43. Back in Seattle

Disclaimer: There's a ring! An honest-to-God ring that Derek's going to put on Meredith's honest-to-God finger in a few weeks! If I owned it, I wouldn't be this excited because I would have written it in the first place. ;)

Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them.

Their plane arrived back in Seattle somewhere around midnight. They were supposed to get in around nine in the evening, but due to delays, it kept getting pushed back. But now, they were home. Earlier in the day, back in the Italy bubble, Meredith and Derek pondered the idea of spending the night in their new home, but after such a long flight and the jet lag that accompanied it, neither wanted to make that trek. So after collecting their luggage, Derek drove them back to Meredith's house where they would stay the night.

Meredith drifted off into a light sleep half way back to the house, and Derek knew there was no way sex was even going to be an option tonight. He wasn't really in the mood anyway. All either of them wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep. When Derek pulled into the driveway, he noticed the porch light turn on the front door open. At times like these, he was thankful to have roommates.

Alex and Izzie made their way down the steps and walked over to the car. "Welcome home," Izzie smiled, noticing Meredith's still sleeping form in the passenger seat of the car.

"Thanks," Derek smiled tiredly as he shut the car door.

"We'll help you unpack if you want," Alex offered.

Derek nodded. "We can just take a few things in. Mer and I can get the rest tomorrow."

"Okay," they replied in unison, walking around to the trunk.

As Alex and Izzie starting pulling out some suitcases, Derek walked around to other side of the car. "Mer," he whispered. When he got no response, he simply shook his head and smiled. "Come on," he said softly, unbuckling her seat belt and scooping her up out of the seat.

Alex grinned, smirking slightly. "Carry your bride into the house. It's tradition."

Derek laughed, propping Meredith up as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks. I'll be back to help in a minute." He carried Meredith into the house and took her up to their bedroom, gently dropping her down on top of the covers. "I'll be back," he whispered softly.

Meredith simply rolled over and mumbled something incoherent before falling back to sleep. When Derek went back downstairs, he found that Izzie and Alex had most of the car unloaded, and were coming back up the steps with the first shipment. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it," Derek smiled graciously, running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh, it's no problem," Izzie said simply. "Where do you want us to put these?"

"You can just leave them in the foyer. I'll get them in the morning. Thanks," he replied, walking outside to retrieve more bags. Eventually, the three of them managed to get most of the suitcases and things into the house, and Derek trudged up the stairs behind Izzie and Alex. He said goodnight to them before entering his bedroom, smiling as he saw his wife in the same position he'd left her in.

Derek quickly stripped down to his boxers, then pulled the jeans off Meredith's legs, leaving her in her panties and tee shirt. He crawled into bed next to her and pulled her close. "I love you," he whispered, kissing the back of her head. Meredith, still in a dream-like state, took his hand and laced their fingers. Before long, Derek too felt himself slip into sleep, happy to be back in Seattle with his wife.

--

Meredith woke up the next morning, pleasantly surprised to find herself back in her own bed. She didn't remember getting home, but was just thankful that they had arrived back safely. She rolled over in bed and found Derek sprawled out on his stomach sleeping soundly. "I love you," she whispered softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

After getting up out of bed, she slipped on some sweat pants and walked downstairs. She entered into the kitchen and found a note from Izzie and Alex that said welcome home, and that they'd be home after work to help move things into the new house. Meredith smiled sadly to herself. As much as she couldn't wait to move into her new home with Derek, she knew she'd miss Alex and Izzie. They had become like brother and sister in every sense but blood. But that was one of the perks of practically living at the hospital. She knew she'd see them everyday anyway.

She got herself a cup of coffee, then starting unpacking the suitcases in the living room. While putting in the first of many loads of laundry, Meredith heard Derek walking down the steps. "Hey," she called from the laundry room.

Derek entered the kitchen and smiled at her. "Morning."

"I'm glad you convinced me that we'd need the day off today. This jet lag thing sucks," she yawned, taking a seat next to him at the counter.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I carried you in the house last night," he pointed out with a chuckle. "You were exhausted."

"I could have walked," she giggled.

"That's okay. I got to carry you over the threshold," Derek smirked.

Meredith rolled her eyes and brushed some hair off her face. "Are you going to do that again today?"

"If you let me," he said with a laugh. "It's tradition."

"Well then...I guess I might let you."

Derek smiled as he refilled their coffee cups. "Good."

"So Alex and Izzie said they'd help us take some stuff over to the house later on," Meredith said.

"Sounds good," he yawned.

"Okay," Meredith nodded before she yawned too. "This all feels oddly the same..."

