Author's note: OMG GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for the GREAT REVIEWS!!!!!! You all just motivated me to write more and more and more of this story!!!

So on to chapter 2! I hope you'll enjoy it!

AND PLEASE KEEP THESE REVIEWS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Chapter 2: Horrifyingly GREAT NEWS!

Lexie woke up, groaning as she felt her bed shift. She felt the covers moving and a warm body lie down next to her. She cracked her eyes open and grinned tiredly when her eyes met identical deep brown eyes, staring back at her.

"You awake, mommy?" Zack whispered, apparently not wanting to wake her up if she was still asleep.

She nodded her head slowly and reached up to brush her son's soft hair. "Good morning. You're up early, sweetie."

Zack smiled at her and lifted his small hand up to her cheek. "I'm hungry, mommy." The young boy announced.

Lexie sighed and closed her eyes. 'So much for sleep.' She thought bitterly. "Let's go, buddy."

Zack didn't need to be told twice. He jumped out from under the covers and ran out of the bedroom. She rolled onto her back and stretched, gathering up the courage to leave her warm bed. She glanced at her alarm clock and groaned again. She really had to teach Zack the importance of sleep. Too bad he was still too young to learn how to tell time.

She pushed herself out of bed and grabbed her sweats from the floor. She pulled them on and padded out of her room to join her son in the kitchen. "What would you like to eat for breakfast, Zack?" she whispered, not wanting to wake Sean at five thirty in the morning.

"Oatmeal."

Lexie frowned at her son. "Oatmeal? Since when do you like oatmeal?"

"Uncle Sean made me taste."

She gave him a skeptical smile but nodded her head in agreement. "Ok, oatmeal it is then."

She made some for herself too and poured two glasses of orange juice. She gave him his bowl and lifted her eyebrows in curiosity as Zack left the table to get something from the cupboard. He came back with the brown sugar and a large spoon. Without a word, he lifted a large spoonful of the sugar and sprinkled it over his breakfast, making Lexie's eyes pop out of her head.

"Oh, NOW I know why you like oatmeal." She told him, trying her best not to laugh.

Zack took a large bite and gave her the exact same proud grin she'd seen on his father's face so many times.

She was about to comment again when she was interrupted by the phone. Not wanting it to wake Sean, she ran up to it and answered after the first ring. "Hello." She whispered in the receiver, grimacing as she caught Zack adding even more brown sugar on his breakfast.

"Lexie."

Lexie gasped, recognizing the voice instantly. "Meredith!" She answered, her son's sugar high long forgotten. "Hi!.. You're calling early."

Meredith paused and cleaned her throat. "I know."

Lexie started pacing, feeling more and more nervous. Meredith never called her. Since she'd moved to Boston, Lexie had called her a few times, but that was it. Moving to Boston had been too much for their fragile relationship to take. If Meredith called her out of the blue at this time in the morning, something HAD to be wrong. "What's going on, Meredith?" she asked her, her voice shaky.

"Lexie… I've got something to tell you..."

Something had happened to Mark. "Oh my God…" she blurted out, covering her mouth with her hand.

"NO!" Meredith stopped her. "No… it's nothing bad…"

Lexie closed her eyes and let out a long shaky breath. "So what is it?" she asked, trying to get control back over her heart again.

Meredith sighed. "I need you to come back to Seattle."

Lexie choked and turned her back to Zack, panicking. "WHAT? No! no… I can't… why? Why would you want me to go back… did something happen to dad? Did dad die?"

"Lexie, stop! Gosh I told you nothing was wrong. You sound like I'm asking you to come back to hell."

'That's pretty close…' she thought, swallowing with difficulty. "No… I'm sorry. I'm just… You want me to come back to Seattle?"

"Yes… well, you're my sister. And I haven't seen you in a very long time… and I miss you."

She smiled, knowing this must've been hard for Meredith to tell. They'd talked a few times since she'd moved away, but their conversations had always been short and to the point. "You miss me?"

There were a few seconds of silence before Meredith answered. "Of course, I do."

Lexie sighed, her eyes filling with tears. "I miss you too." But as much as she missed her sister, she wasn't about to go back to Seattle.

Meredith cleaned her throat. "There's something else." She took a deep breath. "I'm getting married. For real this time."

"Really?"

"Really! And I want you to be there."

Lexie turned around and looked at Zack, who was cleaning his bowl. She hadn't told Mark about his son… nor had she told Meredith. She knew she would have asked too many questions and would more than likely have found out. The only person in Seattle who knew about Zack was her father. She also knew he and Meredith weren't close enough for him to tell her anything about… her situation.

