AN: Hi! First of all I'd like to apologise for this very very late update - I'd meant to get this out much sooner but life has been unexpectedly rather hectic lately! Secondly, thank you for the lovely reviews for the last chapter :) A guest reviewer asked if the British refer to plastic bags as 'carriers' (as I had referred to them in Ch20) – I didn't realise this wasn't an American thing, but yes we do call them 'carriers', 'carrier bags' or just plain old 'bags'…at least we do where I live!
So, this is the last chapter of From The Beginning :( It's been a blast though and I've really enjoyed writing it and reading your responses! This chapter wraps things up and gives MerDer the future they deserve :)
Enjoy!
Chapter 21:
June 30th 2015
"That was..." Derek panted, trying to catch his breath as he flicked the dripping curls off his forehead.
"Incredible" Meredith finished for him as she turned off the shower and slumped against the wall to catch her breath. Derek smirked at her response, causing Meredith to giggle and roll her eyes. "Although you should get out of here though – you know Mark's taking his Best Man duties very seriously and if he finds out you're in here I wouldn't put it past him to barge in and drag you out – naked!"
Derek chuckled at the thought, fairly certain that Mark would do just that if he found out where he was. "He told me to go take a shower – I was just following his instructions" he pointed out, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Meredith snorted in amusement. "I'm pretty sure this wasn't what he had in mind." She however had no qualms whatsoever about Derek's surprise shower visit this morning. She'd missed him last night due to Mark's insistence that the bride and groom couldn't see each other the night before the wedding – even though technically they were already married. And so much to Derek's disgruntlement, he'd ended up spending the night with Mark in his old trailer that they'd never had the heart to get rid of. She had a feeling Mark was trying to make up for past indiscretions with Derek's previous marriage, and not having had the chance to be there the first time she married Derek, he was going all out this time. He even in typical Mark Sloan style promised that he 'won't sleep with this one!'
Derek couldn't bring himself to care in that moment. He'd had to share a bed with Mark last night, thereby removing the possibility of any pre wedding day sex – unless he'd wanted to make a significant lifestyle change. He figured he was owed early morning shower sex with Meredith. He tilted his head and gave her his McDreamy smile as he leaned into her and murmured, "Mere, what better way is there to kick off our wedding day?"
Meredith smiled as his lips lowered towards hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, needing no more persuasion for round two. No sooner had their lips met though, a pounding on their bedroom door caused them to jump apart. "Looks like Mark figured out your plan" she giggled.
Derek groaned and cursed his best friend's timing. It wasn't Mark's voice however that permeated the door though.
"Mere, I swear you better be clothed when I come in – I did not fly half way around the world to walk in on you doing McDreamy!"
Meredith stilled as she wrapped a towel around herself and her eyes widened as she turned back to Derek. "Cristina?" she asked, not quite believing her person was on the other side of her bedroom door.
"She's early, she wasn't supposed to be here for another hour – Amelia was supposed to text me when she picked her up." Derek sighed at his surprise not going quite to plan.
"You knew she was coming?" Meredith asked surprised.
"Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise - she's my wedding gift to you."
Meredith smiled widely. "You bought me Cristina?"
"I did" Derek replied, returning her smile. "She's your Maid of Honour – Lexi has a dress for her downstairs."
"So that's why Lexi was all weird when I asked her to be my Maid of Honour – because she knew you'd already filled the position."
"Yeah" Derek smirked, pleased with himself for managing to pull this off without Meredith finding out. "I think I deserve lots of sex as a thank you – I had to get her first class tickets as well as surgical privileges at the hospital to seal the deal!"
Meredith chuckled, totally believing that Cristina would forge a hard bargain. "I can't believe you got me Cristina!"
Derek smiled and took her hand in his, "Aside from me and the kids, I know she's the one person you'd want here."
"Thank you" Meredith said softly, reaching up and brushing his lips with hers. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Cristina's voice broke them out of their little bubble. "Seriously Mere, if I have to wait out here much longer I'm gunna bypass this wedding in favour of stealing a surgery at the hospital!"
