AN: A big shout out to everyone who filled me in on Thanksgiving, thanks a bunch. It was funny, as I was writing for a character who had never done the Thanksgiving thing, and suddenly I realized I didn't know what I was writing, it was like, hey, I'm Meredith. Lol This chapter was already written, so it won't be affected by your feedback, but the rest of the weekend will. I already have most of the family stuff planned, but the external events you filled me in on are important.
OH, and to the anonymous reviewer who wrote 'I'm glad Michelle is history, Mark is too good for her. Did I just say that?' ... I freaking love you. I laughed so hard I was in tears at the thought of being surprised to be thinking Mark was too good for someone.
Derek expertly manoeuvred the rental car up the familiar driveway towards the large house his parents had built when they had first been married. Although the house was impressive, and sat on a good chunk of land, his family had never been overly wealthy, even though their address was in the neighbourhood of a number of gated communities. His father had inherited the land when he was young, and as soon as he married Carol Maloney, had set about building them a home to build a family in. The thought made him smile. And one glance in his rear view mirror to the woman fast asleep in the back seat reminded him of the beautiful land in Seattle, and the promise of one day building them a house to build a home in. Even though he had very few concrete memories left of his father, he still had a solid picture in his mind of what the man had been like, and he hoped that somewhere, somehow, he would be proud of Derek. He would be proud his only son was following in his footsteps.
Derek reached the house and parked the car beside Kathleen's SUV. She was the only other sibling who was expected to arrive that day, as she owned her own practice and could easily give herself the time off. The rest weren't as lucky. Nancy and Natalie would come in the following morning or early afternoon, and Anna, working in a hospital, would make it after her shift late the next evening. But it would ensure the whole family would be together to wake up Thanksgiving morning.
He took off his seat belt, but paused before moving to exit the car. Mark did the same beside him. There was silence as the two men surveyed the house that held so many memories for the both of them.
"It's been a long time," Derek commented.
Mark nodded. "Yes it has."
He sighed heavily, trying to conjure the memory of the last time he had been home. He had left for Seattle in June, so probably the previous Christmas, though he couldn't be sure. That was still almost two years. He couldn't help the sudden wave of homesickness wash over him, which was especially disconcerting seeing as he was only steps away from the front door; if he would only get out of the car.
The light came on in the front hall and the door swung open, revealing a small child who was definitely nowhere near as small as she had been the last time he saw her. Derek smiled and stepped out of the car.
"Uncle Derek!" She screamed as she ran down the steps and across the walkway, barely slowing as she flung herself into his arms.
"Little Stephanie!" He exclaimed, hugging her tight. She wrapped her legs firmly around his lower torso and he let her lean back against his arms. "Look at you! You must be a foot taller!"
She nodded emphatically, and Derek caught his sister wandering towards them. "I am taller, Uncle Derek. I'm eight now!" She told him proudly.
He smiled. "Did you get my birthday present?" Her birthday had only been a week earlier, but Derek, unwilling to risk his place as number one, had sent the present by courier instead of waiting the extra week to deliver it in person.
She nodded. "Yup. I loved it!"
"I knew you would." No matter how embarrassing it had been scavenging every toy store in town for the new Barbie, or putting up with Meredith's laughter when he finally found it, it was worth it to see her face.
"Hi, stranger," Kathleen greeted him, a wide smile on her face. "It's been too long." She pulled him into a tight hug, her daughter laughing as she got caught between her mother and her uncle.
"I missed you, Kath," he told her as he kissed her cheek. She released her hold and he followed her as she wandered around the car as Mark was opening the back seat, where Meredith was still, apparently, fast asleep. She hadn't been able to take any more time off, and they had planned to fly in on the Wednesday, but there had been absolutely no flights available, so they had been forced to book a late morning flight on the Tuesday, which had only given her enough time to get home after a twenty-four hour shift, shower and change. It was why he and Mark had decided to travel separately to the airport, in case Meredith hadn't gotten off in time. And even though she couldn't sleep well in a plane, she could definitely sleep in a car. She had immediately passed on Mark's offer of the passenger seat, claiming she was just going to curl up and sleep. And she had. And evidently, still was.
With Stephanie still in his arms, Derek watched Mark say something, and then stick a hand in to shake her shoulder. He laughed and turned to Derek and Kathleen when there was no response. "Come on, Grey," he stated as he ducked his head into the doorway. Another strong shake, and there was movement.
"Are we there?" Meredith's groggy voice filtered out to Derek. She stepped out of the car, and Mark caught her elbow as she stumbled slightly.
