Chapter 25. Home

"So…now what?" Mark asks, tone full of uncertainty as he looks at Addison.

They have just returned to the apartment for the first time as a family of three, exhausted but happy. He sets the car seat containing a sleeping Kate down on kitchen table as he voices his query. His daughter stays asleep, but her lips twitch a little when the seat lands on the pedestal table.

The past forty-eight hours have been a whirlwind of bonding with the baby, exams for both mom and baby (Mark was given permission to ask the pediatrician questions, but was warned in advance not to ask anything specific about Addison and her recovery in her follow-up exam), sleeping in short spurts, a standard screening test (Kate made it very clear she did not appreciate getting her heel pricked with a needle, and Addison almost cried because Kate cried), and signing forms. They have also been sending texts and pictures to their parents, and Weiss and Savvy. Addison sent a text to Josie and Charlene from work the morning after Kate was born, and Mark sent one to the Chief of Surgery along with a picture, which Addison imagines has already been printed and tacked to a bulletin board near the nurses' station (she knows there's still hospital gossip about her shacking up with Mark and getting pregnant like two seconds after that, but it's hard to resist cute baby pictures). They plan to share the news of the baby's arrival with everyone else on their "list" tonight or tomorrow, but for now are enjoying holding this information close to themselves.

Addison shakes her head in response to Mark's question, equally bewildered. "I guess we're just…parents now."

"Should we move her from the car seat?"

"As much as I hate to move her, yeah, we should. She'd be better in the bassinet. Do you mind doing it? I have the video monitor here, so we can hang out on the couch and try to watch TV when in reality we're probably just going to stare at the monitor obsessively."

Mark nods, reaching into the car seat. He gently unbuckles Kate and lifts her into his arms (Addison has noticed that he is no longer nervous about picking the baby up and holding her, but he moves so slowly about it).

"Are you okay?" He asks when Kate is cuddled in his arms.

Addison glances over. She was turning the video monitor on and feeling a postpartum contraction twinge through her at the same time, so she was a bit distracted, but given that Kate is sleeping peaceful (and can't talk), she knows this question was directed to her. She assumes Mark also saw her wince.

"Oh, you know," she grimaces. "I pushed a baby out of my body forty-eight hours ago. I've been better, pain-wise."

"I'm sorry. You're kind of my hero after all that, you know." To Mark, everything about recovering from birthing a baby sounds like cleaning up a crime scene, except the clean-up part has to happen over and over again. He is wise enough not to share this thought with Addison though.

"I'm kind of my hero too," she grins. "I'll be okay, eventually. Just come give me a very, very gentle and don't-put-any-pressure-on-anything-from-my-hips-down hug after you put her in the bassinet."

While Mark carries Kate down the hall, Addison gingerly gets herself settled on the couch, cursing under her breath when she feels another short, sharp cramp in her uterus. She's maxed out on Ibuprofen for the day, both due to involution and a myriad of other fun delivery-related reasons, so she nearly yells for Mark to grab the heating pad on his way back, but luckily remembers, duh, there's a baby here before she calls out.

She decides to tough it out for a bit (much easier to do once the cramp has waned) and busies herself with getting the monitor set up on the coffee table so they can both see it while they pretend to watch TV. Thankfully, she does not have to worry about making any adjustments, as she had Mark mount one of the cameras to their bedroom wall in a specific spot to ensure optimal viewing of the potential baby-filled bassinet. (She begrudgingly admits having Mark's stupid CPR doll around one weekend was helpful, as they put the doll in the bassinet to serve as part of their "test-run" for checking out the camera's image display and other features.)

"Hey," Mark says when he finally comes back to the living room. "Not sure if you saw on the monitor, but I definitely hovered over Kate for a few minutes longer than necessary. It's just…hard not to just stare at her."

"You still can from out here," Addison grins, tipping her chin towards the monitor. "And oh yes, I saw. I know I would have done the same thing though. Instead I just watched until I got all misty-eyed because seeing my baby and my baby's daddy gives me a lot of feelings."

"Hopefully just happy ones."

She leans into Mark when he wraps an arm (very carefully) around her shoulders. "The happiest ones."

-

That evening, after a marathon of cluster feeding, Mark glances over at Addison once she's finished securing her nursing bra and wrap top again (he has seen it all before, of course, but he can tell she's still a little self-conscious, so he tries not to look during the beginning and end of the process).

"So," he begins. "I think now that we've told our parents and Weiss and Sav and a few people from work, maybe we should…?"

"We should tell Derek," Addison finishes. She wants to tell Carolyn and Derek's sisters and send them pictures (it feels weird, but they did ask), yet it seems more appropriate to inform Derek first. "Do you want to text him the standard thing and picture?"

