Problems can't just be paused.

They don't stop out of exhaustion, nor do they disappear simply because we want to ignore them. Problems persist, grow, and sometimes even multiply when we're not paying attention. They can't vanish, they can't be sidelined and wait for Addison to feel well enough to face them.

Of course, during the two days she was hospitalized—forced to disconnect from her reality for a few hours—her problems continued. The complications of her patients didn't vanish into thin air; the preeclampsia of a first-time mother continued to jeopardize her pregnancy, an emergency C-section had to be performed without her in the room, and the complicated case of cervical cancer for one of her patients was still hanging by a thread. Scheduled surgeries went on, babies continued to be born, and the chaos of the practice only intensified in her absence. The scandal of Violet's suspended license kept escalating.

That morning, Sam had called her to inform her of the latest developments after not speaking to her since he found out about the pregnancy. When she saw his name on her phone screen, for a fleeting moment she thought he was calling out of concern, that he would ask how she was, that he would notice her sudden absence over the past few days. But he didn't.

"The medical board is gonna conduct a thorough investigation of the practice. All appointments with our patients have been suspended and referred to other clinics," he told her, his tone always measured but with an underlying tension that was impossible to ignore. "We've alerted our lawyers. I need you to do the same."

There were no roundabout ways. There was no softness in the news. No personal questions. It was simply a call between employer and employee to communicate that every corner of the practice would be examined closely. Copies of all their files would be made, every procedure, every medical record, every decision made in the past months would be reviewed. And not just that, but each of the doctors would be interviewed individually.

Addison didn't need Sam to say it explicitly to know that this could be the beginning of the end.

"Were you talking to Charlotte?" Amelia asked while stirring her coffee. They were having breakfast in Addison's kitchen.

"No, to Sam," she replied with her mouth full. The medication Jake had prescribed was taking effect; her nausea had stopped, and her appetite had significantly increased over the past few hours, allowing her to enjoy foods she could barely smell before.

"Sam? What did he want?"

"Mm... he told me to call my lawyer, you know... Neil Chaplin, the medical investigator who interviewed me a few weeks ago, has come back and threatened us. The guy is angry."

"Oh... Well, he has reasons to be angry…"

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking another bite of her egg and cheese bagel.

"I mean, we shared confidential information, we lied, we broke the established rules. We pushed the line so far back, it isn't even a line anymore. We're not doctors. We're friggin' cowboys with guns."

"Of course not. We always seek the best for our patients, not…"

Addison's phone vibrated again on the table, the illuminated screen showing Charlotte's name in large letters, but she had no intention of answering.

"I told ya she wants to kill you…" Amelia murmured, hiding half her face behind her coffee cup.

"I know, and I prefer to talk to her in person," she replied calmly as she took the last sip of her tea and stood up. "I'm going to the hospital."

Amelia set her cup on the table and didn't say anything immediately, but her gaze shifted to her sister-in-law's belly, noticing the small bump that was beginning to become more evident.

"Are you gonna tell Charlotte the truth? That you were hospitalized for your pregnancy?"

Addison ran a hand through her hair, looking out the window for a moment before responding.

"I don't know… I still don't want people to know. Not before Derek…"

"Well, it seems your daughter has already started to go against you…"

"Does it show too much that I'm pregnant?" she asked, almost as if she expected the answer she already knew.

Amelia gave a sarcastic laugh.

"No, it just looks like you've been stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving."

"Amelia!"

Amelia didn't flinch. She wasn't trying to be cruel, but the reality of the situation was clear. If she didn't know her, she might not be able to tell if Addison was really expecting a baby or if she just had a slightly bigger belly. But for those who knew her well, for those who saw her every day, the difference was evident.

"Not gonna lie to you, Addie, it's… noticeable. Quite a bit… Doesn't she look like a plum already?"

Addison sighed.

"It's actually closer to a lemon," she murmured, glancing down at her thirteen-week belly, which already had a much more defined shape than in previous weeks. The small bump, so obvious now, seemed to be screaming for space underneath her clothes.

Amelia picked a lemon from the fruit bowl on the table and held it in her hands with a slight smile as if she could accurately compare the size and shape of the baby.

"Damn. That's big," she said, looking at the lemon before looking back at her. "She's huge!"

"I know. In fact, she's already formed all her tiny fingers and toes. She even has nails… but right now I can't travel to Seattle while the practice is under investigation; it would be too suspicious if I left the state without any explanation. The baby will have to wait a few more weeks."

Amelia rolled her eyes, her reaction so automatic that Addison could almost predict it. She didn't say anything, though her thoughts were clear. She had promised not to push further, but still, she couldn't help feeling that her sister-in-law was playing with fire.

"I'll go look for a looser dress and head to St. Ambrose," she said finally, her voice firmer but still full of uncertainty. "If you need anything… you know, just call me. What happened the other day… umm… I know you haven't wanted to talk about it more, but…"

"I said it won't happen again."

"Are you going to a meeting?"

