Meredith stands awkwardly to the side with Cristina as Molly and Izzie fuss over Lexie's veil.

"It's still not straight," Molly says.

Izzie takes another bobby pin. "Ouch!" Lexie yelps, as Izzie pulls her hair tightly.

Cristina looks at Meredith. "I find it hard to believe that your sister can tough it out in the O.R. while Izzie burns her face off, but she screams like a baby every time Izzie pulls her hair," she mutters.

"I know. And how long are they going to take to get that veil on her head. Don't let them do that to me…okay?" she pleads.

"I'm not a person who shies away from a challenge. But even I'm scared of Izzie when she gets in creepy, happy wedding mode. Look at her. She's smiling like a psych patient!" Cristina says.

"I know. Is this what it's going to be like for me in a few months?" Meredith says, feeling slightly nauseous.

"No. You won't have Stepford Grey over there doing your hair. It will just be Izzie and Lexie. Lexie's a little less intense than Molly," Cristina says.

"Should I have asked Molly to be in my wedding party? I mean, technically, she's my sister," Meredith asks.

"It took you two whole years to get used to Lexapedia. You have at least double that to get used to the idea of Molly," Cristina replies.

"Perfect!" Izzie pronounces.

Lexie looks in the mirror and smiles.

"Mer! What do you think?" she asks, turning around.

Meredith gasps and smiles at how beautiful her sister looks. She is surprised to feel tears prick her eyes, as she remembers Lexie's scarred face and blistered body. She pulls her sister close to her.

"I think you are the most beautiful bride that ever walked down the aisle," Meredith says.

Lexie's eyes fill with tears.

"Lexie! Don't cry! That mascara isn't going to hold up all day!" Molly says.

As they pull apart, Meredith turns to Cristina. "She's not in my wedding party. She might not even be at my wedding in I strangle her with one of the ribbons she made me tie on the programs!" she whispers.

"Okay…let's go down the list. Molly, you gave Lexie your blue garter. So something blue is covered. Something old…well, you're wearing your grandmother's pearls, so that's taken care of. Something new is well…the dress. Mer…you promised to bring something borrowed. Did you remember?"

"Oh yeah. I did. Where's my purse?" she asks, fumbling for her oversized pocketbook. She pulls something out of it.

"It's my sparkle pager." Meredith says, holding her sparkle pager out to Lexie.

Izzie and Molly exchange a look.

Cristina explodes. "The sparkle pager is sacred! You can't give it to an intern!" she says.

"I'm not giving it. I'm lending it. It's borrowed. That means I get it back," Meredith explains.

"Ummm…Mer…I know you don't do the whole wedding thing very often, but you can't ummm…wear a sparkle pager down the aisle," Izzie explains, patiently.

"Why not?" Meredith asks, confused.

"The sparkle pager is non-transferable. Unless you transfer it to me," Cristina says.

Lexie holds out her hand and takes the sparkle pager. "I'm going to wear it. I'll clip it to my garter," she says, happily.

"At least it will be under the dress," Izzie says.

"Can someone explain what a sparkle pager is used for?" Molly asks.

(Break)

"So, how does it feel to be tying the knot?" Derek asks, slapping Mark on the back.

"You tell me. You've done it before," Mark replies.

"Never with the right person," Derek admits.

"Did you know it was wrong with Addie? You know…when you were walking down the aisle?" Mark asks.

Derek shakes his head. "I never really thought about it. We were Derek and Addison. Looking back, I should have known. The time in both of our lives were wrong. We loved each other for our similarities, not for our differences. So many things were against us."

"Do you think it's right with me and Lexie?" Mark asks.

"Yeah. Do you?" Derek asks, throwing the question back at Mark.

"I do. I just hope I don't mess things up. She's so pure. I could hurt her. I could take that fragile innocence and crush it," Mark says.

Derek thinks for a moment. "You know, just because someone isn't jaded doesn't mean they're pure and innocent. Lexie's a person who makes the best of everything. It doesn't make her fragile. You can't break her," Derek says.

Mark thinks about that for a moment before he says, "Dude! I can break anything. Like I broke your nose in 8th grade over Karen Matheson," he says.

Derek laughs. "I think our taste has gotten much better. Karen Matheson had braces and acne and a really bad lisp."

"Yeah…but she was the only girl in our class who had gotten to third base," Mark says, laughing.

Alex whispers to Owen, "When are you going to do it?"

"When I'm ready. We're not Meredith and Cristina. We don't have to tell each other everything. You're not my person," Owen says.

