AN: Thank you as usual for the nice reviews, they do make my day, it's nice to see you're enjoying what I'm writing. So without further ado, here is the latest chapter.

Christmas day was coming to an end and Meredith found herself getting melancholy at the thought. They had shared an amazing day with their family and friends and Zola had had a blast, playing with her cousins, Sofia and Tuck. All the guests had left, some of them were coming back the following day to eat leftovers and meet Meredith's half sister and her family. The kids were already in bed, all of them exhausted after a fun day together. The dishwasher had been loaded three times already, the tables had been cleared and the floor had been vacuumed. Carolyn, Derek, Liz and Scott were all enjoying one last warm cup of coffee sprinkled with cinnamon, while she was drinking her favorite beloved vanilla tea.

"It was a great Christmas" Scott said after a while.

They all nodded pensively "it was" agreed Carolyn setting her mug down, leaning into Derek's side to give him a one-armed hug.

"It was the best Christmas ever" threw in Meredith smiling "I don't remember having this much fun since I was five…" she added stifling a yawn.

"Tired?" asked Derek; she only nodded covering yet another yawn "I was always tired in the first months of my pregnancies" Liz piped in.

"So I noticed"

"Want to go to bed?" asked Derek setting his mug on the coffee table next to his mother's one.

"Yeah" she agreed finishing her tea as well.

"Go ahead, I'll put these in the sink" Carolyn reassured them.

"Thanks" Meredith smiled gratefully as she accepted a hug from her mother in law.

"Goodnight guys" said Scott getting up with his and Liz's empty mugs.

"Night" they both answered as they disappeared behind their bedroom door.

Once they were in their bedroom, Derek took a moment to just look at his beautiful wife as she was changing out of her stylish dress and into comfortable pajamas for the night.

"I think Zola had an awesome time" he finally said coming out from his reverie.

"Definitely! Did you see how big her smile was even when she was exhausted as we put her to bed?!" she grinned at him getting inside the en-suite to brush her teeth.

He took off his shirt and followed her into the bathroom to brush his teeth as well; after they were done they went back in the room and got under the covers.

"Did you have fun today?" she asked snuggling into him.

"Mmmh... it was really good, how about you?"

"It was perfect, the best Christmas in a very long time" she assured him.

"I agree... I only wish Lexie and Mark were here"

"Yeah, I do too" she whispered "they would have enjoyed themselves so much... I like to think they are at least together now, wherever they are"

"I like to think that too and I'm also sure that they're watching over us, along with my dad and your mom..."

"I'm not so sure about my mom" she stated quietly and she added "I know you don't like to all about your father's death, but I feel like I don't know much about him and how he was"

"He was the best dad ever" he quickly answered, then he paused briefly "he knew that it was hard to be the only boy in the family for me so every year for my birthday he would organize an all men weekend, at first just the two of us and then with Mark as well" he reminisced.

"And what would you do in those all men weekends?"

"We'll, we usually went camping somewhere on Friday and spent all Saturday and Sunday morning fishing and exploring and then we ended the weekend with a basketball game at Madison Square Garden"

"Wow! Sounds like fun... I, of course, never had that growing up" she wrinkled her nose scratching it.

"We could start a tradition with our kids though" she added looking straight into his eyes.

"I'd like that" he smiled feeling his heart swell with the love he had for her "I already see you having SPA weekends with Zola in like fifteen years" he went on.

"You do, huh?" she grinned "I hope this baby is a boy so you can start having all men weekends with him" she said sincerely.

"You know I'll be thrilled either way" he reassured her "if the baby is a girl I'll have another princess to spoil rotten like I'm doing with our Zozo"

"I have no doubt about that" she retorted right away.

"Are you saying I spoil her too much?"

"Nope, you spoil her just enough!" she giggled.

"Are you mocking me?" he shot back half indignantly and half laughing.

"Maybe" she conceded laughing as well.

"You shall be punished for this" he threatened her grinning as he started tickling her mercilessly.

She shrieked with laughter, trying in vain to stop him with her tiny ineffectual fists "Stop, please!" she managed to mutter in between bouts of uncontrollable hearty laughter.

