Chapter 21

Meredith saw Derek hanging out by the nurses' station as she finished up with a patient. She was just finishing her shift, but he wouldn't be done for another hour, so he was probably just checking in with her.

The past three weeks had flown by. She had been busy finishing up classes and taking finals, and now she was on winter break. She felt as though she was doing a lot better; she still had a nightmare every three or four days, but she felt as though a lot of improvement had been made. It left Meredith time to think about other things, such as her upcoming wedding.

"Hey," she said as she reached Derek, jabbing him lightly with her elbow. "What are you up to?"

"Hi," Derek said, smiling brightly at her as he brushed his lips against her cheek. "I just wanted to say hi. Are you done for the day?"

"I am," Meredith responded. "But I have an appointment with Dr. Cooper in like five minutes; will you wait for me when you get done with your shift?"

"Of course," Derek replied.

"Good, because we have important things to discuss tonight, and I feel as though it may take a while," Meredith said, backing away from him and heading towards the elevators.

"What do we have to talk about?" Derek called after her confused.

"Think about it; it's something very important," Meredith said, turning away from him and racing down the hallway before he could call after her. He's so easy to tease sometimes, she thought.

Leaving her appointment with Dr. Cooper an hour later, Meredith found Derek sitting on a plastic chair, waiting for her.

"So, now can you tell me what's so important," Derek asked anxiously after greeting her.

"Nope," Meredith teased, shaking her head. "Not until we get home."

"Come on Mer, just one hint?"

"No, and if you can't figure out a major event that is happening in your future, I'm not so sure it should happen," she laughed when she saw his face become down right shocked.

"Well maybe if you helped me to figure it out, we wouldn't have this problem," Derek grumbled.

"Fine," Meredith sighed, stopping to face him. "One hint."

Derek looked at her expectantly as she dug through her bag, pulling out a small jewelry pouch. She smirked at him, making a show of opening the small drawstring pouch and pulling her engagement ring out.

"Mer, what is the hint, I don't want to just stand here and watch you put on your-" realization dawned on his face as he watched Meredith slip the ring on her left hand. "You want to do wedding planning tonight?"

"Yes," Meredith nodded firmly. "I know we're just having a small thing, but I felt like such a slacker on Thanksgiving when your mom and sisters were asking about the wedding and we didn't even have a date yet. Which is pretty bad considering we plan on getting married in about six or seven months."

"Right," Derek said, and she could tell he was trying to come up with a plan. "So, let's start by picking a date."

"Not now Derek," Meredith said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit. "When we get home. We'll pick up a pizza, open a bottle of wine, and plan this thing."

"Okay," Derek said, smiling as they moved out of the hospital.

XXXXXX

As they entered their apartment, Meredith went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine, glasses and plates while Derek headed into the living room with the pizza. When Meredith got to the living room, Derek was studying a calendar for next year. She settled herself next to him on the couch, and ate in silence for a few minutes before Derek spoke.

"So," he began. "When do you want to get married?"

"I already told you, this summer if it's still feasible," Meredith responded.

"Oh, it's possible," Derek nodded confidently. "But what part of the summer?"

"Derek, I'm a student," Meredith scoffed. "I don't have classes in the summer, and I work a part time job as a nurse's assistant. Pretty much anytime from the middle of May until the end of August works for me. You should figure this part out, and what works best with your crazy schedule."

"Hmmm," Derek murmured, flipping through the calendar for a minute before resting on a month. "How about the beginning of June? I'll be ending my residency, but it won't be too close to the end. Plus I won't have to worry about potentially settling into a new job while going over last minute details."

"Derek, do you honestly not think you'll get the fellowship position at NYU Med? You are the perfect resident, you're a freaking genius, and all the Attendings love you. You won't have to settle into a new job, you have this one in the bag when you apply."

"Thanks, but it's better for me to put out a lot of applications so I'm not jobless and I don't make my new wife live on the street," he joke, kissing her forehead. "But let's not talk about that now. Let's focus on the date."

"Right, the date," Meredith repeated, turning back to the calendar. "Would June second be too soon?"

Derek grinned at her. "June second sounds like a perfect anniversary to me."

"Good. Next up is location. Any preferences on where we get married? Or we have the reception?" Meredith asked.

"Actually, I do," Derek said, looking at her hopefully. "My parents and all my sisters were married at Saint Catherine's a couple blocks from here, you know, where we went for Liz's wedding? I'd really like to keep up the tradition. And since it's close to the Plaza, maybe we could have the reception there? But only if you want to Mer."

"That sounds really nice Derek," Meredith smiled at him. "But I don't think we'll be able to get a room at the Plaza. June is a popular month for weddings, and we're only giving them six months. Most people book a year or two in advance!"

"Well, I'll call them right now and see," Derek said, grabbing the phone.

"Wait! We didn't even pick out a time!"

"Do you want to get married in the morning?" Derek asked.

"No," Meredith scoffed. "I am not a morning person; I want to get married in the afternoon. How about two o'clock?"

"I can live with that," Derek answered. "So, I'll call the Plaza and see if they have a reception hall available at four?"

"You're going to call right now?"

"Yes. As you said, people book years in advance," he teased as he looked up the number.

"Someone may not answer," Meredith said, thinking realistically.

"It's barely five," Derek countered. "Someone should be there. And if not, I'll call first thing in the morning."

"What if Saint Catherine's already has a wedding going on on the second, and at that time?"