"Well, you're lucky Cristina is part robot. If she were any other girl, she'd be freaking out because she's the only one who hasn't gotten engaged yet," Alex says. "Do you know what to do with this bow tie? I don't usually wear tuxedos. I look good in one, but I'm more of a jeans guy," he says.

Owen fixes his bow tie. "There. I got you dressed. Do you need me to feed you a bottle or am I done babysitting," he quips.

"Only if there's tequila in it. Actually, forget that. I want to be sober and alert so I can see the look on everyone's face when they see Izzie and know I've got the hottest girl in the room," Alex says, smiling.

"You must have a really small…well…never mind," Owen says, shaking his head.

"Dude, you have no idea what you're talking about. There's a reason Izzie smiles so much," Alex says.

(Break)

Thatcher Grey walks into the lobby. He stands at the back to avoid making a spectacle of himself.

"Lexie..." he inhales, as he sees his daughter for the first time as a bride.

"Daddy…Thank you for…" she says, eyes filling with tears.

Thatcher shakes his head. "Don't thank me. Please…I've been a lousy father since your mother died. You're an adult, but you're still my little girl. You needed me and I wasn't there. I'm sorry…but I have 30 days clean, and I'd like to walk you down the aisle if you'll still let me," he says.

Molly rushes over. "No tears, Lexie!" she says, quickly.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to upset her," Thatcher says, apologetically.

"No…Molly and I are trying to keep Lexie from ruining her eye make up," Izzie explains.

Meredith hangs back, not wanting to ruin Lexie's moment, but not wanting to interact with Thatcher. She is still angry about her entire childhood not to mention the engagement party. She hopes he has the good sense not to approach her, but good sense was never Thatcher's greatest strength.

He sees her standing next to Cristina. He looks at her, and Cristina narrows her eyes at him and shakes her head, daring him to defy her and approach her friend. He doesn't.

Meredith looks at Cristina. "Thanks," she whispers.

"Places!" The celebrant calls.

"Thanks for doing this," Mark whispers to Callie.

"You're welcome. I feel like I should be wearing one of those sequined suits that mother's of the groom wear," she jokes, as she links her arm through his.

"I still think this is weird," Izzie whispers to Meredith and Cristina.

"I know…I mean, one minute he's sleeping with her and the next she's his stand in mom! It's seriously weird!" Cristina says.

"It's Lexie's wedding and if she's fine with it, I'm fine with it. If I can get through this night with no Daddy drama, I'm not inviting fake mommy-mistress drama!" Meredith says.

As they reach the end of the aisle, Callie kisses Mark on the cheek and says, "I'm proud of you," before sitting down in the front row.

Owen walks down the aisle, followed by Alex. Next, Derek walks down the aisle and stands next to Mark who looks sideways at him and gives a small, nervous smile.

Cristina walks down the aisle first. She catches Owen's eye as she begins and he winks at her with a smirk.

Next, Izzie walks down the aisle. Alex watches her and smiles happily as he thinks that this is just practice for what will be there big day in the very near future.

Molly walks down the aisle next. She silently prays to god that her father behaves himself through this wedding. She searches for her husband in the front row and sees him there, which makes her relax a little bit. Her thoughts turn back to Lexie. Her little sister had been through a lot in the last few months and all of these people took care of her when Molly was busy with her own life. She has a pang of guilt for not being there for her sister, and a pang of gratitude towards the family that Lexie has created for herself. Especially Meredith and Mark.

Meredith walks down the aisle. She smiles shyly at Derek as she walks toward him and thinks about how soon this will really be their night. But right now it is Lexie and Mark's and Meredith looks around at the 250 guests, of which about 240 of which are Lexie's. Lexie has friends from high school, college, medical school, even summer camp attending today, all of whom, Meredith knows nothing about. She finds that odd considering they all know her sister better than she does in a lot of ways.

Finally, Lexie looks at her father.

"It's our turn, Zandra," he whispers.

"Wow! No one has called me Zandra since…" her voice trails off.

"Since you made us stop in 7th grade," he says, laughing.

"Your mother would be so proud of you, Lexie," he says with tears in his eyes.

Lexie's eyes fill with tears. "I wish she were here today. That's the only thing that would make today perfect," she says, getting choked up.

"I know…I wish she were here too," he says before adding, "But she is watching you. She'll always be watching you…so proudly."

