A/N: I never thought I'd be one of those authors that would go months without updating a story. I'm sorry! But you know what they say, better late than never. *insert shrugging emoji here*
"Daddy said he would be here," Christopher whined as Addison drove him to school. "Today's Dad's day. I'm not going to school without him."
"Christopher, I told you he'll be there later. His plane lands in an hour and he's going to come straight to your classroom, okay?"
"What if he doesn't?"
"He will. He called me this morning to tell me he's on his way to the airport."
"You're lying," Christopher accused.
Addison stopped at the red light and turn to look at her son in the backseat. "Christopher," she sighed. "I don't know how else to assure you, sweetheart. I spoke to him this morning, he was on his way to the airport."
"He'll be here in an hour?"
"No, he lands in an hour. Dad's day starts at 12:00 and he will be here by then, I promise. He lands at 9 and it takes some time to get here from LAX. You remember how bad traffic gets?"
"No."
"You don't?" she asked. "You had to pee but we were sitting on the 405 and the cars weren't moving so you.."
"So Coop told me to go in a bottle," he recalled with a grimace.
"Right. And you cried until we managed to pull over for you to go on the shoulder of the freeway."
"Mhmm." Christopher mumbled.
"So sometimes traffic is bad so just give him some time. He'll be here," she assured as she pulled up into the drop off lane. She parked her car and got out to open his door and help him out of the car. She knelt down in front of her son, expertly balancing herself in heels and a perfectly fitted dress. Needless to say, she stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all of the other mothers. "He'll be here, okay? I promise." She leaned closer and kissed his forehead, "Have a good day, sweetheart." she added before standing to her full height and watching him head through the gates before getting in the car and heading off to work.
Derek was standing out in front of the main entrance of the hospital, waiting for his cab to pull up. He had been up all night in the operating room. He'd finished the procedure before dawn, and monitored his patient's progress for two hours then passed it off to another attending to monitor so he could catch his flight.
The yellow cab pulled up and Derek reached for the door when an intern came running out of the hospital lobby. "Dr. Shepherd!" he called loudly, stopping Derek from sliding into the cab.
"You'll have to page someone else, I have a flight to catch. My son is waiting for me."
"You patient just spiked a fever and seized, Dr. Peters is at a loss. We need you to come back."
"Dr. Peters is at a loss?" Derek asked blankly. Dr. Peters had been in practice over a decade longer than Derek had and never let him forget it.
"We need you to come back," the intern repeated.
Derek turned back to the cab driver and asked for him to find a spot in closest lot and park. He offered to pay for the wait and the parking and promised to be back soon. He ran off, following the intern back to their patient. As he ordered a new slew of tests, all he could think about was the fear of missing his flight.
"I have a flight in an hour and a half. I won't make it. I need you to get me on the next flight and I don't care how much it costs," he told the intern who was hovering around him. He wasn't one to use interns for personal errands, but desperate times come desperate measures.
Christopher kept his eyes on the clock for the entire morning. His eyes lit up every time the door opened but his heart sank every time it was someone else's father. By noon, everyone's had their dads with them and Christopher was sitting alone, no Dad by his side.
Tears welled in his eyes as he sat by himself and watched all of the other children spending time with their dads. Though he didn't spend much time with his mom's parents, everytime he did see them he was reminded that no matter what his last name was, he was a Forbes-Montgomery and that meant he was expected to be on his absolute behavior at all times. No crying in public.
"Chris?" his teacher asked. "Would you like to work with me while we wait on your dad?"
Chris shook his head. "I'll work alone," he mumbled sadly. He didn't want to be the kid stuck with the teacher while everyone else had their dads.
Another hour went by and Chris had spent that time working on a craft project by himself while the rest of his class was occupied with their dads. He looked up at the clock on the wall- he wasn't great with telling time yet but he knew that when the little hand is on the two it means he only has one hour left to go. He got up and walked over to his teacher. "Can I go to the bathroom?"
His teacher looked at him with a brow raised, "I don't know, Christopher, can you?" she asked.
Christopher sighed, annoyed. "May I go to the bathroom?"
"Yes, you may," she replied with a smile.
Christopher stepped out of the classroom and went straight toward the office. He walked up to a woman sitting at a desk and said, "I need to call my mom."
The woman looked at him in surprise, "Does your teacher know you're here?"
"Yes," he lied.
"We only let children place calls to their parents when there is an emergency."
"This is an emergency," Christopher informed her calmly. "My dad was supposed to be here and he's not. He promised. My mom promised. They never lie. I think something happened to him. I need to call my mom."
"I'm sure your dad's fine," the woman replied without much effort to console him.
Christopher involuntarity got teary eyed. "No, my dad wouldn't lie and not come. He wouldn't," he insisted with tears rolling down his cheeks.
The receptionist finally gave in and let him dial his mother's number. The phone rang three times with no answer and he panicked, thinking she might be too busy to answer and was about to let out a sob when he heard her voice.
"Mommy?" he said through his tears.
"Honey, are you okay? What's wrong? Why are you calling in the middle of a school day?"
"Daddy's not here and you promised her would! You said he was on his way and he's not here," he rambled.
"Christopher..." She said softly, unsure of what else she could say. She was well used to being stood up by Derek, and she knew the feeling of heartbreak never really got better. "I'm sorry, honey. If you want, I can cancel my day and come to be with you."
