Hello. First I want to apologize for the delay in updating. And I also want to thank you. This month is three years since I joined FanFiction. I want to thank the readers who have been with me since the beginning, to those who arrived in the middle of the way and those who are arriving now. I won't mention names so as not to be unfair to anyone. To all, my thanks for accompanying me on this journey.

At the end of the day, Meredith, Catherine's mother, arrived at the hospital. Steve was still there talking with Catherine when his mother-in-law entered the room.

Meredith hugged Catherine and kissed her forehead. "I was so worried about you, daughter!"

"I'm fine now, Mom."

Meredith looked at Steve and couldn't help herself. "What have you done with my daughter, Steve?"

Steve just looked at his mother-in-law and didn't say anything. Catherine intervened because she knew her mother and wanted to prevent an argument between the two. "Mom! I'm fine, okay? Please, I don't want a fight here!"

Meredith didn't expect this reaction from Catherine. "Okay, I'm sorry. You're absolutely right, daughter."

Steve got up and gave the chair to Meredith. "I'm going to go out and get something to eat, Cath. I'll be back soon."

"It's okay, Steve," Catherine answered, and he left the room.

"What happened, Catherine?" Meredith asked after Steve left.

"Steve is very sick, Mom," Catherine knew it was hard for other people to understand what she was feeling, the problems she was experiencing.

"He looks very good to me, Catherine."

"But he's not well, Mom. I'm not well, and the children are not well either," Catherine started crying and her heartbeat changed.

Meredith was startled by Catherine's reaction, "Calm down, daughter. It's going to be okay."

"It's easy for you to say it's gonna be okay, you're not living what I'm living. You just think about your new husband and forget you have a daughter, forget you have grandchildren. For you everything is always fine. Where were you when my husband disappeared? Where were you when I was alone with one child in my lap and another in my belly? Where were you when I had no money to pay my bills? Where were you when I needed someone to talk to?"

"Catherine, I didn't know you were going through financial difficulties. You could have told me. You have your father's inheritance and you could have used it."

"All my inheritance is with you, Mom." Catherine paused to dry her tears. "Since Dad left, it's like all your love for me is gone too."

"That's not true, Catherine."

"I miss my father. There isn't a day that I don't think about him. He would never have let me go through everything I went through alone."

Meredith also cried at Catherine's words. "I miss him too and I think about him every day, Catherine. I'll never stop loving your father, but he's not here anymore. You lived your life far away, I too was alone after he died. I needed a companion, Catherine. I'll never forget your father and I'm sure he wouldn't want me to end my days in solitude. Forgive me. I love you, daughter."

Meredith stood up and hugged Catherine. "I want to be a good mother to you and a good grandmother to my grandchildren.

"I love you too, Mom. And I want you to get closer to the kids, you're the only grandmother they have. I want them to have good memories of you, just like I have good memories of my grandparents". Catherine also hugged her.

The doctor entered the room and found Catherine agitated. "But what is this? How can I let you go home like this?"

"I'm fine, doctor," Catherine answered him.

After examining her, the doctor prescribed a new medication to make her sleep well at night. When Steve returned, she was very sleepy under the medication.

"Steve, take my mother home," Catherine asked.

"It's okay. I'll take her and then come back and stay with you," Steve answered.

"I can stay here with her, Steve," Meredith said.

"No, Mom. Go see the kids," Catherine said before closing her eyes and going to sleep.

Meredith stroked her daughter's head and kissed her forehead. "Good night, daughter."

"Shall we?" Steve asked his mother-in-law.

"Yes, Steve." Meredith remained silent in the car until they got home. Steve wondered what could have happened between the two of them, since his mother-in-law was so quiet and hadn't even fought with him. "How strange..." thought Steve.

"Your plants are beautiful as always," she said as she entered the yard.

"Thank you, Meredith." Steve opened the door and Mary was in the room with the children.

"Meredith!" Mary stood up and hugged Catherine's mother.

"Hello, Mary. How are you, dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you. You?" Mary asked.

"I'm fine, but I'm worried about my daughter."

"She'll be fine, you know Catherine's strong," Mary told her.

Debby approached and hugged Meredith's leg. "Hi, Grandma!"

Meredith took Debby in her lap and kissed her granddaughter. "Hi, sweetheart. You've grown so much." She sat with Debby on her lap and called Joe. "And you, my love? Come here with Grandma." Joe approached and Meredith picked him up on her lap too and kissed him on the forehead.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower and go back to the hospital. Can you accommodate Meredith?" Steve told Mary.

"Sure, I'll go tidy up the guest room for her," Mary answered.

Steve showered, got dressed, and was ready to back to the hospital. He went downstairs and Joe ran to him. Steve took him in his lap and hugged him. "I'm going to go see mommy, buddy. Obey Aunt Mary and Grandma. Okay?" Joe just nodded and Steve took him down again.

"Bye, girls," Steve said to Debby, Joan, Mary, and Meredith, and then opened the door to leave. He had a quick flashback and saw a blonde woman on the porch of the house. "What's that? Am I going crazy?" He asked himself and left.

Steve arrived at the hospital and Catherine was sound asleep. He sat there and stared at her. After a while, he called Danny.

"Hey, Steve. How you doing?" Danny asked.

"I'm here at the hospital with Catherine, Danny. She had a nervous breakdown, but she's better."

"I'm glad she's better, but I didn't ask where you were. I asked how are you?"

"Confused. I had some kind of flashback and saw a blonde woman, fringe, short dress, on the porch of my house, smiling at me."

"Well, that was Lynn. You two dated for almost three years," Danny replied.

"But how? What about Catherine?" Steve asked and looked at Catherine, who was still sleeping.

"You were separated, and Catherine came back one day and showed up at your house when you were having a romantic dinner with Lynn. Catherine was very disappointed. Well, at least that's what you told me."

Steve ran his hand over his face. "What a situation, Danny. I'll talk to you later, buddy."

Steve got up and approached Catherine's bed. He stroked her head and kissed her lightly on the lips without waking her. "I'm sorry I hurt you so much, for not valuing you and caring for our love. You have given yourself to me body and soul since we met and I didn't recognize that. I'm sorry for hurting your heart like that. I love you, you know."