Guys! I'm screaming! We broke twenty-five thousand views! Thank you all sooo much for your continued support throughout the years. You all have grown with me; whether you started reading my work three years ago or if you started today. I appreciate you. I love you. I have a new chapter for you that I hope you will love too. It's kind of short but I think a lot of you have been waiting for this. Happy Readings :3

Meredith

"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have avoided you and just came to you to talk. It's just, I didn't really know how I felt about everything until now… I think I got so upset about the Ellis thing because I realize that not only are the kids attached to you, I'm attached to you too… all of you. I love your family. I love Henry and his love for learning… I love the twins because they have identical faces but two totally different personalities… and little Everett, I love him because he's so calming and probably the most rational baby I've ever met. And you, I'm in love with you Addison. I've always been… since the moment you walked into the hospital all those years ago… all leggy and fabulous. I convinced myself that I hated you when really, all I've ever wanted to do is tell you that I love you," I pause staring back at myself in Addison's guest bathroom. I've been thinking of this moment for the past week and I just can't get myself to actually talk to her. So instead I've been avoiding her like the plague but that's backfired, obviously. Arizona's convinced me that this is going to be a good thing but I feel like I've screwed it up so much at this point that it'll blow up in my face… again.

I walk out of the bathroom with my head held high in feigned confidence. I have to do this now. It's now or never.

"It's now or never," I whisper as I make my way upstairs and back to the roof. The kids are playing on the balcony while Addison and I sip wine by the firepit. We haven't said much to each other. She's still mad at me. The air is tense. I have to do this now. It's now or never.

"Addi―," is all I get out before a, just finished crying, Izzie walks out onto the porch. She flops down beside us on the couch and immediately grabs a glass and the bottle of wine.

Addison looks up at her concerned, "Izzie? I wasn't expecting you home this early. How'd the surgery go?"

"I did it…" she says blankly as she sips her wine.

Addison looks over at her nervously, "And…?"

"I don't know," she said simply.

I stare back at them in confusion, "What's going on?"

"My cancer is back," she said as she finished her wine and poured up another glass.

I shake my head. This isn't actually happening, is it?

Addison looks at me, "She has an appointment with Amelia in the morning."

It's the first full sentence she's spoken to me in a long time. I look at Izzie waiting for her to say something but she keeps drinking silently.

Alex immediately pops into my head. I ask, "Does Alex know? Have you told him?"

"I just did," she explained. "He stormed out of the scrub room… He didn't say anything. He wouldn't even look at me…"

Cries come through the baby monitor before either of us are able to respond. Addison starts to get up, "The little ones are up."

"I got it."

"Thanks."

"Addison," I pause looking over at her as soon as Izzie goes back in the house. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have avoided you. I should've just come talk to you but I didn't understand what I was feeling until now. Knowing that I could possibly lose Izzie forever, I know for a fact that I don't want to ever lose you."

"I'm sorry too. I jumped to conclusions and possibly overreacted," she smiles at me and my chest falls into my stomach. "We will always be friends, Meredith."

"That's the thing, Addison," I pause. Am I really about to do this? "I don't think I want to be your friend."

"Oh," she says sadly looking into her nearly empty glass.

I get up and sit down right next to her, "I think I got so upset about the Ellis thing because, well, I realize that not only are the kids attached to you, I'm attached to you too… all of you. I love your family. I love Henry and his passion for learning… the way he embraces challenges. I love the twins because they're so alike yet extremely different… Literally oil and water. Then little Everett, I love the way he always makes me feel understood. He always seems to know what's going on even though he's only one year old. And you, since the moment you walked into the hospital all those years ago… all leggy and fabulous, I convinced myself that I hated you when really, all I've ever wanted to do is tell you that I love you. I'm in love with you Addison. I've always been… and I've never had the guts to say anything until now."

"Meredith," she says looking up at me with tears in her eyes as Izzie walks back out onto the roof with Ellis on one hip and Everett on the other.

Addison quickly wipes her tears away and stares at me as Izzie speaks up again, "I think the worst part about all of this is that I was finally settling into a routine. I had a great life in San Francisco. I even thought I found love again… I was going to start a family; have a little one of my own. Now, in my search for comfort, I wind up here and find out I may not belong here either."

