(no subject)
Title: The Baby Tree
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Addison/Mark
Summary: She leaves Seattle. And she doesn’t tell him she’s pregnant. Half pseudo-angst, half cute.
Word Count 6,350ish
Music: Paul Kantner - The Baby Tree
Note: My mom used to sing me the title song when I couldn't sleep when I was a kid. So don't tell me if you think the lyrics are crap.
there’s an island way out in the sea, where the babies they all grow on trees
“You never sleep, do you?” Addison whispers with a smirk and slips into her daughter’s room to see the girl stare up at the mobile above her tiny crib. “You probably sleep when I’m not here.” She smiles and sits lightly on the chair next to the crib and pops open the door. Her child’s eyes, wide with fascination, follow her every move as she helps the sixteen-month old into her lap. Addison drops a kiss on her forehead and hugs her gently.
She looks up with hopeful bluish-green eyes. She doesn’t talk unless she has to and Addison knows enough about babies to know that not talking unless she has to is okay for another couple months. She just knows that her mother knows what she wants when she looks at her a certain way. Addison is sure that this will cause problems in thirteen years, but she’d rather not think about that.
Addison laughs and plays with the girl’s hair and carefully detangles her small fingers from her dangling silver earring. “Yeah, you can sleep with me tonight.” She slips her arms around her and stands up, turning off the nursery lights as she walks toward her bedroom. Leah curls up on her mother’s bed the second she is on it but stays awake and watches Addison brush her teeth through the open bathroom door. Addison rinses her mouth and turns around with a goofy grin at the sound of laughter. “Is it really that funny?” She clicks off the bathroom light and pads barefoot across the carpet in the dark and snuggles in with her daughter.
“You get to meet someone in a few days,” she breathes quietly, not yet deciding for herself how she feels, and plays with a stray red curl.
Leah blinks sleepily and kisses her mother’s nose with a smile before quickly drifting off.
and it’s jolly good fun to swing in the sun
Mark didn’t know she was pregnant when she left and he found out thirdhand four weeks after she gave birth and did the math himself and banged his head into a wall so hard his eyes watered and he gave himself a headache. He let it go, let it go right then, because she was right - he would make a terrible father - and he supposes she had her reasons. And, from what he hears, Addison is doing quite fine on her own without a man her life. So he lets it go and puts it out of his mind until work takes him to her. Not to her, necessarily, but to where she is and even if she hadn’t given birth to a child he fathered he would call her up because she’s a friend. As it turns out, she’s a friend who has a daughter whose DNA is half his and she’s a friend who never told him about the daughter whose DNA is half his so he feels that he has all right in the world to be angry with her for that. But she sounds nervous when she returns his call (and he supposes he should be happy that she returns the call at all) and he recognizes that edge in her voice. That edge that says she’s scared and he realizes with a shock that makes him physically sit down that she is terrified that her world will split apart if he reappears. That the world that makes her happy could dissolve around her if he doesn’t do this right. And, even though he’s angry with her for keeping a fairly large secret, he calms down.
He hears the change in her voice; he hears the smile over the phone when she asks if he wants to meet her. Mark figures he must have done something right to warrant that invitation but he hesitates. He doesn’t know how he would react, whether he’d want to stay and make things work with the two of them or freak out and run away. But he says yes with an equally genuine smile on his face that she hears through the phone and they make plans for lunch.
but you gotta watch out if you sneeze, sneeze, you’ve got to watch out if you sneeze
Addison thanks the neighborhood babysitter for giving up a Friday afternoon because Addison didn’t find it fair to make the nanny come in on her day off and she hands the teenager a few bills. The girl smiles, and says she’s sleeping, and heads out to her car but not before giving Addison a look about the man standing behind her. The entire street has been trying to set Addison up with someone ever since she went back to work and the idea that Addison might have done it all on her own was extraordinarily impossible. Addison shoos her away with a grin and makes a mental note to do some damage control later.
“You don’t need to wake her up,” he tells Addison as she heads up the stairs.
She pauses and turns around. “Don’t be stupid. She never sleeps for more than five minutes. I think she got that from you.” She gauges his reaction and walks back down to him and takes his hands in hers. “Mark, I don’t want anything from you, I don’t need anything from you, I don’t expect anything from you. If it really freaks you out, think of her as the daughter of a friend.” Addison shrugs almost sadly, unsure whether she wants him in her life or how, but gently tugs him upstairs.
Mark follows her into the nursery and watches Addison drop her exterior and become a mom as she picks up her (their) daughter from her crib. His first thought is that he’s never seen a more beautiful mother with a more beautiful daughter. His second thought is that he’s never seen a more beautiful daughter. His third thought is to run. But he stays and can’t help his smile when Addison walks over to him.
“Leah Rachel Montgomery,” she looks at the girl and he realizes this is the first time he’s heard her name, “this is Mark. Mark, this is Leah.”
He takes Leah when she eagerly opens her arms to him and he gives a look to Addison. He’s shocked as to how much power she has given him by not introducing him to Leah as her father. She allows him to make that decision and as the girl finds entertainment in his slightly-scruffy face he makes it.
“Hey, kiddo,” he kisses her temple, “I’m your dad.”
Later, after Leah is put to bed for real and Addison cooks dinner, Addison sits curled up in a chair and Mark relaxes on the couch. They talk idly about inane things and dance around the topic until Addison is weary of dancing and breaks a line of conversation about life in Seattle, partially because she doesn’t really care.
“Did you mean it?” She asks softly, swirling the stem of an empty after-dinner glass of wine. “About being her dad?” She asks her questions innocently.
