(no subject)
01 - No Obstacles, Only Challenges
02 - Girls Like Us
03 - Champagne Beat Boogie
Title: Groove ♠ You're The Lucky Ones [4/14]
Pairing: Addison, Addison/Derek
Rating: PG(-13?)
Summary: Divorces, phone calls, gender discoveries.
“Derek says that neither of you brought any assets into the marriage.”
“Well, I had my trust fund. And a sparkling personality. And the futon couch.” Addison tucked her feet under her and grinned as she imagined Derek’s reaction to the couch. She was on a conference call with Derek and the divorce lawyer and was beyond entertained that she could do it in her pajamas. She didn’t, she made the effort to get properly dressed since she was going into work afterward, but it was the thought. Like online shopping.
“Yes. Addison had a very ugly, very heavy futon couch.”
“Whatever happened to that couch?”
“We gave it to Mark.”
“Oh.” Addison shrunk into her chair.
“She can have him.”
“I don’t want him.”
“Okay, now that’s settled. What else?”
The lawyer jumped back in. “So. Aside from Addison’s trust fund, which remains in her name, you’ll split everything: stocks, bonds, 401k’s down the middle. The only thing that gets a little complicated is the real estate.”
“I moved, I don’t want the brownstone.”
“So did I, I don’t want it either.”
“What about the house in the Hamptons?”
“Derek hated it and I’m not going to use it.”
“You love the Hamptons. You sure?”
Addison thought for a moment and rested her hand over her belly, remembering that she was about to have another person in her life and that the Hamptons weren’t entirely kid- or single parent-friendly. “No. I don’t want it.”
“Well, that was easy.”
“You’ll split the proceeds from the sale of both of those and anything in them down the middle as well?”
Derek and Addison both answered yes.
“I’ll make those changes and fax them to you both today.” The lawyer hung up as soon as Addison and Derek thanked him but stayed on the line with each other.
“Is there anything in the brownstone you want? Besides the obvious, I mean. I’m going down there to pick up some things next week, but I was going to have them sell everything else.”
“I’ll think on it and email you a list. Addison, what’s up?”
“What?”
“There’s something different in your voice, what is it?”
“Happiness,” she suggested. “It’s been a while.”
“What else?” Derek wasn’t about to give up, he knew her too well to know that that was it.
Addison made a fist and smacked the air and scrunched her nose. Realistically, she knew she couldn’t hide it from him much longer - she was beginning to show and she invariably knew people who knew people who knew people who talked to Derek - but she would be lying if she said she didn’t fantasize about a world where neither Derek nor Mark knew. “I’m pregnant.”
“Well, congratulations.” Though he tried, Derek couldn’t keep the acidity entirely out of his voice. “I thought you didn’t want Mark.”
“I don’t. And I don’t know if it is Mark’s.”
Derek opened his mouth to say something angry but then Addison’s words processed through his brain and he closed his mouth to think instead. “You’re saying it might be mine.” He had never had a conversation turn so surreal so quickly in his life.
“Yes.” She leaned her head on the back of her chair and closed her eyes, never more thankful for having a conversation over the phone.
“Why didn’t you tell me before we did this?”
She followed his question quickly. “Would it have changed anything?” Addison opened her eyes and sat up again and cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear.
He ignored that she avoided the question, knowing that he would never get a straight answer from her anyway. “Maybe.”
“Derek, you can’t make decisions like this based on hypotheticals. And anyway, if it is yours, you didn’t give up or keep anything that’s going to make things difficult and if it isn’t, same thing.”
Again, he opened his mouth to argue and again he closed it. Addison hadn’t asked for anything out of the ordinary, she hadn’t wanted or demanded anything he didn’t expect from her. She did the same thing she would have done were she not pregnant and Derek knew that. He thought she was up to something; he was certain she would have acted differently if she wasn’t. He said so.
“No I’m not. I’m not going to ask for something I don’t know if you need to give.” She cracked her neck, a habit of hers he hated. “And if it is yours, we’ll deal with it then.”
