A/N: I first started tossing around the idea for this story during the character-centered episodes. Originally, I thought that these character-centered episodes were a great idea, especially around Thanksgiving time when we got back to back amazing Addison and Jake episodes. But, after that, we got practically no Addison and Jake, and so I thought it might be worth it to write a story about what was going on in their lives when we saw so little of them, during the other characters' episodes – the missing moments. But I held off on writing it because I had high hopes for the finale. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with it. To me, the wedding was way too fast. And how do you have a series finale without Henry in it? I was also hoping for a better sendoff for Addison's character…one that lived up to her amazing introduction on Grey's.
Anyway, hopefully this fic can help fill in some left out Jaddison moments. I'm planning on writing each chapter as separate one-shots, so the chapters may not necessarily be related to one another. I figured I'd start with the wedding, which I guess isn't exactly a missing moment (because technically a wedding did happen) – but this story fills in some of the details that I thought were missing.
I hope you like this idea and this first one-shot, and thanks so much for reading (if you still are reading, considering that I wrote a book's-length author's note). Also, if you have a missing moment that you want me to write, let me know about it in a review, and I'll do my best to include it. Thanks again for reading!
What Would Bizzy Say?
"Addie, you look beautiful," Amelia complimented, as Addison smoothed down her wedding dress.
"Thanks," Addison smiled. "And thank you for being my maid of honor."
"You don't need to thank me," Amelia insisted. "Addie, you're my sister. You always will be."
"So, are we ready to get the show on the road?" Archer asked, as he entered the bride's room.
"Yeah," Addison breathed. "I'm ready."
"Okay," Archer nodded. "Let's get you married."
"I'll meet you two outside," Amelia smiled, sensing that Addison and Archer needed a moment alone. "Try not to take too long, though. We only have the photographer for two hours."
"So," Archer smirked, once Amelia had left the room.
"Okay, why are you looking at me like that?" Addison asked her brother. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong?" Archer insisted, holding his hands up innocently. "I just…what would Bizzy say if she could see you now?"
Addison arched an eyebrow, and crossed her arms over her chest, silently urging her brother to continue.
"I mean, look at you. Look at your life," Archer smirked. "First of all, you're living in L.A. L.A. is Sodom and Gomorrah as far as Bizzy's concerned. And your maid of honor for your wedding is your ex-husband's sister…somehow I don't think that would mesh very well with Bizzy's idea of what constitutes a socially appropriate wedding. Oh, and let's not forget the obvious…your soon-to-be husband knocked you up before the wedding. Nothing screams classy like a bride with a baby bump. No offense, of course," Archer added with a smirk.
"No, of course not," Addison responded tersely. Sure, she had every right to be offended by her brother's words but, in all honesty, she wasn't. Yes, L.A. was a far cry from the conservative Connecticut town that she had grown up in. And, sure, her second wedding wasn't as big or elaborate or fairytale-like as her first one. And, yes, she was a bride with a baby bump. But none of this mattered. L.A. had become her home – her place – and she was happy there. And Amelia would always be family; so why shouldn't she be her maid of honor? And somehow –even though she was convinced that it would never be possible for her – she and Jake were expecting a baby. Their second miracle baby. A little girl whose name they had already settled on: Alessandra Vivian Montgomery-Reilly.
"Hey, Addie," Archer prodded, cutting into Addison's thoughts.
Addison turned to face her brother. "Yeah?"
"We should go. Jake's waiting."
Addison nodded, as she and her brother made their way from the bride's room to join Amelia on the rooftop of the hotel, where Addison and Jake's wedding ceremony was being held.
And as they watched Amelia walk down the aisle, Archer tuned to Addison, a teasing smirk on his face. "You're not going to walk down the aisle to something trashy, like 'No Diggity,' are you?"
Addison rewarded her brother's comment with an eye roll; that type of question didn't even warrant a response.
In the end, she had chosen to walk down the aisle to "Bless the Broken Road" – a popular wedding choice, but a classic. Sure, it wasn't overly original, but it spoke to her and Jake's relationship. And as she walked down the aisle, her arm in Archer's, and walked past Naomi and Violet, and Sam and Stephanie, and Charlotte and Cooper, and Sheldon, Miranda, and James, and the Captain, and Callie and Bailey, tears of happiness formed in the corners of her eyes. This was right. She and Jake together was right.
"Hey, Archer," she whispered, as they neared the altar, where Jake, Amelia, and Angela, who was holding Henry, were standing. "Hey, Archer, you need to let me take the last few steps on my own."
Archer looked at his sister in confusion, but Addison shot him an adamant look. "Okay," he nodded, pressing a kiss to her cheek, before sitting down next to The Captain.
Addison needed to take those last few steps to Jake on her own. She had earned that right. Sure, she loved her brother, and couldn't imagine anyone else walking her down the aisle; but he represented her past. He represented Connecticut and med. school in New York…and that wasn't who she was anymore. Everyone who had come out to celebrate her wedding represented an important part of her life – whether it was her childhood, her life on the east coast, her life in Seattle, or her life in L.A. But the people standing in front of her – Jake, Henry, Angela, and Amelia – they represented her new life. The life she had gone after all by herself, without anyone else's help. She had chosen this life. And it seemed only right that she should take the last few steps towards it on her own.
And as she thought about the new life that laid ahead of her with Jake and Henry and Angela and Amelia and the new baby on the way, she couldn't help thinking back to what Archer had said to her just a little while earlier: What would Bizzy say if she could see you now?
Addison knew that her second wedding might not be the fairytale wedding that her first one was. She knew that there were aspects of her second wedding that her elitist mother would have deemed inappropriate or unbecoming. But she also knew that Bizzy would have been able to see how much she and Jake loved each other. She would have seen that they shared the type of love that she, herself, couldn't openly express until it was too late. She would have seen that Addison and Jake and Henry and Angela and the new baby on the way were meant to be a family.
And in that moment, Addison knew exactly what Bizzy would say: Go marry him, dear.
