22. Valentine's Day Pt 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. I just wish I did.

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"Wait…why are we going to the house?", Meredith asked as Derek took her hand and starting walking toward the cliff.

"Because. I still have a few surprises for you, Dr. Grey", he grinned.

After they took the short walk to the location of the house, Derek led her to the front door.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving you this…", he replied, pulling a key out of his pocket.

"You…it's…we really have a house key?", she asked quietly.

Derek nodded. "We do."

"Der", Meredith whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.

"I love you, Meredith." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a warm embrace.

Meredith rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you too."

"Try it out", Derek grinned as they pulled back.

"Okay", Meredith said with a smile. Derek had already given her more than she expected, but she was never expecting a key to their house. It was a simple gift, but to them, it was so much more than a key. To them, it was their future. It was the key to the house they would come home to after a long day at work. A place where they would raise their family and live out their forever together.

Meredith inserted the key in the door and turned it to the left, hearing the click as the door unlocked.

"Can we…?"

"Yeah", Derek nodded as she turned the brass doorknob and slowly opened the door. Some lighting had recently been installed, and the house was cast in a warm glow of yellow light.

"Derek…this is beautiful", she whispered, tightening her grip on his hand.

Derek smiled, tugging on her hand a little. "Come on…"

"Where?"

"Here", he said softly, leading them to the playroom.

"Why are we—", she started before gasping. "Derek."

They stood in the playroom, which had been decorated with several of their childhood pictures on the wall. "You put the pictures up", she whimpered, tears already making their way down her face.

"Yeah", he said, a small smile on his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah", she whispered. "I just…we're in our dream house and you hung up the baby pictures because our kids are going to play in here and…all of this…it's real."

"It's real", he repeated, putting his hands in his coat pockets as she walked around to admire each of the framed photos adorning their wall.

"You put up all the ones we wanted, even the one of your naked little hiney", she giggled through her tears. "I can't even believe…thank you, Derek."

"You're welcome." Derek walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I think I got all of them…"

"You did", Meredith said with a smile, wiping some of the tears off her face.

"We can still paint the walls in here, obviously, but I knew this was something you'd probably like", he explained.

Meredith turned her head to face him. "I love it", she said softly, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. During her childhood, Meredith always wanted Ellis to hang pictures on the wall, but Ellis either didn't want to or simply didn't have the time. So Meredith always promised herself that if she were to have a family of her own one day, there would be pictures everywhere. And for Derek to do something like this for her was better than any gift she'd ever gotten.

"Did you want to come into the kitchen for a minute? I have something else to show you…"

"Seriously?", she giggled. "Because I don't think anything can top this."

Derek wiped the remainder of her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "I think you might like this too", he chuckled. He took her hand and led her into the kitchen toward the island that had been installed. "This is for you", he said, gesturing to the wrapped present that lay on top of it.

"Okay", she whispered, picking up the slightly heavy, slightly square shaped gift. She slowly peeled back the red wrapping paper that revealed what was inside. "Oh my God. Derek."

In her hands, Meredith held a shiny golden plaque with the words "The Shepherds" written across it, something they could display on the front door of their new home. A home that belonged to Meredith and Derek.

"I was going to get a mailbox with our name on it instead, but then I realized we're living in the middle of nowhere and we probably won't have a mail carrier", he said with a laugh. Honestly, he didn't even think about mail being an issue until Mark asked him about it. But that wasn't important right now. He knew they'd work something out. What mattered right now was Meredith and how genuinely happy she looked admiring the gift.

"I love it, Derek", she whispered, running her fingers over the cool metal of the plaque.

"Yeah?"

Meredith looked at him and smiled, her eyes once again glistening with a fresh sheen of tears. "Yeah. I just…Meredith Shepherd", she said almost to herself. "It sounds…"

"Beautiful", Derek said softly, kissing her temple. "I know you want to be Meredith Grey Shepherd at the hospital, but outside of work, you wanted to use Shepherd, so I thought this would be something special for us to have for our new home."

"Our home…", Meredith repeated, still slightly in awe over the gift.

