A/N: Thank you so much for your kind feedback on the last chapter. The reviews that I got on that chapter were some of the nicest reviews I've ever received, so I feel terrible that it's taken me so long to update this story. This chapter is a relatively long one, and it involves all the couples, so hopefully that'll kind of make up for the delay between chapters. I hope you like this chapter, and thank you so much for reading!

Let me see you through

"Hey, Willa," Addison smiled, as Willa slid into the backseat of her car. "How was school?"

"Fine," Willa shrugged.

Addison bit her lip worriedly, troubled by the flat tone of Willa's voice.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked her daughter quickly, doing her best to conceal her apprehension.

"Nothing," Willa said quietly.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Addison disagreed.

"It's nothing," Willa insisted. "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Hey, you know what I'm in the mood for?" Addison asked, purposely ignoring her daughter's question. "Juju. Do you want to stop at Starbucks and get some hot chocolate with me?"

"Okay," Willa agreed.

"Good," Addison nodded, forcing a smile.

Ten minutes later, Addison and Willa were sitting at a table in Starbucks with cups of hot chocolate in front of them. And Addison knew she needed to figure out what was bothering her daughter.

"Willa, did something happen today in school?"

"I, uh…" Willa trailed off.

"It's okay, Sweetheart, you can tell me," Addison choked out, fearing the worst. "What happened?"

Willa shook her head sadly. "I don't have any friends anymore."

"What?" Addison breathed in confusion.

"Everybody hates me," Willa sniffled. "Some kids don't like me because they said I got Mr. Russell fired. And other kids just won't play with me…it's like they're afraid or something."

Addison shook her head sadly. None of this seemed fair. It wasn't fair that Willa had been sexually abused by her second-grade teacher. And it wasn't fair that on top of the backlash that she was already dealing with, Willa also had to deal with backlash from her classmates.

Addison sighed heavily as she tried to unpack her daughter's predicament. She was fairly certain that the kids who were blaming Willa for getting Mr. Russell fired probably had no clue what had happened. They probably had no idea what that sick, twisted bastard had done to her sweet, precious little girl. And the kids who seemed like they were afraid to play with Willa probably were – because they'd likely never met anyone who'd been sexually abused before, and they didn't know what to say or how to act. And in both cases, Addison blamed Willa's classmate's parents – for not opening up a conversation, and for not setting a better example for their children.

"You know," Addison began, swallowing thickly. "I know what it feels like to feel like everyone's against you."

"You do?" Willa asked in surprise.

Addison nodded. "When I first moved out to Seattle, everyone hated me. They called me names, and they talked behind my back. I didn't have any friends out here."

"What about Daddy?" Willa asked in surprise. "He always says you're his best friend."

Addison chuckled uncomfortably. She wasn't about to throw her husband under the bus by telling Willa that Derek was one of the main reasons why everyone had initially hated her so much when she first moved out to Seattle.

"Daddy wasn't exactly in a position to help me," Addison explained vaguely.

"What about Uncle Alex and Aunt Izzie?" Willa asked. "Were they your friends?"

Addison shook her head. "No. At first, they weren't. At first, they didn't like me very much at all."

"You really had no friends?" Willa asked in astonishment. "Why didn't people want to be your friend?"

"I, uh…" Addison stammered, knowing that this was where the metaphor began to break down. Willa had done nothing wrong; there was no good reason for her friends to be acting the way that they were acting towards her. Addison, on the other hand, hadn't exactly been blameless when she'd first arrived in Seattle.

"That's a conversation for another day," Addison said evasively. "But my point in telling you this story is to show you that I understand what it feels like to have people not like you and say mean things about you. And I'm also telling you this story to show you that you're going to get through it, just like I did. Your friends will be your friends again."

"I don't know," Willa said doubtfully. She met her mother's eyes. "How did you do it? How did you get people to stop hating you?"

"At first I pretended that I didn't care that people hated me and were saying mean things…and I was most of those people's boss, so that helped me a little bit."

"But didn't you still feel sad?" Willa asked. "Even though you were pretending you weren't?"

Addison smiled proudly at her daughter's insight. "Yeah," she admitted, thinking about how much it had hurt when Derek would call her 'Satan,' or how she had initially put Alex on her service not to make him a better doctor, but because he had been disrespectful to her, and she was fed up with disrespectful interns.

