Summary: Derek and Meredith take Audrey to L.A. and they all spend a nice relaxing day on the beach with the Montgomery-Reillys.
A/N: Just a small note to start: this story takes place about a year after Private Practice ends, so this would be the summer of 2013 (hence the cell phone model choice). Happy reading!
The next week passed in a blur. By Saturday morning, everyone was ready to go. The kids, Audrey included, had never been on a plane before. Other than her crying siblings, Audrey found the experience intriguing. Going through TSA made her realize that it must've been why Robert and Eleanor never took her anywhere on a plane (not that Derek nor Addison knew who took her, anyway, but maybe they were just being extra cautious). They used to road trip around to Virginia or Pennsylvania, but never much further than that. She wondered; if they had taken that trip to Disneyland that she wanted to go on as a kid, would her kidnappers have gotten caught earlier?
After they landed, Amelia picked them up from the airport and took them all straight to Addison's house. By the time they got there, it was a little after noon, and Jake, Addison, and Angela were down by the water, teaching Henry how to swim. They'd been out there since that morning and had taken a break for lunch before going back out to the water. When no one answered the door, Amelia let herself and everyone else in, knowing Addison wouldn't mind.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Amelia called out as everyone else shuffled in behind her. No one answered back.
"Maybe they're not home," Meredith said.
"They knew we were coming," Derek pointed out before they all heard a toilet flush from upstairs.
"Addie?" Amelia asked before hearing someone walk down the stairs.
"Hey. Dad and Addie are outside with Henry. Near the water," Angela said, wearing a cover-up over her bikini.
They all looked out toward the backyard, seeing the sun shining down on the patio, complete with matching wooden lounge chairs facing the ocean alongside a table, chairs, and barbecue. Audrey admired the house and the stunning backyard, in awe that this was the place she'd call home from now on. They left their luggage near the front door before following Amelia and Angela out to the patio. From there, they could faintly see Jake and Addison in the water with Henry, who was wearing a lifejacket, swimming toward his dad a few feet away.
"Can I swim, too, Daddy?" Zola asked.
"Uh…If Addie has some floaties for you. Or maybe she'll let you borrow Henry's lifejacket," Derek said, trying to be honest while not getting her hopes too high. Zola pouted immediately.
"Don't worry, Z. Addie's got plenty of floaties," Amelia said, smiling at her niece.
"Yay! Can we go now? Please, Daddy?" Zola asked, jumping up and down.
Derek chuckled before looking back out at the water to see Jake, Addison, and Henry coming out of the water. Henry stood between his parents, holding their hands as Jake and Addison looked lovingly into each other's eyes before walking back toward the house Once they got close enough to the patio, Henry looked up at Jake, who nodded back before he let go of his parents' hands and started running.
"Auntie! I swimming!" Henry exclaimed as Amelia picked the little boy up.
"I know! I saw! You did so good!" Amelia squeezed him tight, unbothered that he was wearing a clunky lifejacket and dripping wet from his swim in the ocean.
"I wanna go swimming, too!" Zola exclaimed.
"Alright, come on. Let's get you changed into your swimsuit," Meredith chuckled before handing William's car seat over to Derek.
"Hey, you guys made it," Jake said as he and Addison approached, grabbing the towels on the lounge chairs and wiping themselves dry as Amelia put Henry back down.
"Yeah," Derek smiled.
"You really live here?" Audrey asked, still in awe of her surroundings.
"Yeah. It's nice out here, isn't it?" Jake chuckled, watching the girl look around in wonder. Audrey smiled in agreement.
"You like swimming?" Angela asked.
"Yeah, but I…I don't have a swimsuit," Audrey replied sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it. You can borrow one of mine. I always bring a spare," Angela said, grabbing Audrey's hand and leading her back inside the house.
"You guys are welcome to join," Jake said, directing his comment toward Derek and Amelia.
