Wedding Day

12:30 a.m., Seattle

Mark smiled as he looked at his home for the night, the room that Derek had prepared for Chrissy in his apartment. Derek had gone overboard; he had a scene from The Little Mermaid painted on the wall, Little Mermaid bedding, and lots of photos of Chrissy with her dad. He was definitely a devoted dad.

Lexie had decided to stay at her folks' home by herself tonight. She told him that her folks were old-fashioned, and they couldn't sleep together at their house, so he might as well stay somewhere else. This time she didn't want to stay at hotel. When he told Derek about this situation, Derek had offered to put him up. He figured that a sleepover would be a nice continuation of the bachelor party. But he hadn't figured that he'd wind up sleeping in a twin bed in a kid's room. He hadn't slept in a twin bed since he was a college student living in a dorm.

He decided to touch base with Lexie; he had to leave very early tomorrow for his flight home, so he wouldn't have a chance to speak to her before the wedding unless he called her now. She answered on the third ring.

"Hi Mark, did you have a good time at the bachelor party?"

"Yes, and now I've been given a room with a mural from The Little Mermaid."

"Should I be disturbed that my fiancé can recognize a scene from The Little Mermaid?"

"I have see many nieces; I've taken them to see the movie in the theaters, and I've watched it on video and dvd numerous times." He began to sing "Under the Sea . . ."

"Mark, you can sign the song later. Tell me about the bachelor party."

"It was started out with me, Derek, and two residents, Alex and George, drinking at the Archfeld. But you got a job offer."

"What?"

"Richard Weber offered you a job as a resident at Seattle Grace starting July 1. He also offered me a job. They want expand their plastics practice. So we could both move to Seattle, if you want."

"If I want? Would you like to move?"

"It's worth thinking about. Your folks are here, and I'm sure they'd love for you to move back to Seattle."

"They would. But what would you have here?"

"I'd have you. And my best friend, Derek."

"So you're back to being besties?"

"I hope so. He was really thrilled about the robot."

"It is a great gift."

"Yup. Anyway, I did want to give you a warning about the wedding."

"The wedding needs warnings?"

"For you. You should know that Richard Weber is going to be at the ceremony; he's going to be Derek's best man." Mark said with regret. He would have liked to be Derek's best man again, but, given what his track record as best man, namely sleeping with the bride years later, he knew it didn't make sense for him to be best man. And, in any event, Derek was excluding his own sisters in his effort to keep the attendee list to the bare minimum, so he couldn't invite Mark without making the sisters furious. And Derek didn't need furious Shepherd sisters just before his daughter's bone marrow transplant.

"And why should I care about that?"

"Ellis Grey left your dad for Richard Weber. He had an affair with her for years. So your dad might be upset to see that he's at the wedding when he and Susan weren't invited."

"It's his own fault he wasn't invited. He walked out on Meredith when she was five. My mom thinks he tried extra hard to be a great dad for Molly and me because he felt guilty about Meredith. That makes it weird, like I gained from Meredith losing out on a dad."

"You're lucky that he's been a great dad for you."

"Yeah. I just feel weird about the whole thing. Finding out I had a sister that I'd never even heard of. Me having a great dad, while hers abandoned her, and them being the same person."

"Your dad loves your mom. Ellis Grey, on the other hand, was a bitch. I'm sure that's part of it."

"Yeah. My folks are really sweet together. I love you, Mark, and I'm sure we'll still be in love thirty years from now."

"Me, too. Have a good night."

"Have a great flight home. I'll be back Monday."

"Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks."

6:15 a.m., Seattle

Meredith felt her shoulder being poked. She turned over and opened her eyes, only to see Chrissy in her Little Mermaid nightgown.

"Mommy, it's your wedding day."

"Sweetie, it's only 6:15 a.m. Have you ever heard of beauty sleep?"

"No."

"Sleeping helps girls be beautiful."

"You don't need any help, Mommy. You're very beautiful."

"Thank you, but today I need some help. Why don't you join me in bed? We can cuddle together."

"Sure," said Chrissy as she climbed into bed and snuggled with her mother.

6:30 a.m. Seattle, 9:30 a.m. New York

Addison had been sleeping soundly when the phone rang. She opened her eyes and saw her husband was gone. Since the phone rang again, she figured that he was out jogging or doing errands while she slept. So on the third ring, she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Addie," answered a familiar voice. "Don't tell me you were sleeping."

"I'm five months pregnant. Once I deliver, I won't be able to sleep past 6 or so on week-ends, so I'm sleeping late whenever I can. What's up, Nancy?"

"You know what today is, right?"

"I'm still half asleep, not up to guessing games. What's up?"

"Derek's getting married to the slutty intern."

"You mean Meredith Grey. She must be a resident by now anyway, and she's not slutty. Anyway, why should I care? I'm the ex-wife. And I'm happily married to Jake."

"Kathy is having a Watch the Wedding party today, and she's insisting that I come with my husband and children."

"That's great."

"Well, I'm only going to go if you come with me."

