Little sisters can be annoying, but Meredith had no idea how bad it could get. It didn’t start until Sarah moved in. Up until that point, Olivia and Amy got along just fine. Once the three girls were comfortable together, the sibling rivalry started, and it was mostly between Olivia and Sarah.

At first, it was little things, blaming each other for stealing things or being unfair. But then it got to the point where Meredith had their psychiatrists intervene. It turned out Olivia was having issues with a new addition to their family, and Sarah was having a hard time adjusting to being part of a family. It took a couple of years to get settled before things got better between her and Olivia.

Getting Sarah settled was a hard ordeal for Meredith, as well. Her first two kids were so easy. But out of her four kids, Sarah was her most rebellious, and probably the one who was hurt the most by her biological family. She had the most abandonment issues, so much that there were times when Sarah’s school would call before Meredith was even out of the parking lot. And whenever she would see Sarah running down the hall for her, crying so hard she couldn’t breathe, Meredith’s heart would break.

Then there was the phase where Sarah was convinced that Meredith was never coming back. If Meredith tried to leave, Sarah would tell her she would hate her if she left. And every time that happened, Meredith’s heart would crack all over again. Because she knew that when she got home, she would find Sarah crying in Meredith’s bed, begging her never to leave her again.

It took a lot of therapy sessions, late-night hugs and hot chocolate, early morning pancakes, reassuring notes in the lunch box, panicked phone calls from the school, fights with Amy and Olivia, fights with Meredith, and calls from social workers and concerned teachers. It also took a lot of love and patience, which Meredith had plenty to give. By the time Jane came along two years later, Sarah was ready to be an amazing big sister. Meredith was convinced that’s why Jane had such an easy time adjusting, despite what she’d been through. She had three older sisters ready to love her, and it took no time for Jane to love them back.

The night of Amy’s bachelorette party, Sarah stops at home to change out of her work clothes and pick Jane up. She finds Jane in her pajamas, ready to go. As much fun as it would be to see Amy’s expression at Jane’s outfit, Sarah makes her go change. She sits in her car in the driveway, laying on the horn until Jane comes out of the house, finger in the air until she gets in the car.

“Christ, Sarah.”

Sarah ignores her. “You ready for tonight?”

“I’m not the one getting married.”

“No shit. Are you at least going to try and have fun?”

“How is this going to be fun? A bunch of Amy’s uptight friends in her tiny house, playing stupid games. Yeah, so much fun.”

“Wow. You need a little pick me up before Amy sees you. She’s going to cut your head off.”

“Good, then I won’t have to sit through this stupid party.”

By the time they get to Amy’s house, Jane is suddenly feeling better about the night’s plans.

“Hi, Amy!” she yells when they come through her door. Amy and Olivia are the only ones there. They were all supposed to be there early to help set up for the party, which actually wasn’t going to be Amy’s real bachelorette party. But Olivia wanted an excuse for a party while Meredith was out of town, and this was it.

“What the fuck – “ Olivia starts before Jane trips on a rug. Sarah grabs her arm, desperately fighting to keep a straight face.

“Are you high? Is she high?” Amy turns on Sarah.

“No, not high…” Sarah loses the battle and breaks off into giggles, which only sets off Olivia and Jane.

“That’s just great, Sarah. Leave it to you to get our sixteen-year-old sister drunk.”

“Amy, I’m not drunk yet!” Jane yells from five feet away. This sends Olivia and Sarah into hysterics. Jane watches her sisters laughing with a lopsided grin.

“God damn it, you two,” Amy hisses. “Get her straight before everyone gets here.” She shoves Olivia, and then yanks Sarah’s hair. They both stop laughing.

“Ow, ok. Jeez.”

Amy watches the three of them stumble away, giggling like this is the best thing ever. Rolling her eyes and mumbling to herself, she gets back to decorating. As her party gets closer, Amy forgets about Jane for a moment, and thinks about the reason for tonight instead.

Austin. She met him on her first day of college, and she remembers everything. Eight years only made the memories that much sweeter. College had been exciting at first, but once the suitcases were packed, and the miles were in between, Amy realized how hard this was going to be. Her family meant everything to her. Theirs was a special one, and each family member had worked hard to be what they were today. It was hard to leave that behind.

