Once Upon An Us-MerDer

39.

No one's POV

A cab is waiting in front of their house and it is time for them to leave for the airport. Today they are taking a flight out to New York to visit Derek's family. Last week Meredith agreed to come to his mother's birthday party even tho she was scared to death. She isn't big on meeting family and to meet them all at once...

"Come one Honey!" Derek yells from the bottom step of the stairs. Meredith is still gathering her final things. "We are running late!"

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming! Can you please help me with this suitcase?" 

"Of course" Derek chuckles while jogging up the stairs and grabbing the suitcase. He drags it down and out to the cab. He places all their stuff in the trunk and they get in. The cab drives them to the airport and Derek carries their luggage inside. They pass security and they finally arrive at their gate, just in time. 

They take place on the plane and the plane takes off. It's about a 5 hour flight so Meredith decides to take a nap. She rests her head on Derek's shoulder and dazzles off. Derek grabs a book and starts reading. Before they know it the plane lands and they can leave the plane. 

"My mom is going to pick us up so she should be here somewhere." 

"Oh I see her" Meredith says while pointing to the shorter, grey-haired woman who's waving eagerly at them. 

"Hey mom" Derek greets his mother gan gives her a hug. "How have you been?"

"I am good, thank you Derek. Meredith, come here. It's so good to see you again dear" Carolyn gives Meredith a hug and Derek can see Meredith feels uncomfortable. He chuckles, knowing how open his mother can be.

"Let's go home. The family is waiting for you." Carolyn says with a smile.

They drive home and after a while Carolyn pulls up to a beautiful, large home. It has a huge frontyard and the house is separated from the other houses by a hedge. Carolyn stops the car and Derek grabs the luggage. They head up to the front door and a woman, one of Derek's sisters, opens the door.

"Derbear!" the woman exclaims and wraps her arms around Derek's neck. 

"Don't call me that" Derek says with a frown on his face. "But I am happy to see you too, Amy." 

"And who do we have here?" the woman pushes Derek aside to take a better look at Meredith. 

"Oh this is Meredith. Meredith, meet my youngest sister Amelia." Derek introduces the two and Meredith wants to shake her hand but she pulls her in for a hug.

"God the Shepherds really are huggers" she chuckles. The rest laughs with her and they move inside. 

"Derek, please bring your luggage to your room and quickly come down to greet the rest of the family. They've missed you."

"Okey mom, we'll be right back."

Meredith and Derek move their luggage up the stairs. Derek leads them to his old room. When the door opens Meredith can clearly see this used to be Derek's room. His mom hasn't changed a thing. His old football jerseys are still hanging on the wall, old trophies are displayed on the shelves and his desk is filled with old school supplies. His bed is covered in sheets with football players on them and the main color of the room is blue. 

"This definitely gives me a better view of who you are." Meredith chuckles

"What do you mean?" Derek frowns

"Oh nothing..." Meredith sits down on the bed and looks around. She can tell Derek used to play sports just by looking at his room. Dumbells and kettlebells are perfectly displayed in the corner of his room next to a football and some softball equipment. 

"Come one, let's introduce you to the rest of the family." Derek smiles but it disappears as soon as he sees the worried look on Meredith's face. "Come here" He pulls Meredith into his arms. "It will be fine. Amelia already likes you and my other sisters will too. Just remember what I told you. I don't care what they think about you. Their opinions won't change my mind about you." 

"Okey" She whispers and grabs his hand. Derek leads them downstairs and into the living room where the rest of his family is gathered. 

Meredith's POV

"Hello everyone!" He exclaims. 

"Derek!" The group shouts, clearly happy to see him. I feel more nervous looking at the size of his family. It's huge! I only have my parents and my sister... 

Derek's nieces and nephews come running up to him and hug his leg. He lifts one of his nieces up and hugs her. She starts giggling and happily squirms in his arms. He pust her back down and moves over to the rest. He greats them one by one, giving them all a hug or a hand. 

"Everyone, this is Meredith. My girlfriend." He says. I can see the pride in his eyes. 

"Hi Meredith." They great back. 

"Meredith, this is my older sister Elizabeth and her husband Max. Over there, the boy with the blonde hair and the girl right next to him, are their children Tommy and Emily." Derek introduces me. 

His sister stands up and pulls me in for a hug. "You can call me Liz, everyone does" She smiles. "Welcome to the family" 

"Then we have Kathleen, my oldest sister. This is her husband Pete and they have three children,  Nick, Seth and Lucy. They are also around here somewhere. Next we have my younger sister Nancy and lastly we have Amelia, my youngest sister. You two already met at the door." Derek introduces me to all of his sisters. I can see the pride in his eyes when he talks about them. He truly cares a lot about his family. 

"And af course my father, Michael." 

"Of course, we briefly met at Mark and Lexie's engagement party" I look up at the man. He is smiling at me. 

"Yes indeed we did. I am glad you could make it here with Derek. We are all glad to officially meet you." 

"Thank you for having me" I smile back. Derek pulls a chair out for me and I sit down. He takes a seat next to me and we start talking. His sisters ask me some questions about myself and about my relationship with their brother. The all seem really nice and I am glad I can get along with them. 

After a while of talking and laughing dinner is served. It looks and smells absolutely delicious. I can see where Derek has learned his skills. Everyone takes a seat around the huge table and digs right in. 

*Sorry this ending is a little weird but I didn't really know how to end this chapter and I really wanted to post today but next chapter will continue where we left off now*