The next day...

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Derek asked quietly from the doorway of the hospital room. He was watching mother and daughter together and couldn't help but feel relieved, even if he was angry that Addison had cheated on him more than once. But he wouldn't help himself from asking the question----even if the answer was obvious. Addison looked up from breast feeding her new daughter and sighed.

Heavily.

"Derek, I don't think that this is the time or the place to discuss that." She looked down at Vivian and smiled. "I'd like some time alone with my little girl."

He stepped into the room and crossed his arms over his chest. "I disagree." He strode toward the bed and sat on the chair across from it. "We are going to have this conversation now and then we never have to talk about this subject ever again." He said quietly. She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes.

"You're not angry?" She asked, not understanding why he wasn't screaming at her, but he was incredibly calm—but then, didn't she always have a hard time getting any kind of reaction from Derek? Hadn't he always buried everything he'd ever felt and hidden behind his professional mask? She shouldn't have been surprised. She looked down at Vivian, who was sleeping contentedly on her chest. "I wish she was yours and I'm sorry for everything, Der, but I understand if you are angry and just not saying it to my face."

He raised his eyebrows. "Angry?" He looked toward the ceiling, his lips pursed together, as if trying to find the words he needed written above. "I'm too happy with Meredith to be angry about this." He admitted and looked back down at Addison, but clearly, he meant business. "We're finished, Addy. Forever finished. I can't be your friend and I don't think that you can be mine. To tell you the truth, I feel relieved that Vivian isn't mine." He said truthfully, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes. " I don't think I could have ever been the father to her that she needed anyway."

"You're probably right about that. You haven't been around much this past year." She accused lightly.

"And you tried to pass off another mans child as mine. That's low—even for you." He shot back.

"I wasn't sure. I didn't think that there was even a chance that she wasn't yours."

"Who is he anyway?"

"Does it matter?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I guess not." He said flatly and stood. That's when he noticed the ring on her finger. "Is that for real?"

She glanced down at the full carat engagement ring that Alex had given her the night of Vivian's birth and smiled wryly. "He loves me." She said simply, as if that were all there was to it. "He wants to be a father to Vivian and he makes me happy.

"Do you love him?"

She looked at him carefully before speaking. "Love—what is it exactly?" She cocked her head to the side and half laughed. "He makes me happy. He's a wonderful lover and he pays attention to me, Derek." She went on even though he blanched at her words—as she was directly targeting him and his lack of attention during their marriage. "He's been with me every step of the way, ever since I found out I was pregnant and even before we broke up I knew that he wanted me."

He had no words—nothing left to say, accept goodbye. But this time it was more—it was like finishing one book, setting it down and then picking up another. His life with Meredith was going to be complete—or at least it would in about another four weeks. The fiasco with Addison was coming to a close and now Alex Karev was going to step in and adopt another man's child. Who would have thought him capable of doing such a noble thing? And who cared? A little voice inside him cried out. He was now starting a new book, with new chapters, new things to discover.

And he couldn't wait to go home to Meredith.

"Goodbye, Addison." He said sincerely. "I suspect that this is the last time we'll really be talking to each other on a personal basis. I wish you and Alex all the best."

"Goodbye, Derek. I'm sorry that things turned out this way." She offered.

He smiled—this time genuinely. "I'm not." He turned and went for the door. "Oh, and Addy?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Ya?"

"She really is beautiful."