Chapter 33:
February 21, 2007- Seattle Washington
They both got out of the car and began to walk up the pathway to the house. Meredith instinctively grabbed Derek's hand and he could feel her shaking slightly. They stopped once they had reached the door. Meredith stood looking at the green door with a wreath hung on it and the plants in front of the windows that were on either side of the door. Before Derek made any announcement that they were there, he turned to Meredith and whispered into her ear, "Everything will be fine. Just relax and remember that I love you." Derek could feel her hand relax and he felt satisfied as he rang the doorbell.
An average sized woman with jet-black hair answered the door. She had a cheery look upon her face and her smile could obviously light up the room. Derek smiled back at her and let go of Meredith to hug her. They pulled apart and Derek quickly grabbed Meredith's hand again. The woman looked at Meredith and Meredith smiled the best she could.
"Mom, this is Meredith Grey," Derek said sounding very proud to say that this was his girlfriend.
The woman quickly hugged Meredith, "Welcome! I'm Elizabeth, but call me Liz. Come on in," she said as she opened the door wider and back up to allow them the space to come in.
Meredith's eyes quickly scanned the very open house. They were standing in a small foyer. It had light tans walls and wooden floors with stairs on her right. To her left was a nice dinning room. It had rather large table with a china cabinet behind it. There were a few shelves full of different glass and crystal items. The walls were a darker green than the shutters outside. There was a small bench against the two windows that looked out upon the front yard. Straight ahead was a living room. They walked into the living room and Meredith could see a small hallway that led to the right and a very open kitchen on the right with white cabinets and tan counters. There was also a small nook that had French doors leading out to the backyard.
Meredith and Derek were offered seats on the brown leather couches in the living room, which they gladly took. Derek noticed that Meredith sat a little far away from him, but he quickly pulled her close letting her know that it was okay. His Mother walked into the kitchen, but because of the half wall separating the two rooms, they were still able to see her.
"So Meredith, how do you like Virginia so far?" Liz asked.
"Mom, she's only seen the highway," Derek said knowing Meredith was feeling a little uncomfortable.
"I know, but it's a polite question. I did teach you how to be polite, right?" Liz asked with a smirk on her face.
They heard a door close down the hallway and then a man emerged. He was a little heavy set, but had some of the same facial features as Derek. It was easily known that they were relatives. Derek jumped up and hugged him, "Hey Dad."
"How ya doing, son?" he asked half way through the hug.
"Great. I want you to meet Meredith," Derek said turning back to Meredith. She got up and walked over to Derek, staying close to him.
"Come here and give me a hug," the man said pulling Meredith into a big hug, "I'm Alley, Derek's father."
Meredith smiled, "It's nice to meet you." She was surprised at how welcoming these people were. Especially considering the fact that Derek had been married and she didn't think that they really had hated Addison.
Meredith and Derek made it back to the couch and Alley sat down on the matching loveseat. "The girls should be here later. They wanted some time with you two alone, so the guys are taking the kids."
Liz shook her head as she continued peeling carrots in the kitchen, "Those four knuckleheads with fourteen kids. That must be illegal somewhere." Derek chuckled and Meredith didn't even realize that she was smiling after hearing Liz's comment.
"I think it's better that way. Meredith can meet everyone little by little," Derek said before kissing Meredith on the forehead. He never saw the wide grin that appeared on his mother's face. Liz looked up at Alley and they both seemed very proud of the loving couple before them.
The front door opened and everyone could here giggling and the sounds of heels clicking on the wood paired with shopping bags brushing up against each other. The girls dropped off the bags in the dinning room before coming into the living room. Derek stood up and dragged Meredith up with him.
"It's my big brother!" a woman with long curly brown hair said as she hugged Derek. She seemed to be the older than the other three girls who were busy greeting their parents.
"Hey, Anna," Derek said letting go of Anna and moving closer to Meredith.
