~ Beautiful Disaster ~ Chapter 29


A week after her scare, Addison, Mark, and Derek walked around a fair in Seattle. The twinkling lights shone through the late February mist. Addison nibbled on blue cotton candy, while Mark tried to convince Derek to go on all the scary rides.

Although she couldn't ride the rides herself, Derek and Mark had brought her here to officially celebrate her pregnancy and the health of her babies. They had already promised to take her to Disneyland as soon as the twins were old enough.

At nearly seven months pregnant with twins, even Addison's maternity clothes were getting small. She was reduced to wearing a green and white striped shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. Her belly button protruded through the shirt, which Addison constantly had to pull down.

"Come on, Derek, don't be a wimp. It only goes upside down three times."

"Four, Mark."

"Be a man, Shep. Let's go."

"I just ate."

"I'd go with you Mark, if I could," Addison told them, grinning. She knew that, if anything, would provoke Derek and possibly make him ride with Mark.

"I know you would, Adds."

"Just because I'm not insane like you two . . ."

"Excuse me?" a young blonde said. She was clearly drunk and staggered slowly over to their group, her skirt almost nonexistent and her shirt pushed distastefully low. She stood in front of all three of them, but she was looking at Mark. "There are two person seats on the Ferris wheel, and I was wondering if you would like to . . ."

"Sorry," said Mark shortly. He wrapped his arm around Addison's shoulders. Addison couldn't help raising one eyebrow at the woman, who blushed and stumbled along.

Derek and Addison snorted. "What?" Mark asked.

"If someone had told me that Mark Sloan would have ever blown off a slutty blonde girl for a pregnant lady, I would have laughed myself silly," Derek stated, chortling.

"You forgot the part where the pregnant lady is smoking hot," Addison pouted.

"Well, Addie, no offense, but you're huge. Smoking hot, but ginormous. I think you and Nancy got it wrong. You must be having quadruplets, at least." Addison smacked Derek.

They continued walking along the boardwalk next to the water, which was lined with lights. Addison smiled as both of them grabbed one of her hands. It reminded her of her first day back, and also of different, more carefree days in New York. They had been young and wild then. Now they all had a family together. Life is never perfect, Addison thought, but this is pretty damn close.

"You know, Adds, fun as this is, it isn't really why we brought you here," Derek said after a few minutes.

"What do you mean?" Addison asked.

"We wanted to celebrate, Addie. Celebrate that the babies are safe and just your pregnancy in general."

"I . . . really? Thanks, Mark. And thanks, Derek."

"When we first met, I never thought this was where we'd end up," Derek mused.

Addison snorted. "I don't think anyone could have dreamed up this situation. As least anyone sane."

They all chuckled as they strolled beside the ocean, reveling in the love and comfort of their small family, going on into the glittering city lights.


The next day was quite a bit different from the quiet, peaceful night. Addison had a surgery at two in the morning and then another one at five.

Bailey smiled at the sight of sleeping Addison. She had crashed on one of the beds sitting in the hallway, too tired to make it even to an on-call room. Bailey remembered her own exhaustion when she was pregnant with Tuck and knew it had to be even worse for her friend, since she was carrying twins.

Suddenly Addison's pager went off, and her friend sat up quickly. "Wha – oh, shit. Urgh. I just wish everybody would stay well for a little while," she yelled in frustration.

Addison stomped off to go make sure little Monica Ramirez wouldn't die. After having to shock the tiny chest several times, Addison made sure Monica was stable for several minutes before leaving the room. She stopped outside the NICU and leaned against it.

Everything seemed to be crashing down on her. She was exhausted and hormonal, and she'd already had too much surgery, and it was only seven in the morning. In addition, she was afraid for her children growing inside her. She was afraid of losing them, afraid that her body would, once again, betray her. And there was just so much more to worry about . . .

The stress added up far too quickly and Addison began to cry. She sat there crying for ten minutes before Bailey walked up. "Addison, what's wrong?" she asked anxiously.

"I just, I just, I just . . . can't do this. I can't do all of it," Addison bawled. Bailey sat beside Addison and rubbed her shoulder, but Addison's crying did not calm down.

"What's the matter?" Derek asked, running up to them quickly when he saw Addison crying.

"She's just a little stressed out," Bailey told him quietly.

"Okay, I've got it from here," Derek told Bailey. "Seriously," he added when she narrowed her eyes at him. He sat down beside Addison and let her cry on his shoulder. "Addie, what's the matter?" he asked after a while.