"I already told you I am. There's no need to bring the topic up again."

"Okay… I'll see you later at the practice. There will be a meeting… you know. Probably all our days will be like this from now on."

Amelia simply nodded, and Addison went upstairs to change.

~•~

"Addison is single."

Those three simple words that Amelia had said the night before kept repeating over and over in Derek's head.

The first thing he thought was that maybe it was a lie from his sister, just to annoy him. He still found it hard to trust Amelia. She had always been the typical younger sister who enjoyed playing pranks on her brother, but in her case, her pranks were anything but harmless.

When she was fourteen, she had forged their mother's signature on a school permission slip to skip classes, and when she got caught, she managed to convince Carolyn that Derek had helped her, getting him in trouble for no reason, because she knew he was the favorite son.

When she was fifteen, she had disappeared for three days without telling anyone. When she returned, she claimed she had been at her friend Michelle's house, but Derek discovered she had actually been at a wild party in New York. And when he confronted her, she swore up and down that he was wrong... until he saw the photos on her analog camera.

When she was sixteen, she made him believe his black Mustang had been stolen. Derek and Addison had spent hours driving around the city, checking every street and parking lot, hoping to find it. They ended up at the police station, filling out forms and answering questions from officers, frustrated and worried that the car might never show up.

Until Amelia, with complete indifference, revealed the truth: she had taken it without permission, drunk a few shots of vodka, and crashed it into a pole. She hadn't even tried to apologize. Her only defense was a shrug and a casual "It's no big deal, they'll fix it." As if the disaster she had caused didn't matter. As if the significance of that car to her brother meant nothing.

But worst of all was the time she swore she was clean.

After her first rehabilitation attempt at seventeen, she insisted she no longer used, that she was fine, that they could trust her again. And they did. They wanted to believe her, wanted to think this time it was true. One day, Carolyn found her unconscious in the bathroom, with blue lips and a syringe on the floor. She screamed her name, shook her, but Amelia didn't respond.

Derek, who had stopped by to pick up some clothes that night, was the first to react. He knelt beside her and began CPR while his mother called emergency services. Every second felt eternal. He pressed her chest over and over for at least three minutes, desperate, refusing to lose her.

When she finally gasped and her eyes opened, he felt like he could breathe again. But the image of his sister on the brink of death remained etched in his mind until today.

Because that was Amelia. She lied as easily as she breathed. She believed in her own lies. And worst of all, she made others believe them too... until the truth exploded in their faces.

Derek knew his sister also lied when she was drunk, or even high. And that made him wonder if she was using again now.

The tone she used when talking to him, imitating someone else to excuse herself and end the call, had been ridiculously obvious. Added to the shouting in the previous call and her disappearance for a whole day... she was hiding something. She had to be hiding something. Because believing Amelia was telling the truth felt so... unreal.

And the fact that Addison was single also led him to ask other questions.

Why had she and Sam broken up? When was it? Was it because of him, because of what happened in Connecticut? Had Addison told Sam and he left her? Or had she left him?

Did Addison still have feelings for him and that's why she left Sam? Did Addison still have feelings for him and that's why Amelia told him she was single?

Why had Amelia told him that? Was it a secret she couldn't keep?

Back to the previous topic, was she so high that she forgot it was a secret? Or did she just do it to annoy him?

Why the hell did she say that?

He had too many questions and too few answers, and that lack of answers led to misguided and often senseless conclusions.

"Dr. Shepherd."

Meredith's voice interrupted his thoughts, making Derek quickly lift his head. He was sitting at his desk and hadn't heard her come in.

"Dr. Shepherd?" he asked, confused.

"Maybe if I talk to you this way, you'll pay attention," she replied coldly.

"What's going on?"

"I wonder the same. Where were you last night? Why didn't you let me know you wouldn't be coming home?"

"I had a complicated surgery..." Derek murmured, watching her position herself in front of him with her arms crossed.

"I know, Lexie told me everything. Where were you? Because I know you weren't on call. Jackson was."

Derek ran a hand over his face, exhausted.

"I was at the construction site, Meredith. Where else was I going to go? I needed air."

"You could've let me know, sent me a text, something. I was worried about you."

Derek let out a bitter laugh.

"Sure, because after a ten-hour surgery and after causing massive bleeding in a six-year-old, the only thing I wanted to do was send a text."

Meredith looked at him with a frown.

"What's wrong with you, Derek? Why are you talking to me like this?"

"I'm sorry, I... don't want to answer this interrogation, Meredith. I was in the woods, spent the night there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Kyle's progress."

And without waiting for a response, he got up from his chair and left the office.

~•~

As she walked through the hospital corridors, Addison replayed in her head the conversation she had with Amelia during breakfast. Maybe she was right. Maybe she should start telling the people she saw every day that she was pregnant.

Ideally, Derek should have known before her coworkers. It had to be that way. It wasn't just a matter of courtesy or logic; it was a simple and raw truth: her baby was his baby too. He should have known before anyone else. But the reality was that he wasn't there in Los Angeles, and her coworkers were. They were with her most of the time.

