Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Just wait…
Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's Anatomy, I would not be writing this. You know that.
A/N: This is going to be a fun ride. It's kind of future AU… Read. Love. Review.

Prologue

The rain falls softly, as it always does. It doesn't really rain that much, but it's cloudy an average of 226 days a year compared to 132 in New York… not that Addison Montgomery keeps track. Despite the increased number of cloudy days, Seattle feels like home. After bombs, adultery, divorce, marriage, and children, Seattle feels like home.

Addison gently twirls the straw of her Coke between her fingers as she sits at a table, waiting for her dinner partner to show up. She's written off alcohol – for now anyway. She smiles, thinking of her unborn twins. After one, she had thought that she and her husband would be done. With their busy lives, it seemed like they would make an excellent family of three, four if they counted Ella, the family dog. And then, unexpectedly, the stick had turned blue once again.

"Hey." Addison glances up and smiles wistfully. The years haven't hurt Mark Sloan's rugged charm. He's not the man that she fell in love with years ago, but she's also not the woman who fell in love with him. Nevertheless, they remember. Every day on this year, they remember together.

"Mark." Mark sits down and adjusts his watch. He stares at the drink in front of him with a grateful expression in his eyes, and he takes a slow swig, letting the bitter taste slide down his throat. Sometimes he wonders how he got to where he is now, wonders if it would have made a difference if he had gone into neurosurgery or something other than plastics.

"Why didn't it work with Derek?" Addison sighs and fingers her simple yet elegant rings that grace her left ring finger. She's asked herself that same question and answered it for Meredith on the eve of her current marriage.

"Derek… Derek didn't know how to be there for me. We were too young, and we jumped into marriage too fast. By the time he figured it out, it was too late. He had found Meredith, and I had found you. I wanted someone who would be there for me when I wanted him there and when I didn't. Derek wasn't ready, and neither was I." Mark nods, almost imperceptibly. The answer suffices. Momentarily he looks out at the rain and frowns.

"Four years, and I'm still not used to all the rain. You had a checkup yesterday, didn't you?" Addison nods, so he continues. "Do you want to know what they are?"

"Mark, I'm in obstetrics. I'm not blind. But… yeah, we'd want to know anyway. Allie's really excited about this. I just hope it stays that way in six months." Addison smiles fondly, thinking of her three-year-old daughter. "This morning, she told me she wanted to be a doctor like Mommy and Daddy so she could take care of babies."

And then he gets it. After all these years, he truly gets it. What Callie said to him four years ago made sense, but until now, he never really believed that he wouldn't have been cut out for the job. Kids can be cute, sure, but Addison's eyes shine with pride that he never would have had.

"I would have been a terrible father," Mark whispers. "Go to home to your husband, Addie. I'm okay now."
--
Movies always seem to foreshadow tragic events with rain and dark nights. The rain isn't particularly heavy, and it only accounts for a small percentage of accidents, but the nine percent has to come from somewhere.
--
Out of nowhere, horns blare and headlights collide. Tires spin out and then metal crunches. Suddenly the lives of four people hang in a delicate balance.

And it all happens in three seconds.
--
Addison closes her eyes in pain. She tries to stay conscious by counting to one hundred.

She only makes it to three.
--
A/N: Okay. I'm not thrilled about this chapter but… I promise it will get better. I have a lot in mind, and I was trying to get it into place for everything to work out. Now… you know the drill. Thanks for pushing the button!