Instead of doing an actual timeskip as I had originally planned I'll give you bits and pieces of things that happened during that timeskip. Enjoy!
Chapter 37: … And...
Aelwyne and Addison hosted a whole week of sleepovers before they were all due for their vacation. As Cristina had told them, her, Meredith, Aelwyne and Addison were going but Callie, Arizona, Izzie, and even Bailey ended up going too. It had been a rather perfect vacation in Hawaii, crystal clear beaches with white sands. There were a lot of long fun filled nights and surfing lessons during the day, where Aelwyne, Cristina, and Callie shined. Also Aelwyne managed to rent a sailboat and taught the group how to maneuver it. Addison had been very attentive to her lesson and yet did not actually grasp it. Everyone kept saying it was because she wanted to hog all of Aelwyne's attention. The trip had been very fun and a good thing to help them relax and enjoy themselves. An awesome girls trip, all in all, though Meredith, Izzie, and Bailey were missing their lovers.
They had dreaded coming back, however, coming back meant the start to their residencies. It meant that they got to do more hands-on work during surgeries and that notion had the new residents excited. By the time they came back there was a new cardio chief and trauma chief, Teddy Altman and Owen Hunt, both military medics. Cristina was a bit unimpressed with Altman at first but she grew to like her or rather love her.
Things were a bit hectic at the beginning of Aelwyne's first year. She and Addison did not see as much of each other as they would have liked because of their conflicting schedules as the brunette explored more of the other specialties, such as trauma and cardio, since she did not have Burke to deal with. Aside from work there were also the therapy sections with Dr. Wyatt to work on getting past everything that had happened with Ethan. Still, they would find the time to go out on dates or to simply snuggle. They managed to work a few cases together without making it seem like there was favoritism.
Also during their first year Meredith met her half-sister, Lexie Grey, who ended up matching at Seattle Grace. Things had been rocky at the beginning but by the end of their first year Meredith started to let Lexie in, slowly. Having Lexie around also meant Meredith got to see more of her father. Though when it came to him Meredith kept her distance. Not that anyone could blame her.
By the beginning of their second year people were already set on their specialties. Cristina had stuck to Cardio, no real surprise there. George had thrown them for a loop and went with Trauma. Alex had also surprised people as he went for Peds. Izzie as they all knew went for Neonatal and OB. Meredith was stuck between Neuro and General but together with Bailey, Richard, and Derek they worked out a plan so she could get a chance to get experience in both fields. That left Aelwyne, who Addison already had an inkling in regards to which specialties she was leaning towards.
Addison sat on the couch going over some files when she heard the piano being played. She smiled as she heard the sweet melodies coming from the open door to the hidden room. Placing the files down she went looking for her brunette. She tiptoed up the stairs and found Aelwyne playing and swaying to the music with her eyes closed.
"Hi, baby girl." She said without looking at her.
"How?" Addison gasped.
"Vanilla." Aelwyne said as she looked at her without stopping her playing.
"Oh." Addison pouted.
"You wanted to surprise me or scare me?" Aelwyne rose a brow.
"Surprise you of course. I wanted to sneak in and kiss your cheek. But you ruined it." Addison continued to pout.
"How about you bring that pouting face over here?" Aelwyne grinned.
Addison went to her and Aelwyne had her sit next to her as she played. Instead of Addison giving her the kiss the brunette leaned over and kissed her cheek sweetly. The action melted her much as it always had. Anything to do with Aelwyne made her warm and fuzzy, really. In the three years they had been together the feeling had not changed one bit. It had only grown bigger and stronger.
"So you said tomorrow you would finally tell everyone what specialty you decided on." Addison said as she began playing along with her, expertly matching her melody.
"That's right." Aelwyne smiled.
"So are you finally going to tell me if I'm right?" Addison asked, giving her the best puppy eyes she could muster.
"Hmmm." Aelwyne smirked back at her.
"I know at least one of them. And I know someone has been rounding you for the other one. Will you do both of them?" Addison asked.
"Maybe." Aelwyne focused on the piano.
