New Beginnings

Chapter 29

Derek lay there awake, listening as Meredith and Morgan slept. Last night they decided they wanted to spend the night together all in one bed so they would wake up and start Christmas morning off together as a family. Another tradition they had decided on, which they would continue to do, even as their family grew.

It had been years since Derek had even thought about celebrating Christmas, let alone being excited about it. That's when he realised he truly had lost himself, he had always been big on Christmas, always. But over the last few years, Christmas had took over his life and the magical spirit and joy of Christmas was drained from his body.

He watched families said goodbye to their loved ones on Christmas Day, as they switched off the life support machines. It drained all the joy out of him and by the time he got home, he didn't want to celebrate. He couldn't.

But this year. This year was different.

"Why are you looking so thoughtful at..." Meredith rolled over to look at the clock. "6 o'clock in the morning." She said as she slowly pulled her body up into a sitting position.

Derek jumped slightly at hearing her voice, not even knowing she was awake yet. He turned and smiled at her, watching as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretching her arms above her head, her nose scrunching up slightly.

"Nothing, just I'm really happy to be celebrating Christmas this year. Normally I'm at the hospital...yeah, I don't plan on working another Christmas now unless I absolutely have to." He said as he felt Meredith rest her head on her shoulder, his head resting on top of hers.

"I'm sorry if I don't seem too excited this year, I never really celebrated Christmas, like it was never a big deal. But now we have Morgan, I want to celebrate every holiday. I mean every holiday. I just look forward to the days where she understands what's going on and she's coming running in here all excited. She's just too young for that right now." Meredith said as she smiled down at a still sleeping Morgan, running her finger over her cheek.

"Imagine what it will be like when we have a whole army of kids running in here, bouncing on our, desperate for us to wake up to see what Santa had brought." Derek said, picturing him and Meredith having even more children.

"Oh, hold it right there." Meredith said lifting her head and pointing her finger at him. "We are not having an army of children, I'm capping it at 2, maybe 3. After that, you'll have to find someone else to have the rest of the army." Meredith said, laughing at Derek's reaction.

Before Derek could respond, Morgan started rubbing at her eyes and whimpered slightly. Derek wasted no time in climbing out as bed as Meredith took Morgan into his arms.

"Right, you feed her and freshened up, I will start breakfast for us and then we will go and open presents." Derek said before kissing Meredith quick before leaning down to kiss the top of Morgan's head. "Merry Christmas bug."

Morgan reached her hand up and grabbed Derek's nose, smiling up widely at him.

Separating their different ways, Derek headed to the kitchen and immediately started brewing a lot of coffee before cooking up some bacon and eggs. It was quickly plated up and set on the table, just in time as Meredith walked in with clean Morgan, her dummy in her mouth and favourite blanket in hand.

"You know. In a few years, we won't be able to sit and have breakfast, it will be straight to the presents." Meredith sat as she sat down in her seat, adjusting Morgan in her lap.

"Oh, it will be so chaotic. But so worth it." Derek said as he sat opposite her, digging into his own breakfast.

It was quickly finished, as Derek grabbed them plates, rinsed them and then popped them into the dishwasher.

"Present time?" Meredith asked, unsure of what was coming next.

"Present time." Derek replied, walking over to Meredith and taking Morgan of her arms, kissing her little hand that reached up.

Morgan smiled wide as a small giggle escaped from her lips, causing Derek to freeze in his spot. Meredith turned and was quickly at his side.

"Did she just giggle?" Meredith asked, her arm going round Derek's waist as the other tickled under Morgan's chin, causing her to giggle again. "Derek, did you hear that?" Meredith asked, turning to find Derek with tears, streaming down his face.

"I...she's just...she's so amazing Mer. Thank you for letting me be apart of her life, her father, and being apart of your life. Meeting you has been the biggest blessing to ever come out of my life. It was like I was drowning and you saved me, you was like coming up for a breath of fresh air." Derek said as he turned to Meredith, finding her with a few tears in her eyes.

"I love you so much." Meredith said as she kissed him quick. "Now come on, present time!" Meredith said excitedly, now in an even better mood after hearing their daughter laugh for the first time.

"Let's go." Derek said taking her hand and stepping into the living room together.