The next morning, Addison awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. She rubbed the slumber out of her eyes as Derek made his way into their bedroom with a tray of food. She was shocked. It has been a long time since he had made breakfast in bed for her.
"Hope you are hungry!" Derek exclaimed as he set the tray of food down next to her and sat down.
"I am carrying your boys. I am always hungry." Addison said, smiling. As if on cue, both babies started kicking really hard. Addison grabbed Derek's hand and put it on her stomach. His eyes widened.
"They are getting so strong!" Derek said excitedly.
"Just think how it will be several months from now." Addison said flatly. While she was really excited to be a mom to twins, she was NOT looking forward to the later stages of pregnancy carrying them! Derek laughed.
"So would you like to go out to the property today." Derek asked, popping some bacon in his mouth. "I haven't been out there in a few weeks and would like to check on the progress of the house."
"Sure." Addison shrugged. She wasn't really that interested in the actual building of the house but knew Derek was.
"Maybe we could also go shopping for countertops, floors, and such too." Derek continued. This piqued Addison's interest. Interior decorating was something she loved!
"That sounds great!" she replied, pulling her knees up under her as she continued to eat.
"Also, Addie, about our conversation last night." Derek said slowly. "I understand where you are coming from wanting to be around family longer, but I just can't take off that long in the middle of this clinical trial. There are too many people counting on me."
"But Derek, what about me?" Addsion interrupted. Derek put his hand up to silence her.
"Addie, let me finish." Derek said impatiently. "Just because I can't go, doesn't mean you can't. So, I think we should fly out together around December 23rd. I will stay until the 26th and then you can stay through the New Year. That way we both get what we want."
Addison just stared at him. She knew there was a lot of truth to what he was saying, but it still stung. She felt like he was putting work before her.
"I don't really like it, Derek. But I guess it is better than nothing." She retorted. "Thank you for breakfast. I am going to go get a shower so we can proceed with today's plans." With that, she got off the bed and headed to the bathroom.
Derek sat on the bed for a little while longer. He ran his hand through his hair frustrated. Why was Addison being so difficult about this? Why couldn't she see he was even going to go back East FOR HER? !? He didn't want to go at all! He finally picks up the tray and heads to the kitchen.
The rest of the day they spend viewing the progress on their house and shopping for interior design items. Nothing else is said about their plans for the holidays.
Later that night, Addison is curled up next to Derek on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. They are watching A Christmas Carol, Addison's favorite Christmas movie.
Derek places the empty bowls on the coffee table and moves them to laying down on the couch. He rests with his back against the couch and Addison in front of him. He wraps his arm over her waist and rests it on her growing belly. He still can't believe they are having twin boys! He also couldn't believe that the pregnancy was almost half over!
Addison intertwined her fingers through Derek's hand that rested on her belly. She didn't say anything as they lay there together watching the movie and feeling the boys kick sporadically. They both fell asleep before the movie was over
The next morning, Addison awoke on the couch. She sat up and stretched. She always woke up stiff after sleeping on the couch all night, but being almost 5 months pregnant with twins brought on a whole new level of stiffness.
"Morning Sunshine." Derek said, sleepily, as he too sat up and stretched. "Maybe sleeping on the couch wasn't the best idea." he laughed as he leaned over to start massaging Addison's shoulders.
"Seriously, Derek, don't stop." Addison exclaimed as her husband worked the knots out of her neck and back.
"How about we continue this in the shower?" Derek asked coyly as he began to kiss Addison's neck.
"You don't have to ask me twice!" Addison responded as she turned to kiss him.
"Addison. Derek. Where have you been?" the Chief asked breathlessly as he raced down the hallway after his dream team.
"Uh, sorry, Chief. We, uh had a late start this morning." Addison stammered.
"What she means, sir, is that they were busy in the shower." Mark says laughing as he walks up behind his friends.
"What? I don't need to hear that!" the Chief bellowed.
"How did you know that?" Derek asked annoyed.
"I needed some eggs, and you two weren't answering your door, so I just let myself in. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out." Mark laughed as he continued down the hallway. Addison blushed while Derek also laughed and shook his head at his best friend.
"Anyway, " the Chief exclaimed. "Adele wanted me to invite you guys over for Thanksgiving on Thursday. I assume you guys don't have any plans?" Richard continued.
Derek glanced at Addison. He could see the smile on her face and the hope in her eyes. He knew she really wanted to go.
