Oh baby this is a long one. I actually had more I would have liked to add, but I toned it down some. I know I said Addison would come in in this chapter, but she obviously didn't fit here, so she will be here next chapter. I also know that it's the middle of the summer (at least it is for me) but someone started playing Christmas music at work yesterday, so this kind of popped into my head. So I hope you like it, I think it's really cute. Leave me a review please!
Derek pulled on a heavy coat as he watched Meredith help there now three year old daughter into her bright pink winter coat. It was below freezing outside and snowing, but the trip to the mall was necessary. Christmas was only two weeks away and Olivia just had to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. So despite the temperature and snow the family of three made their way to the mall. Before Olivia had been born neither Derek nor Meredith were big on holidays, especially Christmas, but now they went all out so that their daughter could have the best childhood possible. As he drove, Derek looked in the mirror at the blonde three year old sitting in her car seat and thought back on the last few years of her life.
Having Olivia had been the best thing that could have happened to either of them. She always managed to brighten their day with just a smile or a laugh. He loved spending time with her and did so as much as he could. She looked a lot like her mother, with the blonde hair and skinny figure. She had Meredith's mouth and nose; in fact, she was almost her mother's clone. Except for the eyes, she had definitely inherited Derek's deep blue eyes. She was well loved throughout the hospital by everyone who met her and could often be found playing with one of the doctors who was not busy at the time. Derek could not believe what an amazing child and wife he had been blessed with, but he definitely considered himself lucky.
Olivia's voice drew him out of his thoughts, "Daddy," she asked.
"Yes angel?"
"Do you think Santa will bring me a pony?" she asked hopefully, eyes shining brightly. Derek smirked while Meredith chuckled,
"I don't know. You will have to wait until Christmas morning to find out," he told her, knowing there was no chance of his daughter getting a pony, a live one anyway. Olivia stuck her lip out in a pout,
"But I want a pony more than anything in the whole wide world!" She said, stretching her little arms out as far as they would go to prove her point.
"You'll just have to ask Santa," Meredith told her. She seemed satisfied with Meredith's answer and looked out the window at the falling snow,
"I wanna sled," she told her parents.
"After we see Santa we can go sledding Liv," Derek said. The little girl clapped her hands together and grinned,
"Yay!" she squealed, "Tank you daddy!" As they pulled into a parking spot Olivia impatiently waited for Meredith to unbuckle her seat belt, then jumped out of the car and grabbed hold of both her parents' hands. They made their way through the crowded mall, never letting go of their daughter's hand, and joined the long line of excited children waiting to see Santa. After a half hour of waiting it was finally Olivia's turn. She pulled her coat off and handed it to Derek; she wanted her Christmas dress to be seen in the picture. Meredith had bought the dress when she was out one day; it was white silk with white tulle on top and sparkly gold and red snowflakes all over the tulle. She had on read tights and black Mary Jane's. Olivia loved the outfit more than anything and had wanted to wear the dress as soon as Meredith had brought it home. She had been disappointed when she was not allowed to, but thrilled when the time actually came for her to wear it.
Olivia walked bravely over to the Santa sitting in the chair and climbed into his lap while Meredith and Derek watched from behind the fence.
"Hello there little girl, what's your name?" The Santa clause asked.
"Olivia," she said shyly.
"That's a very pretty name. What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?" Olivia's eye lit up,
"A pony!" she said excitedly, "I really really want one. And a new dolly, and finger paints," Olivia continued to list off various toys she wanted for Christmas then smiled for the picture. As she hoped off Santa's lap he handed her a candy cane, "Thank you Santa," she said sincerely, giving him a big hug then skipping over to her parents. "Momma did you see me? I wasn't scared this year!"
"I know baby, great job!" Meredith praise, picking up her daughter. The mall had gotten even more crowded and she did not want to risk being separated from her daughter. They made their way back to their house, Olivia chatting the whole way about her visit with Santa and how much she wanted a pony.
Once they were in the house Olivia raced upstairs to change into her snow suit. Derek and Meredith laughed and followed her, knowing they would have to change too. Once they were all appropriately dressed they started walking out the door when a car pulled into the driveway. Olivia grinned when she recognized the car,
"Uncle Mark!" she squealed, running over and giving Mark a hug.
"Hey munchkin, look who I brought," he said, opening the back door. Her best friend, Sofia Robin Sloan-Torres clambered out of the back seat.
"Fia!" Olivia cried, hugging her best friend, or trying to anyway. It was difficult for the two small girls to hug when they were both in puffy snow suits. "You coming sledding?"
"Yeah! Daddy said we could," Four year old Sofia said happily. Derek had called Mark while they were at the mall, knowing it was his weekend with his daughter, and invited him to go sledding with them. Sofia and Olivia had been best friends their whole lives and everyone hoped that never changed.