"And this must be the famous Meredith?" Anna said taking in the appearance of Meredith. Meredith gave her an awkward smile, "No need to be shy here. We're all crazy," she said with a smile that Meredith easily recognized from Liz.
"Derek!" the youngest looking girl said from the kitchen. She hurried over to Derek and gave him a huge hug, "I've missed you so much! I haven't seen you in about five years!" she said. She was amazingly beautiful just like the rest of the woman. She seemed to be closest to Meredith in age and had long, straight, dark brown hair that Meredith recognized from Alley.
"How's the baby, Audrey?" Derek asked.
"Ashton's hardly a baby anymore, Derek," Audrey answered, "He's two, even though he's yet to meet his Uncle!"
"I'm so sorry, Aud, you know I wanted to see him," Derek said apologetically.
"I know, life gets hard sometimes," Audrey said as two other woman pushed past her and both hugged Derek.
"How've you been?" a woman with long black wavy hair asked, "We've all missed you so much."
"I've been doing great lately," Derek said, "Ever since I got Meredith back that is," he said turning his attention back to Meredith.
"Hi, Meredith, I'm Maria," the woman said.
The last woman had short black hair. She seemed to resemble Liz the most, "Hello! I'm Sydney."
"Hi. It's nice to meet you all," Meredith said a little uncomfortably.
"Girls, give her some space. You are all on top of her, probably suffocating her," Liz said from the kitchen. The woman backed off a little and Derek took his seat again, motioning for Meredith to do the same.
"So Meredith, how did you meet my brother?" Audrey asked after all the girls had taken seats on either the loveseat, ottoman, or the over stuffed chair in the corner.
Meredith looked at Derek, at a loss for words. Their worried glances quickly told the girls something. Anna laughed, "Oh, there must be a good story there."
"Nope, no good story," Derek quickly covered.
"You are a horrible liar," Sydney said.
"I am not and I'm not lying," Derek said sounding a little childish which made even Meredith giggle.
"Fine, we'll get it out of her after a few drinks tonight," Maria said smiling.
"No. No drinks. Alcohol and Meredith don't mix well," Derek said smiling. Meredith was slightly embarrassed at the comment, which Derek quickly discovered, "Besides she needs to be as clear headed as possible around you four."
"We don't bite, Derek!" Maria said, which Derek quickly rolled his eyes at.
Meredith smiled. She liked this. She definitely wasn't used to this, but she liked it. She liked seeing Derek with his family. It was as if he had no other care in the world. His fingers kept tracing lines along her hands, sending shivers through her body, but he seemed completely comfortable. Meredith began to realize what a family was supposed to be like.
"Derek? Can you come out here and help me on the grill?" Alley asked as he headed towards the French doors with steaks on a plate in his hand. Derek nodded before turning back to Meredith.
"Just breath. I'll be back," he whispered before kissing her on the forehead and giving her hand a tight squeeze. He knew that they were just trying to get him out, but he figured he should go along with it as he headed outside after his father.
Once the door was securely shut, everyone's attention turned back to Meredith. "I'm impressed," Anna said.
"Impressed?" Meredith asked a little uncomfortably.
"Yeah, it looks like you've got him wrapped around your little finger," she said smiling.
"Anna!" Liz scolded from the kitchen as she continued cooking.
"I'm just saying. He seems quite attached to this one," she said with a smile.
"He does seem to be extremely infatuated with you," Maria said to Meredith.
"It's not infatuation, darlings," Liz said drawing all of their attentions, "It's called love. You four are married, I believe you know a thing or two about love."
"Joshua never whispered sweet things into my ears in front of either one of our parents," Anna said, referring to her husband.
"That's because Joshua isn't the romantic type," Audrey responded.
"How would you know? He is my husband isn't he? And I do believe we are the ones with five kids," Anna said.
"Five girls. That poor man, being forced to live with six girls. We're lucky," Sydney said. "I have three girls and one boy," she said, trying to explain things to Meredith.
Meredith nodded and smiled as the other girls continued talking, "I have three boys and one girl. Just the opposite," Maria said, sounding proud of her family.
