84. Christmastime is Here

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Meredith smiled sleepily as her eyes got used to the sunlight pouring in through the closed curtains of their bedroom. It was nice, waking up to sunshine rather than a blaring alarm clock at six in the morning. She rolled onto her other side, and upon seeing Derek's reindeer boxers, a gift from their nieces, was quickly reminded of today. Christmas.

She slowly sat up and scooted toward the edge of the bed, one hand on her belly as she got up and walked into the bathroom. The bigger the baby grew inside her, the more she had to pee. But she didn't mind. Peeing a hundred times a day was a small price to pay for the daughter they'd have in a few months.

By the time she walked back into their bedroom, Derek was just waking up, rubbing his hands over his eyes. When he saw her, he smiled. "Merry Christmas."

Meredith crawled back into bed next to him and kissed his cheek. "Merry Christmas."

"How long have you been up?"

"Just a few minutes. I had to pee. Again," she giggled.

Derek leaned over and kissed her before pulling up her shirt. "Baby is growing," he said proudly. He pressed a few kisses to her belly and she felt the tickle of his stubble against her skin.

"Merry Christmas, baby girl," Derek whispered to their daughter in her belly.

Meredith placed a hand over her bump and patted it gently. "Merry Christmas, sweetie," she smiled.

"It'll be a lot more fun for you next year, I promise," Derek chuckled. "We'll have a living room full of toys for you to play with."

"Hmm…she'll be six months old," Meredith said softly, trailing her fingers along her belly. "Can you believe we'll have a baby here next Christmas?" she asked with a giggle.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Derek agreed. "I can't wait."

Meredith sighed happily. "Me either."

He glanced over at the clock on his nightstand. "It's almost ten. What time does Izzie want us over for lunch?"

"One," she replied. "Which means we can be back here by three or four, and have the rest of the day to ourselves."

"Who convinced her to do lunch instead of dinner?" Derek asked as Charlie got up, stretched, walked toward them on the bed.

Meredith patted her thighs and their dog immediately curled into her lap. "Well, Cristina opted to work tonight—you know how much she loves holiday injuries. And I think Arizona is working overnight tonight, too, so Izzie decided it would be better if we could all just do something small in the afternoon," she explained, laughing when Charlie rested his face on her belly.

"I'm glad we're not working today," Derek sighed in relief. "And now that we have a baby coming, I'm never working a holiday ever again."

"Me either," Meredith said. "My mom loved working on holidays when I was a kid, so I was usually dumped with a relative or a neighbor for the day. Or I'd celebrate with the nurses that watched me at the hospital. There's no way in hell I'd ever do that to her," she said definitively, looking down at her belly.

Derek smiled sadly and kissed her temple. He knew how crappy her holidays were as a kid, but the fact that Meredith vowed to make their own daughter's childhood the complete opposite of her own filled him so much love and pride for her. "That's never gonna happen," he promised. "We're going to be here. For everything."

"All of it," Meredith concurred, scratching under Charlie's chin.

"I think Charlie's gonna love her," Derek said with a smile. "Won't you, Charlie?"

Meredith laughed. "I think he'll be jealous. Right now, he's the baby."

"When your yet-to-be-named sister gets here, she'll be the baby, buddy. You're gonna have to look out for her," he grinned.

"He will. You two will be good pals," she said, kissing the top of Charlie's head.

"Hmm…partners in crime," Derek mused.

She nodded in agreement. "Probably, yeah," Meredith said humorously. She took Derek's hand and laced her fingers through his. "Oh, we're still calling your mom tonight to tell her it's a girl, right?"

"Yeah," Derek said, his heart beating a little faster at the thought. "I'm surprised we were able to hold out this long. It's only been two weeks, but still…"

"We're very impressive," she joked. "Mark's not going to accidentally spill the beans, is he?" Meredith asked.

"Nah, I swore him to secrecy before he and Bridget left for New York," Derek chuckled. "Besides, this is the first time Bridget is meeting the family. He's gonna be on top of his game."

Meredith smiled sympathetically. "Poor girl. Your sisters are going to put her through the ringer," she said. "They'll love her though."

"Yeah, she's good for Mark," Derek nodded. "I'm happy for them."

"Me too," Meredith concurred before giggling a little. "I'm kinda going to miss him at Christmas lunch—brunch—or whatever this year. He's always good entertainment."

