Meredith was again staring at baby Ellis with tears in her eyes. She wished Derek were here with her. He would have been overjoyed with another daughter. Alex had stopped by with Zola and Bailey to say good night as he took the kids back to the apartment for the night. She was happy she had named Alex as her emergency contact; she had known he would come to help her. She was happy that he was with Zola and Bailey. Now Meredith was alone with her third child, the one Derek never even knew about. She heard a knock at the door and said, "Come in."

She was speechless when she saw the person at the door. "Addison?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Good evening, Meredith. And I take it this is your daughter?"

"Yes, this is Ellis," Meredith said softly, questions floating through her mind. How did Addison know she was here? And why was she here?

"Amelia called to let me know that you were in San Diego, and you had just had a baby."

Meredith nodded. She knew her sister-in-law was very close to Addison.

"And when she told me you had a baby, I knew had to come and check you out myself."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I care about you, and I care about Derek's baby."

"Seriously?" Meredith repeated.

"Yes. I'm happily married now," Addison said, regretting her words as they flew out of her mouth. Meredith was now a widow, not married at all, and Addison thought she had been cruel, mentioning her own happiness. But she pushed on. "I never blamed you for the end of my marriage to Derek. If I hadn't slept with Mark, he never would have moved out to Seattle and met you. But once he met you, he loved you."

Meredith met Addison's eyes. "That's sweet of you to say. I'll always remember that night at Joe's, when he was with Rose, and you told me that you wanted to kick my ass."

Addison chuckled. "Yes, it was fine that my marriage ended if it meant Derek to had true love with you. I couldn't bear it if our marriage ended for him go off with that doe-eyed nurse."

Meredith smiled as she remembered their conversation from years ago. "So why are you really here?"

"Just what I said – to check both you and the baby out. If you give your consent, I'll check you both. I want to do that for Derek. I miss him. He was a good friend to me after the divorce; he saved my brother's life. I owe him. And I thought this was the least I could do. I am the best, after all, and I want to confirm that everything is fine with both you and the baby."

"She looks like Derek," Meredith said. "You can check her out, if you want."

Addison approached Meredith, and took the baby from her. "She's beautiful. And she resembles Derek. Her hair is dark, like his, and her eyes resemble his."

Addison had tears in her eyes as she examined her ex-husband's daughter.

"Yes, I see him in her."

"I think everyone is thrilled you had this baby, another child with Derek."

Meredith did not respond. Addison looked at her, concerned about what she was thinking. "I think everyone understands that you needed some time on your own. But it must have been hard going through the pregnancy without Derek and without any of your friends or family."

"Everyone we know reminds me of Derek."

"I'm sorry. I'm sure I remind you of Derek as well," said Addison, flustered.

"So do my children. Everything reminds me of Derek. There's not an hour that goes by when I don't think of him. So don't worry about it."

Addison wasn't quite sure what to answer. But she took the baby over to a table, and took out her stethoscope and listed to the baby's strong heart. She examined the baby thoroughly, even taking off her diaper and closely examining the stump from the umbilical cord. "Ellis looks great."

"Her Apgars were perfect."

"That's wonderful. Derek would have been thrilled. He was overjoyed every time a new niece or nephew was born. We had to be the first aunt and uncle to get to the hospital to greet the new baby." Addison's eyes filled with tears.

"I always wondered why you never had children."

"You mean with Derek, right?" Meredith nodded. "We were both busy with our careers, and it was never the right time. And then we didn't want to bring a baby into the world if we weren't together." And again Addison wished she had bitten her tongue. "I meant if we were unhappy together."

"I know what you mean, Addison, it's okay. I always wondered if he would have fallen in love with me if you had children together. So for me, it worked out well that you didn't. We did have years together, and we have three children."

Addison nodded. "Is it okay if I look at your chart?"

"Go ahead."

"Here's Ellis," Addison said, as she put the baby back in her mother's arms.

Meredith smiled as she looked at her daughter's face.

"So you had a placental abruption."

"Yes."

"You were really lucky."

"Yes, if you mean for both of us to survive in such good shape."

"How did you wind up getting to the hospital so quickly?"

"Zola called 911."

"What a smart girl. You and Derek have done a great job with her."

