Okay, you guys totally rock. I will never doubt your love again! Thanks a million for all the awesome reviews...my confidence has been restored. (That doesn't mean you should stop reviewing. My fragile ego requires frequent stroking.)

Now for some bad news. I'll be busy next week from Wednesday right through the weekend, which means I won't have time for writing and probably won't get around to it until the middle of the following week. However, since y'all are so awesome I don't want to leave you high and dry for a week. I'm going to try to stockpile a few chapters, but I'd also like to try something new, stretch myself a little. In the reviews, leave me suggestions, prompts, challenges, requests, whatever, for drabbles, one-shots, etc and from now until Wednesday I'll pick my favorites and use my lunch breaks to squirrel away some stuff that I can post periodically while I'm away. The only stipulation is that whatever it is must involve Addison somehow because, let's face it, I'm trash for Addison and I don't want to stretch myself too much. Sound fun? Okay. Go!

The second day of the harvest goes smoothly, and by the third day Emme is much calmer, since she now knows what to expect, and agrees to let Mark accompany her to the hospital while Addison stays with the little ones. "Bye, love bug, I'll see you when you're all done," Addison says when she drops them off. Emme, brimming with confidence, waves and marches inside, her tote bag filled with books, toys and snacks slung over one shoulder.

With Mark and Emme gone she heads to a nearby grocery store. She tucks Angelina into a carrier and hoists Cecilia onto one hip, depositing her into the seat of a cart when they get inside - after it's been thoroughly disinfected, of course, because everyone knows shopping carts are gross and the last thing anyone needs right now is for Cecilia to come down with something contagious.

They head through the produce department first, where Addison grabs a bunch of bananas and a bag of Mandarin oranges. In the dairy section she snags Babybel cheese and yogurt - strawberry banana for Cecilia, blueberry for Emme - then ventures into the aisles. Applesauce pouches - apple cherry, a current favorite of both girls - and Goldfish crackers are added to the cart, followed by diapers and wipes. Juice boxes. Pretzels for Emme, trail mix for herself and Mark. Finally she locates the one thing she desperately needs and after a deep breath and a quick look around - as if there is any chance of running into anyone she knows in Seattle - tosses a few in the cart.

By the time they make it to the register, the baby is fussing and Cecilia is screeching and grabbing at anything within reach, reminding Addison why she prefers to go grocery shopping alone. She's so focused on diffusing the imminent toddler meltdown that she doesn't notice the person in line ahead of them, and nearly jumps out of her skin when said person addresses her.

"Seriously? You still haven't peed on the damn stick?"

"Oh, Jesus!" Addison looks up and sees Cristina eyeing the boxes - Clearblue, First Response, and e.p.t., just to be sure - in her cart. "No, I, uh...well, we've been busy, you know…"

"Mmm hmm." Cristina pays for her items and glances from Cecilia, who is squawking loudly and reaching for a display of Tic Tacs, to Angelina who, as anyone in a ten-foot radius can tell, is in need of a diaper change and not happy about it. "Well, good luck with that. Fingers crossed for a negative."

Yeah, me too. "Um, thanks."

Upon returning to the hotel Addison ropes a bellhop into carrying her purchases upstairs while she tries to ignore the stares her screaming, squirming children are drawing and almost wishes she'd opted to go to the hospital with Emme instead. She gets Cecilia settled with an orange, some cheese, and a few Goldfish, only to have the girl demand yogurt instead, then retreats to the bedroom to change the baby, feed her, and put her down for a nap. When she's done with that she wrangles a writhing Cecilia - good Lord, does this child actually want me to lose my mind today? - into a clean diaper and reads four books before the child succumbs to the need for a nap.

With a minute to herself, or so she thinks, hurries to the bathroom. She's perched on the toilet tearing into a box when someone knocks on the door. Noon already? She checks her watch to confirm the time and, with a sigh, shoves the tests into her toiletry bag. "I'm coming!" she calls a bit crossly as the knocking continues. I swear to God, if you wake the hooligans up I will strangle you, she thinks a bit uncharitably as she forced a smile and flings the door open to reveal her ex-husband. "Derek. Hey."

"Addison." He returns the smile and waits for her to step aside before entering. "You okay? You look a little...on-edge."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Crazy morning. The kids have been driving me up a wall, just got them down for a nap…" she rambles as they make their way to the sitting area. "Can I get you a drink? I have water or...juice boxes. Top of the line organic…"

He laughs. "Water's fine." She tosses him a bottle, grabs one for herself, and takes a seat across from him. After a moment of awkward silence he speaks. "Okay, so...we're telling Emme soon…"

"I am telling Emme soon," she corrects him. "Either tomorrow or Friday should be the final day of the harvest. This is...she's going to be emotional. I don't think you should be there. I figure when we finish up at the hospital we'll come back here, Mark and I will tell her, and we'll give her some time to process everything. Depending on how well she takes it we can meet up for dinner or something that night, or wait until the next day if she needs a little more time."

He nods. "That sounds like a good plan." He thinks for a minute and decides to press his luck. "So, have you given any thought to...custody arrangements?"

"Derek…"

"I was thinking, not right now, but...it is summer vacation...maybe she could stay with me and Meredith for a couple weeks before school starts?"

She nearly chokes on her water. "No. Oh no. Definitely not-"

"Addison-"

"No way. Derek, you're being ridiculous!"

"Why? She likes me!"

