When Alex entered the kitchen it was obvious that he was confused. From her seat at the table, Meredith could see the troubled look in his eyes. Not wanting to open a discussion, she turned and tuned back into the discussions carried out by her step sisters. Kathleen had only just started talking about potty training with Lilly and Margaret a.k.a Maggie, was talking to Nancy about the new design she had for the baby's room.

"Meredith, can i please speak to you for a moment." Alex asked, as he shifted nervously, Adele standing directly behind him with her lips pursed.

Meredith looked past him with raised eye brows before giving a quick nod. She pushed back her chair, chancing a look at the others. "I'll be right back." She tells them before she stands, gesturing to Alex that he should follow her out onto the porch.

He hesitates slightly, looking back to Adele to see what she was going to do.

"Please take a seat Adele, dinner wont be long." Carolyn states as she steps in.

Everyone watches as she obviously looks around the room before taking the seat furthest away from the others.

Alex then quickly follows Meredith out onto the porch, but doesn't say anything as he really had no idea where to start. From there he can see his daughters, one with a guitar and the other with a violin playing along with Derek as he played the saxophone. They were playing in different intervals.

He moves to stand beside her, his eyes never leaving their daughters.

"You told the girls to choose their favourite place to eat, and this is it." Meredith tells him, his eyes still focused on them. "You cant be angry with me, or them for this."

Alex turns slightly to look at Meredith, her eyes were sincere, and there was something fragile about the look on her face. "How long have they been playing?" he asked in return, not wanting to discuss the location of dinner. If it had been the girls choice then it was not his place to argue.

"Since they were 5. It was a request of my mothers." She replies, a small smile on her face. "They aren't as serious about it now as they used to be, but the jam sessions happen every family night."

They turn when they hear the door open and see Mark coming out with an electric keyboard.

"Dinners almost ready." Mark tells them as he places the keyboard down on the small table. "The girls are putting on a little performance tonight. After dinner that is. They found a song to work on and they have finally mastered it." He adds with a grin.

Meredith nods knowing that its been a family routine for years for them to perform a song once they had mastered it.

"What song?" Alex asked curious to find anything out about his daughters.

"You'll have to see." Mark replied with a smirk, just as Carolyn came to the door, calling to tell the others to pack up and clean up as Dinner was being served.

"There are a lot of people here." Alex said as he moved closer to Meredith as the girls put their instruments away, his hand settling over hers.

"It's family night." Meredith answered simply. "Once a week we all get together for dinner. There are so many people because everyone has settled down now. Kath is with Dan, and they have 2 little ones. Then you have Nancy who is with James and they have 3 girls. Lilly has adopted a 10 year old boy and Margaret and her boyfriend Sean come every week. Mark is with Callie, but she has work tonight, and Derek's girlfriend Addison currently has her arms deep in another woman's uterus.

"I thought she worked in a bar." Alex commented remembering the woman with fiery red hair.

"She helps Joe out. Since he and Walter adopted their little girl he cant always work, plus she helps out on busy nights. Its usually only a couple of nights a week, extra for emergencies. But Joe understands her schedule and works with her on it." Meredith explained as she shuffled closer to Alex again.

A smile formed on his face as he slipped an arm around her. The girls and the others having just gone inside.

"Where's Allie?" he asked curiously noting that she hadn't appeared to have been seated at the table.

Meredith let out a sigh and rested her head against his shoulder. "She's in Jersey working for Dr House." She told him quietly. "She's never home anymore."

Alex listened to the sadness in her voice and leaned forward to press a kiss to her head. "You miss her." He commented. He could sense it. He also knew very well that she had always hated being away from her, remembering how she had been the first summer they had spent away from each other

"Things are just so different around here without her." Meredith replies before tilting her head up to look at him. "it doesn't feel right." She adds.

Alex nods as he lowers his head, his mouth capturing hers in a soft reassuring kiss. "Its just something you have to get used to." He told her sadly.

Meredith lowered her head to rest upon his shoulder again, her eyes closed, just savouring the closeness.

They could hear the scraping of chairs on the wooden floors as people began to sit down and both acknowledged the fact that they needed to go back inside and sit down. They didn't want for this moment to be interrupted, and Alex sensing a lingering Mark gave Merediths shoulder a squeeze. "Come on." He murmured to her as he began to pull away. "You still need to tell me the story later about the cubby house conception." He said, giving her a cheeky grin, trying to pull her away from her thoughts.

"Not much to tell." She told him as she felt him grasp her hand, both wanting to make the most of the moment, even if it was just about to pass. "You were there." She added with a wink.