Authors Note:

1st off – Who watched Grey's this past week? I thought it was the best episode in a very long time and the scene of Derek & Meredith getting married on the beach OMG swooooon!

Special Shout-Out to Patsy who always leaves me reviews. Honestly those keep me going and I appreciate the love you have for this story.

Here is our next chapter. Everything seems on the up and up with Meredith and Derek but there is always angst coming their way. I hope you each enjoy the Christmas chapter.

Christmas with Shepherd's Continued:

Meredith awoke to a pair of excited blue eyes on her and a smile on the face of the person who owned those sparkly eyes.

"Good morning sleepy head" he told her as he propped up beside her on the tiny cot in Amelia's room

"What time is it?" she asked looking around for a clock noticing that Amelia was vacant from her bed.

"7 am" he told her leaning to kiss her cheek

"Ughh let me sleep" she shuddered placing the pillow over her face

"I can't do that. It's Christmas. Our first Christmas" he replied grinning as he moved the pillow away from her face emphasizing the word our.

"Derek" Meredith moaned

"Come on. It'll be fun" he said excitedly leaving a trail of kisses on her face and neck

"Fineee" she exclaimed and sat up

"The whole family is waiting on you. You're slowing down Christmas." He told her jokingly

"Are you all this chatty in the morning?" she asked with her arms crossed

Derek faked being offended and Meredith rolled her eyes

"This baby better not get the chatty gene" she muttered.

Derek laughed "It'll be a good thing if they do. Then I'll have someone to talk to." He remarked placing his hand on her stomach. Meredith giggled and he followed in her laughter.

He led her down the stairs to his whole family waiting impatiently by the tree.

"Dith" Grace yelled out excitedly when she saw Meredith

"Finally" Kathleen announced when she saw Meredith and Derek come downstairs.

Most of the Shepherd's had coffee in their hands and clearly had time to brush their hair. The tree was filled with gifts and the family each had their respective spots eagerly waiting for Derek and Meredith to come down so they could get started. Derek's niece and two nephews were eager to open all of their presents and if the adults were being honest, so were they.

"Good morning you two" Carolyn said eagerly

"Merry Christmas" Meredith replied quietly

"It is indeed. Carolyn and I were just saying how happy we are to have the whole family together" Christopher chimed in bringing his cup of coffee to his lips, taking a sip and offering Meredith a bright smile. She could see where Derek got his charm from.

"Can we pleaseeeee open presents" Nancy's oldest son Jake whined

Mark laughed "Yes, can we pleasssssse open presents" he mimicked

"Go ahead, sweetie" Carolyn told him and pat the spot next to her for Meredith and Derek to sit.

"Merry Christmas" she whispered just for them to hear

Meredith offered her a bright smile and Derek kissed her cheek "Merry Christmas Ma"

The kids giggled with excitement and Meredith couldn't help the smile on her face.

"Look Dith" Grace told her running over with a doll

"Oh wow. That's very cool" Meredith told the little girl who grinned back at her

"You hold?" Grace asked and ran back to the pile of toys

Derek smiled at Meredith "She likes you a lot"

"So the way we do Christmas Dear is we let all the kids get through their first round of gifts and then the older kids open theirs. Then the younger kids again." Carolyn told Meredith

"Okay" Meredith told her with a bright smile

Carolyn patted Meredith's shoulder.

As the kids finished up opening their first round of gifts, Derek snaked his arms around Meredith and gave her a gentle kiss on her temples

"Next year, we'll have our own little one going crazy around the tree" he whispered in her ear

"I think they'll still be too little" Meredith told him with a smile "But I like the thought" she finished.

"So I do I" he hummed in her ear

"Okay kids, let's take a break and let the grown-ups open some gifts" Carolyn announced.

Christopher and Mark got up to pass the gifts around by name. With so many people, the process took over 10 minutes. Meredith was surprised just how much his family included her noticing that she had a stack of gifts just for her and a few combined gifts for her and Derek. Every time she looked at Derek, he gave her a warm smile. He was so happy here. So incredibly happy to be with his family and she loved seeing him so bright and shiny. He was really the perfect guy and she was so far from being perfect. She questioned how a guy like him would want a girl like her. She quickly shook the thoughts.

One by one they went around and opened gifts. A lot of the presents were for the baby. Derek's parents got them a crib, some baby clothes, diapers, a blanket, little socks. All items they were grateful for. Amelia seemed to get the same and she joked about their gifts being identical. Meredith felt overwhelmed by his parent's generosity and felt better once it was time for the littlest members of the family to open more gifts and the attention was off of her.

