It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

21.

Meredith retreated to the kitchen quickly, her giggles echoed through the house as she listened to the shuffle of everyone else as they piled into the kitchen after her. "Why are you guys following me?" She asked with a grin as Mrs. Shepherd pushed to the front of the crowd.

"I saw! I saw!" Timothy exclaimed as he ran up to Meredith. He grabbed her hand and showed everyone as they all grinned. "See! See Granny!" He exclaimed. "That was from Santa!"

"Timmy..." Meredith laughed. "You're giving away my secret." She said as she ruffled the little boy's hair.

"Oh, Meredith!" Mrs. Shepherd exclaimed as she pulled her into a tight hug as all of the other adults stood by watching and laughing.

"But Granny! Santa! Where did he go?" He exclaimed as he ran for the back door to the kitchen, opening the door to reveal Derek standing there, out of breath, but dressed in a sweater and jeans, a bright grin on his face. "Uncle Derek!" Timothy exclaimed, holding his arms up for Derek to lift him up. "Uncle Derek... don't be too mad at Meredith."

"Be mad at Meredith?" Derek asked as he stepped inside, his eyes directly on hers as he approached her, the love in his eyes was overwhelming as she pulled from Derek's mother's hug. "Why would I be mad at Meredith?" He asked as the little boy watched them approach her.

"Cuz... cuz... cuz..."

"Did Santa deliver my message?" Derek asked, a sly grin on his face as his mother grabbed him in a hug, squeezing both Derek and Timothy tightly.

"He did..." Meredith grinned, holding up the ring.

"Deliver your message?" Timothy asked.

"Yep..." Derek grinned as he stepped over to Meredith, wrapping an arm around her waist as he pulled her into him, happy as her head rested on his chest. "I didn't know if I could get here... so I asked Santa to bring Meredith's gift..."

"Well it doesn't count." Timothy said as he wiggled from his uncle's embrace. "It doesn't count unless you ask her yourself..." He said stubbornly as he looked up at his Uncle and Meredith.

"It doesn't count?" Derek asked, feigning surprise as his nephew shook his head. "But..."

"No... you have to ask her yourself." He said. "Right Mommy?" He turned to Joann who grinned and nodded her head. "Right, Granny?"

"So you want me to ask her myself?"

"Derek... You can't have Santa doing your dirty work..." Kathleen laughed as everyone giggled. They watched as his ears burned red, his cheeks matching.

"Oh, this is not fair..." He shook his head.

"Come on...we're waiting..." Bethany replied, nodding her head towards the ring.

"If Santa can do it... you can do it." Joe laughed as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder, the children poking out from between their legs and through the doorway.

"Fine..." Derek grinned as he turned to Meredith, finding that she had already slipped the ring from her finger, preparing herself for her second proposal. He shook his head and laughed, carefully taking the ring from her finger. He knelt down on one knee as he looked up at her with a bright grin. "Meredith... will you marry me?" He whispered as everyone watched with happy grins and tiny giggles.

"I don't know, Derek... Santa's proposal was much more romantic than that..." Meredith said as everyone laughed.

"You want more romantic?" He asked, watching as she giggled and nodded. "Alright... more romantic..." He said as he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the stares on him, he opened his eyes and smiled, his eyes twinkling playfully as he watched Meredith enjoy every moment of this, her eyes playing off of his perfectly. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace."

"Wait..." Nancy said, interrupting as everyone laughed. "That's not original enough..." She shook her head. "You can't quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning in your proposal...If Santa can do it from his heart... so can you..." She giggled as Meredith laughed, Derek's attention never leaving her as her cheeks began to turn red.

"My knee is starting to hurt here..." Derek teased as he continued to hold the ring out to her.

"Well dear... if you did it right the first time, you wouldn't still be down there..." Mrs. Shepherd giggled as she watched him shift slightly on his knee.

"Okay... romantic... original...I can do that..." He grinned brightly as he looked up into Meredith's eyes. "Meredith." He whispered. "There has never been another woman in my life that could take my breath away like you do." He whispered. "And with each breath that you take... you breathe a new one back into my soul again." He watched as her eyes began to well up with tears again, and he could feel his ears burning, but none of that mattered as he looked into her eyes. "You...saved my Christmas eve last year... You saved my Christmas Day, and you have saved every day since then. You made me realize that there is more to life than just what is here and now, but that there are memories to keep, cherish, love... in the past... and there are memories to keep... cherish, love... and create in the future. I love you Meredith Grey... from the tips of my toes to the top of my head... I love you with every inch... of my soul... and there is nothing more in the world... that I would like... than for you to be my wife. Will you marry me Meredith? Will you...?" He whispered, listening to the sniffles from the women behind him, knowing how deeply he had touched them with his words. Meredith never lost eye contact with him, never once wavered from his stare.

"Yes." She whispered, a gentle tear rolling down her cheek as Derek slipped the ring on her finger and stood up, lifting her high into the air as she squealed, reveling in the laughter and cheers of his family surrounding him as they all celebrated one of the happiest days of their lives.

🎄🎄🎄

Derek and Meredith made their way to the family room as everyone else did as well, the children hopping about their uncle as they giggled happily. He fell backwards onto the large decorated chair, and pulled Meredith down onto his lap with a squeal. He cradled her in his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder. "How was the drive?" He whispered.

"Lonely..." She whispered back.

"I'm sorry..." He replied, looking up as everyone watched the two of them. "What? Why are we still the center of attention?" He asked with a laugh, his smile outshining everyone in the room.

"We haven't seen you in a year, Derek." Joann shook her head. "We haven't seen Meredith either... phone calls and birthday cards don't count... you two have to spill the beans about how you are doing..." She smirked.

"We're happy... isn't that all you need to know?" Derek teased.

"No... we want details... all of the dirty details..." Nancy teased back.

"Maybe not all of the dirty details..." Justin threw in as everyone laughed.

"Where do you want us to start?" Meredith asked as she watched as everyone relaxed to hear their story.

"The morning that you left." Bethany said, remembering the last time they had seen the two of them, on their way back to Boston.