A/N: Hello everyone! I know, long time no see. But real life had me super busy and I was all but craving the holiday season so that I would have some free time. And here I am now! With a Christmas present for you guys! :D This is a look at how I think MerDer would celebrate Christmas with their family. Enjoy and take the time to leave me a line!

Timeline: Almost a year after baby Ellis' birth

                                                                               ~ooOOoo~

It was Christmas Eve, and Christmas Eve had always been a busy day in the Shepherd household. Last minute preparations were being made by Meredith and Derek, and the two Shepherd munchkins were lending their parents a helping hand. Ellis was almost a year now, but she was still too young to be helping with Christmas preparations.

"Derek, do you want to do the grocery shopping for dinner tomorrow? I and the kids will manage the decorations," Meredith asked her husband as he sat down on the couch beside her with a mile long to-do list in his hands.

"Mer, you know it's pointless to ask this question," Derek said with a light chuckle as he ticked off items from his to-do list. "Of course I will take over the cooking area, or else the guests will have to celebrate Christmas out in the woods tomorrow. Because you will burn our house down," he said, earning a playful smack on his bicep from his wife.

"You are an ass! I was just being nice," Meredith said with a contented giggle. "So, who else is coming over for dinner tomorrow? I hope you haven't invited the entire hospital. I just want a small, intimate, cosy Christmas dinner with my family," she said with a sigh, leaning her head on her husband's shoulder.

Derek pressed his cheek to his wife's head and hummed in response. "I didn't invite that many people, believe me. Amy and Owen are coming, and Jo and Alex. And Maggie. I wanted to invite Callie too, but if I invited her, there was the question of inviting Arizona and since we don't want an awkward, huge dinner, so that's it. Four people who are practically family," he rejoined.

"Well, the whole hospital is practically our family," Meredith countered, raising her head from Derek's shoulder. "You didn't invite Richard and Catherine?"

"I wanted to. But, Richard said that he and Catherine are going to New York for Christmas and New Year, so..."

"Oh," Meredith said, eyeing Derek's to-do list. "How many things are still left on that list of yours?"

"Millions," Derek said with a huff. "My family used to celebrate Christmas in a big and pompous way. You know that. So, even though we are planning a simple Christmas dinner, I can't stop myself from obsessing over details," he admitted with a sheepish grin.

"My pedantic husband," Meredith said, placing a soft kiss to the corner of Derek's mouth. "Remember our first Christmas together?" Meredith said with a laugh.

"The one where we both worked all day and then came home, ordered takeout and made love all night?" Derek asked as he looked at his wife with a sexy ass smile playing on his lips.

"Of course, you will remember that," Meredith said with a roll of her eyes, but smiled fondly at the memory too. "No, the next one. The one when we actually celebrated Christmas with the decorations and everything," Meredith said, waving her hands as way of a vague description.

"Oh, that one," Derek said, laughing at the memory. "You didn't have a clue as to what to do."

"No damn idea," Meredith said, shaking her head as she looked back on those days. "Remember how I asked you what to do with the angel figurine?" she giggled.

"I still can't believe you didn't know that the angel is placed on the top of the tree," Derek said with a lazy grin. "Everyone knows that, Mer."

"Hey, remember who you are talking to," Meredith said in a mock stern voice. "I was Ellis Grey's daughter – I only knew how to cut up human bodies. I didn't know what you are supposed to do with angel figurines or web lights," she said in a remorseful voice.

"But, then I taught you," Derek said, tipping her face up with his thumb and looking into her eyes.

Meredith smiled as she saw the sparkle in her husband's eyes. The sparkle of happiness, the sparkle of contentedness. He was happy, and so was she. Deliriously happy.

"You taught me," Meredith agreed with a soft nod. "And look at me now! I am a pro at decorating," she said.

"All thanks to me," Derek added smugly.

"All thanks to you," Meredith echoed as she pressed her lips to her husband's. Derek responded to her kiss immediately, and parted her lips with his own in order to deepen the kiss.

