Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, hope it was fluffy enough to fulfil everyone's inner fluff monsters. I can't believe this story is almost over – I'm not quite ready to let go of it yet however, so here is part one of the epilogue for you. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh, and to thank you for your loyalty and compliments over the course of this story, this is an extra long chapter for you; I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: As before. The South Seattle Presbyterian Church is completely fictional, and the characters of Adam and Celine, brief though their appearances are, are mine.
It was a year to the day that Alex had flown into London, that very first time, for his interview, and the weather was absolutely identical. Thick grey drizzle was obscuring the view of the city as it snaked in random rivulets down the enormous, floor to ceiling window, and the room was cold.
Alex smiled sleepily as he felt Addison snuggle herself more deeply into his arms. 'Morning babe,' he said into her hair.
'Shh, I'm still asleep.'
'Funny, you don't sound like it.'
'Appearances can be deceptive.'
He leaned his head into her, and kissed her bare shoulder softly. 'Only you could use long words when you're asleep.' She made a huffing sound, and he kissed her again, this time nipping her skin until she rolled over and faced him.
'All right, all right, I'm awake.' Her expression belied her words; her eyes were still screwed up tightly against the dull morning light that was invading the room.
He gently pressed his lips to her eyelids. 'I don't think you are.' Slowly, he inched his fingers up her thigh and under her nightdress until he was drawing circles around her hip and smirked when he felt her reach out and try to grab his hand.
Her eyes were open now, and her cheeks slightly flushed. 'I'm definitely awake.'
'Good.' He grinned at her, and jumped out of the bed.
'What the Hell are you doing?' she asked indignantly, watching appreciatively as he pulled on some clothes.
'I'm going out to get us some breakfast – when was the last time we both had the day off together? I want us to make the most of it.'
She shot him a seductive look, her eyes positively smouldering across the room at him, and it took quite a bit of willpower not to slide back into bed with her immediately. 'So do I, but I had a rather different kind of breakfast in mind,' she purred.
'Hold that thought. I'm going to need sustenance if you've got that sort of day in mind.'
He dashed out of the door before she could persuade him otherwise.
There was a patisserie a couple of streets away run by a nice young couple, a struggling artist and his French girlfriend, and on the rare days that neither he nor Addison were working, one of them, usually him, would walk down there and buy breakfast. Sometimes he would even go down there before work, if Addison had the day off, to buy her a fresh croissant and coffee and leave them by the bed so the aromas could gently waft towards her and wake her up.
The weather was not good, and he turned up the collar of his coat against the cold breeze, walking briskly. He was glad when he got into the warmth of the patisserie.
'Ah Alex, bonjour, and how are you this morning?'
'I am excellent thank you Celine.'
Her partner, Adam, appeared through the saloon doors to the kitchen. 'You sound cheerful this morning.'
'That's because I am dude. Addison and I have the day off, I'm just dropping in for some breakfast. Could I have two pain au chocloats and two…' He looked up at the list of coffees thoughtfully, 'Two Colombian ground roasts to go please.'
He chatted briefly with the couple while he waited for the coffee to brew. He and Addison had gotten to know quite a few people in the area now, both in and out of work, and they had been out for dinner with Adam and Celine a couple of times. They knew good, out of the way places to eat and were good company. They still saw more of Steve and Tina than anyone else though.
Before long, he was on his way back to the apartment. In the foyer, he paused at the postboxes along the far wall, and unlocked the box with a brass plaque that had for some time read A. Montgomery and A. Karev in neatly engraved lettering. There were only a few pieces of post, and he scanned them quickly. It was near the end of the month, so there was a Marks and Spencer's store card statement addressed to Addison, and a couple of bills, as well as some generic junk mail.
There was one more envelope, a small white one with a handwritten address, that he almost missed. Catching a glimpse of it just as he was shutting the box, he drew it out and examined it. It seemed to contain a small, stiff piece of card, an invite maybe. He turned it over – a Seattle postmark, and handwriting that he recognised to be Meredith's. It was addressed to Addison.
He called out to her as soon as he stepped out of the lift. 'Hey, I'm back. There's some interesting post.'
He stopped by the kitchen to grab a couple of plates and some honey to go with the croissants, and made his way into the bedroom. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Addison sitting up in bed, propped up against a pile of pillows, waiting expectantly for breakfast. She looked beautiful. She always looked beautiful, and he still couldn't quite believe the way the last year of his life had turned out. God, he was one lucky sonofabitch.
In addition to breakfast, she was also clearly waiting expectantly for after breakfast as well; judging by her strapless shoulders, the silk negligee she had been wearing earlier had been discarded.
