A/N- finally it's up, I wondered if I'd ever get there, but I have and that's all that matters! it's a little bit disjointed in places but the timeline needed a tiny push. Enjoy!
The next few days saw most of the shepherd clan leave the happy little family bubble at Carolyn's. Mark was the first to go, having only been given a few days off from work. He was often in demand over Christmas and New Year, with burns and the frequent cosmetic surgery consults that emerged as the new year set in and the chief wanted him on hand in time to resettle before he was in demand. Amy and Nancy were quick to follow, both being needed at their respective hospitals, Nancy's children going to see their paternal grandparents for a while. Kathleen was last, the day before Meredith and Derek had booked their flight, reluctantly jetting off to her mother-in-law's house for the week having not been there for Christmas.
As sad as it was to see everyone leave, it was nice for Meredith to see Derek in his boyhood home, and the place that shaped the Derek she knew and loved. He'd tried to show her everything of interest, a quick trip to the grocery store became a tour of the town that he had lived and worked in until he headed off to Bowdoin and later Columbia. Meredith was in awe, not just at the warm and loving home that Derek came from, with home cooked meals, and siblings, but of the way Derek was transformed just by being here. As if the pain and fear that had surfaced whenever he spoke of New York had suddenly been replaced with the much happier memories of his childhood. She'd known so little of his life before Seattle other than the abridged version of Addison's affair with mark and the odd nugget of information from his years with Mark, but the sisters had filled him in on many of the things he had neglected, the photos all over the house filling in the gaps. It was totally refreshing for Meredith to be part of a "normal" family, with parents instead of nannies, and home cooked meals instead of simple dinners that come pre-packaged and with little flavour. She was certainly going to miss three of Carolyn's meals every day, she ate far better now that Derek was the one preparing dinner most of the time but it was nice not to have to worry about whether there was enough to feed four or more people every day and whose turn it was to do the groceries and unload the dishwasher. It was the kind of life Meredith had always wanted, and the kind of life she wanted for her own children one day. Seattle would always be home, but New York would be a wonderful escape when they needed it.
Before they knew it, they were packed and ready to get on the plane back to Seattle, Derek insisting on taking both women out to dinner before they got on their overnight flight. The tiny Italian place a couple miles from the house was signature Derek. Cheesy traditional Italian décor lined the walls, giving it a very 'lady and the tramp' feel, and Meredith half expected to be presented with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs to share with him, inevitably ending in an unexpected kiss. Dinner was solemn though, with the three of them being all too aware that it would be months before they would be able to see each other again. Carolyn had promised to visit in the summer if the wedding wasn't slotted in before then, but weekly phone calls would have to suffice until then. Lizzie had texted twice to thank Meredith again and make her promise to call and keep her updated with Seattle life. Meredith had passed her cell number to everyone, on the off chance that they couldn't get a hold of Derek, or wanted to talk to just her. The sisters had reciprocated in much the same way, assuring her that they were more than willing to help with wedding planning and any other way they could, their excitement over their brother's nuptials growing by the minute. She had to admit, being part of a family definitely had its perks and finding one as nurturing and accepting as Derek's made her feel incredibly lucky. She was comfortable with Carolyn the pair of them teasing Derek over dinner. Derek had told her that she'd saved him, that she was the breath of fresh air that he desperately needed. He never hesitated to show her just how loved she was, how lucky he felt. Three days with his family, and Meredith was convinced that there was no one quite as lucky as she was.
The airport wasn't too busy when they arrived, the late hour being as much of a factor as anything else. Check in was quick, their luggage was tagged and ready quickly, allowing them to look around a few of the shops, Meredith cashing in on the cut price Christmas candy, stowing it in her purse for the flight. She made sure to grab a trashy magazine or two, purely because she knew Derek hated hearing what the most recent paparazzi photos boasted or which celebrity was rumoured to be doing what that week. She enjoyed nothing more than informing him of the most mundane or barbaric stories until he begged her to stop, often tickling her into submission. Carolyn yawned widely as they waited, being awake at the late hour far from the norm for her, but not wanting to miss a second of her son and his fiancée's first trip home together.