“I need some time.”
She nods and offers him the guest room for the night and he takes it, even though he has a hotel room on the other side of town. She gives him a hug goodnight and he holds on to her a little longer than either of them thought he would and she disappears upstairs. Mark stays on the couch long after he’s heard Addison go to bed. He then hears footsteps in the hallway and Addison’s muffled voice and the footsteps go back to her bedroom.
He stands up and clicks off the light and walks carefully up the stairs to the guest room. He quickly changes into the clothing she has laid out at the foot of the bed for him, a pair of stolen sweatpants and an equally-stolen t-shirt and both used to be his, and considers forgoing the t-shirt but remembers that they aren’t together and there is a child. Their child. He blinks away the abstract good terror and pads across the plush carpet of the upstairs hall and leans against the doorframe of the master bedroom and smiles. Addison gently strokes the girl’s hair away from her forehead and sings low and quietly. He recognizes the song as the one she sings in the NICU to calm crying babies at early hours of the morning when she thinks no one is around. He simply watches her, fascinated by the love and devotion she shows her daughter. He waits until she finishes, lets her breathe out the last note of the last word, and then shuffles his foot against the carpet and she looks up.
Addison contemplates sliding out of bed to talk to him but decides better of it, instead choosing to force him to come to her. She places a light kiss against Leah’s forehead as the girl cuddles closer to her. She watches Mark’s face for a reaction, her own face blank.
He nods and she smiles and beckons him forward. She gestures with her head to the other side of the bed and he slides in. She takes the hand that isn’t wrapped around their daughter and reaches out to lace her fingers with his and tug him closer. Mark scoots as close as he can and briefly tenses when Leah rolls over and snuggles into his chest but he relaxes as Addison grazes her fingers across his cheek. He looks up from the tiny redhead grasping his shirt tight in her hand to the grownup redhead smiling at him in admiration.
Mark kisses her tenderly, a simple and sincere promise. He brushes a tear off of Addison’s cheek and whispers that he loves her and is sorry. Her eyelids flutter closed and he leans his forehead against hers. She smiles and tells him to go to sleep and tucks her head under his chin and lets him hold her as tightly as he wants.
yeah you gotta watch out if you sneeze
Mark wakes her up before he runs out in the morning. He has a few meetings to attend, because he is in town for business, but promises that he will be back that night. Addison’s heart warms to a degree she didn’t imagine possible when Mark places a kiss on Leah’s cheek and he whispers what she thinks sound like three little words of love. She smiles sleepily up at him and he kisses her lips and tells her that it’s early and Saturday and she should go back to sleep.
for swinging up there in the breeze
“Are you sure? The father thing, the couple thing, all of it.” Addison searches his face for any hint of insincerity. She knows she can find it if it’s there - she’s had years of practice and he isn’t very good at hiding things from her.
He nods. “Addison, I screwed up.” He appreciates her lack of snide remark or eyebrow. “And I want to fix that and I want to be with you. I always have. And...God, she’s perfect.”
Addison allows herself a small laugh and an agreeing nod before sobering. “Thing is, Mark. I don’t know if I can survive being hurt by you again. And if you’re in my life, you’re in Leah’s life. And you are not allowed to do anything, directly or indirectly, that will hurt her. That includes hurting me. So if there is any part of you that is telling you to run, then you should run. Now.” She won’t hold it against him and knows he knows.
The passionate protection in her eyes terrifies him and he knows that she would actually kill him if anything he did hurt her daughter. Their daughter. He keeps reminding himself that she’s his, too. There is a part of him telling him to run, there are many parts of him telling him to run, but the image of what could happen if he stays is too alluring. He tells himself that, in five years, he will regret running and he knows that five years is an overestimate. Hell, in five minutes, he will regret running and she will not take him back.
“I’m sure.”
“You have a lot of ground to make up with me, you know.”
“Sure. But first let’s talk about you not telling me you were pregnant.”
She shifts her eyes away from him and to the kitchen cabinets. “You hurt me pretty bad, Mark. I didn’t want anything to do with you. You were a jackass and a terrible person and a bad influence on everyone and not someone I wanted in my life and not someone I wanted in my child’s life.”
“And now?” He admits to himself that her accusations sting, but sting true.
“Apparently you’ve grown up.” Her voice softens and she looks back at him across the counter. “It looks good on you.”
He slides off his stool and walks around the counter to stand next to her. He cups his hands gently around her cheeks and kisses her properly. He sweeps his tongue into her mouth for that familiar taste he has craved so much and tangles his tongue around hers and she joins the dance. His arms circle around her waist and pull her off the stool so she stands with him and she steps into his embrace as much as she can.
Addison breathes heavily when she breaks away with a last short kiss on his lips and she rests her forehead on his chest for a moment before speaking. “We’re gonna take this slow,” she whispers as he rubs circles into her back.
“Define slow,” he says quietly in a deep voice, his bedroom voice.
She lifts her head and looks him straight in the eye with a crooked smile but entirely serious. “No sex for a while, Mark.” At his groan, she laughs. “Seriously. Spend some time with me. With us. Because the last two or three times we tried being together it was sex with a side of a relationship. Let it build up, let it mean something.” She chews the inside of her cheek while waiting for a response.
“Okay,” he resigns, reluctantly, and kisses her again. “I do get to kiss and sleep with you though, right?”
“Yeah,” she grins widely but her eyebrows quickly furrow in concern again. “Mark, honestly, if it’s...”
