Amelia was calmly sipping her coffee on the patio overlooking the seaside. The rush of the waves colliding brutally against the shore was surprisingly soothing her worried mind. She was grateful though: Staying with Addison in L.A. had a pacifying effect on her. She felt rebalanced, especially now that she was surrounded by so much love and gratitude after having saved Ella's life. Addison being Addison, decided a small party was due, to celebrate Ella being discharged, and Amelia was looking forward to it. But in the quietness of the sunrise, she couldn't help thinking about Owen. They were rarely texting these days. No calls, just cautious words, just enough to keep a nearly frozen contact from going off the map. Both of the them too hurt and too fearful, to make bold moves towards the other, and with only a proverbial fence to sit on. Indecision was marking both their lives at the moment, each buried under their own heavy baggage. But a fence can only withstand so much.

"Good morning, early bird!"

"Hey Addie, morning"

"You look like you have a lot on your mind" Addison continued as she set her cup of steaming coffee and sat next to Amelia on the outdoor couch.

"I was just enjoying your amazing patio, which I've missed terribly, much like I've missed you", she smiled softly. "Thank you so much for having me here Addie"

"You know you'll always be my sister. And I will always be there for you. If you let me, that is." Addison finished, sensing something was wrong in Amelia's world, and hoping it would encourage her to open up.

Amelia looked down towards the ever diminishing black liquid in her cup, smiling.

"Derek would be happy to know we're so close" Amelia shifted her gaze into the distance.

"He would", Addison added with a tinge of sadness in her voice. Realizing there was nothing else to add to make Amelia feel better, Addison scooted over and put her arms around Amelia, cradling her to her chest and stroking her hair.

"I miss him" Amelia tried to control her misty eyes. "I wish I hadn't been such an idiot my whole life, and I had spent more time with him, instead of driving him away with my craziness. Why do I have to screw up everybody's lives including my own" she said between quiet sobs, muffled by Addison's knit sweater.

"Shhh … " all Addison could do was try to soothe her. "You've been through more than anyone else I know, Amelia, you're strong. And you're not alone, you know that very well. Now you have to choose to have a happy life".

Later on, as they were getting ready to receive the guests for Ella's party, Addison mentioned she had invited James too, and Amelia reassured her it's totally fine. But Addison warned her they need to talk about her love life sooner or later, because if she was anything but her sister, she needed to know everything, and she knew something was amiss in that department. Amelia let out a laughter, and vowed to comply.

The party lights from the house were throwing vivacious lines across the sand. The neighbors had long joined the party, having realized they would be easily defeated in trying to get some sleep. Guests were now spilling onto the patio, along with the tunes of the music, and the rest had flooded every corner of the Montgomery household. Inside, everybody was laughing, smiling and embracing one another, coming together around drinks, and food, enjoying the conversation. She was lost in thoughts about her own family back in New York: her mother, sisters. She missed them. Here she was among people who truly loved her, and yet she missed having this with her own family. It was difficult to figure how and if they could have this again. But a thought crept in her head, while she admired Addison, Jake and Ella huddled together for a family photo: could she have her own family? Was this an impulse feeling or something she was starting to really want for herself?

Later on, she bumped into James and the gleeful atmosphere surrounding them helped them talk things out and heal their wounds. Amelia genuinely apologized to James, and confessed she missed out on a great guy whom she loved, but she was too blinded by her insecurities and fears to see it. She went on to tell James, everything about her convoluted painful existence, since the moment her father got shot while she hid with her older brother in the back of their store, until the moment she fled L.A. for Seattle, leaving James behind.

"You've been through more than most people Amelia, and I'm so sorry all of this happened to you. Nobody deserves this." James sighed, and starred into his drink. "But the thing I'm most sorry about, is that you didn't trust me enough to tell me all of this, I could have been there for you, I would have figured out a way to keep you in our relationship. Instead you left me in the blind. Now I get it all, but it's too late for us"

"I'm sorry James, I can't tell you how sorry I am."

"Promise me something though"

Amelia looked up at him in surprise.

"The next good guy you'll date, Amelia, let him in. Really let him in"

All she could is nod softly, and force a smile. His words went straight into her heart, and opened her eyes. Their conversation only confirmed to her, what a fantastic guy she willingly let go.

James went on to tell her he's been dating someone for a while, and it's quite serious. Amelia was thrilled to hear, and told him about Owen. Just as she was telling him Owen is in Zurich right now, Charlotte, not having any clue about Amelia and Owen's relationship, broke into the conversation:

"Dr. Hunt is in Zurich? Really? Is this because his wife is the new Surgical Head of hospital? Do you think he's got plans to transfer over there too?"

