A/N: I feel like I start every chapter this way these days, but I do want to apologize for yet another delay in getting this chapter up. I suppose I should explain that one of the downsides of my new job is that I am sometimes on-call for emergency situations, which can sometimes lead to crazy hours when they occur.

For this chapter, we're getting back to the Meredith/Lexie relationship that was the core of the story originally. Things have drifted around a bit in the last few chapters, with other relationships coming to the foreground. There's nothing wrong with that, but I figured it was time to get back, at least for this chapter, to what the story was originally meant to explore. Enjoy!

"You want to know something strange?" Lexie asked as she and Meredith sat alone in Molly's room later that morning. George had taken Molly down to radiology for her post-surgery CT, while Alex and Izzie had taken Laura back to Meredith's house for a few hours, leaving the two sisters completely alone for the first time since they had arrived at Mercy West the night before.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"I hate hospitals," Lexie said. "I'm a doctor, and I love what I do, but I cannot stand hospitals. I mean, I get that surgery and hospitals are sort of linked, and I really do love being a surgeon, but I still hate hospitals."

"That is sort of strange, Lexie," Meredith agreed. "Most people don't choose jobs that require them to spend the majority of their life in a place that they hate."

"Well, I don't think I always hated them," Lexie said. "Just recently, it seems like all of the bad things in my life are happening at the hospital."

"That might have something to do with the fact that the only time you're not at the hospital is when you go home to sleep," Meredith pointed out.

"I suppose that's a valid point," Lexie said. "Still, you don't ever think that maybe we're cursed or something? Like, somehow we've incurred bad hospital karma?"

"I don't believe in curses," Meredith said. "And I certainly don't believe in karma."

"You don't?" Lexie asked.

"Trust me, if karma existed, a lot of things in our lives would be very, very different," Meredith said. "My grandmother used to tell me that karma was for people too lazy to shape their own destinies."

"What was your grandmother like?" Lexie asked. "Somehow, I'm having a hard time picturing the type of woman who raised the infamous Ellis Grey."

"Honestly?" Meredith asked. "I have no idea what Ellis' mother was like."

"What do you mean?" Lexie asked.

"I've never met any of my mother's family," Meredith said. "Her parents died when she was in college, and she didn't really have any other relatives."

"But you just said that your grandmother said karma didn't exist," Lexie said in confusion. "I think I'm missing something here."

"Oh no, I meant Vivi," Meredith said. "Sorry, I guess that wasn't clear."

"Vivi?" Lexie asked, still perplexed. "Who's Vivi?"

"Um, Vivian Grey," Meredith said, now finding herself confused as to why Lexie seemed so bothered by the comment.

"Wait, you mean Dad's mother?" Lexie asked in shock. "You remember Grandma Vivian? I mean, I guess it makes sense that you met her, because she was around when Dad was still married to Ellis. But you actually remember her? I mean, really remember her? Not just pictures or stories?"

"Of course I remember her," Meredith said, giving Lexie a confused stare. "Why wouldn't I? My memory is perfectly fine, you know, it wasn't that long ago."

"No, I don't mean to insult your memory or anything," Lexie backpedaled. "It's just surprising, that's all. I mean, you were what, five years old when she died?"

"Nineteen," Meredith said, growing more confused by the moment.

"Nineteen what?" Lexie asked.

"I was nineteen when Vivi died," Meredith said.

"No, no you weren't," Lexie insisted. "Grandma Vivian died in 1981, two years before I was born. You were five in 1981, Meredith."

"Yes, I was five in 1981," Meredith said. "But I was nineteen in 1995, which is when Vivi died. I sat by her side at the hospital, I signed her DNR, and I held her hand while the nurses disconnected her life support. You'll have to trust me on this, Lexie, it was 1995."

"No," Lexie shook her head. "No, there's some sort of mistake here. Why on earth would Dad lie about that? There was no reason, no reason at all, and he absolutely told me that his mother died in 1981."

"I don't know," Meredith said. "I wish I had an answer, but I don't know."

"Maybe there's some sort of mix-up," Lexie said. "Maybe she somehow faked her death or something. That could happen, right? And then Dad thought that she was dead, so he wasn't really lying."

