TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of sexual assault of a minor

As Derek entered the ER waiting room behind Addison, he spotted Mark sitting alone and a surge of jealousy coursed through his veins. A part of him wanted to deck Mark in the face, send him toppling to the ground in a show of dominance. He had barely been back in New York and he was already facing the two people whom he trusted most in the world, who happened to team up to betray him. But, there was another part of him wanted to hug him for freeing his son of a secret that had been eating him alive, that same part of him wanted to bury his face in the crook of Addison's neck and let the familiar (non-lavender) smell of her hair comfort him like a cloak of safety.

"Derek," Mark sounded shocked to see him. He had spent hours mentally preparing what to say when he saw Derek again but his mind went blank and the only thing he could say was, "I'm sorry, man. I don't know what to say."

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Derek quickly and dismissively told him before Mark could say anything else.

"I wasn't talking about that. Though I am sorry about that too. That was a mistake, Addison knows it, I know it. It was just stupid and we're sorry. I, uh, I was talking about Chris. I'm sorry your kid's going through this. I hate that this is happening to him."

Derek nodded, "Yeah, me too."

"Where is he?" Addison asked. Despite the completely calm appearance, her voice betrayed all the emotion she was feeling.

"He's in a room with the police now. He wouldn't let any doctors touch him for a while, he finally consented to a rape kit. I think they will start it after the cops leave. They told me that I have to wait out here since I'm not a legal guardian."

He turned to his wife, placing a hand on her lower back, unsure if it was possessiveness or protectiveness that influenced the desire to touch her. "We should see him," he told her softly.

A nurse took them to their son's room, where Addison immediately broke down into hysterics when she saw her son being questioned by two male police officers. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing his parents together, or the fact that he knew his secret was out, but the second he saw his parents, Christopher could no longer continue the recount of his experience. He stopped mid sentence and his eyes stayed glued on his father.

"Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, maybe it would be best if you waited in the hall," one of the officers suggested after realizing Christopher's hesitance to continue speaking.

"It's Doctor, actually. We're both doctors and we work here. I'm sure you can understand how difficult it is for us to see our son in the Emergency Department of the same hospital we work at. Maybe you can continue this later and give us a minute with our son?" Derek responded.

The two men nodded and left the room, leaving Christopher alone in the same room as both his parents for the first time in months.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked his son while Addison struggled to regain composure.

Chris nodded. "I think so. The nurse said I have a UTI. Mom, you were right. You said that a few days ago, remember?"

Addison nodded quietly, turning her back to her son to hide the new wave of tears building up in her eyes.

"But they said they have to check me for STDs and stuff and I didn't want them to but the police said I have to because they might find evidence on my body. Sounds kind of weird. I don't want anyone like looking at that or touching it or anything."

Addison cringed at his choice of wording. She could feel bile rising up in her throat at the imagery that came with idea of someone touching her son where he did not want to be touched. Before she could get the feeling under control, it overtook her and she turned to the trashcan and vomited into it.

"Jesus, Addison," Derek muttered, rushing toward her to hold her hair back and gently rubbing her back. "You okay?"

She reached up to cover her mouth, "Yeah, sorry. I just...unexpected mental images." she explained vaguely.

Their son seemed confused by the answer, or perhaps by the fact that his parents were together as if nothing was wrong between them. Meanwhile, Derek understood exactly what she was saying. "It's okay. Just try to take some deep breaths and calm down. He's going to be okay."

Addison nodded, pacing back and forth in front of the mirror for a few seconds while taking deep breaths in an effort to compose herself. Once she was able to calm herself down, she returned to her son's bedside. A part of her wanted to take his hand but she stopped herself, choosing to respect his space. "I am so so sorry, Christopher," she told him, her voice raw with emotion. "I should have seen the signs, I should have asked more questions and done something. I am so sorry I let this happen."

"You didn't let it happen. You didn't know and I didn't want to tell you."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Derek asked, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder as she took a seat beside the bed. "We could have helped. We could have done something before it got this bad."

"I couldn't tell you. What kind of guy complains that a hot girl is doing things to him? I tried to tell Drew but he kept saying how I shouldn't mind cuz she's attractive and every guy in school drools over her."

"Drew knew?" his mother asked. Her son's friend was the one that alerted her of how much time his math teacher was spending with him. That was just another one of the obvious signs that she missed.