"Except now...we have wedding rings on," he grinned, taking her left hand in his.

Meredith rested her head on his shoulder and smiled softly. "Now you're stuck with me," she teased.

"Hmm...you're stuck with me too," he replied, kissing the top of her head.

"So did you want to start packing some stuff up today? We have work tomorrow, so we can at least start to make a dent in it," Meredith suggested.

Derek nodded. "Sounds good."

"But first..." Meredith shifted slightly in her chair and faced him. "A morning quickie. Morning quickies always wake me up" she whispered in his ear.

He pulled her onto his lap and began kissing her neck. "Yeah?"

"You should know by now that I'm always horny in the morning," she reminded him, tilting her head to the side.

"I hope that never changes," he smiled, running his tongue over her earlobe.

"It won't," she assured him before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Kitchen table."

"What?" Derek asked.

Meredith pulled back a bit, smiling at him coyly. "We need to make this whole moving out thing fun...may as well christen every room of the old house."

"And the new house too, I hope..." he pointed out, carrying her over to the table. Derek set her down on top of it before pushing the place mats onto the chairs, along with the little, flowery centerpiece.

"Of course," she giggled. "We wouldn't want to break tradition."

Derek laid her back on the table before leaning over and kissing her. "No. We wouldn't..."

--

Meredith didn't realize how much stuff one room could hold. After their morning round of kitchen table sex, she and Derek began tackling her mother's den. The shelves and cabinets and drawers seemed endless. Izzie and Alex weren't moving out of the house any time soon, so she knew there really wasn't a need to empty out the room, but there were some things from her childhood she wanted to take with her. Things she had forgotten all about until she began opening boxes, much to Derek's amusement.

"What is that?" Derek asked, looking curiously at the stuffed animal Meredith was holding.

"It's Corky," Meredith stated, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've had him since I was three."

Derek took it from her and cocked his head slightly. "Is it a bunny?"

"Yes," she giggled. "Can't you tell?"

"It's cute," he teased. "Who came up with the name Corky?"

"Me," Meredith laughed. "Obviously, I was very creative..."

"You must have been," he agreed amusedly.

"I remember his eye fell off at the playground and I cried. When we got home, my mom sewed it back on," she said with a small smile. "She even let me help."

Derek kissed her cheek and smiled sadly. "Yeah?"

"It's one of the few good memories I have of my mother...," Meredith said softly. "I want to take this with me," she breathed, putting the small, blue bunny into the box.

"What else is in there?" he asked as the two leaned over the cardboard box, rummaging through the contents for something good.

Meredith gasped as something caught her eye. "Oh my God!"

"What?" he asked, slightly startled.

"Anatomy Jane!" she squealed happily.

Derek quirked his eyebrows and look to his wife curiously. "What is that?"

"She's like Barbie, only creepier and much cooler," Meredith explained, pulling off the hospital gown and popping off the front piece. "All of the pieces are still here..."

"That's like...the strangest thing I've ever seen," Derek laughed.

"Oh look, she still has her little twosh," she giggled, pulling out the green plastic piece.

"Her what?" he asked confusedly.

"Anatomy Jane had detachable organs. I could never remember the real names, so I made up names. Like, the twosh was next to the chubble. And that was connected to the slivvy. And oh, look! It's the jelly pouch," Meredith said with a smile.

Derek looked at her and smirked. "Jelly pouch?"

"I doubt you could say uterus when you were five," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "Wait a sec, she came with an attachable fetus and pop-out stomach too..." she remembered. Meredith leaned over the box and eventually found the little plastic pieces.

"That just made the doll ten times creepier," Derek said with a laugh. "Your mom got this for you?"

Meredith attempted to attach the baby to the doll and nodded. "Yeah. It's a weird thing to give to a five year old, but I kind of liked it."

"Is she going with us?" he asked amusedly.

"Of course she is. Our kids are going to play with her one day too," she said softly.

Derek couldn't help but smile at her comment. "Okay," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her sweetly. It was times like this that made him remember why he fell in love with her in the first place. She said things that made his heart skip a beat.

Meredith carefully put the doll back together--fetus attached, slipped the blue gown back on, and gently placed her in the box. "What else do we have in here?"

"We're not making any progress," he pointed out, chuckling slightly.

"I haven't seen this stuff in twenty-five years. Some of it's important," she explained. "Like this..." Meredith pulled a small wooden picture frame and peered at the photo.

"Is that you?" Derek asked. He scooted closer to her and smiled when he saw the photo of a young Meredith, smiling for her school picture. "How old are you in this?"