“Oh, shut up,” he tells her and silences her comment with a look. “You haven’t seen me in two years. You set that stupid deal and then ran off. As much as I hurt you, you hurt me, Addison. I spent nine months trying to fix that and then the rest of it trying to deal with the fact that you didn’t tell me and fixing everything about me that could’ve caused you to keep it a secret. I’m not a huge jackass anymore. Yes, a lot of me is screaming for me to run but I’m not going to because this? You, Leah, all of it? It’s amazing. And I love you. Let that be enough.”
She bites her lip and nods, unsure of herself. “Okay. Just...you understand why I’m a little wary, right?”
He kisses the top of her head. “Yeah. I’m gonna do what I can to get rid of that, though.” He hugs her tightly and feels her warm hands press up against his back and, as the first of her tears hit his shirt, he has a feeling that she hasn’t cried, truly cried, for the past two years. He sweeps her up, carries her upstairs and sets her in bed and holds her close. She shakes in his arms but her sobs are silent as she clutches at his shirt and he wonders how much longer she could have kept this in.
“Oh, Addie,” he whispers when she pulls away from his chest and looks at him, her eyes streaming with tears. He guides her to his other shoulder. “That one’s still dry,” he places a gentle kiss on her temple and rubs her back and doesn’t say anything because he knows nothing he could say, if he could think of anything, would make whatever is wrong better. So he stays silent and occasionally kisses her cheek and strokes her hair and does comforting things to her back until her sobs calm for good and she lifts her head from his shoulder. He hands her a box of tissues even though she once told him never to do that. He could never figure out why and now she doesn’t seem to mind the gesture.
“Thank you.” Addison sniffles and blinks out a few extra tears that don’t mean anything. She blows her nose and tosses the tissue into the trash can by the bed. “I’m sorry.”
Mark catches her chin with his finger and turns her head back toward him and smirks. “I have other shirts.” His smile disappears and is replaced with sincerity and care. “Stop apologizing, Addison. Don’t apologize for feeling. Okay?”
She nods and closes her eyes as he kisses her lightly. “Okay.” She sniffles again and blows her nose. “But your shirt has mascara on it now. Can I...”
“No. You can’t apologize for that, either.” He silences her with a goofy stern glare and then hugs her. He checks his watch and suggests properly getting ready for bed and she agrees. She holds her arms out for balance when she wobbles as she stands up but he catches her and holds her steady until she can do it on her own. She smiles her thanks and lets him use her toothpaste because he forgot his in Seattle and bought something really awful at the hotel gift shop the night he got in.
Mark slides his arm around her and she curls into him and rests her cheek on his bare chest. “I’m glad you returned my call,” he smiles in the dark and kisses her hair.
She turns her head and looks at him. “I’m glad you called.” She decides not to add that she was almost too scared to call back and cuddles happily into his side again.
“You do realize that, at some point, we’re gonna have to have another one.”
“Oh?”
Mark can feel the eyebrow rise against his chest and it’s all he can do not to laugh at the sensation and her tone of voice. “I missed all the pregnancy stuff and, you know, having all the fingers in my hands broken and everything.”
Addison laughs at that and suggests that she could break all the fingers in his hands quite easily without having to shove something out of her vagina, thank you. She waits for their mutual laughter to quiet before speaking. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I’m sorry for that. But I felt, and still feel, that it was the best thing for me and for her and, I think, probably for you. If I’m wrong on that about you, I’m sorry. It’s what I needed to do for me, Mark. I know that you think it’s not very fair, and I know it isn’t very fair, that I kept it from you and, God, I wanted to tell you so badly but I was terrified as to what would happen if you knew. I couldn’t handle being hurt by you right then and I didn’t know what you would do. So I played it safe and didn’t tell you. I wanted to tell you, Mark, I really did,” she takes a breath, “but...”
He places a soothing kiss on her temple and smoothes out her hair. “I understand. And thank you. For telling me that. And giving me the opportunity to be part of her life. And yours.”
She nods in acceptance. “February 12th.”
Mark blinks slowly and scoots down so he can face her. “You’re kidding.”
Addison smiles and shakes her head. “Fate’s a bitch, isn’t it.”
Mark shakes his head in slow disbelief, incredulous that their child has the same birthday that, if Addison had gone through with it, their child conceived in New York would have. “I was trashed the night my daughter was born.” He figures he had good reason, but the irony still makes him cringe.
“You know, in all defense, you were trashed the night she was conceived, too.” She did the math when the test came back positive and vaguely remembers the night well.
“So were you.” He counters and draws a line down her nose with his index finger.
“That doesn’t count.” She snuggles under his arm and into his chest and tucks her head under his chin, tangling her legs with his.
“Oh?” He circles his arms around her and places a hand just under the hem of her tank top, needing to feel her skin. “And why not?”
She tilts her head and stares at him in the dark as if it was the stupidest question he could have asked. “I had to carry her for nine months. And then push her out of me. That did not feel good,” she enunciates the five words more than necessary. “I get to be drunk when your sperm hit my egg.”
Mark laughs and thinks she’s even more adorable than he remembers and pulls her to him tightly. “I talk to the Chief at LA General today; she was my resident while I was an intern. She said she’d love to have me but if I’m not home for dinner six nights a week, she’ll personally kick my ass.” He hears her slight laugh muffled against his shirt; they both know the stereotypes of Los Angeles surgeons. “I fly back to Seattle tomorrow but can get everything in order in a week, ten days tops, and then I’m back here with you two for good.”