"No, he didn't know what she's doing. He had just noticed that she spends a lot of time with me."

Forgetting to respect his space, Addison took his hand only to have him quickly pull it out of her grasp. "Please don't touch me right now."

Addison nodded, giving her son an apologetic look.

"Addie, I'm sure the police are waiting to talk to Chris. Let me walk you back to the waiting room and I'll stay with Chris. I think he might be more comfortable that way."

She looked up at him and nodded, getting up from the chair. "Let me know if you need or want me to come back," she told her son before stepping out of the room with Derek behind her. "That's great isn't it? You get to disappear for two months and I am the one here dealing with this whole thing. Now my son is repulsed by my touch and you get to be the one that swoops in to be his rock."

"Addie, it's nothing personal. He's been sexually assaulted by a woman and you are a woman. You wouldn't encourage a female assault victim to stay with a male if it made her uncomfortable. He's going to be exposed and it's going to be hard on him. It's just easier if his mom wasn't watching."

She sighed heavily. "Yeah," she mumbled, knowing that he was right. She returned to the waiting room while Derek returned to their son's room. She sat down next to Mark, leaving one chair empty between them.

"How is he?" Mark asked.

Addison shrugged. "He's as okay as he can be given the circumstances."

"Derek's here," Mark commented.

"Yeah, he was with me when you called and I didn't take it well. He swooped in and took over, which was good because I couldn't find my footing to do anything."

"Does that mean he's taking you back?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. He didn't give me that impression while I was in Seattle. He took the divorce papers and said he'd review and send them back. And then this happened and we haven't talked about it since. We literally didn't speak on the entire five and a half hour flight."

Mark glanced at her then glanced back down at his feet. "I'm glad he's here. I'm sure Chris appreciates having someone in there with him. He was really scared about coming to the hospital and he was even more nervous about possibly being exposed to you if you were to be in the exam room with him."

Addison sighed, "I realize it's nothing personal and it's uncomfortable to discuss this kind of thing with your mother, but I hate that Derek gets to swoop in after months of absence and be the one our son leans on."

"Would you want your dad in the room if you were having a pelvic exam after a traumatic experience?"

"No." Addison quickly answered. "But, to be fair, I wouldn't want my mother either."

"Bizzy wouldn't even want to come near you if you were in that position," Mark half joked with a small chuckle, hoping to cut some of the tension.

Addison put her elbows on her knees and dropped her face into her hands. "She wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near me if I were in stirrups in desperate need of her support after a traumatic experience. She'd say it was unseemly for her to be there and inappropriate of me to expect it. I was trying to be different for me kids, I wanted to be able to depend on me in times of hardship."

"Addie, you are a great mom," Mark insisted. "This is not your fault. Chris might be uncomfortable with you right now, but he knows that you'd be there for him in a heartbeat when he needs you." His hand moved toward her back and he rubbed it gently for reassurance before pulling away quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch you. I know we're not really that friendly anymore, I didn't mean to." He quickly got up, walking away as fast as he could before she could say anything.

She sat alone, eyes glued to the clock when she dozed off. When Derek nudged her awake, she had no idea how long she had been waiting or when she'd fallen asleep. "You look like you could use this," he told her as he sat on the chair beside her and held the cup out to her.

"Thanks," she whispered back, taking a sip of the coffee.

"Everything is all done in there. He's going to be discharged soon. He's got a UTI, no signs of any sexually transmitted infections but the blood tests will verify that. He needs to be seen again in three months and six months for additional STD testing in case something didn't manifest right away but does later on. I'll call his school and let them know he won't be going back anytime soon."

Addison nodded, "I guess I'll have to schedule time with HR to request a leave of absence so I can stay home with him until we can figure out how to get him back in school and what he's comfortable with." She sat back in the chair, realizing how much harder her life was about to become, how many massive decisions awaited her.

"I've already got a leave approved by HR and the board, I'll stay with him. You can work," Derek offered, quickly interrupting her thoughts.

Looking at him in disbelief, she asked, "You're going to come back here?"

"My son needs me, Addison. I can't just leave while this is happening."

She met his eyes and gave one nod in understanding. "Thanks, Derek. I know the timing of all this isn't great but I appreciate you setting that aside to focus on Christopher."