"H-hi," she offered when she caught sight of Kathleen, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Hello," Kathleen offered brightly as she stepped forward to offer Meredith her hand. "You must be Mark's girlfriend?"
Before Meredith or Derek could correct her, Mark went into action. He not only let go of Meredith's elbow, he actually pushed her away from him, himself stepping to the side. "No. No. Absolutely not!" Meredith stumbled again, but caught herself on the car door. "I'm not touching this one with a fifty foot stick."
Derek snorted as Mark's worried eyes met, and then quickly avoided, his.
"Hundred foot stick," Mark corrected himself. "I am not touching this one with a hundred foot stick."
"Mark-" Derek tried to intervene, but it was no use. The plastic surgeon was stepping even further away from Meredith.
"One hundred and fifty foot stick!" Mark exclaimed.
Derek laughed at his wild expression, and Meredith's amused one. And even though he could only see the back of his sister's head, he knew she would be laughing to. "Steph, why don't you go say hi to your uncle Mark?" He gently set the small girl down and she ran towards Mark, completely unaware of the meaning behind his odd behaviour.
"Uncle Mark!" She called out, running towards him, just as she had Derek only minutes earlier. Mark was a little slower on the uptake, though. She crashed into his legs, effectively breaking him out of his trance. He shook his head and scooped her into his arms.
"How's my favourite niece?"
"Uncle Mark, we're all your favourite nieces," she chastised gently.
"Did you have a good birthday?" He asked. "Did you get my present?"
She nodded. "It was my second favourite. Not as good as Uncle Derek's."
Derek smirked as he stepped forward and wrapped a loose arm around Meredith's waist, turning them both to face his sister. "Mer, this is my sister, Kathleen. Kath, this is Meredith."
Kathleen laughed. "I figured from Mark's reaction." She stuck her hand out. "Let's try this again."
Meredith smiled and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," she said easily. "Though, I'm disappointed I'm the last to do so. I would have come out with mom in the summer, but I couldn't get someone to cover all my patients. I'll try to make it out some time next year."
Derek rolled his eyes. "You just want to see the trailer."
She smiled brightly. "You know me well, baby brother." Even Meredith laughed.
"So, what have you been feeding this thing?" Mark asked as he finally stepped back towards the group, still taking caution of staying far away from Meredith.
"I know, she's getting huge! She's not my baby anymore." There was a touch of sadness in her eyes. She had married her college boyfriend, Simon, and had given birth to the first grandchild, Andrew; which had given Derek hope for the next generation. However, Andrew was now thirteen. And had three younger sisters; Caitlyn, Stephanie and Megan. And Nancy, barely a year younger then her older sister, had followed suit with three girls of her own. To say Derek was disheartened was an understatement.
"Uncle Mark, why weren't you going to touch her with a stick?" Stephanie asked, innocently in a way only a child could. She pointed towards Meredith.
"Uh," Mark froze. "I'll tell you when you're eighteen."
Stephanie giggled as Mark set her back down. She stepped to the side and leaned against her mother's legs, staring up at the new face. "Hi," she said quietly, suddenly shy.
Derek felt Meredith tense slightly as she bit her lip. But then, she surprised him. She pulled away from his familiar arm and crouched down to be eye level with Stephanie. "Hi, I'm Meredith."
"Are you my Uncle Derek's new girlfriend?"
Meredith nodded. "Yeah, I am." She paused for several seconds. "I really like your hair clip. It's really pretty." She motioned towards the colourful clip in the young girl's dark hair. It was pink, with a large, colourful flower glued to the top.
Stephanie lit up. "Thank-you. I got it for my birthday. It came in a set. Do you want to see the rest?" She grabbed Meredith's hand without waiting for a response and began dragging her towards the front door.
Derek felt a swell of gratitude towards his young niece, and laughed as Meredith glanced back, a confused but not unhappy expression on her face as she struggled to keep up with the excited eight year old. Kathleen helped him and Mark grab the bags out of the trunk of the car, and they caught up to Meredith in the front hall. She had taken her shoes off, but was standing quietly, still, waiting for something to happen.
Derek set the suitcase down beside him and grabbed her hand. "Did she ditch you?"
Meredith turned to him, only somewhat wide eyed and shrugged. "She said she'd be right back. I think she went to get them."
Derek smirked and leaned in to kiss her quickly. "I guess you weren't fast enough for her."
Meredith laughed. "Evidently not."
"Here they are!" Stephanie called as she ran into the front hall, a shorter clone of herself following closely on her heels.
