Summary: Derek celebrates Audrey's new spot on the volleyball team by taking her and her friends out for ice cream with a little surprise of his own while everyone marvels at how well Audrey's adjusting to her new life and newfound family.

"What are you doing here?" Audrey practically squealed as she squeezed her dad tight.

"I heard you were hearing about the volleyball team today," Derek smiled as she pulled away from their embrace.

"Plus, it's nice to finally meet your friends in person," he added, smiling at his daughter's friends standing behind her.

"Nice to see you, Mr. Shepherd," Jace waved.

"You guys tried out, too, right?" Derek asked, referring to the volleyball tryouts.

"Yeah," Jenna confirmed.

"So?" Derek asked.

"We made the team!" Audrey replied as everyone's smiles widened.

"Congratulations," Derek chuckled as he pulled Audrey in for another embrace, kissing the top of her head.

"What do you say we go out for ice cream?" Derek asked, leaving his arm around her as she turned to face her friends.

"Uh, well, they were kinda hoping to come over," Audrey said, feeling a little guilty about her friends just standing there behind her awkwardly.

"You guys have a problem with ice cream? 'Cause if you do, I think you need some new friends," Derek joked.

"Who doesn't like ice cream?" Sabina asked playfully. Jace and Jenna chuckled back in agreement.

"Come on in. Your mom already told me your friends might want to come, so she's meeting us there," Derek said, kissing Audrey's temple before opening the passenger seat door for her as her friends piled in the back of the rental car.

After Derek parked the car at the ice cream parlor, everyone got out, leaving their bags in the car. They saw everyone else sitting at a table outside. Audrey's smile widened when she saw Angela and Zola sitting at the table.

"You brought Zola?" Audrey asked, looking at her dad excitedly.

"She wanted to surprise you," Derek chuckled as they walked over.

"Audrey!" Zola exclaimed before Angela let her down off her lap.

"Hi, Zola!" Audrey greeted her little sister excitedly before picking her up once she got to her.

"Surprise!" Zola exclaimed, making Derek, Audrey, and her friends laugh along.

"Guys, this is Zola. Zola, these are some of my friends," Audrey said, balancing the little girl on her hip. Zola smiled as Sabina, Jace, and Jenna got closer.

"Zola, can you say hi?" Derek encouraged her.

"Hi," Zola giggled.

"So? Did you make the team?" Angela asked in anticipation. Audrey nodded back, unable to keep the smile off her face.

"Congratulations!" Angela exclaimed before Addison came up to give her daughter a congratulatory hug, followed by Angela and Amelia.

"Alright, come on, let's get ice cream to celebrate. I'm buying," Derek chuckled, leading Audrey and her friends toward the store entrance.

"Ooh, good," Amelia commented jokingly, making Derek shake his head and laugh. Even if he didn't say he was paying, he knew he'd still somehow end up paying for his sister's ice cream.

Jake and Addison stayed back to reserve the tables while everyone else went in and ordered ice cream, with Angela ordering for Jake and Addison, seeing as she already knew what flavor they wanted. After everyone came back out, they all ate and chatted for a while. Audrey noticed Derek and Addison kept stealing a spoonful from each other's ice cream cups, a habit that was probably left over from when they were married. Addison turned her attention back to Jake, her eyes practically sparkling while listening to him talk. Zola then curiously asked to try some of her dad's ice cream and, despite Derek's warning that she wouldn't like coffee ice cream, she tried it anyway. When she made a disgusted face afterward, Audrey giggled alongside her father. The little girl then turned back to her own vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.

Audrey looked around and saw that Angela and Henry were sharing a cup of cookies and cream ice cream, and Amelia was sitting across the table, making silly faces at him to make him laugh. Despite sprinkles not really going well with her mint chocolate chip ice cream, Audrey got sprinkles to match her little sister just to make Zola smile. She only imagined Angela introduced Henry to cookies and cream ice cream at some point and that that was how it became his favorite ice cream flavor. All Audrey could think about was that this was what a family looked like, Audrey thought. Untraditional, albeit, but a family, nonetheless.

