AN: Hello again my beautiful readers. I'm thrilled about the reviews, you guys are still with me even though I've had a crazy schedule. Since I've just started a new job. Anyway, thanks to all the people who review constantly and all those who favorite the story and that are following it. I hope you'll enjoy the New Year's celebration.
As Meredith was in the kitchen, collaborating with Carolyn and Liz for the dinner preparations she thought back to how her day had started, a smile creeping up on her face.
She was woken up by waves of nausea once again, certainly not an enviable way to start the last day of the year.
"I really hope the new year will rid me of the constant nausea" she muttered feebly to Derek as he remained crouched by her side, drawing circles on the small of her back.
"Do you want me to go get some saltines or would you prefer if I stayed here some more?" he whispered slowly.
"Stay with me, your massage soothes me more than any cracker would" she confessed and he happily obliged.
"I really am turning you into a sap" he joked after a little while and she managed a smile, the smile she reserved just for him and Zola, her favorite people in the whole world.
He had stayed with her for more than twenty minutes and, when the nausea seemed to have finally disappeared, he went to get her saltines and ginger ale. She really couldn't imagine going through this without him, he was being so attentive and helpful. She felt happy tears prickling in her eyes and she smiled, thinking about the second trimester of her pregnancy about to kick in. She could picture herself juggling two little ones the following Christmas, Derek by her side, Zola giddy as usual and a baby with Derek's hair and smile, but hopefully her nose.
"Is everything all right dear? How's the nausea?" Carolyn worried about her daughter in law.
"Everything is just perfect, I was just thinking that there will be two of them next Christmas…"
"You better plan on coming to New York next year or Nancy will be on the warpath" Liz winked at Meredith, grinning broadly.
Once the house came into view both Amelia and James gasped, Scott looked at them from the rearview mirror and grinned.
"Didn't your sister warned you that it was a mansion?!"
"She did, but you know your wife, always exaggerating" was Amy's uncertain response.
"Do you guys like it?" Derek could boast a little now that his sister and her boyfriend had recovered from the initial shock.
"Are you kidding DerBear?! It's freaking amazing! I bet Zola just loves all the free space"
"She does, we even built her a small playground, she will enjoy it more in the summer though..." he mused out loud as they got out of the car when Scott had parked it in the garage next to Meredith's jeep.
"Ok James, are you ready for lots of kids and an intrusive family?" Amelia double checked looking at her boyfriend.
"As ready as I'll ever be" he grinned.
"Not used to big families?" asked Scott.
"Not exactly, I'm an only child"
"So is Mere and she's adjusting just fine… relax" Derek's tone was reassuring as the foursome walked to the front door, James holding both suitcases and Amy walking close to her brother, her arm linked in his good one.
"I'm so happy you guys are here" he confided.
Scott ringed the bell and a pitter-patter or various pairs of excited feet could be heard even from outside "don't open until you've asked who it is!" the warning came from Liz and Evan groaned "it has to be dad, uncle Derek and aunt Amy and her boyfriend"
"You've still got to ask" piped in Carolyn.
"Who is it?" it was Spencer's vivacious voice that asked the question.
"It's us" answered Scott simply as the door opened and they were welcomed inside by five overly hyper kids.
"Auntie Amelia!" as soon as they passed the thresholds she was grabbed by them and hugged, even Zola wanted in on the hugs even if she had only spoke with Amy on the phone and via Skype.
"We missed you at Christmas!" they chorused.
"Aww you guys, I missed you a lot too" she hugged them all and then took Zola in her arms "you've gotten so big Missy" she nuzzled her cheek, inhaling her baby scent and the toddler grinned at her, placing a sloppy kiss on her aunt's cheek.
"Hi dada" she added as she spotted Derek.
"Hi Princess, where are mommy, nana and aunt Liz?" he asked kissing her on top of her head.
"They're right there" Emma pointed towards the kitchen where the three women were peeling potatoes, cutting onions and cleaning a huge salmon.
"Amyyyyyy!" Liz let the onion fall from her hands as she shrieked and started to walk as quickly as she could towards her younger sister. Once she had closed the distance separating them Liz enveloped Amy in a hug and, since the younger one was still holding Zola, the little girl found herself involved in the sisterly hug as well and she giggled happily "you know Derek should be the only one allowed to call me Amy" she challenged, but Liz chose to ignore her.
"I haven't seen you in so long!" was Lizzie's comment as she let the other go.
"How are you doing sis?" asked the other one right away.
"I'm fine, just a few inches of nerves short" she smirked.
"You also smell like onion" added Amy wrinkling her nose.
"Of course I do, we were making dinner you spoiled brat!"
"No need to get so worked up Liz!"
Carolyn and Meredith joined the group in the foyer after they had cleaned up their hands and Amelia hugged her mom as soon as she was close enough.
