Christmas Eve came soon enough, and early in the morning the Shepherds found themselves among thousands of other people at SEA-TAC. Meredith held a sleeping Bailey in her arms as they sat in hard plastic seats, waiting for their flight to board. Finally the announcement was made and luckily, with two kids and Meredith pregnant, they were among the first to board. The pair still hated flying; it made Meredith nervous beyond belief, and as she clutched Bailey to her chest, she reached out her hand for Derek's, needing to know that he was there and he would always be there, no matter what happened. Zola sat between them, a big girl on a plane for the second time in her life, and Meredith was able to relax and get some sleep of her own. Amelia is on the other side of the aisle and luckily, she takes Bailey for most of the flight, entertaining him somehow and cuddling him when the plane rocks him to sleep
The flight was six hours give or take, which was good because it gave Meredith some much needed sleep. Derek dozed off and on, but he was in charge of the kids mostly, letting Meredith sleep. Soon enough she'd be deprived of sleep 24/7. Landing at JFK was an ordeal, with Derek gathering carry-on's and Meredith gathering Zola and Bailey. They make their way towards baggage claim, where they find Carolyn waiting for them. Meredith can't help but smile, knowing that the exhaustion she feels will melt away once they arrive at the Shepherd house.
"Mom!" she smiles, throwing her arms around the solid Shepherd matriarch, her 31-week belly getting in the way. Carolyn smiles, touching the roundness of her stomach with awe.
"Oh Meredith, this is the best Christmas present ever," Carolyn smiles, and Meredith grins back. She knows how much it means to her, to be able to see her growing belly like this. She had never seen her Bailey-bump in person before and she's glad that she's able to give her this gift. Derek and Amelia catch up with the two kids and greet their mother, placing Zola and Bailey on the ground.
"Merry Christmas, Mom," Derek smiled, giving his mom a hug, as Zola hugged her grandmothers leg. Amelia rubbed exhaustion from her eyes and forced a smile.
"Merry Christmas," she smiled, leaning in for a hug and stifling a yawn.
Amelia hid at the back of the group, looking somewhat guilty. She was the worst at keeping in touch with her mother and the rest of the family, save for Meredith and Derek, and she forced a smile as she shuffled up to her mother.
"Hi Mom, Merry Christmas," she said meekly, knowing she was going to hear it sooner or later. Carolyn made a small face at her youngest daughter, before pulling her close.
"Hello Amelia," she said with a sigh, wrapping an arm around the waist as the group headed to get their suitcases and Bailey's stroller, plus the carseats.
In no time at all the family was piling into both Carolyn's car and, in Meredith and Derek's case, a rental car. JFK was about an hour from the Shepherd homestead, but Meredith was awake by now, having grabbed a coveted and rare cup of coffee at Starbucks on their way to baggage claim. Now she was content to sit back as they managed to get out of the city and on the road to Westchester County. It was snowing off and on and, though it had snowed in Seattle, Meredith couldn't help but be excited. She hadn't had a white Christmas since she was a little girl living in Boston, and sometimes then the snow had been over her head, with her nanny not allowing her to run around in it. But now she was 37 and nothing was off limits, she smirked to herself.
It didn't take long for them to reach the Shepherd house, and as soon as they did Meredith jumped out of the car, releasing Bailey from his car seat as Derek grabbed Zola. The four of them wandered through the unlocked front door, where the rest of the family was already gathered. Much like Thanksgiving, chaos ensued as cousins ran at cousins, sisters ran at Meredith and Derek, and everyone cooed over Meredith's baby bump, which must've grown a significant amount in a month because everyone was in awe of it. She smiled proudly, her hand resting on the top of it as usual. She was damn proud she'd carried this baby to 31 weeks so far; it was a huge accomplishment for her hostile uterus especially with how she'd started her pregnancy, terrified that Derek wouldn't make it day by day. And now here she was, 31 weeks and it was Christmas, spending time with her amazing sisters and mother in law. She caught Zola running around with her cousins and tugged at her arm with a laugh.
