Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy

Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! I'll keep working on the sequel; I already have nine chapters written, so I'm glad you all want me to do one, because if not, it would have been a waste of hard work lol. So, here's the second to last chapter before the epilogue, and it's generally happy. As always, read review, and enjoy!

Chapter 25

"Come on Meredith," Derek said exasperatedly. He had been waiting for half an hour to leave, and now they were cutting it close. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were spending Easter with his family. Derek promised that he and Meredith would be there by four so they could be on time for dinner. They would be staying overnight, getting up early to do an Easter Egg hunt, go to church, and have another big family dinner before they head back to the city. Meredith had agreed to spend the weekend with his family without much difficulty, but now she was taking forever to get ready. He paced the living room, staring at his shut bedroom door, where Meredith was supposed to be changing. Her mother had a conference in Atlanta this week, and had apparently forgotten it was Easter, leaving Meredith with the choice of going home to an empty house or staying at school. Derek insisted that Meredith stay with him, since she had done it numerous times before, and Meredith had been very grateful. That is, until he told her that she would have to come home with him for Easter. Luckily for him, she looked nervous for about a minute before smiling and agreeing.

Which led him to the current situation. Meredith was changing for the tenth time today, while trying to figure out if what she packed for their stay at his mother's was acceptable. Despite the fact that Derek assured her that anything she wore was fine, Meredith apparently wasn't convinced.

"Mer, we're going to be late," Derek called to her as the door opened. Meredith was wearing a white tank top tucked into a blue floral skirt that stopped just above her knees, and was pulling on a sweater that was the same color of the skirt as she stared at him, clearly annoyed.

"I'm ready!" she sneered at him, before turning self-conscious. "This looks okay right?"

Derek smiled at her, dirty thoughts filling his mind. "Definitely. You look very hot." He stepped towards her, resting his hands on her hips as he pulled her close to him, kissing her deeply. She responded eagerly before stepping away, taking his hands off her hips.

"No, we aren't doing this." She said firmly, fixing her hair.

"Doing what?" Derek said, feigning confusion.

"Don't play dumb with me. I know exactly what you were thinking, and we can't, because as you pointed out two minutes ago, we're going to be late. And your mom doesn't need to see me with sex hair or anything like that," Meredith snapped, grabbing her overnight bag before heading to the door.

"Fine," Derek sighed, following after her. The drive didn't take all that long, which was surprising. It was mid-April, not too cool and not too warm, a perfect Easter weekend. This drive to his mother's house was far different from the first; Meredith was infinitely more relaxed, smiling and laughing with him, not appearing the least bit nervous.

"So," Meredith began. "What is Easter like again?"

"Well, nothing's really going on tonight, it'll just be you, me, mom, Liz and Amy. We'll probably just eat dinner and watch movies, get out the Easter Baskets and decorate a little before Mom makes us go to bed early. Then we'll get woken up at the crack of dawn to go to Church, and then Nancy and Kathleen will come over with the kids for breakfast. Everyone gets to look at their Easter Baskets, and then we have the Easter Egg Hunt around eleven."

"Easter Egg Hunt? For the kids?"

"No, not just for the kids," Derek scoffed. "Everyone plays, there are only three kids, so of course we play. You win prizes if you get the most eggs."

"Seriously Derek?" Meredith asked in disbelief. "You sound like you're seven."

"It gets very competitive," Derek laughed. "Besides, you haven't seen the prizes yet, once you see what Mom comes up with, you'll want to join in."

"How intense does this get?"

"When I was fifteen, Mark and I grabbed for the same egg. We got into a fight, and he broke my nose," Derek admitted sheepishly.

"Is that why your nose is crooked? Oh my God, I thought you got hit in the face with a ball or something; I didn't realize you were fighting over an egg!" Meredith snickered at this.

"There were only two left and Mark and I were tied! It was a very important egg," Derek insisted as they turned on to his street.

