"This still doesn't make any sense," Mark said a few minutes later as Alex and Molly settled in on the couch next to Meredith. "Why would Derek give up Chief of Staff at one of the highest ranked hospitals in the country for an attending position at a hospital that doesn't even crack the top fifty? No offense, Karev."

Alex shrugged. "None taken. But for the record, your surgical program better watch its back, because Seattle Pres will move up."

"Still doesn't explain why Derek would leave," Mark said. "He's wanted to be Chief of Staff since we were in med school. It's his dream."

"And he hates it," Addison added.

"He what?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Derek hates being Chief of Staff," Addison explained. "He hated being Chief of Surgery, and he hates being Chief of Staff even more."

"And you know this how?" Molly asked skeptically. Meredith had introduced them briefly, but had left out the complicated details of how Addison fit into the story.

"I'm the current Chief of Surgery at Mount Sinai," Addison said. "I'm also his ex-wife."

Alex stared at Addison incredulously before turning his head to Meredith. "Did you know that?"

Meredith shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I knew."

"I feel like I've walked into some sort of strange alternate reality," Molly commented, staring at Meredith skeptically. "You know, one of those where my sister sits around and has pleasant conversations with a woman whose husband she slept with."

Addison laughed. "Well, Meredith did save my current husband's life…so I think if anyone's keeping score, we're probably even now."

"Hey, can we get back to the topic at hand?" Mark interrupted impatiently. "You know, Derek quitting his job? Is he moving out here?"

"I would assume so," Addison said. "It makes sense, doesn't it? The girls are here."

"Why aren't you freaking out about this, Meredith?" Alex asked.

"I think it's a good thing," Meredith said, offering up a half smile. "You know Evelyn, you know how much it'll take for him to get through to her. He can say whatever he wants, but unless she sees that he's physically there when she needs him, she's never going to let him in."

"Do you want her too?" Mark asked.

"We've been over this, Mark," Meredith said wearily. "I don't hate Derek. My girls deserve to have their father in their lives if it's what they want, and I won't stand in their way."

Annie leaned forward as best she could with her stomach in the way and peered through the front window of her sister's car. "How much further?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Evelyn said, maneuvering her Jeep around another pothole in the dirt road. "You're the one with the directions."

"All Derek said was drive until the paved road ends, then turn left onto the dirt road and go straight until you hit a clearing."

"Well, I'm still waiting for that clearing," Evelyn pointed out.

"It had better come up soon," Annie said, shifting slightly in her seat.

Evelyn turned to stare at her sister for a moment before realizing what was going on and letting out a laugh. "You have to pee, don't you?"

"You think this is funny?" Annie asked in annoyance, shifting again. "I've got a bowling ball pressing on my bladder, Evelyn. You just wait until it's your turn to pop one out and see how funny it is when you're a gazillion weeks pregnant."

Evelyn grimaced and shook her head. "Uh, no. Not gonna happen any time soon, sweetie."

"Why not?"

"Um…because I'm not even twenty-three years old, Annie. I don't even know if I want kids, but if I do, I don't want them now."

"I'm not even twenty-three either," Annie pointed out.

"But we're different people," Evelyn reminded her. "There's nothing wrong with having kids, I just don't want to do it right now. I love my job, but Annie, you know a career as a firefighter isn't all that great for motherhood. I work forty-eight hour shifts every week. It's not exactly the best schedule for raising a kid."

"Well yeah, but it's just for now. Aren't you going to medical school? Isn't that why you did all that biochemistry stuff in school?"

Evelyn sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe? You always wanted to be a doctor, Evie."

"No, I didn't."

Annie frowned. "Of course you did. We all did, remember? You, me, Will, Laura…we were all going to go to medical school together."

"Yeah, and look how well that plan turned out."

Annie sighed and shifted again in her seat. "Are you seriously mad about that? About the fact that I got pregnant and didn't follow through on a pact the four of us made when we were ten?"

"I'm not mad, Annie. We all made our choices. Laura chose teaching. You chose Will and the baby. If it's okay for you to pick something else, why isn't okay for me? Why can't I pick something else?"

"No one's saying you can't. I just thought…I don't know, of all of us, you seemed the most sure."

"Well, now I'm not. Can we talk about something else?"

Annie grinned. "Sure. Let's talk about the hot guy who made pancakes this morning."

"You mean Matt?"

"Yup. Let's talk about Matt."

Evelyn frowned. "What about him?"

"Does he have a brother?"

"Annette Cristina Jones! Do I need to remind you that you are a married woman?"

Annie laughed and shook her head. "Ev, married is not blind. Matt is hot. I mean, I thought the last few guys you dated were nice looking, but this one…wow."

Evelyn blushed and focused intently on the road.

"Besides, the brother's not for me. Will and I are married, you're clearly going to marry Matt…we need to find a guy for Laura or she's going to feel left out."

"I'm not marrying Matt."

"Oh." Annie frowned in disappointment. "Do you not love him?"

"No, I think I do."

"How long have you been dating him?"

"About a year and a half."

"Okay, let me get this straight." Annie held up a hand and began ticking off her fingers as she spoke. "You've got an incredibly hot guy who is obviously head over heels in love with you. He's got a job. He cooks. You love him. And you've dated him for a year and a half without killing each other. What the hell else could you possibly want?"

"Nothing. I don't intend to break up with him, but I also have no intention of getting married."

"Why the hell not?"

Evelyn shrugged. "I just don't want to."

"Nope, I'm gonna need more than that," Annie insisted.

"Oh look," Evelyn said, sighing in relief as she pulled off the dirt road into a clearing with an old rusty trailer in the middle. "I think we're here."