It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

6.

Soft dreams, memories and the sweet scent of flowers lulled Derek to sleep as he lay as comfortable as he had ever been on the floor of his mother's family room. What started as a few moments resting peacefully, turned into a couple of hours of peace filled slumber. His mind was only interrupted by the sound of tiny giggles coming from above him, and for a moment before he opened his eyes, he had to try to remember where he was. He could feel the weight of someone resting against him, feel the soft tendrils of hair pressed against his face, and smell the heavenly scent of the soft body against him. He listened carefully once again, and heard another set of giggles from above him. He listened carefully.

"Looks like Santa left something special for Derek under the Christmas tree." A voice whispered, hearing a chorus of giggles.

"Almost thirty years..." Derek mumbled, opening his eyes to see his four sisters standing above him, looking down on the two people lying snuggled under the tree. "Almost thirty years and you four still can't mind your own business." He whispered as he watched the grin on all of their faces. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice deep and gravely as he yawned slightly, listening to the soft snoring of the woman lying against him.

"We need to put the gifts under the tree..." Kathleen whispered.

"Oh." He whispered, pressing his face down into Meredith's hair for a moment, he looked up at them. "Can you give us a second?" He whispered, watching his sisters shake their head with a humored grin. "Please..." He whispered.

"We'll be in the kitchen." Bethany replied, nudging Joann as they giggled again. Nancy and Kathleen hovered for another moment before giggling and walking towards the kitchen.

Derek watched as they disappeared, one by one into the kitchen, giggling just slightly as they disappeared behind the door. He leaned his head back for a moment and shifted slightly under her weight, her head resting fully on his chest, her right arm draped delicately over his stomach, grasping his sweater. He smiled softly as he lifted his hand, carefully running his fingers through her hair. "Meredith." He whispered, trying to be gentle as he tried desperately not to startle her. "Meredith?" He whispered again, carefully rubbing her arm as he pushed her hair from her face. He shifted slightly as he watched her eyes open slowly.

After a moment, her eyes widened as she sat up quickly. "Oh!" She exclaimed, pushing herself from his arms swiftly as she looked around. Derek could immediately tell that she was embarrassed and upset. "I'm sorry..." She shook her head as she checked her mouth quickly for any drool, rubbed her eyes as she looked around at the room, the clouds outside becoming a little more light as dawn began to break, she watched the soft smile on Derek's face and immediately felt embarrassed, that she had crossed some kind of line that she shouldn't have. "Oh, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." She whispered as she stood up quickly.

"Meredith..." He said, unsure of what exactly to say to her in her state of panic. "Wait..." He said watching as she quickly retreated to the stairs, and climbed them swiftly. "Meredith..." He said one more time, the scent of her hair and the warmth of her body now just a memory.

Derek sat on the floor of the living room in a slight state of shock. Meredith's quick departure was almost expected, yet he was still surprised by how quickly she had disappeared up the steps. He felt cold there suddenly, sitting beneath the Christmas tree alone, knowing full well that he would need to form some sort of explanation for his sisters who were most likely standing at the kitchen door as he sat there. He could feel a slight tug at his heart, and the tiny pull at his emotions as he shook his head and sighed, remembering the moment that they had shared.

Slowly, he lifted himself from the floor, glancing to the stairs one last time, he resisted climbing them to find her. He took a deep breath as he walked slowly towards the kitchen. As he neared the kitchen, he listened to the sounds within, the footsteps moving from the door as his sisters made themselves busy with nothing as he opened the door. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, watching as they all stopped what they were doing and looked up at him. "What?" He said, glancing around the room at the four of them.

"What?" Nancy asked, a look of concern on her face as she watched her brother's eyes. They could all tell that he wasn't amused, wasn't happy, wasn't exactly completely there at that moment, so any need or feeling to crack a joke or smile was squashed as he stood defensively at the door.

"We're glad you were able to make it, Derek." Joann said softly, watching her brother as he continued to stand defensively by the door. He nodded his head as he looked to his other two sisters, Bethany and Kathleen.

"Are you going to say anything?" He asked, daring them to make a joke.

"There's nothing to say, Derek." Kathleen replied.

"What do you want us to say?" Bethany asked.

"Nothing." He said softly. "Do you need help with getting the gifts ready?" He asked.

"It's alright, Derek." Bethany replied. "Go on upstairs and get some sleep... the kids don't even know you're here... they're going to be very excited to see you. You're going to need all of the sleep that you can get." She offered him a small smile as she watched his eyes graze the room one more time as he turned and silently walked out of the room. He listened for a moment, hearing only silence in the kitchen as he stood there. He then turned, and made his way quickly up the stairs.

He stepped down the hallway to the room that his mother had prepared for him, watching the light at the bottom of the door of the room at the end of the hallway. He glanced to the door to his room and sighed, taking a deep breath, he turned for the end of the hallway. Walking quickly to the door, he tapped on it lightly, pressing his cheek against the cool wooden door. He waited to see if she would open it, and listened to her moving around in the room. "Meredith." He whispered softly, his voice deep and concerned. He waited to see if she would reply, and heard none. "Meredith..." He said again, a little louder. "I just... wanted to apologize if I stepped over any lines..." He said softly. "I want you to know that... you didn't step over any here... Thank you... Thank you for talking to me." He whispered, looking down to the floor he could see by her shadow that she was standing by the door. "I just wanted to thank you." He whispered again as he turned and slowly made his way back down the hallway towards his room.

Looking to the floor, he watched as the hallway slowly filled with light. He turned to the door and reached for the doorknob, glancing back to the woman standing in the doorway of the bedroom, peering out at him. "Thank you, Derek." She whispered to him, watching as he smiled just slightly at her gesture. "Have sweet dreams." She whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Meredith." He smiled softly as he watched her watch him.

"Merry Christmas, Derek." Meredith whispered back, watching as he slowly slipped into the bedroom, slowly closing the door behind him.