She opened her eyes the next morning to the sound of someone's alarm clock. She knew it wasn't hers. It was in that second that she found herself naked pressed up against her ex on a couch in a hotel room in Seattle that she realized that she wasn't just dreaming.

"Good morning," Derek told her softly, moving a little to give them both the space to sit up. He reached for the robe discarded at the side of the couch and held it out to her before quickly covering himself up. "It's very early, I have to get to work. I didn't mean to wake you, I forgot I had the alarm set."

"It's okay," Addison whispered, tying the belt tightly around her robe. "I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to pressure you or make you feel obligated to do that."

"You didn't," Derek quickly stopped her from saying anything more. "I already told you that I miss you. And last night, being that close to you and the familiarity and everything, it wasn't an obligation. It wasn't pressure. It was…" he paused. "I miss you." he repeated.

"What about Meredith?" Addison asked confused.

"It didn't work out. She and I had fun while it was off limits and forbidden, but once the danger was gone it just wasn't the same. We're too different. She is at a different place in her life. But uh, I know you started dating too. I didn't mean to complicate that."

"You know about that?"

"Chris told me you were dating someone."

"I'm not dating someone, it was one date and it didn't go well," Addison explained. "It was actually rather traumatizing. You remember Violet, the psychiatrist at my practice? One of her patients asked me out and I agreed. We went on one date, it went well. Then the next day he sneaked into my office, stole my shoe and put it up his anus."

"He what?!" Derek's eyes bugged out. "I hope you didn't get the shoe back."

"No, I did not. But it was a 900 dollar Jimmy Choo pump so I'm still very bitter about it."

Derek chuckled but then turned serious. "So then, what does last night mean for us?"

"Last night was great," Addison admitted. "But I'm not ready for it to mean anything. I miss you too, I really do. But I'm still trying to figure out who Addison is without Derek."

"So you don't want last night to mean anything?" Derek asked with clear disappointment.

"I'm sorry," she replied earnestly. "But co-parenting is going so well for us. We're communicating better now than we did in the last three years we were together. I don't want to ruin it. Maybe we can revisit the conversation in the future, but for right now, I can't be Addison and Derek again."

Derek gave her an understanding nod. "By the way, we didn't use a condom last night. I know this is an awkward conversation to have, especially with out history, but I just want to assure you that I am not carrying anything so you should be safe."

Addison nodded, kind of grateful for the disclosure. Is this what modern one night stands are like? "I haven't been with anyone since we separated so I'm sure you'll be safe too."

"And you're still on the pill?" he asked.

"I'm infertile," she admitted. "So there is absolutely nothing to worry about there."

"You're infertile?"

"I found out when I moved to LA. I wanted to have a second child with donor sperm so I had Naomi do all the tests and we found out that I'm infertile."

"You're only 37."

"I know."

"And you always wanted another baby one day..."

"Yeah," she mumbled awkwardly as she watched him process the news.

There was a few seconds of complete silence as Derek processed the information. His mind flashed through memories of Addison telling him that she didn't want their son to be an only child; memories of her holding tiny newborns. He had his own mental image of Addison, sitting in a hospital bed with a tiny bundle of theirs in her arms as he brought Christopher to meet his new sibling. All of that was obviously not an option anymore. "I'm so sorry, Addie. I know how much you wanted to have a second child."

Addison nodded. "Maybe I'll adopt one day. But for right now, I think it's for the best that it's just me and Christopher. I can barely keep up with one child. There is no way I'd be able to manage as a single mother of two."

"Well, if you do decide to adopt, you'll be an excellent mother to a very deserving child," he told her with a smile.

"You said you have to get to work to do rounds before Christopher is awake," she reminded him. "And you promised him a full day with him so you can't be late," she told him, trying to change the conversation.

Derek nodded. "I'll be back in a couple of hours to get him."

Derek had promised his son a fun day together and he did everything he could to deliver on his promise. They spend their morning fishing at the lake on Derek's property, per Christopher's request, though he quickly lost interest. After fishing, they went back to the trailer for lunch where Derek tried to teach his son how to grill the perfect burger. Though the first two attempts came out completely charred due to their distraction of playing catch, the third round came out perfect.