"I missed you a lot Amelia" the older woman whispered in her ear.
"So did I" she confessed in a timid tone, this sentiment had to do with the recent losses she had to go through, even if she had found James now, she was still sort of broken somehow and Carolyn hoped that a nice dose of family days would help her youngest daughter.
"Amy! Have you forgotten this poor guy here?" prompted Derek, pointing to James who was standing awkwardly next to the family.
"Of course not DerBear! James this is half of my crazy family... everybody, this is James Peterson, my boyfriend, please don't scare him off!" she grinned as everybody started to introduce themselves, except for Derek and Scott. Meanwhile she went to her sister in law in order to give her a hug, Zola still in her arms "thank you so much for having us over"
"Are you kidding me? I'm glad you guys are here, we wanted Zola's holiday to be absolutely memorable this year, they will be the first she actually remembers" Meredith grinned as she poked the little girl.
"Derek show your sister and James the house and, most importantly, show them their room" she added after she had shook hands with the handsome man Amy had brought along.
"Bossy! I like you more and more everyday Meredith Grey" Liz grinned both at her sister and at her sister in law.
Derek rolled his eyes "this baby seriously better be a boy" he blurted.
"Baby?" Amelia's eyes widened and were switching between her brother and his wife, questionably.
"You shouldn't have found out like this" Meredith swatted Derek's arm, making Zola, who was in her arms now, giggle.
"Yeah Amy sorry. You shouldn't have... but yeah, Mere is pregnant, almost 12 weeks" he beamed at his sister.
"Oh my gosh! Congratulations guys!" another round of hugs was exchanged, also between the kids who had not been present the first time the pregnancy was announced. Zola looked a little puzzled, the concept of a baby still unclear in her head, but she gladly accepted all the hugs she got, she was all for the cuddles.
"What do you mean, you don't know if you're coming to the party?" Meredith Grey's voice echoed through the phone and Alex knew she was pissed at him.
"Well Mere, it's just that I'll be on call until 11 o' clock and I might arrive after midnight… what's the point of going to a party after midnight on New Year's Eve?" he sounded miserable "And I don't want to spoil your happiness…"
"You would only spoil my happiness by not coming Alex" she retorted and he sighed loudly "and you don't want to argue with a pregnant woman, do you?" she challenged him.
He finally laughed "of course not…"
"So you'll be here?"
"I will"
"And you'll tell me what's really bothering you?"
"Yeah, I guess some advice wouldn't be so bad" he agreed.
"Good, see you later then. Go kick ass!"
He grinned "bye Mere, see you later"
Once they had hung up Alex chuckled to himself you better not piss her off Shepherd, she can be even scarier as pregnant.
Derek reentered the master bedroom after having finished styling his hair in the en-suite, he saw Meredith sighing as she put the phone down.
"What was that all about?" he asked getting close to his wife, placing a soft, warm kiss on her temple.
"Just Alex trying to let his insecurities get the best of him" she murmured accepting another sweet kiss, on the cheek this time.
"You're a great friend for him" he mused, engulfing her in his arms, resting his arms around her waist.
"He's been like the brother I never had... I want good things to happen for him" was her quiet response.
"That's exactly what makes you a great friend"
"You are okay with him being Peanut's godfather, right?" she double-checked.
"Of course I am, I never thought I would be saying this one day, but Alex Karev truly is a good guy, he would be a great role model for our kid, just look at him with Zola, he's definitely her favorite uncle... he just had too much crap happening to him, that's all"
"You got that right, I hope the new year will bring something good for him as well..."
"We'll, his sister coming to study here is certainly a good thing" murmured Derek in her ear, making her shiver in anticipation, her nerves on high alert.
"Mmmh, that's true" she agreed "I wonder what she's like"
"We'll find out soon enough" he grinned, kissing her softly on the lips.
"Hey, you're ruining my lipgloss!" she smacked his arm playfully and his grin just got bigger.
"I like to kiss stuff off of your mouth" he muttered smirking.
"You're a doofus, you know that, right?" she reprimanded him grinning back, closing the distance between them and kissing him fiercely. She pushed him until he came in contact with the bed and fell on top of him, pulling her small body along "aren't you going to ruin your make-up?" he mocked when the kiss ended.
"Shut up and kiss me!"
"Happy to oblige..."
The first to arrive, around 7:30 p.m., were Molly and her family, closely followed by Callie, Arizona and Sofia, much to the delight of Zola and her cousins who were planning to spend the evening playing various games, waiting for the midnight toast. By 8:30 everybody, except Alex, was already there and the party was in full swing; there was a buffet with various appetizers, vegetables and fried dishes. Carolyn was also getting ready to serve the salmon she had cooked with the girls, along with the trouts Derek, Scott and the kids had fished, they were going to be served with a vegetable casserole. The drinks were not missing either, Scott had made punch and all the guests had brought over wine, the champagne was in the fridge ready to be popped open in order to salute the new year.