After finishing up their ice cream, Audrey and her friends asked to go to the house to play some volleyball while the sun was still out. They all piled into Derek's car and met everyone else at the house. By the time they did, Derek was watching the kids from the patio. Angela and Amelia joined the younger kids, playing in Henry's sandbox while Jake got a start on dinner. After changing into something comfier, Addison came out to join Derek on the patio and watched as the kids passed the ball to each other, impressed their daughter had settled into her new life.

"Mom, Dad! Did you see that?" Audrey asked, running over to them on the patio after she had spiked the ball. Derek and Addison smiled widely, signaling that they did, in fact, see it.

"Dr. Montgomery, do you have some water?" Jace asked, out of breath as he, Jenna, and Sabina followed behind Audrey.

"Yeah. I'll grab some," Addison said, getting up from her lounge chair and grabbing some water bottles from the fridge inside.

"I need a break," Sabina said before she and Jace flopped down dramatically on individual lounge chairs. Derek chuckled.

"Hey, maybe you can tap in for me," Jace said, directing his comment toward Derek. Derek chuckled, thinking it was more of a joke when, really, it wasn't.

"Here you guys go," Addison said, handing out water bottles for the teenagers.

"Yeah, Mr. Shepherd. You should join us," Jenna added, making Addison laugh.

"Dr. Montgomery can go for me. Jace and I are going to hang back for a game," Sabina said, laying back on the lounge chair after taking a big swig out of the water bottle Addison handed her, closing her eyes, and letting the sun hit her face. This time, Derek laughed.

"Hey, I played tennis! Volleyball is just…tennis with your hands," Addison said playfully. Everyone laughed.

"At least tennis is closer than hockey," Addison mocked, directing her comment towards Derek.

"You play hockey?" Audrey asked, curious.

"He used to," Addison answered for him. Derek smiled, nodding.

"And when was the last time you played tennis?" Derek countered.

"Probably the last time we played tennis with Mark and…what was her name? Lana," Addison replied, thinking back as everyone chuckled in response.

"Who's Lana?" Audrey asked.

"One of Mark's many, and I mean many, girlfriends," Addison said.

Lana wasn't exactly a girlfriend as much as a hookup Mark brought with him to the court after finding out she used to work as an assistant tennis coach in high school. She was a ringer, Derek and Addison had both thought, and they'd been right. Neither of them had ever been particularly great at tennis, but Addison could usually hold her own in a match. Mark was always much more competitive, and it was already bad enough that he was a better tennis player compared to Derek and Addison, but bringing in Lana for that last game they'd played resulted in a quick loss for the both of them.

"So, what do you guys say? First to three wins," Jenna asked, directing her question toward Derek and Addison.

"You're on," Derek said playfully, directing his comment toward Addison.

They decided that Derek would play on Audrey's side and Addison would join Jenna on her team before they each showed them how to hit the ball and the rules of the game. It wasn't long before Derek and Addison figured out how to play as they passed the ball back and forth over the net whenever the ball came to them.

"Now, whoever gets this point wins," Jenna said, rocking her body side to side in preparation as Audrey served the ball. Derek and Addison had done well so far, and they were currently tied with two points each.

They all took turns hitting the ball, as everyone else watched a volley occur. Jake was just glad that it'd be another few minutes until he had to open the barbecue to take the food off the grill so he could focus on watching the game. Even Henry and Zola watched in anticipation as Derek, Addison, Audrey, and Jenna kept their eyes on the ball.

After 30 seconds of a back-and-forth, Addison ran toward the net when Derek punted the ball, sliding in to get the ball before it hit the sand. She'd barely heard Jenna race up next to her, spiking the ball over the net after her pass. With how fast she'd delivered the spike and how Derek and Audrey were a little too far to catch the ball by the time it went over the net, it dropped to the ground, cementing Jenna and Addison's win for the round.

The girls squealed excitedly as Derek groaned playfully. Audrey laughed, coming up to her dad for a good game pat on the back as Derek and Addison went inside to grab table settings, letting Angela get in a round while Jenna switched out to let Sabina back into the game.

When Derek and Addison came inside, they both washed their hands before grabbing enough plates, utensils, and napkins for everyone. They passed Jake on the way out, who came in to grab the high chairs for Henry and Zola now that he'd taken the food off the grill. After going another round, Derek helped Jake disperse the food among everyone's plates while Addison helped Amelia brush off some residual sand from Zola and Henry.