Addison witnessed the exchange also by chance, and noticed Amelia's face drain and turn pale and the sound of this revelation. She could see the pain invading Amelia's eyes, and tried to downplay what Charlotte had unwittingly set fire to.

"Actually his ex-wife. They got divorced not long ago, right Amelia?" Addison chimed in.

"Yes . . . that's right" Amelia stuttered, still finding it hard to comprehend, or digest the prospect that Owen might be in Zurich because of Cristina, or for Cristina.

James excused himself, and left to find his girlfriend in the crowd, while Charlotte and Addison were left to pick up the pieces of a clearly broken Amelia, as well as pry into what exactly was going on between Owen and her.

"You still make some badass coffee Cristina"

"Ha! Did you ever doubt that?" she questioned him, half-serious, half-joking.

"Never" Owen added with a soft smile etched on his face.

"Alright, I need to get going and head into work"

"Sure thing. Let me know if you need anything"

"It's going be a mad day, we've got the new batch of brainless interns coming in today. All I'm going to need is a coffee IV"

"I could arrange that"

"What are you up to today?"

"Not much, just taking it as it comes"

"That's good. Well, catch you later then"

Owen stared at her get ready for work, perched up on the kitchen counter. Her swift agile moves, picking up her work bag, changing her tops in front of him, but facing away. How many hundreds of times didn't he witness the exact same thing while they were married, and was there anything truly different this time? Has anything really changed between? Why did they get a divorce anyway? His cheating, their different ambitions in life. Who knew. What he knew was he loved this feeling that washed over him, as he watched Cristina get ready for work. He was lost deep in his thoughts, as he contemplated what they had, and he didn't notice Cristina stare right back at him, before she left. His eyes looking right through her, as if through a ghost. And her looking at him sitting at her kitchen island, a piece of her Seattle past, finding its way to her new life, clinging to it.

A knock on her office door, got her to lift her mind from the papers, not before cursing whoever let this person get to her door in the first place.

"Hey" Owen stuck his head through the door. "Busy?"

"Uhm no, never! What do you think?!"

He took this as Cristina's way of saying come in. And he laughed, while placing a Grande on her desk.

"Thought I could whisk you away for a lunch. What do you say? Can I beat the interns?"

She thought for a good couple of moments before replying, while reclining back in her chair. She knew that she had to be the stronger one this time as well.

"Anyday, you know that" She smiled at him.

"Geez it's always freezing here!" He exclaimed as the doors of the hospital closed behind them.

"I know! It fits me so well doesn't it?! Oh and did I mention the grey, dull weather non-stop?"

They both laughed as they headed in search of a restaurant.

Quaint, expensive little stores selling all kinds of things rolled passed them, and then followed homes lining up the street with no curtains, offering a generous look inside the lives of others. Soon enough they passed a rowdy park with children whose squeal echoed far and wide. They soon reached the restaurant, and their table was tucked away in a quiet little corner, right next to a window. Meanwhile it started snowing, and the white cover quickly settled over the warm ground they had just walked on.

"Owen" She started

"Don't say anything, I'm so sorry, I . . ."

"You don't need to say anything, it's . . ."

"Confusing, isn't it? I don't know Cristina, I don't know anything anymore. I don't know me anymore. But I know you. I know you so well." He emphasized this last part with so much emotion steaming out of him.

"We know each other too well Owen." She reached out across the table for his hands. "That's how we eventually realized we weren't going to maintain this relationship forever. We married early, on the spur of an amazing, great love, the kind others only dream of. And we learned about each other along the way of our marriage. And here's what I know about you: you would be the best father a child could wish for, Owen. A child out there deserves your love, and you have to offer it. You're breaking at the seams in search of this love to offer, a child to protect and raise. You deserve this Owen. And this is not who I am. It doesn't mean we will ever stop loving each other. But you need to go back to Amelia, because she loves you, and you love her too. And you need to make a new family with her, and let her give you this child. There's another great, amazing love waiting to form Owen, just allow it."

He was left speechless, but not without reaction. He raised Cristina's small hands to his mouth and kissed them, dwelling on it for a several good moments.

"I will always love you" the words found their way out of his warm mouth.

"And I will always love you"

He got up from the table not letting go of her right hand, and stared at her one last time. His ex-wife, had just become his real ex-wife. As he got out of the restaurant, he took a deep breath and released it into the cold Swiss air, the ghost of their former marriage being released along with it.

The Montgomery household was about to let itself embraced by the darkness of the night. Just another regular day was coming to an end. Amelia had just finished reading a bed time story to Ella, while Jake and Addison were still downstairs having a drink, on the backdrop of slow jazz beats, and a solitary group of candles filling up the other end of the kitchen island.