He handed her a cup of coffee and kicked off his shoes, slipping back under the bedcovers with her.
'How are Adam and Celine?'
'They're good, quiet morning for them though.' He passed her a plate with a croissant on it.
'Not everyone has the luxury of breakfast in bed on a Tuesday,' she mumbled through a mouthful of flaky, buttery pastry. 'Mm, this is so good. I don't know why Adam bothers to paint you know, he's really a much better baker than he is an artist.'
Alex laughed. 'You're probably right, but I know jack about art so I can't really comment. These are good though.' A tiny drop of honey had managed to run down her chin, and he reached out to wipe it away, and ended up groaning when she licked it off his finger.
'Good God woman, what are you trying to do to me?'
'Drive you crazy with lust?' she suggested, pretending to be coy.
'It's working.' Trying not to think about the game she was playing, Alex took the envelope out of his pocket and held it out to her. 'Here, this was in the post for you. I think it's from Meredith.'
'Meredith?' Addison put down her coffee and took it from him. 'How do you know?'
'It's her handwriting.'
Addison carefully slid her finger under the flap of the envelope, ripping it open, and Alex leaned over to read it over her shoulder.
Addison Montgomery
Derek and Meredith would delighted if you would join them for the Christening of their son
William Mark Shepherd
On Sunday March 6th
At the South Seattle Presbyterian Chapel
At the bottom, in Derek's writing this time, there was an addition note. Addie, we'd love you to be Will's godmother. Give us a call.
They both sat for a moment in silence, and looked at each other. Alex took her hand, and played with her fingers a little nervously. They still didn't really talk much about Seattle – they both had left a lot of ghosts behind when they came to London, and by mutual, unspoken agreement, they always looked forward.
'How come I got one and you didn't?' she asked. It wasn't really what she was thinking, but she supposed it was somewhere to start.
'I expect mine has been sent to the hospital or the hotel, I'll call Steve and ask him if he's seen it later.' He grinned at her, his lopsided, heartbreaking grin that just melted her whenever she saw it. 'No one knows I live here, remember?'
She shook her head. 'I forget that. I always forget that they don't know.'
They still hadn't told anyone back in Seattle about their relationship. It wasn't that either of them had intentionally hidden it, it was just that they were never sure how to raise it. Whenever Callie called Addison, she always had some Sloan drama to share, and Izzie was simply too full of gossip for Alex to get a word in edgeways. Besides, the thought of the squealing gave him a headache.
So the months had gradually slipped past and while their lives had become gradually more and more enmeshed, they had distanced themselves from the past. They both knew this was going to force their hand though – they couldn't not go to the Christening, they wouldn't want to miss it – but nor could they be in Seattle and keep up their ongoing pretence of not knowing each other.
'What are we going to do?' Alex asked.
'What do you want to do?'
He was conscious of the fact that Addison would have happily told everyone months ago, it had been him who had initially insisted they kept a lid of it, although he'd never meant for it to carry on this long.
'I want us to go together. As a couple,' he said decisively.
Her entire face lit up with happiness, and he found himself smiling widely in an automatic response.
'Really?'
'Really Addison. I want everyone to know about us, I want them all to know and see that we're happy, that we're not… the same people we used to be. I want them all to know how much I love you.'
'You do?'
He looked down at their hands, their fingers entwined tightly, and smiled up at her. He leaned it, and kissed her over the plates of croissants. 'Of course. In fact…'
A thought that had been flitting through his mind for some time now came to the fore. He hadn't bought a ring (he knew full well that she would want to choose her own) but he had been sort of looking for the right moment for a while now. This seemed as good as any. It seemed right.
'We could go as… more than a couple, if you want.'
A frown of confusion furrowed Addison's brow. 'What do you mean?' She realised, suddenly, that he was playing with her fingers again, her ring finger, and an entire swarm of butterflies came to life in her stomach.
'I'm saying, inarticulately I know, that if you want us to go back to Seattle married, well… I'd like to marry you.'
She squeezed his hand tightly, and took a deep breath. Her mind was reeling, and she needed to hear the words again, just to be absolutely sure that she had heard him correctly. 'Ask me again, ask me properly.'
With his spare hand, he reached out, and stroked her face, cupping her cheek and bringing her towards him. He stopped when they were millimetres apart. 'Addison Montgomery,' he said, in a low, husky voice, 'will you marry me?'
She gazed at him, falling into his eyes, his soul. 'Yes. Yes Alex, I will marry you.'