Nicole's A/N: Don't worry, guys, this story will not be forgotten. We already have quite a few chapters banked. I'm dedicated to making sure this story is finished. I'm hoping it'll be finished by the end of the year. Thank you for sticking with us!


Chapter 11


Meredith's thoughts swayed back and forth from wanting to kiss her husband to wanting to kill him as she obsessively altered her gaze between the clock on the wall, her watch, and her iPhone. He said he would call first, and she believed this was a promise her husband would keep. Time kept passing, and he hadn't called, yet.

They weren't going to fight. They definitely were not going to fight with the children in the same room. That was not going to happen. Meredith would make sure of it.

If Derek ever freaking called, like he promised. Maybe this, too, would end up just being another broken promise. Derek was sure getting good at breaking his promises.

Hopefully he wasn't in a freaking car accident, Meredith worried. Driving on the day after Christmas from New York to DC couldn't be an easy ride.

Assuming he actually showed up, Amelia would also be there to mediate them, which could either be a good or a bad addition. When Amelia heard that Derek and Meredith had arranged to have Christmas over Skype on December 26th, she was quick to insist she be part of the celebration. At first Meredith wasn't thrilled, because she wanted Derek to herself, but Amelia was Derek's family, too, so Meredith couldn't say no.

"Can we call Daddy, Mommy?!" Zola eagerly watched Meredith's laptop, which Meredith had propped up almost two hours ago. It was positioned so that the Christmas trees, and all of Derek's presents, would be captured by the webcam.

Meredith was secretly grateful for Derek's desperate attempt to buy their children's love, because otherwise she had no idea how she would have pulled off the Santa thing all on her own. Ever since they'd adopted Zola, Derek had taken on the role of making sure there were plenty of Christmas presents under the tree from Santa Claus.

"Daddy!" Bailey echoed his sister from his playpen, eying in the same direction as his sister with his bright blue eyes.

I'll call first. Promise. Meredith re-read Derek's text from the night before. She squeezed her iPhone, anticipating a message from Derek to come through, giving her some idea of the exact time he planned to call. He usually checked with her before he called attempted to video chat, aware of her unpredictable schedule.

She'd considered calling him first, but he had promised he would call first. It wasn't like he hadn't broken a promise before, though. Something could have come up. It was the day after Christmas; he could have unexpectedly been called into work. She had no idea if government buildings were open the day after Christmas, but she didn't see why they wouldn't be.

Her thumb hovered over the Call widget beside Derek's name. She inhaled a sharp breath; a chill ran up her spine, and she almost jumped out of her skin when her phone vibrated.


Derek always called Meredith on her cell phone before attempting to video chat with her. He never knew where she would be, so he needed to make sure she was in a good place.

His heart rate quickened. He'd entered his tiny studio DC apartment less than five minutes ago, and he was still breathless from the jog he'd made up the stairs since he'd been too impatient to wait for the elevator. Ever since moving to DC, his patience had become thinner and thinner. He thought maybe it was the way of life, since everyone was always in a hurry on the East Coast.

Also, elevators reminded him of Meredith, and every time he stepped on one he secretly hoped she would be on the other side when the door opened, but alas, she never was.

He only liked elevators in Seattle. They did nothing for him here except bring people up and down floors.

Derek blinked. His eyes wandered around his practically empty apartment. He had rented an already furnished apartment, since the majority of his personal belongings were in Seattle sans for what he could fit in his suitcase.

Originally when he was offered this job with the NIH, he and Meredith had planned to purchase a house in Foggy Bottom. Well, he had thought Meredith was on board with the plan. Apparently not, since the plan was scratched when Meredith suddenly took him off guard and declared she was staying in Seattle. He'd decided he couldn't move to DC without his family, so he'd told the president he couldn't come to DC, and the rest was history until a representative from the NIH showed up in Seattle and begged him to reconsider.

He turned down the job again, until he and Meredith got into a huge argument — possibly their biggest yet — and he called the lady back and took the job, then fled to DC without even saying goodbye to the kids until he was already in DC.

