Chapter 8: Telling Stories
Summary: Everyone has dinner together after Amelia and Michelle come out to join them while Jake learns a little more about Addison.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Olivia ran up to Jake and Addison.
"Hi, Liv," Addison quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping her up before picking her up.
"Mommy! Look! I found this!" Olivia held up a seashell.
"Isn't it pretty?" Olivia asked her mom, getting in closer.
"That's very pretty, Liv. Hey, we're gonna stay out of the water now, okay? Dinner is gonna be here soon, and I can hear your tummy rumble," Addison said, tickling her.
The girl giggled, squirming in her mom's arms. She quickly wiggled out of her arms, eyes lighting up when she saw Amelia and Michelle walk out. They both squinted at the bright sunlight.
"Lia! Mitchie! Did you just get home? Where did you go? Did you have to go fix a brain? Did you have to watch her, Mitchie? 'Cause that sounds super boring!" Olivia asked her questions, flying out a mile a minute, running toward them, and determined to get a hug from her aunt.
Thankfully, Michelle intercepted.
"Oh no. We're not gonna tackle-hug Lia like we normally do. Remember, her tummy was upset this morning? We don't wanna do that again now, do we?" Michelle asked the dripping-wet girl in her arms.
Olivia gasped, looking back and forth between the two.
"Are you still sick, Auntie? Is Mommy gonna send you to live at Mitchie's until you feel better? 'Cause she doesn't like me getting sick and I don't wanna get sick either! 'Cause if I get sick, that means I can't go to Daddy's for Halloween! And Meredeth said we can have a party! Parties are really really fun and I wanna go!" Olivia rambled.
"Did you feed this kid crack or something?" Michelle joked, earning a disapproving glare from Addison for her use of language.
"I don't know what that means, but I'm super duper hungry! Mommy said it's not time for swimming anymore 'cause it's almost dinnertime," Olivia chatted away. Addison was pleased to know the girl did, in fact, hear her.
Amelia just flopped down in a seat beside Addison, watching the waves. Addison reached out, feeling her forehead much like she did earlier in the day.
"Well, your fever's gone and you look much better. How are you feeling?" Addison asked as Jake sat a glass of water down in front of Amelia.
"Terrible, but at least I'm not puking my guts out, so I guess that's a win? I wanted to stay in bed, but Michelle thought I needed sunlight," Amelia said, grabbing the water and silently thanking Jake.
"Then I guess the medicine worked. Just keep using it. We'll see how you feel in the morning," Addison offered. Amelia just stayed silent, staring at her water.
If Amelia was honest, she felt conflicted. She didn't think she could raise a baby, especially without a father in the picture. And she was not a beggar. If she did decide to keep it, her spontaneous trips with Michelle would stop, and she wasn't sure if she was willing to give up what little time she had left with her friend.
Plus, she wouldn't be able to accompany Olivia to Seattle the same, which she'd feel guilty about. She took the time to take the girl back and forth most of the time as her way to repay Addison for letting her stay here. Filling in the gaps was the only thing she could think of to repay Addison for everything. Maybe if Olivia was older and didn't need as much attention as she did now, she'd think differently.
"Food should be here soon. Think you can handle it?" Addison offered. Amelia shrugged. She didn't know what she could or couldn't handle.
"You can just try a bite, then. Don't force yourself," Addison said, smoothing down Amelia's hair.
"So, Olivia's going to Seattle for Halloween?" Jake asked to change the topic, having heard Olivia mention it earlier. Addison nodded with a little smile.
"We try to trade off every other holiday. Not to say it always works, but we try," Addison explained.
"I had Liv last year, so her dad gets her this year. Sometimes, if our schedules line up, we'll celebrate together, but that doesn't happen often," Addison added.
Jake nodded, understanding. It seemed normal with shared custody.
"Hey, Addie, did Mark call you?" Amelia asked after a period of silence. He'd texted her earlier, begging her to ask Addison something on his behalf, and she told him to ask Addison himself.
"No, why?" Addison asked, her eyes narrowing. If Mark was going through Amelia, it meant he wanted something big that she'd probably say no to.
