Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy is not mine. Because for the last week I've been stressed about what the hell is going to happen in 9 days. If I had anything to do with GA, well I would know what was going to happen in 9 days.

Sorry the last chapter was hardish to read but I'm glad people enjoyed it anyway. But now I have Word on my laptop so it's all good. And I'm updating this one tonight because. . . well because I have other fanfics in my head and I want to finish this so I can get going on those. Lol. My Season 3 has been worked on though, and should be updated tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

This chapter takes place a year after the last one . . .time jumps a lot in this fic. It's from Meredith's perspective.

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"Well good morning sunshine," Cristina says as you slam your locker door. "What eating you? I haven't seen you look this bitter since McDreamy got back."

You give her a look. "McDreamy's an ass."

Alex walks up behind you, and being Alex joins the conversation. "Exactly how many times has that man been called an ass within this locker room?"

"Far too many. If he only knew." Izzie cut in.

Fourth year residents now, and your friends hadn't changed a bit. All they cared about was gossip and butting into conversations.

"What did he do this time?"

"I don't want to talk about," you say and are relieved that your pager goes off 5 seconds later. Because really, you don't want to talk about it. Because Derek isn't being an ass. He hasn't in a year. He's been this amazing, never seen before crazy great boyfriend.

Who wanted to take you to New York at Christmas time to meet his very large family.

So you were allowed to call him an ass if you wanted to.

You approach the room you had been paged to and wonder what's up. You didn't have a patient in that room and saw none of your interns milling around.

And then there he is, leaning back in the bed, looking like he doesn't have a care in the word.

Definite ass.

"Dr. Shepherd," you say in your most professional sounding tone, trying your best to remember that you are talking to your boss, not just your ass of a boyfriend.

"Hmm, it turns me on so much when you call me doctor." There goes treating him like a boss.

"Well, Derek," you say, emphasizing his name, "I'm not quite in the mood to turn you on right now, so if that's all you wanted . . ."

You don't get to finish your sentence. You try to remember the last time in the past year in which you had finished a sentence. Derek was far too pushy. Too bad you liked pushy.

"You left the house in a huff this morning," Derek says, moving over in the bed to make room for you beside him.

As if you'd sit beside him after this morning.

"Might have something to do with that message from your mom."

"Meredith . . ."

Now it's your turn to cut him off mid-sentence. "But really, I think it might have been those plane tickets. The ones you bought without even consulting."

"Meredith . . ."

"You say my name and I yell, remember? It's our thing." He chuckles at this, and you find yourself wondering how inappropriate it would be to slap your boss at work. Probably as inappropriate as having sex in the on call room with your boss the other day. However, right now he deserves the slap just as much as you deserved the sex a couple of days ago.

He shrugs as you go and sit beside him. Damn, you didn't mean to sit beside him. But the spot was there, and you knew damn well that spot belonged to you. How the hell were you supposed to just stand there.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise get away."

"Derek, a trip to the Bahamas in a surprise get away, skiing in Canada, shopping in Paris. Sleeping in a tent somewhere in Iraq. Your family's house for Christmas isn't a nice surprise get away."

Derek nods slowly. "You sound like Yang."

You pout at this. "I do not sound like Cristina."

Derek laughs a little, until you not-so-gently hit his arm. "Sorry." He pauses and looks you, reaches over and pushes a tendril of hair out of your face. Why did he have to be so god damn McDreamy when you were attempting to be mad at him? "Why don't you want to meet my family?"

And now he has that look on his face, that lost sad puppy look that makes you want to pull him into your arms and hold him, keep him away from everything and everyone. The look that screams "I need a hug, and then a good fuck." And his voice has dropped to the matching tone.

Damn him.

"I do want to meet your family. On my turf. And not all at once."

"But it's Christmas, Mer."

"Which makes it all that much worse, Derek. You know I don't do Christmas and the family thing.'

"I know." He says solemnly looking at you.

"Than why?"

"Because Meredith, you're with me now. And one day you will be my wife. And even though you may not to the Christmas and family thing, I do. And I want you to be a part of it."

Seriously? Seriously? Just as you're preparing yourself to yell and scream and lash out at your more than annoying boyfriend he goes and says something like one day you'll be my wife.

You don't even know how to respond to that.

So you remain quiet, and he looks at you in that Derek way he has.

"I've never done the family thing before. My dad, well you know. And my mom always seemed to be operating on Christmas. The only time I've had a real Christmas has been with George and Izzie."

"I know."

"They won't even like me."

"Of course they will." You look at him as he says this. He looks confident and self assured. Derek must have taken courses on how to say the right thing at the right time, because he always managed it perfectly.

"Derek, they loved Addison. And she's all tall and perfect and wonderful. And I'm me. Just me."

"The woman I'm in love with. Who's not quite as tall but much more perfect and wonderful." And he tilts his head. Damn that head tilt. It's not right that a man, any man, could look so beautiful tilting his head.

"I don't know, Der."

"Yes you do. Come on . . .it will be fun. And if it really goes as horribly as you have dreamed up, than I promise we can leave. We'll get a hotel and have a romantic two weeks in New York instead. No family."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

And you look at him and suddenly feel a hell of a lot better. Because you know he's telling the truth. That everything will be fine, and if it's not, he'd get you out of there. Because that's what Derek does. He's the first person you have ever known that has even been truly completely a hundred percent on your side. There was no question in your mind of that. He loved you. He completed you. And you knew that Christmas would be fine, because Derek would be there. And life was more than fine when he was beside you.

Okay, now you're getting sappy and you hate that even in your own head.

"I'm sorry I freaked out."

"I kind of expected it," he says with a laugh. He would laugh. "I love you."

"I love you too."

And then he's kissing you, really out right kissing you, making up for all the lost kissing time you had missed out on earlier that morning. And you're kissing him back, the anger gone because after all he is your McDreamy. How the hell can you stay mad at a man that dropped the word wife into conversations and could kiss like that?

Not to mention how yummy he looked.

And tasted.

"We're in a hospital bed, Der." You say as you gently pull away.

"So we are," and he goes back to kissing you.

"We can't have sex in a hospital bed." You point out trying to be rational.

"Want to make a bet?" And then he kisses you in that spot, right where your neck meets your collar bone.

Screw rational thought.

Wow, this is the second chapter in a row that ended in a sex scene, lol. Look what that extended exam room scene did to my brain! Now I can't write Mer/Der without them having sex, it's what they do. Constantly.

And yes, this chapter seems a little random to me too. Lol. But my last chapter was my climax, now it's winding down as there are only two chapters left. I know how I'm ending it and wanted a cute little couple fight in there to round it out. So random it is. I like random. It will all work in the end.

And before you get excited, you're not actually going to see Christmas in New York. It went well. They all love her. End of that. You will find out more next chapter.

So . . .read, love, review.