Merry Christmas Eve, guys! Hope you're having fun wherever you are!


CHAPTER TWO – THE SURPRISE

The flight attendants sang again as soon as they landed.

White Christmas.

White Freakin Christmas.

Meredith came to the grudging realization that this made perfect sense. The ground beyond the runway was covered with snow. This wasn't the light dusting she'd seen upon leaving Seattle. No, this was the kind that required snow pants and boots and a few colorful curses. Nothing was easy when that much white stuff piled up on the ground.

"We'd like to be the first to welcome you to Boston's Logan Airport," the pilot's voice came over the intercom. "We know several flights have been canceled this week due to weather, so for those of you who were delayed, we thank you for your patience. We hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday. Local time is now 3:30pm."

Meredith immediately switched on her phone. There were no messages… at all. That green box, devoid of numbers, was either a very good sign or a very bad one.

Crap…

She wished, once again, that she'd been able to use her free drink coupon. It was still tucked into her purse, forced to wait until the return trip. With two kids in tow, even a watered down drink hadn't seemed worth the risk.

"Okay guys, make sure you have everything."

Bailey was drowsy and rubbing his eyes. She could only hope he'd perk up in the next few minutes. The idea of carrying him all the way down to baggage claim…

"Momma?"

He lifted his arms, already wanting to be held, but Meredith stood her ground.

"You're a big boy, remember?" She'd been coaching him on this for weeks. "Big boys walk. You like to walk on your own, don't you?"

He scrunched up his nose and she waited for the meltdown. Neither of her kids had slept enough. Hell, she hadn't slept enough.

"Bae, I just really need you to do this for Momma. Please?"

He sniffled a little, but eventually nodded. She leaned down and planted a grateful kiss on his forehead.

That was one…

She glanced at her older child who was still fiddling with her iPad. That was the only problem with Meredith's perfect boredom solution. When it was time to switch tasks, the damn thing usually came back to bite her.

"You need to put that away, Zola." She chose a firm tone. She couldn't afford to get into a battle here. "We talked about this."

"But I wanna keep it out."

Elf had ended an hour ago and she was now swiping through pictures from their last camping trip. Meredith spotted her beautiful family perched on an overlook. A gorgeous valley was spread out behind them.

"It's us and Daddy!" She held it up.

"Zo, we don't have any hands left."

Meredith longed to just remain in her seat, or possibly fall apart, or cry from utter exhaustion. She was simply too tired to argue about this, tired, nervous… borderline scared. But she didn't have any backup. There was no one to rescue her, so she had to march forward.

"How about we bring it out in the car?"

"But I wanna see Daddy's pi'tures."

"I know you do, but I need you to watch out for your brother." She considered the last photo her daughter had seen. Derek had been holding Bailey against his chest, while Zola sat proudly on her father's shoulders.

"Don't you think that would make Daddy happy?" Meredith tried. "To know you were helping?"

"I guess…"

Zola watched Bailey as the passengers started to push down the aisle. The two kids never had changed seats, so maybe she was feeling a bit more charitable. Or maybe it was just a much-needed Christmas miracle. Whatever the reason, she finally slid her iPad into her backpack, shouldered it, then grabbed Bailey's hand.

In another setting, Meredith might have done a victory dance. It wasn't often that she won with both kids. She tapped at her phone again, wondering if she could shoot off a brief text instead… just to check in, or perhaps report her tiny triumph. But the kids were fidgeting and a man behind them was waiting politely.

"Would you like to go, Miss?" he asked, all kindness and chivalry.

It wasn't like she could turn the guy down. She pocketed her phone and reached for her first carryon.

We're almost there…

She took a deep breath, concentrating only on the task in front of her.

We're almost there…


Another ten minutes passed before they actually emerged from the plane. The airport… Meredith took it all in with one weary glance. There were people everywhere, people with strollers and tiny dogs and laughably large carryon bags. Christmas music played over the speakers. She imagined the soft carols were supposed to be calming, but the constant interruption by gate personnel caused the exact opposite effect. It was chaos… exactly what her frayed nerves didn't need.