"I don't know; I told him to ask you himself," Amelia shrugged.
"Maybe he wants you to give Sloan the talk," Amelia snickered. Addison narrowed her eyes at her.
"Well, you're the only one who willingly volunteered to give it to me," Amelia pointed out.
"And she's a lot like me," Amelia added.
"Do you actually not know what he wants?" Addison asked, suspicious.
"No. He tried to tell me, but I ignored him. He can suffer until you decide to respond," Amelia replied.
"Ooh! Sloan's the blonde troublemaker, right?" Michelle asked, getting involved.
"Yup," Amelia replied, wondering where her friend was going with this.
"Maybe she got caught smoking, or he found a fake ID on her." Michelle thought out loud, remembering stories Amelia told her about herself.
"Let's hope not," Addison said, moving to grab her phone, and texting Mark herself to figure out what he wanted.
Did you want to ask me something?
Maybe…
Yes or no, Mark? I don't have all day.
Fine. Can Sloan stay with you guys for fall break? First week of November.
Sure.
Well, that was easy.
Miracles happen when you actually ask for what you want, Mark.
You're the best, Red.
Just tell her not to corrupt my kid, will you?
For you? Anything ;)
"So, what'd he want?" Amelia asked after seeing Addison put away her phone and chuckling to herself.
"Sloan wants to stay with us for a week," Addison replied.
"I knew it had something to do with the kid," Amelia commented.
"And you said…?" Michelle asked.
"I said yes," Addison said simply.
"Really? You're okay with her being here for a whole week? Unsupervised?" Amelia asked.
"She's 16. She doesn't need a babysitter," Addison shrugged.
"Besides, the only person she knows here is Maya, and Maya's a good kid," Addison added.
"Maybe don't tell Sam then. He'll try to lock Maya up while she's here or send her to Naomi or something," Amelia said thoughtfully.
"He won't do that. Or, if he tries to, I'll just take Maya in for the week," Addison joked.
"Right, 'cause he'd totally let you do that," Amelia said sarcastically.
"Well, he won't, but Nai will," Addison said playfully.
"Fair point," Amelia replied.
"I'm hungry," Olivia loudly complained.
"You're always hungry," Michelle laughed, tickling her.
"I can't help it. Uncle Mark says I'm just like Lia," Olivia giggled, squirming in Michelle's arms.
"Uncle Mark doesn't know everything," Addison rolled her eyes, getting up to greet the delivery driver.
"Yes, he does," Olivia whispered loudly.
Michelle shared a playful look with Amelia, slowly dropping her hand to hide the shaking. It was natural with her Huntington's diagnosis. The frustration, the embarrassment, all natural reactions, according to her doctors. She hated being the quote-unquote norm of anything, but she hated having this disease even more. Amelia rubbed her back softly to soothe her, knowing where she stood when it came to her disease.
Michelle was thankful Jake didn't see. She didn't want to explain everything to someone else. There was just too much to explain, followed by too many questions and offers of procedures and ongoing clinical trials. But it was a waste of time. Even if she did something now, nothing would work. She'd still be dead by the time anything showed any sort of improvement. She and Amelia would spend days locked in their dorm room, coming up with ways to avoid this disease, and still, to this day, they made no real progress.
Addison handed out everyone's order, instructing Olivia to sit in her own seat so she could eat, but she met it with a protest. She didn't want to; she was comfortable in Michelle's lap. Addison sighed, giving in, knowing Michelle would at least get her to eat.
"Mitchie!" Olivia screamed when the glass slipped from the adult's hand, falling and smashing on the floor.
"I'm sorry," Michelle muttered.
"It didn't hurt her. I swear," Michelle said, pulling Olivia away from her, upset that she lost control like that.
Amelia took Olivia, who was crying, while Addison and Jake moved to clean up. Olivia was definitely feeding off of Michelle's emotions because normally she wouldn't get this upset.
"Is it your hand again?" Addison whispered to the younger woman softly.
"Yeah," Michelle admitted.
"I swear she didn't get hit, though. The glass was away from her," Michelle added. Addison frowned, seeing the gash on Michelle's leg.