They were the ones who had covered her shifts over the past few weeks when a sudden discomfort forced her to be absent. They were the ones who noticed that she always carried a clipboard strategically in front of her abdomen, as well as that she avoided green juice as if it were poison. Maybe no one had said it out loud yet, but they probably already suspected that something unusual was happening to her. Perhaps it was time to stop pretending that nothing was going on.

She let out a sigh, stopping in front of Charlotte's office. It wasn't just that Amelia was right; sooner or later, people were going to find out anyway. And if she kept delaying it, it would end up being an open secret instead of something she could say on her own terms.

She ran a hand across her forehead, trying to shake off the anxiety, but before she could knock on the door, a voice interrupted her from behind.

"Montgomery, where the hell have you been?"

Addison blinked, surprised, just as Charlotte crossed paths with her in the hallway.

"Oh, hey, Charlotte. I was just coming to talk to you. I'm sorry, I was sick and…"

"Okay, is that your excuse for disappearing for almost four days from the hospital and leaving the team hanging?" she said, entering her office and forcing Addison to follow her. "You had three scheduled surgeries; the patients were already prepped in the OR to start, the whole team was ready—nurses, instrumenters, anesthesiologists, everyone—and you didn't show any signs of life! I had to call Masters to replace you and begged him to be available. Do you think your patients are okay with that?"

"I... I'm sorry."

"You know that if it weren't for the appreciation I have for you and because you're a fucking genius in the OR, I should fire you for your behavior."

"Excuse me? It was only three days, really two and a half because I was here Thursday afternoon. You can't fire me for being absent for three damn days!"

"I've been receiving constant complaints from your team and your patients for weeks. You show up late to the OR, you fall asleep in the call rooms, you abandon surgeries early, you don't do post-op checks on time, you don't send your reports to the nurses, you don't answer my calls, you don't..."

"I've had bad days, I..."

"We're all having bad days. With Violet, the practice, the investigation…"

"I'm sorry."

"Your apologies don't work for me right now. I..." she sighed wearily, sitting in her desk chair, "I wish I had enough energy to keep scolding you, but... I don't. Just... just do your job and stop making the staff angry."

"Is something wrong...? I mean, besides the whole practice thing, and…"

"No," Charlotte cut her off sharply.

"Oh, come on, Charlotte. You know you can talk to me. What's going on?"

"It's just that... I can't. You know, I shouldn't tell anyone until it's confirmed."

"Well, I can keep a secret…"

Charlotte put her hands to her head, covering her forehead in distress.

"Cooper might have a child."

"A child?"

"A woman came in with an eight-year-old boy to the practice, telling him that he was his son. And he automatically accepted it. He didn't even ask for a DNA test to confirm, because according to him, 'if the kid chooses a strawberry milkshake and dips his fries in it, he's his son.' He's an idiot. I married an idiot."

"Oh…"

"That woman just wants to take his money. Why does she show up now after so many years without a word? Should I believe he's the only one she slept with? Come on, she tracked down the guys she slept with, saw that Cooper was a doctor, and bingo! She calls him Dad."

"I don't know what to say…"

"There's nothing to say. This is crap."

"Does it bother you that he might have a child with another woman?"

"It's not that. I just... I just want him not to get hurt, you know? He gets his hopes up quickly. He says that kid has his same hair, his eyes, his sense of humor. He calls him Mini Cooper. That illusion could fall apart and... and he already hates me anyway."

"Why?"

"I offered that hag a check to leave town."

"Charlotte…"

"But she gave it back to Cooper. And he called me a bitch. He said I was jealous that another woman was giving him what I couldn't give him yet and... forget it. He's an idiot."

"Well, you guys should get the DNA test anyway…"

"I already did. Of course, he doesn't know, but I took his toothbrush and the blood he drew from the kid yesterday and sent the samples to the lab. The results will be in tomorrow... meanwhile, stop bothering the OR staff or I'll have to suspend you."

"Can you keep a secret too?"

"What do you mean?"

Addison hesitated for a moment, pressing her lips nervously while her eyes searched for signs of understanding in her colleague's. Slowly, with a trembling hand, she slid her fingers to the lower part of her belly, tightening the fabric of her dress to highlight that small bump she had worked so hard to conceal that morning. Charlotte, who was watching every movement, was left speechless. Her eyes widened, and her voice cracked with barely contained astonishment.

"What the hell?"

"I guess this is the reason for the staff complaints…"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, well, I know I should've formally notified HR before this kind of unexpected situation in the OR happened. In fact, I already have the email drafted, but…"

"Oh, shut up, Montgomery," she said, getting up from her chair with a smile on her face. "Congratulations!"

Addison let out a shy laugh and received Charlotte's embrace, feeling how the warmth enveloping her temporarily dispelled the weight of the revelation. Besides Amelia, she was the only one genuinely happy about her baby.

"How long have you been hiding this?"

