III – Part 18
Derek and Meredith had completely avoided the topic of Addison and Richie for the evening. Derek knew he had to talk to Meredith about fighting for custody of Richie, he knew she had to be on board for this to work. Of course she would go along with him. Richie was his son he had a right to have his son in his life and their daughter deserved to have her big brother be a part of her life. They were both reading a medical journal in bed when he tentatively brought the subject up, "I visited a lawyer today."
Meredith's head snapped toward her husband. "You what?" she said in surprise. Oh god, please don't let this mean what I think it does she thought.
"I talked to a lawyer about getting custody of Richie," he stated simply.
She dropped the journal in her lap and continued to look at her husband shaking her head. "This is a joke right?" she said unbelieving.
"No it's not a joke," he said lowering his journal to his lap staring at her starting to get annoyed.
Meredith furrowed her brow and slowly rose from the bed then turned back to him with her hands on her hips. "You are seriously going to try to take Richie away from his mother and away from the only family he has known?" she said in disbelief.
He shot up from the bed dropping his journal on the ground and said with anger in his voice, "He is my son, I have rights."
She threw her head back putting her hand on her forehead shaking her head not believing she was having this conversation then asked, "And your solution is to sue for custody?"
He nodded of course that was his solution she kept his son from him he deserved to have his son in his life. "My son belongs with us. He has a right be raised with his sister."
Meredith turned to face him and narrowed her eyes. "Do you even care about that boy?" How could he possibly think this is the right thing to do?
"Of course I do he is my son," he yelled as he thrust a hand through his hair in frustration.
She started pacing the room. "You can't be serious."
"I am dead serious I want my son," he said sternly as he watched her pace.
"So you want your son." She shook her head, "And you don't give a damn that he is a happy boy who loves his mother and the man he thinks of as his father?"
"He is my son," he said as continued stared her down. He could not believe she was fighting him on this.
She stopped her pacing and stared back at him, "Why can't you ask to have visitation rights why can't that be enough?" She raised her eye brows at him, "Why do you need custody?"
"She kept him from me. I deserve to raise my son," he yelled back at her. She had him for the first four years of his life. It was selfish of her to keep the boy away from him.
"Derek if you do this," she said trying to control her anger. "You do it without me," she glared at him. "I will have no part in tearing a little boy away from his family," she stood at the door. "Think about this, if you take that boy away from his family you will lose this family," she said in a serious tone.
"Siblings deserve to be raised together! Richie and Ellie deserve to be raised together!" he shouted.
"You say Ellie deserves to be raised with her brother?" she pursed her lips not believing she was having this conversation. Then she snapped at him, "What makes her more deserving then the brother and sister he already knows?"
Derek stood there stunned not knowing how to answer that question. He could feel his chest tighten at the thought of Addison having more children.
"Yeah that's what I thought! Maybe you should get to know who Richie is before you decide to go ripping his life apart," she scowled at him then stormed out the door slamming it behind her.
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Addie was curled up in Sully's arms. They were still not fully in agreement as to how they should handle Derek. Addie rested her hand on Sully's chest lightly tracing circles and quietly said, "I don't think you should go with me to talk to Derek."
"I don't like the idea of you being alone with him," he pulled her tighter to his side.
She furrowed her brow and looked up at him as she continued to stroke lazy circles on his chest. "I know Derek, he isn't going to hurt me and he will shut down if you come with. He won't listen to a word we have to say."
"I can't help but worry," he brushed a red lock of hair behind her ear then kissed her gently on the temple.
"How about a compromise?" she asked rolling on top of him giving him a half smile.
"A compromise?" he asked reaching up caressing her cheek.
"Yeah," she whispered as her hand slowly trailed down his chest across the flat of his stomach leaving a warm sensation in its wake. She then gently kisses his lips and continued, "You can wait outside his office while I talk to him."
He tried to focus on what she was saying be her movements were making it difficult. Then he said in a silky voice, "Okay." He slid his fingers down her side running them a across her curves leaving a shadow of heat along the way. He smoothly rolled her on her back and settled comfortably over her looking down at her seductively lowering his mouth on her neck leaving a trail of hot kisses as he worked his way down eliciting a soft moan from her. He lifted his head looking up at her whispering, "But if he starts yelling at you I'm coming in." He grinned and went back to trailing burning kisses down her body.
Another soft moan escaped her lips and she responded with a soft gasp "okay . . . you have a. . ." the rest of her words were lost as he finished his descending journey finally reaching his destination sending her spiraling over the edge in ecstasy.
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Meredith sat curled up on a chair in the corner of her daughter's hospital room. She had been trying to figure out how on earth to get Derek to back off. There was no need for this situation to get so messy. Addison had already proven that she would allow them to have contact with Richie and seemed genuinely happy to allow Ellie to have a relationship with her brother. It only seemed she wanted time to explain to him that Derek was his father. If Derek pushed this it was only going to cause everyone to be unhappy.