"That sounds great, sir. We have nothing planned yet. What time should we be there?" Derek asked.
"We are eating at 2:00. Adele's whole family is going to begin descending in Seattle on Wednesday, so our house will be a madhouse on Thursday. Come whenever you want." Richard replied, shaking his head at the thought of all his in-laws that would be invading his life soon.
"It sounds great, Richard." Addison said, patting her mentor on the shoulder. "We will be there."
With that, Derek wrapped his arm around Addison and led her down the hallway towards his office.
"I will be in my office most of the day filling out paperwork for the clinical trial." Derek informed Addison as he paused in the doorway. "Barring an emergency, I am not doing surgery today. I should easily be done by 4 or 5."
"Ok. I have 2 planned surgeries today, so unless something comes up, I should be ready to go by then." Addison replied as she gave Derek a hug good-bye.
"Have a great day, Babe."
"You too."
Addison walked out of Derek's office doors and down the hallway towards the elevator. She was very glad that they had somewhere to go for Thanksgiving, even though she would much prefer to be with Derek's family. Although, maybe it would be good to go to a Thanksgiving where everyone didn't remember that infamous Hot Dog Thanksgiving!
9 years ago
Addison was on a high! She had just performed her 6 hour solo surgery and rocked it! She was on her way to the locker room to change when she ran into Derek.
"Hey, Babe!" she said, giving him a quick hug and kiss. "I am all done. I was going to take a shower and change so we could head to your mom's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow."
"Actually, Addie, there has been a change of plans." Derek said, avoiding eye contact. He grabbed Addison's arm and quickly led her into a nearby on call room. He knew this conversation might get a little loud, and he wanted to avoid making a scene in the hospital.
Addison on the other hand thought Derek had something else entirely on his mind. As soon as the door was shut, she started to kiss Derek deeply.
"Addison, wait." Derek said as he pulled away. Although, every part of him wanted to continue. He knew he needed to tell Addison what was going on.
Addison backed away, crossed her arms over her chest, and raised one eyebrow at her husband. She knew that if he wasn't planning on sex, and he pulled her into an on-call room, it wasn't going to be good.
"What, Derek? Just spit it out." Addison retorted when Derek just stood there silently for a few minutes.
"Ok. So, my mom called today and said she is having plumbing issues and there is no way she can host Thanksgiving tomorrow. The plumber can't get there to fix it until Friday, and well, I sort of, um, I kind of, well." Derek stammered as he ran his fingers through his hair looking at the floor. "I told her we could host Thanksgiving this year." he continued quickly. He looked up at Addison with a sheepish smile.
"Derek Christopher Shepherd. You did WHAT?!" Addison yelled, putting her hands on her hips. He had expected that response.
"Addie, love, calm down. It will be ok." Derek said soothingly. "We have plenty of room for everyone. I already went grocery shopping. It is going to be fine."
"You already went grocery shopping?" Addison asked surprised.
"Yes, that is why I wasn't watching your surgery." Derek responded. Addison had just assumed he had been asked to step in even though he had been off the whole day.
"So you are taking care of everything?" Addison asked, still not on board with Derek's entire family descending upon them tomorrow.
"Well, I was hoping you could cook the turkey?" Derek asked, giving his best McDreamy smile. Addison just stared at him. "Seriously, Derek? You want ME to cook the turkey?" she said dryly.
"Well, I will take care of everything else. Or at least will make sure my sisters cook everything else." Derek explained. "Come on, Addie. It will be fine." he said as he moved closer to her and drew her into a tight hug. Addison had a hard time staying mad at him when he kissed her neck like that!
"Fine, Derek. I will cook the turkey." she said breathlessly. Soon she was lost in the moment with her husband and was thinking of little else.
It was 9:00 on Thanksgiving morning and Addison was beside herself on how to make the turkey. It was thawed, she had taken out the insides, and seasoned it according to the recipe. Unfortunately, the recipe she got from Savvy wasn't complete. It only said to cook the bird at 350 degrees until the inside temperature is 165. How was she supposed to tell the temperature of the inside of the turkey?! She had NEVER seen a turkey cooked. It always just showed up on the table on Thanksgiving as her parents' personal chef made it.
Addsion shrugged her shoulders and put the turkey in the oven. Derek's sisters would be arriving soon. Surely they would know how long the turkey was supposed to cook!
