"I can't believe it, Derek! It is finally done!" Addison exclaims as they walk into their completed house. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a kiss. The last 3 weeks since Valentine's Day, she had barely seen him.
Derek smiled down at his wife. At 33 weeks pregnant, her body was definitely starting to look different. She was becoming more "puffy" all over, but he would die before telling her that. He loved the way she looked. It amazed him that her belly was still continuing to grow and they still had 7 more weeks left! He had no idea how she was going to have any more room for them!
"February really was a good month." he says, giving her another kiss. The house looked huge with no furniture in it, but that was going to change the next day.
"The movers are supposed to be here with our stuff tomorrow, correct?" Addison asked as if reading his mind.
"Yes. All of our stuff in the Brownstone was packed up and shipped. That should be arriving sometime tomorrow. The new furniture we ordered should be here tomorrow as well. I have a slew of people to help unpack throughout the whole day. All you have to do is sit and boss people around." He teased, tickling her side.
"That's what I do best." she teased back. She looked around and let out a content sigh. "I can't wait to have ALL my clothes, shoes, and jewelry from New York finally. Even if I can't wear them for awhile." Addison said.
"Are you sure the new renters didn't want to include those as part of a fully furnished house?" he teased again.
"That would cost them an extra $1000 a month." she retorted. Derek laughed. They made their way back to their apartment. They were staying there one last night.
As they got off the elevator, they ran into Mark and Lexie. "Aren't you guys going to miss running into us so much?" Mark laughed.
"Yes, Mark. Seeing you in the halls is the highlight of my day." Addison deadpanned.
"Derek, if seeing me is the highlight of her day, you need to spice things up!" Mark laughed. "Just ask Lexie. I could give you some pointers." Lexie turned slightly pink.
Derek laughed and realized how far they really had come. If this conversation had happened a year ago, he would have been accusing Mark and Addison of still sleeping together.
Mark and Lexie said good-bye to the Shepherd's as they entered Mark's apartment.
"I think those two are going to make it." Addison said thoughtfully as she placed her purse down on the table. "I have never seen Mark so in love with someone before."
"I just hope she doesn't hurt him. She is awful young." Derek answered.
"Derek, she is older than we were when we started dating." Addison replied, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah, and you two barely made it." Amy said, joining the conversation as she came out of her bedroom.
"Filter!" the married couple replied in tandem.
"One more day, and we can finally have a place to ourselves again." Derek muttered.
"Well, only until the babies come." Addison said fondly as she rubbed her belly. As if they could understand her, the boys started making her belly move.
"That still amazes me that we can see them moving now!" Derek said in awe. He walked over and placed his hands on his wife's belly.
"Well, they have moved enough that now I have to go to the bathroom." Addison said, rolling her eyes.
"Amy, I wanted to thank you for all the help you have been on the clinical trial this last month." Derek said as he got a drink of water. "You are going to give me a run for my money on who the best Neurosurgeon is on the West Coast."
"No problem. And, um, Thank you.": Amelia said, a little surprised at her brother's comment. He rarely complimented her. Usually he was always correcting her.
"I wanted to let you know that I got approval yesterday to hire another neurosurgeon attending," he continued. "And, well, I wanted to offer you the job." Amelia stood there stunned.
"You want me to come work for you full time?" she clarified.
"Yes. And you can either buy the apartment from us or lease it from us. We can work something out." Derek informed her.
"Is this just your way to keep an eye on me?" Amelia teased.
"Yes, that is my ulterior motive." Derek countered. Amy laughed.
"I would love to come work here full time." she answered, smiling. "Mostly, so I can keep an eye on you." she winked
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The next morning, Addison and Derek got up early and finished packing up stuff in the apartment. Lexie and Mark arrived to help Derek and Amelia carry the boxes down to the vehicles.
"Be careful with those, Mark! Those have breakable items in it that are going in the babies' room!" Addison barked as he slung a box up on his shoulder.
"This is going to be a long day." Mark muttered under his breath.
By 10:00, all 5 of their vehicles pulled up to the vast driveway of the new home. Addison slowly got out of her car, trying not to hit her belly on the steering wheel. She pulled a clipboard out of the passenger side seat.
