Chapter Text
They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes until Addison broke the silence.
"I was so scared, Derek. I thought I was going to die." She said without looking at him.
"I know. Addie, you put yourself and the baby in a bad place, but look, the baby's fine, and you look pretty fine too." As he says this, he lifts Addison's chin so that she can look into his eyes.
"I don't know what I was thinking. The girl was all alone, she was trembling with fear, and crying. So when I saw that, I took a look inside the OR to see where the others were, and she told me that they all left, and she was going to take off her hand, so I came into the OR to try to calm her and persuade her to keep her hand inside, but I was too far gone. When she took out her hand, I didn't know what happened to me, and I put my hand as fast as she left it." She pauses a bit before continuing. Derek doesn't say anything; he just lets her talk.
"After that, I started to panic. I don't know what happened to me, why I put my hand inside. That was crazy. I couldn't stop thinking about the baby, you, it was too much, Derek. When they had a plan to take my hand off, I started to panic really bad. I couldn't move my hand, it was really scary, so the bomb squad man told me to think he was someone else that I love, and he made me think that he was the person I love and want to think about."
Derek took out hairs from Addison's face and tucked them behind her ears.
"Derek, you were this person, the person I saw, the person I love the most. The only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. You're the one who convinced me to take my hand off. If something had happened to me, but the baby could be saved, I knew that you would have told her about me and let her know that I loved her so much. I knew how good you were going to be with her even alone."
"Hey, come here," Derek said to her as he took her in his arms.
"But when the bomb exploded, I thought it was the end of everything. Everything went dark when I fell, and then you found me. First, I thought it was finished for me, but when I saw that our girl was good, I knew it was real."
"It is real, Addie. You're here with me and the baby. Here, you can feel me."
Derek took one of her hands. " I'm so sorry I couldn't be here to protect the both of you. If I knew it was you, I would have never taken this long in the OR, and I would have probably lost Bailey's husband just to find you."
"Derek, we're surgeons. We're meant to save people. Even if you put yourself in danger. Only great surgeons are this competitive. Look, today was a tough day. I think we should be back at home. I'm feeling the need to be in bed with the two people I love most." As she says this, she went to peck Derek on the lips and put her hands on her belly. " But first, I think I'll need you again to stitch up my face and my arm. I got hurt during the explosion."
"Yes, I'll do it. Just let me get a look." Derek looked at Addison's forehead and arm.
Once Derek finished showering Addison, he took her some extra scrubs and went back into the exam room.
Derek had stitched Addison on the forehead, on the arms, and even on one leg. When he finished,
both went back to their house, and on their way home, they stopped in a Chinese restaurant that was still open because it was late, very late in the evening, and neither of them ate during this tough day.
Once in the house, Addison went upstairs to change when Derek was in the kitchen waiting for her to eat.
After what felt like an eternity for Derek, Addison was still upstairs.
"Addie, you're okay?" Derek asked loud enough for her to hear.
He waited for two minutes, but no answer was coming from upstairs.
"Addie?" As he says this, he started to go upstairs. She wasn't in their room, she wasn't in their bathroom. Where was she?
"Hey, is everything alright?" He spotted her on the floor of their future baby room.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good, don't worry. I was just looking for something." But as she says this, Derek knew something was not okay. He had known her for more than twenty years.
"Tell me what's on your mind, Addison. I know you. There's something you're not telling me."
"No, it's just that— Derek, if I had lost Jade, I don't know if I would've gotten through her loss. I love her so much already, and just the idea of losing her in the explosion makes me sick." As she says this, tears are now coming out.
"Hey, it's not going to happen anytime soon. Our little girl is a fighter, just like her mother. I already know that she would be just as courageous as you are, and if anything was going wrong today with Jade, we would have faced it together, the both of us. It would've been very difficult and painful, but I'm here for you, Addison, as I'm here for our daughter too, and I know that you're here for me too. Together, we're stronger." As he says this, he just takes Addison in his arms and, without her knowing, he lets a tear fall and whispers to Addison, "Jade is doing good. You saw her. She's healthy, and you too."
She stayed in his embrace for ten minutes until Derek spoke to her again. "We should be getting down to eat, or it's going to be cold." He kissed her tenderly and looked at her.
"Yes, you're right." She said to him.