"You cut yourself. Let's go get you cleaned up," Addison led her into the kitchen, grabbing the first aid kit. She wasn't mad in the slightest. You couldn't control these things.
"Broom?" Jake asked. Addison pointed in the direction while she cleaned Michelle's leg.
"How's Liv?" Addison asked Jake, as he came back with the swept-up broken glass, not taking her eyes off her task.
"She's upset, but Amelia has her. I'm sure she'll be fine," Jake said softly, looking at Michelle with concern.
"Anything I can help with here?" Jake offered. Addison shook her head.
"Just a graze. She'll be fine," Addison smiled softly at Michelle, showing her there was no harm done.
"There. Just keep it clean. You'll be fine. Let's go see what it's like out there," Addison offered her hand.
Michelle took it with a sad smile, heading back outside to see Amelia holding onto Olivia, who was no longer crying, but still in Amelia's arms as she rocked her back and forth. Michelle felt terrible that she had spooked the girl.
"Hey look, Mitchie's right there," Amelia told the girl, pointing to Michelle.
"I'm sure she'd love to see you," Amelia added. Addison continued walking over to Michelle so Olivia could see her.
"Hey, kiddo. I'm sorry I spooked you. I got a dumb hand, remember?" Michelle tried to joke.
"It's okay, Mitchie," Olivia declared, trying to be brave.
"You didn't do it on purpose. Are you okay, now?" Olivia asked.
"Oh, totally," Michelle grinned.
"Hey, how about we sit on the floor and finish our food?" Michelle asked the girl, who readily agreed and wiggled out of her aunt's arms to go get their food.
Angela moved to help clean up, feeling bad that she hadn't helped when Addison was being so kind to them. She yelped, nearly dropping what was in her hands, feeling something brush up against her bare legs. Surprised, she looked down to find an orange cat walking around, rubbing up against her legs.
"Uh, Addison? There's a stray cat in your house…," Angela called out, concerned.
"I guess he seems friendly enough. Do you know his owner?" Angela asked, kneeling down to pet him.
"That's Milo!" Olivia screeched, running inside to scoop him up.
"Olivia Adrianne!" Addison reprimanded the girl.
"Inside voice. Angela doesn't know who Milo is. Why don't you tell her about him? Nicely," Addison suggested. Olivia pouted in a fit of anger. She was reconsidering her friendship with Angela now that she thought Milo belonged to someone else.
"Olivia," Addison warned her again when she saw the face her daughter was sporting.
"This is Milo. He's our cat," Olivia said, squeezing him just a little too much to be comfortable, but the cat didn't protest.
"Mommy saved him and now he's ours. He lives here now. He sleeps in my room or in Lia's room when I'm not here. Or in the bathroom sink when he's being silly," Olivia rubbed her face up against him.
"Sometimes when I wake up at night to use the bathroom, he's in the sink," Olivia giggled.
"He doesn't care when I turn the water on to wash my hands," Olivia added. Amelia rolled her eyes. She wasn't a huge fan of Milo, but he was great at making sure you didn't feel alone.
"He belonged to a patient of mine who didn't have anyone else. I agreed at first to take the cat until she found someone else, but I decided to keep him," Addison smiled, looking over at the pair.
"Liv, loosen up a little. He might scratch you," Addison said gently, seeing the girl trying to squeeze the poor cat to death. She meant well, but she hadn't quite grasped that Milo wasn't a toy because he didn't fight back. She almost wished he'd scratched her to tell her to ease up.
"He doesn't mind, Mommy. Look!" Olivia pouted. She was right; Milo never minded. Ever.
"Olivia, Milo is not a toy. If you squeeze him too tight, he won't be able to breathe. Kind of like how when someone tickles you so much, you have to pee," Addison explained. Olivia sighed, releasing the hold she had on Milo. The cat, in turn, trotted over to Jake, weaving in and out of his legs, wanting attention from him.
"Hi Milo, good to see you up and moving this time," Jake said playfully, chuckling as he knelt down to pet him.
"You look a lot like my old friend Paco," Jake commented.
"Who's Paco?" Olivia asked.