Derek would never be able to forgive himself for how he left, but there was nothing he could do about it now. All he could do was try to make things right moving forward, even if it had to be from the opposite coast of his wife and children.

Immediately, he booted his laptop — he hadn't packed it, since he hadn't planned on needing it in New York. One way to be certain he didn't work over the holiday was leaving his laptop in DC.

His plan had backfired.

He reached for his phone in his pocket, and tapped anxiously on the screen to recent calls. He clicked Meredith's name anxiously and her face lit up the screen as his phone's dial tone buzzed.

"Derek?" Relief settled inside Derek's chest when Meredith answered the phone after only half a ring; it must mean that she was waiting for his call.

"Is now a good time?" He inhaled a sharp breath.

"I was just about to call you to see how long you would be. The kids are really excited."

She didn't sound upset, but he couldn't help noticing tension in her voice.

"I really wanted to be home sooner, but the traffic … "

"It's fine, Derek. I get it. Traveling on the day after Christmas is a disaster waiting to happen. I should know."

He was surprised she wasn't at the hospital today, because she was right, the worst car pile ups always happened in the days before and after major holidays. Derek wasn't going to complain. If she were working, they wouldn't be having this conversation, and he wouldn't get to spend the holiday with his family at all, even over Skype.

He wondered if she was worried about him. His heart clenched, hating the idea of worrying her, but he also secretly hoped she had been worried. That meant she still cared. He would love to know she still loved him, despite all the crap they'd been through lately.

Derek couldn't even remember the last time she'd told him she loved him.

"I'm going to call you on Skype right now," he said.


Zola beat Meredith to the computer. She knew how to answer the call; she'd video chatted numerous times with her father while Meredith was at work and the kids were with their sitter.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed.

"Hi, Miss Zola." Meredith heard her husband's voice as she maneuvered to her son's playpen, still out of Derek's view. "Where's your mommy?" Derek asked.

"Getting Bay! See!" Zola turned the computer around toward Meredith, who was now holding Bailey.

"Dada! Dada! Dada!" Bailey clapped.

Meredith sighed. "One sec, I need to get Amelia."

"Amelia? I thought this was just going to be us and the kids?"

"You spent Christmas with the rest of our family in New York. Shouldn't I be part of your Seattle-Skype holiday fiesta? What else am I doing here? I didn't come to Seattle to take over your department, you know. I came to spend more time with my brother, who's not even here. Go figure." Amelia's voice carried down the stairs. "I heard your annoying voice all the way upstairs, by the way. It definitely carries." '

Amelia stomped her way down the stairs.

"Amelia, I didn't mean … "

Maybe Amelia wasn't going to be the best mediator, after all, since it looked like Meredith was going to have to end up mediating her sister-in-law and husband.

"Oh, you didn't mean to hurt my feelings, did you? You never do, do you? You never think before you speak. You never change, Derek!" Amelia crosses her arms, throwing herself into the couch.

This was what Meredith couldn't stand about Amelia. She was so immature sometimes. She was like having a third child in the house. Meredith understood that Amelia was the baby of her family, and not that Meredith had any proof of this, but she suspected she was babied by her mother. She definitely didn't have many responsibilities growing up, otherwise she wouldn't act the way she did.

"You have to admit you're enjoying running my department," Derek fueled. "Without my recommendation, you … "

"Okay, can we stop?" Meredith had had enough, and she knew shit would hit the fan if she allowed Derek to finish his sentence.

"Finish your sentence, Derek." Amelia ignored Meredith. "Finish it. Without your recommendation, I what?"

"No, Derek, don't. It's Christmas … the day after, whatever. It's our Christmas. No one's fighting on our Christmas, okay?" Meredith said straight-forwardly, handing Bailey to Amelia so she could grab the laptop. She made herself comfortable on the couch with the laptop in her lap, and Zola snuggled beside her. Amelia walked behind her with Bailey in her arms.

