2 AM Seattle, 5 AM New York….
Addison carried Nathan around trying to get him to stop crying. She dialed Derek's cell phone.
"Hey you. Are you up for a middle of the night feeding?" Derek answered.
"I was half an hour ago. Now he's just fussy. He's been really unusually fussy lately. I think something's not right." Addison said.
"You're probably just tired so you feel like he's more fussy." Derek suggested.
"I am so tired." Addison said.
"I wish I could help you from here, but there isn't really anything I can do." Derek said.
"I know. I wanted to hear your voice. How's your Mom?" Addison asked.
"She's doing better than when they brought her in but still not too good. Did you try the swing?" Derek responded.
"No." Addison said.
"He likes that motion." Derek suggested.
"I'm putting him in now. What's going to happen now?" Addison replied.
"Uh he might stop crying." Derek responded confused.
"With your mother." Addison said laughing.
"Oh. She's having surgery soon and they think they are going to start the chemo." Derek informed her.
"Keep me updated." Addison said.
"I should be doing this surgery." Derek said angrily.
"You shouldn't." Addison said.
"I could do it better." Derek said.
"Derek, you're exhausted and emotional, and it's your mom, you really shouldn't be operating on her right now. She's in great hands. You know most of the surgeons. They're going to do their best." Addison consoled him.
"I'm worried. How's Nathan now?" Derek asked changing the subject.
"He's calmer, but still crying a little." Addison started crying a little.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked.
"I'm tired. I miss you. Nathan won't stop crying. I haven't slept since you left. I want to be there for you." Addison said.
"You know what. I'll come home today. I'll be home by bedtime." Derek told her.
"No don't come until you family is ready for you to leave. Mark and Izzie will be home in the morning and then I'll get more sleep." Addison said.
"I'll come home for a few days and take some stress off of you." Derek offered.
"Let's talk about that in the morning." Addison told her.
"How are you feeling?" Derek asked.
"It's actually not so bad this time. I haven't been nearly as sick as I was with Grace." Addison informed him.
"That's good." Derek said.
"I noticed last night that I'm starting to get a little belly." Addison said.
"Oh. I missed it?" Derek sounded upset.
"Derek. You didn't miss anything, except one sleepless night because of the baby. My belly is going to get bigger and bigger over the next few months." Addison said.
"I have to go now." Derek said.
"I love you." Addison said.
"I love you too." Derek responded. "Bye"
Addison was awake all night either with Nathan or thinking about Derek and his mother. She decided she needed to be with Derek.
In the morning….Lily found Addison in Grace's room getting the babies changed.
"Can you make me breakfast?" Lily asked.
"Sure. What would you like?" Addison responded.
"Cereal." Lily answered.
"Let's go to the kitchen." Addison said as she picked up Grace and Nathan and carried them to the kitchen.
"I got a bowl." Lily said.
"Okay. Let me get them all set and I'll get down your cereal." Addison said as she settled the little kids into their seats. "Do you want cheerios?"
"Yes." Lily said. Addison got down cheerios and poured some in Lily's bowl and some on Grace's tray. She got out the milk for Lily's cereal. "Today we are making cookies at camp."
"You are?" Addison said.
"Yup." Lily confirmed.
"That's fun. I bet they will be yummy." Addison said. She gave Grace more to eat and started feeding Nathan some baby food.
"I'm excited." Lily said.
"I can tell." Addison told her.
"What are you doing today?" Lily asked.
"I'm going to call Owen and tell him I can't come to work. Then Grace and I might go on an adventure after Daddy picks up Nathan." Addison told her.
"That's good. You need a break." Lily advised.
"I do need a break." Addison agreed.
"I miss Derek making my breakfast." Lily said sadly.
"Oh really? Does he make cereal better than me?" Addison asked.
"Yes." Lily said giggling.
"What's so good about his cereal?" Addison asked.
"He puts bananas or strawberries on my cereal." Lily told her.
