A/N: I've had a few questions about my two-shot 'Who'd Have Known' I'm working on the second part but I've lost my train of thought a little, don't know how long it'll be until an update, sorry!
Forget everything you know about anything after the S3 finale! Set 1 year after Addison moves to LA :)
Title/Lyrics from the song Beth by Kiss (Except I of course heard it on Glee :D)
"Dr Torres, can I talk to you?" Alex asked quietly approaching her as she sat alone in the cafeteria.
"Um, sure" she said curiously, Alex sat down in the chair opposite her and shifted nervously "You ok there Karev?"
"How's Addison?" Alex blurted.
"As in….."
"Does she, is she happy? In LA, I mean, it's been a year and nobody really speaks about her anymore and I just to know that, that she's happy" he breathed.
"She's happy" Callie nodded "At least that's what she tells me"
"And do you believe her?" Alex asked.
"Why do you even care Karev?" Callie asked bluntly "You know why she left right?"
"Yeah, I guess I do" Alex said sadly "I know I screwed up, and I know I have no right to ask but, I just, I need to know that she's happy"
"You can ask her yourself in 2 weeks" Callie sighed.
"Wha….what?"
"She's coming back Alex" Callie said with a small smile "The Chief made her an offer she couldn't refuse, she gets surgeries in LA but not enough and she's got good friends out there but she just doesn't feel like she belongs, she's coming back but she's not, she's not coming back alone"
"What, what do you mean?"
"She adopted a newborn baby girl a couple of days ago, still unnamed, here" she said pulling out her cell and showing him a photo of Addison holding a small pink bundle "That was taken about an hour after she was born"
"She's beautiful" Alex said softly "She really did it huh, she got what she wanted all along"
"No Alex" Callie said accepting the phone back "She really didn't" she said before leaving.
"Yeah" Alex whispered to himself "Me either"
~x~
2 weeks later.
"Now this isn't something I expected to come back too" Addison said breezing into the NICU where Alex sat in a rocking chair next to one of the isolates, his hand inside it letting one of the babies touch his skin.
"Addi….Dr Montgomery" Alex stuttered "You're here, you're, you're really back"
"I'm really back" Addison nodded, she moved over to one of the chairs and placed the car seat holding her baby on it, she slowly took the baby out and held her close to her chest "So" she said moving over to Alex "What are you doing up here?"
"I, like being up here" Alex said with a small smile "I just, they spend all this time up here and nobody really sees them y'know? Apart from the parents, nobody talks to them, the nurses just walk in, do their jobs and walk out, and I know we shouldn't get attached but, I can't just, if I have 5 minutes I should use it to do something, and I kind of like the babies"
"My my Karev, you've gone soft in my absence" Addison smirked.
"Maybe a little" Alex said with a slight laugh "They do call me Evil Stork"
"Evil Stork?" Addison said raising her eyebrow.
"I was Evil Spawn within weeks of starting here" Alex smirked "And when I started asking to be put on neonatal, Evil Stork, it's stupid but this is Cristina Yang we're talking about"
"Right" Addison said with a laugh.
"So this is her" Alex said standing up and closing the isolate "You come up with a name? Torres said you hadn't decided"
"You spoke to Callie about me?" Addison frowned.
"I wanted to know you were ok" Alex said quietly "Anyway, name?"
"Bethany, Bethany Olivia Forbes Montgomery" Addison smiled brushing her lips across the top of Bethany's head.
"Can I...hold her?"
"Sure" Addison said softly slowly passing Bethany too him, Alex cradled her in his arms, his eyes never leaving her face, her eyes opened a little and stared up at him.
"Hey" he whispered "Look at you" he smiled "She's beautiful Addison" he said softly.
"Yeah" Addison smiled "She's pretty great"
"Oh hey, sshh, sshh" Alex said soothingly as Bethany started to whimper, he adjusted her and held her against him, rocking her a little, his fingers tracing against her back in slow circles "That's it baby girl, you're ok" he whispered "What made you do it?"
"Wha...what?" Addison stuttered snapping out of the awe she was in.