"Don't mind if I do," Amelia said, motioning for Addison to join her before the girls disappeared back into the house, leaving Jake, Derek, and Henry on the patio. Henry had already gotten into his sandbox to play while everyone had talked earlier.
"Nice view you guys have here," Derek commented.
"Yeah. That's all Addison," Jake said, smiling as Henry got out of his sandbox, holding his bigger construction truck toy.
"Whatcha got there?" Derek asked, looking down when he felt the toy tap his leg.
"Trwuck!" Henry exclaimed.
"That's pretty cool," Derek commented, putting William in his car seat on the patio before kneeling to get a closer look.
Meanwhile, Angela went into Henry's room to grab her bag of clothes, pulling out a simple black bikini set for Audrey. She handed it over and Audrey immediately felt nervous; she'd never worn a two-piece before.
"This one's a little tight on me, so it should fit," Angela said when Audrey hesitated.
"Thanks…," Audrey said awkwardly, taking the two-piece.
"Is…something wrong?" Angela asked after seeing the look on Audrey's face.
"No, it's just…it's stupid," Audrey said.
"What is?" Angela asked.
"I…I've never worn a bikini before…," Audrey admitted sheepishly.
"Oh. It's not as big of a deal as you think," Angela said, trying to be supportive.
"I promise," Angela added. Audrey nodded, going into the bathroom to change.
"You guys ready to go?" Addison asked a few minutes later with Amelia standing beside her. They were both dressed with cover-ups on top of their swimsuits.
"Where's Audrey?" Amelia asked.
"She's a little nervous about wearing a bikini," Angela whispered. Audrey blushed while standing in the bathroom wearing the two-piece.
"Oh," Amelia said, as she and Addison entered the room.
"I told her it wasn't a big deal," Angela tried.
"She's right. It's not," Amelia added.
"But when you're 15 years old, it feels like it is," Addison said quietly before walking over and knocking on the bathroom door.
"Audrey?" Addison asked after knocking.
"I know it feels like a lot right now, but Angela's right; it's not a big deal. I remember the first time I wore a bikini was for this big pool party at school. I was on the swim team for a while where you have to wear a one-piece, but my friends wanted to wear bikinis for this party, so I got my first two-piece. And then I proceeded to stay in the locker room for far too long before my friends pulled me out of there," Addison started. She didn't think she'd told anyone this story before, but this was the type of advice she'd always wanted to get from her own mother. But Bizzy…she wasn't particularly warm, Addison thought.
"When I got out, this girl from my math class told me she liked the flowers on my suit. It had nothing to do with anything I thought everyone would care about, and it definitely wasn't what my friends cared about, which was getting the guys to notice us, but…I…I just realized that everything I was worried about didn't matter; it was just…all in my head," Addison said, leaning her head on the door.
Amelia and Angela looked at each other, but they stayed back while Addison stood outside the bathroom door. This was the first time Addison would really get the chance to be the girl's mother in a long time. She'd been there to talk to her about her nightmare with Derek the other morning, but with it being over FaceTime, it just hadn't felt the same.
"Really?" Audrey finally asked quietly from inside the bathroom.
"Really," Addison confirmed, lifting her head up and gently putting a hand up to the door.
After another 20 seconds, they heard the door finally unlock and the door open slowly. Audrey was fidgeting with her hands, still nervous about the whole idea of wearing a bikini.
"You look great," Addison said before Audrey walked out of the room.
"Yeah, you look hot," Amelia commented, trying to help.
"Amelia!" Addison scolded. Amelia put her hands up jokingly in defense as Angela giggled to herself.
"Here. You can wear this until we get to the water if it'll make you feel better," Addison said, lifting the cover-up she was wearing off to hand over to her daughter.
"Are you sure?" Audrey asked.
"I'm sure. Now, come on, Zola's probably ready to play on the beach. Plus, Henry wants to show you guys how he can swim," Addison said before Audrey put on the cover-up and went with the rest of the girls.