"I can do that. You should have asked me." Addison said.
"Can we call Derek?" Lily asked.
"Sure. Do you want a banana?" Addison asked as she picked up the phone and started dialing.
"Yes please." Lily said.
"Hello?" Derek answered.
"Good morning." Addison said.
"Good morning beautiful." Derek replied very happy to hear her voice.
"How's it going?" Addison asked.
"Okay. They couldn't get all of the cancer with surgery. We're meeting with the doctors soon." Derek informed her.
"Let me know how that goes." Addison said.
"Yeah I will. How was the rest of your night and morning?" Derek asked.
"The baby went to sleep but then Grace woke up and then Nathan woke up around 7 so I didn't sleep as much as I would have liked, but everyone's in a good mood this morning." She filled him in .
"That's good." Derek said.
"Yeah. Someone wants to talk to you." Addison said.
"Okay." Derek answered.
"Hold on." Addison said as she gave the phone to Lily.
"Hi." Lily said.
"Hi sweetheart. Are you being good while I'm gone?" Derek asked her.
"Yes. Addie can't make cereal right." Lily told him.
"She can't? What's wrong with it?" Derek asked.
"She didn't put in bananas or strawberries." Lily said.
"Oh no. That's not good." Derek said.
"No. I told her you are better." Lily told him.
"Oh yeah. I make the best cereal." Derek said.
"Yes you do." Lily said.
"Have a good breakfast.. Can I talk to Addie again?" Derek asked.
"Yup. Bye." Lily said.
"Bye." Derek responded.
"Hi." Addison said.
"Hey. I have to go now but I'll call you in a little while." Derek told her.
"I love you. Bye." Addison said.
"Bye." Derek said. Addison hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang.
"Who is that?" Lily asked.
"Probably Daddy and Izzie." Addison said as she picked up Nathan and headed toward the door. Lily and Grace followed her running. Addison opened the door and Mark and Izzie were standing there.
"Hi Nathan!" Izzie exclaimed taking the baby from Addison. "I missed you."
"Daddy!" Lily shrieked and jumped into Mark's arms.
"Iz!" Grace said.
"Hi Gracie." Izzie greeted her.
"Come in." Addison said. "How was the trip?"
"It was really nice to get away." Izzie responded hugging Nathan. Mark put Lily down.
"My turn." He said taking the baby. "How was having four kids?"
"Really not much different than our life with three." Addison told him.
"Where's Derek?" Mark asked.
"New York." Addison said. "Lily, can you take Gracie to the playroom and watch her for me?"
"Of course." Lily said. "Come on Gracie." Lily took her hand and led her the playroom.
"We got a call yesterday that Carolyn collapsed and she was rushed to the hospital. She was showing all of the signs of a stroke so Derek went right to New York. They didn't think she was going to live long, but it turns out that she has a brain tumor. They operated this morning, but couldn't get it all. I haven't heard what the next step is going to be. The surgery is giving her some time though." Addison filled them in.
"How's Derek taking it?" Mark asked.
"He's worried. He wanted to do the surgery." Addison told Mark.
"I'm surprised they were able to stop him." Mark said.
"Yeah, but he knows he shouldn't have been doing it." Addison said.
"You should have called us. We could have come home sooner." Mark said.
"Yesterday, it was too much for us all to drop everything and leave so I wouldn't have gone even if I didn't have Nathan, but I think I'm going to go this morning." Addison said.
"You should." Mark said. "We'll take all of the kids."
"Thanks." Addison said. "I am going to take Grace with me though. Derek's family never gets to see her. I feel like I shouldn't go without her."
"Let us keep Lily and Kaitlyn for a while." Mark said.
"Yeah definitely. That will make everything really easy." Addison said.
"I'll go get them ready." Mark said.
"Just so you know, we didn't say anything about Derek's mom being sick and we haven't told them that I'm pregnant." Addison said.
