Mark stands on one side of Lexie and Meredith stands on the other. They seem to be holding her up and allowing her to draw the strength to remain standing from their presence.

"We are gathered here today to say goodbye to Thatcher Grey. On behalf of his family…his friends…his…" as the priest continues, Lexie's mind floats back to the events leading up to his death.

***

"Look at him," Molly says icily.

Lexie turns away.

"Look at him. He's lying on the side of the road in a pool of his own blood. Look at him. It's the least you can do," Molly says, calmly and coldly.

Lexie still turns her head and does not look.

Izzie kneels down beside Thatcher's body. She feels for a pulse. She feels again for a pulse. She does not want this to be happening. Not now. Not on the night of Meredith's wedding. Not after Lexie told him to leave. Not like this. She feels one more time before she stands up and puts her hand on Lexie's shoulder. "Lexie, I'm so sorry. There's no pulse," she says, quietly. She turns to Molly. "I'm so sorry," she repeats.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Izzie. It wasn't you who sent him out into the rainy night, drunk and alone," Molly says, her voice catching.

Lexie says nothing. She stands stoically with her back facing Thatcher's body as well as Izzie and Molly.

"LOOK AT HIM!" Molly yells.

Lexie has so seldom heard her sister raise her voice that she turns around out of shock. That's when she sees him, alone, bleeding, wearing the macaroni bracelet she made him at summer camp when she was 6 years old. A tear falls down her left cheek, but she refuses to allow herself to cry.

"Yes. He wore your bracelet. And in his wallet is the picture I made him for father's day when I was in kindergarten. He was a good father. You know what the worst part of this is? He died feeling alone and unloved. At least when Mom died, she knew we all loved her," Molly says, her eyes piercing Lexie.

Lexie's shoulders begin to shake as she starts to sob softy. Izzie puts her arm around Lexie and says to Molly, "I think you should go now." Her voice is steady and kind, but firm.

"I'll go now. Lexie, the rest of this mess is yours to clean up. You killed him. You can clean his body off the side of the road. I'm going home to my family to mourn my father," Molly says, as Lexie hears her voice break as she turns toward her car.

Lexie's whole body suddenly unfreezes. "Molly! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I just wanted him to leave! I didn't mean for this to happen! Molly! Wait! Please! Don't go! Don't leave me here! Please!" she continues to call after Molly long after her car has sped away.

Izzie wraps her arms around Lexie as she collapses on the soggy ground next to Thatcher. She lets her stay there for a few minutes before helping her up and leading her back to the car.

***

Lexie feels Molly's eyes drilling a hole through the back of her head. She forces herself not to turn back to look. The cemetery grows quiet and Lexie realizes that no one is speaking anymore. The graveside service is over. The silence is shattered by Marks pager beeping loudly. He silences it and then looks at it angrily. "Damn! It's 9-1-1. I have to get to the hospital. Should I call the chief and tell him that…" he whispers to Meredith.

Meredith shakes her head. "No. I'm off today but I'm on call tonight. I'll stay with her until tonight and then you'll take over…okay?" she says.

Mark nods and hugs Lexie who feels stiff and uncomfortable in his arms. "I have to go to the hospital. Stay here with Meredith. I love you, sweetheart," he says, kissing her softly.

Lexie nods numbly but does not respond. Her tongue feels paralyzed, and she doesn't feel capable of speech.

Izzie and Alex walk over to Lexie and Meredith.

"Lexie, I'm so sorry for your loss," Izzie says.

"Me too. If you need anything…" Alex says, his voice trailing off as he is unsure of what to offer.

Cristina and Owen approach her. "Death is hard," Owen offers.

Cristina stands beside him and says, "Death is hard? What kind of statement is that? Seriously? Anyway…you're in the club. Me and George…we're in the 'dead dad's club.' I'm sorry you had to join the club," she says.

"Club? What is wrong with you?" Owen asks, as he leads her away.

George and Callie are standing behind them.

"I'm really sorry, Lexie. If you ever need to talk…" Callie says, letting her voice trail off.

Lexie laughs inside although her face shows no emotion. She thinks of the absurdity of that statement. If she needed to talk, what would she say? That she was glad her father was dead so she didn't have to worry about him ruining her life? That when she realized he was dead, her first thought was how to get him taken to Mercy West so no one at SGH would know that he crashed his car in a drunk driving accident? That she hoped that one day she could remember him as the old Thatcher instead of the disaster he had become?

George steps forward and touches her arm. "You're probably in shock right now, but I know how you feel. I lost my father too. I know how hard it is,"

Again, Lexie laughs inside. Yes George…you may have lost your father, but you didn't kill him…Lexie thinks to herself.

