This chapter continues where the last one left off. It really explores Izzie's past more than I have ever done. There are also a few flashbacks in italics. Please leave a review for inspiration and as always thank you for reading. -Jen

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or quotes from Grey's Anatomy, nor do I own the lyrics to Taylor Swift's lyrics Fifteen.

Chapter 19- Fifteen

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine…

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them

Izzie just stared into Hannah's eyes. "I shouldn't have said anything," the younger woman muttered. "Stupid. I'm sorry; I'll just go." Hannah got up to leave.

"No. Stay," Izzie said stopping her. "I'm just surprised, that's all." She thought for a moment. "I thought I'd never get this opportunity and now that I have it I don't know what to say." They both sat there silently, thoughtfully.

"Why?" Hannah asked, finally breaking the ice.

"Why I gave you up?" Izzie asked and received a nod. "I was sixteen. I grew up in a trailer park. I didn't know my dad. My mom spent all our money on psychics. And Chehalis is a place I always knew I wanted to escape." Izzie thought for a moment. "Most of all I didn't love him."

Izzie could still remember the lonely feeling of discovering she was pregnant. She had only been dating Clay for a few months. He was eighteen to her fifteen almost sixteen. She had gone farther than she had ever intended to with him. Two months after they had had sex for the first time, she realized she was late. She could remember that conversation like it was yesterday.

"So, I'm late," Izzie stated bluntly sitting in Clay's truck after their date of going to the movies.

"I thought your curfew wasn't until 12:30," he replied. "It's only 11, we have plenty of time babe." He leaned in for a kiss.

Izzie turned her head. "Not that kind of late. I mean I think I might be pregnant." He said nothing. "I have an appointment at the clinic tomorrow after school."

"Who is he?" Clay asked suddenly.

"Who?" she asked confused.

"The father," he responded. "I put on a condom every time, so it can't be me."

"It must have broke one time because there's no one else. I love you," Izzie said insulted.

"If you say so," he replied. "Do you want money for an abortion? I'll drive you to Seattle."

"No," she said.

"I'm leaving Chehalis next month for college," he stated. "I'm not coming back to be stuck in a trailer park for the rest of my life with a litter of brats."

"Do you think that's what I want? I should have never…"she trailed off.

"Well you did. You can do whatever you want, but I'm not paying for a baby for the rest of my life," he said.

"Whatever, just drive me home." Izzie said. The ride home was silent except for the song on the radio. It was to cheery for the moment but neither moved to change the station. As he pulled in front of her trailer, Izzie paused for a moment before leaving. "I thought you were someone else. Clearly I was wrong. I'm done. Don't worry about calling me ever again." She slammed the door behind her. That night she cried into her pillow all night. The next day she found out she was definitely pregnant.

Word had gotten around fast that she had found herself in a spot of "trouble." At school, her once wide group of friends had dwindled to the few other girls in the home making classes; the ones that were meant for the girls without any hope of escaping the trailer park. The only teacher who still saw something in her was Dr. Singer, her biology teacher. She would spend lunch in his class room.

"So only one more month of school," she said one day. "Then I guess I'm done."

"Isobel, I don't think it's my place, but you do know you don't have to keep the baby," Dr. Singer replied.

"Even if I wanted one, it's way too late for an abortion."

"No, I mean adoption," he said.

"I don't know how to get in touch with anyone about that," she replied.

"One of my friends from college runs an adoption agency, I can give you her number," he replied.

"Thanks," she said accepting the digits. For the first time since she thought she was pregnant she had hope. The adoption agency had helped her find the Kleins who lived in California. One the day she went into labor she met them in person for the first time and was satisfied with Sarah's parents. Of course, they changed her name to Hannah, but she could see they loved her as much as she did. It didn't break her heart to see them hold her baby. It felt like it was theirs, in all their minds.

"So that's it. You just gave me up?" Hannah said.

Izzie nodded. "I still believe to this day that what I did was right. Look at you." Hannah broke eye contact. "You are everything I wanted you to be. I haven't known you long and the time I have, you were just another intern, but you are a standout intern; one of the very best. And from what Mel tells me, you are an amazing friend. You even bake pretty well. Maybe you would have become that person if I raised you, who knows? But I am so proud of what you've accomplished."

"You are?" Hannah asked. "When I was eleven and I was here, why didn't you ask to meet me?"

Izzie looked confused. "I did. I wanted to see you so badly, but your parents said that when they asked you, you were too tired and I accepted that."

"They never told me about you," Hannah replied. "Until I was eighteen I thought that the bone marrow transplant was random. They didn't even tell me I was adopted until that day. I remember when I stumbled across the picture of you holding me the day I was born before you gave me to them."

Hannah was going through old pictures in a box that had been coated with a thick layer of dust. She was going to make her mom a scrapbook for her birthday during winter break. This box was her baby pictures. She smiled as she looked at her baby brown eyes and barely there blonde hair. There were pictures with her mother, her father, and her grandparents. Pictures with everyone who mattered in her life. Even though some people had changed, she could indentify everyone. That was when she found one person she couldn't identify. It was a young blonde girl holding a newly born baby that Hannah could only assume was her. The girl looked tired, hardly able to smile for the camera. A nurse was hovering over her shoulder as if waiting to take the baby back. She was unrecognizable but at the same time there was something that looked familiar. Maybe it was the tired eyes, or the hair limp with sweat. Hannah took the picture and went downstairs.

"Dad," she said. "I was working on mom's present and I found this."

He took the 3 by 5 and looked at it. "Where did you find this?"

"With my baby pictures. Is that me?" she asked.

"It is," he said. "Why don't you go and wash up? Your mom should be home any minute with dinner."

"Ok," Hannah replied, not thinking anything more.

She didn't hear her father tell her mother as she walked through the door "We need to tell her." She didn't see the look of anxiety on both of their faces. When she came down stairs and sat at the table she only noticed their strange expressions.

"Hannah dear, we need to talk," her mother said.

"About what?" Hannah replied.

Her parents exchanged a look, "We've been keeping something from you. We were waiting for the right time, but it seems now is as good a time as any," her father said. Hannah shrugged. "You're adopted."

Hannah nearly spit out the water she had just drank. "What?"

"We wanted to tell you," her mother said. "But it never seemed right. We were always afraid of doing the wrong thing."

"How could you not tell me?" Hannah asked. "You've had eighteen years. No matter what you are still my parents. You've been the ones there for me all along; no one could ever replace you."

"There's one more thing," her mother added. "Remember when we were in Seattle when you were eleven?"

"How could I forget?" Hannah replied. "If it weren't for the transplant I would have died."

"Your birth mother was the donor," her father said. "Your mom and I didn't think the timing was right so we didn't tell you."

"So you know who she is?" Hannah asked.

Her parents looked at each other. "We lost her information years ago. When we moved it got lost in the shuffle."

"Oh," Hannah said. "She never asked to meet me?"

"No, she thought it would be best to let you live your life without her," her father said.

"And I accepted that," Hannah said completing the story. "Obviously that wasn't true."

"If you want, we can try to catch up. I'd love to get to know you better," Izzie said.

"I would like that," Hannah responded. "Do you want to have dinner sometime?"

"Sure," Izzie said.

"I should probably go home soon though," Hannah said. "I haven't been home in almost 3 days."

"Of course," Izzie replied. "I'm glad you told me."

"I'm glad I found you," Hannah smiled before leaving the bar. Somehow she knew things were going to work out.

I appreciate everyone to take the time to read. I'm going to take a hiatus from this story for a while to focus on other projects. There's more to the story, I'm just not sure how to get there from here. Thanks, Jen.