"Ew! Yuck, yuck!" Two voices said in unison, causing Meredith and Derek to pull back from each other. Meredith giggled as she spotted Zola and Bailey standing in the doorway of the living room, covering their eyes with their hands.

Derek laughed as he got up from the couch and picked Bailey up in his arms. Zola uncovered her eyes and gave Derek a pout before running off towards Meredith.

"Mommy, you and Daddy kissing! Gross!" Zola exclaimed as she climbed on her mother's lap. Zola was six years old now, and she always made the same comment and put on an expression of pure disgust every time she caught her parents kissing.

"And why is that so, Miss Zola?" Meredith asked, tweaking her daughter's nose. Meredith then planted a big, wet kiss on Zola's cheek and said, "Now, now. Was that so gross?"

Zola giggled as she pressed her lips to her mother's cheek affectionately. "No, silly Mommy! You and Daddy kissing me and Bailey is not gross. You and Daddy kissing each other is gross!" she said, making a face and showing her tongue.

"Yes! Grossest!" Bailey chimed in from Derek's arms, covering his eyes again for emphasis.

Derek tickled Bailey's tummy, causing Bailey to erupt into loud giggles. "Oh really? So gross, eh?" Derek asked, tickling Bailey's sides this time.

"Daddy!" Bailey exclaimed, squirming in Derek's arms. "Stop tickling. We gotta do tons of stuff for Christmas!!" the little boy said in his best grave voice.

"Hmm...Looks like Bails is worrying about Christmas more than us combined," Meredith remarked, hugging her eldest daughter close to her chest.

"He sure is..." Derek said with a chortle.

"Why don't you and Bails go for shopping? And by the time you guys return, I and Zola will finish decorating the tree," Meredith suggested.

"Yup, yup. Deco – decorating the big tree. I wanna do that, Mommy!" Zola said enthusiastically.

"Fine. Since you girls wanna get rid of us guys so fast...Come on, Bails. Put on your coat and gloves. Let's go shopping and leave your mom and sister to it," Derek said, feigning hurt. Bailey immediately ran upstairs to grab his coat and Derek looked at Meredith with a pout.

"Aww, don't pout. I promise I'll make it up to you later," Meredith said with a lopsided grin and threw her husband a naughty wink.

  Derek smiled from ear to ear at his wife's insinuation, but before he could formulate a response, Bailey came storming down the stairs, halfway through sliding on his coat.

"Come on, Dad. Let's go," Bailey said urgently, as if he had the world's matters to worry about. Meredith and Derek smiled at their little boy's urgency as Derek followed Bailey out the door.

                                                                             ~ooOOoo~  

"It looks so pretty, Mommy!" Zola exclaimed as she and Meredith finished decorating the large Christmas tree with the various ornaments and pulled back to admire their handiwork.

"Hmm...It does, doesn't it?" Meredith asked, hanging up the last ornament – a small star with a picture of 2 month old Ellis stuck on it. Meredith had made it a tradition to hang ornaments with each kid's picture stuck on it. It made the kids happy to have ornaments with their pictures hanging on the tree, and it gave the tree a touch of family.

"Now, I just have to put the angel on the top!" Zola said as she reached for the small figurine and then stretched her arms towards her mother, motioning her mom to pick her up.

"Um...Sweetie?" Meredith said, not knowing how to break the news to Zola. She knew that Zola would throw a tantrum the moment she heard it. "How about Ellie places the angel on top of the tree this year?" Meredith asked, waiting for the explosion. Zola had been placing the angel on top of the tree for the last three years, since Bailey's birth. She had assumed that it was her right to place the angel on top, and Meredith had never objected. But, it was Ellis' first Christmas, and Meredith wanted baby Ellis to place the angel this time, just like Bailey had done it on his first Christmas.

"Whaaaat?!" Zola said in a loud voice, her mouth falling open. "But...Why?" Zola asked, clearly taken aback by her mother's sudden declaration. For as long as she remembered, she had been the only one to place the angel on top of the tree.

