"Addie!" Derek exclaimed happily when the elevator doors opened to the floor of her practice and he saw her standing at the reception desk flipping through a handful of pink slips of paper- what he assumed to her messages. He quickly closed the distance between them and hugged her tight, not catching the confused look at her face.

"Do you want me to call security, Dr. Montgomery?" The young receptionist whispered as Addison took a step back to step out of Derek's arms.

"Why would you call security?" Derek asked the girl behind the desk. "I'm her husband."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the young woman blushed in embarrassment. "I didn't know. I'm new. I've only been here about a week," the young woman quickly tried to explain herself in embarrassment.

"Ex-husband. He's my ex-husband." Addison corrected pointedly for the young woman's clarification before turning back to Derek. "What are you doing here? You said you can't get time off work this month to visit."

"I'm here for work. I'm consulting on the case Violet called about. She sent me the MRI and I was very intrigued. She said she told you about it. It's a big case, Addie. Huge. Might be one of my biggest cases since New York."

"That's great. I'm really excited for you to have the opportunity, but I spoke to you last night when you called to check on Christopher. Why didn't you tell me you were coming? A little warning would have been nice. We talked about this," she reminded him.

"I wanted to surprise you and Chris," Derek shrugged. "I didn't think you would mind. Do you mind?"

Addison rolled her eyes in response. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Violet making her way down the hall toward them and turned to address her, "Violet, why didn't you tell me that my ex husband is flying to help you on your case?"

Violet shrugged. "I forgot. Plus, you two are on great terms. I didn't think you would mind. You don't mind, do you? It's a huge case. It will be great publicity for us. We're gonna publish!" She told Addison excitedly.

"Yeah, I've heard," she mumbled under her breath. She paused for a second to muster enough enthusiasm to say, "I don't mind."

"Great, hey Derek. Great to see you again. Thanks for coming." Violet smiled and greeted Derek with a friendly hug. "I have the file in my office. The patient is scheduled to be here in about an hour. We can review first. Oh, and later on this afternoon I have an appointment for you with the chief of staff of St. Ambrose for emergency surgical privileges. I'm sure she'll agree, it's a huge case and she wants the bragging rights as much as we do."

"Wow, you've got all the prep down. I'm ready. Lead the way," Derek replied, following behind her.

"That's your ex husband?" The receptionist asked once they were gone. "And you don't mind that he's here working with one of your friends?"

Addison shrugged. "I don't mind that he's working with Violet. I do mind that he just showed up here without telling me but I'll get over it. Our son will be so happy to have him here for a few days. He misses his dad a lot when they are apart. It will be nice for them to have the time together."

"That must have been one amicable divorce."

"Well, like I said, we have a child together. We have to try to be amicable for him."

"My parents tried the whole co parenting thing when they got divorced. My mom would make me wait in the driveway when my dad was supposed to pick me up so she didn't have to see him. That's as amicable as it got."

Addison awkwardly looked at the college aged receptionist that had only been working in the office for a week. Was being a part of a small co-op practice being shockingly aware of the details of her team's life? "I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been difficult for you."

"No, it's okay. I'm just shocked that there are parents who are able to co parent and actually be friendly after divorce."

A few hours later Derek lightly knocked on Addison's office door and let himself in to find her sitting behind her desk with her head down.

"Hey," he said softly, causing her to lift her head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just tired," she told him as she sat upright and took a deep breath. "Did you need something?"

"I was hoping to use your office to do some paperwork for privileges at St. Ambrose. I just had a meeting with the chief of staff."

"Sure," Addison agreed, gesturing to the couch and coffee table.

"Thanks, Ad," he told her as he got settled on the couch and started going through the paperwork he brought in with him. The next time he glanced in her direction, he noticed her head was down again and that her eyes had drifted shut. "Addie?" he called out softly to wake her. "Do you want to switch? You can get some rest on the couch. You seem exhausted."

Addison nodded, getting up from her desk to switch places with him. "I'm trying to reduce my coffee intake. I was having like eight cups a day. I'm trying to stick to three or less."

"Isn't three still a lot?"

"It's less than eight," she pointed out.

Derek nodded, "This is true. Have you been getting enough sleep?'

"Christopher was sick for four days last week. I barely slept through that, but the last few days have been fine."

"Do you think you caught what he had?"

"I hope not. I do not have time to get sick right now. I have surgeries scheduled this week and my patients would not be thrilled to reschedule because I caught my son's flu." she replied, covering her eyes with her hand. "I just need to rest a little. I have a patient in an hour and then I'm booked the rest of the day so this is my only chance."

"Okay, I'll keep it down," he promised, focusing on his work. He was just about to reach across her desk for her white out when he noticed a small framed photo facing him. It was a picture of Christopher as a toddler, smiling happily in Derek's arms. His ex-wife had a photo of him on her desk. He turned toward her to ask when he realized she had drifted off again. "Addie," he whispered, causing her to open her eyes again and give him a miserable look. "Why do you have a picture of me on your desk?"

"It's a picture of Christopher," she replied.

"But I'm in it. I'm the one holding him. And it's not like half of my arm or my back or anything. Like I'm fully in this picture, smiling at the camera and everything. And it's on your desk."

