168. Christmas: Take Two

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.

Thank you for your patience! I gave you guys a little Christmas porniness to show my gratitude. Enjoy!

Another Christmas had come to Seattle, and while unwrapped piles of toys surrounded the tree, the best present of all may have been the snow that fell outside. Derek stood at the kitchen window with his cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet of the house, and thinking about what next Christmas would be like with another baby in the house. Twice the gifts, twice the smiles, and twice the laughter.

"Hey," Meredith said as she walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"Merry Christmas," he said, turning around to face her.

Meredith stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. "Merry Christmas."

"Lilly still sleeping?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "You're looking all thoughtful this morning."

"Just thinking about next Christmas with two kids. Maybe even a third on the way, if we make another surprise like this one," Derek said, resting a hand on her belly.

Meredith laughed. "If that happens, I'll be giving you a vasectomy for Christmas."

"Noted."

"Looks like we'll be trapped here all day, huh?" Meredith asked as she looked out the window, their land blanketed in miles of white.

"Seems that way. If you really wanted to go to the old house later on, I could shovel the road out," Derek offered.

"As much as watching you shovel would turn me on, you'd be out there all day. The plows will be here tomorrow. We can stay in tonight," she said.

"You sure?"

Meredith nodded, draping her arms over his shoulders. "Yeah. It'll be fun... you know, as long as you cook us Christmas dinner."

"I can do that," Derek grinned.

"Good," she said, the baby giving one of his or her usual morning stretches right into her ribs. "Good thing I'm not nine months pregnant. If we were snowed in and I went into labor, you'd be delivering the baby on our kitchen table like in the olden days."

"That's a... festive Christmas image," he played along.

"There's a good chance the baby was conceived on this table. Giving birth to her on it would be kind of poetic, don't you think?" Meredith pondered.

"Poetic and wrong on so many levels," Derek teased, Lilly's voice echoing over the baby monitor in the pocket of Meredith's robe.

"Mama Dada Cha-Cha," Lilly bellowed, her usual morning greeting.

Charlie's ears perked up when he heard Lilly's voice, and he trotted toward the stairs eagerly. "Someone's excited to get Christmas started," Derek said, he and Meredith following the dog upstairs to Lilly's room.

When they got there, Lilly was already bouncing up and down on her crib mattress, clad in her snowman pajamas. "Ho ho! Ho ho!"

"Yeah, Santa was here last night, Lillybug. He left you lots and lots of presents under the Christmas tree," Meredith said as she picked her up from the crib.

"And guess what else, Princess? When you need a break from opening presents, we can go play outside in the snow," Derek said, shimmying off her pajama bottoms to change her diaper.

"Sow," Lilly said, pointing to the snowman on her shirt.

"Yeah, we can build a snowman like on your jammies," Meredith said. She tossed the old diaper and wipes in the trash, and handed the fresh one to Derek. "We may as well get some use out of your snow suit before you grow out of it."

After Derek secured the diaper around Lilly's waist, he pulled her pants back on, then scooped her up into his arm. "What do you say? Ready to go rip the wrapping paper off some toys?"

Lilly smiled at him. "I rip."

"That's the spirit. Let's go," Derek chuckled.

As they walked downstairs into the living room, the sight of the presents under the tree made Lilly gasp, her blue eyes widening in delight. "My ho ho?"

"Yeah, ho ho came down the chimney last night and left you all these presents. Just like we read in your book, remember?" Meredith asked.

"Book," Lilly repeated as Derek set her on her feet. She walked over to the multitude of festively wrapped presents, seemingly unsure of which one to choose first. When she spotted one with snowman paper that matched her pajamas, she sat down on the floor in front of it. "Dis."

Her parents sat down on either side of her, and Derek looked at the poorly wrapped, overly taped gift in amusement. "I think the elf that wrapped this needs some more practice."

