A/N: I can't believe I'm really here at chapter 20! Thanks to everyone that's been reading and enjoying the story. Again, it's v much appreciated 3.
That night, Derek got home and found Nate in his bouncer seat and a pacifier with a stuffed dog attached at the end, hanging from his mouth. Derek went straight for him to pick him up for a quick snuggle. Nate looked at him as he reached down for him and looked happy to see him. Addison, however, was loading the dishwasher as he walked in and turned around to see the sweet moment.
"Hey," Addison smiled, leaning on the now-closed dishwasher.
"Hey," Derek walked over with Nate still in his arms. When he got to Addison, he gave her a quick but sweet kiss hello.
"So, how was he today? Any big milestones?" Derek asked, bouncing Nate around. Nate cooed in response.
"No, no big milestones," Addison said, chuckling.
"Well, at least he's starting to get his smile down," Derek looked at Nate, who was now resting his head on his chest.
"I think someone's ready for bath time," Addison said in his baby voice.
After Derek gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, he carried him up to start his bath time routine, with Addison following closely behind. As they washed him in the small bathtub they set up for him, Derek and Addison talked about how the rest of their days went. Addison talked about how talkative Nate was getting, and hearing him babble as they bathed him only proved her point. Derek wished he could've been there to hear it all, but hearing him make noises now as his lips marginally curved upward was a good compromise.
"So, there's something I have to tell you," Derek said as they dried Nate off with a small towel.
"Is everything okay?" Addison sensed the gravitas in his voice.
"Yeah, it's fine. It's just…," Derek started. Addison grabbed a diaper, and they both put on Nate's diaper as he kicked his legs around. It made it difficult for them to clean him, but his desire to move around more made them both laugh.
"Meredith's sister is one of the new interns," Derek revealed, sighing. Her name still nauseated him. But Addison, seeing how hard it was for him to say it, only proved how committed he was to her now.
"Her sister?" Addison asked.
"Well, her half-sister, apparently," Derek corrected himself.
"Wow," Addison didn't know what else to say.
"Apparently they don't get along. And with the Mercy West merger, she didn't feel like staying in Seattle anymore," Derek explained further.
Addison nodded, signaling that she understood. Derek kept looking at her, waiting to see if she was going to say anything else. But she didn't. She just went to pick up a squirming Nate and started walking downstairs to warm up his bottle.
"That's it?" Derek asked, following her down the stairs.
"Is there more?" Addison asked as Nate played with Addison's hair.
"No…but, I just…I thought you'd be more concerned or something," Derek stammered. Addison's non-reaction threw him off.
"What do you want me to say, Derek?" Addison asked. She didn't mean for it to come out sounding so defensive.
"I…I don't know," Derek stumbled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so…defensive," Addison admitted as Nate tried to reach toward the cup on the kitchen counter. Addison readjusted him to rein him in. After that, Nate got fussier upon realizing that he couldn't get the cup.
"Look, we're good," Addison said hurriedly as she tried to soothe the baby.
It didn't seem very convincing, as she was more distracted by the fussy baby, but she meant it. Derek got the bottle out of the microwave, now that it was warm, and put it in Nate's mouth, which stopped him from crying. Addison giggled at how easy it was for Derek to calm him as he held onto the bottle to keep it from dropping in her free hand.
"Seriously," Addison insisted after another minute passed.
"You're really okay with this?" Derek asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Addison nodded, moving closer to her husband to give him a kiss.
This wasn't an issue. She was Meredith's sister, but she wasn't Meredith. And their relationship was in a good place. The best place. They weren't tiptoeing around their issues and they grew to trust each other again. Mark and Derek were best friends again, and she and Derek were more fulfilled professionally, too. And while running a new surgical residency program at St. Ambrose, running a medical practice from home, and taking care of their new baby exhausted them, they were also deliriously happy. Addison was determined not to let Lexie become an issue in their relationship. Especially since she didn't think it was a big deal, anyway.