"Mom, you don't have to stay, if you're tired I can have them bring a car around." Derek insisted as she yawned a second time.
"Honestly sweetheart its fine, I said I'd wave you off and I will. Now you'll ring me when you're at home so I know you got there safely?" she raised her eyebrows in a way that meant she was not really asking a question.
"Of course we will," Meredith smiled. "It will probably be early but we can ring if you'd like."
"As long as you're home safe, I don't care what the time is." Derek rolled his eyes at his mother's worrying.
"Mom, we'll be fine, you don't have to worry."
"It's my job to worry Derek. My son is flying across the country with his fiancée, whom I happen to adore, so I want them to get home safely. I know you're always telling me that a plane is just as safe or safer than going in the car, but I still worry sweetheart, that's what mother's do. When you have your own children you'll see. You worry about everything. From the minute you know they're there to way past the day that they fly the nest or have their own babies." The loudspeaker announced their flight and the three stood up for their inevitable goodbye.
"Thank you for everything mom," Meredith hugged the older woman. "It's been absolutely magical, I've had such a good time. I can't wait to be able to get together again."
"It'll happen soon enough sweetheart," she assured, "keep planning that wedding, and call if you need me, for anything."
"I will, I promise." Meredith assured her, hoping the tears wouldn't fall before she got to the plane.
"Bye mom," Derek said embracing his mother. "Thanks for keeping the girls in line. It's been really nice to be home again. I can't wait to get back to normality, but it's been great. I'll call you soon." He squeezed Meredith's hand as the pair walked towards the gate, Meredith's tears not holding in, sniffing as they waved to Carolyn one last time.
"Bye sweethearts, I love you." Carolyn called, waving until they were gone, into the skies and back home to Seattle. Her son, and the wonderful girl that she got to call daughter.
It was early in Seattle by the time they arrived at home, a note on the door telling them that Izzie was at the hospital and Alex was asleep, but in New York it was nearly time for breakfast so Meredith rang Carolyn whilst Derek pulled in the luggage. They'd found it to be rather lighter without the presents in it, making a mental note to ship things in advance the next time. By the time they'd finished it was closing in on 4am and they retreated to bed, barely shucking off their clothes before they fell under the covers wrapped in each other's arms. That was where they stayed until Meredith's stomach rumbled, a sure sign that they'd missed a meal. Derek rubbed his eyes and peeked over Meredith's shoulder at the alarm clock boasting that they'd been sleeping for almost eleven hours and it was now three o clock. Meredith groaned as he pulled away from her, wrapping her in the comforter in the hope that she'd stay warm enough for him to whip up something to eat.
He was filling her sandwich with salad in addition to the meat and cheese, when she joined him in the kitchen, her robe untied and her slippers not quite on her feet properly, wrapping her arms straight round his waist and breathing him in.
"Hi," he greeted, his tone a mixture of both sleepy and sexy, and if she weren't so tired and hungry, she probably would have jumped him right there and then. "If you let me go I can kiss you." She loosened her grip and he turned around, leaning down to kiss her softly, pulling her towards his chest so he could breathe her in too.
"Are you hungry?", he spoke into her hair, Meredith nodding gently as he led her to the table, placing her sandwich in front of her before making his own sandwich.
"There's something green in my sandwich." She said, a playful smile on her tired face.
"That's called salad." He retaliated. "I use it to offset the meat and cheese in the hope that you have something vaguely healthy. I promise it won't hurt you." She giggled, leaning into him as she took a bite.
"S'good." She murmured, quickly taking another bite. Silence filled the space between them as they tried to revive themselves a little. Meredith sat up looking towards Derek. "We need to plan our wedding." She announced. "I need to be married to you yesterday."
"Okay, when?" he asked her. "I know we said spring or summer but it might be a lot of work to do before then. Maybe winter? Or the year after next?"
