III – Part 19

Meredith paced back and forth then asked, "How long has she been in there?"

Sully leaned casually against the wall and glanced at his watch. "I don't know half an hour maybe forty-five minutes."

"Aren't you worried?" she said in exasperation as she continued to pace.

"Not really," he said with a relaxed tone. "I was concerned about her talking with him alone but she assured me she would be fine and I figured if it was going to get nasty it would have happened already." He watched the woman pacing before him. He couldn't understand why she was so upset. Derek and Addison were going to work this out he was sure about that. He tilted his head then said in a reassuring tone, "Relax Meredith they will work everything out just give them a little time."

She stopped in front of him she still couldn't believe how calm he was. She honestly wished they were screaming and yelling at each other. This situation scared the hell out of her. She pursed her lips then said, "Addison and Derek's relationship was complicated and they both have unresolved feelings."

Sully shook his head at her, he felt sorry for her. Her husband might have unresolved feelings, but Addie had dealt with hers a longtime ago.

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Addie awkwardly pushed away from Derek. "I really am sorry Derek," she sighed taking another step back from him. "I don't want to shut you out of Richie's life, but I need time to explain to him," she gave him a weak smile. "He's just a little boy and he has no clue that Sully isn't his father." She looked at him pleading, "I know I screwed this up, but please give me time to explain things to him."

Derek hated the idea of his son not knowing who he was. He really had no choice for Richie's sake he needed to give her time. "Fine you can explain it to him, but don't take too long."

"Do you mind if I wait until after the bone marrow donation?" she asked nervously. She knew he was going to be upset when she told him and donating the bone marrow wasn't anything like donating blood. She didn't want him upset going into the procedure.

He narrowed his eyes wondering if she was just going to find another excuse after that to put off telling him again. He also knew finding out that he was his father could possibly upset him and her reasons for waiting were valid. "Fine you can wait until after the donation."

"Thank you Derek," she breathed a sigh of relief.

Derek thought about what he was planning on doing and realized just how wrong he had been. Meredith was right he couldn't sue for custody of Richie it wasn't fair to him. She was right that Addison would allow him to have contact with his son. He had no reason to believe she wouldn't now, because if she truly wanted to shut him out everyone would believe Sully was his biological father. She would never have allowed his family to know Richie was his son if she really wanted to shut him out of his life forever. He finally smiled when he realized his family did know his son. Now that he knew him too, they would never allow Addison to keep him away. He just had to reassure her that they can all work it out together. He stepped forward pulled her into a hug again, "If you promise me I will have a relationship with my son. I promise that will be enough for me. I won't fight you for custody."

"I promise Derek. I will make sure Richie and you have a relationship. I promise I will never keep him away from you again," she said quietly into his chest.

He held her tight and stroked her hair. "Thank you Addie," he whispered as he kissed the side of her head.

Meredith entered Derek's office she was getting too impatient to wait for them to finish their discussion, even though Sullivan had told her they were fine and needed to work this out together. She stood stunned watching her husband holding his ex-wife in his arms, her husband kissing his ex-wife. She narrowed her eyes at him then shouted at him, "How could you!" She quickly turned nearly running over Sully who was standing in the doorway and she ran down the hall.

Sully sighed as he leaned against the door frame then shook his head. He asked in a pitying tone, "So why exactly does your hugging and comforting my wife freak your wife out?"

Derek quickly broke away from Addie and put his hands up defensively. He was sure the man was going to punch him again. He said nervously, "I'm sorry this isn't what it looks like."

Sully stood relaxed still leaning in the doorway and chuckled at him. "I know exactly what it is Derek."

He smiled at his wife and asked with concern, "Did you two manage to work out your problems concerning Richie?"

She smiled back at him giving him a small nod. She said quietly, "Yeah I think everything is going to be okay." Then she sighed, "We just need to sit Richie down and explain everything to him."

He nodded at her as he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "I'm glad you two were able to get this worked out without getting nasty." He grinned over her shoulder at a befuddled Derek then said, "I really didn't feel like punching your ex again today." She grinned up at him shaking her head with a laugh then gave him another kiss.

Derek reached up and rubbed his still sore nose. "Hopefully I never lack the commonsense to insult your wife again, especially to your face." He grinned back at the other man then said with earnestness, "Sullivan I owe you and Addison both an apology I was way out of line talking to you like that and I am sincerely sorry."

Sully reached out his hand to shake Derek's and said with a nod, "Apology accepted." Then he turned his head to the open door and said, "I think maybe you need to go find your wife and explain a few things to her."

Derek looked off in the direction of the door and nodded, "Yeah I guess I do." Derek hurried out the door in search of his wife.

Sully wrapped an arm around Addie pulled her close to his side leading her out of Derek's office. "So what do you say we go someone and talk about this?" he whispered then leaned over giving her a kiss.

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I hope you enjoyed the update, please review and let me know what you think.