As Derek extended what was meant to be a sweet but quick kiss, Addison's hand moved over to his cheek. Then they both heard Nate drop his bottle on the ground and babble. Addison's hand had been holding onto the bottle for Nate, so him dropping the bottle was inevitable. They laughed, their lips still touching, before Derek kneeled to pick up the bottle. When he stood back up, Nate was flailing his arms around excitedly, his lips curved upwards into a small smile.
"Think you dropped this, buddy," Derek said, putting the bottle back into Nate's mouth. Nate's hands wrapped around the bottle again as he went back to drinking his milk.
"But, nice grip so far," Addison commented, giggling as she put her free hand back on the bottle for support.
Then, Derek followed Addison back upstairs, where they started his bedtime routine. Addison rocked him as Derek picked up an acoustic guitar sitting next to the closet. After Naomi brought up their song at the bar after Archer's surgery, Derek brought his guitar out from storage to practice again.
Addison remembered he used to play to destress when he felt burnt out in the earlier days of their marriage. At some point, the guitar just collected dust in their home office, so she finally put it in storage. But now, with Nate, they thought it'd be nice to expose him to music early on. And Derek playing the guitar and singing softly would encourage Nate to recognize his father's voice, even though he wasn't around as much as they'd like.
Derek usually sang something classic. The Beatles, Billy Joel, Queen, and even Michael Jackson this one time when he just wanted to get Nate to laugh. And it worked. But tonight, Derek strummed something Addison found familiar, but she couldn't figure out what the song was at the moment. That is until he started singing the chorus. It was their song. The one he sang at their wedding.
Addison wasn't much of a singer, and other than her stint of playing the saxophone in high school, she wasn't as musically inclined as her husband. She could still carry a tune, but not as well as Derek. He could hear something and figure out how to play it by ear relatively quickly. And while Addison could read music, she couldn't read it nearly as fast as she used to. But she'd like to think she could still play a song or two if someone gave her a saxophone.
A few weeks later, Addison went back to work at Oceanside Wellness, and the chaos of running a new surgical residency program started to die down. They got a nanny for Nate and agreed to not take on more than they could handle at work. Sloan's grades slowly got better, thanks to the tutor Mark got for her, and Mark adjusted to parenthood quite nicely. At Oceanside Wellness, Violet and Cooper went off to Costa Rica to take some time off. After about two weeks, Cooper came back, but Violet didn't.
When Addison asked if she'd ever come back, Cooper's response wasn't very helpful. The honest truth was, he didn't know if she was coming back. Apparently, Violet specifically asked to cut off all contact for a while. How long that would be, neither of them knew. Cooper's now, if not temporary, zen mood also didn't help. But Addison had to live with it. So, now Oceanside was without Naomi, Pete, and Violet.
They'd already bought Naomi's shares, but losing both Pete and now Violet could be detrimental to the practice. So, Addison held a meeting with everyone else. They needed at least one more doctor to stay afloat, financially speaking. But the idea of going through resumes felt exhausting. And this practice was special. They couldn't just let anyone join Oceanside Wellness.
"What about Sheldon?" Charlotte offered.
"What about him? He works downstairs," Sam asked.
"Yeah, but he's up here all the time," Dell pointed out.
"He works for the enemy!" Cooper exclaimed. Sam pointed at him as if saying they were on the same page. But truth be told, he also started resenting Sheldon now that he and Charlotte were together. Or at least sleeping together.
"Wait, hold on," Addison put a hand up.
"That's not a bad idea," Addison added.
"We can't hire the enemy!" Sam exclaimed.
"You guys hired me," Charlotte pointed out.
"Not by choice," Sam muttered. Charlotte glared back.
She knew he still didn't like her, but she'd been a great addition to Oceanside so far. Her specialty was interesting and it brought in plenty of new patients. Charlotte knew she was the reason why Pacific Wellcare was even a thing, and why it was just downstairs. But she repented, paid her way into Oceanside, brought in extra business, and even paid for her now ex-boyfriend.
Plus, she was still chief of staff at St. Ambrose. She referred most of their patients here. So, she knew she well made up for her mistakes. And she knew she wasn't heartless. Despite what William White thought, and what Cooper thought, for that matter. So, she certainly wouldn't waste her energy caring about what Sam thought of her.
