Life isn't fair

Chapter 4

As soon as it hit seven Zola, Bailey and Ellis were climbing out of bed and heading to their parents room once again. This time the couple were awake and waiting for their children. "How did you sleep?" Derek asked, helping Ellis onto the bed while Bailey and Zola managed to get up just fine.

"Bailey kept kicking me and Zola snores." Ellis complained, moving closer to her mother, wanting to be hugged. Meredith pulls her closer to her chest and the small girl smiles, her mother gave the best hugs.

"Well you were the one who decided to sleep in Zola's room." Meredith replied. Derek laughs at his wife's bluntness, something he'd never do, because he was to polite, but admired.

"I know, I was just saying." Ellis said. She got her grumpiness from her mother and hated being woken up at this ungodly hour, which was actually their usual get up time but it was the Christmas holidays.

"We know." Derek smiled.

"Can we go in the living room now?" Bailey asked, beyond excited. He was a morning person, much to Meredith and Ellis's dismay, as was Zola and Derek, but they weren't as bad.

"Of course." Meredith replied, getting out of bed with Ellis still attached to her hip, her head resting on her moms shoulder. The two children and Derek following close behind.

The two didn't go too mad on presents, they never did but they had so much family it looked like they'd spent hundreds of dollars.

"Wow!" Bailey and Zola say at the same time. Ellis didn't seem to be interested in the presents as much as her siblings, she was hungry.

"Food!" Ellis demands, her brother and sister look at her in disbelief.

"You two can start, I'll get you some food." Meredith said, walking to the kitchen and placing the five year old on the counter.

She heard cheering from the lounge, and smiles. She gets Ellis some cereal and joins her husband.

After Ellis finished her breakfast she joined her siblings and began to open a present. "Mommy! Daddy! Zola! Bailey! Look!" She yelled, showing them a stuffed koala.

"Wow!" Meredith and Derek say, happy she was pleased with her first present.

"What is it?" Bailey asked, he'd never seen a koala before.

"It's a Koala, they live in Australia." Zola explained. "We learnt about them at school. Mrs Smoak said they eat when their not sleeping."

"I want to be a Koala!" Ellis said, hugging it so tightly she nearly ripped its head of.

"Do you like it?" Meredith asked, smiling. She loved it when her children were happy.

"I love it soooo much!" Ellis smiled, she was happy with the Koala and didn't seem to care about the rest of her presents for the next ten minutes, but then opens the rest.

Later that day they were all eating dinner with Cristina, Alex, Jo, Maggie, Richard and Amelia when Meredith thought of her daughter and how she should be here with them, celebrating.

"What is it?" Maggie asked, knowing when her sister was sad.

"It's nothing." Meredith replied, but Maggie was just as stubborn as she was and she was getting answers.

"Mer." She said, the others nodding in agreement. Suddenly the dinner didn't matter and they were all worried about her.

"Fine." Meredith said. "When I was sixteen I had a kid. A girl. It's her birthday today"

The room went silent, they were all processing, except for Derek who'd found out this morning. "We have another sister?" Bailey asked, sounding excited, but also annoyed that he was still the only boy.

"What happened to her?" Richard asked, Ellis had never told him. Then again they hardly talked after their rather messy breakup.

"I gave her up." Meredith answered. They all nod, taking in the news.

"What's her name?" Maggie asked, really wanting to meet her other niece, she didn't know if her sister was in contact with her, though. But by the looks of it she wasn't.

"Sara." Meredith replied. "She was adopted by a nice family looking to have another child but couldn't. Their last name was Lance."

"Sara Lance." Alex said, the name sounded familiar for some reason. He just didn't know where from. "Oh..." He mumbled when he realised where he'd heard her name before.

"What?" Cristina asked.

"I was a year away from completing my residency when a kid who'd crashed her motorbike came in. Well considering her age I'm sure it wasn't hers, probably her fathers but her name was Sara Lance." Alex explained. "She broke her leg in three places and didn't complain once. She was a good kid, a daredevil and outright clumsy but she lit up the room with her smile, bit like you."

A few people laugh at the story, Meredith just smiles and wishes it was her on the case instead of Alex.

The rest of the night she forgot about her daughter and just celebrated with her family. But as she lay awake in bed she couldn't help but think of her.