"Slow down sweetie," she said, placing a kiss on her daughters head, although Zola whined, continuing to run after the kids and Meredith sighed, before returning to her conversation with Nancy. It was around 3 PM and the kids didn't seem like they were stopping anytime soon, so Meredith focused on her conversation.
"Oh, yeah, I'm exhausted all the time and I go on maternity leave in four more weeks, I can have up to three months off but I don't know if I want to take twelve weeks off, I think I'll go crazy, you know?" she said, biting her lip. Nancy nodded along.
"I took six weeks off with all five kids," she said, clutching a glass of wine as she and Meredith talked. "I mean, as an OBGYN, I felt like I couldn't be away from my patients that long, I had mothers depending on me, you know?" Meredith laughed, she sounded so much like the woman she had met during her intern year and hated, except now the pair were close.
"Oh my gosh, right? I'm in the middle of my Neuro fellow and I feel like I'll go crazy if I don't have a surgery to do or if I'm not learning. Right now I'm passed between Derek and Amelia. Let me tell you, never have a family member be your teacher," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It's torture. And especially never let them be feuding family members," she laughed. Everyone knew that Derek and Amelia were feuding; they had been ever since Amelia could walk and talk. She'd been the bane of Derek's existence, even moreso when she started heavily drinking and getting into drugs and such. Nancy could only laugh and put a hand on Meredith's shoulder.
"Oh Meredith, you're a much better person than I am. I would've bailed months ago," she teased, before giving her a hug and touching her belly. "I'm so excited we're getting another baby in the family, and another niece! Is Derek excited it's a girl?" she asked with a smile, knowing he hated the male to female ratio in the family. Meredith's smile warmed even more.
"He's actually really excited we're having another girl," she smiled, looking down at her belly. "He likes to talk to her and sing to her, and read her stories. He's somewhat obsessed," she laughed, shaking her hair back. "He says Zola's his princess but he's excited to have another little princess in the household to boss him around," she giggled with a shake of her head. Nancy rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Of course he is, he grew up with four sisters. He knows his way around girls. He treats you like a queen and Zola is most definitely a princess; this one will be too."
"I'm nervous Bailey will feel like he's pushed aside and no one will love him anymore," she sighed, expressing her worry and tugging on his lip. "He loves cuddling up to my belly and kissing it, he knows his little sister is in there, and I'm constantly telling him how much we love him," she said with a small shrug. Nancy nodded.
"Trust me, he'll be okay, if he's anything like mine were, he'll love the baby and love being able to help out." Meredith nodded.
"That's how Zola was with Bailey, even though she was only two. He was like a real live baby doll to her and she loved being my helper," she giggled, trailing off because Derek grabbed her. "Sorry!" she called over her shoulder to Nancy as Derek pulled her into the warm family room. There was a fire going in the fireplace and the room was filled with toys, but was surprisingly empty. A Christmas tree stood in one corner, smaller than the giant one that stood in the formal living room.
"Hi," he grinned, chasing down a kiss and she grinned, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Hello you," she smiled, pulling him close. Closing her eyes, she breathed all of him in, remembering all too well that it was just over six months since the accident and her husband was here before her, 100% whole and functioning. It had been a crazy six months but she had a hell of a lot to be happy for this Christmas.
"I wanted to give you your Christmas present early, and not in front of thirty people," he smiled, slipping an arm around her waist. He reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a small robin's egg blue box from Tiffany's, tied neatly with a red ribbon. Meredith shook her head at him, smiling. "Der, you shouldn't have," she insisted as he placed it on her lap.
"Yes, I should have. We had a rough start to our year, and presents don't make up for it but they help," he teased, as she pulled at the ribbon on the box and took off the lid. Inside was a little pouch, and opening the pouch, the pulled out a gorgeous white-gold bangle bracelet, with an infinity symbol set with diamonds. She gasped and looked up at him.
"Oh Derek, it's absolutely gorgeous," she smiled, slipping it onto her arm and admiring it in the firelight. She leaned over and gave him a kiss, before looking down at it again. "It's perfect, oh my god," she said, not wanting to touch it and get her fingerprints on it.