“Provided you tell me.”
“Derek...”
“No, Addison. You clearly keep secrets from me. First Mark, now this?”
She wanted nothing more than to slap him. “First of all, Mark? That was the first time. Not the only, but the first. Second of all, this? Me being pregnant? You and Mark did a pretty good head job on me and I was not about to announce that I’m pregnant to either of you until I had that at least somewhat sorted out. And to be fair to me, I didn’t know that the baby might not be Mark’s until two weeks ago.” Her voice gradually rose and she breathed carefully to calm herself down.
“What the hell did we do to you?”
“You mentally abandoned me, the supposed love of your life, and Mark pretty much became you after a while except he was having sex instead of performing surgery.” She spat out the accusation and squeezed her eyes shut tight against threatening burning tears. “So I’m sorry if I needed a little time to recover from that before I told you.”
Derek heard the pain in her voice and he knew her well enough to know that tears weren’t very far behind so, even though he was upset with her for a lot of things, he backed off. In the ten words she used to describe what he did to her, he heard volumes of anger and hurt and sadness and silently promised to himself that he would do what he could to not make her feel that way ever again. Though his love for her was slowly reaching its final moments, he felt awful for making a woman he once loved with such intensity feel that badly. “Were you ever going to tell me?” He asked gently once he was sure she had her emotions under control again.
Addison cursed hormones for making every conversation worse. “Yeah. This week,” she said shakily. “I was going to tell Mark first and then you, figured you’d be somewhat nicer and my day wouldn’t end with me feeling like absolute crap.”
“Addison, what did he do to you?”
“Just...we weren’t good together and he wasn’t very nice. Look, I have surgery in an hour and a half, I need to head out.” Addison quickly backpedaled out of the discussion. She did have surgery, but later, and wanted to be as composed as possible for it. Which meant not prolonging a conversation with her very-nearly-ex-husband about her oh-so-very-ex-dirty mistress.
He caught the lie but didn’t call her on it. “We’ll talk later?” Despite their differences, he genuinely liked Addison and had a feeling that they could become great friends again. Derek wasn’t a particularly revengeful person and could tell that she probably needed someone who knew her well but wasn’t her sister and once he got over the fact that his wife of ten years cheated on him and then didn’t tell him she was pregnant with what might be his kid until four months later, he’d be willing and happy to fill that role. Got over it enough, really, because he did care about her and he wasn’t so stupid as to delude himself that he’d sort it all out overnight.
“Yeah,” she smiled upon hearing his calm voice, telling her in three words that he wasn’t as angry as he first sounded.
“Hey, and Addison? Just because we’re getting divorced doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You know I’d fight Ellie for first-in-line rights if Mark so much as raises his voice to you. Just say the word.”
Addison bit her lip and blinked out a few tears of gratitude. “Thank you, Derek.” She knew he wasn’t happy with her (and likely wouldn’t be for a while), but knowing that he still cared and didn’t hate her meant the world to her and made the quality of her day skyrocket.
“You’re welcome. Take care of yourself. And Baby Montgomery, okay?”
She grinned widely. “Definitely. Have a good one.”
--
“I’m caving.”
“You get cell phone service down there?”
“No, smartass. I want to know.”
“Who the father is? What are you, nuts?”
“Gender, you crazy girl.” Addison and Ellie had quickly fallen into their old routine of teasingly calling each other names. According to Ellie, Addison was currently winning: she came out with stoner slut of a sister one night (though in reference to what, neither could remember). Ellie said it was the alliteration that sealed it. Addison said it was because it was historically true and earned herself a crumpled up napkin thrown at her head.
“What brought this revelation on? I thought you were going all Magical Mystery Tour on us.”
“Are you high?” Addison laughed.
“I wish. It might make the Nerf basketball game in Eric’s office make more sense.”
“How do you people ever win cases?”
“We shoot the other guys with dart guns and then scare them into settling because sarcasm is our number one priority. But go ahead, revelation. Where’d it come from and who got what?”