They both laughed at Cristina's familiar impatience. Meredith threw on a tee shirt and shorts as Derek wrapped a towel around his waist. "I'll definitely be thanking you later" she whispered to him as she headed over to the door.
As Meredith pulled the door open Cristina quirked an eyebrow at Derek's lack of clothing but she couldn't hide the smile that tugged at her mouth as Meredith excitedly pulled her into a hug. Neither women were particularly huggy people but after not seeing each other for almost a year they made an exception.
"I'll leave you two ladies to it" Derek smiled as he stepped past them out of the room. "Good to see you Yang."
"McDreamy" Cristina nodded in greeting.
As Derek disappeared down the stairs, Meredith couldn't stop smiling as she closed the door.
"You know this constitutes hugging" Cristina commented.
"Shut up" Meredith laughed as she released her friend.
Cristina smirked at Meredith's rosy cheeks and disheveled appearance, under no illusions as to what her and Derek had been doing prior to her arrival – some things never changed. "You know, you and McDreamy are the only two people who could get married to each other three times – in three different ways!"
Meredith chuckled as she and Cristina fell back into the teasing banter they'd shared throughout their residencies. Despite Cristina now living on the other side of the world, whenever they saw each other it was as if she'd never left.
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Mark smirked from his seat at the kitchen table as Derek walked down the stairs, naked but for a towel around his waist. "Did Yang interrupt your sexathon?"
Derek glared at him. "I take it that was your doing then?"
"Yeah" Mark replied, not in the least bit apologetic. "Figured you'd be more embarrassed by Yang kicking your ass out of there than me. Besides, it was payback."
"Payback for what?" Derek asked, not really annoyed that he didn't get to complete round two, because the look on Meredith's face told him Cristina was the best wedding present he could have got her. Besides, there'd be plenty of time for round two…and three and four later.
"We're on the clock here and as Best Man it's my duty to make sure you're on time. You were supposed to be having a shower."
"I did" Derek smirked cockily.
Mark shook his head in amusement. He was actually happy for his best friend and adopted little sister. They'd found something incredibly rare with each other and even after all this time they were obviously still head over heels in love with each other – even more so if possible. He was also incredibly grateful that Derek had fully forgiven him and they were back to being brothers. He'd been shocked when Derek had asked him to be his Best Man again and had gotten choked up – much to Derek's amusement. He was going to do it right this time. He knew it was different with Meredith – she was completely Derek's in a way Addison never truly was, and he knew that Meredith would chop it off if he even tried anything – not that he ever would. "I thought being married meant you had less sex anyway - it's been 10 years and you and Grey are still going at it like horny teenagers!"
"And always will be" Derek grinned. "Besides, you and Lexi are like an old married couple and you're still defiling every lockable room in the hospital!"
Mark's jaw dropped a little before he recovered but Derek didn't miss the blush that coloured his cheeks. Never in the forty plus years they'd known each other had he ever seen Mark Sloan blush. Derek smiled in realisation at the flustered ex-manwhore. "You're gunna propose."
"Wh-what!...I am not!" Mark stuttered, his blush intensifying at Derek having seen right through him. He frowned as Derek laughed, clearly not believing him. "Come on, we need to get ready so you can marry Grey – again."
Derek chuckled at Mark's subject change as he followed him out of the room. He was happy – he was renewing his vows with the love of his life, and if he wasn't mistaken his brother would soon be marrying Meredith's sister.
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As Derek stood at the bottom of the aisle that had been erected on their land, he tapped his foot in nervous anticipation. He had no reason to be nervous – they were already married, but they'd gone for the traditional wedding experience this time as they hadn't done that the first, or second, time around, and that was exciting as well as a little nerve racking. Their post-it wedding had been perfectly them and he'd always see that as their 'wedding' and City Hall made it official in the eyes of the law. The first time around Meredith had been in scrubs and the second time they'd been in little more than their street clothes, but now he was dressed in a full tuxedo with an adorable, proud looking Bailey stood next to him in a matching mini outfit.
