Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters.
Derek was awake and watching TV when Meredith burst through the door. She had made a quick call to Callie, who had promised to call Naomi and Sam. "Is Evangeline here?" Derek asked his wife. Meredith nodded.
"There was an extra surprise in the delivery room. Evangeline came so fast that I had to deliver her. Then another baby was born-A little girl. Addison had twins and nobody knew. She named her Veronica Jacqueline Sloan. The twins are currently in the NICU," Meredith babbled to her husband. She still couldn't believe that Addison had given birth to twins. She hoped that Evangeline and Veronica were healthy. She was secretly scared for them, but she wasn't about to say anything to Derek. He had enough to worry about.
Derek stared at his wife in shock. "How did no one else know?" He would have thought that someone would have caught up to the fact that Addison was having twins.
Meredith shrugged. She and Derek began to talk about the next few weeks, and what they were planning on doing.
Five Weeks Later…
Addison adjusted Evangeline and stared at Veronica. Evangeline and Veronica were finally ready to come home, but Addison wasn't excited about that at all. She should be, but she wasn't. Addison even felt guilty about the fact that Mark wasn't going to be around to see Evangeline and Veronica.
"Are you ready to bring your girls home?" Meredith asked her. Something was wrong with Addison and she couldn't figure out what.
Addison nodded. She was so tired already, and hadn't even spent a night with the twins. There had been so much stressful things occurring lately, which had started with Mark's death. "At least Veronica's better," she murmured. Nothing was going right for her anymore.
Meredith sighed. "You need to think on the bright side, Addison. You have two little girls who you adore," she pointed out. The twins had just spent the first five weeks of their life in the NICU.
"I know," Addison conceded. She didn't feel like she could take care of the babies, despite the fact that Meredith and Derek were helping her. Derek was having his own problems, however. He zoned out sometimes, and Lexie claimed that he was suffering from PTSD.
"Congratulations on going home, Sloan women," Alex whispered, coming into Addison's room. He and Izzie had made it home as fast as they could, and had been surprised to learn of Veronica's existence.
"Thanks," Addison said. She didn't understand why everyone was so happy. She wasn't. Why should they be?
Alex and George helped Addison get into the car and strap the twins into their cars seats. "You are both so beautiful," Izzie cooed. She couldn't believe how adorable Mark and Addison's daughters were.
Addison rolled her eyes and Meredith stifled a laugh. Izzie loved being around the babies way too much. Derek just ignored everyone for the simple fact that he was lost in another flashback.
"We have to go now," Meredith informed the other doctors. She wanted to get home so the girls could get used to the house.
"Bye little Sloans," Alex whispered to Evangeline and Veronica. He adored the little girls and had already declared himself Uncle Alex.
"Bye," Addison said irritably. Alex was driving her up the wall, and she had no idea why. Her moods was constantly changing, something that was expected after the arrival of a baby, or babies in Addison's case.
Alex shared a look with George and Izzie. Izzie had noticed Addison's weird behavior since the twins' birth, but George hadn't. Alex had a theory about what was going on with Addison. "See you later," he called as Addison pulled the door shut and Meredith took off.
"What was with that look?" Izzie asked her husband. She didn't understand why Alex had been acting so weird around Addison.
"I think Addison has Post Partum Depression," Alex explained. He had been noticing the symptoms for at least two weeks now.
Izzie thought about that for a second. "It's a definite possibility," she agreed. Addison's behavior seemed to point towards Post Partum Depression.
"Derek's behavior is pointing towards Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," George said. He and Lexie had agreed on what was bothering Derek a few weeks earlier.
"So many things have gone wrong since Mark's death," Izzie sadly observed. No one had been happy since the night of Derek and Mark's accident.
"Nothing really good has happened," Alex pointed out. Only Meredith's pregnancy and the twins going home were the only good things to happen in the five weeks since Mark's death.
"What are we supposed to do?" George asked. It would be hard to get Addison and Derek help because both were probably convinced they were fine.
Alex shrugged. "We'll think of something later," he decided. Right now, he had to work. Thinking about Addison, Derek, and the girls wasn't beneficial at the moment.
XXXXXXXX
Addison just wanted to go home and fall asleep. Meredith and Derek would take care of Evangeline and Veronica. She didn't think she would ever be able to be happy with her daughters. She hated Mark for leaving her alone to raise two little girls.
"Exactly how long are we letting my ex-wife stay here?" Derek whispered to Meredith. He didn't mind Addison and the twins staying, but he was curious.
Meredith glared at her husband. "Until she gets back on her feet," she whispered back angrily. What was wrong with Derek?
"Sorry," Derek apologized. It must have sounded bad to Meredith, especially because of her pregnancy.
"It's okay," Meredith assured him. The pregnancy hormones were driving everyone crazy, especially herself.
"Will you two shut up?" Addison snapped. She couldn't believe how annoying they were. Meredith and Derek were her friends, but she couldn't stand them right now.
"We're sorry," Derek said. Something was wrong with Addison, but Derek wasn't sure what.
"I'm going to bed," Addison declared. She completely ignored the girls and went straight into her bed.
"I hope she's okay," a worried Meredith said to Derek. He nodded.
"Maybe Mark's death is finally hitting her or the twins' premature arrival is," he suggested. He had no clue what was wrong with his ex-wife. Derek never really had. Maybe that was had driven Addison to Mark in the first place.