Okay yes, she understood he was hurt that Addison had kept Richie existence from him and she wasn't entirely sure why she had. Yes she agreed she was wrong not to tell Derek he was a father, but that still did not make it right to try to take Richie away from his mother. She would happily become a part of Richie's life, but not at his expense. Derek needed to sit down and talk with Addison and work out an expectable visitation arrangement.
She thought of her recent conversation with her mother-in-law Aileen Shepherd, she had called her after they had found out about Richie being a match for Ellie. She thought about her reaction. She was so busy being happy about finally finding a donor for Ellie she really didn't think about her mother-in-law and how easily she had accepted the fact that Addison and Derek had a son. Now that she really thought about the conversation Aileen wasn't the least bit surprised that Derek had a son. She just said of course Richie would be a match.
This thought made Meredith think back to her visits with Derek's family. When his mother or one of his sisters would bring Addison up Derek would always shut them down, telling them that part of his life was over he moved on he didn't want to dwell on his past mistakes. It always seemed to disappoint them that he refused to want to know how she was doing. Of course it had always made her feel good that he didn't want to talk about Addison with his family, because it had always made her feel a bit uncomfortable that they seemed to still be attached to her.
She knew for a fact that Addison was still in contact with Derek's family. She frowned, was it possible that she told them Richie was Derek's son? No that was ridiculous, everyone had to think Richie was Sullivan's son and that is why they never said anything to Derek. She shook her head this entire situation was giving her a headache.
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Sully leaned into Addie and pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently one more time. "Are you sure you want to do this alone?" he asked quietly.
She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah it's better this way. Now wish me luck," her smile grew.
He reached out cupping her chin in his hand then said with a grin, "Good luck mia cuore."
She grinned back, "Thank you mio caro." She leaned in for one more kiss before facing Derek.
Addie took a deep breath slowly exhaled then steeled herself for talking to Derek. She turned the knob and slowly opened the door then entered his office closing the door behind her leaving Sully to wait for her outside the door.
Derek sat behind his desk looking up at her with annoyance. She looked directly at him showing him he didn't intimidate her. She crossed the room to his desk and laid a document on his desk. She had called Savy yesterday afternoon asking her to overnight the papers to her. She should have foreseen this happening and taken them with her in the first place, but obviously she wasn't thinking straight were Derek was concerned.
He picked up the papers she had placed in front of him and started reading over them. They were custody papers this surprised him, since he hadn't mentioned one word to her about wanting to fight for custody. It dawned on him Meredith must have called her. That caused him to have a flash of anger thinking she really would side with Addison in this case.
When Derek didn't say anything she spoke, "They are the custody papers I had drawn up five years ago."
He looked up at her and narrowed his eyes, "You had custody papers drawn up five years ago?"
She nodded, "I had them drawn up with the divorce papers."
He pursed his lips and asked, "Then why didn't you give these to me then?" The anger in him continued to rise, she did know she was pregnant before she asked for the divorce and she had purposefully kept it from him. "I don't understand how you could keep my son from me."
Addie looked down and tried to focus on how to answer that question. "You were in love with Meredith."
"You were in love with Sullivan, don't lie to me. I know that's why you asked me for the divorce," he snapped at her. "You thought the baby was his."
She sighed and shook her head, "I didn't even know Sullivan when I asked you for the divorce we met after you signed the divorce papers."
He narrowed his eyes. "Izzie was telling me the truth about you meeting him that night?" he asked with surprise.
A smile appeared on her face. She thought with a laugh, she had forgotten she told Izzie about meeting Sully. "That's right I met Sully later that night." She realized he wasn't going to ask her to take a seat so she looked down at a chair then seated herself. "So no I didn't ask you for a divorce because I was already in love with Sully. I asked you for a divorce because you weren't in love with me. You were in love with Meredith."
"So that was my punishment for loving another woman? Keep my son away from me?" he scoffed.
"It was never my intention to keep your son away from you." Her emotions were getting the better of her, she needed to keep control. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "I always intended on telling you, but. . ."
"Bullshit!" He snapped, "If you wanted to tell me you would have done it."
"I was waiting for you to show you cared," she shook her head. "If you had ever even once inquired about how I was. If you had been the least bit curious about how I was doing after the divorce," she looked him straight in the eye. "You would have known about your son."
He looked at her confused and said, " Addison I've always cared about you."
She shook her head, "No Derek, I left Seattle and you never once gave me a second thought. You moved on with your life," she gave him a small shrug. "You were happy to move on with Meredith. You love her and I understand that."
"It was wrong of you to keep my son from me, but even worse you kept him from my family. My family had a right to know my son," resentment was plain to hear in his voice.
"I am sorry I kept Richie from you but," she just stared at him for a moment. She quietly said, "I never kept your son away from your family."
Derek shook his head. He could not believe she could lie to him like that, "How can you say you never kept my son away from his family. My mother and sisters deserved to know my son."
She nodded at him and said, "You are right. They absolutely have a right to know Richie and they have always been a part of his life."
