Chapter 32:
February 21, 2007- Seattle Washington

"Izzie and George already aren't talking to me. Do you have any idea what they're going to do when they find out that I have more time off?" Meredith asked sitting down on the airplane as Derek shoved a bag into the overhead compartment.

"Well when Izzie goes through everything you have, she can have time off too. If I remember correctly, she got about a month off after Denny," Derek said as he sat down next to Meredith.

"Still, it's Izzie," Meredith said sounding worried.

"I'm making some rules," Derek said.

"Rules?" Meredith question, raising one eyebrow at Derek.

"Yes. Once this airplane takes off, you can't talk or think about Izzie, George, Cristina, Bailey, or anything else that has to do with the hospital or Seattle," Derek said.

"Fine, but I have a rule too. No sex."

"What?"

Meredith leaned back in her chair, "We're staying in your parents house. We can't have sex. That's just wrong. I'm just telling you ahead of time."

"There is no way you can go to bed every night with me without having sex. You don't have enough self control," Derek chuckled.

"I don't have enough self control?" Meredith asked, "We'll see about that." As Meredith finished her sentence, she began to brace herself for lift off. She hated planes.

February 21, 2007- Norfolk & Virginia Beach, Virginia

After a few hours of sleeping and a layover, Meredith and Derek safely flew into the Norfolk International Airport. They exited their gate and ended up in the larger portion of the airport. There were small restaurants and stores on all sides of them. Derek quickly led Meredith to the other side of the airport and down a flight of stairs to baggage claim.

"I thought you said your parents lived in Virginia Beach?" Meredith asked as they stood waiting for their luggage to come by.

"They do. Virginia Beach is huge, but the only thing they don't have is an airport. That's what Norfolk is for. It'll take us about thirty minutes to get to the house," Derek said. Meredith was about to reply when Derek saw their luggage and stepped over to the belt to lift it all off.

As he walked over to her with their luggage, he began to notice her playing with her watch and continuously fidgeting as they headed to the rental car window.

"Are you nervous?" Derek asked looking down to her hands.

Meredith immediately dropped her hands to her side, "A little. I mean, all of your sisters live here don't they?" she asked receiving a nod from Derek, "That's a lot of people. They're all married. With kids. Lots of kids. What if they don't like me?"

Derek stopped and pulled Meredith over to the side. He leaned the luggage up against the wall and pulled her into a hug. He lifted her head away from him and kissed her gently, "They are going to love you. Because I love you and I know you'll fit in perfectly."

Meredith smiled as Derek pulled his hands away form the sides of her face to pick up the luggage again. Derek talked to a woman for a moment and soon they had a new BMW waiting for them on the side of the road in front of the airport. Derek placed all of their luggage in the car before joining Meredith in the front seat. Derek saw that she was fidgeting again and grabbed her hand to calm it down before putting the car in drive and heading home.

They spent about twenty minutes on the highway that had no traffic considering the fact that it was two in the afternoon. Meredith stared out the window as they pulled off the highway. She could easily tell that this wasn't a very Southern city by all of the buildings on either side of the road. To her left were many businesses and banks, but towards her right were lots of stores and restaurants.

"That's Lynnhaven Mall over there," Derek said as he stopped at a backed up traffic light in the left turning lane. Meredith looked to her right and saw that behind a few restaurants was a rather large mall with a parking garage and every other space completely full. Derek pressed on the gas and headed down another street with office buildings on either side. Meredith continued to hold tightly onto his hand, knowing that they were getting closer to his family.

They drove down a curvy road before Derek turned right at another light. Now there were trees on either side of the road and Meredith saw planes flying above them. "That's from the navy base. It's just to the left of this road," Derek said referring to the planes that he seemed used to. Soon enough more buildings were on either side of them before Derek took another left, finding trees again.

Down the road a little Meredith saw a big blue barn to her right. In big thick letters it said 'Taylor Farms' and had horses and cows spread out amongst the fields that surrounded it. On the left was a huge plot of land that was under construction. "I can't believe they're actually building something there," Derek said referring to the construction. Derek took another right. There were stores and a gas station to their right with another more run down farm to their left.

Then they passed a road that had houses all down it. Meredith looked down the road and it all seemed so peaceful. They continued on and Meredith saw a small field to her right with the backs of houses behind it. To their left was more fields that were also under construction. The right side began to seem more developed as the lines of new trees formed. Then Derek got into the right turning lane and Meredith could tell that they were about to turn into a neighborhood.

On either side of the neighborhood's entranced were small stone walls for decoration. Each wall had a sign that read, 'Castleton.' Derek took another right and Meredith could see the backs of houses on their left with a small white fence that seemed to run all through the neighborhood. The entrances to two different subdivisions came up and Derek drove passed them until he hit another intersection. He took a left and turned onto Seven Kings Road. In front of them was a small plot of land with a few pine trees and a lake behind it that seemed to be the backyard for everyone. To the right of the plot of land was a medium side house. It had a two-car garage and had shutters that were all painted a nice shade of green. The grass and flowerbeds were well groomed. Derek pulled into the driveway and Meredith could easily tell where they were. He parked behind a Navy Blue Jeep Grand Cherokee. Derek turned the car off and smiled at Meredith, "We're home."