AN: New chapter... Finally! I took out the proposal scene b/c I really didn't like it.

They have their first knockdown drag-out fight about 2 months after Kyle's birth. Mark comes home from a seventeen hour shift exhausted and smelly (not to mention there's still blood in his hair) to find that their apartment looks like it's been hit by a tornado. When Addison, who hasn't gotten a good night's rest in months, asks him how his day was he sneers and tells her it was obviously more productive than hers.

They scream at each other until Kyle joins in.

While Addison heads to the nursery to console their son, Mark's careful not to let the front door hit him on the ass as he slams it shut behind him.

Three hours and four doubles later, Mark is staring glassily at his drink when a tall brunette sidles up to him at the bar. He glances at her and then back down at his drink.

"Hey there," she says softly. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Mark looks up and tilts his full glass at her. "Nope. But I can buy you one."

She smiles prettily and orders herself a Kettle One martini. Mark raises his eyebrows and frowns into his drink. Addison loved Kettle One martinis. That is, she loved them before the dirty diapers and the crying and the sleepless nights; before the baby and the pregnancy and the affair.

"So," she says, giving her drink a stir. She smiles up at him from under her eyelashes. "What's your story?"

"My story?" Mark asks. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "I don't have a story."

"Everyone has a story," she says.

"Then what's yours?"

She chuckles softly and takes a sip of her drink. "My boyfriend broke up with me a few days ago."

"Ah." Mark nods. She's vulnerable and wants someone to make her feel pretty and he knows just how to play the game – he's done it for years. Give her a drink and a compliment and she'll be putty in his hands. "His loss."

She bites her lip. "Thanks."

Mark shrugs. "It's the truth."

"Would…" She hesitates and takes a deep breath. "Would you like to get out of here?"

"Look, you seem like a really great girl," Mark says, realizing that that's exactly what she is. He sighs. "And if you had asked me that question a year ago I would have already hailed the taxi. As it is, some men realize what they have without having to lose it first."

She almost looks relieved. "You do have a story."

Mark laughs. "I have a story."

"So?"

"So…" Mark says slowly and stands. He pulls a few bills from his wallet and throws them on the bar. "I think I should probably get home."

She smiles and gestures at her martini. "Well thanks for the drink. And the talk."

A few minutes later, Mark gently pushes open his front door and slowly makes his way into the apartment. The living room, he notices, has been cleared of clutter and the apartment is silent. To be honest, it's a bit unnerving. Eerie even.

Mark shrugs off his jacket, folding it neatly over the edge of the leather recliner, and heads in the direction of his and Addison's bedroom. Once at the door, he takes a deep breath and enters the dimly lit room.

"Hey," he says softly.

"Hey," Addison returns, her voice small. She's laying on the side of the bed with Kyle dozing between her chest and curled legs. She glances at Mark and whispers, "You came back."

"Of course I came back," Mark says, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "What would make you think I wasn't?"

"Derek didn't."

Mark steps forward just as Addison's shoulders shake and tears begin cascading down her cheeks. The sudden movement causes Kyle to whimper.

"Hey," Mark says as he sits down on the edge of the bed. He runs his fingers through Addison's wild curls. "I'm not Derek and I would never abandon you like he did. In fact," he grimaces comically, "I don't think you'd be able to get rid of me even if you wanted to."

Addison hiccups and smiles through her tears. "You promise?"

"I promise," Mark breathes. With a nod, he pulls Kyle up from the bed and says to Addison, "Come here."

Addison sniffles and sits up beside him so that their shoulders are touching. She lays her head on Mark's shoulder and takes a deep, calming breath as he wraps his free arm around her back.

"I'm sorry," Mark tells her while Kyle squints up at them from his lap. "I shouldn't have said the things I did."

"I'm sorry too," Addison says. "I shouldn't have thrown my Manolo Blahnik purple peep-toe pump at your face."

Mark chuckles. "That could've really hurt me."

Quite seriously, Addison says, "Or the shoe."