Derek started to leave the room when Addison called him from behind.
"Derek?"
"Yes, Addie?" He's now facing her.
"Thank you for being here for me even in times like this. You've changed. You're not the same from New York. You care. You see me. Every day you make it more impossible not to fall in love with you more than I'm already. What changed?" Addison says.
"Addison, the time when you were still in New York, I thought that it was the best for the both of us, that everything was coming to an end. I thought that I wasn't in love with you anymore, and the only thing that mattered to me was Meredith, so when you came back, I was so angry because you were here, but then I started to think that you were the only person who could make me feel home, the only person who can make me feel happy again with just a little smile, the only one who knows when I'm not good just with a single look in the eyes. You understand me, you know me like nobody else. So, when you gave me the divorce papers, it's when I got a flashback of us. Do you remember the time when we were on the boat?"
"You mean the boat near my parents' house on the lake?" She says.
"Yes."
"Of course, I remember the time you threw me out of the boat."
"It was so funny. The face you made, I couldn't stop laughing." Derek says this while he looks in the air to remember the scene.
"Of course, I made a face. That day was not a good day, and with that, you threw me in the water."
"Yes, but look, after I joined you in the water and made you laugh, it became one of our best memories together. Moments like this are unforgettable."
"It was only a good memory because the karma got you, but I still don't know how you lost your bathing suit during your jump." Addison says this while laughing.
"I think I can tell you today because it's been a long time since that day."
"What?"
"I did it on purpose."
"AH, I knew it." Addison says that while pointing at Derek.
"Hey, stop pointing at me like that." Derek says this and took Addison's hand in his and took her in his embrace. "Come here." As he says this, he gives Addison a loving kiss on the lips. "That's one of those moments we had together that made me think that you were the woman I love the most and that it would be a total disaster if I had signed these stupid divorce papers. I could have lost the only family I want to be with."
"Thanks, Derek." Addison kisses him on the lips. "The food's definitely going to be cold."
"Definitely, let's go before it's totally frozen."
Addison and Derek made their way into the kitchen to eat. After their little dinner, they directly went to bed. They were really tired; today was a really stressful day.
For the following weeks, everything was back to normal. Addison was entering her sixth month. She was pretty tired because the baby was kicking so much during the nights. It was hard for Addison to sleep. During the day, the surgeries were so long that she couldn't stay on her feet for that much time anymore.
One day during midday, Addison joined Derek in his office.
"Hey, you!" Derek says while looking at her.
"I was thinking about something that would make you very happy."
"Let me guess. You want to have sex in this office?"
"Are you out of your mind, no ! We're not going to have sex in this office."
"Too bad, you would have made me a very happy husband."
"Will you stop wanting me to have sex with you everywhere? I'm supposed to be the one who has hormones on fire, not you.— Anyway, I was going to tell you that I'm going to cut back a little. I'm tired. I can't sleep normally, and I can't do more than 2 surgeries a day anymore."
"Finally, it's going to make you feel so much better. You're going to have so much time to think about you and our little Jade."
"Well, it's not my official maternity leave, but I'll keep working every day. However, my surgeries are more extended. I will not have more than two surgeries a day, and Richard told me that for my and the baby's well-being, I should be able to leave the hospital whenever I need to."
"That is so nice. I'm so happy, Addison. You can't imagine how relaxed it makes me. I'm not going to lie to you, but the last few days made me worried a little. You are so tired, and I don't even know how you manage to get up from bed. I know you don't sleep really well, so you cutting back a little makes me so much relieved."
"I know that's why I'm going to spend more time in the house."
"Yes, totally. By the way, I think we should go out shopping for little Shep's room. We still have nothing prepared."
"Again with that nickname ?"
"Yeah, I like it, and because we're at work, I don't want the nurses to know how we're calling her." Derek says.
"OK, deal. We use this nickname just here."
"Deal." Derek says. "So what do you think about tomorrow afternoon? We're both on day off. Maybe it's the best day to go out shopping."
"Tomorrow afternoon can be great, yes."
"Perfect."
"I'm so happy we're doing this."
"Yeah, me too. I can't wait," Derek says this. "Wait before you go. Tonight, I'm going to be home after you because I'm out for a drink with Preston and Alex."
"Oh, okay. Since when are you friends with Karev?"
