This Life

Chapter 1

When Meredith heard the weather forecast this morning and they said it was going to be a warm day they really had not been lying. It was a beautiful summer's day in Boston with a temperature hitting the 90's. It was too nice to work in.

Thankfully she had just finished work for the day and decided to do some late afternoon sunbathing in Boston Common. She found a nice quiet spot close to the entrance which faced on to City Hall and the Beacon Hill area. The park was full of families making the most of the heat wave and enjoying the start of the weekend. The place was also bursting with tourists who were either starting or finishing the Freedom Trail.

She settled down on the grass using her bag as a pillow and gazed at the view of the Boston skyscrapers in front of her.

She was born and raised in Boston but still the city amazed her. One minute you are in beautiful green and relaxed surroundings of Boston Common and two minutes around the corner you are surrounded by towering skyscraper and around the next corner you find a graveyard where Samuel Adams is buried and the site of the Boston Massacre. The city was full of history and culture. It was moments like these that made Meredith Grey desperate to return home to the city she loved.

She smiled to herself thinking that this was the first time she had sunbathed in Boston Common for nearly ten years. God how much her life had changed since then, and not for the better. To say that it had been a hard ten years was an understatement. In fact the last two years had changed her whole perception of what she thought of her family and what they they had thought of her.

Meredith Elizabeth Grey was born in Boston exactly 27 years and six weeks ago. Her mother Ellis was one of the most sought after and successful attorneys on the East Coast. She terrified lawyers, witnesses, jurors and judges alike and if she told you to do something you did it no questions asked. Her father however was completely different. Thatcher Grey was born and raised in London, England to Irish parents. He had trained as a lawyer and on a gap year he came to Boston on holiday where he met and fell in love with Ellis.

He was probably the only man on earth who was not frightened of her and could put up with her temper. Anyone who knew them well knew they were the perfect match and deeply in love. They married two years later and two years after that their much wanted first daughter Molly was born and they were perfect little family. Meredith was the unexpected surprise three years later.

Looking back at her childhood it was not hard to see that Molly was Ellis' daughter in both looks and temperament while Meredith was more relaxed and carefree like her father. While Molly's birthday was treated like a national holiday with a huge party and lots of presents Meredith's was a low key event which usually consisted of her and Thatcher and a few of closest school friends blowing out candles on a small cake at her kitchen table. When Thatcher used to ask Ellis about planning a party for Meredith the excuse was either she was busy in court or Molly had ballet or horse riding lessons which were far more important.

Her favourite childhood memories were always of her and her dad.

It was when Meredith turned eight that she realised she did not like her sister. It was Molly who cruelly told her that Santa Claus did not exist and that she would not get any presents that year. On Christmas morning when she opened her presents she was so pleased to see the Girl's world set complete with doll and hair brushes and make up. It was exactly like the one Molly had – only more up-to-date. Her dad had winked her and told she now had her own doll that she could make up and style her hair. Meredith had never been so happy...until three hours later Molly deliberately spilt Ellis' expensive bright red nail polish all over the doll's hair and face.

Of course Molly cried and said it was accident and while Thatcher had saw the whole incident and tried to defend Meredith all Ellis could do was soothe a distraught Molly while disciplining a sobbing Meredith for being careless and to show more respect for her belongings. The doll was promptly thrown the bin and Meredith sent to her room.

She could hear her parents arguing the rest of the night while Molly was actually singing with happiness.

This pattern continued for the next nine years. If Meredith ever had any friends over Molly had to gatecrash and ruins things again blaming Meredith. When they were in high school Molly would spread nasty rumors about Meredith and her friends and took great satisfaction when she was bullied in school. Of course when Meredith told her parents she told to stop telling lies and picking on her sister.
When she turned 16 that is when things started to change for the worst. Many times she could hear her father talking on the telephone to relatives back in the UK enquiring about jobs and accommodation. On more than occasion she tearfully asked him if he was leaving. Each time he told her no. She also noticed that her mother had started drinking and was even more cutting and cruel in her comments.

Molly however had turned into every parent's worst nightmare. While Meredith sat at home doing her homework and visiting friends at the weekend, Molly was escaping out her bedroom window every night and drinking with her friends. She got even more out of control when got her driving licence. Within two months she had already been stopped by police several times for drinking and speeding offences. Each time she had been bailed out by Ellis. The worst incident was when Molly was both drunk and high on heroine she managed to knock down on her own boyfriend. Ellis got the call at 3am and managed to convince the boyfriend not to press any charges.

By now Molly had scared off nearly every friend Meredith ever had. Her only friend was Emma. Together they had planned to escape their overbearing parents and travel the world before going to university and train to be teachers. While Meredith was tall with dirty blonde shoulder length hair, Emma was tall rake thin with long brown hair and extremely popular with boys. While Meredith was asked on plenty dates, Molly always found out and off course had to try them out for herself.
One Saturday night Meredith decided she would do things the same way as Molly. She climbed out her bedroom window and went to Emma's 17th birthday party where fingers crossed the gorgeous Todd Barrowman would keep up his promise of dancing with her.

Four hours later she was in the emergency room. She had been attacked by Todd. As she sat battered and bruised Ellis called her a disgrace to the family and stormed out the hospital. Her father sat beside her crying that the family's out of control behaviour had to stop. Emma felt guilty about the whole thing and could not look at Meredith. They never spoke again.

