Author's Note: Okay, so this idea came to me very rapidly after last week's episode of Private Practice and when that happens I tend to have to get the story out or I become obsessed with it. Needless to say, everything is already pretty much done in my head, I just need to get it down on paper. The first three chapters (of around 10-12 chapters total) are already written so hopefully updating will be timely (if real life cooperates). This is my first foray into the Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy fan fiction world but I have a lot of respect for both shows and I am huge fan of certain pairings so I hope I do everything justice.
Also, this story is dedicated to Rachael, my "Little Sis", who never fails to make me smile with her unwavering love for her show and her couples. I hope you like it. J'aime, Kiddo.
Enjoy.
~JP
Amor Fati
By Jaclyn Parker
Chapter 1: Nunc pro tunc
Dr. Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery was by all accounts a brilliant and world renowned physician. She was board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as Maternal and Fetal Medicine, held down a coveted job at a lucrative private practice, and owned a prime piece of Malibu real estate.
Although appropriately modest, she had been known to be described as "one of the most beautiful women" a guy had ever seen. With thick red hair and bright blue eyes set in a heart shaped face, she could either give a smirk that would set a man's body on fire or a pout that would have him scrambling to make whatever he did right again.
But right now none of that mattered because Addison Montgomery, that intelligent gorgeous female doctor, was pissed.
"Whose goddamn genius idea was it to limit wine bottles to 5 glasses a bottle?" Addison growled out as she glared at the empty merlot bottle on her kitchen counter.
When the bottle rudely didn't answer back she turned her death glare on the second bottle of merlot sitting next to it; the one that had started the night. Turning it upside down over her glass, which was just as empty, she gave it a slight shake. This was just in case she had missed some wine the first go around. She cursed again when her efforts yielded nothing; not even a drop.
"Fine, be like that!" Addison snarked, dropping both bottles none too gently into the nearby trash can, forgetting that she normally made sure she recycled.
She made her way, very unsteadily, back into the living room where she found her best friend, Dr. Naomi Bennett, trying to keep a straight face.
"You tell that bottle who's boss!" Naomi couldn't help but chime in once Addison had flopped down next to her.
"Ha ha, very funny," Addison said as she lifted her legs off the ground to place her feet in Naomi's lap. She eyed the remaining red liquid in Naomi's glass and gave her a pretty smile.
Naomi glanced at her glass and then back to Addison, before quickly downing the last ounce or so of wine. This caused Addison to frown and send a pout in her friend's direction.
"Spoil sport," Addison muttered, placing her elbow up on the arm of the couch and leaning her head back into her hand. She let her eyes drift shut for a moment and she let out a soft sigh.
"Yeah, well, I think the fact that we've been talking for three hours and you can now barely keep your eyes open is my cue to go home," Naomi said. To emphasize her words she gave Addison's legs a swift pat and then gently pushed them off her lap.
Addison's eyes reopened and she frowned.
"No, I'm fine! You don't have to go!"
"Sweetie, just because you are finally taking my advice and giving yourself a day off tomorrow doesn't mean the rest of us get one." Naomi said, laughing internally as she saw Addison struggle to keep her inebriated focus on her.
At her words, however, Addison sobered up slightly.
"I don't need to take a day off, Naomi."
"This case hit you harder than you thought it would, Addison. You know it and I know it." Naomi said, putting on her coat and lifting her purse to her shoulder as she spoke. "Please don't put on the tough girl act right now. After the last 24 hours, it's useless to me."
Addison frowned but knew that her recently reclaimed best friend was correct. They had spent the last three hours alone hashing out everything that was going on in their lives and while cathartic, it was also very draining. And with the nice little red wine hangover she had coming in the morning, she doubted she would be very much use to any of her patients. Luckily she only had a couple of routine consultations that could easily be rescheduled on the excuse of illness on her part.
Addison rose from the couch, wobbled a bit, and then steadied herself by holding on to the arm of the sofa she had just been resting against.
"Nai, are you sure you're okay to drive?"
Naomi bit her lip to keep her giggle in and then straightened her face out to a more serious expression.
"Darling, you're the one who had 6 glasses of wine in three hours; I had two. I'm good."
"Yeah, you are," Addison said and by her tone, Naomi knew she wasn't talking about her alcohol level. "I know I said it earlier but what you're doing for Betsy...it's amazing. And perfect. And...amazing."
"What can I say? I love that little girl. We all do. She belongs here, with me...with all of us." Naomi shrugged. She was already content with knowing that not only was adopting Betsy the right thing to do, it was only thing.
At her sincere words, Addison gave her a huge grin and moved into the African America woman's embrace when she opened her arms wide.
"I've missed you," Addison whispered.
"Me too, Sweetie. Me too," Naomi whispered back. She gave her one last good squeeze and a moment later, Addison was once again alone in her home.
A brief glance at the clock on the kitchen wall had her noting the late hour and with nothing, and no one, to stay awake for she decided to call it a night.
Settled under her light pink cotton sheets a mere 10 minutes later, the moment her head hit the pillow the events of the day caught up with her all over again. At first she thought the twinge in her stomach was the wine already rebelling but it was when she felt her cheek get clammy against her pillow that she realized she was crying.
Rolling over onto her side she let her left hand slide across her body to rest low against her abdomen, just above her panty line. Naomi was right about the case hitting her harder than she liked to admit. The moment back in the O.R. she shared with her friend was just the tip of the iceberg; one that she had been shoving down more and more each year. Tomorrow she would take Naomi's advice and take the day off but tonight, in the blackness of her bedroom, she would allow herself to grieve once more for what could have been.
