High Speed
Meredith and Addison take the kids for a bike ride.
"Good news," says Meredith, as she walks into the kitchen smiling.
"What mom?" says Bailey.
"We're getting a pony?" says Ellis.
"You won the lottery?" says Henry.
"The fair is coming to Seattle?' says Zola.
"I got your mother's time off changed so she can come biking with us on Sunday!" says Meredith.
"YAY!" the kids cheer in chorus.
Addison, meanwhile, goes very pale, and tries to feign enthusiasm as she clears away the breakfast plates.
"It's gonna be so much fun, says Bailey.
"Yeah, I bet she's really fast," says Ellis.
"She's got that new bike for her birthday, it's great she gets to use it," says Henry.
"Are we going to the park again? There's so many trails!" Zola says excitedly.
"Sure," says Meredith. "Aren't you excited?" Meredith smiles at her wife.
"Yep, yeah, can't wait," says Addison, smiling as big as she can manage.
Meredith helps Addison clean up the kitchen as the kids go play in the yard. Addison bites her lip, and tries to tell Meredith how she really feels, but she can't bring herself to, so she runs to hide in her room, and tries to call the hospital so she doesn't have to confess.
"You're sure no one needs coverage on Sunday?" Addison whispers into the phone.
"No, we're all good," says the nurse.
"Damn," says Addison. "Does anybody want to switch?" she offers.
"Not that I can see," the nurse says. "Enjoy your time off, Dr. Montgomery," she smiles.
"Thank you," Addison nods as she hangs up the phone. She'll just have to try her best.
It's not that Addison doesn't like to spend time with her children and her wife- she likes that more than anything. She loves it, really.
It's just the biking part that Addison is stressing out over.
When she was seven she had gotten in a bike accident, and flipped over the handlebars, scraped up her face and her older brother Archer had to carry her half a mile back home.
And ever since, Addison has been afraid of bike riding.
She's also been afraid of telling her wife about how she's afraid of bike riding, because Meredith loves bike riding, and the kids love bike riding. And it's also one of the ways that Zola remembers her dad, because he taught her to ride a bike with Meredith when she was little.
And Addison always felt out of place with that, so she let Meredith take the kids bike riding.
On Sundays.
She scheduled her shift specifically so she'd finish just when the kids were coming home so she could set out ice cream for them. It was tradition, and now the tradition was about to be totally turned on its head.
"Rise and shine!" Ellis jumps into Meredith and Addison's bed at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.
"Morning," Meredith grumbles, she's always grumbly before coffee in the mornings.
"Morning sweetheart," says Addison, as she moves to settle their daughter in bed next to Meredith, and make coffee and breakfast.
"Morning ma," Zola shrugs as she takes pancake mix out of the cupboard. Recently, Zola has taken to helping out with the cooking, because Addison's been teaching her.
"Morning Zola," says Addison.
"I wanna help too!" Bailey pouts.
"Alright, do you want to set the table?" says Addison.
"Okay," says Bailey. "Can I stir later?" he offers.
Addison looks at Zola, and Zola nods, so Addison says that he can.
Twenty minutes later, there's pancakes on the table, along with juice and coffee, and Bailey runs to get Ellis and Meredith.
"BREAKFAST!" they can hear Bailey call all the way from the kitchen.
"WHAT IS IT!?" Ellis calls out to him.
"PANCAKES!" says Bailey.
"YUMMY!" says Ellis.
"Coffee?" Meredith asks him.
"IS THERE COFFEE!?" Bailey calls out.
"Yes, there's coffee for your mother," Addison laughs.
"YES THERE IS COFFEE!" says Bailey.
"Thank you," says Meredith. "I'll be down in a minute," she says. On her way, she summons Henry, who has still been asleep through all of this so far.
When everyone appears at the table, the family begins discussing their plans for the park, how they're going to pack a picnic, and ride their bikes to their special spot under the tree.
"It's up a big hill!" says Ellis.
"We get to ride down it at high speed on the way back," says Bailey.
"It's a loooooooooong way up," says Henry.
"It's good for us," says Zola.
"We'll just show your ma how to get there, hey?" says Meredith supportively.
"Thanks," says Addison.
They load everything into the car, and Meredith drives, and she looks at Addison curiously because she can tell that something's going on with her, even though she's not saying.
"You good?" Meredith asks her.
"I'm good," Addison smiles.
"Okay," says Meredith, holding her hand once they get there.
"Okay," Addison nods at her, determinedly.
The path starts off gently enough, with Addison following last behind everyone, and getting the hang of it.
She's nervous, but she empathizes with the expression 'it's just like riding a bike,' because apparently, she does remember it, and after a few wobbly starts she starts to relax and enjoy herself.
The challenge comes when they finally get to the hill they were talking about.
It's massive.
At least, in Addison's mind it is.
Getting up it is one thing, but it's the way down that really scares Addison. On the way up, she pumps and pumps and works hard not to look down, or else she figures she might get vertigo.
"There you go, almost there," says Ellis.
"You got it!" says Bailey.
"Nice one," says Henry.
"Go go go!" says Zola.
Meredith is smiling at her proudly, and Addison is ecstatic when she finally reaches the picnic spot, and can relax for a few minutes before they start up again.