The string quartet begins to play Pachebel's Canon in D and Lexie looks at her father. They walk down the aisle arm in arm and stop at the end. Everybody gasps as he lifts her veil and they see her face. She looks beautiful.

Izzie looks at Cristina. "Are you crying?" she whispers.

"No! I just don't usually wear mascara," Cristina says, quickly.

Izzie allows tears to stream freely down her face as she turns to Meredith. "Remember what she…"

Meredith shakes her head. "Don't. Please don't. She's beautiful. We can't go back there…not today…"

Izzie nods understandingly and does not say another word.

Thatcher kisses his daughter's cheek as he takes her hand and places it in Mark's hand.

The two of them lock eyes and barely hear a word the celebrant says.

At the end of the ceremony, when he tells Mark to kiss the bride, they snap out of their trance. Mark kisses her gently and everyone applauds.

As they make their way back down the aisle as husband and wife, Mark whispers, "You know you're stuck with me now?"

"And you're stuck with me…" Lexie replies, smiling.

(Break)

They party room opens up and true to most wedding receptions, they bride and groom have to split off and greet their respective guests.

Lexie stands laughing with a group of girls about her age. She throws her head back and laughs loudly as they all sing drunkly off key.

Friends friends friends, we will always be!

Whether in fair or in dark story weather Camp Funmore will keep us together

To grey and blue, we will all be true

Love will pervade us til death separate us we're friends, friends friends,

Da da da da da

Meredith stands with Izzy and Cristina who look at her strangely.

"Don't look at me…I have no idea! I didn't even know her until last year!"

Lexie runs over and grabs Meredith. "You have to meet my camp friends!

"Guys, this is Meredith, my sister. You know, the one I told you all about at our monthly coffee nights," Lexie brags.

"The ones you barely ever come to anymore because you're always 'on call?' one of her friends teases.

"Mer…this is Amy. She was the second best tennis player at camp…" Lexie says, smirking.

"Second best? Are you kidding…you only won because…" Amy says, punching Lexie on the arm, jokingly.

"Because I'm damn good!" Lexie says.

Meredith stands there awkwardly while Lexie banters with her friends. She notices that Lexie has an air of confidence around these people that she doesn't show around Meredith's friends. Meredith realizes that Lexie stepped into her life, and her friends, but that she never knew what her life had been life before she came to Seattle Grace.

"Hi Meredith," a girl with curly blond hair says. "I'm Rachel," she says. "Lexie's told us so much about you. We've been dying to meet you. You should totally come to coffee night. We rotate people's houses once a month," she says.

"Ummm…thanks," Meredith says for lack of a better response.

"Coffee night?" Cristina snorts.

"I think it sounds fun," Izzie says. "I always wanted to go to summer camp. There was one around the corner from our house. The kids always looked like they were having so much fun."

"I studied over the summers," Cristina deadpans.

"Did Lexie ever tell you about the time that she stole the stuffed moose from bunk 9 and hung it from the flagpole?" Rachel asks, as everyone laughs.

"Oh my god! That was so funny!" Amy adds as everyone laughs.

"Stole the moose? Is that code for something?" Cristina whispers to Izzie.

"It sounds a little dirty. You know…Alex and I stole the moose last night…" Izzie replies.

"No. But it sounds like a wonderful story," Meredith says, politely. "I don't want to interrupt your reunion. I'll let you guys catch up. I'm going to check on Derek," she adds.

Lexie smiles at Meredith. "But wait! You have to meet my friends from high school. Guys, I'll be right back, okay? Bunk power!!" Lexie shouts as she walks away.

"Bunk power? And people say surgeons have their own language?" Meredith whispers to Cristina.

As Lexie drags Meredith to meet her high school friends, Meredith notices that these are the girls who would have made her feel very uncomfortable in high school. They all look blonde, perfect and extremely happy. Meredith is suddenly transported back to her high school days where she was angry and uncomfortable in her own skin all the time.

"Oh – my – god! Lexieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! You look amazing!!!! Is this that sister you always talk about??? The one we've never met? I'm Kimmy. Lexie and I were best friends in high school. I didn't even hate her after she beat me out for prom queen!" Kimmy jokes.

"Kimmy? I bet she dots her "I" with a little heart over it," Cristina whispers to Izzie.

" I used to do that!" Izzie says, glaring at Cristina.

"Figures!" Cristina retorts.

"Yes. I'm Meredith Grey. It's nice to meet you," Meredith says, awkwardly.

