It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

50.

They skated together for a while, laughing and talking with everyone as they went, and Meredith found that her skating had been getting better since her first try. Derek would let her skate a little by herself, only to rush to her every time she wobbled just a little bit, asking if she was alright.

"Derek... I'm fine... you need to relax..." She said as he grabbed hold of her as she wobbled a little, pulling them both to the side of the rink.

"You looked like you were going to fall..." He said softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm not going to fall... I'm okay... you're just looking for an excuse to grab me..." She giggled as he kissed her lips softly.

"Can you blame me?" He asked.

"No." She giggled. "But you need to relax... go get us a pretzel or something... I'll skate around one more time... and then you and I can sit and snuggle." She whispered as she nodded towards the building.

"Meri..."

"Go on, Derek... you're hovering..."

"But..."

"Go on..." She shook her head. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"You promise?" he asked.

"Go!" She exclaimed with a laugh as she pushed him a little, watching him skate backwards a little, a sad puppy look on his face as she shook her head and giggled.

"Be careful..." he said softly as he skated around to the steps on the side of the rink, climbing up the steps towards the building, he watched as a couple of his nieces had latched onto Meredith and skated with her. He could hear her laughter across the ice, ringing out so happily as he watched her glance over at him and shake her head as she held the little girl's hands and skated.

"Derek." Mrs. Shepherd's voice interrupted his thoughts as he looked across the tables and saw his mother calling out to him. He smiled as he walked across the rinkside to her table, he leaned across the table as he smiled. "Sit down with me for a minute..." She asked, watching as he glanced to the ice. "She'll be fine... sit down." She said, touching his hand.

He sat down in the chair across from her and smiled, his mother sitting comfortably with her cup of hot cocoa as she watched his eyes. "What's up?" He asked, tilting his head as he watched his mother's eyes begging him to talk to her.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly.

"I'm fine..." He said, giving her a concerned look as he smiled. "I'm great... I'm excited... I'm..."

"You're scared, Derek." She said as she reached for his hand.

"To death, mom." He replied. He glanced to the ice and watched as Meredith continued to skate slowly. "She...and... and...I..."

"Just relax for a minute...It's alright..." She shook her head. "You two are not in this alone, and you're not the first people in the world to have a child."

Derek chuckled a little as he watched his mother.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"With her... you're going to marry her, right?"

"Of course! Mom! That has always been my..."

"Derek." She said sternly as she squeezed his hand. "Derek... you need to take care of her... and I know you will... but what I saw last night... it... what I..."

"Mom... what happened last night..." he sighed, his head shaking as he watched her eyes show all of the concern she was trying to convey in her words. "What happened last night was just... I was trying to... and I couldn't... make her understand how worried I was... and she was trying not to hurt me... and..."