Meredith bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Probably first or second grade."

"You're adorable. The pigtails and missing teeth," he laughed. "This is coming with us..."

"So you can make fun of me?" she asked with a smirk.

"So we can show our girls one day," Derek said; his eyes full of the love and adoration reserved just for her.

Meredith simply smiled and kissed his cheek. "If we have boys, you realize that gives me license to mock your psychic powers forever, right?"

"Deal," he replied confidently.

"Pretty sure of yourself, huh?" she joked, looking at the picture in her hands.

"I am, in fact." Derek gave her a cocky grin and kissed her temple.

All Meredith could do was laugh. "Okay then." She put the photo back in the box and with Derek's assistance, taped it up so it could be shipped off to the new house.

While she was rummaging for more treasures in a nearby box, Derek was busy retrieving a box from the closet. "Damn!" she heard him say, and immediately whipped her head around.

"What? What's the matter?" she asked worriedly.

Derek set the box on the ground and examined his palm. "Splinter," he sighed.

"You scared me," she breathed, running her fingers through her hair. "Here. Let me see." She hopped up off the floor and took his hand in hers so she could look at his palm more closely. "It's a teeny tiny splinter, Derek. Not a huge shard of wood."

"It hurts," he said. "The shelves obviously aren't made of finished wood."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "You're such a baby. Wait here, I'll get the tweezers."

"I can probably just pull it out with my fingers," he suggested.

"That's how it gets infected. Just wait two seconds and let me take it out the right way," she called as she made her way out of the den and up the stairs.

Meredith returned moments later with tweezers, an alcohol wipe, and a Band-Aid. "Let your wife be wifely and take out your splinter," she giggled, taking his wrist and pulling him down onto the couch next to her. She turned on the lamp on the side table and set his hand on top of hers. "Okay."

"Please don't hurt me," he laughed, dropping his head on the back of the couch.

"I would never hurt you," she said, pretending to be offended. "Now hold still."

Meredith made sure she had a grip on the small splinter before pulling it out. Satisfied with her work, she examined his palm under the light and nodded proudly. "All better."

"You did it already?" Derek asked in surprise. "I didn't even feel you do anything."

"I'm just that good..." she giggled, cleaning the area with the alcohol wipe and sticking the Band-Aid over top of it. "See, I told you I wouldn't hurt you," she said as she kissed his cheek.

Derek smiled lovingly at her. "Thank you," he whispered, tilting her chin up to kiss her.

"Hmm...you're welcome," she murmured against his lips.

"I think this is a good time for a sex break..." he said with a grin, proceeding to gently lay her back on the couch.

Meredith smiled up at him and ran her fingers through his hair. "And why is that?"

"Well for one, you always give me sex when I'm wounded. And second...well, actually, I don't think I need to give you a second reason," Derek laughed as he kissed her neck.

"A splinter barely qualifies you as wounded. But either way, you talked me into it," she giggled, wrapping her legs around his waist while pulling her shirt off.

"I knew I would," he replied cockily. "I love you." Derek pressed his lips against hers, slipping his tongue into her mouth.

Meredith moaned in pleasure. Derek's tongue in her mouth always did that to her. "Get naked," she ordered, tugging at the bottom of his tee shirt before pulling it off of him.

"You too," he said as he climbed off of her and proceeded to undress.

"You realize that at this rate, we're never going to move into our house, right?" she asked jokingly while he hovered over her once again.

Derek laughed. "Sex trumps packing. Sex always trumps packing."

"I kind of assumed it did," she said with a giggle. "Let's make it a quickie, though. We have things to do..."

"I can do quickies," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her as he slipped inside of her.

Meredith gasped and clutched the back of the couch with her hands. "Oh God..." she moaned.

"Good?" he asked smugly as he began to move within her.

"Shut up," she whispered; her eyes closed in bliss.

Derek smiled, pressed his lips to hers once again. "Okay."

--

By the time Alex and Izzie returned home from work, Meredith and Derek had packed the important things from the den, and were now working on the bedroom. "Hey," Izzie smiled, peering into the room.

Meredith looked over to her friend. "Hey."

"Whenever you guys are ready to go, let us know," she said kindly. "Oh, and I'm ordering a pizza. Any requests?"

"Anything with meat," Meredith giggled.

Izzie laughed. "Okay," she replied, turning around and walking into the bathroom.

Derek noticed the somewhat solemn look on Meredith's face. "You're going to miss them," he said knowingly.

"Yeah," Meredith breathed. "I am. As much as I want to move out, I will miss them."