But there was no other choice. The timing was awful. She seriously could not think of a worse day to travel on… but these were the cards they'd been dealt. And dammit, she hadn't traveled this far to fold now.

Meredith Grey had a job to do.

She exhaled slowly and stepped into the madness.

She knew how they looked as they trudged past the other gates… messy and tired… a family just barely surviving their trip. Bailey was still in his pajamas and she wasn't even convinced that Zola's shoes matched. Her own hair hung down in her face, but her hands were tied up with dangling car seats, so there was nothing to be done about it.

"Can I carry one?"

Zola pointed to the two large bags Meredith had slung over her shoulder. It was a sweet gesture, designed to help her struggling mother, but Meredith gave her a gentle "no thanks." She was walking like the freakin' Hunchback of Notre Dame, but that's what she got for carrying their jackets and toys and an endless supply of snacks on the plane.

"Just hold Bailey's hood, please."

She'd already instructed her youngest to grab onto her sleeve, so together the trio stumbled across the airport, eliciting a few concerned stares, but no offers of help. Meredith didn't care. She probably wouldn't have accepted it anyway. This was her family. And they'd sure as hell been through a lot worse than this.

It was her and Zola and Bailey against the world…

Except it wasn't just them…

Meredith finally found her smile.

"Derek!"

She yelled to the handsome man with the perfect hair and the perfect eyes and the perfect… well, everything really. Her husband. He turned towards her and for a second all her worries were gone.

Everything was happy.

Everything was good in the world.

It was Christmas.

It was Christmas and they were together.

"Daddy!"

The kids ran to him… It was as if she was watching one of those cute reunion videos, the kind people posted across social media. Derek was kneeling, his arms held wide open. To her credit, Zola never let go of her brother. She just dragged him along until their father swept them up in a hug. There were giggles and kisses and lots of barely intelligible chatter.

"Daddy, where were you?"

Zola had allowed Derek to put her down, but Bailey refused. He was clinging to his father's neck, their noses mere inches from each other.

"You gonna miss Santa!"

"But I didn't miss him yet." Derek wasn't stupid. The old man with the beard was a big deal today. "I told you guys it might be a little while, remember?"

"You were s'posed to be home three days ago!" Zola put her hands on her hips.

"She's right, you were."

Meredith had caught up to them, with her two car seats and her two giant bags. Derek's brain thankfully clicked into gear. He set his protesting son down and hurriedly reached for the car seats, giving her a quick kiss as he did.

"I'm sorry."

"You'd better be."

"Nothing was flying out." The explanation came instantly. Afterall, he'd had a few days to practice it.

"The storm came out of nowhere. All the forecasts said it would push south. If I'd known, I would have tried to get an earlier flight."

"Mmmhmm." He wasn't getting off the hook that easily. She'd just flown across the country, solo, with their two small children. "And what about the extra two weeks?"

"They needed some additional work on that grant proposal. They basically buried us in notes and then they went and pushed all my meetings."

"Right before Christmas?"

"It worked out for the best, didn't it?" Derek came off the defensive, shot her another charming smile. "I would have had to come back with you anyway. At least we saved that ticket cost."

She gave him a tight smile in return.

"That's probably good. Cuz wait til you see the bill for our flights."

That sobered him a bit. They were out at least a thousand dollars… a thousand dollars right before Christmas. But the truth was, it didn't matter. Not in the grand scheme of things. This trip could have cost ten thousand dollars, twenty even… and she would have been here. They all would.

Meredith set down her bags and finally brushed the hair out of her face.

"Hey…" She leaned into Derek, gave him a hug and a real kiss. "We missed you."

"I am sorry," he said sincerely. "I should have come home earlier."

"No, it's good you were here," she relented. "It turns out they needed you."

