The weekend went quickly and despite the tension they managed to get their Christmas tree. They added lights and then per their usual tradition they planned to wait until after Owen's birthday to decorate. When he was little his birthday felt overshadowed by the holiday and they wanted him to feel celebrated. What they had learned was that they couldn't wait to get the tree. All the good trees would be gone, so they waited to decorate. Despite the fact that he was older now, they waited. It was now tradition and he wouldn't let them forget it.

That morning they sat quietly next to each other at the kitchen island, drinking their coffee. Their hands on the counter, brushed up against each other, not quite holding hands. A lot had happened to them on this day and neither wanted to talk about it, but they both knew the other was thinking about the events on this date. Events that gutted them both, tore them apart and brought them together.

Addison walked into the room and read the body language. "Why are you both so quiet? You weren't fighting already were you?"

"No, we weren't. We just have a lot on our minds this morning. That's all." Ned assured his daughter.

"This day brings up a lot for us." Alexis explained, adding on.

"I know. Owen's kidnapping." Her brother's birthday always reminded her parents of the day they thought he was dead when in reality he was caught up in some deranged Cassadine plot by Helena.

"That's not the only thing that happened on this date." Ned said, turning to Alexis, "Unless you've forgotten." He said, seriously, hurt, looking at his wife who just a week ago was talking about separation. Who just a day ago claimed he didn't know her anymore.

"I haven't forgotten." Alexis said sympathetically, fully taking his hand and squeezing it gently. This date would haunt them forever and it seemed like this year it hurt more than it had in years past.

"What?" Addison looked between her parents concerned. Whatever it was, it was big.

"Nothing, you need to worry about. Just something between Daddy and me."

"Right. Besides, it's Owen's day now. Let's focus on that," Ned said as his son entered the kitchen. "Happy Birthday, buddy."

"Happy 17th Birthday, Owen." Alexis got up and greeted her son.

"Thanks." He said, letting his mom hug him.

"Mom, you said you're working from here today, right?"

"Yeah, O, why?" Alexis asked.

"I was kind of hoping you'd let me take your car to school today. I'd give Addie a ride to Cam's before I went out with some friends. Is that ok? I promise I'll be home to celebrate with you later." He had to hope that maybe for once he could drive himself to school and not be tied to the need for a ride.

Alexis looked at Ned. "I don't think so, Owen."

"Why would you want to take your mom's car when you have your own?" Ned said, pleased they had pulled off the surprise for their son. It had taken convincing but Alexis eventually agreed. Maybe they both felt guilty for fighting, maybe they both felt like they had ignored him recently, either way they both agreed he was responsible and deserved it.

"Wait, what?" He was shocked. He'd been begging them for a year to no avail.

Ned threw the keys at his son. "In the driveway, buddy."

"You got me a car? Seriously? But you said I had to wait until graduation and I was 18 like Kristen."

"See? What did I tell you? You're the favorite." Addison joked.

"What is it with that? We don't have a favorite kid." Alexis said, slightly offended.

"You do, but that's ok. Krissy and I know you love us. Speaking of Krissy…do we really need to wait for her to decorate the tree? It's just sitting there with the lights unfinished. It's bad enough we have to wait until after Owen's birthday."

"You don't know what it's like having your birthday right before Christmas. What's one more day?" Owen said.

"Krissy won't be home tomorrow. Plus she's an adult. She can deal with it."

"You know how Krissy feels about this tradition. Don't make it worse." Owen said.

"You and your sister are still fighting?" Ned asked surprised.

"Well to be accurate, we aren't even speaking at all." Addison clarified as she grabbed a banana off the counter.

"We will decorate the tree as a family, like we do every year. You can wait two more days. Owen, can you drive your sister to Cam's? That would be really great." Alexis said before Addison went off on a tangent about her sister.

"Yeah. If that's the price of having a car, I can be her taxi for the day. Seriously, thanks so much guys."

"You're welcome. We love you, Owen." Alexis said to her son.

"I love you both, too."

As breakfast finished and their children left for school, Ned and Alexis both sat at the counter with their coffee. It was unusual for them not to be running out the door in separate directions. "It's kind of nice not needing to rush out the door to drop them off at school." Alexis stated as this new reality set in. At least for another year, Owen would be able to drive Addie to school. Mornings might be able to be for them.

"It is. See? We did the right thing. He's responsible and now we have time together in the morning."

"You always have an ulterior motive." She said and smiled.

"You love me for it, though." He said and she leaned towards him and kissed him.

"I do." It truly was one of the many things she loved about him. How he could work almost any situation to his advantage. She stood and went to put her mug in the sink and then turned towards him. "We need to find a way to figure this out. This day… we've overcome so much."

