I Love You In a Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me Kind of Way

Merry Christmas, Maybe

Tomorrow was Christmas, meaning today was Christmas Eve. Meredith and Derek had less than 24 hours to finish preparing for their 1st Christmas. Meredith woke up and rolled over to see that Derek wasn't there, just Molly. "Where is he?" Meredith mumbled to herself. She got up and decided to walk downstairs, she could smell the coffee in the coffee pot. "Morning babe," Derek said as he saw Meredith appear in the kitchen doorway. "Good morning, what are you doing up so early?" she asked taking a seat at the barstool. "Thought I would make you some breakfast and then we can finish decorating and preparing for tomorrow. Then this evening we could walk around the city and look at all the Christmas lights," Derek said sliding her a plate with pancakes and bacon on them. "And after almost 5 months I still wonder how I ever found you," she said smiling. "Don't you remember? You spilled your morning coffee on me?" Derek asked being a smartass. "There's the smartass that I fell in love with," Meredith said kissing him. They finished their breakfast and finished cleaning the house and making it more homey for tomorrow. "Babe, where should I put this?" Meredith hollered holding an ornament. It was a picture of them from their trip for Meredith's birthday. "Right here," Derek said helping her hang it on the front of the tree right below the angel on top. "Perfect," Meredith said resting her head on his shoulder. "Just like you," he replied with a kiss on the crown of her head.

A few hours passed and they were out the door to go walk around the city and see all the Christmas lights that would be scattered about, little did Meredith know that Derek had a surprise in store for her. They had had a quick dinner before they left the house but they stopped at the little cafe they met at and grabbed some hot cocoa. They walked around the city for a good hour and stood in awe at all the decorations and Christmas spirit that was scattered about, "Now you will follow me," Derek said leading Meredith down the sidewalk. "Derek, you know I'm not a fan of surprises, where are we going?" Mer asked following him. "You'll see," he said with a smirk. "Fine," she responded with a small smile. "Derek," Meredith asked as Derek stopped at a bench near the shore where they could see all the ferryboats coming and going. "I thought we would end the night here," Derek said sitting down on the bench. "Derek, it's beautiful," Mer said snuggling up close to him. "I have a thing for ferryboats," he said with a smirk. "I know," she replied kissing his stubbly cheek. They sat there for quite awhile watching the ferryboats and looking out at the water. It was calm and peaceful, the definition of a perfect Christmas Eve.

"Merry Christmas my queen," Derek said wrapping his arm around Meredith pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Merry Christmas handsome," Mer said returning the kiss. "We should probably get up and start cooking before everyone gets here," Derek said rubbing Molly's head. "Maybe I wanna stay here all day with my little family," Meredith said curling up in the covers. "Well, then I'll have to do this," Derek said before picking Meredith up and throwing her over his shoulder and running downstairs. "Derek, what are you doing?" Mer laughed. "We have food to cook and presents to open," he said tickling her on the couch. "Will you stop if I get up?" she said with pauses of laughter. "Yes." he replied. Meredith stood up and pressed a kiss to Derek's lips as she walked to the kitchen to feed Molly and pour herself some cereal. Derek went upstairs to change so he could start cooking.

When he came back down he went straight to the kitchen to begin cooking, Meredith was eating her cereal and scrolling through Twitter, "I'm glad you're cooking otherwise I would burn the place down," Meredith laughed while secretly snapping a pic for her Snapchat story. "Hey, I heard a click are you taking pictures of this?" Derek asked laughing. "I'm just telling the world how lucky I am to have someone like you," she smiled back captioning the picture I am beyond lucky. Ladies back off. "Well, I'm pretty lucky myself," he said flashing his McDreamy smile. Meredith washed her dishes and went upstairs to get around before the guests began showing up.

Meredith took a shower and slipped on a red dress and some black flats, her red dress matched Derek's red shirt that he was wearing with jeans. She put on a little bit of makeup and curled her hair. When she walked back downstairs she slipped a red bow onto Molly's red collar and brushed her fur so she looked nice too. "Wow, you look stunning," Derek said as she walked back into the kitchen. "You don't look too bad yourself," she replied placing a peck on his lips. Derek smiled. "My mom should be here any minute," just as Derek said that the doorbell rang. "Look at that," Meredith winked before answering the door. "Meredith," Carolyn said greeting her with a hug. "You look beautiful," she said before pulling. "Thank you, so nice to see you," Mer replied to her. Meredith took Carolyn's coat and purse and laid it on one of the bed's upstairs and then helped her put the presents by the tree. The three of them chatted in the kitchen and before long Alex and Izzie arrived. "Mer, we're here," Izzie said coming in. "We are in the kitchen," Derek shouted. "Hey guys, and you must be Mrs, Shepherd" Alex said kissing Mer's cheek and patting Derek's shoulder. "Yes, and you are?" Carolyn said. "Alex Karev and this is my girlfriend Izzie Stevens," Alex replied back shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you both," she smiled back. "Derek, what do you need done? I brought cookies and some salad," Izzie said tying an apron around her waist. "Well, the ham is in the oven and right now I'm working on the mashed potatoes and my mom is making pies," he said peeling potatoes. "Well, how about Izzie and I take over and the rest of you finish setting up the house and sorting presents," Carolyn said.