When they are met with Lexie's blank stare, they stand uncomfortably for a moment until they mutter a quick goodbye and leave.

"I thought we'd head back to my house," Meredith says.

Lexie nods numbly and follows Meredith to her car. She stops in front of Meredith's car when she sees Molly standing in front of it. Meredith sighs. She knows this could get ugly.

"Hi Molly. I'm sorry for your loss," Meredith says, regretting how empty the words sound as soon as they leave her lips.

"Are you really? Or are you happy for your gain?" Molly asks, bitterly

"I am truly sorry," Meredith says, sincerely.

"He loved you," Molly says turning to Lexie. "He wore that stupid bracelet since you were 6. A few months after Mom died, it fell apart, and he actually restrung it with the colors in the same pattern. One of the little ziti pieces broke and he opened a box of ziti and painted it red so it would look the same as it did when you made it. He loved you…and you killed him," Molly says, in the same icy tone she has used since her father's death.

Lexie's tongue feels dry, and Meredith tries to speak for her. "Molly, stop. You've both been through so much…don't do this," Meredith says.

Molly ignores Meredith as though she isn't there. "I have to go. John is with the baby in the car. Goodbye Lexie. Mom would be really proud of you now…" Molly says, sarcastically.

When Molly leaves, Lexie gasps for breath. "I can't breath. It hurts!" she cries out, falling to the ground.

Meredith rubs her back in quick circles as she says, "It's okay," over and over again until the words seem to lose their meaning.

When Lexie catches her breath, Meredith helps her up and leads her to the car. They drive back to the house in silence. When they get into the house, Meredith seats Lexie on the couch and goes into the kitchen.

"Izzie made cookies! I'll bring some in," she says, piling cookies on a large plate.

Meredith puts the cookies on the coffee table in front of Lexie and takes one for herself. Lexie does not touch them. "Are you going to have one?" Meredith asks.

Lexie shakes her head.

They sit in silence, the only sound between them is Meredith chewing her cookie. Finally, Meredith swallows hard.

"I was relieved when my mother died. Really relieved. I carried around her ashes with me. I brought them to work and kept them in my locker. I felt so guilty about how relieved I was that she was gone that I felt like I had to find the perfect final resting place for her…" Meredith explains.

Something about this story interests Lexie. "Did you find a place for her?" Lexie asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Meredith nods. "I think so. I dumped her down the drain at the hospital. I figured that was where she was the happiest," Meredith says, morbidly smiling.

The image of Meredith dumping her mother down the drain strikes Lexie as very, very funny. She starts to laugh almost maniacally.

Meredith laughs too. When they both stop laughing they look at each other. Meredith smiles. "We've been through a lot this year…haven't we?" she says, overcome with a fierce love for her sister.

Lexie nods. "And we both have no parents anymore…" she says.

Meredith bites her lip thoughtfully. "You're right. And we have husbands," she adds.

"I love Mark. I love him so much. But it's different. There's no one who knew me my whole life. No one who knew me through every phase. I loved my father, Meredith. I did. He was a wonderful father until my mom died. I didn't mean for things to happen like this. It was your wedding and I was so embarrassed after the engagement party…I didn't want anyone to see him like that. I didn't want him to ruin your night. I didn't want him to ruin my night. I just wanted a break. I didn't mean forever…" Lexie admits.

"I know," Meredith says.

"And even now, I'm not sad that he's gone…well not sad that the man he became is gone. But I'm sad that I'll never get the chance to get him back the way he was. I always thought if I waited long enough, I'd get him back," Lexie admits.

"You know, Molly's known you your whole life," Meredith says.

Lexie looks at Meredith. "Molly hates me," she says.

"People don't go from loving to hating. Molly with come around," Meredith promises.

"I don't think so," Lexie says, shaking her head sadly.

The sisters sit in silence for a moment both lost in their own thoughts. Meredith reaches over and squeezes Lexie's hand.

"You're not alone," Meredith says.

Lexie doesn't say anything.

"You have Mark. He doesn't always know what to say or how to help, but he loves you more than anything. And you have me. You have Izzie. Having Izzie means you don't ever get to be alone, even if you want to. And you have Cristina. Cristina's tough to get, and you got her. You have Derek. He thinks of you as a sister, and considering that he has 5 already, he must really love you to want to add another. Even Alex and Owen want to be there for you. At Thatcher's funeral, I looked around…besides Molly's husband, everyone who was there was there for you," Meredith points out.

Lexie thinks about this. "You're right," she says.

Before Meredith can respond, they hear a knock on the door. Meredith walks to the door to answer it and is surprised to see Mark accompanied by Derek, Izzie, Alex, Cristina and Owen.