He finally decided to stop and found himself looking in her green eyes, bright because of all the laughing, her cheeks were rosy and her pink lips were too inviting to resist, so he kissed her. He kissed her like that time in the elevator, when she accused him of sexually harassing her. He kissed her like a teenager would kiss his first love, thinking it will never be over. He kissed her like there was no tomorrow and he would like nothing else better than dying with his lips pressed to hers. He kissed her hard and long, just like she liked it. And she kissed him back. Smiling into the kiss. Moaning loudly into his mouth. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, pulling it. When oxygen became a necessity he stopped the kiss abruptly, giving her one last peck on the lips. And he found himself staring into the clear pools of her green eyes. She was panting as she grinned at him.

"I love you so much" she confessed when she was finally able to catch her breath.

"I love you just as much" he answered right away giving her a long hug, letting his nostrils fill up with her comforting lavender scent.

"Thank you again for doing this" he added, he was talking about Christmas and she knew that, so she just nodded as she hugged him back.

"How is your arm by the way? I forgot to ask today... does that make me a bad wife?"

"No it doesn't, you could never be a bad wife" he reassured her right away "and the arm is fine"

"Fine, fine or Meredith fine?" She pressed and he burst out laughing.

"It's not too bad" he said after he was done.

"On a scale from 1 to 10?" she asked.

"I'd say a 5... no actually a 4"

"Are you serious? That's good news" she grinned.

"I know, it really is" he murmured before closing the distance separating them with one more kiss. This time it was slow and passionate. She let him enter her mouth and he caressed her with the slow movements of his tongue. He turned them around allowing her to be on top of him, in order for his bandaged arm to rest on the mattress. He used his good hand to caress the small of her back, making her shiver, goose bumps forming on every inch of her skin.

"Take me for a ride, Derek" she moaned into his ear as he was kissing her neck. He just grumbled incoherently in response as she took off both of their pajama tops.

The following morning Carolyn was up a little after sunrise. The older woman loved the early hours of the day. She liked to start her day with a cup of strong, black coffee and the morning paper. She had been reading on the sofa for a little while when she heard the shuffling of little feet on the stairs. She turned around and she came face to face with Emma and Samantha.

"Hi girls, what are you doing up so early?" she asked a little taken aback.

"We went to bed early nana" Sam answered matter-of-factly, plopping herself down on the sofa next to Carolyn.

"Yeah, we're not sleepy anymore" added Emma sitting next to her sister.

"All right then" Carolyn took a look at the time and she saw that it was almost half past seven.

"Do you guys want to help me with breakfast?" she proposed. They both grinned and jumped off from the sofa eager to cook with their nana "Yeah!"

"All right... what shall we make?" she asked.

"Pancakes!" "French toast!" they exclaimed both in unison.

"How about we make both? Let's go check if we've got everything we need" the three of them all went to the kitchen and started to look for ingredients and utensils. After they had found everything, they set to work and Carolyn had to admit that the girls were a great help.

"Nice job with the pancakes batter, Sam! Keep mixing the eggs like that Ems!" she praised them both.

"Thanks nana, I'm mixing it like uncle Derek explained us yesterday" answered Sam who had helped with the Christmas breakfast with Emma as well.

A little while later, as they were getting ready to turn on the stove, Emma heard some babbling come from Zola's room.

"I think Zola is up, nana" the girl put her wooden spoon down and she rushed to her little cousin's room, her sister and grandma hot on her tail. They entered the toddler's room and found her, as a matter of fact, sitting in her crib, babbling to herself, smiling.

"Good morning Miss Zola!" Said Carolyn getting close to her.

"Nana... Em... Sah...?" She looked at them confused, but she kept on grinning.

"Hi Zozo" cooed Samantha, getting close to her.

"Hi!" she kept on grinning, she was a very happy baby, she didn't seem to mind that it was not her parents that had entered her room.

"How about we take you out of there little one?" Proposed Carolyn leaning down to gather the girl in her arms.

Zola held her pudgy arms up in order to be picked up and giggled happily as her grandma placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Can we help you change her nana?" asked Sam.