"Come on Bug." Addison begged, nudging her.
"Fine. You have four guesses because yes I'm thinking about the second one as well." Aelwyne replied and motioned with her brows for her to start guessing.
"Well it's not neuro, you find it boring. And it's not ortho, you like bones but not that much. Definitely not plastics." The brunette let out a snort at that. "Even though you enjoyed learning from her, it's not cardio." Addison listed out as Aelwyne hummed in agreement with her assessments. "You are brilliant in my specialty and I know you could do amazing in it. But it's not that either."
"You're not mad about that, right?" Aelwyne asked shyly.
"Of course not. I rather not have to go over cases together all the time. Besides, I like being the best in my field and I'm not sure I'd like to compete with you. Or maybe I would. I'd beat you every time." She gave her a smug smirk at which Aelwyne laughed.
"Ok so then what?" Aelwyne asked, expectantly.
"Well, we are here between general, peds, and trauma. I know Bailey wants you but even though you like it, you're not as passionate about it. Now, even though you're not doing it I know you like my specialty, tiny cute babies and all, but you love peds. And I know Arizona has been hounding you ever since she found out you won't do neonatal." She gave her a knowing smile. "So she gave you the little push you needed to say yes to it." She winked.
"Right." Aelwyne smiled.
"The one you chose from the beginning was trauma. I've watched you long enough to know how much you enjoy it. You are quick and you just do, without any hesitation. Watching your thrill during while you work is contagious." Addison smiled and kissed Aelwyne's cheek. "So? Am I right?" She asked brightly.
"You don't think it's weird? Doing both?" Aelwyne asked.
"I think having one helps with the other and vice versa. Knowing how to deal with a child when they come in with a trauma is very helpful. And the promptness and assertiveness from trauma surgery will help when making decisions in the O.R. with a child." Addison observed.
"So you're ok with me doing them?" Aelwyne smiled as they stopped playing.
"If you are happy with it then I am happy with it. I still want you for the fetal surgery next week though, Dr. Neirhem." Addison smirked.
"Of course Dr. Montgomery. Wouldn't miss it." Aelwyne smiled and pecked her lips.
"You better not." Addison grinned.
A few days later Aelwyne sat with Cristina at the cafeteria munching on some fries as per usual. They had worked on a case together and everything had gone smoothly so now they sat there mingling.
"So, how are you and Altman doing?" Aelwyne gave her a knowing smile. No one had dared say anything yet but it was time to tease the cardio goddess in the making as she had before Aelwyne and Addison had finally gotten together.
"She's doing fine." Cristina shrugged.
"You're not fooling anybody, Cristina. We can all see it. You have the hots for G.I. Jane." Aelwyne smirked and plopped a fry in her mouth.
"And what if I do?" Cristina raised a brow.
"I'll be very happy for you. You could rule the cardio world together. Yangman domination!" Aelwyne shouted a bit before Cristina smacked her lightly. "What?" She chuckled.
"You are an idiot." Cristina shook her head. "Wanna know a secret?" She lowered her voice.
"Hmm?" Aelwyne leaned in.
"Teddy's a damn good kisser." Cristina smirked.
"I'm glad you're getting some. You were getting really annoying to deal with." Aelwyne said and before Cristina could counter she stuffed a fry in her friend's mouth.
"Feeding each other now, I see." Addison chuckled as she made her way to the table with Teddy.
"Hi, Addie." Aelwyne grinned.
"Hi, Ael." Addison grinned back.
"You two are the cutest." Teddy smiled at them and then threw a glance at Cristina, which did not go unnoticed by either Aelwyne or Addison who just looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
"Are you going to join us?" Aelwyne asked, interrupting the eyes Teddy and Cristina were making at each other.
"Yes. I'm starving." Addison sat down and kissed her cheek but as soon as she did her pager started to go off. With a huge sigh and a groan she got up. "Guess I'll see you later, Bug." She pouted.
"I'll see you later." Aelwyne stood quickly and pecked her lips. "I'll bring you something to eat."
"'Kay." Addison smiled brightly and left, leaving the three behind.