"The one thing he's good for," Derek said in jest. He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, a little."

Derek pressed his hand over her belly and he grinned. "Hey, sweet potato? I'll go make you and Mommy some breakfast, okay?" he chuckled.

"Sweet potato?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's how big she is now, remember?" Derek smiled.

"Way bigger than a blueberry now." Meredith smiled sweetly at her husband. Derek was just as excited about her pregnancy as she was. And he learned everything there was to know right along with her. She rested her head on his shoulder, breathing him in. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he echoed, kissing the top of her head.

She looked over at the clock on her nightstand, then patted his arm. "We should get up. I want us to have enough time to eat and open gifts before we get ready to go. Plus, our daughter has to eat," Meredith added, as Charlie hopped off her lap, seeming to sense that there would soon be breakfast for him.

"Well, she's in charge," he said playfully, as they finally shimmied out of their bed and began making it.

Meredith laughed. "Yes she is."

...

"Thank you; I love them," Meredith teased, pulling another pair of lounge pants from the gift box she'd just unwrapped.

"These are the same ones we bought over the weekend. Just wrapped," Derek reminded her, laughing.

"Yes, and you did a nice job, too," she complimented as she took another bite of her waffle drowning in syrup. Since giving up coffee, sugar had taken its place. Not in crazy intakes, but enough that when she ate breakfast foods, syrup was always included.

Derek smirked, watching as the syrup dripped from her fork onto the plate. "Hmm…I should've just gotten you a stack of IHOP gift certificates."

"Are you mocking me?" she asked, then gestured to the bump under her shirt. "Don't forget, you made me this way…it just so happens that our daughter wants me to eat syrup-covered waffles."

"Sure, blame her," Derek teased. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm glad you have your appetite back. Those first few weeks when you couldn't keep anything down really had me worried. I mean, I know it's normal morning sickness, but still. I'm relieved that's over."

"Me too," Meredith said, munching on her breakfast. "I mean, it sucked for me. But I was more worried about her—you know, that she wasn't getting nutrition because I couldn't keep down a saltine," she sighed, then patted her belly. "Every week, she's growing though."

Derek grinned proudly at her and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Hmm…she is. And so are you."

He looked at the small bump protruding from under her shirt, which hadn't been snug until recently. It was incredible, how much their daughter was growing. Every week, Meredith's belly popped a little more, and before they knew it, she'd be forty weeks along and ready to push. So they intended to savor every day of her pregnancy until she was born.

"I have one last gift for you," Meredith said, using his shoulder for leverage and standing up. "Well, for both of us, I guess. But I bought it so you can open it." She disappeared into the foyer and walked back into the living room holding a box in her hands.

Derek looked at the box curiously after Meredith set it in his lap. "It's for both of us?"

"Yeah," she replied, taking her seat next to him. "Just open it."

He pulled off the green wrapping paper and smiled. "A Doppler?" he asked.

"Yeah. So now, we can listen to her heartbeat whenever we want," she said, watching the smile on his face reach his eyes.

"Wow," Derek said softly. "Can we, uh…can we try it?"

Meredith felt her heart swell at how excited he was. His adoration for their daughter was unlike anything she'd ever witnessed. It made her love him even more. "Yeah," she said.

While Derek removed the packaging and inserted the batteries, Meredith lifted up her shirt a little and squirted some of the blue gel it came with onto her belly. "I can't believe you got one of these," Derek grinned. "How'd you come up with this?"

"One of my patients a few weeks ago mentioned how she and her husband bought one. That night, I ordered one for us," Meredith replied simply. "Go ahead."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Right below my belly button," she said, propping her feet up onto the coffee table and leaning back on the couch.

Derek spread some of the gel around, noticing how her skin prickled with goose bumps. "Sorry. Is it cold?"

"I'm used to it," Meredith replied amusedly. "And it's worth it."

A few moments passed by as Derek found the right spot on her lower belly, and when the echoing woosh-woosh filled their living room, they both gasped. "Found it," Derek murmured in fascination.

"I'll never get used to this," she giggled. A few tears rolled down her cheeks and she reached for a tissue from the box on the end table.

"Me either," Derek said, wiping away his own tears with the back of his hand. "I could listen to her heartbeat all day long."

Meredith leaned in and kissed her husband, soft and slow, as they listened to their daughter's heartbeat, taking in the awe of the beautiful sound that surrounded them. She rested her forehead against his and smiled. "I'm so in love with her."