"Which brings me to the next thing", he began, causing Meredith to look up from the plaque and into his eyes, a confused expression on her face. Derek opened one of the wooden drawers of the island and pulled out a piece of paper. "This…"

"What is…? The deed to the land?", Meredith asked, reading over the paper.

"Yeah", Derek said softly. "This land had always belonged to both of us. Since the night I met you, this land has been yours just as much as it was mine. When I moved out here, I had no idea what I wanted to do with all of it. The first time we came out here together, I just…I knew I wanted to build a home for the two of us. And almost two years later, here we are. In our home. And I know it's been one hell of a road to get to this point, but we did. We made it. And I wanted to make it official by having you sign your name to the deed, making everything legally belong to both of us."

A few tears escaped from her tear-filled green eyes. "Yeah", she quickly whispered, without any hesitation. She wanted this. She was in this. It may have been a piece of paper, but to her, it was just further affirmation of their commitment. Their faith. Their love. Meredith pulled a pen out of her tote bag and smoothed the paper on the surface before signing it as neatly as she could manage, her hands still shaking slightly. After she finished, she put the pen down and looked up at him, a contented, genuine smile on her face. "Thank you, Derek."

Derek nodded slightly before leaning in to kiss her softly. "I love you. I love you so much", he murmured against her lips.

"I love you, too", she answered, running her fingers through his hair.

After they broke this kiss, Derek rested his forehead against hers. "Did you want to go back to the trailer? I'm going to make dinner", he whispered, hold her close to him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah", he answered softly, kissing her forehead. Meredith picked up the plaque and the paper and hugged them close to her chest. Derek wrapped his arm around her and together they left their home, making sure to lock the door with their very own key. Meredith wrapped the key in her hand, holding it securely and together, the two of them made their way back to the trailer.

"I would have made us dinner at the house, but we don't have a stove yet", he chuckled.

She giggled. "That's okay."

"I'll go get your overnight bag from the car. Why don't you go inside…", he offered, handing her the key to the trailer.

"Okay", she nodded, taking the key as the two split off in different directions. When Meredith opened the door, she was once again taken by surprise. There were framed three by five photos of them arranged around the trailer.

When Meredith had moved back to Seattle, she had found an unused disposable camera while unpacking boxes from her apartment back in Boston. She tossed it in her nightstand and forgot about it until one day, Derek found it. Meredith had asked him to check inside and make sure there were enough condoms. He pulled out the camera, and snapped a photo of her. And that's how they spent their day off. Taking pictures of each other.

Meredith had forgotten all about that day until now. So much had happened since then, from secret wives to getting engaged. And apparently, Derek had held onto the camera the entire time. "Wow", Meredith murmured to herself as she walked around the trailer. There were individual pictures of them, as well as both of them together. In some, they were kissing; in others, they were making funny faces. Yet another round of tears made their way to her eyes, and still, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

"Hey you", Derek said quietly as he entered the trailer with her white tote bag full of her clothes and toiletries.

Meredith turned around to face him. "Derek. I…how did you…?"

"Do you know how long I've had that camera?", he asked with a chuckle, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I forgot all about that day", she admitted, leaning her head back against his cheek.

Derek kissed the side of her head. "That was a fun day."

"Yeah", Meredith agreed with a smile. "It was."

"You're probably the best fiancé ever", she giggled. "This day…goes beyond anything I expected."

"And this is only our first Valentine's Day together. They're only going to get better", he grinned, kissing her neck.

"Mmm…what about when we have toddlers running around? Is it still going to be romantic?", she asked.

"Of course. We can do the family thing during the day. And we can ship them off to Aunt Cristina's for the night", he joked.

"Yeah. I'm sure she'd love that", she said sarcastically.

"Fine. Well send them over to your house. Someone's bound to be there to babysit", he joked.

"Deal", she giggled, turning her head to kiss him.

"I love you, Meredith", he said softly, spinning her around to face him.

"I love you, too." She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. "You are going to get very lucky tonight."

"Oh, am I?", he asked with a grin, running his hands up and down her arms.

"Well, after everything you've done today, I think you deserve it."

"Hmm…you're probably right", he said cockily.