"Too cute, really." Teddy smiled at Aelwyne once she sat down again.
"So cute it makes me want to vomit." Cristina grumbled.
"That will be until you stop being stupid." Aelwyne shrugged.
"Whatever. I'm fine with drooling like that over cardio." Cristina replied, eating some more fries.
"Yeah over cardio goddesses is more like." Aelwyne countered and shrugged as Cristina gave her a particularly nasty look. She ignored it and glanced at Teddy who began playing with her food. "Oh, what did you get Dr. Altman?" She asked, trying to save her from her own teasing.
"Oh just some salad." Teddy said nervously.
"You should try the fries. Right, Cristina?" Aelwyne replied and nudged her friend, because she just could not help herself. Cristina made a face but turned to Teddy.
"Here." She said, offering the blonde attending one. Teddy leaned over and ate it from Cristina's hand. The raising blush in both of their faces looked quite comical but Aelwyne decided to be nice and not point it out.
"Teddy!" Owen called from the door startling all three of them. "My mom came to visit. She wants to see you." He smiled.
"Right. Umm I'll see you on the floor." Teddy said getting up and leaving after throwing Cristina a small smile. Aelwyne watched her go and then felt the stare of Cristina burning onto the back of her head.
"I should kill you." She said to which Aelwyne only laughed.
"You know what? It is fun. The teasing and stuff." Aelwyne chuckled.
"Shut up." Cristina rolled her eyes.
"Mhmm." Aelwyne smirked.
"Let's talk Meredith." Cristina said changing the subject.
"You think McDreamy's going to ask her?" Aelwyne asked, already knowing what Cristina wanted to talk about.
"I don't think, I'm sure he is." Cristina replied.
"Well, that's nice." Aelwyne simply said, looking out the window.
"You sound so happy for your friend." Cristina said in a sarcastic tone.
"I am. She deserves to be happy." Aelwyne looked at her with a frown.
"When are you gonna ask Satan?" She asked.
"I… umm…" Aelwyne sighed.
"You what? Do you not want to marry her? I mean I get that. Marriage isn't for everybody." Cristina shrugged a bit.
"I want to marry her." Aelwyne replied quickly.
"Then?" Cristina pushed.
"I think Addison is scared to get married again." Aelwyne smiled sadly.
"Why?" Cristina asked with a slight frown.
"We've talked about marriage but she always redirects the conversation. I know it's not that she doesn't love me. But I also know that there is something keeping her from wanting to take that step." Aelwyne explained.
"You should actually talk to her about it. If you want to marry her you should figure out what it is she's scared of." Cristina said and she knew her friend was right.
Aelwyne had wanted to ask Addison back when they went on vacation to Hawaii. She had picked the ring and everything. She had it in her pocket but when they started talking about marriage she noticed Addison's hesitation and slight indifference on the topic. The way she moved away from her and gave her that fake smile she gave her patients when they brought up something she did not want to discuss. She had felt a pang when she noticed it but it was not that Addison did not love her because she showed her how much she did every single day.
At least knowing that served as consolation when they got back, the ring digging a whole through her pocket. She had stashed it away inside the piano for safekeeping and also because it was one of the only places Addison would not find it. She really needed to talk about this to Addison, maybe today they could. They would be off tomorrow so maybe they could go out tonight and talk and if things did not go well or Addison got upset she had her whole day off to make it up to the redhead.
"What are you thinking about?" Cristina asked her, snapping her away from her thoughts.
"I got her a ring." Aelwyne smiled sadly over at her friend.
"A ring? Like an engagement ring?" Cristina asked.
"No, like a promise ring." Aelwyne said sarcastically.
"Do you still have it?" Cristina ignored her remark.
"Yes I have it. Why?" Aelwyne started playing with her remaining fries.
"Where?" Cristina asked, apparently very interested in this new development.
"Why are you asking?" Aelwyne frowned at her.
"Just curious. What if she finds it before you talk to her? That wouldn't be helpful." Cristina made a good point but she was sure the ring was fine where she had left it.