"When did we stop acknowledging it?" He asked as he stood and approached her.

"I'm not sure." She truly couldn't remember.

"We used to use this day to recommit to each other. To vow to never let go. To vow to never make those mistakes again." He took her hands.

"Maybe we stopped because we didn't need to. Maybe Owen reminds us of that everyday and the universe made this his birthday because it would remind us."

"I love you and I'm sincerely sorry for using this against you recently. For hurting you that way. That day doesn't define who we are anymore." He was sincere.

"I forgive you and I even realize that some of this is that part of you that still exists deep down in some small corner of your soul and tells you you're unlovable. A part of you that I added to that day and it's all tangled together, but I do love you. I really do love you."

"I know you do." He said as they pulled each other into a tight embrace. "I love you, too."

It had been a long December and Addison was looking forward to the upcoming break from school. Not having to deal with any of the drama at Madison would be welcome. Her and Joss were keeping their distance, as much as possible considering they now sat next to each other in math. That afternoon she sat on the floor at Cam's as they both worked on homework, while looking forward to finally being able to have some free time. She contemplated asking him if he wanted to do anything, but then she was afraid it might seem like she was asking him out and she didn't want it to be awkward. He'd probably want to invite Sophie and then Joss would find out and show up. She had to be ok with liking him in secret for now and maintaining the status quo.

"What are you working on?" He asked her curious. She was engrossed and not procrastinating like she usually did with math.

"I have this project for music. I'm just going through a list of songs."

"What's the project?" He asked, interested.

"We have to combine two genres. I have an idea, but I can't figure out what I'm missing."

"Can I help?"

"That's ok. It's not due for a while and I need a break anyway. Want to watch some TV or something?"

"Sure," Cam said as he closed his homework and they moved from sitting on the floor, to the couch. As they did, the light from the Christmas tree in the corner picked up the natural highlights in her hair and he couldn't help but notice.

"What?" She questioned, feeling his gaze.

"You just look pretty. That's all." He did it. He told her. He wanted her to be more than his friend.

"You think I'm pretty?" She asked, caught off guard. He was her best friend, but did he like her? She knew she liked him, but were they ready to admit this?

"Yeah, Adds, I do." He wondered if he did the right thing. She seemed surprised to hear she was pretty or maybe she just saw him as a friend and he shouldn't have taken the risk.

She reminded herself to breathe. This was not a big deal. "I–..."

"You don't have to say anything." He said sensing his friend start to stress about how to respond. "What do you want to watch?"

"Whatever is fine" She breathed a sigh of relief. He got her, and he changed the subject. And as he flipped through the channels he caught her staring at him. She quickly looked away. Shit. It was getting awkward. She thought to herself.

That night Addison was texting Sophie as she sat at the dinner table celebrating her brother's birthday with her family. She was distracted. What transpired today at Cam's changed things and she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Addison- Cam said he thinks I'm pretty.

Sophie- Well you are Adds. What did you say?

Addison- Nothing, I just stared at him like an idiot and we watched TV

Sophie- What are you going to do?

Addison- I don't know. Do you think he likes me?

Sophie- Yes? You guys sort of have a vibe.

Addison- Really?

Sophie- Yes! Everyone sees it. Why do you think Joss is so jealous?

Addison- Ugh, I don't need more drama right now.

Sophie- So, what are you going to do?

Addison- I like him a lot, Soph. But…I don't know.

They all sat there and watched Addison, completely checked out of the conversation at the table and engrossed in her phone. "Earth to Addison. I thought we said no phones at the table. It's your brother's birthday," Alexis said.

"Sorry, just a lot is happening"

"Oh?" Ned questioned, not sure whether to be concerned.

"Relax, it's all good. It's actually really good." She said, smiling, as she slid her phone into her pocket.

"Want to let us in on it?" Her mother questioned. She hadn't seen her daughter this happy in a long time.

"Uh, no. Can you pass the fried rice?" Addison tried to change the subject.

"So you're not going to share this as the best part of your day?" Alexis asked, hoping to hear what had her daughter in such a good mood that evening.

"The best part my day was when you stopped asking me about it." She snarked as Ned laughed. "See that? I can be optimistic."

"Cute."

"Owen's going to say the car. So let's just move on."

"You're pretty sassy tonight, peanut."

"At least we're not sitting in silence because you two are at each other's throats. Maybe there's hope for Christmas after all." She was blunt. Her afternoon made her day. Stressed her out a bit, but made her day and now, her parents actually getting along was a welcome change.

Owen sat there shocked. His sister was bolder than he thought. He couldn't believe how open she was being about how they both felt about their parents current situation.

"Listen, both of you, there's no question your mom and I have been fighting and that it's impacted you, but we're trying to do better. Be better for each other and for you."