"Well, we're keeping the old bed here. Maybe we could..."

Meredith laughed and rolled her eyes. "What? Sleepover once in a while?"

"Well, I guess not. But our kids are going to sleep in this house when Izzie and Alex babysit," Derek said with a grin.

"When you say things like that, you make me cry. And I'm already feeling all sentimental from packing up childhood crap," she said, leaning over and kissing him.

"I remember a time when talking about kids gave you a panicked look in your eye. And now it makes you all mushy," he teased as he put some of his clothes into boxes.

Meredith handed him the tape and smirked at him. "It's your fault."

"How is that my fault?" Derek asked amusedly.

"Before you came along, I didn't even want kids. And now, any kind of baby talk turns me into this sappy thing. Like I said...your fault," she concluded, dropping some of her sweaters into the cardboard box.

"Fine. You can blame me," he said with a chuckle.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled. "So are we sleeping at the house tonight?"

"As long as we have coffee in the morning, I think we could," Derek replied.

Meredith nodded in agreement. "I'll have Iz put together an overnight package."

"Sounds good," Derek laughed.

"Oh crap...condoms," she remembered. Meredith reached over to the nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out a string of them. "If we forgot those, it would have been bad."

"Yeah. It would have been..." he smirked as he kissed her lightly. "Good thinking."

Meredith tossed them into her tote bag which was sitting on the bed before pulling the last of her clothes from the closet. She deposited them in the box at her feet, and knelt down next to him. "I think we've done enough packing for one day," she whispered, nipping on his earlobe.

"You want sex," Derek grinned. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her neck, causing Meredith to erupt into goose bumps.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and played with the curls at the nape. "I'm horny today," she giggled.

"I can tell," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers softly.

"Think we can...before the food gets here?" she asked almost incoherently, panting slightly as Derek dipped his hand down the waistband of her panties.

Derek gently began massaging her center with his fingers and Meredith arched her body into his. "Derek," she breathed.

When he removed his hand, Meredith nearly gasped in surprise. "What the hell?" she asked, glaring at him.

"We're going to do this the right way," he whispered. Before Meredith could protest, he scooped her up and dropped her down onto the bed.

"Just so you know, what you were just doing...that's not really a wrong way," Meredith explained half-heartedly.

He pulled her shirt over her head and smiled at her. "It's much better when you're naked," Derek grinned, wasting no time in pulling her pants and panties off her legs.

"Now I'm naked and you're not..." she stated obviously, giggling when he started tickling her sides. "Stop!" she squealed.

"No," he replied, smirking at her as he continued his assault, wishing he could keep her laughing forever.

Meredith continued to squirm beneath him, but quickly thought of a way to get him to stop. "No sex then. My legs...closed to you," she stated, crossing one leg over the other tightly.

In an instant, his tickling ceased and he looked at her, unable to resist chuckling as she regained her breath. "No fair."

"Very fair..." she disagreed, sighing dramatically. "I guess I'll just have to take care of myself in the shower. Alex just installed the removable showerhead..." She sat up on the bed and hopped off. Just as she was about to open the door, Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back towards him.

"I think you'd prefer me to a showerhead," he grinned cockily as he kept his arms around her.

Meredith could only giggle in his arms, knowing he was right. "Yeah?" she asked, pushing him back onto the bed; her breasts crushed into his chest. "Want to test that theory?"

"I'd love to," Derek practically growled. Within seconds, he was naked too, and had her pinned beneath him.

"Should I let you?" she asked teasingly, reaching over to the nightstand for a condom while Derek hastily removed his clothes. She played with it in between her fingers and looked up at him with a smirk.

Derek ran his hands over her thighs and felt her body react to him, arching slightly into his touch. "I think you should."

"Okay," she whispered, rolling the condom onto him expertly as she always did. Meredith pulled him down to her and kissed him. "Love you." A soft moan escaped her throat when he eased inside of her.

Derek began sucking on the soft skin of her neck and she mewed again in pleasure. "Better than a showerhead?" he asked smugly as he began to thrust slowly.

She grabbed his ass and pushed him deeper inside of her. Derek gasped in surprise and Meredith laughed. "I'll let you know."

"Evil," he smirked, hungrily kissing her again while he kept up the rhythm.

Meredith threw her head back in pleasure as he picked up the pace and gripped at the sheets. "I know," she panted.

"I still love you," he whispered, bracing his arms under her shoulders to keep control.

She gladly let him take the lead and kissed him again. "I know."

Kind of fillerish, I know. But they're back in Seattle and starting to get themselves moved out. And a little porny MerDer is always fun. ;)

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