"Hello?" Susan said as she answered the ringing phone.

"Hi Mom."

"Alexandra? How are you?" Susan said with a smile.

"Fine; better. It's a lot easier to sit down now." Lexie said with a chuckle. "And it's so good to be home. Don't get me wrong I love staying with Meredith but there's just something about having your own place." Susan nodded in agreement.

"How's the baby?"

"He's perfect Mom. He's settling into the family quite nicely."

"How is Lynn doing with him?" Susan asked as she flipped through a stack of mail the kitchen counter.

"Mom, she's so funny. She kept telling Alex that Jonny is the baby inside my tummy and when he cries she runs to him and rubs his head and says 'shh baby its ok' just like I do." Susan laughed as she pictured her two year old granddaughter.

"So you're all settled then? No more stuff at Meredith's?"

"Nope, all cleared out. And just in time too. She's gotta start planning the nursery." Lexie said.

"I heard. Her due dates November 27th right?" Susan said with a sigh.

"That's what she told me." Both women fell silent as they thought about everything that Meredith had been through over the past couple of years.

"We have to stay positive for her." Susan said.

"I know. But I have a feeling that this baby might be the one." Susan nodded and smiled. She heard a plate crash and the tiny sobs in the background.

"Uh oh."

"Oh Lynn! I told you not to climb on the table!" Lexie scolded her daughter. "Mom I gotta go."

"Oh bye honey." And Susan hung up the phone.

"Who's that?" Thatcher called from the living room. Susan grabbed two mugs and poured coffee into them before she went into the living room. She handed one cup to Thatcher who was sitting on the couch watching TV and snuggled up beside him. She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes.

"Who was on the phone?" He said lightly into her hair.

"Oh just Lexie. She's defiantly got her hands full with Lynn and the new baby." Susan smiled and looked up at him. "Remember how crazy it was after Molly was born?"

"Remember how crazy it was after they were all born?" He said with a chuckle.

"Amazing how time goes by that quickly. Our babies are having babies." She said with a sigh. Thatcher rested his head on hers and became aware of her sudden sniffling and her quivering shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He said sitting up straighter.

"Nothing, I'm just tired that's all." She answered wiping her face. He turned off the TV and placed his mug on the coffee table. He turned to look at her and she peered up at him. The tears streamed down her cheeks and the pain in her eyes alone broke his heart.

"What is it?" He asked in a softer tone. She sighed and wiped her cheeks.

"I'm scared." She whispered. Thatcher watched her for a second and the pulled her into his arms, as he had so many times before. He said nothing; just let her cry into his chest. She hadn't cried before about her cancer but he knew that she was getting too tired to hope and to fight. Seeing this emotion in her caused him to become speechless.

"What can I do? I don't know how to stop this?" She whispered between sobs. He choked and couldn't respond." I…what if I don't make it to George's wedding?" Susan sobbed and he got his voice back.

"You'll make it. I'll make sure you make it." He said and she gave him a slight smile. He kissed her gently and she sighed.

"How did we end up like this? Look at everything that we've been through, and its going to end…like this?"

"This isn't the end, just a temporary separation." He said with a smile, but she didn't fall for it. "Your whole life you've fought for the things that you want and the people that your love and now-"

"I'm going out giving up." She looked frustrated.

"You're going out fighting. You're not going to give up until it's absolutely necessary." She smiled at his confidence in her. She wiped her face and took a sip of her coffee, which soothed her.

"I don't know how I would cope without you." She said.

"You don't know how many times I'm asking myself that now." He said with a sad smile. She teared up again and the only thing he could think of was to kiss her. Her familiar lips touched his with the same love and passion as they had since they had first kissed, but they quivered slightly with fear and sadness and that was a feeling he would never forget.

------

Thatcher walked into their bedroom at 1030. The light beside Susan was still on and she had fallen asleep reading, like she did every night. He leaned against the doorframe and took a mental picture. He studied her calm face. It was still the same face that he had fallen in love with, only it had a few more characteristics to it.