"Well, I'm thirteen weeks along today. This little girl is almost into the fourth month…" She smiled with pride and joy she never thought she could have. It felt strange and exciting at the same time to talk to someone about the little achievements of her baby. Her daughter.

"It's a girl?"

"It's a girl, yes."

Charlotte let out a soft laugh.

"Ha, Sam must be thrilled with another girl in the family."

Hearing Sam's name, Addison's smile immediately faded. She hadn't thought that now, not only did she have to tell her loved ones she was pregnant, but that the baby wasn't with her partner. Well, ex-partner. Another detail to add to the announcement.

"Um, Sam…" she said, clearing her throat, "He's not the father."

"What?"

"We broke up on the day of your wedding, for that same reason…"

"Damn, you're really a box of surprises today. Who the hell is the father?"

"Um... Derek. My ex-husband. I think you met him in Connecticut. Um... you know, at Bizzy's funeral."

"Oh, I see… 'Sex as an escape?'" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not to justify my actions, but... I don't know. It was such a chaotic few days... I wasn't thinking at that moment. He was there and... it just happened. I never imagined it would end up like this," she said with a sarcastic laugh, while she gently slid her hand over her belly again. The laugh dimmed instantly and her eyes welled with tears, revealing the pain she felt inside. "That little slip had cost me my relationship with Sam, my friendship with Naomi... Derek still doesn't know because we hadn't ended on the best terms and... "

Charlotte, with a soft and worried voice, leaned in a little closer.

"Are you happy with this baby?"

Addison nodded slowly, pressing her lips together as a shy smile emerged.

"That's the only thing that matters. Screw the rest. Congratulations, Addison."

~•~

Derek had waited all day to call Amelia back.

Since morning, he had tried to convince himself that it was best to let it go, that insisting would only make things worse. He knew he had no right to demand answers from her, that it would be logical to stop obsessing over the worst-case scenario. But he couldn't help it when the doubt remained, persistent, impossible to ignore.

Why had she told him that Addison was single? Why had she ended the call without further explanation? What was she hiding? Because clearly, she was hiding something.

Fortunately, Kyle, his six-year-old patient, had had a good recovery and showed no significant aftermath following the hemorrhage from his surgery. Derek made sure everything continued to go well with him before leaving the hospital, but, as in the previous days, he didn't drive straight to Meredith's house. Instead, he took the road toward the woods.

He parked in his usual spot and got out of the car. He walked a few meters with his hands in his pockets until he reached a large rock in front of the lake, and from there, sitting down, he called Amelia again. He needed answers.

"Derek?" Her voice sounded tired, but more than anything, annoyed.

"Hi, Amy."

There was a short silence.

"Again? What do you want?" she snapped, impatient.

Derek clenched his jaw. Amelia always responded with hostility when she knew he wasn't going to say something she would like.

"I wanted to talk to you. Can't I do that? What's wrong, Amelia?"

"You never call because you want to talk to me. I'm not an idiot," she scoffed with a dry, sarcastic laugh. "What do you wanna know? If Addison is single? I already told you she is. She and Sam broke up."

Derek rubbed a hand over his face, trying to stay calm. But his mind kept repeating those words. She and Sam broke up.

"Their breakup... uhm..." He hesitated for a moment. He knew it wasn't his business, but the need to know was eating away at him. "Does it have to do with me?"

There was a second of silence. Long enough for his heart to start racing.

"Yes," Amelia admitted, dryly.

Derek shut his eyes tightly.

"Did she leave him? I mean... after what happened between us, did she... did she leave him?"

"Derek, stop," she sighed impatiently. "I'm not a gossip; I can't tell you Addison's intimacies."

"Amy…"

"No!" She cut him off. "I..." he heard background noise like she was pacing back and forth. "She will talk to you."

Derek frowned.

"What? Why will she talk to me?"

"I can't tell you."

"Amelia…"

"I can't."

Derek felt a chill down his spine. Something was not right. Something in Amelia's tone, in her evasiveness, in the way she tried to cut off the conversation. And then, suspicion hit him hard.

"Amelia, are you high right now?"

"What?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Her anger exploded within seconds.

"I'm trying to be patient, Amelia! I'm trying to give you space to explain to me what the hell is going on with you, and you're lying to me, hiding information, abruptly ending calls, and leaving me worried for days!"

"I never asked you to worry about me!"

"You never do!" Derek felt his anger consuming him. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on and started pacing back and forth, gripping the phone tightly. "It's always the same with you, Amelia! You swear you're fine, you swear you're not doing stupid things anymore, and suddenly you disappear, act strangely, avoid answering questions, and expect us not to notice! What's going on?! What are you playing at?!"

"Screw you, Derek!"

"I'm not falling for your lies anymore, do you hear me?! I'm not! Tell me the truth. What are you doing? What are you getting Addison involved in this time? She won't cover for you forever!"

"This is unbelievable..." Amelia let out a furious, trembling laugh. "You are unbelievable."

