Their daughter. On a gurney. In their ER.

They both stood there in shock, both needing a few seconds to wrap their heads around the situation. She's personally experienced the chaos of a mob injured and traumatized people trying to escape death and managed to deliver and tend to a premature infant without losing herself in the hysteria. He'd calmly stood near a bomb and operated without difficulty. They'd both had to make split second decisions for their patients in the ER and the OR. But neither of them had ever experienced witnessing either of their children in excruciating pain in an ER.

Addison was the first to jump into action. She pushed passed Derek and ignored the orders to wait outside while a team of doctors and nurses tended to her daughter. She moved toward the little girl's side and took her hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked desperately.

"It hurts," the little girl sobbed in response.

"Your tummy?" Addison asked softly and earned a nod in response. "Did you try going to bathroom again, sweetie? I think you ate something that didn't agree with you."

"It's not the same," the little cried. "It's worse than this morning. It's worse!"

"Okay," Addison nodded understandingly. "Maybe you can try to calm down and tell the doctors what you're feeling so they can help you," she suggested as she wiped tears away from her daughter's face with her thumb.

"It hurts!" the little repeated.

"Have you given her anything for the pain?" Derek asked the intern.

"No, sir,"

If looks could kill, Derek's glare would have murdered the intern. "Get her something for the pain," Derek ordered the nurse.

"What would you like me to push, Doctor?" a nearby nurse asked him.

Derek looked to Addison for answer, "Addie," he asked. She had significantly more experience in pediatrics and he trusted her judgement more than his own.

"Push .07 of morphine. And page Dr. Fulton from Peds," Addison responded. She glanced down at her daughter and leaned toward her to brush her lips against the little girl's forehead.

"You can squeeze my hand until your pain medicine kicks in, sweetheart," Derek told his daughter as he took her hand and gave it a reassuring little squeeze."Just give it a few minutes and you'll feel much better."

As soon as the attending physician arrived they started getting some answers. An ultrasound revealed that the cause of their daughter's pain was a burst appendix. The little girl was was rushed to the OR and Derek and Addison were escorted to the waiting room and left to pace the room until an update was available.

"Do you think we're cursed?" Addison asked Derek seriously.

"What?" Derek gave Addison a confused look, his brows furrowed together as he met her eyes. "You might be the most well educated woman I've ever met. You've spent a majority of your life studying science. Do you honestly believe in curses?"

"No," she mumbled. "But what else am I supposed to believe, Derek? That's three of the four members of our family. And two within a 24 hour period! I have half a mind to keep William in a bubble to protect him."

"Bad things happen, Addie," Derek countered softly. "It's a reality of life."

"It burst, Derek, burst. How often does that happen? Like never. And the daughter of two doctors, one being a pediatric surgeon, has a burst appendix. How neglectful could we be for it to get to this point?"

"I wouldn't call it neglectful," Derek backpedaled. "She's a kid. If we rushed her to the ER for every stomachache where would that get us? She hasn't been complaining of anything else, has she?"

"She had a fever yesterday before bed. I just gave her Children's Motrin, gave her a bath and put her to bed." Addison replied. "I drugged my child…"

"You didn't drug her. You did what you thought would be most helpful for her," Derek corrected.

"Did I?" she asked doubtfully. "Or was I just too caught up with myself to pay attention to her. I had a really long day. You were in danger, I was panicking about your safety but I had these thoughts that you're choosing to be with your girlfriend. I was a mess. I didn't really pay attention to either of them to notice that something could be off."

"Addie, you had a hard day. It's okay. She's going to be okay. She's in excellent hands," he soothed, pulling her gently up from her chair and into his arms. He felt her bury her head into the crook of his neck and sob quietly. She kept her arms tightly around his neck and felt his arms keep her tightly against it like a safety net. "You're a really good mom, Addie, and I don't know what I'd do without you. I know I may take you for granted sometimes but that's only because I'm an idiot and I don't always think things through. Everyone makes mistakes, it doesn't mean you love someone any less or that you were being neglectful. I should have left that OR, I didn't because I didn't think it through. I'm sorry."