"Yeah. Although…" he glances at Kate, and a smile slowly pulls his lips apart. He stands up. "One sec though. I have an idea."

She watches him walk down the hallway, and then redirects her attention to Kate, who is drowsily peering up at her. Kate is currently wearing a mint-colored onesie that says, "Hello, I'm New Here," a gift they received from Carolyn Shepherd a few weeks ago (Addison snapped a few photos of Kate in the outfit, and plans to text them to Carolyn later).

Addison releases a low sigh as Kate continues looking at her. "Your daddy has a good heart and he means well, but he has some very weird ideas, little one. You'll find out soon enough."

"An outfit change," Mark states when he walks back into the room, arms tucked behind his back for dramatic effect. "I have a picture idea."

"An outfit change. A picture idea," Addison repeats. "This isn't going to be like a photo shoot thing, right? I told you – Savvy gave me the number for a photographer friend of hers. I'll give her a call tomorrow to see when she's available to come over to contort Kate into all these hilariously cute positions and take photos."

"Not a photo shoot," Mark assures. He brings his hands back around to show Addison two different sets of baby booties. "These are the Seahawks ones Derek got her, and here's the New York Giants ones we got for her. I'll put one of each on her and send him a picture. I think he would like that."

Addison smirks in approval. "Actually that is kind of funny."

"See?" He says proudly as he pulls off Kate's polka dot socks to slip on the booties. Both he and Addison grin when Kate wiggles her toes. "Not all my ideas are weird ones."

"Just most of them."

Mark shrugs – more or less in agreement – while he gets his phone out. He angles the phone close to Kate in order to capture a good shot, focused primarily on the booties. He takes the picture and deems it decent enough (he was determined to get it in one so Addison would not accuse him of turning this into a photo shoot). He then goes to a message he sent his mother and holds his finger over a text bubble to save himself the trouble of typing all the stats again, and pastes the text into a new message for Derek. He decides to omit the word Sloan before sending the message; he is not sure if that makes a difference, since it is of course obvious that the baby has a last name, but he thinks it might be a little kinder to leave that out.

Introducing Kate (short for Katherine). Born April 10th, 11:24 AM. 20 inches. 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Baby and Addison are both doing well.

Mark attaches the picture of the booties as well as the picture they've been sending to loved ones – a shot captured from above of a few-hours-old, swaddled Kate in her hospital bassinet. Her head is angled to the right, eyes sleepy but open, one hand curled near her chin, and lips parted just a little (Addison later pointed out to Mark that he was making a near-identical expression in one of his baby pictures). He shows the screen to Addison, who gives a nod of approval to the words and pictures. He presses send, and then sets the phone down, not really prepared for a quick response, given that Derek is likely still at work.

His phone vibrates about twenty minutes later, and he laughs when he reads the words on the lock screen. He opens the message and holds the phone out for Addison. She laughs as well when she sees what Derek texted:

Does Addison know her daughter's socks don't match?

Nothing about this initial response surprises Mark, but before he can type something back, his screen reveals an incoming call from Derek. He gives Addison a surprised look, and then accepts the call.

"Hey," Mark says. "I was just about to text back to say that Addison's aware, and she doesn't like it."

"Sounds about right," Derek responds in greeting. "I figured it would just be easier to call. So…Kate. She's really cute. She looks like Addie. And congratulations. How is, um, parenthood going?" Derek laughs softly. "Sorry – I care, obviously. It's just a little awkward."

"I know. I kinda think…if we keep pushing through it, it might get easier? If we keep pushing? Man, the look Addison is shooting me right now for saying that…" he says, and Derek chuckles.

"The Mark-you're-an-idiot look? I assume you're used to that by now."

"Oh, I definitely am. It's really the only look I get. Anyway, parenthood is good. Scary as shit and doesn't involve much sleep, but good. She's a good baby. Happy. Doesn't cry a whole lot."

"Just no sticking her in the microwave. Hey, if Addie's free, can I say hi to her?"

"Yeah, of course. She's right here." Mark holds his cell out to Addison, and takes Kate from her arms in order to give her a break and use of both hands.

"Hey, Derek," Addison says.

"Hey. I have a question first. Did you get an epidural?"

"No. Why?"

"No reason. I just figured you wouldn't, that's all. Anyway, congrats. She's really beautiful, and I like the booties. You should be getting something else in the mail soon, too. Meredith knitted a hat for the baby – for Kate. It got sent out a little later than planned because Meredith's new to knitting, so one of her roommates had to basically redo the whole thing once it was finished. That was Izzie – she's an intern too. I don't know if you remember her?"

