"So," said the platinum blonde as she forked a single piece of lettuce into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. "Mark tells me you two practically grew up together?"

Derek nodded to Michelle as she lifted another single piece of lettuce from her large, vinaigrette dressed, salad. It was all she had eaten the entire evening; having declined even a single bite of an appetizer; and coupled with the salad and sparkling water, Meredith was pretty sure she wouldn't be up for dessert. "Yeah, Mark and I were like brothers growing up. I have four sisters, so I needed some back up."

Michelle laughed. Derek cringed. Meredith laughed inwardly at his reaction. They had only met Michelle a few times, in the hospital and at Joe's, and none of them for any length of time, but there had immediately been something about her that Derek just didn't appreciate. It wasn't that he didn't like his best friend's new girlfriend. She was rather nice. And polite. And calm. And a host of other positive things. But there was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. But not Mark. The plastic surgeon was smitten. Meredith could practically see his pupils turn into hearts every time he looked at her. "That must have been tough. I have two older brothers, so I can commiserate. Tell me you weren't the youngest?"

Derek smiled. "Second youngest. Though it didn't really make a difference. They still ganged up on me."

"They were a tightly knit group when they chose to be," Mark agreed. He looked at Michelle and their eyes locked, seemingly lost to the outside world.

Derek choked back a laugh as he glanced to Meredith, who was seated beside him at the rectangular restaurant table. She offered him a small smile and rolled her eyes in good nature. He smiled back and leaned over to place a quick kiss on the side of her head. When Mark had originally suggested the double date, Meredith had been apprehensive at the idea of a novel couple-y thing. She and Derek barley got a chance to go just the two of them; they had definitely never gone out with another couple. But they all seemed to be surviving it well.

Mark and Michelle had yet to come up from their lovey-dovey staring, so Derek wrapped an arm around Meredith's shoulders and leaned his mouth to her ear. "I don't think I'll ever lecture you about eating salad ever again after this."

Meredith laughed before she could help herself and rushed her hand up to cover her mouth. It obviously hadn't escaped Derek's notice of Michelle's leaf by leaf consumption of the especially boring salad. And it wasn't like the woman was remotely fat. She obviously took very good care of herself. She was thin, and curvy in all the right places. Meredith didn't get it. She glanced down at her large plate of pasta and shrugged. Eating was supposed to be fun. Leaning into Derek's embrace, she sighed. "Glad to see you're coming over to my side," she whispered.

He snorted and released her with a quick kiss on the forehead.

"So," Michelle said, having finally pulled herself away from the quick round of eye sex she had been having. "How long have you two been together?" She was smiling at Meredith.

"Uh..." Meredith hesitated. She glanced at Derek, who seemed equally taken aback. No one had ever asked them that before, and she didn't have a good answer. "I'm not really sure what to say..."

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Surely you haven't forgotten."

"No, it's not that, just kind of a loaded question. We met, what, close to a year and a half ago?" She glanced expectantly at Derek, who nodded. "But we haven't been together the whole time. About two months the first time and seven this time, or eight depending on where you count from."

"Why did you break up in between?" The question was innocent, but it caused the other three occupants of the table to tense at the same moment. Neither Meredith, nor Derek, knew whether Mark had told Michelle of his entire past with Derek, and one glance at the plastic surgeon's face said he hadn't. So, letting Michelle know that Derek had left her for his estranged wife who had slept with his best friend... probably not the best dinner conversation.

"Uh..." Meredith decided to take the reins on this one. "It was complicated. But it's all good now."

Michelle narrowed her eyes, taking in the mood change of the table. She was obviously suspicious, but nodded and let it go. "Okay. And how long have you been living together?"

"Almost three months." Meredith smiled when she felt Derek squeeze her hand. It had only been yesterday that she had glanced at the calendar hanging in their kitchen and realized they'd have been living together for three months the following week. She couldn't believe it. That was a quarter of a year.

"That's great. I always say that if a couple can make it through the first month and still want to be around each other they have a good chance of making it."

"That's good," Derek said with a laugh, his arm finding Meredith's waist. "Cause we definitely still want to be around each other." He pressed his lips against the side of her head.

Meredith laughed and happily leaned into Derek's warmth.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Seriously, dude, you can't McDreamy your girlfriend in public, there should be rules."

Michelle raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "What does it mean to McDreamy someone?"

Mark smirked. "Nothing to anyone but them. It's Derek's nickname. The whole hospital calls him that. He's Dr. McDreamy."

Meredith laughed as Derek glared at Mark.