She looked so peaceful and calm that he was afraid to move, but he knew she would be more comfortable if she was lying down properly, instead of leaning on the pillows. He took the book from her hands and she stirred slightly.

"What is it?" She asked sleepily/

"Nothing Sweetheart, just go back to sleep." He took out one of the pillows from behind her and she squirmed down the bed. She turned on her side and fell back to sleep. Her wig had moved out of place as she had gotten into the position that she was in now and it showed the tiny pale hairs, on her smooth scalp that had never really had the chance to grow back. He took the wig gently off her head and placed it on the manikin on her dresser. He switched off the light and noticed the way the moon shone on her face, through the window. He was struck by a memory of when they first met. The way the light made her face look so peaceful, so angelic…

Flashback

Walking into his father's clothing factory, 18 year old Thatcher listened to the buzzing sowing machines and the quiet voices of the women working away. He looked across the rows of women as he made his way to his father's office and caught a glimpse of a smiling girl, about 16, with long brown curly hair tied back with a blue ribbon. She was smiling and laughing at something that girl in front of her was saying and her blue eyes twinkled with pure amusement.

He was transfixed by her beauty and her smile. He wanted to be the person to cause that smile. He was so lost in her that he didn't even hear his father approach him.

"Some pretty girls out there huh?" His father said, startling him. He patted his son on the back and chuckled when he noticed that he scared him.

"They are." Thatcher agreed and casually glanced back at the girl.

"Her name's Susan Fitzgerald." His father said, knowing which girl that had caught his son's eye.

"She's new here, isn't she?" Thatcher said, glancing at his father briefly.

"She's been here about two months now."

"I've never noticed her before."

"You should come by more often." His father said with some bitterness to his tone. Thatcher chose to ignore it. His father sighed. "You should go and talk to her."

"Maybe later." He blushed.

"What's the matter? Nervous?"

"No, I'm defiantly not nervous of a girl." He said blushing a darker red.

"Come on, I'll introduce you. Hey Susan," The girl looked up at them with a smile. Her gaze flicked to Thatcher and then back to his father. "Come here for a second."

"Father no!" Thatcher groaned quietly. His father just turned and winked at him. The girl slowly approached with a look of curiosity on her face.

"Susan this is my son Thatcher. Thatch this is the new girl, Susan. You know the one that I was telling you about." He winked at his son and Thatcher inwardly groaned.

"Hi." She said with a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you." He said sticking out his hand politely. She looked at him for a second and then shook his hand. He was surprised at the softness of her hand in his and how they seemed to fit together life a puzzle piece. She smiled up at him and that's when he knew, this was the girl for him

End Flashback

He smiled as he climbed into the bed beside her and turned to look at her. He remembered what it had been like in the beginning. At first she had been stubborn and gave him every excuse not to go out with him; she wasn't comfortable dating her boss's son, she wasn't interested in dating at the moment, she had a boyfriend. But when he convinced her to go see a movie as a non-date, he knew that he had won that battle. For the next two years they dated consistently, only breaking up once when they had an argument over what they wanted their lives to be like. She wanted kids and he didn't, so she said they wanted different things and would never live a happy life together and broke up with him. He shortly realized that he wanted her more than anything else and decided making a few exceptions wouldn't hurt him too much.

They were married on April 26th. 1975. They spent one year, just the two of them, happy and traveling the globe. January 15 1977, Meredith Joan Grey was born and turned their world upside down. What Thatcher remembers the most is the late night feedings and the way that Susan would cry about nothing and no matter what he did he couldn't sooth her. After the first three months, things started to become easier and they settled into a nice routine. The small family lived in a tiny, 2 bedroom apartment for almost 3 years before the place started to become crowded.

When Susan became pregnant for the second time, Thatcher went on the hunt for a bigger house. He came upon the house that they currently lived in, by accident. He had gotten lost on his way to see a slightly bigger apartment and found the house. It was a little bit over their budget but he knew that Susan would like it. So with the help of his parents they bought the house and two weeks later, on December 23, 1980, Molly Sarah Grey was born.

