Hi! Thank you so much to those who have read and reviewed so far. Sorry for the irregularity of my updates but now I'm back from my holiday I hope to post more frequently. Please review this chapter and let me know your thoughts if you're able to :)


Sunlight shone through the large bay window and cast a rainbow through the glass photo frame on the windowsill, waking Mark from his slumber. He smiled to himself as he realised he and Addison had fallen asleep together and he rolled over, expecting to see her on his right, but she was gone. He frowned, confused since Addison was not an early riser by any means and it was their day off. Throwing back the light blue duvet, Mark went to go downstairs wondering if she was making coffee, when he heard muffled coughing from the en-suite bathroom. He knocked softly on the door.

'Addison?'

'Mmm?' she replied feebly from the bathroom.

Mark opened the door to find her sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, her face paler than usual and a tissue in her hand. A look of concern immediately settled on his face, his forehead creasing as he frowned and asked if she was ok.

'I'm fine, Mark, it's just morning sickness. God, I never had enough appreciation for my patients who suffered badly with this.'

Another wave of nausea washed over her.

'Could you grab me a glass of water, please?' she asked, bending her head back over the toilet.

Instead, Mark stepped forward and held back her long hair, rubbing circles on her back. He had never coped well with vomiting patients, but he supposed she was different. All he felt was sympathy and a small amount of guilt, and he wished he could make her feel better.

'All done?' he asked when she'd stopped.

Addison nodded and they made their way back into the bedroom. She collapsed back into bed, dark red hair contrasting with the white sheets, and moaned.

'God, that was not fun.' She placed a hand on her stomach and looked down towards it. 'You better not make me feel that bad every morning, you know.'

Mark smiled. 'I'll grab you that water now.'

She smiled at Mark's attentiveness which juxtaposed Derek's lack of attention in recent months. An affair was wrong, she knew that from seeing what it did to her parents' marriage, but she could understand why she did it. Derek was never there and Mark always was. She thought he might love her- at least he certainly liked her more than Derek did. She thought she might love him, too.

He soon returned and she lifted the cool glass of water to her lips. Placing it back on the nightstand, Mark scooped her up and laid her across his lap, his strong hands massaging her shoulders and brushing her hair out of her face. She looked up at him and saw his eyes fill with adoration and care. It looked as though he wished he could take all of her pain away with the wave of a magic wand, and she knew she'd chosen the right man to be the father of her child. Derek would have to be informed of course, but she hoped he'd leave her and Mark to their own family. Besides, he was god-knows-where doing god-knows-what while Mark was holding back her hair as she threw up.

Just as Addison thought she could fall back asleep, her phone rang. Groaning, she rolled over to pick it up.

'Addison Montgomery-She…. speaking,' she said on autopilot, forgetting her husband had left her. Though they hadn't divorced, she wasn't sure she wanted her name being tied to his anymore.

'Addie, hi, it's Richard Webber. How are you?' His voice seemed to be filled with concern, though she wasn't sure if she was just being paranoid.

'Oh my god Richard, hi. I'm um…'

Mark looked at her as she trailed off, her fingertips grazing her stomach as she caught his eye before responding.

'Yeah, fine. I'm ok. How are you?'

Only Mark heard the slight wobble in her voice.

'Good. Listen, I've got a case I could use you to consult on. Quints. It's all yours, if you want it.'

She hesitated. Richard gave her more details, but she wasn't sure she could leave New York for that long.

'Can I call you back, Richard? I need to see if I can clear my diary.'

She put the phone down and turned to face Mark, whose face was silently asking her what was going on.

'That was Richard, my old mentor. He's the Chief at Seattle Grace Hospital and he needs me to consult on a case. Quints, actually, can you believe it? I just don't know if I can leave work for that long and everything with the baby and Derek and you and-'

Mark placed a comforting hand on her leg. 'Addie, breathe. Do you want to take the case?'

She nodded, smiling.

'Ok then, call work and tell them you're going to Seattle for a high-profile case that will improve your publicity, as well as theirs. I'll come too, I've always wanted to visit and I could use a holiday. I haven't got any cases at the minute anyway.'

Addison frowned. 'Are you sure? I don't want to drag you across the country just to see Richard, Mark. You don't have to come; I'll be ok.'

'I'm sure. It won't be long and besides, who else is going to hold your hair back in the mornings?' he laughed. Secretly, he was more concerned with how Addison would cope with the separation from Derek if she was stressed and alone in a new city, but he didn't want her to know he was worried about her. Her independence was too important to her.

She smiled lovingly at him and shifted to lay her head on his chest, her leg curling up over him and he wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. 'Thank you.'

Her eyes closed slowly again and Mark relaxed as he felt her loosen and her breathing slow, a sure sign she was asleep. Despite having known her since med school, and having spent a lot more time with her in the last few weeks, he was still in awe of her. That dark red hair, her perfect eyes, lips, nose. The way her makeup always looked flawless yet natural, effortless, like her fashion sense. He'd never seen Addison Montgomery have a bad hair day in his life, nor had he seen an outfit she didn't pull off, even the zombie costume she'd worn to their med school Halloween party. It was much more than that though. It was the way her smile was contagious and never failed to cheer him up after a long day. The way she listened to him and he could tell she genuinely cared about how his shift had been. Nobody had ever cared about him the way she did, and for that he couldn't help but love her, even if he couldn't quite admit it to himself yet.