Author's Note: Determining how a story will start and end isn't as difficult as determining how to get from one point to the other. You have to keep things balanced. A rushed story is disappointing and a dragged out story boring. Finding the perfect balance is ridiculously hard. At least it is for me. I tend to grow attached to certain story lines and hate leaving them, while others lose my interest and beg for quick wrap ups. This story is one I am attached to and leaving it will be hard. It is time though. Not to end it, but to start working toward that. It will not be an easy process for me. I am really attached to this story! It is unlike anything I have ever written or read for that matter. It is pretty darn original if you ask me! (Thank you again to my dear friend/sister Tatiana for helping develop the idea) I hope all of you feel the same! I know reviews have been limited and I realize that is in part my fault. I hope you will forgive my lack of updating and continue to read this story and to take a peek at my new one! You will find that Leave Out All The Rest is a bit sad but does contain a happy ending. At least it does if you are an Alex/Izzie, Meredith/Derek, and Mark/Lexie fan. Give it a chance. Let me know your thoughts!

Chapter Nine

How To: Make a Home

Twirling a lock of curly auburn hair, thirteen year old Sadie Price tried to tune out her father's excited voice. She didn't want to hear about his upcoming marriage or how they would be buying a new house. Marriage was a joke. Two people together forever? Whatever! Almost every kid in her class came from a broken home. Her own parents had divorced when she was two. All because her mother had grown tired of playing house. As for buying a new house, Sadie liked the one they lived in. She had grown up there. It was the only home she knew. Just because her dad thought he needed to marry that silly blonde bank teller didn't mean Sadie had to leave her home. Why couldn't Heather move in with them?

"…was thinking we would find some place with a pool. Wouldn't that be fun? Having a pool in the back yard?" Sadie grunted, knowing she had to make some sort of noise or her father would demand to know if she was listening or not. "Heather says quite a few are being foreclosed on right now. Don't get me wrong, I feel awful that people are losing their homes but someone has to buy them and why not us?"

Sadie could list a million reasons why it shouldn't be them. It wouldn't do her any good though. Her father and his child bride Heather wanted a home of their own. Fine. Let them have it. Let Sadie keep her childhood home though. "I have homework," Sadie lied, needing to get away from the planning and musings. Her father's animated expression fell and he slowly nodded his head. Guilt nagged at her stomach. For as long as she could remember her father had been serious. Work and Sadie had been his only thoughts. And then he met Heather. Cute, funny Heather with her sassy cap of blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Almost instantly his thoughts had shifted from work and Sadie, to Sadie and Heather. A little family unit, at least in his eyes. Not in Sadie's. Heather was only twenty four, too young to be her mother and too old to be her sister.

Still smarting over the fact that they would be moving after the wedding, Sadie flopped backwards onto her bed. She had no sooner closed her eyes when someone tapped on her door. "Go away," she muttered, knowing saying it louder was useless. "Enter."

Heather stepped inside. Adorable Heather with her perfect, straight blonde hair and tanned skin. A far cry from curly headed, pasty skinned Sadie. "I thought we could use a little bonding time!"

Don't think, the teen thought hatefully. She despised spending time with her soon to be step-mother. They had nothing in common and never would. "Not interested. I have homework."

"Yeah. I can see how busy you are with that," Heather teased, settling in next to the younger, taller woman. Telling her to go would do no good. Sadie had tried that before. Heather had countered with a speech about how she had tried the same ploy with her step-mother. It hadn't worked then, and it wasn't going to work now. "So, I have this vlog I keep up with on myvideos. The chick who posts does all these neat little projects. And since I know how much you like creating things I figured you would get a kick of it."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Sadie let Heather pull up whatever stupid vlog she wanted to share. Taylor Lautner could be dancing shirtless and Sadie still wouldn't like it. She was determined to hate what Heather liked, and like what Heather hated. It seemed to work out well for her friends, so why not her too? Guilt went a long way in getting what she wanted. And there was plenty of things she could make her father and his bride feel guilty about. "How long is this thing? I'm suppose to meet Jada at the mall." Not entirely true. She had no plans but she knew if she text her best friend would meet her in a heart beat.

"Not long. Does your father know you have plans?" Heather studied her intently, as though waiting for some sign that Sadie was lying. She wouldn't find any. Sadie had perfected a blank stare by the time she was four. "I'm going to take that as a no. I feel that I should warn you he has an appointment with a realtor so we can tour some houses. He's going to want you to come along."