Addison kisses his cheek and settles back down. “You don’t need to rush out of there, Mark.” She smiles, thinks its sweet, but knows that he probably needs some time to process everything.
He shakes his head. “Addie, I listened to you sing her to sleep last night and it was amazing. I don’t want to miss out on any moments like that, I don’t want to miss out on her, and I don’t want to miss out on you.” He emphasizes the last so much that she looks at him with surprised eyes.
She sighs and smiles and cups his cheek with her hand. “I think you just convinced me that I don’t need to worry.” She kisses him softly and then suppresses a yawn. “Wake me up before you leave, okay?”
He nods and kisses her one last time before he feels her breathing even out and her body relax.
if you’re liable to cough, you might very well fall off
Addison wakes up at an ungodly hour for a Sunday morning and blinks at the empty space beside her and nods and tells herself it was all a dream, but then she notices a light drifting into her bedroom from the hall bathroom and can’t remember the last time she used the hall bathroom so she gets out of bed to check on Leah and turn off the light. She rubs her eyes and walks into the hall and stops at Leah’s door. She shivers in spite of herself and rubs her arms to ward away goose bumps and smiles at the sight in front of her.
Leah is awake, like Addison expected, but in Mark’s arms, which Addison didn’t expect but, in hindsight, should have. Addison watches father and daughter sit in the rocking chair and bond for a while before she gets too cold and slips back into bed unheard. Mark wakes her up out of a half-sleep with a kiss and tells her that he has to go but she doesn’t have to get up. She insists and quickly finds a sweatshirt to tug over her bare shoulders and doesn’t mention what she saw.
The cab waits outside while Mark gets his last hugs in with Addison. He tells her he’ll call when he lands and again when he knows details about leaving. Addison smiles widely at him and melts into his embrace and gives him one last kiss before playfully shoving him toward the taxi with a warning that he’ll miss his flight. He laughs as he sets his bag in the trunk, blows a kiss and says that this is one flight he wouldn’t mind missing, but gets in anyway and calls her like he promised.
and tumble down flop on your knees, knees
She stirs as she feels the bed move next to her and she blinks herself awake. Her smile is interrupted by a soft kiss and she stays where she is, halfway turned to him, and just smiles.
“I thought you were coming in tomorrow?” She whispers and stretches a little, cuddling into him once he’s settled.
“I was. But I got bored waiting around. You don’t mind, do you?” He kisses her neck and drapes an arm over her stomach and tangles his fingers with hers.
“No. Not really.” She closes her eyes and is asleep again within seconds.
He eventually drifts off, too.
tumble down flop on your knees
“Motherhood suits you,” Mark sips at his coffee and watches Addison try to convince Leah that her earring is not a toy.
“Really?” She gives up and takes the earring out, pries it from her daughter’s fingers that way, and slips it back in. Leah immediately finds interest in Addison’s necklace instead. Addison rolls her eyes; equally annoying, but less painful.
“Yeah. You’re happy. Happy looks good on you.”
Addison rifles through the kitchen junk drawer and unearths a plastic melon baller she’s never used and will never use. In desperation, she hands it to Leah who immediately forgets that there ever was a necklace. Addison blinks at the accidental toy and doesn’t quite know what to make of her discovery so just laughs and looks at Mark. “Yeah, I am. It took some work, but I made it here.” She omits that she’s still working on it.
“Because of her?” He shakes his head and smiles at Leah playing happily with an oddball kitchen utensil in a color reminiscent of the inside of acorn squash.
“Her. The sun. Being away. Some Zoloft as a short time thing.” She leaves out that ‘short time’ means over a year. She scrunches up her nose and makes a face at the last, hoping to pass over it quickly (and she only mentions it because she knows he saw the bottle when he searched for aspirin), and then smiles softly as her attention returns to her daughter. “But mostly her.”
and when the stormy winds wail, and the breezes blow high in a gale
“How long have you been on it?” Mark asks as he comes up behind her in the bathroom. He settles his hands on her hips and gently guides her out of the way so he can have access to the sink that isn’t surrounded by too many hair appliances.
She spits out her toothpaste into the sink Mark wants and smirks at him before she rinses out her mouth and lets him have it. “About a month after she was born.”
“Post-partum?” He manages to say around a mouthful of toothpaste and a toothbrush. He playfully whacks her when she laughs at him but he catches the twinge of sadness in her nod. “I’m sorry,” he says once he can speak again and wraps her in a hug and wishes he could have been there for her.
Addison hugs him back and then steps away. “If I’m not allowed to apologize for crying, you’re not allowed to apologize for things like that.”
“Deal.” He watches as she pulls her shirt over her head and walks over to her closet in her shirt and pair of boxer shorts (he assumes they’re his or Derek’s, like most of anything comfy she has ever slept in). He’s disappointed when she pulls off her shirt and unhooks the clasp of her bra from behind and he doesn’t even get a look before she pulls a well-worn t-shirt (definitely hers) over her head. “You’re still on it?” It’s a question with no motive.
She nods slowly. “It helps.” With what, she doesn’t know, she only knows that it does and she smiles more.
Mark smiles at her and settles his hands on her hips again, from the front this time. “Good.” And he lovingly kisses her deeply.
there’s a curious dropping and flopping and plopping
Her eyes connect with his and she smiles and nods her consent. He slides into her slowly and gently and they both gasp and sigh at the contact. She never forgot the feeling of him inside of her, so exquisite and amazing and so much better than she remembers. She holds still for a moment and he asks in a whisper if she’s okay.
“It’s been a while, give me a sec,” she whispers in return and he smiles in understanding and waits for her.