Once they got to the hallway, they saw Meredith come out of the bathroom with Zola, who was dressed and more than ready to play on the beach. Her swimsuit was a bright magenta pink with colorful flowers on it. Zola grabbed Audrey's hand before they all went back downstairs to find the boys outside. By the time they got there, they saw Jake and Derek sitting on the patio, each holding one of Henry's toys, playing with Henry while William sat in his car seat with a pacifier in his mouth.
After opening the backdoor, they heard them making sounds with his mouth, with Derek making a whooshing sound while flying the toy plane he had in his hand. Jake, meanwhile, chugged the train car in his hand over the wooden floor. Henry giggled as he played, enjoying having someone else to play with and enjoying the extra attention. They looked up when they heard their flip-flops hitting the wooden floor as they walked over and smiled back.
"You having fun there?" Meredith chuckled, directing her comment more towards Derek. Derek just smiled back as Meredith leaned in for a kiss.
"Are we gonna go swimming now?" Zola asked impatiently.
"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed, sharing her excitement.
"Alright, come on, Zola. We've gotta get you a lifejacket," Amelia chuckled before leading her niece over to the box of supplies they kept closer to the house.
"Hey, you guys got them covered?" Jake asked, directing his question towards Addison.
"You want to go surfing, don't you?" Addison asked, laughing.
"Can I?" Jake asked, chuckling. His wife knew him well.
"Yes. Go," Addison insisted as Jake gave her a quick kiss. Before heading inside, he stopped in his tracks.
"You surf?" Jake asked, looking over at Derek.
"Him? No," Meredith answered for him, laughing. Derek made a face, a little insulted that his wife laughed.
"You want to try? I've got another board and wetsuit if you're interested," Jake asked. Meredith, Amelia, and Addison snickered quietly.
"Sure," Derek said, giving Meredith a look. He could handle surfing. How hard could it be? He thought. Plus, he liked the shock he saw on his wife's face when he took up Jake on his offer.
"Come on," Jake motioned for him to follow him to grab the gear. Derek smiled back at the girls before walking behind Jake into the house.
"I can stay here with Will if you want to go for a swim, Meredith," Addison offered.
"Oh, no. Don't worry about it. I'm good," Meredith smiled appreciatively.
"Alright, kid. Let's show off your skills," Angela said after picking up her little brother. His face lit up excitedly.
Addison, Angela, Amelia, Audrey, Henry, and Zola made their way toward the ocean, while Jake and Derek changed into wetsuits and grabbed the boards from the garage. Meredith laid back on one of the lounge chairs and kept Will's car seat on another seat beside her. She knew he'd fall asleep soon since it was close to his nap time. After a few minutes, she heard Jake and Derek coming back. She couldn't help but giggle upon seeing Derek in a wetsuit.
"Ignore her. Addison laughs sometimes, too. And Amelia always laughs," Jake chuckled.
Derek raised an eyebrow at his wife jokingly, before following Jake to the water. Meredith sat up, intrigued to see how her husband would fare at surfboarding. The girls saw them walk up and waved. Amelia started laughing hysterically, and soon after, the other girls joined.
"My brother's an idiot," Amelia commented.
"He's…definitely in for a rude awakening," Angela concurred.
"Jake tried to teach me on our honeymoon, and he's tried a few times since. It…did not go well," Addison said, laughing, making everyone else laugh again.
"You should show her the video!" Angela added, directing her comment toward Audrey.
"Yes!" Amelia agreed enthusiastically.
"There's a video?" Audrey asked excitedly.
"Alright, I'll show you the video. As long as you promise not to hold it against me. I'm athletic, but I cannot surf for the life of me," Addison said playfully.
"Deal," Audrey agreed.
They continued swimming and playing with the younger kids in the water while periodically glancing over at Jake and Derek further out. After about 20 minutes of wading around while lying on the board, Derek finally tried standing on it. It went as well as expected as a wave passed, with him falling off less than ten seconds later. The girls laughed hard as they watched while Jake shook his head, disappointed, but they saw him chuckle after a little while.
