61. Here's to the Future

Disclaimer: I wish, but no. It's not mine.

FYI, this fic is still set in 2008. Not sure if it matters, but this is the New Year's chapter, so I thought it was kind of important to mention. Enjoy! :)

Meredith always thought it was strange that people made such a big deal out of New Year's. It happened once a year, every year. So why it was so special, she'd never understood. When she was younger, it was just an excuse to get drunk, wear a party hat, blow a kazoo at midnight, then get laid. But now that she was settled down, married, and actually enjoyed quiet nights at home, she began to understand the fuss. New Year's was a holiday. A holiday that most people got to spend outside of work, where partying then getting laid was possible. Sure, she and Derek could sneak off and get laid, but partying wasn't really an option. Not when she was stuck at the nurses' station charting, secretly hoping that her pager would go off and it would be Derek, asking her to scrub in on something. Anything.

She set her pen down on the desk and sighed. Only eight thirty in the evening, and she still had a fun night on-call ahead of her. Getting stuck at the hospital tonight was simply luck of the draw, Meredith knew, but it still sucked. Just as she was about to continue writing down her post-op notes, Derek walked up behind her and kissed her cheek. "Hey you," he grinned.

Meredith smiled when she felt his lips on her skin. "Hmm...hey," she said softly, spinning around in her chair to face him. "I haven't seen you much today."

"I looked for you earlier to scrub in with me on a nerve repair, but I saw on the board that you got pulled into a splenectomy," Derek said.

"Yeah, Bailey let me do the whole thing practically by myself. I think she wanted to get home before Tuck fell asleep," Meredith explained. She leaned back in her swivel chair and sighed. "This sucks."

"I know," Derek agreed, running his fingers through her hair. "But I have a surprise..."

Meredith eyed her husband curiously. "Huh?"

"The hospital isn't too busy tonight. We'll be able to sneak away for a few hours later on. So..." he said, trying to downplay his excitement. "I planned something for us."

"Does this involve you sexing me in the linen closet? If it does, there's no need to wait. I'm bored," she giggled, sticking her pen back into her pocket.

Derek sat on the ledge of the nurses' station desk and smirked. "That's not the surprise, but we can still have sex in the linen closet."

"Right now?" Meredith asked. She should have been more focused on getting the surprise out of Derek, but the prospect of sneaky closet sex made thinking about anything else difficult. Closet sex with Derek was always a nice way to pass time at work.

"Lead the way," Derek chuckled. He took her hand and they nonchalantly walked toward an empty hallway with a linen closet. Luckily no one was around, so they could not-so-secretly enter and close the door, locking it from the inside.

Meredith wiggled out of her white coat and tossed it onto a shelf next to some neatly folded bed sheets. "You have a condom, right?" she asked.

Derek nodded, removing his own clothing. "Yeah. In my wallet."

"Okay," Meredith said. She pulled off her scrub top and purple shirt she was wearing underneath, then shimmied out of her pants. "I guess there's a few perks to working here when almost everyone else has the night off," she smiled coyly as she unhooked her bra.

"Guess so," Derek grinned. He grabbed a glow-in-the-dark condom from his wallet, one he'd put in there just for tonight, and put it on while Meredith stepped out of her panties.

"Hmm...glow-in-the dark," she laughed.

"It's a holiday. We're allowed to be kinky today," he replied, quirking his eyebrows at her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him after he picked her up. "I love you," Meredith whispered.

Derek smiled at his wife. "I love you too."

If they had to spend New Year's Eve at work, this was the way to spend it.

--

After their pre-midnight celebrating in the closet, they managed to exit as unnoticed as when they entered. "Now what?" Meredith giggled.

Derek glanced at his watch. "It's only nine thirty. No pages still, which is a good sign."

"So this surprise? What is it exactly?" Meredith asked sweetly, biting her lower lip.

"Cute," Derek smirked. "Still not telling you."

"I just gave you sex. Not telling me is just mean," she said jokingly. No matter how much she ogled him, she knew he wouldn't fess up. But it was still fun to try.

"You know, they're called surprises for a reason," Derek reminded her just as her pager went off.

Meredith unclipped it from her scrub pants. "Solo appy?" she read aloud before gasping. "Was this...is this?"

"Not my surprise," he chuckled. "Go kick ass in the OR. I have some things to do anyway."

"But why would they give me an appy?" she asked, still confused.

"Because," Derek responded, wrapping his arms loosely around her and kissing her. "You're brilliant. And capable. And you know it," he smiled. "Go. I'll meet you in the scrub room afterward."

"Okay," Meredith said excitedly. Derek squeezed her hand supportively and kissed her once more. When she ran off down the hall toward the OR, Derek couldn't help but grin proudly. If anyone deserved a solo surgery, it was Meredith. And seeing her happy was worth more than anything to him. Even sneaky closet sex.