"What?" Addison asked, sitting up. "Like I said, I'm the ex-wife. I haven't been to a Shepherd family event since we got divorced. And I don't see why I should go to Derek's wedding."

"You're not going to the wedding. He's getting married in Seattle. This is just a watch the wedding party. It's ridiculous. He shouldn't be rushing into marriage like this. Anyway, I want you will be there for me. Lizzie thinks it's romantic. Kathy thinks it's great that Derek is moving on, even if he's moving backward to the slutty intern. I'm the only one with doubts."

"But I think it's great, too. And I'm probably the only one at the party who has spent more than five minutes with Meredith."

"But you're my friend. I can tell you my catty thoughts, and you won't judge me."

"I don't see why you would have catty thoughts."

"I still wish you were married to my brother. I loved having you as my sister-in-law."

"I loved you as a sister-in-law, too. But I have a new husband, so we'll never be sisters-in-law again, no matter what. But we can be friends. We don't have to let Derek's love life define our relationship."

"Right. And that's why you should be with me at the wedding."

"I'll talk to Jake when he gets back from jogging."

"Good. The party starts at 1, and Kathy's serving lunch. I've already told her that I invited you and Jake, so don't worry, there will be plenty of food."

"Kathy is a great cook. But you've got to bring a hostess gift for me."

"No problem. I'll bring two bottles of vodka. I'm going to need to drink."

"But I can't drink."

"I'll get some Izze sodas for you. More vodka for me that way."

7:00 a.m., Seattle

Susan Grey was shocked to see her daughter Lexie sitting at the kitchen table, intently pouring over a family photo album, at such an early time. "I thought you'd still be asleep."

"It's 10 a.m. in Boston, which is very late for me. I usually have to report to work by 6 a.m."

"But you were on call for 36 hours straight before you got on the plane, and you were out late last night."

"Not that late, Mom, and I'm used to going without sleep."

"What do you want for breakfast?"

Lexie smiled. "Your special chocolate chip pancakes."

"Good. I'll start making them."

"Where's Dad?"

"He usually goes shopping on Sunday mornings."

"But he's going to be back, right? He'll watch the wedding with us."

"Sweetheart, he's going to want to hang out with you as much as he can. We see so little of you."

Lexie smiled again. "Well, the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace offered both Mark and me jobs here in Seattle last night."

"Really?" asked Susan with a huge smile.

"Yes, really, starting July 1st."

"What will you do?"

"What do you think we should do?"

"Me?"

Lexie laughed. "Yes, you. You're my mom."

"Well, I have a self-interest in having you here in Seattle. Daddy and I would be thrilled if you decided to move here. We miss you so much. And Molly's in Bahrain. Who knows when she will return to the USA and where. It would be wonderful to have you here."

"You do have Meredith and Chrissy here."

"You're my daughter, Lexie, it's different. And I will be happy to cook for you, if you live here."

"We're thinking about it." Lexie continued turning pages of the photo album.

"Did you have a nice time last night?"

"Yes, but it was weird."

"Weird?"

"This was only the second time I met Meredith in person. And the last time, when Mark and I visited her house, I spent most of my time playing with Chrissy. So this was really the first time I spent talking with Meredith, and she's my sister."

"Half-sister," Susan said reflexively, and then she wished she'd bit her tongue.

"Does it matter?"

"It did. She was Ellis Grey's daughter, and Ellis didn't want your dad involved at all. She moved Meredith to Boston, and she never even mailed her home address to your dad."

"Mom, she worked at Mass General. It was easy enough to find her. Did he write to her at the hospital?"

"No, Lexie. He was happy to have Ellis Grey out of his life."

"And happy to have Meredith out of his life as well?"

"I don't think so. But if he had stayed involved with Meredith, he would have had to be involved with Ellis, and it was just too difficult."

"What about when Meredith went to college?"

"Look, when you haven't spoken to a child for thirteen years, it's hard to start speaking again."

"Mom, you knew he had a child when you got married, right?"

"Yes."

"How come you didn't insist that he reach out to Meredith?"

"I focused on building a family of our own with your Dad, with you and Molly."

Lexie looked at the photo album and pointed to a photo of her with Molly, ages six and four, both wearing identical red velvet dresses. "But all these photos are lies, Mom. You loved to dress us alike, so there are hundreds of photos like this, with the two of us dressed alike. I always looked at those photos and saw two sisters, who were the only children in the family. But the photos are lies. We had another sister, but she was never included in anything. Molly and I didn't even know she existed."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but we wanted you girls to have a happy childhood."

"We did, but Meredith didn't. She missed out on having a great dad, not because he was dead but because he wasn't around for her even though he knew how to be a great dad."

"I know your father and I made a terrible mistake, and we should have fought at least for visitation, so you could have grown up seeing Meredith at least a few weeks a year. But now you've met her and you have a chance to get to know her and her daughter."

"I hope so."

"I'm sure Chrissy's going to be fine. All the doctors and nurses at Seattle Grace are doing their best for her. I've been very impressed when I visit Seattle Grade to see Chrissy."

