AN: Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews and for all the people who added the story to their alerts and their favorites, as usual I wanted to answer to all the reviews, but I couldn't answer to twilightbella cause the PM feature is turned off. Anyway, here is the Christmas chapter of the story, finally, I must say, sorry for the delay I had to finish my final dissertation as I'm graduating in a week… hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Breakfast was in full swing when Meredith stopped for a second to just savor the moment. The ten of them were all sitting around the kitchen counter, clad in festive pajamas, having a breakfast feast consisting of pancakes, toasts, eggs and bacon, holiday cookies, orange juice, milk and coffee.
"Is everything all right Mere?" Derek turned to look at his wife in the eyes, his over easy eggs and the rest of breakfast forgotten, happiness shining brightly in his blue eyes.
"Nothing, just thinking…"
"About what?"
"About how cheerful our little girl looks… I'm just glad your family is here with us to celebrate, I never had this growing up, but I'm thrilled that she and baby will" she whispered, eyes shining with unshed happy tears.
"I'm happy you decided to invite them as well. I haven't had a family Christmas in a very long time and I've missed this" he confided.
"Good… let's promise, from now on, to have a family Christmas every year, for the rest of our lives" she smiled, staring at him, her green eyes wide. He smiled back and closed the distance separating them, their lips touched and she immediately responded to him, grabbing him by the lapels of his pajama top, opening her mouth to accommodate him. He tasted the sweetness of maple syrup merged with brown sugar and blueberry pancakes on her tongue moaning soundly in her mouth. They smiled to each other, losing themselves in the kiss and, when oxygen became a necessity, they parted and stood still, smiling fiercely, foreheads touching, hearts pounding, eyes shining.
"May I remind you that there's a room full of minors?" Liz cut in grinning.
"Shut it sis, we're having a moment here…"
"Do share with us then" Carolyn prompted the couple smiling as well.
"I was just telling Derek how glad I am to have invited you…"
"She must be under some kind of influence, or maybe she caught a bug at work" Derek muttered "I don't know why else she'd be happy to have Liz over" he smirked.
"Very funny bro!" she started to retort, but her mother interrupted her "We're delighted to be here with you guys as well and I'm overjoyed to be able to enjoy Zola's first proper Christmas with you" she said taking her granddaughter in her arms and giving her a big hug that the little girl reciprocated right away "'wuv iu nana" she added, making everybody swoon.
"I'd like to propose a toast, even though we're all drinking coffee or milk… a toast to family. I didn't have the luck to grow up in a loving environment, my friends and Derek became my family once I moved here and now you've become my family and Zola's family as well. They say that a poor man can be considered rich if he has family, so… here's to us and to our family and to the many more family events we'll enjoy together" said Meredith beaming.
They all clinked their mugs with one another and smiled as the kids replicated their gesture with orange juice.
The guests started to arrive a little after 1 p.m., since they had organized a late lunch who would later turn into a light dinner as well. The firsts to arrive were Alex, Cristina and Owen; she was carrying a bag full of presents, Alex was holding three bottles of wine and Owen an enormous cheesecake.
"Merry Christmas guys!" Derek exclaimed opening the door, he looked festive wearing a crisp white shirt underneath a red sweater and navy blue pants.
"Merry Christmas" the three of them answered smiling and getting inside.
"Come on in…" he closed the door and led them to the kitchen where they put the things they had brought along.
"Let me take your coats" Derek went on, proceeding to take them to the threshold's closet.
"Where is everybody?" asked Owen, looking at the tables already set in the dining room area. They were a triumph of red, green and gold, with some white and silver mixed in; two beautiful butcher's broom centerpieces adorned with a red candle each and lots of golden flecks stood in the middle of the two tables.
"They're changing" was Derek's short answer "can I offer you anything to drink?"
"I thought you'd never ask" said Cristina plopping herself down on a stool "it looks like Santa threw up in here!" she added smirking at Derek.
"Is red wine okay?" he asked ignoring her sneer.
"Don't you have a beer?"
"Don't be a pain Alex! Red wine is fine…" Cristina retorted right away.