"Lexie…" Meredith said cautiously.

"No," Lexie protested, more to herself that to Meredith. "The one good thing I can say for Dad is that he never lied to us. Not once, not about anything. He didn't even lie about you. He told us we had a sister, he told us you were out there somewhere. If he told us the truth about that, there's no way that he would lie about this. He couldn't have known, he couldn't…"

"He came to her funeral, Lexie," Meredith interrupted gently. "I wish I could make this better by saying he didn't know, but he did. He was there the day we buried her."

"He was?" Lexie asked meekly.

"He was," Meredith confirmed. "He sat in the back and left right after the burial. He came back later, though, to put flowers on her grave, after he thought everyone had gone home. I don't think he saw me watching, but it was definitely him."

"Oh," Lexie sighed, an air of defeat in her voice as she slumped slightly in her chair. "Wow."

"Yeah," Meredith muttered, placing a comforting hand on Lexie's forearm.

"Mom's parents both died when Molly and I were really little," Lexie said sadly. "We both always wanted a grandmother, though. You know, someone to take us shopping, spoil us with presents, and invite us over for sleepovers and homemade cookies. I just can't believe that all of these years, we actually did have a grandmother, but Dad never bothered to tell us about her. Grandma Vivian was alive all that time and I didn't even know it."

"Alright, first of all, you've got to stop calling her Grandma Vivian," Meredith said.

"Why?" Lexie asked. "That's what Dad always called her when he talked about her with us."

"That's all fine," Meredith said. "But to Vivi, 'grandma' was a dirty word. She said it made her feel ancient and outdated. She insisted on only ever being 'Vivi' to me, never 'grandma'. She would have had my head if I ever tried to call her that."

"Alright, Vivi it is," Lexie said.

"And second, please don't do that thing," Meredith said.

"What thing?" Lexie asked.

"That thing you did with me before we met," Meredith said. "You know, where you idealize someone beyond what they actually are. Don't make Vivi into this super-grandma who fits into your perfect vision of the life that could have been. Because honestly, just like I didn't live up to all that hype, Vivi wouldn't have either."

"What do you mean?" Lexie asked.

"Look, don't get me wrong, Vivi was a great person, and I loved her probably more than anyone else in my life when I was younger," Meredith said. "Vivi was loads of fun; a real life-of-the-party type, if you want. And she was full of snappy advice and interesting things to do. She just wasn't exactly what you would call ideal grandmother material. No, Vivi was more likely to buy you a shot of tequila than a Barbie doll, and the only thing her oven was ever used for was storing the bottles that didn't fit in her liquor cabinet."

"Tequila?" Lexie asked skeptically.

"Well, I didn't just develop a taste for it all on my own," Meredith said.

"But from our grandmother?" Lexie asked incredulously.

"Like I said, not exactly ideal grandmother material," Meredith said. "Vivi was a raging alcoholic, Lexie. And I do mean absolutely raging. I think just about the only time the woman bothered to sober up was when she made the drive up to see me. The first time I had a drink, it was Vivi who gave it to me. The first time I got fall-down drunk, it was with Vivi."

"Did she live in Boston?" Lexie asked.

"North Carolina, actually," Meredith said. "She moved there not too long after Mom and I moved to Boston. Before that, I think she lived in Seattle. I seem to recall that she was at our house quite a bit when Mom and Thatcher were still married."

"So how often did you see her?" Lexie curiously. "I mean, did Ellis send you down on the weekends or something?"

"Oh Lord, no," Meredith said, a slight smile playing on her lips. "My mother absolutely despised Vivi, and the feeling was definitely mutual. My mother never would have allowed me to see Vivi, either at our house or hers. As it was, she didn't figure out that I was seeing Vivi until I was almost fifteen, so even though she completed flipped out on me, there wasn't much she could do to stop me, seeing as I was just entering my rebellious teenager phase."

"How did you manage to keep it a secret?" Lexie asked.

