60. Christmas

Disclaimer: If I owned it, George would be alive. Last night, I went through half a box of tissues from crying.

Thanks for all of your feedback. As long as people are interested, I'll continue with this fic.

Christmas morning brought with it bright sunshine that shone in through the windows of the house. Despite the cold air outside, inside their home was cozy, warm and comforting. As Derek made Meredith's morning coffee, he smiled, for he knew that his wife probably hadn't had a truly happy Christmas since she was a child. But he knew that all of that was going to change now that they were married. Every holiday would be a good one, full of memories. And it thrilled him that they would be making those memories together.

"Merry Christmas," Derek whispered, walking into their bedroom in his boxers and tee shirt, Meredith's morning coffee in his hand.

Meredith sleepily rolled onto her back and smiled. "Hey," she yawned, but still making no attempt to sit up. She eyed him curiously and smirked. "Reindeer boxers?"

"It's Christmas," he said simply before crawling back into bed with her, setting her coffee down on her nightstand. When Meredith continued to stare at him, waiting for further explanation of his boxers, he laughed. "My nieces got them for me."

"You look cute," she giggled, rolling into his arms. She nuzzled her face into his chest and he wrapped himself around her, running his fingers up and down her back. "Merry Christmas, Der," Meredith said softly.

"Hmm...I love you," he breathed, taking in the soft scent of her hair. "I love you so much."

Meredith pressed her palm against his cheek and kissed him. "I love you too."

"We have presents under the tree..." Derek reminded her in an attempt to get her out of bed. Of course, doing so on a valued day off was easier said than done.

"Will they be there in an hour?" she asked.

Derek raised his eyebrows in question. "Yeah, why?"

She smirked. "Because," Meredith said coyly, wrapping her legs around his waist. "It's a holiday. Do I need to remind you what our holiday tradition is?"

He swiftly rolled Meredith on top of him and snaked his fingers up the back of her long sleeved shirt. "No, I think I remember," Derek chuckled.

"Good," she whispered, running her fingers over the front of his reindeer boxers. "Because apparently Christmas makes me horny."

"That...sounds wrong," Derek laughed before pulling her shirt over her head.

"Blame the boxers," Meredith giggled, gasping when Derek's fingers worked their way into her panties.

Not even out of bed yet, and Meredith already knew, Christmas was going to be fun.

--

They'd made an agreement not to buy each other too much for the holiday. They had everything they needed, so they decided to just splurge a little on various odds and ends the other would enjoy. It was easy because they knew each other like the backs of their hands: he knew what she would like, she knew what he would like. And of course, Charlie was included too.

"This is for you," Derek grinned, pulling a pink bag from the growing pile of wrapping paper.

When Meredith saw that the bag came from Victoria's Secret, she smirked. "Derek..."

"What?" he chuckled.

She leaned over and kissed him quickly. "Porny," she giggled.

"I haven't bought you any lingerie since your birthday five months ago. I figured you could use some," he said playfully, waiting for her to open the shiny pink bag.

"Hmm..." Meredith smiled coyly, slowly removing the pink tissue paper before pulling out a lacy, red nightie. "Derek!"

He laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist as the two sat in their pajamas on the carpeted living room floor. "What? You're gonna look hot in this..."

"For your eyes only," she giggled again. "My boobs are going to be spilling over the top," she pointed out as she examined the nightie.

"One of the reasons I chose that one," Derek explained, a naughty glint shining through in his eyes. "There's more in there, you know."

Meredith leaned into her husband as she searched for more articles in the bag. Surely, whatever else he'd purchased would be just as scantily clad, not that she minded. She always had fun in it, and Derek always had just as much fun taking it off of her. She pulled out the last of the tissue paper and found three sets of matching bras and panties, a black, a pink, and a navy.

"You really went to Victoria's Secret and picked out all of this for me?" Meredith asked gratefully. As far as husbands went, she knew she had gotten lucky. Derek didn't mind buying her tampons and was more than willing to take a day off to take care of her when she was sick, and even bought lingerie for her. She really loved him. "And you got my bra size right," she said proudly.

Derek kissed her temple. "We're married; I do your laundry. Of course I know it," he chuckled. "Do you like what I picked out? If not, you can exchange--"

"I love it," Meredith whispered, pressing her lips over his. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After they broke the kiss, she pointed to a large box covered in gingerbread man wrapping paper. "That's for you. Well, for both of us, but more for you," Meredith rambled as Derek slid the the package in front of them.

"Okay..." he said curiously. Derek peeled off the gift wrap then opened the box. Inside, there was a plethora of fishing equipment, ranging from hooks to vests. He grinned widely, looking over to Meredith. "You really bought me new fishing stuff?"

"Well, I know you've been meaning to buy it, but still haven't, so I decided I would. There's stuff for both of us in there," she said as she awaited his reaction. Derek had been trying to get her to go fishing with him practically since they met, but Meredith always declined. There was something about dead fish that made her squeamish, despite the blood and organs she dealt with on a daily basis at work.

