Over the next few months, things were going steadily. Derek and Charlotte pitched their ideas to the board successfully and they were both hard at work building it into something bigger and better. And even Mark was helping out where he could. Months passed as Violet's pregnancy progressed normally but then things turned for the worse. One of her and Pete's patients with a delusion disorder cut her baby out of her. Physically cut him out.
Naomi and Pete rushed her to the hospital where Addison, unsurprisingly, saved the day. Derek stood in the OR with her, Naomi, and later Dell. Dell was trying to be optimistic but him talking to an unconscious Violet just annoyed her more. Derek came over and spoke softly to her and even though it was just a simple, "it's okay, take a deep breath", but it worked. Something about Derek always calmed her. It also helped that before they started operating, he said his famous catchphrase, "it's a beautiful day to save lives".
After that, things got rough. Violet left baby Lucas with Pete and Naomi went to work at Pacific Wellcare on the fourth floor. Sheldon understandably then demanded for a paternity test. Violet, still traumatized after her experience, agreed. This didn't sit well with Pete so he came to try to get Violet to put his name down as Lucas's father on his birth certificate. But Violet refused, citing that this issue was between them.
After Addison performed the paternity test, Pete turned out to be the father after all. He was obviously ecstatic about the news, but Sheldon wasn't. He really did think Lucas had his ears. After the first month or so of Pete trying to get Violet more interested in Lucas's life, Sheldon couldn't take it anymore. He hated the fact that he wasn't the father, but he could see how this was making things worse.
Despite everything, Sheldon still cared about Violet, Lucas, and even Pete. Even if he was still angry at him. So, he suggested Pete go to work with him and Naomi at Pacific Wellcare. He was already downstairs all the time anyway, and Naomi clearly needed a friendly face. Eventually, this meant that Oceanside had to make up for the fact that they lost out on now two physicians. The best way to do that was to buy out Naomi and Pete's shares. This ultimately ended with Charlotte paying for Cooper's spot at the practice as he apparently couldn't. And she handed Addison a blank check to buy into the practice as well.
Charlotte wasn't happy about Naomi taking her job, but Derek's help at St. Ambrose helped. Plus, her new work at Oceanside Wellness would make up for all the extra administrative work she was hoping to minimize. Even though Charlotte helped, this whole project at St. Ambrose was Derek's, so she let him take the reigns where she could. At Oceanside Wellness, she could actually practice as an actual doctor again.
Cooper and Charlotte were still technically together, but things weren't great. Not after Cooper found out she used to be married. They were living together and working together but, as Charlotte put it, they weren't talking. Or they were barely talking. But Addison decided it'd be best to stay out of it. And in the elevator up, she said just as much to them.
"Hello," The Captain greeted Addison as she stopped dead in her tracks with a folded-up newspaper in her hand.
"Hello," Addison said, still feeling frozen in her spot.
"Hello," Cooper smiled as he joined the conversation. Clearly, this wasn't a laughing matter.
"Oh, I thought we were saying hello," Cooper said after realizing that this was hardly the time to be silly.
"We're not," Addison's tone sounded stoic. It was unlike her. Or at least unlike the version of her that Cooper and Charlotte had come to know.
"Kitten," The Captain said as Addison tried to walk past him.
"My name is Addison," Addison looked at the floor as he continued trying to walk past him. But he kept blocking her way.
When the Captain called Addison "Kitten", both looked at the Captain and back at Addison, confused. Cooper thought it might be fun to make some kind of inappropriate comment or joke but he couldn't think of one in the moment. Plus, neither of them seemed like they were in a joking mood. Charlotte and Cooper, instead, resign to watching Addison interact with this mysterious older man.
"I thought that we could have a drink," The Captain proposes as Addison finally gets past him.
"It's nine AM," Addison says as she walks towards her office.
"Ah, I thought we could talk," The Captain says nonchalantly as he turns to face her.
"Are you dying?" Addison asks.
"What?" The Captain asks dumbfounded.
"Do you have cancer? Renal failure? A brain tumor?" Addison continued listing off terminal diseases.
"Are you dying?" Addison asked again, not willing to let the Captain get a word in beforehand.
"I came to see you," The Captain smiles at her.
"Well, here I am. You saw me," Addison states before walking back to the elevator.
"So, now you're leaving?" The Captain asks as she pushes the elevator button.
"You are," Addison says.
The Captain sighed before taking one last look back at Cooper and Charlotte, who are back at the receptionist's desk pretending to look over their messages. With the elevator door open and Addison glaring back at him, The Captain decides it's best to just leave.
"I'm at the Carlisle," The Captain says before stepping into the elevator.