During dinner, Derek asked Audrey and her friends about how tryouts went and how school was going so far, and they explained how tryouts worked, the different drills they'd run, and how they liked their classes and teachers so far. Audrey's favorite subject so far was photography, which was unexpected since she'd rarely ever picked up a camera before then. After dinner, everyone helped clear out the dishes on the patio table before coming back outside to enjoy the last of the daylight.

While Derek helped Addison load the dishwasher, they heard Derek's phone ring. Since Jake's hands were dry from just putting away the food into containers, Jake grabbed it from the counter as Derek walked over to wipe his hands.

"Go ahead and get it first," Derek said as he started wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. Jake answered the FaceTime call before seeing Meredith's face on the other end.

"Hey, Meredith. One second," Jake said before handing the phone over to Derek.

"Hey, Mer," Derek said, smiling back.

"Hey, how's everything with Audrey?" Meredith asked.

"Good. She and her friends made the volleyball team," Derek said proudly.

"That's great!" Meredith replied enthusiastically.

"Where is she, anyway?" Meredith asked, noticing Audrey wasn't around.

"Outside. She and her friends are getting another few rounds in," Derek replied.

"She must really like it so far," Meredith commented.

"Yeah, it's great," Derek agreed.

"You missed a good game with Derek," Jake chuckled.

"You played volleyball?" Meredith asked, giggling. It was an interesting thing to imagine. Derek was athletic, but she never thought about him just frolicking on the beach with a volleyball.

"And lost," Addison added as she closed the dishwasher in the background. Meredith stifled a laugh as Derek shook his head, chuckling. In the background, they could hear another female voice laughing along.

"Is that Yang?" Addison asked.

"Yeah," Meredith said, pulling her phone back to reveal Cristina next to her on the couch holding William, giving a small wave and smile. Derek and Addison knew she wasn't holding the baby by choice; Meredith probably handed him off before calling Derek. Cristina waved back.

"I'm not surprised she beat you," Cristina snickered.

"She only won by one point," Derek added, acting playfully defensive.

"Wow, he's getting big," Jake commented, changing the subject to William.

Derek and Meredith smiled as Addison walked over to see the baby. Meredith put the phone down for a second, got William from Cristina, and picked the phone back up just to give everyone a closer look. After cooing with the baby for a minute, they let Derek get some time to talk to Meredith upstairs as Jake and Addison talked in the kitchen.

Later on, Derek came back downstairs right as they all heard the doorbell ring. When Derek opened the door, Lesley-Ann was confused, expecting to see Jake or Addison and instead seeing a man she didn't recognize.

"Hi, is…is Addison here?" Lesley-Ann asked as the other woman looked over at her curiously.

"Yeah. She's just…over there," Derek smiled, looking back as Addison walked over toward the door.

"Oh, there you are," Lesley-Ann smiled.

"Yeah. This is Derek, Audrey's dad. Derek, this is Jenna's mom, Lesley-Ann," Addison introduced them two.

"Oh. So, you must be visiting from…was it Seattle?" Lesley-Ann asked.

"Yeah," Derek confirmed.

"This is Rebecca, by the way; Jace's mom," Lesley-Ann said, introducing her to Derek and Addison as they gestured for them to come inside.

"Bex, please. Let me guess: they're outside," Rebecca commented playfully.

"Yeah. I think they wanted to get another few sets in," Addison chuckled.

They all walked outside as Rebecca marveled at the view, watching as Jace, Sabina, Audrey, and even Jake played a round of volleyball. Derek and Addison watched as the ball went over to Jake and Audrey's side as Audrey passed it to Jake, who hit it back over the net on the opposite side of where Jace and Sabina stood. They watched as the ball hit the ground before seeing Jake pump a fist in the air and go over to high-five Audrey.

Derek could see just as much as anyone how happy Audrey was here and how fast she'd settled into her new life. It was more than just feeling comfortable with him and Addison. It was Henry and Jake and Angela and even Zola. A few months ago, they'd all practically been complete strangers. Now, here she was playing volleyball with these new friends she'd made with this new family. Derek, and Addison for that matter, couldn't be prouder of how resilient their little girl was.

