So obviously you won't be surprised by this chapter, but I promise it won't all be cliché.
I apologize for any errors, as my mother tongue is not English.
Obviously I don't own anything.
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Derek is happy that after two years of not seeing anyone in the family, he is going to spend the holidays at his mother's house with everyone from the Shepherd clan.
He postponed this reunion a lot, for not wanting to hear demands and judgments from his sisters, but after hearing so many complaints from his mother, he decided that it was finally time. So a week ago he called his mother, Carolyn seemed happy but a little apprehensive and assuming it was because of Meredith, he assured her that her girlfriend wouldn't. Carolyn even tried to hide it, but she didn't seem much calmer, so even though she was happy, he already assumes he'll hear a lot.
The fact that Meredith doesn't go along is another thing that worries him. Things are weird, her difficulty in actually committing to the relationship irritates him. It doesn't help her insistence not to move with him and to keep her friends in the house as if she were running a hostel, there are times when he has to sleep in bed with her and Cristina Yang. At forty, Derek needs more than that, he misses na adult relationship, he misses stability, he misses living with someone who isn't on the verge of a fit when hearing about holidays and family. He understands the emotional problems that surround her, the problems caused by her parents, but it frustrates him that all her attempts have no effect on her.
Derek hates to admit it, but deep down he misses Addison sometimes. Addison who went out of her way for dinners, holidays and special moments, who loved her family unconditionally, and who was always whole in the relationship. It's strange to have lived the last two years without hearing from her, apart from a few articles and two published surgeries, he has no idea how her life is going. And he refuses to ask anyone from his past.
--
Finally, the taxi pulls up in front of the Shepherd family's former home and Derek slowly leaves the vehicle. He climbs the stairs slowly and it's inevitable to think about the last time he was there. It was Thanksgiving, he didn't want to stop working, but Addison insisted, they fought and finally he gave in. Addison went alone for Christmas and Easter, after which he moved to Seattle.
Derek pushes his thoughts away and rings the doorbell, a smiling Kathleen opens the door commenting:
"I bet Lizzie you wouldn't show up."
Derek rolls his eyes as he states- "It's great to see you too, Kathleen!"
She pulls him into a hug while whispering, "I didn't say it was bad to see you, just that you're not good at showing up."
Derek walks away decides to ignore the comment and asks – "Where's the rest of the family?"
"Nancy and Jhon arrive tonight. Dylan, Mom, Lizzie and Caleb are at the grocery store. The kids are upstairs with Amy."
Kathleen speaks quietly as she closes the door. Derek looks at the room she grew up in and it hasn't changed much in all these years, it's a strange feeling, but it's good to be back.
He and Kathleen talk for a few more minutes, until footsteps start to be heard and then, Nancy's tem-year-old daughter Kim yells:
"It's Uncle Derek! Uncle Derek has arrived!"
The rest of the children descend being followed by Amelia. Derek greets one nephew after another, and is thanked for many gifts he didn't send, he doesn't have to ask, he knows they're from Addison and younger kids don't understand the difference. Soon he and Amy greet each other, he trying to be distant and she as usual with the unfiltered sense of humor. When Carolyn finally arrives, Derek breathes a sigh of relief.
--
After a surprisingly calm day, Derek is satisfied. His mother as always beaming in her presence, her friendly brothers-in-law and her surprisingly respectful sisters, something unusual, but he's not complaining. Putting together Lizzie's five children and Kath's four children, there are nine nephews in the eighth house aged between 13 and 7 and Liz's 3-year-old baby he didn't know yet. The kids aren't as close to him as he'd like, but he can't blame them for that.
It's nearly dinnertime when Nancy arrives with her husband Jhon and their four children. With the two five-year-old twins asleep on their husband's lap, Nancy enters greeting everyone and explaining:
"Sorry for the delay, but I had a little rough Christmas baby."
Derek feels the familiarity of those words and immediately thinks of Addison, of how many babies she helped bring into the world during their Christmases together. Once again he forces himself to put his ex-wife's thoughts away and decides to call Meredith.
After Nancy's family is settled and Derek has spoken to his girlfriend, everyone starts Christmas dinner. Carolyn is overjoyed with all the kids together for the first time in years. It's as if time hasn't passed with the Shepherd sisters chattering and sometimes arguing, the nephews following suit, the brothers-in-law wisely keeping silent and Carolyn happy but tough watching. Derek realizes that the only one there who has changed is him, the only one who is far from the family, the customs and the life he had before.
As the sisters divide the conversation between careers, children and relationships, he has nothing to talk about. He can't talk about just having sex and discussing work with his girlfriend, listening to her peers having sex, or his endless love affairs. He can't say that he has to fight for space with his girlfriend's best friend and that the closest he's come to making a friend other than Richard, walked away abandoning his fiancée at the altar. So Derek opts for silence, but unfortunately Amy doesn't follow suit and asks:
"Anybody know where Mark is this year?
Carolyn immediately gives her youngest daughter a death glare, who just smiles innocently. Derek realizes he must get the elephant out of the room and shrugs.
"You can talk about him, it's not like I even care."
If anyone believes he doesn't know, but Carolyn decides to support her son and responds:
"He stopped by the day before yesterday, he's with his father this year."
The answer surprises Derek, both because Mark still has the courage to keep in touch with his mother and because he is so close to him. Mark the man who destroyed his marriage is fifteen minutes from his house, having dinner with his dysfunctional father and his distant relatives, another odd thing for the list. Fortunately Lizzie brings up another subject about one of the children and the conversation about Derek's ex-friend dies.
--
After the incident about Mark, dinner continues pleasantly and when it is over everyone goes to sit in the living room by the fireplace. Teenagers huddle in a corner with their cell phones and mp something. The kids play on the living room floor, the brothers-in-law play some game Derek has promised to get into, and he finds himself trapped in na armchair, surrounded by his mother and sisters, feeling like he's twelve again.
The cider warms Derek's chest comfortably as Kathleen tells yet another Thanksgiving story at her in-laws' house, everyone laughs and debates when Lily, Nancy's youngest daughter, approaches Derek. Happy with his niece's touch, Derek pulls her into his lap and she snuggles into his chest, looking sleepy from her interrupted nap earlier. The girl rests her head while playing with a few threads from her uncle's sweater and then asks calmly:
"Why didn't you bring your baby, Uncle Derek?"
The question doesn't surprise him, with so many cousins, it's normal for the girl to imagine that he's also a father. Derek prepares to respond, when James, Lily's twin, stops playing and says excitedly:
"Your son is really nice, Uncle Derek. He's the only red-haired baby I know."
Derek gasps audibly and all the eyes of the family turn to him as a dead silence fills the room.
So I had to finish things there.
I only realized after writing that Nancy's twins are named after the Potter couple (this probably lives in my subconscious).
Comments are lovely.