"What made you adopt?"
"Well I uh, I can't have kids of my own anymore so, it was my only option really" Addison said quietly.
"Oh" Alex said with a whisper "I'm sorry Addison"
"Yeah, I was too, for a long time, but then I stopped feeling sorry for myself and spoke to some adoption agencies, and, I've got the best thing that's ever happened to me right here" she said kissing the back of Bethany's head "You're really good with her" she said softly.
"Thanks" Alex said quietly "Well um, I, I have to go" he said glancing at the clock "I have to go prep a patient so…."
"Right" Addison said taking Bethany back in her arms, Alex smiled at her and headed for the door, he turned back a little to face her "You look good Addison" he said softly.
"Yeah, you too" Addison said with a small smile, Alex sent her a smile before leaving "Oh Beth I think Mommy's in trouble" she sighed.
~x~
1 month later.
Alex approached Addison's office, he knocked twice on the door before entering to find Addison pacing the room desperately trying to stop Bethany's cries.
"Hey, I was just bringing you the charts and...are you ok?"
"Do I look ok?" she said frustratedly "I can't get her to stop crying Alex! I've fed her, changed her, I've done everything and she won't stop and I'm supposed to be good at this! I'm a baby doctor, it's what I do"
"Give her here" Alex said putting the charts on her desk.
"Wha...what?" Addison stuttered.
"Give her to me" Alex said softly, Addison passed Bethany over to him.
"Hey Beth" he smiled "Come on now baby girl it's ok" he whispered rocking her slowly "Look, I'm gonna do something now and you can't tell anyone ok?"
"Okay" Addison said warily.
Alex cleared his throat a little and took a breath,
"Beth I hear you calling
But I can't come home right now
Me and the boys are playing
And we just can't find the sound
Just a few more hours
And I'll be right home to you
I think I hear them calling
Oh Beth what can do
Beth what can I do"
Alex kept his voice in a whisper as he softly sang to Bethany, he held her close against him the entire time, keeping his body as relaxed as he could, by the time he finished the song her cries had subsided leaving just a faint whimper "There" he said softly "All better"
"Alex that, that was amazing" Addison whispered "Thank you"
"It's nothing" Alex shrugged "You look tired Addison" he said softly "You're working too much, she's a bad sleeper right?"
"Awful" Addison mumbled "Every 3 hours she's awake"
"And then you come to work all day" Alex said simply "Come on, lie down"
"What?" she smirked.
"Lie down" he said gesturing to the sofa "Get some sleep, I'll take Beth to the cafeteria with me while I have my lunch, I'll be half an hour, lock the door behind me, I'll take your key, you trust me don't you?"
"Yes" she smiled "Thank you" she said giving him a little hug "Ok, she shouldn't need feeding or changing but everythings in here" she said adjusting the baby bag on his shoulder "Be good for Alex sweetie" she said kissing the back of Bethany's head "Thank you" she whispered kissing his cheek.
"Promise me you'll sleep?"
"I promise" Addison smiled.
~x~
"What the hell is that?" Cristina exclaimed as Alex walked towards them in the cafeteria holding Bethany.
"What does it look like Yang?" Alex smirked as he took a seat "Can someone uh...open those for me" he said gesturing to his bag of chips.
"Sure" Izzie said with a laugh opening them "So, what's going on?"
"Addison's exhausted, apparently Beth here doesn't like to sleep at night, so I offered to take her for half an hour so she can have a nap, I honestly completely respect single mothers, I don't know how they do it, I can't even open a bag of chips on my own right now" he smirked.
"Oh god here he goes, Evil Stork" Cristina said rolling her eyes "And since when do you call Montgomery Addison? Or care about the fact that's she's tired actually, didn't you used to hate her?"
"I never hated her" Alex said quietly, Alex silently thanked whoever paged her, shortly followed by Izzie and George, leaving him alone with Meredith.
"Ok, spill it" she said with a smirk 'Or not' he thought.
"There's nothing to spill, I'm just helping her out" he said avoiding her eye.