She tried to answer several times but just started hiccupping. "There's just so much Derek, and I'm so, so tired."

"It'll be okay. You'll get through it," he said soothingly. "We're all here to help you, Addie."

"I'm scared I won't be a good mom, Der." She rarely called him that, and her voice when she said it told him how vulnerable she was.

"Addie, of course you'll be a good mother."

"But, Derek, what if I turn out like my mother? All cold and distant and stuff? I mean, my mom and dad weren't exactly model parents or anything. Hell, I wasn't even allowed to call them mom or dad. What if I turn out like them?"

Derek took both her hands and looked into her eyes. "Addison, that won't happen, I promise. I've seen how badly you want these babies and I know you are to work hard to be everything they need. Nobody's perfect, Addie, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather have responsible for my children." He gently reached out his hand to rub the spot where his children were. Addison rested her head on his shoulder again, and they both sat comfortably for a few minutes. "Come on, Addie, I have an idea. This will cheer you up, trust me," Derek said, getting up and extending his hand to help her up too.

"Okay, what exactly . . ."

"A certain day is coming up," Derek said wickedly. "Tomorrow, actually. And I was wondering if you would like to introduce the tradition to Seattle."

"Derek, we can't," Addison said, laughing as she remembered.

"Yes, we can. I'll tell Mark. Meet us here at two in the morning, okay?"

"You better bring lots of food, Derek Shepherd."

"Alright," he laughed. "Me and Mark can pick up some of the, uh, other stuff as well."

"Okay, I'll get some too." She grinned in anticipation, her depression forgotten.

"You're plotting something!" Preston said when he saw her face.

"Maybe," she admitted.

"Fine, don't tell me." He pretended to be upset. "Want to come check on Jasper with me?"

"Okay, sure. But, Preston, I know there's something you're not telling me either." He merely glanced at her as he started off towards Jasper's room. "Hey, slow down for the pregnant woman!" she called.

"Jasper!" Addison said happily as she entered the room. The little boy was awake and playing with toy trucks on his bed. "How are you?" she asked. He gave her a large smile and resumed playing. "Glad to see he's doing so well."

"Yes, thanks to you and Dr. Burke. And your team, of course," Anna said.

She and Burke stayed to talk to Joe and Anna for a few more minutes. It was a calm day at the hospital. Burke settled with his back to the clear glass of the railing of the overpass so he could watch the sunset, and Addison slowly lowered herself to sit beside him.

"So how are things with your house, Preston?" Addison asked after a few minutes.

"Good. They're good," he told her slowly.

"Preston, we can sit here all day if you want. I know you have something to say, so just . . . say it. Get it out."

He met her bright blue eyes with his dark ones. "Did you want kids? Before you got pregnant, did you want kids?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "More than anything."

"Hmm," he said softly.

"What?" she asked, raising one eyebrow in her famous Addison look. "Don't tell me you made a bet on the father of my babies, Preston."

He chuckled. "No, I certainly didn't do that, although it seems like everyone else has. But, you know, at this point in my life . . . I don't know. Things worked out with Cristina. I'm married, I have a good stable job, and a house . . . I could provide for a family, you know? I always thought that was what I would do. But I don't want to turn Cristina into something she's not, and I don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do."

"Wow, Preston, you really needed to get that off your chest," Addison told him. She thought for a moment, and tucked her long red hair behind her ears. Then she set her hands on her belly before answering. "I think Cristina is probably scared of being a mother, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't want to be one. I think she wants to establish her career more first. You can let her know that you eventually want kids, and tell her that you've been waiting to have them. Then make sure she knows you'll be there to help her through it."

Preston nodded. "Thanks, Addison."

"No problem." She smiled. "Hey, at least you guys are speaking to each other."

"Funny," he said sarcastically. "So what about you? You seem excited to be a mom."

"Yeah, I always wanted to be one. But as you know, fate got in my way a few times. But now I'm ready. I just don't want to turn out like my mom, you know?"

"Not really," he admitted. "My mama raised me well. But, Addison, I'm sure you'll do an excellent job. I've seen you with patients, you're a natural." She nodded her thanks. "So are you going to tell me what the three Musketeers are planning?"

"Nope, you find out tomorrow!" she informed him with a grin.


Haha. So what are Derek, Mark, and Addison planning? Knowing them, it can't be something good :D
I made fun of myself a little in this chapter, lol. Did you catch that?