"Can we open pwesents?!" Zola exclaimed, bringing them all to the true purpose of this gathering. Meredith turned the laptop around so Derek could see his creation under the tree.

"Wow, that's a lot of presents!" she heard her husband say. "You kids must have been really good this year, since Santa was so nice to you." Meredith rolled her eyes, and she could feel Amelia rolling hers from behind.

"I brusheded all my teef for three whole minutes, Daddy! Every day and night!"

"Good girl," Derek said.

"I help Bailey brushed his, too," Zola added. "Bay don't cry much no more at night, and we eated peas and green beans and carrots."

"Is that true, Meredith?"

She hated that she didn't know the answer to the question for certain, since the kids were often in night care or with a sitter, since she'd picked up so many extra shifts. It wasn't that she didn't want to be home with her children; she just hated being out in the woods without Derek, especially at night. Nights were the worst. That, and her only adult roommate behaved like a teenager. She wasn't sure how much more of Amelia she could tolerate.

"Would your daughter lie to you?" She's not you, Meredith thought silently to herself, though she realized immediately she was lucky she didn't say that out loud, since she'd caught Zola red handed two—maybe three—weeks ago. She'd claimed she'd only eaten one cookie, but her bellyache implied otherwise with the solo remaining cookie in the cookie jar. Meredith later uncovered a stash of cookies and their crumbs under her daughter's pillow. Zola then accused Bailey of putting them there.

Like father like daughter.


The tension through the screen was thick, and Derek didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit, but all he could do was ignore it and hope it would eventually dissipate as the children opened their presents.

Had he overdone it? Maybe just a little. He'd gone a little crazy with the online shopping this year. When shopping was as easy as the click of a button, it was hard to control himself.

"Pwesents!" Zola ran toward the Christmas tree that lit up the screen. Meredith, Amelia, and Bailey were no longer in view.

"I want to see everyone," Derek spoke earnestly, hoping Meredith would position the computer in a way that he could watch her with their children as they opened the gifts. As much as he knew Christmas was about the kids, he needed to see his wife too.

"Hold on." The camera shook as he presumed his wife adjusted the position of the computer with the intent of making his request possible. "I had everything set up perfectly, but Zola moved the computer," Meredith explained. He paid close attention to her tone. It wasn't harsh this time. In fact, just the opposite: tender.

Finally, the screen stopped moving, and the Christmas tree was in perfect sight. He could make out all four figures in his Seattle living room: Meredith, Zola, Bailey, and Amelia.

"I know you said you wanted to see everyone, but I assume I'm not part of that everyone, uh? Sorry, I'm not going anywhere—Zola and Bailey are my niece and nephew, and I wouldn't miss this for the world," Amelia chimed in.

Derek smiled, fighting a tear. He didn't say anything, but he was glad Amelia was there with Zola and Bailey. They were lucky to have an aunt who loved them like his sister did.

He knew that if all his sisters could have their way, they would be allowed to see his children and spoil them every Christmas, but none of them had made the effort to actually come to Seattle for the holidays. They expected him to bring his family to them. Amelia was the only exception.

"This one's MINE!" Zola's eagerness traveled through his speakers. She was showing Amelia the present. "See it says MY name! Look! Zola!"

Derek remembered when he taught Zola and Sofia how to write their names. Zola's name was considerably easier to spell than Sofia's, so Zola had picked up writing her name faster than her friend. Derek had been so proud of her. His heart warmed as he realized his soon-to-be four-year-old daughter could not only write her name, but she could recognize it, too. It wouldn't be long before she was recognizing words and reading. He yearned to be with her, reading with her every night like he used to be. He resented Meredith for taking that opportunity away from him by refusing to move to DC with him.

Now was not the time for playing the blame game, though. He needed to be present, in this moment, and he was thankful that he was able to watch his kids open their presents, even if it was from afar.

He watched as Meredith and Amelia encouraged Zola to distribute the presents before opening them. "Why can't I just open mine?!" Zola protested. "It gots my name on it."