"Nah, it's fine… Mere's got beer especially for you" Derek reassured Alex grabbing a beer from the refrigerator and handing it to the younger guy, he then went on to open a bottle of California Merlot and poured three glasses, offering two of them to Cristina and Owen.
"Your wife knows me too well" said Alex after he had taken a swig of his beer. As he settled the bottle down to take a look around the festive atmosphere surrounding him he heard a voice shouting his name, the voice belonged to one of his favorite people in the whole world. "Unca Ales!" Zola ran out of her room, after she had spotted Alex and launched himself in his arms. She was wearing a plaid green and red dress, topped with a bright red cache coeur, green tights and red ballet flat, she also had a matching plaid hairband with a bow.
"Don't you look amazing princess!" exclaimed Derek grinning.
"Fanks dada" she grinned back, still grasping Alex's shoulders.
"Merry Christmas Zozo" said Alex, hugging her fiercely.
"Mery 'mas unca Ales" she answered kissing him on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas Miss Zola" added Owen, giving her a kiss on the cheek as well.
"Mery 'mas unca Wen"
"Merry Christmas little one" said Cristina getting close to them and taking the little girl in her arms in order to give her a big hug.
"Mery 'mas ant Tina" she said giving Cristina a wet, sloppy kiss.
"Guess what?" her godmother went on.
"Wat?"
"Santa left some presents for you and your cousins and even your parents at our house…"
"Yeah, silly Santa" added Alex poking the little girl in the stomach, making her giggle loudly; Derek was snapping pictures madly and failed to notice Meredith coming out of Zola's room as well. She was wearing a forest green halter neck dress, the bodice clinging to her slender frame perfectly, a green belt made of the same silk from the dress rested on her waistline, while the skirt was ample and fluttering, almost impalpable; to top it off she was wearing a red shawl that matched her flats and dark green tights.
"Wow Mere, you look amazing" whispered Alex staring at his friend.
"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself either!" she exclaimed winking.
"iu pwety mama" added Zola grinning.
"Thank you baby, you look really pretty as well"
"Did you lose your tongue Shepherd?" asked Owen seeing that Derek was indeed speechless.
His friend's voice snapped him out of his reverie, he put the camera down on the counter, closed the distance separating him from Meredith and gave her soft kiss a long hug "you look amazing Mere, this dress is perfect, where did you get it? And, most importantly, when do I get to take it off?" he whispered huskily.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out" she chanted in a sing-song voice; he pouted and kissed her once more, before insisting to take some more pictures in front of the fireplace. They took pictures just the three of them, but also all together, pictures of Zola alone and of their little girl with Alex, Cristina and Owen. When Carolyn, Liz and the rest of the family came out they took even more pictures until Zola finally confessed "I ungry dada, no mor ptures"
Everybody laughed at her cuteness and Derek surrendered, putting the camera down "I'm sorry princess, but we'll have to wait for another while to eat. Arizona, Callie and Sofia aren't here yet and Richard, Bailey, Ben and Tuck are coming as well and Jackson and April should come here in the afternoon …"
"But we do have presents for you to open" Cristina reminded her, Zola gave a shriek of happiness and went to sit down on the carpet in front of the tree taking Emma, Spencer, Samantha and Evan with them.
Minutes after, as Zola and he cousins were opening presents and Derek was once again snapping thousands of pictures, Alex's phone ringed. He glanced at the screen not recognizing the number "hello?" he asked unsure.
"Alex? It's me… Amber" the voice on the other side of the line was even less sure.
"Hi Amber… Merry Christmas" he quickly recovered from the shock of hearing his sister's voice.
"Merry Christmas to you as well Alex… I got your card and your presents and… you didn't have to, but thank you"
"Of course I had to, you're my baby sister! So where are you celebrating?
"I'm at a friend's house in Des Moines, I'm staying here until New Year's day"
"That's good, I'm glad you have somebody to spend the day with… next year we should actually be together, it has been too long" he said and, after a small pause, he went on "how is college going?"
"Good, really well actually… this is the other reason why I wanted to call actually" she answered a little hesitant.
"What is it Amber? Do you have any problems with your scholarship at school?"
"No, don't worry I don't. It's just that I've been accepted to the University of Washington in Seattle…"
"This is great news Amber, when are you coming?"