"You know, he's pretty funny. The other day, I had lunch with Burke, and he joined us. At first, it was kind of weird because we're attendings to him, but we laughed quite a lot, so we thought that a drink would be good."
"Well, thanks for telling me. I'll certainly be sleeping when you come back."
"I'll try to come back not so late," he says to her.
"Don't worry. Have fun. You know I'm glad you're having friends here to go out with, and it means I can watch romantic movies without you mocking me when I cry."
"Ahahaha, yes." Derek laughs at Addison.
"So enjoy your night. See you later, Der." As she says this, she comes closer to Derek and kisses him deeply on the lips.
"What was that for?" Derek was pretty disoriented after that kiss. It had so much effect on him, and Addison was well aware of that.
"It was for you, thinking that we would ever have sex in this office." And with that, Addison starts to leave Derek's office.
"So badass of you, Addison Shepherd. You know what those kinds of kisses do to me." Derek starts to move uncomfortably on his chair.
Addison was closing the door with a bright, shiny smile on her face. She knew exactly what she was doing. Derek was definitely going to make it worse for her later.
"What am I going to do with that now?"
Derek says, looking in the direction of his pants.
Once the day came to an end, Addison decided to come back to the house. She wanted to eat something that only a pregnant woman would have tried: melon with ketchup. She ate like three pieces of that combo, and after she just ate a yogurt with strawberries, something more common.
When Derek arrived at the bar, only Preston was there, so they got to an empty table and ordered two Scotches.
"So, I heard you had an interesting surgery today." Derek says.
"Yes, the patient arrived by helicopter from Portland. It was pretty intense, but the team and I managed the situation perfectly. The man's out of trouble and—"
"Hello, guys!" Alex came to their table and cut Preston's sentence.
"Hey, Alex, busy day?" Preston asks.
"He was with my wife all day, so I think he had a pretty busy day, learning from the best." Derek laughs at that with Alex and Preston.
"Yes, sorry by the way for being late, but before I left, I was paged because one of the mothers who had a c-section this afternoon was not feeling well, so they paged me."
"Don't worry, I arrived 5 minutes ago. What do you want to drink?" Derek says.
"I'll take a tequila." Alex says.
"With that, I hope you're not working tomorrow." Preston says, laughing.
"No, I don't, and by the way, I saw that both of you too don't either, so that means that tonight we can celebrate." Alex says with a hopeful smile that the two other men would be okay to party tonight.
"What are we celebrating?" Derek asks.
"I don't know?" Preston says.
"Let me think. I'm trying to come up with something." Alex says.
"Ahaha, you're unbelievable." Derek says while laughing at Alex's sentence.
"I know, we are celebrating Derek, who's going to be a father in less than 3 months." Alex says.
"Come on, Alex, we're not going to celebrate this. Thank you for that thought, but no. Find something else." Derek says.
Preston laughs next to them. "Yeah, I'm okay with Derek. We can't celebrate that."
"OK, so what about my first solo c-section? Well, with Dr. Shepherd next to me to control if everything was right, but everything was in control, so she just looked." Alex says this with so much pride; he was really happy.
"OK, that's a better excuse to party." Preston says now looking at Derek. "Now I'm okay with Alex; we can totally party; that's a valuable reason."
"I don't think I can. Addison's at home, and she's pretty tired. I'm a bit worried." Derek says.
"Yeah, she told me that she was cutting back a little." Alex says. "But this afternoon, she also told me that you said to her that we were going out tonight, and she thought that it was really good for you and that we should take advantage of tonight because tomorrow we're not working." Alex says.
"She really told you this ?"
"Yes, she did; I'm not in the process of inventing." He says.
"She told me that too, that you would want to go home with her for an excuse." Preston says.
"No way; she told that too. She's unbelievable. But if she said to you that, well, I think she's okay if I'm not coming back right away." Derek says.
"OK, perfect; I'm so happy now we can party. So who wants another drink?" Alex says.
The two other men look at each other and burst out laughing.
"A bottle of tequila," Preston says.
"Oh my! Tomorrow's going to be painful," Derek says.
As Alex and Preston went to the bartender, Derek stayed at their table and texted Addison.
After Addison ate her yogurt, she decided to head into her bathroom to change into something more comfortable. Tonight, she didn't have to make an effort to look nice—her husband's not here.