"Charlotte's right. And Sheldon's a great doctor. And we need another great doctor that we all get along with," Addison pointed out.
"Who said we all get along with him?" Cooper muttered. Charlotte glared at him too.
"Okay, that's enough," Addison scolded the both of them silently chewing each other out.
"Whether you guys like it or not, Sheldon is our best option. And I think we should offer him a job here," Addison said.
"What about Violet?" Sam asked.
"We don't even know if Violet's coming back!" Dell pointed out. Earlier, Addison talked to him about this issue, so he was well aware of the situation with Violet.
"She could come back," Sam offered.
"Look, the point is, we don't know if she's coming back. And we already lost Nai and Pete. We need another doctor to compete. Sheldon's already taking over Violet's cases, anyway. It won't be that big of an adjustment," Addison laid it all out.
"All in favor?" Addison asked.
They couldn't help but realize she was right. One by one, they all raised their hands. Addison nodded and then left the room. Soon after, everyone followed her lead and went back to work. With Dell's help, the paperwork didn't take long to complete. And Sheldon was just downstairs, so Addison walked down to find him. When she got there, he was chatting with some of his colleagues in the main lobby.
"Sheldon," Addison called for his attention as his colleagues dispersed.
"Addison, what brings you down here?" Sheldon greeted her politely.
"Can we talk? Possibly in private?" Addison asked.
Sheldon led her to his office, as he thought she might want some psychiatric help, as she also confided in him when Bizzy and the Captain showed up. She didn't intend to talk to him about it all, but at the time, she was too damaged not to talk. Plus, they were practically strangers at the time, which made it easier for her to talk to him.
"So, what can I help you with?" Sheldon asked, pointing towards the chair in his office after closing his office door.
"Oh, I…I'm not here for me. Well, I am, just not for what you think," Addison added as she stayed standing.
"Then what are you here for?" Sheldon asked, confused.
"An opportunity. For you," Addison handed him the paperwork. It didn't take long for Sheldon to realize it was an offer letter.
"You do realize I work here," Sheldon pointed out.
"Yes, of course I do," Addison chuckled.
"But we think you could be doing more with us," Addison said ominously.
"We? So, you all want me to work upstairs?" Sheldon asked. He couldn't imagine Sam and Cooper wanting him to join the practice. Cooper caught him and Charlotte on the couch together, whereas Sam had a fierce loyalty to his own practice and hatred for practically all-things Pacific Wellcare.
"Yes, we. Sheldon, you're a great psychiatrist, and I know, partly from experience, that you care about and fight for your patients just as much as we do upstairs. I know you already have a job here, but we would love to have you upstairs," Addison responded.
"Wow, you must really want me then," Sheldon chuckled. He never thought he'd hear Addison reference their previously private talks without any kind of prodding.
"You know me well," Addison indulged him.
"I should get back to work. But you know where to find me," Addison added before leaving his office.
It took until the end of the day for Sheldon to ride the elevator up to Oceanside Wellness. When the doors opened, Dell greeted him and smiled. He knew it meant Sheldon was taking the job. And he was right. Sheldon went straight to Addison's office and dropped off the now-signed offer letter. He also added that he turned in his two-weeks notice downstairs so he wouldn't be able to start just yet. Addison smiled, got up from her chair, and shook his hand, welcoming him to Oceanside Wellness.
That night, just as Derek and Addison crept out of Nate's nursery, the doorbell rang. And it woke Nate up from his previously peaceful slumber. They wouldn't feel so frustrated if it hadn't taken them almost twice as long to get him to sleep tonight. But it did. Derek went back to soothe a now-crying baby as Addison went downstairs to see who was at the front door. When she got there, she found Naomi.
"Nate just fell asleep," Addison said as she opened the door. They could both hear the baby crying upstairs.
"I'm sorry, I just…how could you?" Naomi asked, clearly emotional.