"I brought the troops," Mark says, smiling.

Meredith smiles back. "We could use the troops right now," she says.

Derek pulls Meredith close to him. "Bailey is covering your call shift tonight," he says.

Meredith smiles. "Thank you," she says.

"How's she doing?" Derek asks.

"A little better. She's up and down. She'd be better if the ice queen didn't keep telling her she killed her father," Meredith says angrily.

"How are you doing?" Derek asks.

"I'm fine. Why?" Meredith asks.

"Because he was your father too," Derek says.

"Please. He was just a name. I didn't know him. I'm fine, Derek. Let's worry about Lexie right now," she says, dismissively.

"Okay…" he says, not fully believing her but letting the subject drop.

When they arrive in the living room, Cristina is telling a story about a quadruple bypass she scrubbed in on and Lexie is laughing with everyone else as Cristina says, "So Dr. Dixon says to the family, 'your loved one stands a 40% chance of survival. That chance would be better if he were an orangutan. Orangutans fair very well with heart surgery.' You should have seen the face on the wife!"

As everyone laughs, Izzie hands Lexie a muffin. "I tried a new recipe. These are pumpkin-cranberry with a corn muffin base. Let me know what you think," she says, not giving Lexie a choice but to bite into the muffin.

"Hey! I haven't even tried those yet," Alex protests.

"That's because you are getting a little bit of a muffin top yourself," Izzie says, pinching Alex's gut, playfully.

Owen and Mark laugh. "Hey doughboy, you want a muffin?" they tease, holding the plate of muffins over his head.

"Shut up! I could take you all!" Alex says.

"In a pie eating contest," Cristina says to Owen and Mark who laugh.

"My muffins were meant for good, not evil. Stop creating bad muffin vibes," Izzie admonishes, handing Alex a muffin.

Meredith and Derek join Lexie on the couch. "What can we do for you, Lexie?" Derek asks.

Lexie smiles. "You guys have already made me feel a little better," she admits, gratefully.

"Good," Meredith says. "Because Derek cancelled his fishing outing for you tomorrow," she says.

"You say that like I choose fishing over everything else," Derek pouts, playfully.

"You do," Meredith says, swatting at him.

"You know I only married her because she had a cool sister," Derek says in a stage whisper to Lexie who smiles back at him.

"Hey!" Meredith protests, with a smile.

Mark and Izzie are off in a corner having an intense discussion. Mark nods at her and Izzie puts her coat on.

"I'm going to take off for a few minutes. I have to go check on a patient," she says, quickly.

(Break)

Izzie pulls up in front of Molly's house. She notices the perfect, white picket fence that surrounds the house almost like a moat, making it seem flawless but unwelcoming.

Izzie walks up to the door and rings the bell. Molly answers holding a young toddler in her arms.

"Hi. Can I come in? Izzie asks, offering a small basket of muffins.

Molly's eyes are red and puffy, but she smiles, graciously taking the basket. "Of course," she says, stepping aside.

"Your house is beautiful," Izzie says, admiringly.

"Thank you. We redid it right before I gave birth. It was a pretty chaotic end to the pregnancy," she says, laughing a little at the memory.

"I can imagine," Izzie replies. She waits a moment and then says, "Molly….I'm really sorry about your father."

"But that's not why you're here…" Molly says.

"No," Izzie admits. "Not completely."

Molly pours them both coffee and sits down at the table. Izzie sits across from her and both of them sip their coffee and eat their muffins silently.

"We had a really good time at Lexie's wedding," Izzie offers. "I was really glad you were there with me. Meredith and Cristina aren't exactly the most helpful bridesmaids."

"I was glad you were there too. Meredith and Cristina weren't exactly the most welcoming to me," Molly replies.

Izzie doesn't address that comment because she's not sure what to say. Instead she says, "I've become pretty good friends with Lexie. It's been nice having her around. Meredith and Cristina…well…you're right. They can make anyone feel like an outsider," Izzie admits.

Molly doesn't say anything, so Izzie continues. "I left home at 18. I left to go to college and my mother and I had a huge fight. She didn't want me to go and I knew I had to go and well…let's just say that we both said some things we probably shouldn't have said. I left that day without speaking to her. I guess in the back of my mind I figured she's call and she probably thought I'd call and one day we'd reconcile. Well…weeks went by and months went by and finally years went by and well…now I don't even think we'd know what to say. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you let too much time go by, the distance grows and grows and soon it's just too big to overcome," she explains.