“You’re insane. We’re selling virtually everything and I am sending that hideous piece of art that’s been in the main hallway since we bought the place to Derek whether he wants it or not.”
“Quite possibly and good call about the ugly art. You’ll probably get it back for Christmas. How’d he take the news?”
Addison took a deep breath and smiled. “He said to take care of myself and Baby Montgomery.”
“Even after shoving you out in the rain, he’s a gentleman. I appreciate that.”
“You are not allowed to have sex with all of the men I’ve slept with, El.” Addison laughed and scolded mockingly.
“Hey, I had Mark before you did. Seriously, Ads. You’ve been adamantly not wanting to know and then Derek says something and suddenly you’re all ‘I want to be able to cut out half the names in this book on my kitchen table’?”
She sighed and shrugged and propped her feet up on her own desk. “No, I was thinking about it. And, you know, in fantasy worlds it was always Baby Girl or Baby Boy Montgomery-Shepherd.” She quieted as she realized that, in a few days, the hyphen would officially be gone. It sort of scared her, made it all real. “Derek said Baby Montgomery and it reminded me that I really do want to know.”
“Want me to go with or do you want to have your moment on your own?”
Addison opened her mouth but thought a quick moment before saying the opposite of what she intended. “No. I think I’ll do this one alone.” She smiled softly.
“Alright. Oh, good God, I need to go interrupt some intern eye sex and give them things to file instead. Call me later?”
Addison nodded, fully understanding the problems that came with interns who ran out of things to do (though hers ended up in supply closets, not exchanging seductive looks over reading glasses and case folders). “Yeah. Good luck.” She laughed and shook her head as she hung up the phone and went to find her OB/GYN.
--
“I swear to God, if you make me late to my anniversary dinner...” Doctor John Franklin laughed, knowing that he would certainly not be late and that Addison certainly would never let him be late (especially not to twenty years) if it even were a possibility. “And insert cold gel warning here.”
“You know, for all the technology we have, you think we could’ve done something about that.”
“Well, I’m sorry that you have to endure a little cold jelly on your stomach in an air conditioned room.”
Addison faked a glare at him though they both knew that she appreciated his relaxed sarcasm (and generally returned a heavy helping of her own). “You don’t have to shove something out of your uterus through a hole that’s too small and hips that don’t go that way. Is freezing cold jelly really another necessary annoyance?”
He looked at her over his glasses. “You don’t have to endure prostate exams. Now, shut up and look.” He turned the monitor toward her. Knowing that she knew where to look and what to look for, he stayed quiet and smiled softly as he watched her face.
“I’m having a girl,” she whispered, a smile creeping across her face. Addison managed to tear her eyes away from the monitor for a few seconds to look at John. “I’m having a girl,” she repeated strongly, her grin not likely to leave for quite some time.
He nodded once with a crooked smile and printed out a few images for her. “You’re having a girl. Congratulations, Addie.”
--
Derek yawned and decided to pick up his voicemail before finding an empty on-call room to take a nap just so the thing wouldn’t beep and wake him up.
“Hey, it’s Addison. I just wanted to say thanks. For earlier today and not flipping out and whatever and, you know, being nice. Mark is, uhm, apparently coming up this weekend for a completely invented reason so if you get a frantic Please Kill Him phone call from me, Boston’s where you’ll find him. But seriously, thank you. And...it’s Baby Girl Montgomery. I thought you might like to know. I know your day’s not over yet there, but I hope you had a good one.”
“You lucky bitch,” he whispered with a grin to the otherwise empty room. In the months since he had left Addison, he had never thought that he would ever be genuinely happy for her but he was. And despite all logic given the current situation, he found himself hoping that her daughter was his but he knew that it was a slim chance. For all the times they had forgotten condoms (or simply not bothered) while Addison was either off the pill or had given up because everything gave her migraines, there had never been anything, not even a hint. But still, hoping couldn’t hurt.