"Dr. McDreamy?" Michelle laughed. "Sounds like a very professional hospital."

"Oh, it is," Derek joked, before his expression turned and he smirked right back at his best friend. "But you haven't heard Mark's McNickname."

Mark inhaled from across the table and shook his head. He obviously hadn't thought through his decision to out Derek. "No, dude, please."

Derek shook his head. "Sorry, just think of this as payback for telling my sisters."

Mark groaned. "I'd take it back now, if I could."

"I'm sure you would." Derek smirked.

"What is it?" Michelle asked quickly.

"McSteamy."

"McSteamy." She tested the name. "McSteamy and McDreamy. That's awesome, and they rhyme!" Michelle laughed. "Does everyone have one? Do you?" She turned to Meredith.

"Nope, Grey started them," Mark added before Meredith could respond.

She glared at him. "I did not. It was Izzy who did most of it. And if I remember correctly, it was Cristina that named Derek, albeit she was being sarcastic." She glared at Mark before turning to Michelle. "McDreamy was the first McNickname bestowed. And I know it all sounds stupid, but you have to understand. The first few weeks of internship are hell. The first day is a forty-eight hour shift, and trust me, you don't get to make up the sleep you miss in that shift alone for the rest of the year. My friends and I were sleep deprived, and I guess it just seemed funny at the time. Then the hospital got a hold of it... and now it's common place."

Michelle nodded. "You don't have to convince me. I think it's rather funny. And you probably need something to take the edge off all the sick and dying people, right? There's just no way I could deal with anything like that."

Meredith shrugged, but nodded. "I guess."

"So, we're dining with McSteamy and McDreamy." She laughed.

"You know," Mark stated. "We could give her a McNickname. I'd only have to drop it a few times for it to catch on in the hospital..." He glared evilly at Meredith.

Meredith glared right back, not missing a beat. "How about instead, we tell her about the club at the hospital." If he was going to threaten her, she wasn't above resorting to blackmail. She definitely didn't want a McNickname of her own. Derek and Mark were already Attendings; were already department heads. She still had a lot to prove, and she definitely didn't need to be known eternally as McDaughter-of-Ellis-Grey, or McSlept-with-her-married-boss, or McCoufounder-of-the-Dirty-Mistress's-Club. And knowing her luck, she would definitely end up with something bad, especially if it came from Mark.

Mark met her eyes as his widened. It didn't even matter which club she was talking about. Both were bad. The nurses ban against Mark Sloan club, or the dirty mistresses club. Either wouldn't do well to keep Michelle looking at him in a favourable light.

"You know what? I don't think Meredith really needs a Nickname," Mark said, not willing to call and hope she was bluffing. As his fellow ex-dirty mistress, he wasn't about to underestimate her.

Meredith smirked, revelling in her victory.

"What club?" Michelle asked, but she was answered with silence. "Oh, come on, what club?" She glanced at Mark, her eyes pleading.

Mark hesitated, looking as if he was going to give in to her before he ripped his gaze away and turned to Derek. "So, I was telling Michelle that we were planning on going home next month, for Thanksgiving. Do you think Carol would mind if Michelle came with?"

Meredith blinked at the sudden topic change. Derek had come to her the week before and asked whether she would be interested in flying to New York for Thanksgiving weekend. Christmas was already looking bad regarding getting time off, and his family could only really get together for any period of time at major holidays. Meredith had agreed easily, knowing she would have six weeks to get used to the idea. It wasn't that she didn't want to become part of his family, it was that she was still a little terrified at the prospect of being isolated from anything familiar with a huge, new family. It would be a lot to take in, and she was sure as hell she would need Derek to be there to calm her down at least once. And she was glad they were going to do Thanksgiving this year, and not Christmas. Christmas meant longer than a weekend. Christmas meant more relatives. Christmas meant sugar and excitement and hyper children. Christmas meant presents and hugging and closeness... and a host of others things Meredith was sure she hadn't even thought about. And it was terrifying, because she had no idea how to do any of it. So, Thanksgiving was a good bridge to the whole family holiday thing. As far as she knew, it involved one day of close family time, turkey, and football. She could definitely handle that. And she was actually looking forward to a quiet Christmas with Derek. She'd never really had a Christmas.

"No, I don't think mom would mind at all. You know her, the more the merrier."

Mark smiled and took Michelle's hand. "I'll book two tickets then."

Michelle smiled and leaned into Mark, but Meredith noticed her smile didn't quite meet her eyes.