"Me too."

She glanced over at their most recent ultrasound picture hanging in the frame on their Christmas tree, then to their baby's stocking, hanging in between both of theirs above the fireplace.

Derek's green one, their daughter's pink one, still yet to be embroidered with her name, Meredith's red one, and Charlie's blue one. A family of four.

Of all the gifts given on this day, the gift of their daughter would always be the one they cherished most.

...

Meredith rubbed some cocoa butter cream over her belly, massaging it onto her skin before getting dressed. "Don't wear those," she told Derek just as he was putting his right leg into a pair of black dress pants.

"What? Why?" he asked with a laugh, pulling his leg out.

"Because I'm wearing these pink lounge pants you got for me. And if I show up in those, and you're all dressed up and McDreamy, I'll look like a slob," she pointed out. "Can you wear your jeans?"

"Did you just call me McDreamy?" Derek asked amusedly, though he still pulled his jeans from his closet.

"Yes, I did," she smiled. Meredith put on a long sleeved gray shirt, one that hugged her growing belly, and smoothed it over her bump. "I'd wear jeans too, but I want to dress comfy. Pregnant girl excuse."

"Okay," Derek chuckled. He hopped into his jeans, zipped and buttoned them, then smirked at her. "Any specific shirt you'd like me to wear, dear?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and laughed. "Something comfy. Just not anything gray, because then we'll match and that'll be tacky," she said, putting her pants on.

"How's this?" He pulled a long sleeved navy polo shirt from his closet for her to look at, waiting for the 'okay' before putting it on.

Getting dressed was never this much of a process, but ever since Meredith's belly started to pop a little and certain clothes were becoming less comfortable, she always made sure they were somewhat even. If she wasn't getting dressed up, neither could he. Just one of her rules, which Derek found adorable.

"I approve," she said teasingly, biting her lip. Shirtless Derek was sexy, and Meredith was trying not to get all hot and bothered. But the pregnancy hormones made that difficult. Watching him fold laundry turned her on these days.

Derek pulled his shirt on and saw her staring at him. "What?" he grinned.

"Nothing," Meredith shrugged, walking over to him. "I might just need to sex you at this brunch, that's all."

"With a house full of people? Risky. I like it."

"Well, you know…if we get bored. Something to do," she said.

"Okay, then," Derek agreed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. "Sounds like a plan."

They finished getting ready, packed toys and food for Charlie, who would be tagging along, and the cookie tray they'd be contributing to the desserts, and made the drive over to their old house, which now belonged to Izzie and Alex.

Charlie ran ahead of them, and Derek pushed the door open, holding it while Meredith and their dog walked in ahead of him. "Hey, you guys!" Izzie greeted. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Iz," Meredith smiled, shimmying off her jacket and placing it next to Derek's on the coat rack.

Alex walked into the foyer and his eyes were glued to Meredith's belly. "Holy crap, Grey. You popped."

"I've been popped for a couple weeks now. You just haven't noticed," she pointed out, looking down at the tiny bump protruding from her shirt. "She's getting bigger."

Izzie placed a gentle hand over Meredith's stomach. "You look so cute."

Lexie opened the kitchen door and interrupted their conversation. "Oh, hey guys!" she called out. "Uh, I think the turkey is done. The timer just went off."

"Okay," Izzie replied. "Appetizers and drinks are set up in the living room," she motioned.

Meredith looked to Derek. "She made a turkey for a brunch?"

"Hmm…I'm glad we came."

Derek and Meredith, with Charlie in tow, entered the living room and found Owen, Cristina, Arizona, and Callie already present, sipping on wine and snacking on the appetizers Izzie had put out. "Hey, guys," Derek grinned.

"Nice of you to join the party," Cristina said sarcastically as she grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl.

"We're not that late," Meredith defended. "Besides, no one plows out in the middle of nowhere. It takes us a while to drive out here in the snow."

"What Cristina means to say is Merry Christmas," Owen laughed.

Meredith giggled. "Yeah, she just says it a little differently."

"So how's your day been so far? Any good gifts?" Arizona asked conversationally.

"Yeah, actually Mer got us a Doppler. So we spent a good hour this morning listening to the baby's heartbeat."

"No kidding?" Callie said with wide eyes. "I'm surprised you were able to shut it off."

