a/n: so here's the next chapter! yay! i really don't have that much to say

-generic disclaimer-


"So where have you been all this time?" Alex asked as he, Addison, and Aiden walked down the hallway. Aiden was in the middle, sucking contentedly on her lollipop and clinging to her mother, throwing sidelong glances at Alex every once in awhile.

"We were in L.A. for awhile, until maybe three years ago and then we moved to New York."

"So you're back in New York? How long are you staying out here?"

"I don't know. This place is like a black hole. We'll probably end up moving here," Addison laughed.

"Probably," Alex agreed. "Hey, tonight do you want to go grab something to eat? Sort of a 'welcome back, sorry in advance about all the crap everyone's going to give you' dinner?"

"With Aiden?"

"She can even choose where we go."

"Oh, God, don't let her do that, we'll end up at McDonalds!"

"Fine, her mom can then."

"Is that diner still open? The fifties throwback one? A couple blocks away? With the really good fries?"

"Lucy's. Still open," Alex informed her. His pager went off and he checked it. "Gotta go. I get off at eight. See you then?"

"Okay. Yeah, see you then," Addison consented.

"Bye Alex!" Aiden waved enthusiastically. As he walked off she turned to her mother and told her, "He's nice, I like him best."

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Aiden and Addison were walking through the hallways of the maternity ward when Addison dropped Aiden's hand for one second, to grab the chart of her patient. She looked down at it and, without thinking, began to walk away. Aiden tried desperately to keep up, but her mother's long legs made it nearly impossible to keep up with her stride, even when Aiden wasn't trying to dodge the many nurses who didn't register the small five year old running. Aiden stopped to catch her breath and when she looked up, her mother was gone. She stood there, looking around, for a couple minutes, dodging the people who were too busy to notice her. Finally she burst into tears.

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Addison glanced up from her chart and looked around for her daughter, only to see that she wasn't there. She started to panic and nearly ran off in the direction she came, asking everyone she saw if they had seen a five year old with red hair. No one had or no one had noticed.

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Aiden was standing in the hallway, crying quietly, when a pretty lady with blond hair and a white lab coat knelt down and asked what was wrong. "M-my mommy. I can't find my mommy!" Aiden sobbed.

"Do you know what room she was in?" Aiden shook her head. "Is she in surgery?"

"No, she was just walking and then- then she wasn't there!" Aiden wailed.

"Do you know which way she went?" Aiden pointed. "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll find her." Aiden nodded as the lady grabbed her hand. "What's your name?"

"A- Aiden," she sniffled, scouring the hallway for a glimpse of her mother's stilettos.

"Hi, Aiden, I'm Izzie."

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Addison could feel the terror rising up in her throat as her eyes threatened to spill over. She hadn't been searching for ten minutes, but the hospital was humongous and there were tons of places a five year old could hide. She spotted a familiar face coming out of a room. "Alex! Have you seen Aiden? Please tell me you have!" Alex shook his head slowly. "Crap!" Addison buried her face in her hands.

"Addison? What's wrong? Did you lose Aiden?" Alex asked.

"Obviously," she snapped, glaring at him. Her face softened. "I looked down at my chart for one second and I look up and she's gone! And I don't know where to begin to look for her and I'm just-" she broke off abruptly as tears started to run down her face. "I'm scared," she admitted.

Alex stood there a little awkwardly. Was he supposed to hug her or something? They didn't really know each other that well so he settled for laying a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Addison. Look at me," he ordered and moved his hand from her shoulder to cup her chin in his hand, forcing her to do as he said. "We're going to find her. She couldn't have gone far, her legs are tiny." Addison nodded. "Come on, let's start looking."

They turned the corner and continued to look. Five minutes later, the hallway was ringing with a little girl's voice yelling "Mommy!" Addison looked around and saw Aiden struggling out of a shocked Izzie's grip and rushing towards her. She knelt down just in time for Aiden to fling herself into her open arms. "I was so scared, Mommy! You were walking fast and then I stopped and then I couldn't find you. And then Izzie found me and we came looking for you and now we found you!"

Addison smiled. "Looks like Dr. Stevens took very good care of you," she said. She looked up and smiled gratefully at Izzie. "Thank you so much. I was so worried."

Izzie looked stunned. "She's… she's yours?" Addison nodded. "Oh. Oh. Um, yeah, it was no problem. And, um, it's Duquette now."

"Huh?"

"Izzie Duquette," Izzie said, pointing at herself.

"You and Denny!" Addison exclaimed, putting two and two together, remembering the scandalous engagement. "You made it through all the red tape."

"We did. It helps that he's rarely ever a patient anymore. Actually, we have a little girl about Aiden's age. Her name's Amaryllis but she goes by Amaryl, and will probably hate us later in life for naming her Amaryllis."

"I think it's pretty."

"Thanks."

"Mommy," Aiden tugged at her mother's skirt. "Alex says we're going out to dinner tonight. Can I get a milkshake?"

Addison laughed. "You can get a milkshake."

"Yay!"

Izzie shot Alex a very pointed look. "You're going out to dinner?"

