"You… You were supposed to leave." Addison gasped as Derek's teeth nipped at her neck, and she pulled his shirt up and off of his body.

"You were looking for me." Derek pointed out, his tongue running up her neck until it met her ear, which he pulled into his mouth. He decided not to bother with the buttons of her silk cranberry-colored blouse, instead ripping it off and making the buttons fly off in every direction.

"That… Was a $500 shirt." Addison pouted, glancing at it on the floor.

"I'll buy you a new one."

"Okay. But… We… We can't do this." Addison said, her fingers busily working to unbutton his pants.

"I know. It's wrong." Derek panted, his fingers tracing the swells of her breasts over her wine lace bra with black trim. It never ceased to amaze him that his ex-wife always wore matching underwear, and it usually matched what she was wearing over it, too. It was obsessive compulsive, but it had always turned him on when they were married because he could guess what lingerie she was wearing that day when they were at work.

"And it's never going to work between us." Addison was yanking his pants down.

"Do we care right now?" Derek was freeing Addison from the confines of her skirt.

"Not a damn bit." Addison said as he helped her shimmy out of her pantyhose and lace panties.

With his hands able to grip her bare skin, he lifted her up so that her legs were wrapped securely around his waist. "Where's the bedroom?"

She pointed over his shoulder up the stairs and he spun around, carefully carrying her up the stairs while stopping here and there to plant kisses on her neck. When they reached the bedroom, he tossed her down on the plum satin comforter and quickly got on top of her.

His fingers traced the scar from her c-section slowly, thinking of all that she had gone through, physically and emotionally, for their daughter. Addison, self-conscious about the scar, desperately tried to cover it up with her hands, but he shooed them away. He placed soft kisses along the line, and he could hear his ex-wife suck in a deep breath. He didn't waste much time there. They were too impassioned to wait long. He looked up to Addison and after receiving a nod of permission, he made their bodies one unit.

"Oh, fuck, Addison." Derek breathed. "I'd forgotten how much I missed this."

Addison's eyes closed in enjoyment. "I know what you mean."

They knew each other's bodies the way that only people who had been together for years could. They knew exactly what each other liked and didn't like. They knew favorite positions, favorite touches… Addison and Derek had each been with a few people since each other, but no one could please them like each other.

Emotions overwhelmed her, and Addison could feel tears rolling from her closed eyes down to her cheeks. She felt like an idiot for crying over sex until she opened her eyes and saw that Derek's own blue eyes were glassy.

After their powerful release, Addison laid her head on his chest, just as she always had when they were married. His hands found her red locks and stroked them gently, just as he always had. They were silent for a long time before Derek finally spoke up.

"Now what?"

"I have no idea."


The following day was unseasonably warm for a New York City February, with temperatures in the mid-fifties. Addison, Derek, and Natalie mutually decided to enjoy the day outdoors, at Central Park. The conversation had been limited between Addison and Derek following their encounter the previous night, so they tried to focus on their daughter instead.

"Oh! Mommy, look! It's my favorite statue!" Natalie bounded ahead of them to get a closer look at the statue of Alice in Wonderland perched atop a mushroom. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Addison smiled. "She sure is, kiddo."

"Alice in Wonderland is my favorite story." Natalie explained to Derek. "Mommy used to read it to me all of the time when I was little!"

Derek laughed, thinking that Natalie was still little, though she clearly viewed herself as quite grown up. "I really like that story, too."

Addison groaned as the familiar beep of her pager met her ears. She glanced down at it and shook her head. "I'm sorry, guys… I'm going to have to go to the hospital.

"Mommy…" Natalie's face was twisted into an unattractive scowl. "You said you took the long weekend off!"

Addison sighed and stroked the top of Natalie's head gently. "Nat, you know that I never really get the weekend off. I'm always on call. People need me."

Natalie crossed her arms firmly over her chest. "I need you too!"

Addison's facial expression looked pained. "I know, honey… But this baby is very sick, and if I don't go to the hospital, he could die. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Natalie muttered, kicking at the ground.

"Derek, would you mind…"

Addison didn't even need to finish. "Of course. We'll be fine. Just give us a call later."

Addison bent down to Natalie's level and gave her a kiss across the freckles on her left cheek. "I love you. I'll call you and meet up with you as soon as I can, okay?"

Natalie turned away. "Yeah, yeah."

With a sigh, Addison waved a goodbye to Derek and quickly took off toward the streets of New York to hail a cab. Derek watched as his daughter slumped her shoulders and sulked, dragging her feet along the ground with her head facing the ground. Derek stopped her, tilted her chin up, and saw little tears forming in her eyes.

"It's hard to share your mom… Isn't it?" Derek asked, thinking of how hard it had been for him and Addison to share each other with the hospital… And how it had wrecked their marriage.

"Yeah." Natalie mumbled, her small hands going to wipe the tears out of her eyes.

Derek squatted in front of Natalie. "I know it's hard… But I've seen your mom operate, and you have to realize that she is… Magical. She can save babies and moms that no one else can save, and that makes her kind of magical."

"You like my mom, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Derek said, slowly standing up. "That's why we're friends."

