Despite it being a day off and Christmas at that, Meredith still woke up at 5 O'clock on the dot; years of medical residency followed by a permanent attending position ruling her internal body clock. Happily her husband was ruled by much the same hours so as she woke she felt a familiar arm tighten around her waist and a well remembered tickling sensation as he began to place butterfly light kisses on the nape of her neck. "Morning." She murmured whilst stretching in a cat-like fashion before settling comfortably back again his chest.
"Merry Christmas Mer" Derek replied before returning to his earlier task and pulling her yet closer to him. She could hear the smile in his voice and knew, without turning, that he was giving her a patented McDreamy look.
Sure enough, their peace didn't last long as they heard the pitter patter of tiny footsteps along the hallway and the door of their room burst open to reveal a very excited four year old, black curls spiralling everywhere and blue eyes wide with expectation.
"Momma! Dada! It's Christmas! Has Santa been? Where presents?" Before a very amused looking Meredith and Derek were able to respond Emily was firing off yet more questions in an unstoppable haste. "Can I goes downstairs? Can I open presents? Is Chris awake? I'm hungry." To stop the ongoing torrent of questions Derek let go of Mer and scooped his little girl into his arms before settling her in the middle of the bed; staring wide eyed at her parents. "Merry Christmas Em-Bug." Derek told her, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled down at her. "Did you go to sleep last night?"
"Uh huh!" protested Em fiercely.
"Hmmmm and I suppose you've been a good girl?" Meredith grinned as she realised what Der was doing.
"Me good girl!" Emily boasted proudly.
"Yep, you're a good girl Em-bug." Meredith declared quietly whilst beginning to tickle Em's tummy causing her to break out into fits of giggles. "Momma! Momma!" She yelled delightedly, relishing the attention.
"Shall we go see if Chris is awake Em? Then we can see if Santa delivered the presents." The smile of Em's face was infectious and before long the sound of laughter echoed throughout the entire house.
So, this chapter is kind of filler. I haven't written a story with much dialogue in AGES, I'm kind of rusty. It's starting to come back to me but bear with me and feel free to point out any mistakes. Read and Review. Marie X