A/N- Here's chapter six. Hannah finally meets Izzie. Hope you like it. Review, please!

Time stopped.

All I could hear was the incessant tick-tocking of the clock to my left. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. When Donna came back out to let me know Hannah was ready to meet me, I couldn't function. It's like a game, actually. I get almost to the finish line when I chicken out and run away. I thought I was ready, but I can't do it. I'm going to be a horrible mother.

I found myself sinking to the ground slowly, my stiff back sliding down the hard wall. This was how Donna found me. Without looking down at me, she said, "Izzie, she's ready to see you now. She's waited almost twelve years for this, okay? Don't ruin this for her." Way to kick me when I'm down.

Her 'kicking' helped, actually. Made me realize that I wasn't the only one this situation was affecting. The world didn't revolve around me; it just took time for me to realize that. So, I stood up, took a deep breath, and braced myself for what was about to happen. I cleared my throat and walked into the room, coming face to face with my daughter for the first time in almost twelve years. Words weren't needed. We stared at each other, mentally noting every little detail about each other's appearance. Without a doubt, Hannah was my child. She was like a mini-version of me, and she was beautiful. I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up into my arms and tell her how much I love her and how much I missed her all these years.

But I didn't.

I thought it would be kind of awkward, you know? Maybe it'd make me seem too touchy-feely for her liking, and I wanted to keep her comfortable. Instead, I sat down across from her.

She broke the awkward silence. "Hi, I'm Hannah. You must be Isobel," she said, sounding perky.

"Yes, that's me. But you can call me Izzy, okay? No one calls me Isobel anymore," I said, a smile forming on my face.

"Okay, Izzie." Silence swept over the room. Neither of us knew what to say, but then I remembered…

"Oh! I almost forgot! I bought you something," I said as I opened my purse. I pulled out a small gift bag and slit it across the table to her.

She smiled. "Thanks!" She opened it, and pulled out a cow stuffed animal. "A cow!? How'd you know I love cows? She's so cute! I'm gonna name him Mr. Moo!"

I smiled back at her. "I'm glad you like him. And to answer your other question, your mom and dad sent me letters and pictures of you each year. They wanted me to still have the chance to know what type of person you became even if I never saw you."

"Seriously?"

Oh, God. She definitely was mine. "Seriously."

Her smile beamed from ear to ear. "I drew you a picture! Let me find it." She rummaged through the pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out a photo and a drawing. She slid it over to me.

I picked it up and looked at it, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. In front of me was a picture of Hannah and I the day she was born. I was holding her in my arms and looking down at her as she stared up at me with her light brown eyes that matched my own. She had drawn an exact replica of the photo and she did an outstanding job.

"It's my favorite picture," she said. "I kept it on my nightstand and looked at it everyday. I always wanted to meet you, but mommy said that I'd have to wait until I was eighteen."

"Oh, Hannah, it's beautiful. Thank you so much." I looked at the drawing once more. "Did you trace this or draw it freehand?"

"Free hand. Why?"

I was astonished. "It's amazing. You're a great artist. Much better than me, anyways."

If possible, her smile grew wider. "Really? Thanks! I've always wanted to be an artist."

"That's cool. You're really good, though. I think you'd make a great artist when you grow up."

"Thanks! So…what are we doing today? Can I go see where you live?"

"Sure! We're going back to the house after we leave here and then we're going to have a 'girl's day'. How's that sound?"

"Great! But what's a 'girl's day'?"

"Oh, I think you'll like it. It had endless possibilities. We're gonna go shopping, get our nails done, pick out stuff for your new room. You know, stuff like that. Does that sound fun?"

"Yeah! Can we leave now, though? Because this place is kind of dreary, if you know what I mean."

"Sure. I think I have to sign a few papers before we leave, but get everything ready and we'll leave as soon as we can."

"Okay." She gathered all her belongings that she had with her. Her larger items, such as clothes, shoes, etc., were with Donna. We're going to pick them up before we leave.

I went out of the room and found Donna. She had me sign all sorts of forms, and about ten minutes later, we were ready to hit the road. Hannah said goodbye to everyone that had helped her out throughout the past week, and we were on our way. We chatted the whole ride home, talking about my friends and my job and her life back home. For someone who just lost both parents, she sure seemed okay with it. A week after I lost Denny, I was no where near as happy as she was. It seemed as if she had no pain, that she suffered no losses.

It was weird.

We pulled up to the house about twenty minutes later.

"So, this is it. Your new home. How do you like it?"

"It looks nice so far, but what I really want to see is my room!"

I laughed. "Hold your horses, missy. You'll see it soon enough."

She joined my laughing. "Okay, okay."

We took some of the smaller items with us into the house and left the rest for another time. I gave her a tour of the house, saving her room for last.

She opened it and squealed in delight when she saw what was in it. George and Meredith took it upon themselves to give Hannah a beautiful pink room, filled with cows galore. She had a white sleigh bed with a hot pink duvet, a white desk with pink accessories, and cow stuffed animals lining the room. Where they got the time or the money to do this is beyond me, but it really makes me feel great to know I have such amazing friends who care about me and my child. A child that they've never met. A child that they may not even like (though I don't see that happening).