"You're pregnant?" Kaitlyn said and all of the adults turned around. They didn't see her come down the stairs.
"I think she knows now." Mark said.
"Yes I am pregnant. You don't sound too happy about it." Addison said.
"I'm happy about it. It's just that I'm going to miss out on everything at school." Kaitlyn said sadly.
"I promise you will still be a part of everything that happens, but can we keep this a secret for now?" Addison asked.
"What about Derek's mom?" Kaitlyn asked.
"She's very sick. That's why Derek went to New York yesterday. I'm going to go too now that your dad is home." Addison told her. "For now I need you to help out with Lily."
"Okay." Kaitlyn said. "What about Grace?"
"I'm going to take her with me." Addison said.
"Oh so she gets to go because she's actually your kid. I thought you loved all of us." Kaitlyn yelled and stormed out of the room. Addison looked at Mark and Izzie for some help.
"Really? She has to do this today?" Addison said.
"I'll take care of that." Mark said.
"No I'll go." Addison said. "Can you just hang out here and keep an eye on Grace for a while?"
"Sure." Izzie said.
Addison went upstairs and into Kaitlyn's room.
"You know that Derek and I love all of you more than we can even explain to you with words." Addison said.
"So why are you only taking your kid?" Kaitlyn argued.
"I'm not taking Grace because she's my kid. I'm taking her because Derek is her dad and his mother is her grandmother who she hasn't gotten to spend much time with in her life. Besides, she's a baby and hasn't spent that much time away from me so she'd be coming no matter who we were going to see. Also, we are not excluding you, you are more than welcome to come as long as you understand the situation. I think Lily's a little bit young to be dragging around to the hospital all day visiting someone who is extremely sick. I think it will just scare her. And I assumed that you would also not want to go to New York to sit in a hospital for a few days." Addison explained.
"It probably would scare her." Kaitlyn said.
"Do you want to come?" Addison asked.
"What exactly is going on?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Derek's mom has cancer in her brain. It is too advanced to be completely removed by surgery and is affecting her speech and ability to move her body. I haven't talked to Derek since she got out of surgery so I'm not sure what the next treatment is going to be or how long she is going to live. It is very serious though." Addison explained the situation to Kaitlyn.
"She has been a grandmother sometimes." Kaitlyn said.
"I know. She's a wonderful grandmother. You probably have spent more time with her than you even remember." Addison said. "You are welcome to come with me if you want to see her or you want to be there for Derek, but this is not time to visit our friends and do fun things like we would on a normal visit. If that's what you are looking for, I promise I will take you in a few weeks. We have to go get you ready for college anyway." Addison smiled.
"I don't know if I want to go." Kaitlyn said.
"It's overwhelming. You really haven't experienced watching someone this sick before besides your mom and you really were too young then to fully understand. It's going to be hard." Addison told her.
"Will I get to visit her in a few weeks?" Kaitlyn asked.
"I really don't know." Addison said honestly. Kaitlyn was quiet and unsure. "Is this really about coming to New York? Or is it about me being pregnant? Or maybe going to school far away?"
"No." Kaitlyn said.
"So you're okay about the new baby?" Addison asked.
"Do I get a choice?" Kaitlyn said.
"So you're not okay." Addison said.
"No I am." Kaitlyn said.
"I don't want to leave with you mad at me, but I really need to get ready." Addison said. "Think about what is really upsetting you and call me or we will talk about it next time I see you."
Later…Addison and Grace landed in New York. She called Nancy on the way to baggage claim. She didn't want Derek to get suspicious; she really wanted to surprise him.
"Hey. We are really missing you right now." Nancy said answering her phone.
"I know. I wish I could be with you guys." Addison said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright. We've had a long day." Nancy said.
"I bet. Are you still at the hospital?" Addison asked.
"No. Our husbands and the nurses convinced us to take some time off. We're all sitting in Mom's kitchen." Nancy said.