Perfect. Just perfect. More unwanted time with her soon to be unwanted step-mother. She should get use to it, she supposed. Only she didn't want to! All she wanted was for things to go back the way they were before. Just her and her daddy. "Fine," she snapped. "I'll reschedule my plans."

"I really appreciate that," was the calm, soothing reply she got. It took all her effort not to scream. Instead, she crossed her arms and turned her attention to the vlog Heather had pulled up. A pretty, pregnant blond sat in a pile of ribbon. A stab of jealousy shot through Sadie. Her secret obsession was making bows. Big bows. Little bows. Bows in between. She made them all. And until Heather came along and urged her father to put her on an allowance she had been able to buy as much ribbon as she wanted. Now she had to scrimp and save to get the good stuff.

"Good morning my fellow crafters! I know its been a while since I've posted but life has been hectic. We learned that we're having twins. They're not identical but they're both girls. Which is why I'm covered in a mountain of ribbon!" A bright smile lit up her face as she picked up several different colors of ribbon. Hot pink with lime green polka dots. Pale yellow with white stars. Dark purple with what looked like strands of silver shot through it. White with little pink poodles dancing in tutus. All primo ribbon that cost a pretty penny. "When we first learned we were having girls I became one of those crazy bow mamas. You know, the kind that thinks the bigger the bow, the better the mama! I went a little crazy until I started thinking about all the ribbon I have left over from other projects. Suddenly those twenty dollar bows I just had to have seemed like a waste of money." She let the ribbon drop and then reached up with her left hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. A giant marquis cut diamond ring caught in the lights above her.

"Score! I knew they would eventually get engaged!" Heather cried, her face lighting up as she scooted to look at Sadie. "Her and the babies daddy were kinda up in the air but I knew…I just knew…they were going to work through things!"

Raising one brow, Sadie stared at Heather, wondering if the woman had lost her mind. Heather must have sensed her judgment because she launched into a lengthy explanation of how Izzie, the girl in the video, and the father hadn't been a real couple when Izzie got pregnant. Everyone who watched the vlog knew they would get together though. The way Izzie's face lit up when she talked about him made it clear that it was only a matter of time before things got serious. "And that diamond is definitely serious! Did you see the size! It's like a stinking golf ball or something!"

"Definitely some major blingage," Sadie agreed. She groaned inwardly. Had she seriously just agreed with Heather?

"…so I figured I would teach myself how to make a bow. I figured it couldn't be very hard since some of my former co-workers daughters are into making them. Boy was I wrong!" A light hearted laugh filled the air she shook her head and rolled her eyes at her own ignorance. "Needless to say, I will not be mastering fancy over the top bows anytime soon. I have gotten pretty good at the basic ones though." Instead of ribbon, she reached down and pulled up several medium sized bows. They were perfectly formed and had rhinestone detailing in the centers. "As you can see, I dressed them up with some fancy buttons. Hey, a girl has to have her bling, right?" Her gaze dropped down to her ring. Her smile grew bigger as she raised her hand and intentionally flashed the ring toward the camera. "I know some of you have caught the ring and are dying to know…so I won't keep you in suspense. I'm getting married! Planning the wedding is one of the reasons I have been absent. The other is I have been spending time with my biological father." Her excited voice seemed to grow more serious, as did her face. Gone was the brilliant smile. In its place was a stoic expression. "Not many of you know this, but my parents were rather young when I was born. My mom was only fifteen and my dad was eighteen. Just kids, really. Its taken me a long time to understand why my dad chose college over standing by my father but I think I've reached a point where I get it. He was a scared kid who wanted to pretend that he didn't have to become an adult. I think his choice will always keep us from being truly close but I am on my way to forgiving him. Not so much for abandoning me, but for leaving my mother." Her stoic expression softened and she rested her hands on her belly. "We haven't always gotten along but I admire the hell out of my mom! Not many fifteen year old girls would sacrifice their teenage years to raise a baby. She did. She worked hard to put herself through college and to give me a good life. I can only hope I'm half the mother she was."

An odd quiet filled Sadie's room. Her life was so different from the one being described but she understood being abandoned by one parent and being raised by the other. She had never stopped to think about how hard it had to be for her dad. The things he had given up so she could have a decent life. He had never asked for or expected anything in return. Except that you get along with Heather, she thought sadly. Her gaze shifted from the vlog to Heather. The petite blonde caught her gaze and smiled. She felt herself smiling back. Maybe, just maybe, for her dad's sake, she could get along with Heather. If anyone deserved to be happy it was her dad.