After an hour passed, Henry and Zola were getting tired, so Angela offered to take them in for a nap. When she and the kids got to the patio, Meredith offered to help, but Angela insisted she could handle it. She even told Meredith she could watch William, too, if she wanted to get a nap in or even just a shower.
Meredith saw how great Angela had been with Henry, and even Zola seemed to warm up to her in a short amount of time, so she accepted Angela's offer. She did, however, insist she'd be right back after taking a shower upstairs and she'd just come back to hang out on the patio. Angela took it as a yes before leading Henry and Zola upstairs to wash off the salt ocean water and put them down for a nap.
When Meredith got back, she saw Derek walking back toward the house with the board under his arm. She laughed, watching him and seeing how exhausted he was. He put the board down on the patio beside the lounge chair before dramatically falling over the free lounge chair, making his wife laugh again.
"How were the waves?" Meredith asked mockingly.
"Surfing's a lot harder than it looks," Derek said, the exhaustion clear in his voice.
"Doesn't look like he thinks it's that hard," Meredith commented, motioning to the water where Jake was riding the waves with ease.
"Yeah, well, he's been surfing for years," Derek replied as he made himself comfortable on the lounge chair.
Meredith shook her head and chuckled, knowing he'd be taking a nap just like the other kids. Once Angela came back, Derek was fast asleep. She and Meredith shared a laugh before Angela informed her the kids were both asleep in Henry's room. Angela had come out with a backpack and a laptop in hand, letting Meredith know she wanted to get some studying done before dinner. After learning she was in pre-med, they ended up swapping college stories while Angela studied in between.
Another hour passed before the rest of the girls came back, ready to shower and relax for the rest of the evening. Jake came back a few minutes after them, changing quickly before coming back out to make dinner. Amelia had requested tacos earlier that week, and he thought he might as well do so when he knew everyone would be here for dinner. He fired up the grill, grabbed the food he'd prepped the other day, and got to work.
While upstairs, Audrey looked in on her sleeping siblings while she waited for the shower, letting Amelia go first. Addison tapped her shoulder, signaling for her to follow her. She walked over to another room and opened the door to reveal a bedroom.
"It's not a lot yet, but this is your room," Addison said.
Audrey walked in, looking around in awe. It was a simple white bedroom, but it was clean and had a balcony that looked out into the ocean, much like the back patio. Addison smiled, watching her daughter walk around the room. The balcony looked out onto the ocean view, and Audrey could hardly believe this would be her life from now on.
"It used to be Amelia's room. Then, for a while, it was an office, and then it went back to being a guest bedroom for Angela whenever she crashed here," Addison added, feeling herself rambling.
"Wow. This is really my room?" Audrey asked.
"Yup," Addison smiled, letting her admire more of her new room until they heard a little bell sound. Audrey flinched, not knowing where the sound came from as Addison giggled, waiting until Milo, the cat, inevitably walked out of Audrey's closet.
"And this, this is Milo," Addison said, picking up the cat to show off.
"You have a cat?" Audrey asked, petting the orange tabby, who very much liked the attention.
"We have a cat, yes. I think he likes you," Addison commented.
"Maybe it's 'cause she looks just like you," Amelia chimed in, referencing Addison and Audrey's visual similarities. When she walked into the room, Amelia still had a towel wrapped around her hair. Addison and Audrey chuckled back.
"Shower's all yours, kid," Amelia added, as Addison put the cat back down on the ground before she and Audrey left the room to shower.
After Amelia came back downstairs after her shower, she grabbed a tortilla chip from the bag Jake brought out to the patio and sat right beside Derek, who was still sleeping on the lounge chair. After taking a bite and crunching on the chip, Derek woke up.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Amelia joked, chuckling. Derek blinked himself awake as he sat up.
"How long was I out?" Derek asked.
"A little over an hour," Meredith answered when Amelia looked over at her for clarification.
The girls laughed as Derek stretched as he continued to wake up.