She nods when she’s ready and pulls him down for a kiss as he begins to move inside of her. He hasn’t forgotten what makes her moan and all he wants to do is hold her and make love to her. They lose track of time and focus only on each other and moving together. The pleasure builds up and they have to break away their kiss in order to breathe. She comes first with a quiet moan of his name and he quickly follows as the tightening of her muscles sends him over the edge. He buries his head in her shoulder and whispers her name.
He holds steady above her for a while, waiting for her to open her eyes. He cups his hand lightly over one cheek and tells her he loves her before kissing her softly. Slipping out of her, he rolls to the side and doesn’t need to tug her to him: she’s already right there. He wraps his arm around her and she smiles and reminds herself how nice it feels to be held by him.
After a while she turns over and lies on her stomach. “I love you,” she smiles at him and he kisses her again and can tell she means it.
and fat little babies just hail, hail, fat little babies just hail
“Can we just tell her to shut up?” Mark suggests by way of question as he comes down the stairs after the complicated endeavor of getting Leah to bed.
Addison snaps a kitchen towel at him, though she thinks the same thing with increasing frequency, and he jumps backward. “No. And I’m blaming you. She was nice and quiet and talked on occasion and then three months after you show up she’s...put me down!” She shrieks and kicks her feet in insolent protest as Mark lifts her up into the air. He does as he’s told but begins tickling her and doesn’t stop until she’s out of breath. Once she can breathe again, she kisses him and loops her arms around his neck as he deepens it and slides his arms around her lower back.
and the babies lie there in a pile
Mark isn’t one for grand gesture, so he doesn’t try. He simply asks one sunny afternoon, the ring solidly in his pocket, while they’re sitting in the park by their house. The remains of a successful picnic boxed up again, he leans against a tree trunk and she sits between his legs, resting her back on his chest, and together they watch three year-old Leah chase butterflies. He kisses the back of Addison’s neck and whispers the question in her ear. She smiles and nods and turns her head for a quick kiss and to whisper her answer before turning back to keep an eye on their daughter. She feels him play with her left hand and looks down at the sparkling diamond ring on her fourth finger. His arms tighten around her and she settles into him with a smile.
and the grownups they come after a while
She’s learned her lesson and this time agrees for an epidural. Her engagement ring has been joined by a wedding ring and she doesn’t break any of Mark’s fingers, for which he is thankful, but comes close as she screams out one last push. Her pain immediately disappears as she hears the cries of her second daughter, Anna Elizabeth Montgomery-Sloan. She takes a moment to breathe and watches Mark cut the umbilical cord and carry their blanket-wrapped child to her. Tears of happiness run down his cheeks, too, as he places Anna in her mother’s arms. He kisses her cheek and she tells him she loves him and rests her head on his shoulder. He wants to remember the smile she smiles at the infant forever but knows a picture will not do it justice.
When they go home, he pulls out a calendar for the next year and writes Anna Birthday on November 24th.
and they always pass by all the babies that cry
They leave the two girls with Addison’s parents against all sensibilities, because they know they’ll be spoiled rotten when they return in two weeks, and go to Italy for their anniversary. They’ve both wanted to go for years and they embrace the cliché and make love by the light of a Mediterranean sunset because it’s perfect.
and take only babies that smile, smile
Mark comes home one day to a tiny package on the counter with his name on it. Anna wriggles out of his arms and he sets her down carefully and makes sure she’s steadied herself against a kitchen chair before turning to catch Leah as she runs across the living room and into his hug. He hangs up his coat and opens the fridge to find the girls a snack before dinner. Leah informs him very knowledgably that Addison is taking a nap because she had a long day and that he is supposed to make dinner. He laughs and lets Anna sit on the counter while he chops up some carrots.
When the burgers are up on the grill, he comes back inside to boil water for the macaroni and cheese Leah has craved for days and scrutinizes the white box. He stops and thinks hard as to whether there was a date he should have remembered and even checks the calendar but sees an empty square. He opens the package and smiles as wide as he can.
Addison makes her way downstairs after Leah wakes her up, excited about dinner. She picks Anna up off the counter and shoots Mark a look because they’ve talked about that and sits her in a chair after giving her a hug and asking about her day. She receives a bubbly answer about building blocks and books and kisses the girl’s forehead. Mark goes outside while Addison holds a conversation with their three year-old about the literary merits of Frog and Toad versus Where the Wild Things Are and flips the burgers over with Leah watching intently beside him. He taps her nose with a grin and assures her that dinner is almost ready and leads her back inside.
It’s only after dinner and after their daughters are safely tucked in bed and songs are sung and stories are told that Mark and Addison find time alone.
He hooks an arm around her waist and elegantly pulls her toward him into a hug. “Hi, Mom,” he whispers in her ear with a smile.
She laughs and drops her head and pushes her hair out of the way when she looks up at him again with a happy crooked smile. “Hi, Dad,” she returns.
Four days later they find out that there are two on their way, scheduled for June 9th.
Addison informs Mark that she’s done after these two. He laughs and agrees with her and seals it with a kiss.
they take only babies that smile
“I never thought I’d end up here.” Addison sits on the steps of their front porch and leans her head on her husband’s shoulder. She smiles as she watches Leah’s kickball game at the end of the street, Anna’s hopscotch tournament in their driveway, and Katherine and Jenna blowing the fuzz off of dandelions in their front yard.
Mark smoothes her hair out and kisses her forehead. “End up where?”
“Here. With you. With them. Happy.” She lifts her head and looks at him. “Thanks for calling.”
