DISCLAIMER: Grey's Anatomy and all its characters are the property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To megasmle[at]hotmail.com
A Christmas Miracle
By CrimsonCat
Meredith sighs to herself as she closes the front door behind her. It's a weary sigh, to be sure. She has spent the past 15 hours holding a retractor and she aches in places she didn't know existed. But it's also a contented sigh. Because she is doing what she loves, and she learned a lot today. She also knows that Cristina, who spent all day charting, envies her 15 hour surgery aches. Which makes her feel good in a vague, competitive way.
It is a weary sigh. And it is a contented sigh. But, mostly, it's an irritated sigh. Because there is a wreath hanging on her front door. It's getting close to Christmas. Meredith knows this not because she cares, but because of the wreath. And the garlands winding around the banister. Tomorrow there will be something new added, of this she is sure. The closer it gets to Christmas, and the more Izzie decorates.
Meredith is trying very hard not to scream. She doesn't like screaming. It doesn't really accomplish anything, and really, Izzie meant well. Meredith is certain that somewhere in Izzie's mind this was a very logical, very normal and OK thing to do. So Meredith is trying not to scream.
"C'mon Mer, relax." Izzie rolls her eyes.
George is afraid to blink. Because things can happen very fast around here, and if he blinks he may miss the moment when Meredith morphs into the holiday hating grinch they all know her for. At which point he is certain she will whip the small wooden figurine at Izzie's head. And then the blonde might need some kind of cool emergency surgery. He wonders if Cristina is thinking something similar.
He glances at her out of the corner of his eye, and decides that she must be. She has that crazy gleam in her eyes. The one she gets right before she pounces on a really incredible case. If Izzie does require some form of cool emergency surgery George may have to be satisfied with whatever minor job Cristina will let him have.
Meredith, who has been quiet for a very long time, turns very slowly to face her blonde roommate. She's holding the offensive decoration in her hands, and she starts waving it around crazily as she starts screaming.
"Relax? Relax?! Seriously! With the freaking baby Jesus watching me from the mantle?!"
In Meredith's defense, it had been a very long day. A bus crash had flooded their ER and they'd lost 3 patients. They were all sleep deprived and on edge. Everyone has their breaking point. Apparently, for Meredith, it was small wooden figurines of baby Jesus.
"Seriously, Izzie. Seriously!" Meredith waves her arms, gesturing at the decorations and the giant tree Izzie had found time to put up and decorate. "What is all this?!"
Izzie is confused. A little hurt, yes, but mostly confused.
"Uh.. Christmas decorations." Izzie is looking at her like she belongs on a nice quiet psych ward somewhere and it makes Meredith remember that she doesn't like screaming.
"Well, maybe we don't celebrate Christmas in this house." Meredith does throw the wooden figurine at Izzie. But it's an underhand toss that Izzie catches easily. George and Cristina look disappointed. Izzie looks like she wants to say something. She keeps opening her mouth, but the words aren't forming.
"What... How do you not celebrate Christmas?" Izzie sputters. She knows Meredith doesn't like the holidays. Any of them. But Christmas is.. well, Christmas.
"Cristina is Jewish." Meredith says this as though it makes sense. Izzie blinks at her and George glances at Cristina as though she knows something he doesn't. Meredith sighs. "We don't all celebrate Christmas, Iz."
"Cristina celebrates Christmas!" Izzie exclaims triumphantly. "With Burke! They have this whole Christmas-Chanukah thing going on. With a tree, and a menorah, and little angel shaped cookies."
"Why are they bringing me into their insanity?" Cristina murmurs to George.
He makes shushing noises and reaches for the popcorn on the table. Izzie was going to use it to make strings of popcorn for the tree, because she's Izzie and that's what Izzie does. George offers some to Cristina who grabs a handful and munches on it loudly. Meredith turns to glare at her, as if her celebrating the holidays is some grand betrayal.
Cristina shrugs one of her shoulders.
"Yeah, we celebrate Christmas. And Chanukah. It's this thing that we're doing it's no big deal."
"Tell her about the cookies!" Izzie insists.
"Izzie!" Cristina isn't yelling, but she is getting annoyed. Izzie turns back to Meredith, having made her point.
"Cristina celebrates the holidays, Mer. Cristina!" They way Izzie says this, Cristina thinks she should be offended. "Maybe you should try to have some holiday spirit every now and then."
Meredith's only response is a sigh. She mutters something about being tired and heads upstairs. Izzie, wearing the smug grin of someone who has just won an argument, proudly places the little wooden baby Jesus back on the mantle.
It's very late. Or, very early depending on how you look at things. Izzie's bedroom door creaks open slowly, and the blonde turns her head towards the sound. She'd always been a light sleeper. When awakened in the middle of the night by the slow creaking of your door opening, most people's initial reaction would be fear. But Izzie knows who it is.
"I didn't expect to see you tonight." Izzie admits softly.
Meredith sighs and closes the bedroom door behind her as she steps into the room.
"I might have... over reacted." Meredith mutters.
It's the closest thing to an apology Izzie is going to receive. Meredith doesn't apologize, and Izzie has learned to live with that. She smiles at her friend and reaches for her. "Come here."
Meredith is toying with something in her hand. She looks nervous, which is ridiculous. They aren't nervous with one another. Not even the first time they fell into bed together, a couple months back after too much alcohol and deep conversation. They spend most nights together now. But Izzie is surprised to see the other woman in her room tonight. After their earlier disagreement, Izzie was convinced she wouldn't see Mer for at least a day or two. But here she is. Fidgeting and looking nervous.
Meredith steps closer to the bed, still playing with the edges of whatever she's holding onto.
"I hate the holidays." She admits, as if it were something Izzie didn't already know. "But I like you. Very much." Meredith frowns. "Ugh I'm not good at this, Iz."
"Mer.." Izzie starts to speak, but stops when Meredith raises her hand about their heads. In the moonlight, she can clearly see what her friend has been playing with. "Is that mistletoe?"
Izzie is smiling now, quite touched. She opens her mouth again to say something, but Meredith doesn't give her a chance. She kisses Izzie fiercely, and Iz moans softly at her passion. Meredith slowly sucks on Izzie's bottom lip before pulling back.
"I can try to have some holiday spirit, every now and then." Mer says quietly, caressing Izzie's face. "I can try, for you."
Izzie smiles and kisses her friend gently, slowly.
"Does this mean you'll help me cook Christmas dinner?" She asks.
Meredith groans, and Izzie laughs.
"Ok, ok, one step at a time."
The End