Meredith took the package from Stephanie's small hands and was forced to crouch down again, as she now had two kids staring intently at her. "They're all very nice, but I think I like the one you're wearing the best."
Stephanie nodded. "Me too. It's my favourite."
"Stephie said I could wear one on Thans-givin," the younger clone spoke up. She was in her pyjamas, a stuffed dog tucked securely under her arm.
"That's very nice of her. You must be her sister."
She nodded. "I'm Megan."
"And how old are you, Megan?"
"Six."
"Okay, girls, I said you could stay up until your uncles got here. Say goodnight, cause it's time for bed." There was only minor complaining as Kathleen rounded up her two youngest and followed them through the hallway, leaving Meredith, Derek and Mark alone.
"Well, I've had to go to the bathroom since we landed," Mark stated and wandered down the hall to their right and into a door on the side.
Derek wrapped both arms around Meredith, breathing in deeply as she welcomed the embrace, her arms finding their way around his torso. "You doing okay?" He asked, somewhat concerned that she hadn't had a last chance to prepare herself, having woken up with new family members in close proximity.
She nodded against his chest and pulled her head away to meet his gaze. Her eyes were sparkling. "I interacted with short people."
He laughed. "You did very well. They definitely love you, but why wouldn't they?"
She giggled. "Kathleen seems really nice."
Derek nodded. "She is. She's technically the oldest, but she and Nancy are so close in age that it was more of a shared thing. And she was the nicer one."
Meredith laughed. "They couldn't have been that bad."
"They were horrible! Four, Meredith. Four sisters. Why couldn't just one of them have been a brother?"
"Derek," Carol's voice gently chastised as she appeared in the doorway to their left. "Don't tell me you're complaining about your sisters again."
Derek laughed and pulled away from Meredith to hug his mother. "Again? Mom, I've never stopped."
"We got you a dog," she offered as she hugged him tightly.
Derek scoffed. "Yeah, and even the dog was a girl."
"Well, we though it was a boy." Derek's parent had brought him home a puppy when he was six. But Rover's name had quickly been changed to Nala when the puppy had begun growing and the realization hit that she was female.
"It's the thought that counts, Derek," Carol told him as she finally released him and turned to Meredith.
"It's nice to see you again, dear." She gave Meredith a quick welcoming hug.
"You, too, Mrs. Shepherd."
"Meredith, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Carol."
Meredith smiled and nodded.
"And what have you done with Mark? And his new girlfriend?"
"Uh, Mark's just in the bathroom. And Michelle... isn't here." Derek answered, trying to motion that it was a sensitive subject, as he heard footsteps from the hall behind him.
"Oh," Carol said before smiling and turning to greet her surrogate son.
"Mark, it's good to see you."
"You too, Carol," Mark responded as she hugged him too.
"Well," Carol stood back, surveying the weary travellers. "I have dinner keeping warm in the oven. Are you kids hungry?"
The answer was a unanimous yes.
"Why don't you just leave your bags here for now, you must be starving."
Carol led the way, with Mark right behind her. Derek smiled at Meredith and reached for her hand as they travelled through the doorway, and into the large living room. The front door was well to the right of the center of the house, the other thing to its right being the garage, laundry room, bathroom and stairs, which were all down the hall Mark had gone down. The large front foyer led to the left into a large living room, and through it the dinning room, which was placed at the back of the house. To the front was an opening into a dark hallway. To the right of the living room, right along side the dining was the kitchen, which jutted out from the back of the house.
"Wow," Meredith commented as they wandered through the living room towards the kitchen. "This is really nice."
Derek nodded. "Mom and Dad designed it well. There are a bedroom and a small den and office through there," he pointed to the hallway across the room near the front of the house. "There's also stairs to the top floor and the basement at both ends of the house, one through there, and one back near the front hall. Most of the bedrooms are upstairs. Nancy has the room on the ground floor, and Mark used to sleep upstairs, but took over a basement room when the number of children started adding up, so that his room could be used to stash the younger kids. The older kids sleep downstairs. There are three bedrooms and a second living room and big play area down there."
"It must have been great growing up here."
Derek smiled as she glanced appreciatively around the kitchen as he led her towards the large table, which was situated in a bulging half circle jutting out from the back of the house. "It was, other than the sisters, of course."
She smiled and met his eyes, and for a second, they had an understanding. She knew his parents had designed the house. And she knew he wanted to do the same with her. She squeezed his hand.