But meeting Austin, he had changed that. Having him there from the beginning made college a lot easier. Bringing him home, however, proved to be quite the opposite.

Only Olivia had been cool with Austin, and it had surprised Amy how reserved Sarah had acted towards him. Jane’s hostility was nothing new, and Meredith being overly polite was only going to last for so long. At least, that’s how it had always been when Amy brought a boy home.

But not with Austin. And maybe it had to do with her being away from home, and him being the one she spent most of her time with-

Suddenly Amy gets it. This is exactly what happened with Austin before, they were all jealous. Well, Meredith was just being a mom, and Sarah was being protective. Eventually they got over it. But for Jane, it was pure jealousy.

Amy still couldn’t figure it out, even after all these years, why Jane was so attached to her. She was by far the closest with Sarah, and she always went to Olivia with her problems. But when it came down to feeling bad and needing comfort, Jane always went to Amy. And Jane always seemed to know when Amy needed comforting as well.

So, when it came to someone else being there for Amy, Jane didn’t take it well. And then, one day, Jane started asking about Austin and tagging along. It took some time, but eventually Austin was spending just as much time with Jane. It had all been nice until recently.

Amy can hear her sisters giggling in the other room, and when she peeks around the corner she sees something that had been missing in the last few weeks. The three of them are on the couch, taping streamers to each other, and there’s a happiness on Jane’s face that seemed to have disappeared. And Amy knows it mostly has to do with the alcohol, but she really missed that smile. It’s on her mind the rest of the night, although the party is a good distraction. At one point she and Sarah end up in the kitchen alone.

“Ok, there are several reasons why I am pissed at you tonight.”

Sarah pauses, a spoon hanging out of her mouth. “Huh?” is all she says.

“And they all have to do with Jane.”

Sarah takes the spoon out of her mouth. “Ok, first off, you should actually be thanking me for giving her those beers. Your party would be hella boring without her. Second, I haven’t done anything else…that I’m aware of…”

“I know why Jane’s been so shitty, and I know you know, too. What I don’t know is why you haven’t said anything.”

Sarah gives her an eyeroll. “Jesus, Amy, it really did take you long enough. Three weeks? I think you knew -“

“Sarah.” Amy’s not looking at her. “I’ve been a little distracted.” She absently folds a dish towel on the counter.

“It’s Jane, Amy. We’ve been calling her Shadow since the day she came to live with us.”

Amy feels even more guilty, and now, a little angry. She shouldn’t feel guilty at all. Getting married was supposed to be a good thing for her.

“God, how does she do this?” Amy puts the dish towel away, slamming the drawer shut. “How is it that it’s supposed to be my time for happiness, and instead, I’m feeling sorry for her?”

“Well, I think it’s because you love her.”

“Yeah, she’s got a craft for that. And she’s been working her magic on me for years.” Amy huffs as she goes to the fridge and grabs a beer.

“Oh, did you check with Jane first?”

“You’re just so funny, Sarah. You can explain her hangover to Meredith tomorrow.”

“She’ll be fine. It won’t be her first, you know.” Sarah smirks.

Amy ignores her, heading back to her party and mumbling. Still smirking, Sarah follows, hearing “horrible examples” and “it’s no wonder she’s jaded”. When they get to the scene in the living room, it’s hard to believe that most of these women are Amy’s friends. A lot, if not all, were married with kids – yet Jane had every single one dancing like they were 17-year-olds who had snuck into a club. And they were all drunk.

“Oh, yes. This is exactly how I imagined my bachelorette party. This is the last time I let Olivia throw a party.”

“That’s a lie, and you know it.” Sarah teases her sister. Suddenly Olivia is in her face. Jane pops up beside her, laughing with mischief like she had been all night. And suddenly Amy doesn’t care. She lets Olivia drag her to the middle of the chaos, and the four of them end up trying to dance on the couch together. They all end up a tangle of arms and legs and breathless laughter, but at least they’re together, and at least they’re all happy.