"Alright, good game guys," Rebecca chuckled, clapping her hands as they all got to the edge of the patio.

The kids smiled back before walking over, grabbing their backpacks they'd left near the farther lounge chairs before greeting Rebecca and Lesley-Ann. Jake followed Audrey but went to get Henry first as she walked back closer to the parents and behind her friends as they said their goodbyes.

"And you must be Audrey," Rebecca gathered. Audrey smiled as she stood next to Derek, who kissed her temple.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Frazer," Audrey said, remembering Jace's last name from when their chemistry teacher, Mrs. Benson, took attendance using both students' first and last names.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you. And your backyard! You guys were right; it's beautiful out here," Rebecca smiled.

"Bex, this is Jake; Addison's husband," Lesley-Ann said as Jake walked up with Henry in his arms, with Amelia and Angela behind him, with Zola in between them, holding their hands.

"Nice to meet you," Jake started as Henry snuggled under Jake's chin.

"You, too. And you must be Henry," Rebecca cooed as Henry looked out and smiled softly.

"Looks like you've got everyone here," Lesley-Ann observed.

"Yeah, this is Angela. Our oldest," Addison started as Zola reached up for her dad. Angela smiled and waved as the moms made their introductions again.

"And this is Zola," Derek said, picking up the little girl and balancing her on his hip.

"Big family," Rebecca commented.

"You could say that again," Amelia muttered sarcastically as everyone chuckled before they all walked toward the front door.

They all said their goodbyes before Derek and Amelia offered to clean up the younger kids, while Addison offered up the master bathroom to Audrey so she could shower first. By the time Zola and Henry were bathed and dressed, Audrey was already back in her bedroom.

"Alright, Zola. You ready to go?" Derek asked playfully.

"Can Audrey tell me a story, Daddy?" Zola asked. Amelia chuckled.

"Well, I'm sure if you said pretty please, she would read you a story," Amelia said as Henry looked up while standing beside her.

"Me too?" Henry asked, pulling at Amelia's jeans, who was standing across from Derek and Amelia.

"Yes, you, too," Amelia chuckled before Zola and Henry went to Audrey's room, where their older sister was drying her hair with a towel.

"Audi?" Henry asked as they peeked behind the door, with Amelia, Angela, and Derek standing closely behind.

"Hey, guys," Audrey chuckled before hanging up her towel on the hook on her bathroom door.

"Can you read us a story?" Zola asked before she and Henry glanced back at the adults behind them.

"Pwetty pwease?" Henry added.

"Sure," Audrey said, before motioning toward the door to Henry's room to pick out a story.

"I should get going, but I'll see you next time," Angela said, waving goodbye to everyone, and picking up Henry for a quick kiss on the cheek before passing Jake and Addison downstairs.

"Zola, why don't you pick one this time?" Audrey suggested.

Zola looked at Henry's bookshelf curiously before pulling one out: The Rainbow Fish. Since Henry's bed was a little small for both him and Zola, Audrey suggested they go back to her room. She had a bigger bed that could fit all three of them. Jake and Addison came up just in time to see Audrey leading the younger kids back to her room while holding their hands, with Zola holding the book in her hand and Derek and Amelia standing on the other side of the hallway to watch the three of them.

After the three of them settled in Audrey's bed and Audrey started reading the book aloud, everyone else went downstairs to give them some privacy. Meanwhile, Derek and Addison talked about scheduling future visits before the conversation eventually drifted to a complicated surgery Derek had scheduled in a few days. Before they knew it, an hour passed and Jake had poured glasses of wine for everyone but Amelia, who stuck to water for the night.

"Oh, crap. I should probably get Zola," Derek realized, checking his watch before getting up from his spot on the couch.

They all nodded before following him upstairs, where they opened Audrey's door a little wider to find the three of them sleeping soundly in her bed. With Audrey's arm draped over her younger siblings, they knew it wouldn't be easy getting Zola out without waking anyone up.

"Let her stay," Addison whispered.

Derek nodded before entering the room to retrieve the book in Audrey's hand, with Addison behind him. Derek kissed Zola and Audrey's foreheads before pulling up the blanket and letting Addison do the same with Henry and turning out the lamp on the bedside table. After exiting the room, Jake and Amelia were on the farther side of the hallway, watching as Derek and Addison lingered outside of Audrey's bedroom door, watching the kids sleep peacefully.