While Derek waited for Meredith to finish up with her surgery, he found a quiet hallway and dropped down onto an empty gurney. Meredith's surprise was all ready to go, and with the extra time he had, he decided to call his mother. He'd spoken to her on Christmas, but a New Year's call was a requirement too. He dialed his old phone number and waited for her to pick up. As soon as she answered, Derek could tell she was smiling.

"Derek! I've been waiting for your call. How are you doing, sweetheart?" Linda asked, her voice raised a little higher to be heard over the noise of the grandkids playing in the background.

Derek smiled. "I'm good, just wanted to call while I had some time. Mer and I got stuck at the hospital tonight, so I'm just waiting for her to get out of surgery," he explained as he glanced at his watch. 10:28. Meredith's surgery would probably be over in the next fifteen minutes.

"Oh I'm sorry," Linda frowned. "You couldn't get the night off?"

"I'd rather be home," Derek admitted. "But it was either work tonight or work next weekend. Lesser of two evils, I guess. It's okay though; the hospital isn't too busy, so I've been spending time with Meredith."

"Well, that's good. I hope you're making it a nice day for her. The first New Year's as a couple should be a romantic one," Mrs. Shepherd said wisely.

Derek was thankful that his mother couldn't see the smirk on his face as he thought back to an hour ago in the linen closet. But instead of sharing that information, he simply said, "Yeah. We had lunch together and I'm hoping we can find a few minutes at midnight," he grinned. "Oh, by the way, happy 2009," Derek chuckled as the realization of the time difference crossed his mind. After one AM in New York.

"And you too--at midnight of course," his mother laughed.

"Did you do anything fun this year?"

"Liz, Amy and Kathleen came over with the boys and the kids. Nancy wasn't able to fly down because of all the snow Connecticut got over the weekend. We still had fun though. The kids all banged pots and pans and Kyle woke up screaming. Poor baby. It took Amy an hour to calm him down," Linda chuckled amusedly. "I miss having you here, sweetheart."

"I know; I miss you guys too," Derek smiled sadly as he hopped off the gurney and headed for OR 2 where Meredith was probably finishing up with the appendectomy. "We'll try to fly out, maybe next year."

"You know I would love a visit any time. You're always welcome here," Linda offered. "Okay, well, I don't want to keep you. Tell Meredith and Mark I said hello, and that I love them," his mother said sweetly. "And enjoy the New Year."

Derek smiled. "Thanks mom. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart," she replied.

After they said their goodbyes, Derek flipped his phone shut and dropped it into his pocket. He reached the scrub room just as Meredith's patient was being wheeled out of the OR after surgery to post-op. Successful, just as he knew it would be. He pushed the door open and smiled at her. "Hey."

Meredith turned on the sink. "Hey," she breathed. "I did it. All by myself."

"See? Brilliant," Derek grinned, leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets to keep things sterile. "And while you were off kicking solo ass, I managed to get everything ready for you, and I called my mom."

"Oh good; I was going to ask if you called her," Meredith said, drying her hands with a paper towel.

"She said to say hi, and that she loves you," Derek relayed. He kissed her cheek after the exited the scrub room. "And she asked me if I was making New Year's special for you," he smirked. Meredith's eyes went wide and she gasped. "I didn't tell her about the sex in the closet. I'm not that close with my mom..." he chuckled.

Meredith sighed, shaking her head. "Ass..."

"You won't be saying that when you see what I have planned for you," Derek said smugly. He laced his fingers through hers and they walked toward the elevator.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The elevator."

Meredith nudged him with her hip. "Again. Ass."

"Just come on," Derek chuckled.

They stepped into the elevator and Derek pressed the up button, taking them to the fifth floor. Meredith bit her lip curiously the whole time, wondering what the hell her husband had planned for her. When the doors opened, he led her down the hallway. She was almost waiting for the fireworks or string quartet or whatever it was Derek was up to, to pop out at her. But when they reached his office door, Meredith cocked her head and wondered aloud. "Huh?"

He just smiled, opened the door and led her inside. As he shut the door behind him and locked it, Derek turned on a small light on his desk. "You and I are going to celebrate..."

"What?"

"Turn around," he chuckled.

When she did, she gasped. "Der..."

Meredith was met with champagne flutes filled with sparkling apple cider, because drinking alcohol on the job wasn't exactly allowed, take-out containers, a TV, and a pull-out couch, complete with a blanket and pillows, as if they were spending a night at home.

"How did you...?" she asked speechlessly. "Where'd the couch come from?"

"Part of your Christmas gift," Derek smiled. They both walked over to the new pull-out couch and dropped down onto the mattress. Meredith ran her fingers over the soft sheets, in awe of what her husband had done for her. "I couldn't get it delivered on time; it just came this morning."