"I know infinity symbols are silly but I needed you to know, after our first half of the year, that you're my everything, Mere, you're my forever and I know I tell you that all the time and you don't need a piece of jewelry to tell you that, but I saw it and I loved it," he smiled, drawing her into a kiss. Her belly got in the way of them getting too close but she could kiss him forever.
"Merry Christmas Der," she smiled, her hands on either side of his face as she kissed him deeply. Coming up for air she gasped slightly. "I love you so much," she whispered, her forehead pressed against his, their hands clasped together, a perpetual smile on her face. His smile couldn't help but match hers.
"I love you too Mer..remember…I promise to love you even when I hate you…" he started, and she couldn't help but giggle, then continue. "No running, ever. We'll take care of each other even when we're old and smelly." She continued to laugh, looking deeply into his eyes. She took a deep breath and the both spoke at once.
"This is Forever," they said together, and Meredith moved as close as she could, content to just sit on his lap for now.
Eventually the couple joined the rest of the family, catching up from the past month. Zola and Bailey were playing outside with their cousins and Meredith and Derek felt safe that the kids were being watched by their nieces and nephews as they had much-needed adult time. It was fun catching up with everyone and not having to rush around cooking everything. That was going to be tomorrow morning, really. All the adults sat around, exchanging stories and laughing until it was evening and the party was starting. Carolyn had invited over some of her long-time friends to spend time with the family. All in all it was a good time, with the kids dropping one by one. Around 9pm a sleepy Zola ran up to Meredith, her dress smudged in chocolate cake.
"Mommy I'm going to stay awake until Santa comes!" she declared, but she was already falling asleep. Meredith couldn't help but laugh as she changed her daughter into pajamas and tucked her into bed with her cousin Olivia, Kathleen's daughter who was also five.
Once all of the younger kids were asleep, the adults got to work setting out the Santa presents so that no one would be disappointed in the morning. There were 17 kids that everyone had presents for, some with Santa presents, and 12 adults with presents. Meredith had never spent Christmas on this crazy of a level, with so many people, and she had to admit that she was as excited as some of the little kids.
It was near midnight when all of the adults dragged themselves to their respective bedrooms – all of which were filled to the brim with children, Bailey asleep on a mattress on the floor of Derek's room – and she and Derek settled themselves into bed for a few hours of sleep.
It was far too early when Meredith heard the bedroom door open and tiny little feet running on the hardwood floors.
"Mama it's morning! Santa came!" Zola yelled as she climbed into the bed with Meredith and Derek. Meredith let out a small groan and opened one eye, checking the time on her phone. 5am.
"Zozo, is anyone else awake?" she asked sleepily, feeling Derek's arms pulling her closer.
"No mommy, I was the first one, but I peeked downstairs and there's so many presents!" she cried out, excitement evident in the voice. Meredith wasn't even mad, she herself was excited. She remembered being five and being excited about Christmas, waking up her dad on Christmas morning and opening up her presents.
"Zo lay here for awhile longer okay?" Mere smiled, holding Zola in her arms.
Somehow they managed to get another hour of sleep until they could hear the rest of the house stirring. By that time Bailey was awake and bouncing on the bed, waking up Derek, and there was chatter of the rest of the kids in the hallway.
"Okay okay, we're up guys," Meredith said, brushing her hair out of her eyes and sitting up, turning the light on.
"Yay!" Zola cried out, running to the door and rushing into the hall to join her cousins. Meredith turned to Derek and yawned.
"It is under negotiation as to if we're having a fourth child," she smirked, leaning over and giving him a kiss. "Merry Christmas, Der, for the eighth year," she smiled happily, sliding out of bed and stretching. Derek couldn't help but laugh as he watched the beautiful form of his heavily pregnant wife.