"That's because the elf that wrapped it was Uncle A-L-E-X," Meredith giggled. She peeled off a small section of wrapping paper to get her started. "There you go, peanut. You rip the rest off," she said.

Lilly tugged at the paper until it tore in half, then ripped off another section until the present inside was revealed. "Tutu, Ma!"

"Santa got you a tutu? Now you have more dress up clothes for your tea parties," Meredith said. "Maybe Santa got Dada another princess crown, too."

"Hmm, I have a feeling he did," Derek guessed.

Lilly handed him the tutu, then rose to her feet. "Me tutu," she requested.

Derek helped her step into the pink tutu and slipped it up to her waist. "You look gorgeous."

With her tutu in place, Lilly patted another gift in the pile, this one wrapped in snowflake paper. "A dis."

"Go for it," Derek encouraged.

Lilly pulled at a loose fold of paper, and it easily tore. Without any help from her parents, she finished unwrapping it, holding the present in her hands. "Ball, Ma."

"Santa got you a bouncy ball? Where did you learn that word, by the way?" Meredith asked, impressed by Lilly's ever-expanding vocabulary.

"Mark referenced my balls in a conversation. Lilly overheard," Derek confessed. "Compared to a lot of things Mark says, at least that word is tame."

"I Mama," Lilly said after she had stuffed the orange ball under her pajama top, the rounded bump resembling Meredith's own pregnant belly.

"Oh, jeez," Derek couldn't help by laugh.

Meredith smiled. "Do you have a Jellybean in your belly, too?" she played along.

Lilly rubbed a hand over the shirt-covered bouncy ball just as Meredith always did. "My bean," she said proudly.

"Where do you think of this stuff, Lillybug?" Derek asked.

"This should have been our Christmas card," Meredith said as she took her phone off the table. "Lilly, smile for Mommy."

Lilly obliged, always happy in the spotlight, and posed with her hands resting over her fake belly. Meredith quickly snapped the picture of Lilly in front of the Christmas tree. "Thank you, sweetpea."

"Pitty, Ma," Lilly said after unwrapping her next present.

"Santa got you nail polish? Now we can paint your toes all these pretty colors," Meredith said.

"Mama toes?" Lilly asked.

Meredith smiled. "Sure, you can paint Mommy's toes. I'm sure Dada and Jellybean will let you paint their toes, too."

"Backing me into a corner on that one," Derek murmured playfully. "Yeah, you can do Dada's toes. And boy or girl, I'm sure Jellybean will have some painted toes, too."

"She's very good at getting people to submit to her will," Meredith said.

"Gigi topes?" Lilly asked, pointing to the kitchen.

"Two presents and you're ready for a breakfast break?" Derek chuckled as Meredith used his shoulder to stand up before he rose to his feet, too. "Gigis and French toast, coming right up."

"See? Submitting to her will," Meredith accused. "Can you make mine an omelet? Jellybean and I are craving peppers."

Derek smirked. "Gee, I wonder which one of us Lilly got her manipulation skills from?"

...

After breakfast, Lilly decided that gift mountain had to wait, and that the snow outside needed to be conquered instead. She stood in front of the glass door leading out to the back porch, patiently waiting while Meredith bundled her in layer after layer.

Derek leaned against the counter in amusement, watching as Meredith pulled a turtleneck over Lilly's head. "You do know we're only going to run around the backyard for twenty minutes; we're not trekking across the tundra," he teased.

"She just got over a cold less than a month ago. I'm not risking it," Meredith upheld. "Help me put her snowsuit on."

"Okay," Derek said, unzipping the purple snowsuit, then handing it to Meredith. "Here, you hold it, and I'll wiggle her into it."

"Okay."

"Come here, Princess. Let's put this on," Derek said as he wiggled Lilly's legs into the one piece suit. "We might have to grease her up. How many pairs of pants is she wearing?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Just two. Her stretch pants and those fuzzy, flannel ones. Keep tugging," she instructed.

"I am tugging," Derek said with a grunt as Lilly's legs finally slipped into the suit. "There. Got it."