As soon as Addison lifted her head from his shoulder she noticed a set of eyes and her and sighed, "Your girlfriend is staring at us," she mumbled. "Actually, everyone is staring at us," she corrected herself before pulling away from him to set back down on the chair she had previously been occupying. "I hate this, Derek."

Derek sighed heavily and took the seat beside her. "You know, at times like this I really miss New York. One phone call and our whole family would be by our side within the hour. Your dad would force his way into the OR and check on the surgeon to make sure his granddaughter was getting the best treatment available. Bizzy would pace a hole in the floor. My mother would try to feed us to make us feel better and my sister would talk our ears off to distract us."

Derek's description of their family was entirely too accurate. An unnoticeably small smile grew on Addison's face at the thought. "It would be easier than going through this alone with everyone watching us like we're from another planet."

Two hours later a nurse led Derek and Addison toward a post-op room where their daughter was recovering. Addison rushed passed Derek toward the girl and pressed small kisses to her forehead. "I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so, so, so sorry."

The three and a half year old's eyes fluttered open and she looked up into her mother's guilty eyes.

"Mommy?" she rasped out.

"Don't try to talk yet, sweetie," Derek warned his daughter softly. "You had a special tube in your throat to help you breathe during surgery. Your throat will feel a little scratchy and talking makes it worse."

"Are you in any pain?" Addison asked the little girl who shook her head in response. "Good, your surgery went very well, baby. You're gonna okay all better before you know it."

"Tummy was hurting," Kate told her parents softly.

"I know," Addison replied. "I'm so sorry that we didn't notice sooner, sweetpea."

"Go home," the little girl whispered.

"We can't get you home right now," her father told her. "You'll have to stay here tonight and we'll see how you're doing tomorrow. Maybe we can take you home tomorrow, if not, the next day."

"Will here?"

"William's staying with Aunt Adele. Daddy will leave soon to pick him up and I will stay here with you," Addison explained. They both knew that if they had been in New York one of their siblings would have taken Will for the night so they could both focus their attention on their daughter. But they weren't close enough to anyone in Seattle to make that kind of request.

"I miss our life in New York," Derek admitted after their daughter dozed off to sleep. "I miss what we were before everything fell apart."

"Me too," Addison agreed. "Do you think we'll ever be able to get back to that?"

Derek shrugged, "I don't know. But I promise, I will try harder this time."

They started marriage counseling the following week, and unlike the previous time, they were both serious about repairing the damage to their marriage. The family of four was able to find their place and build up from the ruins that their lives had become following a chain of horrible events. Time went on and wounds healed, and life in Seattle became routine and comfortable rather than unbarable.

"I'm turning forty next month," Addison cringed as she thought out loud.

"I turned forty last year," her husband reminded her.

"I know, I was there," she reminded jokingly. "But you've always been old."

'I'm only a year older than you," he reminded her. "If I've always been old then you've always been old."

"A year and nine months," she corrected with a smirk.

"Mom," Addison heard a little boy call for her attention. She set her wine glass down and she and Derek both turned around to see two six years standing in the doorway of the living room in the house they'd built on Derek's beloved land.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in bed?" Their father asked them from his spot on the couch beside their mother.

"We have a question," Kate spoke up as she and her brother moved toward their parents.

"Is that question if you can have a later bedtime?" Derek asked knowingly.

"No," William shook his head.

"If you can have a cookie before bed?" Addison guessed.

"No," both children said at once.

"Okay, we give up. What's your question?" Addison asked.

"Were you alive when 9/11 happened?" The little boy asked his parents.

"Why did that come to your mind?" Derek wondered.

"We talked about it in class," the dark haired little girl replied. "The anniversary is this week."

"We were alive when it happened. It was only seven years ago, guys."

