Derek was in the kitchen finishing clearing away the take-away containers from dinner, they had decided to order in as no one felt like cooking as it would be their main occupation of the next day. "Your turn" he said turning to Nikki, his youngest sister.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a knowing tone

"What is your input about Meredith?" he said looking at her out of the corner of his eye "every single other person in this family has told me something about her…now it's your turn"

"Well…" she said putting her dish cloth down "I'm as yet undecided"

"What!" he questioned growing alarmed "Why?" her answer had thrown him; everyone else had been so forward in telling him how great she was and how well they suited each other

"I'm just not sure yet…this is my big brother we are talking about…Its going to take some convincing" she said as she headed towards the lounge room where most of the others where

"Ok let me know when you decide though" he said in a hushed tone following her "It's important to me…what you think"

"Don't get me wrong…I like her…a lot…but you know me, I'm not like the others you're their little brother, you're my big brother…it gives me the right to be a little more protective"

Understanding her point of view he gave her shoulders a squeeze as they reached the couch.

Nikki watched closely, like always, as Derek moved towards Meredith who silently stood and gave Derek her place on the couch before sitting back down on top of him. She watched as a communal smile was passed between the other people in the room as Derek raised his arms around Meredith after she snuggled into him, kissing her forehead when she was in a comfortable position.

The family and roommates sat in silence watching the TV coverage of the Christmas parade worm its way through the streets of Seattle, all the children had been put to bed, although faint murmurings of the older cousins having a midnight feast could be heard. Derek subconsciously followed his nightly routine of reaching out and grabbing the moisturizer which lived on the coffee table, squirting a portion into his hand before passing it to Izzies waiting hand. The process of each of them putting moisturizer on while watching TV had started a while ago, when the girls had complained of dry hands from having to scrub their hands with surgical soap every day, it had become small custom which they all carried out now.

After rubbing some of the moisturizer over his palms he picked up Meredith's hand and began to massage it into hers while his family watched in silence. She further snuggled into his neck as he massaged each hand in turn, letting her heavy lids close as she concentrated on the sounds of his beating heart.

When he finished rubbing the cream into her hands he placed them in her lap and wrapped his arms around her again. Nikki just sat and watched from the corner of her eye as they carried out the ritual, noting Meredith's kiss on his neck showing her appreciation.

A sleepy Meredith perked up a little as Derek's mother bid everyone good night and headed towards the downstairs bedroom, to the bed she and Derek had been fooling around on a mere few hours earlier. She caught the eye of Katherine's laughing face as she strained her neck to look at Derek.

"I turned the mattress and put fresh sheets on it" he whispered in her ear after seeing the look of alarm in her eye. With that she snuggled back into him while the rest of the room discussed tomorrow's events.

"I better get her to bed" Derek stated quietly as he felt Meredith's breathing pattern change.

"Its ok I'm awake" she slurred, not wanting to drag him away from his sisters

Knowing she was lying and had had a long day at work he said good night to his family and stood still holding her in his arms. She waved good night over his shoulder as he headed towards the stairs, placing her hands on their familiar spot around her neck. Usually being carried to bed by her boyfriend, in front of his family would have been extremely embarrassing to her, but she smiled into his chest understanding why this was so different.

He dropped her feet neatly onto the cool bathroom tiles and stood behind her as she brushed her teeth and washed her face, "Your really tight" he said as he massaged her shoulders

"Open heart surgery with Burke" she answered, knowing this was enough of an explanation for him. She then sat on the bath watching him repeat her actions.

When they were finished he lightly took her hand and led her to the bedroom. Upon reaching the bed her motioned for her to lie in the middle as he found the massage oil in the bottom draw

"Derek don't worry about it" she murmured into the pillow when she saw what he had been looking for "The hand massage was great and you have had a long day too"

"It's ok" he replied "I take every opportunity I can to touch you" he whispered into her ear in a deep voice as he moved to straddle her "and besides I was with my family all day doing absolutely nothing while you were at work doing a nine hour surgery. So no buts missy"

Staying silent Meredith moved to help him remove her shirt and bra, then laid back down on the bed as his warm hands began to work on her tied muscles. She laid for what seemed like hours enjoying the motion of his hands as they pressed against her skin, she was no longer tied after hearing his low whisper and was now just patiently waiting for his hands to wander.