"That's just one way that I got through people not liking me," Addison explained. "And it was only temporary…it wasn't a long term solution. Just a start."

Willa nodded, as she thought about her mother's words. "What else did you do?"

"I focused on the things that mattered. Like being a good doctor, and teaching your Uncle Alex to be a good doctor too. And I focused on your dad, and how happy we make each other. And you," Addison smiled. "Having you changed my perspective on everything. When I had you, I finally stopped caring about what people were saying and thinking about me, because it didn't matter. You mattered. And people began to recognize this. They saw that I was a doctor and a wife and a mother...and not all those other things that they'd thought I was. And over time, people changed their minds about me. And some people didn't. But those aren't the types of people you want to be friends with anyway, right?"

"Yeah," Willa nodded.

"My point is," Addison continued, "people can be mean. Kids can be mean, and grownups can be mean too. But if you focus on what matters…like being a good big sister to Carter and Colette, and doing your best in school, people will notice. They'll see the sweet, kind, smart, beautiful girl that you are, and they'll want to be friends with you again."

Willa sighed heavily. "What if they don't?"

"Then you come to me and Daddy, and we'll figure out a new plan."

"Okay," Willa nodded. "Mommy, how do you know everything?"

Addison laughed. "I don't know everything."

"It seems like you know everything, to me."

"Thank you," Addison smiled, wrapping an arm around her seven-year-old. "But I'll tell you what," she chuckled, "when you're sixteen, I'm going to remind you of this conversation."

xxxxx

Lexie sighed heavily as she flipped through the book of baby names in her hand. "Is it horrible that I used to really like the name Chase?" she asked her husband guiltily.

"It's not horrible that you used to like it," Mark answered. "But it would be pretty horrible if we named our son Chase, after all that Willa's been through."

"I wasn't suggesting it," Lexie clarified. "I was just saying –"

"I know," Mark cut in, kissing Lexie sweetly.

Lexie smiled, and continued rifling through the pages of the book in her hand. "Hey, what about Camden?" she asked after a moment.

"Camden," Mark repeated, testing out the name, a slight smile coming to his face. "I like it. No, I love it."

"Really?" Lexie asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "Do you like it?"

"I think I do," Lexie said thoughtfully. "But, wait, it's another C name."

"What?" Mark asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It's another C name," Lexie repeated. "There's already Carter and Colette. Do you think Camden would be too many C names?"

Mark chuckled. "I hadn't even thought about that. But to be honest, I like the name Camden. And I kind of like the fact that it sort of goes with Carter and Colette's names."

"Camden Sloan," Lexie smiled. "That sounds good."

"It sounds pretty perfect," Mark admitted.

Lexie smiled. "So, any thoughts for middle names?"

"Well, Grey, obviously."

"Mark, we don't have to do that."

"Do you have something you like better?" Mark asked. "Because if you ask me, Camden Grey Sloan has an awfully nice ring to it."

"Camden Grey Sloan," Lexie repeated with a smile.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Mark asked smugly.

"Mark, we're naming our son," Lexie chided. "It's not exactly the type of situation to gloat about being right or wrong."

Mark nodded in concession. "But if it were…" he smirked.

"Then, yes, you'd be right," Lexie chuckled.

xxxxx

"Hey, Wyatt," Izzie smiled, "do you want to help us decide on a name for your baby sister?"

Baby Karev's due date was rapidly approaching, and Izzie and Alex were still torn between Harper and Sophie for their daughter.

Alex gave his son a warm smile. "We could really use your help, Buddy. What names do you like?"

"No sister," Wyatt insisted folding his arms across his chest.

"Come on, Wyatt," Alex encouraged. "Little sisters are fun. I have a little sister."

Wyatt shrugged indifferently. "Don't want a sister."

"Would you have been happier with a brother?" Izzie asked, realizing it was a relatively pointless question.

"No," Wyatt sniffed. "No baby. No sister. No brother."

Izzie shot Alex a worried glance.

"I'm sure he'll change his mind once she gets here," Alex reassured his wife.

Izzie shook her head doubtfully. "What if he doesn't?"

"Mommy," Wyatt cut in. "When's Hannah coming over?"

Izzie sighed heavily. "She'll be here Thursday night for dinner."

Wyatt clapped his hands excitedly at his mother's response. "When's that?" he asked curiously. "I want to see Hannah now."