He laughs and wraps his arm around her. “Thanks for answering.”
even triplets and twins if they’ll smile...
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Addison/Mark
Summary: She leaves Seattle. And she doesn’t tell him she’s pregnant. Half pseudo-angst, half cute.
Word Count 6,350ish
Music: Paul Kantner - The Baby Tree
Note: My mom used to sing me the title song when I couldn't sleep when I was a kid. So don't tell me if you think the lyrics are crap.
there’s an island way out in the sea, where the babies they all grow on trees
“You never sleep, do you?” Addison whispers with a smirk and slips into her daughter’s room to see the girl stare up at the mobile above her tiny crib. “You probably sleep when I’m not here.” She smiles and sits lightly on the chair next to the crib and pops open the door. Her child’s eyes, wide with fascination, follow her every move as she helps the sixteen-month old into her lap. Addison drops a kiss on her forehead and hugs her gently.
She looks up with hopeful bluish-green eyes. She doesn’t talk unless she has to and Addison knows enough about babies to know that not talking unless she has to is okay for another couple months. She just knows that her mother knows what she wants when she looks at her a certain way. Addison is sure that this will cause problems in thirteen years, but she’d rather not think about that.
Addison laughs and plays with the girl’s hair and carefully detangles her small fingers from her dangling silver earring. “Yeah, you can sleep with me tonight.” She slips her arms around her and stands up, turning off the nursery lights as she walks toward her bedroom. Leah curls up on her mother’s bed the second she is on it but stays awake and watches Addison brush her teeth through the open bathroom door. Addison rinses her mouth and turns around with a goofy grin at the sound of laughter. “Is it really that funny?” She clicks off the bathroom light and pads barefoot across the carpet in the dark and snuggles in with her daughter.
“You get to meet someone in a few days,” she breathes quietly, not yet deciding for herself how she feels, and plays with a stray red curl.
Leah blinks sleepily and kisses her mother’s nose with a smile before quickly drifting off.
and it’s jolly good fun to swing in the sun
Mark didn’t know she was pregnant when she left and he found out thirdhand four weeks after she gave birth and did the math himself and banged his head into a wall so hard his eyes watered and he gave himself a headache. He let it go, let it go right then, because she was right - he would make a terrible father - and he supposes she had her reasons. And, from what he hears, Addison is doing quite fine on her own without a man her life. So he lets it go and puts it out of his mind until work takes him to her. Not to her, necessarily, but to where she is and even if she hadn’t given birth to a child he fathered he would call her up because she’s a friend. As it turns out, she’s a friend who has a daughter whose DNA is half his and she’s a friend who never told him about the daughter whose DNA is half his so he feels that he has all right in the world to be angry with her for that. But she sounds nervous when she returns his call (and he supposes he should be happy that she returns the call at all) and he recognizes that edge in her voice. That edge that says she’s scared and he realizes with a shock that makes him physically sit down that she is terrified that her world will split apart if he reappears. That the world that makes her happy could dissolve around her if he doesn’t do this right. And, even though he’s angry with her for keeping a fairly large secret, he calms down.
He hears the change in her voice; he hears the smile over the phone when she asks if he wants to meet her. Mark figures he must have done something right to warrant that invitation but he hesitates. He doesn’t know how he would react, whether he’d want to stay and make things work with the two of them or freak out and run away. But he says yes with an equally genuine smile on his face that she hears through the phone and they make plans for lunch.
but you gotta watch out if you sneeze, sneeze, you’ve got to watch out if you sneeze
Addison thanks the neighborhood babysitter for giving up a Friday afternoon because Addison didn’t find it fair to make the nanny come in on her day off and she hands the teenager a few bills. The girl smiles, and says she’s sleeping, and heads out to her car but not before giving Addison a look about the man standing behind her. The entire street has been trying to set Addison up with someone ever since she went back to work and the idea that Addison might have done it all on her own was extraordinarily impossible. Addison shoos her away with a grin and makes a mental note to do some damage control later.
“You don’t need to wake her up,” he tells Addison as she heads up the stairs.
She pauses and turns around. “Don’t be stupid. She never sleeps for more than five minutes. I think she got that from you.” She gauges his reaction and walks back down to him and takes his hands in hers. “Mark, I don’t want anything from you, I don’t need anything from you, I don’t expect anything from you. If it really freaks you out, think of her as the daughter of a friend.” Addison shrugs almost sadly, unsure whether she wants him in her life or how, but gently tugs him upstairs.
Mark follows her into the nursery and watches Addison drop her exterior and become a mom as she picks up her (their) daughter from her crib. His first thought is that he’s never seen a more beautiful mother with a more beautiful daughter. His second thought is that he’s never seen a more beautiful daughter. His third thought is to run. But he stays and can’t help his smile when Addison walks over to him.
“Leah Rachel Montgomery,” she looks at the girl and he realizes this is the first time he’s heard her name, “this is Mark. Mark, this is Leah.”
He takes Leah when she eagerly opens her arms to him and he gives a look to Addison. He’s shocked as to how much power she has given him by not introducing him to Leah as her father. She allows him to make that decision and as the girl finds entertainment in his slightly-scruffy face he makes it.
“Hey, kiddo,” he kisses her temple, “I’m your dad.”
Later, after Leah is put to bed for real and Addison cooks dinner, Addison sits curled up in a chair and Mark relaxes on the couch. They talk idly about inane things and dance around the topic until Addison is weary of dancing and breaks a line of conversation about life in Seattle, partially because she doesn’t really care.
