42. Time Spent Together

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

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The next morning, Meredith rolled over in bed, expecting her husband to pull her into his arms. When she was met with the cool sheets covering the mattress instead of his warm body, she opened her eyes and looked around; her mind still foggy with sleep. Meredith noticed the door to the balcony was slightly ajar, and she smiled to herself, knowing exactly where he was. She stood up from the bed, and was quickly reminded of her nakedness, so she pulled on a camisole top and a pair of Derek's boxers before joining him outside.

Derek looked over to her and smiled widely. "Morning."

"Morning," she replied, leaning over the back of his chair to kiss his cheek. Meredith took a seat next to him and rested her legs over his lap.

He handed her a cup of coffee and smirked slightly. "You got dressed..."

"You're dressed too," she pointed out, gesturing to his boxers and Bowdoin tee shirt. "Which is a good thing. I don't think people would appreciate if we just wandered around naked."

"I'd appreciate it," he replied teasingly, running his fingers over the bottoms of her bare feet.

Meredith quickly snatched them away. "You know I'm ticklish, you ass," she giggled.

"Still calling me ass?," he asked amusedly. "That hurts."

"Ass is my term of endearment for you. We don't do the whole "I call you honey, you call me babe" crap. So you're gonna have to learn to live with it," she explained, unable to hide her smile.

Derek leaned over and kissed her softly. "Still ballsy as ever."

"Someone needs to keep you in line," she giggled. "And who better than your wife?"

"Good point," he said with a laugh.

"So I was thinking...," she began, holding her coffee mug between her hands and taking a sip.

Derek looked at her curiously. "About?"

"Maybe I should just go by Dr. Shepherd at work. Dr. Grey Shepherd is just...it's a lot. And I like being a Shepherd," she said with a small shrug.

"I like you being a Shepherd too. But don't do it just for me. If you want to have both, that's fine. Or if you just want one, that's okay too," he said honestly.

"I think I'm going to go with Shepherd. I want all of us to be Shepherds," she smiled softly.

"One big Shepherd family...," he grinned; the happiness in his eyes greater than she had ever seen before.

Meredith laughed. "I don't know about big..."

"I think we could handle five," he said jokingly, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh really?" she asked with a giggle. "I don't think I could handle five more of you...with your chattiness and perfect hair."

"So mean...," he mused, pulling her onto his lap.

Meredith smiled before pressing her lips to his. "I'm horny too."

"Yeah?" he whispered.

Meredith put a leg on either side of him and smiled. "Mmhmm," she breathed, resting her forehead against his. "Right here."

"Outside...again?" he asked, running his hands up and down her thighs.

"The railing is covered with vines and flowers. No one will see," she whispered as she kissed his jaw line.

"Okay, but, condom first," he reminded her, raising her up off his lap. "We almost forgot last night."

"That would have been bad--I mean, not that I don't--it's just that we're not--," she stammered.

Derek cut her off with a kiss. "I know," he whispered.

"Go. Condom," she ordered, kissing him again. She was ballsy, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

--

After their morning round of sex, Meredith pressed soft kisses to his neck, just enjoying the time spent with her husband. She broke out into a fit of uncontrollable giggles and Derek looked her curiously. "Why...are you laughing?" he panted, steadying her on his lap. Meredith was a tad klutzy after sex; her mind enveloped in a heavy post-coital fog that made it difficult to focus on anything, much less keeping herself balanced on his lap without falling off.

Meredith rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't know. We just--outside again. And it was...damn," she giggled through her own panting. "You're good."

"Thanks, you too," he teased, pulling her up against his body. Derek cupped her face gently in his hands and kissed her sweetly. "I love you."

"I love you too," she breathed. "I think I'm ready for a nap..."

"We can take a nap," he grinned.

Meredith smiled softly and nodded. Once she dismounted, the two of them grabbed their clothes and hurried back into their suite.

"Now I can take my shirt off," she laughed. Meredith pulled the camisole over her head and quickly found her way back under the silken sheets.

Derek slid next to his wife and pulled her close to him. "I like you shirtless," he chuckled, running his fingers up and down her spine.