As the kids finished up opening their gifts, Carolyn announced the brunch would be served in the next hour and the kids could play with their toys in the meantime.

Meredith helped Derek clean up all the wrapping paper that was spewed on the floor while his sisters joined his mom and dad in the kitchen.

"You two are in charge of the kids" Nancy let them know giving them a look to signal that they better behave.

"You hear that Derek, we're in charge?" Meredith told him with a giggle.

"That's right munchkins. Me and your aunt Meredith are responsible for you" Derek told his middle nephew while tickling him. The little boy laughed.

"Dith. Look" Grace exclaimed bringing Meredith her new favorite light up toy

"It lights up. That's so cool isn't it Grace?" Meredith asked smiling at the small girl

"Cool" Grace nodded and scooted closer to Meredith lying her head on Meredith's lap as played with her toy.

Meredith smiled and rubbed circles on her stomach absentmindedly watching the small girl.

"Mommy says there's a baby in Meredith's stomach" Blake, Derek's oldest nephew stated

"That's right. In a few months you'll have a new little cousin." Derek assured him

"Two new cousins actually." Jake responded

"That's right. Two new cousins" Derek repeated

"Derek, the baby's kicking" Meredith stated excitedly moving her hand to where she could feel the little movements

Derek came over to where she was placing his hand where hers was "He or she has the Shepherd Christmas spirit" Derek told her

Meredith rolled her eyes and smirked "You don't know that."

"Oh, but I do" he replied kissing her cheek

"Grosse" Jake yelled out

"Grosse" his younger brother repeated

Derek and Meredith laughed "Love is not grosse." Derek told them.

"Kissing's grosse"

"Yeah, Uncle Derek, kissing is grosse. So grosse." Meredith mocked

"So grosse" Grace chimed in sleepily. Her head still lying on Meredith's lap.

Meredith giggled as she moved Grace's hair out of her face and it warmed Derek up inside.

Carolyn made the largest brunch Meredith had ever seen. The table was beautiful with Christmas colored place mats, Derek's parents finest China, Poinsettia Center Pieces and an enormous spread of breakfast favorites. Christopher and Carolyn had went to great lengths with fresh fruits, scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns, omelets', French toast, bacon, sausage and homemade jams.

It all looked delicious and Meredith couldn't wait to dig in. This whole eating for two thing made her hungry constantly.

Conversation was polite and pleasant compared to the last dinner Meredith attended. She was sure that either Carolyn or Christopher talked to their older daughters because all were behaving perfectly civil towards Amelia & Meredith. Asking them both questions about their pregnancies and seeming to be excited at the prospect of being aunts. Meredith helped Carolyn clean off the table, thinking it was the least she could do. Doing the family Christmas was exhausting to her and she still wasn't fully comfortable in their presence, but that didn't mean she wasn't grateful for Carolyn welcoming into her home again.

Carolyn kept the conversation light with Meredith after brunch, mostly just asking her about school and her friends and when they would be finding out the baby's gender. Meredith was grateful that Carolyn didn't want to get into any deep conversation since she was sure she was wondering why Meredith wasn't spending the holidays with her family. If she was Carolyn, she would wonder that herself.

Meredith excused herself when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She went outside the Shepherd's house to see who was calling her figuring it was probably Christina. She wasn't expecting to see it was her mother

"Hello" Meredith answered

"Meredith" came her mom's urgent voice

"Hi mom" Meredith replied

"Meredith… I was just calling to wish you a…. a Merry Christmas" Ellis finished clearly difficult for her to get out the words as it wasn't a holiday they ever celebrated.

"Oh" Meredith replied caught off guard but quickly regained her composure "Merry Christmas to you as well" she replied

"Yes well, I've spent the past 48 hours completing a triple transplant surgery. I'm exhausted." Ellis replied a bit colder than she meant.

"Oh okay. I will let you go get some sleep then."

"Wait" Ellis replied.

Meredith stayed on the line.

"I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you to come home this past Thanksgiving or Christmas."

"That's okay mom. I know you had important surgeries."

"Yes… I did… but still. Seattle is… very rainy. I was thinking that it would do me good to… get away."

"Yeah, you should use some of your vacation time to take a break" Meredith replied

"I intend to. I'm booking a flight out to see you. It will be good for us to…. Spend some time together. I'll email you my flight details."

"Oh" Meredith replied in disbelief. Her mother had never visited her once. She didn't even come with her to look at schools.