"How could I what?" Addison asked. She was exhausted and didn't realize what was really bothering Naomi. Or why she'd ring the doorbell right after they got Nate to fall asleep. Then again, Naomi only rang the bell when no one answered after she knocked.
"Sheldon! You just poach him and expect me not to care?" Naomi asked, letting herself in.
"I'm sorry, Nai, it wasn't personal. We needed another doctor," Addison explained, trying her hardest not to yawn as she closed the front door.
"You already have a psychiatrist!" Naomi pointed out.
"No, we don't," Addison said, putting a hand up to remind her to keep her voice down. Nate wasn't crying anymore, but he was still awake. She could hear him babbling and cooing from downstairs.
"Violet's gone. We don't know if she's ever coming back," Addison added.
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Naomi asked, immediately intrigued.
"She didn't come back from Costa Rica. And Cooper says he doesn't know if he's coming back," Addison informed her.
"Wow," Naomi plopped down on the couch.
"Yeah," Addison sighed, plopping down next to her.
"Wow, Violet's really not coming back," Naomi said, letting it sink in.
"I really thought…I thought she'd get better," Naomi added.
"Me too. I mean, that whole night was…a lot. For all of us. So, I get it, I just…," Addison tried to form the words, but couldn't figure out what she wanted to say.
"Yeah, me too," Naomi agreed, even though Addison didn't fully finish her thought.
"So…are we good?" Addison asked after a minute of leaning on each other's shoulders.
"Yeah, we're good," Naomi said, solemnly.
"Nai?" Derek asked as he spotted her from the bottom of the staircase. Both girls turned to look at him. He held the baby, who was still awake.
"What are you doing here?" Derek chuckled as she got up and met him in the middle. Derek handed Nate over to Addison as he and Naomi had a quick hug. It'd been a while since he'd seen her. He'd been so busy working at St. Ambrose that his life really consisted mostly of being at St. Ambrose and at home.
"She wasn't too happy about me taking Sheldon," Addison informed him, readjusting Nate in her arms as he squirmed.
"But she isn't anymore?" Derek took notice of how close they'd been on the couch.
"No, no, we're good now," Naomi chuckled.
"Sorry for waking you up," Naomi said in her baby voice, taking a closer look at Nate.
"You remember Auntie Nai?" Addison cooed at the baby and he looked up at her. Seeing her smile made him smile.
"Look at that little smile!" Naomi cooed as she played with his feet.
"I guess that means I'll get him a bottle," Derek chuckled before giving his wife a quick kiss and heading towards the fridge.
"Thank you!" Addison called out, bouncing Nate up and down in her arms.
"How is the little guy, anyway?" Naomi asked. It'd been a while since she'd checked in.
"He's good! He'd be better if he went back to sleep though," Addison looked down at Nate, where he looked up at her innocently.
"And I can't even be mad at you, huh?" Addison added. Nate giggled back.
"You've got your mom wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" Noami directed the question toward Nate. He looked back at her in wonder. Clearly, he found all the baby talk amusing.
When Derek got back, Nate wrapped his hands around the bottle once he popped it into his mouth. After cooing with the baby for a little longer, Naomi said goodnight to Derek, Addison, and Nate, and went back home. It took another half hour, but Nate finally fell asleep. Once Derek and Addison got to their bedroom, they immediately went to bed, just exhausted from their day.
Two weeks passed and Sheldon came up to join everyone at Oceanside. Things were looking up financially, but Addison knew this wouldn't be the end of it. Pacific Wellcare was still a formidable competitor, but for now, things were good. Stable. At St. Ambrose, things were still plenty busy, but the attendings were getting the hang of teaching. And it was going well enough for both Derek and Charlotte that they no longer had to hand-hold everyone through the process.
Eventually, Nate hit three months. With help from his nanny, Nate had a much more set sleeping and eating schedule. Derek was also happy that he could finally leave work a little earlier to spend more time with him. Addison's work at Oceanside Wellness gave her a much more flexible schedule, but now Derek came home a little earlier in the evenings whenever he could. And when he did, they'd have a nice family dinner. Just the three of them.