"Hmm...I know," she giggled tiredly. "That's why I took it off."

"Thanks," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Nap."

Meredith wrapped her arm around his naked torso and let out a contented sigh. "Nap."

--

Derek woke up a little over an hour later to the sound of the water in the shower hitting the marble floor. When he noticed the other side of the bed was unoccupied, he smiled slightly and sat up. Rather than wait to take a shower after her, he decided to join her. Derek swung his legs over the side of the bed and made his way to the bathroom door. He knew Meredith well enough to know that she never locked the door when it was just the two of them--just one of her quirks he'd picked up on after living with her for a few months.

He opened the door and walked over to the large shower. Luckily, he was already naked, saving him the time of having to peel off any clothes. Derek opened the shower door and couldn't help but smile at his wife as she wet her hair under the stream of water. "Hey," he said softly.

Meredith looked over at him and smiled slightly. "What are you...?"

Before she could finish her sentence, Derek leaned in and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I wanted to take a shower with you."

"I figured, or else you wouldn't be in here," she pointed out with a giggle, running her fingers through his head of now dark, wet curls.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked with a small smirk.

"You were sleeping. It was cute, and I didn't want to disrupt you," she explained softly as he kissed her forehead.

"Taking a shower with you always trumps sleeping," he chuckled.

Meredith giggled as she grabbed her shampoo off the rack. "Hmm...I'll remember that."

"Okay then," Derek said with a grin. He took the bottle from her and squeezed some of the lavender scented shampoo into his hands. He rubbed it between his palms before lathering it into her hair.

Meredith let out a small sigh and closed her eyes as she faced away from him. "You're good at that."

"Thank you," he laughed, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"Did you come in here so we could have sex?" she asked playfully.

Derek smiled against her skin. "No. I just want to take a shower...what better way to save water than by showering with you."

"Good point," she giggled, spinning around in his arms and meeting his eyes. Derek breathed in the soft scent of her shampoo as he rinsed it from her hair.

When he finished, Meredith grabbed his shampoo and repeated the process, running her fingers through his wet head of tangled curls. She stood on her tiptoes as she massaged it into his scalp. Derek chuckled slightly at the way she bit her lip in determination. "Don't fall..."

"You wouldn't let me fall," she replied with a knowing smile.

He gently wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping his hands on the small of her back. "I wouldn't," he whispered.

Meredith washed the suds from his hair and smoothed it away from his eyes. "I like taking showers with you," she said softly, leaning in and kissing him.

"Hmm...me too," he agreed.

They finished washing each others bodies and eventually made their way out of the shower. As they dried off, Meredith looked to him and smirked. "I don't think we saved much water..."

"Well, it was fun," Derek justified, wrapping the towel around his waist as he rummaged through the drawer for clothes.

"It was," she said with a giggle. "So what are we doing this afternoon, so I know what to wear?"

Derek shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."

Meredith thought for a moment, running her fingers through the ends of her hair. "How about a picnic?"

"You want to go on a picnic?" he asked with a grin.

"It's hard to go on picnics back home. We're always at work, and it's always raining, so yeah...picnic," Meredith said with a nod, kneeling down next to him.

"Picnic it is," Derek laughed. He pulled out a pair of khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt from the drawer and kissed her cheek. "I didn't know you were a picnic person..."

"I've never been on one, but they sound like fun," she admitted, pulling on her bra and panties.

"It'll be fun," he smiled assuredly. "I think the hotel can put a basket together for us...I read that in the brochure."

Meredith pulled a tank top over her head, then leaned over to kiss him. "Sounds good to me...we may have to buy a blanket to sit on though."

"Blankets are part of the package," he grinned.

"Seriously?"

Derek smiled at her. "We picked a good hotel."

"Yes we did," she giggled. They finished getting dressed, and Meredith walked over to the bureau to brush her hair. "I'm glad we picked up all those extra shifts...now we get to spend two weeks here."

"All of those nights sleeping in the on-call room paid off," Derek agreed, walking up behind her and snaking his arm around his waist.