Derek chuckled, leaning back on the couch. "We didn't want to run out the batteries. Although I'm sure we'll need new ones in a week."

"How big is she now?" Owen asked.

"The size of a sweet potato," Meredith said, scooping some dip onto a chip. "But if she's anything like in-utero Derek was, she'll grow much, much bigger."

"Baby Gigantor? Cristina asked.

Derek shrugged in agreement. "Nine pounds—well, almost."

Callie winced. "Good God. I wouldn't want a nine pound baby shooting out of me."

"Yes, well, if she weighs nine pounds, she'll be the only baby we ever have." Meredith smiled teasingly at her husband and nudged his hip with hers. "Derek won't be coming near my vagina ever again."

"Wow. Glad I missed the first half of this conversation," Izzie said as she, Alex, Lexie and George entered the increasingly crowded living room.

"Just baby talk," Derek said.

"As usual," Cristina groaned. "I'm gonna need more liquor."

Lexie rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop. It's exciting."

"Any names picked out yet?" George asked.

"Yeah, a few," Meredith replied, smiling. "We haven't settled on anything for sure yet. Picking a name is hard work."

"Well, it's a big decision. Arizona was not an easy name on the playground. I mean, having an unusual name is fine, but just make sure she can handle it," Arizona offered, taking a sip of her wine.

"So far, I think what we have is pretty normal," Derek said.

Izzie looked to the two of them expectantly. "Well…"

Meredith laughed, but decided to give in and share their name choices. Input was always helpful. "We have, uh…Abigail, Emmeline, Lyla…"

"Leah and Lucy," Derek added. "That's all so far."

"Ooh, Leah," Izzie all but cooed. "If you two don't use that, Alex and I have dibs."

Alex looked over at his wife and laughed. "Since when are you pregnant?"

"I'm not. I'm just saying," Izzie said. "All of those names are beautiful. And they would all sound good with Shepherd."

"My parents almost named Molly 'Abigail,'" Lexie informed them. "But apparently, they didn't want us both to have the same initials—Alexandra and Abigail—so they went with Molly instead."

"Fascinating," Cristina said sarcastically.

"No, that's a good point," Izzie piped up. "Are you going to give all your kids the same letter? Some parents do that."

"I don't know. I guess if we find two names we love, then yeah. It depends."

"We just want to pick something before she's born," Derek said amusedly. "Paging through the baby name book while Mer's pushing wouldn't be good."

"Again, just let me know what you pick, so I can have stuff made up for the baby shower—which, by the way, is already being planned," Izzie said with a smile.

"I'm not due for five months," Meredith reminded her.

"Yes, but I want it to be perfect. You're the first ones in the group to have a baby. It's a big deal," Izzie countered.

Meredith giggled, surprised at how much their friends were interested in all things Baby Shepherd. But she appreciated it. This is what families did, or so she was learning. "Okay."

After brunch was finally served, and everyone was relaxing back in the living room where they started, Meredith was ready to make good on her sex proposal that she and Derek talked about earlier. And when Owen pulled out the guitar, she knew it was prime time to make her move.

She got up off the couch with her empty glass and walked into the kitchen, glancing back quickly and raising her eyebrows at Derek, signaling for him to follow her. Meredith opened the kitchen door, and Derek meandered in right after her, a grin on his face. "Now?" he asked.

"Well, unless you want to partake in the sing-a-long," Meredith smirked.

"No, I'll pass," Derek laughed. "So…where?"

"Upstairs bathroom?"

"Hmm, just like last Thanksgiving," he reminisced, leaning in and kissing her.

Meredith moaned against his lips. Now she definitely needed the sex. "You know, for the sake of nostalgia and all," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair.

"Meet you up there?"

She smiled. "I'll be waiting."

If Izzie insisted upon a holiday brunch, they were going to make the most of it.

...

Later on that night, they were settled on the couch, hot chocolate in hand, per Meredith's insistence. She'd been craving it all day, so when they got home from the brunch, Derek made them some. Now on cup number three, Meredith was still going strong. Chocolate was high on her list of pregnancy wants.

Derek flipped on the television to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, one of the few holiday cartoons Meredith actually found amusing, not because of its warm and fuzzy cuteness, but because she found the people of Whoville to be, as she put it, 'complete and total morons' for letting the Grinch do what he did and not even ask for an apology. Seeing it from Meredith's perspective actually made watching it much more fun.

Meredith curled into him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for the hot chocolate."