There were already plates on the table, and Carol quickly set a warm pot down in the center. "I made lasagne, figured it was a good dish to sit and keep warm.
"It's great, mom. Thanks."
Carol smiled and pulled a salad bowl out and a bottle of wine out of the fridge.
They made quick work of serving themselves, and Carol sat herself down to join them.
"Okay, I finally got them down," Kathleen called as she entered the kitchen. "They were so excited you two were here." She smiled as she plopped herself down beside her mother. "Oh, and I tried to wake Simon, but he mumbled something that may have been 'tell them I'll see them in the morning,' but I can't be sure." She rolled her eyes. "He and Kaitlyn were at a skating competition all weekend, and only got home in time to drive here." She turned to Meredith. "Kaitlyn is my oldest girl. She's almost eleven and going through a stage where she plans to be the next American skating sensation."
Meredith laughed. "At least she has a goal. How did she do in the competition?"
"She was third." Kathleen shrugged. "I wish I could have been there, too, but I just couldn't ditch my practice twice in one week."
"I remember when you were skating," Carol spoke, her eyes glistening as she recalled the memories of her very grown up children's early years.
Kathleen laughed. "Mom, I sucked."
"Yes, honey, but you didn't know that."
Derek snorted. "I remember being dragged to so many competitions with you and Nance."
Mark nodded. "And if I remember correctly, she tried to train you to be her pairs partner, because she was doing as well as she wanted in the singles."
Kathleen rolled her eyes. "I thought I was good. I couldn't figure out why I always came in last."
"But you were enthusiastic, and that was all that mattered."
"Yeah, so enthusiastic that you tried to teach Nala how to skate," Mark added.
Derek laughed and turned to Meredith. "She and Nancy were so gung ho about skating that one year dad made a skating rink in the back yard, and found Kathleen and Nancy trying to strap skates to Nala's feet."
Meredith laughed.
"That poor dog," Mark said. "She took so much from them, and never complained. They dressed her up, cut her hair, made her a beauty pageant contestant once..."
"Nala should have had a friend, you know, another dog," Derek added. "A boy dog."
Carol clucked her tongue. "Honestly, Derek, do you really need to bring that up again?"
"You promised me a boy dog," he said with a smile. This was an argument he had been having with his mother since he was seven.
"And we thought we had gotten you one."
"Why couldn't we have gotten another dog?"
"Derek, with five children, it was hard enough to care for one."
Derek huffed. "Still..."
Carol smiled. "Honey, you're all grown up now, why don't you get a dog?"
"I had a dog," he said before he thought about it.
"When did you have a dog?" Mark asked.
"Well," he glanced at Meredith. "We kind of had a dog."
"Again, I'm forced to ask when?" Mark added. It hadn't been long that Derek was in Seattle without him.
"Before you moved to Seattle."
"And, what, you ditched it?"
"He died." Meredith spoke up. "He had cancer, and it metastasized to his brain. We had to put him down."
"Oh," Mark said, but he narrowed his eyes. "How did you two have a dog before I moved to Seattle?"
Derek understood where he was coming from. He and Meredith hadn't even been back together yet when Mark had shown up at Seattle Grace with a contract. He was about to explain when Meredith surprised him.
"Well, he started out as my dog. Izzy and George, my roommates," she told Carol and Kathleen, "And I, we got him from the pound. But after a few weeks we just couldn't care for him anymore. We were all interns, so we weren't home enough. So, Derek and... Addison were nice enough to take him."
There was an awkward silence as everyone processed the fact that the new girlfriend had just spoken the name of the ex-wife. Derek placed a reassuring hand on Meredith's knee.
"What was his name?" Kathleen asked, effectively breaking the silence.
"Doc," Meredith answered before he could. He smiled in fond memory of the dog.
Kathleen snorted. "Doc? Very original."
Meredith laughed. "Well, three surgeons living under one roof..." She shrugged. "It just kind of fit."
Carol smiled. "It sounds like a very fitting name for a surgeon's dog."
Derek nodded his agreement. "He was a good dog."
"I'm sorry you had to put him down," his mother said quietly.
Derek squeezed Meredith's hand. "Me too, but at least we had some time with him." She squeezed his hand back, and Derek smiled softly at her. When the she had admitted to her experience during the hours she had been clinically dead, she had told him that Doc had been her lifeline, and it made Derek infinitely grateful.
"So, have you got Stephanie skating as well now?" Mark asked, choosing to go back to a proven topic when the atmosphere around the table was suddenly tense.