Meredith spun around and faced him. "Guess so."

--

The sun was shining, and the weather was warm and breezy. A perfect day for a picnic. Together they sat on a little grassy field on their blanket, overlooking one of the Venice canals. A few other couples were scattered about, far enough away so each had privacy. Meredith took a sip of her wine and looked to Derek. "We need to go on more picnics back in Seattle..."

"I agree," Derek laughed, handing her a piece of bruschetta.

Meredith accepted it and immediately took a bite. "This...is awesome," she said with a mouth full of food.

"It's authentic Italian. I hope it'd be good," he pointed out, biting into his own piece. "Damn, this really is good."

"What else do we have in that basket?" she asked with a giggle. She reached over his lap and pulled out some Italian cheeses. "Ooh, these look tasty..."

Derek laughed, just enjoying the fact that she was happy. It was something he never wanted her to lose. "Open them up."

"Way ahead of you," she said with a smile, cutting a piece for herself and one for him. "Here," she said, placing it into his mouth.

"Good," he said as he chewed. "Probably not too healthy though..."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "We're in Italy, Derek. No conscious eating here. You just...eat," she explained.

"You're ruining me, Mer," he said teasingly.

She shoved another piece of bruschetta into her mouth and smirked. "I'm making you aware of the culture. Food is culture."

"I love you," he laughed, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

Meredith smiled at the feel of his lips on her skin. "I love you too," she said softly. "You know I've been to Europe before, right?"

"You have? When?" he asked curiously, cocking his head slightly.

Meredith took a sip of water and looked over at him. "I never told you that?"

"No," he replied as he shook his head. "And now you have to tell me things..."

"I came before I started med school. After college, I wasn't doing much, so one day, I just booked two plane tickets and headed over here--well, not Italy. I didn't get a chance to make it here, but I went other places."

"Who'd you go with?," Derek asked, pouring them both some more wine.

Meredith shrugged. "My friend, Sadie. We went to college, and eventually med school together. But she went off to work in the morgue. Anyway, it was the two of us backpacking around Europe for two months."

"How did you not tell me this?" he asked amusedly.

"I really thought I did. Maybe it was Cristina," Meredith replied. She popped a few grapes into her mouth and sprawled out on her stomach. "Fond memories...," she sighed.

Derek grinned before lying down next to her. "Like?" he hinted.

"You're probably better left in the dark when it comes to the "Meredith finding herself" days," she pointed out with a giggle.

"If you didn't want me to pry, you shouldn't have brought it up in the first place," he shot back jokingly. "Now spill."

"Fine," she sighed, rolling over onto her back, hands propped behind her head. "You can't make fun of me."

"What did you do?" he asked with wide eyes. "You're starting to freak me out."

Meredith groaned. "We didn't do anything illegal. Or if it was illegal, we didn't get in trouble for it. Anyway, we both had a little money--enough to live off of, probably enough to stay in a hotel the whole time if we wanted to--but we were young and stupid, and decided it was best to spend a few nights at this brothel in this little town. I forget what it was called..."

"What the hell?" he asked in sincere shock.

"Oh relax. I wasn't...doing that. These two cute guys offered us a place to sleep. Not with other men...just sleep," she shrugged. "It was fun. In the mornings, we would hang out with them, eat breakfast...then the two of us would go have our daily adventures, and come back to sleep. It was only a few days though. Germany was so nice. It was pretty and sunny. But then we went to...Switzerland, I think. That was nice too."

All Derek could do was stare at her. "I...don't know what to say to that," he confessed, unable to resist laughing.

"It was fun. You should try it sometime," she said with a smirk.

"I'll get right on that," Derek responded sarcastically as he propped himself up on his elbows to kiss her. "What was Switzerland like?"

"We went skiing. I loved that," she smiled.

Derek looked at her curiously. "You ski?"

"I'm a good skier. I went on a ski trip my freshman year of college, and found out that I wasn't half bad," Meredith informed him.

"Well then, we'll have to go skiing. You can teach me," he grinned.

Meredith laughed. "When are we going to have time to go to a ski resort?"