"I just have one little boy, Ashton," Audrey said.
Meredith felt a little left out, considering the fact that she had no children and had nothing to add to the conversation so she just sat there quietly, hoping no one would notice.
"So, Meredith? Are you this silent all the time?" Anna asked.
"Anna, you and Derek need to have a lesson in politeness!" Liz said from the kitchen, "This poor girl is probably scared to death because of you four and then you made your father take Derek away from her. Don't even act like you all didn't set that up."
Guilty faces came upon the four girls, "We have to look after out big brother. He's too stupid to do it for himself," Sydney said.
"That's definitely true," Meredith said, realizing that that had been her first real comment of the night.
"You agree that Derek is stupid?" Anna asked, "Oh, I think I like her already!"
"I'm just glad Addison is gone," Maria said.
"I liked Addison," Sydney said before thinking. She looked at Meredith with an apologetic look, "No offense, she just seemed nice at first. I mean, I hate her now for what she did to Derek, but for ten years, I liked her."
"She was alright, I just never had much to say to her," Audrey said.
"You? Not much to say? That's a little unbelievable," Anna said laughing a little.
"Shut up," Audrey quickly snapped back.
Meredith smiled, but inside she was not smiling. She wasn't very happy that the conversation had turned to Addison, but she was sure that it would eventually. Before anyone said anything else, the doors opened again and Derek walked back in. "Are you done torturing my Meredith?" he asked before taking his seat next to her again.
"You're Meredith?" Anna asked, "A little possessive are we?"
"If I'm not you guys will eat her alive," Derek said.
"They would not. I'm capable of protecting myself," Meredith said as Derek wrapped his arm around her back.
"I know, I just prefer doing it myself," he said with a smile.
"Oh, get a room," Anna said.
The night went by rather quickly and luckily for Meredith she continued to get more comfortable. Everyone seemed to take notice of the fact that her and Derek were constantly together, as if they were afraid to not be in physical contact at all times. They all thought it was really cute and sweet actually. After dinner had passed, the girls knew that they each needed to get home to their husbands and their children.
"It was nice meeting you Meredith," Audrey said as she hugged Meredith good-bye.
"It was nice meeting you and I promise I won't ever let Derek go so long without meeting your next one," Meredith said referring to Audrey's hopefully growing family and the fact that Derek had yet to meet her two year old
"Yeah, Derek. You've yet to meet Logan either," Sydney said.
"I know, I'm a horrible Uncle," Derek said as he hugged Sydney, "I'll meet him tomorrow. He won't know the difference once he's older."
They all left and Meredith began to feel relieved by the quiet. "I'm sure you two have lots of unpacking to do and want to get some rest. We'll be downstairs, but feel free to head upstairs," Liz said before she headed back to the kitchen.
"I'll go get out bags," Derek said, "Just go up the stairs. They split off into two different directions. Take the right and it'll lead you two my old room." Meredith nodded and turned to the stairs as Derek walked outside.
She followed his directions and headed into the room. It was a good size and nicely decorated. The furniture was all black and the walls were a light blue. The comforter on the bed was dark blue and Meredith could tell just by looking at it that it was comfortable. There was one window that looked over the driveway and two sides of the ceiling were at an angle. Meredith heard Derek coming up the stairs as she sat down on the bed.
Derek opened the door and quickly put down the bags before closing the door. Meredith looked over at him and smiled. He quickly came over to her and unexpectedly began to kiss her intensely. He wrapped his arms around her a lowered her on the bed. She gave in for a few minutes before pulling away, "Remember what I said? No sex here? I mean it."
"You can't do that to me. I haven't been able to touch you all day," Derek said, pouting.
"I don't think you let go of me except for when you went outside with your father," Meredith said as she pulled out from under Derek.
"You won't be able to hold out, we both know it," Derek said as he pulled off his shirt and laid down next to her on the bed. She turned on the television and kept her eyes averted from his bare skin because she knew if she looked at him too long, he would be right.