It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

38.

Derek and Meredith lay together exhausted beneath the covers as he held her tightly in his arms. "Derek." Meredith whispered.

"Hmm...?" He replied, breathing in her scent.

"Don't you think that everyone is wondering where Santa is?" She whispered, moving her head to look up at him. The look of surprise on his face made her giggle.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" He exclaimed as he sat upright, sending her tumbling down onto the pillow as she giggled wildly, pulling the blanket up onto herself as his naked form bounced through the room looking for clothes. "Let's go! Come on!" He exclaimed as she rolled around on the bed laughing at him balancing on one foot, bouncing up and down as he tried to get his boxers on. "Meredith!"

"HAHAHA!" She laughed, sitting up as she held the blanket to her body, her face turning bright red as she flopped back down on the pillow.

"Meredith!" He whispered furiously, running out of the room in his jeans as she continued to laugh hysterically.

He came running into the room, the Santa belly over his shoulders, held on with straps as she started to laugh even harder. "Meredith!" He exclaimed, throwing her bra and panties at her, followed by her jeans and sweater as she rolled around on the bed, tears streaming down her face because she was laughing so hard. "If you don't get dressed! I'm leaving without you!" He exclaimed with a laugh as he ran back out of the room.

Meredith continued laughing as she threw her clothes on, tears streaming down her face as she continued to laugh as Derek put the Santa suit on. "You.... You forgot! You forgot! Why do you think we are here?" She panted, trying to catch her breath between the giggles as she lay down on the bed, rolling around giggling as he slipped the black boots onto his feet..

"Oh, you're so going to get it!" He exclaimed as he leaned down over her, the big Santa belly poking her as she shook her head, laughing harder.

"You already gave it to me, Santa!" She exclaimed as he shook his head, an amused look on his face as he grabbed his coat, and walked into the other room.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed, grabbing his other boots, the bag of gifts, and the Santa beard and started for the door. Meredith grabbed her coat as he ushered her out as she continued giggling all the way to the car.

🎄🎄🎄

Mrs. Shepherd was pacing now. Derek had told her that he'd be there in two hours, and it was over two and a half hours now. He wasn't answering his cell phone, and she was very close to sending one of the other guys to go out looking for them. Just when she walked into the family room, the doorbell rang.

"Santa!" One of the little girls exclaimed as everyone stood up to go to the door, waiting for it to open and reveal Santa. Mrs. Shepherd walked to the door with her grand daughter and when they opened the door, everyone began to laugh.

There was Santa, standing at the door, with a giggling Meredith in his arms. "Did anyone send for one of these? No? Okay... I'm throwing it out into the snow..." He said as he started to turn around.

"NO!" All of the children laughed and giggled as Meredith wiggled out of his grip. She stood up and walked inside as the entire family converged on her. Derek stood in the doorway, watching the reception of Meredith and shook his head as he stood by waiting to be acknowledged.

"Meredith! We heard what happened! Are you alright? Your car was totaled? That is awful! Are you hurt? Did you need to go to the hospital?" Question after question rang out as Meredith gave everyone a hug.

Meredith glanced to Derek, seeing the playful look in his eyes, she smiled. "I'm more popular than Santa Claus..." She laughed as everyone then turned around to face Santa, as the children began to squeal about his visit as well, as Mrs. Shepherd took Meredith's hand and led her into the family room, and two of the little girls grabbed each of Santa's hands and led him to his decorated chair, Derek smiled in contentment as everything appeared to be returning to normal.

🎄🎄🎄

Santa's visit was a big success and all of the children were very excited about his arrival. They laughed and giggled as they sat on Santa's lap, waiting eagerly in line as they waited for their name to be called. Meredith sat quietly on the couch, her legs pulled up into her as she watched silently in her corner, her smile was slight as her mind drifted off somewhere else. She was still sore from the accident, and she had other worries on her mind that she was trying to push aside. Her eyes drifted to the Christmas tree, the sounds of the room fading away softly as she watched the twinkling lights sparkle, her eyes moving slowly up the tree to the top, where a shiny new star sat atop it. She thought of Derek's star, sitting in that small wooden box in his apartment. He once again didn't have enough time to put a Christmas tree up, in fact, if one were to walk into his apartment, you would wonder if it were actually Christmas time.

Meredith shifted slightly, an offered cup of coffee slowly went cold as it sat beside her on the coffee table. She had taken a small sip, but her stomach was churning, and she was afraid if she had anything to eat, it might upset it further. She pulled her legs in tighter, feeling slightly as if she were trying to hide something from everyone, her eyes still focused on the tree as she felt her stomach squeeze, wincing slightly she turned her face to the festivities, finding Mrs. Shepherd watching her with a concerned eye. She smiled softly as she took a deep breath, unaccustomed to being looked after.

The longer she sat there, the warmer she had become, she could feel her body beginning to sweat as she swallowed hard, her throat dry and her breathing slightly irregular. Her stomach squeezed again, sending bile into her throat as she swallowed, standing up as nonchalantly as she could, she quietly slipped from the room and made her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her, she emptied her stomach into the toilet.

She tried to be quiet about it, tried to remain calm, her skin was warm and sweaty, her hands placed on the floor on either side of the toilet bowl as she squeezed her eyes closed, trying to catch her breath. Tears streamed down her face, as her stomach tried to squeeze again, sending her coughing as she tried to control the squeezing feeling in her belly. "No..." She whispered as she shook her head. "Please..." She whimpered as she squeezed her eyes tighter, reaching up to flush the toilet, she felt a cool hand on hers.

She took a deep breath as she slowly opened her eyes, finding Mrs. Shepherd crouching beside her as she turned her head. "I...I..." She whispered.

"It's alright..." She whispered, reaching her hand out to touch Meredith's face. "You're alright..."

"I..." She whispered as now tears of anxiety and sadness began to run down her face.

"He doesn't know, does he?" She whispered.

Meredith shook her head quickly, her eyes pouring over with tears as Mrs. Shepherd pulled the girl from beside her, holding her tightly as she began to cry. "I can't tell him..." She whispered as she felt Mrs. Shepherd's arms around her. "How can I tell him?"

Mrs. Shepherd pulled Meredith from her for a moment, looking into her eyes, seeing all of her fears and worries boiling up to the surface as her eyes sparkled. "You just... tell him... Meredith..." She shook her head, tilting her head. She watched as Meredith shook her head, her mind filled with one million thoughts. "You just... tell him... He's not going to be mad, Meredith... maybe a little stressed out... but he's not going to be upset..."

"He could be... we didn't discuss this... this isn't what we were supposed to have... it wasn't supposed to happen this way... I have school... he's never around... I'll never be around... My mother was never around... it can't work... it can't work... it can't work..." She sobbed, burying her face in Mrs. Shepherd's shoulder, it broke her heart to see her so broken.

"Shhh..." Mrs. Shepherd whispered as she gently rocked Meredith back and forth, her eyes glistening with sympathetic tears as she listened carefully to the woman's worries. "You hush those worries right now..." She said, her voice nearly demanding, though soft and soothing. "No more crying... we'll figure this out, sweetheart... we'll figure this out..."