"It's a few days away," Alex told his son gently. "You're gonna have to wait a while."

"Oh," Wyatt pouted. "I want to see Hannah now."

"I know," Alex chuckled. "But you'll see Hannah soon."

Izzie met her husband's eyes and shot him a questioning glance.

"No," Alex said, shaking his head, fully aware of the question implied by the look Izzie was giving him.

They had all agreed not to tell Wyatt that Hannah was his sister – mostly because Hannah was still getting used to and processing her new relationship with the Karev family.

"But it might help," Izzie insisted. "He loves her, and if he realizes who she is, maybe it will help him adjust to the idea of a new-"

"No-" Alex insisted. Sure, Izzie's logic made sense. Telling Wyatt that Hannah was his sister might make him more excited about the arrival of his baby sister, but the decision to tell Wyatt wasn't theirs. It was Hannah's, and they had to respect that.

"I know you're right," Izzie conceded reluctantly.

"How'd those words taste coming out of your mouth?" Alex smirked.

"Oh, shut it," Izzie laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "Can we maybe ask her on Thursday if she'd be open to saying something to Wyatt?" Izzie asked, growing serious. "Just to see where she is on the issue?"

"I don't know," Alex admitted, thinking about her wife's proposition carefully. "I guess we could see how things are going, and decide from there."

"I like that idea," Izzie approved. "Which is good, because I'm beginning to run out of ideas."

xxxxx

"Willa! Willa! Wanna have a tea party?" Colette asked her sister excitedly.

Addison was in the kitchen cooking dinner, but she could overhear her children in the playroom, so she could make sure that they were staying out of trouble.

"Yeah," Carter agreed. "Let's have a tea party."

Willa looked at her brother in confusion. "You want to have a tea party, Carter?"

"No," Carter admitted. "I want to play with trains. But me and Colette haven't played with you in forever. And you like having tea parties. So I'll play tea party with you."

Willa chuckled. In all honesty, she didn't really feel like playing with anyone. But Carter was right; she hadn't played with her siblings in a while. And her siblings were being so sweet, especially Carter. And she wanted to take her mom's advice and focus on the people that mattered.

"Okay," she finally agreed.

"Yes!" Colette exclaimed excitedly, handing Willa her favorite floppy lavender hat, as the three siblings sat around the play table together.

"I snuck cookies," Carter confided mischievously, extending his little hand towards Willa and Colette. "Don't tell Mommy."

Don't tell Mommy.

Willa shivered at Carter's choice of wording; and Addison tensed up as well as she overheard Carter's instructions to his sisters. She knew from talking both to Willa and to her daughter's psychiatrist about the types associations that Willa had with that phrase.

She began making her way towards the playroom, prepared for an outburst of some kind, but it didn't come. Willa shifted uncomfortably in her chair, doing her best to keep her composure.

"Want a cookie, Willa?" Carter asked, extending his little hand towards his sister.

"I, uh," Willa began hesitantly. "Yeah. Thanks, Carter."

"You're welcome," Carter grinned, handing Willa a cookie, before giving a cookie to Colette.

"Want some tea, Willa?" Colette asked, holding up a toy teakettle.

Willa nodded, and Colette poured imagery tea into her sister's cup.

"Me too," Carter grinned, through a mouthful of cookie. "I want tea too."

"Okay," Colette agreed, pouring her brother some imaginary tea. "Careful, Carter," she warned. "It's very hot."

Addison couldn't help chuckling at her children. However, her laughter ended up catching her children's attention, and all three turned towards her.

"Mommy," Carter said in surprise, as he rushed to finish his cookie, hoping Addison wouldn't notice.

Addison bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at her son, and quickly turned her attention to Willa to confirm with her own eyes that she was doing okay.

"What's going on in here?" Addison asked her children curiously.

"We're having a tea party," Colette explained.

"I see that," Addison smiled. "Complete with cookies, apparently." She looked at her children. "You know you shouldn't be eating cookies so close to dinner time," she reprimanded gently. "Where did you guys get the cookies?"

Willa, Carter, and Colette looked at each other before Carter sighed heavily. "I snuck them," the little boy confessed.

"No," Willa cut in. "Actually, I snuck them."

