This chapter wrote itself to a certain point. I hope you like it. And I have chapter 5 almost done so it's going to be several more chapters to it. Thank you for reviewing, faving and following, it means a lot :)

Addison was alone in her hotel room. To put it lightly, Derek had not taken her announcement very well. In fact, he'd yelled, cursed and slammed the doors to leave for Joe's. She knew since Callie happened to be there at the same time. She couldn't bring herself to text her again, she feared whatever update she'd may get.

She debated whether or not to track him down but figured it was best to step back, take a warm comforting shower and wrap herself in the fluffy hotel robe. The champagne bottle on the room service menu got too tempting so she gave in and drained half the bottle. It was stupid. First of all, because she didn't have any reason whatsoever to celebrate, and second, she had early work in the morning.

Josie was spending another night at Carolyn's. She decided it was best to brush her teeth and get ready for the bed. On her way to the bathroom, someone knocked the door ferociously. She wasn't too shocked to find out it was Derek.

He stormed past her.

'Derek-'

'I forgot my damn phone' He said brusquely. Clearly he'd had more than one drink.

'Sit down-'

'You think I wanna spend another second in the same room with you' He didn't ask, it was more of a bark.

'I can explain-'

'You can explain' He spat, loathful. 'You can always explain. You can explain why you screw other men, why you eat with patients' men, and why you lie, lie and keep ON LYING! ADDISON HAS AN EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING! ADDISON HAS AN EXPLANATION FOR HOW SHE KEEPS HER PREGNANCY SECRET FROM HER HUSBAND!'

She tried to put a hand on his arm but he forced it away.

'You make me sick! I can't look at you!'

'Listen-'

'I can't' His voice went down a notch but he had the same disgusted face as minutes earlier, 'I can't understand how I ever choose you. Choosing you is the biggest mistake of my life' He shook his head, 'I resent you.'

Addison teared up inside. 'I'm the mother of your child'

'YOU DO NOT GET TO BRING JOSIE INTO THIS' He bellowed, 'YOU DO NOT THROW MY CHILD IN FRONT OF YOU EVERY TIME YOU'RE CONFRONTED WITH YOUR DAMN ACTIONS!'

'Please, Derek'

'You don't get a third chance, Addison!' You were supposed to be my wife! My wife!' And you don't even know what it means. Because you continuously keep being faithful to any person out there BUT ME!'

Derek circled the room hopelessly and rubbed his drained face. He stole the champagne bottle and poured the bubbly alcohol down his throat. At that moment, sorrow blended with his anger and Addison could spot a tear popping free in the corner of his eye. She took a step closer to him, and then another step. At last, she was standing inches apart from him and once he appeared slightly less upset, she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't push her away so she didn't shift.

'I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry'

It felt awfully good to be held by her. The wicked, wicked woman who tortured his life. Satan. Maybe it was her appearance that did the trick. She didn't look like the frosty, intimidating 40's movie star who'd walked in on him and Meredith to brutally introduce herself as his wife. In this very moment, she was vulnerable and soft, and her damp hair touched his cheek when standing so close to him. But that Addison wasn't real anymore. She was gone.

He gathered all his strength to back away from her. And a minute later he was gone, too.

Five days had passed since their crucial confrontation and Derek had barely been in touch with Addison. He was able to deliver short lines regarding practical matters on Josie but other than that, he was rejective towards her. Carolyn did what she could to mediate between the two.

Having the day off, and refusing to let his hurt and anger ruin the surprisingly sunny day, Derek had taken Carolyn and Josie to the park trail at Elliott Bay. It was a nice walk along the seaside and he'd promised ice cream on the way. To his surprise, she wasn't over the moon about the treat. In fact, she was somewhat absent.

Suddenly, she smiled at her father and his heart melted with pride and love. He loved that tiny human so, so much.
She was about 10 feet behind them and Derek paused to offer her his hand. She sped up her pace to take it and walked hand in hand with her dad and her grandmother til they paused by a populated playground. Derek bent down next to her.

'Wanna check out the jungle gym?'

Josie eyed the stranger children with some uncertainty but decided to have a go. She had to mount a climbing wall to get to the top of the playground construction in order to swing or slide back down and she made a good try but paused halfway up.

'Daddy, my legs are too short'

'Let me give you a hand' He held her by the waist and gently hoisted her to the top.

'Can you take this' She squinted in the sun and tossed Derek her jacket. 'we forgot sunglasses'

'We did. What a temperature, huh' He fetched her jacket and nodded towards the nearby bench 'Grandma and I'll be right over here'

She nodded acceptingly. Derek took a seat next to his mother and opened a bottle of water.

'What a gem' Carolyn awed her granddaughter. 'I always knew you'd be a dad.'

'Yeah, well, not sure I'm being all that good at it'

'Of course you are. This is a phase, and from what I can tell she is doing fine. I haven't seen an immediate cause for concern yet. She appears…happy?'

'Mm, maybe. Not her usual happy. She's more distant.'