"That was awesome," the kids cheer together.
"Yeah, it was," Addison smiles. As much as she was reluctant to come today, she does love seeing her kids smile and play together. And she's glad she gets more time with her wife as well.
Speaking of, Meredith hands her a sandwich and an apple, and they all dive into the picnic food, laughing and joking, and making plans for ice cream afterward because Addison's not already home setting it up for them.
"I hope ma gets every Sunday off from now on," says Zola wistfully.
"Yeah," says Bailey.
"Yeah, not just the afternoons," says Ellis.
"So she can come biking with us!" says Zola.
"That would be the best," Meredith smiles.
Addison glows when she hears Zola say that first. She's never wanted to feel like a replacement, but her and Zola have bonded a lot since she's come to live with them. They certainly are the cooking crew of the household, and secretly Addison's always wanted a daughter, so she's very grateful to have two now, plus another son, Bailey.
Lunch is finished too soon though, for Addison's liking.
As they pack up again, Addison starts to get jitters as all the kids and Meredith talk about how awesome the slide down is going to be.
"Do you want to go first?" Bailey offers, because she hasn't done it before.
"N-no, that's okay. Why don't you show me?" Addison offers.
"Okay!" Bailey says, as he gets on his bicycle, and zooms down the pathway.
"Me next!" says Ellis, who follows him.
"You can go first," Henry offers to Zola.
"Okay, see you down there," Zola says as she zips off, with Henry right behind her.
And then Meredith and Addison are the only ones left on the hill.
"Are you okay? You seem a little off," Meredith says, once all the kids are out of earshot.
"I'm really scared of the hill, and biking in general," Addison finally confesses. "I went along with it, but now it looks so scary, and I'm afraid of getting hurt," Addison gushes.
"Oh, okay," says Meredith. "I'm sorry if I pressured you into this, I should have asked," says Meredith, pulling Addison into her arms.
"It's alright, it's been nice so far. I never thought I'd ever ride my bike again, but now I have. But ever since I flipped over the handlebars as a kid… It was just terrifying, and Archer had to carry me home, and I'm older now, and-" Addison starts to panic a little.
"Oh, hey hey hey, it's alright. If you don't want to go down the hill we can walk," says Meredith.
"You're sure?" says Addison.
"Sure," says Meredith. "I'm just happy you're here with us," Meredith smiles.
"Okay, thanks Meredith," says Addison.
"And if you ever did get hurt, I would carry you home, y'know," says Meredith, smiling.
"Okay, back at you," says Addison.
"They'll be okay if we're slow. They know this path very well," says Meredith.
"Alright," says Addison. "I hope they don't make fun of me," she adds.
"If they do I'll remind them of when they were learning. You know, when Zola first learned to ride a bike, she almost gave up, and said 'you do it mommy!' and threw the bike towards me," Meredith laughs.
"Oh my goodness," says Addison.
"Plus they love you, and all that you do. We all support you, I'm sorry you felt embarrassed about this," says Meredith.
"I love all of you too," says Addison. "I could have said, I just didn't want to spoil your fun," she finally sighs.
"Never," says Meredith. "It's always fun when we get to spend time together."
They walk towards the car, and when they get there, the kids are playing in the playground next to the park with their bikes.
"Yay, you made it!" They all cheer once Meredith and Addison appear.
"Can we get ice cream now?" says Bailey.
"Oh, and can we bike to the park when we get back?" Henry asks them.
"Yeah," says Zola.
"Yeah," says Ellis.
"Sure thing," Meredith smiles, and she helps Addison load their bikes into the car.
They drive home happily, and all of them agree that they want Addison to come along for the rest of the trips, as long as she wants to, of course.
"Well, I might have to walk down the hill for a while, but if you don't mind that, then I'll join you," says Addison.
"Yipee!" The kids cheer, and Meredith gives Addison a kiss to say that she's proud of her, until Zola starts groaning loudly from the back seat, and Henry starts kicking the back of their chair so they'll stop kissing.
"Guess we better get going," Meredith laughs, and they drive off again.
They get ice cream from a local shop, with everyone getting a cone or a cup of their favorite flavor.
Next they drop the kids off by the trail to the park, and send them on their way with some leftover picnic snacks and some water.
Zola promises to have everyone back before dark, and Henry promises that he has the extra house key.
"See you," says Meredith.
"Bye," says Addison.
They wave as they bike away, and then Meredith drives her and Addison back to the house.
"So, did you have a good day after all? Honestly?" Meredith asks Addison when they get back.
"I did, I really did," Addison smiles.
"So you'll come next week? You don't have to," says Meredith.
"I want to," Addison smiles. "I think I'll get the hang of it," she adds on.
"Awesome," says Meredith. "And if we go out for ice cream… Then we have more time with the house to ourselves," says Meredith.
"We do," says Addison.
"I know something that might cheer you up even more…" Meredith smiles.
"What's that?" Addison says.
"Want me to carry you up to bed," Meredith offers.
"Yes please,' Addison pouts, and Meredith picks her up into her arms.
"I promise if you ever get hurt biking, I'll carry you all the way home, even if it's a hundred miles," says Meredith.
"Okay," says Addison.
And that's about how they spend the next Sundays, for many more Sundays to come.
***** FIN