"Ok. The furniture truck confirmed they will be here around 11 and the truck from New York will be here around 1. Owen, Richard, and Alex should be here around 11:30. Pizza will be here for everyone around 12:30. Burke, Callie, and Arizona should be here around 1:30." Addison informed everyone consulting her clipboard. Mark rolled his eyes. Amelia laughed. Lexie looked impressed.
"Why do I feel like we are back in med school with you having a clipboard and a schedule?" Mark complained.
"That clipboard and schedule saved your ass many times in med school to make sure you actually studied." Addison replied, pointing her pen at him.
"And we were very thankful for it." Derek said, giving Addison a kiss on the cheek and placing a hand on her belly. One of the boys gave him a resounding kick. "Now, let's get these boxes unloaded before the furniture truck gets here."
The next few hours were organized chaos as more people arrived. Addison directed everyone where to put things, and Derek kept directing her to sit down. Around 12:30, the pizza arrived and everyone took a break.
"I can't believe you got Spark's pizza to deliver all the way out here!" Alex exclaimed, taking another slice. "This is the best pizza in Seattle!"
"Anyone will deliver out here if you pay them enough." Addison shrugged. Alex looked at her like he couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Based on the furniture he had seen moved in, he was pretty sure she was being serious.
While they were sitting around the kitchen, the truck from New York arrived. "I really hope the company who packed up all of our stuff didn't break anything." Addison said with concern.
"That is what we paid extra for with the insurance, my Love." Derek said as he kissed her temple. They were both excited to have all of their pictures, movies, books, and many other belongings for the first time in almost a year-in-a-half.
"How come no one tells you two to filter?" Amy teased, rolling her eyes at the PDA of her brother and sister-in-law. Derek rolled his eyes, and Addison laughed.
Soon, the remaining 3 doctors showed up, and every one was busy moving boxes into the house, again under the watchful eye of Addison.
"Hey, that is MY bike!" Mark exclaimed when he came across a tan mountain bike. "I wondered what happened to that thing."
"Mark, that was at our house for almost 5 years." Addison reminded him. "But you are welcome to take it if you want it." Mark grinned at her, got the bike, and rode it over to his car.
"Addison, your house is gorgeous!" Arizona exclaimed when she first walked in.
"Thanks." Addison said, smiling. She was still getting used to the new bubbly Peds surgeon. She also noticed that Arizona and Callie had been hanging out a lot more lately.
After several more hours of unloading boxes and figuring out which room to put them in, Addison and Derek collapsed on the couch. They thanked all their friends for helping as everyone left.
"Are you doing ok, Addie?" Derek asked as he massaged her back.
"I am doing ok, but you know what sounds amazing." she asked, turning to look at him. "A nice long bubble bath in our massive bathtub upstairs. The water can't be too hot, but just soaking sounds heavenly!"
Derek helped her upstairs, drew a bath for her, and then helped her in the tub. He went downstairs and scrounged up some leftover pizza, and came upstairs to join Addison in the bath.
The two Shepherds sat on opposite sides of the bathtub eating pizza. When the were done, Derek began to rub Addison's feet.
"Oh my gosh, Derek. That feels amazing!" she sighed in pure delight. The rest of the night was spent relaxing and christening their new bed.
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A week later, Addison met Derek in an exam room, where they waited for Dr. Rahar for the 34 week check-up.
"Hey." Addison said, giving Derek a quick kiss. "How is your day going?"
"Pretty well. We have our last surgery for the clinical trial scheduled tomorrow." Derek answered.
"The trial has gone so well this time around! So far only 3 of the 12 people have died!" Addison exclaimed, proud of her husband. Before he could respond, Dr. Rahar walked in.
"Good morning. Drs. Shepherd." she said smiling. "Today we are going to take a quick look to see if the boys are in the correct position. We will also check to see if you are dilating yet, Addison."
Addison got in position for the ultrasound and watched in amazement as her boys came onto the screen. They were too big to fit fully on there, but she was still excited to see them.
"They are both in the correct position for a natural birth for the time being. Is a natural birth still your plan?" Dr. Rahar asked as she wiped the gel off of Addison's stomach.