"Uh-huh, sure," Meredith rolled her eyes. "So, after the epic Easter Egg Hunt, what do you do?"

"Well, Mark and I, and now Andrew and James, just kind of hang around, swap candy or whatever, while the girls usually help Mom in the kitchen. But don't worry," Derek amended, noting Meredith's wide eyes, "I told my mother not to force you to help, that you don't really know how to cook. So, you'll probably just have to set the table and then spend time with me," he winked.

"I could try and help! I don't want her to think I'm being lazy!"

"All I told her was not to force you, if you want to help, I'm sure she'll let you," Derek said as they slowed down in front of his house. Carolyn was already outside waiting for them, walking towards the car as Meredith hopped out.

"Hi Mrs. Shepherd," Meredith said as she hugged the older woman.

"Meredith, for the hundredth time, please call me Carolyn," she said as she turned to greet her son.

"I'll work on it," Meredith giggled as the headed towards the door.

XXXXXX

Derek could watch Meredith all day. It didn't matter what she was doing; he always found her fascinating. But he had, very recently, decided that his favorite time to watch Meredith was with his family. He wasn't sure when, but at some point she had gotten over the nervousness and the ramblings about them hating her, and now spent her visits bonding with his sisters, especially Liz and Amelia. Despite their first encounter, Meredith and Amelia were now close friends, and he had seen an improvement in Amelia's behavior and actions since she got to know Meredith. It probably had something to do with their proximity in age, or maybe it was because they both lost their fathers at the same point in their childhood, Derek wasn't sure. All he knew was that Meredith had slipped into his family seamlessly, and he was beginning to picture her there in the future. And once that idea took hold of him, he couldn't undo it; all he knew was that he wanted Meredith with his family, and refused to believe that there might be a time when she wouldn't be there.

Though Derek had enjoyed watching Meredith joke and gossip with his sisters, he desperately wanted to spend some time alone with her. Mark and his other sisters would be coming in the morning, which meant that for the next twenty-four hours, they would be surrounded by his family at all times. She was watching a movie with his sisters, and he figured now would be as good a time as any to persuade her to go to bed.

Sneaking up behind where she was sitting on the couch, he began to massage her shoulders. Meredith sighed slightly and leaned into his touch, so Derek bent down and ran his lips down her neck.

"Can I steal you away for the night yet?" he whispered into her ear.

"Mhmm," Meredith sighed quietly, nodding her head. Standing up, she turned to Liz and Amelia. "I think I'm gonna head to bed guys, I'll see you tomorrow."

They both smirked at her. "Night," Liz said. Amelia, on the other hand, was more bold. "I hope you manage to get some sleep tonight, and try to keep it down."

Derek laughed as Meredith turned bright red, stumbling over her words. "What? No, we- we're not, no. sleep, we'll be sleeping. And, and nothing else. Because your mother is here. And you guys are here. So sex, no sex. Definitely no sex."

Derek chuckled again as he grabbed Meredith's hand, pulling her up the stairs towards his room before she could say anything else embarrassing. As soon as the door closed, he locked and pulled her into a searing kiss. Meredith responded eagerly at first, opening her mouth so his tongue could slide in, but after a minute, she pulled away from him suddenly.

"No," Meredith said, breathless. "We are not doing that here. This is your mother's house, and your sisters are already giving me weird looks!"

"Meredith," Derek said, smiling at her. "We aren't having sex. I just missed you, and I wanted some time alone with you. Plus, we have to be up at seven thirty to get to church at nine, so I figured you would want to go to bed early."

"Oh, okay then," Meredith said, eyeing him. "But still, no sex, just sleeping."

"Just sleeping," Derek agreed as he kissed her gently. They got ready for bed, and Derek groaned inwardly when he saw what Meredith was wearing. She was definitely making this no sex thing hard for him on purpose, deciding to only wear black panties and a white tank top to bed. That solidified Derek's decision just to wear his boxers, and he slid into bed next to her, pulling her close to him.