"Yeah nana... can we?" added Emma right away, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Of course, here place her on the changing table, will you?" she answered passing the toddler to Sam who gave her a kiss before setting her down.

"Watcha looking for, nana?" asked Emma following her.

"Something comfy to changer her in... get a diaper for her in that drawer Ems" she said pointing to the top drawer on the dresser under the changing table.

After they had changed Zola in a comfortable pink and purple track suit, they went back to the kitchen were they found Spencer and Evan, they were both drinking orange juice.

"Morning guys, slept well?"

"Yes nana... hi girls, hi Zola" said Spencer placing his glass on the counter.

"Shall we go wake up mom and dad?" asked Evan when he had finished his juice as well.

"What time is it?" Sam answered with another question.

"It's almost 8..."

"Let them sleep" answered Carolyn, settling Zola in her high chair "we'll have breakfast, just the six of us. The pancakes batter is only waiting for the blueberries or the chocolate chips and the French toast just needs to be cooked"

"All right nana, need any help?!"

Derek and Meredith were both woken up roughly at the same time by shrieks of joy coming from the living room area.

"Mmh... morning" mumbled Meredith stretching.

"Good morning" Derek beamed at her "slept well?"

"The best" she answered as her stomach grumbled.

"Somebody's hungry!" he grinned giving her a peck on the lips "let's get you something to eat, it's almost 10 o' clock" he added looking at the time.

"Oh my gosh... what about Zozo?"

"I'm sure she's fine. Didn't you hear her giggle just now?"

"Yeah, but still. We slept in and forgot her, I kinda feel like a bad mom..."

"But you are not of course. You are the best mommy a little girl could ask for... let's go say hello to our princess, come on!" he said getting up and passing the right hand through his tousled hair.

"Thanks, you know?"

"What for?"

"For always reassuring me... I blame all the hormones"

"It's fine Mere, I will always show up, remember? I promised I will. I'll always be here reassuring you, waking up next to you, kissing you, making love to you and just being your husband. There is nowhere else I'd rather be" he said kissing her on the forehead.

"Same goes for me" she whisper giving him a hug, opening the door right after.

What they found outside literally warmed both of them up. Zola was in the middle of a very heated Twister game, along with her cousins and Scott, while Carolyn and Liz were giving directions from the couch, holding the spinner and laughing out loud at the situation.

"Good morning guys, did you sleep well?" asked Liz, who had spotted them first.

"Yeah, the best thanks. And you?!" answered Derek for the both of them.

Meredith was kneeling next to an over giddy Zola "hi baby girl, did you sleep all right?" she asked as the baby wiggled since she was currently standing with a little foot on a green spot and the other on a yellow one.

"Hi mama... me play!" she beamed, clearly excited, pointing at the board where she was standing,

"I see that baby, are you having fun?"

"Huh, huh" she nodded grinning wide.

"Morning you guys, everything all right?" she asked looking at her nephews and brother in law.

She received a chorus consisting of various affirmative answers along with "we made breakfast" coming from Emma.

"Yes, we saved you some. It's in the microwave already" added Carolyn, as Derek leant down to place a kiss on the top of Zola's head.

"Great, I'm starving" confessed Meredith as her stomach rumbled loudly again, she giggled and shuffled to the kitchen, followed closely by Derek.

She sat at the counter while he proceeded to heat up a stack of chocolate chip pancakes and two pieces of French toast each.

"What flavor do you wish to try today, Madame?" he asked in a really professional tone, turning around a posting to the various kinds of tea they had on display on one of the kitchen shelves.

"What would be your suggestion, Sir?" she played along, grinning.

"Well, a personal favorite of mine is the winter tea..."

"And what would that be?"

"It's our finest black tea infused with cinnamon and orange"

"Sounds heavenly, I'll take that" she paused "thanks again for getting me all that tea supplies for Christmas" she smiled genuinely at him. It was the same smile that had made him fall head over heels in love with her. That smile and her tiny ineffectual fists. But the smile was something else, it was infectious, really. He felt himself getting happier than he already was just by looking at her smiling at him, her eyes were sporting a mischievous look and her cheeks were glowing a healthy pink.