"Or y'know, I could just go and find Callie, I'm sure she knows what's going on" she smirked.
"Fine" he groaned "We may have had a thing before she left that ended badly"
"You had a thing" Meredith said raising her eyebrow "With Addison? What kind of thing?"
"We almost kissed in front of Laura Grey, we did kiss the night George's Dad died at Joe's, but then she avoided me so I told her I wasn't interested, but I was interested, I was so interested I was, I was falling in love with her" he said in a whisper "And then she's in a 60 day no sex bet with Sloan so I figured I missed my chance, but then she's screaming at me about turning me and Ava into another Denny situation and I was screaming back and the next thing I know she's pushing me into an on-call room and well, you get the picture" he smirked "But then I really really screwed it up, all she did was ask me for a drink or back to her hotel and I snapped at her, I pretty much told her I didn't want her, because, Ava heard her talking to Callie about wanting the guy who barbecues and plays catch with his kids and it freaked the hell out of me so I just, I snapped, I pushed her away, she went to LA the day after, and when she came back it was, awkward, and, and then we're at the wedding and, I came onto her like a moron and she told me that, that I didn't want her, I wanted Ava, she made me go after her and I did, and when I found out she was gone I, I didn't really care, but then I find out Addison's in LA and, it killed me" he sighed "And I know, I know she left because of me, Callie pretty much told me that, and I hate myself for hurting her, and for letting her get away, because, I'll never stop loving her, and I know now that all I can do is be her friend, so I'm going to be her friend and help look after her kid so she can get some sleep"
"Wow" Meredith breathed "You really are a moron aren't you"
"Yeah" Alex said with a heavy sigh.
"Just tell her you're sorry Alex, tell her why you said what you did" she said softly "If you still love her then, then you should tell her that"
"She's moved on Mer, she's got too much on her mind right now with Beth and….."
"The one thing I wish was different about my life is not having a father when I was a kid, and I know you hate that too, I do think single Mom's are amazing, and Addison will be great but, every kid deserves to have 2 parents, so if you think you can be it, you can be Bethany's Dad, you can be with Addison, then just talk to her Alex, you'll regret it if you let her go again….I have to go" she said glancing to her pager "Think about it" she said kissing his cheek before leaving.
"God Beth what do I do?" he mumbled.
~x~
Alex quietly let himself into Addison's office to see her fast asleep on the sofa, he shut the door, dropped the baby bag onto the floor and moved over to her, he perched on the space next to her body and brought his hand up to her cheek, slowly stroking the skin to wake her.
"Hey" he whispered as her eyes fluttered open.
"Hey" she yawned.
"Feeling any better?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks" she smiled "Was she ok?"
"As good as gold" Alex smiled.
"I think she likes you more than me" Addison said as she sat up, pulling her knees close to her chest, her chin resting against them.
"You know that's not true" Alex smirked "Addison…." he started "Can, can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure" she yawned.
"I just, I want you to know that, I'm sorry" he said with a slight whisper "For what I did before you left, I was out of line and, I was just, I was trying to…."
"Alex" Addison said trying to cut him off.
"Let me finish" he breathed "I was trying to protect you, and I know that sounds ridiculous but, Ava overheard you and Torres talking about the type of guy you wanted, the barbecues and catch guy and, back then, I didn't think I was that guy, so I pushed you away, because I didn't want you to, fall in love with me and then realize I didn't want what you wanted, when the truth is, I did want it, I do want it, I was just scared, because I've never felt this way about anyone before, it's been a year and, I still can't stop, loving you" he said shakily.
"Alex" Addison whispered tearfully "Don't, don't do this, don't say that"
"It's the truth Addison" he said cupping her cheek "I want you, I want you and I want Beth, and we can take it slow, we can take it as slow as you like, I just want, another chance, please Addie"
"And what about in a couple of months when you realize you still don't want to be a barbecues and catch guy? Because I can't do that to Beth, she is my world, I can't let you be her, father, for you to walk out on us when you get scared again, that's not fair on her and it's not fair on me, I can't do that to her!" she exclaimed.