"Merry Christmas, gorgeous," he smiled, snatching Bailey by the waist as he followed Meredith downstairs. It was a mess of kids begging to open their presents, and parents telling them they weren't allowed to until all of their cousins were there. Parents and kids were still streaming down from upstairs, and the smell of coffee and hot chocolate was coming from the kitchen. Nancy and Lizzie were doling out presents to each person in and orderly fashion, and Meredith sunk into a seat on the couch with Bailey and Zola at her feet, Derek sitting next to him.
"Der, I love you and your family, but this is chaos even I'm not used to, and I run the Pit twice a week," she smirked. He shook his head at her, his eyes crinkling.
"Come on, you love it," he laughed, rubbing her huge bump of a belly. Their daughter was awake and kicking and he smiled even wider as he felt a strong kick to his hand.
"Of course I love it, they're family," she grinned, sticking out her tongue.
After presents were done, all the men, including Derek, took the kids out sledding, leaving the women in the house to bake and cook. Lizzie and Meredith were in charge of pies, cakes, and cookies, which she was pleased with. There were four pies, two cakes, and several different types of cookies, which slightly overwhelmed Meredith since she was just learning how to cook but she loved being with her sisters. Amelia was there, quizzing her on everything Neuro, which Meredith didn't mind seeing as how she as going to be absent for awhile, and the sisters just generally chatted about anything and everything. Nancy piped up in the middle of everything.
"So Mere, do you and Derek have any names for the baby yet?" she asked, as Meredith sprinkled red sugar crystals on a sugar cookie. She looked up, shrugging her shoulders.
"Eh…not really. I mean, we have names we like, but we aren't set on anything I guess. With Bailey we didn't know his name until he was a few hours old. I think we want to meet her first before we give her a name, you know? But her middle name is going to be Alexandra, after my sister Lexie," she said, taking a deep breath. God, it hurt so bad to mention her name. "She's the one who died in the plane crash," she explained, pinpricks of tears coming to her eyes. She didn't want to cry or bring the mood down, not on Christmas. Nancy nodded.
"I like that. With our kids we had picked out a few names, but did choose until they were born." Kathleen interceded.
"I named all of mine before they were born. Everyone's different though with how they name their kids, you know?" she shrugged, throwing Meredith a smile. Meredith smiled back, popping her cookie sheet into the oven before grabbing the mixer to make a cake.
"Plus, Bailey is technically named Derek, but we've never called him that," she laughed, shaking her head a bit. "I don't think he'll know his first name until he starts school and then suddenly he'll be like, mommy what the hell is this?" she continued laughing, gathering ingredients for the pound cake.
The girls all laughed, knowing it was true. His name might be Derek but no one would never call him that. He was one of those kids doomed to be called by his middle name.
Christmas dinner was spectacular. There was so much food to go around, so much wine, and so much love and laughter. Meredith couldn't believe there was a time in her life that this was something she didn't want – a stable family to lean on, children that surprised her each and every moment of the day, a husband she loved with everything she had, and more. She looked around the room, at all that she had slowly gained in the past eight years, and decided that being Meredith Shepherd was infinitely better than being Meredith Grey. Both women were strong, they had suffered, they had endured, but one woman had chosen a different path of life and tumbled out the other end for the better. This Christmas everything had truly come full circle and she was able to see how much she had grown since she had come to Seattle – she was sitting in the dining room of her mother in laws house. The girl who had come to Seattle never would have done that. Leaning over to Derek to whisper something in his ear, she smiled contently to herself, knowing she was exactly where she was supposed to be this Christmas.
So this chapter got kind of long but I like how it turned out! I sort of thought back and realized that in Grey's time it's been 7-8 years of MerDer (or at least I think it has) so I went off on a tangent, oops? But yes! Here's my Christmas, Merder style!
Next chapter will be another time jump to when the baby is born, moving things along. It's going to be dramatic like when Ellis is born on the show, because I'm doing things that I can do in canon if I can. I'll try and crank it out by Monday or so I usually update when I'm nannying and I was just offered another nannying job on the weekends and I'm debating if I want to take it because money!
Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter! Please read and review! I'm loving all of the reviews so far!