Four years earlier.
Izzie and Alex stood in the centre of the empty house. Izzie was all smiles, they'd been looking for a house for less than two weeks and they'd already found the perfect home.
"It's perfect." Izzie whispered to Alex. Everything about the house was right, from the location, to the layout, to the price. She could hardly contain her excitement as they waited for the real estate agent to return.
"So what do you think?" the agent asked as she returned to the room.
"We'll take it." They said in unison and then started laughing.
"Newlyweds?" The agent asked looking at the happy couple.
"Not quite." Alex smiled. "The wedding is in three weeks."
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Three weeks later
Izzie stood in front of the mirror; she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Meredith came up behind her and placed the vale on her head. "You look stunning." She said to her and Izzie opened her eyes and smiled. She really did look stunning.
Outside they could hear the cars pulling up as the guests arrived. The reception was going to be small but half the hospital it seemed were coming to the ceremony. Meredith walked to the window and watched the people walk into the church.
"Is Alex here yet?" Izzie asked. There was no way Alex was going to get cold feet, they'd just finished buying a house together but she was still nervous. She began running her vowels through her head again. She knew them by heart but she wanted everything to be perfect. She was going to remember this day for the rest of her life and she wanted it to be for all the right reasons.
"Not yet."Meredith replied. "But it's still early."
The ceremony wasn't due to start for another twenty minutes. Izzie began pacing the room in small circles. She wanted to get this started, she wanted to be with Alex again. She hadn't seen him in nearly twenty four hours. As part of the bride's not meant to see the groom on the wedding day superstition she'd spend the night at Meredith's house.
"Can you stand still?" Cristina piped from one of the chairs. She'd been painting her nails and now she was shaking her hands in an attempt to dry them. "You're making me nauseas."
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Alex stood at the front of the church nervously rocking on the balls of his feet. He checked his watch, there was two minutes until the ceremony was supposed to start. He wondered where Izzie was. He knew she was somewhere in the building. She wouldn't be late, she wanted this more than anything and he knew how much she wanted it all to be perfect.
Right on 2pm the music started playing and right on queue the doors opened. Meredith was the first to appear followed closely by Cristina. Izzie waited until they were at the front before she made her entrance. Not having a father to give her away she was making the walk down the aisle alone. She opened the doors and she stepped through. She waited for everyone to turn and look at her and then she began walking forward. She felt everyone's eyes following her but her eyes were fixed on Alex.
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Everything about the ceremony and the reception was perfect. Everything went to plan. They had one of those dream weddings where nothing went wrong.
"I keep expecting something to happen." Izzie laughed to Meredith "but nothing has happened."
"Be careful what you say you don't want to jinx it." Meredith whispered just as Alex came up behind them both. He wrapped his arms around Izzie and planted a kiss on the side of her face and then proceeded to work his way around to her neck. As he did he whispered.
"It's nearly eleven. Do you want to head off?" Izzie giggled in his arms. Meredith rolled her eyes and walked away. Sometimes they seemed so happy together it made her feel nauseas. Izzie twisted around in his arms and kissed him back.
"I guess we should tell everyone we're leaving." She replied in between kisses.
Alex made the announcement and within ten minutes they were driving away. For their honeymoon they were going to stay in a tiny cottage by a lake. It was about an hours drive out of Seattle. They'd only been able to get the long weekend off work so they didn't want to be spending all their time driving. They pulled in at the cabin just after midnight. Alex unlocked the door and carried Izzie through it. They were laughing and giggling like a couple of school kids.
Inside the cabin was exactly the like the brochure. The caretaker of the property had even stopped by and lit the fire for them. It was warm and cozy and everything they could have wanted. They fell down onto the bed together and spent their first night together as husband and wife.