"Because this is your baby sister's first Christmas," Meredith said gently. "Remember how Bails placed the angel on top on his first Christmas? Just like that, it's Ellie's first Christmas, so she should place the angel, right? Then, next year, you can go back to..." Meredith couldn't finish the rest of her sentence.

"NO!!!!" Zola screamed, causing Meredith to flinch. "No, no no. I wanna put the angel! I wanna put the angel on top! Ellie can do it next year, I wanna do it!"

"Zola!" Meredith said in a low but stern voice. "Stop screaming. It's not that of a big deal. It's your sister's first Christmas, and it's kind of our tradition. You didn't behave like this when Bailey did it three years ago..."

"I don't remember Bailey putting the angel!" Zola cried, her eyes filling with tears. "I remember me putting the angel, Mommy! I wanna put the angel, please, Mommy! Please please!" Zola said in such a flebile voice and with such a puppy dog look in her chocolate brown eyes this time that it caused Meredith's heart to melt instantly. Zola knew that she had her mother wrapped around her pinky.

"I – uh – you – ok," Meredith said, falling prey to her daughter's tears. She couldn't watch her princess cry, no matter what happened. So what that it would be breaking their Christmas tradition? Nothing mattered more than her princesses.

"Yay!" Zola squealed, her tears disappearing immediately. "Pick me up, Mommy," she said as Meredith reached out for her.

"What's going on?" Derek's voice came from the doorway, causing Meredith to look up. Her eyes landed on her husband and her son taking off their coats.

"Nothing. I was just telling Zola that Ellis was going to place the angel on the top of the tree this year, but..." Meredith trailed off.

"But what?" Derek asked as he walked over to his wife and daughter, giving Zola a knowing look. "Zola was giving you the puppy dog eyes again, wasn't she?"

Zola looked at the floor sheepishly as Meredith nodded in a helpless way. Derek turned his eyes towards his wife's face once and then turned to his daughter.

"Hmm...So, Little Miss Zola, you were using your tears to change Mommy's mind?" Derek said, picking Zola up in his arms.

Zola wrapped her arms around her father's neck lovingly as she replied, "I wanna put the angel on top, Daddy! I wanna, I wanna! But Mommy was saying no, so I thinked that..."

"You little minx," Derek said, tweaking Zola's nose playfully. "You thought that crying would make Mommy change her mind?"

Zola nodded, hiding her face in her father's neck, causing Derek to laugh softly.

"Okay, how about we make a deal, ZoZo?" Derek said, rubbing his daughter's back soothingly. "Ellis gets to place the angel, but you get to open your presents first? How about that, huh?"

"I get to open my presents first? Before Ellie and Bails?" Zola asked in her childlike voice.

"Yes. You do."

"Oh, okay then," Zola said cheerfully, bouncing up and down in Derek's arms. "Mommy, Ellie can put the angel on top, cause I get to open my gifts from Santa first!"

Meredith smiled, half relieved and half happy. "Derek, how do you always know how to convince Zola? I am like putty in her hands, but you..." she said as she went to take Ellis out of the playpen.

"That's just me, honey," Derek gloated, causing Meredith to throw him a fake glare.

"Yeah, right," Meredith said with an eye roll as she picked up the angel figurine and placed it in Ellis' hands. Ellis smiled lazily on having the new toy in her hands and turned it over and over, giggling.

"I am so envious of you. You are like the really cool parent, who knows how to deal with the kids. And I am the pushover who can be easily convinced to do anything," Meredith said with a sigh as she held Ellis up and guided Ellis' hands to the top of the tree.

Derek grinned like a Cheshire Cat as he took in the sight in front of him. His wife and youngest daughter placing the angel on top of their Christmas tree as Zola bounced in his arms and Bailey stood beside him, pressing his tiny body against his father's side. He had pictured a sight like this years ago, when he had been trying to convince Meredith to commit to him, but Meredith had been fleeing from their relationship like an utter commitment - phobe.