"In other words, you'll actually go fishing with me?" he asked, his smile reaching his eyes.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah. I figured it could be fun. We could go fishing out on the dock, maybe have a picnic--and by picnic, I mean sex, too--then we could have a cookout or something. As long as I don't have to touch slimy, dead things, I'll be fine," she giggled.

Derek wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. It was Meredith's little tokens of affection that made him grateful every day that he got to spend the rest of his life with her. "Thank you."

"So you like it?"

"I love it. And it will be fun," he laughed. "We can go when it gets warm outside."

"Okay," she whispered, cupping his cheeks to kiss him again.

He smiled against her lips. "Thank you for all of my gifts. You did good, Mer," he chuckled, running his fingers through her hair.

"Hmm, so did you," Meredith giggled. "But...there's one more."

"What?"

Meredith used his shoulder for support then hopped up to her feet. She walked over to the mantle, grabbing an envelope resting atop it. When she sat back down next to him, she handed it to Derek and smiled. "Here."

"What's this?" he asked suspiciously, flipping the white envelope over in his hands.

"You have to open it," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.

Derek tore open the top of the envelope with his thumb, careful not to rip whatever was inside. He could see Meredith's smile growing wider from the corner of his eye when he pulled out the contents. Two airline tickets to Bermuda. Derek turned his head to Meredith, stunned in surprise. "We're going to Bermuda?"

"Mmhmm," Meredith grinned; her heart fluttered at the sight of him, so obviously taken aback and happy. "It's in August. That's the closest I could book it. At first, I was thinking of taking it over our anniversary in July, but I know that we're, um, going to start trying that night...for a baby, and I thought we might want to be here for that because that's...I just think it would be more special to be in our own bed," she rambled, blushing when she noticed Derek smiling amusedly at her. "And I already cleared it with the Chief, so don't worry about any of that. I'm going to be working my ass off to build up vacation time, but...yeah, we're going to Bermuda," she finished.

"You're the coolest wife ever, you know that?" Derek laughed, pulling her onto his lap to hug her again. He could never get enough of her, no matter how close to him she was.

"So you really want to go?" she asked quietly, worrying her fingers in his hair.

Derek answered her by kissing her, soft and slow. They'd talked about going away, but hadn't gotten the time to sit down and plan a vacation for themselves. For Meredith to pull something like this together while simultaneously being a surgeon and keeping her plans from him couldn't have been an easy feat. Sometimes he wondered what he'd done right to deserve to have such a person in his life.

"I can't wait to go," he answered before kissing her again. "Thank you," Derek whispered genuinely.

"I wanted to do something nice for you. You're just...such a good person. And husband. And I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate that," Meredith said softly, resting her forehead against his. "I love you so much."

"I love you," he echoed. "I fall more in love with you everyday."

Meredith smiled. "I can wear my new lingerie there..." she said coyly. "And you can take it off me before you ravish me."

"Now I'm really glad I bought it," Derek laughed.

"I would say that I would try it on for you now, but I'm hungry," she teased, laughing as she got up off his lap. "Breakfast?"

"Are you gonna help me cook?"

Meredith helped him off the floor and bit her lip adorably. "I always help you cook. I made toast last time."

"Ah, right. I forgot. You're becoming quite the chef," he mocked playfully, kissing her temple as they walked into the kitchen, Charlie following close behind with his new hot dog toy in his mouth.

Meredith giggled. "Damn right."

--

The fireplace flickered with low flame, sending warmth throughout the living room. The sun had gone down, a reminder of the later time of day. They'd eaten breakfast, which was followed up with some bendy sex in the shower. After lunch, they decided to use the gingerbread cookie mix Izzie had given them as part of her 'newlywed Christmas package' as she called it, which kept them occupied for nearly two hours. Of course, by the end, they were covered in frosting, making for interesting clean-up, which ultimately led to more sex on the kitchen counter. While the house was still kid-free, they decided to make the most out of it, because they knew it wouldn't always be that way.

Now it was dinner time, which they enjoyed in front of the fireplace, curled up next to one another with a bottle of wine and the Italian meal they'd made. It was a very low-key Christmas, which had been exactly what they both wanted. No singing Christmas carols, no decking halls, just the two of them and Charlie, having a quiet day at home.

"So..." Meredith said as she twirled spaghetti on her fork. "Charlie Brown? Kind of a loser, huh?" she asked rhetorically.

Derek laughed amusedly. Watching holiday movies with Meredith always made for an interesting event. When they'd watched The Grinch a few days before, she rolled her eyes at the people of Whoville, claiming they were idiots for warmly welcoming the Grinch after he'd stolen everything. Now they were watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, and so far, her commentary was giving Derek a new outlook on the movie he'd seen countless times since he was a child.

"What do you mean?"

"All he does is bitch and moan about everything. He's what? Ten? Lighten up..." Meredith shrugged with a mouth full of pasta.

"Yeah, I guess," Derek chuckled before taking a sip of wine. "It's more about learning to appreciate the real meaning behind Christmas, not the material things," he explained. "I don't think you're supposed to read too much into it."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, he's a loser," she giggled.

"Fine," he grinned, leaning in to kiss her. "He is."

"Hmm...thank you."