"Does that mean you like the tea better than my other present?" he asked alluding to the platinum necklace with Zola's birthstone he had gotten her. She would have been able to add peanut's birthstone later on and many more if she wanted to.

"You wish!" she giggled loudly and he giggled along with her.

"There you go, Madame" he said reverently, after the water for her tea was ready.

She burst out laughing as she accepted the mug with the tea bag already soaking inside.

Two minutes later Meredith was devouring her fourth pancake "I really hope peanut likes them, cause I am absolutely addicted to them" she confessed in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I hope so too Mere" he whispered back "you'll soon enter the second trimester and the nausea should finally subdue" he tried to comfort her.

"I'm very much looking forward to that"

"Me too, I hate to see you going through that almost every morning..."

"Aww, that's sweet Derek. You really are my knight in shining whatever" she grinned once more.

"I aim to serve" he answered smiling humbly.

"Yeah, either that or the fact that you know I am in this situation because of your stupid boy's penis!" she smirked.

"I beg your pardon?!" he feigned offense.

She just stuck her tongue out and started to attack the French toast on her plate.

He pretended to be hurt by her actions and sniffed.

"You really are a crybaby, you know that?!"

"Am I?"

"Yup" she popped the p just like Zola always did "but you are my crybaby!" she added right after and he felt tears pricking in his eyes.

"You are also a sap" she added grinning.

"It's your own fault woman, you made me the happiest man alive"

"Did I?" she asked genuinely curious, the fork with another piece of French toast stopped mid-air.

"Of course you did. I always hoped to be able to find a woman that would have made me as happy as my parents were when I was growing up. You are it, Meredith. You are exactly that woman. The woman I want to have next to me for the rest of my life, the mother of my children, the love of my life" he let his voice trail off and saw that she had gotten misty eyed.

"I never thought I would have fallen in love. I never let myself even think about that possibility with the crappy childhood I had... but you waltzed into my life and made me see that true love really does exist you know?" her eyes shining with happy tears, the fork laying forgotten on the counter.

"Yeah" he answered softly.

"I guess that what I'm trying to say is thank you for not giving up like everybody else had" she concluded smiling ardently.

"You didn't give up on me either, even if you had all the reasons to" he answered simply, his voice stiff at the memories of those times after Addison had showed up, he had been a fool and she would have had any reason to get on with her life and forget about him.

"I couldn't have, I was already hopelessly in love with you and your mcdreaminess..."

"Is that even a word?" he challenged.

"I'm pretty sure McDreamy is not a word you find on the dictionary either" she retorted.

"Touché... I really am the happiest man in the world" he reinforced.

"And I'm the happiest woman" she added right away "who would have thought that the angry pink-haired teenager would have married the biggest sap in the world?"

He gave a hearty laugh and closed the distance separating them with a long, slow kiss "I love kissing you when you taste like maple syrup" he confessed when they were done.

"And here I was thinking you were a healthnut"

"What can I say? You brought me over to the dark side!"

They both grinned and finished breakfast, before Meredith joined the kids and Scott in the messiest game of Twister ever played.

"Thanks again for getting us a Twister sis" said Derek sitting down next to Liz and turning the arrow on the spinner.

"You bet" she winked at him "every household should possess one, it's a must!"

Later in the day the adults were sitting at the table, after they were done with lunch and the kids were in the playroom trying out the Christmas presents they had received. Cristina, Owen and April were all on call that day, while Alex was going to be on call for the night, Richard and Jackson were having lunch with Catherine Avery and Miranda, Ben and Tuck were spending the day at her parents' house. Carolyn and Derek had gone in the kitchen to start the coffee and Meredith was staring anxiously at the time.

"Is everything all right Mere?" Alex looked at her concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just... I've invited my sister for coffee"

"We know. Molly, right?" asked Callie curiously.

Meredith just nodded as she toyed with her brand new necklace.

"Are you nervous?" asked Arizona, even though it was obvious.

"Yeah a little... actually a lot" she confessed.

"Remember how nervous you were about Lexie as well?" Alex was trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, but she was so adamant to get to know me..."

