Meredith and Alex are in the OR working on a liver transplant. Meredith put Ellie back in day care right before going to the scrub room.
"What's up with you" Alex asks when he notices that Meredith hasn't said anything. "Nothing's up, I'm fine." "Then stop being all silent and rage-y you're killing the mood." "Oh I'm so sorry" Meredith says sarcastically. "Whatever, can we just focus on the liver." "Sounds perfect" she was with a slight angry tone. They do the rest of the surgery in silence, only talking when one of the interns has a question. They scrub out in silence too and as soon as she can Meredith walks away. A few hours later Alex is sitting in the attendings lounge with Jackson when Meredith walks in. "Avery get out" she says as she comes in. "Excuse you but you can't just" "Avery I need to speak with Alex and I need you to leave." She gives him a pleading look but he doesn't budge. "Well I need to talk to him too. You're not the only one with problems." "Why does everyone come to me with their crap?" "Oh everyone knows about the divorce papers go figure that out with a lawyer" Meredith says angrily. "Oh okay so my divorce from my wife isn't a big deal at all, hmm? What's your issue, one of your perfect kids has the flu?" Jackson stands up to yell at Meredith and crosses his arms angrily. She stares at him for a moment before speaking; "the father that abandoned me and the half-sister that I hate want to get together to talk about my dead sister. Is that a big enough issue for you or does the Avery Foundation have to come in here and validate it for you?" Jackson looks offended for a second but then really sad when he thinks about Lexie. Alex is just watching the whole thing unfold as if it's his favorite TV show. "Mer, I…" "I said I need to talk to Alex. Can you leave now?" Jackson puts a hand on Meredith's shoulder and leaves quietly. Meredith sits down at the table and slumps down into her chair. "I haven't seen Molly since her daughter was born" she says. "I'm pretty sure she was there when your dad came to the hospital before Susan's funeral and ya know…" "Thanks for reminding me of that" she says with an angry/sarcastic smile. "What do they wanna have coffee or something? Why did she reach out?" "She's moving back to Seattle and just like Lexie seems to be completely overlooking all the things Thatcher has done to me. She wants us to have dinner so we can re-connect or something." Alex puts his hand on Meredith's arm and gives her a loving squeeze. "So what should I do? I mean, I've tried to get to know him before and every time I do all the work and he still acts like he hates me." Just then Meredith's phone rings. "It's Christina" she says in surprise. Meredith answers the phone and puts it on speaker. "Hey are you okay?" "Why what do you know?" "Derek told me that the other Thatcher-spawn called you. Are you freaking out or..." "Uh, not really." "She's freaking out" Alex says. "You're talking to him about this?" "Who else am I supposed to talk to? Derek, as usual, is being all family-loving and practically invited them to move in with us. He had a good dad so he doesn't get it. Alex gets it." Meredith and Alex make eye contact but no one says anything. "Well, what do you think you're going to do?" "Honestly…I have no idea." "I think you should have them over" Alex says. "Don't look at me like that! Maybe you'll like Molly, I mean you hated Lexie at first. And you can shove your perfect little family down your dad's throat and he can be all jealous that he destroyed his life by becoming an alcoholic." "Evil spawn does have a point. I mean one dinner can't be that bad" Christina says. Meredith just rubs her face and runs her hands through her hair in frustration. "I, uh…I'll think about it. But can we talk about something else please?" "Avery gave Kepner divorce papers but she's refusing to sign" Alex says with a laugh. "No way. I always knew they weren't going to make it. Who marries the first person they sleep with" Christina says laughing. The three friends just gossip and laugh, and just for a little they all forget about work, and their lives, and their issues, and just enjoy being with each other.