"You bought a fancy new couch for New Year's?" she giggled.

Derek kicked his shoes off and Meredith followed suit. They scooted toward the back of the couch wearing just socks and scrubs. Even though they were in Derek's work office, lounging around on a couch-bed was surprisingly cozy and comfortable. "No--well, tonight too. But I figured it would be nice," he shrugged. "Now whenever we're on call, we can sleep in here. I know you said before that sleeping on those on call beds made your back sore, so I sprung for the pillow top mattress. It's the best mattress out there, just like our bed at home."

Meredith took his hand and held it in her own, grateful to have someone that would do that just for her. "You did?"

"Yeah," he said as he pulled a brass key from his pocket. "This is for you. It's a key to my office. So if you're ever on call and I'm not, you can come up here; hang out, sleep...just somewhere you can escape to. I wanted to do something nice for you, that's all."

"Derek," Meredith said sweetly. "Thank you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around her husband.

Derek kissed her cheek. "I love you, Mer. So much."

"I love you too," she replied, holding on tightly to him. When they eventually pulled back, Meredith slipped the key into her pocket for safe keeping, making a mental note to attach it to her set of keys.

"You hungry?" Derek asked as he flipped on the TV he'd snagged from the trailer. No New Year's was complete without countdown coverage. And because the TV at the trailer was just going to waste, he decided to keep it here for the sole purpose of watching it on nights like this; for one or both of them to enjoy if they felt like it.

"Yeah," Meredith nodded, running a hand over her stomach. She hadn't eaten since lunch with Derek this afternoon, and the hunger pangs were starting to get to her. "What'd you get?"

"Italian. Chicken parm and spaghetti. I know it's your favorite," Derek said with a knowing smile, producing a tray and setting it down on top of the bed. He placed two takeout containers on top of it, one for each of them.

Meredith moaned as she breathed in the delicious food in front of her. "It smells so good," she said. "And it's still warm. How'd you manage that?"

"I had it delivered a little after you got called into surgery. And right before I called my mom, I heated it back up," he explained simply, handing her a glass of the sparkling apple cider.

"You really did all of this for us?" she asked, still awestruck by his gesture.

"I love you. I'd do anything to see you happy," Derek shrugged. He kissed her cheek; his stubble tickled her skin and she giggled.

She propped some pillows around her like a fort, then pulled the blanket over both of their laps before he slid the tray closer to them. "Well, I appreciate it," she smiled gratefully.

"Not too cheesy?" he asked as a joke.

"No," Meredith retorted. "It's perfect." She twirled some spaghetti around her fork and put the heaping portion into her mouth. "This is delicious," she said with her mouth full.

"I'm glad you like it," Derek chuckled as he bit into a piece of his own chicken parm. Normally, he didn't eat such heavy meals, but he figured it was acceptable on New Year's. Or the whole holiday season for that matter. "Oh, breadsticks," he recalled, reaching for them in the paper bag he'd set on the floor next to them.

"You're so getting sex tonight," Meredith giggled, taking a sip of her cider.

Derek grinned smugly at her and handed her a breadstick. "I already got sex tonight."

"More sex then," she corrected.

"There's a cheesecake in the mini-fridge over there," Derek added. Cheesecake was her favorite, and New Year's wouldn't be complete without it. And it was also likely to score him more sex.

Meredith eyed her husband curiously as she contemplatively chewed on her chicken parm. "You really want to get in my pants, huh?" she teased.

"I always want that," he said, laughing. "We can save sex for later. Right now, I just want you to relax. No better way to do that than food and TV."

"What are we watching?" Meredith asked, shimmying closer to Derek. The stresses of work were slowly melting away as she unwound. If they weren't wearing their scrubs and still within the four walls of the hospital, it would have been as good as a night at home.

"New Year's Rockin' Eve—not live, obviously 'cause we're in Seattle. But still entertaining." Derek looked at the countdown clock on the TV: fifty-one minutes to go until 2009.

"Is this that cheesy thing that Ryan Seacrest does?" she questioned, giggling. "Izzie and George watched this last year while Alex and I were at Joe's drinking the night away."

"Sounds like fun," Derek mused before taking a sip of his drink. "I used to watch this when I was little, back when Dick Clark hosted it. We even went once. Did the whole Times Square thing and froze our asses off," he chuckled.

Meredith licked some spaghetti sauce off her finger and glanced over at him. "How old were you?"

"Fifteen, I think. My mom and Mark's parents drove us all there. It was fun…we got to eat way too much junk food and some drunk guy spilled beer on Nancy's coat. Good times," he recalled humorously.

"I lost my virginity on New Year's Eve," Meredith disclosed, a smile coming over her face when she noticed the stunned look on Derek's. "What? I told you the story before...frat party my sophomore year of college, Greg, drunk sex in my dorm..."