"Amelia…"

"You're a damn idiot," her voice sounded broken, but loaded with rage. "Don't ever call me again."

"Amelia, wait!"

But all he heard was the click of the call ending.

Derek cursed under his breath, squeezing the phone in his hand until his knuckles turned white. He stood there, breathing heavily, his head spinning, and his chest tightening with the certainty that something was very, very wrong.

~•~

The medication for nausea had been working, but not even the extra dose Addison had taken that morning could calm the whirlwind in her stomach.

She stood in the practice's kitchen, surrounded by her colleagues, waiting for Naomi and Sam to arrive with news. Everyone was tense, restless. They had been meeting in that same place for days, trying to find a way to save the practice from the impending legal storm, but each meeting seemed to bring more bad news.

And as if that wasn't enough, Addison had another bombshell to drop.

She crossed her arms over her chest as if that gesture could contain the anxiety rising in her throat. She was going to say it. She was going to say it in front of everyone. But she had no idea how they would take it.

She didn't even know how to start. Before she could keep torturing herself with thoughts, the kitchen door swung open.

"Okay," said Naomi, stepping in with Sam behind her. "Uhm, we just got off the phone with the lawyers, and they felt strongly that we need to be proactive about protecting ourselves as best we can."

The conversations instantly quieted. Addison straightened her back and forced herself to focus on what was about to come. The practice first. Then, her announcement.

"What does that mean?" Sheldon asked from the back.

Addison stepped forward and took the floor.

"It means that we have to start by going back through all of our files…" she said, reading from her notes what her lawyer had told her the day before, "…making lists of patients we consulted each other about, and then we need to separate the instances when the advice was medical from those where we just debated each other for sport."

Pete frowned in annoyance.

"That's not what we do."

"Which is exactly what I said…" Sam murmured under his breath.

"Sam, we said we would listen to the lawyers," Naomi stated.

"And then what?" Cooper questioned. "We're gonna just sit back and let them pick us apart?"

"Well, look, we pushed back as hard as we could," Naomi said.

Addison interrupted. "And the bottom line is, the practice is already a target of the medical board."

"They don't care about truth," Violet interjected, annoyed. "They don't care that we're trying to help people… You know… I'm just saying."

"The lawyers gave us two choices," Addison continued. "Either we figure out every single point of vulnerability now and prepare to defend ourselves."

"Or…?" Sheldon asked.

"We dissolve the practice, go our separate ways, and hope that the medical board or the lawyers don't come after us individually."

Cooper drummed his fingers against the table, restless. Pete shook his head disapprovingly. Amelia bit her nails nervously. Sheldon looked at Addison expectantly, waiting for her to say more. But she stayed silent.

The murmur of side conversations began to fill the kitchen as Addison, standing at the center of the room, took a deep breath and raised a hand, asking for attention.

"I know this is not the best time for this, but before everyone goes back to their own business, I need you to listen to two important announcements I have to make that aren't related to the practice," she said in a firm voice, though her tone had a slight tremble.

Several pairs of eyes turned to her with curiosity. Naomi scoffed and rolled her eyes in frustration before leaving the kitchen without bothering to listen. Sam, however, cleared his throat and looked aside, as if he already knew what was about to happen.

Addison ran a hand across her forehead, nervous.

"As you know, rumors in this practice spread faster than chlamydia in a college dorm," she blurted out.

The comment made Amelia let out an involuntary laugh, but everyone else stared at her with furrowed brows.

"Um… sorry. I didn't mean to say that… I… I'm a little nervous, you know… and… I want you to hear it from me," Addison let out a tense laugh, intertwining and squeezing her fingers, twisting her hands unconsciously.

The silence in the room became stifling. Her heart raced, and for a moment, she thought about turning around and leaving it for another day. But she couldn't keep postponing it.

"I didn't think it'd be this hard…" she admitted quietly. Her gaze swept over the expectant faces of her colleagues. She swallowed hard. "I just wanted you to know that… um… I'm pregnant."

The words hung in the air for a second too long before her colleagues' forced congratulations began to fill the silence. There was weak applause, awkward smiles that showed more teeth than necessary, polite nods, shouts of false enthusiasm.

But no one seemed genuinely surprised by the news.

"Oh, come on, who already knew?" Addison asked, looking around the room with her arms crossed.

"I started to suspect it when I saw your breasts," Violet confessed, rubbing her neck, clearly uncomfortable with her own observation. "I mean, not that I was looking at that in particular, but… it happened to me when I was pregnant with Lucas. Suddenly, one day… they appeared. I mean, I used to have two plums, and suddenly, bam, grapefruits. It was like I had a breast augmentation…"

"Okay, I get it," Addison quickly replied, feeling heat rise to her face as she discreetly covered her cleavage.

"The lawyer confirmed it for us," Pete interjected. "He showed us the recordings a few days after you left the interview."

Addison grimaced, gritting her teeth in an embarrassed sort of smile.