"Derek, does now seem like a good time to do an inventory of the photos I've chosen for my office?" she asked tiredly.

"No..." he mumbled. "But it's right on your desk. Right in front of you. Every single time you sit at your desk."

"And?"

"And you have a picture of me on your desk."

"It's one of my favorite memories of when he was a little. We were in the Hamptoms, remember? The first summer we bought the house. The first time we went all three of us. He was so excited about the pool. He was running toward it when you grabbed him to stop him because he didn't know how to swim but he was so excited."

Derek nodded. "I remember that weekend."

"It was a great weekend. He learned to swim in two days and he never got out of the water. He was such a happy kid." Now he's gotten so big that he doesn't call her "Mommy" anymore. When did that even happen?

"Yeah," Derek agreed.

"If the picture bothers you, I'll switch it out for another one."

Derek glanced at the photo again. "No, it's okay. I guess I was just surprised to see it."

"You going to let me get some sleep now?" she asked hopefully.

Derek nodded his head. "Yeah, go ahead," he replied. He watched her eyes drift closed again but he couldn't turn his focus to his work. His eyes stayed glued on the photo on his wife's desk. What does it mean when your ex-wife has a picture of you on her desk?

"Daddy!" Christopher jumped into his father's arms when he got home to find his father cooking in the kitchen. "Mom said you can't take a break from work to visit for a few weeks."

"I had to come here for work. So I get to work and spend time with you," Derek explained.

"You're making dinner?" Chris asked, standing on his tip toes to try to see what his dad was making. It was no secret that Christopher preferred his father's cooking over his mother's. Through his childhood, Derek was responsible for most of the home cooked meals Christopher ate. They were simple dishes, specifically made to please a picky child. It wasn't until after they moved to Los Angeles that Christopher discovered that his mother actually knew how to cook, and not only did she cook, but she loved making the kinds of recipes he thought were only served at fancy restaurants. He hoped to see a simple bland chicken, or maybe plain, buttered noodles. Instead his jaw dropped when he saw what was in the pot. "Is that lobster?!" He asked. Derek couldn't tell if he was happy or upset.

"Yeah, do you like lobster?"

"No!" Chris exclaimed unhappily. "That's so gross! And so mean! You killed it?!"

"Umm..." Derek was unsure how to reply. He hasn't seen his son in almost three weeks since Addison brought him to Seattle. Was his son one of those Los Angeles animal rights hippies suddenly? If he was, Derek didn't want to demean his opinions. "Addison?!" He called out, she could bail him out of the situation.

"She's still in the car. She said she's got a headache and needs a few minutes of quiet time."

"Oh. Okay, why don't you go change out of your uniform and wash your hands," Derek told his son. Watching him go upstairs before he stepped out of the house to find Addison with her head against the steering wheel in her car in the driveway. "You okay?"

His voice startled her and she jolted up. "Yeah, just a headache."

"Withdrawal kicking in, huh?" he asked.

"Derek, could you be a little less smug about this?" she asked, clearly annoyed with him.

"Jeez, sorry. I'm just teasing. Hey, by the way, is our son a member of PETA now?"

"What?"

"He was very upset that I'm making lobster. Is he like an animal rights activist now? Does he realize you're not a pleather person and that all your shoes, purses, and some of your clothes are 100% leather?"

She ignored the rest of his comment to say, "You're making lobster?"

"Yeah. And scallops. And pasta. I figured we can put it together like a seafood pasta sort of thing."

"So my house smells like seafood?" She asked, trying not to gag at the thought.

"Are you against seafood now too?" He asked, confused from the reaction he got from both mother and son.

"No, I was just hoping for something bland and carby for dinner tonight," she admitted. "But lobster is fine. Thank you for making dinner." She recovered in her reaction as they walked into the house.

"Should I make something else for Chris?"

"No. Pasta is fine. We can just leave some plain for him. And maybe for me too."

"You sure? I don't want to offend his beliefs if he's vegetarian now."

"He's not vegetarian. He just really likes Sebastian in The Little Mermaid so he always gets upset when people eat lobster."

"Oh. We've been living apart for less than six months and I'm already unaware of my son's weird new quirks."

"To be fair, that's not a new quirk. He's been against cooking lobster since he watched The Little Mermaid at your mom's house with Kathleen's girls three Christmases ago. You were just too busy with work to keep up with those types of details."

"Oh," Derek repeated. "I guess I never realized what I'm missing while I was at work."

Addison nodded, "You're doing better now. I know Christopher appreciates the time he has with you, even if it's just a daily phone call."

Derek nodded, "It's too late now, isn't ? I've already missed so much."

"I don't think so. I think it's never too late to become a better, more present parent," Addison shrugged. "But what would I know about functional parent/child relationships?"

"A lot. You're such a good mom, Addison. You've got a great relationship with our son."

"I was talking about my own relationship with my parents, but thanks Derek. That means a lot," she responded with a small smile. "I'm gonna go upstairs and try to get some rest before dinner. Can you make sure Chris does his homework, please?"

Derek nodded as his ex-wife walked away. "Should have just stuck to ordering pizza. Who do I think I am, Julia Child?" he whispered to himself.