Covering her mouth with her right hand she began to sob in earnest until finally she fell into the deep sleep of pure mental and emotional exhaustion.
It was the warmth of sunlight on her face that woke her up and Addison struggled to find the strength to crack open her eyelids. It worked for a nanosecond but the moment the blinding sun met her eyes, she shut them again and buried her face deeper into her pillow. Her head felt fuzzy like it was full of cotton balls and there was a distinct lack of saliva in her mouth, causing her to try to swallow several times and rehydrate herself. A persistent ringing echoed in her ears and that was the final straw.
'Damn merlot. Never, ever, again.' Addison's thoughts were accompanied by the long agonizing groan known to hangover patients around the globe.
The buzzing noise miraculously ceased as she shifted under the covers and she sent up a silent prayer of gratitude. Opening her eyes again slowly, she tried to lift her head in the direction of her alarm clock in order to check the time. Something caught her gaze and a nagging twinge echoed in the back of her mind that something was amiss. Addison shook it off and continued to sit up only to have her entire body freeze when her brain caught up with what her eyes had seen.
Gone were the dark grey Columbia University t-shirt and black sleep shorts she had put on to go to bed and in their place was a yellow, blue, and black men's hockey jersey with the number 28 across the front along with a fierce looking lion. Save for a cute pair of black boy-short panties from Victoria's Secret the jersey was the extent of her clothing.
As she struggled to comprehend the outfit change she glanced down at the bedding and ran a disbelieving hand over the mattress as well. She had closed her eyes to her favorite set of pale rose pink linens but was now lying on soft jersey cotton sheets in a nice royal blue color.
Pure adrenaline coursed through her body as she shot up fully in the bed, her eyes wide as she took in the complete unfamiliarity of her surroundings.
The bedroom she was currently in was at least twice the size of her master bedroom at home and the entire wall to her left was made up of floor to ceiling windows on either side of a quaint set of French doors. Those doors appeared to lead out to a deck of some kind where just beyond, Addison could make out the blue of the Pacific Ocean. There were sheer white curtains that framed the entire thing and in fact, a warm light breeze ruffled the curtains gently as if to impress her with their graceful touch to the room.
Even in her panicked state she could tell that whomever's house she had found herself in, had excellent taste. Everything was done in creams and varying shades of blue with silver accents. This included the blue sheets, accompanied by a plush cream colored duvet and at least a dozen accent pillows scattered along the end of the king sized mahogany sleigh bed she had just woken up in. The color palette gave the enormous room a very tranquil and luxurious vibe. In actuality, Addison couldn't help but note, except for the rather large flat screen television that took up almost the entire span of the wall directly across from the bed, the room was decorated very much in her taste.
Which meant it was much too nicely decorated to be a bachelor pad.
Skimming her eyes along the space Addison caught sight of a small mahogany table in the corner that matched the rest of the furniture in the room. It stood next to a full length mirror and upon it she immediately spied several bottles of women's perfume and a glass bowl with a strand of pearls hanging over the side.
Oh my god, had she done it again? In her depressed and very drunk state had she managed to become the "other woman" in someone else's marriage even after she swore on everything she held sacred it would not happen again.
Unwilling to find more evidence of what she already suspected was true, she closed her eyes tightly. She was now leaning back against the expansive headboard of the sleigh bed, her eyes screwed tightly shut as she tried frantically to recall anything from between when she went to bed in her own home and that very moment.
A movement under the covers next to her had her thoughts stopping dead in their tracks and her spine stiffening
Frozen in dread, Addison thought quickly about bolting without even seeing who was under the sheets but another cursory glance around the room confirmed that there was no sign of her clothing. She knew she could just run off in the jersey that she was wearing but considering it only came to her mid thigh it was probably not appropriate attire to flaunt to the outside world. Besides, she didn't know if she had driven here or if she even had a purse in order to catch a cab home.
Taking a deep breath, Addison steeled herself to face the person she assumed had been her bed companion for the night. Turning her head slowly, she reached out a hand to grip the beginning of the bedspread. Pulling the thick blanket back inch by inch, she grew more and more confused as the space next to her remained empty. Finally, about a good foot under the covers, she caught sight of proof of life.
But it was far from what she expected.
A small child lay sprawled out on her stomach, a mass of dark brown curls surrounding her head. Ten tiny fingers attached to two delicate looking fists were on either side of her face and they twitched in her sleep. The little girl's face was turned in Addison's direction and she took note of the small light freckles across the bridge of her nose as well as the long dark lashes lying against the rounded cheeks. The heart shaped face came complete with a cute button nose and a set of perfect cupid bow lips. The bottom one was slightly fuller than its partner up top and looked as if it had been designed especially for pouting. A tiny birthmark in the shape of a jellybean played peek-a-boo just below her jaw line by her left ear. All in all, she was an undeniably gorgeous child.
But who the hell was she?
A sound to the left of her caused her to tear her gaze from the sleeping child and whip her head around. At the man standing before her, a soft gasp escaped her body and all rational thought left her head.
Standing the base of the bed, clad only in a large white towel slung low across his hips, was none other than her ex-lover, Dr. Mark Sloan.
Taking in her rumpled appearance as well as the fact that she kept opening and closing her mouth like a guppy, Mark just shook his head. His blue-green eyes sparkled with a hint of his normal mischief. Along with a quick wink, he ran a hand through his still wet hair and gave her one of his devastating grins.
"Morning, Red. Sleep well?"