"I put it inside the piano, up in the hidden room. She never opens it so it's fine." Aelwyne shrugged.
"If you say so." Cristina shrugged back and went back to eating her fries.
Aelwyne was able to leave Addison some snacks before surgery but she had not had much time to talk. After her surgery she got a message from Meredith telling her that there was something important she needed to show her. She made her way towards the lobby, where Meredith was supposed to meet her, when she spotted a certain redhead signing some paperwork.
"Hello, Baby Girl." She nearly whispered in Addison's ear.
"Hi." Addison looked at her and smiled.
"Stop making eyes at each other." Cristina said behind them and Aelwyne rolled her eyes playfully.
"Cristina! Ael! Look!." Meredith made her way to them with Derek chuckling behind her.
"What?" Aelwyne asked and the blonde lifted her hand for them to see. On her finger sat a golden band adorned with a diamond.
"I'm getting married." Meredith smiled rather brightly.
"Congrats." Cristina smiled.
Aelwyne smiled and then looked at Addison, whose eyes were glued to the ring as she bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes drifted up and met hers. Aelwyne gave her a small smile but she was met with that fake smile again, which made her take a deep breath and focus once again on Meredith. Meredith took in the both of them and then looked at Addison.
"I'm sorry, Addison." She said, biting her lip. Addison smiled at her and took her left hand.
"It looks beautiful. Congratulations." She said and Meredith visibly relaxed.
"She's got Ael. She's all set." Cristina chirped and winked at the blonde.
Their small celebration got interrupted by Derek and Meredith's pagers. Cristina excused herself saying that she needed to do something for Teddy. That left them both alone so Aelwyne took Addison's hand and led her to her office.
"Something the matter?" Addison asked as Aelwyne closed the door.
The intern crossed the room and wrapped her in a hug. Addison was confused for a bit but returned the hug. When they pulled away Aelwyne's face showed a serious expression. Addison grew nervous at her sudden and complete change in demeanor.
"Addie, we need to talk." Aelwyne said and pressed her lips together.
This was it. All Addison could think was that this person, this woman she had grown to love more than anything in the world was about to leave her. She could feel tears pricking her eyes.
"Baby girl? Why are you… are you ok?" The concern in her eyes made her let go a bit and soon she felt tears running down her cheeks. "Why are you crying baby girl?" Aelwyne asked as she brushed away the tears.
"Are you going to leave me?" Addison asked.
""Leave you? Are you nuts? Of course not." Aelwyne said and pulled her into another hug.
"You're not?" Addison mumbled onto her shoulder.
"Addison." Aelwyne pulled back so that they were facing each other. "I love you. I cannot live or be without you."
"I love you too." Addison smiled a bit.
"We do need to talk though. It's important. I know you don't want to. But we really should." Aelwyne smiled reassuringly. Addison realized what it was she wanted to talk about and dreaded it a bit but stayed quiet and nodded.
There was a knock on the door and they were startled. Mark called through it and Addison told him to come in.
"You two decent?" He asked with a smirk as he covered his eyes and walked in. Aelwyne grabbed Addison's scarf from where it sat on the desk, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at him. "Hey!" He protested. "Who was that?" He asked and they both shrugged.
"You're stupid." Aelwyne said with a bored expression, which Addison thought was hilarious.
"You gonna let her talk to me like that? I'm wounded." Mark frowned, putting a hand on his chest.
"You getting palpitations, Dad? I can have Cristina assess you. I'll convince her to do it for free." Aelwyne tilted her head and smiled sweetly.
"And they say, Addison's Satan." He shook his head.
"Alright, Mark. What is it?" Addison chuckled.
"So as you both know, Derek and Meredith got engaged and we planned a small party for the both of them tonight since most of us are off." He smirked.
"No they're not. Cristina is on until midnight and so is Mer." Aelwyne tilted her head.
"I am very resourceful." Mark said.
"Right." Aelwyne nodded skeptically.
"Stop doubting me." Mark said.
"Hey, so you and Little Grey?" Addison asked with a suggestive smirk.