"Yes, but I may change my mind once labor starts." Addison laughed.
"You will do great." Derek said, kissing her temple. He had told Addison he would support whatever she chose for labor. It was her area of expertise and she was the one who had to go through the pain!
Addison shifted down on the table with the help of Derek so Dr. Rahar could check to see if she was dialating yet.
"It looks like you are about 2cm dilated." Dr. Rahar said with slight concern. Addison just nodded. Derek looked back and forth between them.
"Is that bad?" he asked, slightly confused.
"It isn't bad, but it is a little earlier to already be 2cm." Addison answered.
"I know you have reduced your workload considerably, Addison." Dr. Rahar said. "But I think it is time for you to stop surgery altogether. Those boys are getting larger every day, and well, I think it is safer for everybody if you only do consults."
"I'll think about it." Addison said, vaguely. She actually agreed with Dr. Rahar, but she didn't want to give up surgery just yet. She knew it was only temporary, but the idea of only doing consults and then sitting around at home the rest of the time was enough to drive her crazy!
"Addison, if it is safer…" Derek began. Addison cut him off with a kiss.
"I know my limits, Derek." she smiled. He looked at her with concern.
"Well, as you know, your next appointment will be in 2 weeks, and then it will be every week until the babies are born." Dr. Rahar said as she wrapped up the appointment.
"You are off the rest of the day, correct?" Derek asked Addison as they walked down the hall.
"Yes, I am going to go do a little more shopping for the boys and then will head home to do some more unpacking." Addison informed him.
"How much more do the boys need?" Derek laughed. Addison just shrugged her shoulders.
"Please take it easy unpacking." Derek instructed. Addison rolled her eyes.
"I will be fine." she answered, giving him a quick kiss. "Good-bye, Babe. See you home later."
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Later that night, Derek walked into the house and was shocked by an amazing aroma that hit his nostrils. He walked into the kitchen to see Addison consulting a cookbook.
"What are you making?" he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Fettuccine Alfredo." she answered.
"Wow. It smells amazing!" Derek said, impressed.
"I figured I need to learn to cook at some point." she shrugged. "It really is just like the many labs we had to take in college and med school. You just have to follow directions." Derek did his best not to laugh. He had heard Addison say that before. About half of the time her cooking ended very badly. Thankfully, this one did not.
After dinner, the two Shepherds began to go through some boxes from New York. One box was labeled "photos" Addison opened it and pulled out their wedding album.
"Look how young we were!" Addison exclaimed as she turned the pages through the album.
"That was back when there were only 5 grandkids." Derek shook his head astonished as he looked at the picture of the family.
"It was almost 6." Addison laughed at the memory.
12 years ago
"We are finally married!" Addison exclaimed, giving Derek a kiss. They were in the back of the limo on the way to the reception. Naomi, Sam, Mark, Savvy, Weiss,Kathleen, and her husband Stuwart were riding with them.
"Alright you two. Save it for the bedroom tonight." Naomi teased. Addison turned a little pink while Derek laughed.
They arrived at the hall and were surprised to see Nancy and her husband Jerry standing outside. Nancy was clearly in pain.
"Nancy, are you ok?" Addison asked, rushing over to her sister-in-law.
"I will be. It is just that this baby has decided to come now!" she grimaced as another contraction came on.
"Seriously?!" asked an excited Kathleen. "Who has Cassie?" she asked, looking around for Nancy's 2 year old daughter.
"Mom does. You guys just go inside and enjoy your reception. If this baby is anything like its sister, we still have hours until it makes its debut."
The rest of the night was filled with dinner and dancing before the Shepherd's headed off to their honeymoon sweet. Nancy gave birth in the early hours of the next morning to a beautiful baby girl Lily.
"Lily always did wish she was born at our actual wedding instead of the next morning at the hospital." Derek laughed too. Both were quiet for a while as they continued to look through the photos. Addison noticed that Derek had stopped and was just staring at a photo. She scooted over to him and noticed it was a picture of a man that looked a lot like Derek. He was standing next to two well dressed boys, 3 girls in fancy dresses, and was holding a toddler, who appeared to be trying to pull off her hat.