"I didn't know it was New Year's Eve," Derek rebutted.

Meredith shrugged half-heartedly. "It sucked anyway. Drunk sex was only ever good with you," she complimented, resting her head on his shoulder.

"And same for me," he chuckled. Derek kissed the crown of her head, breathing in her soft scent. There was something so comforting about just being near her that made him never want to leave her side.

She set her fork down and ran her fingers through his hair. When she kissed him then, she could taste the marinara and cider on his mouth. "Hmm...you taste good," she giggled.

"So do you," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

"It's almost midnight," Meredith pointed out as she worried her fingers at the curls on the back of his neck. "Thirty three minutes..."

Derek smiled at her. "We need to make resolutions then."

Meredith bit into a breadstick, looking at him inquiringly. "Seriously?"

"We could..." he said. "Next year is going to be a good one."

"Okay," Meredith agreed, deciding to placate him and go along with resolution-making. She'd never been one to make them, but figured it would be a good time to start. "Um...okay, well next month, I'm going to start on neuro. So I want to spend more time watching how you do things...the way you operate, how to use good judgment, stuff like that," she vowed.

Derek grinned proudly at his wife. "And I promise to teach you everything I know. And let you do as much as you can."

"Okay," she said softly, gently squeezing his hand.

"What else?" he asked. He kissed her temple then hopped up off the bed to retrieve the cheesecake. They were still finishing up with dinner, but knew that Meredith would gladly accept a piece of cheesecake any time. When she saw it, she dropped back against the pillows and giggled.

"I'm going to gain ten pounds by the time midnight rolls around," she smirked, fork in hand.

"That's okay. We'll burn it off with all the sex we're having tonight," he said with a grin as he cut her a slice.

Meredith accepted her plate and gave into the calories. "Hmm...true.

"Oh! Another one..." Derek began, slicing his own piece of cake. "Baby."

"Baby," Meredith whispered, unable to hide her smile. The idea of making a baby with Derek was never far from her mind; it thrilled her more than any surgery ever could. "How do we make resolutions for that?"

"Well, we could...relax more. The less stressed we are, the easier it'll be," he suggested, much to Meredith's amusement. Relaxing wasn't exactly an easy feat to accomplish given their work schedule.

Still though, she nodded. "Okay, we could try to do that. And we could have lots of practice, even though we're already good at practicing."

Derek chuckled. "We are. More couldn't hurt though..."

"Relaxing, sex, and surgery? That's what we're gonna do more of?" she giggled. "Aren't resolutions supposed to be a challenge?"

"We've had enough hard stuff. It's time to focus on the good stuff," he said with a smile, tilting her chin towards him and kissing her again.

The news coverage interrupted their conversation when the ten minute mark was announced. Meredith sighed contentedly, thankful to be spending the turn of the new year with her husband. She frowned a little when she thought of their dog. "Charlie would have enjoyed this."

"I'm sure Izzie and Alex are treating him well," Derek assured her, glad that they offered to take the dog for the night. All of the firework noise would have scared him, so it was nice to know he had company, even if both Meredith and Derek wished they could have been spending time with their dog tonight.

"Next year, we'll plan our days off way in advance, so we can be home," Derek said, wrapping his arm around her.

Meredith turned to him and smiled a little. "I could be pregnant this time next year," she said in astonishment, as though it were the first time she ever really thought about it.

"Hmm..." Derek grinned. "Yeah."

"Kinda freaks me out a little," she confessed, raising a forkful of cheesecake to her lips. When Derek looked to her, concerned, Meredith quickly shook her head. "Not like that," she assured him. "I'm just...excited. I never thought I'd have babies--or want babies. But with you, I can't imagine not having them."

Derek smiled before kissing her, soft and gentle. "Me either."

"We have a lot to look forward to," Meredith whispered. Her M.O. used to be taking things one day at a time; that was all she could handle. Now though, she welcomed whatever the future had in store for them with open arms. With Derek by her side, she was fearless.

"A lot's changed in twelve months," Derek agreed as he poured more cider into their glasses. "All for the better."

"We built our dream house, got married, got a dog, and now we have baby plans. I'd say so," she giggled.

Cheers and claps from the television escalated as the ten second mark was announced. Meredith looked to him and smiled. "Here's to the future, Derek," she said softly, raising her glass and clinking it against his. When the ball dropped and the new year was officially upon them, fireworks went off not too far away, and the splashes of color shone in through the windows of Derek's office. It was bright and beautiful, exactly how Derek hoped it would be for them.

He leaned in and wrapped his arms around his wife. Right before he pulled her in for their first kiss of 2009, Derek grinned happily. Life had blessed them ten times over, and not a second went by when he didn't appreciate that. "Here's to the future," he echoed.