"I do remember," Addison confirms. "She showed a real gift for my specialty. And that's so kind of Meredith. Please thank her for me, and secretly thank Izzie as well."

"I will. Well, I should probably get going – I need to look over a few charts before I get out of here. I wanted to call as soon as I saw Mark's text though. So. I…I guess our paths will cross again someday…"

She groans. "God, Derek, are you and Mark competing to see who can make this conversation weirder?"

"If yes, you know he'd win," Derek says, and she does not disagree. "I don't mean…well, I'm sure I'll be back there at some point, and maybe we can all get together for an awkward hangout and I can meet the baby. Or you'll be here – you know Richard would contact you in a heartbeat for a tough case, and now that he knows you're, uh, dating a well-regarded plastic surgeon, he'd probably be more than willing to fly him out as well for certain procedures."

"Well then, until our paths cross again, as you said…" Addison giggles. "You'll pass on my thanks to Meredith – and her secret helper – for the hat, right? I'll text you a picture of Kate wearing it once it arrives."

"I will," Derek responds. "And I'll…I'll try to stay in touch, too. I think Mark – even though we both know he's an absolute idiot and he's wrong about so many things – is right about having to just keep pushing. I'd like to. I'm happy and everything, but it has recently come to my attention that I don't have many guy friends. I feel like that's something I should probably work on…which includes not losing old friends. Even bike-stealing ones."

Addison smirks. "I've actually decided that it's Kate's bike now."

"I can live with that."

-

"Wow. Hello to you too, Mark," Savvy jumps a little when Mark opens the door and thrusts a bottle of hand sanitizer at her and Weiss more forcefully than intended. Kate is now four days old, and they are her first visitors. "Don't worry," Savvy continues. "We know we need to sanitize. I just wasn't expecting to nearly be punched in the face first."

"Sorry," Mark says weakly. "Protective dad thing. Come in though. Your timing is perfect. She's awake right now."

"Hey," Addison readjusts her robe and smiles when Savvy makes her way over, Weiss trailing a little behind in order to say hello to Mark. "She just finished eating. I'll do my best not to flash you guys."

Savvy shrugs mildly and takes a seat next to her. "Well, every adult in this room has seen my boobs, so it's probably not the worst thing," her eyes lock on Kate, but she certainly has not forgotten about her friend. "So…how was it, Addie?"

"Horrible," Addison responds with a short laugh. "Worth it to get her – but horrible. Let's just say that Kate's not the only one in a diaper at the moment. I'll share all the gory stuff later though when it's just the two of us. In the meantime, are you ready to hold your goddaughter?"

"Oh, she's perfect," Savvy remarks when Kate is placed in her arms, a bit fidgety but content, and releasing tiny sounds that Mark says make him think of what a just-hatched pterodactyl would sound like. "So perfect. And beautiful. Pictures did not do it justice. Good work, you two."

"Thank you. We're biased, but we agree." Addison watches as Weiss sits down on Savvy's other side. He gently nudges at one of Kate's closed fists with an index finger, and smiles when she grips his finger in response.

"This is a really, really cute kid," Weiss says in agreement. "And hopefully at some point Savvy will pass her over so I can have a turn."

"Not anytime soon, I won't. I'm obsessed."

"Well, this will be you guys soon enough," Addison puts in softly. Her friends completed their adoption home study at the beginning of the month.

"I hope so," Savvy responds, thumbing Kate's cheek. "In the meantime, we're just going to love the crap out of this little one. Hey, I forgot to ask – what's her middle name?"

Addison looks over at Mark, and they answer at the same time: "Savannah."

"Katherine Savannah. That's really pretty…" Savvy begins, then looks sharply over at Addison with wide eyes. "Oh. Wait…Savannah is my name."

"So clearly Savvy won't be the one to help with homework," Mark laughs. "That took about a second too long for you to catch on, Sav…"

Savvy chooses to ignore Mark. "Oh, Addie. Really?"

"Yes, really," Addison squeezes her friend's elbow. "I hope she grows up to be as strong and as funny and as thoughtful as her godmother. Maybe with a touch less inappropriate humor though."

"Sorry," Savvy blinks hard, glancing up at the ceiling. "I'm so honored, but I'm going to desperately try to keep it together so I don't cry on her."

Addison waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, please. Don't worry about that. For starters, postpartum hormones are no joke, so there have already been tears splashed on her. And that's nothing compared to everything else. We've had crumbs land on her head already. It's hard to breastfeed and eat at the same time…though I don't know what Mark's excuse is."

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