Molly is quiet for a moment. "After our mother died, Lexie was so busy with school that I had to take care of Dad. I did everything. Then when I finally told her that she had to help out, she kind of took over that role and I think she resented me for it. She was upset that I got out and she had to live with him. Then when she moved out and there was no one to take care of him, it got really bad. He went downhill fast. I guess we both thought the other one should have taken better care of him. There's a lot of anger that didn't used to be there," Molly says, looking down at her hands.

Izzie nods. "You've both been through a lot. But Lexie loves you. After you left, the night of Thatcher's accident, she tried to chase your car. You two are the only people who have known each other your whole lives. That's something so special. You're so lucky to have each other."

"How is she doing?" Molly asks, timidly.

"Why don't you come with me and you can see for yourself," Izzie offers.

Molly hesitates.

"Don't let the distance get too big," Izzie reminds her.

Molly stands up. "I'll get my coat," she says.

Izzie smiles victoriously when Molly is not looking.

"Maybe you could invite your mother to your wedding." Molly suggests.

Izzie's eyes tear up a little. "I've been thinking about it," she says.

(Break)

"Okay…okay! Who am I? Derek says, lining up 3 forks and rotating them back and forth before selecting one.

Lexie laughs. "I know that one! You're Mark!"

"Me?" Mark asks.

"Yes. You. You always do that before a surgery!" she says, laughing.

"I do? I didn't even know," he says, smiling.

"I got one!" Alex says. "Who am I?" Alex sits down and starts muttering to himself and pretending to operate on the air while giving himself instructions.

Meredith laughs. "That's totally Cristina!" she says. "You talk to yourself and mime surgeries in the galleries."

"Of course I do. That's why I'm the best!" Cristina says, confidently. "Now it's my turn!" She grabs a pair of scissors off the table and holds a wire from a lamp up to Owen. "Who am I?" she asks.

Izzie, who has just entered the room with Molly says, "So I leave for 20 minutes and you can't think of anything else to do but mock me. I should be flattered."

"We were playing hospital charades," Meredith explains.

"Oh. Well, that one was me," she says to Molly. "Hey guys, why don't we let Lexie and Molly hang out in here and we can go in the kitchen and finish the game. I think it's my turn next," she says, glaring at Cristina.

"Meredith?" Molly calls.

Meredith turns around.

"Why don't you join us?" Molly asks.

Meredith looks at Derek who gives her a look that says, "Go," and she walks into the living room to join them.

"We all lost our father," Molly says. "We should be together."

Lexie's eyes fill with tears as she looks at Molly. "I didn't mean for him to…"

Molly takes her hand. "I know. I'm sorry for the things I said. And Meredith, I'm sorry you never got to know the good sides of our father. He was a good man," Molly says.

Meredith feels a lump in her throat which she tries to ignore. "I'm sorry too. From the memories you and Lexie have…well…I'm sorry to."

"We're all the family that we have left," Lexie points out.

Meredith looks at Molly. Both of them know they will probably never regard each other as family, but they know that having a sister in common does bond them in a way.

"I'm sorry for the things I said after the funeral. I was upset and I took it out on you. And your friend Izzie is a really good friend. I was a jerk to you the night Dad died and I'm glad she was there to pick up the pieces after I tore you to shreds," Molly says, ashamed.

"All we've done is fight since Mom died. I just want to stop," Lexie says.

"Me too," Molly says, smiling.

"When my mom died, I poured her down the drain," Meredith says, awkwardly.

Molly and Lexie look at each other and burst out laughing at Meredith, who joins in, laughing at herself.

"Let's go join the game," Meredith says, wiping tears of laughter from her face.

When they get into the kitchen, Alex is jumping around saying, "I think I'm broken! Owww…owwww…" while holding his crotch.

"Oh no! I think I broke you!" Izzie says in an overly sweet tone.

"That one's easy!" Owen says, "Lexie and Mark!" he blurts out.

Mark turns red as Derek turns to Molly. "I don't know if Lexie ever told you, but Little Grey over there once rode little Sloan so hard that she broke him," he explains.

Lexie blushes and walks over to Mark. "We can't help it if we're a little more active than the rest of you," she says, putting her arm around Mark.

Everyone laughs as Meredith looks at Derek. "It's been a hell of a year…hasn't it?" she says.

"Sure has. But we're still laughing," he says, pointing to everyone around them.

"We are…" Meredith agrees.

******

THE END…

Just wanted to thank you all for all your reviews and for reading. I'm going to write a one shot of what would have happened if everyone had visited Izzie before her surgery. Add me to your author list so you can know when it's up. It will definitely be up before the next Grey's episode.

Please give me that one more review!!! You know I love hearing from you. I'll start a new story soon and when I do I'll be happy to hear from all of you again!