A few hours later the troops began to arrive. There were nieces and nephews running around. The adults were watching TV, drinking, and talking. Derek, true to his word, had taken care of pretty much every other aspect of the meal. Or at least, he had conned his sisters in to cooking everything and bringing it!
Around 2:00, Addison went into the kitchen to take the turkey out. Kathleen had said the turkey needed to cook about 3-4 hours. While Addison was pulling it out, she realized the oven had only been set to 300 instead of 350.
"Oh well," Addison said to herself. "It cooked for almost 4 ½ hours. It will probably be fine."
"Oh good! We are all ready to eat now that the turkey is done!" Derek's mother exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. "Derek did such an amazing job organizing this at such a short notice!."
Addison was speechless. Derek had sprung this on her after she had been in surgery all day. Derek had done nothing but go shopping and called his sisters to do everything else. Why did Derek ALWAYS get the credit?!
"I will go tell everyone we are ready." Addison said politely. She didn't have the energy to deal with her mother-in-law.
Everyone gathered around the tables laden with food. Derek cut the turkey and began to pass it out. A few minutes in, Nancy yelped.
"This turkey doesn't taste right." she whispered to her husband Todd. "I think it is undercooked." Todd examined his turkey and shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked at his wife's. Nancy's was definitely undercooked.
"I don't think it cooked evenly. Mine looks fine, but yours is definitely not." Todd whispered back. "We have to say something before someone eats it and gets sick." Nancy looked at him in horror. "I already had half of that!"
"Nancy, what is wrong, dear?" Caroline asked curiously.
"Um, Addie, I'm sorry, but I think this turkey isn't cooked right." Nancy said looking between her mother, Addison, and her turkey.
"What do you mean?" Addison exclaimed jumping up from her chair. The remaining adults began to examine their slices. Everyone agreed that parts of the turkey were not safe to eat. The kids began to crumble and complain as the adults took their slices of turkey away.
"Don't worry. Let me see what else we have to cook." Derek laughed. Addison felt horrible and could barely look at anyone.
"I've got it!" Derek exclaimed re-entering the dining room. "How about hot dogs?"
"Hot dogs, Derek? Really?" Amelia laughed.
"Sure. They are quick to cook and everyone likes them." He too laughed. Addison was mortified. She was very thankful her mother was not there!
About 20 minutes later, everyone was happily eating hot dogs along with the rest of their Thanksgiving food.
Addison was beginning to feel like everything was going to be ok until Nancy started to not feel good a few hours later. It was about 30 minutes later that Addison was positive she had given Nancy food poisoning.
Addison shook her head from the memory. All these years later, she STILL did not find it funny.
The next few days were pretty light for the Shepherds. It was Wednesday night, and they were sitting on the couch watching the evening news. All of the sudden, Addison let out a cry and grabbed her stomach. Derek jumped up.
"Addie, what's wrong?" he asked in fear.
"I think I just had a contraction." she replied a little breathless. She closed her eyes as another wave of pain hit her.
"A contraction?! You are only 20 weeks! We need to go to the hospital now!" Derek said jumping up from the couch.
"No, Derek. We don't." Addsion said, still breathing slowly. "I just need to drink some water and lie down. If the contractions continue, THEN we will head to the hospital."
"Are you sure?" Derek asked as he kneeled in front of her with a skeptical look. Addison looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Derek Christopher Shepherd. Do you not remember what my degrees are?" she asked, a little annoyed. "Of course, I am sure." she retorted.
"I do know what your degrees are but those are also MY boys in there. I don't want to take any chances with any of you." Derek said sternly. Addison rolled her eyes.
"We will be fine, Derek." she said. As she started to get up, Addison fell back in pain.
"Addie, stay there. I will get you some water. If these continue for another 20 minutes, we ARE going to the hospital."
Derek got up and went to the kitchen. He took a few deep breaths to calm down. The site of Addison in so much pain really jarred him. He got a glass of water and walked back in the living room. He gave it to Addison and sat down next to her. He noticed she had turned the TV off.
Addison took a few sips and then looked at Derek. "I am fine, Derek. I just need to relax and drink water."
"Would you like a massage?" Derek asked. Addison smiled. She knew he needed to be doing something to help.
"Yes, dear. I would love a massage." Addison replied. She layed on her side so Derek could reach her back and neck. For the next 10 minutes both were silent. Addison then turned over and looked up at Derek.
"Thank you love. I feel much better now. I think I am ready to go to bed."