"No, I mean, you liiiiike my mom." Natalie giggled.

Derek felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "Why do you say that?"

Natalie stared at him. "It's so ob…obv… easy to see! The way you look at her, call her magical… Blah blah blah. You should just ask her out on a date."

"A date?" Derek repeated.

He thought of how ridiculous it would be to take someone he was married to for eleven years out on a date like she was some random girl he'd taken an interest in and felt the need to impress. But, perhaps Natalie had the right idea. It hadn't worked before when he and Addison had tried to pick things up from where they left off, but what if they had tried to start at the beginning again?

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Of course a date! How else are you going to get her to like you back?"

"Well, I…"

"My boyfriend and I got together because he asked me out on a date." Natalie said smugly.

Derek sputtered. "You have a boyfriend? And a date?"

Natalie rolled her eyes skyward again as though Derek was hopeless. "Um, yeah. While we were in reading class one day, Braden Harper asked me to swing with him at lunch. It was a date. And now he's my boyfriend."

"I see…" Derek was amused. "Well, if I asked her out, should I bring her flowers or..?"

Another look. "No! This is a date. You need to bring her gummi worms!"

"Gummi worms??" Derek repeated, completely baffled.

"Yes! That's how Braden got my heart!" Natalie sighed happily, putting her hands over her heart. It was no doubt something she had seen on TV. "But you only give her the red ones."

"Why only the red ones?"

"Because those are the best ones, and that shows you put time and thought into it!"

"Oh." Derek nodded solemnly. "I see. So should I ask her to dinner?"

Natalie made a face. "No! She gets to eat all of the time! You should take her somewhere good, do something she doesn't get to do all of the time."

"Like what?"

Natalie's eyes lit up. "Take her dancing! You said she loves dancing, so you should take her out for a dancing night on the town!"

Derek groaned, thinking of how much he hated to dance. "But, wouldn't you be upset if I took your mom away from you for a night?"

Natalie shook her head. "Nah. She needs some boy time. Maybe if you give her enough gummi worms, you can be my daddy someday. I like you."

Derek opened his mouth, almost telling his daughter that she was, in fact, his. But he closed it quickly. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair instead. "I like you, too."


"You're going on a date with your ex-husband?" Savvy shrieked into the phone.

Addison held her Blackberry six inches out from her ear to protect her eardrums. She had been as surprised as Savvy when Derek had asked her to go dancing that night when she finally caught up with him and Natalie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She hadn't shrieked her shock, like Savvy, but had instead stammered back a "yes" that made her wonder if she was insane.

"Yes. That is what I said." Addison replied coolly.

"Didn't we already do this, oh, I don't know… 23 years ago?!"

"We did." Addison opened her closet and started flicking through her clothes, trying to find something to wear for the evening. "I guess we're trying it again."

"That's crazy."

"I know it." Addison said, pulling out a green dress before making a face and putting it back. "But not as crazy as me sleeping with him last night."

Addison held her phone out from her ear in early preparation for Savvy's outburst of, "YOU SLEPT WITH HIM?"

"And oh my God, Savvy, it was amazing…" Addison sighed, rejecting dress after dress. "What am I doing?"

"Don't ask me!" Addison could imagine Savvy shaking her head.

"Could you keep Natalie tonight? Actually, Natalie wanted to show Mei her new Bratz Dreamhouse or whatever, so you could come over here…"

"Sure, I'd be glad to." Savvy's voice was still baffled by the information she had received.

"Also, I can't find anything to wear." Addison said, with a whiny edge in her voice. "Can you come over soon and help me?"

"You can't find anything to wear in your closet?" Now Savvy's voice was amused.

"Sav…"

"We'll be right over."


"You boned her?!"

Derek held his iPhone several inches away from his ear at Mark's screaming. When he felt it was safe, he put the phone back against the ear. "It wasn't like that… It was more like making love." He kept his voice low, aware that he was in a candy store filled with children.

"Making love to your ex-wife…" Mark chuckled.

"I didn't say it made sense." Derek defended himself.

"And what are you doing now?"

"I'm buying her gummi worms." Derek answered, using the metal tongs like he would a surgical instrument to pluck only red ones out of the plastic case and into the plastic bag he was holding.

"I'm… Sorry?"

"It was Natalie's idea." Derek explained. "She said that gummi worms are the way to a woman's heart. I'm taking Addie out on a date tonight."

"And now you're taking dating advice from a first grader." Derek imagined Mark shaking his head. "You're losing it. And you asked her out? Was it for sushi while Addison was slicing up a spleen like the first time?"

"No." Derek scowled. "I just… Asked her to go out dancing. At the Met. While we were viewing 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa.'"

"How romantic. You hate dancing."

"It was Natalie's idea."

"How is Natalie, anyway?"

Derek spun the bag around to get it ready to tie into a knot. "She's amazing, Mark. She's the most amazing person that I have ever met."

"When do you think we can expect you back?"

"Well…" Derek plunked down his platinum credit card to pay for the gummi bears. "If it goes well… Maybe I won't be coming back."

"Seriously?!"

"Seriously."


Reviews are love. ;) Also, if there is anything you'd like to see… Let me know! I'll try to work it in.