000

Meredith plopped down into the seat between Cristina and George, fresh drink in hand. Izzy smiled up at her, and Meredith just knew something was going on.

"Say you're busy," Cristina hissed under her breath as discreetly as she could having already had several drinks, resulting a louder than-a-whisper warning. All five surgeons had found themselves with the same evening off, and had taken to drinks at Joe's. Meredith couldn't remember the last time it was just the five of them.

Izzy clicked her tongue and glared at Cristina. "Shut up, it won't be like last year."

"Oh, you mean Meredith won't be sulking at work, George won't be kidnapped and forced to murder a turkey, evil spawn won't be secretly studying and I won't be wishing I were drunk watching you and Burke perform surgery on our dinner?"

"They performed surgery?" Meredith asked, having immediately recognized the subject.

Cristina nodded and slugged a few mouthfuls of her rum and coke, as if the mere memory made her want to drink. "Joe, Walter and I took bets." She shrugged. "Walter is surprisingly insightful. He would have made a good surgeon."

Izzy scoffed. "We weren't that bad. And this year will be great. I've already checked, so I know none of you are working. We are all going to have a Thanksgiving dinner together."

"Seriously, Izzy, last year the only reason we had dinner was because Burke was there to bail you out, how are you expecting to cook this year, cause he's obviously not coming."

Izzy only paused for a moment at Cristina's comment. "I've helped cook the turkey once, I can do it by myself now."

"Seriously?"

Izzy nodded. "It's just like being an intern. It's how you learn."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "I so hope there's a big disaster that day."

"That's such a horrible thing to say!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Whatever, saying it won't make it happen, and if it does, it's just coincidence."

Izzy huffed and turned her attention away from Cristina, her eyes passing expectantly over everyone else.

Alex shrugged. "Home cooked meal, I'm in."

George nodded. "I'm obviously not going hunting with my dad. I'll be there."

"George," Izzy said softly as she lifted a hand to squeeze his shoulder. They had taken some sort of break or something in their relationship, but it didn't mean Izzy was going to let him be if he was in pain.

"I'm fine."

Izzy nodded and turned to Meredith. "I was thinking we could invite Lexie, since you two seem to be on pretty good terms, and obviously Derek..."

Meredith shook her head. "Well, you're free to invite Lexie, but Derek and I won't be there."

"Come on Meredith, if I'm going to let the spirit of Thanksgiving here," she motioned towards Izzy, "force me into this dinner, you have to be there." Cristina begged.

"We already have plans."

"Just drag yourself away from your romantic dinner for a few hours-"

Meredith shook her head and laughed. "I can't. We're going to New York."

There was silence. Four sets of unblinking eyes were staring at her.

She glanced around uneasily. "What?"

"You're going to New York?" Izzy asked.

Meredith nodded.

"Like, the New York his family lives in?" George clarified.

Again, she nodded.

"And you're going to interact with his family? Actually go be part of the Shepherd family Thanksgiving?" Alex this time.

"Yeah. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Cause you hate families. And you're an avoider." Cristina.

Meredith scoffed. "Hey, that's not true. I hate my family. I don't hate all families, I just don't know what to do around them. And Derek's family is okay. I was fine when they came to visit."

"Yeah, but there were three of them. Doesn't he have, like, a dozen siblings?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"Four. He has four sisters. And I've met three of them."

"And one of them hated you," Cristina pointed out.

Meredith glared at her.

"And they're all married, so he's got four brothers-in-law," Izzy added. "That's eight siblings. Plus a million nieces and nephews."

"How many nieces and nephews does he have?" George asked.

Meredith cringed. "Fourteen."

Alex laughed. "Seriously? I gotta warn you Meredith, families like that expect kids. Lots of kids."

Meredith felt her breathing quicken. "Thank-you. For that. Thank-you for helping me to not freak out about this. Seriously, all of you, thanks."

"Oh, come on Mer, Thanksgiving is still three weeks away. You have time to calm down."

She glared at Izzy. "I was calm! I was fine with it, and calm. Very calm. And I need to stay calm, and you guys are being decidedly unhelpful. You're making my not calm."

"What's the big deal?" Cristina asked. "You said you were going to marry him anyway. You should be fine with the family thing."

Meredith froze as three sets of shocked eyes turned their full attention to her. Cristina barely seemed to notice. She had definitely not drawn the short straw for DD tonight. And alcohol had made her particularly unsympathetic to Meredith's problems.

"You're engaged?" Izzy exclaimed. "And you didn't tell me?"

Meredith exhaled. "No. I'm not engaged," she said quickly. "All I said was that we would get married one day. Not any time soon."