"My mother was a complete workaholic," Meredith said. "She worked an intern's hours as an attending. In her mind, every extra second she got in the OR gave her a bigger edge on her competition. It's how she became a great surgeon. It didn't exactly make her a great mother, though. I went through a whole series of nannies until I turned eleven and Mom decided they were a waste of money and I could take care of myself. Starting when I was six, Vivi would drive up to Boston every few months. She'd slip the nanny a few hundred bucks to keep her mouth shut and disappear for the day. Then we'd head out and spend the day together. She always had me home and in bed long before my mother ever got off of work. I loved it, having that little secret, those little breaks to look forward to."

"Do you…do you think she knew about Molly and I?" Lexie asked. "Did she even know I existed?"

"We didn't talk about Mom or Thatcher very often," Meredith admitted. "I asked her about him once, when I was maybe fifteen or so, but that was it. I knew she was Thatcher's mother and I knew she wasn't happy with what happened between him and my mother, but that was generally as far into it as we got. Whatever she knew about Thatcher's life, she didn't share it with me."

"What did she tell you when you asked about him?" Lexie asked.

"She told me I shouldn't waste my time worrying about him," Meredith said. "She said he was…well, she said he was a disgrace to the family name, that he had let her down and abandoned everything she'd ever taught him. She told me that as far as she was concerned, he was dead to her."

"I guess they must have had a falling out or something," Lexie surmised. "I'd like to think that she didn't know, though. Maybe it's selfish, to want to think that she was in the dark rather than that she knew and just didn't care enough to try to see us."

"It's not selfish," Meredith said. "Trust me, I know it doesn't feel great to think that someone you wanted to care for you just abandoned you."

"Oh Meredith, I didn't mean…" Lexie began.

"It's okay," Meredith assured her. "And for what it's worth, I don't think Vivi knew."

"You don't?" Lexie asked hopefully.

"I don't," Meredith said. "Not too long after we talked about Thatcher, I asked her why she spent so much time with me if she hated my parents so much. She just smiled and told me that I was still innocent and that it wasn't my fault my parents were both horrible. She said that a child should never be punished for the sins of its parents and that if she had had to, she would have taken Ellis to court just to get permission to see me. She said that Thatcher was really all she had in the world, and so since I was his daughter, once she'd cut him out, I was all she had left."

"So you don't think Dad could have stopped her from seeing us?" Lexie asked.

"Oh, trust me on this one, what Vivi wanted, Vivi got. If she could find a way to see me behind Ellis Grey's back, she definitely would have been able to find a way to see you and Molly no matter what Thatcher did," Meredith assured her.

"Seriously, Alex, you're a doctor," Izzie said. "How do you not know how to change a diaper?"

"Diaper changing was not part of the curriculum in medical school, thank you very much," Alex retorted. "What makes you such an expert on it, anyway?"

"Lots of kids in the trailer park," Izzie shrugged. "If you weren't at school or working, you watched your neighbor's kid so she could go to class or to work. It's just what we all did. Now get over here so I can teach you how to change a diaper."

"I think I'll pass," Alex insisted. "I'm pretty sure I can live the rest of my life just fine without this lesson."

"Don't count on it," Izzie said. "At the rate you've moved through the nurses, I'm surprised you don't already have an illegitimate kid out there somewhere."

"I know I should be hurt by your implications, but somehow, I'm not," Alex laughed. "And you're still not getting me to change that diaper, either."

"Oh really?" Izzie asked, arching an eyebrow in Alex's direction. "And just what would Lexie say if I returned her niece with a soiled diaper and told her that you refused to change the diaper?"

"She'd probably ask why you couldn't just change the diaper yourself," Alex replied.

"I think you would do well to remember who provides the food around this house, buddy," Izzie retorted. "And if you want to eat my food again, I suggest you get over here and learn to change a diaper."

"Blackmail is so not cool," Alex groaned as walked over to the changing mat Izzie has spread out on the bathroom floor.

"But it works every time," Izzie smiled. "Now, before you start, you want to get out a clean diaper and the baby wipes."

"Diaper, check, wipes, check," Alex ticked off as he pulled the items from Laura's diaper bag and set them next to the baby.

