Out of the four of them, only Mark and Derek had ever had a real Thanksgiving growing up. Meredith had either spent it trolling at the hospital or avoiding the staff in her house, and Addison had spent it with feuding parents who insisted on eating in a restaurant. The two girls were excited to have a new experience and make new memories with the Shepherds.
Thanksgiving morning came fast, and with it came the arrival of dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Meredith could hear them downstairs as she lay in bed, trying to fall back asleep but to no avail. School had killed her sleeping in skills and try as she might, she couldn't sleep past 8 AM anymore. Groaning, she rolled over only to be greeted by an empty bed. Apparently Derek couldn't sleep either. She peaked into the hallway and, noticing no one there, made a mad dash for one of the two bathrooms there. A shower was definitely needed before she met more Shepherds.
After her shower she decided to take a meticulously long time on her hair and makeup, blow drying her long hair and straightening it, weaving a braid into the front before applying just the right amount of makeup. Dashing in her towel back to Derek's room, she pulled out a long-sleeved lavender shirt dress, with brown tights and a pair of brown ankle boots. Around her neck was a necklace from Tiffany's her mother had given her upon graduating high school; it was a simple key pendant on a delicate silver chain. It had been one of the nicest things Ellis had remembered to give her and she smiled slightly as she touched it.
Finally happy with how she appeared, she left the room and headed downstairs, stopping short just outside of the living room. It was with people of all ages and Meredith balked, not knowing a soul. She headed into the kitchen which seemed like the much safer option, and it was. The sisters were there along with Carolyn, and a few older women who resembled both Shepherds and Maloney's. Carolyn smiled as she spotted Meredith.
"Oh, Cate," she said, gesturing to one of the blonde women with a smile. "This is Derek's girlfriend, Meredith." The blonde woman smiled warmly at her, nodding her approval.
"Derek was down here earlier, singing your praises. It's so nice to finally meet you, I'm Carolyn's sister," she said with a smile and Meredith smiled back. She could tell today would be filled with meeting new people.
By noon, Meredith had managed to meet every aunt, uncle, and cousin in the house, and still not find Derek. She had, however, found Addison and a bottle of wine, and the two girls had retreated to the much quieter family room to drink and have some laughs. They were enjoying themselves fully, both loving the fact that they had a family to celebrate holidays with now.
"Do you think it's always going to be like this?" Meredith blurted out, slurring her speech slightly. Addison turned her head and regarded her best friend, taking another sip of wine.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Under normal circumstances she would've been able to interpret what she was asking, but the wine had gone straight to her head.
"You know…holidays. Here. With Mark and Derek and the Shepherds," she said, blushing deeply. Addison realized what she was saying and her eyes went wide.
"You mean…do you think we'll marry them and spend eternity as shiny, happy people who spend holidays with their in laws? I…I've thought about it. It wouldn't be the worst possible scenario," she said, cracking a smile. Meredith relaxed completely and let her head fall back into a pillow.
"I think about it. A lot. I have this feeling I'm going to marry him. I want to marry him. Just not now. I mean, I'm eighteen, but god. I want to marry him," she confessed, pouring the rest of the bottle of wine into her glass and drinking deeply. "If you ever tell anyone what we just talked about I will be forced to kill you. Remember, I know where you sleep,".
Soon after their discussion, Carolyn found the two girls and dragged them into the kitchen. Lizzie, Nancy, and Kathleen were already there, but Amelia was mysteriously absent.
"Come on girls, it's time to cook!" Meredith and Addison looked at each other; they didn't cook. Or at least they tried not to. Both girls had grown up with a chef in their house and Meredith had been experimenting somewhat successfully with things. They were put in charge of baking, which wasn't too bad, and they ended up having fun making pies and cakes for the next few hours. Meredith felt proud of herself when she popped a pumpkin pie into the oven to bake. Addison had been in charge of the apple pie and, although she was covered in flour and cinnamon, she looked proud as she cut an 'A' into the top pie crust and slid her pie next to Meredith's.
"Did I just make something edible?" She asked outloud, and Lizzie laughed next to her.