This time was entirely new experience for them. Molly was constantly sick, in and out of the hospital with colds and infections. He remembered the countless times that he thought they were going to lose this tiny baby and this made his bond with Molly that much stronger. After her first birthday, her immune system seemed to kick in and she never experienced a near death moment again. Life settled down, like it normally does, and they had the perfect little family.

March 7th 1986, Alexandra Marie and David Jonathan Grey were born. It seemed to him that every time Susan had a baby he never truly seemed prepared for what they were about to experience. Alexandra was a colicky baby and cried a lot, where as David was quiet and peaceful and never really cried too much. It was a big adjustment having 4 children all under the age of 10, and also expensive. So to help with the expenses, Susan got a part time job and hired a babysitter from down the street.

One day, Susan picked up the girls from school and pulled into the driveway. That whole day she had felt like something was wrong and when there was no car in the drive way her suspicions only grew stronger. She opened the door and called out a greeting, which was copied by 8 year old Meredith and 5 year old Molly. When no one answered Susan started to panic and raced upstairs to the twins' bedroom. Lexie was sound asleep in her crib, but the crib across from her was empty. Susan phoned the cops and told them that her baby had been kidnapped.

For 2 agonizingly, painfully long weeks they worried about their lost son. Then he was found, abandoned in a ditch at the side of the road. He was wearing a blue sleeper with yellow ducks on it and wrapped in a white blanket, dead. The woman they had hired had just lost her baby boy to pneumonia and had been suffering from depression. She thought that David could fill the void of her lost baby and when she realized that it was more work that she had thought she panicked and placed the baby somewhere that he would be found. Susan had screamed when the police told her and Thatcher had carried her up to bed so she could calm down. The funeral passed by in a blur and Susan fell into a depression that she couldn't shake.

Eventually Susan came out of her depression and around this time she started attending church. She would pray for the soul of her baby and would tell the girls to pray for the baby's soul too. Attending church seemed to help her and it brought back the woman that Thatcher had always known. But her eyes didn't twinkle as much and he would catch her sometimes with a sad look on her face.

September 14th, 1988 George Thomas Grey was born and Susan became a stay at home mom, too afraid to trust anyone again. With the birth of George came the decision that 4 children was enough. She devoted her entire life to her children and raised them to be the best people they could be.

Thatcher thought about his children and noticed that each one had a gained a specific quality from Susan. Meredith was the responsible kid, ready to take on whatever needed to be done with no questions asked. In her teenage years she became a best friend to her mother and a substitute mother to her siblings when her mother was not present. Molly was the fighter. She was the one who worked hard for what she got and never let anything stand in her way. Failing was not an option for Molly and she took it as a challenge to work harder. Lexie was peaceful and calm. She was the one who soothed out conflicts between others and was normally the one who listened to both sides before giving her opinion. This left George. Finding the part of Susan in George was hard. Apart from the bright blue eyes and the dark hair George was very much like Thatcher. He was chubby as a child, and athletic as a teen. He flirted with every girl in school and never fully committed himself to anything. But when Thatcher thought hard about George he realized that George had inherited Susan's sense of humor. Susan had the ability to make everyone in the room laugh with just one sentence and George had this same quality. Like Susan, George enjoyed jumping out of a closet and scaring someone, or concocting harmless little pranks, such as tying a rubber spider to a rope and dangling it over his sisters' head.

Thatcher smiled as he thought about all of his children. He remembered hoe sad Susan had been when the girls all left the "nest". He remembered the look of pure pride on his wife's face when each one of them graduated high school and when they got married. He remembered Susan's tears of happiness on the day that Lynn was born. But the face that he would never forget, he saw on June 2, 2008.

Flashback

Susan had been in the shower for a long time and Thatcher was patiently waiting downstairs, for her to finish. They had planned to visit old family friends who lived in Toronto and they were running a bit behind. Susan had been feeling tired lately and she tended to do things at a slower pace these days and this irritated him just a bit.