"You are telling me that my mother and my sisters know that I have a son?" She nodded in the affirmative to him. He shook his head, "No, you are lying. They would never keep that information from me."
"Your family knows Richie. He is very close to them all," she said quietly.
"I refuse to believe that my family would knowingly keep my son away from me." His anger starting to rise again at the ridiculous notion that his family was a part of his son's life without them ever telling him.
"They didn't want to agree at first," he narrowed his eyes at her. "After I explained my reasons I had one request of them, I told them if you ever inquired about how I was doing or showed the least bit of interest in how I was doing. They were allowed to let you know about Richie. They all agreed to my request."
Derek thought about this. He remembered phone conversations and visits he had with his mother and sisters over the years. Early on they were all very insistent in trying to bring up Addison. Whenever he would call or visit they would tell him they had seen her and ask if he wanted to know how she was doing. He would always tell them no, they both had moved on with there lives, it was better they didn't dwell on the past.
It always use to bother him they always seemed so insistent on bringing her up. It had bothered him so much he finally told them he had enough and forbid any of them from ever talking about her to him again. They all told him he was being a fool to cut her out so completely. But he didn't care he had moved on with his life and was happy. He didn't want to dwell on the past.
Oh god he thought Addison wasn't lying to him. He looked at her sitting across the desk from him, and he thought he was going to be sick. It really was his own fault she never told him about their son. If Ellie hadn't gotten sick, he very likely would never have known about him.
He looked at her. He could feel the back of his eyes burning his own actions had a lot to do with his not meeting his son until now. But there was more to it, Addison wasn't petty she wouldn't forbid people from telling him about his son simply because he didn't want to know how she was doing. He narrowed his eyes at her then asked, "What did you tell them to convince them to keep quiet?"
She tried to keep her emotions in control of course she knew he would ask that question. She slowly rose from her seat then walked across the office to the windows taking in the view, she smiled sadly thinking Derek had a nice view from here. She closed her eyes swallowing hard trying to organize her thoughts then quietly said, "The reason I kept the pregnancy from you was because how it came about."
Derek was confused by her answer he slowly rising from his seat walking over to her, "What was wrong with how you became pregnant? We were married for god's sake."
She turned to him. He could see the pain in her eyes. "Yeah we were married but you didn't want me." She paused trying desperately to keep the tears from falling, "Every time you were with me you were thinking of her." She turned away from no longer able to keep her tears under control.
Derek felt a sharp pain in his heart upon hearing those words. It wasn't true but he knew she truly believed that. Now he understood why she had kept their son away from him. He always knew he had hurt her, but until this moment he had never comprehended just how deeply. He reached out gently putting his hand on her shoulder whispering, " Addison you are wrong." He needed her to understand that what she thought wasn't true. "I swear to you I never thought of her when we were together. I swear to on both my children's lives that it's not true." He turned her to him to look in her eyes then reached up wiped away the tears with his thumb. "I swear Addie when we made Richie it was only about you and me and trying to make our marriage work." He reached out pulled her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder. "Please tell me you believe me."
She nodded into his shoulder. She said barely above a whisper, "I believe you Derek." There was a sudden rush of relief through her body as she sunk deeper into his embrace.
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Meredith was determined to have this out with Derek once and for all. She straightened threw her shoulders back and headed to his office. She was surprised to see Sullivan standing outside his office like he was expecting the end of the world at any moment. She furrowed her brow as she watched him leaning against the wall, and then she slowly approached him. She tilted her head and said, "hello Dr. Sanders."
He was startled by the hello. He hadn't seen her coming since he was too busy trying to listen for Derek to explode at his wife. He turned to Meredith and politely said, "Hello Dr. Shepherd."
Meredith glanced toward Derek's door with a questioning look. Sullivan answered her unasked question, " Addison is trying to talk to Derek about Richie."
Meredith pursed her lips and lowered her head then said with embarrassment, "You know." He nodded. Meredith thought for a moment then asked the question that was bothering her all night, "Sullivan?" she started tentatively. " Addison has kept in contact with Derek's family."
He nodded again, he sighed he knew where this was going. He could see the questioning look in her eyes then he quietly said, "They've always known about Richie."
She swallowed hard and shook her head then narrowed her eyes. "If they knew Derek had a son, then why would they keep it a secret from him?"
"It's not that they wanted to. Addie asked them not to tell him if he never showed any interest in how she was doing after the divorce." He knew she would have a hard time understanding why Addie had chosen not to tell Derek he had a son it was hard for his family to accept her decision as well. She had always told them if Derek showed he cared about what had become of her after the divorce they would be allowed to tell him about Richie. "Meredith I really don't think I am the one you should be having this conversation with."
"Yeah," she waved him off still in shock. Derek's family knew all this time and never said a word. She couldn't help but feel it was her fault. Derek was protecting her by shutting Addison out of his life. He knew she was insecure about his family and friends still having a relationship with her. It was because of her discomfort he shut her out of his life.
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I hope you enjoyed the update. Once again please review and let me know what you think.