"Yes well. Look out for my email. I have to go." Ellis told her

"Bye mom"

"Bye Meredith… I hope you do have a good Christmas with your friend Derek" Ellis commented and hung up.

Meredith was fuming. How did her mother find out about her relationship with Derek? She must be so pissed about it, that was Meredith's only logical reasoning as to why she would want to come visits her for the first time ever. Her mom was quick. She had a flight booked for two weeks from today. Two freaking weeks was not enough time to prepare herself mentally for her mother's abuse. She was moving next week, finding out the gender of their baby and dealing with Derek's overbearing family. It was all too much. She needed a break from the warm and fuzzy's and decided to take a walk to clear her head. She turned her phone off- the last thing she wanted was to dodge Derek's 6 million phone calls once his family realized that she had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Carolyn took Meredith's leave as the perfect time to talk privately to her son.

She seemed to get him into the kitchen without her other kids seeing. She had him follow her to her room where she shut and locked the door behind them.

"Take a seat" she told him

"Ma- what's going on?" Derek asked obliging and taking a seat on his parents freshly made bed

"I wanted to talk to you alone for a little bit" Carolyn told him sitting opposite of him on the bed.

"Okay" he replied un-easy.

"How are things going between you and Meredith?" Carolyn asked studying her sons face.

"They're going good Ma. Why?" Derek asked

"I just wanted to check in that's all. She seems a lot more comfortable around you this trip than the last" Carolyn observed

"We've made a lot of progress on our relationship in the past month." Derek told his mom with a smile

"You're in love." Carolyn stated

"I am Ma. I've never been in love like this before. Not even with Addison. Everything is just so different with Mer"

"How is this going to affect Med School?" she asked

Derek ran his hands through his dark hair "I still plan on going. Bowdoin was my top choice, but Brown has a good med school too. Meredith needs to finish her last year of undergrad so I would stay at Brown so she could do that." Derek told his mother

"I just hate to see you sacrificing your dream Derek" his mother told him

"I'm not sacrificing anything. Brown is a good med school. I would be lucky to graduate from their program" Derek told his mom defensively.

"Don't get so defensive. I'm just checking in with you." Carolyn told her son

"Besides, I think that's the right thing to do. I think you should stay at Brown and you could always transfer later." Carolyn finished

"Transferring med schools is pretty difficult. Wherever I go, I'll have to stay the four years."

Carolyn patted his knee

"Can I be honest with you?" she asked him

"Always" Derek told her

"Your new relationship makes me nervous. I like Meredith. I like her for you and for our family. The pace of your relationship is what scares me. You don't have the foundation yet to make it work once the baby comes and love isn't always enough."

"It will be for us." Derek told her

"Oh sweetie. You won't know that until you really start hitting some rough patches and your relationship is tested."

Derek sighed "I'm going to do my best to make it work with her no matter what." He told his mom

She offered him a smile. "In that case, I have something for you." She told him pulling out a small, wrapped box from her coat pocket

"What is this?" Derek asked

"Just open it" Carolyn told him with tears in her eyes

Derek unwrapped the small box slowly and opened it revealing a beautifully cut diamond ring. It was simple but classic and absolutely stunning.

"Mom?" Derek asked his throat dry

"It was your grandmothers. A few years ago when she passed, she gave it to me to give to you for when you met the right person." Carolyn told him her eyes filled with tears

"You barely know her." Derek stated in awe

"I know enough." Carolyn told him

"I think she's the one Derek. I really do."

"She is" he told his mom with glassy eyes

His mom pulled him in for an embrace

"That doesn't mean you need to propose tomorrow. Just hold onto it. For the right moment" she told her son.

"I will" Derek told her kissing her forehead.

Mark caught wind that Meredith had snuck away and figured he'd find her before Derek started freaking out. He was adopted into the Shepherd's too. He understood that at first they could be overwhelming especially coming from the family that him and Meredith had. Derek was the one to drive so she couldn't be far. He had heard that she liked going to the stables and decided that was going to be the first spot he checked. He pulled his car up to find her petting and talking to one of the horses.

"Meredith" Mark called out

Meredith squinted and saw Mark's form approaching her. She rolled her eyes inwardly. These people just couldn't seem to understand personal space.

"What are you doing out here?" Mark asked

"I needed a break" Meredith told him

He sighed as he approached her closer petting the horse she was currently staring at.

"You know, I had pretty mixed feelings during my first Christmas with the Shepherd's. They were so kind and welcoming to me as part of their family and I didn't feel like I deserved it."