So she put on some old joggers and a hoodie that's three times her size, but she's so comfortable in it. Once she went downstairs, she just put on some music and started singing and dancing. Addison was in a phase of her life where she was so happy and content. She was going to have the child she always dreamed about with the man she wanted to have kids with. Her husband was back, and he was even a better husband than before.
She was feeling every beat of the music; she was flying over the song like nothing could happen.
After an hour of singing and dancing, she was cut off by a message from her husband.
"So you were the one who told the guys that we had to celebrate tonight?"
"Yes, I told them that just one drink was not enough."
"You're okay with that? You're sure you don't need me?" Derek says.
"Derek, don't worry. I still know how to take care of myself. Enjoy, because in less than 3 months I doubt you'll be able to go out, come back home late, and completely drunk."
"Yes, you're right. But really, if you need me for anything, let me know, okay?"
"Yes, honey, but don't worry, everything's good. Enjoy!!!"
"Thank you, honey, you know that I love you?!"
"I love you too, Der. See you tomorrow, I'm heading to bed 😘🫶🏼❤️"
"Good night, honey, sleep well. I'll try to be discreet when I come back 😎❤️🥰"
When Derek finished texting Addison, the boys came back with a bottle of tequila, salt, and lime. Tonight was going to be a crazy night.
"Ouch, tomorrow's definitely going to be a hard day," Derek says.
"So, you know the principle of Teq Paf? Salt, tequila, and lime in this order and no other," Alex says to Derek and Preston.
"Hey, kiddo, do I have to remind you that we have 10 more years of experience than you?" Preston says with a big smile, and Derek couldn't stop laughing.
"He's right, we created the Teq Paf," Derek adds.
"That means we have a competition starting. The old men against the kid. What about that? Are you in, grandpas?" Alex says with determination.
"Grandpas? Really? Deal, I'm in," Derek says, now looking at Preston.
"Alex, you're going to regret what you've put yourself through," Preston says.
"Game on," Alex says.
Addison was now in the middle of the bed in a very comfy position, watching a romance movie. After her little concert session, she decided to take a bath and got into bed afterwards.
The movie she was watching was The Age of Adaline.
"Oh no, stupid hormones, I can't stop myself," Addison says, while taking tissues to clean her tears.
Once the crying stopped and the movie was finished, she was now ready to sleep.
"Jade, I think that if you want to sleep tonight, it would be best if it's now, because when your dad gets home it will be like an elephant in a china shop. And tomorrow afternoon we're going shopping for you, so try to sleep. Good night baby." Addison laid her hands on her belly and drifted off to sleep.
The three boys were starting to get a little bit drunk. So they started another game.
"So Derek, would you rather have sex at the Space Needle or on the ferry boat?" Alex says.
"Tough one bro, but I think I'll choose the ferry boat. One day I'll convince Addison to do it," Derek says.
"Ahaha, she's too chic for that," Preston says.
"Think again, she's capable of a lot of things when there's the word 'sex' in a sentence. But first I need to convince her to have sex in my office. —Oh, I shouldn't have said that," Derek says, while putting a hand on his forehead. "She's going to kill me with her bare hands if she knows I told you that."
Preston and Alex couldn't stop laughing.
"I mean, who wouldn't want to have sex in their office?" Alex says.
"Addison doesn't want to, and I don't get why. We already did it quite a lot of times in New York and in Seattle, she just doesn't want to do it," Derek says.
"Thank God I'm drunk and I probably won't remember this conversation, because we're talking about the attending I'll be assigned to for the rest of my life," Alex says, laughing so hard, with Derek and Preston too.
"Yes, thanks to the tequila," Derek says, while raising his glass in the air, waiting for the boys to do the same.
"Let's get another bottle, I'm paying," Derek says.
"YESSSSSSSS!!!!" Alex shouts in the bar.
"Okay good, I'll come back," Derek says.
When Derek came back to the table, Preston was now asking Alex:
"Would you prefer sleep with Nurse Caroline or Nurse Cassidy?"
"Ahaha, you know what? I already had sex with both of them, try something else," Alex says, laughing so hard at this.
"What? Both of them? No way!"
Derek says, surprised by that.
"Yes, and they're not the only ones."
All of the men couldn't stop laughing—they were so drunk, the tequila was definitely working.