"Is that a problem?" He asked defensively.
"Woah there. Of course not, Mark." Aelwyne chuckled. "We were just wondering. Maybe I should start calling her mom."
"You won't ever give that a rest will ya, kid?" Mark shook his head with a smile.
"Nope." Aelwyne smiled brightly. "And speaking of Little Grey." She looked behind him.
"Did you tell them?" Lexie said as she peeked in. "Hi, Dr. Montgomery. Hi, Ael." She smiled at both of them and they smiled back.
"Yes. I told them." Mark smiled at her.
"Awesome. The restaurant called me to let me know everything is all set so we should be good to go. Did you get Mer and Cristina off?" Lexie asked excitedly.
"Of course I did. I'm amazing." He said and Aelwyne stifled a laugh behind him.
"I should have them make you stay." Mark said.
"Then I'd have to overrule that. You know I'm just as amazing as you if not more. Also no one calls you Satan. The ruler of all that is evil has more power over you." Addison winked and smirked evilly. "Maybe I'd even make it so Little Grey here had to stay." She added.
"I'll let it go just this once." Mark conceded and Aelwyne stuck her tongue out. "Just like a child." He shook his head.
The entourage of doctors made it to the restaurant and were escorted into the back room. Derek, Meredith, Mark, Lexie, Callie, Arizona, George, Cristina, Teddy, Richard, Bailey, Alex, Izzie, Addison, and Aelwyne all sat together chatting as the servers came by taking drink orders and filling their cups of water. After they all had their drinks Mark stood and dinged his glass to get everyone's attention. Soon everyone quieted down, eyes on him.
"Dearly beloved, ahh just kidding." He said and everyone laughed. "Anyway we're here to celebrate these beautiful peoples engagement. That was probably not grammatically correct but I don't care. Anyway, here's to being your best man for the last time." Mark smirked at Derek and everyone chuckled. "No offense, Red."
"None taken." Addison smiled and leaned into Aelwyne who smiled sweetly at her.
"I mean I can be your best man too." Mark winked at her.
"Right." Addison chuckled nervously.
"Welcome to the happily engaged club." Callie said as she showed everyone her own ring. There were more cheers as Arizona also pulled up her hand showing another band around her own finger.
"More weddings. How exciting." Richard smiled next to Bailey.
"Congratulations guys." Aelwyne said happily.
"Now we are only missing Karev, Stevens, Yang, Teddy, Little Grey, Mark, and you two." Arizona cheered as Cristina, Teddy, Lexie, and even Mark flushed a bit.
"Right." Addison chuckled nervously once more.
Aelwyne could see how she kept growing more uncomfortable and as soon as the servers came around again she excused herself to go to the bathroom, saying she needed to fix her makeup. Cristina, who sat next to Aelwyne, gave her a knowing look and 'accidentally' spilled her drink on her.
"Whoops." Cristina shrugged.
"Cristina." Aelwyne whined, knowing full well why her friend had done that. "I'll be right back guys." She said as she too got up and headed for the bathroom.
Aelwyne walked into the bathroom and found Addison leaning against the sink, head hung low and eyes shut tight. The redhead heard when she locked the door and looked at her, swallowing hard. Aelwyne gave her a small smile and walked to her, leaning against the sink beside her.
"I think it might be good to talk about this now. Right?" She said, turning her head to look at her. Addison pushed off from the sink and paced a bit.
"Aelwyne… Ael…" The redhead kept trying to muster the strength to speak and avoiding her gaze.
"I know." Aelwyne said calmly and Addison looked at her with fear in her eyes, fear that the brunette did not want there. "I know you are scared."
"A-are you going to…" Addison tried to ask.
"No." Aelwyne shook her head. "You're not ready." She gave her a small smile. "I do want to know why? Why are you so scared of it, Addison?" She asked. "We had joked about it before. Actually it had been more than a joke to you. So why?" Addison took a shuddering breath before settling next to her.
