"It wasn't that bad," Derek reassured.
"Only because my family's stiff, stilted house paled in comparison to Bizzy's slew of elitist comments."
"Addie, this wasn't the first time I met your parents. And quite frankly, Bizzy wouldn't be Bizzy without the occasional elitist comment or two."
"Try twelve," Archer corrected.
Addison sighed. "I guess Bizzy's comments were better than the Captain leaving in the middle of Christmas dinner with some fake surgical emergency excuse."
Archer chuckled. "Word on the street is he's screwing some intern."
Addison shook her head in disgust. "Classless."
"Archer, where am I dropping you off?" Derek cut in.
"You've still got a few blocks. I'll tell you when we're close."
"Like father, like son," Addison muttered.
"Hey," Archer objected. "That's not fair. I'm not married. And I should be allowed to have a little fun on Christmas. Lord knows Christmas dinner with Bizzy and the Captain wasn't."
Addison rolled her eyes. "So, tell me about her."
"For starters, her name is Mandy. Or wait … maybe it's Mindy. Or Misty? Anyway, that's not important. She's here on a fellowship and has no family or friends in the city. That's where I come in."
"Charming," Addison rebuked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"She thinks I am. And stop being such a prune."
"I'm not being a—"
"Mary!" Archer interrupted. "Her name's Mary. Kind of appropriate given the season, don't you think?"
"Archer?" Derek cut in.
"Yeah?"
"What do you say we remain silent for the rest of the trip?"
That, of course, didn't happen. But they eventually dropped Archer off and made it back to their place. Technically, it was Addison's place; but he was always there, so it was essentially their place.
"Sorry, again," Addison apologized as she unlocked the door to the apartment.
"Stop apologizing," Derek insisted. "It wasn't as bad as you think."
"I just …" she trailed off, walking over to the Christmas tree in the living room. A slight smile came to her face as an idea formed in her mind.
She scanned the already-opened Christmas presents that they didn't have time to put away that morning and removed a stack of new blouses from underneath the tree.
Then she started throwing them. One by one. Letting tem float through the air, not caring that she was wrinkling them.
"What are you doing?" Derek asked in confusion.
"What does it look like?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Reenacting that scene from The Great Gatsby?"
"No," Addison laughed. "I'm making a mess."
"Clearly," Derek chuckled. "But why?"
"Because," Addison explained, tossing a cream, silk top into the air, "I'm being the Anti-Bizzy and Anti-Captain."
"Addison," Derek said growing serious and pulling her into his arms. "You're nothing like either of your parents. You don't have to make a mess to prove it."
She looked at him uncertainly. "Really?"
"Really," he said, meeting her eyes. "Addison, you're warm and kind and …" he trailed off, kissing her chastely, "I love you … crazy family, and all."
"I love you too," she said, kissing him back. She gave him a guilty smile. "Sorry for the crazy girl-flip-out."
"I'm used to them," Derek shrugged, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.
"I guess I should probably clean this up," she said, gesturing to the pile of shirts on the floor.
"That's one option," Derek said coyly. He walked over to the tree and removed his own box of new shirts. "But this looks kind of fun," he admitted, tossing a shirt in the air.
Addison laughed and immediately joined her boyfriend … throwing shirts into the air and creating a mess they wouldn't bother cleaning up until the following day.
