He stood in front of the doorway, the outside of the house was brightly lit with Christmas lights and a giant inflatable snow globe. One arm was occupied by a rather large present that was wrapped disastrously by himself while the other held a bag filled with neatly wrapped presents that the store had offered to wrap. He took a deep breath as he heard the shuffling on the other side of the door, preparing himself for the inevitable interrogation on the absence of his wife. The door opened slightly as a small ray of light shone brightly in the otherwise dark night. A pair of blue eyes appeared staring Derek straight in the eye.

"Hey, Jake. How 'bout you let me in? I'll give you you're present!" Derek said excitedly waving the big bag of presents in front of the little toddler, but instead of being overjoyed like any other 5 year old would be in the sight of presents. Jacob Matthew Black slammed the door in the face of his uncle. Derek jumped back in surprise as the door slammed shut. Two seconds later, the door opened yet again this time a set of hazel eyes stared back at Derek.

"Em, don't you want you're present? If so let Uncle Derek in, please?" Derek pleaded. He felt slightly embarrassed to be begging a 10 year old. Emma Anne Kronski opened the door a peek more to see if Derek would make good of the bribery. He put the bag a little higher so that the 10 year old could see. She contemplated it for a moment before slamming the door in Derek's face.

Derek stood outside a while longer before the door opened yet again. Relief washed over Derek as he saw that this time, the pair of blue eyes belonged to an adult. Surely his own mother would open the door to let him in.

"Hey, mom! Can you please let me in? Me hands are full as you can see." Derek said trying to push his way in, but the short old woman held the door steady, refusing to let it open even the slightest inch more. Her eyes glared at Derek's as Derek looked sheepishly back at her.

"What? No sending your wife to do the dirty work this year? Finally giving her a break? God knows that poor girl deserves one!" Eleanor Shepard yelled at her son. Derek's eyes dropped to the ground, now afraid to look his mother in the eye. Eleanor opened the door just enough to let her get out and closed the door, leaving her and Derek outside.

"Mom, I know what you're going to say, I've just been sort of busy!" Derek reasoned as his mother put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"You've missed Thanksgivings, Christmases, Birthdays, New Years. It's been 5 years since you've even set foot in New York, Derek! The whole family misses you! Where have you been?! Sending you're wife to do you're dirty work! That poor girl! I still remember that first year she came to New York for Thanksgiving without you! You're sisters were like vultures, picking at her, interrogating her, I give her props for even making it through the turkey! Where have you been, Derek?!" Eleanor yelled. Her son hung his head down in shame. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"She left, mom. I hesitated and she left." Derek said as the tears streamed down. He set the presents on the wet snow as he sat down, putting his face in his hands.

"Oh, honey…" She soothed as she rubbed his back.

"What do I do? Mom? Where do I go from here?" He asked.

"Well, fight for her. If you love her, you'll fight."

"But she's gone. I don't know…she just left and I don't know where to."

"If you love her enough, you'll find a way to get back to her. If there's a will, then there's a way."

"But, what if she's already met someone? Someone who can give her everything that I can't?"

"Derek, she was the best thing that ever happened to you. Don't let that go just because of what if's."

"I just…She hates me. Maybe it's just not meant to be."

"Did you love her?" She asked.

"Yeah." Derek whispered softly.

"Derek, did you love her? Now look me straight in the eye and tell me you love her."

"I love her." Derek stated looking his mother straight in the eye.

"Then go get her." She said to her son.

"Right now?"

"Derek, do you want you're wife or not?"

"But what about missing Christmas?" Derek asked.

"I know that you have good intentions coming here Derek, but to tell you the truth, your sisters are infuriated with you. And they're the ones making dinner right now. So although I may love you enough not to come out here and stab you in the thigh with a knife, they on the other hand may just do so. So I would highly advise you to come back later, when all the sharp utensils are put away." She said as her son looked at her in horror.

"I think I'd better come back later." Derek said climbing up.

"Smart boy!"

A/N: Yes, Meredith left. Well she left Derek at least...I will not say whether or not she went on that flight but she did not go back to Derek. As for the whole Mrs. Shepard and Meredith thing, Derek has kind of been sending Meredith to the holiday things for his family while he stayed behind 'working'. Eleanor is encouraging Derek to go find Meredith and if you kind of see, she's not really surprised, because she knew that this was a long time coming, but she didn't say anything because well it wasn't her place. And this was something that Derek needed to figure out on his own. In the end, Eleanor tells Derek that he needs to fight for her, find her. She doesn't know about the pregnancy or the McSex with the McEx but she does know that Meredith was the best thing that has ever happened to Derek. Also, the slamming of the doors was more of a way of showing how hated Derek is right now in his family. So much so that even his 5 year old nephew isn't tricked by his bribery!

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