Two days later Thatcher Grey finally stood up to Ellis Grey and questioned her on her drinking and told her it had to stop. He explained that he had looked into their bank accounts to discover they had virtually no savings left. The money had been used to feed Molly's heroin addiction and bailing her out of jail. It was time for a fresh start for everyone. They were moving to London no questions asked. His brother Jack had a job lined up for him as a solicitor in London and found a good sized house for them. He had enrolled Meredith in college and while Molly was horrified that she would now have to earn her living a secretary in Jack's law firm.
On her last day in Boston, Meredith came down to the Common and cried. She could understand why her father was doing this but just when she had chance to live her life the way she wanted it was snatched away. By this stage Meredith did not hate Molly, she despised her. She literally snorted, drank and bribed away her parents and their trust funds but yet Meredith Grey was the disgrace of the family.

The first few years in London had been great. Molly had calmed down even seemed to enjoy her job. Meredith went to college and received diplomas in child care. Her dream was still to teach but decided to take a year out and save up for the university fees. She found a job as a nanny for a young professional couple Helen and Colin and their one year old son James. She was own boss and most days was out and about the museums and parks and James adored her. She had started to think about returning to Boston but then Ellis took ill.

Although Ellis had stopped drinking nearly three years ago the damage had been done to her liver. Meredith came home one night to find her unconscious on the kitchen floor and for the next three years she was in and out of hospital all the time. She would take turns there was some big fancy name for them that Meredith could not pronounce. She would be awake but she could not remember who she was or where she was. It became so bad that Ellis needed 24 hour care she could not be left alone.

Thatcher had no choice but to remain working in order to pay the debts. Molly reduced her hours but told Meredith in no uncertain terms that she would not be looking after Ellis alone. Meredith did the same and cut out the plans for university and became a part time nanny for James. Both with hospital stays and appointments that Molly could simply not attend a sympathetic Helen and Colin had to tell Meredith that they could no longer employ her. She understood there situation and they promised to keep in touch.

A year later they were given hope when Ellis was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant. For the next sixteen months they hearts stopped every time the telephone rang. When they received the call it was Thatcher and Meredith who went to the hospital with Ellis and held her hand as she went into the operating theatre. It was them who sat by her bedside in Intensive care for three days afterwards. It was them who held her when she nearly died of an infection and when she was delirious with high temperatures and pain medication.

Molly's reaction to the transplant was to go out and party – she had her life back after all. She rarely visited Ellis in hospital and told her father "I don't like hospitals".

It was on one of these the days that Ellis was delirious that Meredith's world fell down around her.

The doctors and nurses were in her hospital room trying to calm her and asked Ellis who Meredith was Ellis's response was "I don't know". Meredith was visibly upset at this and knew it was a side effect of the pain medication. The nurses sat with her and cheered her up. Those nurses were the most thoughtful and caring people Meredith had ever met. They were her friends and she was even invited to two hen nights a wedding reception and the Christmas night out.

Later on that same night Meredith was sitting in the room wiping of the sweat of Ellis' forehead her temperature was hitting 100F and one of the nurses Claire was helping her calm Ellis. Claire was talking to Ellis telling her what a fantastic daughter she had in Meredith. However Ellis's response chilled them both to the bone.

She sat up in bed her voice completely calm. "Where is Molly? She is MY daughter; she is the one I wanted." She turned and looked Meredith in the eye "You were a mistake, I was on my way to the hospital to get rid of you when your father convinced me to keep you. You have been nothing but an inconvenience your whole life" Clare somehow managed to speak calmly and softly but Ellis would not listen "Molly would be here but she is busy." Meredith fled the hospital room in tears and nothing Claire said or did could calm her down.

Somehow Meredith was not surprised by Ellis' words. She did not tell her father what her mother had said about her and to the astonishment of Claire was back by Ellis' bedside the next day, Three months later Ellis was allowed home from hospital; it took another for health to return but at least Meredith was able to go back to work as a nanny.

The day before her 27th birthday Ellis was given a clean bill health. When Meredith woke up the next morning her father greeted her in the kitchen singing Happy Birthday she even got a birthday kiss from Ellis. It was strange because since that night in the hospital her relationship with Ellis improved. They often went out shopping together or went to the cinema to see a movie but what was said that night was never discussed.

It was then she decided it was time. Time to move on with her life. Live her life the way she wanted. She had a lot of bad memories in Boston but also a lot of good ones. That night they went for a family meal in a small restaurant in Covent Garden when Meredith told her family that she was moving back to Boston. The nanny organisation she worked with was able to find her job in a day care facility. Ellis did not say much except good luck. Molly through a temper tantrum worthy of an Oscar and could not believe how selfish she was. Two days later Thatcher dropped her off at Heathrow Airport. He had spoken with some old friends in Boston who were able to find a decent apartment for her to live in. He also handed her an envelope and told her it was a cheque. She was given strict instructions not too open it until she was on the flight. "You deserve it" was all he said as he kissed her goodbye.

That had been six weeks ago.

Since arriving back in Boston Meredith had managed to get in contact with Emma and some of her other friends from school. They all went for a meal and although it was a good night it was clear that the damage Molly had done in school could not be repaired. Both herself and Emma went shopping that next weekend for things for her apartment and although friendly they could never be the best friends that they were for one thing Emma could never understand why Meredith gave up everything to care for Ellis when she was ill.

"Because she is my mother and I am her daughter. Because if I hadn't no-one else would have."

Meredith was the happiest now that she ever had been. She knew herself that she needed to get more but the thought of going on dates terrified her – the memory of her attack ten years still lingered with her but with like everything else she would take one day at a time.

"Enough reminiscing" thought Meredith. She didn't know how long she had been lying there and was just about to get up when she felt something wet on her cheek. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes of a giggling baby who decided to start playfully hitting her on the chest.

"Beth stop that. Oh God I am so sorry..."

Meredith looked up to the voice and found herself looking into a matching pair of blue eyes.