"Mommy, if you're sad about not being Grandpa's flower girl, you can be my flower girl when I get married," said Chrissy, curling up in her mother's lap as they sat down to watch Beauty and the Beast.

Meredith laughed heartily. "When you get married, I'll be the mother of the bride. I don't need to be a flower girl."

"Does the mother of the bride get flowers?"

"I think so. Grandma Carolyn had a corsage at our wedding."

"But she's not mother of the bride."

"Yes, she was mother of the groom. But I think the mother of the bride gets flowers, too. And you'll be the bride, so if you want me to have flowers, I'll have flowers."

"That's good. Flowers are pretty."

"I hope it's going to be a long time before you get married, sweetie. You have to make sure that you have found the right person to marry."

"How did you know Daddy was the right person for you, Mommy?"

"Well, your dad told me when we met that, if I knew him, I would love him, and he was right."

"I love him, too, Mommy."

"He's a wonderful Daddy, that's for sure."

"But your Daddy should be wonderful to you, Mommy."

"Chrissy, don't worry about me. Grandpa came today because he loves you. And if he's good with you, that will make me happy. And Grandma Susan loves you very much."

"I know mommy. I like having a big family."

"Yes, you certainly have a big family now. You have lots of family, both Greys and Shepherds."

"And Aunt Cris, Aunt Izzy, Aunt Bailey, Uncle George, Uncle Alex, and Uncle Richard."

"Yes, you have a big family, including all our friends. We are so luck to have such wonderful people in our lives. And I'm so lucky to have you."

"Let's watch Beauty and the Beast now, Mommy,"

"Sure."

Carolyn looked with concern at Derek. He had left the kitchen, saying he had to make a call, and he had returned looking grim. "Who did you call? What happened?"

"I called Randy Jeffers, the head teacher at the daycare center. I wanted to know if it was okay for Chrissy to use the robot over the next month."

"What a great idea, Derek."

"A great idea for me and for you, not for Randy Jeffers. She said it would be fine once Chrissy had recovered from the bone transplant and was home, but that she thought it was better for the children at the daycare enter if we left things alone right now." Derek paused. "I think she's afraid of a bad outcome and how it would affect the other kids."

"Well, no negative thoughts are allowed in this house, so we are just going to keep positive. And maybe it's better to leave the robot here for Chrissy to talk to Izzy and George."

"We don't have a choice, Mom. I just wanted to give Chrissy some good news."

"I think she's still thinking about the wedding. Not many parents would get married to make their child happy."

"Mom, we did it for us. I should never have left Seattle. Once I fell for Meredith, there was no chance for Addie and me. I should have realized that."

"Derek, there's no point in worrying about what you might have done in the past. Now go watch Beauty and the Beast with Meredith and Chrissy."

"I think it's better as a mother and daughter activity. I'll hang out with you for a while."

"Okay. I'm making cookies for dessert. Do you want to help?"

"Sure."

Susan looked at her husband. He had been staring at a glass of scotch for half an hour. She was pleased that he hadn't yet taken even a sip, but she was worried that he still had the glass in front of him. "Thatcher, sweetheart, I know today was hard, but there's no reason for you to drink."

"Really, Susan. I spent the day being reminded of my failures. Why shouldn't I have a drink?"

"Thatcher, when I first met you, you were a recovering alcoholic. You haven't had a drink since before our first date."

"Ellis drove me to drink. And now her daughter is driving me to drink again."

"Thatcher, you can't blame Meredith for this situation. You are the parent. It was our job to parent her, and we both screwed up royally."

"Susan, I'm her father, so I'm responsible for screwing up."

"Well, I knew you had a little girl when we got married, and I should have encouraged you to fight for her. You told me your ex-wife was a cold-hearted bitch. We both knew that it wasn't a good idea to live a little girl with her. But it was much easier for us to focus on our own two girls and have nothing to do with Ellis or with her daughter."

"Yes, it was easier."

"But it was wrong. Today was hard for you and me both, but it was necessary. We ignored Meredith all those years even though she was your daughter, but now we can be there for her. It's not like we get a do-over or we can pretend that we were good parents to her, but we can do the right thing from now on."

"You think?"

"Sure. We were there today, in her house, with her family. You got to tell Chrissy some stories about her mom. We showed our support for Meredith and Chrissy. And we can continue to do it. And we can feel good about trying to do the right thing now."

"But Chrissy is three, and she knows I was a lousy father. It's bad enough that Lexie and Molly are disappointed in me. But for my three year old granddaughter to think I'm a crappy dad is awful."

"She's a very bright girl. And she now has a dad who is devoted to her. He gave up his job in NY and moved to Seattle or her and for Meredith. It's great that Meredith found such a wonderful guy. We can be good parents for Meredith and grandparents for Chrissy starting today. Better late than never."

"I'm pretty sure the only reason Meredith didn't run when she saw me was Chrissy."

"But she didn't run. That's a start. Right now, Meredith has a lot more important things to worry about than us. Just don't drink."

"Okay." Thatcher got up and poured his drink down the drain of the kitchen sink.