Summary: Addison's stepdaughter, Angela, shows up to surprise Addison and to meet her new sister.
"What are you doing here?" Addison asked, practically squealing as Angela ran up to hug her. Addison and Angela squeezed tight before pulling away.
"I wanted to meet my sister! Plus, Dad wanted to be here, but he's supposed to induce the Collins' baby tomorrow, so I offered to come first," Angela replied.
Addison smiled, touched, before looping her arm into hers and walking to the front desk. She asked for two rooms, one for her and one for Angela. Knowing that Jake and Henry would come tomorrow night, she got a room for Angela that would have two beds, so she wouldn't have to share with Henry. Granted, it was still possible Henry would stay with her and Jake, but Addison wanted to give them the option. She also requested adjoining rooms so they could go back-and-forth if needed. And she figured Amelia would crash at Derek's.
The woman at the front desk easily obliged, especially after finding out that Addison was a semi-regular customer of the Archfield, which she found out after looking up her name in the system. She handed them their respective room keys, and they rode the elevator up together as Angela took in the sights of the Archfield Hotel. It'd been a few years since Addison had been here, but this was almost like her home away from home. She'd never invested in Seattle with an apartment or house and instead stayed in Derek's dinky little trailer or a room at the Archfield. Even after the divorce.
"So, what's she like?" Angela asked, looking over at Addison while they rode the elevator up.
"Hmm?" Addison asked, turning to face her.
"Your daughter! What's she like?" Angela asked.
"I don't really know her all that well yet. We just met," Addison chuckled. She wasn't quite sure how she should describe her. Today was a whirlwind, and in all honesty, they spent most of it learning more about her kidnappers.
"I guess that's true. Does she look like you?" Angela asked after realizing it'd been less than 12 hours of knowing the girl.
"Yes," Addison laughed. Audrey was like a splitting image of her, minus a few features that clearly came from Derek. Namely, the darker-colored hair, the nose shape, and even his ears.
"Freaky," Angela commented.
"Sorry, Amelia was helping me study and I think she's rubbing off on me," Angela added.
"Don't worry about it," Addison laughed as they reached their rooms.
After they went into their respective rooms, Angela came over to Addison's room, handing her one of the smaller bags she had been holding.
"Dad thought you might need this. He said you didn't pack much," Angela said. Addison chuckled. Her husband knew her well.
"Thanks. I was thinking of going shopping tomorrow, anyway; Audrey doesn't have any clothes or anything, and I didn't wanna be presumptuous and get her a bunch of clothes she didn't like or something in the wrong size," Addison said.
"Well, now you can focus on Audrey tomorrow instead of finding clothes for yourself, too," Angela said.
"That is true," Addison admitted, smiling.
"Okay, well, it's late. Or it feels like it is. I'll see you tomorrow, Addie," Angela said.
"Goodnight," Addison called out as she watched Angela go back to her room, shutting the door between them.
As Addison started unpacking her clothes, she FaceTime'd Jake to thank him for the extra clothes and hoped to sneak a peek at a sleeping Henry. At least she hoped he was asleep by now. Lately, he'd started rebelling when it came to his bedtime.
"Hey, sweetheart," Jake said after accepting the call.
"Hey," Addison picked up the phone from the bed and smiled back. She saw his smile widen when he saw her face.
"I'm guessing this means you saw Angela," Jake started.
"I did. Very nice touch with the extra clothes, by the way," Addison joked.
"Well, I couldn't leave you stranded out there without clothes. I mean, I wouldn't complain, but, you know," Jake teased, making Addison laugh.
"I did bring clothes!" Addison insisted, giggling. Jake chuckled.
"So, how'd it go today?" Jake asked, changing the subject.
"Good. Audrey's parents, or whatever they are, are on the run, so we spent most of the day at the police station," Addison started.
"They weren't her parents, Addison. You and Derek are," Jake insisted.