"See? I knew we could do it," Meredith said, zipping up the snow suit while Derek secured her mittens.

Once Lilly was bundled to Meredith's standards, Derek opened the sliding glass door, both of them watching as Lilly walked outside on the porch. "She's wearing so many layers that she's waddling like a penguin," he chuckled.

"Pengin, Ma," Lilly repeated.

Meredith smiled, armed with her phone to take pictures. "Yes, you're a very cute penguin."

"What should we do, Princess? Should we build a Lilly-sized Frosty?" Derek asked.

"Fosty!" Lilly clapped with her mittens.

Derek knelt down in the snow next to her and packed together a snowball with his gloved hands. "Okay, now you put some snow on top," he said.

Lilly eagerly scooped up a small pile of snow, and added it to the snowball. "I do!" she said with a smile between her rosy cheeks.

"Very good. Pile on some more. We need a big snowball for the bottom of Frosty," Derek said.

"Can Mommy help?" Meredith asked.

"Mama ball," Lilly said as she smushed some more snow onto the growing snowball.

"Yeah, Mama loves big balls," Derek grinned.

Meredith threw a snowball at his arm. "It's Christmas. No dirty talk," she admonished. "But yes, I do. One of the many reasons I married you."

While gathering more snow, Lilly accidentally fell onto her back, landing in the cold, white fluff. "Oh, crap," Derek said, quickly reaching for her, expecting waterworks.

"Is she okay?" Meredith asked in a panic.

Instead of tears, though, Derek was met with Lilly in a fit of laughter as she lay in the snow. "'Gain, Dada!"

"Again?" Derek asked as he helped her on her feet.

"You scared Mommy to death," Meredith said, fixing the hood of Lilly's coat.

"'Gain?"

Derek put his hand over Lilly's back to control how she landed, much to Meredith's relief. "Alright, tip backwards. Dada's got you," he said.

Lilly laughed even harder the second time when she landed in the snow, and the sound made both of her parents smile. "Was that fun, Lillybug?"

"Mama do?" Lilly asked.

"I don't think Mama and Jellybean should be attempting that, but I'll lay in it with you," Meredith offered, lying down on her back in the snow next to Lilly. "This is pretty comfy, actually. Cold but comfy."

"Looks like I'm the only one who's going to have bragging rights over Frosty," Derek said as he continued adding to the snowman.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "We're still helping, just taking a think break. That reminds me, we don't have carrots, just celery stalks."

"That's okay. He'll just be more original with a celery nose instead," Derek shrugged.

"So, which one of us gets to call Izzie and tell her we can't make it to dinner tonight?" Meredith asked.

Derek looked up from the snowman, pursing his lips as he tried to think of an excuse. "I can't. I'm on hot chocolate duty."

"Well, I can't. She's still disappointed that the baby had its legs crossed at the ultrasound, and she couldn't see the sex. I can't bail on Christmas dinner, too," Meredith reasoned.

"We'll have Lilly call. No one can resist her charm," Derek pointed out.

"Good thinking. Want to call Aunt Zee for us, Lilly?" Meredith asked.

Lilly smiled as she rose to her feet. "Call Zee," she agreed before walking behind the large bottom section of the snowman.

Derek peeked behind the snowman and smiled. "Whatcha doing back there?"

"I poo," Lilly said, turning away from him.

"Okay, I'll give you your privacy," he chuckled.

Meredith smiled when he joined her on the snow-covered grass. "Pooping in her many layers under a snow suit, huh?"

"Her usual perfect timing, yes."

"Well, then, since I was the one who spent a half hour dressing her in all those clothes, I think it's only fair that you strip them off layer by layer, change her diaper, and put every layer back on again," Meredith teased.

"Or we could go inside and drink hot chocolate, and pick up where we left off out here tomorrow," Derek considered.

Meredith nodded, patting his leg with her gloved hand. "Excellent idea."