"But you've talked about it?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We've talked about it. But I'm not ready yet, and Derek is fine waiting until I am. When we do get engaged, I promise I will tell you."

Izzy was smiling broadly, her eyes almost watery. George was also smiling, and he leaned over to playfully bump Meredith's shoulder. Even Alex looked happy, albeit surprised.

"What!" Meredith exclaimed when she finally couldn't take it anymore. "Why is that such a surprise for you people?"

"Cause it's you," Alex said simply. George and Izzy nodded their agreement.

She scowled. "I'm not that bad."

"Mer, eight months ago you were dark and twisty," George told her.

Alex nodded. "And you ran from everyone."

"And avoided."

Meredith shook her head and looked to Cristina for support, but her best friend shrugged. "They've got a point, Meredith."

Meredith scoffed. "Fine. I was somewhat avoidant. But I'm working past all that. I'm moving forward. And part of my moving forward plan involves being able to do the family thing, so I am going with Derek to New York for Thanksgiving weekend."

"Please tell me you're at least staying in a hotel," Alex said.

Meredith shook her head. "Nope, we're staying in his old room at his mom's. Apparently she has this huge house on the outskirts of the city."

"So, you're staying in the same house, in the same room, that Derek spent eleven years sharing with Addison?" Cristina raised an eyebrow.

Meredith glared at her. "Thank-you so much for that little reminder. Cause I won't have enough on my mind."

Cristina laughed. "Hey, think of it as me giving you some warning. You don't want to realize that at a bad time, like when you're in the room, in the bed, under-"

"Cristina!"

Her best friend laughed, but stopped talking and motioned Joe for another drink.

"Yang's got a point," Alex added with a nonchalant shrug. "You definitely don't want to be having sex and thinking about him having sex with the ex-wife in the same bed."

"It's not that big a deal," Izzy said before Meredith could retort. "What do you think it's like when they go to the trailer?"

Meredith made an non-descript noise and buried her face in her hands.

"And it's not like they'll be having sex anyway," Izzy continued. "Fourteen children in the house? I wouldn't risk that. You definitely don't want to be the girlfriend who is always remembered as the-"

"Izzy!" Meredith cut off her friend as she uncovered her face. "Seriously. Not. Helping."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine. How can we help?"

Meredith sighed. "Just tell me what normal families do on Thanksgiving so I don't look like a moron who grew up under a rock somewhere."

"You wouldn't look like a moron if you'd bothered to show up last year," Izzy muttered.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I did show up. I volunteered to work to get my mind off Derek, and somehow ended up working with Derek on a coma patient that woke up after sixteen freaking years, and then he died, which only made me even more depressed. Then I went home, and met Alex on the front porch, and you people looked so freaking happy through the window, that I couldn't bring myself to go in and bring down the mood. So, I went to Joe's."

"You did show up?" Izzy turned to Alex. "And you knew? And you just let her leave? On Thanksgiving?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm not her baby sitter."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "And you didn't lose sleep that night when the string of one night stands began."

Meredith sighed. That month had definitely not demonstrated her best decision making skills. "Can we please not talk about this? What are real Thanksgivings supposed to be like?"

Izzy shrugged. "I don't know. I grew up in a trailer with only my mother as company on holidays. And we could never exactly afford a Thanksgiving feast."

Alex shook his head. "Don't look at me, Grey. My father would get drunk and push around my mother, and then leave. And then my mother would get drunk and barricade herself in her room, leaving my sister and I to fend for ourselves."

"Well, you know what my Thanksgivings were like," George said. "My father and brothers would drag me out hunting for the day, while my mother took a day off and spent it with her sister."

Meredith sighed and turned to Cristina.

Cristina narrowed her eyes as she looked around the table. "You can't seriously be saying I'm the only one with a remotely normal Thanksgiving memory?" She sighed. "My mom and my step-dad would always drag me out to a fancy restaurant. That was it. Nothing special. Definitely no home cooked turkeys."

Meredith shook her head. "Great, now I'm wishing I had gone in last year."

"What were your Thanksgivings like growing up?" Izzy asked.

Meredith scoffed. "You really think Ellis Grey had time to think about Thanksgiving? She worked. I did whatever the hell I wanted with a long weekend. We never recognized it."

There was silence for several seconds before Alex spoke up. "Well, we're all very screwed up people."

Meredith laughed along with everyone else. At least they had something in common. And their clinked their glasses in recognition.