Meredith stared blankly at him and then resumed her attention to the horse.

"What I'm trying to say is that I get needing a break"

"If you get it then why did you follow me out here?" Meredith asked sharply

"To make sure you're okay" he stated

"No. I'm not okay. Alright? I'm not okay. Somehow my mother found out about me and Derek and now she's coming to visit and I'm going to have to tell her everything." Meredith told him

"Will that be so bad?" Mark asked

Meredith gave him a look that could kill "You don't know my mother. She ruins everything in my life."

"Are you worried about what Derek will think of you after he meets your mom?"

Meredith gave Mark another seething look

"Okay. No more personal questions" remarked Mark with a grin

"What I want to know is how she even found out? I live across the entire country from her. I can count on my hand how many conversations we've had since school started. How does she know about my personal life?" Meredith asked violently.

"You can look at it like she cares, and she's interested in knowing you. And I'm telling you there is nothing anyone can say or do to Derek to make him stop caring about you." Mark told her sincerely.

Meredith met his gaze and offered a small smile "I guess it was nice of her to call for Christmas. She's never done that before."

"Look at you discovering the bright side" Mark teased and Meredith playfully jabbed his side

"Ouch. That's no fair, I can't do that back to you."

"Derek's probably worried." Meredith stated

"We better get going then" Mark replied ushering Meredith to his car

The Shepherd's ended their Christmas cuddled together on the couch watching Christmas movies. Derek had his arm draped around Meredith and took advantage of the closeness between him and his girlfriend.

Nancy, Kathleen and Lizzie left by dinner to go home leaving just Derek, Mark, Meredith and Amelia home with Carolyn & Christopher. Amelia wanted to get started setting up her baby's stuff in her room with the help of Mark.

Carolyn and Christopher went off to their room leaving Meredith and Derek alone.

"Come with me" he told her seductively

Meredith took his hand as he led her up the stairs to his bedroom.

Once in his room, he closed and locked the door.

"Strip" he breathed

Meredith did as she was told "I need you" he told her reaching to help her unhook her bra and slid down her underwear.

His arms hugged around her naked waist as he left kisses down her throat.

"Derek" Meredith moaned

He picked her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he brought her to his bed where she straddled him. She kissed him deeply and felt his erection pressing into her.

She helped him remove his clothes as their lips never parted. He pulled her hair back and smiled into their kiss.

"Ride me" Derek breathed. Meredith obliged and positioned herself on top of him. His hands immediately moving to her bouncing breasts. It was quick – meant to be a quickie and he finished as fast as she started.

"Thank you" he breathed

"My turn" she told him and he smiled moving down in the bed to pleasure his girl.

When they both finished, he pulled her into his arms "How was your first Shepherd Christmas?" Derek asked

"It was great. Your family was really great to me" Meredith assured him

"Well, it's not quite over yet" Derek told her kissing her forehead and rolling out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" she asked him, pulling the covers up over her naked body.

"I'm getting your Christmas gift" Derek told her

Meredith smiled now getting out of bed herself and throwing on her clothes.

"In that case, I need to go get yours" she laughed and walked out of his room to go into the room she shared with Amelia.

When she got back to Derek's room, he was standing with his hands behind his back and a huge grin on his face.

"Merry Christmas Meredith" he told her bringing the gift in front of him and offering it to her.

She handed him the gift she got him "Merry Christmas Derek" she replied quietly

"Open mine first" he told her. She grinned at him and obliged.

She quickly tore off the packaging revealing a small jewelry box containing a heart locket. When she opened the tiny heart, it contained a photo of her latest ultrasound.

"I love it" she told him sincerely.

"Here, let me put it on you" he replied moving her hair aside and fastening it behind her neck. He left a kiss on the back of her neck causing goosebumps to break out on her arms.

"Open yours" she told him. He picked up the gift and slowly unwrapped it revealing a camera.

"It's a Nikon. I figured we could use one so we can document this one's life" she told him placing her hand on her stomach.

"It's perfect Mer" he told her bringing her in for a kiss.

"Stay right there" he told her walking out of his room. When he came back, Amelia was with him.

"I want a picture of today" he told her and took a seat in the chair in his room and ushered her over to his lap. She sat on his lap and he placed both of his hands around her stomach accentuating her growing bump and she placed her hands on top of his.

"Smile you cuties" Amelia directed. They did & she snapped the photo.

"Perfect Christmas" Derek told Meredith

"Perfect Christmas" she repeated, and he kissed her deeply.

TBC