...

Armed with a sippy cup of hot chocolate and a clean diaper, Lilly was ready to start round two of present opening. She chose one wrapped in gingerbread paper and eagerly tore it off.

"What is it, Lil?" Derek asked.

"A dis," Lilly said, holding up a pack of duck-printed wash cloths.

"Ooh, wash cloths. That's exciting," Derek chuckled.

Meredith tossed a crumpled piece of wrapping paper at him. "Maybe Santa couldn't resist the clearance on baby items at Target."

"You're right; Santa was just being a smart shopper. I take it back," Derek rescinded.

"You should take it back," Meredith agreed, taking a sip from her mug. "Jellybean and I are really enjoying this hot chocolate you made, so you're forgiven."

"Dat, Dada?" Lilly pointed.

"That big one? Good choice," Derek said as he moved the large box in front of Lilly. He ripped off a small piece to get her started, then nodded for her to finish the job. "Go for it. Let's see what Santa got you."

It took her several minutes, but when Lilly finally succeeded in unwrapping her present, she simply cocked her head in curiosity. "Dat, Mama?" she asked.

Meredith gasped in pretend surprise. "Oh, Santa got you an easel for all of your painting and coloring. And it has two sides, so when Jellybean is old enough, you can share with him or her."

"I do?" Lilly asked.

"You want to use it? Sure you can; we just need Dada to break out the tool box and assemble it," Meredith hinted.

"I'll build it for you, Lillybug. Let's open a few more presents first. How about this one?" Derek asked, picking up a specific gift from the pile, one wrapped in red and green polka dots.

Not recognizing the wrapping paper, Meredith glanced at Derek in curiosity. When he saw the look on her face, he just raised his eyebrows, trying not to give away that he was responsible for whatever the gift was. Lilly peeled off the paper, now a seasoned pro, and smiled when she saw the revealed present. "Bear, Dada!"

"Yeah, he's a very special teddy bear. Can you give him a hug to squeeze his belly?" Derek asked.

Lilly hugged the bear with enthusiasm, and when the music box inside went off, Meredith recognized the sound instantly. Before she could stop them, the pregnant lady tears came, and she wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "Do you know what that is, Lilly?"

"Beep beep," Lilly answered.

"Yeah, that's Jellybean's heartbeat. Now a part of your little brother or sister is always with you," Derek explained.

Lilly smiled as she hugged the bear again. "Bubba sissy."

"That's right. And now you can listen to Jellybean's heartbeat any time you want. Isn't that cool?" Derek asked.

"Lub," Lilly said before lying down on a pile of discarded wrapping paper, the bear tucked in her arm.

Meredith leaned into her husband and kissed him. "Best gift ever. Thank you," she said softly.

"Hmm, I figured you'd like that."

"I do... so much in fact that after Lilly goes to bed tonight, I plan on properly thanking you in front of the fireplace," Meredith said into his ear.

The mental image of her gratitude and the feeling of her breath on his skin sent a shiver down his spine, and he swallowed thickly. "Really?"

"Really."

The small, quiet moment was interrupted when Lilly decided she was ready to tackle more presents, sippy cup of hot chocolate in her hand. "Cha-Cha one?"

"Good idea. Let's find one for Charlie before Mommy decides to M-O-U-N-T Dada," Derek teased.

Meredith laughed, watching as he bent over the gift pile to find one of Charlie's presents. "You're wearing pajama bottoms with reindeer on them. How do you expect me to look at you and not get turned on?"

...

"Okay, what about Sydney for a girl? Kinda cute, right? We could call her Syd for short," Meredith said from her place at the kitchen island, trusty yellow highlighter in hand.

"That's cute, yeah. You know, if you want to name our daughter after Sydney Heron," Derek reminded her.

Meredith's eyes grew wide at her oversight, and she quickly drew an 'X' through the name. "Nevermind, then."