Carter looked at Willa in surprise, and Willa offered her brother a slight, reassuring smile. And Addison had to admit, the exchange melted her heart.

"Don't look at me, Mommy," Colette cut in innocently, as Addison continued to look from one child to the next. "I didn't sneak the cookies."

But Colette noticed her sibling looking at her pointedly, and eventually got the hint.

"I mean, yes," Colette amended quickly. "Yes. I snuck the cookies."

"You all snuck the cookies?" Addison asked; to which Willa and Carter nodded their heads vehemently, and Colette nodded reluctantly.

"Are we in trouble, Mommy?" Colette asked sweetly.

Addison sighed. Sure, her kids shouldn't have snuck cookies, and by not scolding them, she was technically reinforcing bad habits and behavior. But they were being so sweet and adorable and protective over one another, she couldn't bear to reprimand them. "How about we let it slide, just this once?" she bargained.

"Okay," Carter agreed quickly.

"We won't do it again," Willa promised.

"Wanna have tea with us, Mommy?" Colette asked.

Addison looked at her kids adoringly. "I'd love to," she smiled, as she sat down next to Willa and Carter, and rubbed soothing circles on Willa's back, while Colette poured her an imaginary cup of tea.

"You need a hat," Colette pointed out, getting up from the table, retrieving a navy floppy hat, and handing it to her mother.

"Thank you," Addison chuckled, accepting the hat from her daughter, and placing it on her head.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard Derek's key unlocking the front door to the house.

"Hello?" Derek called out from the foyer.

"In the playroom," Addison called back.

"Hey," Derek grinned, as he walked into the playroom to find his wife and children, clad in floppy hats, sitting around the playroom table. "What's going on in here?" he chuckled.

"We're having a tea party," Colette explained with a smile. "You can sit next to me, Daddy."

"Thank you," Derek chuckled, sitting down next to Colette and Carter, and accepting a floppy hat from Willa.

Addison smiled at her husband lovingly as he sipped at his imaginary tea.

"Can we play trains next?" Carter asked his father.

Derek laughed. "Sure, Carter, I'll play trains with you after dinner."

Addison couldn't help chuckling. Carter really was a mini Derek; and he was being such a good sport having a tea party with his sisters.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Derek asked after a moment, wrinkling his nose. "It smells like something's burning."

Addison cringed slightly as realization dawned on her. "That would be dinner," she admitted guilty. She had gotten so caught up in playing with her children, she had completely forgotten that she had dinner cooking in the oven.

Derek gave his wife a good-natured smirk. "Want me to make hotdogs?"

Addison shook her head. "Don't bother. I'll just order something." She shook her head in amusement before heading to the kitchen, figuring it was probably a good idea to pull dinner out of the oven before it set off a smoke detector or something.

She threw out the unsalvageable, burnt dinner, and was flipping through takeout menus when she heard footsteps entering the kitchen; and she looked up to see Willa walking toward her.

"Hey," Addison smiled, as her daughter took a seat at the kitchen table. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Willa shrugged. "I just wanted to see if you needed help."

Addison smiled at her daughter's thoughtfulness. "I'm just looking through takeout menus, trying to decide what to order for dinner. Do you have any suggestions?"

Willa shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me. But Carter and Colette like pizza."

Addison gave her daughter a loving smile. "You're such a good big sister," she complimented. "And that was very sweet of you to pretend that you snuck the cookies so that Carter wouldn't get in trouble."

Willa looked at her mother in surprise. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew," Addison chuckled.

"Are you mad?" Willa asked hesitantly.

Addison shook her head. "I'm not mad. It's important to tell the truth. But your heart was in the right place. You were looking out for your brother. I can't be mad about that."

Willa nodded. "When we were drinking juju, you said to focus on the things that matter…and…Carter matters. I didn't want him to get in trouble."

Addison smiled at her daughter proudly. Willa was such a good kid – always thinking of others. And it broke Addison's heart that Willa's classmates were giving her such a hard time. Willa didn't deserve that.

She quickly wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding Willa close. "You're such a good girl," she whispered, as she gently stroked Willa's hair. "And your brother and sister love you so much. Daddy and I love you so much too."

"I love you so much too, Mommy," Willa smiled, pulling back a little and meeting Addison's eyes.

Addison swallowed hard, fighting the tears stinging her eyes. "Thanks, Willa. So," she said, forcing a smile. "Let's order some dinner."