"I don't want to wait forever, I just want to stand up in front of our family and friends and swear to always love each other or whatever."
"That's definitely going to happen, you don't have to worry about that. Okay how about where, then we can call and see when they're available."
"Seattle's good." She answered tearing into the second half of her sandwich.
"Seattle is good. I'd hoped that you wouldn't pick somewhere that we don't actually live. As nice as the Bahamas might be for a wedding, I don't think anyone would be too happy if we didn't invite them to somewhere that they could get to fairly easily. Maybe we can get a list of places that are certified to host weddings and we can look at them together?"
"Okay," she agreed, "But today all I want to do right now is lay in bed and watch bad movies and crappy TV. I don't get you at midnight on New Year's so we can be a day early, and celebrate at like nine instead." She wiped her face with her napkin, leaving a trail of mayonnaise on one cheek.
"Sounds perfect." Derek pulled her close kissing the mayo off before kissing her hard on the lips, it may not have been much but they had finally made a step towards their wedding and the happy ever after that came with it.
Thirty six hour shifts were the absolute bane of Meredith's life, and she was lucky enough to have one on her first day back, which happened to be New Year's Eve. Having pawed through the mail after their lunch, Derek and Meredith had watched a black and white movie on cable before falling asleep again not waking until the alarms blared, alerting them that work was still there, exactly where they'd left it. The date taunting them with the fact that today was likely not to be a particularly slow one. As a teenager, and through much of her twenties, New Year's Eve had been her holiday. An excuse to get drunk and sleep with, well anyone, it didn't require family or missing out on traditions, it was her night, and she'd loved it. Now that she was a doctor, she saw the not so nice side of the holiday. Young teens that needed their stomachs pumped and bar brawls that got a little out of hand, they often led to good surgeries, but it wasn't the best way to start the new year. Having to tell families that their loved ones hadn't made it to midnight, or knowing that the first memory of the year would be of losing someone made it a little less than festive. What made it worse was that Derek had a measly twelve hour shift, and she wouldn't even get to share a kiss on her first New Year's with him. She was going to ask him to stay the night with her but if the previous year was anything to go by, she'd be lucky if she got to spend an hour with her fiancé between patients and the odd naps that she would be able to snatch.
The day started slowly, lulling everyone into false submission, with very few elective surgeries going ahead, and the pit, where Meredith had been assigned to, only housing the usual kinds of cases. After sending a kid to x-ray with a suspected humorous fracture, she got her intern to page ortho to put on a cast, before moving onto multiple cases needing only a few sutures. Normally, she'd have an intern practice on these kinds of small wounds, but after nearly a week without surgery, she was taking what she could get. By lunchtime she was bored out of her mind, wondering if anyone else had managed to get on anything good. Alex was on paeds which often threw up some interesting cases, but the look on his face as she sat down said that he'd had very little luck either.
"I bet you pudding my day is more boring than yours." She challenged as she sipped her milkshake, in the hope that the sugar would help wake her up where the coffee she'd drunk earlier in the day had failed to.
"Well my kid with the suspected perf turned out being non-surgical so I've been charting and then I had to fix my interns' delinquent charts because they're all freaking morons. And my kid needing the liver missed out on another donor because some kid in Spokane was bumped up the list last night, so not only do I not get a surgery, but I have to send the kid and his mom home for the third time. You?"
"Kid with a fractured elbow and four sets of stitches. A week off and all I've done so far is sit on my ass, and I get to work in the ER all night while my fiancé is at home in bed. I got so freaking bored this morning that I actually started searching for wedding venues in Seattle, without Derek or Izzie making me."
"Hand it over Grey," Alex said pointing to her pudding cup. "New year's eve in the pit? That has multiple surgeries written all over it." He grinned at her, convinced that he'd won.
"You get the late on New Year's Day and the day after, you get all the cool clear up cases. Get your own pudding." She giggled refusing to give up her pudding lightly.
"Call it a tie?"