"Now, unsnap her onesie," Izzie instructed. "Pull it up so that it's completely out of the way of the diaper. You wouldn't want to get anything on it."

"Oh, heaven forbid," Alex mocked as he did what he was told. "What next, oh mighty diaper-changing-professor?"

"Keep that up and I might not help you at all," Izzie protested. "And then what would you tell Lexie, hmm? I don't think she'd like to hear that she can't leave her niece alone with her boyfriend for even an hour simply because he can't handle a little diaper."

"I…uh…yeah, um, boyfriend, right…" Alex stuttered. "Um…what next?"

"Get a wipe ready and unfasten the sides of the diaper," Izzie said. "Then pull the front down. Now, why the freak out? Aren't you her boyfriend?"

"I guess you could say that," Alex admitted as he fumbled to get Laura's legs in the correct position to remove the diaper. "It's just…our no-strings thing sure gained a lot of strings pretty quickly, that's all."

"Watch it, Alex, you're going to pull her leg out of joint," Izzie scolded, reaching over and taking over from Alex. "Like this, nice and gentle. She's a baby, not a rag doll. Now grab that wipe and clean her up before you put the fresh diaper on."

"Got it," Alex nodded.

"Now just put on the new diaper," Izzie said. "Be careful not to pull it too tight, though. You don't want to give her diaper rash or anything."

"Voila," Alex said proudly as he lifted Laura up, her fresh diaper in place.

"I guess old dogs can learn new tricks after all," Izzie laughed as she took Laura from Alex's arms. "Now, take that dirty diaper out to the outside trash can, Alex. I don't want it stinking up the whole house."

"How come I get all the dirty jobs?" Alex complained as he headed toward the back door.

"Because Laura likes me better than you," Izzie said. "Isn't that right, sweetie? Yes it is, you know it is."

"Must be because you two operate on such a similar intellectual wavelength," Alex said as he returned to the room.

"Very funny," Izzie said. "At least this time I'm not the one with the messy, complicated relationship."

"What I have with Lexie is not messy," Alex insisted. "It's not complicated, either. It's just…I don't know, it's just so…"

"Stringy?" Izzie suggested.

"That could be one word for it," Alex agreed. "It's just…I don't do relationships, Iz. You know that as well as anyone. It's not that I don't care about her, because I do. I care about her a lot. But I do no-strings for a reason. My track record isn't exactly stellar when it comes to relationships."

"No argument there," Izzie said.

"I just wonder if maybe I shouldn't even be trying," Alex said. "Maybe I'm just making things worse for her by letting there be strings, if in the long run I'm only going to screw things up again."

"Well, that's certainly a negative outlook," Izzie remarked.

"My history with women pretty much speaks for itself," Alex said. "I'm sure it comes as no surprise that you weren't the first girl I cared about that I managed to hurt that way. That's why I stick to no-strings, so that doesn't happen again."

"Okay, I'm going to let you in on a little secret," Izzie said. "When a woman has sex, there are always going to be strings involved, no matter how often she assures you there won't be. So if you're trying to keep people from getting hurt, your no-strings theory sucks. And honestly, what's the point? Yeah, there's a chance you could screw up again, but Alex, we're not talking about forces beyond your control. It's not like you don't know the reason that you've managed to leave a trail of broken-hearted women in your wake."

"In my wake?" Alex asked skeptically. "What am I, a hurricane?"

"You know, I don't have to offer you advice," Izzie pointed out. "So if you want it, I suggest you stop mocking my word choices and listen."

"Sorry," Alex mumbled.

"Anyway, where was I?" Izzie asked. "Right, control. Look, I get that sometimes things happen, but honestly, my only advice to you is to grow a pair and take some responsibility for your actions. No one forced you to cheat in the past, Alex, and no one is going to force you to cheat in the future. This is completely within your control if you want it to be. I do think that you could be happy with Lexie if you wanted to be. Self-control is not something that is beyond your reach, Alex, especially if you're with someone who makes you really happy."

"You really think so?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Hey, I'll tell you what," Izzie offered. "If you feel your resolve slipping, you come find me. We'll get you a chastity belt and give Lexie the only key."