"Oh… uhm… about that… I'm sorry. I hope you understand why now…"

"I suspected it when I saw you run to the bathroom every morning, covering your mouth with your hands," Cooper added, resting his elbow on the table with an amused smile. "You know, my office is right in front of the restrooms, glass walls, impossible not to notice."

"Sorry about that too," she murmured, looking down.

"Well, she told me yesterday… just because I was gonna suspend her," Charlotte chimed in with a half-smile.

"And I'm the aunt…" Amelia smiled.

"Okay, so everyone already knew. I'm really bad at keeping secrets," Addison joked, resting her hands on the lower part of her belly, which she was no longer making an effort to hide.

"I didn't know," Sheldon complained from the back benches. "But I'm really happy for you, Addison. I know it's something you've wanted for a long time… congratulations."

"Thank you, Sheldon. And thank you all…"

Just when it seemed the conversation could take on a lighter tone again, Cooper approached Sam with a smile and slapped him on the back. Charlotte tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"Congratulations, buddy! Now that I'm a dad, I understand the feeling."

Sam, who had remained completely silent up to that point, barely nodded and replied in a sharp, dry tone.

"It's not mine."

The air became thick in an instant, and the attendees turned their heads to Addison at the same time, as if they were witnessing an accident in slow motion.

She felt the blood rush to her face in an unbearable heat. Her throat closed up, and she had to wet her lips before forcing herself to speak.

"Maybe I should've reversed the order of the announcements… but… yes. The other thing I wanted to say is that Sam and I… uhm… are no longer together… and it's… uhm… the baby isn't Sam's," her voice broke at the end of the sentence, and her eyes filled with tears. Having to say it out loud, admitting the mistake she had made in front of everyone, caused a mix of sadness and shame.

There was a silence that seemed to last an eternity. It was one of those moments when no one knew what to say.

"Who's the father?" Cooper asked after a few seconds, discreetly moving his arm away from Sam.

Addison swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment, as if that could make the situation disappear.

"Derek. My ex-husband," she finally said, feeling a knot in her stomach.

"You two got back together?" Violet interrupted, raising her eyebrows.

"No," Addison replied with a tense laugh, too aware of how everyone was looking at her. "No. We didn't get back together. In fact, he doesn't even know yet."

Silence stretched out again. Sam stood up without saying a word and left the room with firm steps as if his dignity depended on how swiftly he could escape. Of course, he felt embarrassed that all his colleagues knew he had been cheated on. It stung his male pride.

Addison felt the air choking her throat. She wanted to run after him, but… for what? To explain something he already knew? To tell him she was sorry when it was clear that nothing would change?

Her heart raced when, suddenly, a voice cut through the tension of the moment.

"It's a baby girl!" Amelia exclaimed with a wide smile, drawing all the gazes toward her.

~•~

"I don't understand what you mean by that," Mark complained wearily, cleaning Sofia's face with a paper napkin. The baby made a small noise of protest, and he, without taking his eyes off her, loaded another spoonful of rice and offered it to her. It was night, they were in the living room of his apartment, and the last thing he wanted was to have this conversation.

"What don't you understand? She's single!" Derek insisted, leaning over the table.

"And?" Mark kept his gaze fixed on his daughter, gently blowing on the spoon before bringing it to her mouth.

"She's no longer with Sam! They broke up. For some reason, they broke up... and that reason involves me."

Mark let out a long sigh, resting his elbow on the table and rubbing his temple with his fingers as Sofia tried to grab the spoon from his hand.

"You're married," he reminded him without raising his voice, but with his patience wearing thin. "Have you forgotten that little detail? You have a wife, damn it!"

"Technically, we're not married."

Mark set the spoon down on the small plastic plate and looked at him incredulously.

"Is that the crap you're saying now? For years, you said that stupid Post-it was as valid as a marriage certificate! What's wrong with you, Derek?"

"I don't know," Derek muttered, running his hand through his hair, frustrated.

Mark huffed and focused back on the baby, loading another spoonful of rice while shaking his head.

"You said you had gotten over Addison, that you didn't think about her anymore, that you had never really fallen in love, that getting back with Meredith had made you forget her. Why are you so excited about the idea that she's single? Do you wanna be with her?"

"No, but..."

"Derek, you were the one who sought out Meredith again. You were the one who forgave her after swearing you wouldn't. You were the one who moved in with her to try again. You said you were going to fall in love with her again!"

"I don't understand where you're going with this."

"You're repeating the same pattern as last time."

"Of course not," Derek snapped, visibly irritated. "What's happening now is very different."

Mark let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Different? It's exactly the same. You're voluntarily trapped in a relationship with a woman, your wife, while you're still in love with another woman. And instead of admitting it and going to her, you prefer to suffer and make everyone around you suffer. Because even you don't know what the hell you want to do. One day you say one thing and the next you do another."

"I'm trying to do the right thing!" Derek exploded, slamming his palm on the table.

Sofia jumped and frowned at the noise, but Mark, trying not to upset her, offered her some boiled carrot, keeping his voice calm.