"But this one has Bailey's name on it," Amelia said.

Zola took the present from Amelia and tossed it to Bailey. "Here, Bay! Open it!"

"Zola, your brother isn't going to be able to open presents as fast as you, so it's okay to go slow. We're not in any hurry. Daddy doesn't have anything planned tonight." The kids were used to Derek not having much time to talk, since he usually talked to them during his short-lived breaks from long meetings and research analyzing.

Zola crossed her arms. "I waited all day for you, Daddy. You taked too long." His heart crushed.

"I know, sweetie, and I'm sorry."

Amelia smiled then, and her eyes sparkled like they do when she had an idea. "Let's play a game, Zola. When I was about your age, you know how I learned to read all my siblings' names? I used to play Santa's Elf! I was Santa's elf, and Derek was Santa. I'd read the names on the name tags, and Derek would hand the gift to who it belonged to. Why don't you be Santa's Elf, and I'll be Santa?"

"Okay!" the little girl exclaimed; Derek remembered his and Amelia's childhood tradition well. Before Amelia was old enough to read, he and Lizzie used to have the same tradition. His mom had even had a Santa and Elf costume that they wore on Christmas morning.

Zola's task was easier than Derek and Amelia's task were as children, since there were only two of them. It was easy for her to distinguish between her name and her brother's name, since if it wasn't her name on the tag, then the present belonged to her brother.

"How many presents do you have, Zola?" Meredith asked, then turned to the computer screen. "We're working on counting," she explained. He'd been working on counting with Zola before going to DC, but she insisted that there were three of everything, whether there were five or one objects in front of her, she always insisted there were three.

"One…" Zola put her finger on one present. "Two…" He watched his daughter slowly count up to ten. "I don't gots no more fingers, Mommy." There were five presents remaining. Meredith took Zola's hand and counted to fifteen with her.

"FIFTEEN presents? That's a lot! How many Bailey gots?" She eyed the pile in front of Bailey.

"Let's count." Amelia glared at Derek. He didn't know why she looked unimpressed. She hadn't said a word about her present, yet. He hoped she liked it. He had been selective in his choices in an attempt to select the perfect gifts for her, Meredith, and the kids.

Amelia and Zola counted a total of twenty gifts in Bailey's pile. "He gots more!" Zola pouted "He gots lots more. Why Santa love him more?" Honestly, Derek hadn't even counted the number of presents he had sent for the kids. He didn't even remember everything he'd bought. He just remembered thinking that each gift would be perfect.

"The baby always gets more presents," said Amelia. "I always got more presents than your daddy." It was true.

Zola also had more complicated gifts than her brother, being older and able to appreciate more gadgets. There was one gift that he remembered specifically that he knew she would appreciate, though he feared he would regret buying it for her. He just hoped Meredith wouldn't be too angry.

"Zozo, why don't you help your brother open his presents?" Meredith insisted, shooting a fierce look toward Derek. He sensed she was thinking something along the lines of, Why didn't you get the kids equal number of presents?

Derek wasn't expecting what happened next: Zola snatched the present out of Bailey's hand and tore it open. Bailey screamed when he saw the image of a little boy playing with the toy in the box. Derek didn't know anything about the toy, just that it was on a top 10 Christmas gift list for toddler boys. He'd used "top-list" blogs for selecting most of the kids' presents.

Bailey crawled over to Meredith, suddenly looking disinterested in opening presents. Meredith turned toward him and, for the first time during their conversation, Derek realized how exhausted his wife looked. The video quality wasn't perfect, but he was sure those were dark circles and wrinkles under her eyes.

Meredith sat down on the floor with Bailey in her arms and took another one of Bailey's presents and placed it in his lap. "Derek, I don't think opening presents one by one is gonna work. Let's just let Zola tear in, is that okay?" Then she mumbled something that sounded like, "If we didn't have so many presents, this wouldn't be an issue."

"That's fine. I'll just sit back and watch." By that point, the living room was total chaos, and it wasn't long before wrapping paper was scattered everywhere.