"We'll see if it's edible, Addie," she teased her, nudging her with her elbow. Addison laughed with her and shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe someone should make a backup, the only cooking I do is takeout," she smirked, washing her hands and pulling her red hair down from it's ponytail. Meredith had slipped onto a barstool at the island, watching everyone, mainly Carolyn and Cate, rush around preparing everything. It all felt…comfortable and right.
Suddenly there were hands over her eyes and a kiss on her cheek and she giggled.
"Oh hello, I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance today," she smiled, spinning around to find Derek there. She reached up and kissed his lips, still grinning.
"I know, I'm sorry, Mom sent Mark and I all over town looking for last minute things that she forgot about," he pouted, picking her up at the waist and carrying her to the family room, which was practically empty for a makeout session.
"Der we can't do this with your entire family in the house!" she laughed as she hovered over him, sitting in his lap. Her hair fell over her shoulder and he caught a whiff of her lavender shampoo.
"Hey it's my house, we can do it if I say so," he teased, and so they did.
When dinner was finally ready it was a crazy affair. Meredith sat between Derek and Addison, around a table that sat thirty. But that still wasn't enough; there were kids sitting at the table in the kitchen. It was very festive and fun, and Meredith enjoyed her first real Thanksgiving experience. It was so nice to be in the middle of everything and everyone, and know that the entire family around her loved and accepted her as Derek's girlfriend. She had a new glass of wine but was taking this one much slowed, and at one point she turned to Addison, commenting on how she could never go back to boring Thanksgivings thrown by the staff at her mothers house in Boston. After the meal was over, each person in the room went around and said one thing they were thankful for, and Meredith couldn't help but smile. When it came to be her time, she took a breath.
"I'm thankful for the love and acceptance from each person in this room," she announced, and everyone smiled back at her, as she put her glass of wine back down. It was true though; everyone was absolutely amazing and loved her unconditionally.
Dessert went surprisingly well, with both the pumpkin and apple pies being raved over. Addison and Meredith relished in their success with yet another glass of wine, before Derek grabbed Meredith by the waist and pulled her upstairs.
"Der what are you doing!? We are not having sex in your childhood bedroom!" she laughed, kissing him.
"No we're not, we're going to play football," he smirked, pushing her into his room and shutting the door. She stared at him for a moment and shook her head.
"No, no we aren't, I don't do sports!" she cried out as he laughed.
"It's a tradition, it's Thanksgiving. Change into jeans or something and come downstairs. I love you," he smiled, kissing her forehead as he left the room.
She grew grumpy for a few minutes, kicking off her shoes and shedding her tights, pulling on leggings and a sweater with uggs, braiding her long hair so it wouldn't be in the way. She grabbed a scarf and knotted it around her neck, digging in her duffel bag for her fleece jacket. Once she was satisfied she headed downstairs where Addison was waiting, looking equally displeased.
"Do they realize just how terrible we are at organized sports? I mean, I played tennis for fucks sake," Meredith moaned. Addison laughed and shrugged her shoulders.
"I played field hockey and lacrosse, I can run after a stupid ball," she laughed, as the two girls headed out into the backyard. Tons of cousins and uncles were out there already, but they made a beeline for Mark and Derek, who looked pleased to see their girlfriends had actually consented to play.
"Oh good. You guys are on our team" Mark grinned, kissing Addison. Meredith moved closer to Derek and smiled. She was willing to do anything for him.
The rest of the day passed in a flash; Meredith discovered she had a knack for catching the football and scoring touchdowns, which excited her. Maybe she wasn't useless whenever Mark and Derek wanted to do something sporty after all.
Thanksgiving had been great and she was so blessed to have been able to spend it with the Shepherds. Her mind wandered to her conversation with Addison earlier, as to whether or not it would always be like this, the two of them coming home with Mark and Derek, and she smiled, looking down at her left hand. She imagined a ring there someday, eventually, and once the image was in her head she was unable to get rid of it.
I apologize that this chapter is short but a lot happened in it! I hope you guys like it