"Probably being hardheaded is a characteristic shared by all Greys" Alex winked at her.

"Mh..." she was fidgeting, staring out of the window to see if a car was approaching "I hope they didn't get lost" she said to Derek when he came back and sat next to her.

"I'm sure they didn't Mere, he's a former marine" he reminded her. Meredith didn't know how he did it, but just his voice alone was able to calm her down, he had the same effect on Zola, whenever she was cranky Derek's voice could always soothe her. Meredith finally breathed deeply and she smiled nervously at Liz who grinned back encouragingly.

"What is your sister's name Meredith? I'm afraid I've forgotten it" Scott sounded apologetic as Liz playfully swatted his arm.

"Molly, her little girl's name is Laura and her husband is Eric" Meredith answered quickly.

"How old is Laura?" asked Carolyn as she sat back at the table.

"She should be six-ish"

Everybody smiled at the answer Meredith gave. The moment was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Meredith jumped up to go open it and Derek followed her closely. Before opening the door she took a long calming breath, then she smiled at Derek, who placed a hand on the small of her back.

"Hi guys, you made it!" she exclaimed when the Thompsons came into view.

"Hi auntie Meredith" Laura waved at them.

"Hi Laura, did you have a nice Christmas?" she kneeled down to smile at the girl.

"Yeah, I got lots of presents" she answered smiling toothlessly, then she handed her a box "we have muffins"

"The ones you told me about? Great, I can't wait to try them!"

"We've made the banana nut kind, they are Laura's favorite, and we made red velvet and vanilla cupcakes as well" explained Molly.

"Sounds awesome" Meredith smiled.

"Come on in guys" Derek said moving out of the doorway.

"Thanks" Eric answered, hoping much like Derek that the ice had been broken between the two sisters.

Meredith took their coats and she hanged them in the foyer, while Derek guided the three guests towards the table.

"Everybody, these are Laura, Molly and Eric" he introduced them.

A chorus of hellos erupted from the table, as Laura tried to hide behind her father's legs.

"I'll go call the kids" proposed Callie getting up.

Meredith joined them in the living room and smiled at Molly "take a seat guys" she encouraged, pointing to the two empty chairs next to hers.

Molly and Eric both sat down and Laura climbed on her father's lap.

"It's very nice to finally meet you" said Carolyn "I'm Derek's mom" she added.

"Nice to meet you" Molly answered quietly.

"What's your name?" Carolyn was looking at Laura now.

"Laura" she mumbled, her face hidden in her father's sweater.

"She's very shy at first" he tried to explain.

"Most of them are" Liz reassured them.

Before they could answer Callie came back followed by six excited, chatty kids.

"You remember Zola, Laur?!" Molly pointed to the little girl who had launched herself in her father's arms.

Laura nodded timidly.

"Hi, I'm Emma and you are?" Emma had dragged her sister along to come and meet the newcomers.

"Say your name baby" Eric coaxed her and his daughter finally disentangled herself from him and looked at the two older girls "I'm Laura" she finally said and then she added "I brought muffins, I made them with my mommy for aunt Meredith"

"Cool!" Sam grinned "I'm Samantha by the way"

"I'm Spencer and auntie Meredith is our aunt as well" added Spencer coming over and smiling.

"Do you remember Laura Zozo?" asked Derek as he brought the little girl to greet her cousin.

"Laur...?" Zola was confused, but her smile was as big as usual.

"Hi Zola, I 'member you from auntie Lexie's 'neral"

"Anty Lex!" Zola missed her auntie, she didn't fully understand what had happened to her.

"That's right girls" Derek smiled sadly and he quickly changed the subject "who wants dessert?" seven hands shot up in the air and the neurosurgeon bit back a laugh "Go sit at your table then and we'll bring you something" he reassured them. Laura jumped off from her father's lap, Emma grabbed her hand and guided her to the smaller round table the kids had used on Christmas as well. After that talk Laura found herself at ease with Zola, her other cousins and Sofia. They ate cupcakes, muffins and apple pie and it was like Laura had always been part of the group. Molly looked at her and smiled, then she turned to Meredith at a loss of words.