~14 years earlier ~

"Derek, what are you doing?" Addison asked in a loud whisper as Derek placed a just barely one-year-old Audrey in between them on their bed as she continued crying as she had been for hours now.

"Just until she falls asleep," Derek said, lying beside Audrey. Addison got up on her elbow, rubbing the baby's belly as she settled down after a minute of fussing.

"See?" Derek said, his eyes closed.

He relaxed, knowing Addison had an eye on their baby. Audrey had been fussy all day, and all of last night, for that matter, with a minor chest cold. Derek and Addison were both in desperate need of a nap and a shower, but Audrey wouldn't stop crying unless one of them was holding her close and rocking her back and forth. At least now she'd get some rest.

"Derek, we agreed we wouldn't let her sleep in our bed," Addison said after a few minutes passed.

Studies showed that babies slept better in a crib, and they decided when Addison was still pregnant that they didn't want Audrey (who hadn't been named yet when they agreed on this) to form a habit of sleeping in their bed. Plus, it was just safer for her that way.

"It's just this once, Addie. She's sick. You're not gonna let a sick little girl sleep in her crib all alone, are you?" Derek asked, opening his eyes as he playfully guilt-tripped her. Audrey was finally quiet for longer than a few minutes for the first time in almost 24 hours. Addison gave him a disapproving look, but he brushed it off, chuckling before closing his eyes again.

"Ten minutes. And then I'm moving her back to her crib," Addison whispered sternly, still rubbing Audrey's belly as she slept peacefully.

Addison may be exhausted, but watching her baby sleep was mesmerizing. She watched as Audrey's chest rose and fell with every breath, the slight pink of her nose from her cold, and her mouth just barely opened as she breathed out of her mouth. It wasn't long before she saw the same from her husband, minus the pink nose. Even though part of Addison wanted to keep Audrey here for longer and watch her sleep, Addison could barely stay awake, and she wasn't going to go back on her promise of taking the baby back to her nursery.

She gave it another ten minutes before carefully picking Audrey up and lowering her down to her crib, waiting a minute to see if she'd start crying again. Fortunately, her baby slept peacefully in the crib, and Addison rubbed her belly one more time before grabbing the baby monitor and heading back to her bedroom to get some sleep.

Derek felt Addison come back into bed, pulling her close; they knew it'd only be a matter of time before Audrey would wake them up again, fussy and sniffling because of her cold. But when Derek woke up later, he heard nothing. He opened his eyes and found Addison still fast asleep. After checking the clock on the nightstand, he realized it'd been almost two hours since Addison had put Audrey down in her crib, so he got up and found Audrey still in her crib, but she was standing now, balancing herself on the crib bars.

"Hey, you," Derek asked, smiling widely when he saw Audrey's face light up when she spotted her dad.

"Alright. You wanna see Mommy?" Derek asked after taking her out of her crib and rocking her for a minute. Audrey nodded before Derek kissed the top of her head and walked her back to their bedroom.

When Derek lowered Audrey onto the bed, she crawled over to her sleeping mother, trying to climb over her midsection. Addison blinked the sleep out of her eyes and pulled Audrey in closer, kissing her cheek repeatedly, playfully, making her giggle.

"What do you think you're doing?" Addison asked, kissing her cheek one more time before letting the little girl go as she continued laughing.

"Looks like someone's feeling better," Derek said, joining in, kissing Audrey's cheeks.

~ present day ~

When they finally turned away, Derek smiled as he handed the book to Jake to put back in Henry's room.

"You're welcome to stay. I wish I could say we had more than the couch downstairs, though," Jake offered, slightly embarrassed that they didn't have a bed for Derek to sleep on.

"It's fine," Derek brushed it off.

"I'd trade with you and give you the pull-out couch in the office, but I really don't want to," Amelia added playfully, making the rest of them chuckle.

"It's fine. Zola's been getting up in the middle of the night lately, so I'll just grab our bags from the car," Derek said.

"Well, I'm turning in for the night," Amelia said before going toward the office and everyone else went back downstairs.