"If we named her Sydney, we could stencil Heal With Love over the crib. It could be a whole theme..." Derek said, chopping celery for the stuffing.

"Haha," Meredith said wryly. She flipped to another page and read aloud the first name she saw. "Penny?"

Derek shook his head. "Can't. We had a dog named Penny when I was growing up."

"I didn't know you had a dog," Meredith said.

"Yeah, she was a beagle. She was a good dog. My sisters used to say I loved her more than I loved them, which wasn't entirely untrue," Derek chuckled. "Every time I hear that name, I think of her."

Meredith smiled, stealing a green bean off the dish. "Okay, not Penny, then. Any other pet names that are off limits?"

"My favorite frog's name was Riblet. The little guy lived until he was twelve. I hope Riblet wasn't one of the names you highlighted in there," he joked.

"It was my top choice, actually, but we can find something else," Meredith played along.

"It's a shame Lilly is still napping. She always gives us good choices," Derek said, rummaging for turkey gravy in the cabinet.

"The other day, she walked up to me, pointed to my belly, and said Olaf," Meredith shared.

Derek turned toward her and grinned. "Olaf, huh? So the Frozen obsession has overtaken our child, too?"

"Yeah. Her name theme seems to be a mixed bag of Disney characters these days. Nemo, Sully, and now Olaf. All boys, so I guess we know what gender she's rooting for," Meredith said.

"Is it sad that Lilly has more name contenders on her list than we have on ours?" Derek asked.

"Probably, yeah. I got so frazzled the other day thinking about names that I stress ate an entire thingy of Lilly's cereal poofs," Meredith said.

"Maybe it's a good time for me to give you one of you gifts then. You know, to take your mind off the name stress," Derek said as he dried his hands with a dish towel.

Meredith narrowed her eyes. "What gift?"

"I'll be right back," was all Derek said before going into the living room. He returned a few moments later with a gift basket wrapped in cellophane and set it on the counter in front of Meredith.

"This is all for me?" she asked.

"All for you. Open it," Derek prompted.

Meredith peeled the green wrapping off the basket, and smiled when she saw what was inside. "Oh my God, is this a basket full of my weird pregnant lady cravings?"

"Yes, it is," he confirmed.

"Nutella, salt and vinegar chips, jalapeño pretzels, black olives, Wasabi peas, peanut butter cups, Peeps. Where did you find Peeps this time of year?" Meredith asked.

"Special ordered them, along with something else I think you'll like," Derek hinted.

Meredith continued peering over the food items in the basket until the gift he was referring to caught her eye. "No way. You got me an all marshmallow box of Lucky Charms? I didn't even know they sold that," she said, smiling at him from across the counter. "When we're having grown up time in front of the fireplace tonight, I'm going to blow your mind... amongst other things."

Another shiver went down his spine as his senses went into overdrive, and it took all the self control he had not to forget about dinner in the oven and have kitchen table sex. "Hmm, Merry Christmas to me."

"Until then, I'm going to pop open these olives. Want one?" Meredith asked, opening the jar.

"Nah, I'm good; thanks," Derek declined. "Oh, what about Olive? That's a cute name for a girl."

Meredith scrunched her nose. "Cristina would never let me live that down."

"True."

"Jellybean's kicking. I think she likes the olives," Meredith said as she forked another one from the jar. "I know I already said it, but thank you for getting the heartbeat bear for Lilly. I love it as much as she does."

"I know how much she loves going to all the ultrasounds and watching the DVDs we get, so I figured that was just something else to help her feel like a big sister. To know that from here on out, she'll have someone who looks up to her and has this bond with her that no one else will ever have," Derek said genuinely.

Meredith reached across the counter and squeezed his hand. "I love you, you know that?"

"Well, you married me and we made two babies together, so I figured you might," he chuckled, squeezing her hand back. "I love you, too."

"Mama Dada," Lilly sang over the monitor, signaling the end of her mid-Christmas power nap.

"I'll get her. I need to pee, anyway," Meredith said as she hopped off the stool.