His heart sped up at the thought of Meredith in a wedding dress. Despite this being their third 'wedding', Meredith in a wedding dress would be a first – and he literally couldn't wait to see her. He'd been surprised when Meredith had suggested doing the whole white wedding thing, she'd said it was for Zola and Bailey to give them some good memories, but he had a suspicion that she also wanted the white dress and the fairytale. They'd chosen today, June 30th, because it was exactly 10 years to the day that they'd met and they wanted to mark the anniversary of when it all began. Meredith had also insisted that if they were going to do this before the baby was born then it was going to be whilst she could still, in her words, 'walk down the aisle as opposed to waddle down it'. She was three and a half months pregnant now so she was showing but not overly so. Derek smiled at the thought that all three of his children would be part of the ceremony.
Derek looked out over the small gathering of people that they'd decided to invite. His mother and sisters, along with Meredith's few close friends from the hospital that she saw as family were seated on rows of white wooden chairs that parted in the middle to form a flower lined aisle for Meredith to walk down. He smiled as he caught his mother's eye – she had her handkerchief out and was already blotting away tears at the sight of her only son getting ready to recite his vows. He felt his own tears begin to well as he looked up at their house, knowing Meredith was in there getting ready and would soon be joining him here.
"You okay man?" Mark asked, squeezing Derek's shoulder.
Derek smiled back at him, "I've never been better."
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Meredith examined her reflection in the mirror and a smile tugged at her mouth. When she was younger she never thought she'd ever be the white wedding dress kind of girl, but ever since Derek had proposed again and they'd decided to do the vow renewal she'd found herself wanting it. She was wearing a simple but elegant strapless white gown that floated seamlessly over her little bump and tapered off to a small train at the back. If she'd been the type of little girl to imagine her wedding dress, she imagined this is the type of thing she would have envisaged. After being dragged to a gazillion different bridal shops by Lexi, she'd known this was the one the moment she saw it – she just hoped Derek liked it too.
"You look beautiful Mere, and McDreamy's gunna be lost for words when he sees you" Cristina commented, knowing what she was thinking.
Meredith quirked an eyebrow, waiting for a sarcastic comment to follow.
"What?" Cristina asked, seeing Meredith's dubious look. "I can do supportive. I'm wearing chiffon - I'm totally supportive."
Meredith chuckled. "Thank you."
"So how's the latest McBaby doing?" Cristina asked, motioning with her eyes down to Meredith's stomach.
Meredith grinned and placed her hand over her slightly swollen stomach. "She's doing great."
"She?" Cristina asked, her eyes widening.
"Yeah, she's a girl – we found out a couple of weeks ago. You're going to be an auntie again."
Cristina smiled at her person, genuinely happy for her. "I'll have her able to do an appy by the time she starts high school."
Meredith chuckled, knowing Cristina was actually serious. It was times like these that made her realise how much she missed having her friend nearby. "You could always come home you know – Zola misses her Aunt 'Stina."
"Maybe" Cristina replied wistfully, "I do kinda miss this place."
A soft knocking at the door drew their attention and when Cristina pulled it open she was met with the beaming face of Zola who was dressed in a little white dress complete with navy bow.
"Hi 'Stina!" Zola enthused, wrapping herself around Cristina's legs.
Meredith half expected Cristina to try and wiggle free but smiled when she replied "Hey Zo" and stroked her hair affectionately.
"You look pretty Mommy" Zola commented when she noticed her mother was also in the room. "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready" Meredith replied happily, taking Zola's hand and letting the little girl lead her downstairs.
