Thanksgiving day brought the homecoming football game against their rival prep school, Seattle Prep. The rain was pouring down as Meredith got dressed in her room, layering thermals and sweatshirts under her rain jacket, pulling on three pairs of socks before tucking her feet into her rainboots. Her face was free of makeup as she French braided her hair into two braids, grabbing an apple as she made her way out to her car and drove to the school. Rushing out of her car to the field, she found Addison and ducked under her umbrella, the two girls looking out for Mark and Derek. The game had started and they were in the second quarter; it was muddy and wet and Meredith wrinkled her nose. God, she hated the weather here.
At half time the band played and Derek wandered over to the fence. He was soaking wet and covered in mud and Meredith had to laugh. She had to admit, she was pretty wet herself, her wet hair running down her freezing cold back.
"So, since your mom is most likely at the hospital, you should come over for Thanksgiving dinner. My mom is a pretty good cook and you can meet the rest of my sisters," he smiled, and she blushed deeply but nodded.
"I'll be there," she smiled, leaning over and giving him a kiss before he was called back into the game. She and Addie tried to keep each other warm during the rest of the game, which Seattle Waldorf won.
After the game, Meredith went home and took the longest shower of her life, since she was freezing cold, wet, and slightly muddy. Taking the time to do her hair was fun; she blew it dry with curlers and let the brown-blonde waves hang down her back. Next came makeup, natural but not too natural, with a slightly pink nude lip. She had already met two of his sisters, Lizzie was sweet and she and Amelia got along well, but she was nervous to meet his oldest sisters and his mom. According to Amelia, Nancy, who was the oldest, was married and had a two year old, so she had a lot of people to impress today.
Standing in front of the closet she grabbed a black lace dress with long sleeves that zipped up the side, pulling on gray tights and zipping up black with gold-plating high-heeled ankle boots. Spraying herself with some perfume, she added a long necklace with a key on it that said 'Strength' and a few bangle bracelets, before heading downstairs, grabbing a coat and scarf, and climbing into her car. Derek's house was close and she was there in notime, noticing the extra cars in the driveway. She parked in front of the house and walked up the damp driveway carrying the apple pie that the cook had insisted she bring, knocking gently on the door, immediately regretting her decision to come to dinner. Even if she hadn't though, she'd spend a lonely dinner by herself in her room, with her mom at the hospital.
Fortunately, Derek answered the door and his face lit up when he saw it was Meredith.
"Hi!" he said, wrapping his arms around her. She broke into a smile and wrapped an arm around him, not wanting to drop the pie.
"Happy Thanksgiving," she smiled happily up at him as he took the pie from her and led her into the kitchen. There were his mother and another sister, Kathleen she guessed because she didn't have the harried look of a mother about her. Again though, she looked exactly like the rest of the family. His mother, she was pleasantly surprised, had blonde hair and blue eyes and a soft, gently face. No wonder she was one of her mothers favorite nurses.
"Mom, this is Meredith Grey," he said and his mother turned around with a smile as he set the pie on the counter with a million other desserts. She turned and looked at Carolyn Shepherd, blushing slightly. Derek left the room to get something done, leaving her to the vultures.
"You look just like your mother, but I imagine if you've captured Derek's heard you're at least a million times nicer than she is." Meredith couldn't help but laugh at how true that was, and she decided immediately that she liked her.
"Thank you for inviting me for Thanksgiving, Mrs. Shepherd," she said warmly.
"Please, call me Carolyn. And if I know your mother at all she'll be at the hospital for the next 48 hours. This is Kathleen by the way, Derek said you've already met Lizzie, and Nancy is in the other room with her daughter," she smiled. Meredith turned to Kathleen to shake her hand, but she was enveloped in a hug.
"Please, any girlfriend of Derek's is great in my book. He's really taken by you, from the way he talks about you," Kathleen said with a smile. She was tiny like Meredith, with the Shepherd signature dark curly hair and piercing blue eyes.
"I'm finishing up my masters this year at Cornell, I'll be a psychologist. Maybe I'll go to med school for psychiatry," she said with a shrug.
"What's your plan?" Meredith blushed deeply.
"I was accepted early decision to Dartmouths eight year pre med and med program," she said, blushing deeply. Carolyn raised a brow.