"Ok guys, she's down"

"Thank you so much" Addison and Jake whispered as Amelia brought them the good news.

"I'm going to head over to the hospital early tomorrow, I have a few patients to check on, so I will make it an early night" Jake told them, as he got up from the table, only to leave Amelia hop onto his place, with a bottle of Coke she just ripped from the fridge, in typical, careless Amelia style.

Addison sat at the kitchen counter, with her cheek rested against the fist of her hand, admiring Amelia.

"You know what, you've changed so much since you've first came down here. Do you remember that night? Because boy, I remember it. You were fiery and bold, and nothing, nobody could stand in front of you. It was you against the world. And you still have all of that, but there's a new thing to you: this look in your eyes every time when I see you with Ella. And I think it's the same with Mer's kids. You adore them to an extreme that only tells me . . . you're ready to have a family of your own Amelia. But meanwhile, I'm so glad Ella's badass aunt is here with us again" Addison told her with so much care and love in her eyes, that Amelia's heart nearly turned liquid and formed a thin layer over her blue eyes. Addison knew it, she saw it, before Amelia could even let this thought crawl up from her subconscious, she thought to herself.

Just before Amelia could reply, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it" Addison sauntered from the kitchen island down the small flight of stairs which placed it a little higher than the living room, and the hallway.

Moments later, Addison's face re-emerged again, and it practically

lit up the kitchen, which was hardly being serviced by nearly melted candles.

"There's someone here for you" and with that Addison slowly dissolved out, only to let a very real Owen emerge strong and ready to rupture from the anticipation build-up to this moment.

She was shocked to see him, but it wasn't long before the shock made way for a big grin on Amelia's face, and she practically leaped forward into Owen's arms. He held onto her for dear life, cradling her into his arms, her small fragile frame nearly blending into him entirely. He could feel her warm breath breaking the boundary of his shirt and into his skin, the heat radiating throughout his body. When she finally broke out of his embrace, looking up at him with those eyes full of hope but also unanswered questions, all Owen could do was move this palms to cup her face.

"It took me so long, but I'm here now"

"I've missed you so much. Where have been? What have you been doing? You went off the map for while." The words broke the bond they shared just moments earlier, and made way for something more perilous now.

"I've been trying to close loose ends. In Zürich"

"With Cristina" she added, knowingly and with a decent amount of accusation coloring her tone.

"Yes . . . she was a big part of my life, and I needed to truly end that for myself. She was also someone I . . ." he chocked on his words, and struggled to find them, while his eyes darted in an irritated fashion across the room.

"The first time I relapsed from PTSD, I nearly chocked Cristina to death in our bed. We weren't married back then"

"I see. Well, if anything now's the time to ditch you, since it seems you tend to do that to women" Amelia added in a jokingly light tone, which made both of them laugh.

"She needed to be part of that closure, Amelia. And she helped me see you and I, in a way I couldn't see us, by myself"

"She gave you her blessing"

He nodded in agreement. "Nothing happened between the two of us . . . in that way" Owen made a step forward and closed the gap between them, and softly enveloped her hand around his.

"I want you to give me another chance, to give us another chance. Not just for a relationship restart, but for something more. A family."

"Owen…"

"I know you're going to need time to think this over, and I'm ready to give it to you. All I ask is that you let me in this time Amelia. Be in this the whole way, and I will show you the kind of life you can have with me"

"Before you interrupted me, I was going to say . . . yes, Owen, I want this. I want us to have a family together, and I'm ready to stick with you, with us"

The candles were going out one by one now, each defeated by the avalanche of darkness taking over, but the jazz kept quietly on, and melodic piano punctured by grave trombone filled up the silence between them. His hands at first shy and hesitant got magnetized onto her thighs, and her lips followed the feeble candle-light to guide themselves through the dark. Soft and much anticipated as it was, it couldn't really satisfy either of them. So before she knew it, one of his hands tentatively went around her waist to her back, only to gently grab hold of her left buttock and push her closer into him, while the other one skillfully slid her already low-cut jeans down and past her knees. In one swift move, he pressed her against the edge of the kitchen bar stool, just enough to allow him to slide off the rest of her precarious clothing, and make her squirm as his fingers invaded all too many areas of her lower half.

The next morning found them both in Amelia's bed, enjoying the intrusion of bright sunlight into their room. After all, they were going to miss this in Seattle.

"I can see why you found a home in California" he observed, obviously hinting at the generous amount of sun and happiness.

"I did, and I still do. Addison, Jake and Ella are my family, the same Meredith and the kids are my family."

"Sounds like it's time for you to get a family of your own. Where do you want to settle down?"

She was surprised for a split second, but it didn't take long before she replied confidently:

"In a place we can make our own"