"Well, when I was a kid, there was this cat that would come around the neighborhood. I don't know who named him, but everyone called him Paco, so we called him Paco; me and my sisters. We used to leave a bowl of milk on our front porch so he wouldn't be hungry at night. Our mom didn't like it 'cause she was scared we'd attract a raccoon instead," Jake recounted.
"Did you? Get a raccoon?" Addison asked.
"Shockingly, no," Jake chuckled.
"Did you like him, Dr. Jake?" Olivia asked carefully. If he didn't, he'd have to stop kissing Mommy immediately. This was non-negotiable in her mind.
"Of course I did! We always asked our mom to bring him into the house, but she always said no because he had a home somewhere else. We never found out where, though," Jake replied.
"So, where's Paco now?" Olivia asked, curious. The women winced, knowing that more than likely Paco was no longer around, but nobody wanted to break it to the girl.
Angela made a face. She'd heard this story before, but she also didn't think the girl needed to know what happened after.
"You know, I don't know. But I like to think he's drinking a nice bowl of milk somewhere," Jake finally said. Everyone else sighed in relief, thankful he avoided the obvious answer.
"Hey Liv," Addison called, hoping to redirect her attention.
"Did you finish your assignment for school tomorrow?" Addison asked.
Olivia's face immediately changed into a scowl.
"I don't like school. I don't want to do it," Olivia responded.
"Olivia," Addison stated sternly.
"Madame Rhodes will make you clean all the chalkboards if you don't do it," Addison warned. Olivia hated that.
"I don't care. School is stupid, I don't like it," Olivia said with more of an attitude.
"Olivia Adrianne. If you're gonna talk like that, you can go sit in time out," Addison pointed to the stairs.
"No!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Olivia," Addison warned.
"Daddy doesn't make me go to school or daycare!" Olivia argued.
"Well, Daddy isn't here right now," Addison responded, moving to put the girl in time-out.
"No!" Olivia struggled, tears springing up.
"Olivia Adrianne Montgomery-Shepherd. If you don't want to sit in time out, then you can go straight to bed," Addison scolded, leaving Olivia with her temper tantrum, silently apologizing to Jake with her eyes.
"I want Daddy," Olivia cried, a few minutes later, worn out. It was her typical go-to when she was tired, but wanted to pretend she wasn't.
"Are you done?" Addison asked.
"Because if you're done, we can go get ready for bed and say goodnight to Daddy," Addison told the girl.
She nodded, reaching to be picked up, sniffling.
Addison picked her up, carrying her off.
"And this is why she still takes naps," Amelia said to nobody in particular.
Michelle snorted.
"Remember last year when your brother let her go an entire week without one?" Michelle asked. Amelia laughed.
"Nobody said my brother was smart," Amelia replied.
"The women who throw themselves at him say differently," Michelle responded, to which Amelia just rolled her eyes and gave her friend a little shove.
Olivia shuffled downstairs a half hour later, rubbing her eyes, and dressed for bed. She was still sniffling, going around and hugging everyone to say goodnight.
"Dr. Jake, will you read me a bedtime story? You do the voices better. Please? Mommy said I could ask you. But I have to say sorry first," Olivia asked, hoping he'd say yes.
"Livvy, did you say you're sorry?" Amelia reminded her gently.
"Oh," Olivia muttered, making an oops face.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Jake. Can you please read me a bedtime story?" Olivia tried again.
"It'd be my pleasure," Jake chuckled, moving some of Olivia's wet hair out of her face and behind her ear instead.
Olivia gave him a shy smile back as Jake got up from his seat and held out a hand for her to hold. She took it easily as he guided her to her bedroom. When they got there, Addison was hanging up Olivia's towel, now damp after her bath, on the door hanger.
"Mommy! Dr. Jake said he could read me a story!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Well, that's very nice of him. What do we say when people do nice things for us, Livvy?" Addison asked.
"Thank you, Dr. Jake," Olivia said politely as she looked up at him, her small hand still clinging to his.
"Of course, Liv. How about we get you into bed, huh? What book are we reading tonight?" Jake asked. She thought hard for a moment, looking over at her bookshelf.
"Ramona!" Olivia finally chose a book titled, Beezus & Ramona. Addison smiled; they hadn't read that one yet.