After getting their bags from the car and leaving them beside the couch, Derek sat across from Addison as Jake poured him some scotch. Addison still had her glass of wine, but took a sip out of Jake's glass before returning it to him.

After almost an hour of talking, they heard footsteps coming from upstairs. First in the hallway and then coming down the stairs. They saw Zola first, coming down the stairs one by one, with Audrey holding her hand while following closely behind, with Henry holding her other hand.

"Daddy!" Zola exclaimed, letting go of Audrey's hand before racing over to Derek sitting on the couch. He picked her up and rubbed her back softly before kissing the back of her head.

"Hey, let's get you guys back to bed," Addison chuckled as she and Jake walked over to Audrey and Henry, still at the end of the stairs.

Audrey was still struggling to keep her eyes open as Addison let her lean against her while Jake picked up a sleepy Henry before they all went back upstairs. Jake brought Henry to his bedroom while Addison tucked Audrey in, kissing her forehead and pulling up the covers again before watching her snuggle into her pillow.

"Hey, what's going on?" Amelia asked after exiting the bathroom. She was still awake, but she was planning on going to sleep soon.

"Oh, Zola got up and woke everyone else in the process," Addison chuckled.

"Where is she?" Amelia asked, curious.

"Downstairs. Derek's got her," Addison said before joining Jake in Henry's room.

After going downstairs, Amelia saw her brother rubbing Zola's back softly while she buried her head into his chest.

"You're not gonna let her sleep down here, are you?" Amelia asked.

"What choice do I have?" Derek countered.

"I'll take her. She should sleep in an actual bed," Amelia replied.

"Or you could trade and we could get the bed while you sleep down here," Derek tried playfully.

"Nice try. Come on, hand her over. I've got her from here," Amelia offered, walking over.

"You sure?" Derek asked, handing a sleepy Zola to his little sister.

"Yeah. I could use some one-on-one time with her, anyway," Amelia said, rocking Zola in her arms. Zola snuggled under Amelia's chin before she kissed the top of her head.

"Be good for Aunt Amy, Zola," Derek whispered as he brushed through her hair lightly before giving her one more kiss on the head, letting Amelia take his daughter upstairs.

On the way upstairs, Amelia passed Jake and Addison, coming back downstairs to clean up whatever was left of their drinks and to tell Derek they'd be turning in for the night. When they looked confused, Amelia filled them in about having Zola sleep in her bed tonight, and they said their goodnights, figuring she had it handled from here.

"You ever think we'd be here?" Derek asked, handing Addison the last glass of scotch before she put it in the dishwasher.

"No," Addison smiled, closing the dishwasher after they finished loading it.

"It looks like she's doing well here so far," Derek commented, referring to Audrey after letting the moment linger for a minute longer.

"She is. I just hope it's enough to…I don't know, not fix everything, but move on? She's been through enough…trauma to last her a lifetime. I always thought things happened for a reason until…until Audrey. And then I didn't really know what to believe, but now? Nai told me about something Dell told her once about Betsey; he said he believed she was owed, that Betsey had, has, already had such a tough life, so he said she was owed one. Maybe I feel like Audrey's owed one now, too," Addison said.

"Yeah," Derek agreed.

"You think she's gonna be okay? After everything?" Derek asked.

"I…I don't know. I hope so," Addison replied.

"I think she's gonna be just fine with you two," Jake said reassuringly, rubbing Addison's back gently before kissing her temple as she leaned into his embrace on the couch. Derek smiled and nodded.

"Thanks. It's you, too, you know?" Derek started, sitting up from his position on the couch.

"I mean, I'm still her dad, but you're…you're her dad, too," Derek said.

"Thanks. You're always gonna be her dad, but I'd be happy to step in any time you need me to," Jake said.

"Thanks," Derek smiled, offering his hand to shake before they all said their goodnights.

A/N: Chapter title inspired by the song, I'm Still Standing by Elton John. References include Dell's line from Private Practice 3x10 where he talks about how Betsey's owed one after everything she's been through (this was after the house exploded because Heather was cooking meth) and Jake's last line is very similar to what Charlotte said to Mason in Private Practice 5x22 (right before the very sweet moment of Mason asking if he could call her Mama). I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the little Derek and Addison flashback. Until next time!