"The right thing? Did it seem right to you to have sex with Addison in the first place? Damn it, Derek, at her mother's funeral? Not even I would've done that!"

Derek scoffed, pressing his temples with his fingers.

"Do you want to know why Addison didn't want to talk to you again? Why she never accepted your cheap apologies? Because you took advantage of her in a vulnerable moment and then you denigrated her. Maybe it was your damn fault she ended her relationship with Sam, but that doesn't mean she wants to get back with you. She probably hates you for ruining, once again, the life you forced her to build."

Derek looked up, furious.

"I just forced her? As far as I know, you were also involved in what happened. You were the main player!"

Mark raised an eyebrow without stopping to feed his daughter.

"Don't start that crap again," he said, giving Sofia the last spoonful before patiently wiping her mouth. "I'm talking to you about what's happening now. If you still feel any love for Addison, just... leave her alone."

Derek fell silent, clenching his jaw in annoyance, as Mark finished picking up the baby's things.

"And what do I do with Amelia?" Derek said after a few minutes. "Who do I ask if she's using again? Of course, if I ask her, she'll deny it. Addison must know if..."

"Amelia has grown up, Derek. She's an adult, she's a neurosurgeon. She doesn't need you to watch over her like she's fifteen."

"Oh, it seems you're forgetting that we're talking about Amelia, Hurricane Amelia."

"She's been behaving for years. She's been clean since she entered Harvard."

"Addicts like her have relapses throughout their lives, no matter how many years they've been clean, she..."

Derek's phone suddenly started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Meredith's number on the screen. He automatically rejected the call and placed the device on the table. He didn't want to talk to her right now.

"You can't ignore her for the rest of your life..." Mark murmured, settling Sofia in his lap.

"I'm not ignoring her. I'm worried about my sister."

"You know what's going on with you, Derek? You're not worried about your sister; you don't care about the life of any of your sisters. You only care about Amelia right now because you're obsessed with Addison and can't stand that she doesn't want to talk to you."

"Of course not."

"You know Amelia is the only one close to her and the only one who can give you information. But she won't, okay? They have a much closer bond than you have with your sisters. Amelia will keep her secrets just like Addison keeps hers. And the fact that your sister doesn't want to vent the private life of your ex-wife and her partner doesn't mean she's hiding something, let alone that she's using drugs. They simply don't want to talk to you. Leave them alone and start worrying about your current wife. Or fake wife, however you want to call Meredith now."

Derek looked down.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to give Sofia a bath or none of us will sleep tonight."

~•~

"Fourteen weeks, one point five ounces, and nine centimeters long..." Jake said as he glided the transducer over Addison's exposed abdomen. It was Friday afternoon, her weekly check-up.

She looked at the screen with a faint, almost absent smile. Her little one was moving her limbs slowly as if floating in her own world. She knew she was there, but she still couldn't feel her.

"Look at this..." he continued, pointing to a slight movement in the image. "She's stretching her legs. It seems like she's gonna be quite active."

"I'm in for a few sleepless nights..." Addison murmured without much enthusiasm.

Jake shot her a quick glance. It was clear she was exhausted.

"Well, that's part of the package," he said softly, "but everything is fine with her. Her heart is beating strong, her organs are developing perfectly, and her measurements are exactly where they should be. She's growing just like she should."

Addison simply nodded, keeping her gaze fixed on the screen.

"How are you doing with the treatment?" he asked while handing her a box of tissues to clean the excess gel off her belly.

"Good... I haven't vomited since I started the medication, and my appetite has improved. It's just that..." she sighed, massaging her temples. "I'm exhausted. Pregnancy already drains my energy, and then there's the issue with the practice that... It keeps me from sleeping. I'm starting to wonder whether we should really keep fighting or just... resign ourselves and go our separate ways."

Jake paused for a moment. In recent days, Addison had mentioned the issues with her practice, and he knew what she had just said wasn't just an ordinary confession.

"Is that what you want?"

"No. Of course not. They are my only family, and I don't wanna lose them. But..."

"Then fight for your family," he interrupted. "Not for the practice or the medical board. Fight for the family you've built. Don't let this just tear you apart."

She looked at him for a moment. Then she slowly sat up as she wiped the gel off her belly.

"What do you suggest?"

~•~

Night had fallen, and fatigue weighed heavily on her shoulders like a slab. Addison just wanted to go home, sink into her bed, and let exhaustion overtake her. But she couldn't. Not yet.

After her appointment with Jake, she made an important decision. And before the day ended, she needed to say it out loud. She gathered all her colleagues in the practice's meeting room. One by one, they trickled in, some with furrowed brows, others crossing their arms impatiently. There was tension in the air, a sense that something big was about to happen.

Addison could feel her own anxiety vibrating beneath her skin, but she didn't let it show. When everyone was seated, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"We could fight it, what's happening to us. We could block their interrogations, bar the doors… Or we could accept it… Or we could change it. We could make a change."