♠ Duke's Up
02 - Girls Like Us
03 - Champagne Beat Boogie
Title: Groove ♠ You're The Lucky Ones [4/14]
Pairing: Addison, Addison/Derek
Rating: PG(-13?)
Summary: Divorces, phone calls, gender discoveries.
“Derek says that neither of you brought any assets into the marriage.”
“Well, I had my trust fund. And a sparkling personality. And the futon couch.” Addison tucked her feet under her and grinned as she imagined Derek’s reaction to the couch. She was on a conference call with Derek and the divorce lawyer and was beyond entertained that she could do it in her pajamas. She didn’t, she made the effort to get properly dressed since she was going into work afterward, but it was the thought. Like online shopping.
“Yes. Addison had a very ugly, very heavy futon couch.”
“Whatever happened to that couch?”
“We gave it to Mark.”
“Oh.” Addison shrunk into her chair.
“She can have him.”
“I don’t want him.”
“Okay, now that’s settled. What else?”
The lawyer jumped back in. “So. Aside from Addison’s trust fund, which remains in her name, you’ll split everything: stocks, bonds, 401k’s down the middle. The only thing that gets a little complicated is the real estate.”
“I moved, I don’t want the brownstone.”
“So did I, I don’t want it either.”
“What about the house in the Hamptons?”
“Derek hated it and I’m not going to use it.”
“You love the Hamptons. You sure?”
Addison thought for a moment and rested her hand over her belly, remembering that she was about to have another person in her life and that the Hamptons weren’t entirely kid- or single parent-friendly. “No. I don’t want it.”
“Well, that was easy.”
“You’ll split the proceeds from the sale of both of those and anything in them down the middle as well?”
Derek and Addison both answered yes.
“I’ll make those changes and fax them to you both today.” The lawyer hung up as soon as Addison and Derek thanked him but stayed on the line with each other.
“Is there anything in the brownstone you want? Besides the obvious, I mean. I’m going down there to pick up some things next week, but I was going to have them sell everything else.”
“I’ll think on it and email you a list. Addison, what’s up?”
“What?”
“There’s something different in your voice, what is it?”
“Happiness,” she suggested. “It’s been a while.”
“What else?” Derek wasn’t about to give up, he knew her too well to know that that was it.
Addison made a fist and smacked the air and scrunched her nose. Realistically, she knew she couldn’t hide it from him much longer - she was beginning to show and she invariably knew people who knew people who knew people who talked to Derek - but she would be lying if she said she didn’t fantasize about a world where neither Derek nor Mark knew. “I’m pregnant.”
“Well, congratulations.” Though he tried, Derek couldn’t keep the acidity entirely out of his voice. “I thought you didn’t want Mark.”
“I don’t. And I don’t know if it is Mark’s.”
Derek opened his mouth to say something angry but then Addison’s words processed through his brain and he closed his mouth to think instead. “You’re saying it might be mine.” He had never had a conversation turn so surreal so quickly in his life.
“Yes.” She leaned her head on the back of her chair and closed her eyes, never more thankful for having a conversation over the phone.
“Why didn’t you tell me before we did this?”
She followed his question quickly. “Would it have changed anything?” Addison opened her eyes and sat up again and cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear.
He ignored that she avoided the question, knowing that he would never get a straight answer from her anyway. “Maybe.”
“Derek, you can’t make decisions like this based on hypotheticals. And anyway, if it is yours, you didn’t give up or keep anything that’s going to make things difficult and if it isn’t, same thing.”
Again, he opened his mouth to argue and again he closed it. Addison hadn’t asked for anything out of the ordinary, she hadn’t wanted or demanded anything he didn’t expect from her. She did the same thing she would have done were she not pregnant and Derek knew that. He thought she was up to something; he was certain she would have acted differently if she wasn’t. He said so.
“No I’m not. I’m not going to ask for something I don’t know if you need to give.” She cracked her neck, a habit of hers he hated. “And if it is yours, we’ll deal with it then.”