"I know that, but they still took care of her. And before a week ago, she didn't even know they weren't her parents," Addison replied.
"But, anyway, that's beside the point. We didn't really get the chance to know her all that well yet, but I think she's still…adjusting; we all are," Addison admitted.
"Yeah, I can imagine," Jake replied, hoping his words would comfort her.
"So, Angela told me you guys are planning on coming down here," Addison said after letting the moment hang in the air for a minute.
"Yeah. I was gonna try to surprise you, but I guess she gave me up," Jake joked.
"It's not her fault; it's almost midnight, and she took a three-hour flight to see me. I think we can give her a pass this time," Addison said. Jake laughed.
"Did Henry go down okay?" Addison finally asked.
"Depends on what you'd call okay," Jake started.
Addison looked back, confused, as Jake started walking and quickly realized he was walking upstairs. Addison smiled wider as she lay back in bed, not minding the pile of clothes beside her that still needed to be put away. Jake entered a dark room, and it didn't take long before Addison could tell Jake hadn't gone into Henry's room; he went into their bedroom.
He switched his phone camera to reveal a sleeping Henry in their bed, clutching onto his Tigger plush toy. Addison even saw Milo walking around the bed. Clearly, Jake coming back in must've woken him up. Addison smiled as Jake left his phone camera on Henry for a minute longer as he snuggled into her pillow in his sleep before leaving the room. Addison felt her eyes watering up but smiled through it, anyway. He didn't say, but she knew Henry must've wanted to sleep in their bed because she wasn't there tonight. She'd never been away from Henry for a night before and he was only two years old, so this hit her especially hard.
"I'll let you get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart," Jake said. Addison could hide her tears all she wanted, but Jake knew how she felt, and he knew she'd had a long day. But despite that, Jake also knew how much Addison missed Henry. Especially after seeing him already asleep in their bed.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Addison smiled.
"I love you," Jake said.
"I love you, too," Addison said before they both hung up the phone.
Addison took one last deep breath before getting up to put away the rest of her clothes. Then she got ready for bed and settled in for the night, reading a few chapters of her book before letting sleep take over.
Meanwhile, Audrey sat beside Zola while she laid tucked into her bed as Derek read them a bedtime story. Audrey was too old for bedtime stories now, but Derek's narration had an air of familiarity. She couldn't remember anything specific at the moment, but she just knew he must've read stories to her as a baby. And it longed for her to remember even more now.
Zola insisted Audrey hold her hand, and she obliged; she'd never had a sibling before, let alone a three-year-old little sister, so she wanted to take every opportunity she could to be the best big sister she could. As Zola fell asleep, her grip on Audrey's hand lessened as Derek finished reading the book until the end.
"So, it's still early if you wanna watch a movie or something," Derek suggested after they left Zola's bedroom.
"Sure," Audrey agreed easily.
"What do you wanna watch?" Derek asked.
"What do you have?" Audrey asked, curious. With Robert and Eleanor, she didn't own any DVDs; instead, they'd rent the movie for a night for a dollar before returning it.
"Why don't you have a look?" Derek suggested, guiding her back to the living room to their DVD collection.
As expected, there were a bunch of older animated Disney movies, as well as a handful of others. Audrey recognized all the princess movies because they had been her favorite growing up. And there were a few others as well. Derek's DVD collection made it obvious that he had a little girl, and something about that made Audrey smile as she fingered through the DVD covers.
"Most of these are for Zola," Derek chuckled as she looked through.
"I figured," Audrey said, smiling.
Audrey kept looking until she saw one of interest: Anastasia. She didn't remember watching that one growing up.
"Anastasia. Interesting choice," Derek commented after Audrey handed him the DVD.
"I've never seen it," Audrey admitted.
"You know, it's based on a real story. Or at least partly. It's about this rumor about a Russian princess surviving her family's execution. Except in the real story, I think they found her remains, so she didn't actually survive. And there isn't an execution in the movie because it's a kids' movie," Derek explained, trying to remember the details correctly as he went to insert the DVD.