"I feel like I'm missing out." Addison said.
"You haven't missed anything other than stress." Nancy said. "Can I call you back? I'm getting a call from the hospital."
"Sure." Addison said happy that she didn't have to tell Nancy where she was to get her off the phone now that she knew where to go.
Addison rented a car and drove to Carolyn's house. She carried Grace who was sound asleep into the kitchen.
"Hi." Addison said when she stepped into the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around.
"Addison!" Nancy said. "I just talked to you."
"I know." Addison said. "I wanted to know where I should go."
"Hi." Derek said as he kissed her. "I'm so happy you're here."
"Do you want me to take the baby upstairs?" Kathleen offered.
"No I want to hold my baby for a little while." Derek said taking Grace from Addison.
"I can't believe you all actually came home." Addison said.
"We couldn't do it anymore. They sedated mom for the night anyway." Kathleen said.
"Besides these two stole some scans and are trying to come up with a plan for how they can operate to remove the rest of the cancer." Nancy said.
"Why couldn't they get it all?" Addison asked.
"Because these cowards of surgeons were too afraid to get that close to the brainstem, but we're thinking if we go in this way which could be a little bit riskier of a surgery we could get it all without damaging any brainstem tissue. I think I could do it." Amelia said.
"But you've only just started practicing medicine again." Kathleen said.
"Derek's good. Derek could definitely do it." Amelia said.
"Let me see those scans again." Derek said. Amelia passed them to him. He held them up to the light to look. "I think Amelia's plan would work."
"Neither of you have privileges at that hospital." Kathleen pointed out.
"We could work something out." Derek said.
"We could fly her to Seattle." Amelia suggested.
"No. I think everyone needs to forget about everything for the evening and get some sleep." Nancy reasoned.
"Really. I came here to spend time with you all, not listen to crazy surgical plans." Addison said.
"Distract them Addie. Tell them what's new in Seattle." Kathleen said. Derek put his arm around Addison and rested his hand on her growing belly. She tried to push it away before anyone noticed.
"You're pregnant?!" Nancy blurted out.
"I think you outed us." Addison said to Derek.
"You're really pregnant?!" Kathleen said.
"I guess there's no point in hiding it now." Derek said.
"Yes. I'm about fourteen weeks pregnant." Addison informed them.
"Congratulations!" They all said.
"And you weren't going to tell us?!" Nancy said.
"I was just waiting for the right time. You know we kind of have a rough history when it comes to that." Addison said.
"I'm so happy for you." Kathleen said.
"It's good that you all know though. It was getting hard to hide it." Addison said.
"I guess we need to tell the girls now." Derek said.
"Kaitlyn knows and she is not happy." Addison informed him.
"Why not?" Derek asked.
"I'm not sure but I think it has more to do with college than the baby." Addison said. "But we'll talk about that later. We are here to spend time with your sisters." They spent a few hours talking and catching up before realizing how late it was. Derek and Addison stayed at Carolyn's house.
"Now that we're alone, we need to talk about something." Derek said.
"Okay." Addison replied.
"I want to move back to New York. I miss my family. I want Grace and the new baby to grow up with their cousins. We could both easily get jobs here. I think it's time." Derek said.
"I miss your family so much. We had a great night. I want our kids to grow up with your family around too. But…" Addison said.
"You can't leave Kaitlyn and Lily." Derek said.
"I've been raising them for a few years now, I can't just abandon them. However, Kaitlyn will also be in New York for college and Lily's spending most of her time with Mark now. He's being a stable father and I don't see that changing any time soon now that he has Izzie and Nathan." Addison explained.
"What's your thought?" Derek asked.
"I think we should move…" Addison said.
"I am so happy." Derek said interrupted her again.
"As long as we can make an arrangement with Mark that lets us see Lily occasionally still." Addison finished.
"I agree." Derek said.
"Did we just decide to move to New York?" Addison asked extremely happy.
"I think we did." Derek answered.