Finally we come to the last chapter.

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On Friday afternoon, Addison is excited, it's her first trip with Derek in years. And the best thing is, he was the one who suggested it, he offered to go to the Hamptons and have some time to themselves.

She is finishing packing Chris's things when the doorbell at the Brownstone rings, it's Carolyn Shepherd going to pick up her grandson.

As soon as the woman enters the house, Chris jumps on her lap, talking euphorically:

"I'll sleep with you, Grandma."

"I know, my love. Let's play a lot."

Carolyn claims squeezing the little boy in her arms. She then turns to Addison:

"Everything ready? I kept the taxi waiting."

"Yes and he already had lunch."

"Where's Derek?"

"Oh he had surgery. We were supposed to meet there."

"Are you going straight?"

"No, I'm still going to pack some things. On the way I'm going to do some shopping."

"Have a safe trip, Addie."

"Thank you. And thanks for staying with Chris."

"You know you'll never have to thank me for that."

Carolyn states with na affectionate smile. So Addison takes her son's backpack and accompanies them to the taxi.

AAAAA

In the backseat of the taxi, Derek feels that time is not passing, it is the longest trip to the Hamptons of his life. He doesn't know if the reason is anxiety, excitement or the lie he told Addison.

The previous afternoon, he had invented a very important and urgent surgery to justify going to the beach house separately. She didn't complain, she even suggested postponing the trip, but he obviously denied it and reinforced that he would meet her at the beach house.

So it's in the taxi that Derek mentally rehearses the best way to do what he wants perfectly. He is so immersed in his thoughts that he is startled when the driver announces that they have arrived, but he soon gets out of the car almost running.

AAAAA

Addison parks her car in the beach house driveway and is about to pack up to leave when her cell phone rings. Seeing Derek's number, the redhead answers and hears him speak in a low tone:

"Addie, are you there yet?"

"I just pulled into the garage."

"Okay. Look, I'm out of the surgery now, I'm going to follow the postoperative period and then I'll go straight to meet you. But since I don't know when I'll arrive, you don't have to wait up for me."

"Won't you be too tired to drive?"

Concern is evident in her tone and it makes Derek smile. He claims:

"I'll get a taxi. You don't have to worry about a thing."

It's Addison's turn to smile. Derek then ends the call:

"I love you. Good night."

"Good night, Der. I love you too."

As soon as she hangs up the phone, Addison lets out a frustrated sigh. She knows she shouldn't be upset, that Derek took a month off work to take care of her after the accident, but she can't help but fear the old Derek will return. And she's aware that maybe this will always be the case, that a part of her will always be scared when he cancels, or transfers na appointment. His history justifies that.

Finally, Addison decides to push those thoughts away and get out of the car, knowing that the relationship will only work if there is trust and that torturing herself with possibilities will not do any good.

She walks quietly into the house carrying the bags, but as soon as she walks through the door, she is frozen in place.

The house is full of candles and flowers, the lights are off and there's a huge trail of rose petals across the floor. After the initial scare, Addison smiles, impressed with the ease with which Derek led her on. She drops the bags onto the couch and walks along following the petals, the smile never leaving her face.

When the trail finally ends, she finds herself by the pool, facing a brightly smiling Derek, he's wearing a tuxedo and there's music playing in the background. Derek then asks looking innocent:

"Did I trick you?"

"A lot! How did you get out of surgery in time to fix all this?"

"Because there was no surgery. I spent all day organizing all the details for tonight."

"What's all this for?"

"Because I want everything to be perfect."

Having said that, he puts his hand in his pocket and quickly pulls out a ring box, he opens it in front of her and says:

"That's because I want you to go back to being Mrs. Shepherd."

"Derek..."

Addison whispers breathlessly, tears filling her eyes. Derek then gets on his knees and extends the ring to her, asking in a slightly choked voice:

"Will you marry me again, Addie?"

At that moment, two tears roll down Addison's cheeks, she reaches out to touch the ring and can only nod.

Derek smiles, he stands up and pulls her into a tight hug, which she immediately returns, burying her face in his neck, that's all they need right now. After long seconds, Addison pulls away already composed, she looks into his eyes, caresses her face and says:

"I accept."

"I was waiting for you to say."

Derek teases to break the mood and makes her laugh. Addison holds out her hand and he gently places the ring on her finger and she smiles. She caresses the stone and says:

"It's beautiful."

He pulls her in for a deep, long kiss. When they separate, he asks:

"We can reheat dinner later, can't we."

"Uhmm..."

Is all Addison can muster before she pulls him in for another long kiss as her nimble fingers work to unfasten the shirt he's wearing.

Derek rips off his tuxedo and then lets her take his shirt off, her eyes gleaming with intent as she scratches his chest slowly. He then turns her around, holding her by the waist with one arm, with the other, he unzips her dress and pushes it to fall at her feet.

At that moment he pushes her away, the sight of her in high heels and black lingerie set, with red hair falling over her shoulders, always had na effect on him, every detail of her always had na effect on him. He turns her around and captures her lips in a ravenous kiss, she wraps her legs around his waist, still kissing him. Derek guides her to the blanket with the pillows he placed there hours before, he lays her down starting to kiss every part of her body. He dedicates a long moment to her nipples, he sucks and bites gently as he presses his hands to her waist. Addison moans and squirms beneath him, and he soon descends the kisses even further, past her abdomen, her waist and reaching her vagina where she kisses him without warning. Her tongue penetrates her with force, making her moan even more, she squirms, pulling his hair, feeling intoxicated with all the sensations he causes her.

