Airports. Meredith hated them. She hated the smell of them, she hated the feeling of them. But most of all she hated the people in them. All of them were either smiling or crying. There was the happy mother, the tearful wife. And then there was her, sitting in the terminal waiting for the plane in paper-thin patient outfit with a brown jacket.

Right now, she hated all of them. With their tears of joy and their hugs. She hated the girlfriend as she jumped into the arms of her boyfriend. She hated the husband and the wife who were making out right in front of her. She especially hated when the little girls hugged their moms so tightly around the neck and kissed them on the cheek. Knowing she could've had that made her even more depressed.

She checked her watch. 7:05. 25 more minutes. She sat there staring at the many people surrounding her. They never noticed, too engulfed in their own little world to notice a strange woman boring her eyes into their affairs.

"You know, it's not nice to look at people!" She heard a little voice scold.

She turned and saw that the seat next to her had been occupied by a pint-sized little girl. She had dark brown hair, tied up into two pigtails and striking green eyes. She wore a pink dress and swung her little legs to and fro as she sat impatiently in the seat.

"You know you shouldn't talk to strangers." Meredith said. The little girl shrugged and started playing with her ponytails.

"What's your name?" She asked suddenly, turning to Meredith.

"Um…Meredith." She heard herself saying. No use in lying.

"Well my name's Madison. Madison Sophia Thompson." She said confidently, offering her hand to Meredith.

"Nice to meet you, Madison." Meredith said politely, faking a smile. The name leaving her a bitter taste in her mouth as she remembered the events, remembered the person who had caused it all, who had sabotaged her marriage.

"Why are you so sad?" Madison asked innocently. She looked up at Meredith, her hand slightly tilted as her forehead wrinkled in concern.

"I'm not sad." Meredith stated, giving Madison another one of her fake smiles. Madison put her hands on her hips and turned towards Meredith.

"My daddy says that lying is really bad, ya know!" She scolded, taking one hand off of her hips, pointed at Meredith and shook it.

"I'm not lying!" Meredith insisted. She looked at the cute little girl who was now shaking her head at her.

"Ya know, the first step is admitting you have a problem." Madison said wisely as Meredith's eyes widened in shock.

"How do you know that?!" Meredith asked, shocked. The girl couldn't be older than 7!

"I went to meetings with my dad sometimes. He'd go in first and then I'd sneak in. And the lady always said, 'The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.'" She said in her best grownup voice. Meredith laughed at the little girls antics.

"How do you even know what that means?" Meredith asked, curiously.

"Ya know, I'm almost 6! I know how to read! And know things already!" Madison said proudly.

"A smart little girl once told me that lying is really bad." Meredith said, smiling.

"Fine, my daddy told me. He said that it meant that by saying you are sad, it will make you happy! So all you have to do is say that your sad! Then all of the frowning will go away!" Madison exclaimed, jumping up and down the seat excitedly. Meredith smiled at the energetic little girl.

"Well, you're daddy's a wise man." Meredith said.

"Yeah, that's what I told the lady too. I said daddy's real smart and really wayse, but she said that I shouldn't hafta sneak into meetings. She said that those meetings were bad and that I should go live with my daddy's mommy and leave daddy alone. I tried to say that I don't wanna but she said it was an unable enronment for me." Madison said sadly, stumbling through her words.

"You mean unstable environment? That's what the lady told you?" Meredith corrected. Madison nodded her head slightly as she back down in her seat, no longer energetic.

"Oh come on, now you're making me sad!" Meredith said, trying to cheer the little girl up. Madison looked up at her with tears in her eyes. Meredith's heart went out for the poor girl as she hugged Madison tightly, Madison holding onto Meredith's neck tightly.

"I miss him." Madison cried. Meredith couldn't help but cry too.

"I bet he misses you too." Meredith soothed.

"But I miss him more." Madison rebutted.

"That may be true but I'm sure he misses you a whole lot also."

"I wish I was with my mommy and daddy." Madison's voice was muffled as she buried her head into the crook of Meredith's neck.

"What happened to your mommy?" Meredith asked.

"Mommy went on vacation forever. Daddy said that she went to Antarctica because it was just like her heart. Daddy's silly." Madison giggled through her tears.

"I bet he is. So your mommy left you with your daddy?"

"My mommy told me that she was very sorry for not being strong and that she had to leave because she wasn't strong enough. But I told her that if she can pick me up, she's already stronger than me!" Madison said.

"Madison, it's time to go." A woman with her red hair said. Her hair was tied tightly into a bun and her lips pierced into a forced smile as she saw the scene before her, disapproval showed in her eyes.

"No! I want to stay with Meredith!" Madison said, burying her head deeper into Meredith's neck.

"Madison, let's leave the nice lady alone. Don't you want to see your grandma?" The lady said, faking cheerfulness. She gave Meredith an apologetic smile when Madison made no indication that she was moving.

"Madison, how about I give you my phone number and you can call me whenever you want?" Meredith offered. Madison lifting her head up to meet Meredith's eyes.

"Okay." Madison said defeated. Meredith got a pen from her purse and wrote down her number on Madison's arm.

"Goodbye, Madison." Meredith waved goodbye to the little girl.

"Goodbye, Meredith! Don't be sad anymore, kay?" The sweet little girl gave Meredith a kiss on the cheek before taking the hand that was offered by the woman. Meredith waved goodbye until Madison was out of her sight. Then she sighed as she thought about the poor little girl.

She checked her watch again. 7:25. 5 more minutes. She thought about Madison and then about her own baby. She put her hand protectively around her belly. She didn't want her baby to end up like Madison, with no one to turn to, no mommy or daddy to tuck in at night. Meredith's eyes welled with tears as she remembered Madison's words. [I mommy told me she was very sorry for not being strong enough[/I. What if she wasn't strong enough either? Was it fair to deprive the baby of its own father?

[INow boarding plane 4539 to New York[/I

She saw as the gate opened and the people slowly stood up from the terminal to give their ticket to the attendant before they disappeared down the long hallway. Meredith sat there as she watched. She looked at the ticket that was in her hand. Leaving Seattle would be leaving Derek, leaving the only family she ever knew. Derek. It was over between them. But that didn't mean that he couldn't be in their baby's life, right? Was running away really the best way?

The line that had formed was getting shorter, and shorter yet, until there was only one more person. She looked at the ticket in her hand. Should she stay? Or should she leave? She slowly stood up, holding the ticket firmly in her hand.


A/N: So the last update, Derek decides to go after Meredith, win her back. This update, after meeting Madison, she finds that maybe raising a kid by herself isn't going to be as easy as she thought. I mean, she never thought it was going to be easy but now she sees the repercussions of what had happened to Madison and she doesn't want that to happen to her kid. So she is doubting herself, the plane is about to take off, she stands up to...What will she do?! REVIEW and you with find out soon enough! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!