"Are you sure you are ok, Addie?" Derek asked softly. He ran his hand through her hair. She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek.
"I really am, Babe. I am glad you were here with me when I had my first Braxton Hicks. It is a little early for me to be having them, and to be honest, it does concern me. But, they are gone now. I will just need to keep an eye on them."
"Ok. For now, I will relinquish control to the expert." Derek said teasingly. "But, " he continued seriously, "as this pregnancy gets into the later stages, you need to let me help make the decisions, Addison. You may deal with this every day, but right now, you are the mother and I am the father. We need to not try and be doctors, unless absolutely necessary. It is safer for everyone."
Addison leaned up and kissed him in response.
"What was that for?" Derek asked curiously.
"I just like to hear you say I am the mother and you are the father." she smiled. Derek smiled.
"Let's go to bed, Love. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I want to be well rested." Addison said getting up. Derek followed her into their room.
"I just thought of something, Derek." Addison said as they climbed into bed. "This will be the Weber's first Thanksgiving since Camille died. She passed away while we were in NY. I hope it is ok with their family that we are coming tomorrow."
"I hadn't thought of that. " Derek said quietly as he held Addison. "I don't think Richard would have invited us if it wasn't ok. Try not to worry about it. Let's just go to sleep."
"Addison, Derek! Come in!" Adele said as she gave both Shepherd's a big hug. "How are you feeling, Addison?" she asked as she skimmed her eyes over her friend's growing belly.
"I am doing well, Adele. I just feel huge already and I am only halfway along!" Addison said laughing.
"You look amazing!" Adele replied. She led the couple into the living room where her relatives had already started to gather. Adele's sister came over and gave Addison a big hug.
"It is so good to see you, Dr. Shepherd.." she exclaimed.
"Please, call me Addison. I am so sorry we were unable to make it to Camille's funeral. She was such a special young lady." Addison said quietly.
"I am just grateful you recovered from your brain tumor. And even more excited to see you are pregnant! Do you know what it is yet?"
"It is twin boys actually." Addison smiled. With that Adele and her sister led Addison away to further discuss the pregnancy.
Derek walked into the living room where Richard and the other men were watching football.
"Derek, come in!" Richard said, waving Derek over to come sit down next to him on the coach. "How are you doing?"
"Pretty well, sir." Derek said, smiling. In truth, he was exhausted. The clinical trial was taking a toll on him with all the deaths, paper work, and video calls. Plus, he was constantly worried about Addie and their boys. And then there was the house they were building. He wanted to do a lot of it himself, but he just didn't have the time. He barely had been out there all month!
Addison quietly watched Derek from the table she was sitting at with the other women. She could see how little attention he was actually paying the game. This was very unlike him. She could see how tired he was. Derek noticed she was watching him and gave her a half smile. After being together for 15 years, Addison knew that was Derek trying to tell her he was ok but in reality something was wrong.
"Addison?" Adele asked.
"Huh, what?" Addison jumped as she realized Adele was talking to her.
"I asked if you had any names for the boys picked out yet." Adele laughed.
"Um, no. We actually haven't discussed it much yet. Derek has been really busy with his clinical trial, and with it being the holidays, our schedules are pretty busy." Addison responded. Just then 3 pagers started going off. Derek, Addison, and Richard all jumped up.
"I am going to call the hospital and find out what is going on." Richard exclaimed, going in the next room for privacy.
"I knew it was too much to ask for a normal Thanksgiving." Addison sighed. Derek walked over and gave her a hug.
"There was an apartment fire. All doctors are being paged into the hospital." Richard said as he walked over to Adele. "I am sorry, Adele. We have to go." He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"I know the drill." Adele sighed. She too had been hoping for a normal Thanksgiving.
"Addison, I am so sorry we didn't get to have Thanksgiving dinner." Derek said as he raced to the hospital.
"It's ok, Derek. That is minor compared to what the people who were in the fire are going through." she answered.
"Promise me you will find something to eat, drink plenty of water, and not push yourself too much when we get to the hospital." Derek said seriously as he glanced over at Addison.
She placed her hand on his arm. "Derek, honey, I appreciate the concern, but I am not the one who is obviously exhausted today. What is going on?"
Derek didn't say anything for a minute. Sometimes he hated the fact that Addison could read him like a book. "I am just tired from all the stress of the clinical trial, Babe. I will be ok."
Before Addison could question him further, they arrived at the hospital. They walked into a very chaotic scene in the ER.