"No! It's Dad's Day, not Mom's Day!" he exclaimed. Just then the door opened and a dark haired man walked in with a leather jacket. Christopher ignored him at first then did a sudden double take, "DADDY!" he yelled excitedly, forgetting he had his mom on the line and shoving the phone back toward the woman at the desk."You're late."
"I know. I'm sorry, but I'm here now. I'm all yours."
"You're not leaving?"
"Not today."
"Tomorrow?"
"Let's not think about that now, okay?" Derek replied as he gave his son another kiss. "Let's go see what this Dad's day thing is all about," he suggested as he set his son back on the ground. "Lead the way," he said.
Christopher took his hand and pulled his father toward his classroom.
"No, wait! You have to sign in," the woman called after them as Christopher pull him toward the classrooms.
Derek briefly paused his son to sigh in and get a vistor sticker then came back and held out his hand. "Okay, now you can lead the way," he said with a chuckle and he stuck the sticker on his shirt.
He continued to pull his arm in the classroom and then stopped and looked up. "That's my teacher, Ms. Harris. And that's Alex, he's my best friend. And that's Becca," he paused and motioned for Derek to lean over so he could whisper in his ear. "I think she's pretty."
"You do?" Derek asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, Remember when I was little and you would always tell Mommy that's she's the most beautiful girl you've ever seen?"
"No, don't take off your shoes," Derek told his five year old son who was sitting at the bottom of the staircase waiting impatiently. "Your mom will be home soon and she loves that little outfit on you."
Christopher groaned, completely annoyed. "I'm hungry!"
A few seconds later the front door opened and Addison stepped in. She stopped when she saw her son and husband waiting in the foyer.
"What are you two doing here?" she asked as she kicked off her heels. "Why are you all dressed up?"
"We have a surprise for you," Derek replied.
"How come she can take off her shoes and I can't?!" the little boy complained.
"We have a surprise for you," Derek repeated.
Addison gave him a curious look.
"We have reservations at your favorite restaurant," Derek told her. "The one with the name I can't pronounce and the menu that you have translate for me because it's in French."
"La Grenouille."
"Yes, exactly. So put your shoes back on and let's go."
"Derek, that's very sweet but I've been on my feet for 14 hours. I smell like hospital and OR. I have dark circles under my eyes. I Certainly don't look up to La Grenouille standards right now."
"All of that is untrue, you look beautiful."
"My hair has been under a surgical cap for most of the day so I basically have helmet hair right now," she added.
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. It doesn't matter if you spend two hours on your hair and make, or if you've spent hours elbow deep inside a body cavity, or if you just roll out of bed, you are always the most beautiful person in the room, okay?" he said, stepping closer to fill the gap between them.
She glance up to meet his eyes in silence and a small smile appeared on her face.
"Christopher agrees. Right, Christopher?"
"What?" he asked, having zoned out.
Derek turned to see his son had taken off his shoes and put them back on on the opposite feet. He sighed, "He agrees," he said on behalf of their son. "He's just too hungry to remember."
Christopher stood, still wearing his shoes on the opposite feet. "Can we eat now?"
Derek froze for a second. He'd put all of those member behind him. "Yeah, I do remember," he said somberly.
"I think Becca is too," he admitted sheepishly. "Don't tell anyone, okay? It's a secret."
"He was a nervous wreck this morning," Addison told Derek after they had put their son to bed. "I'm glad made it, albeit late but still, you made it and it made him very happy."
Derek nodded as he took a sip from his wine glass. "I really miss him. I spent the day with him and I realized how much I miss in his day to day life."
"Yeah, he's got this whole life going on now. He's got opinions and questions and ideas and he's always learning something new. He's growing a little too fast for my liking."
Derek nodded, "Today I learned our son has a crush."
"He does?"
"Yeah, Becca. He thinks she's the most beautiful girl ever."
Addison chuckled, "That's kind of cute."
"He said he wants to tell her he think she's beautiful because I used to tell you."
Addison didn't respond. She just reached for the wine glass and poured herself another glass.
"I used to tell you all the time. Every chance I got," Derek went on.
"I remember," she mumbled as she took a sip from her glass.
"When did I stop?" He wondered out loud.
"It doesn't matter when you stopped. Why did you stop?" she asked, emphasizing the first word of her question. "What changed?"
"I don't know."
"You have to know," she insisted. "Was it me? You stopped finding me beautiful? Your type changed? Did I bore you?"
"I don't know," he repeated.
She got up from the couch and went over to put her glass in the sink.
"I still think you're attractive." he admitted.
"That's not what you used to say. You used to say I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. Attractive is physical, beauty is more than that," she said as she was halfway up the stairs. "It doesn't even matter anymore, Derek."
"It does, he watched me. He paid attention to how I was with you. And he's approaching people the same way. I don't want him to treat anyone the way I treated you that last year in New York. And I certainly wouldn't want him to treat anyone the way I treated you in Seattle. I'm sorry I did that."
Addison sighed, "It's in the past now so it doesn't matter. Now we just have to focus on our son and co-parent as best we can so he can have a normal life." She got up from the table and went to put her wine glass in the sink. Then she moved toward the staircase, ready to call it a night when Derek cut her off just as she opened her mouth.
"Addison," he started, causing her to stop halfway up the stairs and turn to face him. "I still think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met and I'm sorry I stopped saying it."
She climbed two more stairs without saying anything then stopped again. "It's too late," she said softly, reaching up to wipe the tear rolling down her cheek as she went up the rest of the stairs.
Thanks for reading!
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