They stayed in for 3 more hours until they all decided to leave.
"I hope there are still taxis, because we're definitely not able to drive," Preston says.
"Yes, I just called one for myself," Alex says.
"Perfect, I'll call one," Derek says.
"Hey guys, we should definitely do this more often," Preston says.
"Yes, totallyyyyyyy," Alex says.
"I'll have to be good with my wife for that," Derek says.
"My taxi's here. Thanks again, good night," Alex says.
"Yes, see you Alex," Derek says, waving to him.
Then Preston's taxi arrived.
"Bye Shepherd."
"Burke," Derek says, giving a little gesture to Preston.
Two minutes passed and Derek's taxi arrived.
It's only when Derek got in the front door that he understood how completely drunk he was. He couldn't find the keyhole of the door. He tried so hard to focus his mind and coordinate his hands that after what felt like an eternity, he managed to open the door.
"Honey, I'm home," Derek shouted in the house.
"Oh no, I'm a stupid ass. Why did I say that this loud?" Derek says, with his hands over his mouth.
He went into the kitchen to see if he could eat something—try to eat some leftovers.
"Ohhhh my gosh, I can't believe we have that."
Derek takes one piece of chocolate cake that Addison bought two days ago.
"Mmh, that is so good."
Derek devoured the piece and decided to eat the rest of the cake.
Once he finished the cake, he was feeling sleepy, so he tried to be quiet while getting inside the master bedroom and into their bathroom, but in vain, because when he started taking off his clothes, he heard someone opening the door.
"It's you," Derek says.
"Yes, it's me, Derek," Addison says, while looking at him. "As I can see, your night was good," she asks him.
"Oh yes, definitely. It was so fun and we destroyed Alex at his own game. By the way, I'm sorry but I'm pretty drunk," Derek says, while getting into the shower.
"Thanks for telling me the obvious," Addison laughs, saying this.
"Weren't you sleeping? Did I wake you up?"
"Yes, you did, when you shouted 'honey I'm home'," Addison says, while putting her head next to the glass door to be able to see him.
"Oh yes, so sorry about that too," Derek says.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. I'm the one who told you to celebrate. So apparently, this is what I get," Addison says.
"Ad, did I ever tell you that I love how your boobs are growing?" Derek says, while looking at her chest.
"No, you didn't," Addison says, still looking at him and laughing. She can see how her husband has no filter when he's under the influence of alcohol. "So, if you like them so much, you better take advantage before your child is the only one touching and sucking them."
"Oh, I doubt that."
And as he says this, he grabs her and takes her into the shower with him.
"Ahaha stop, Derek, you're crazy."
Addison couldn't stop laughing, because as she says this, he started to tickle her.
"Ahah, I won't stop until you can't stand it anymore."
Derek's now tickling her even more than before.
"Stop, stop, Der," Addison says, and to stop him, she licked his face. And after that lick, he stopped tickling her—she was relieved.
"I think I found the stop button."
"Yes you did," Derek says, as he's now looking into Addison's eyes. "Berk, Addison," Derek couldn't stop laughing after that move.
"So I think we should head to bed," Addison says.
"Definitely yes. I don't think I can stay up much longer. It's been a while since I was this drunk. I don't think I'll have a good night's sleep," Derek says, now taking the soap to clean himself as Addison gets out of the shower.
As Addison starts to get undressed, Derek couldn't stop himself from looking at her—he was captivated, and he wasn't really discreet.
"You're staring," Addison says.
"I know. It's just that I can't stop looking at you. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"Stop it. I look like a whale. Look—I have big hips, huge legs, and don't even get me started about my face. I can't recognize myself in the mirror."
"I really like it. You have better curves and your face makes it impossible for me not to want to kiss you. Just like your ass," Derek says, as he starts to laugh again.
"Oh you really are a man. You think about sex all the time," she says.
"Hey, you can't say that, because you think about it as much as I do."
"Definitely not," she retorts.
"Okay, if you say so," Derek says, as he gets out of the shower. "I need to sleep, I'm really tired."
"Yes, me too. Let's go," Addison says, as she opens the bathroom door.
They're both on the bed. Derek wraps Addison in his arms and puts one of his hands on top of her belly to feel the baby, and with that, they both directly went to sleep.