"At the beginning of January, I'll do my last semester of pre-med there, then I'll start med school in the fall"
"That's amazing little sister, I'm so proud of you" he grinned widely.
"Thanks…" she mumbled and then she went on "do you happen to know a place where me and my friend Riley could stay until September? We'll only have housing at the university in the fall…"
"You can definitely stay at my house, there's a lot of free space… that is if you don't mind of course"
"I wouldn't mind at all, would you?" she sounded concerned.
"Of course not, I do have a crazy roommate though, be prepared" he smiled, relieved that his sister was coming to live with him even if just for a little while.
"That's okay, it can't be worse than college kids" she reassured her big brother.
"So, when exactly are you planning on getting here?"
"Riley and I will leave her parents' house on January 1st and we'll drive up to Seattle… it's almost 1800 miles and I think it will take us five, maybe six days. We were planning to stop in Yellowstone for a couple of nights maybe…"
"That's cool, is this your cell phone number?"
"Yup" she answered quickly.
"All right then, we'll be in contact by phone and, once you get to Seattle, you can come at the hospital where I work and I'll take you guys home. Sounds like a plan?"
"Sounds perfect" he could hear the satisfaction in her voice.
"I'm really happy about this Amber… I missed you in these last years" he confessed.
"So did I…"
"I'll see you soon"
"Yeah… enjoy your Christmas Alex"
"You too sis… bye"
"Goodbye…"
After they had hung up he stared at the cell phone screen for a while, lost in thought, he recovered when Meredith came next to him "everything all right?"
"Yeah, it was Amber…"
"Amber… your sister Amber?"
"Yes…"
"Care to elaborate? Or am I going to have to pull out every single word from you?"
"She wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas, thanking me for her presents…"
"What did you get her?" she inquired sitting on the stool next to him.
"I got her gift cards for Sephora and Abercrombie, I had no clue about what to get to a 20 year old" he answered already defending himself.
"You could have asked" she winked at him.
"Next time…"
"There will be a next time?" she questioned.
"Yeah, she's been accepted by the University of Washington and she'll be here in early January"
"That's great!"
"It is. She'll finish pre-med here and start med school in the fall… she's always been crazy smart, she is finishing pre-med in three years instead of four"
"Must take after her brother!" she beamed and he smiled at her, genuinely happy "family is really good Alex" she reassured him.
"I know, I've learned that here. I didn't have it growing up, but I plan to do my best to help my little sister…"
"You can always count on me"
"I know Mere, same goes for you… all right?"
"You're the brother I never had" she confided.
"And you're like a sister to me, I don't even know where I would be if it hadn't been for you"
"Don't even mention it…"
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Callie, Arizona, Sofia, Richard, Miranda, Ben and Tucker.
"We it nao dada?" asked Zola innocently when the seven of them had settled inside the house.
"Yes princess, now we can definitely eat! Go pick a place at the kids' table"
"Sof I sit wif iu" she said grabbing her friend by the hand and introducing her to her cousins.
Later in the day, after the turkey had been eaten, the kids were playing in the play room and the adults were enjoying small talk. The sudden ring of the doorbell had Derek getting up to welcome the latest guests "Hey Jackson, April… we're glad you made it" he grinned letting them in; they were both soaked since it had been raining heavily all day.
"We escaped the hospital as soon as we could" said April, placing a bag full of gifts on the floor.
"It was crazy, like all holidays are" added Jackson, giving Derek a box full of cupcakes in order to take off his coat.
"You can get warmed up now" Derek assured them, pointing towards the roaring fire.
"You didn't have to bring anything" added Meredith coming to great them.
"Well, presents are a must" April replied matter-of-factly, hugging Meredith and wishing her Merry Christmas.
"And I happen to know that these are Zola and Sofia's favorite cupcakes, I'm sure the other kids will enjoy them as well" added Jackson grinning.
"Zola's mom is very fond of these cupcakes as well" Meredith gave a hug to Jackson as Derek placed the box on the counter.
"Merry Christmas everybody" the newly arrived greeted the guests sitting at the table in the dining room; a series of wishes, hugs and kisses were exchanged, along with the introduction of April and Jackson to the members of the Shepherd family they didn't know yet.