He shook his head, "Don't thank me. I'm just trying to make up for not being there. You were there the whole time."

"And I missed all of this. All of the signs."

"At least you were there to know there were signs."

Addison nodded, glancing at him as she exhaled a deep breath in exhaustion, "I guess we're both just terrible parents."

By the time they got their son home, the sun was rising and a new day was supposed to be starting. Addison did her best to respect her son's boundaries, not offering to help him with anything unless he asked.

"Can I shower?" he asked his parents as soon as they walked into the house.

Derek gave him a tired nod, "Yeah, go ahead. Let us know if you need anything."

Chris disappeared up the stairs, leaving his parents in the foyer of the house they hadn't been in together since the night Derek caught her with Mark. Addison avoided meeting his eyes, she kept them glued to the floor, just waiting for him to set the standard of what their interactions would be like.

"Addison," he started.

She glanced up only briefly before looking back down again.

"Do you want more coffee?" he offered, taking a step toward the kitchen.

The truth was that she really didn't want coffee. She wanted to go take a long shower and get into bed and get some rest, but she couldn't tell him that. Instead she said, "Sure," and followed him into the kitchen where he took it upon himself to make coffee. The whole thing seemed routine and domestic that it almost felt like he never left.

"Avery will be up any minute. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you," she told him as she took a seat on a counter stool at the kitchen island.

As if on queue, the little girl's voice sounded off from upstairs. "Mommy?!" she called out loudly.

Addison got up, finding her five year old at the top of the stairs. Avery quickly rushed down, practically jumping in her arms. "You were gone for a long time! You said you wouldn't do that!"

"I had to go to work somewhere far, sweetie. I told you I would be back and I am."

"You said you would be back last night!" Avery exclaimed unhappily as her mother carried her toward the kitchen.

"I was back last night, but I had to go to the hospital and I got home late," Addison explained patiently. "But I brought someone back with me to surprise you," she told her little girl, turning so she could see Derek at the coffee maker.

Avery looked thoroughly unimpressed by the man standing in the kitchen. She buried her face into her mother's neck and refused to be put down. "Honey, you're getting heavy, I have to put you down."

"No," she mumbled, tightening her legs around Addison's waist until Addison sat down again.

"You don't want to go say hi to Daddy?"

"No."

She glanced at Derek, and he could see the message in her eyes. Do you see how clingy she has become?

He poured two mugs of coffee and placed one in front of her. Then he reached his hands out for their daughter. She just started at him quietly, not moving at all.

"Please, princess? I'm so sorry I haven't been a good dad lately but I really miss you."

"He's gonna take me with him and I'm gonna miss you!" Avery told her mother in response, only tightening her hold on Addison.

"He's not going to take you anywhere. He just wants to say hi to you," Addison promised. "Just let Daddy give you a hug while I drink my coffee."

Avery eyed him skeptically but let him lift her out of her mother's arms. "You can't take me anywhere," she warned her father.

"I won't," he promised. "I missed you, little one."

"I'm not little. I'm five."

"I know," Derek laughed. "But you're always going to be my little girl even when you're twenty five."

"No, that's really old to be a little girl," Avery argued back, getting frustrated with him and turning to Addison in hopes of being rescued.

"Avery, do you think it would be okay if we let Mommy go shower while you and I hang out down here?"

"No."

"She's just going to be in the bathroom. She'll be okay."

"No," Avery repeated.

"We can make breakfast, we've all had a really long night and we're hungry. You can help me cook something, anything you want."

Avery turned to look at her mother, then back to her father. "I want Mommy."

Giving up on the idea of alone time, Addison took her daughter back into her arms. "Let's go get you dressed for school."

As she carried her daughter out of the room, Avery glared at Derek over Addison's shoulder the entire time.

Though he wasn't sure what was happening with his marriage and what his next steps would be, he became painfully aware of the damage he had done to the trust his daughter had in him. He knew that Addison would likely be more willing to forgive his sudden departure than her mini-me would be.

A/N:

Gotta be honest, the crowd that bashes Addek writers for never writing a son seems to be pretty uninterested when there is a story about an Addek son...

Regardless, I'm really enjoying writing the complicated relationships in this story and I hope there are still readers out there who are interested.

Thanks!