"Susan come on." He said as he knocked on the bathroom door. As he turned to go back downstairs the door opened and steam flowed out into the hallway. Susan stood staring at him, in only her underwear. She was completely dry, hadn't even showered yet. He sighed with frustration. "We're going to be late." He said and then noticed the tears in her eyes and the look of horror on her face. He suddenly felt awful for being impatient with her when she was clearly upset about something. "What is it?" He asked as he gently touched her arm.

"I have a lump." He watched the words leave her lips but didn't hear them. He stared at her not actually seeing her.

"P-Pardon?" He asked shaking his head.

"I HAVE A LUMP! ON MY BREAST! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? A LUMP!" She shouted through her tears and he snapped back to reality. He saw the tears and pulled her into his arms.

"It's ok." He said, thinking only the worst, but trying to stop her from thinking the worst.

"It's not ok!" She sobbed and pulled away. Her face was angry and frustrated but her eyes were full of fear. "It means cancer, Thatcher." He let out a shaky breath and stared at his wife.

"Not necessarily." Her mouth opened in defense and he held up his hands to stop her. "Don't start freaking out until you know for sure." As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it.

"FREAKING OUT?" she screamed. "THIS IS MY LIFE I'M FREAKING OUT ABOUT!" He sighed again.

"I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. "Let's make an appointment for tomorrow and get it checked." He said calmly and she sighed.

"Ok."

"Ok." He nodded and turned to leave. He wanted to be by himself when he started freaking out.

"Thatch?" she called him just as he reached the stairs. She was standing in the hallway, wrapped in a towel. "What if I do have cancer?" She said with a look of horror on her face. He walked back to her and studied her face. He gently kissed her lips and sighed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

The next day they were sitting in the waiting room. Susan had been tested and they were just waiting for her scans. A small blonde nurse, of about 23, called out their name and smiled at them as she lead them down a narrow hallway. She stopped at a small room and they walked into the room.

"Just have a seat and the doctor will be right with you." She said to them, for the third time that day. Susan sat on the table while Thatcher stood beside her holding her hand tightly.

10 minutes later the door opened and Meredith walked in. She smiled slightly and then closed the door.

"So?" Thatcher said anxiously and felt Susan give his hand a squeeze. They both knew, from the way that Meredith avoided eye contact, what the results were. Meredith looked up briefly and tears were in her eyes.

"Mom you-you have…"her lip quivered and she started to sob. Susan got down off the exam table and went to Meredith's side. She gently held her daughter's arms and looked her directly in the face.

"Say it Meredith. Come on, it's ok." Meredith took a deep breath and looked her mother in the face.

"Mom you have…stage 4 Breast Cancer." As the words left her mouth Meredith's whole body shuddered and Susan held her steady so she wouldn't fall down. Thatcher felt like he had just been punched in the chest. His heart hurt and he couldn't breath. He stood back and watched his wife with amazement. She had taken a moment to let it sink in and addressed the situation in front of her.

"Shh honey it's ok." Susan said, wrapping her arms around her sobbing daughter. "Here sit down." She lead Meredith to a chair and Meredith plopped down. Susan handed Meredith a box of tissues and Meredith wiped her face with one.

"Look at us. You're comforting me when I just told you that you have…"she couldn't say the word. The two women sat studying each other's faces.

"So, how do we get rid of this?" Susan said.

"Chemotherapy is our best chance. We can also try surgery but it won't get…all of it." Tears were brimming Meredith's eyes again. "I'm sorry Mom."

"It's not your fault honey." Susan said with a sad smile.

"I know I just cant do anything to help you." Susan thought about this for a moment and then smiled slightly.

"You can actually." Meredith looked up at her mother with curiosity.

"Don't tell the others."

End Flashback

So here they were a year and a half later and she was still fighting. After Christmas they had agreed to Surgery and told the kids they were going on a vacation. And it went smoothly. Surgery had been good for a while and things had started to look better. But the cancer came back, more aggressively and they were told it was only a matter of time.

He felt a warm hand on his cheek and opened his eyes. Susan was looking at him with a worried/sleepy expression.

"You're crying?" She whispered. He wiped his face and looked at her. He took a deep breath to stop himself from crying but the tears poured down his face.

"Shh…it's ok honey." Those words forever burned into his memory.