"Fine," she said removing the lid, and scooping half of the cup onto her spoon and straight into her mouth, pushing the rest of the cup to Karev. He laughed and stole her spoon, wiping it with a napkin before finishing the cup. Meredith was about to make a joke at their shared spit until her pager went off, the first 911 of the day.
"Finally." She grinned, setting off at a run for her first real patient of the day.
What had looked like simply an abdominal injury after a car swerved into a tree turned out to need multiple surgeries with Bailey, Torres and Derek all needing to work fairly quickly, whereas Mark would do some minor fixes if the patient was stable enough at the end of the surgery. The brain bleed was small, and the abdominal injuries were far worse, so Derek was going to monitor whilst Bailey worked. Callie had concerns about the broken femur, but until the patient was stable, there was little she could do other than monitor. By 2pm they were in the OR ready to tackle whatever injuries were thrown at them.
"You wanna open Grey?" Bailey asked her, knowing that Meredith had a gift in general surgery, and any chance to practice would only benefit her.
"Yes please Dr. Bailey," Meredith nodded as she stepped up to the table, accepting the scalpel, and opening the patient so that his internal injuries could be fixed. Together, she and Bailey worked tirelessly to fix a nasty liver lac. And a small bowel perforation, attempting to fix the spleen before the bleeding remained heavy and a splenectomy was indicated. Derek watched as they checked and double checked every inch of their work, ensuring each staple, each suture were pristine and perfect. He was so proud of Meredith, she was a natural in the OR, whether it be neuro, general, or any other specialty that would allow her into the OR. Her technique was flawless, and he wasn't surprised when Bailey praised her in front of the entire surgical team, allowing her to close, whilst both he and Dr. Torres checked the patient's status before prepping for the brain surgery. Callie splinted the leg temporarily so that she could answer a page, scrubbing out as Meredith continued to close the incision, her nimble fingers making light work of the complicated sutures. Derek waited for her to look up from her finished work before he made his own incisions. He looked at the clock. By the time he'd even opened up the skull flap, it was past the end of his shift, and it was looking more and more likely that he'd be seeing Meredith for a midnight kiss. The bleed was small, and the repair simple, but knowing all too well the impact multiple surgeries could have on the brain, in addition to the injuries already present, he worked meticulously to avoid causing the patient any more damage than he had already sustained. The hours ticked by as he finished the repair, choosing to close himself, eventually stepping down when he was satisfied. The patient remained stable despite almost ten hours in the OR, so Callie and Mark opted to stay and do what they could, in the hope that they could avoid having to put the patient under again once he had stabilised. Bailey had left to answer a page, and Meredith was stifling a yawn as Derek left to scrub out.
"Stand down Grey." Callie told her, "You did good, get some rest, we should be fine here."
"Yeah," Mark agreed. "Go find his whipped ass before you miss the countdown." Meredith smiled and did as she was asked, scrubbing quickly and thoroughly, bumping into Derek as she ran out of the scrub room. The television at the nurses' station had begun the countdown, and the pair watched as the final few seconds of 2006 went past, Derek sweeping her into his arms as the countdown reached zero and kissing her with all that he had, Meredith's body surrendering to his touch, eliciting a few wolf whistles from those who happened to be in the corridor.
"Happy new year," Derek said in the voice that made Meredith tingle. "We might get married this year." He grinned at the thought of finally calling her his wife.
"I hope so," she smiled, kissing him again. "Happy New Year."
"It's going to be amazing. I can feel it." He squeezed her tight, both groaning as her pager sounded.
"First page of 2007," she chuckled. "911, I'll see you later?"
"I'll drive you home. I love you." He kissed her one more time.
"I love you too." She ran off to the ER knowing her night wasn't about to get any quieter. But she lived for nights like this. As nice as it would be to sleep for a while, she was a surgical junkie and she'd take surgery over sleep any day.