"Okay," Derek nodded. "We can get started on dinner when you guys come down. Everything is done or close to done."

"Good, because I was seriously about to open those Lucky Charms."

With dinner ready, but Lilly too excited to sit still in her highchair with more unopened presents on the horizon, Christmas dinner was moved into the living room. Lilly ate a scoop of mashed potatoes as she contemplated which gift to tackle next, eventually settling on one wrapped in mistletoe print.

"Ooh, that looks like a good one. What's in there?" Derek asked.

"Kitty?" Lilly guessed.

"It's a long shot, Lillybug, but let's see," Meredith said, eating a forkful of stuffing.

"She's been asking for a kitty for a while now. Hopefully in a few months, she'll think a new baby is just as good," Derek said.

Meredith laughed. "We'll have enough eating, sleeping, pooping beings in the house. We can circle back to the cat discussion in a few years."

"Robe!" Lilly shrieked, the exuberance making Meredith jump.

She put a hand on her chest as she caught her breath. "Wow. I've never seen someone so thrilled over a robe before."

"Yeah, Santa had to get you a new robe, because you're almost grown out of your ducky one," Derek explained.

"Which makes me want to cry, because we've had your ducky robe since you were born. You're getting so big," Meredith added.

Lilly held up the purple robe with yellow polka dots, and Derek took that as his cue to put it on her. He slipped it over her pajamas and tied the terrycloth belt, much to Lilly's delight. "Robe, Mama."

"I love it. You look like such a big girl," Meredith said as Lilly stole a pea off Meredith's plate.

"Bean ducky," Lilly said.

The kind offer formed a lump in Meredith's throat, and she hugged Lilly to her. "I think Jellybean would love to have your ducky robe. Thank you, Lillybug."

"She's just buttering you up, so you'll get her a cat, you know..." Derek said playfully.

Meredith breathed Lilly in, savoring the sweet baby smell that she wished would last forever. "Yeah, well, it's working."

...

With Lilly sleeping peacefully in her crib upstairs, her parents were able to make good on their promises downstairs. Derek lay spent on the floor in front of the fireplace, wrapping his arm around Meredith when she crawled back up his body.

"You're good at that," Derek hummed, his body satiated after the attention she'd just given him.

"Lots of practice over the years."

"Hmm, I owe you," Derek promised.

The thought of his tongue working its magic in her most intimate places made her moan, and she smiled. "Merry Christmas to me."

"It was a great Christmas. Especially the way it ended," Derek grinned.

"It's not over yet. I intend on having my way with you, you know, after you... recover," Meredith said, her arm draped over his chest.

Derek chuckled. "I'll be good to go in a few minutes."

Meredith stared at the scattering of remaining unwrapped presents Lilly would tackle tomorrow, the various toys spread across the room, and the piles of wrapping paper yet to be discarded. "If one tiny human can wreak this much havoc, imagine what two can do."

"Twice the havoc, twice the fun. Still strange to think that we'll have two next year," Derek mused.

"A nine month old, and a hopefully potty trained two and a half year old," Meredith said. "Getting Lilly out of diapers is my New Year's resolution. That, and having sex on the washing machine."

The silence of the house, save for the crackling fireplace, gave Derek an idea and he looked over at her with raised eyebrows. "We could get a jump start on the washing machine one now."

"Yeah?"

"Why not?"

Meredith answered his question by taking his hand and pulling him to his feet. Derek grabbed the baby monitor with his free hand, trailing behind her to the laundry room. Neither of them willing to waste any time, he lifted her onto the washer, and her legs wrapped around his waist.

Derek's breath caught in his throat when he felt Meredith's fingers stroking the length of him. "God, Meredith," he whispered.

"Someone recovered fast," Meredith said, moaning when he unexpectedly pushed into her. Her legs wrapped tighter around him, and her lips found his neck. "Mmm, best resolution ever."

"Yes, it is."