"She's great. But she misses her daddy." Meredith frowned. She had had the opportunity to reconnect with her father as an adult, not that it had gone well, but still she had had the chance. And she still had the chance to try again, if she wanted. But Zola would never see her father again.

"I'm sure she does. Derek must have been an amazing dad. He always wanted a houseful of children."

"Well, he got his houseful," Meredith said with a smile. "I just wish he was here to enjoy them."

"You and me both," said Addison. "Not to mention all your friends and family. You're going to need help, with three children and recovering from major abdominal surgery."

"I know. Alex told me to call Derek's mom."

"Did you call?"

"I called her before Alex got here to let her know about Ellis."

"She must have been thrilled about the new grandchild."

"I think so. She did offer to come and help."

"She never liked me, but I know she likes you."

Meredith looked at Addison with questions in her eyes.

"When I came to Seattle with my brother, Mark told me that Mrs. Shepherd had given Derek a ring. She hadn't given him the ring when we got engaged."

"She probably thought you wanted a bigger diamond," suggested Meredith.

"I would rather have had his mother's approval," commented Addison.

"I never wore the ring. I got married on a post-it and then in a judge's chamber. We never invited his mother to our house while Derek was alive. The first time she came to our house was after the funeral."

Addison saw Meredith had tears in her eyes. "It's okay, Meredith. Carolyn lost her husband. She knows what it's like to lose the love of your life. Everyone knows you loved Derek. But you're going to need help. You can't manage three children and recover from major abdominal surgery."

"I thought I could hire a baby nurse."

"You should do that, but your children would enjoy having their grandma spoil them. And Carolyn is a marvelous grandmother. I've seen her with her other grandchildren. You should call her again. I'm sure she offered to help earlier."

"Yes."

"So take her up on the offer. Unless you're planning on going back to Seattle when you get discharged."

"That's what Alex wants me to do."

"Do you want to relocate to San Diego?"

"I really hadn't thought that far ahead. I was afraid I'd die in childbirth. I almost died with Bailey."

"And then what would happen to your children?"

"After Lexie and Mark died, we changed our wills. We made Derek's sisters Kathleen and Lizzie the guardians. But maybe we – no – I should change it to Amelia. It would be better for them to stay in Seattle." Meredith frowned. She still thought in terms of "we," meaning Derek and herself, when it came to the children.

"Amelia's Henry's guardian. She is great with children."

"What about Lizzie and Kathleen?"

"They're great, too. I noticed you said nothing about Nancy."

"Well, I think you're still her favorite sister-in-law," Meredith chuckled.

"Nancy loved Derek, even if she didn't show it the way he'd like. And she told me that she felt guilty for treating you so badly. It was a bad introduction to the Shepherd family. Everyone misses Derek and is eager to help you, even Nancy."

"Well, I won't be calling her. I have a couple of days to think about what I want to do. Alex said he'd stay and help until I'm discharged."

"Can I look at your incision?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Addison examined the incision and felt Meredith's abdomen. "You look good."

"Thanks for checking me out."

"I had to do it for Derek, Meredith. I owe him that much. And I'm happy to help you. L.A. is not far away."

"What about traffic?"

"As long as you avoid rush hour, it's not bad. I'm happy to come visit when I'm off."

"Thanks. I'm glad you came."

"Me, too. Give me your phone, and I'll enter my contact info. You can call me anytime of day to talk, and I'm happy to come here, or Seattle."

"Okay. I really appreciate your help. And, it's weird, after all the two of us have been through, but it's good to be with someone who also remembers Derek."

"We both loved him. It's a long time since we were married, but we were friends after we got divorced, and I miss him. I wish I could call him and tell him how perfect Ellis is."

"Me, too."

"So let's stay in touch. Don't vanish again."

"I don't think Alex will let him. He's probably installed a tracker on my phone."

"I wouldn't blame him. All your friends in Seattle must have missed you and your children."

"I did what I had to do for my sanity. But maybe I'll go home now."

"I'm sure no one will hold a grudge about your disappearing, particularly after they meet Ellis. She's a real charmer."

"Just like her daddy."

"Yes. I must say you did charm Derek."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, I'm sure you need your rest, so I'll get going, but call if there's anyting I can do."

"Will do."