The father son duo sat outside the trailer and enjoyed their moments together over lunch.

"Do you like living in Los Angeles?"

Chris shrugged as he took a bite of his burger. "I guess. Mom spends more time with me now cuz she doesn't have to work at the hospital. And the people at her office are really nice."

"That's good."

"I guess. Except she locked our TV and now I can't watch the good shows."

Derek chuckled. "Well, some shows are not appropriate to watch at your age. She just wants to make sure you are safe."

"But they're not dangerous. They're just funny. Have you seen Married with Children? This guy Al has really bad luck and he's poor and he make fun of fat people and has a weird wife and dumb kids."

"See, that's not okay. You shouldn't make fun of anyone," Derek explained to his son. "It is not nice, especially because you don't know their story and what they are going through. It can hurt their feelings. We just don't want you to think that type of behavior is okay."

Chris frowned at the lecture, "I know it's not nice. But it's funny."

"Once you're older, you can watch it, okay? But for now, while you're still learning how to interact with people, we're gonna hold off on inappropriate TV shows."

Christopher groaned. "This is why it was better when Mom was at work more. I got to watch whatever I wanted with the nanny."

"Finish up your lunch, we've still got lots to do. Do you want to go to the Science museum? Or do you want Natural History with the dinosaur bones?"

"Dinosaur bones!"

"Okay, I'll buy tickets online right now, you finish your burger," Derek told him as he took out his phone to buy tickets.

Come Sunday afternoon, Derek had dropped off his ex-wife and their son at the airport and went back to work. He had no idea when he would see them again, or if he'd able to get time off in the next few weeks to make the trip to Los Angeles. So he savored every second he had with them and hoped it would make due until next time.

"Why do you look like someone shot your puppy?" Richard asked when he saw Derek in line at the coffee cart.

"I miss my family."

"You just took them to the airport three hours ago."

"Exactly. My family is supposed to be with me. Not on a plane to the opposite side of the country."

"Derek, that's what happens when couples separate."

"I know," he sighed. "I just miss them."

"This is the best thing for you both. You have a great thing going for you here. You'll be chief before you turn 40. That's a hell of an accomplishment."

Derek nodded. He'd been working day and night for that accomplishment. He'd destroyed his marriage for that accomplishment.

"It'll be worth it," Richard promised. "When you're the youngest chief of surgery of a major hospital in the Pacific Northwest, it will be worth it.

"Is it really worth losing your family over?" Derek wondered out loud.

Richard sighed tiredly, "We both know this job had nothing to do with why you lost your family. You and Addie just grew apart."

"Thanks for not bringing up the adultery stuff," Derek replied dryly.

"Well, that too. But I think you two grew apart before that happened. I think that's why the adultery happened. Trust me, I've been down this road. And the job gives you a new motivation, something to keep you going when you're not happy with your personal life."

"I just miss when my personal life was easy. Cute toddler, attractive, intelligent wife, nice house... it was a good personal life. And work was good too. I had it all. And I blew it over this damn job."

"Derek, don't blow this opportunity over a mid life crisis. Addison is moving on. It's time you do too." Richard advised. "Just trust me on this."

"How was your trip?" Violet asked as she, Naomi and Addison stood around the kitchen island the next morning.

"It was good," Addison told her as she shook up the container of green juice and poured it into a glass and took a sip.

Violet took one look at her face and smirked, "She slept with her ex-husband."

"Addison!" Naomi exclaimed.

"How could you possibly know that?" Addison asked Violet with a straight face.

Violet shrugged, "I guess I can just read you."

"It was one time."

"That's how it starts…" Naomi mumbled as she took a sip of her coffee. "How? How do you just fall into bed with Derek?"

"It was actually a couch."

"A couch?!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Yes, because Christopher was asleep in the bed."

"You slept with your ex-husband with your son in the same room?!"