"You're welcome," Derek chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Merry Christmas, Derek," she sighed contentedly.

"Merry Christmas," he said softly. Derek placed a hand over her belly and felt the warmth of her skin on his palm. "Our daughter is very popular with our friends."

Meredith put her hand next to his and smiled proudly. "That's because she's awesome."

"Best baby ever," Derek echoed.

"Want to call your mom now?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that," he said, the excitement in his voice as he reached over to the end table and grabbed the phone.

Meredith tapped her fingers anxiously against her belly as Derek dialed his old phone number. After three rings, Linda picked up, and, given how happy she sounded, had probably been expecting their call.

"Hello, you two," she greeted cheerfully. "You know, I was just about to call."

"We would've called earlier, but with everyone over at the house, we figured we'd wait," Derek said. "So how was the day? How do you like Bridget?"

"She's the best thing that ever happened to that boy. We all love her," Linda lauded.

"Nancy, too?" Derek teased.

"Oh, be nice. She's your sister. She just…likes to meddle," Linda explained humorously. "Is Meredith there, dear?"

Meredith smiled. "Yep, I'm here. How're you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, sweetheart. You know, everywhere I go, I show people the ultrasound pictures you gave me. Everyone I know knows I'm having another grandchild. And when I show them a picture of you two—the one from the wedding—they all tell me what a beautiful baby this is going to be. Although, I already know that," Derek's mother bragged. "How are you feeling, dear? How's my grandchild treating you?"

"I feel great," she answered. "Baby is growing every day. Derek convinced me to buy some maternity clothes."

"I'm sure you look beautiful. Email me some pictures. I'd love to see your belly. Mark tells me you've popped," Linda said happily.

Meredith shook her head and laughed. "Oh, did he?"

"He's so excited for you two. During dinner tonight, he and Bridget went on and on about you—how happy you are. You know, I think he aspires to what the two of you have."

"Well, we're glad he's finally settling down. Since he met her, I've never seen him so happy," Meredith said.

Derek took Meredith's hand and placed them over her belly. "Actually, Mom, we have some news…"

"What's that, dear?" she asked.

"We found out the sex a couple weeks ago," Meredith said, smiling at Derek.

"You did? Oh, your sisters and I were hoping you would! What is it, sweetheart? Please don't tell me you're keeping it a secret. Now that you've said that, I need to know," Linda said, her voice high pitched in anticipation.

Derek chuckled softly. "No, we're not keeping it a secret," he assured her. He nodded for Meredith to break the news but she shook her head.

"You tell her," Meredith whispered, squeezing her husband's hand. This was something she wanted Derek to tell his mother. Something like this should come from her son, and Meredith wanted him to have that.

"We're having a little girl," Derek said, tears pooling in his eyes as soon as the words were out. His mother had been waiting for a child from him for years. And now that he could share the news of his daughter with her, it was a moment he'd never forget.

There was silence for a few moments before Linda finally able to say something. "Oh my God," she choked out. "A baby girl?"

"Yep," Meredith breathed, wiping away a few of her own tears with the sides of her fingers.

"Granddaughter number ten," Derek said proudly as he kissed Meredith's temple. "We're so excited."

"Oh my…" she trailed off. Linda put her hand over the receiver and called out to the rest of the family, still gathered in the Shepherd family living room. "They're having a girl!"

Cheers and claps resonated through the room and into the phone, and they both laughed. "Thanks, Ma," Derek chuckled. "Saves us the trouble of having to call everyone."

"I knew it was a girl this whole time," they heard Mark call out amongst the group.

"What do you mean you knew?" Linda asked, seemingly forgetting that her son and daughter-in-law were still on the phone.

Meredith giggled. "Yeah, we swore him to secrecy."

"Tell him and Bridget we said hi, by the way," Derek added. "So, yeah…baby girl."

"You know, I had a hunch. Ask your sisters. I always said that my only son is going to have a house full of daughters," Linda told them.

"I grew up in a house full of girls. Now I get to spend my life with two more—well, at least two more. Chances are, we'll have another girl next time around. Which is fine with me, by the way," Derek chuckled. He glanced over at Meredith and smiled. "Surrounded by my beautiful girls…that's a good life."

Meredith rested her head on Derek's shoulder. Seeing him this happy? Kind of the best Christmas gift ever. Well, besides their daughter. She was one present that could never be topped.