As Meredith pulled Ellis down and adjusted the angel on top of the tree, she turned her eyes towards her husband and found him grinning like crazy at her, with Zola and Bailey communicating in form of secret glances.

"What are you staring at?" Meredith asked as she balanced Ellis in her arms and stepped down from the stool.

"Nothing...I just..." Derek said, suddenly leaning towards his wife to place a soft kiss on her lips. "Thank you," he murmured as Zola and Bailey let out loud "ews" once more.

"For what?" Meredith asked with a quizzical smile.

"For this," Derek said, motioning towards their family as he tickled Zola's sides, causing her to squirm and giggle. The real picture was way better than what Derek had imagined years ago, and Derek couldn't be more thankful for that.

                                                                                 ~ooOOoo~

By nightfall, everyone was exhausted beyond their imagination and after putting the kids to bed, Derek made his way towards his own bedroom. Opening the door of his bedroom, Derek walked inside and started shutting the door, but stopped partway when his eyes landed on the sight in front of him. He did a double take and his mouth fell agape, his pupils dilating with shock.

Meredith was lying on the bed in a flimsy red chemise, flounced with white ruffle. A Santa hat was sitting lopsidedly atop her head, and her head was propped up on one elbow. Her lips curved into a small, sexy grin as she watched the look on her husband's face. She outstretched her right hand and crooked one finger, motioning Derek to come forward.

"Meredith...You...I..." Derek murmured incoherently, his voice surprisingly husky and his brain unable to formulate any coherent statement.

Meredith moved herself into a sitting position and crawled to the edge of the bed as Derek approached her, dumbfounded. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck as she balanced herself on her knees at the edge of the bed and whispered, "I thought I'd be your Santa and give you your gift. Do you like your gift?"

Derek smiled wickedly, having recovered from his earlier shock. "My own...personal Santa?" he said, running his hands over Meredith's sides.

"Mmmhmm...." Meredith nodded, biting her lower lip. "And your Santa will do whatever you want her to do," she breathed into her husband's ear.

Derek cupped her face in his hands and crashed his lips against hers, hard. Meredith responded to the kiss instantly, kissing him back with equal intensity and passion. Derek's hands travelled down her sides to her butt, and he cupped her bare butt in his hands and brought her hips against his erection.

"Mmmm...Derek...." Meredith moaned as she ground her hips against his hard erection. Derek pried his lips away from hers to trail kisses down the length of her neck, nipping at the soft skin occasionally. He slowly slid down the spaghetti straps of the chemise, revealing Meredith's deep cleavage. His mouth travelled down to her bosom, and he buried his face in the valley of her breasts.

"Oh...Derek," Meredith sighed as she arched her back, her fingers threading through Derek's dark curls.

Derek groaned in response as his hand travelled down to the apex of Meredith's thighs. He slid two fingers inside her tight channel and curled them against her G-spot, making her cry out loudly in pleasure.

Meredith bucked her hips as Derek finger fucked her till she reached her orgasm. He pulled out his fingers from her and sucked them into his mouth, tasting her juices. Meredith watched him with hooded eyes before letting her hands move to the hem of Derek's sweater. Pulling it over his head in one fell motion, she let her hands fly to Derek's pants. She slid his pants and boxers down, leaving him completely bare in front of her eyes.

"My turn," Meredith said with a wicked grin as she wrapped one hand around his throbbing member and lowered her head to take him in her mouth. Sucking and nibbling gently on the sensitive skin of the tip of his cock, she cupped his balls in her other palm and squeezed them tightly.

"God...Meredith..." Derek groaned in pleasure as he thrust into her mouth, urging her to take him in deeper. Meredith deep throated his cock and fondled his balls, making Derek spurt the hot liquid in her mouth.

After swallowing every single drop of Derek's cum, Meredith sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth, completely satisfied. She gave Derek another wicked grin, and Derek responded by picking her up from the bed in one swift motion.