"That would've made for an interesting kids' movie," Audrey joked, making Derek chuckle.
"What are we watching?" Meredith asked as she came over. She had just been grabbing some towels and toiletries for Audrey and placed them in the guest bedroom.
"Anastasia. Come on," Derek replied, motioning for her to walk over. Meredith smiled and turned off the lights before joining him on the couch, with Audrey on the other side of Derek.
"How ironic," Meredith mumbled. She hadn't seen the movie in years, but she remembered the general gist of the story.
As they watched the movie, Derek glanced over at Audrey in between. Derek hadn't seen the movie in years, but now he realized Meredith was right. The fact that Audrey had picked Anastasia was ironic. It was the story of a young girl looking for her birth parents and stumbled upon con men wanting her to pose as the missing Russian princess, Anastasia. And low and behold, she happens to actually be the missing girl.
It felt a little close to home, and Meredith could see how the movie captivated the newly reunited father and daughter. Seeing Derek with Audrey was a different experience for her; he'd never been shy about being outwardly nurturing to kids, especially his own. But here he was, hesitant but admiring from afar.
Meredith figured this was just the result of being apart for over ten years, and Derek had assumed she was dead all this time. She couldn't judge him for the way he was acting. Not when he'd been so understanding about how she'd acted in response to her own trauma over the years. Now it was time for her to do the same for him.
After the movie ended, they all said their goodnights and went to bed. It felt weird for Audrey to sleep in a place that could become her new home someday. Then again, maybe she'd go to live with Addison. She doubted Derek and Addison had figured that part out yet. The fact that Addison had luggage with her earlier must've meant she didn't live here, so how would that work?
Would she live here with her dad, Meredith, Zola, and their baby-to-be? Or would she go to live with her mother wherever that was? Whatever would happen, Audrey just hoped she'd get to bond with the both of them. She'd gone on long enough without them. If she hadn't disappeared, would they still be together? Could she still bond with both of her parents while presumably only living with one of them full-time? Audrey had so many questions that would get answered in time, but for now, all she could do was wonder.
In the morning, Audrey stood still, watching Derek and Meredith rushing around, getting Zola ready to leave the house. Derek was making breakfast when he noticed her standing in the hallway, watching from the corner of the room.
"Morning!" Derek called out, smiling widely. Zola turned around from her booster seat and her face lit up at seeing her new big sister. Audrey smiled back, since it was impossible not to.
"Come on in. You're just in time for breakfast," Meredith said, gesturing to an empty chair at the dining table.
"Thanks," Audrey said as Derek put a plate of pancakes in front of her. The sweet smell only made her hungrier.
"So, Addison called and she should be here after breakfast," Derek informed everyone as he sat down between Audrey and Zola.
"She also said something about a surprise, but she didn't say what it was," Derek added ominously. Meredith and Audrey looked back, curious.
"I tried, but she wouldn't say what it was," Derek said, chuckling.
The girls shrugged and went back to eating breakfast. After finishing, Derek cleaned Zola's face of any leftover syrup or crumbs before letting her play on her playmat in the living room. And Audrey joined her as Zola requested she play princesses with her. While Derek and Meredith cleaned up the table and loaded the dishwasher, they heard the doorbell ring.
"That must be your mother," Derek said, looking at his watch. She'd said she'd be there at nine, and she, like always, made it about five minutes earlier.
"Hey, Addie," Derek said as he opened the door. He kissed her cheek warmly, even after seeing there was another woman standing beside her.
"And you are…?" Derek asked, turning his attention away from his ex-wife.
"Angela. I'm her other daughter," Angela joked. Derek scrunched his nose, confused, as he looked over at Addison.
"Jake's daughter," Addison chuckled, playfully rolling her eyes. Amelia really was rubbing off on the girl.