"Yeah. So?" Alex asked.

Izzie looked at Addison. "Never mind, I'll talk to you later."

"What are you talking about?" Addison inquired. "What is she talking about?"

"It's nothing," Izzie quickly assured her. "Nothing at all."

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Izzie and Alex were walking down the hall in silence when Izzie finally burst. "I thought you weren't going to start this again!"

Alex looked surprised. "Start what?"

"The Addison Thing again!" She gave the word thing a definite capital T.

"What thing?"

"Alex. The week after she left you were the meanest, most miserable person ever. You have a Thing for her!"

"I don't have a thing for her."

"You had a Thing for her. And it never went away."

"I don't have a thing for her."

"But you had a Thing for her?"

"Will you go away if I say yes?"

Izzie shrugged. "Sure."

"Then yes, okay? At one point in time I had a Thing for her. Happy? Now go away."

With another shrug, Izzie walked away. But over her shoulder she called, "You still have a Thing!"

"I do not still have a Thing!"

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Eight o'clock rolled around and Addison and Aiden were waiting in front of the hospital, waiting for Alex. Five minutes later, he came walking out of the hospital. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "Do you want to walk? It's not far and it'll save gas."

"Only by five minutes, and sure," Addison said. She was just amazed that he had shown up at all. It was surprising that he would want to go out to dinner with a woman he had once slept with and a kid who may or may not be his. Then again, Alex Karev had always surprised her. Like now. She watched as he slowly coaxed her daughter away from her side. Slowly, Aiden released the death grip she had on Addison's hand and reached for Alex's. No one had ever been able to do that before. It was a little unnerving. "Stealing my daughter?" she asked Alex with a smile.

"I'm not stealing her. She came willingly."

"So you are trying to steal my daughter."

"Hey, she might be mine too. It wouldn't be stealing then. You never know." He was right, of course. There was a chance that Aiden was his daughter.

There was really nothing Addison could say to that, and so they walked in what would have been silence if Aiden hadn't been babbling away, swinging from her mother and Alex's hands. They walked into the diner and were promptly seated in a booth. Aiden loved this fact and bounced up and down excitedly. "Mommy? Can I get a milkshake? You said I could get a milkshake!"

"After dinner, sweetie."

"So I can get a milkshake?"

Addison chuckled. "You can get a milkshake."

"Yay!"

"What do you want for dinner?" Alex asked the little girl.

"A milkshake!"

"Sweetie, dinner, as in food. You can have a milkshake afterwards," Addison explained.

"Chicken fingers?"

"Chicken fingers are good," Addison agreed.

The dinner went well. Never was there a lull in the conversation, and Addison could see Aiden warm up to Alex more and more. Aiden got her beloved milkshake and Alex insisted on paying, even though Addison was still making more money than him. When they got up to leave, Aiden grabbed both of the adults' hands and beamed up at them. "Mommy?" she asked.

"Uh-huh?"

"Can Alex come to my birthday party?"

Addison glanced over at Alex and he nodded his head slightly with a smile on his face. "Alex can come to your birthday party. Whenever that is."

"My birthday's in three weeks."

"I know, honey, believe me, I know."

As they walked Aiden got more and more tired and eventually had to be carried. But it wasn't Addison who picked her up, it was Alex. "Not a big deal," he said. "I got her. She's tired, you're probably tired… not a big deal."

"She loves you already, you know," Addison told him. The evening had reinforced her hope that Alex was Aiden's dad.

"She's cute. You did a good job. You know, raising her, I mean."

"Thanks. Sometimes I'm afraid I messed her up by not figuring out who her dad is. Kids should have a dad, you know."

"You didn't mess her up. She's a great kid."

They reached Addison's car and kind of just stood there, staring at each other. "Um, I should, I should go," Addison said.

Aiden's head suddenly popped up. "Is Alex coming back to the hotel with us, Mommy?"

"No, Aidie, he's not."

"Why not?"

"Because he has to go home."

Aiden nodded seriously. "Okay." Then she stretched up and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Night, Alex."

"Night, Aiden," he said and gave her a kiss on the cheek and handed her over to her mother.

"You can call me Aidie," Aiden announced. "That's what my mommy calls me."

Addison looked impressed. "She only lets her favorite people call her that. How'd you win her over in one day?"

"Probably the lollipop," Alex joked.

"You're right, it had nothing to do with you, it was probably the lollipop," Addison agreed.

"Yep. Well, night, Aidie, night, Addison," he said and leaned in to peck Addison on the cheek. The movement startled Addison, however, who turned her head so the kiss landed squarely on her mouth. For just one millisecond they stayed like that, kissing with Aiden squashed between them and then they realized what was happening and they both jerked back quickly. "Sorry," he apologized.

"No, no, um, totally my fault. Um, I'll, um see you, um, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, um, yeah."

"Okay then."

"Okay."

Alex stood there as Addison buckled Aiden into her car seat and watched them drive off, marveling at how soft Addison's lips were.


and there you have it. want to tell me what you thought?

-Lauren