As for Sloan, she settled into her new life with Mark. It'd been three months since she gave birth to Nate, which prompted Addison to ask Mark if she ever wanted to visit him. Thus far, she hadn't come to visit the baby. While she knew it must've been hard for Sloan to not only have a baby and give him away, but also adjust to a whole new life in LA. Sloan mostly kept her distance from Derek and Addison, but when her school had a half day, she found herself at St. Ambrose. She would've much rather gone out somewhere with her friends, but after she flunked her last algebra class, Mark grounded her until she could get her grades up. Her teacher suggested Sloan do some extra credit to catch up, and Mark agreed.
After a day or two of Sloan trying to study at home alone, she complained it was too quiet. She wanted to go to a cafe to do her homework. Something about having some ambient noise could be helpful, she suggested. But Mark saw right through Sloan. He knew that if he said yes, she'd just invite her friends to the coffee shop. And when she did, she wouldn't get anything done. So, he told her to come to St. Ambrose. There was a cafeteria here, and this way, he could keep an eye on her between surgeries.
As Sloan studied in the cafeteria, Addison and Dr. Vanessa Hoyt, St. Ambrose's neonatal attending, were discussing a case. They had a surrogate mother with triplets who was throwing blood clots. Vanessa suggested they put an umbrella in to prevent them, but Addison saw the danger in doing so. Instead, Addison wanted her patient to reduce the pregnancy to one baby. But the adopting parents refused, thus why Vanessa was now involved. And it didn't help that Vanessa was also Sam's new girlfriend. As they argued, Addison saw Sloan sitting alone, staring blankly at a wall. Clearly, her textbook wasn't very interesting.
"Sloan?" Addison snapped her out of her distracted state.
"What? Huh?" Sloan blinked.
"Hi, Addison, you dad's friend," Addison reminded her.
"Right, I remember you. You had the affair with my dad, right?" Sloan asked, bluntly. Vanessa couldn't help but clear her throat. She knew Addison and Derek, and that they were married. So, this was certainly surprising.
"Yeah, well, that was a long ago," Addison said quickly, trying to skip past the awkward moment.
"Ahem…, Sloan, Dr. Vanessa Hoyt, Vanessa, this is Mark's daughter," Addison introduced the two.
"Sloan Sloan?" Vanessa thought out loud as she shook the girl's hand.
"Sloan Riley. I grew up with my mom's name," Sloan explained.
"I see. It's nice to meet you," Vanessa found it odd that Mark had a daughter. After all, he had quite the reputation around the hospital.
Later that day, Addison and Vanessa's patient agreed to put the umbrella in. The surrogate wanted to do everything they could to keep all three babies. Despite Addison's competing recommendation. In surgery, they had their cardio attending, Dr. Aryan Singh, and Sam put in the umbrella. Dr. Bailey came to visit a few months prior and Sam got back into surgery again. But the last time he operated was during his residency, which he never finished. With St. Ambrose's new surgical residency program, Sam fit right in as a resident. He was much older than everyone in the program, of course, but he'd at least finish his residency this way. Before the surgery, Addison caught Mark in the hallway.
"Hey!" Addison called out.
"Hey, Red," Mark greeted her.
"You goin' into surgery?" Mark asked, knowing that Addison only came to St. Ambrose for surgeries or to visit Derek.
"You told Sloan about us?" Addison skipped past his question.
"We were bonding," Mark defended himself.
"That is not how you bond with children!" Addison exclaimed.
"I didn't know that," Mark shrugged it off before walking away.
Addison sighed, but knew there was no point in arguing. Sloan knew about the affair, and now so did Vanessa. And it'd only be a matter of time before it spread to the rest of the hospital. After all, every hospital she'd ever worked at loved spreading gossip around. After that, Addison left to go scrub in for surgery.
The surgery went well, and the doctors got the umbrella in. However, it didn't last long as Kayla, their patient, threw another clot. This time, under the umbrella, just as Addison warned. They went back into surgery, this time for Addison to reduce the pregnancy. But Kayla threw another clot in surgery and was deprived of oxygen for too long. She was still alive, but now she was in a coma. Derek did a neuro check and determined she probably wouldn't wake up. And there wasn't anything they could do.