When they broke the kiss, Derek raised his head and kissed her temple. "I'm glad it's just us today--no offense to our friends, it's just...nice to spend time alone with you," he said softly.

"It is," Meredith smiled. "If everyone was here, we wouldn't have been able to have sex on the counter this afternoon."

"When we have kids, we won't be able to do that," he pointed out.

"It's okay; they'll have enough to play with to keep themselves occupied for a little while. We can sneak into the laundry room or something," Meredith smirked, taking a bite of garlic bread. "You can do me on top of the dryer."

Derek grinned at her. "Well, that's romantic."

"It will be," Meredith teasingly assured him before sighing. "It sucks that we have to work on New Years this year. That's not going to be romantic..."

"I'll make sure you're on my service that day," he nodded. "We'll make it as fun as we can."

Meredith smiled after sipping her wine. "Thank you."

"I worked on New Years last year and it wasn't too bad. Most people save the holiday trauma for today. The occasional firework mishap, but nothing too extreme," Derek shrugged.

"You worked on New Years?"

Derek took a bite of chicken and nodded. "Yeah. Nothing better to do..." he said regretfully. Last New Years, they were barely even speaking. Never did he expect to be married on this one. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that.

"I went to Joe's, rang in the New Year with Alex and a table full of beers," Meredith said, wiping some sauce off her fingers with a napkin. "Didn't think I'd have a husband this year," she said, her tone lightening as she smiled at him.

"I'm glad you do." He gently squeezed her hand, then kissed the top of it.

"Me too."

Derek noticed that both of their plates were nearly empty, so he smiled at her. "Cookies?"

"You mean the ones we made?" she asked coyly. "That resulted in you licking frosting off of my boobs."

"I still don't know how that got there," he chuckled. "But either way, I'm glad it did."

"I'd love one," Meredith giggled.

Derek hopped up off the floor, taking their empty dinner plates with him. "Okay, I'll be right back."

Meredith readjusted the blanket over her lap, glancing over at Charlie, who lay contentedly next to her on the floor. She knew their dog enjoyed having them home for the holiday. He was always cuddled up next to them, and both Derek and Meredith appreciated the time they got to spend with him at home before they returned to work. It was nice, having a few days to themselves. Work had been exhausting since the end of October, thanks to the kick-off to the holiday season, and they were lucky to get one day a week off. Spending time lounging around on the couch, catching up on sex, and eating home cooked meals was a nice payoff to the insanity of the holiday rush at the hospital.

She scratched the top of Charlie's head and smiled. Life was good, and she wouldn't trade her own for anything. "Got them," Derek announced as he walked back into the room, a plate full of decorated gingerbread men cookies.

"Izzie would be ashamed," Meredith joked when she saw him. "I mean, I'm sure they taste good, but our frosting art needs some work."

Derek took his place next to her on the floor, setting the plate between them. "They're not so bad. Your gingerbread surgeon actually looks good," he complimented.

"You're mocking me," she accused, licking a little bit of frosting off her finger to see how it tasted.

"I am not," Derek countered. He picked a cookie of his own off the dish and bit into it. "The blue scrubs and surgical cap...impressive. You know you can actually modge podge that and save it?"

"Modge podge? You mean like the arts and crafts stuff?" she asked. "How do you know that?"

Derek laughed. "I have four very crafty sisters. Half of the stuff on my mom's Christmas tree is stuff they made when they were little. I'm telling you, you can modge podge anything," he responded, setting her surgeon cookie aside. "It could be our very first Christmas ornament as a married couple."

"Seriously?" she asked. Leave it to Derek to not only compliment her kindergarten level art project, but also want to preserve it for a lifetime.

"Yes," he nodded. "I love it."

"Corny," Meredith giggled.

He leaned in and kissed her. "Family traditions, remember? You think I'm corny now, just wait until we have kids..." he grinned.

"Well, with kids it's okay," she said playfully. "And fine. We can save it, if you really want to."

"I really do," he echoed.

Meredith wrapped the blanket more fully around them and snuggled into Derek's side. "This was a really nice Christmas," she said, pressing her lips to his neck.

"It's the first Christmas in...a long time," he sighed, "...that I've loved every minute of."

"Hmm...me too," Meredith whispered. "Christmas stopped being fun when I was five."

Derek hugged his wife closer to him; he knew holidays were admittedly less than pleasant in the Grey home, and though those memories were in the past, it still filled Derek with pangs of sadness for Meredith. Holidays were supposed to be magical and exciting and fun as long as they could be, before adulthood set in and all of that magic is suddenly taken for granted.

"When we have our own kids running around on Christmas day, it'll make up for all of the crappy Christmases; I promise," Derek said reassuringly, kissing the top of her head.

Meredith ran her palm over his cheek, feeling the familiar stubble on her fingertips. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," he replied just as quietly, twirling a wavy lock of her hair in between his fingers. "Merry Christmas, Meredith."

She took a moment to appreciate just how much she loved the man next to her, then smiled. "Merry Christmas, Derek."

Sappy, I know. But MerDer deserve a nice Christmas, right? Reviews mean so much to me. :)