"I'll get a garbage bag for the wrapping paper." His sister seemed to be reading his mind.

So he did just that. He sat on his couch in the dark - he hadn't bothered to turn on a lamp when he walked in, being in such a hurry - and watched Zola mostly destroy the wrapping paper on her gifts. Bailey received Meredith and Amelia's help as he opened his first two gifts, then became more interested in playing with the paper shredded from her gifts. Amelia and Meredith had their hands full, trying to make sure he didn't eat the wrapping paper since he kept trying to put it in his mouth.

Zola had received an assortment of dolls, tea party toys, food for her toy kitchen, and while she showed excitement for every present she opened, it was one gift, the one he knew she'd be most excited for, that made her jump out of her place on the floor.

"Oh, my fairy dust!" she exclaimed.

"What is it, Zo?" Meredith asked, her tone full of dread.

"It's an iPad, Mommy!" She bounced up and down, full of joy.

"And what can you do with an iPad, Zola?" Derek grinned, happy to see his daughter so excited, like he'd hoped she'd be.

"Call Daddy! I call Daddy and play games!"

"That's right, you can call Daddy whenever you want, without asking for help."

"I can call you ANYTIME? Even if I wake up from a bad dream?"

Derek bit his lip, knowing he was about to regret this. "Of course, sweetie."

"I won't have to wake Mommy up. I can just call you, Daddy!" Zola grinned. "This is so AWESOME!"

Meredith's face didn't show that she felt awesomeness, though. Then she disappeared from view.

"Meredith?" Derek spoke.

"She just left the room," Amelia confirmed his suspicions.


Meredith was livid. She stood outside the living room with her back against the wall, still within hearing distance of the living room commotion. She listened to Derek and Amelia's conversation.

"You're buying her," Amelia said.

"Excuse me?" she heard her husband say.

"You're buying Meredith and the kids just like you bought Addison," Amelia replied.

"No, I'm not," she heard her husband protest. "I just wanted to make up for not being there. It hasn't been an easy year. Stay out of it, Amelia."

"Whatever, this is exactly like Addison and you, Derek. Addison and I were best friends, Derek. She'd rant to me about you, you know? Then two days later she'd show up, flaunting a fancy necklace or bracelet you bought her."

"I don't buy Meredith jewelry to apologize," Derek said.

"That's because she hates jewelry. No, you buy her a 3D printer, instead," Amelia spat.

"Which she thanked me for and said she loved! Which, by the way, I haven't heard if you liked my gift? Did you?"

"No, you idiot. I hated it."

"What, why?"

"I hate Porsches."

"Since when?"

"Since, forever!"

"I just assumed … "

"Because you like them that so do I? How arrogant. News flash: Just because you like something, doesn't mean the rest of the world does! You're such an egotistical asshole."

"Amelia, can you not use that language in front of my kids?" Meredith heard her husband in a hushed, hostile tone.

Meredith peaked into the living room, spotting that Zola was too invested in her iPad to hear a word that her aunt and father were saying. She saw that Zola had already figured out how to turn it on. Kids today were too smart for their own good.

"Just … whatever. Whatever, Derek." Amelia locked eyes with Meredith, just before storming upstairs. Meredith re-entered the room and picked up her son, who was chewing on a piece of wrapping paper.


"Meredith," Derek said softly. "Is it true? You feel like I'm buying your love?"

Meredith didn't say anything.

"Because I'm not. I bought these presents because I wanted you guys to have a good Christmas. I know you're busy and didn't have much time to Christmas shop, and that you're tired of sharing your 3D printer. I wanted you to have one to yourself, so you could focus and not have to worry about sharing."

"Okay," his wife said.

"Okay?" He didn't know what "Okay" meant.

Derek didn't know what anything between him and Meredith meant anymore.


Irene's A/N: Uh oh, this is really not what you were expecting their Skype Christmas to be, right? Well, Nicole did an incredible job with this chapter, and you have to trust us to fix it. Thank you for reading!