Snowfall, a MerDer one shot
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Very short, very fluffy. But festive. Enjoy! :)
Snowfall
I want a snowfall kind of love
That lights up the sky from below
I want a snowfall kind of love
That brings people to their window
Meredith was never big on holidays. She stopped believing in Santa when she was six, and it wasn’t just because she accidentally discovered a pile of gifts hidden in her mother’s closet. She just never felt that holiday magic that other kids felt. But all of that changed when Katie was born.
Now, she baked Santa cookies and turned on the Christmas music station in the car and wrapped presents in gingerbread man paper, all for her daughter.
As she watches Katie and Derek building a snowman in the backyard from their kitchen window, Meredith smiles. Normally she’d be out there helping build Frosty, too. But she didn’t think it was wise to be waddling out in the snow, pregnant with daughter number two, due on New Year’s Eve. So Meredith was on hot chocolate duty, waiting until her family was cold enough to come inside, which could be a while. Katie inherited Derek’s love of anything outdoors, so Meredith can only hope that baby-not-yet-born, Lilly, is more of an indoor girl.
When they finally come through the door, Meredith smiles at how alike they are. Both dark haired, blue eyed, with rosy cheeks courtesy of the cold.
“Mommy, did you see our Frosty?” Katie asks excitedly as Meredith helps her strip off her wet, pink snowsuit.
“I did. I love it,” she replies, just as enthusiastically.
“The whole design was Katie’s idea,” Derek laughs. “I’m just there for the manual labor.”
Meredith presses her warm hands over Derek’s cheeks and kisses him. The feeling of her lips on his warms him instantly and he smiles. “Well, you’re the dad,” she says. “That’s what dads do.”
“Me next!” their four year old says as she pulls off her mittens. Derek scoops her up into his arms and they both kiss either of her cheeks, causing her giggle to bounce off the walls.
“I have hot chocolate inside. Anybody want some?” Meredith asks.
Katie immediately dashes off in her socked feet into the kitchen. “Me,” her little voice calls out.
“Any Santa cookies left?” Derek asks amusedly, setting his and Katie’s boots by the heater to dry.
Meredith smirks at her husband, crossing her arms over her pregnant belly. “If you’re somehow suggesting that I ate all the cookies in the hour that you two were outside, then you’re mistaken,” she says, pointing to her belly. “This is a baby in here; it’s not full of sugar cookies.”
“I’m kidding,” Derek grins. “And I’m very aware that there’s a baby in there. We both made her, remember?”
“Hmm, I do,” Meredith says softly, running her fingers through his curls, wild and unruly thanks to the snow hat he’d taken off moments before.
When she feels Lilly kick her, she brings her hands down to her belly. “I think it’s getting too small in there,” Meredith giggles.
Derek wraps his arm around her waist and they walk toward the kitchen. “She probably just wants to come meet the three of us,” he winks, before patting his wife’s belly slightly. “Be nice to Mommy,” he chuckles.
“Can I have marshmallows?” Katie asks, peering into her reindeer mug, blowing at the steam that rose off the top.
“Of course,” Derek says, retrieving them from the cabinet. “Hot chocolate always needs marshmallows, right?”
“Right,” Katie agrees with a smile. Her face lights up and she looks to both of them. “Can I put a Santa cookie in Lilly’s stocking?”
Meredith peers into the living room, decorated with a huge Christmas tree, snowmen, art projects Katie made in preschool, and the like. Santa’s Freaking Village. Her eyes travel to the fireplace with four stockings hanging above it.
Derek, Meredith, Katie, Lilly, all in a row.
One for each of them, in their family of four.
“Sure, sweetie,” Meredith agrees, as Derek drops a few mini-marshmallows in all three of their mugs, giving Katie a few extra.
Meredith runs her hand over her belly again and smiles. A cookie in a stocking from the big sister to the little sister. Christmas was kind of the best holiday ever.
--
There's more fic to come in the following weeks. This is just the first one. :)