"And does this have anything to do with Derek accepting Bowdoin?" she teased, and Meredith blushed deeper.
"Perhaps," she said, as Derek came up behind her.
"Come on, let's go meet Nancy and Andrew and my niece Alena," he smiled, taking her hand and leading her to the living room. Meredith felt shy as Nancy stood up; she looked like the rest of the family, except her hair was cut to her chin but she had the Shepherd eyes. Her husband was tall and brunette, and there was a little girl with curly black hair sitting on the floor playing with dolls.
"This is Meredith," he said, and Nancy got up to give her a hug and a smile.
"Hi, I'm Nancy. I live back in Connecticut, I'm an OB/GYN," she said with a smile, before lifting Alena into her arms.
"This is Alena," she grinned, and Alena reached out for Derek who took her and Meredith couldn't help but smile. Kids terrified her, she thought she would screw them up like her mother had screwed her up, but she thought as long as they weren't hers they were sweet and adorable.
"She's precious," she admitted, nervously playing with one of her bracelets. I was a habit she had and Derek watched her, knowing she was nervous meeting his family and he slid an arm around her waist, passing his niece back to Nancy.
"Come on, let's go upstairs," he smiled, taking her hand and leading her to the back stairs and up to his room. Once here, she sat on the edge of his bed, still nervous as hell about his family.
"Mer, calm down. They like you. You wouldn't be here still if they didn't." She let out a small laugh, releasing a long breath she hadn't known she had been holding.
"I know, I know it's just. I'm not good with families. Or people. Or anyone. I'm just that bitchy girl from school," she laughed, shaking her head. He smirked and swooped in for a kiss.
"You aren't that bitchy girl from school to me. Not anymore, at least. You're my girlfriend named Meredith and I love you," he stated, and she looked up at him with a smile.
"I love you too," she whispered, still hardly daring to say it lest it not be true. But it was, and falling in love with Derek was the best thing that she had ever experienced up until now.
They stayed in his bedroom, cuddling and watching movies until it was time for dinner, when she had to be with the entire family, which made her anxious beyond belief. She took her seat between Derek and Amelia and tried to settle the nerves in her stomach as the meal began.
She really had nothing to worry about; the Shepherd's adored her, something which surprised her, but she felt herself easing up as they ate and the sisters questioned her and she felt herself smiling more and more, Derek squeezing her hand under the table.
Once dinner was over, Meredith was quick to help clear the table and help with the dishes, getting to know Derek's sisters better. They were so nice, his family was so charming and perfect, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Carolyn noticed but didn't pester her about it; she had an inkling about what the tears meant. Meredith had never had a real Thanksgiving, let alone a Christmas or a birthday that she could even remember and she knew how much this meant to her. She watched her all night, the way she interacted with everyone including Derek, and she couldn't think of a more perfect person for Derek. If only she knew how she used to act before she had met him.
Meredith stayed late into the night, not even realizing how late it had gotten. She looked at her phone at 10:30 and her eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh, I feel terrible for overstaying!" she apologized, jumping up from the couch. Derek jumped up with her and wrapped his arms around her as she said goodbye to his sisters. When she got to Carolyn she wrapped her in a giant hug.
"Thank you for an amazing holiday," she smiled, brushing her bangs out of her face. Carolyn hugged her back tightly with a smile.
"Of course, Meredith, you're always welcome here. Don't ever forget that." Meredith smiled as Derek grabbed her hand, getting her coat for her as she stood by the front door. Old school pictures of all five kids lined the hallway and she giggled at Derek as a kid, his curly hair wild. He came back and she slid into the wool coat, buttoning it up, before standing on her tip toes and locking him in a kiss.
"Thank you, for my first Thanksgiving ever," she smiled and he cupped her chin, drawing her into a long kiss by the front door, away from his family.
"Now I can't wait for Christmas," he teased her, and she giggled.
"I love you," she whispered giddily.
"I love you too," his words tickling her ear, warming her up as she slid out the front door and dashed through the rain to her car. Once in the drivers seat she sat back and sighed happily. Maybe the holidays this year wouldn't suck the way they usually did, she thought, as she put on a song and started the drive home.
Poor Meredith had her first ever Thanksgiving with all the Shepherd sisters! But she survived ;) Don't know what's up next but I hope you like it!