"That's my dad with all of us kids on Easter." Derek said quietly. "Amy is about 2 here, so that means he was about my age." Derek said in disbelief. "Mark and I really hated our Easter outfits!" he laughed.
"Derek, you look so much like your dad." she said in awe. Most of the pictures she had seen of Derek's dad were from when Derek was little. Seeing Christopher at the same age as Derek was mesmerizing.
"He has more grey hair than I do though." Derek laughed.
"Well, you would too if we had 5 kids by now!" Addison responded. Derek gathered up the photos and put them back in the box.
"It is getting late. Let's go to bed." he said, helping Addison get up. She knew it had affected him to see the picture of his dad like, but she also knew there wasn't anything she could really say.
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Over the next week, Addison noticed that Derek was a lot quieter than normal. She wasn't sure if it was related to the picture he had found of his dad or not. Eventually, she decided to talk to Mark about it.
"I remember that Easter!" Mark said with a far away look in his eyes when Addison told him the story. "That suit was so uncomfortable! But Carolyn and Christophoer insisted that we dress our best for Mass every Easter and Christmas. Thankfully they let us wear more casual clothes on the other Sundays." Addison just nodded. She never went to church growing up, but she had been forced to wear fancy clothes so many times as a child, it almost became normal.
"Do you think maybe you could talk to Derek and make sure he is ok?" Addison asked. Mark was the only person who could relate to Derek when it came to talking about the loss of his father. Christopher was so much like a father to Mark, it had hurt him deeply as well.
"I can try." Mark said.
Later that day, Mark found Derek standing on the catwalk just staring out the window.
"Earth to Derek." Mark teased as he walked up to him. Derek jumped.
"Huh? Oh, hii." he said as his heart rate returned to normal. Mark looked at him with concern. He had thought Addison was overreacting earlier, but the Derek he saw in front of him was definitely not normal.
"You ok?" Mark asked. Derek turned and looked at him suspiciously.
"Addison told you about the picture, didn't she." Derek said. Mark nodded.
"She is worried about you," he continued. Derek was quiet a little longer.
"I want to take my kids to church like my parents used to take us, but I don't know if Addison will agree." Derek finally admitted. "Seeing that picture of my dad and all of us made me realize how important Mass was to him."
"I think you need to talk to Addison about this, but I really don't think it will be a big deal." Mark pointed out. Derek knew his best friend was right.
He made his way to Addison's office, where he found her filling out a mountain of paperwork.
He walked over to her desk and kissed the top of her head.
"Mark talked to me." Derek told her. Addison looked up a little guilty. She knew that Derek knew she had asked Mark to talk to him.
"Are you ok?" she asked cautiously. Derek led her over to the couch and sat down.
"Yes, but next time you are concerned. Just ask me yourself." he said. "But there is something I want to talk to you about."
"Ok." Addison replied, not quite sure what to expect.
"How would you feel about taking our boys to church sometimes?" he asked seriously. "It was such an important part of my upbringing. I want to do the same for my kids." Addison looked at him curiously.
"Of course I don't mind, Derek." she answered. "Easter is in a few weeks, would you like to try a church out then?"
"That sounds perfect!" Derek smiled.
A few weeks later, a very pregnant Addison was getting ready for Easter services when all of the sudden she felt like she had peed. She looked down and realized her water had just broken.
"Derek!" she yelled causing her husband to come running into the bathroom.
"What's wrong?" he asked, a little breathless.
"My water just broke." she said, wide eyed. Derek's eyes darted between Addison's eyes and the puddle that had formed on the floor.
"Seriously?!" he exclaimed.
"No, Derek. I decided to trick you and poured water on the floor." Addison said, crossing her arms. "Of course I am serious!"
"But you are only 36 weeks!" he said, still in a state of shock.
"Well, I don't think the boys care about that." Addison retorted. "They are coming now."
"Our boys are finally coming." Derek said, smiling. He helped Addison change into more comfortable clothes, grabbed the hospital bags, and drove to the hospital. He couldn't stop grinning. He was about to be a father.
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Next up, the birth of the twins! Let me know what you think!