"Did you go to the same high school as Lexie? What clubs were you in? Lexie was president of our class, valedictorian, and prom queen. Did she follow in your footsteps?" Kimmy asks.

Meredith smiles broadly. "No. I was more the hang out in the wind tunnel drinking and listening to death metal type. I wore black nail polish," Meredith says.

Kimmy pauses, unsure of what to say. "Oh…well…that's ummm…nice," she says.

Lexie tries to bridge the uncomfortable conversation by saying, "Meredith's getting married next month."

"Oh, right…to the neurosurgeon…right? Every mother's dream! Daughter marries neurosurgeon!" Kimmy beams. "You two have to introduce me to all your cute doctor friends! I can't believe you're a doctor, Lexie! Do you, like cut people open?" Kimmy asks.

Lexie laughs. "I'm just an intern. I fill out a lot of paperwork," she says, humbly.

As Meredith and Lexie move on, Lexie says, "Aren't my friends great?"

Meredith pauses for a moment. "They seem to think the world of you. That's nice. But do you really have anything in common with them?" she asks.

"Definitely not anymore…but who cares? They all knew me through various stages of my life! If I met them tomorrow, I don't know if I'd ever click with them, but the past keeps us bonded…" Lexie says.

Meredith thinks about that. She looks around at all of her friends and wonders if they will be her friends 20 years from now when they've all grown and changed. Then she thinks about Derek. Will he still love her 20 years from now?"

Mark and Derek are slapping an overweight balding guy five and laughing.

"Mer! Lexie! Come over here!!" They run over, but are interrupted by the band calling out, "We now call the bride and her father to the dance floor for their first dance."

Thatcher makes his way to the dance floor and Meredith stands next to Derek and Mark as Lexie puts her arms around her father.

"This is the proudest moment of my entire life, Zandra," he says.

"Thanks, Daddy," she says, smiling.

"Will the groom and his mother please join us on the dance floor?" The M.C. of the band calls.

Lexie turns white. "I specifically asked the band not to…" she stops speaking when she sees Callie step over to Mark and say, "May I have this dance?"

Lexie looks at her and mouths, "Thank you," thinking that Callie just saved everyone from what could have been a very awkward moment.

Meredith looks at Derek. "That's why we're doing our wedding our way…right?" she says.

Derek smiles. "Your way. We're doing it your way, Mer. I want it to be the day that YOU imagined," he says, teasingly.

"Thank you," she says, leaning on him.

"Can all the couples join us on the dance floor?" The M.C. calls.

Derek and Meredith step out on the dance floor as do Cristina and Owen and Izzie and Alex. Mark steps away from Callie smiling at her as he says, "Thank you for the dance, Dr. Torres." He steps between Lexie and Thatcher and says, "Would you mind if I cut in Mr. Grey?"

Thatcher steps away, graciously. "Of course not. I love you, sweetie," he says, kissing Lexie on the cheek.

"I love you too, Daddy," she says, allowing Mark to take her in his arms.

As Mark takes Lexie in his arms she leans her head on his shoulder. "You saved my life, you know?" she says.

"No…you saved mine," he replies.

Everyone surrounds them as they dance in the center of the dance floor. Meredith looks at Derek. "She looks so happy. Why can't I be more like her?"

"Because you wouldn't be you…and to me, Meredith Grey is the essence of perfection!" Derek replies with a smile.

"We're next," Meredith says.

"Are you freaking out?" Derek asks.

"A little," Meredith admits.

"Good. You wouldn't be you if you weren't," he says, smiling.

(Break)

As the party continues, everyone dances wildly in their respective groups. Cristina and Meredith show everyone how they "dance it out" while Izzie grabs Lexie and pulls her into the center of a large circle of high school friends who are cheering, "Prom queen! Prom queen!" over and over again.

As the night grows later, the music begins to slow down. Thatcher approaches Meredith. "May I have this dance, Meredith?" he asks, timidly.

Meredith's mouth becomes dry. She begins to say no when she sees Lexie staring at her smiling at the fact that Meredith and Thatcher are talking. Meredith grits her teeth.

"Certainly, Thatcher," she replies, cringing as her puts his arm around her waist.

"I owe you an apology. I said terrible things about you at the engagement party. I'm sorry. My struggle with alcohol since Susan died…I just…well….there's no excuse. But in the program, they say we need to make amends and well…you're the person who I've hurt the worst. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," Thatcher says, his voice trembling.