Meredith's stomach began to churn. They'd made it to Boston in the middle of winter… and now she could focus on the next steps. She could sense Derek watching her, reading her every expression.

"Mom's still at the hospital." He stepped aside as Bailey and Zola ran circles between them. "It's gonna be fine, but-"

"This wasn't supposed to happen yet. We weren't supposed to be here until the end of next month."

"The doctors said it was possible."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes," Derek insisted. "Everything is fine."

"Don't lie to me, Derek."

That sinking feeling grew stronger… the one that told her that good things always came at a cost. Her relationship with Derek had been up and down, happy then broken then happy again. Zola's adoption had nearly been derailed… And Bailey's delivery… She couldn't even think about that one.

"This is family."

Left unsaid, was the other half of that statement. That family often comes with heartache and pain. She had to be prepared for that.

"Meredith," Derek leveled his gaze at her. "I wouldn't lie to you. Certainly not about this."

The baggage claim rumbled to life, causing the crowd to surge forward around them. Derek put a protective hand on each of his children's shoulders.

"Guys, stay close."

"You shouldn't have even left." Meredith shook her head, her relief at his presence temporarily negated by fear. Yes, she wanted him here, to hug their kids and haul impossibly heavy car seats, but she also wanted his eyes in that room. His judgment, his worry, his knowledge that she would kill him if anything went wrong under his watch…

"You should have stayed at the hospital, made sure they were doing everything right."

"They are doing everything right." Derek examined the first few bags as they passed. "Don't you think I checked their credentials?"

"You did?"

"Absolutely." He glanced over at her, taken aback, maybe insulted. "It's family, like you said."

"Well you still should have stayed."

Derek had every right to be annoyed, but as usual, he was patient, agreeable, a far better man than she probably deserved sometimes.

"How about we just get over there now?"

"Fine…"

She would have loved to have sounded equally gracious, but she just couldn't do it. Besides, she needed to save some energy for their next stop.

"Thanks for coming to get us though…" she finished lamely.

"Of course."

She started to tell him about the flight, about Elf, about Bailey falling asleep in her lap… But she was interrupted by a loud bang as a fresh wave of luggage tumbled down the ramp and slammed into the metal rim of the carousel.

Clearly, the baggage guys were eager to get out of the weather. She couldn't really blame them. An entire day of unloading luggage… bag after bag… Her vision blurred as she stared at it all. What had she even brought? Their early morning departure seemed like a decade ago and she had zero recollection of packing. All she could remember was their cabbie's annoyed mutterings as he'd tossed their huge bags into the trunk.

"I've got it."

Derek stepped up with confidence and began plucking their luggage from the circling mass. He'd seen her confusion and immediately reacted. Meredith sighed… with relief, happiness... She knew then and there that she could actually relax, at least a little. No matter what happened from here on out, she wasn't alone in this.

"I have a surprise for you, by the way..."

Derek smiled over his shoulder, catching her off guard as he snagged a large roller bag. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood for anything other than the plans they had made.

Flight, pick up, possibly a short stop at the gift shop… and then the hospital.

That was it. That was all she could handle today.

"Derek…"

"It's a good one, I promise."

"I just want to get to Mass Gen." Her head fell back and she found herself staring up at the ceiling. Her husband didn't know the meaning of simple. "That's it… That's all I want. Well maybe that and a shower. I have no idea when I last washed my hair."

"You'll like this-"

"I won't."

"Well then she's gonna be pretty damn disappointed."

Meredith blinked. What the hell was he talking about? Was she so exhausted she could no longer understand Basic English? Or worse yet, was he referring to her in the third person? She loved her husband, but that right there, it could be a deal breaker.

"Mommy!" Zola started tugging on her.

"Zo, please…"

"Mommy, look! Look!"

Meredith ignored the girl. She didn't need to see Santa or the carolers or whatever well-intentioned group had entered the airport. There was too much to do, too much on her mind.