By the time Derek brought her breakfast before the start of her shift, she'd been up over twenty four hours, and caffeine and sugar were pretty much the only things keeping her functioning, that and the prospect that once six pm rolled around she had 18 hours to sleep and spend more than five minutes with her fiancé. She had been in surgery all night, but the patients were rolling into the ER almost non-stop from midnight until the shift changeover at six. There had been a lot of the usual injuries, and some totally bizarre ones, and others that she didn't even want to know about based on the looks on the other residents' faces. She was on the board for a surgery straight after rounds, and would be spending the rest of her shift on cardio which , after the influx of cardio patients in the ER that night would mean a lot of post ops and a great deal of charting.
The surgery was short but successful, and Meredith watched in awe at the laparoscopic gall bladder removal, excited for the day that she might be able to perform the procedure herself.
"Fascinating isn't it?" Dr. Webber asked her as they scrubbed out together, "that man will have almost no sign of having had surgery, and he'll be out of here in just a few days."
"It's pretty great." She agreed as she passed him some soap.
"So have you had any thoughts on the wedding yet?" it seemed that Meredith and Derek were not the only ones vying for a 2007 wedding.
"Well, we wanted a spring or early summer wedding, but it's a lot to plan before then, so we're still deciding whether to wait until next year or get married in the fall. I started to look at a few possible venues, but we haven't sat down to discuss it yet. Hopefully when we get a few hours where we're both off we can start planning a few details."
"Your mother would be proud of you Meredith. Trying to have it all, and might I say balancing it quite well so far. Your work is consistently good, the attendings have nothing but praise for you, and Derek certainly seems happy, as do your friends. Dr. Karev has made vast improvements in the few months that he's been living at your mother's house. Clearly it's been rubbing off on him too."
"Thanks sir, she'd probably be livid that I was marrying an attending, and that I haven't decided on a specialty yet, but I like to think she'd be happy at the prospect of a son-in-law, and all that comes with it."
"She did love a wedding. Preferred the reception, but she did enjoy weddings."
The pair finished scrubbing and went their separate ways, but Meredith couldn't help but wonder if her mother really would be proud. She had friends that she could not only rely on but learn from, she'd made a name for herself within the hospital for being more than just a slutty intern, and now she was getting married to a talented neurosurgeon with a family that loved both of them. She had it all, she was happy. Sure sometimes she had to work when she'd rather be with Derek, and she'd pass up a drink at Joes with her friends if she hadn't had a night with Derek for a while, but for the most part, she was juggling things well, and in all honesty she was pretty satisfied with her life. She poured herself another coffee in the resident's lounge on her way to cardio, a smile on her face as she spotted her person stood by the nurses' station ready to join her for post ops.
It wasn't long before the conversation turned to Meredith's Christmas with the shepherd clan, Cristina wanting all the gory details about Derek's sisters.
"There's nothing to tell. Kathleen and Lizzie are both lovely, and they both sent messages to say how nice it was to see us both. Amy was quiet but civil and Nancy was actually nice. The kids were great and the husbands. I had a really nice time."
"So you spent nearly a week with mcfamily and there was not one thing that you want to moan about, and on top of that you and mcbitchy are friends now? What have you done with Meredith and how do I get her back?" Meredith laughed.
"I don't know what you want me to say. We had dinner, went ice skating, a fair. Dinner was a military operation and those women literally breed like rabbits, but they're all balancing their marriages and their kids and everything. That's what I want someday, it's nice to know it's possible to have that."
"You're one of them!" Cristina accused jokingly.
"You know what, under all the dark and twistiness, I think maybe I am." Cristina grimaced at the thought, before smiling at her friend, who just a year ago was picking up the pieces of her life after an Addison sized bombshell had been dropped on her life. Now she was just a marriage and kids away from having it all, and if that wasn't something to be proud of them she didn't know what was. Meredith had grown, and it gave everyone that little bit of hope that maybe happily ever after wasn't such a fairy tale.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted." Meredith moaned as they got into the car, 37 hours after they had got to the hospital. "I want to sleep for a week."
"Really?" Derek answered her, flashing his Mcdreamy grin. "That's too bad."