Meredith rolled over, leaning up to kiss him before settling her head on his chest. "Easter isn't so bad," she whispered into the dark.

"Yeah, for now. Wait until tomorrow," Derek teased.

"Yeah, we'll see," Meredith agreed. "Goodnight."

"Night Mer," Derek said, pressing his lips on the top of her head.

XXXXXX

"If I were an egg, where would I be?" Derek heard Meredith mumble to herself as she scoured the yard. They had been looking for an hour, and his mother had informed him that there were three eggs left. Despite Meredith's mocking, she was every bit as competitive as Derek and Mark, and the three of them all had practically the same number of eggs. This year's main prize was a one hundred dollar visa gift card, and they all wanted it badly.

Derek stopped searching for a minute, watching Meredith move through the bushes. She had been so excited when she got her Easter basket this morning, and was so grateful that his mom had made one. She was great with his nieces and nephew when they came over, letting them tell her about all the stuff in their baskets, even though she had the exact same things in her own. She fit in with them, in every single way.

"Nancy found an egg, and so did Mark. There's only one left!" Carolyn's voice echoed through the yard, snapping Derek out of his memories and refocusing on his hunt. Meredith must have hear him move and turned to look at him, smirking. "Stalking me now, are you?" she grinned.

"Hoping you'll lead me to the last egg," he countered. After looking for a few seconds, Derek saw something pink at the end of the bushes: the last egg. However, Meredith must have seen it a second before him, because she was running ahead of him before Derek could register what was happening. He sprang to action, catching up with her quickly. As she was reaching down to grab the egg, Derek did the first thing that came to mind: he tackled her. Meredith screamed as his body collided with hers, and they were both fell to the ground. Meredith was pinned under him, and he suddenly realized what he had done.

"Oh my God, Mer," he panted, brushing hair out if her face. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking. Are you alright?"

Meredith was breathing hard, and just stared up at him blankly for a minute before her face broke out into a slow smile. Leaning up, she kissed him hard, a hand reaching up, threading her fingers through his hair. "I'm great," she said as they pulled apart. "Especially since I got the last egg."

Derek looked down at her other hand, which circled the pink egg. She looked up at him triumphantly, and he couldn't help but smile with her. "I'm going to make you pay for that," he whispered, tickling her sides. She squealed with laughter as they rolled around together on the grass.

XXXXXX

Everyone was sitting around the dinner table, the loud ruckus slowly turning into quiet conversations as dessert was served and exhaustion set in. Meredith had won the contest by two eggs, and Derek joked that now it was her turn to pay for their next date. Meredith's chair had gotten closer to his as dinner had progressed, and now her head was resting gently on his shoulder. Derek figured they would have to leave soon, Meredith's classes began again tomorrow, and Derek had an early shift at the hospital.

"So Meredith," Nancy said, turning her attention away from her daughter to look at the young girl. "How many weeks of classes do you have left?"

"Umm," Meredith lifted her head off Derek's shoulder, and he watched her try to do the math in her head. "I think I have three weeks left, and then a few days to study, and then I have a week of finals."

"Wow, not much time left," Kathleen commented. "Did you get a job in New York for the summer, or are you doing an internship?"

"No, I've been a lifeguard at a beach near my house for the past few years, so I'll be doing that again this summer."

"Aww, that's too bad. It's probably going to be really hard for the two of you to be apart for three and a half months."

Derek saw Meredith tense beside him, as if this was the first time she realized that they would be far away from each other for a while. It was honestly the first time for Derek; he had all but forgotten that Meredith had a life in Boston, one that didn't involve him. Reaching for her hand under the table and giving it a squeeze, Derek spoke for the both of them. "Don't worry Kathleen, we'll make it work." He turned his head towards Meredith, smiling at her, but Meredith's expression was questioning; there was no smile on her lips.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Nancy said to the two of them. The focus of the table soon shifted, however, when Nancy's daughter decided to throw her mashed potatoes on the ground.