Meredith sat across from her brother. All four children now awake and sitting in their bouncers. She hadn't really spoken since her had arrived, and in reality, neither had he.

The cheesecake Derek had bought sat between them. Both had eaten a slice, and Meredith was now in the motions of carving off her second slice.

"I should have told you about Jenna." He finally said as he looked up at her. "Carol died a month ago and she's got no one else." He tried to explain.

Meredith didn't look up; she just concentrated on eating her cake.

"Come on Mer." He almost pleaded. "I'm all she had."

Meredith didn't need to look up for Derek to know that she had just rolled her eyes. "And her 3 older sisters mean nothing?" she asked.

"Nancy had the twins, Sandy is too busy enjoying married life, and Kath, well Kath's already trying to be soccer mom and run her own practice." Derek told her. "I'm the only one that has time for her."

Meredith stabbed at her cake with the fork.

"Mer what are you so damn upset about?" Derek asked as he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't see why this should bother you. I thought you would actually understand."

Meredith tried to hide the tears that were building in her eyes. They were on the verge of spilling over.

"Mer" Derek pushed again.

Meredith still refused to look up. "I'm always the last to know." She said.

"What?" Derek asked.

"When mom got diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I was the last to know. When Addie had cancer, I was the last to know. When you'd go spend the holidays at the Shepherd house, I was the last to know." She told him.

"Mer" Derek said feeling like he was still missing something.

"When I got into college you were the first to know. When I got engaged to Addie, you were the first to know, and finally" she said "when I decided to have children you were the first to know."

Derek still looked confused when she looked up at him and her eyes met his.

"Nearly every holiday you would pack up and go to the Shepherd house, effectively ditching me for the summer, or whatever break it may have been. You would always then comeback with all these fantastic stories about what you did with you other family, and what did I do? Nothing! Because I had nowhere to go. I never had another family to want me." She choked a little on her words. "You would run to them whenever they needed you. You would tell them everything first and ... and I would be forgotten." She said. "So you want to know why I'm upset?" she asked as she put the cake back down on the table, and trying to keep her voice calm.

Derek reluctantly nodded.

"I'm sick of being forgotten by everyone who is supposed to matter in my life." She told him.

Derek was shocked by her outburst. He had never known that she felt this way. "I don't forget you Mer." Derek said his eyes unable to hide the hurt.

"You do" she said as she moved to stand, no longer able to sit. "Yes you've been there for m, I know, and with the leukaemia thing you were great, but she's always taken priority. Mom didn't want me. Thatcher didn't want me. None of you wanted me. It was as if you were stuck and every time you could get free you would. I'm the little sister you didn't really want." She said with I sigh. "I was just there."

.......