"Alright, let's go," Derek said, leading the way up the hill. When they reached the top they set the sleds down, "Who's going first?" he asked. Both girls looked a little unsure,
"Why don't I go with you two first," Mark offered and they both relaxed a little. As much as they loved sledding it could be a little scary when they are that young. Mark sat on the sled and his daughter and God-daughter settled in front of him. "Ok, you girls ready?" he asked.
"Yeah!" came from both the girls.
"Alright, hold on tight then," he said as Derek gave them a push to start them. Meredith used her phone to record them flying down the hill. The whole way down both girls screamed as loud as they could and when they hit the bottom they erupted in a fit of giggles.
"Again Uncle Mark!" Olivia cried happily.
"Yeah again!" Sofia agreed. So they made their way back up the hill and continued sledding. They spent much of the afternoon flying down the hill in different pairs and trios until the kids and adults alike were all exhausted. They went inside where Derek made hot chocolate for all of them and they sat around the fire until Olivia and Sofia fell asleep. Mark picked up his daughter and said his goodbyes, leaving Derek and Meredith alone with Olivia.
"You take her upstairs, I'll clean up," Meredith suggested. Derek nodded and picked up Olivia, carrying her up to her princess bedroom. He laid her on her bed and gently peeled off her clothes, changing her into warm pajamas.
"Daddy," she said softly as he pulled the nightgown over her head.
"It's ok baby, just go to sleep," he told her softly. She nodded and closed her eyes as he pulled her arms through the long sleeves. When he was about to turn off the light next to her bed she opened her eyes a little again,
"Today was fun daddy," she said. Derek smiled,
"Yes it was, I'm glad you had fun today. Now get some sleep Liv, I love you," he said as he gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"Love you too daddy," she answered, finally drifting off to sleep. Derek turned off the light and shut the door, leaving it open a little, and walked across the hallway into his and Meredith's room. She was sitting up in bed waiting for him.
"Did you get her to sleep alright?" She asked. He nodded,
"Yepp, she's out. And she's probably tired enough that she'll stay in her own bed tonight," he said suggestively. Meredith smiled,
"Well then, I think we need to take advantage of that," she said, rolling over so she was on top of him.
"Any ideas on how we do that," Derek asked cockily. Meredith smirked,
"Oh I have a few," she said as she leaned down and kissed him.
The days had passed and it was now Christmas Eve. The huge live Christmas tree was set up in the living room and was decorated with a variety of ornaments, ranging from expensive glass ones, which sat at the top of the tree, to paper stars with Olivia's picture on them. Christmas lights were strung around the house, inside and out, and the star for the tree sat in its box, waiting to be placed. In Derek's family it was tradition to wait until Christmas Eve to put the star on the tree and it was a tradition he intended to pass down to his daughter and hopefully other children someday. Derek had ended up having to go into work for a few hours and Meredith stayed at home with Olivia. Most of their other friends had the day off as well and they had all congregated at the shepherd's house. Olivia and Sofia were sitting at the kitchen table with sheets of cookies and bowls of frosting in front of them. Arizona, Lexie, and Alex supervised the cookie decorating while Christina helped Meredith wrap presents in her bedroom.
"You sure did get mcbaby a lot of stuff," Christina said as she finished wrapping a new baby doll. She had started calling Olivia mcbaby as soon as Meredith had told her she was pregnant and it had stuck. Olivia would probably be called mcbaby or mcsomething for most of her life.
"She's our first born Christina. And our only kid. We're allowed to spoil her a little on Christmas," Meredith said. Christina shrugged,
"Between the presents from you guys and the presents from everyone else, she's going to need a whole other house just to put everything in."
"Eh, we'll just put some of it away until she gets bored with the other stuff. Or we can donate it," Meredith said.
"Good idea. So what are you going to do about that pony she so adamantly wants?" Meredith held up a finger, indicating for her to wait a moment, and then walked over to the closet. She walked in then pulled out a giant stuffed pony. It was as big as Olivia herself and was white with brown spots all over and a brown mane and tail. It was the closest they could come to a real pony, and Olivia was going to love it. Christina's mouth dropped open, "You got her a pony. You guys would so win parents of the year," she joked.
Downstairs Lexie, Arizona, and Alex had their hands full with the two little girls. There was frosting all over the table and cookie crumbs from broken cookies scattered the floor. The end result however was a plateful of red and green frosted candy canes, gingerbread men, stockings, and reindeer, all to be left out over night for Santa to eat when he stopped at their house. Meredith and Christina made their way downstairs and were slightly shocked by the mess they found in the kitchen.
"I thought you all were supposed to be supervising. How did the mess get this big?" Meredith asked, looking at the three adults in the room. They all looked at each other and shrugged,
"They're crazy," Alex said, pointing at Olivia and Sofia who looked insulted.
"Nuh uh!" Sofia said, "You're crazy!"
"Yeah!" Olivia agreed, "You're crazy!" she repeated as Derek walked through the door,
"Oh my god," he said when he saw the mess, "So I take it you guys had fun?"
"Yes!" Olivia said as she ran across the kitchen, trailing more cookie crumbs, to hug Derek, "Hi daddy," she said, looking up and smiling at Derek with her arms still wrapped around his legs.