"No! I had a suite, Chris was in the bedroom and Derek and I were in the living room area. I had ordered room service and wine and he came by to see Chris and one thing led to a another and we had sex on the couch."

Violet smiled widely. "I had money on this. Not the couch part but the hook up."

Naomi ignored Violet's comments, eyes burning holes through Addison. "So what now? Do you want to do it again? Are you giving him a chance? Was it just a slip up? What was it?"

"I don't know," Addison shrugged. "He keeps telling me he misses me and the wants me to let him move here but I don't know. I'm not ready for that. So I told him I can't. I'm learning who Addison is without Derek."

Violet nodded, "It's okay. Slip ups happen after you've been with someone that long. It doesn't have to mean anything. And you can still take your time to figure out who Addison is without Derek. Don't do anything you're not comfortable with."

"Thank, Violet," she said appreciatively. "I've gotta get back to work," she said before slipping out of the kitchen with her glass of green juice.

"She's gonna get back together with him," Naomi told Violet without any shadow of doubt.

"I know. I have money on that too," Violet agreed.

The week went on and Addison and Christopher settled back into their daily routine. Every morning Addison would drop her chatty son off to school before going into work. Normally the car ride was filled with questions that Addison rarely had answers to, often about when Christopher would be able to spend more than just two days with his father.

This particular morning, the car ride was silent. Addison glanced at her son through the rearview mirror to catch him staring out the window. When she pulled up in the school drop off line, he quietly unbuckled himself.

"Honey, are you okay? You've been so quiet all morning," she asked before he could jump out of the car.

Christopher nodded, "I'm okay," he said softly before an attendant opened the car door so he could get out. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, sweetheart. Call me if you need me."

The morning went on normally, until the newly hired receptionist awkwardly came to stand in the doorway of Addison's office. "Dr. Montgomery?"

Addison looked up from the file she was reading. "Yes?"

"Your son's school is on line four," the receptionist told her.

Addison reached for the handset on her desk and picked up the call on line 4. "Hello?"

"Is this Dr. Shepherd?" the school nurse asked her.

"Uh," she hesitated, but thought better than to correct someone she'd never met on a call that might be important. "Yes, it is," she confirmed. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm the school nurse at your son, Christopher's school. I have him here with me now. His teacher sent him over saying that he is feeling sick and he's got a fever of 101.5. We will have to send him home. Are you able to pick him up?"

Addison glanced at the time on the bottom corner of her computer screen. She had a patient scheduled for an amnio in 10 minutes. "I've got a procedure scheduled in a few minutes, I can't leave my patient right now. But uh, I can come afterward. It's just an amnio, it shouldn't take more than 10 to 15 minutes. I can be there in about half an hour. Is that okay?"

"It's funny you say that, Christopher was worried that you'd be too busy to have time to come get him."

Was her son's school nurse guilting her for being a working mother? Addison asked herself. Is she really paying five thousand dollars a month to a prestigious private school near her office just so the school nurse could guilt her? "I'm not too busy to come. I'll be there in half an hour. I just need to finish up with a patient and I'll be there."

"Okay, I will let him know."

"Actually, can I talk to him?" she asked, suddenly annoyed with the woman on her phone. As soon as she heard her son's voice on the other end of the line Addison found herself smiling. "Hi, sweetheart. You're not feeling well?"

"No. I feel sick."

"I'll be there to pick you up soon, okay? You just try to get some rest until I get there. I have to see one patient and then I'll come straight to you. Half an hour, okay? I promise."

"Okay," Christopher murmured. "Do we have to go back to your office after or can we go home?"

Is that more guilt? She asked herself. "I'll do my best to cancel the rest of my day so we can go home."

"Okay. Thank you, Mommy. I love you."

Mommy? He had stopped calling her that months ago.

"I love you, too, sweetheart. I'll see you soon," she replied before hanging up and going out to the waiting room in hopes that her patient would be on time. "Is my 10:45 here?"

"Yeah, she just took her to an exam room to get her set up," the receptionist confirmed.