"Then we'll get married somewhere else," Derek answered simply. "There are plenty of churches in Manhattan. Worse comes to worse, we'll get married at city hall the Friday before and celebrate the next day."

"Okay," Meredith nodded as Derek put the phone to his ear.

"Hi, I'm Derek Shepherd," Derek spoke into the phone. "I know this is kind of short notice, but I just figured out a date for my wedding, and I was wondering if you had any halls available on June second…Yes of this upcoming year," Derek rolled his eyes, causing Meredith to giggle. "Hmmm, okay, I see… That's it?... Well, I'll have to talk to my fiancée… Actually, just put the reservation down for Shepherd and I'll call you tomorrow morning with a definitive answer… Thank you so much, goodbye," Derek hung up the phone, and Meredith looked at him expectantly.

"So?" Meredith said.

"So," Derek sighed. "You were right about it being a popular time…"

"Oh well, you tried," Meredith said. "We'll just have to-"

"Mer, let me finish," Derek laughed. "They don't have any of the really fancy reception halls left, but they do have one small function room left. The event planner said it was more for corporate meetings and parties, but they would be willing to make it a wedding reception. But, she did say it would only hold thirty-five people, forty tops. I reserved it just in case, but if you don't want to take it because it's too small, I'll call her back."

"No, we're taking it," Meredith said firmly. "You want this, so we're doing it. We said we were going to have a small wedding, so thirty-five to forty it perfect. Think about it. Your mother, your sisters, and their husbands are eight, plus a date for Amelia if she takes one, plus eight nieces and nephews, Mark and Addison, Cristina, Izzie and Alex, maybe Sadie and Jack. And my mother too, if she bothers to show up. That's what, twenty five people? Those are the essential people that we need to invite, plus some of your work and college friends are like thirty five, so the room is perfect Derek. We didn't want a big thing, so now we cannot have one even if your mother insists."

"Okay, we'll take it," Derek agreed as she finished rambling. "Let me call the church." After getting off the phone with the Pastor, Meredith rested her head on Derek's shoulder, cuddling into his chest.

"Bridesmaids?" Derek asked after a few minutes.

"Cristina," Meredith began. "Izzie, Amelia, maybe Liz if you have enough friends for four groomsmen."

"You are so mean to me," Derek chuckled. "Mark will be my best man. I've known Nancy's husband James for years, so him, my buddy Dave from college; you know, the one that came to visit for a week last year? And maybe Alex, if you insist on four people in your wedding party."

"Alex? Seriously?"

"Hey, we're friends!" Derek insisted. "Most of the time it was the two of us surrounded by girls, we bonded."

"Fine, whatever," Meredith giggled.

"What color do you want the dresses to be?"

"Umm, maybe light blue, or pale green," Meredith said after thinking about it. "I don't want anything too girly."

"Green would be nice," Derek mumbled.

"We'll look at invitations in a couple of days. We don't have to do anymore planning right now," Meredith said into Derek's chest.

"Okay," Derek murmured. They sat silently and contently for a while until Derek kissed the top of Meredith's head.

"This is nice," he said. "We haven't done this in a while, just spent time together."

"Yeah," Meredith agreed, looking up at him. "You know what else we haven't done in a while?" Meredith whispered seductively.

"What?" Derek asked.

Meredith moved to straddle his hips, kissing him deeply so that her tongue slipped into his mouth. When she pulled away, he looked confused.

"What?" Derek repeated, perplexed.

She smirked at him as she kissed him again, grinding her hips against his. There was no mistaking her intents as she pulled away once more, and he looked concerned.

"Mer," he said softly. "We don't have to. I'm not pressuring you to-"

She kissed him again to silence him. "I know you aren't pressuring me Derek. I want this. It's been six weeks, and I miss you. I'm doing better, and I want you."

Derek leaned towards her and kissed her tenderly. "Who am I to deny you anything you want?" he joked before taking a serious tone. "But really Mer, if this gets to be too much, or you aren't comfortable, just tell me and we'll stop. We'll go slow."

Meredith nodded as she climbed off him, reaching for his hand and pulling him towards their room. When they reached the bedroom, Derek pulled Meredith close to him, kissing her passionately as they slowly undressed each other. When they were both naked, Derek's lips trailed down Meredith's neck as he eased her back on to the bed. He kissed her chest before taking her breast into his mouth, sucking on it gently as his hand wandered to her core. Meredith moaned in satisfaction, loving the way Derek's body was pressed against hers.

He hovered over her, and kissed her before he pulled away. "Are you sure?" he asked huskily.

"Please Derek," she whined, spreading her legs so he could settle between them. With a gentle thrust he entered her, and Meredith gasped.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked, stilling inside of her.

"Perfect," Meredith nodded before knotting her fingers in his hair and pulling his face down to kiss her. Derek resumed his slow thrusts, and Meredith felt pleasure surge through her body.

They rocked together slowly, giving themselves time for to get used to the feel of each other again. Their pleasure built, and with one strong thrust, the climaxed together, softly crying out in ecstasy.

When they came down from their highs, Derek rolled off of Meredith and pulled her towards him so that they faced each other, and his hand rested on her hip.

"Was that alright?" Derek asked as he kissed her.

"That was more than alright," Meredith said against his lips. "I know that I'm not a hundred percent, but I'm a lot better Derek, and I wanted that. I needed that."

"I love you Meredith," he whispered as he pulled her even closer, her head fitting under his chin. "I can't wait to marry you."

"You too," Meredith mumbled as she fell asleep in Derek's arms.