"Oh. Nice to meet you. I'm Derek," Derek chuckled.
"Nice to meet you, too," Angela said as she tried to look inside. Derek and Addison laughed as Derek opened the door wider, letting them inside.
"Addison," Meredith said politely.
"Meredith, good to see you again," Addison said, returning the greeting as Audrey stood up from her spot on the floor next to Zola.
"Wow, you really do look like her," Angela commented. Addison laughed as Audrey smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Audrey, this is Angela, my stepdaughter. Angela, this is Audrey," Addison said, introducing the two.
"So…I have another sister?" Audrey asked.
"Yup. Sorry to say you're stuck with me, too," Angela joked.
"So, I thought since you lost all your stuff, we could go shopping today," Addison suggested.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Not that I don't appreciate letting me borrow your clothes," Audrey said, making it clear to Meredith that she wasn't ungrateful.
"Don't worry about it; I'd want my own clothes, too," Meredith laughed, brushing it off.
"I brought you some clothes to borrow if you don't want to wear your clothes from yesterday," Addison offered, holding up the small bag she'd been holding to her side.
"Thanks. That'd be great," Audrey said, grateful as she grabbed the bag Addison held out for her.
As Audrey went to change, Addison introduced Angela to Meredith, and Derek introduced Zola to both of them. Zola's playful spirit reminded her of Henry, which only made Addison miss her little boy more. When Audrey came back, dressed in the clothes Addison brought for her and the clothes she bought yesterday in the bag, she was ready to go. Meredith said her goodbyes and Derek helped her strap Zola in the car so she could take her to daycare for the day.
"Alright, where to?" Derek asked as they walked to his car in the driveway. He didn't shop much in Seattle. Or at all.
"I was thinking we'd hit the stores downtown and shop until lunchtime. Then we can head to the hospital for your surgery," Addison replied as they piled into Derek's car.
"Sounds good to me," Derek said, agreeing easily as he started the car.
"I don't have any money…," Audrey whispered to Angela. She was the closest in age to her, and she felt a little embarrassed to admit it to Derek and Addison.
"Don't worry about it. Addie's got you covered," Angela reassured her, keeping her voice low.
She understood where Audrey was coming from; before her dad's practice took off, she was always the one who felt embarrassed when it came to talking about money. And it was worse before Jake came into the picture. By the time Addison came into their lives, they were financially secure, but it felt small compared to Addison's wealth.
But over time, Angela adjusted, and the fact that Addison never made it a big deal made it that much easier. She had no problem spending money on something of quality for her kids, Angela included. So Angela knew it'd be the same with Audrey.
After finding some street parking, they all got out of Derek's car and started shopping around. Angela took the lead with Audrey, trying to bond with her. Derek and Addison watched as they saw Audrey slowly open up. They'd only spent one day with the girl, but it was clear she'd been hesitant to let them in. And she had every right to; they were complete strangers to her. She didn't remember any of what happened, but she knew Derek and Addison were indisputably her parents. It'd only be a matter of time before everything fell into place.
They shopped around, purchasing some clothes from each shop until it was almost noon. Since it was only a few miles away, Derek decided to show Audrey Pike Place Market for lunch. And Angela, who had never been to Seattle either, found it amusing, too. They settled on eating at a crowded and therefore popular deli with a large array of options and ate at a table nearby where they could see the water.
"It's pretty here," Audrey remarked, looking out at the water and cityscape.
"Yeah," Angela agreed.
"It's good you like it. Derek has a thing for ferries," Addison said, referring to Derek.
"Ferry boats," Derek corrected.
"Whatever," Addison rolled her eyes playfully, making Angela and Audrey giggle.
After they finished eating lunch, they walked the scenic route back to Derek's car and headed back to the hospital. Derek offered his car to Addison so she could take Audrey and Angela around instead of hanging around the hospital and since she didn't want to bore the girls, she accepted. But before they left, Derek insisted there was something in his office he wanted to show Audrey. So, they went upstairs to see what he wanted to show them.