After she put her things in her room and got adjusted to the house, she asked if we could start our 'girl's day'.

We headed out to the car and buckled ourselves in. "Okay, it's your day. You tell me what you want to do."

"Seriously?"

There we go again. "Seriously."

"Okay! Well, first I think we should go get something to eat. And then we should go get our nails done. And then we should go to the mall. And then we should go meet your friends Meredith and George and Cristina and Alex and…is that it?"

I laughed again. "You sure have a good memory. And no, that's not it. But they're the other surgical interns that I work with. They're like my family. I don't know where I would be without them."

"Aww, now I miss my friends."

"I'm sorry, Hannah. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's okay. I'd have to face reality sooner or later. I'm just glad I wasn't alone."

She's really something, isn't she? She's almost twelve and she's acting like an adult. Impressive.

I took her hand. "I'll be here if you want to talk about it, okay?"

She smiled. "Thanks."

"So, what about that food you're craving? What're you in the mood for? Chinese? Italian? Mexican?"

"Indian."

"Indian?"

"Indian."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Wow. Wouldn't have pegged you for someone who likes Indian food of all things."

"Really? Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, exactly, but most eleven year olds don't like spicy food."

"Ah, that's because I'm special."

I laughed. "That's right. You are special."

She laughed. "So, where are we going?"

"We are going to Masala-a really good Indian place on the water. It's beautiful."

"Yay! Are we there yet?"

"No…we're still driving. We'll be there in about two minutes. You think you can wait that long?"

"Nope!"

"Well, what're we gonna do about that, then?"

"Music!" She turned on the radio to Star 101.5, a pop station. "Ahh! I love this song!" She began to sing All At Once by The Fray. I joined in with her and we sang all the way to the restaurant.

"We're here," I said. We got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. We were seated at a table overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

"I've never seen the ocean before. It's beautiful. Do you think we could go on a boat ride or something?"

"Sure. I have just the place, too. When we're finished with our 'girl's day' we'll take a ride, how's that sound? And after that we can go home and meet Meredith and George."

"That sounds fun. But tell me more about your friends. They sound really nice."

I took a sip of my Diet Coke before continuing. "Yeah, they are. You'll like them, I promise. But what do you want to know about them?"

"I don't know. I mean, I guess I'll get to know them soon, but I like having a background of people before I meet them. So let's talk about George. What's he like?"

"Okay, George is…George. He's a total sweetheart and he'll do anything for his friends. He's always there when you need him. He's like the brother I never had. I think you two will hit it off right away."

"And what about Meredith? Isn't she the daughter of that breakthrough surgeon Ellis Grey?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that?"

"Oh, I know things."

"You do, eh?"

"Yup. Okay, describe Meredith now."

"Okay, okay." I took a bite of my food and continued telling her about my friend. "Meredith is such a sweet person. She's really driven and she's strong, but she's down to earth, too. She's got herself in a sort of predicament at the moment…it's going to be interesting to see her get herself out of that one."

"Ooh, a predicament? What happened?"

"Uh…we'll save that for another day, okay?"

She sighed. "Okay." I didn't think telling her about the whole McDreamy-Meredith-Finn situation would be the right thing to do at the moment. Another time would be better.

We finished our lunch and set off on our 'girl's day'. We got matching manicures and pedicures and then went to the mall. I bought her a few things for her room along with a few new outfits for school. We bought the clothes and accessories home and decided to relax for a little while before we went on the boat ride. I planned on buying a little something to eat on the boat since we had a late lunch, so we watched television before we left.

Around six, we headed toward the docks. "Where're we going, exactly?"

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

"Okay…will I like it?"

"I hope so."

"'Kay." She yawned.

"Are you tired," I asked.

"A little, yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just warning you-you've got a long night ahead of you."

"Why?!"

"Oh, you'll see."

She giggled. "Okay."

I parked the car and when she saw the ferry boat, she squealed with delight. "I've never been on a ferry boat before! This is so cool! Thanks," she exclaimed as she ran over and hugged me.

I hugged her back. "You're welcome, Hannah."

Our boat ride was beautiful. Her eyes never left the beautiful scenery displayed before her and she seemed to have a lot of fun. I bought us hot chocolate and cookies to eat as we drifted along the water.

When the boat docked an hour later, we stepped off and walked back to the car. "I had a lot of fun today, Izzie. I'm really glad I'm staying with you, now. I think you'll be a great mom."

If possible, I loved her even more. Little sayings, little gestures like this, truly made my day. I know I've only had her for less than a day but I can already feel myself getting attached to her, loving her unconditionally. Her adoptive parents did a great job in raising her, and I hope that I can do just a good a job as they did.

As we were driving back to the house, Meredith sent me a text message. It read: EVERYTHING IS READY WHENEVER YOU ARE. GET HERE ASAP –MER

A/N- Hope you guys liked this chapter. I know Hannah seems too happy for a kid who just underwent a major change in her lifestyle, but don't worry; she won't be this perky and chipper for long. REVIEW and I'll update sooner!

Read and Review, guys! -Kait