"Oh, don't give me that look. You got to spend the night in our bed. Our beautiful comfy bed, with springs and an actual quilt and pillows that smell like you. You do not get to Mcdreamy your way into sex when I just finished a 36-hour shift."
"That's not what I was thinking, but if you're really that tired, I guess you don't want your surprise. Like I said, it's too bad."
"What?" Meredith raised her eyebrow in interest. "Surprise? I'm awake." Derek grinned again.
"Okay, then we need to make a little detour." He announced, heading towards the docks instead of Meredith's house. "A little ride on the ferry." Meredith scrunched up her nose, figuring out quickly where they were going.
"The trailer? Why are we going to the trailer?"
"Like I said my dear, it's a surprise." Meredith huffed at his lack of details, deciding to stay in the car rather than brave the rain that was battering the deck. She was almost asleep when they finally reached the trailer, Derek insisting that she get out of the car if she wanted her surprise.
"Derek, I'm tired, can't you just bring it to me, or do it to me or whatever it was that you brought me here for?"
"Meredith get out, you have to walk a little way, unless you want me to carry you?"
"I'm getting out," she replied quickly, swinging her legs out of the door, closing it behind her. Derek grabbed her hand and led her towards the cliff. The rain had eased off on the drive over, but it was wet everywhere, and he didn't want her to slip, so he took her down a slightly less risky path.
"Okay stop," he said as they were just feet away from being able to see. He pulled a scarf from his pocket, and tied it around her eyes, making sure she couldn't peek.
"Seriously, Derek, I've seen the cliff before. Do I really need this?"
"Yes, I want it to be a surprise, now do you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you, what kind of question is that?" She half snapped at him, her grumpiness in line with her fatigue.
"Good, because we still have to walk a little way, ready?" Meredith nodded gripping his hand as he led her slowly to the edge of the cliff, stopping so she had full view of her surprise. "Okay, here we go, ready?" Meredith bit her lip as he untied the scarf, squeezing her eyes shut before she could see anything. "Mer, open your eyes," he breathed into her ear, his arms loose around her waist. Meredith slowly opened her eyes, her jaw dropping when she saw what was in front of her.
"What?" she gaped, "Wh… when did this happen?"
"When you were attacked, I called the contractor to see about making a start, and he called me the day before we left to tell me he'd finished most of the basement, and that the walls were up. I had a little look then, and I wanted it to be a surprise for you today. This is our house Meredith. This is it." She turned around to kiss him on the lips, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
"We have a house."
"We have walls, and a basement. It's not safe to go inside yet, it's not really finished. And the outside needs a little work but yeah." The look in her eyes told Derek all he needed to know. She was in awe, and just as happy as he was that he'd decided to show her as a new year's surprise. A sign of things to come, just one more reminder that this was going to be the best year ever.
"Can I touch it?" She asked like a kid in a pet store, desperate to know that it was real, that they did actually have walls, part of a house that was just theirs and no one else's.
"I guess." Derek said, "Just watch out for splinters and stuff, I don't want to have to pull them out with the first aid kit in the trailer, that would not be fun for either of us." Meredith gingerly walked towards the front wall of their house, running her hand gently over the wood and bricks.
"It's really ours," she grinned. "You're actually building me a house."
"I'm building US a house, but yeah, we're building a house."
"I can't wait to marry you and live up here in our house. It's gonna be perfect Derek. It's amazing. Thank you."
"I think you're right," he agreed, "And I can't wait to carry Mrs. Shepherd across the threshold. If it weren't for you, there'd be no house, so I should be thanking you really." She kissed him again as the rain began to pour again, drenching both of them, not that they cared. They had walls, and a wedding and a happily ever after to keep them warm.
A/N- New Year's walls are one of the many things that stray away from my plan, and I've completely overthrown my original ideas for this fic (in a good way I promise!), so be prepared for a few surprises. I surprised myself when I was writing it too! As ever let me know what you think and what you'd like to see from them over the next few chapters, reviews make my day!