"Are you sure whatever you're looking for is in here?" Addison asked after a minute passed of Derek rummaging through his desk drawers. Derek ignored her as he thumbed through his files and finally found what he was looking for.
"There we go," Derek said, pulling a tan folder out of the drawer.
The girls looked suspicious as Derek walked up and opened the folder. Inside, there were old pictures, Audrey's birth certificate, and an old painted handprint from when she was one. Addison started to well up as she looked closer. She thought he got rid of everything that reminded him of her.
Meanwhile, Addison couldn't even sell the brownstone, nor could she change or redecorate Audrey's old nursery. It didn't matter that she didn't live in New York anymore; Savvy checked in once every few months and if it needed to be kept up better, Addison called for someone to clean the place. Derek let her have it in the divorce, but Addison couldn't let it go.
They looked over the photos for a while longer before Derek checked his watch; he had to get going for his scheduled surgery. Addison offered to walk back with him and, since he wanted to spend as much time as he could with their daughter, he agreed easily. On the way, they found Mark and Lexie chatting by the nurse's station.
"Hey, kid!" Mark smiled. Audrey smiled back shyly.
"Are you…? I mean, is this your…you know…daughter?" Lexie asked, stuttering over her words.
"Yeah," Derek beamed with pride.
"Audrey, this is Lexie, Meredith's sister. And you remember Mark from yesterday," Derek added.
"It's so nice to meet you," Lexie said.
"So, if she's Meredith's sister, that means she's…my aunt?" Audrey asked.
"Yeah. I guess it does," Lexie replied, smiling. Knowing how great of an aunt she already was to Zola, Derek knew she'd be great with Audrey, too.
"Addie!" Richard called out. Addison turned around and chuckled as she hugged her old mentor.
"You know, it's perfect you're here. I was about to call you," Richard added.
"Were you?" Addison asked, chuckling and shaking her head. Of course, he was about to call her. Richard moved closer and showed her his tablet.
"Kristen Parker. 32 weeks. Her water broke about an hour ago. And this is her baby," Richard said, showing her the ultrasound.
"That's…a lot of fluid build-up," Addison commented, zooming in to take a closer look. Angela peered over Addison's shoulder, trying to see the ultrasound. Addison, who was used to it now, let it happen, but Richard took notice and wasn't happy about it.
"Um…excuse you," Richard said.
"Oh, sorry," Angela apologized.
"Richard, it's fine. She's about to get into med school," Addison brushed off, still examining the ultrasound.
"I only just started applying, Addie," Angela mumbled.
"You'll get in," Addison said simply.
"You sound pretty confident about that," Richard commented.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Mark asked, interrupting. Lexie also looked confused, standing beside him.
"Angela. I'm her other daughter," Angela said, reusing the same joke from earlier. Addison giggled.
"Since when do you have another daughter?" Mark asked, starting to get worked up because Addison never told him about her. And he noticed she was older than Audrey, too.
"Since I got married. Angela, this is Dr. Mark Sloan, Dr. Lexie Grey, and Dr. Richard Webber," Addison said, introducing her to everyone.
"Nice to meet you," Lexie said politely. Mark and Richard also smiled politely back, matching her sentiment.
"And Richard, this is Audrey," Addison added.
"Wow, Audrey. I…I heard yesterday about what happened. I haven't seen you since you were a newborn," Richard commented.
"Really?" Audrey asked. She didn't realize they'd gone that far back.
"Absolutely," Richard smiled. They let the feeling hang in the air for another minute before Richard went back to his original train of thought.
"Anyway, thoughts?" Richard asked, turning Addison's attention back to the ultrasound image.