Later that night Meredith walks into the house to find Derek doing dishes in the kitchen. "Where are the kids?" "They're all asleep." "Even Zola and Sofia?" "Yup. I just checked on them and they are passed out." Meredith plops down on the couch and Derek brings her a glass of wine. He sits down next to her and rubs her thigh, waiting for her to talk first. "I dream about her. I see her arm coming out from under the plane and banging the rock against the metal. I see the blood in her mouth and I hear myself crying." Derek just looks at Meredith like he just wants to wrap her in a blanket forever and keep her safe from all the world's evil. "I know Molly's gonna want to talk about it. And Thatcher is just going to sit there and cry, and I just don't think I can handle that. How am I supposed to look at them and tell them I was there and that I wasn't with her when she died." Derek looks at her in confusion. "I left her with Mark so I could go find you. I was so terrified that you were dead, but I was so absorbed in my own issues that I didn't even realize how bad she was. I'm a doctor, and I was so worried about myself that I didn't even realize she wasn't going to make it." "I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to make this better" he says kindly. "I know you do" she says with a little smile. "But they are my family. And I got to spend more time with her than they did, so the least we could do is have them over for dinner" she adds. "So you want to have them over?" "Oh no I do not want to see them, ever if I can. But I have to" she says. "Hmm…I love you." He wraps her in a hug and they sit there on the couch for a few minutes while Meredith tries to keep herself from crying. "But nothing fancy! I don't want you making a big deal out of this" she says. "Don't worry we can serve them McDonalds and hospital food" he says with a smile. She laughs and playfully hits him with a pillow. He picks her up and she squeals in delight and surprise.
A week later Meredith and Derek are getting the dining room all set up for the dinner. Zola is at Arizona's house with Sofia and Bailey and Ellis are with Maggie at her apartment. Meredith convinced Derek that she doesn't want Thatcher to meet her kids yet because he hasn't made any effort too, so he doesn't deserve their cuteness.
"The chicken should be done in 15 minutes" Derek says as he looks at his watch. "Have you seen those white napkins? I know we had them out at some point…" "Last time I saw them they were in the linen closet" he says. Meredith keeps on cleaning and organizing, and Derek just watches her in disbelief. He comes up to her and puts his hand on her forehead. "Derek I'm fine!" "Then stop cleaning!" "They're going to be here soon, and the house isn't close to being ready!" "The house is perfect, you are perfect, the food is perfect, everything is going to be fine." "Stop that" she says as she waves a dish towel at him. 'Fine. Everything will go how it goes. Maybe Molly is a total bitch and Thatcher awkwardly confuses baby you for one of his other daughters again" he says sarcastically. "Thank you" she says seriously, as if those things are actually going to happen. A few minutes later the doorbell rings and Meredith opens the door to find Molly, her husband Eric, Thatcher, and his girlfriend Danielle. "Hi, uh, come on in" Meredith says with a small smile. "Thank you, you have a lovely home" Danielle says. Thatcher just nods awkwardly at Meredith like he usually does. "Hi I'm Molly. I know we didn't officially meet last time I saw you." "Hi it's good to see you again." "And this is my husband Eric." "It's nice to meet you." "You too" Meredith says. "Come on in! There's drinks on the island and food in the living room. My husband Derek is checking on dinner but it should be ready soon" she adds. They spend the next 3 hours going through awkward small talk and random conversations. No one brings up Lexie, or Meredith's childhood without Thatcher, or Susan, or Thatcher's drinking. Derek and Eric and Danielle are super cheerful and are the main ones trying to keep the conversation going.
At the end of the night Meredith says her awkward goodbyes to Thatcher and Danielle. Molly gives Eric a look and he quickly thanks Meredith and Derek before going to pull the car up. "I uh…I just wanted to say that I'm glad Lexie had you. The way she talked about you, you two must have been close and I know she really loved you. So thank you" Molly says. "Really it's nothing. But I uh, I think about her a lot. In case you wanted to know that." Molly just nods and then leaves. Meredith closes the front door and slides down so she's sitting on the floor. Derek brings her a glass of scotch and sits down next to her. The drink in silence and Meredith tries to keep from crying. "Nothing" she says finally. "He said nothing to me the entire night. DNA is total, and utter crap. I'm calling bullshit on the whole thing." "You deserve better" Derek says. "Are we done trying. Because I'm tired of this stupid game where you push me to talk to him, he makes no effort, and then you are left feeling bad for me." "We don't ever have to see him again" he says. "Good. Good." "Okay."