"Oww! Derek!" Meredith half squealed and half giggled as she wrapped her legs tightly around her husband's bare waist. However, her giggle turned into a moan when Derek captured her lips with his own once again.

"Mrs. Claus, you are supposed to be doing everything I want," Derek mumbled against her lips as he let the tip of his cock rub against her wet slit.

Meredith could only moan in response, unable to formulate any coherent answer. Derek gripped her thighs and thrust into her forcefully, eliciting a gasp from her.

Meredith twined her arms around her husband's neck as he continued to pump in and out of her. "I love you, Derek," she whispered as she neared her climax.

"I love you too, Mrs. Claus. Merry Christmas," Derek murmured with a smile as the duo climaxed in each other's arms and the clock struck midnight.

                                                                                    ~ooOOoo~

The next morning, the alarm beeped at 5:00 a.m., causing Meredith and Derek to groan and bury their faces in the pillows. After having two rounds of 'Christmas sex,' they had changed into their pyjamas and spent hours wrapping up all the gifts and placing them under the tree. They had gone to bed only after 2:30 in the morning and neither of them wanted to wake up at the moment. However, they knew that the kids would be up any time, so they had to wake up.

"Morning," Meredith murmured in a sleepy voice. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Derek said in a hoarse voice, still sounding more cheerful than Meredith. "Thank you for the lovely gift last night," he said with a sleepy smile as he pressed his lips to his wife's cheek.

"Mmm...Noproblem," Meredith mumbled out, her eyes still shut. However, the last remnants of sleep were shooed out of her eyes by a loud squeal.

"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up, it's Christmas!!!" Zola squealed from the doorway of the bedroom, with her little brother in tow.

"We know, sweetie," Derek murmured with a grin as he forced himself to move into a sitting position on the bed. Meredith threw the blankets off her body and sat up too, greeting her two hopped-up kids with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, ZoZo, Bails," Meredith mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. Zola and Bailey quickly climbed onto the bed and positioned themselves between their parents, snuggling with them.

"Merry Christmas, Mommy, Daddy!" Zola said and then grabbed Derek's arm. "Come, Daddy. Let's go and open the presents. I open first!" she said, clapping her hands together in joy.

"Merry Christmas, honey," Derek said as he allowed Zola to pull him up from the bed. "And of course, you get to open your presents first. I promised, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did! Oh, and we gotta see what Saint Nick has left for me and Bails and Ellie in our stockings!" Zola exclaimed as she climbed out of bed with her dad and then turned to her mom and brother who were snuggled up in bed and dozing off again.

"Mommy, Bails! Why you two sleeping? It's Christmas! We gotta open presents!!!" Zola emphasized, pulling on her mother's arm.

Meredith and Bailey, who were both trying to go back to sleep, grudgingly got out of bed and followed Derek and Zola out of the room.

"She has definitely inherited the Shepherd genes," Meredith murmured to Derek before making her way to the nursery. The rest of the family moved downstairs to the living room.

"Hey, little girl," Meredith said softly to Ellis who was still sleeping. "Enough sleeping, it's Christmas today. You have to open your presents now. I bet Santa left a lot of presents for you," Meredith cooed to the baby as Ellis yawned and opened her tiny eyes.

"Ki! Sma! Santa!" Ellis cooed, her green eyes wide with curiosity as her mother lifted her out of the crib.

"Yes, sweetie, Christmas. Merry Christmas," Meredith murmured to the baby, causing Ellis to erupt into giggles.

"Mama! Kisma!" Ellis said, giggling and playing with Meredith's hair.

"Aw, thank you, baby girl," Meredith said, bouncing Ellis up and down in her arms and making her way downstairs.

When Meredith reached the living room with Ellis, the rest of her family were already huddled around the Christmas tree. Zola had even started taking out her toys and candies from her stocking.