“Provided you tell me.”
“Derek...”
“No, Addison. You clearly keep secrets from me. First Mark, now this?”
She wanted nothing more than to slap him. “First of all, Mark? That was the first time. Not the only, but the first. Second of all, this? Me being pregnant? You and Mark did a pretty good head job on me and I was not about to announce that I’m pregnant to either of you until I had that at least somewhat sorted out. And to be fair to me, I didn’t know that the baby might not be Mark’s until two weeks ago.” Her voice gradually rose and she breathed carefully to calm herself down.
“What the hell did we do to you?”
“You mentally abandoned me, the supposed love of your life, and Mark pretty much became you after a while except he was having sex instead of performing surgery.” She spat out the accusation and squeezed her eyes shut tight against threatening burning tears. “So I’m sorry if I needed a little time to recover from that before I told you.”
Derek heard the pain in her voice and he knew her well enough to know that tears weren’t very far behind so, even though he was upset with her for a lot of things, he backed off. In the ten words she used to describe what he did to her, he heard volumes of anger and hurt and sadness and silently promised to himself that he would do what he could to not make her feel that way ever again. Though his love for her was slowly reaching its final moments, he felt awful for making a woman he once loved with such intensity feel that badly. “Were you ever going to tell me?” He asked gently once he was sure she had her emotions under control again.
Addison cursed hormones for making every conversation worse. “Yeah. This week,” she said shakily. “I was going to tell Mark first and then you, figured you’d be somewhat nicer and my day wouldn’t end with me feeling like absolute crap.”
“Addison, what did he do to you?”
“Just...we weren’t good together and he wasn’t very nice. Look, I have surgery in an hour and a half, I need to head out.” Addison quickly backpedaled out of the discussion. She did have surgery, but later, and wanted to be as composed as possible for it. Which meant not prolonging a conversation with her very-nearly-ex-husband about her oh-so-very-ex-dirty mistress.
He caught the lie but didn’t call her on it. “We’ll talk later?” Despite their differences, he genuinely liked Addison and had a feeling that they could become great friends again. Derek wasn’t a particularly revengeful person and could tell that she probably needed someone who knew her well but wasn’t her sister and once he got over the fact that his wife of ten years cheated on him and then didn’t tell him she was pregnant with what might be his kid until four months later, he’d be willing and happy to fill that role. Got over it enough, really, because he did care about her and he wasn’t so stupid as to delude himself that he’d sort it all out overnight.
“Yeah,” she smiled upon hearing his calm voice, telling her in three words that he wasn’t as angry as he first sounded.
“Hey, and Addison? Just because we’re getting divorced doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You know I’d fight Ellie for first-in-line rights if Mark so much as raises his voice to you. Just say the word.”
Addison bit her lip and blinked out a few tears of gratitude. “Thank you, Derek.” She knew he wasn’t happy with her (and likely wouldn’t be for a while), but knowing that he still cared and didn’t hate her meant the world to her and made the quality of her day skyrocket.
“You’re welcome. Take care of yourself. And Baby Montgomery, okay?”
She grinned widely. “Definitely. Have a good one.”
--
“I’m caving.”
“You get cell phone service down there?”
“No, smartass. I want to know.”
“Who the father is? What are you, nuts?”
“Gender, you crazy girl.” Addison and Ellie had quickly fallen into their old routine of teasingly calling each other names. According to Ellie, Addison was currently winning: she came out with stoner slut of a sister one night (though in reference to what, neither could remember). Ellie said it was the alliteration that sealed it. Addison said it was because it was historically true and earned herself a crumpled up napkin thrown at her head.
“What brought this revelation on? I thought you were going all Magical Mystery Tour on us.”
“Are you high?” Addison laughed.
“I wish. It might make the Nerf basketball game in Eric’s office make more sense.”
“How do you people ever win cases?”
“We shoot the other guys with dart guns and then scare them into settling because sarcasm is our number one priority. But go ahead, revelation. Where’d it come from and who got what?”