"Have you guys had lunch?" asked Carolyn worried like any mother would be.
"We actually haven't had time"
"Then let me warm up some turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans for you, how does that sound?"
"Heavenly" they both answered frankly as they sat down.
While the older woman proceeded to heat up some food for April and Jackson they started to tell the strangest tales of Christmas at the hospital.
"This one guy managed to get burns all over his upper body because he had connected too many festive lights to one socket; yesterday night the lights were not functioning properly, he went to check out why and ended up in the ER" Jackson was explaining this when Carolyn got back in the kitchen with two steamy plates.
"Thank you so much Mrs. Shepherd" April said right away.
"Yeah, thanks a lot" added Jackson, his mouth already watering from the smell that had hit his nostrils.
"Here is some homemade bread" added Meredith passing them the sunflower seed bread she had made with Carolyn, Liz and the kids.
"Do you care for some wine?" asked Derek.
They both nodded, their mouths full "yes please" said Jackson, who managed to swallow first.
"Is red all right?"
"Perfect" answered April, before turning to Carolyn "everything is delicious" she complimented.
"It really is Mrs. Shepherd" added Jackson "reminds me of Christmas at my grandparents' growing up" he smiled fondly.
"I'm glad to hear that, but I was helped a lot, so you should compliment the hosts and Liz and Scott as well"
"This bread is amazing Meredith" Jackson managed to say before putting another piece of it in his mouth.
"We followed a special recipe, it's been in the Shepherd family for quite some time" confided Liz.
"My mom always used to make bread as well when I was growing up" whispered April.
"Am I seriously the only one who didn't have a loving mother who baked and cooked and read bedtime stories?" snorted Meredith, grinning nevertheless.
"Don't forget me" Alex piped in, taking a sip from the red wine he had been drinking with lunch.
"And me" added Cristina "my mom loved her manicure too much to bake… I did have a wonderful nanny who did though"
"My mom never baked either" threw in Jackson "my grandma did though and she taught me and my siblings"
"I baked with my grandma as well" reminisced Miranda smiling.
"So did I" said Callie grinning "Christmas was always very special in the Torres household"
"It was very characteristic at the Robbins residence as well, but the only tradition we had was to spend it together, every year" Arizona had a sad smile gracing her features "it was never the same after Tim died" she mumbled.
"It was the same for us" said Liz "after dad died it was hard for a couple of years, wasn't it?" she turned to her brother who merely nodded "Christmas was his favorite holiday"
"We shouldn't dwell on sad thoughts today, it is a joyous day after all" Richard's voice woke everybody from their reminiscing.
"You're absolutely right!" exclaimed Owen.
Later, after Jackson and April had finished their second helpings of turkey and the table had been rid from the remains of lunch, the adults were chatting some more, when Tuck came into the dining room "is it dessert time yet? We really want to try all the cakes!"
Meredith grinned and got up "yeah Tuck, go call all of them, we'll get the cakes ready"
Seven excited pairs of feet could be heard running as Meredith and Cristina were putting the plates and forks for dessert on the table, Owen was opening a magnum bottle of champagne, Jackson was retrieving the cupcakes and Callie, Liz and Arizona were helping Carolyn bringing the cakes on the table.
"There you guys are! We were going to eat dessert all by ourselves" joked Scott ruffling Spencer's hair; they were all out of breath, their cheeks glowing pink, hair messy, smiling brightly.
"I beat Evan at tennis on the Wii dad!" Spencer cried out excitedly.
"Great job, buddy!" Liz complimented her youngest son.
"I still want a rematch baby brother" Evan winked at him sitting down.
"We'll see about that…" the other retorted retrieving the digital camera he had gotten as a Christmas present.
" 'Pens tax pturs like dada" Zola pointed out the obvious, settling down next to Sofia who giggled along with her.
"Yeah miss Zola, we have a photographer in the making" Liz confided.
"Tak a ptur of me an' Zo" asked Sofia politely, looking at Spencer, who happily obliged.
"Okay guys, who wants pumpkin pie?" asked Arizona. Several hands shoot up and she started to give out slices.
"How about apple pie?" asked Callie proceeding to give out slices as well.