'Derek, she misses her friends and her family. Her teachers. Everything familiar. She needs time, and attentiveness' She watched him, 'I know what you're thinking'

'What am I thinking?'

'This is not another Amelia situation'

'It hadn't even crossed my mind, but now that you're mentioning it-'

'No. First of all, Amelia lost her father, forever. And I…weren't enough. And you- you were way too young to be her guardian. You are here. Addison is here. You are capable, mature, resourceful parents. And we are here to help you. Josie is not Amelia. And we will work this out.'

Derek squeezed her shoulder, appreciative.

'Look' She said, directing his attention towards Josie. 'she may have found a new friend there'

A young boy appearing to be around her own age was following Josie around, apparently offering her a hand to help her get back up the climbing wall. While at the top, it looked like Josie was saying something before she jumped on the slide, descending back down. The boy followed close and his feet hit her in the back before she was able to get herself off the slide. Josie quickly turned around, asked him something and was about to walk to the swings, the boy in her heels. His hand touched her hair and all of a sudden her hand was in his face, about to leave a solid scratch on his cheek.

'Oh, for heaven's sake' Derek moaned and got up. The boy was clearly not expecting that exact response and he let out a loud cry. A woman from the other side of the playground ran to his side, believed to be his mother.

'JOSEPHINE!' He scolded, expecting an irate remark from the mother, 'what are you doing! go to grandma, right now!'

'I am so sorry' Derek apologized, rattled. The boy was bleeding. 'you okay, little man?'
He turned to the mother, 'I think I have some band-aids and antiseptics in my car-'

The woman was planning on giving him a firm response but it was obvious that she was somewhat charmed by Derek's charismatic, yet embarrassed approach.

'It's okay, I have some right here' She knelt in front of her son to inspect the little wound.

'She scratched me!' The boy wailed frustratedly.

'He started it!' Josie insisted, severely offended. Carolyn got to her side and held her tight, as if she was preventing another incident.
'No!' He screamed, 'you!'

'you pulled my hair! you don't get to!'

'Josie, calm down' Carolyn told her off, 'you don't scratch others. I am sure he was trying to make friends with you'

'No!' She challenged, 'he was being clingy and annoying!'

'Josie, stop yelling right now!' Derek stressed, having to deal with his misbehaving girl while helping the mother patch up the hysteric boy's face.
'Again, I am so sorry' Derek excused once Carolyn had taken Josie to the side and their verbal altercation had ceased the slightest. 'she doesn't behave this way, normally..'

'It's alright. And Tyler can be a bit much sometimes'

'No it's not. Not at all. And she's normally a good girl. She just has a lot on her plate right now. Not that it's any excuse at all-'

'You and her mother divorcing?' She guessed, as it wasn't uncommon at all these days, 'I don't mean to pry but it happens to the best of us, doesn't it'

'We're in between cities at the moment' He confessed

'Oh' The woman got up, smiling, 'explains why I haven't seen you around before'

She held out a hand, 'I'm Juliet. We live just down the road from here'

'Derek'

'Nice to meet you, Derek. And I wouldn't have to ask if she's your daughter, would I. It's way obvious'

'That girl?' Derek joked, 'never seen her before'

Juliet chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, enchanted with the good-looking neurosurgeon. Smooth operator, Carolyn thought to herself while eyeing the two. In less than five minutes she had managed to release her own marital status and fish for his, as well as his location and his name. No wonder she was alright with the situation. Because of Josie, she had been introduced to the most handsome man she'd seen in years. Foolish woman.

Josie tugged at her grandmothers' sleeve. 'I wanna go'

'No, you apologize first' Derek cut in, 'come on'

'I'm tired' She complained

'Doesn't matter. You gonna apologize right now'

'He pulled my hair!'

'He touched your hair, there's a difference'

'No one is allowed to touch my hair!' She decided stubbornly. Carolyn suppressed a laugh and set her eyes in Derek. The two of them had some eccentric quirks regarding their sacred hair.

'Well, that line sounds familiar. Wonder from where'

Derek frowned at her.

'Apologize. Now'

Josie hid behind Carolyn's legs.

'Josie' She urged her impatiently.

'Sorry' She sighed at last, knowing there was no way out if she didn't swallow her pride.
'Sorry' Derek said once again, deciding it was best to part ways. He said his goodbye to Juliet and Tyler and gave the boy a pat on the shoulder. Once off to the car, he let out a loud, disheartened sigh, eyeing Josie hopelessly.

'You can forget about the ice cream already' He said sourly.

'I don't want the ice cream' She cried, 'I want my paci'

'Your what' Derek replied, almost certain he misinterpreted her.

'I want my paci' She insisted.

He snorted, not realizing she actually meant what she was saying. 'stop fooling around, you're four years old'

'Grandma' Josie reached out to her, hoping she'd hear her out.

'Josie, I don't have it-' She looked at Josie, then at Derek. 'She must be very tired. She didn't sleep well last night and-'

'And what' His mother was keeping something from him. He could easily tell.

'And what' He echoed, more demanding this time.

