"Hey, you okay," asked Meredith.
Grace, Jake and Derek had just left. Mark was in Grace's room just looking lost, which is definitely not Mark.
"Honestly no, I'm not," he said.
"When do you have to leave for the airport?" she asked.
"An hour," he said.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Promise not to repeat a word?"
"Of course"
"Sit!" he said patting the chair next to him.
"Okay. I'm guessing this is about Grace," said Meredith sitting down.
"Yeah. My only daughter chose to live with a man that hates my guts than come home with me…"
"To be fair she did grow up with him as a second father, and he hates you because you slept with his wife," said Meredith.
"I didn't say I was an angel," said Mark, "But she is still my little girl and she's ill. I've seen people going through what she is, I see how painful it is for them. She doesn't deserve it, she deserves a full life. Gracie has never had it easy, it's just been one thing after another since the day she was born."
"What do you mean? The Leukemia?"
"Yeah that too," said Mark.
"What about her mother? None of you have even mentioned her, she might be a match for Grace. You should get in touch with her, unless she is dead and I've just…."
"Grace's mother is a waste of space," said Mark.
"What happened?"
"Julia was a one night stand, told me she was pregnant. I financially supported her and when Grace was born I ordered a paternity test on her before I even saw her, great dad huh?" said Mark.
"I'm sure you had your reasons," said Meredith.
"I didn't think she was mine, thought Julia was just trying to screw me. But she was mine, my daughter and I didn't even see her until she was almost a week old. But as soon as I did see her….I can't even explain it, this overwhelming sense of love of knowing that you are not the most important thing in your life, and that there is nothing you wouldn't do for the little baby in your arms….there is no words to describe how it felt," said Mark.
"Must be incredible," said Meredith touched by the way he spoke about Grace.
"It is, there is nothing like it. Anyway Grace went to live with Julia, I visited and took her out at weekends sometimes. A few years after Grace was born, Julia started acting strange, paranoid and she lost a lot of weight. I suspected it was drugs but I didn't do anything about it until Grace's 5th birthday. Julia told me she was giving her a birthday party and I wasn't invited. So I waited till about 7 and then me and Derek drove out to her house in Brooklyn," said Mark.
"And Julia was…"
"A full blown junkie by then, yeah," said Mark.
"Oh…"
"Anyway we drove out there, and there was a party but it certainly wasn't for Grace. We went in and the place was full of junkies. Julia was lying in the living room with a needle still in her arm. So we started to look for Grace, I was standing outside her bedroom door when I heard her crying. I remember trying to open the door, but it was locked. I could hear her sobbing and the moans coming from in there was not her," said Mark.
"That's awful," said Meredith.
"I kicked the door down. She was sitting in the corner in her little party dress, she was wailing her heart out. Her hair was tangled, she had obviously been left all day, she had tried to put her ribbons in her hair on her own. It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen," said Mark.
"Oh my god, poor kid. What did you do?"
"I threw the two junkies that were going at it on her bed out, physically lifted them off the ground and flung them down the stairs. I went in picked her up, covered her face and carried her out of there. A week later I paid Julia ten thousand dollars to relinquish all parental rights. Can you believe she just handed her daughter over for ten thousand dollars?"
"I'm so sorry, that's terrible," said Meredith.
"I'm just as bad though, you know what she is like with me," said Mark.
"She's just being a teenager, all teenage girls fight with their fathers," said Meredith.
"No it is more than that. When I got her out of there, I sent her to the best boarding school in the country," said Mark.
"When she was 5?"
"Yeah, told you I was just as bad. I'm probably the worst father in the world, I love her but…. I'm just not father material."
"Come on that is not true. I know you love her, anyone can see that," said Meredith.
"It's not enough though is it? She was 5 years old, scared away from her mother and everything she had ever know and I sent her away."
"You did what you thought was best. And Grace she hasn't seen Julia since?"
"No, she didn't even try to get in touch all she wanted was the money," said Mark.
"I'm so sorry, I had no idea poor Grace," said Meredith.
"Yeah she was such a sweet little kid, a real daddy's girl when she came home for the summer. But then she got Leukemia, she was in the hospital I worked at and I barely saw her. I couldn't cope with the thought of losing her, I'm a doctor I knew the odds. Right when she needed me the most I froze, I couldn't visit her… I sent her presents, arranged for the best doctors in the world to treat her but I left the important stuff to Derek and Addison. They were in her hospital room day and night, holding her hand and telling her everything would be alright. But me…I went to the bar and got hammered every night. By the time she was in remission she couldn't even look at me. I didn't send her away again I needed to keep her close. But she has hated me ever since I couldn't be there for her when she needed me most. Then she thought it was back and she came here, she couldn't even come to me as a doctor" said Mark hanging his head in shame.
"You were just coping the best way you knew how," said Grace.
Mark turned towards the door and there was Grace standing in the door way, looking as though as she about to cry. She had come back to say goodbye to Mark properly.
"Grace, how long have you been there?" said Mark.
"Since Meredith sat down," said Grace sitting down next to Mark, "You never told me that. You told me Mom was an addict and couldn't cope with me"
"You didn't need to hear that," said Mark.
"I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know what to do so I came here," said Grace.
"I know and I'm sorry I made it so hard for you to come to me," said Mark.
"It was my fault we weren't as close," said Grace.
"No…"
"Daddy this isn't us. We don't insist that we take blame, lets just say it was both of us," said Grace.
"Alright then," laughed Mark.
"I love you Daddy," said Grace, hugging him.
"Love you too sweetheart," said Mark.
"Now come on you have a plane to catch and I have your credit limit to stretch," said Grace.
"Well your laptop arrives tomorrow, and so does more of your other stuff from the brownstone. I had the housekeeper pack them for you"
"Thank you," said Grace, "I hope you made sure she left some stuff for when I come visit."
"Of course," said Mark.
"Good. Now you better go, you have a plane to catch," said Grace.
"Okay. Now before I go, I want you to keep your cell phone on at all times. I want at least one phone call a day, and as many emails as you can write," said Mark.
"Okay then and the same goes for you," laughed Grace.
"I promise," said Mark, "And if you want to come home, use the credit card and get on the first plane and I'll be waiting at the gate for you. If you want me here call me and I'll be on the jet within the hour. I'll be there for you this time, anytime you want."
"I know," said Grace her eyes welling up with tears, "Come on this is silly, you're coming back in 3 weeks."
"I know but if you need me sooner…" said Mark.
"I know," said Grace.
"Okay then," said Mark.
"And if you really love Addison, then I can live with her as an evil stepmother"
AN – I hope this chapter explains a few things about Grace's past and her relationship with Mark.