"Don't mind them. Surfing's hard," Jake chuckled as he stood over the grill.
"Is it? We couldn't tell when we were watching you out there," Amelia joked.
"That's because he's good at it," Angela chimed in, laughing along as Addison and Angela came back out.
"Shower's free if you want to wash up before dinner," Addison said, looking over at Derek.
"That sounds like a good idea," Derek said, struggling to get up from the lounge chair. His legs felt like lead.
"Here," Addison chuckled, putting his arm around her shoulder before leading him into the house.
"Surfing's not as easy as you thought, is it?" Addison asked, laughing as she walked him up the stairs after grabbing his bag.
"Jake's legs must be made of cement," Derek commented, making Addison laugh harder.
Once they got to the top of the stairs, Addison handed him his bag as he made the rest of the way toward the bathroom. With everyone else downstairs and dinner almost ready, Addison checked in on the younger kids in Henry's room, who were just waking up from their naps. She helped them wake up slowly before walking them both downstairs and back out onto the patio.
While Zola snuggled with Meredith on her lounge chair, Henry did the same with Angela. With dinner almost ready, Derek came back down to take over for Jake so he could take a quick shower while Amelia helped Addison set the table with napkins and utensils.
"This looks amazing, Jake," Meredith commented after he came back outside, helping Angela and Audrey move the chairs around so everyone would have a seat at the table.
"Are these the famous tacos you always come here for?" Derek asked mockingly, directing his question toward Amelia.
"Yes, yes it is," Amelia winked as she grabbed a booster seat with Angela for Henry and Zola.
They all finally sat down for dinner, where Jake had a whole spread laid out for everyone. Soft tortillas wrapped in a towel to keep them warm, fresh pico de gallo, guacamole in a molcajete, grilled chicken for the kids, and the main event: the grilled and spicy fish that Amelia had told them about in Seattle.
Derek and Meredith helped Zola assemble her taco while Addison and Angela did the same with Henry before they dug into their food. After the first bite, they knew Amelia was right; these were great tacos. They were soft, smoky, and spicy, which was perfect when paired with the freshness of the pico de gallo and guacamole.
"Told you," Amelia said, chuckling, seeing Derek and Meredith's faces before taking another bite of her taco.
"She's right. These are better than some of the food I had in Madrid," Meredith commented.
"Thank you, Meredith," Jake replied appreciatively, smiling boastfully at Addison from across the table. Addison loved seeing how proud he was when people complimented his food. It was so genuine that she found it endearing.
"Yeah, these are great," Derek admitted.
"I bet the only thing that he thinks would make it better is if he caught the fish himself," Amelia joked. Addison, Meredith, and Audrey laughed back.
"You fish?" Jake asked.
"Yeah," Derek replied.
"Daddy loves fishing, doesn't he?" Meredith asked Zola, who was sitting beside her. Zola smiled big and nodded her head excitedly.
"I'll take you some time," Derek said nonchalantly.
"I'd like that," Jake said, smiling again at his wife across the table.
"I guess it's only fair since he took you surfing," Angela commented playfully, which caused everyone to laugh again.
They all spent the rest of the evening out on the patio, eating and talking casually before helping Jake and Addison clean up after dinner in any way they could. After that, Addison brought some wine and some glasses out as they watched the sun set while sitting on the lounge chairs she had out there, with some of them sharing glasses, since they didn't have enough for everyone to have their own.
Amelia sat with the younger kids, playing with some of Henry's toys while Jake and Addison shared a lounge chair, and Audrey sat with her dad. And Meredith and Angela had no problem sharing a chair after spending enough time talking earlier. After the day they'd had, everyone had bonded over this shared experience of fully realizing that they were all family now. While the sun set, they all heard the distinctive bell from Milo's collar before seeing the orange tabby walking over to Addison's chair, watching her pick him up.
"Since when did you get that?" Derek asked.
"A few years ago," Addison said, sitting Milo on her lap.