Growing impatient she motioned for him to raise himself to his knees, suspecting she had had enough of a massage he moved to get off her but her firm grip held him in place. Lying on her back and looking up at him she pouted and battered her eyelids "You missed a bit"

Catching her eye he innocently replied "Where" as he sat back on his heels and pretended to examine her body

"Here" she sad taking on of his hands and leading it to her breast

"Oh I am terrible sorry mamm" he replied, trying to suppress his laughter as he squirted more oil over her nipples and began to rub his hands over their now slippery surface.

"You may have to make up for it" she replied as she slipped his shirt over his head

"Oh I will try my best mamm" he replied, leaning into kiss her lips as his hands eagerly spread the oil over her chest and stomach

Pushing him back to his heals and wriggling further up the bed so she could sit, she let her hands undo his pants as her tongue explored the depths of his mouth. She moaned loudly as his lips pulled away from hers as he moved off her to take of his pants and boxers, but catching his eye she reminded herself of the visitors that were staying down the hall.

Looking at her as her eyes filtered over his naked body he pulled gentle on her legs feeling her slip back down the bed so she was lying and looking up at him.

"Promise I'll be quiet" she initiated, sensing his inhibitions

"Promise?" he questioned as he knelt on the bed and slipped her panties down her legs

"Promise" she replied wrapping her hand around the base of his neck and pulling him onto her and into a heated kiss "I'll try" she added in a whisper with an evil smile when there lips parted

However before he could reply his lips were silenced by hers and he found his hands move their familiar path over her body. He ran his hands in long strides from the base of her neck to her clit, pulling with them the extra lubricant of the massage oil, as she tried desperately to stifle her moans on his shoulder.

Catching her pleading eye he slipped inside her warmth as she caught his ear-lobe between her teeth. She then lay back, opening her legs wider for him as he began to slip in and out of her in a steady motion. As the intensity grew she pulled a pillow over her face to muffle her moans, but as he sensed her reaching climax he pulled it away

"I like to watch your face" he got out between heavy breaths before she pulled his face to hers to stifle her final moan. Breathing heavily she clenched around him and lightly bit his lower lip, knowing this always helped him along, and as she had predicted he came, bending his head to her breast and biting it lightly as he emptied into her.

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The next morning he heard tiny footsteps pattering along the hall, knowing the inevitable was soon to happen he silently slipped his shirt over her head and laid her back down to sleep after pulling his boxers on.

A few minutes later the door burst open and eight children leapt onto the bed each smiling gleefully at her shocked response. After getting hugs and kisses from them all he sent them down the hall to wake up Izzie and George, stating that presents weren't aloud to be opened until everyone was downstairs.

"Merry Christmas" he smiled, leaning into her lips after the children left

"Merry Christmas to you too" she whispered as their lips parted

"Traditional Sheppard Christmas wake-up call he said after he heard George's scream as the children burst into his room"

"It was nice" she replied as she snuggled into his chest "I never had anything like that when I was little" she added, feeling safe to dispose a little more of her childhood truths to him

"Well in that case little-miss we better get down stairs to start with the presents"

"I think you gave me my present last night" she replied as she moved to lie on top of him

"a very loud one" he said pulling her into a kiss

"Oh really" she said their lips touching "like you can talk" she replied, pulling her head back as he tried o kiss her, but leaning into him as he pouted.

Suddenly he moved his hand to his side and caught something that was moving under the covers, hearing a loud giggle he began poking the body as Meredith looked amused.

"Santa seems to have left an elf in our bed Meredith" Derek exclaimed loudly as the giggling grew. He then whipped the blankets off the bed revealing a small child who had snuck under the covers when the other children had gone to wake up everyone else.

"I'm not an elf Uncle Derek!" Sarah exclaimed, then taking each of their hands in hers she pulled them out of bed "Come on Aunty Meredith, Santa has left you something too"

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"It's got a nice ring to it" Meredith said as she and Derek headed down the stairs

"What does?" he asked

"Aunty Meredith" she answered with a smile

He just held her hand in his and raised it to his lips

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Everyone was making their way downstairs and for once the interns looked more awake than the rest of the group as they were used to getting up at this early hour. Meredith couldn't help but laugh when she saw Izzie dressed in adult size children's Christmas pajamas.

The house was nice and warm as they sat around the Christmas tree to watch the children opening their gifts from Santa and everyone laughed wildly as Sarah stated that Uncle Derek and Aunty Meredith had already given each other presents last night, loud ones. They to couldn't help but join knowing there was no point in denying the fact.

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Hope everyone enjoyed it…going to continue Christmas day in the next chapter, which will hopefully be up soon.

Keep smiling! And write me a review!