I was really only planning to lay down for five minutes. Surely I could have five minutes alone. If only... I was woken abruptly by Derek shaking me like I was dying.
"Jesus. I just laid down."
"You left nearly an hour ago to get ready to go. Now it is almost 6:30. I went ahead and ordered pizza so we could eat before we take all the kids to see Santa. Our Christmas Eve dinner will be Christmas dinner tomorrow. Callie and Arizona are already planning on coming back over. Now please, I know you're tired. We all are. When we get back from Santa, you can go to bed with the kids and I'll finish wrapping and all that."
Derek sat me up and cupped my cheek to give me one of his soft yet passionate kisses.
"Have I mentioned that I love you?"
"Once or twice."
He winked at me which made me grin so hard my cheeks hurt.
"Okay, I'll jump in the shower now. I promise I'll be down in twenty minutes."
He kissed me again before leaving. I used every ounce of effort in my body to get up and force myself to take a shower. We hardly survived Bailey as a newborn, how were we supposed to do this with two babies? We are Meredith and Derek. We survive explosions, drownings, shootings, plane crashes, super storms and car wrecks. If we can survive all of that, we could survive a couple of harmless babies... Until I get interrupted by Callie bringing me Will to nurse right as I had just finished getting dressed.
"Sorry. Derek is getting the kids fed, Owen is changing Leah, and Arizona is feeding Lainey the last bottle you pumped. Little man is hungry again."
"Are you kidding me? We literally just fed them over an hour ago."
She gave me a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, Aunt Callie can only do so much."
Then I thought of something...
"In Lainey's nursery should be the breast pump on the charger. Can you bring that to me so I can pump some? Bring me two bottles and whatever I have left can be for Will."
She handed him to me and left to get the pump for me. Whenever I first met Callie I had never imagine we would be friends, let alone this close, but she was a great friend. Both her and Arizona- they had done a lot for us. I had Will laying in the bassinet while I braided back my hair and threw on some makeup. I looked presentable enough. Callie returned with Arizona and Lainey in tow.
"Oh my god, what now?"
"Derek said you had their Christmas outfits in here. She is nice and full now, she just needs to be changed."
"Okay sorry guys, you're gonna see my boobs but I have to pump if I want to give my nipples a two hour break. I smell like lanolin and these babies are bottomless pits."
They both gave me a sympathetic look and I moved quickly to find the Carter's bag of the four kids' outfits. Zola and Lainey had matching dresses and tights while Bailey and Will had matching sweater vest outfits. I hooked the pump up to each breast and helped get the twins changed. Zola and Bailey came running up after eating their pizza to change.
"Mommy, we have to go see Santa now!"
"Once you all change and I can eat something for once, we will. I promise. Not much longer at all. I just have to take care of the babies."
Callie got to changing Bailey into his outfit as Zola stood there like she was going to challenge me on this.
"You only ever take care of the babies. Not fair."
"What?"
"The babies came and you and Daddy left me and Bailey with Aunt Zona and Aunt Callie."
"Because Will needed me and Lainey was very sick. If you could've been there, I would've let you."
"You probably even got those babies more presents than me."
The bottles were full so I turned off the pump and capped them before starting to nurse Will. Callie and Arizona felt awkward, I could tell. They weren't sure what to do so they focused on Lainey and Bailey. I was trying to keep my emotions in check for the sake of the holiday.
"I didn't actually. Even then, it's not about the amount of gifts or the gifts at all for that matter. Now you better check yourself because I will not tolerate lip right now. Change into your dress and tights then get your coat on. Find your father and remember Santa will put you on the naughty list even on Christmas Eve."
She just huffed and started changing. I felt terrible.
"I love you Zo, I do. You're my girl but you just need to understand things are a little hard right now. You are a big girl who doesn't need Mommy to feed you bottles or change your diapers. Will and Lainey need me a lot right now. It won't always be like this. Perk up please."
She seemed to relax a little after that and Arizona and Callie resumed talking like they weren't just in the middle of that. Once all kids were changed and fed, and Amelia and her little crew were ready, we loaded up into three cars to head to Santa and the reindeer, me just bringing my pizza on the way. We finally got there and rebundled all the kids. It was freezing out and snowy. Thankfully Derek pushed the twins' double stroller so I could just hold on to Zola and Bailey's hands. I was still so beyond tired but motherhood was just that. Exhausting but worth each and every minute. The line surprisingly wasn't long but we got there right as most kids were going to bed. The kids were so excited to feed the reindeer and get their pictures taken with Santa who told them all they were on the nice list. Of course they were. The twins slept right through the transition from their car seats to Santa's arms. Zola and Bailey smiled perfectly so the picture turned out beautiful. It made both Derek and I get all choked up. Amelia cried too as she got her picture of Leah with Santa. Definitely a new mommy but she deserved it all. After letting the big kids (Zola, Sofia, and Bailey) get some hot chocolate and run in the snow a little, we finally parted ways so the kids could get into bed for Santa coming. The house was full of shrieks and giggles as they changed into their Christmas footie pajamas. Derek sat in the big chair with Zola and Bailey on his lap to read 'Twas' the Night Before Christmas' and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. That gave me enough time to feed the twins one more time before we tucked the elder two in. They were excited I could tell. I didn't have any happy Christmas memories before I was with Derek so it was just as new to me as it was to them. When we returned back downstairs, Amelia and Owen had started on wrapping the last of the presents while Derek got to stuffing the stockings.
"Isn't it so nice we are all together?"
"You know, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Even in Iraq and Afghanistan we celebrated it. It's always meant a lot."
I listened to Derek, Amelia, and Owen chat back and forth as I fought back sleep while holding the twins. By the time Derek was moving all the gifts from our closet to under their tree, I really was dozing.
"Okay, I finished our part and Owen and Amy can do the rest. Let's get to bed. I know you are tired and it takes both of us to get these babies to sleep."
Derek took Lainey and I took Will into our room. We settled into bed, looking at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was almost midnight before everything was ready.
"Better try to catch some sleep now, we only have about 6 hours- give or take- before Zola and Bailey are up running around, begging to open presents. Not to mention getting a time or two to feed the babies."
Derek was right. And any minute of sleep I could get, I would.
"Good night Der. I love you. We'll have a merry Christmas tomorrow."
He leaned over to kiss my cheek, letting me curl up to his side. There was a baby in each bassinet at the foot of our beds. My eyes got extremely heavy, and fully shut as I thought of all of tomorrow's chaos.