Audrey stood there watching as Angela and even Lexie, Mark, and Derek listened to what Addison had to say in response. She had no idea what any of it meant, but it was clear that the rest of them did. This world that felt so unfamiliar to her was suddenly going to be one she'd be immersed in now that she'd found her parents. Her very smart parents.
"Any chance I can get you in the OR?" Richard asked, hopeful. Addison looked hesitant.
"Karev's still here if that helps," Richard added jokingly, making the other doctors chuckle. They all knew that he was her go-to.
"I was gonna take the girls around," Addison said.
"It's okay. We can just hang around here," Audrey said. By the sound of it, Richard really needed her mom for the job.
"Great. Then it's settled," Richard said.
"Can I watch? Please?" Angela asked.
"We don't really let civilians do that here," Richard said before Addison could figure out what to say.
"Please, Mom?" Angela tried again.
She very rarely called Addison, Mom. It happened for the first time on accident last summer, but it had just slipped out of her mouth. Now, Angela used it whenever she really wanted Addison to agree with her on something. And Addison knew it. But it didn't mean it didn't work.
"I'll have to ask the chief…," Addison gave in. Angela smiled.
"Really, Addie?" Derek asked.
"Oh, come on, you'd fall for it too," Addison said jokingly.
"Would not," Derek argued playfully.
"You're really gonna tell me that if Zola or Audrey didn't ask you something and added a daddy after it, you wouldn't fall for it?" Addison asked sarcastically. She knew the answer would be yes, and Mark knew it, too, as he laughed along.
"Remember when Amelia wanted to pitch in our softball game and jumped around yelling pretty please?" Mark reminded him, laughing over the memory. Addison and everyone else laughed along.
"Alright, alright," Derek gave in, putting his hands up jokingly in defense.
"Know where I can find Hunt?" Addison asked.
It didn't take long before Richard led her to Owen and he agreed to let Angela watch from the gallery. Audrey watched how fast everything went. Lexie offered to hang out with Audrey while waiting for her test results and Mark joined in, as he was still waiting for other results from Jackson. Derek and Addison told Audrey to just call if she needed anything, directing her toward the nurse's station with phones. And they left a post-it note with their phone numbers as well as Meredith's, Mark's, Lexie's, and even Jake's.
As Addison went to do a surgery with Richard, Mark and Lexie learned more about everything that happened the day before at the police station and how Audrey liked Seattle so far. Jackson came to Mark almost an hour later, and they left to get back to work. Lexie decided to give Audrey an impromptu tour of the hospital since she probably never got one before. Plus, she'd run out of ideas on how to entertain the girl by then.
They eventually made their way to the cafeteria and grabbed a midday snack. After snacking for a few minutes at a table, a little boy came up playing with a toy car, making the vroom sound with his mouth, unbothered that other people were already sitting at the table. But the girls didn't mind. His father, however, came up to apologize for the disturbance.
"Don't worry about it," Lexie said, brushing it off.
"I like your car," Audrey commented, making the little boy look up and give her a toothy smile back.
"Thank you," Henry said shyly.
"I'm Lexie," Lexie said, chuckling.
"And I'm Audrey," Audrey added.
"What's your name?" Audrey asked.
"Henry," Henry said shyly. Lexie and Audrey cooed over the fact that the little boy pronounced his r's like w's.
"Did you say, Audrey?" Jake asked, interrupting the conversation.
"Yeah, why?" Audrey asked as Lexie looked on just as curious as Lexie was.
"I'm Jake, Addison's husband. And this is Henry, your little brother," Jake smiled.
A/N: Chapter title, if it wasn't already clear, was inspired by the song, Once Upon a December from the movie, Anastasia (AKA the movie Derek and Audrey watched earlier in this chapter). So, despite Audrey's worries about getting to bond with both of her parents, she will be just fine and she will also continue meeting more family members and friends in future chapters. And, in case anyone's wondering, more about Audrey's kidnappers will come up later as well, so look forward to that! Thank you all so much for reading and following along. I appreciate it! 3
