Author: PeppermintPatty09
Title: What Makes a Family
Rating: T
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice
Pairings/Characters: Addison/Meredith, Violet/Charlotte, Arizona/Callie, Naomi/Sam, Izzy/Dell, Alex/Lexie and George/April. Past mentions of: Meredith/Derek and Addison/Mark
Genre: Romance and Family
Summary: A/U; Single moms Addison Montgomery and Meredith Grey start a friendship through their young daughters, which develops into more. This is pretty much a fluffy, romantic, family centric story with slight angst and drama.
Disclaimer: The characters of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice are proudly owned by Shonda Rhimes, production company ShondaLand, and broadcast station ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Alyssa Harper Grey and Ella Rose Forbes Montgomery are my own.
Authors Note: If the idea of two women or men loving each other and are in a romantic relationship is against your views, please look elsewhere. All mistakes are my own.
Chapter Fourteen
Early Morning Talks
Waking up just before sunrise, Addison was a little confused at first when she felt the heavy weight of someone in her arms. As memories of the previous night comes to mind, Addison can't help but smile as her eyes flutter open to waves of golden honey that smelt of lavender and vanilla. Shifting a little, Addison looked down at the slumbering woman in her arms. She is still convinced it's all a dream so she reaches under the covers and let's her hand rest upon Meredith's back, feeling the rise and fall of Meredith's breathes makes it all real. Absentmindedly, her hand starts to run up and down Meredith's back.
Addison takes a moment to admire the beauty in her arms. Lowering her head, Addison placed kisses on Meredith's freckle bare shoulder. And she knows it won't be long for her to fall in love with the blond when Meredith sighs contently and snuggles closer to her. Stretching over her friend, soon-to-be-girlfriend, or whatever Meredith is to her now, Addison got a good look at the time. It was 7:03 in the morning. The girls will be up soon and she didn't want them to find her in Meredith's bed; not before she and Meredith spoke about the new nature of their relationship. Of course the girls had found her in Meredith's bed, sleeping in the same bed as Meredith, but never had they found them cuddling. With that decision made, Addison decided she'll get up, take a quick shower and run to Starbucks for pastries, coffee and hot chocolate or juice for the girls.
Addison leaned in to press a soft kiss to Meredith's lips. "Wake up, love," Addison whispered softly into Meredith's ear.
"Don't wanna," Meredith whines, grabbing the nearest pillow and covering her head with it.
"Mere." Addison chuckled at Meredith's childish antics. "I know you're not a morning person but I need for you to open your eyes, or even one eye, so I can speak to you. After, you can go to sleep."
Her request is answered when Meredith lifts one corner of the pillow, one eye opened. Addison laughs.
"Thank you. It's seven-ten and the girls will be up about seven-forty to seven-fifty. I'm going to take a shower and run to starbucks for breakfast. Okay?"
Meredith barely nodded her head before her eyes shut. Addison leaned over, pressed a kiss to Meredith's cheek, removed herself from the warm cocoon that was Meredith's bed and made her way into the adjourning bathroom.
Addison walked into the kitchen from the backdoor and found all three of her girls sitting around the table. Ally and Ella were dressed for school, backpack and lunches on the table and both were both reading and laughing at the comic strips from the newspaper, and her Meredith was sitting there reading the morning paper headline news in her nightwear, looking relaxed and content.
"Morning, my girls," Addison greeted, cheerily and smilingly.
As she expected Ella and Ally came barreling towards her hugs and kisses were delivered, bags and drink carriers were out of her hands before she could blink.
Meredith's wondrous laugh caught Addison's attention. Meredith sauntered over to where Addison was standing and pulled the redhead into her arms. She breathed in her lavender and vanilla shampoo, her wild citrus body wash and something that was only Addison.
"You're looking very comfortable in my clothes, Dr. Montgomery," Meredith flirted teasingly.
Addison lifted the collar of Meredith's polo shirt, inhaling Meredith's scent that lingered on it. "It smells like you."
Meredith blushed. Neither women noticed the little blue eyes girls exchanging satisfied and curious looks.
Addison licked her lips, she could feel the heat of her face and the tip of her ear burning. "I bought you your caramel macchiato with two extra shots with a butter croissant and strawberry, blueberry parfait."
"Thank you." Meredith kissed Addison cheek in appreciation. "What did you get yourself?" Meredith asked over her shoulder as she moved to the table where the girls were happily drinking their hot chocolate and eating their mini chocolate doughnuts.
"My usual; Americano with two extra shots, apple bran muffin and strawberry, blueberry parfait."
Meredith nodded, handed Addison her order and took a seat next to Ally. Wordlessly, as she sipped on her drink, she handed Addison the paper, knowing Addison would want to read the morning news.
Thirty minutes later, Addison and Meredith were dropping the girls off at eight-forty. On the way back Meredith noticed the tension had thicken in the air. Deciding to be the brave one for once, she reached over the console and grasped Addison's closest hand in hers, giving it a swift kiss on the back. She smiled smugly when she heard Addison's gasp. The rest of the car ride was rode in silence as both women were lost in their thoughts.
"I would ask if you want a glass of wine, but seeing as it's only nine in the morning and we have to drive later, I think it would be best if we didn't," Meredith said, walking into the kitchen. She needed something to do. Her earlier bravery in the car had suddenly disappeared. "Would you like water, juice…milk? What about food?" Meredith moved to the pantry but a voice stopped her.
"Meredith, just, just stop. Okay? I'm not hungry or thirsty." Addison took a deep breath, quelling her frustration and nervousness. "And if I was, I know where everything is. What I would really like is to sit on the couch and talk about these new developments in our relationship. Cause I gotta tell ya, I'm nervous. Horribly nervous. And I all just want to tell you is that I - I like you, romantically. Do - do you, maybe, feel the same way?" Addison asked nervously. She wasn't going to say more until Meredith gave her something to work with.
"I've had feelings for you for awhile. I admit I was, at first, scared and denied my feelings for you." Meredith moved to sit on one of the kitchen stools. "You don't understand how scared I was. It wasn't even because you were a woman, I got over that pretty quickly. What made me scared and…guilty was Derek. I've never felt this way before, not even with Derek," Meredith admitted on a whisper. "Do you know how frightening that is for me? It terrified me. I know I was in love with Derek and I was happy with him but, with you, I feel this completeness and solidness that I never felt with Derek. I was suppose to feel that way about Derek, when he was alive, but I didn't. And that made me feel guilty."
"You don't feel that way now, do you?"
"No, and I haven't for awhile. I've said goodbye and decided to move on long ago. So once I was done sorting through my guilty thoughts, I was scared of saying something and you not feeling the same way. I don't want to ruin what we have."
"I don't either but I don't want to look back five years from now wondering 'what if'. We might not last and we might be building something great, epic together. We won't, however, know unless we take that risk. I'm willing, if you are. We just got to take it one day at a time."
Meredith thought about it. She couldn't go on that way either. She couldn't be friends with Addison and years from now, when Addison might be married and had built a life with someone else, wondered what might have happened if they took that leap. If something happened to them at least she could say she tried and, just like Derek, not regret every minute. Addison was worth it.
"Okay," Meredith giggled. "Let's take that jump." Meredith stood from the stool, pulling Addison towards her and sealing it with a kiss.
Thanks for reading. Camping with the wifey is always wonderful. And since I couldn't bring my iPad or laptop, I brought a pen and notebook, writing when I could. I was surprised when I finished this chapter and have some on the next written, so look out for that one soon.