I Wanna Love Somebody Like You

9

"Derek," she smiled, climbing off of the bed and intercepting his route, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on tip toes to press her lips against his. "You will spend Thanksgiving with me."

"Mer, have you even been listening to me?" he asked. "I have to work."

"So I'll work too," she shrugged.

"You'll...what?" Derek frowned.

"I'll volunteer to work," she said. "Bailey needs someone, and George has dinner with his family. Izzie is all about cooking, and Burke is making Christina take off. So I'll work so we can still be together."

"You'd do that for me?" Derek asked, his face morphing from anger to complete awe. "You'd really give up Thanksgiving to work so we could be together?"

She smiled as she reached up to bury his fingers in his hair. "You're what I'm thankful for," she said. "And if that means that we'll go to the hospital, then fine. I really don't get what the big deal is about Thanksgiving. Shouldn't we be thankful every day? Because I'm definitely glad that you're in my life everyday, not just on holidays."

That earned her a full fledged McDreamy smile, and he leaned down to kiss her softly. "I'm glad you're in my life everyday too," he said. "But...thank you. Because I've never worked Thanksgiving, or any other holiday. And this is the first time I'm going to be away from my family for a holiday, and I...it makes it all okay. If I can be with you."

"Even in the OR?" she asked.

"Especially in the OR," he confirmed.

"Good," she said, pulling him onto the bed. "You can stop freaking out now."

"I was not freaking out."

"You so were," she said. "And you rambled."

"I did not."

"You did," she smiled, but reached forward to run a hand through his hair. "Tell me about it."

"What? Rambling? I'm pretty sure you could write a textbook on the topic...ow!"

She rolled her eyes as she withdrew her arm from the deserving slap on the arm. "Not rambling. Thanksgiving. Family. What do they do? Do all your sisters come home?"

Derek smiled. "Thanksgiving is...well, it's completely crazy. I think I only spent one Thanksgiving with Addison's parents, she usually preferred to go to Mom's house. And most years there are at least two of the sisters there. Chris's parents aren't living, so Kath and her family are always there. And there are a ton of kids, running around like crazy. Mom's bossing everyone around in the kitchen, and the girls are usually screaming at each other about something. I used to go outside and play freeze tag with the kids, it was more fun than staying inside, and the brothers in law would either come with me or watch the game. During dinner the kids eat in the kitchen because there are so many of them, and the family is just...together. We're making fun of each other and telling embarrassing stories, but it's just wonderful."

Meredith smiled softly. "You have that family," she stated.

"What family?" he asked.

"The family from the movies," Meredith said. "The perfect happy family."

"The Shepherds are hardly perfect," he sighed.

"Not if you're the representation of all of them," she didn't miss a beat.

"Not funny," he rolled his eyes. "But we have our fair share of problems. Even twenty five years after my dad died, we still miss him. Especially Mom."