"Well yeah, you're nice to her, you buy her presents and take her fun places, you've never made her clean her room or eat her veggies or told her she can't have something she wants, of course she likes you...as a friend. That doesn't mean she'll like you as a parent. No way am I leaving her with you for a few weeks."

"Just think about it. See how she reacts when you tell her."

"No. You're not thinking about what's best for her. You're thinking about yourself, and all the lost time you have to make up for."

"But-"

"But nothing! You really think this is a good time for me to leave her here? Riley is going to be in the hospital for over three months after the transplant. By the time she comes home, Emme will be in school. And right now, you spend more than half of your time at the hospital. Who is going to take care of Emme while you're there?"

"Meredith."

"No. Are you insane? You really expect her to spend what little free time she has with the step-daughter she just learned about three weeks ago? That isn't fair to either one of them. And even if she is okay with it, what would you do if something happens with Riley and both of you have to be at the hospital? This isn't New York, where we have the nanny or our friends to fall back on. There is nobody she knows out here, nobody I would trust to look after her in your absence. I'm not opposed to her staying here at some point, I just don't think the circumstances are right at,his time. Maybe...maybe if Riley's doing okay you can come to New York over the holidays and see her then, and depending on how Cecilia is doing we could come back here for spring break, and then next summer we can discuss the possibility of Emme staying with you. That's the best I can give you right now. In the meantime, you and Emme can Facetime, or whatever, and get to know each other better. That's it. Take it or leave it."

He pauses to consider her offer and entertains the thought that she might be right. "I guess I'll take it."

"Alright then. Good. Now I think we breed to lay down some ground rules. If you're going to spend time with her, you need to get along with Mark."

"Why-"

"Shut up. This is not for me, or you, or Mark. It's for Emme. Whether you like it or not, he is her daddy. He stepped up when you didn't, and she loves him like crazy. I'm not asking you to be best friends - I wouldn't object if you were, but I'm a realist - but you two need to get along. You can not be talking crap about him when you're with her, or him about you, and you two can't fight in front of her. Agreed?"

He exhales loudly. "Agreed."

"Good. Next, we need to back each other up. If I tell her no, you can't undermine my authority and say yes."

"Of course, I would never..."

She raises an eyebrow. "You sure about that? That was kind of a dick move the other day, with the otter…"

"Addie, no, I didn't...that's not what I was trying to do-"

"I told her no! If you saw the number of stuffed animals and dolls she already has, you'd understand."

"Look, I didn't mean to upset you. I just...this is a big thing she's doing for us. We just wanted to get her something, and I don't know what she has, or what she's interested in. I just knew that she wanted it and that it would make her happy, so I went back and got it. I didn't have any ulterior motives. I'm sorry. From now on I'll back you up."

"Okay." She's about to continue when a retching sound comes from the bedroom and she jumps up. She finds Cecilia convulsing and gets her on her side just in time for her to vomit again. "It's okay, baby. You're alright," she says soothingly as she strokes the girl's springy curls until the seizure stops a minute later, then moves her a bit and wipes her face with a clean corner of the sheet while she recovers.

"Epilepsy?" Derek is standing in the doorway watching them with a concerned expression.

She gives him a wry smile. "The joys of prematurity. It's pretty well controlled with medication, but she has breakthrough seizures once or twice a month. It's not a big deal, really, compared to everything else."

He gets a wet washcloth from the bathroom as Addison carefully removes Cecilia's soiled clothes, then sits on the other bed while she cleans the sleeping girl up a bit. "So, what happened? CP, epilepsy...anything else?"

"I had chorioamnionitis. My membranes ruptured prematurely, probably while I was in the shower because I had no clue it happened. I felt a little under the weather for a few days, then one morning I woke up with a fever and chills, my heart was racing...by the time we got to the hospital she was in distress so they had to deliver her. We were both septic and she had meningitis which was bad enough, and then when she was a week old she had a subdural hemorrhage. Just happens in micropreemies sometimes, you know. I lost count of how many times we almost lost her. You have no idea how lucky we are that she's not only still alive, but doing as well as she is."

Before he can respond she hears her phone ring in the other room. "Oh, shit. Can you grab that? It's Mark. I'm supposed to pick them up from the hospital when Emme's done."

He fetches the phone. "I can pick them up if you want," he offers as he hands it to her.

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all."

The phone has stopped ringing, so she calls Mark back and explains the situation. He sounds slightly less than thrilled but doesn't object. Soon they're all back at the hotel.

"Well, thanks for the ride. You want to come up?" Mark offers.

"No, I should be getting back to the hospital. I hope she's feeling better."

"Thanks. I'll see you around."

By the time they get upstairs, Addison has Cecilia, who still looks a bit drowsy but otherwise okay, in the tub. "There's my peanut," Mark says when he finds them. "You okay now, huh? You feel better?"

She just laughs and splashes him. "It only lasted a couple minutes. I didn't have to use the Diastat, she's fine," Addison assures him.

"You, on the other hand, look like hell," Mark informs her. "No offense."

"Hey, I went grocery shopping with a toddler and an infant, had an...interesting discussion with Derek, and had to deal with a seizure. I deserve a gold medal and a bottle of wine!" she claims with a laugh. "Although I'd settle for a cup of tea and a nap."

He pulls her to her feet. "You go right ahead. I got this."

"Are you sure? The baby will be up from her nap any time now…"

"I'll manage. Go."

She doesn't have to be told twice. She gives him a kiss and heads for the bedroom, where she falls asleep almost the instant her head hits the pillow.