Carolyn came over with the cheesecake Owen had brought, while Liz brought over the festive cookies and Jackson went to show Zola and Sofia the cupcakes he had gotten.
"An elf might have told me you guys love these cupcakes" he whispered in a conspiratorial tone to the two little girls.
They both shrieked in happiness and reached for a vanilla cupcake covered with a hot pink raspberry frosting, grinning wildly.
"Fanks unca Jax" said Zola giving him a wet kiss.
"Ya fanks iu" added Sofia kissing him as well.
"You're very welcome girls" he grinned and turned to the other kids "how about you guys? There is vanilla with raspberry frosting, chocolate with peanut butter frosting, red velvet, mocha with espresso frosting and pumpkin with cream cheese frosting" he explained.
They each reached for a cupcake and said their thank yous "if you want some more, just ask" he winked and went back to sit down.
After the desserts had been eaten, the kids noticed that it had stopped raining and it wasn't dark yet.
"Can we go play outside for a little while?" asked Evan eager to try out the new football and basketball he had received.
"It's probably really muddy guys" Scott sounded apologetic.
"What if we change?" proposed Sam.
"You still won't be able to play football and I'm afraid uncle Derek doesn't have a hoop for you to use" answered Liz.
"How about this... you go change and we'll go exploring a bit, how does it sound?" said Alex.
They all nodded excitedly and the older kids ran up to put on something more casual "don't forget to put on wellingtons!" Liz reminded them.
"Tuck can borrow something from Spencer if he doesn't have anything" said Carolyn smiling at the quiet boy.
"Can I mama?" he asked.
"Of course" Miranda agreed "we'll ask him when he comes back down, I'm glad you have your boots though"
"Here Zozo let's go change and lend something to Sofia as well…" said Meredith getting up followed by Arizona.
Ten minutes later the kids were all changed in jeans and sweatshirts, they had on raincoats and boots and they were expecting Alex and Jackson who were going to accompany them.
"Don't go too far" Derek advised the two men as he handed them some flashlights.
"And please carry the little ones if they get too tired" added Callie.
"We will, don't worry… we'll be back in a little while, I think it's going to be dark soon" Jackson reassured them, putting three flashlights in his pocket.
"Have fun guys!"
"We will!"
At the end of dinner all kids were pretty much exhausted and they had decided to go watch a movie in the basement, the adults were sipping coffees and teas and just enjoying the quiet.
"This was one of the best Christmases ever" said Carolyn smiling.
"Indeed it was" Owen agreed right away.
"I'm glad you've all been a part of it" added Meredith sipping her herbal tea.
"Yeah it has been perfect…" Derek agreed and then he whispered in her ear "do you still want to wait to tell them?"
She shook her head "maybe we could tell them" she whispered back.
"What's with the secrecy?" asked Cristina.
They both grinned at her and put their mugs down "Meredith and I have something to tell you…"
"I'm pregnant. Zola will be a big sister"
A confused chorus of congratulations exploded, followed by people getting up to go hug them.
"This is so great Mere" whispered Cristina hugging her.
"I thought you didn't hug…" she retorted.
"Ah well, you made me weaker, what can I say!"
"Congratulations McDreamy" she added hugging Derek as well.
"You deserve it guys" added Alex hugging them both.
"You even get to be godfather this time!" Meredith winked at him.
"For real?"
"Yeah, we wanted to wait to ask you, but… that's the plan, if you want of course"
"Are you kidding? I'd be honored" he hugged her once more.
"I think this calls for another toast" said Richard.
"Yeah, let's open some more champagne" added Owen and ho got up to do so.
If anybody had been looking through the window that Christmas night he would have only been able to see pure joy shared by the people celebrating over there. Yes, they had had a tough year and lost some of their own, but they were going to come through stronger than before.
So this was my longest chapter yet, I thought you deserved it though, since you had to wait for so long. I hope you liked it, it's pretty hard to write dialogues having so many people around, but I hope I did an okay job, drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. Also, Alex is reuniting with his sister, it will be a key for his character development as well. And Meredith and Derek shared their news because it's Christmas and they're celebrating and Meredith is not afraid of losing the baby anymore. Stay tuned for Boxing Day with the Thompsons and the rest of the holidays.