Kathleen nodded. "Of course, anything Kaitlyn does, Stephanie can do. And Megan, though Megan isn't at all competitive. She's just happy to be out there, doing what her big sisters do."
"I bet she's already better than you were."
Kathleen glared at her brother. "I wasn't that bad."
"No, you just weren't good." Mark added.
She scoffed. "Whatever. I was good at other things, like soccer. I kicked both of your asses in soccer."
"You were at least a foot taller than us. We couldn't keep up! Especially when you'd knock us over and then run with the ball."
"Oh, don't give me excuses." Kathleen rolled her eyes and turned to Meredith. "Did you ever skate?"
"Uh... I think maybe once when I was four..." She shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I remember falling. And I'm certain I remember it hurt."
Kathleen laughed. "What else did you do growing up?"
"Well, my mom put me in a lot of stuff, swimming, dance, a couple sports. None of it stuck. I quit it all as soon as I was old enough to stay home by myself."
"Was she a little ambitious trying to find you a hobby?"
Meredith shrugged. "She was more looking to unload me for as many evening as she could."
"I'm sure that's not true," Kathleen said with a gently smile, missing her brother's subtle look to not push the issue.
"No, it's definitely true. She wasn't exactly maternal." Meredith shrugged noncommittally.
"Oh," Kathleen was slightly taken aback by her answer, but more by her simple honesty than anything else. "Well, what about your father?"
Derek wanted more than anything to intervene; to keep the subject far away from Meredith's family, to shield her from any negative thoughts for the entire weekend, but she seemed to be doing okay right now, and he knew she wouldn't want him to make a scene.
Meredith shook her head. "He wasn't around. My parents divorced when I was five. My mom and I moved to Boston and I didn't see him again until this year." Again, she shrugged.
"Oh," Kathleen said. "And, are you two talking now?"
"No, definitely not." She shook her head with a sudden flash of emotion.
"That's too bad. Are you trying to get to know him at all?"
"No. He doesn't want anything to do with me anymore." Derek reached a hand out to supportively squeeze her hand. She was still doing okay with the subject matter, and he was in awe that she was so comfortable so fast talking with his sister, although his sister was a shrink, so she did this for a living. She had originally planned to go into internal medicine, but her easy nature and welcoming persona had caused more than one supervisor during her fourth year rotations to strongly suggest she change her goal.
"Anymore?" She prompted gently.
Meredith sighed and squeezed Derek's hand, taking support from his love. "We were, kind of, working on getting to know each other, trying to have some sort of relationship. And he was married. Her name was Susan, and she was really amazing. She really helped the process. But she..." Meredith trailed off and swallowed. "She died. She came into the hospital for a really simple procedure. And she got sick... and there was just nothing anyone could do."
"I'm so sorry."
Meredith pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded. "Thanks." She was still for several seconds and then she squeezed her eyes shut and breathed. Derek sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and leaning his head into hers.
"It's okay," he whispered comfortingly. She nodded and stayed where she was for several moments before she sat up.
"I'm sorry," she spoke quietly, wiping her face, even though she hadn't let any tears fall. Her complexion was flushed, and all Derek wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and never let go. He had promised her a happy weekend with positive memories, and already things were falling apart. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
"There's absolutely no problem, Meredith. I've lost a parent as well. It's a horrible experience."
Meredith smiled a weak smile. "Yeah. It was... horrible." She agreed. "Susan and my mom, and one of my best friend's dad. All in the same, what," she turned to Derek, "Two months?"
Derek nodded. "Not even."
Kathleen sighed. "Three? All at once? I can't even imagine what that must have been like."
Meredith nodded, but all Derek could think was three. Not four. And he wouldn't have traded all three for the fourth.
Carol smiled. "Now I understand what you meant when you told us things had been hectic, Derek." She said, referring to his excuses during their visit in the summer, and obviously trying to lighten the mood and prevent her daughter from diving right into a therapy session that was just second nature to her, leaving a number of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists envious.
Derek smiled back. "You have no idea," he said, keeping his voice light. "So," he said, changing the subject. "When are Nancy and Nat expected tomorrow?"
"Oh, I didn't realize you hadn't heard. Nat isn't going to make it. Phil's mother isn't doing too well, so they decided to take the children there instead." In case it's their last Thanksgiving The words were unspoken, but not unheard. Derek knew his sister's mother-in-law had been sick for several years, in and out of remission.
"That's too bad. How is Phil taking it?"
Carol shrugged. "As well as can be expected, I guess. But you know his family... it will hit them all hard."
