Addison, yet to reap the benefits of her early morning coffee, silently chastised herself for not paying more attention. Mrs Bennett, of course, she knew she recognised the woman in front of her. Her kind face and the deep seated wrinkles around her eyes pulled at some buried memories from years ago.

"Mrs Bennett," Addison managed "I think we've met before…I"

"I do believe we have dear," Marion smiled "you were at Maya's christening, a friend of Sam and Naomi's"

"That's right," Addison replied, filled with the irony of Marion's last sentence "we were at med school together."

"Hmm," Marion said, nodding "remind me dear, what is your husband's name?"

"My husband," Addison said as she searched for a conversational escape route.

"Derek," Naomi interjected as Addison stalled "Derek Shepherd."

"Derek, of course," Marion smiled "Derek Shepherd, charming man if I recall correctly."

"Indeed," Addison managed to smile as Marion looked to her for a response.

An uncomfortable silence fell across the kitchen.

"Well, nice to see you again Mrs Bennett…." Addison began, regaining her composure and becoming acutely aware of her need to escape.

"Please, call me Marion" Marion interrupted with a smile.

"Marion," Addison corrected herself, her need to escape growing by the second. Was there a chance Naomi was secretly getting some pleasure from watching her fumble under Marion's gaze? She looked up at her friend, who, to her surprise, was looking as painfully uncomfortable as she was. "I have patients," Addison stated "If you'll excuse me I should…." She said as she headed towards the door. On exiting the kitchen she felt the cool air of the corridor instantly sooth her, she just needed to get into her office and hide out until Marion has gone. As she turned to head towards her office she realised she had made a foolish mistake – Amelia was still in the kitchen – she needed to remove her for all their sakes.

"Amelia" she summoned over her shoulder.

Amelia, the only person enjoying unexpected visit from Mrs Bennett, was still standing in the kitchen with an interested grin on her face.

"Nice to meet you Marion" she smiled before catching Naomi's eye and flashing her best mischievous smile. Naomi shot her a glance that warned her to keep quiet and leave.

Once in the safety of her office, Addison perched on the edge of her desk and, using the desk to steady herself, let out a huge sigh – that was not how she had planned on starting her morning!

"Well that was awkward" Amelia smiled from her slumped position on the sofa.

Addison shot her a look that told her that that was an understatement.

"So that's Sam's Mom," Amelia continued "and I'm guessing from that little display that she doesn't know her son is shacked up with his ex-wife's best friend, in fact, I'd say she doesn't even know that her darling son is divorced."

Addison moved towards the sofa to join Amelia, she hated the pleasure Amelia got from seeing her squirm and fret, she only hoped there was a way she would end up seeing the funny side of all this – at the moment she doubted it.

"Sam and I are not shacked up" Addison retorted as she sat down.

"Living in sin" Amelia said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Addison gave up, she could see Amelia was going to be of no use; as usual. A hundred things started to run through her mind, she'd have to get to Sam's house and remove any evidence of her having been there before Sam took his mother home. She did a mental scan of the house, trying to visualise anything incriminating. Her stomach churned as scenes from the morning flashed before her eyes – Sam attempting to explain why the contents of his kitchen work surface were all over the floor filled her with embarrassment.

"Addison," Sam panted as he burst into her office without knocking "I'm sorry I didn't know she was coming, she…I"

"She just turned up this morning" Addison replied as she left her seat on the sofa and headed towards a rather flustered looking Sam.

"I know, she's here for Christmas….for Olivia and…" Sam stopped to catch his breath as he struggled to prevent the asthma attack his mother's unexpected appearance was inevitably about to induce.

"Well, Sam Bennett I never thought it was possible but I think you're even more sexy when you're breathless," Amelia's comment was met with daggers from both Addison and Sam. "Ok, I think that's my cue to leave" Amelia stated as she left the sofa and headed for the door.

Addison stepped towards Sam and closed the space between them. She placed a protective and soothing hand on his arm before leading him towards the sofa.

"Breathe" she ordered as she sat down beside him.

The feeling of Addison's hands on him instantaneously started to calm him, half of his anxiety centred on thoughts of her being mad at him, of being annoyed that, after insisting they told Naomi about their relationship, he hadn't even told his own mother. Her soothing tone and caring hands told him she wasn't mad, that she still wanted to be near him. After catching his breath and calming down, Sam turned his body towards Addison's.

"I'm sorry," Sam said as he made eye contact with her "I'm sorry I haven't told her, I….it's just…she's..."

"Sam, it's ok" Addison interrupted, aware of the anxiety Sam was carrying. "You don't have to explain, I understand" – and she did, this was one thing she could understand, that she could relate to. She was used to keeping secrets from her family, in fact, it was second nature to her; her life was hers and they deserved no explanation or opinion. She did what she could to remain separate from her family – even Archer had let her down, and she respected Sam's right to do the same.

"Addison, I'm not ashamed of us," Sam continued, he owed her an explanation, he wanted her to know why he hadn't told his mother, why he let her think that he and Naomi were still together. "It's just complicated and a phone call doesn't….."

"Sam," Addison said taking his hand in hers and returning his eye contact "I love you."

Sam let out a sigh of relief, he hadn't known it till then but that is what he'd come in to hear. He had to know that she was still there, that his omission about their relationship hadn't given her the wrong idea; that she, despite everything, still loved him. He looked up into her comforting eyes, even after all these years she never ceased to amaze him and the closer he got to her well-guarded core the more he loved her.

"I love you too," he replied before leaning in to plant a small kiss on her waiting lips. "I've got to go" he whispered, not wanting to break the moment between them. "Naomi and I are taking her back to Nae's to see Maya and Olivia. I'll call you later."

Addison nodded as Sam moved away from her and left the room. She looked at the space next to her and felt her heart sink as she contemplated sleeping alone later that night – something she hadn't done in several months.