'We are." Alexis agreed and took Ned's hand.

"Well good. You know how I feel." Addison said.

"We do. Owen, how have you been feeling?" Alexis asked her son. He hadn't said anything at all about it, which was more concerning from her point of view.

"Honestly, its freaked me out a bit. I'm not going to lie about that. But I also know I can't control it. You guys are going to do whatever you want to do. I'd just, you know, prefer it if things went back to normal."

"We want that, too, and we're working on it, buddy. We are." Ned tried to assure their son. Maybe Alexis had been right afterall. Owen was impacted more than he thought.

Later that evening Alexis walked into the kitchen and found Addison digging through cabinets. "Addison? What are you looking for?" She asked, taking in the sight of the counter, bowls, measuring cups, flour, she was perplexed. Something shifted with her daughter that night and she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Baking soda, Mom. How can we not have any baking soda? That seems like something we should have."

"You're baking?" Alexis asked, trying to process her daughter's sudden need to bake as Ned walked into the kitchen.

"Well I was going to, but now we have no baking soda."

"Do you even know how to bake? Do you even know how to turn on the oven?" She was perplexed, surprised. Addison had never shown any interest in learning how to cook or bake for that matter.

"Do you?" Ned jokingly directed at Alexis.

"Yes. it's a pretty standard life skill, Mom, and you follow the steps on the recipe. How hard could it be?"

"Yeah, honey, how hard could it be?" Ned asked his wife, amused.

"You are not funny Ned Ashton." Addison looked between her parents. They seemed like themselves, maybe she could stop worrying after all. Maybe they really were figuring it out. "Addison, it's in the upper left cabinet on the top shelf. You probably just missed it." He said walking over and reaching up to the top shelf to grab it for her.

"Thanks, Daddy."

"We'll leave you to it." He said taking Alexis by the hand and leading her out of the kitchen.

"She's baking?" She asked him, still perplexed. This was new and seemed out of the blue.

"She's happy." Ned replied, relieved.

Addison knew she could figure it out. She read and reread the recipe card. She could do this. She could make Cam's favorite cookies. She may be accused of being like her mother, but she could figure out how to bake. She was relieved when she took the first sheet out of the oven and they didn't burn and then she tried one and she smiled as she realized it was actually edible. Her parents walked back into the room as she was placing another sheet in the oven.

"Addie, they look great." Ned said, proud of his daughter.

"Try one and tell me I'm not crazy because I actually think I did it, but I'm related to Mom so who knows." She joked.

"Hey!" Alexis said, "Don't you gang up on me, too."

"Is it ganging up if it's the truth?"

"Well, you can rest assured that you didn't pass down your inability to cook." He said as he handed Alexis the other half of the cookie. "I'm impressed, Addison."

"Daddy's right, peanut. I can't believe you just did this. What other talents are you hiding from us?"

"What smells so good?" Owen asked as he entered the kitchen. "Wait- who made cookies? Dad? I know it's not Mom."

"Seriously? All three of you?" Alexis said, as Ned laughed.

"It was your sister." Ned replied.

"You can have one. But only one." Addison said firmly.

"Are they safe? Will I die?" He joked.

"Funny," Addison replied.

"What do you need them for anyway, peanut?" Alexis asked curiously.

"They're for after school. I'm bringing them to Cam's. We always have snacks."

"These are really good, Addie." Owen said, surprised.

"Thanks." Owen went to grab another one. "Don't eat them all!" Addison snapped.

"He won't. Right?" Alexis said.

"Right. But you know if you want a ride tomorrow we could make some sort of deal here…"

"Who said I was negotiating? Just take another cookie and go play your stupid game." Addison said annoyed.

Ned looked at his wife as Owen took two more cookies and left the room and Addie turned to start cleaning up the mess she had made. "Cookies for Cam?" He said quietly.

"I told you." Alexis said. She knew her daughter had a crush and if she had any doubt it was gone now.

"Should we be concerned she's spending so much time there, sometimes unsupervised?" Ned said all of a sudden worried his little girl was growing up too fast.

"No, it's innocent. She made cookies, Ned. Don't go get all overprotective over some peanut butter cookies."

"Addie?"

"Yeah, Daddy?"

"Why don't you study here tomorrow? You're always over there."

"Can't. His mom has to work and he needs to watch his little brothers. Ok, it's all clean, I'm going upstairs."

"Ok, sweetie." Alexis said as Addison left the room as she hit him on the arm. "Why did you say that? You're lucky she didn't pick up on anything. It's harmless, it's an innocent crush, leave it alone."

"She's my baby girl, Alexis."

"She's happy, Ned." She reminded him of what he had said not an hour earlier.