"Addison, I'm not going anywhere" he said firmly "You have every right to doubt me but, I'm not going anywhere, I promise, I love you, I fell in love with Beth the minute I saw her, please Addison, if there's any part of you that still wants me then…."
"Of course I still want you" Addison said shakily "I was in love with you! And you broke my heart Alex" she said tearfully "And now, now I'm finally putting myself back together and I just can't be hurt again, I don't think my heart would be able to take it"
"Then believe me when I say I'm not going to hurt you again, either of you, I love you" he said looking her directly in the eye.
"Yeah?" Addison sighed "Well I love you too"
Alex let a small smile appear on his lips before leaning into her and brushing his against hers softly, still holding Beth against him, they moved so Alex sat on the sofa properly, adjusting Beth so she lay in his arms, Addison wrapped her arms around Alex's, her legs curled up beside her.
"How about I come and stay with you tonight" he said softly "I'll do the night feeds, you need a good nights sleep if you're gonna be cutting into people"
"Hmm" she sighed "I'm not having sex with you"
"I know" he smirked "We're taking it slow"
"Slow" Addison nodded "We're taking it very slow"
"I love you" he whispered kissing the top of her head.
"I love you too" she smiled.
~x~
6 months later.
"Ba ba ba" Beth babbled as she sat in her high chair at the Grey/Shepherd residence where both Alex and Izzie still lived.
"That's right Princess" Alex said with a laugh as he fed her another spoonful of her baby food "One more" he said feeding her another spoon "Good girl, Mommy will be very pleased with you" Beth merely babbled at him again.
"You're so good with her Alex" Izzie smiled softly.
"It's a little scary actually" Derek smirked "She couldn't suck me into baby land but she got you good" he said with a laugh.
"Shut up" Alex said with a smirk.
"Hey" Addison smiled walking into the kitchen.
"Mama" Beth said reaching out to her.
"Hey" Alex smiled looking up to face her "How was work?"
"Successful" Addison smiled "And how was Princess Bethany today?" she asked tickling her stomach a little.
"She's just finished a whole jar of food" Alex smiled proudly.
"Well done baby girl" Addison smiled "And I think Alex should clean you up because someone is very messy"
"I'm on it" Alex laughed standing and kissing her softly.
"Anything interesting happen at the hospital?" Meredith asked.
"Not really" Addison said with a slight laugh "Although, I'm pretty sure I saw Little Grey come out of an on-call room with Mark"
"I'll kill him" Meredith groaned "He promised!"
"Yeah, making Mark promise not to sleep with someone will only make him want it more" Addison chuckled.
"I learnt that the hard way didn't I Addison" Derek grimaced.
"Oh shut up" Addison said hitting him on the arm.
"One clean baby" Alex announced as he finished wiping Beth's face "All better Princess" he said kissing her forehead, he moved back over to the sink to wash out the cloth, they all snapped their heads over to Beth as she squealed "DADA!" and reached out to Alex, Alex froze on the spot, his eyes flicking over to Addison's.
"That's right baby girl" Addison breathed taking her out of the highchair "You love your Daddy don't you" she said passing her to Alex with a reassuring smile, Alex pressed his lips against her temple "Thank you" he whispered.
"I love you" she smiled turning her head and kissing his lips softly.
"I love you too" Alex smiled against her lips.
"Da!" Beth gurgled touching his face.
"I love you too Beth" he said with a laugh.
"Can you come over tonight, I want to talk to you about something" Addison said quietly.
"Sure" Alex smiled "Come on Princess, let's go and get your toys from the living room so we can get you home"
"I'll do it" Addison smiled kissing his cheek "I want some time with my gorgeous baby girl" she said taking Beth from him "I missed you today sweetie" she smiled as she left.
"What?" Alex said with a nervous laugh as he noticed everyone staring at him, Derek simply patted his shoulder proudly.
~x~
"Hey" Alex smiled softly as Addison walked into the living room of her house, baby monitor in hand "She go down ok?"