"We need to stop by a gift shop real quick." Meredith leaned in towards Derek. "I forgot the gifts… well not the blanket. That I remembered. But if we don't get something else, I'm gonna feel like a jerk. And I didn't fly from one coast to the other to feel like a-"

"Mommy, look!"

"Zola, stop-"

"LOOK!"

"Meredith," Derek cut her off, gesturing behind her. His frustration was evident, whether it was with her or their daughter, she couldn't quite tell. "Would you just look?!"

"Derek-"

"AUNT KISSTINA!" Bailey's sudden shriek cut her off. It was the highest pitch he could manage, certain to shatter glass had there been any windows nearby. "Aunt Kisstina, Aunt Kisstina!"

"Bailey!"

She grabbed for him, but he was already gone. Zola too. Holy crap, she'd just lost her kids in the airport. There were too many people, too many cars outside… Her chest constricted and for a brief moment her vision swam. But then a figure emerged from the crowd, using a luggage cart as a battering ram. Both Zola and Bailey were riding on top of it, huge grins on their faces.

"Told ya…" Derek laughed.

Meredith just stared.

"Cristina…"

She honestly couldn't believe it.

At all.

Mostly because it didn't make any sense. Cristina Yang did not live here. She didn't live in Seattle anymore either. Their communication in the last few months had involved staring at each other across little screens…

Boston, Massachusetts had never come up.

"She's struck dumb." Cristina slowed to a halt in front of them, throwing Derek her famous side eye. "You didn't tell me she'd be like this."

"That's because I didn't know."

Derek shooed the kids off the cart, then piled the first pieces of luggage onboard. Meredith just stood there, blinking. Less than twelve hours ago, she'd been in her bed on the other side of the country… alone. Silent house, kids asleep. Now, she was standing in a bustling airport with her husband and best friend.

"Seriously?" Cristina took a step forward, equal parts annoyed and confused. "Are you gonna say anything else? Cuz I can totally get back on that plane. I have a long standing dinner reservation at Muchos Tacos-"

"Noooo!" Zola latched onto her arm.

"She's kidding, Zo," Derek gave their friend a warning look. "Your Aunt Cristina's not gonna spend Christmas at Muchos Tacos."

"We gonna go?" Bailey chimed in. "I wanna taco… and chips. I want chips!"

"I want fries," Zola countered.

"No, chips!"

"Fries!"

"Chips!"

"Cristina…" Meredith gradually found her voice. She could hear the kids arguing, but the sound was muted. She might as well have been in a dream. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Christmas," Derek answered for her. The way he said it, it sounded so logical. "It's Christmas and she's your person. I figured why not fly her out to celebrate with us?"

"It was supposed to be Seattle," Cristina grumbled. "I literally made it to Denver before he turned me around. From no snow, to some snow, to this white freakin madness."

"I just… I can't believe you're here," Meredith stated the obvious fact. She half-expected her friend to disappear into the crowd again. "I can't believe you followed us here."

"Yeah, well… Muchos Tacos just cut half their menu."

Cristina shrugged, but a sly smile appeared on her lips. Meredith reached out and hugged her. Hugging wasn't really their thing, but today it felt right. And she noticed that Cristina didn't resist.

"I'm glad you came out."

"Me too." Cristina's rare sincerity lasted all of ten seconds. And then she pulled back, her lips twisting into a frown. "I wasn't supposed to get you a gift, was I?"

"Well, considering that I didn't get you one…"

"Seriously?" Cristina lifted an eyebrow. "Not anything? I mean, I think you're aware that I take giftcards, right? I was very specific last year."

"Well, we do have to stop by a store after this," Meredith played along. "Maybe we can find something suitable there. I was thinking about a snow globe of Boston."

"You are a terrible friend."

Meredith finally laughed.

"I missed you too."


So that's it for now! Yes everyone, Derek is alive in this story! It was fun to reunite him and his family. And of course, I couldn't leave Cristina out. Please feel free to leave a review if you can. And if you're traveling this weekend, please be safe. Merry Christmas!