"Ass", Meredith giggled. "So are you gonna feed me soon?"

"Sure. Why don't you go change into some pajamas and I'll start cooking", he offered as they pulled back from their embrace.

"I didn't bring pajamas. Only my lingerie…"

"You could just walk around naked. I wouldn't mind", he suggested, a sly grin on his face.

"Hmm…maybe I'll just borrow some of your sweats", she teased as she made her way to his bedroom.

Derek began taking out the various items for their dinner. "Fine. There's always time for the lingerie later…the night is far from over. We still have to have our shower sex", he reminded her.

"I don't know…", she said, yawning dramatically as she finished changing. "I'm kinda beat." She plopped down onto the bed and lay back on the pillows.

"Oh no you don't", he laughed, walking over and jumping on the bed, pinning her down and tickling her.

"Fine! Stop! I was just kidding!", she squealed between her giggles. "We can have sex!"

"Yeah?", he asked as he continued to tickle her.

Meredith squirmed and laughed beneath him. "Yes!"

"Okay", he chuckled, ceasing his tickling assault.

"You're such an ass", she giggled, attempting to catch her breath.

Derek brushed some wispy strands of hair off her face. "You love me."

"I don't know why", she joked, arching her back to readjust the tee shirt she had borrowed from him.

"Because you, Meredith Grey, are the love of my life", he said with a smile.

"I know", she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

"I love you, Mer." He leaned down and kissed her softly.

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "I love you, too." They enjoyed a few moments of comfortable silence before Meredith's stomach made a gurgling sound.

"Hungry?", Derek chuckled.

"A little", she said, rubbing her stomach.

Derek rolled off of her and helped her sit up in the bed. "Well, let's feed you then."

"Hmm…this is why I keep you around", she grinned. Derek took her hand and they walked into the small kitchen area.

"I bought wine, but I don't think I have any wine glasses…", Derek said, rummaging through various cabinets.

Meredith smirked. "Have you forgotten who I am? The girl who drinks tequila straight from the bottle. We don't need wine glasses." She took the bottle and the corkscrew from the counter and after a few attempts, finally succeeded in opening it.

Derek watched amusedly as she put the bottle of wine to her lips and took a sip. "That…is one of the many reasons why I love you", he chuckled.

"Because I'm a trashy wine drinker?", she giggled, handing the bottle to him so he could take a sip.

Derek accepted the bottle. "Exactly."

"You're not marrying a New York socialite. You're marrying a trashy girl from Seattle", she grinned.

"You're not trashy", he laughed, taking a sip of the expensive wine he had bought just for the occasion.

Meredith smiled. "Aw, you're sweet."

"I'm serious. You're anything but trashy", he said, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Even though I'm standing here in your pajamas drinking wine from a bottle?", she joked.

"Especially because of that", he said softly. "You always look beautiful."

A slight blush spread across Meredith's cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too", he smiled, kissing her again.

Together, they made their Valentine's Day dinner. After eating, they fulfilled their promise of shower sex, followed by a marathon night of sex in bed complete with Meredith's easy access lingerie, glow in the dark condoms, and the chocolate body paint they had for the occasion.

It was almost sunrise by the time they had finished their last round of love making for the night, and both were completely exhausted. They were sweaty and still slightly sticky from the chocolate, but neither wanted to move. Derek had recently drifted off to sleep and Meredith lay contentedly snuggled in his arms, the blanket softly draped over their naked bodies.

She loved that even though he was sleeping, he instinctually kept his arm wrapped around her, keeping her safe and warm. Her breathing had evened out as she listened to his steady heart beat, her face cuddled into his bare chest. She lifted her chin up and kissed his cheek, smiling softly.

It was certainly the most memorable Valentine's Day Meredith had ever had. She had never been the type of girl who was into that sort of thing. Up until she met Derek, Valentine's Day was just another reminder that maybe she wasn't going to find the knight in shining whatever who was going to sweep her off her feet. And yet, despite her pessimism for all things Prince Charming, she found him. And he never ceased to take her breath away.

Hope you liked their Valentine's Day. I wanted to make it special for them.

Reviews make my day. And give me a lot of motivation.