“You’re insane. We’re selling virtually everything and I am sending that hideous piece of art that’s been in the main hallway since we bought the place to Derek whether he wants it or not.”
“Quite possibly and good call about the ugly art. You’ll probably get it back for Christmas. How’d he take the news?”
Addison took a deep breath and smiled. “He said to take care of myself and Baby Montgomery.”
“Even after shoving you out in the rain, he’s a gentleman. I appreciate that.”
“You are not allowed to have sex with all of the men I’ve slept with, El.” Addison laughed and scolded mockingly.
“Hey, I had Mark before you did. Seriously, Ads. You’ve been adamantly not wanting to know and then Derek says something and suddenly you’re all ‘I want to be able to cut out half the names in this book on my kitchen table’?”
She sighed and shrugged and propped her feet up on her own desk. “No, I was thinking about it. And, you know, in fantasy worlds it was always Baby Girl or Baby Boy Montgomery-Shepherd.” She quieted as she realized that, in a few days, the hyphen would officially be gone. It sort of scared her, made it all real. “Derek said Baby Montgomery and it reminded me that I really do want to know.”
“Want me to go with or do you want to have your moment on your own?”
Addison opened her mouth but thought a quick moment before saying the opposite of what she intended. “No. I think I’ll do this one alone.” She smiled softly.
“Alright. Oh, good God, I need to go interrupt some intern eye sex and give them things to file instead. Call me later?”
Addison nodded, fully understanding the problems that came with interns who ran out of things to do (though hers ended up in supply closets, not exchanging seductive looks over reading glasses and case folders). “Yeah. Good luck.” She laughed and shook her head as she hung up the phone and went to find her OB/GYN.
--
“I swear to God, if you make me late to my anniversary dinner...” Doctor John Franklin laughed, knowing that he would certainly not be late and that Addison certainly would never let him be late (especially not to twenty years) if it even were a possibility. “And insert cold gel warning here.”
“You know, for all the technology we have, you think we could’ve done something about that.”
“Well, I’m sorry that you have to endure a little cold jelly on your stomach in an air conditioned room.”
Addison faked a glare at him though they both knew that she appreciated his relaxed sarcasm (and generally returned a heavy helping of her own). “You don’t have to shove something out of your uterus through a hole that’s too small and hips that don’t go that way. Is freezing cold jelly really another necessary annoyance?”
He looked at her over his glasses. “You don’t have to endure prostate exams. Now, shut up and look.” He turned the monitor toward her. Knowing that she knew where to look and what to look for, he stayed quiet and smiled softly as he watched her face.
“I’m having a girl,” she whispered, a smile creeping across her face. Addison managed to tear her eyes away from the monitor for a few seconds to look at John. “I’m having a girl,” she repeated strongly, her grin not likely to leave for quite some time.
He nodded once with a crooked smile and printed out a few images for her. “You’re having a girl. Congratulations, Addie.”
--
Derek yawned and decided to pick up his voicemail before finding an empty on-call room to take a nap just so the thing wouldn’t beep and wake him up.
“Hey, it’s Addison. I just wanted to say thanks. For earlier today and not flipping out and whatever and, you know, being nice. Mark is, uhm, apparently coming up this weekend for a completely invented reason so if you get a frantic Please Kill Him phone call from me, Boston’s where you’ll find him. But seriously, thank you. And...it’s Baby Girl Montgomery. I thought you might like to know. I know your day’s not over yet there, but I hope you had a good one.”
“You lucky bitch,” he whispered with a grin to the otherwise empty room. In the months since he had left Addison, he had never thought that he would ever be genuinely happy for her but he was. And despite all logic given the current situation, he found himself hoping that her daughter was his but he knew that it was a slim chance. For all the times they had forgotten condoms (or simply not bothered) while Addison was either off the pill or had given up because everything gave her migraines, there had never been anything, not even a hint. But still, hoping couldn’t hurt.
♠ Duke's Up