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When the string band they'd hired began to play, Derek knew it was time and his head snapped over towards their porch in time to see Zola step out with Cristina, proudly throwing flowers out of her basket as she walked towards him. Derek smiled with fatherly pride at the sight but then his breath caught as his eyes met Meredith's and he held them, not once blinking as she slowly walked down the aisle, coming to stand in front of him. Whenever he thought it wasn't humanly possible to love her anymore than he already did, he was proven wrong every time. She looked incredible and he couldn't stop the happy tears that escaped and rolled down his cheeks.
Meredith felt like she was in a dream. Her eyes had locked onto Derek's the moment she'd stepped out of the house and she didn't even notice there was anyone but the two of them there as she walked down the aisle. The way he was looking at her told her that she was his world and she felt incredibly lucky that they'd found each other. When she finally tore her gaze away from his eyes she noticed his outfit – Derek in a tux was a sight to behold and that coupled with the hair and the eyes and the way he was looking at her…he deserved every bit of the McDreamy nickname Cristina had christened him with all those years ago.
'I love you' Derek mouthed.
'I love you too' Meredith mouthed back.
The minister smiled at the couple in front of him who were so wrapped up in each other. He cleared his throat lightly and Meredith and Derek blushed, seemingly realising that they weren't alone.
"Derek and Meredith, it is a pleasure to share today's wonderful occasion with you" the minister began. "Many people believe that entering into marriage is the final step in a romantic relationship. A couple meets, get to know one another and fall in love, decide they want to spend their lives together, and then take the final step—marriage. But marriage is hardly the final step in a couple's relationship, rather it is the beginning of a grand adventure – the continuation of a legend! You have shared the joys, blessings and challenges of married life for 6 years. Today you want to reconfirm your commitment to working together and ensuring your marriage blossoms for many more years to come. May this renewing of the vows you took to become husband and wife remind you that despite the stresses inevitable in every life, your love, respect, trust and understanding of each other will continue to increase your contentment and heighten your joy in living. Please join hands."
Derek grinned as he took Meredith's hands in his and laced their fingers together. The minister's words washed softly over them as their gazes locked once more.
"Derek, will you continue to have Meredith as your wife and continue to live in this marriage?"
"I will" Derek murmured, happiness radiating from his eyes.
"Do you reaffirm your love to her, and will you love, honour and cherish her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"
"I do" Derek replied, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms, but knowing he needed to restrain himself for a few more moments.
"Meredith, will you continue to have Derek as your husband and continue to live in this marriage?"
"I will" Meredith replied instantly, causing Derek's grin to widen even more.
"Do you reaffirm your love for him, and will you love, honour and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
The minister smiled at them both before looking up at the guests and beginning to read:
"Love endures and is kind.
Love is not envious or jealous.
Love wants not for itself.
Love is not puffed up, nor does it behave wrongly.
Love seeks not for it's own.
Love is not easily provoked.
Love is not rude.
Love thinks No evil.
Love does not rejoice in wrong, but dwells in the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, and love never fails."
"On your wedding day you exchanged rings as a symbol of the never-ending circle of love. Rings serve as a reminder of your vows to each other, and your commitment to live in unity, love and happiness. At this time, reconfirm the meaning of the rings you wear. Please join your left hands together so that Derek's hand is on top. Please repeat after me: Meredith, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you."
Derek squeezed Meredith's hand and smiled as he repeated the words. "Meredith, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you. I still promise to love you even when I hate you. I promise never to run, and I promise to take care of you when we're old, senile and smelly."
The second part earned a chuckle from the minister and their guests who realised that they were their original post-it vows.
"Now, with Meredith's hand on top, Meredith please repeat after me: Derek, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you."
Meredith moved her hand so that hers was now on top and squeezed his gently as he had done to hers. Her eyes became misty as she repeated the minister's words. "Derek, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you…I also still promise to love you even when I hate you. I promise never to run, and I promise to take care of you when we're old, senile and smelly."
Derek smiled at Meredith's repetition of his addition to the vows. Their eyes continued to speak more than any words could say as the minister continued speaking.