000

Meredith managed to unlock the door after only two attempts and let herself into her apartment as quietly as possible. Derek had gone home after his shift ended, and it was quite late now, so he had to be fast asleep. And, as he had pointed out to her, he was a light sleeper. She stumbled up the stairs and into bedroom, tiptoeing through to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and stripped out of her clothes in the bathroom, re-entering the bedroom naked as she flailed blindly around her side of the bed, searching for the shirt she knew was close by.

"There's a sight I like to wake up to," Derek's groggy voice called from the other side of the bed.

Meredith flinched and turned to face him. "Sorry I woke you. I was trying to be quiet."

"Hey, any time you want to wake me by walking around naked is no problem."

She rolled her eyes in the dark and finally brushed her foot over the crumpled shirt lying on the floor. She picked it up and pulled it over her head before settling herself in bed.

"You have a fun night?" Derek asked as he shifted closer, his head by her shoulder and his hand resting over her abdomen as she lay on her back.

She nodded. "Sort of. I mean, it was fun, but it also wasn't fun. My friends have me freaking out, which is stupid, because I know they were only joking around with me. I mean...it's what we do. We all do it, to each other, all of us. Joking around, I mean. We all do it. It's fun. Unless you're on the receiving end, which is not so fun. And now I'm freaking out."

Derek laughed. "You're drunk," he accused lightly as he dipped his head in the kiss her neck.

She laughed. "I'm only a little drunk. But it's okay, cause I took a cab."

"And you're freaking out."

She nodded. "And I'm freaking out."

He sighed, his breath hitting her bare collar bone and making her shiver. "About what?"

"Thanksgiving. I've never had a real Thanksgiving. And, apparently, neither have any of my friends. I don't know what you're supposed to do, or say, or act like. And I'm going to make a fool of myself."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, Derek, yes I am. I'm sure there are, like, things that you're supposed to just know. And I don't know. And your family is going to think I'm a moron."

"No, they won't. They loved you."

"They didn't love me. They were okay with me. Three of them were okay with me. One hated me. And there are at least nineteen more still waiting to judge me. That's not good odds."

Derek laughed. "Meredith? You're a little drunk. And you're freaking out."

"You're sure as hell right I'm freaking out."

He snuggled closer to her, his hand wrapping over her frame. "Look, someone gets up early to get the turkey in the oven. The only ritual is basting the bird every hour. The women cook. The men watch the game."

"There you go. I can't cook. I'm already screwing it up."

"Then you can learn, or you can watch the game."

"But you said the women cook."

He sighed. "Most of them do, but there are no laws. Kathleen always watches the game with us. And the rest come in and out of the living room. The only person who never leaves the kitchen is Mark. He'll barely let you help with anything anyway. I suspect that most of what goes in that kitchen is gossip related anyway."

"But what about during the actual dinner? What's different there? What do I need to know?"

"Well, we eat early, usually around four. And we have a huge meal, and spend hours afterwards complaining about how full we are, which you may need to fake seeing as you apparently have a bottomless pit for a stomach. And then we stuff our faces with pie later on."

"That's it?" She asked, having only smacked him once for his comment about her appetite.

He nodded. "Other than playing practical jokes on Mark."

She laughed. "Fine. And we're not having sex."

"What?"

"I am not having sex in your mother's house, Derek. I will not be the girlfriend who gets caught by one of the fourteen children, or eight siblings, or even worse, your mother. It's not happening. I'm not giving it the slightest chance of happening."

"Meredith-"

"Nope. Not happening. We'll be there four days. We can hold off."

Derek laughed. "We'll just see about that." He dipped his head to kiss her neck.

She scoffed. "I'm serious, Derek."

"We wouldn't get caught."

She nodded, ignoring the feel of his stubble against her skin as his lips roamed around the front of her neck. "Yes. Yes, we would. It's exactly the type of thing that would happen to me. Those things always happen to me."

He grumbled, deep in his throat and she closed her eyes at the feeling as a very familiar tingling starting to build.

"Derek..."

He paused, his breath hot against her chest. "How about we talk about this later?"

The only response she gave was to pull his lips up to hers.

AN: Okay, so I guesstimated how long they've together both times, let me know if it's different. Do we actually know how long the seasons were individually, I take issue with the 2:5:5 month split up? And, very random, but since I was writing the gang at the bar, does anyone know what Cristina drinks? I've never paid attention... Oh, and I thought it would be funny to mention that I've now had to add McNicknames and McSteamy to my spell check list, along with McDreamy (already there) because I just couldn't handle all the red underlined words... LOL!