"Okay," Willa nodded. "Pizza?"

"Yeah," Addison agreed. "That sounds good."

She quickly dialed the pizza place, and placed her order.

"Want to go and finish the tea party?" Willa asked her mother, once Addison was off the phone.

"Yeah," Addison nodded. "I do. But I was thinking," she continued, as she led Willa towards the freezer, "We should bring some treats. How does ice cream sound?"

"Good," Willa approved, smiling widely. "But before dinner?"

Addison chuckled. "Maybe just this once. What flavor should we have?"

Willa studied the ice cream in the freezer carefully. With five very opinionated Shepherds living in the house, there were usually never any less than five cartons of ice cream in the kitchen freezer.

"So, what do you think?" Addison asked, cutting into Willa's thoughts.

"Well…" Willa began. "Daddy really likes coffee ice cream."

Addison smiled at her daughter's thoughtfulness. "Yeah," she agreed. "He does. But what about you?" she asked. "What kind of ice cream do you feel like having?"

Willa met her mother's eyes. "Cookies and cream."

Addison smiled widely. "Cookies and cream it is then," she nodded, retrieving the ice cream container from the freezer. "Good choice."

"Thank you," Willa beamed.

Addison smiled widely. As much as she appreciated Willa's concern for other people, it was also important to make sure that Willa got what she wanted as well. It also didn't hurt that Addison, admittedly, was in the mood for cookies and cream ice cream. Sure, she knew Derek would prefer coffee-flavored ice cream. But Addison would make it up to him. She'd find a more creative way for him to eat it later that night.

xxxxx

"So, Willa seemed good today," Derek noted, as Addison entered their master bedroom clad in her bathrobe, her hair, still wet from the shower, dripping (Their escapades with the coffee ice cream, albeit fun, had been stickier and messier than she had anticipated).

"I don't know," Addison admitted. "I'm kind of worried. The kids in school…"

"Yeah," Derek nodded solemnly. "She told me about that before bed. And I can tell it's been tough on her, but she seems to be handling it pretty well."

"She shouldn't have to be handling anything," Addison pointed out. "She did nothing wrong."

"I know," Derek agreed sadly, walking up behind his wife, and massaging her shoulders gently. "I'm just saying…she seems to have things in perspective."

"I guess." Addison shrugged. "I think it'll be good for her…for all of us…to get away this week and see your family."

"Oh," Derek stammered. "I didn't…I didn't realize you and the kids were still coming to New York."

Addison looked at her husband in confusion. "Why not? We go every year."

Derek sighed. His father's birthday was coming up. And every year, the whole Shepherd family got together in New York to celebrate his memory.

"I just thought…" Derek trailed off cautiously. "I just thought that with everything that's happened recently, it might not make sense to take Willa out of school. I thought we should try to keep things routine and stable for her."

Addison shook her head. "I think she needs a break, Der. I think some time in New York with the family would be good for her."

Derek cringed slightly. "I haven't exactly told my family about what happened," he admitted.

Addison nodded in understanding. Initially, she and Derek had agreed to hold off on telling their families about what had happened to Willa. They, themselves, were having a hard enough time dealing with it; and they knew if they said something to Derek's family or to Archer and Jen, they'd all be on the next flight out to Seattle. And Addison, Derek, and Willa weren't prepared for that yet.

"I think it'll be good for Willa to be with family," Addison repeated gently, cutting into Derek's thoughts. "She needs a break from school and her classmates. And you and I can explain everything to your family together...it's the type of conversation that should be had in person anyway."

"I guess so," Derek said doubtfully.

"You guess so?" Addison asked, registering the reluctance in her husband's voice.

Derek sighed heavily. "You know my family, Addie. They mean well, but they can be nosey and overbearing. And I don't want Willa to feel overwhelmed."

Addison nodded as she listened to her husband's concerns. "I don't want Willa to feel overwhelmed either," she began. "But the point of our trip is to honor your father. And that'll help us keep Willa from feeling like she's the center of attention. I just think it might be good for her to spend some time with her grandmother and her aunts and her cousins."

"Okay," Derek agreed. Sure, he still had his reservations about the whole thing. But Addison seemed to think that going to New York would be best for Willa and their family. And after everything that his family had been through recently, he'd do anything to do right by his wife and daughter.