"Perfect. Thanks," Addison mumbled, grateful that she might actually be able to make it to her son as promised.

One amnio and five minutes of nervous questions later, Addison was practically running to her car in 4 inch heels. Going fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit and cutting off one old woman on the drive helped her get to the school just within the 30 minute window she had promised. She walked into the school office to sign her son out before they released her son into her care. She took him home and let him curl up in her bed while she made him chicken noodle soup.

That night, she spent her time with her son cuddled against her. His tiny body radiated with heat from his relentless fever. Just when she thought she was falling asleep, he jolted awake and vomited on her favorite sheets.

"I'm sorry," he whispered with tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to."

"That's okay," she reassured him. "Let's go get you washed up and changed and I'll change the sheets," she told him softly, helping him out of bed.

She knew she'd be under-slept and exhausted the next morning. She knew she might catch whatever bug he was carrying. But she didn't care. All that mattered in that moment was that she be able to provide her son with some semblance of comfort.

After a long day of nursing her son through his flu, Addison tiptoed out of her room where he was sleeping to have a few minutes to herself with a glass of wine. Just as she settled on the couch with the glass in hand, her phone buzzed.

"Hey Violet."

"Hey, am I bothering you? Heard your kid is sick."

"No, you're not bothering me. Yeah, he is. He's asleep upstairs so I finally get a few minutes to myself."

"Oh, good. I'm not really a kid person but uh, he's pretty easy going. Doesn't seem too bothersome."

"He's got his moments," Addison replied dryly as she took a sip of his wine. "Did you call me to talk yourself out of having kids?"

"No, I made that decision without any help," Violet replied. "Actually, I called because I was hoping you'd give me your ex-husband's phone number?"

"You want my ex-husband's phone number..." Addison repeated, somewhat confused. She and Violet had gotten friendly enough since she moved to Los Angeles, but they weren't nearly close enough for her to ask Addison to date her ex-husband. "You should know, he's got a kid..."

"What?" Violet asked. "Oh! No! I'm not asking for anything personal. I mean, he's very attractive but he's got too much baggage for me. No offense."

"None taken," Addison laughed. "What did you need his number for?"

"I wanted to get his opinion on a patient," Violet explained. "She thinks she is seeing and speaking to god. She thinks she's got some sort of religious gift that makes her holy. I ordered an MRI and I wanted to go over with him and get his opinion. These types of tumors get lots of press and I know I would love to publish. I thought Derek might be interested in getting in on the action. Surgeons love attention, don't they?"

"We do love to publish," Addison confirmed. "I'm sure Derek would be very interested. I will text you his number."

"Great, thanks." Violet let out a sigh of relief. "I'm gonna call and try to get Charlotte on board."

"Okay, good luck," Addison told her before hanging up and sending her Derek's phone number. She took another sip of her wine and turned on the TV. Almost as soon as she entered the code to unlock the parental block, she heard a little footsteps come down the stairs.

"What are you watching?" he asked as she climbed onto the couch beside her.

"I'm not sure yet. I just turned on the TV. I thought you were asleep."

"I was. But then I woke up and you weren't there."

Addison kissed the top of her son's head. "Sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to leave you on your own. Want me to come back up?"

"No. Can we watch TV here?"

"Sure," Addison replied as she scrolled through the guide. "What do you want to watch?"

"Can we watch Married With Children?" he asked innocently.

She was about to turn off the TV and launch a half an hour long lecture about why that TV show was not appropriate for him when she saw the look of exhaustion in his eyes. Should couldn't bring herself to disappoint him. "We can watch whatever you want, sweetheart," she told him and passed the remote control to him.

They didn't even make it to the end of the catchy theme song in the opening credits before he fell asleep with his head on her lap. Addison ran her fingers through his wavy dark brown hair. Just as she was about to change the channel, she heard her son protest half asleep. "No, I'm watching," he mumbled only semi-coherently.

Addison left the show on, forcing herself to sit through the whole episodes so her son could sleep peacefully.

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. I'd love to hear your thoughts :)