"Maybe," Meredith agreed as Evangeline began to cry. She went over to the oldest twin and checked to see what was wrong.
"Why's she crying?" Derek asked as he went to go see Veronica. Mark and Addison did make beautiful babies. It was horrible that Mark hadn't lived to see his daughters.
"She needs a new diaper," Meredith explained, not realizing she was using baby-talk. Derek stifled a laugh. His wife would be a great mother once their son was born.
"You do that," Derek said quickly. He wasn't ready to change a diaper yet.
Meredith laughed. "You have to do it eventually, Derek."
"But I don't want to," Derek whined before the scene changed and he was reliving the accident.
Meredith was too busy changing Evangeline's diaper to notice that her husband wasn't exactly with her. "All done," Meredith cried happily. Evangeline cooed happily and stared at her godmother.
Derek snapped out of his flashback a few seconds later, Meredith none the wiser. "What are we going to have for dinner today?" he asked his wife.
Meredith shrugged. "I figure we could get take-out. I bet none of us feel like cooking anything." She knew Addison wouldn't be up to it, Derek was still healing from his injuries, and she was exhausted from her pregnancy.
"I want chicken wings and pizza," Derek declared. He had a really bad craving for them.
"What about Addison and me?" Meredith questioned. She was also hungry for pizza, but wasn't about to tell Derek that.
"You can get something else," Derek mumbled. He was the one who had nearly died in the car accident, so that should mean that he got first pick of food.
"It's fine," Meredith told him. She would probably get a salad and eat a few of Derek's chicken wings. Addison might not be happy. She had eaten earlier, but not too much. She hadn't been eating too much for awhile now.
"Should we wait until Addison gets up?" Derek questioned. He didn't want to feel Addison's wrath.
"We'll order her something healthy," Meredith decided. Addison was still recovering from her premature labor and Mark's death, so her appetite was a little off.
She began to order their food a few minutes later, not realizing the problems that Addison was experiencing.
XXXXXXXX
Alex's plan started a few days later. He had to convince Addison of her Post Partum Depression and Derek of his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"Is this really going to work?" asked a skeptical Callie. She and Erica had been dragged into the plan, along with Cristina and Webber.
"It's going to work," Alex said. He knew it would. Derek and Addison desperately needed help.
"I have to be annoying around Derek," Izzie pointed out. How would that get him to admit he needed help for the PTSD?
"You know what your part in this is," Alex reminded his wife. Izzie had to bother Derek about PTSD until he realized he had it and agreed to go to Dr. Wyatt again.
After three hours of Izzie bothering him, Derek gave up. "I don't have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," he yelled. So what if he was having flashbacks? That was normal after a car accident.
Izzie sighed. "Dr. Shepherd, you need help. I'm pretty sure you had four flashbacks in these past three hours. You're sad all the time. Please get help," she begged. Derek was making her depressed.
"I don't need help," Derek insisted. He was fine. Nothing was wrong.
Izzie stared at him. "Dr. Shepherd, it's okay if you need help. Your best friend is dead. He abandoned you," she pushed. Pushing Derek wasn't part of the plan, but it could help him.
Derek was beginning to lose the fight. "I'm fine," he insisted, struggling not to cry. Crying wouldn't help his case at all.
Izzie continued to push. "Mark abandoned you. He left you alone here. You have to deal with his wife and daughters because he didn't stay. Now you're stuck here!"
Derek finally lost the battle and began to sob. "I'm sorry," he cried. He didn't mean to get PTSD. How was he supposed to know that could happen?
"Will you get help?" Izzie asked, feeling uncomfortable. She really didn't want to be around Derek while he was crying.
Derek nodded and bolted to Meredith's side. She had been made aware of the plan before it had been implemented.
XXXXXXXX
Addison was exhausted. The twins were bothering her. Veronica and Evangeline cried way too much, and Addison was sick of it.
"Why don't you leave me alone?" she asked Callie and Erica. The two wouldn't leave her alone. At least Derek was being bothered by Izzie, even if he was now crying.
"Because you need us," Erica told her. She just wanted the past five weeks to have never happened. Derek and Addison would still be fine, and maybe Addison would still be pregnant.
Addison rolled her eyes. "I don't need you. I'm fine," she lied. She hadn't felt fine since the call about Mark and Derek's accident.
"We don't believe you," Callie said. She really didn't. Addison couldn't just automatically recover from her husband's death, her premature labor, and an unexpected baby during said premature labor.
Addison rolled her eyes again. "I feel fine. Nothing is wrong," she insisted, her voice shrill. That was not good. Her voice going shrill had never been something good.
"Addison Forbes Montgomery-Sloan," Callie warned. She had no patience for Addison's lies.
"I know what's wrong with me," Addison finally snapped. She had recognized the symptoms for awhile now, but had wanted to remain in denial.
"Then you need help," Erica gently told her. She didn't want Addison to be emotionally detached from Evangeline and Veronica.
"I don't need help," Addison declared. She could get over the Post-Partum depression and would be fine.
"Yes you do," Callie replied. She was worried about one of her best friends.
"I'll think about it," Addison decided a few minutes later. She wouldn't, but nobody would know that.
"You're not going to think about it. You'll get help," Erica corrected.
"Fine," Addison shrieked, surprising her friends. She would get "help", but it wouldn't work.
For the first time in five weeks, things were looking up. Addison and Derek's friends and family couldn't ask for more.
TBC