After making sure that the kids were having fun in the playroom, Meredith approached the food table once more, finding herself next to James.
"Great party" he commented as she came next to him.
"Thanks" she smiled genuinely at him "I hope you're having fun"
"I am, although I've never really been part of huge family gatherings, I'm an only child"
"Me too" she reassured.
"I thought Molly was your sister…"
"Half-sister, I've found out about her existence when I was in my first year of residency" she let her voice trail off.
"Oh… sorry, I didn't mean to pry" he quickly apologized.
"It's fine, you didn't know" she smiled, taking some more casserole.
"So you didn't have huge family dinners growing up either" he tried to change the subject.
"Nope, I was lucky if the great Ellis Grey remembered my birthday and Christmas…" she made a face.
"You are Ellis Grey's daughter?" he marveled.
"Guilty as charged… she was pretty sucky as a mother though"
"Sorry about that" he smiled warmly at her "I was lucky enough to have two great parents who loved me very much and are probably going to invite themselves over to California for Easter, since I skipped Christmas in Tennessee this year…"
"Sounds like fun" she grinned "are you going to introduce them to Amelia?"
"Yeah…" he looked at his girlfriend on the other side of the room, laughing with Derek, Scott and Owen, she followed his gaze and smiled once more "when did you know Derek was the one for you, if you don't mind me asking that is?"
"Well, it's hard to explain… pretty early in our relationship though, except that Addison showed up then and it got really complicated, but… yeah, I knew he was the one for me from the start, right when I met him… why do you ask?"
"It's just that the same thing happened to me with Amelia… I met her and I felt this need to know her, I just knew that I wanted to spend time with her and, after she actually let me, I kind of knew she was it for me, you know?"
She smiled and nodded "I know the feeling perfectly… when I met Derek he was so adamant about me going out with him because I would have loved him and he really did convince me to go out with him and I found myself falling for him hard and fast"
"Must be something in their genes" he joked.
"Maybe!" she grinned "Zola patented Derek's charm smile and it's really impossible for me to say no to that sweet face whenever she asks something…"
"Sounds pretty dangerous" he agreed.
"Yeah… and to think there will be two of them next Christmas is kind of scary too, but in a good way"
"My boss just had triplets and she's the last person you'd picture dealing with triplets, so I think you guys will be fine even with two little ones"
"I really don't know what I'd do if I were to have triplets" she tried to smile nervously.
"I know, it sounds pretty intense" he agreed.
They were joined by Derek who instantly put his good arm around Meredith's waist and placed a kiss on her temple "how is it going?" he asked smiling at James.
"Perfect" she molded into his embrace, sighing softly "we were just thinking about how hard it could be to deal with triplets" she added.
"Are you still mad at me about this?" he double-checked to make sure.
"No, we were talking about James' boss who just had triplets…"
"Okay then, I definitely had nothing to do with that!" he grinned.
James looked confused and Meredith started to explain "Derek and Amelia's older sister, Nancy, had triplets and I kind of had a freak out about that fact the other day…"
"She went all cage fighter on me actually" Derek kept on grinning.
"I did not!" she protested and James couldn't help but smile at that pout.
Amelia joined them at that very moment and smiled instantly at the scene too "having fun?" she whispered to James.
"Yeah, your family is great" he reassured her placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Good, I'm glad to have brought you here" she confessed. The foursome then proceeded to fill up their plates, take a seat and enjoy the salmon, trouts and casserole together, soon joined by Carolyn, Liz and Scott as well.
Alex managed to reach the Shepherd-Grey residence a little after eleven thirty, since a resident on call had offered to start his shift earlier, he found himself on the threshold of the house in the woods, taking a deep breath. He didn't know why he was so nervous about knocking on the door and entering, he felt exactly like Meredith had felt all those years ago, on their intern year, afraid to spoil other people's happiness. He really needed to talk with somebody, to Meredith actually, but in order to do that, he had to knock on the door. When he finally managed to he found himself face to face with Carolyn Shepherd, a warm smile gracing her features "I'm glad to see you've made it dear, come on in… there's plenty of food!"
"Thanks… it smells delicious" he smiled back, taking off his coat and hanging it on the hanger.
"Hey Alex, you've made it!" Meredith motioned him over to where she was sitting on the sofa with Cristina, Amelia, Callie and Liz.
"Let the poor guy get some food!" Cristina chastised her person.
"I'll go fetch him a plate… we've got something to talk about" she answered getting up.
The other women nodded, as they were joined by Arizona who had gone to help the kids set up a quick game of Pictionary.
"Alex and Meredith seem pretty close" commented Amelia.
"They are, since the both of them were basically children of darkness" mumbled Cristina.