“Did you mean it?” She asks softly, swirling the stem of an empty after-dinner glass of wine. “About being her dad?” She asks her questions innocently.
“I need some time.”
She nods and offers him the guest room for the night and he takes it, even though he has a hotel room on the other side of town. She gives him a hug goodnight and he holds on to her a little longer than either of them thought he would and she disappears upstairs. Mark stays on the couch long after he’s heard Addison go to bed. He then hears footsteps in the hallway and Addison’s muffled voice and the footsteps go back to her bedroom.
He stands up and clicks off the light and walks carefully up the stairs to the guest room. He quickly changes into the clothing she has laid out at the foot of the bed for him, a pair of stolen sweatpants and an equally-stolen t-shirt and both used to be his, and considers forgoing the t-shirt but remembers that they aren’t together and there is a child. Their child. He blinks away the abstract good terror and pads across the plush carpet of the upstairs hall and leans against the doorframe of the master bedroom and smiles. Addison gently strokes the girl’s hair away from her forehead and sings low and quietly. He recognizes the song as the one she sings in the NICU to calm crying babies at early hours of the morning when she thinks no one is around. He simply watches her, fascinated by the love and devotion she shows her daughter. He waits until she finishes, lets her breathe out the last note of the last word, and then shuffles his foot against the carpet and she looks up.
Addison contemplates sliding out of bed to talk to him but decides better of it, instead choosing to force him to come to her. She places a light kiss against Leah’s forehead as the girl cuddles closer to her. She watches Mark’s face for a reaction, her own face blank.
He nods and she smiles and beckons him forward. She gestures with her head to the other side of the bed and he slides in. She takes the hand that isn’t wrapped around their daughter and reaches out to lace her fingers with his and tug him closer. Mark scoots as close as he can and briefly tenses when Leah rolls over and snuggles into his chest but he relaxes as Addison grazes her fingers across his cheek. He looks up from the tiny redhead grasping his shirt tight in her hand to the grownup redhead smiling at him in admiration.
Mark kisses her tenderly, a simple and sincere promise. He brushes a tear off of Addison’s cheek and whispers that he loves her and is sorry. Her eyelids flutter closed and he leans his forehead against hers. She smiles and tells him to go to sleep and tucks her head under his chin and lets him hold her as tightly as he wants.
yeah you gotta watch out if you sneeze
Mark wakes her up before he runs out in the morning. He has a few meetings to attend, because he is in town for business, but promises that he will be back that night. Addison’s heart warms to a degree she didn’t imagine possible when Mark places a kiss on Leah’s cheek and he whispers what she thinks sound like three little words of love. She smiles sleepily up at him and he kisses her lips and tells her that it’s early and Saturday and she should go back to sleep.
for swinging up there in the breeze
“Are you sure? The father thing, the couple thing, all of it.” Addison searches his face for any hint of insincerity. She knows she can find it if it’s there - she’s had years of practice and he isn’t very good at hiding things from her.
He nods. “Addison, I screwed up.” He appreciates her lack of snide remark or eyebrow. “And I want to fix that and I want to be with you. I always have. And...God, she’s perfect.”
Addison allows herself a small laugh and an agreeing nod before sobering. “Thing is, Mark. I don’t know if I can survive being hurt by you again. And if you’re in my life, you’re in Leah’s life. And you are not allowed to do anything, directly or indirectly, that will hurt her. That includes hurting me. So if there is any part of you that is telling you to run, then you should run. Now.” She won’t hold it against him and knows he knows.
The passionate protection in her eyes terrifies him and he knows that she would actually kill him if anything he did hurt her daughter. Their daughter. He keeps reminding himself that she’s his, too. There is a part of him telling him to run, there are many parts of him telling him to run, but the image of what could happen if he stays is too alluring. He tells himself that, in five years, he will regret running and he knows that five years is an overestimate. Hell, in five minutes, he will regret running and she will not take him back.
“I’m sure.”
“You have a lot of ground to make up with me, you know.”
“Sure. But first let’s talk about you not telling me you were pregnant.”
She shifts her eyes away from him and to the kitchen cabinets. “You hurt me pretty bad, Mark. I didn’t want anything to do with you. You were a jackass and a terrible person and a bad influence on everyone and not someone I wanted in my life and not someone I wanted in my child’s life.”
“And now?” He admits to himself that her accusations sting, but sting true.
“Apparently you’ve grown up.” Her voice softens and she looks back at him across the counter. “It looks good on you.”
He slides off his stool and walks around the counter to stand next to her. He cups his hands gently around her cheeks and kisses her properly. He sweeps his tongue into her mouth for that familiar taste he has craved so much and tangles his tongue around hers and she joins the dance. His arms circle around her waist and pull her off the stool so she stands with him and she steps into his embrace as much as she can.
Addison breathes heavily when she breaks away with a last short kiss on his lips and she rests her forehead on his chest for a moment before speaking. “We’re gonna take this slow,” she whispers as he rubs circles into her back.
“Define slow,” he says quietly in a deep voice, his bedroom voice.
She lifts her head and looks him straight in the eye with a crooked smile but entirely serious. “No sex for a while, Mark.” At his groan, she laughs. “Seriously. Spend some time with me. With us. Because the last two or three times we tried being together it was sex with a side of a relationship. Let it build up, let it mean something.” She chews the inside of her cheek while waiting for a response.
“Okay,” he resigns, reluctantly, and kisses her again. “I do get to kiss and sleep with you though, right?”
“Yeah,” she grins widely but her eyebrows quickly furrow in concern again. “Mark, honestly, if it’s...”
