It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

91.

The family skated and laughed and talked and had a great time as they celebrated the marriage. As the afternoon wore on, however, Meredith and Derek were becoming anxious to have a little time alone before the evening festivities. Derek held Meredith's hand as they walked off the ice towards the building, spotting their mothers inside with Richie, out of the cold. "How should I...?" Derek asked as they walked towards the door.

"Just tell them that we need time to... um... talk or something..." Meredith shrugged.

"Oh... yeah, that doesn't have 'I want to have sex with my wife' written all over it." Derek laughed with a sarcastic chuckle.

"Then just tell them that you want to have sex with me." Meredith shrugged.

"Talk... got it..." He said as he opened the door and walked into the building, Meredith followed behind as he held her hand, trailing behind him as he waved to their mother's as he walked towards their table.

"Well look who is trying to get out of the fun..." Mrs. Shepherd said as she leaned up as her son kissed her cheek.

"Dada! Dada!" Richie exclaimed as he moved his hand at Derek.

"Hey there, daddy's boy..." Derek said softly as he lifted his son from his mother's lap.

"So you guys are going to leave us now, I suppose." Ellis said as she raised her eyebrows at the two of them.

"Leave?" Derek said as he held his son in his arms and bounced him a little. "We don't want to..." Derek jumped as Meredith elbowed him in the side. "Ow..." he grunted as he gave her a half glare.

"Mama..." Richie said as he reached his hand for Meredith.

"My little boy..." Meredith said as she held her arms out to her son, who slipped from Derek's arms into Meredith's, resting his head on her shoulder.

"He's saying Mama..." Ellis said with a smile.

"He said it last week..." Meredith giggled. "Now he loves to say it... I guess I just had to wait it out..." She said as she rubbed the little boy's back.

"Oh yeah... you weren't interrogating him for hours on end at all..." Cristina said as she came up from behind them.

"I was not!" Meredith exclaimed as she laughed, hugging her friend tightly. "Thank you." She whispered as Cristina hugged her back.

"It's no problem..." Cristina said quickly as she pulled from the hug. She walked up to Derek and put her arm on his shoulder. "So I guess you two are going to go off and have some hot married sex now, huh?" She snickered as both of the mothers giggled at his reddened face.

"Talk... we're going to go... talk..."

"Naked talk, I'm assuming..." Cristina rolled her eyes as she gave Derek an elbow in the rib as he laughed sheepishly.

"The guest house is ready for you guys... we figured that you'd like some time away from the family tonight... we can keep Richie at the main house... and you can..."

"No..." Derek shook his head. "No, it's alright... I want to... we want to be with everyone else." He said with a smile. "We'll have plenty of time with one another at home... but we don't want to ruin the Christmas tradition." He smiled.

"You two go on and have a little fun..." Mrs. Shepherd said with a smile as she reached her arms out for her grandson. "We'll keep an eye on the little one... and you both can have some time alone before the festivities tonight."

Meredith carefully handed Richie off to her with a smile, as she kissed her son softly. "We'll see you tonight." She said as she kissed Marion on the cheek, and walked to her mother and kissed her cheek. "Are you leaving tonight?" She whispered as she crouched beside her mother.

"I..." She said as she glanced to Derek. "I think I'm going to stay the night." She nodded softly. "I haven't had a real Christmas... in a very long time..." She said as she touched her daughter's hand. "And I can't remember the last time we had one together."

"I love you, Mom." Meredith said as she wrapped her arms around her mother. "Thank you for being here today..."

"Thank you for finding someone who loves you like a man should..." Ellis whispered as she held her daughter tightly for a moment. "Besides... Derek..." She said with a smirk. "Your mother said that there's a bit of a surprise tonight...that I may be interested in."

Derek smirked a little as he felt his cheeks redden again. "I... think we should get going now." Derek said with a chuckle as he leaned down and kissed his son's cheek. "Be good for the grammas..." he said as he ran his fingers through his hair for a moment.

Meredith smiled and giggled as she reached out for Derek's hand, letting her tug on him as they both said their goodbyes and disappeared out the door together.

🎄🎄🎄

Derek and Meredith sat together on the couch of the guest house, their bodies snuggled together as he kissed her hair and squeezed her tightly. "So you called me selfish, huh?" He whispered into her hair as he chuckled, the light vibrations of his chest making her giggle as she leaned her head against it.

"Yes." She whispered.

"And you found out that....?"

"You're not selfish." She whispered. "Can we not talk about all of the mean things that I said about you this morning?" She asked.

He gave her a look of feigned shock. "All of the things? All of the things? There was more than just that?"

"Sure." She said as she nodded, sitting up. "There was... you're in love with the hospital... I said a few nasty things about my mother... I told Richie that you didn't love us anymore..."

"Meredith?" He exclaimed, a slight smile on his face as he shook his head.

"What? I was only expressing my frustration. I don't think he believed me anyway." Meredith shrugged.

"I should hope not..." He laughed as he squeezed her. "I'm... a little nervous about this..." He said, nodding towards the Santa suit, hanging on the wall.

"You're nervous about being Santa?" She giggled.

"I am..." He nodded. "My boss is going to be there..." He whispered.

"It's alright..." She said as she shrugged. "I married my boss..." She giggled as he tickled her. "Don't worry... they're going to love you out there... after all of the hard work of getting today together... we deserve a nice Christmas with everyone..."

"The kids do love Santa, don't they?" Derek asked as he nuzzled her neck.

"Hell... I love Santa..." She laughed. "Wait..." She said as her head turned toward him. "Does this make me Mrs. Claus?"

"Yep." Derek laughed. "And just think... you saved the reindeer population by letting Mark drive you here." Derek laughed. Meredith turned her head and scowled.

"You're not funny..." She said with a half smirk as she stretched and climbed off the couch. She grabbed his t-shirt and tossed it at him. "Alright, Santa... get dressed..." She said as it landed on his head.

She giggled as he climbed from the couch and chased her through the tiny living room. "One more trip around the world, and Santa will be all ready!" He exclaimed as they fell onto the bed in a heap of giggles.