"Mommy, sorry!" Zola said with a bright smile. "Daddy said to wait for you and Ellie to open the presents, but I wanted my presents, so I opened the stocking. And look, Santa gave me lots of candy!" Zola said, showing her mother the stocking stuffers that she had received.

"Oh, sweetie, that's great! But, don't eat all that candy in one day," Meredith advised gently as she went and sat down beside Derek. "Come on now, ZoZo, open your presents. We are all here."

Zola nodded eagerly and crawled to the Christmas tree to pull out the gift with her name written on it. She found a big present and quickly tore the wrapping paper to open the gift.

"A Project Mc2 doll!" Zola squealed. "Yay!! Santa gave me a Project Mc2 doll! I have been wanting one of these for ages now!" she said, hugging the box close to her chest.

"ZoZo," Derek said with a laugh, "You started watching the series only weeks ago."

"Daddy, it doesn't matter," Zola said with a winsome smile. "I love Project Mc2!" she exclaimed, reaching for her other gifts.

As Zola started opening her other gifts, Bailey crawled to the tree and pulled out one of his gifts too. He started unwrapping it, but got stuck with tearing the wrapping paper. Derek crouched down beside him and helped him unwrap his gift. Bailey gasped in surprise when he saw a blue fishing tackle in the box.

"A fishing tackle! Mommy, Daddy, ZoZo, I gots a fishing tackle!" Bailey exclaimed, causing Meredith and Derek to exchange secret smiles. Bailey loved going fishing with his dad and sister, but Derek had not bought a fishing tackle for him because he had been too young.

"Wow, Bails! Your tackle is just like my purple one," Zola said, peering over her brother's shoulder to stare at the blue tackle. "We both have our fishing tackles now, so I won't have to share mine with you," Zola said with a laugh and Bailey grinned.

As the kids opened their presents, Meredith and Derek opened their own presents too and helped Ellis open her presents. The entire family sat around the tree for about half an hour, exchanging and unwrapping gifts.

"Who is feeling hungry?" Derek said, stretching a bit as he stood up. "Cause I am gonna go and make some chocolate chip pancakes for myself," he said, smiling inwardly.

"Me! Me! Me! I wanna chocolate chip pancake!" Zola and Bailey squealed in unison, and Meredith joined in. Derek grinned at his beautiful family as he moved towards the kitchen to make breakfast.

                                                                                ~ooOOoo~

Night fell, and the Shepherd household was filled with more people than usual. Maggie, Amelia, Owen, Alex and Jo had arrived for dinner and they were all engaged in a friendly conversation with each other over their glasses of eggnog. The kids were enjoying the Christmas cookies that Derek had baked in the afternoon, and Derek was tending to the ham in the kitchen.

Meredith made her way to her husband and twined her arms around her husband's waist from behind.

"How is the ham turning out?" Meredith asked, resting her chin on her husband's shoulder.

"It's roasting in the oven. The pie is ready too," Derek said with a contented sigh.

"You know, this Christmas...It kinda...It kinda feels different," Meredith remarked as Derek turned around and brought her lithe body close to his own.

"Well, it is different. Ellis is here with us," Derek said, looking at Amelia who was carrying Ellis in her arms.

"Yes, she is," Meredith said, leaning forward and placing a quick, soft kiss on her husband's lips. "This year, I feel good. Our family is complete. Not that it was incomplete before, but Ellis is here, and so is Amelia...And Maggie...Our family is complete, Derek."

"Yes. Yes it is," Derek whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to the crown of Meredith's head. "And I promise you, every Christmas from now on will feel exactly like this."

"Good," Meredith murmured, pillowing her cheek against Derek's strong chest. "As long as we are all together, I am happy. I love you, and our family."

"I love you too," Derek said, "Our family trumps any other gift I have ever received or will receive for Christmas."

"Mmm..." Meredith hummed contentedly. She used to be a person who didn't do holidays, and now – now, holidays meant everything to Meredith Grey.

A/N: Merry Christmas in advance, everyone! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Thank you for reading :) I'll update again if I get 5 comments on this chapter!