Derek nodded. Phil was the only brother-in-law to boast a larger family than the Shepherd's. He was the middle of nine children, all who now had growing families of their own. At the last Derek had heard, his parents had more than thirty grandkids. Phil and Nat had been a match made in heaven, and already had five children, the youngest being almost two, so they may not be finished.
"Anyway, they won't be making it this year. But Nancy said they were leaving around ten, so they should be here in time for lunch. And Anna, of course, won't be here until late."
"At least she'll get here before Thanksgiving."
Carol nodded. "At least. You three are sure lucky to be able to get so much time off for the weekend."
Derek nodded. "Well, we both worked it last year."
"And I'm not exactly necessary." Mark shrugged. As an Attending level plastic surgeon, most of his surgeries were scheduled. There were rarely cases that couldn't wait for a few days, or that a resident couldn't handle.
There were footsteps in the living room and Derek turned his head in time to catch sight of Kathleen's oldest two children entering the kitchen.
"Uncle Derek!" Kaitlyn called as she hurried towards him.
"Katie, look at you. You're growing up so fast!"
She smiled as he pulled her onto his lap and gave her a hug. "I missed you, Uncle Derek."
"I missed you too. You mom tells me you were at a skating competition last weekend?"
She nodded. "I came third, which was really good, because I almost fell."
"That is good," he agreed.
"Hey, Uncle Derek," Andrew greeted after he had said a quick hello to Mark. He came around the table and shook Derek's hand.
"Hello, Andrew, it looks like you're finally getting that growth spurt." He clapped him on the back.
He nodded happily and set himself down in a free chair beside Carol. "Finally." His eyes flickered towards Meredith and then back to his uncle. The teenager was one of the few from the third generation who actually had some understanding of what was going on. To the younger children, Addison would be a distant memory, if that, in no time at all. They had seen her so infrequently that she had never made a solid impression in their minds. And having their Uncle Mark around was great, but they wouldn't have missed him for long if he stopped showing up. But Andrew knew he had lost his Aunt Addy, and he knew enough to know why.
Derek offered his nephew a gentle smile. He had always felt a sense of camaraderie with the boy. They both knew what it was like to grow up in a family of only sisters. "Andrew, this is Meredith. Meredith, that's my oldest nephew, Andrew. And this is his sister Kaitlyn," he motioned towards the young girl on his lap who evidently wasn't making any move to get her own chair.
"Hi," Meredith greeted him, as Kaitlyn turned on Derek's lap to face the newcomer.
"Hi!" She said brightly.
Meredith smiled and offered her a greeting as well.
"I was wondering if your parents had forgotten you. What have you been up to?" Derek asked.
"We were watching a movie," Kaitlyn explained.
"And you couldn't pause it for two minutes?" Mark asked with a joking glare.
Kaitlyn laughed. "No. It was good."
"And more important than saying hello to the uncles you haven't seen in over a year?"
Kaitlyn just laughed and nodded her head. Mark smirked and turned a joking glance to Andrew.
Andrew, however, was in no mood for joking and simply glared back. "We all have our priorities."
Derek frowned at his tone. This definitely wasn't the nephew he remembered.
"Andrew, I was only joking," Mark said, but the boy wouldn't look at him. "Andrew," he called again.
"What, Mark?"
"Andrew," Kathleen chastised. "Don't speak that way to your uncle."
He muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"He's not my uncle."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table.
"Andrew..." His mother spoke quietly.
"What? He's not." He glanced quickly at Derek and then back to his mother.
"He's your uncle, Andrew. He was there the day you were born."
"So?" He glanced at Derek again.
"Andrew, what's the matter?" Derek asked. Andrew glanced back at him and met his eyes for several seconds, looking as if he was going to say something. Instead he shook his head, glancing at Mark, and then to his mother, before meeting Derek's eyes again. "Nothing. He's just not actually my uncle, that's all." He stood up quickly. "I'm tired, I'm going to bed."
"Okay, honey," Kathleen said, an odd expression on her face. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight mom, Grandma." He glanced across the table. "Night Uncle Derek, Meredith, Katie." Then he looked over at Mark. "Night, Mark."
There was silence as he left the room.
"I'm sorry, Mark," Kathleen said with a sigh. "He's tired and going through an odd stage..."
Mark shook his head and offered her a nonchalant shrug, but it was obvious he had been affected.
"What's wrong with Andrew?" Kaitlyn asked.
"He's just in a mood honey," her mother told her.
