(Untitled)

[drownondryland]

Meredith's not a big fan of her birthday, less so than usual today, although she honestly doesn't care much about turning thirty. A year's a year and the only thing this birthday means to her is another way of marking how long she's been away from Seattle, which would suck enough even if she were in a better mood

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[drownondryland]

If nothing else, it's neither a surprise party nor the option Meredith would have picked just yesterday had she not already committed to this party -- wallowing either on her own or with Cristina. Actually, every time she reminds herself Cristina is around, it cheers her up a little bit all over again. And now George is here, too, which makes it easier still to forget the bad mood she was in all morning. Things are changing for the better.

Standing around at her party eating cake, surrounded by friends, would go further toward reminding her of that if she didn't feel quite so awkward. It's not even as if she has reason to, she just does. Things will undoubtedly get better as the day goes on, though. It's hard not to feel a little better around Ellie's infectious good cheer, knowing her friends are finally here.

[getemtiger]

"Meredith, hey," Mary Jane said, working her way past a few people with a grin and leaning in, one arm draping around Meredith in a brief half-hug. While she'd always been good at putting on a smile and passing herself off as happier than she was, this time, it was entirely genuine. For the moment at least, she wasn't going to worry. "Happy birthday. Enjoying the party?"

[drownondryland]

Meredith nods, smiling as she slips her arm around Mary Jane's waist briefly. "It's great," she says with as much conviction as she can muster. The best thing about today is having George there, and that's good enough to make her sound pretty damn happy. Actually, it's enough make her actually happy. As birthday presents go, she couldn't really ask for much better. "Ellie's amazing. Everyone's amazing. Thank you."

[getemtiger]

"Hey, I didn't have anything to do with it," Mary Jane replied with a quiet laugh, a little self-deprecating. All she'd had to do was show up, and that wasn't exactly a hardship. A party was a party, psychopathic villain wandering the island or not, and this one seemed to have less potential for a fight breaking out than Jean's birthday had. Then again, sometimes it was hard to tell. "I wouldn't have missed it, though. Looks like you guys got a pretty good turn out."

[the_support]

Ellie wasn't quite as fast as she usually was on her feet, but that hadn't been stopping her before and it wasn't stopping her now. Admittedly, now her back and feet were sore, and she at least allowed herself to sit for a while instead of keeping an eye on the party itself. It wasn't like she was unavailable where she was sitting, after all.

She'd gotten food before she had sat down, and sampled a little of most of the things she'd picked. As it turned out, busily cooking all morning made her even hungrier than she usually was lately. She liked to think it was her right to enjoy the day and everything that was part of it, since it was her birthday after all.

[turnthebadinme]

Serena wasn't sure she would stick around as long as she ordinarily would have, but she would have been remiss if she hadn't made a point of heading right over to Ellie as soon as she could. "Happy birthday," she said warmly, smiling. "I hope it's been a good one."

[the_support]

Honestly, Ellie hadn't even expected her to show up, and would have understood, too. Losing someone was always hard, but when it was someone close, it was worse. She made it a point not to look overly sympathetic, though. She knew she probably had that enough.

"Thank you. I'm glad you came," she said, motioning to the spot on the picnic table next to her. "Come, sit. Have you eaten anything yet?"

[turnthebadinme]

Serena shook her head, heading over to sit next to Ellie. For once, she really didn't feel like mingling, but Ellie was always good company. Somehow just being around her helped a little, maybe only by reminding her she still had some of the people who mattered. "It looks amazing," she said, apologetic. "I'm just not really hungry. I'm sure I'll have some later."

[stayastranger]

Sarah couldn't have missed the party even if she'd wanted to, living this close to the Woodcombs. She had no desire to skip out, though, even if she wished she could have found an actual present for Ellie. After all this time, even though she had a perfectly valid excuse, it didn't seem right to show up without a gift. Still, she was enjoying herself already as she made her way over to the refreshments table, waiting her chance to get at the drinks.

[the_intersect]

"So, it's hard to be completely sure, but I think this cake might be ten times better than the one I made," Chuck said, finding Sarah near the refreshment table. "I promise not to be offended if you think any less of me."

[stayastranger]

"Well, good," Sarah said, smiling warmly. Stepping forward, she found a cup and poured herself some tea as she spoke. "Because, while I don't think any less of you, I'm pretty sure Ellie's cake is ten times better than what anyone else makes."

[the_intersect]

"Well, that's because she's some kind of crazy cooking genius, Sarah," Chuck replied, "Ten bucks says the baby's gonna come out and give everyone cupcakes or something."

And then go sky diving or start doing upside down sit ups in baby gravity boots.

[turnthebadinme]

It wasn't often that Serena could honestly say she didn't feel like going to a party. She was doing everything in her power to cover that up, though, smiling brightly as she circulated, determined not to be depressed or depressing on Ellie's birthday. Like Jenny had told her to do, she was taking everything as it came, one moment at a time, and if she was a little strained, she was still doing alright. Ellie was like her family and Meredith had been pretty nice when they'd been bridesmaids together; there was no way she was missing this. She was going to enjoy the company of her friends while it lasted.

[getemtiger]

Mary Jane hadn't exactly been in the mood for a party for a good long while now, but not only did no one other than Peter and Johnny know that, she would've come to this one anyway. In the months they'd known each other, Meredith had really come to mean a lot to Mary Jane, and besides, the distraction would probably do her good. With good food and good people around, it wasn't all that difficult, being able to relax and enjoy herself, wandering around to mingle with a plate in her hand.