Later that day, Cooper and Charlotte were gossiping about the exchange in the kitchen with the rest of the doctors. As they did, Mark and Derek came in, both there to visit Addie for lunch.
"She has taken a lover. A lov-ah," Cooper says in an old-timey voice as he walks into the kitchen.
"Addie? There's no way. She has Derek," Sam said as he took a bite out of his salad.
"And he's old?" Violet asked surprised as she spread cream cheese on her bagel.
"Good-looking old. From the way she looked at him, I would say he's not her lover anymore," Charlotte added.
"Who?" Mark asked as he and Derek entered the kitchen.
"Coop and Charlotte said someone came to see Addie this morning," Sam explained.
"A lov-ah," Cooper added in his old-timey voice.
"It's not a lover," Sam insisted.
"Not anymore," Charlotte added.
When Addison entered the kitchen to get herself some coffee, she could feel everyone staring at her from behind. But she went to kiss her husband first.
"I am not talking about it," Addison turned around to everyone staring.
"Who's the guy, Red?" Mark asked.
"The Captain," Addison sighed, finally giving in.
"See? Told you it wasn't a lover," Sam said.
"The Captain's here?" Derek asked as he rubbed her back softly. No wonder Addison seemed a little on edge.
"Yeah," Addison said as she smiled back at her husband's attempt to soothe her. He could feel her shoulders relax a bit as he rubbed them gently.
"Who's The Captain?" Violet asked.
"Is The Captain his real name?" Cooper joked as the other doctors laughed along.
"My father. And no, it's not his real name," Addison revealed. Though, she probably didn't need to inform them The Captain wasn't her father's real name.
"You call your father, The Captain?" Charlotte asked.
"Yeah, it's a WASP thing," Mark said nonchalantly.
Most of them looked back confused. Regardless, they realized it was something they would probably never understand.
"What was he doing here?" Derek asked, pouring Addison her cup of coffee.
"He says he wants to talk," Addison said.
"Actually, he wanted to grab a drink first," Addison corrected herself.
"It's barely noon," Derek looked at his watch.
"Doesn't matter," Mark answered for her.
If anyone understood this aspect of Addison's family, it was him. His mother was a drunk. But "drunk" wasn't an acceptable WASP phrase. Instead, whenever Madeline passed out from too many drinks, they'd call it "the vapors".
"Well, I say go for it," Derek said as he helped Mark pull out the lunch he and Mark brought along with them.
Both Mark and Addison looked back at him, surprised. Derek had never been a fan of Addison's family. It wasn't just Archer that he had a problem with. The Captain was maybe who he disliked the least, but still. Bizzy outwardly disapproved of him and Addison. And Archer's arrogant demeanor alone was enough to deter Derek. The Captain, however, just went along with all of it. He didn't actively say anything that directly insulted him. But neither did Bizzy. The only Forbes-Montgomery that would was Archer.
"He's still your father," Derek said as he handed Addison a plate of food.
Later, Addison gave and called The Captain. The two arranged to meet at the Carlisle for dinner that night. Derek decided it'd be best to let her handle it on her own. Whatever The Captain was in town for, he was sure it didn't have to do with him.
"You're late," Addison said as The Captain sat at the seat across from her.
"You look good," The Captain smiled as if the scowl on Addison's face could bother him less.
"The California air has done you well," The Captain added as a waiter came over with their drinks.
"Thank you," Addison said to the waiter after he distributed their drinks.
"You remembered," The Captain lifted his drink and looked back at her fondly.
"I've been mixing your drink since I was eight years old, it's not something you forget," Addison teased.
Then, a short silence as Addison practically chugged her martini.
"Of course, a lady never downs a drink in the company of a gentleman," The Captain said after watching her.
"Oh, well, you're not a gentleman. You're my father," Addison countered..
"So, what's her name?" Addison asked.
"Who?" The Captain looked confused.
"Your mistress. I mean, I'm assuming you have a mistress in LA. Why else would you be here?," Addison asked.
"Addie," The Captain looked like he was ready to laugh along.
"I mean, you didn't come when Archer was dying, that wasn't important enough for you. So, I'm thinking, there must be a prime piece of ass here on the west coast to get The Captain to fire up the old jet and come on out," Addison rambled as The Captain looked back dumbfounded.
It was rare to see Addison stick up to him. She had before but last time, she basically told him that she was done with him, hence the icy greeting from this morning. Addison looked pleased with herself for telling her father off.
"...The Addison I know didn't use that language," The Captain finally said. He was still astounded to hear his daughter talk like that.
"Well, the California air has done me well. I'm a whole new girl," Addison joked.