How could she have made her life so complicated? She was the only person to blame for all of this. Whether or not to attend her sister's wedding shouldn't have been a difficult decision to make. She wanted to be there. She WOULD be there. "Of course I'll be there!"

"It's in two weeks." Meredith added.

"TWO WEEKS???!?!?!" she shrieked, her mind going in over drive.

"Yes… and I'd like you to be there a few days before, so you can take part in the planning."

Lexie started pacing again. "And… why didn't you tell me before?" She asked, chewing on her lower lip.

"I... I don't know." Meredith paused and let out a deep breath. "I didn't think you'd want to come."

The younger woman gaped, fresh tears coming to her eyes. "Why wouldn't I?" She'd done it. She'd pushed her so far away, she'd doubted she'd even show up to her wedding. She'd worked so hard to be part of Meredith's life… and now, she was the one who was pushing her away.

"You've been in Boston for over four years now, Lexie. You haven't come down here to visit once. I thought…"

"No!" Lexie said, interrupting her. "You're my family, Meredith. I love you, and I will come to your wedding."

"Alright. That's good! That's awesome!" she told her happily. "I'll call you in a few days so we can set everything." She paused. "I can't wait to see you, Lexie." She told her shyly.

The brunette grinned softly. "Me too, Mer."

Lexie heard her hang up the phone and listened to the silence on the line. She had to go back to Seattle. After everything she'd done, she had to go back to that city for her sister's wedding. Why couldn't she have married for real back when she was still in Seattle? Back when Mark wanted her to be her date…

Oh my God. She couldn't bring Zack with her. She glanced in the living room where Zack was turning on the television. He took the remotes with him and sat on the large brown couch, trying to find cartoons he could watch.

Someone would have to be blind not to notice the resemblance between Zack and Mark.

Lexie put the phone on the table and made her way out of the kitchen. Without even knocking, she opened Sean's door and walked in, not caring if she woke him up anymore.

She approached his bed. "Sean!" She called, frowning as he didn't even move. "SEAN!" She climbed on his bed and shook his shoulder, making him moan.

"Go away…" he whined tiredly, trying to push her hand away.

"Sean, I really, REALLY need to talk to you." She told him, not about to let him sleep.

Sean groaned and brought his hands up to his face, rubbing it furiously. "What is it?" he asked, rolling his eyes when he got a look at his alarm clock. "Someone better be dying." He grumbled moodily.

Lexie started talking, her hands flying in every direction. "Meredith's getting married and she wants me to go to her wedding and this means I have to go back to Seattle for a few days but I can't go back I just can't and there's no way I can bring Zack with me but I don't want to leave him here and I'd love for my sister to meet him but…"

He threw his hands up, stopping her. "Woah! Slow down! You wake me up at 6 am and think I'm gonna understand a thousand-word sentence?" He sighed and laid his hand on her forearm. "Now start from the top. And talk slowly for God's sake."

She took a deep breath and started over. "Alright… I have to go to Seattle." She told him calmly.

Sean lifted his eyebrows. "Ok, why?"

"My sister's getting married."

He nodded his head, smiling. "Well, that's good. You haven't seen her in a very long time."

She gulped and shook her head. "But I can't go."

"Why can't you go to your sister's wedding, Lexie?" He asked her, trying very hard not to roll his eyes at her.

"I… can't… it's complicated." She stuttered, staring at her hands on her lap.

This time, he did roll his eyes. "No kidding. Everything related to your life in Seattle seems complicated."

She sighed and gave him a pleading look. "Anyway, I'm going to Meredith's wedding… but I can't bring Zack with me."

He chuckled. "I had a feeling all these secrets had to do with Zack…"

She groaned, not wanting to hear it. "Are you going to help me or not?"

He raised his eyebrows at her tone. "Oh, I'll take care of Zack, you know it's not a problem. I just don't understand why you can't bring him with you."

"Trust me… bringing him to my sister's wedding would NOT be a good wedding gift." She told him, grimacing at the image. Meredith certainly didn't need any more drama on her wedding day.

Sean gasped. "Oh. My. God. Your sister's FIANCÉ is Zack's FATHER?!?!?!!"

"NO!!!!" She shouted, shaking her head vigorously. "No, he's not."

Her friend studied her face and finally nodded his head. "Fine, I'm letting it go. But you'll have to do something for me in return."

She breathed out, finally able to breathe normally again. "Anything."

"When you come back, you're going to tell me what is keeping you from presenting your own son to your family."


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