Kayla's husband, Eddie, got angry. And rightfully so. Addison knew the initial surgery was a bad idea, but the adoptive parents and Vanessa pushed for it, leaving her outnumbered. But now, it was too late. They were all devastated. Even though Addison was against it, she still wanted it to work. She still wanted Kayla to make it.
"It's not your fault, you know," Addison told Vanessa when they had a moment alone.
"Yes, it is. But thank you for saying it isn't," Vanessa said appreciatively.
"You made a bad call. We all make bad calls. But you tried," Addison added.
"Thank you," Vanessa said before walking away around the corner.
Watching Kayla like that crushed Eddie. He was in hell and wanted to take her off the machines. And it made everyone uncomfortable. The parents were furious and hired their own lawyer. Eddie fought back and just wanted to give Kayla peace. But with three babies still in her body, they couldn't just unplug her. And the judge they brought in agreed. But with how emotional Eddie was, the judge also decided to keep Eddie out of Kayla's room until the babies became viable.
Charlotte took pity on him. It was hard not to. He clearly was still so in love with his wife. But there were three babies to think about too. Barring Eddie out of Kayla's room felt like too much, though. So Charlotte dismissed the nurse, unlocked her room door, and let Eddie get a minute alone with her. Charlotte had barely rounded the corner when she heard the alarms go off. He unplugged her. Charlotte knew it was a possibility, but she couldn't stand watching Eddie stare from outside Kayla's room.
When the doctors all rushed into Kayla's room, they were surprised to find Kayla breathing on her own. The doctors kept their hands off. Kayla, at this point, was a medical mystery. And possibly a medical miracle. But it was still too soon to tell. Derek did another neuro check and found there wasn't any change. By all means, Kayla shouldn't have been able to breathe on her own. Yet, she was.
Eddie, however, couldn't let go of the idea of Kayla's breathing as a miracle. He did his research and found Dr. Geraldine Ginsberg. She had an impeccable reputation. Eddie went off about how she woke up a coma patient after 17 years. But the fact that Dr. Ginsberg actually flew in to help surprised everyone. But the real surprise came after Dr. Ginsberg instructed her team to do repeat scans.
"Amy?" Addison asked when she saw Derek's baby sister come into Kayla's room.
"Hey, Addie," Amelia turned around, happy she managed to keep her visit a surprise.
"It's a long time no see," Amelia said, smiling. The last time she saw Addison was at Christmas. And it was already August.
"You two know each other?" Dr. Ginsberg asked, a slight surprise in her voice.
"Yes, uh yes. I…I'm married to her brother," Addison chuckled, roping Amelia in for a hug. It didn't matter that Ginsberg was Amelia's boss, or that they were in a professional setting. She missed her sister.
A/N: So, I had Sheldon join Oceanside Wellness earlier rather than later because I realized that Oceanside basically lost three doctors and they did absolutely nothing about it. Like, they bought Naomi's shares of the practice, but I don't think that would offset their losses because they lost Pete and Violet after that, too. And then, for a while, I wasn't exactly sure where this chapter would go, but ultimately decided it was time to bring our favorite, Amelia, in. But regarding the surgery, Sam is now a resident because I still find it ridiculous that Sam was able to just go into cardiothoracic surgery after almost 20 years of not practicing. And he didn't even finish his surgical residency! How was he able to just become a surgeon almost overnight? I don't know, so I hopefully made this more realistic. Or I at least wrote it in a way that made more sense to me as someone who knows next to nothing about the medical field lol.
Lastly, I made Addison and Vanessa have more of a friendly relationship because they only weren't friends because of Sam. So, there's really no reason for that much hostility in this story, other than the fact that they had different medical opinions on what to do with Kayla. Also, if you didn't already notice, this is the patient from season three (episodes 17-19). Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I kinda can't believe I've gotten to 20 chapters! I appreciate all of you reading and of course for all the kind comments 3.