After handing Jake the book, Addison tucked Olivia into bed and sat down, stroking her hair soothing the girl, something she shared in common with her aunt.
Olivia snuggled her rabbit, listening to Jake read to her. As Jake read the book, Addison took turns reading lines as she leaned her head on his shoulder. That is until they discovered more about the older sister, Beezus's nickname. When it revealed Beezus's real name was Beatrice, Addison couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"What's so funny, Mommy?" Olivia asked.
"Oh, nothing. It's just…well, Beatrice is your grandma's real name, and it's just funny thinking about calling her Beezus," Addison explained.
"I thought Bizzy's name was Bizzy," Olivia said, confused.
"Bizzy?" Jake asked.
"Everyone called her Bizzy. Liv, Derek, The Captain, Archer, me," Addison chuckled.
"But it's short for Beatrice," Addison explained.
"Did you just say The Captain?" Jake asked.
"My father," Addison clarified. Jake looked even more confused now.
"My parents aren't…your typical parents," Addison added awkwardly. She never knew how to explain Bizzy and The Captain.
"Can I call Bizzy Beezus then?" Olivia asked, giggling. She knew there was no way Bizzy would ever let her get away with that.
"Absolutely not," Addison said sternly before breaking out into a laugh with Olivia.
"What's so funny?" Jake asked.
"If you knew her, you'd understand. Long story short, Bizzy is a no-nonsense type of person. And she has very specific expectations. One of which includes calling her Bizzy. Archer and I never even called her mom growing up," Addison explained.
"She sounds…like an interesting woman," Jake commented.
"You have no idea," Addison replied, shaking her head.
The two adults shared a small laugh before Jake turned his attention back to the book.
"Okay, Liv, time to close your eyes. Dr. Jake read you a whole chapter," Addison said, wrapping things up.
"But I'm not tired," Olivia said through a yawn.
"I think you are," Jake chuckled.
After a few minutes of back and forth, the two convinced Olivia to close her eyes. Within minutes, she was out. Once he noticed, Jake gestured for them to leave her bedroom, and they both stopped at her doorway. They looked in one last time before leaving the door slightly ajar and making their way back downstairs.
"Well, we should probably get going," Jake said, gesturing to Angela to stand up from her spot on the couch.
"It's a school night," Jake added when he saw she didn't want to leave yet.
"Fine," Angela resigned, getting up and grabbing her backpack.
"I'll walk you out," Addison said, following Jake and Angela to the door.
"Go on ahead, I'll meet you at the car," Jake said to Angela as he unlocked the car door with his keys. Angela rolled her eyes, knowing he was staying back to get some privacy to kiss his girlfriend goodnight.
"Goodnight, Addison!" Angela called out as she walked toward the car.
Addison waved, watching her leave before turning to Jake. The two stood there in silence, just trying to come up with something to say, to prolong Jake's leaving. Neither wanted him to. If anyone else asked, they were making heart eyes at each other.
"Well, I should get going," Jake said awkwardly after a minute of silence.
"Yeah, I guess you should," Addison said.
Jake put a hand on her waist and pulled her in for a kiss before walking out toward his car. When he got to the car, he looked up and saw Addison still in the same spot, leaning against the doorframe and waving goodbye. Jake smiled and waved back before joining Angela in the car.
"You really like her, don't you?" Angela asked, after Jake pulled out of Addison's driveway.
"Yeah. She wouldn't have met you if I didn't," Jake said honestly.
"Do you love her?" Angela asked, after letting the radio play quietly in the background for a minute.
"Yeah, I think I do," Jake said, glancing over at her before directing his attention back to the road.
A/N: And that's chapter 8! This is really just the start of the drama that will come with Michelle and her Huntington's disease, so look forward to more of that coming in future chapters. But as for Jake and Addison, they're very happy and in love, they just haven't admitted it to each other. Yet. And, truth be told, it's gonna be a while before they do say those three little words to each other. We hope you enjoyed this chapter and look out for more coming soon. Chapter title inspired by the song, Telling Stories by Cody Turner & The Soldiers of Love. Thanks again for reading. Comments and reviews are greatly appreciated.