Kaitlyn giggled. "Why wouldn't Uncle Mark be an uncle?" No one seemed quite sure how to answer when Mark spoke up.
"Because, technically your uncle should be your mom or dad's brother. And I've known your mom and your aunts and your uncle for my entire life, but I'm not actually related."
"But he's as good as," Derek added quickly. He purposely avoided Mark's eyes as Kaitlyn turned on his lap to face him.
She gave him a confused look and then shrugged, as if to say I don't even see the issue here. Derek smiled at her. Children could be wonderfully naive, and he loved them for it. "Why don't you go give your Uncle Mark a hug?"
She smiled and slipped off his lap to head around the table and pulled herself into Mark's lap. "Andrew is weird," she stated.
Derek smiled at the thankful expression on Mark's face. Meredith reached for his hand again.
"Well," Kathleen said suddenly, breaking her gaze at her brother. "It's well past time you went to bed, missy." She motioned for Kaitlyn to say goodnight.
Kaitlyn sighed heavily, but did as she was told. "Goodnight, Uncle Mark." She hugged him again and jumped off his lap. She said a quick goodnight to everyone else and followed Kathleen out of the kitchen.
"I'm, uh, going to go to bed, too," Mark announced. He said a quick goodnight and headed towards the front hall for his suitcase, leaving Derek alone with his mother and his girlfriend.
"I'm proud of you, Derek," Carol called when Mark was out of earshot. "What you're doing here... no one would blame you if you had simply cut ties. But you've stepped up, and I've never been prouder."
Derek was somewhat taken aback by her words and gently shook his head. "Mom, it's like I said. He's as good as my brother. It just took me some time to realize that."
"Well, I'm glad you did." Carol yawned. "I think I'm off to bed too. Are you two kids staying up?"
Derek glanced at Meredith's tired face and shook his head. "No, it's been a long day." They helped Carol clean up the kitchen, said their goodnights and headed for bed.
000
Derek shuffled the suitcases along the hallway to the end and stopped to push open the door and motion for Meredith to enter first. She rolled her eyes at him, a gentle smile on her face, as she passed him, carrying only her shoulder bag and his laptop. He had not allowed her to carry her own suitcase up the stairs and she had made fun of him for being melodramatically gentlemanly. Apparently opening doors and allowing her to go through first fit along in the same category.
He flicked the light switch as he followed her through the doorway, effectively lighting up the room he hadn't set foot in for almost two years. Although it was the room he had grown up in, once he had moved out for good, the majority of the furniture had been replaced so that it could be used as a guestroom, and so that he would have a more adult room to stay in when he visited. The desk he had used for his high school homework was still present. But the twin bed had been replaced with a queen bed, boasting matching nightstands. And his old, small dresser set had been updated. And a small arm chair had been added to the corner by the window. However, the walls were still the same light shade of blue it had been since he was twelve. And many of his old knickknacks still remained, including his little league photo, his soccer trophy and small stuffed bear his grandmother had given him the day he was born. He smiled at the familiarity of the room, and his eyes caught on the three graduation photos lined up above the dresser; elementary school, high school and college. His mother kept all of their med school photos framed and up in the living room; she had originally tried to have them all, but once all of her children began amassing more diplomas than she had expected, and were marrying, which added more photos for Carol to be proud of, she had taken to putting their earlier ones in their rooms. He froze suddenly as he wondered whether there were ten or eleven framed photos hanging up on the graduation wall downstairs. He hadn't noticed when he had passed it. His throat went dry as the realization crashed into him that his wedding photo had also been hanging up in the living room. He spun his head around towards the space on his bedroom wall that had once boasted a photo of him and Addison, and he was relieved to see an old family picture hanging in its spot. His mother must have been way ahead of him. He sighed in relief as he realized she had most likely removed their wedding photo from the living room, along with Addison's graduation picture, that had once hung between his and Mark's.
"Wow," Meredith said appreciatively. "This is huge. You actually grew up in here?" She dropped the two bags in her possession onto the bed and turned around to admire the room.
Derek smiled and stepped into her space, his hands finding her hips. "Most of the furniture is new."
"Still. So much space. And..." She paused as she surveyed the half open door across the room. "An on suite bathroom? Seriously?"
He laughed. "Yeah, this room was supposed to be a guestroom, but when my parents planned the house they obviously didn't expect such an unbalanced daughter to son ratio. When I was six, and horrified by constantly being surrounded with my sisters, they let me move in here." The room was situated at the back corner of the house. It was quieter than his previous place in the middle of the hall, and he had never had to share a bathroom with his sisters again.
