Obligatory Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and all associated characters belong to ShondaLand, not me.

A/N: Not too sure where this came from, it wasn't supposed to go like this at all. This chapter is dedicated to Katie, since in my timezone, it's still her birthday. I hope it was a great one!

The drive to Molly's house seemed to take a lot longer than ever before as she prepared to face people she had never met and likely blamed her. It was with trepidation that she parked on the street and walked up to the house, knocking on the door. She breathed a sigh of relief when it was Lexie that opened the door and not some unfamiliar relative.

"Mer! I'm so glad you're here. Are you okay? You look tired, are you hungry? We have food, lots of food, Molly bought some from the store and oh it's delicious you should try some!" Lexie babbled excitedly and then threw herself at Meredith for a hug, startling her.

Cautiously, she hugged Lexie back. "Um, hi, Lexie... I'm fine, a little tired, I'm not hungry though. It's a good thing I put those baskets down before I opened the door."

"Baskets? You brought more food?!" Lexie asked excitedly. Then her face went pale when she realized that Meredith had brought it. "Mer, I don't mean to be rude, but..."

Meredith smiled as she realized what Lexie was asking. "It's safe, Izzie made it."

Lexie's face brightened and she dragged Mer into the house, grabbing one basket and barely giving Meredith enough time to get the other one. "Molly? Mooools? Where did you go?"

Several dirty looks and a stop in the kitchen to deposit the food later, they found Molly in the living room surrounded by well-meaning vultures. Molly tore herself away with an "excuse me, I'll be right back" and followed Lexie's lead in attacking Meredith.

"Merbear!" came Molly's voice from somewhere in her shoulder. "I'm so glad to see you."

Then Molly started crying and Meredith followed suite, and they stood in the middle of the living room sobbing until Molly pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to break down on you like that," she sniffled. "Lex, could you get the Kleenex please?"

Lexie returned with the Kleenex quickly and they all wiped their eyes.

"It's okay Molly, I don't mind. Where's my niece?"

"That's actually a good question... Lex, do you know who has her?"

At Meredith's startled look, she explained why she didn't know where her daughter was. "Everyone wanted to see her, so I gave her to Aunt Patricia- you might remember her- and she's over there but there's no Laura... oh, here she comes. Lexie, quick, go find Laura for me!" Molly commanded as she saw Patricia approaching. "She doesn't like Lexie at all, now I know why."

Meredith winced. "I'll have to apologize to her."

Molly just shrugged. "Whatever, it's not your fault. Lexie will probably thank you, she hates Aunt Pat."

"Miss Molly, who is this girl you have here? Looks an awful lot like you, she does."

Molly smiled grimly. "Come on Aunt Pat, you don't remember who this is?"

Patricia shook her head, confused. "I'm sorry, should I? What's your name, dear?"

Meredith shifted uncomfortably before clearing her throat. "My name's Meredith. Meredith Grey. It's nice to see you, Aunt Pat."

Patricia looked at her oldest niece, thunderstruck. "Little Meredith? It's you! I haven't seen you since you were 10, I've been looking for you for years but your father never mentioned you and wouldn't tell me how or where you were, or how to find you. Why are you in Seattle? How long have you been here? How do you know Molly and Lexie and Susan?"

"Last time I checked, I was still Meredith Grey, so I guess it is me."

Molly snickered at Meredith's brazenness.

"I'm in Seattle this year because I came back to put my mother in a home and I got an internship at Seattle Grace in surgery. I met Molly because I was one of the doctors on hers and Laura's case before we knew we were sisters. Then a lot of stuff happened and we became pretty close."

"Took after your mother, did you? I can't say I didn't see this coming, you loved that Anatomy Jane doll, carried it with you everywhere. "

Molly laughed. "She still has it actually, I found it when I was helping her remodel."

Meredith blushed as both women laughed at her. "As if you didn't keep things from when you were little! Besides, it's a very educational doll and people collect them now."

"Does Thatch know you're here?"

Molly and Meredith's faces darkened. "No, he doesn't, and it's going to stay that way if I can help it."

Patricia looked at Molly curiously. "Wouldn't he be happy to see his oldest daughter?"