"When I got married… I got married for life." Her lip quivered slightly. "At the time, I married the person that I loved the most. The first person I said a real 'I love you' to." Addison swallowed. "He was my world. My everything. And... so was I." She paused, calming herself some more. "We were supposed to be together forever. He was supposed to be mine and I was supposed to be his. The beginning was amazing. The beginning had dinners and vacations and spontaneous date nights. Everything was pink and nice. I was so happy to have had married the one I thought was the love of my life because that meant that I'd be the center of someone's world. But then time went by and the date nights went away. The dinners were for one instead of two. There was no spontaneity. By the end I was left alone and forgotten. And my loneliness drove me to things I shouldn't have done. My loneliness made me bitter and sad. My loneliness made me feel like a failure. Like I was undeserving of love. Like I would never be enough. My marriage... hurt." She finished and began to pull at the hem of her blouse.
Aelwyne had listened quietly to what she said and after she was done she remained silent a while. She had known how broken Addison was. She had lived through the healing process with her. She was well aware of how much she had struggled to accept that there was someone who loved her more than anything. That there was someone for whom she was more than enough.
"Do you love me?" Aelwyne asked, looking at her with her own teary eyes.
"Don't you ever doubt that. Anything I felt for Derek does not even begin to compare to what I feel for you." Addison said with such conviction that it made the ever-present butterflies flutter in the pit of her stomach uncontrollably.
"Addison, you should already know that I'm nothing like Derek. You should know that I love you in such a way that being apart from you is just something I cannot do. But… I don't have to marry you." Aelwyne smiled gently. "I don't need a paper, or a judge, or a ceremony, full of nosey people, to tell me that I'm yours." She reached her hand to cup Addison's cheek. "I am yours."
"You really wanted to marry me?" Addison gave her a small smile as the tear that slid down her cheek was caught and brushed away by her.
"I want everything with you." Aelwyne smiled. "But if marriage is something you don't want… I don't want it either. All I want is you."
"All you want is me, huh?" Addison's small smile was beginning to grow as Aelwyne nodded vigorously. "It's not that I don't want to marry you. It's that I'm scared I'll lose you if I do. Aelwyne I..." She began but the brunette interrupted her.
"Nothing. Listen to me, nothing is going to make you lose me." Aelwyne said, touching their foreheads together. As Addison began to smile she pulled back and grinned. "Even if I die before you I'd come back and haunt you." She chuckled.
"Scary." Addison frowned but was unable to hide the grin.
"I'm not scary, I'm adorable." Aelwyne smiled smugly. "And per a certain redhead, I'm also hot." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at which point Addison had lost it and began to laugh.
Once sobered up Aelwyne looked at her and kissed her cheek. Then she started scrubbing off the remains of the drink Cristina had spilled on her. Addison gave her a questioning look which she shrugged off. The redhead began to retouch her make up saying she needed an excuse as well. They stayed in the bathroom a little while longer leaning against the sink and each other.
"We should probably get back. Heaven knows what stories Mark is telling everyone. And Cristina definitely will have something to say." Aelwyne said when Addison laid her head on her shoulder.
"Right." Addison smiled, her face clear of tears and back to its normal calm self. Aelwyne took her hand and began to tug her out when she stopped making the brunette turn back to look at her.
"Addie?" Aelwyne asked, a bit concerned.
"Aelwyne…" Addison's voice died out.
"What is it?" She tilted her head.
"You want me and you love me, right?" Addison looked intensely into her eyes.
"I already told you all of that and more." Aelwyne grinned. "But if my baby girl needs to hear it again then I'm happy to comply. I want you. I love you. I belong to you." She paused and shrugged as she said, "and you're mine. Now come on. I don't want us to be the center of attention." She said as she tugged at her and reached for the door.
They made their way to the table and of course all eyes were on them. Mark was giving Addison a very suggestive look while Cristina and Meredith smirked at Aelwyne.
"This is going to stain, Cristina. Thanks." Aelwyne tried to look upset but was failing miserably. She sat down pulling Addison to sit as well but the redhead did not budge, she only gave her a look. Then she looked at Derek, then Mark, then Callie, and Arizona and took a deep breath.
"Marry me?"