'So I texted Addison and she told me that during one of her sleepless nights in New York, she…brought back the pacifier…'

Derek gave her an incredulous look while holding back a shocked laugh. 'you have got to be kidding me'

'It's not the end of the world'

'It's not the end of the world?' He mimicked, 'why am I being the last one to know about anything, again and again? I've realized by know, that I can't expect even the slightest from her, but you?'

'Because we knew you would react this way..?'

'She was done with it two years ago!'

'And, in order to get them both through the night, and off to work and to preschool she reintroduced the thing. She had her reasons.'

'And it all comes back to this.'

'Paci?' Josie queried for the third time. Derek groaned and rubbed his face. He was losing patience.

'You're not a baby, Josie!'

'You called me a baby'

'That's not the same thing' Derek turned his back on them for a moment, trying to regain his composure. 'just…let's get back to the car.'

'But the-' Josie stumbled as she yawned, no doubt she was lacking her sleep.

'Poppy's in the car' Derek let her know, mentioning her plush snuggle bunny.

'But the paci-'

'I don't want to hear another word about the paci!' He aspired not to raise his voice at her again, but it was so hard at this point. He moved forward, then turned to look at her. She was teary eyed and slightly shaking. Carolyn reached for her hand but she refused. She couldn't hold back a sob. The way she was forcing back her startling meltdown was tough to watch.

'Josie' He kneeled in front of her, 'I see that you're tired and you'll get to sleep soon. But before we get there I want you to tell me what you need. Because the pacifier is out of the question.'
Another sob escaped her throat hearing him dismiss her plea.

'Hungry? Thirsty?' She refused. Derek looked into her blue eyes. 'do you need me to hold you for a while?'

'No' She hiccuped, worn out from crying, from being tired, from the overwhelming day. Despite her reply, he picked her up in his arms and held her tight to his chest. Her sobs did not cease but she became a little more at ease in his embrace and finally, she threw her arms around his neck and let her head rest against his shoulder.

He gave Carolyn a pending look, silently waiting her response. She rubbed his back in return.

'You're doing a good job, Derek. You're doing good'

Derek entered the hotel building still carrying Josie in his arms. He gave Addison a disbelieved stare the second she opened her hotel room door.

'You brought the pacifier back' He criticized not too loud, careful not to stir up the slumbering child.

'Yes' She took Josie from his arms, 'only for the nights'

'And that is-' He was baffled, 'totally fine with you?'

'It's not ideal'

'It's not?' He challenged, sarcastic.

'I didn't have much choice. Am I supposed to operate on patients, completely sleep deprived? Do you wanna come in, or-?' A couple walked past them through the hallways, looking curiously at them.

'No' He answered, yet he entered anyway. 'when are you going to drop the next bomb on me? And what's it gonna be? Mark heading out here? Did you accidentally get pregnant by him as well?'

'Stop being petty'

'Stop being an adulterous bitch'

'Shh!' She turned away from him and laid Josie down on the bed.

'She scratched a kid today'

'What?'

'Is now gonna be the time you're telling me it's happened a handful of times already?'

'No, it hasn't. Why did she scratch another child?'

'Because apparently he was following her around and touching her hair'

'Oww' A smirk appeared on Addison's face. Just like Carolyn she couldn't miss the coincidence. Derek cut her off before she could say anything.

'Don't start'

'I'll talk to her in the morning, I'll tell her it's unacceptable. But if a stranger kid was chasing her down-'

'He wasn't chasing her down. We're talking about a preschooler, not a serial killer.'

'Mommy' Josie shifted a little. Addison joined her at the bedside.

'I'm here, honey. Just sleep…'

'Will you stay with me?'

'Of course I will. I'll be right here.'

'And…daddy?'

'He has to go. He's going back to the trailer, you know that. You'll see him tomorrow'

'I know' Tears were building up in her eyes. Partly, because she was sad to see him go, but also, from guilt. She was painfully aware that she had caused trouble and put undesired stress on him. She wiped her face quickly, hoping they would not see. She failed at it.

'Hey…' He laid down next to her other side, 'what's the matter? I'll stay. I'll stay right here till you fall asleep'

'Do you hate me?'

'What' He breathed, heartbroken, 'I could never hate you. Not in a million years could I hate you. You don't get to think that, even for a second. You're my child. I love you, Josie'

'I didn't mean to hurt him' She explained as rationally as her four year old mind could, 'I only wanted to play with Alice' She brought her best friend from New York up, 'but she wasn't there so I wanted to play alone. And I got so sad and my head hurts when I'm sad'

'Come here' Addison hugged her tightly and pressed a kiss to her temple, 'thank you, honey. For telling us.'

Derek leaned in closer and kissed her hand. 'we're gonna work this out. We're gonna help you feel better.'

More relieved by now, Josie closed her eyes and let herself relax in the arms of her mother. Derek looked at Addison warily. Because of the tumultuous day, he hadn't had the time to let his grudge against her take up the time in his mind. He was still devastated by the news and the way she was once again keeping things secret. But he could manage. He had to. He had to support their little daughter. And he needed Addison by his side while doing so. At least for now.