"Hi baby girl," he said, picking her up. He walked over and gave Meredith a kiss then looked back at his daughter, "What do you say that you, me, and Sofia go watch a movie while everyone else cleans up the mess," he suggested, scooping Sofia up into his other arm.
"I want a story daddy," Olivia said as Derek carried them into the living room.
"Can we lay under the tree and you tell us a story?" Sofia asked, looking at the huge tree.
"Sure we can," he put them down by the tree and they scrambled under. The three of them were lying on their backs, staring up at the inside of the tree, "How about the Night before Christmas?" he asked, thinking of the only Christmas story that he knew by memory. Both girls were good with the story and snuggled into either side of him while he began, "T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."
While he was telling the story everyone else had finished cleaning and made their way into the living room. At first they didn't see them, but then Arizona spotted them under the tree.
"How sweet," she said, pointing to them. Everyone else turned to look. They smiled and sat around, waiting for Derek to finish the story. A little while later they heard him finish then continue to speak,
"Um guys, I know you're out there. They've both fallen asleep under here," he said, looking at the little girls who were in a peaceful sleep. Arizona went over and gently extracted her daughter from under the tree, Sofia only waking up for a moment, and carried her out to the car. Meredith then went and pulled Olivia out next, waking her up first
"Time to put the star on the tree," she told her. Olivia smiled and let Meredith pass her to Derek then hand her the star. Derek lifted her to the top of the tree and she slid it on the top branch.
"It's beautiful daddy," she said in awe.
"It sure is baby," he agreed, "But now it's time for bed." Olivia frowned but let Derek carry her upstairs
Since Owen had to work and Alex didn't have any other family to spend Christmas with, they were spending the night there and Christmas day as well. They went up to their rooms while Meredith and Derek went to tuck their daughter in. She fell asleep quickly, which was a surprise, and Derek and Meredith quickly fell into their own bed and went to sleep, knowing it would not be long before they had to be up again.
Sure enough, what seemed like only seconds later, Meredith and Derek were woken up to a small body jumping up and down on the bed.
"Momma, daddy, it's Christmas! Santa came! I wanna open presents!" She yelled, jumping even higher. Derek groaned and Meredith sat up slowly,
"Liv stop jumping," she said groggily, "Go wake up Alex and Christina and meet us downstairs," she told her daughter, knowing it would take at least ten minutes. Olivia jumped onto the floor and ran out of the room, bursting into Christina's next.
While their daughter was waking up her honorary aunt and uncle, Meredith and Derek made their way downstairs. Derek started a large pot of coffee while Meredith set up the video camera, wanting to capture their daughter's reaction on video. Derek was just pouring coffee into four mugs when little feet came pounding down the stairs.
"Presents!" she cried, jumping the last two steps, something that always caused Meredith's heart to stop. The four adults and Olivia were now gathered in the living room. Derek handed out coffee and Meredith started the video camera,
"Ok kid, dig in," she told her daughter. Olivia lunged at the first present and tore off the wrapping paper. She went through most of the presents quickly and everyone else opened their presents as well. Olivia was sitting in the middle of wrapping paper and toys, admiring the new doll Santa had brought her when Derek interrupted,
"There's one more present Liv," he told her. She looked up expectantly as Derek went into the other room and carried the pony into the room. Her eyes instantly lit up and she stood up quickly,
"A pony!" she cried, running over and hugging the giant stuffed animal. She instantly began playing with all of her new toys, bringing her new doll on horse rides through the forest. While she played Derek and Alex made breakfast and Meredith and Christina cleaned up the living room. Eventually all of the new toys were in one pile and the wrapping paper thrown away and everyone was sitting around the table eating Christmas pancakes. Christmas pancakes were simply pancakes with green or red food coloring stirred in topped with whipped cream and Christmas m&m's.
They spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing with Olivia, as per her request and cooking Christmas dinner. They were having all of their friends over for dinner tonight; everyone from the hospital would be there by three o'clock. Eventually everyone had arrived; most of the adults were sitting in the living room while Olivia, Sofia, and Bailey's son Tuck ran around the house. They all spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just enjoying each other's company and playing with the kids. They all went sledding again then went back inside for dinner. After dinner everyone went their separate ways, leaving Meredith and Derek alone with their daughter. They were laying in the middle of their king size bed with Olivia in the middle of them.
"Did you have a good Christmas?" Derek asked Olivia.
"Mmm hmm, the best," she said sleepily.
"So Santa brought you everything you wanted?" Meredith asked this time.
"Yeah, I really like my pony. And my doll," she said, squeezing the doll she had not let go of for more than five minutes. It was obvious it would be a very permanent toy in her life for the next few years. "Love you," she said as her eyes drifted shut. Derek and Meredith both gave her a kiss then went to sleep as well, their hand joined over their daughter, hugging her while she slept.
What did you all think? Let me know! And let me know if there is anything else you want to see!