"Mom, no matter how great the medical care, some forms of leukemia kill. You know that."

"I refuse to accept that leukemia will harm Chrissy any more than it has already. She's going to be fine."

"I'm glad you're in her corner, Mom. I wish Dad was."

"I'm sure he is in his heart."

"Mom, Meredith and Chrissy deserve to have his open support."

"I know, sweetie."

7:30 a.m., Seattle

As Derek emerged from his bedroom, he smelled the aroma of bacon and pancakes. He found his mother in the kitchen in her bathrobe; she was flipping pancakes.

"Mom, did you make breakfast?"

"Yes, I certainly did, Derek. You need a special breakfast on your wedding day." Carolyn noticed Derek's frown. He was too polite to mention that he planned on going to Meredith's house. "We need to have a meal together before you become a married man."

"Mom, I've already been a married man."

"I know, but this will be a new marriage," she murmured. "But we haven't had much time to spend together, just the two of us."

"I know, Mom, and I'm happy to spend some time with you," said Derek with a smile. His mom asked for so little. He was indeed happy to have some one-on-one time with her. "Besides, your pancakes are the best." Derek sat down and poured some maple syrup on the plate of pancakes.

"That's my son. Always interested in food." Carolyn smiled. "I'm proud of you, Derek. You're an amazing Dad. Your father would be so delighted to see you with Chrissy."

"Thanks, Mom. You're an amazing Grandma. I wish Dad were here to see."

"He would love Meredith. I'm thrilled that you're getting married to her."

"I'm so glad you love her, Mom. You've been an amazing support for us."

"My pleasure. I just wish it wasn't necessary."

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you since we met with the doctor on Friday. I hadn't realized how much time a wedding would consume, even a simple wedding like this one."

"You and Meredith said that he wanted to get started with the bone marrow transplant on Wednesday."

"That's right. But I don't think we mentioned that the strict infection control measures mean that only Meredith and me will be able to see Chrissy for the next six weeks or so."

"I expected as much, Derek. I've been reading up on bone marrow transplants. That's fine. I can cook for you and Meredith and otherwise help you out."

"Mom, I think you should take a break. It's been pretty intense, particularly with the wedding, and you haven't been home in months, apart from one trip. I think my sisters and their children have been missing you a lot."

"But Derek, what if you need me?"

"You can get a flight here very quickly. And I'd like to assume that you won't be needed because everything will go very well."

Carolyn hugged her son. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Maybe I will take a trip back home. But I'll miss you, Meredith and Chrissy. I'm glad I came."

"Me, too, Mom. You've been a great help. And you came without being asked. You are amazing."

"And do you want a second batch of pancakes?"

"Sure."

8:15 a.m. Seattle

Izzie smiled as she put the finishing touches on the wedding cake. She was glad that Meredith had taken her up on her offer to bake the wedding cake rather than order one from a bakery. She loved to bake, and she thought that making the wedding cake was a great way for her to show Meredith and Derek how happy she was for the two of them. She decided to make a gooey chocolate cake inside with traditional white frosting with lots of decorations.

She heard some steps on the staircase. "Aunt Izzie, can I help?" asked Chrissy who was still in her Little Mermaid pjs.

"I'm just about done. How about I make you and your mom breakfast?"

"Mom said she can't come downstairs. Daddy might come, and he can't see her before the wedding."

"That's right."

"Why not? Why can't Daddy see Mommy before the wedding?"

"It's a tradition. It's to make sure that seeing the bride is special."

"Daddy says it's always special when he sees Mommy."

"I know. But Mommy is going to be so beautiful on her wedding day. It's like she's a special surprise, with her wedding dress and all."

"But I can see Daddy, right?"

"Yes, flower girls can see their daddies. Let's give mommy breakfast in bed. Does that sound like fun?"

"Yes. Can I like the cake bowl?"

Izzie thought for a moment, going through the list of ingredients. "No, honey."

"Why not? You used to always let me lick the bowls. Is it because of the cancer?"

"Well, you can lick the icing bowl when I'm done. I used eggs in the cake batter and you're not supposed to have eggs unless they are very thoroughly cooked."

"Just because I'm sick?"

"No, that's the rule for everyone. Just sometimes we break the rule, but we can't break it for you because it's too risky."

"Okay. I'll lick the icing bowl."

"Good. But let's focus on breakfast while I finish icing the cake. What would you like? Pancakes or French toast or an omelet?"

"Pancakes!" Chrissy shouted with glee. "Can you make them so they're Minnie Mouse shapes?"

"No problem." Izzie quickly finished icing the cake and put in the refrigerator. She took out the ingredients and started making pancakes.

"Can I help?"

"Sure. You can use the whisk and stir."

"Thanks, Aunt Izzie."

"You're welcome." Izzie smiled as she watched Chrissy stir the batter. Chrissy was a natural when it came to cooking. She must have gotten that talent from her father's side of the family, or maybe from spending so much time with her Aunt Izzie. They had done many cooking projects together.

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