"I ask that you each continue to cherish each other as special and unique individuals and that you respect the thoughts and ideas of one another. And most of all, be able to forgive each other, and not hold grudges against. Live each day in love with each other, always being there to give love, comfort, and refuge, in good times and bad. Derek and Meredith, today you have renewed the vows you made to each other on your blessed wedding day. You have symbolised the renewal of your union by the joining of hands, the taking of vows, and by the wearing of your rings. It is with pleasure that I conclude the ceremony of renewing the vows of marriage that joined you and binds you as husband and wife. Please celebrate this renewal of vows with a kiss!"
Neither Derek nor Meredith needed anymore encouragement and a second later Derek cradled Meredith's face in his hands as their lips crashed together. She let out a contented sigh and wound her fingers into his curls as he deepened the kiss. Their friends and family erupted into applause and were it not for Mark's amused coughing and not so subtle remark about there being children present, things would have gotten a lot more heated.
Meredith giggled and buried her face in Derek's neck as they broke apart, feeling a little self conscious at having practically made out with Derek in front of his mother and sisters. As Derek wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, any embarrassment she felt quickly vanished and all she could feel was happy.
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Some hours later when day had had turned to night, Meredith lay her head on Derek's shoulder as they swayed to the music under the moonlight. "I think you should wear a tux more often" she commented.
Derek smiled into her hair. "You like the tux huh?"
"Oh yeah" Meredith replied, "and I'm gunna like stripping it off you later too."
Derek swallowed, feeling a familiar heat flood his veins. "I'm pretty sure I'll like that too."
Meredith giggled as she lifted her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was prevented from voicing her naughty reply by a tugging on her dress and looked down into the big brown eyes of their daughter.
"Can I dance with you?" Zola asked looking back and forth eagerly between her parents.
"Of course you can Princess" Derek smiled, picking her up and placing her on his hip.
"Can I get married here too when I'm big?" Zola asked.
"You can get married anywhere you want Zozo" Meredith replied fondly.
"But you can only get married to a man who loves you as much as I love your Mommy" Derek added.
Zola's eyes widened. "But that's a lot!"
"It is a lot" Derek smiled as he looked between his two favourite girls. "But there'll be no dating until you're at least 30."
Meredith chuckled at Derek's overprotectiveness as Zola looked between them not really understanding what was funny.
Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Bailey toddled over moments later, a huge smile on his face that looked so much like Derek's as he held his hands out to his mother. "Mama up!"
"Hey Bails" Meredith greeted her son softly as she picked him up. The two children giggled in delight as their parents huddled them all together and attempted to dance as a foursome. Meredith and Derek laughed in happiness at their children's joy and beauty of the moment.
When the novelty of dancing with their parents wore off, Zola and Bailey ran off to play with their many cousins, doing their best to keep up with older Shepherd children. Derek stood behind Meredith and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his hands protectively over their third child growing safely inside Meredith's womb.
"I love you Derek" Meredith murmured, placing her hands over his.
"I love you too Mere" Derek replied, placing a tender kiss to the top of her head. It was soft, quick, like a habit – one that they'd do every day for the rest of their lives. And they would -even when they were old, senile and smelly.
AN: So there we have it – MerDer as they should be – together, happy and living their lifetime together – I hope I've done our couple justice :) As this is the last chapter, I'd really love to hear your final thoughts, so please hit that little review button and make my day :)
Google informed me that medical interns start on July 1st in the US so if Grey's was sticking to facts, that means MerDer would have met the night before, so that's why I went with June 30th for their vow renewal. I also don't see the need for character culling, hence Mark and Lexie still being alive!
Some reviewers suggested an interest in a sequel but I think I'm leaving it in a good place here – MerDer are together – forever as they are supposed to be, living their legendary love story :) I do have another fic idea in mind though that I'm quite excited about - it's going to be partially AU and loosely based on a famous book/movie…I'm aiming to get it out late August so look out for it :) Also, if any of you have any ideas for fics that you'd like me to write then let me know and I'll be happy to consider them :)
Thanks again for reading and see you soon!