"But we're almost seven…" William mumbled in confusion.

"Not almost, you've still got six months," Addison reminded her son gently. She already thought they were growing up too fast, she didn't need them to round up their age to make it harder on her. "And you were kind of around when it happened. You were in my tummy."

"Like Aunt Liz and her baby?" Kate asked.

Addison nodded. "Exactly like Aunt Liz."

"But I don't remember it, Mommy," William complained.

"You can't remember it, baby. You were basically the size of a little, tiny peanut and you can't exactly see from in there," she told her son softly.

"Oh," William mumbled in understanding.

"You wanna know something kind of cool?" Derek asked his kids. When their eyes went wide with interest he went on, "You saved your mom's life that day."

"We did?" Kate asked in surprise.

"But how? If we were only as big as a peanut how could we do anything to save you?" William asked.

"Babies sometimes make Mommies feel really sick while they are pregnant. You did that to your mom that morning. She was feeling nauseous so she was late to her meeting. If she was there on time she would have been in one of those big towers that the planes went into." Derek explained to his children.

"Really?" both kids asked their mother with wide eyes.

"Yup," Addison confirmed.

"That's so cool!" Kate exclaimed, climbing onto her mother's lab to give her a hug. "Do you have a cool scar like mine?" Katherine, being her mother's daughter, was very self conscious about the scar her surgery left. The scar had faded significantly but it still bothered her until she complainted to her Uncle Archer. He told her that scars were cool because they told a story. He pointed out the faint scar on Addison's forehead and told her how it had happened when she'd flipped over the handlebars of her bike while playing in their vineyard. He told her how he'd carried her home and even stood up for her against Bizzy when Bizzy became upset at Addison for ruining her clothes and getting a gash deep enough to leave a scar on her face. After hearing that story Kate's feelings about her scar changed. She was glad that it was in a hidden place and that it was fading but if someone did notice it, she was excited at the prospect of telling a story.

"No, I don't have a scars from that day. I was far enough away that I got away with a few scratches and bruises that healed up in just a few days. And I've got you two to thank for that," Addison answered her daughter.

"I'm glad we made you sick that morning, Mommy," William told her with a cocky smile. "I'll remind you the next time we make you really mad."

"You want to know something else that's kind of cool?" Derek spoke up and continued before either of his kids could answer, "You're both named after 9/11 heros."

"I thought I was named after my aunts," Kate admitted.

"You're named after the first female commissioner of the New York Port Authority. She helped saved lots of lives on September 11. And William, you're named after the fire chief at the time of the attacks. He also helped lots of people. They both died that day but they did something very brave that helped hundreds of other people live."

"That's so much cooler than being named after Aunt Kathleen. She's really boring," William mumbled under his breath.

On September 11, 2011, Derek stood by his wife's side at the opening ceremony of the 9/11 Memorial. After the ceremony, he walked with her to one of the panels at the sides of the south fountain. He put his arm around his waist and pulled her closer to him as she leaned over the panel to glance down into the fountain.

"Addie?" he asked softly.

"This is really beautiful," she mumbled as she stared at the flowing water.

"Yeah, and the Freedom tower is looking gorgeous. I can't wait to see the finished product," he said, glancing at the skyrise being erected in the sky behind him.

It was all mindboggling. Not too long ago there was something completely different on the ground they were standing on. She watched that come down into a pile of dust, debris and dirt and now it had been transformed into two memorial fountains, a museum and the the highest building on the western hemisphere.

She felt a hand on her lower back and then his voice broke into her thoughts, "You okay, Addie?"

She turned back to met his eyes, "My heart feels heavy," she admitted.

In response she felt his hand move from her lower back to her hip. He kept his arm around her and pulled her closer to himself. "You're gonna be okay."

"I know."

That's it! As with all my stories, here is a final chapter I rewrote too many times and posted way too late. I hope it was decent. Thanks for reading!

One last review would be cool.