"I'd pay good money to see you in the ski mask and goggles," he said teasingly. "Where did you go after that?"

Meredith bit her lip and thought for a moment. "France, I think. We flew there."

"Better than hitch hiking, I guess," he mused.

"We almost did, but I won us plane tickets," she explained, waiting for his response. She was learning that her husband wasn't much of a risk taker, not like she was in her much wilder post-college days anyway.

"Do I even want to know?" Derek inquired skeptically.

She simply laughed. "You remember in Titanic how the guy won the tickets in a poker game? That's kind of what we did."

"You play poker too? Interesting," he said with a cautious nod, awaiting more of her story.

"Well, it wasn't exactly poker. It was more like strip poker," she said, tossing some more grapes into her mouth. "I was drunk. And apparently I got lucky. I got down to my bra and panties before I won."

Derek stared at her in amazement. Meredith certainly wasn't a quiet, reserved person once you got to know her, but this side of her fascinated him. The uninhibited side of her that didn't give a crap, and just went with the flow. "Uh huh...where was your friend Sadie during all of this?"

"Probably sleeping with one of the guys or something," she shrugged. "The European guys loved me. They probably let me win poker just so they could see me practically naked. They were fun."

"I bet," he chuckled sarcastically.

"A few French guys even proposed to me. They didn't know me or anything. They just came up to me and handed me flowers and stuff. It was sweet," she said nostalgically. "France was the most fun."

"Why is that?" he asked amusedly, clearly captivated by Meredith's stories.

"It was so pretty. We visited the Eiffel Tower, and ate all of this good food. It actually reminded me of Beauty and the Beast--that's really the only Disney movie I ever saw. Maybe that's why I loved it there the most," she said with a smile.

"Where else did you go?" Derek asked, running his fingers over her arm as the two laid back on the picnic blanket.

"England. That was nice too. We saw Big Ben and a few palaces...went on a double decker bus--I got sick afterward. Not really fun for me. But we did a lot of shopping, so I was happy," she rambled.

"You're quite the traveler," he remarked. "I've only been to Cancun."

Meredith looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "You've been to Cancun?"

"Mark made me go," Derek sighed. "We went before our senior year of college. It probably would have been fun if I didn't get food poisoning..."

"Aw, Der," she said, giving him a sad face.

"He insisted we go to this bar--Cancun Lagoon--to get laid. Rather, that's why he wanted to go. Anyway, we ate this weird spicy concoction, and the next thing you know, I'm throwing up in the bathroom," he winced, almost cringing at the memory.

Meredith kissed his cheek. "Poor thing..."

Derek laughed slightly, the creases at the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "I was fine a few days later. But by that time, the trip was half over. Mark had to take care of me. It was kind of funny now that I think about it."

"Mark took care of you?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, it wasn't a mother's love, but he did his best. I think he felt bad. So I took advantage of it," he said with a laugh. "That didn't stop him from bringing girls into the hotel though. That was fun," he stated dryly.

"In the one room hotel? He actually...with you in the room?" she cringed.

Derek shook his head. "I never stayed in the room. I dragged my sick ass out of bed, onto the patio until they were...finished," he explained.

"Hmm," she murmured in sympathy.

"I like your vacation stories more. They're exciting. A little scary, but still entertaining," he said with a chuckle, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss on her lips.

Meredith smiled. "I think being in Italy with you wins."

"I think so too."

The two spent another hour or so just lying together on the picnic blanket, soaking up the warm weather and sunshine. Their honeymoon was by far the best vacation either of them had ever been on. Italy was beautiful, and everything they imagined it would be. Of course, it wasn't so much about the location as it was about spending time with each other.

Once they got back to Seattle, away from the Italian honeymoon bubble, things would go back to normal. Only it wouldn't be the normal they were used to. It would be the start of something new. From now on, they were no longer Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd. They were the Shepherds, a new family of two. And they couldn't ask for anything more.

I was debating on writing more of the honeymoon, but I decided that two chapters were sufficient. Hope you liked it. :)

Reviews make my day! And happy '09!