"Kitty!" Zola exclaimed in awe.
"Yeah! That's my kitty," Henry replied.
"Yeah? What's his name, Henry?" Amelia asked playfully.
"Milo," Henry answered as Addison put the cat back down, watching him walk over to Amelia and the younger kids.
Amelia picked him up to let Zola and Henry pet him. She wasn't a big cat person, but she'd gotten used to having him around when she'd lived here. As it got later in the evening and the sky got darker, the younger kids yawned and snuggled against Amelia in the lounge chair.
"I think it's someone's bedtime," Amelia said after a few minutes, giving her some time with the kids snuggling against her with their eyes closed.
"We should go," Meredith said, sitting up in the chair and getting Zola from Amelia.
"I should, too," Angela said, getting up as Addison ran inside the house for something.
"Can Auntie tell me bedtime storwy?" Henry asked when Jake went to retrieve him from Amelia.
"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Jake asked playfully.
"Pwease Auntie?" Henry asked, looking up at Amelia.
"Well, since you said please, sure," Amelia said, kissing his forehead before getting up from the chair with him.
"So, since we're leaving tomorrow morning, your mom and I wanted to talk to you about something first," Derek said, looking over at Audrey, sitting beside him while waiting for Addison to come back. She looked confused and wondered how much of her visit with Eleanor he had shared with Addison.
"Sorry, I left it inside earlier," Addison said when she returned. Audrey turned around to face her, but all she saw was her arms behind her back.
"This is for you," Addison said before bringing her arms back around to the front of her, revealing a box for a brand-new black iPhone 5.
"Really?" Audrey asked, sitting up to get a closer look as Addison handed it over for her to open.
"Yeah, well, you're going to need a way to call me whenever you want," Derek chuckled, sharing a smile with his ex-wife.
"I've…I've never had a phone before, let alone an iPhone," Audrey commented as she carefully opened the box, her eyes wide in amusement.
"We already set it up for you a little, but you can get some other apps and stuff on there. Just ask first if you want to buy something," Derek prefaced.
"And, for emergencies, we saved our phone numbers in there as well as everyone else here. I even set up speed dial for us," Addison said.
"Wow. Thank you," Audrey said appreciatively.
"Just call the number one to call me and the number two to call Derek. I get to be number one 'cause I paid for it," Addison said playfully as Derek chuckled.
"Not that anyone uses speed dial anymore," Derek muttered jokingly, earning him a swat on the elbow as they both chuckled.
"Thank you!" Audrey said again before hugging both her parents in what ended up as a group hug between the three of them.
"You're welcome," Derek said, as he and Addison squeezed tighter.
"So, just call if you need anything or if you just…want to talk," Derek said, kissing the top of Audrey's head before they all pulled away.
"I know it's not the same as being with you, but Seattle's not that far. If you really need me, I'll hop on a plane and be here in no time," Derek smiled reassuringly.
Audrey smiled before she and Addison walked Derek back over to Meredith and the kids, who were already by the front door with Angela. A minute later, Amelia came back downstairs after reading Henry a bedtime story and tucking him in for the night. They all said their goodbyes before closing the door and going upstairs, where Jake and Addison walked Audrey to her room.
A/N: Chapter title inspired by the song, California by Phantom Planet (AKA the theme song from The O.C.). References include Jake being a surfer, which he reveals in Private Practice 6x01, and a little bit of a callback of Addison helping Kevin up the stairs in Private Practice 2x09 when he was dumb and wanted to go to work even though he was injured and then couldn't even get up after getting to the bottom of the stairs. A weird scene to reference, I know, but I weirdly found that scene cute, even though I didn't like Kevin (lol). So, consider this a weird twist on it.
This chapter was really just a nice and fluffy coming together of families on Addison's turf and just a chance for everyone to relax after the drama from the last chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. It certainly was fun to write. The drama will pick back up in the form of some flashbacks next chapter, so look forward to that coming next time. Thanks for reading and following along! 3
