Chapter One

He is a successful, honest man although he has nobody in his life. His mom died of cancer when he was only six years old. After that, his father became an abusive drunk, spiraling out of control. His father resented him, simply because his son reminded him of her. He suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of his father. He grew to hate and loathe his father. He eventually began to have fantasies of his mother, who he vaguely remembered. He would dream of the unconditional love that his mother gave him. He would stare at a picture of his beautiful mother. Her blonde hair cascading down her back and her green eyes sparkling even in the night. Then, as he grew older, he began to be attracted by beautiful blonde haired, green-eyed women. They intoxicated him.

Now, as an adult, a beautiful woman catches his eye. She is Caucasian with blonde hair just below her shoulders. Her green eyes stare at her African American baby girl placed in the child seat of the cart as she strolls up and down the isles of the grocery store, periodically catching items from the selves and placing them in the basket. Just by the look in her face, he can tell that this woman is a great mother. Immediately, he falls in love with her. He is consumed by the desire to know everything about her. He wants to marry her.

He hides behind the end of an isle, glancing at her. She is in the baby isle, carefully picking baby food out. She talks to her daughter, asking what she would like. "Peas and carrots," she asks, "or peaches?" The baby coos and smiles; she reaches both her arms up to be held. The woman nods, "that's what I thought too," she says as she places both jars of baby food in her cart and picks her daughter up in her arms.

Suddenly the woman's head snaps to her left and looks right at him. His heart beats faster as she begins to acknowledge him. She immediately gives him a sweet smile before returning her attention to her baby in her arms. Now he knows that this woman, with the baby in her arms, is in love with him too. He abandons his groceries and follows her home, careful not to be spotted.

xoxo

Meredith Grey is standing in the grocery store in the baby isle with her daughter, Zola, in her arms. For no apparent reason, she turns her attention to her left where she sees an average looking man poking out from the end of the isle, staring at her. She flashes him a smile and turns away. Pushing the cart with one hand and holding Zola with the other, she slowly continues to weave her way in and out of isles. She doesn't notice the average looking man tailing her.

Meredith loads Zola in her car seat and gets in her car. She begins driving home. Still, she does not notice the average looking man following her. She is unaware that she is leading him to her home.

After Meredith unloads the groceries, she turns off the downstairs lights and proceeds to give Zola a bath. She laughs as Zola coos and splashes water. A feeling of overwhelming love washes over her, and suddenly she knows that this baby girl sitting in front of her is her world, along with her husband, Derek Shepard. She grabs a towel from the nearby towel rack and wraps Zola lovingly in her arms. After drying her off, Meredith dresses Zola and places her in her crib. She turns on a mobile above the crib, and gently rubs Zola's chest. Zola stares at her mother, with bright eyes before yawning. Meredith smiles from ear to ear and turns around, flicking off the light and closing the door slightly.

Meredith heads to the master bathroom where she draws a bubble bath, slips her clothes off, and slowly dips her toes in followed by her whole body. Meredith settles and leans against the back of the tub. She places her toes slightly above the water line. Suddenly she is fully relaxed. She takes a few deep breaths.

Meredith's thoughts begin to unravel like a ball of yarn. The memory of the plane crash, her sister's death and the unknown begin to unravel all too quickly and her body tenses. Derek doesn't know it but Meredith cries daily, grieving. She thinks about Lexie constantly and begins to wish that she were at work, in a surgery. Nothing else clears her mind quite like surgery does. She closes her eyes and imagines that she is in a surgery, surrounded by scrub nurses and her husband. Suddenly missing her husband and no longer enjoying the piece and quiet, she shoots out of the tub and wraps herself tightly in her towel. She begins to sob softly, standing in the middle of the bathroom, paralyzed.

Meredith's paralysis disappears when she hears a noise from downstairs. She knows that it's too early for Derek to be home as he has a late class tonight. Her breathing quickens and her heart races. She secures the towel around her body. She slowly walks to the hallway, straining to hear any other noises. She slowly walks, down the stairs, running her hand along the railing. "Derek?" she asks when she gets to the bottom of the stairs. She cranes her neck but sees nothing. She jumps when she hears clinking coming from the kitchen. She slowly walks to the kitchen and what she sees frightens her.

In the far corner of the kitchen she sees a man hiding among the shadows. She gasps and turns the light on. She takes a sigh of relief when she realizes that the man is Derek. He is digging through the pantry. When the light turns on, he jumps up and looks towards the entrance.

Seeing that Meredith's face is pale, he asks, "Meredith, what's wrong?" He closes the pantry door and makes his way towards his wife.

Meredith places her hand over her heart and takes a few deep breaths. "You scared me," she says with a raised voice. "I thought you had a late class."

Derek's lips reach his wife's and he gives her a soft kiss. He smiles sadly and says, "I cancelled it. I wanted to be with my wife."

Meredith smiles and wraps her arms around Derek. He reciprocates by wrapping his arms around her.

Meredith releases her grip on Derek and her hand slips down his arm, never unlocking her eyes with his. She finds his hand and guides him to their bedroom.

xoxo

He parks his truck along the road, out of sight from the house. He slowly gets out and takes in the fresh air. He sees a silver old-fashioned trailer positioned relatively near a beautiful house, set at the edge of a cliff. He uses the trees and the descending sun as cover to watch her. He stares at her as she unloads her daughter then the groceries from the car. He is completely infatuated by her and he must learn more. Soon after she disappears into the house, the lights downstairs are turned off. Moments later, the lights upstairs are turned on. He has seen all he can see tonight. He will return later, probably tomorrow to learn everything there possibly is to know about her. He gets in his truck and disappears into the night.