"Who are you talking to?" his son suddenly asked from the halfway point of the staircase.

"No one."

Christopher gave his father an unconvinced look, "You and Mom are being weird," he told him. "Must be an old person thing."

"Hey! We're not old! I'm not even 40 yet! We're barely middle aged," Derek said defensively.

"That's old," his son informed him as he turned on the TV only to be met with a warning pop up asking for a security code to unlock the channel. "Daddy, do you know the secret code for the good channels?"

The next morning, Derek had a meeting at St. Ambrose to meet the surgical team he would be working with. Meanwhile, Addison dropped off her son at school and headed in to work.

"I think I caught what Christopher had," Addison complained to Naomi as she miserably leaded against the kitchen counter at work. "I feel miserable."

"Yeah, something's going around. Coops had sick kids in the waiting room all week," Naomi replied. "You should cancel your patients. You don't want to pass that on to anyone else."

Addison nodded as she took a sip of the green juice. "My head is pounding," she complained, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Is that a normal flu symptom for you?"

"No, none of this is normal for me. I can normally just pop a few pills and move on with my life," she told Naomi. "Remember residency? I didn't miss a single day."

"Do you think it could be something else?" Naomi asked.

"Like what?" Addison asked.

"I don't know," Naomi shrugged, "I can do a flu test and a blood test so we can figure it out."

Addison gave Naomi a doubtful look. "You think that's necessary?"

Naomi shrugged again, "Just trying to help you figure out what's going on."

Addison took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay, you're right. Let's do it."

After his meeting, Derek went over to Oceanside Wellness to review the file. Once again, he walked into Addison's office to find her curled up on the couch.

"Hey," she mumbled tiredly when she saw him at the door. "Yes, you can use my office," she said before he could even ask.

"Thanks," he replied, getting settled at her desk. "Still not feeling well?"

"No, it's worse today. I'm just exhausted. Like someone sucked all the energy out of me."

"That it? Any new symptoms?"

"No, not really. Just tired. It's probably your son. I thought it gets easy when they get older but he's just so much work," she sighed, feeling guilty for complaining about her only child.

"You were complaining of headaches yesterday. That gone?" he asked curiously.

"The headache comes and goes. I think it's just my body adjusting to the caffeine decrease. Right?"

"I don't know, I'm starting to think that it might be more than that. Maybe you should see a doctor," Derek suggested. "Maybe you've got an iron deficiency. You do look a bit pale. Have you seen a doctor recently or had blood work? Have you ruled out anemia?"

"I saw Naomi for fertility testing when I first moved. I did do blood work but I'm not sure if she checked for an iron deficiency. Naomi offered to run a couple of tests earlier this morning. Flu test came back negative. We should have the CBC results by the end of the day."

"Oh, that's good," he replied. "Do you want to go home in the meanwhile? Maybe a day off to rest comfortably at home will help more than ten minute naps on that couch."

"I cancelled my patients. Just gotta get through these files and I'll go home."

"Take the files home and do them when you feel up to it. I'll get Chris from school and we'll pick up dinner on our way home. You should rest."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course. You take care of him all on your own like 90 percent of the time. The least I could do is help take care of you. We're still a team, right?"

"Right. Thanks, Derek," Addison told him as she tiredly rubbed her eyes.

"See, it's not so bad having me around. I could actually help when you need me."

She let you a tired sigh. "We're not having this conversation again, Derek. You can't move here."

"But I like it here. I like this practice and I liked the hospital you guys are affiliated with. The cases seem interesting, the schedule is more relaxed. You're clearly not hurting for money with the reduced hours. Plus, the weather is nice down here."

"Derek," Addison sighed, "You can't move here."

He groaned unhappily. He always thought his charm could persuade people to let him have his way. It clearly worked well enough to get Addison to go out with him back when he was just a nerdy med student and she was the hot girl. When did it stop working on her?

Just as Addison was packing up her files in her briefcase to leave, Naomi appeared in the doorway of her office. "Do you have a minute?" she asked nervously.

"I was just heading out to get some rest at home."

"There is something kind of big that we need to discuss before you leave," Naomi told her.

"Is it a patient? Is it a billing issue?"

"No, it's not about work. I uh, got your test results."

"Already?" Addison asked in surprise. "What is it?"

"I think we should have this conversation privately, Addison."

"You're scaring me, Nai," Addison admitted, her heart starting to pound in her chest.

Derek stood from her desk and moved toward the couch to sit beside Addison. "I can go wait outside so you guys can have privacy," he told her softly as he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Whatever Nai says, I'll be here for you, okay? You won't have to do anything on your own."

"No, don't go. Nai, just tell us. Is it serious? Whatever it is, just tell me."

Derek kept her hand in his as they both looked anxiously at Naomi. Both of them with their hearts pounding in their ribcage at the look of concern on Naomi's face.

Her lips opened to say something but no words came out as Naomi tried to build the courage to share the information. "I don't know how to tell you this," she admitted softly.

"Just tell me. Tell us."

Any guesses on the news Naomi has to share? I eagerly await your guesses in the reviews.