Chapter Text
7:00 am.
The alarm next to Lexie’s bed went off, causing her to bolt straight up. She swung her legs over the bed rapidly, causing her to hit her calves on the bed frame.
“Ouch”, she said rather loudly.
“Don’t hurt yourself, you don’t wanna bruise underneath your dress”, Cristina said as she walked into the room. They were all at Meredith’s house for the night- “They” meaning Lexie, Cristina, Meredith, and April.
“Could you turn that alarm off, Three, the noise is kind of annoying me”, she continued.
With a groan, Lexie got up and shut off the alarm, bringing relief to their ears.
April walked into the room with a clipboard and pen tucked behind her ear.
“Alright everybody, we have 4 hours until we have to be at the church. Everybody needs to be showered, eaten, with hair and makeup done before the limo is here to pick us up. Can someone go wake up Meredith? She takes the longest time to get ready and we can’t afford to be late.”
“I got it”, Cristina said as she walked out of the room.
Lexie lifts up her legs and sees red spots forming. April sees them too.
“What happened??”, she cried.
“I hit my legs on the back of the bed”, Lexie groaned. “I’ll be ok, don’t worry.”
Lexie stood up, wincing at the pain.
“I’ll be right back”, April said.
She came back with lightning speed with a bottle of water, painkillers, and some IcyHot.
“Rub this on the back of your legs and take these.”
Lexie waves her away. “I’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t asking, Grey.”
Lexie sighs and takes the stuff. She swallows the painkiller and April watches as she rubs the ointment on her legs.
It felt really good- not that she would ever tell April that.
“Ok April I’m good, you can go and get ready.”
“OK WE’RE HAVING A MORNING MEETING IN 15 MINUTES!”, April cried out.
Once everyone gathered in the living room, April began barking orders.
“Ok everybody! I ordered iHop and it’ll be here in 30 minutes. There are two showers, and everyone has 10 minutes in each one. After you shower, go change into your bridesmaid robes, Meredith yours says Maid of Honor, and be downstairs for breakfast. Everyone, take your dress out of the packaging so it can air out while we eat. We have 45 minutes for breakfast before the Makeup and Hair artists get here. It’s already 7:30 and the ceremony starts at 11. Does everyone have a picture of the hairstyle they want?”
They all nodded silently, even Cristina. She knew better than to interrupt Kepner while she was going on “Drill Sergeant” on them.
“Perfect.”, April smiled.
“Wait!”, Lexie said.
“Yes?”
“I never ordered bridesmaids robes”, Lexie said.
April smiled proudly.
“I know. I took the liberty of ordering them myself in case you forgot.”
Lexie knew they had made the right choice in asking April to be their wedding planner. She never forgot anything, and relished the feeling of control.
April clapped, removing Lexie from her thoughts.
“OK! Meredith and Cristina, HIT THE SHOWERS?”
“Ayy ayy Captain”, Cristina said, saluting April.
“Very funny, Yang,” as she turned and walked away.
After Cristina got out of the shower, it was Lexie’s turn. She turned on the shower and let the warm water rush over her.
She was getting married today. To the love of her life. Mark’s face flashed across her mind as she smiled to herself. She ran her left hand through her hair and tried to remember the last time she washed her hair. It’s been almost two weeks.
She reached for the shampoo when there was a knock on the shower.
“GREY! Five minutes!”
After contemplating whether or not it was worth it, she grabbed the shampoo and began lathering it in her hair. The feeling of the shampoo against her hair was so satisfying, she knew her decision was worth it.
Her fingers scratched at her scalp, and weeks of buildup washed out of her hair. She reached out for the conditioner and quickly ran it through her hair, knowing her time was almost up.
She finished up and walked out of the bathroom, running towards her room to try and avoid April.
She was almost there when she heard a shrill voice scream her name.
“LEXIE! WHY IS YOUR HAIR WET! I DIDN’T ALLOCATE TIME FOR HAIR DRYING!”
Cristina poked her head out of her room.
“What’s going on, Sergeant?”
“I washed my hair because I haven’t washed it in two weeks. But there was no time for it in the schedule apparently.”
April began hyperventilating while running to grab her clipboard and adjust the schedule.
“Ok, if we shorten breakfast to 35 minutes then we can squeeze time for hair drying. But really Lexie if you had told me you wanted to wash your hair I could’ve made time for it.”
“Ok April. I’m sorry for disrupting the schedule.”
As April was about to speak, the doorbell rang.
“Breakfast is here! Everybody be downstairs in 5 minutes!”
Lexie ran to the room, where her bridal robe was waiting for her. She marveled at April’s selection. It was a gold color with her name in cursive. She slipped it on, and it was a perfect fit. She looked up and saw Meredith standing in the doorway.
“How do you feel Lexie?”, she asked as she waddled in. At 6 months pregnant, normal walking was a thing of the past.
“Honestly? Just excited. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this day for my entire life. I just don’t want it to go by too quickly.”
Meredith stood up and closed the door. She walked (read: waddled) back over to the bed, sat down, and patted it next to her, motioning it for Lexie to sit. Lexie sat down on the bed next to her in silence before Meredith spoke again.
“Ok Lexie, you can tell me how you actually feel.”
Lexie burst into tears. Thatcher had had a heart attack, and was in the hospital. He was unable to make it to the wedding, so Derek was going to give her away.
“I always imagined my mom and dad walking me down the aisle, but mom is dead and dad is in the hospital. And Molly is in Iraq, and yea I have you but no offense you were never in my original wedding plan so I feel like this is nothing like I’ve imagined.”
“Lexie.”
“Yes?”
“It’s ok to be disappointed. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not ok to be disappointed that your wedding isn’t like you imagined.”
“Oh, Meredith. I sound so ungrateful. You and Derek got married on a post-it for God’s sake.”
“Yes we did, but that’s what we wanted. I never had a dream wedding in mind, and before I met Derek, I had never wanted to get married. My dream wedding isn’t the standard for weddings everywhere, and it’s ok that you’re disappointed. What’s not ok is letting that stop you from getting married today. You love Mark, and Mark loves you. When you look back on this day, that’s all that matters.”
Lexie wiped her eyes and sniffled.
“You’re right. I’m getting married today.”
Meredith leaned in and gave her a hug, very unexpectedly. Meredith wasn’t a big hugger, but she knew that was how Lexie liked being comforted most. So when she needed it, Meredith was more than happy to oblige.
“I love you, Meredith.”
“I love you too, Lexie. Now let’s go eat, this baby and I are starving.”
They walked to the kitchen table, where April had two plates wrapped with tinfoil waiting for them. The plate labeled Meredith was loaded with pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage(her newest pregnancy craving), and a cup of maple syrup. Lexie’s plate had all of this except eggs, April noting down her severe allergy. They made their way to the table, eating quickly amidst the shrill of April saying the makeup artists were 10 minutes away.