"Addison, Derek, thank goodness you are here." Owen said as he walked up to them. "We need all hands on deck"
"Where do you need us?" Addison asked, quickly switching into doctor mode.
"Addison, go to bay 1. Derek, go to bay 3." Hunt replied as he handed them both a chart.
"Addie, I am serious about eating and drinking water." Derek said as he pulled Addison aside. "Promise me."
"Derek…" Addison said, a little annoyed.
"Addison Adrianne Forbes Montgomery Shepherd" Derek said sternly. Addison raised her eyebrow at him. He rarely used her full name. Derek just stared right back at her.
"Fine." Addison said, giving in and throwing her hands up in the air. "I promise, Derek. I will make sure to take it easy, to eat enough, and get water."
"Thank you." Derek said, smiling. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now go save some lives."
Addison reviewed the chart before going into bay 1. It was a woman 36 weeks pregnant who had been burned on half of her body. Addison couldn't even imagine. She walked in the room where Mark was working on the patient.
"Hey, Red. Happy Thanksgiving." Mark said sarcastically. Addison gave him a sad smile.
"How have both the mother and baby's vitals been?" she asked Lexi, who was the intern on the case.
"Both are stable, but I think the baby's might be a little low." Lexi answered. Addison reviewed the recordings of the baby's heart rate and noticed it was starting to have decels.
"Mark, we need to get this baby out. Is the mother stable enough to survive a c-section?" Addison asked seriously.
"She is stable enough. She hasn't regained consciousness since arriving at the hospital, but she is stable." Mark replied. "Lexi, go book an OR."
Just then Addison's pager went off. She looked at it and then rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Mark asked.
"It's Derek." Addison exclaimed. "He is paging me to remind me to eat and drink water."
"Well, when WAS the last time you ate or had water?" Mark asked.
"I guess it has been several hours." Addison answered vaguely.
"Then go get some food and something to drink, Red I will make sure the patient gets prepped and we will meet you in the OR."
Addison was about to protest but she received two firm kicks in her belly. She looked down and laughed. Apparently all the men in her life were ganging up on her.
"Ok, ok. I will meet you in the OR." Addison chuckled as she left the room.
Meanwhile, Derek was entering bay 3 where a patient had a severe brain bleed and a broken spine. The patient had tried to jump 2 stories to get away from the fire. Derek was reviewing the scans and realized this patient had little chance of survival. He sighed. He had been surrounded by death so much lately. He knew he had to try though. He headed to the OR, mentally trying to prepare himself for what would be a very long, hard surgery.
A few hours later, Addison was watching Derek from the gallery. She had successfully gotten the baby out and the mother was beginning to improve. She watched sadly as Derek's patient did not make it. Derek glanced up at Addison. She could see the pure anguish in his eyes.
Addison made her way down to the scrub room to meet Derek. He didn't say a single word to her as he scrubbed out. Addison had never seen him like this. He was just going through the motions.
"Let's go home. I don't want to talk about it." Derek said tersely when he finally acknowledged Addison. She just nodded, not quite sure how to respond.
Once they were back in their apartment, Derek continued to try and act like nothing was wrong, but Addison would have none of it.
"Derek, what the hell is going on?" Addison fumed. "You have barely said two words to me at the hospital and the way home." Derek turned to look at her slowly.
"I lost another patient, Addie. What else is there to say?" he asked hollowly.
"It wasn't your fault, Derek. That patient had a very slim chance to survive, and you know it." Addison said trying to reason with him. Derek ran his fingers through his hair and sat down on the couch.
"I know." he didn't know how to explain to Addison what he was feeling. He knew it wasn't his fault that the patient had died, but because of the clinical trial, almost every patient he had operated on in the last 3 weeks had died. He had never had that happen before. He didn't want to stress Addison out, so he pushed the feelings down. "I am just tired. Come sit with me." Derek replied with a small smile.
Addison looked at him with concern. She knew more was going on, but she also knew that she couldn't force Derek to talk. He would open up in his own timing. She walked over and sat down next to her husband. Derek wrapped his arms around her. Both boys began moving like crazy.
"I love you, Addie." Derek said, giving her a small kiss and placing his hands on her belly. "And I can't wait to meet our boys."
They sat there for a while before heading to bed. Thankfully they both had the day off the next day. They both needed a day to recharge after what turned in to be a Thanksgiving from hell.
Let me know what you think! Would love some more reviews!
