Where You Belong

105

"We got it," she echoed with a happy laugh. "We have a place to live."

He pulled her to him and she eagerly joined him on the chair, straddling his lap. She was smiling when she pressed her lips to his. He didn't waste any time in kissing her back and slipping his hands under her top to rest at the small of her back.

"I'm sorry I was stuck in surgery," she whispered between kisses.

"Mmm, you're here now," he mumbled. "We should celebrate."

"Excellent idea."

He chuckled as he began kissing his way across her jaw and along her neck. "How long until you need to be back on the floor?"

"I need to check on my post op is less than an hour. You?"

"I'll round before we go home, but I'm pretty much done for the day."

"Good."

"Good?" He pulled his lips from her neck and met her eyes.

"Mmm-hmm. We can celebrate now and later."

"I like how you think."

She smiled at him and cupped his face with her hands. "We have somewhere to live," she whispered. "This is really happening?"

"It's really happening," he confirmed.

"I feel so...grown up. We're married and we have a future, and now we have a place to live."

He pecked her lips. "It's a good feeling."

She leaned her forehead against his and breathed. "It really is."

Only forty minutes after her shift was scheduled to end, Meredith had rounded on all of her patients and had changed to leave. She was on her way to the main lobby to meet her husband when she bumped into Bailey.

"Grey, how's our patient?" Bailey called as Meredith stepped off the lobby elevator.

Meredith nodded as she stopped to talk to Bailey. She could see Derek sitting by the front doors. As if he could sense her, he looked up, meeting her eyes. "Stable. I checked on him twice in recovery and I have an intern monitoring him."

"Good. You did good work today. You've made progress in learning to distance yourself."

"I have," she agreed. "Things have been better."

Bailey nodded knowingly. "I can see that," she said, motioning towards the front doors where Derek was now standing patiently, waiting for his wife.

Meredith couldn't help but smile at the normalcy of the situation.

"Goodnight, Grey."

"Goodnight, Dr. Bailey," Meredith echoed as she continued towards her husband.

"You ready to go?" Derek asked, greeting her with a soft smile.

She threaded her fingers through his. "Yes. Will we be able to sign the papers tonight?"

He squeezed her hand. "The realtor is expecting us."

She bumped his shoulder as they exited the hospital together and headed for his car. "I haven't been able to stop smiling all afternoon. My patients probably think I'm crazy."

"It's okay to be happy."

She giggled. "Happy is okay. This is beyond happy and it involves a lot of creepy smiling."

He laughed. "Creepy smiling, huh?"

"Shut up."

They reached the car, but Derek stopped her before she could get in by snaking his hands around her waist. "I'm over-the-top happy too, Mer."