Both Amelia and Liz's eyebrows shot upwards "what Cristina means is that neither of them had a loving family growing up, so they understand each other in ways that we cannot" added Arizona taking the seat Meredith had vacated.
The two Shepherd sisters nodded, then the five of them went back to meaningless chat, soon joined by Carolyn as well, while Meredith kept company to Alex as he ate.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on? I'm starting to get worried and I don't need any extra stress, you know that…" she asked after he had already emptied half of his plate.
"Sorry I didn't mean for you to worry" he answered in between bites, looking sheepish.
"I'm a mom now, I'm bound to worry everyday…"
He grinned at her "I just hope to be able to be a good role model for Amber… I've failed her so much already"
"You'll be a great role model, you are an awesome brother, Amber is lucky to have you" she started, but he interrupted her "I wasn't able to protect her from Aaron's illness"
"You couldn't have, you had no idea about his sickness…"
"But still, I'm her big brother, I'm supposed to protect her from the bad stuff that goes on in this world"
"And you did your best" she reassured him "she'll be so grateful to have you by her side, she'll ask you tips and you'll do great"
"I really hope so" he murmured.
"I know so" she winked at him, stealing a pizza square from his appetizers plate, when she was done munching the food in her mouth she looked at him once more "what else is really bothering you?"
"What do you mean?" he played innocent.
"You've been weird for days, you look sad and just not your usual self… are you regretting not going to Hopkins?"
"No, it's not that… I'm glad I've decided to stay here, Robbins is a great mentor" he quickly dismissed her latest worry "I just, well… it's stupid" he defended himself.
"I bet it's not" she smiled at him.
"Well, after Bailey's wedding I've gotten close to Jo Wilson and I find myself liking her a lot…" he trailed off, not sure about how to explain himself.
"What's your point?"
"She's an intern"
"I was an intern when I fell in love with Derek…"
"It was different for you two"
"Really? How?"
"Well, you two are meant to be, always have been, always will be" he answered, stating the obvious.
"Maybe, but we wouldn't have found that out if we hadn't gone through everything that happened to us… how do you know she's not the one you're meant to be with? You won't find that out if you don't give her a chance"
"Well, I know you're right, but I find myself pretty afraid of doing that. The women in my life have all turned out to be crazy somehow and I just don't want to bother anymore…"
"You should never give up on something as important as love Alex, if I had done it I wouldn't be here today, celebrating the holidays with my husband's family with a little girl and a baby on the way. Sure it was scary at first, but totally worth the ride, I assure you"
"Yeah, you're right. I'll talk to her as soon as I'll sort everything out with Amber" he smiled at her, setting his fork down and stepping up to give her a hug. She hugged him back, grinning.
"Thanks for everything Mere" he whispered in her ear.
"Don't even mention it" she patted his back.
"Still sure you want me to be the baby's godfather?" he grinned back at her.
"Of course I'm sure, you ass!"
An excited pitter-patter of feet interrupted their quiet moment " 's almos midnih Mama!" exclaimed Zola, who was still up, thanks to a really long afternoon nap.
"Is it baby?" asked Meredith kneeling down to be at her height, the little girl nodded and then shrieked in joy when she spotted Alex "Unca Ales!"
"Hi there Miss Zola… ready for countdown?!"
"Yup! You?"
"I'm ready as well" he said reaching down to grab her and twirl her around.
A couple of minutes later the TV was turned on in order for the everyone to chant the countdown along with the program. Derek made his way to Meredith, a silly grin on his face.
"Ready to make a wish?" he whispered slowly.
"A wish?"
"Yeah… a new year's wish"
"I didn't know you were supposed to do that" she scrunched her nose in confusion "what are you wishing for?"
"You're not supposed to say" he scolded her.
"Don't be a baby!"
"I already have everything I wished for…" he finally confessed smiling softly, his eyes shining brightly.
She felt her heart skip a beat as the countdown finally reached her ears "… 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Happy New Year Meredith" his lips closed in on hers, his tongue demanding entrance and she kissed him back fiercely.
"There is no other place I'd rather be" she whispered contently when their kiss was over.
"Same goes for me" he smiled as Zola sneaked in between them in order to get her new year's kiss as well "epy new yar Mama an' Dada"
"Happy new year Princess" they both reached down to pick her up and she snuggled with the both of them. There really couldn't be a better way to start the new year.
My apologies for the delay of the chapter, I've had difficulties wrapping it up and I'm still not too content, but I hope it's fine. The final part literally wrote itself, I just love MerDer fluff too much. Also, I'm starting to explore Alex's problems as from now, hope that's okay. Tell me how I did with James, since I haven't really watched Private Practice yet, but I find him and Amelia super cute. Drop me a line, tell me what you think and stay tuned for next chapter!