When he realizes she's not going to take it, Derek stops, he gets up and enters her, his movements alternately smooth, and alternately intense, as she scratches his back and moans his name over and over again. Derek continues, caressing her body and giving her stronger and stronger thrusts, when he feels that both will not take it anymore he pulls her hair, bringing her lips to his and making her feel her own taste. The other hand he uses to play with her clit, pressing and teasing, until he feels wetness, he increases the thrusts and when he feels her soften in his arms, he finally breaks free, guiding her back down and letting himself fall gently on top of her. . Addison hugs him, stroking his hair and feeling her breath come back slowly, totally comfortable with his warm weight on her body.

AAAAA

Lying under the blanket Derek has laid out by the pool, they just enjoy each other's company while they recover. Addison has her head lying on Derek's chest, who gently strokes her red hair. She holds out her arm to admire the ring, a bright smile on her lips as she states:

"He's beautiful, Derek."

"It's a family ring, it was my father's."

Addison swallows hard, still eyeing the gem she never imagined would be on her finger. She considers whether to bring up the subject, whether to put something bad in the middle of the incredible moment they are living, but curiosity is dominating her and so she asks without taking her eyes off the jewel:

"How did you get him?"

"What?" Derek asks not sure he understands the question. Addison then leans on his arm, lifting her body so she can look into his face as she asks again:

"How did you manage to keep that ring?"

Derek stands up in surprise, he frowns and asks:

"What are you talking about?"

"That ring that's on my finger now, that your mother wouldn't give me nearly twenty years ago."

Derek lets out a deep sigh, he reaches out to hold her hand and asks:

"Since when did you know about this?"

"Since our engagement."

Addison says with a shrug, but with her eyes downcast. Derek's face falls into a mixture of grief and confusion, so she decides to tell:

Flashback

Addison was beaming, she was sure she had never been happier in her twenty-five years of life. She was engaged to Derek, he really loved her to the point of wanting to spend a lifetime with her. She couldn't get enough of looking at the ring, it was simple she knew jewelry too well to know, but it was the most special ring in the world for her, it was the ring he'd saved months for.

That day she had already shown the jewel to Savvy, Naomi, Sam and Mark, all of whom had helped Derek prepare the beautiful surprise that was the moment of the proposal. Now she was on her way to the Shepherd home, Derek driving the car as she went over the details of the night before. It was Saturday morning and they were going to spend the weekend at the family home, Sunday would be Jenny's one-year birthday party, Kathleen's first daughter.

At the beginning of the night, Nancy ran into her mother's house, euphoric she screamed as soon as she saw Addison sitting by the fireplace with her niece in her lap:

"You are engaged!"

"How do you know?"

"I ran into Mark when he was leaving the hospital."

Nancy spoke in a totally excited tone and pulled her into a hug.

As they walked away, Nancy caught a glimpse of the ring, she then pulled the redhead's hand, observed the jewel with a strange look and gave her a weak smile, before stating that it was beautiful.

Addison was a little surprised by the attitude, but thought that her sister-in-law had found the jewelry simple, after all she was sporting a much larger one that John had given her months before.

Hours later, Addison got up to drink some water, but from the stairs she could hear Nancy's frustrated voice coming from the kitchen. She thought about retreating, but hearing her nickname, she ended up feeling curiosity dominate and she got closer to the room to listen:

"That's none of your business to question, Nancy."

It was Carolyn's impatient voice that she heard.

"It's my business, yes. Addie is a sister to all of us."

"She's just your brother's girlfriend."

"Fiancée! She's his fiancée and you're going to have to swallow that.

"Look how she talks to me, Nancy."

"Dad wanted Derek to have that ring."

"Her father would never want that jewel to go to her, he would never approve of that privileged and superb girl."

The words hit Addison like a punch in the stomach, tears immediately flooded her eyes and she had to stifle a sob before she fled upstairs.

It was there that she discovered that her mother-in-law hated him, the woman in whom she thought she had found a mother, judged her as if she didn't know her.

AAAAA

When Addison finishes speaking her eyes glisten with tears and Derek is shocked, he caresses her face and asks:

"Why have you never talked about this before?"

"I didn't want to talk... I never talked about it with anyone until today."

"Addie...I'm so sorry. I should have fought her, insisted she give it to me."

"That wasn't going to help, Derek. She didn't want it to be mine and insisting wasn't going to make her like me."

"I never understood why she judged you so badly..."

"Do you think she was right? That her father wouldn't like me?"

The question surprises him, he feels bad that she spent all these years thinking about it. He holds her face between his hands, looks into her eyes and says:

"Addison, you are the kindest, most affectionate person I know. You are sweet and caring to everyone, you were the most supportive and caring person for Amy at her worst time... My father would love you, you would be a daughter to him."

Addison smiles, tears still in her eyes. Derek then pulls her into a hug, she lays her head on his shoulder and whispers:

"Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me, I'm being honest."

They are hugged for a few more seconds and then she asks:

"But how did he get with you?"

"Mom gave it to me... She said it was her fault that I was fifteen years too late to give it to the woman of my life."

Addison smiles, she pulls back and kisses him softly. As they walk away, Derek states:

"I'm glad you vented that to me."

"That's how it's supposed to be between us. Honesty and trust."

"Ever."

He speaks with a smile and then kisses her forehead. As he walks away he says:

"I don't want it to be any other way."

He kisses her forehead again. Breaking the tense mood, Addison asks:

"Can we have dinner now?"

"Of course we can! I spent a lot of time in that kitchen."

Derek speaks in alarm. Addison laughs and he gets up ready to get the food, she then pulls him by the hand, she squeezes it and says:

"I love you."

"Me too."

He then enters the house, smiling, with the certainty that he made the best decision of his life. Sitting watching the stars, Addison is just as certain.

AAAAA

I await your comments.

Remembering that my mother tongue is not English and that the characters do not belong to me.

The last chapter arrives soon.