Richie approached tem nervously.

"Ummm... can i join you?" he asked.

All 3 of them turn and look at him. Meredith sat quietly. Mark looked at Meredith and Alex. Both shrugged their shoulders. "Fine" Mark grumbled.

Richie looked at Alex and then at Mark before deciding to sit next to Mark.

'Wise decision' Meredith thought.

"So" Richie started nervously. "this sucks."

All 3 of them look down the line at him.

"Try being us." Alex grumbled.

Meredith put her hand on Alex's leg and gave it a squeeze.

"Moms told me all about you guys." Richie continued. "Well of what she remembers before she left."

Mark groaned. "Are you trying to get to a point?"

"Umm yeah... it's just i get you didn't know about me, but i've always known about you." he said nervously.


"Except you would have been thinking that i was dead." Meredith spoke quietly.

"Well... yeah... that sucks." Richie stammered.

Meredith looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I'd jump off this ledge if it sucked that much but i dare say my fiancé might be a bit pissed. Not to mention the baby i am carrying."

"I... I... didn't mean it like that." Richie said quickly. "It's just ... i mean... mom left because she couldn't watch you die... and well you didn't die... which means mom missed out on a lot... and i didn't get to know my family... i mean it sucks."

Alex groaned. "I think your point is that she ran. Either way if Mer died or not it was a mistake that sucked."

Richie ran a hand over his head. "Yeah, that's it."

Gagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagaga

Derek and Addison finally decided it was appropriate to move towards them now.

When Derek reached Meredith he slipped his arms around her, giving her a scare.

"Gees Der, you trying to give me a heart attack?" she exclaimed.


Derek frowned.

"Too soon Mer." Mark nudged her when he noticed the look on Derek's face.

"Sorry Der" she sighed as she leaned back into him.

Richie looked nervously at the new additions.

"Hi I'm Addison Sloan. I'm Marks wife." Addie introduced herself.

Richie shook her hand.

"I'm Derek Shepherd." Derek smiled. "I'm Meredith's fiancé. We met earlier."

"Shepherd?" Richie asked.

"Yeah" Derek nods.

"So the woman you chased out here is Meredith... I was right." He said smiling.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asked.

"It's just... i said to mom.. oh don't worry." Richie sighs.

"You can't offend me anymore than you already have." She tells him 

with a small smirk.

"It's just... i just... look... mom was happy that i came. I told her that i had wanted to be with her from the start, and that i assumed her neurosurgeon had moved out her chasing a woman... and ... well you're the woman." he explained.

Meredith laughed.

"You should be thankful that i did come out here, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here." Derek told him.

"Well not really. You see Mom had a stint in Bosnia planned. She was going during November, and i well... i planned ... i had looked up dad on the net and was going to rock up for thanksgiving." Richie answered.

"And what, you were going to stand there with a big grin on your face and say 'hey dad, im your son'?" Mark asked.

"Well yeah... i mean when you put it like that." Richie started.

"Mark leave the poor boy alone, he's really nervous." Addison spoke up.

Derek was rubbing Meredith's shoulders.

"Well i can see Marks point." Meredith spoke up. "I mean Der, look at how Dad reacted today. Plus, what about us. I mean Mom abandoned 

all of us. We didn't know anything about him, at least he has heard about us."

"Not to mention how your heart would have reacted." Alex added.

"Not just my heart people, but what about you guys. That's what i'm talking about."

Alex's pager went off. "Burke" he muttered. Next minute, Mark and Meredith's went off too.

Both looked down before looking at each other. "Burke" they muttered.

All 3 of them moved off their spot and stood.

"Richard?" Derek asked.

Meredith nodded.

"We all will go" Addie told them.

Mark looked expectantly at Richie. "You coming or what?" he asked.

Richie, even though he was shocked by the gesture, quickly stood.

Alex led the group, with Mark and Addie walking behind him. Derek followed with his arms around Meredith, and Richie was at the back.