She giggled. "They couldn't have been that bad..."
He scoffed. "Oh, they most definitely were. And it was years before Mark was around all the time. I was out numbered four to one until I was eight or nine at least."
"They must have been jealous you had the best room."
He laughed and nodded. "They were." He shook his head at the memory. "Kath and Nance were so mad they wouldn't speak to my parents for three days. And it was over a week before they'd speak to me, though that wasn't exactly punishment." He smirked.
She laughed and shook her head. "I'm sure you don't really believe that."
"Oh, I do."
She smirked and lifted a hand to place against his chest. "Derek, you love your sisters, I can tell."
He made a show of sighing, but nodded and smiled down at her as he pressed his lips against hers. "I do. It's just easier to admit that to myself when they're not around all the time."
"You were lucky to have someone around all the time." There was no sadness in her tone, it was just meant as a gentle reminder.
He kissed her again. "I guess you could see it that way..." He wrapped his arms around her tightly, shifting side to side to bring his body closer.
She pulled back to meet his eyes and narrowed hers. "Derek, I told you..."
He laughed and tucked his hands under her shirt, for now just resting them against the bare skin of her lower back. She tried to speak again, but he cut her off, pulling her into a deep kiss, and then trailed his lips down her chin to her neck.
"Derek," she groaned. "I said..."
"I know... what... you said..." He muttered as he worked his way along to the side of her neck. She squirmed when he reached the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder.
"I'm not doing this here," she whispered, but the threat wasn't very effective, as one hand was buried in his hair, and the other was clutching the fabric covering his shoulder and pulling him closer.
"You don't have to do anything," he told her, breaking away from her skin to meet her mouth again. His hands began roaming towards her sides, his fingers slipping under her waistband and beginning to pull down...
"No," Meredith spoke into his lips, her hands disengaging themselves from him and clutching onto his arms. She panted as he pulled away. "Not here. Someone will catch us."
He narrowed his eyes at the sudden strong resistance to his advances. He hadn't believed she was actually serious, but the look in her eye told him to consider the possibility. "But-"
She laughed and pecked him quickly on the lips. "No buts, Derek. There are children in the house. And your sister, and your mother."
He tilted his head, removing one hand from her side to gently cup her face. "And they all know to mind their own business, they won't come in. And we can be quiet."
She rolled her eyes. "And what happens when your six year old niece wakes up and decides to go and see her favourite Uncle Derek? Seriously, Derek, I wouldn't be able to stay here, and I'd definitely never come back."
He sighed heavily. "We can lock the door."
"Cause that won't be obvious."
He laughed. "Look, Mer, it'll be okay. And tonight would be the best night, there's barely anyone here. And everyone's tired."
She shook her head at him and fought a smile. "You're very persistent, do you know that?"
"How do you think I won you over the first time?"
"I think that was tequila..."
He snorted. "I meant after that."
She sighed and released both of his arms to cup his upper neck, right at the bottom of his cheeks. "Look. It's not that I don't want to. It's that I have to make a good impression this weekend, and being caught having sex within hours of arriving is definitely not the way to do that."
He looked into her pleading eyes and sighed. He knew if he really pushed she eventually wouldn't be able to hold her resolve. But this was obviously important to her, even if he couldn't understand it. He sighed and kissed her forehead. "You're very bossy, do you know that?"
She smirked. "It keeps you in line."
He made a big show of sighing heavily, but smiled down at her. "Okay. We'll do it your way."
"Thank-you." She smiled and kissed him.
"Okay," he said as he released her. "I need to have a shower before bed."
"I thought you showered before we left?"
He turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "I did, but I'm suddenly finding myself in need of a cold one." He turned back towards the bathroom, the sound of her gentle laughter following him all the way.
AN: Another long chapter... not as much MerDer interaction as previous chapters, but they can't all be only fluff, as much as I wish they could. The original idea of Michelle actually came from the joke at the beginning of this chapter of Kathleen thinking Mer was Mark's girlfriend and Mark's subsequent reaction. After the thought hit me, I couldn't not write it.
Anyway, I'm chapters behind in review responses, but seriously, to everyone who had reviewed, I owe you all a huge THANK-YOU! Especially on the response to the last chapter. You're what's keeping me so motivated to write and update as fast as I am.
Lastly, it's come to my attention that Meredith did her undergrad at Dartmouth, when I have written in this fic that it was her med degree. Do we actually know where she did go to med school? I think I'm just going to leave it how it is, but I'm curious if we've ever actually been told.