Meredith thinks for a moment before she speaks. "Let's go outside. This isn't a conversation to have on the dance floor," she says, noticing that Lexie is still watching them out of the corner of her eye.

Meredith walks over to Derek. "If Lexie asks, Thatcher and I are having a lovely talk outside and bonding. Tell her whatever will make her happy…okay?" she says.

"No problem," Derek replies. "I'm here if you need me."

Cristina nudges Izzie. "Is Meredith leaving with Thatcher?"

"I think so," Izzie replies making a face.

Meredith and Thatcher stand in the lobby staring at each other in silence. Meredith takes a deep breath, she has waited for this moment for a very long time.

"Thatcher, I'm glad you are in the program. I'm glad that you are regaining your health because you were a huge mess the last time I saw you. And as far as making amends…well…if saying you're sorry is what you're supposed to do, you did it. But amends? Well…you can't just make amends. You can't amend my entire childhood where I woke up every morning wondering if my mother was going to be alive or lying in a pool of her own blood and I had no one to talk to about it. You can't amend my teen years where I starved myself and slept around to try to achieve perfection and acceptance. You can't amend my early adult years, when I had to wake up every morning and force myself to want to live because I knew I wasn't worth loving when even my own father couldn't love me. And you can't amend the way I treated Lexie out of my anger towards you. And you will never be able to amend the things you said to me at my engagement party. So, go tell your sponsor or whoever you have to that you have said you're sorry, but don't you dare think you've made any amends because some things can never be amended." Meredith says, hating the fact that tears are streaming down her cheeks.

Thatcher sighs. "I'm going to keep trying Meredith. That was my biggest mistake…not fighting for you. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."

"There is NOTHING left to fight for, Thatcher. Even if we decided to give this father daughter thing a try, where would it go from here? We don't know each other. You don't know me, I don't know you. We can't go back, so why go forward?" she asks.

Thatcher looks at her. "Anger will ruin you. It ruined your mother. Let go of it, Meredith," he pleads.

"We're going to walk inside now, smiling at each other so that Lexie thinks that we had a nice chat, and you're not coming anywhere near my wedding. This show is just too taxing," Meredith says.

"Your mother must have done something right. You're sensitive. You care about other people's feelings," Thatcher points out.

Meredith spins around angrily. "You know who taught me sensitivity? Izzie. And do you know who taught me to stand up for myself? Cristina. And do you know who taught me to love? Derek. Do you know who taught me about family? Lexie. My mother taught me fear and you taught me not to trust people. Everything I learned, I learned from the family that I created," she spits.

Thatcher resigns. "Let's go inside," he says.

Meredith takes a deep breath and wipes the tears from her face. As she enters the door, she pastes a big smile on her face. Cristina intercepts her at the door. As Thatcher walks away, Cristina pulls Meredith back outside.

"Daddy drama?" she asks.

"Yes. I think I just unleashed 30 years of anger on him at my sister's wedding," Meredith admits.

"Mark is doing keg stands with his college friends. Derek did one, but he didn't last long," Cristina says.

"Are you going to marry Owen?" Meredith asks.

"He hasn't asked me," Cristina says.

"Should I marry Derek?" Meredith asks.

"Yes. If for no other reason that once you do, I'll never have to answer that question again," Cristina replies.

"Should I let Thatcher come to my wedding?" Meredith asks.

"No. Look at you. You're a mess. You'll already be a mess at your wedding and I'm not sure I can handle the daddy drama on top of it," Cristina says.

The band announces the last dance. All the couples rush onto the dance floor and surround Lexie and Mark who are laughing at a private joke.

As everyone surrounds them for the last dance, Alex looks at Izzie. "Six months until that's us," he says.

"5 months and 26 days," she replies, smiling him.

As the music fades, Mark picks Lexie up. "Bye everyone! Now I get to carry my bride over the threshold and deflower her!" he calls out to the crowd.

"Mark!" she squeals, throwing her head back and laughing.

"Did he says, deflower?" Meredith asks, Derek.

"That's Mark. Never afraid to shock a crowd," Derek replies.

"If you say deflower at our wedding…even once…" Meredith says.

"Deflower…deflower…deflower…" Derek whispers hugging Meredith tightly.

*****

Hope you all like it! I'm SOOOO sorry it took so long. I'll try to be quicker next time…I'm totally swamped right now, but don't worry. I will get the next chapter posted. I really appreciate the reviews!!

Grey's this week was good, but I was enraged that no one visited Izzie all day! What excuse is there for behavior like that?????? Awful!!!!!