It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

29.

Derek and Meredith sat on the large recliner chair together, laughing along with the children as they stood amazed at the number of gifts from Santa. Gifts were being handed out, and Derek sipped from his coffee as he usually did while all of the children and his sisters opened their gifts.

"Why don't you ever get gifts?" Meredith asked, watching as his eyebrows raised as he sipped his coffee.

"Hmm?"

"Gifts... you don't ever get any. This year... last year... you say... 'where are my gifts?'... when you come into the room, but I have never seen you open a package." She whispered to him.

"I never ask for gifts." Derek shrugged.

"So... if you don't ask for gifts, you don't get them?" She whispered.

"Not exactly..." He chuckled. "Every year... my sisters ask me what I want for Christmas... and I tell them one gift for each child that they have... they give them to me before Christmas, and that's what Santa hands out on Christmas eve. I used to give them to my father... he'd hand them out... but you know... the past two years..." He whispered as she nodded in understanding.

"So you don't get anything?" She whispered.

"I get to see them laugh..." he said as he nodded his head towards the kids. Each child had a huge grin on their face, some of them sitting in their parent's laps, some of them helping their little siblings open gifts, having them pulled from their parents as they attempt to open a box, one or two having a fit about this or that. The entire house was filled with what any person who didn't know them would call noise, to Derek it was like music to his ears. Meredith watched the wonder in his eyes, the happiness, the childlike grin on his face, and the way that he interacted with the children when they'd come up to him to show him something.

"Meredith... this is for you..." Joann said, handing Meredith a gift. "And Derek." She smiled, handing her brother a gift.

"Jo... you know that I don't accept gifts..." Derek shook his head, giving her a sideways glance.

"Shut up and open it...it's from all of us..." She shook her head as she walked back over to the tree and pulled out other gifts from beneath the tree.

He looked at the wrapped gift for a moment and glanced over to Meredith as she watched him. "What?" He asked.

"Aren't you going to open yours?" She asked.

"Yeah..."

"Then open it... did you forget how to open gifts? Here... I'll open it for you..." She said as she reached for the gift, only to have him hold it above his head out of her reach.

"Mine..." He said with a laugh as his eyes moved to his sister as she watched his and Meredith's exchange. She smiled at her brother as he gave her a shake of his head, glancing to Meredith. "Alright..." He said as he moved his hand from behind Meredith, grasping the gift with two hands, he very slowly unwrapped the gift, glancing to Meredith as she held her wrapped package in her hand, watching his fingers gently move over the colored wrapping. Slowly, it revealed a wooden box. It was delicately carved with a picture of a Christmas tree, a dark wood with small bits of inlaid colored wood for the decorations of the tree. "Jo..." Derek whispered, looking up at his sister as he watched her watching him. His eyes moved to Nancy and Kathleen, who amidst the fury of wrapping paper and crying children, were watching their brother carefully. He felt a hand on his arm and looked up, to find his sister Bethany standing beside him.

"Open it..." She said, giving him a half grin as the four girls looked to their mother, and back to Derek again.

Derek looked to Meredith, whose eyes were filling with tears already, the thought of what could be inside the box was only the start of the emotions she was feeling. Slowly, Derek slipped his thumb beneath the lip of the box, opening it ever so slowly. Meredith watched his eyes light up, a sharp intake of breath as he stared down into the box. "Mom..." He whispered, looking down at the blue-silver star lying amidst a wrapping of red velvet. It was the tree topper that he had remembered as a child, the same star that his father had held him up to place on the tree so many times, the same star that he had told Meredith about a year earlier, the same star that he had dreamed that his own child would hold high above their head as he held them in his arms and let them put it atop the tree. "Mom..." He whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks as he shook his head. "Mom, I cannot accept this... Jo..." He shook his head. "Nance... Beth... Kath...no... no..." He shook his head.

"Yes you can..." Bethany said as she knelt beside the chair, watching her brother's eyes fall onto hers. "It is yours...for your children... Derek..." She whispered.

Derek moved his eyes to his mother across the room, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, a look of pride and love filled her heart as she watched him shake his head. He then looked down into his lap, at the star, where two small hands were delicately caressing the silvery blue finish. Her eyes were on that star and nothing else, a curious excitement was hidden in her eyes that only Derek could see as she pulled the star from its box, it's corners pointed and sharp. He watched, enraptured by those hands as they moved over the tiny imperfections in the metal, the tiny dents or scratches in the finish, the memories of how they had gotten there, the memories of the hands that had touched it. Her finger stopped as she lifted the star into the light for a moment, scrutinizing the finish as she smiled softly. He looked at her curiously as her eyes met his and she ran her finger gently over a small rigid section of the star, near the base. Her eyes flashed to the star, and back to his eyes again as she reached up and took his hand, carefully running his finger over the rough section that she had found.

"What is...?" he whispered as he lifted it carefully from her hands, the entire family watching the exchange with curious looks abound. He repositioned the star in his hands, looking down at the tiny rough part, and his eyes flashed to hers.

Hidden between the star and the base, was a small bit of dried glue that Derek's father had used to repair a broken seam in the metal. Running his finger over the rough spot, and tilting it in the light, he could see what she had seen, it was the thumbprint of his father. His eyes closed tightly for a moment as he tried to contain his composure, as he tried to remain at least moderately unaffected by the gesture, but in the end, he opened his eyes, finding her sitting on his lap, a tiny smile on her face as her eyes reflected the exact same things that were running through his mind.

Gently, and without taking his eyes off of her, he placed the star in its box, covering it with the red velvet. He closed the box gently and reached his hand to her cheek. Her eyes reflected his love, her heart was pounding as he slowly brought his lips to hers and thanked her for her discovery.