Then, they proceeded to argue about The Captain's cheating past. While she was well aware that cheating wasn't hereditary, sometimes it felt like it was in the Forbes Montgomery household. The fact that Bizzy apparently thought he was in France didn't help his case. Regardless, The Captain insisted on staying. He wanted them to start over, even though Addison couldn't see how they could.
"So, how'd it go?" Derek yelled out when he saw Addison came out to the patio.
Derek and Mark were outside playing catch with an old baseball closer to the water. Addison argued weeks ago that they needed to be careful because the last thing she wanted was for them to break a window. Instead of not playing, the guys decided to just throw the ball closer to the water. It'd be much harder to hit a window from that far.
"Just what I expected," Addison said as she took her shoes off before stepping onto the sand closer to them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mark asked as he threw Derek back the baseball.
"It means he's The Captain and Bizzy has no idea he's here," Addison struggled to find the right words so she said the first thing she could think of from their conversation.
"Well, what'd he say?" Derek asked as he passed the ball back to Mark.
"He said he wants to us to start over," Addison said with a hand on her hip.
"What's wrong with that?" Derek asked as he caught the ball.
"He says he wants to spend time with me but I don't even think he knows how to spend time with me," Addison continued.
"He could learn," Derek proposed.
Addison gave him a sarcastic look back. Derek just chuckled at the sight of it.
"Why now?" Addison asked.
"She's got a point there," Mark agreed as he motioned for Derek to throw the ball back to him.
"Look, I don't have the answers for you," Derek started as he went over to comfort his wife, leaving Mark to throw up in the air to play a now-solo game of catch.
"But I do know that he's family. And it sounds like he wants to fix things between you two," Derek tightened his grip on the sides of Addison's waist just slightly.
Addison sighed and admitted defeat. She knew she had to at least try. It was odd timing but she did always envy how easy it was for Derek to get along with his family. His mother was practically a saint according to her children. And while she never met his father, she feels like she knows him just from all the incredibly heartwarming stories she's heard. From Derek as well as the rest of the Shepherd family. Meanwhile, Addison found it hard to get close to either of her parents.
The next morning, Addison called The Captain and they made lunch plans. He came to the office and properly met the rest of the doctors and even found time to objectifiably stare at Violet's ass. Regardless, they went out to lunch and things were awkward. They drank as The Captain tried to make small talk, but he didn't really know how to spend time with her. Desperate for something to talk about, Addison started talking about the tough case she and Pete were working on that week.
To her surprise, The Captain grew interested. Though, Addison shouldn't have been surprised. Medicine was the one thing they could connect on. Kind of. The Captain was part of why she wanted to be a doctor growing up. She'd sit in on his classes at Yale and practice on hot dogs as his students used cadavers. Even back then, Addison knew she wanted to be a surgeon. And even though The Captain never said, he was impressed by her.
But as an adult, things were different. He talked to her about things she already knew while she nodded along. It was easier than trying to argue again about the fact that she already knew the things he was saying. But then, something truly surprising happened. He asked to watch her surgery.
It was a tricky procedure. And a risky one. Addison couldn't help but feel compelled to say yes. The Captain never watched her do surgery before. He'd never asked to watch either. She had a stellar reputation, one that he was well-aware of. But this was different. He called her surgery "elegant" after it was over. She expected him to say something horrible, but he didn't. When Addison got home that night, Derek could sense how happy she was.
"He called it graceful," Addison said as she hung up her bag and coat.
"That's great!" Derek exclaimed pulling the dinner he made out of the oven.
"You made dinner?" Addison asked pleasantly surprised. Derek didn't cook too often, but when he did, it was always exciting.
"Yeah, I needed to clear my head a little," Derek said as he closed the oven door and started grabbing plates from the cupboards.
"Everything okay?" Addison asked.
"Yeah," Derek sighed as Addison rounded the counter to get closer to him.
"The board's just not convinced we can get far with the residency program," Derek revealed.
"How come?" Addison asked before giving him a sweet kiss on the lips before letting him answer.
"Well, I mean, this is LA," Derek started.
"And there's a lot of competition out there. I mean, UCLA alone's gonna be hard to beat," Derek sighed.
"Yeah, but UCLA doesn't have you," Addison teased.
"I'm serious," Derek pulled her in and tightened his grip around her waist.
"So am I," Addison said as she gently brushed the back of his hair with her thumb while holding onto his arm with her other hand.
"Plus, it's not like you can't recruit. We do know some other pretty great doctors," Addison suggested.
Derek smiled at the thought of it. He did know some pretty capable doctors. Addison walked backwards toward the farther counter to grab some napkins and utensils, she playfully pointed at her head and winked at him.