"Iz," I pause taking Ellis from Izzie's hold. It takes everything out of me to rip my eyes away from Addison's intense green stare. "You've always belonged here. We're family and I'm glad you're back. We're going to take care of you. Just give Alex some time, he'll come around. I know he will. He won't ever admit it but he misses you and he's more than happy that you're back."

"Thank you, Meredith," she says quietly. "Have you guys already eaten? I'm starving. I'll whip something up for us and the kids."

"That sounds good, Iz," Addison says quietly as Izzie sits Everett and disappears into the house. Everett and Ellis go wobbling off to join the kids. "Meredith, I… Wow, I never thought we'd be having this conversation. Like, if someone would have told me that we'd be confessing our love for one another while sitting on my roof, I would have laughed in their face. The truth is, Meredith, I've always liked you… even when you we're screwing my husband during a high school prom."

"I thought you'd forgiven me for that."

"I have," she smiles softly. "I don't know. There was something that kept drawing me to you and spending all of this time with you this past year, I started to fall for you. I convinced myself I was hallucinating all of the little hints here and there; that you didn't feel the same way. So, thank you for telling me. I didn't know I really fell for you until I got so pissed about the Ellis situation. I didn't know how much I cared."

"That's when I realized too," I giggle. "God, it feels so good to finally get that off my chest."

"You're silly," she giggles too and I just want to cling onto her, never letting go.

I push some hair out of her face, "Wait, there's something I've been meaning to do."

"Oh? What's that?" she asks.

I place my hand softly on her cheek as I lean in closer to her, kissing her long and deep. The kiss is exactly how I imagined… I could get lost in it.

"Ewww," a tiny voice says as we pull apart embarrassed. "That's nasty."

"Oh, Zola, when you have your first kiss, I'm going to be disgusted too," I say to her as she runs away laughing.

I smile looking back up at Addison. Her eyes are smiling back at me as she pulls me into comfortable hug. This is all I've dreamed about these past few weeks. She and I just lying in each other's embrace. Avoiding her only made me want her more and it's finally happening.

A few moments later, our silent embrace is interrupted by all eight of the little ones and they all snuggled up on the couch with us. I close my eyes trying to catch a mental picture of this moment because I want it to last forever. I take a deep breath and when I opened my eyes, I glance over at the redhead. When she realizes I'm watching her, she sends a smile my way. I wonder if she's thinking what I'm thinking.

I turn to the little one nuzzled under my arm and I brush her hair out of her face; it's Peggy. I smile, "You kiddos look tired. How about we see what Auntie Izzie's whipped up for dinner then get ready for bed?"

"Sleep is for the weak!" Zola jumped up and announced. "Race ya to the kitchen!"

"Last one there has to set the table!" Henry calls out as all the children take off with the toddlers wobbling far behind.

Addison starts to get up, "We probably want to catch them before they make it to the stairs."

"Right," I say and we pick up the little ones moments later.

Ellis has this thing where she likes to bounce down every step. It amazes me that she keeps doing it although she hurts herself every other time. Everyone in my house has tried to show Ellis how to come down the stairs backwards; even Everett has. He saw her slide down so he tried it once and never did again. I imagine it being too bumpy.

I get the babies into their high chairs as Addison helps the twins set the table. I honestly don't think the smallest two should be included in their race scoring but the twins insisted. I joined Addison at her side and joke, "Maybe if they like setting the table, I could teach them to wash dishes and they'll enjoy that too.?"

"Oh, hush," she smirks setting a plate down. "My babies are extraordinary. Not only will they be washing dishes, but they will be cooking the meal too."

"I bet they will," I joke. It's crazy how fast children grow in a year's time. I can't imagine how things are going to be next year.

TELL. ME. WHAT. YOU. THINK. Is anybody else squealing? Don't get too excited though. They live in Shondaland so I can't promise you there won't be any angst and heartache in the chapters to come. No one ever said being in a relationship was easy, lol. Leave a review below if you love me too. Oh and go vote at the top of my page if you love Alex Karev! ❥ Kae