"How's the pregnancy going?" asked the older Grey sister.

"Everything is fine" Molly smiled genuinely.

"How far along are you?" asked Callie.

"28 weeks, but with twins"

"Wow! Congratulations guys" Arizona grinned along with her wife.

"Thanks" Molly smiled and swallowed, trying to prepare herself for the question she was about to ask "so… how was your Christmas Meredith?"

"It was pretty great, best one in a very long time" she tried to smile and then she added "except for Lexie of course... how is Thatcher doing?"

"He's not drinking thankfully, he's holding up somehow. Happy that we decided to come back here, our plan was to stay at the house until we had found a place, but… he actually told us to take the house if we want to, he's looking for a smaller place..." she explained truthfully.

"Sounds like a good plan, you definitely will need the space" the conversation started out a bit awkwardly, but it was going fine. Everybody else was concentrating on different topics allowing the two women to try and catch up with their lives. Next to her Derek was talking animatedly about basketball with Eric, Alex and Scott, in the meantime he was caressing soothingly the small of her back, reassuring her hat he was still by her side, even if he was not intruding. The casual conversation all around the adults table was interrupted by Evan "since it's not raining today and it hasn't rained since last night, can we go play some ball?" he pleaded. The kids were dressed a lot more casually than the day before and the adults understood their need to go out so they gave in. All kids went to put on sneakers, Laura was already wearing them, and all men agreed to take them out to play, Derek would have stayed with the younger kids if they didn't fell like playing. That left the women the chance to talk undisturbed for a while. When two hours later, tired and most of them filthy, wearing a happy grin the men and kids were back, Meredith and Molly had really bonded and they were organizing for Molly and her family to come over for New Year's Eve as well. Scott sent all his kids to get cleaned up, since they were all muddy, Callie offered to go give a bath to both Zola and Sophia and Derek was explaining to Eric where he could take Laura to get a bit cleaned up as well.

"It won't be anything fancy, don't worry" Meredith was reassuring her "and the kids will probably have a lot of fun all together"

"Sounds pretty good to me, what do you say Eric? New Year's Eve here at the Shepherd household" she turned towards her husband who was going upstairs, Laura perched on his shoulders.

"Great! Do we have to bring anything?" Eric felt really at ease with his newfound brother in law and he was happy that Laura had at least a cousin she could bond with.

"We'll discuss the menu tomorrow and let you know" answered Carolyn "although we don't want to tire you too much" she added looking at Molly.

"I'm fine really, it's just that these two are probably going to be soccer players, they enjoy the kicking very much… Laura was a lot calmer"

"Would you like some more tea and coffee?" asked Meredith getting up, seeing that all the women had finished theirs and the men probably would have wanted some.

Everybody nodded affirmatively and she went to the kitchen, followed by Derek and Alex. She went to retrieve some teabags, while Alex put the powder and water in the coffee maker and Derek took out some clean mugs for himself and the other men.

"How was it?" he finally asked.

"Pretty good… she reminds me of Lexie, you know?"

"Yeah? That's good, right?" he arched an eyebrow, leaning on the counter.

"It's really good" she reassured him "thanks for being by my side"

"Always" he smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Her husband is a pretty decent guy too" Alex piped in, joining them as Derek nodded.

"That's good" she looked at the both of them "I sort of really want her to be happy, you know?"

Both of them smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for having me over today as well, by the way" said Alex after a small pause.

"Don't even mention it. You are family" Meredith replied quickly, giving him a hug. Derek looked at the two of them and smiled, he absolutely loved their crazy extended family, even if it included Cristina and, at times, he was still unsure if she liked him or not. He wouldn't change their family with any other in the world; after all they did say that it takes a village to raise a child… right?!

AN: so this was another long-ish chapter for you, I really hope you enjoyed it and, since I'm stuck at work all next week, but lots of people are on vacation already, I'll probably be able to update pretty soon. I hope you enjoyed all the MerDer interaction in the chapter, it needed to be done. Meredith is still a bit unsure of her happiness, we all know why and Derek is her knight in shining whatever and he needs to remind her how happy she's making him. Please press the pretty button and leave me a review, they make my day!