Two weeks had passed since Meredith had been sick and things had been better than ever. Meredith was becoming closer with Lexie's friends and school was going well for her. She was starting to feel closer to everyone in the family and things were starting to become normal again. Lexie woke up on a Saturday morning and looked over to Meredith's bed and noticed the girl wasn't there. She checked the clock and saw it was 8am. Meredith usually liked to sleep in on the weekends, but she figured she was just downstairs watching tv or drawing. Lexie made her way to the bathroom and took a shower before making her way downstairs. She walked by her parent's room and noticed that they were still asleep. She got down into the kitchen and still didn't see Meredith anywhere. She checked in the living room and out on the porch. She began to feel a little worried because Meredith never left the house without another member of the family. She tried to call her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. She went back upstairs and woke up her parents.

"Hey, did Meredith have anything going on this morning? She isn't in our room and I don't see her anywhere downstairs. I tried calling her phone and she didn't pick up," Lexie said as both her parents sat up and quickly got out of bed.

"She didn't tell us she had anywhere to be," Susan said as Thatcher tried calling her phone again with no luck. The three went downstairs and spent 30 minutes trying to figure out where the girl could have gone. Lexie texted her friends to make sure that they hadn't heard from her. They all texted back that they hadn't but would let her know if they heard anything. The three of them in the house were all starting to freak out and Susan was getting close to calling the cops when Thatcher looked down at the calendar and saw the date.

"Today is her mom's birthday," Thatcher said as Lexie and Susan turned around.

"What," Susan said as she put down the phone.

"Ellis's birthday is today. It's her first birthday that she isn't alive for. I'm sure it upset Meredith," Thatcher continued as both girls looked at him.

"Why didn't she tell any of us," Lexie said.

"Honey, you know it isn't easy for her to talk about her mom," Susan said as Lexie nodded her head. "Alright so where do we think she went. We didn't have a funeral, so she wouldn't be at a cemetery and the ashes are sitting in the closet here," Susan continued as Thatcher thought of something.

"I think I know where she might be. I think it is probably best if I go alone but I will let you know as soon as I find her," Thatcher said as Susan and Lexie wanted to protest but knew the two probably needed some time alone. Thatcher said goodbye to both of them and starting driving to Meredith's old house. He pulled up to the house and after looking through it and not finding Meredith he looked out the back door and saw her sitting up against a tree. He slowly walked out the door and saw Meredith wiping tears from her eyes as she turned towards him.

"Sorry I know I should have left a note or told someone where I was going," Meredith said looking up at Thatcher.

"I would have brought you here if you had told me. We were all very worried when we couldn't find you this morning," Thatcher said as he pulled out his phone and sent a message to his wife that he had found Meredith. He put the phone back into his pocket and went to sit down across from the young girl.

"I know I just didn't think. I woke up and remembered that it was my mom's birthday and it was all too much, so I went outside and before I knew it, I had taken the bus and ended up near the house. My mom usually worked most of her birthdays and mine for that matter, but I would usually still see her for an hour or two and I just realized that I would never see her again on her birthday," Meredith finished as she looked down at the ground trying to stop the tears coming out of her eyes.

"I know you miss her Meredith. I don't think there is anything I can say that will help right now," Thatcher said as he almost wished Susan had come with him. His wife always had a way with words and right now he didn't know what to say to the girl crumbling in front of him.

"No, you don't know. You weren't there," Meredith yelled, and Thatcher was taken aback for a minute. He had never heard the girl raise her voice. "I want to be mad at her for always putting work before me. I want to hate her for treating me like a pet instead of her daughter, but I can't because she is dead. You don't know what it was like growing up as the daughter of the famous Ellis Grey. She was a fantastic doctor but when it came to being a mother, she had no clue what she was doing. I can't even tell her any of this because she can't hear me anymore and that sucks," Meredith continued as the tears began falling faster. "I can't help but think what my life could have been like had you been around. I could have had a childhood like Lexie with two parents but instead I had one who couldn't even bother to take a day off for my birthday," Meredith was sobbing at this point and could barely get the words out. She wrapped her arms around her legs and put her head in her knees and just let the tears come out.

"Meredith, I wish more than anything that I could have been around when you were growing up. I'm so sorry that you were alone and if I had known about you, I would have been there. I know your mom isn't around anymore, but you are allowed to feel however you do," Thatcher said and not knowing what else to say reached out and put his hand on Meredith's back. She turned so her head was against his shoulder and the two sat like that for a while as she continued to cry.

000

Thatcher and Meredith made their way back to his house and he drove in mostly silence. Meredith had gone into the bathroom and cleaned herself up before they had headed back, and Thatcher had called Susan and let her know what was going on. He pulled into the driveway and Meredith got out of the car and headed straight upstairs to her room and laid down on her bed. She didn't feel like talking to anyone right now and just wanted to rest. Thatcher walked in behind Meredith and went into the kitchen where Susan and Lexie were sitting both wearing concerned looks on their faces.

"Should I go up and talk to her," Lexie said as she looked towards her parents.

"Why don't you give her some time alone," Susan said as she knew the girl probably would want to be left alone. Lexie nodded her head and went onto the porch to listen to some music.

"I have never seen her that angry. She has so much anger directed towards her mother that I never knew about, and I felt so guilty sitting there," Thatcher said as Susan rubbed his back.

"Thatcher you never knew about Meredith. I know if you did know about her you would have done something. I think that it is probably a good thing that she got some of that anger out though. She has obviously been holding onto it for a long time and she needs to deal with some of it otherwise it will consumer her," Susan said as Thatcher nodded his head.

"I know I just hope she will be okay," Thatcher said as he put his head in his hands. Susan reached over and grabbed one of his hands. Thatcher knew in this moment that he had to step up and be the father that Meredith never had growing up. He knew that he owed at least that to the girl.