As Addison set the table, Derek carved the roast chicken he made and proceeded to plate the sides afterward. Then, both ate and talked about their days. Addison talked about how unsure she felt about her father watching from the gallery at first. But once she got in the OR, her nerves subsided. And she talked about how relieved and genuinely touched she felt when The Captain called her surgical skills, "graceful".
Derek told Addison about how he felt like he was getting buried by paperwork. He admitted he knew that it'd be a big part of what he was signing up for, but still. Then, he told her about his frustrations and fears about transforming St. Ambrose. This was a big deal. And it was a bigger job than anything he'd ever done before in his career. Addison reassured him that it'd all be okay. That she believed in him.
Then came talking about the adoption. It'd been months of endless waiting as well as one close call. And they were starting to feel restless about the whole process. There was a young girl who was this close to picking them. But she admitted in their interview that she was looking at another couple. One that already had some kids of their own. After Addison delivered the baby, Addison and Derek got to hold the baby girl for a few minutes each. But it didn't take long for the girl to tell them that she was choosing the other couple.
That night, they went home and just held each other. They both cried in each other's arms as they laid in bed together. Neither of them wanted to move. It was heartbreaking. After meeting this girl, they thought they were going to be parents. They thought they'd bring a baby home with them. She really did seem to like them. Over the past year, they started building out their nursery. By now, it was finished. But there still wasn't a baby to fill it.
The next morning, Addison burst into Naomi's raving about her surgery with The Captain watching her. Unfortunately, Naomi couldn't help but tell her that The Captain slept with Violet. Right when Addison thought things were looking up with her father. But before she could confront Violet, Pete told her that there were complications with their patient. So, they both rushed to the hospital and again, Addison came to the rescue.
When Addison came back to the office, she couldn't help but find Violet before getting back to her office. To her surprise, Violet called The Captain "wonderful" and "a gentleman". Words she'd never heard spoken about her father. When Addison got home that night, The Captain and Derek were sharing a nightcap out on the patio. Things were quiet. That's how it'd always been between those two. But Addison couldn't help but break the silence.
"Wait, he slept with Violet?" Derek asked after Addison started her argument.
"Yes, yes he did," Addison confirmed.
"You took advantage!" Addison exclaimed.
"I don't think Violet feels taken advantage of," The Captain countered. Derek sighed. So much for these two making up.
"She doesn't! She called you a gentleman. She said that you were wonderful to her," Addison replied.
The Captain? Wonderful? Derek couldn't help but think.
"...Nothing compared to hearing that because it made me wonder, Daddy," Addison's voice started breaking as her eyes watered.
The last time she tried calling The Captain "Daddy" was when she was four years old. She heard the other kids call their dads "Daddy" and wanted to do the same. The Captain didn't say anything to oppose it, but even at four years old, she could see how weirded out he felt. It didn't help that Archer made some comment about how they didn't get to call their dad "Daddy" like the other kids. Plus, it felt so unnatural after calling him The Captain for years before then. So, she went back to calling him The Captain instead.
"Why is it that you can be so good to every woman in the world except Bizzy and me?" Addison asked.
"Especially when we're the ones that love you the most," Addison added before grabbing the glass out of Derek's hand and walking back inside.
Before Derek could say anything, The Captain pulled out his phone. To Derek's surprise, he called Bizzy. If anything, he thought he'd at least wait until he went back into the house after Addison.
"Bizzy, hi," The Captain looked up to see Derek staring. While he'd prefer he were alone in making this phone call, it was all about to go to shit anyway so he might as well listen, he thought.
"Listen, if you don't come out here and tell her the truth, I will," The Captain warned before hanging up the phone shortly afterward. Derek assumed Bizzy agreed to his thinly-veiled threat.
"The truth about what?" Derek asked.
"Guess you're about to find out," The Captain said before putting his glass of scotch down and walking out the back gate.
A/N: So, I definitely took a big jump through time and skipped through Violet's trauma as well as some of the stuff with the Captain from the first two episodes he was in (Private Practice episodes 3x08 and 3x09). If it weren't already clear, the next chapter will have Bizzy (and Susan) in it so I don't plan on changing that. The only big difference in this whole storyline with Addison's parents is Derek's involvement. Also, if it wasn't already clear, the birth mother that didn't choose Derek and Addison is Melanie White from Private Practice episode 5x10 where Addison sadly doesn't get the baby.
For a few more chapters, I'll probably be skipping through some Private Practice stuff time-wise because I do have some exciting ideas in the works that I really want to get through. But those ideas can only come to fruition after I get through this plot with Addison's parents. I know a took a lot from the actual episodes but skipping over some of that will help encourage me to add some more original stuff for my Addek storyline. But I'm very excited for things to come and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