"No," Molly responded tightly, "he's not to know Mer is here. Lexie and I asked Mer to go in the OR with Mom, to be with her, she didn't operate or anything, and then Mer was the one to tell us the news, she thought we'd take it better coming from her. See the bruise on her face? Dad gave her that, he slapped her and called her horrible names. He blames her. So no, he doesn't know he's here, he won't be happy to see her and he is not to know she was here. We have enough to deal with as it is."

"I see. Why are you here then? Isn't that cutting it close?"

"Molly asked me to take Laura for a bit so that she could deal with everything and not have to worry about Laura. I can't be around helping with the arrangements, but I can help and watch Laura. I'm off until my exam on Thursday; I've basically been forced to take leave again on top off the day I was already supposed to get."

Molly gasped. "Your exam is in five days? Mer, I can't ask you to take Laura now, you should be studying. These exams are huge!"

"Mols, I'll be fine. Addison's been helping me study for months and if anything Laura can help me study any paediatric questions that come up. Speaking of Laura, where is Lexie? I thought she was going to get her?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "You know how Lex is... can't say no, has to talk to everyone. She probably got stuck with great-grandma or someone else."

As the girls laughed about Lexie being stuck in some uncomfortable predicament, Patricia excused herself and went to socialize with someone else.

"Well, that was sufficiently awkward."

"What, you didn't enjoy her questions?" Molly asked teasingly. "Oh look, there's my baby! Hi! Come see Mama, Laura!"

Relieved to find Molly and Meredith, Lexie willingly passed the giggling baby over. "Everyone wanted to talk and comment and hold her... I thought I was never going to escape!"

The two women dissolved into giggles, leaving Lexie looking at them confused. "What? Actually, you know what... don't tell me. I don't want to know."

Laura saw Meredith and reached for her, babbling happily. Meredith took her gladly, cooing at her. "Hi there Laura, how are you? How's my favourite niece?"

If you had asked her last year or even two months ago if she would ever be in a situation where she cooed over a baby, she would have laughed in your face, but here she was, happily holding her niece.

Molly smiled at her oldest sister, glad that she and Laura had been able to help bring about this amazing change in Meredith. Clearing her throat and surreptitiously wiping a tear off of her cheek, she handed over the diaper bag full of everything they'd need.

"Okay so her diapers, bottles, soothers and some clothes are in there, her blanket is... with Lexie, give me that please! You have some of her toys at the house; the travel playpen is in the car along with her car seat so let's go get that. Lex, you need to run a distraction in case Dad gets up."

Meredith hugged Lexie. "Good luck Lexie, I'll talk to you later."

This time it was Lexie who was surprised by the hug. "Thanks Mer. Bye Laura! You're the one who's going to need the luck, this one's a handful!"

Molly interrupted. "But she's going to be good for her Auntie Mer, yes she is, right my little peach? Yes you are!"

Turning back to Meredith, she led her out the front door and to her car that was parked in the driveway. "Are you parked down the street?"

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, I'm just over there."

"I'll give you the car seat and the playpen now so you can install the seat and load your truck- that's not your car!"

In place of Meredith's beet up Jeep was a nice, shiny new Acura TSX.

"Oh, but it is... the jeep broke down two days ago, I meant to tell you, it was a funny story... so I got this one in case I ever had Laura, it's safer for her. Plus, it's a lot nicer and it doesn't have nearly as many problems as my Jeep did."

Molly hugged her again and then handed her the car seat and its base. "She's still facing backwards, she's not quite heavy enough to face front yet."

"Not heavy enough... are you sure, Molly? She sure feels heavy!"

"I know, I know, that's what I said! Make sure the base it tight against the seat- don't worry, I'll check it before you go."

Five minutes later, much to Molly's amusement, Meredith had successfully installed the base. "Can you check it? Is it fine?"

Molly tried to move it but it wouldn't budge. "It's good; she'll be fine in it."

They strapped Laura into the seat and Molly said goodbye to her before they clicked the seat into the base.

"Well, that's it. I'll call you later to figure out when she'll be picked up and to fill you in. You know my number, call if there are any problems. You'll be fine Mer, I trust you."

"Thanks Mols, it means a lot."

Molly grinned and hugged her again. "No problem, big sis. Now go have fun with my girl!"

"Say bye to Mama Laura! Bye Molly."

Molly walked over to the sidewalk and waved as they drove off to Meredith's place.