“No fucking way!”

“I knew it. You guys have practically been married for years, anyway.”

“Still,” Olivia says, grabbing Amy’s hand.

“We have not!” Amy defends, swatting Sarah.

“Whatever. You’ve been together since college. That’s basically forever.”

“Maybe to the two of you. All you have are one night stands.”

“Excuse me. I have never had a one night stand. I always have at least two dates.” Sarah corrects her. “Olivia, on the other hand…”

Olivia just looks at them and says nothing, her expression making her sisters laugh.

“Ok, enough.” Amy finally says when she sees Jane come into the restaurant.

“Oh please. “Olivia says. “She’s not a kid anymore, and she knows exactly what we’re talking about.”

“That would be thanks to you two. And anyway, that’s not it. You guys are horrible examples of what being in a health relationship looks like.” Amy is answered by two pairs of rolling eyes, but otherwise, they shut up.

“Hey, kid. You’re late.” Sarah greets Jane.

“Yeah, well…”

“Oooo, you got detention again!”

“Don’t tell Mom.”

“Speaking of not telling,” Olivia says, “I’m shocked that you weren’t on the phone the second you heard about Amy’s news.”

Jane shrugs as she settles herself in her chair. “I figured it was too big, and she’d want to tell you herself.”

Amy watches Jane, avoiding everyone’s eyes, and she knows something’s up. But since it was Jane, she knew she’d have no problem getting it out of her. She just shrugs at Olivia and Sarah when they shoot her a look. They’d figure it out later.

“So,” Olivia starts, changing the subject, “what are we doing for Meredith’s birthday?”

“Getting her laid.”

“Sarah!” This came from everyone.

Jane is finally smiling. “Let’s take her somewhere for a weekend!” Everyone agrees, but that’s as far as they get. They are still arguing when they leave.

“Ok, whoever can come up with the place, doesn’t have to help pay.” Amy says.

“Deal!”

“Wait, that’s not fair. I don’t have any money!” Jane throws her hands up.

“Ask Meredith.” Sarah offers.

“Yeah, that’s a great birthday present.”

“Calm down. You’ll probably be the one to come up with the place, anyway.” Olivia says.

“Whatever.” Suddenly she’s sulking again. Like a patient mother, Amy ignores it, asking instead, “Who you riding with, kid?”

“Sarah.”

“Whatever!” Amy and Olivia mimic, pretending to be offended. It does nothing to improve Jane’s attitude, which she makes very clear as she scowls in the car while her sisters say good-bye.

“The hell’s with her?” Olivia asks as she hugs Amy.

“That’s gonna be Sarah’s job!” Amy pulls away and turns to Sarah, widening her eyes with fake excitement as she tugs her sister’s hair.

“Well then, wish me luck.” Sarah sighs, tugging Amy’s hair back, just a little harder. She moves out of the way when Amy tries to retaliate. “You coming over, Ollie?”

“Uh, yeah.” Olivia is texting away on her phone.

“OK. Bye, Ames. And CONGRATS!” Sarah screams the last part, making Amy’s face split into a wide grin. There is no doubt she is happy. Her giddiness rubbed off on her sisters, except one. Jane is scowling the entire ride home, except when she takes a break to roll her eyes at Sarah screaming along with her punk music. She and Jane are the only ones that share a love for punk music. Still, as fitting as the music is to her mood, Jane stays silent. As they pull into their neighborhood, Sarah finally turns the music down.

“You love Austin.”

“Ok,” Jane responds sarcastically. Sarah manages to keep her hands from her sister’s neck.

“So, what’s the problem? Your fav sister is marrying your fav guy.”

“Amy is not my favorite,” Jane mumbles under her breath.

Sarah just laughs. Amy might be Jane’s favorite, but she was the closest with Sarah. Which is the very reason they could have this conversation and actually get somewhere.

Jane sighs, facing out her window, which only meant one thing. Silently, Sarah pulls the car over, and then gently faces Jane to her. She always cried so easy, and always tried to hide it.

“Janey,” she says softly. “What’s the dilly, yo?”

Finally, Jane gives a small smile and then shrugs.

“She’s not gonna be one of us anymore. She already spends all of her time with him, she never comes over. Now we’ll really never see her.”

“And just what makes you think that? That she won’t be one of us?”

“Because now she and Austin are going to have their own family. They get to share a last name and start having a family that’s just theirs. What will she need us for?”

“That’s not how it will be, Jane. She will always need us.”

Jane is silent, shaking her head. When they get home, Olivia and Meredith are in the kitchen, sharing the dessert they always brought home for Meredith. Sarah holds a finger up to her lips. Jane comes in behind her, glares at everyone, and then stomps into the living room. Seconds later they can hear the tv blaring.

“Ok, what was that all about?” Meredith asks.

“She’s upset about Amy and Austin.”

“Oh.” is Meredith’s only response.

Olivia rolls her eyes. “Yeah, we definitely should’ve seen that coming.”

“Has Amy talked to her?”

“No, I just got this out of her on the way home.”

Meredith sighs, taking another bite of cake. “I’ll call her tomorrow,” she says, swallowing. “No need to spoil her day.”

“And there’s no need to spoil the brat,” Olivia adds.

“Olivia.” Meredith shushes her, though she knows her daughter is right. They were all guilty of it. As easy as it was for Olivia to smooth talk her way out of trouble, Jane was a genius at getting what she wanted without saying a word. The kid would give you one look, and the world was at her feet. Maybe it had to do with that face.

Those dark eyes, whether sad and brimming with tears, or shining with laughter, or that crooked smile that always seemed to be hiding something – it didn’t matter, no one was immune. But maybe it mostly had to do with how they ended up with Jane.

She didn’t remember much of it, just enough to know she’d lost everything. Jane’s family had been wealthy, loving, and caring. She had a mom and a dad, two older brothers, and a baby sister. They were a close family who had been on their way to a vacation when their private plane went down. Jane and one of her brothers were the only ones to survive the crash.

Jane was the only one to leave the hospital.

If you asked her about it when she was younger, she would just say that her family was still on vacation. But she never brought them up on her own, never asked where her family was, or when they were coming back. Later, as they got older, Meredith explained to the older girls why Jane responded in this way.

In her four-year-old mind, after the tragedy she had survived, the last thing her brain let her remember was getting on her family’s plane to go on vacation. In reality, though, Jane knew what really happened, which is why she wouldn’t ask where her family was. It was a defense mechanism. Between this, and the fact that Jane had always been so needy, is probably the biggest reason they spoiled her.

“I’m pretty sure Amy’s already figured it out, anyway.” Olivia says. “She’ll be calling any minute to coddle Jane.” Meredith gives her a look.

“Don’t say anything to either of them.” she warns her daughter. Olivia pretends to look innocent, something she never was.

“I still can’t believe she’s getting married.” Sarah muses.

“Neither can I.” Meredith sighs, grabbing the fork out of Olivia’s hand before she can take the last piece of cake. But if anyone was ready, it would be Amy. Meredith tries to find some comfort in this, wondering if every mother felt this uneasy about their kids getting married. She’s still thinking about it when she goes to check on Jane, who doesn’t say anything when she joins her on the couch.

“I miss her, too.” Meredith says quietly after a few minutes. Still silent, Jane moves to lay across her lap. Neither one says another word as Meredith strokes her youngest daughter’s hair, both of them falling asleep with heavy minds, but lighter hearts.