Eyes were fixed on her. Expectations turned into thick silence.

Addison swallowed and glanced down for a moment. Then, with an instinctive gesture, she placed both hands on her belly.

"My life in these past four months has taken an unexpected turn. A change I didn't even know was coming, one that has forced me to rethink my priorities..." her fingers traced a slight circle on her bump.

Confusion reflected on some faces. Others simply watched her, waiting.

"I want to focus on her. I want to enjoy my pregnancy. I want to prepare for the arrival of my daughter, and I want to do it with the peace of knowing that the medical board won't be breathing down my neck, or yours. That's why... I would like us to officially dissolve Oceanside Wellness Group..."

The impact was immediate. Some remained motionless, while others exchanged glances.

"Okay, h-hold on a second--" Sam quickly interjected, raising a hand as if he could halt what he had just heard.

But Addison didn't give him time.

"... And open a new practice," she continued, her voice firmer now. "I'll use my money. I'll fund it. Meanwhile, we hire a consultant, somebody who's been a medical investigator, someone from the inside to help us figure this out. But OWG as we know it, it doesn't exist anymore."

Absolute silence.

"We start over," Addison said, looking each of them in the eye. "We start fresh. We start clean. We stay a family, but we change. Make a change for the better."

The room remained silent, but the air didn't feel as heavy anymore. It wasn't just surprise that lingered among them; it was the possibility of a new beginning. For the first time in a long while, there was something more than uncertainty: there was hope.

~•~

Leaving obstetrics and gynecology had been one of the best decisions Meredith had ever made. Or at least, that's what she believed. She thought it would put an end to sleepless nights, that she would sleep without interruptions, that she could finally rest.

Now, she no longer had to keep an eye on her phone for any emergencies in the delivery room or spend hours in the hallways waiting for pregnant women to fully dilate.

However, she still couldn't sleep. And now it was for different reasons.

Derek had left a few hours ago. He had said he was going to the woods to check on the construction or something like that. And she, knowing that he needed his space, had always respected that, but now she was starting to wonder… what if the Dream House construction was just an excuse? What if there was something more? What if he was somewhere else? What if he was with someone else?

Derek, as she had asked, had moved in with her a few weeks prior. They shared the same roof, shared some moments together, slept in the same bed… but whenever he had the chance, he would leave. He disappeared for long hours without any explanation. If it wasn't for an emergency surgery at three in the morning, it was for another scheduled one that lasted eight hours. Or for a consultation. Or for a post-operative checkup. Or for the construction. Or to see Mark. Or for any other thing. There was always a reason. There was always an excuse.

He always left.

And there was something else that was nagging at her: his suitcase.

Since the day he returned, the same suitcase he had taken with him containing most of his clothes had remained in the same corner of the bedroom, untouched. Derek said he wanted to take his time to put everything in the closets and drawers, but he never did. He simply took out the clothes he needed, wore them, and then closed the suitcase again.

It was as if, deep down, he knew he was just passing through.

Many people don't unpack when they are traveling. For lack of time, for convenience, for habit. The clothes are already organized within the compartments, ready to be used. They don't see the need to take them out. But this wasn't a trip. This was his home.

Maybe he was hiding something...

Meredith sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the suitcase for a moment. She shouldn't do that. She should just turn around, close her eyes, and try to sleep.

But she couldn't.

She got up and slowly walked toward the suitcase. She laid it on the carpet and, with trembling hands, began to unzip it.

It wasn't as organized as she imagined. There were some wrinkled clothes, probably worn, mixed in with others that were folded haphazardly. But beneath all that, something familiar caught her attention.

His ferryboat scrub cap.

Why was it hidden there?

Derek always kept it in the top drawer of his office desk, in the right pocket of his lab coat, or, of course, on his head. It was his favorite. His lucky charm before every surgery. But… when was the last time she had seen him wearing it?

Meredith frowned. She couldn't remember. It had been months since Derek had worn the standard navy blue cap from the hospital. Without thinking, she ran her fingers over the worn fabric of the scrub cap.

He had stopped wearing it long before she noticed...

Maybe he didn't even know he still had it. Maybe he simply thought he had lost it. Or maybe… there was another reason.

She should stop. She knew she was crossing a line.

But she didn't.

She kept taking out clothes, carefully placing them on the carpet. She checked every pocket, every corner of the suitcase. When she thought she was done, she slid her hand along the inner lining, making sure there was nothing left behind.

Then she felt it.

A small lump hid under the internal pocket of the suitcase, the one he used for keeping important documents or valuable belongings.

With a mix of disbelief and anxiety, she unzipped it and put her hand inside. Her fingers brushed against a strange, textured fabric. Some parts were soft, others stiffer. She quickly recognized what it was, but she still had to take it out to see with her own eyes that the garment was what she imagined.

And it was.

Meredith held in both hands a black lace bra that clearly wasn't hers, and, for some reason, her husband had taken great care to hide it deep in his suitcase.