"Yeah" Addison smiled "Thank you" she said accepting the glass of wine he held out to her, she sat down on the sofa, she leaned against his body, his arm around her shoulder, her legs on the sofa beside her as she sipped the wine.
"Thank you for today" Alex whispered against her hair "It meant, it meant the world to me Addie, more than the world it just, meant everything"
"I always, when, when we started this, I didn't know if I was ready to let everyone call you her Daddy, because I still felt a little, unsure of us, but then as she got older and started trying to talk I knew that, I knew in the end she'd say it for herself, and today she did" she said softly "So I knew it was time"
"I love you" Alex said turning her head and kissing her softly "What was it that you wanted to talk about anyway"
"I was thinking maybe, maybe you might want to, move in with me, permanently" she said shyly.
"Really?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah" she smiled "I think, I think it's time, I feel, ready for this, if you don't then, then that's fine but…."
"Of course I will" Alex said kissing her "All I want is for us to be a proper family Addison, me, you and Beth, forever"
"Forever" Addison said softly "I love you Alex Karev"
"I love you too" Alex smiled.
~x~
5 years later.
"Daddy wake up! Daddy wake up! Daddy wake up!" Beth said climbing on top of a sleeping Alex and shaking his head a little "Daddy wake up!"
"What? What's going on?" Alex yawned.
"It's your birthday Daddy wake up!"
"Beth get off your Dad" Addison said with a laugh as she walked into the room "Happy Birthday honey" she smiled leaning over and kissing Alex softly.
"Thank you" Alex smiled.
"Mommy, have you got his presents?" Beth exclaimed, moving to stand on the bed.
"Uh-oh, Mommy forgot them" Addison said with a mocking gasp "They're still hiding away in your closet, go and get them for me, slowly" she added as Beth bounded off the bed.
"Well, someone's perky this morning" Alex smirked.
"She loves birthdays, you know that" Addison laughed, moving to lie next to him "I love you" she whispered kissing him softly.
"I love you too" Alex smiled.
"And tonight" Addison said huskily "I'm shipping our Beth to Izzie's place, and I am going to give you a very, special, present"
"Oh yeah?" Alex smirked "Do I get a hint to what this present may be?"
"Think, black lace" Addison teased "And heels"
"Hmm, sounds nice" Alex sighed kissing her again.
"Ok ok, stop kissing, present time!" Beth exclaimed rushing back into the room and jumping up onto the bed.
"Actually sweetie, Daddy wants to ask you something first" Alex said sitting her on his lap "How would you feel, if I made Mommy a Montgomery-Karev too?"
"Really?" Beth said with wide-eyes.
"What?" Addison gasped.
"You think that'd be good baby?" Alex asked Beth.
"Uh-huh" Beth nodded "Then we can be the same! And we can wear pretty dresses and, and Mommy can be like a princess!"
"She can" Alex smiled "And I think, we should go and buy a very pretty princess ring today, all 3 of us, that sound good?"
"Yep" Beth nodded with a grin "Right Mommy?"
"Alex" Addison said shakily "Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious" Alex said softly "I can't believe I haven't done it sooner, I just wanted us to be a family, that's all I wanted, and now, I want to make it official, so we're going to head out to the jewelers today, and you're going to pick a ring, I'd have picked it myself but I thought, that'd be something you'd like to do"
"I'd love too" Addison said tearfully "I love you" she said kissing him.
"So you're doing it? You're gonna have a princess wedding?" Beth exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah sweetie, we are" Addison said softly.
"Well I think I should be chief bridesmaid and I should wear pink and we should have lots of flowers and sparkles and…." she trailed off and gasped a little "We should get a horse and carriage!"
"Slow down sweetie" Addison said with a laugh "We're not having a horse and carriage, but you can wear something pink and sparkly ok?"
"Ok" Beth sighed "Ok, presents now Daddy"
"Presents now" Alex smiled, he turned to Addison and kissed her softly, she squeezed his hand a little before they all settled down and celebrated his birthday together, as a proper official family.
~x~ ~x~ ~x~