“Oh, shut up,” he tells her and silences her comment with a look. “You haven’t seen me in two years. You set that stupid deal and then ran off. As much as I hurt you, you hurt me, Addison. I spent nine months trying to fix that and then the rest of it trying to deal with the fact that you didn’t tell me and fixing everything about me that could’ve caused you to keep it a secret. I’m not a huge jackass anymore. Yes, a lot of me is screaming for me to run but I’m not going to because this? You, Leah, all of it? It’s amazing. And I love you. Let that be enough.”
She bites her lip and nods, unsure of herself. “Okay. Just...you understand why I’m a little wary, right?”
He kisses the top of her head. “Yeah. I’m gonna do what I can to get rid of that, though.” He hugs her tightly and feels her warm hands press up against his back and, as the first of her tears hit his shirt, he has a feeling that she hasn’t cried, truly cried, for the past two years. He sweeps her up, carries her upstairs and sets her in bed and holds her close. She shakes in his arms but her sobs are silent as she clutches at his shirt and he wonders how much longer she could have kept this in.
“Oh, Addie,” he whispers when she pulls away from his chest and looks at him, her eyes streaming with tears. He guides her to his other shoulder. “That one’s still dry,” he places a gentle kiss on her temple and rubs her back and doesn’t say anything because he knows nothing he could say, if he could think of anything, would make whatever is wrong better. So he stays silent and occasionally kisses her cheek and strokes her hair and does comforting things to her back until her sobs calm for good and she lifts her head from his shoulder. He hands her a box of tissues even though she once told him never to do that. He could never figure out why and now she doesn’t seem to mind the gesture.
“Thank you.” Addison sniffles and blinks out a few extra tears that don’t mean anything. She blows her nose and tosses the tissue into the trash can by the bed. “I’m sorry.”
Mark catches her chin with his finger and turns her head back toward him and smirks. “I have other shirts.” His smile disappears and is replaced with sincerity and care. “Stop apologizing, Addison. Don’t apologize for feeling. Okay?”
She nods and closes her eyes as he kisses her lightly. “Okay.” She sniffles again and blows her nose. “But your shirt has mascara on it now. Can I...”
“No. You can’t apologize for that, either.” He silences her with a goofy stern glare and then hugs her. He checks his watch and suggests properly getting ready for bed and she agrees. She holds her arms out for balance when she wobbles as she stands up but he catches her and holds her steady until she can do it on her own. She smiles her thanks and lets him use her toothpaste because he forgot his in Seattle and bought something really awful at the hotel gift shop the night he got in.
Mark slides his arm around her and she curls into him and rests her cheek on his bare chest. “I’m glad you returned my call,” he smiles in the dark and kisses her hair.
She turns her head and looks at him. “I’m glad you called.” She decides not to add that she was almost too scared to call back and cuddles happily into his side again.
“You do realize that, at some point, we’re gonna have to have another one.”
“Oh?”
Mark can feel the eyebrow rise against his chest and it’s all he can do not to laugh at the sensation and her tone of voice. “I missed all the pregnancy stuff and, you know, having all the fingers in my hands broken and everything.”
Addison laughs at that and suggests that she could break all the fingers in his hands quite easily without having to shove something out of her vagina, thank you. She waits for their mutual laughter to quiet before speaking. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I’m sorry for that. But I felt, and still feel, that it was the best thing for me and for her and, I think, probably for you. If I’m wrong on that about you, I’m sorry. It’s what I needed to do for me, Mark. I know that you think it’s not very fair, and I know it isn’t very fair, that I kept it from you and, God, I wanted to tell you so badly but I was terrified as to what would happen if you knew. I couldn’t handle being hurt by you right then and I didn’t know what you would do. So I played it safe and didn’t tell you. I wanted to tell you, Mark, I really did,” she takes a breath, “but...”
He places a soothing kiss on her temple and smoothes out her hair. “I understand. And thank you. For telling me that. And giving me the opportunity to be part of her life. And yours.”
She nods in acceptance. “February 12th.”
Mark blinks slowly and scoots down so he can face her. “You’re kidding.”
Addison smiles and shakes her head. “Fate’s a bitch, isn’t it.”
Mark shakes his head in slow disbelief, incredulous that their child has the same birthday that, if Addison had gone through with it, their child conceived in New York would have. “I was trashed the night my daughter was born.” He figures he had good reason, but the irony still makes him cringe.
“You know, in all defense, you were trashed the night she was conceived, too.” She did the math when the test came back positive and vaguely remembers the night well.
“So were you.” He counters and draws a line down her nose with his index finger.
“That doesn’t count.” She snuggles under his arm and into his chest and tucks her head under his chin, tangling her legs with his.
“Oh?” He circles his arms around her and places a hand just under the hem of her tank top, needing to feel her skin. “And why not?”
She tilts her head and stares at him in the dark as if it was the stupidest question he could have asked. “I had to carry her for nine months. And then push her out of me. That did not feel good,” she enunciates the five words more than necessary. “I get to be drunk when your sperm hit my egg.”
Mark laughs and thinks she’s even more adorable than he remembers and pulls her to him tightly. “I talk to the Chief at LA General today; she was my resident while I was an intern. She said she’d love to have me but if I’m not home for dinner six nights a week, she’ll personally kick my ass.” He hears her slight laugh muffled against his shirt; they both know the stereotypes of Los Angeles surgeons. “I fly back to Seattle tomorrow but can get everything in order in a week, ten days tops, and then I’m back here with you two for good.”
Addison kisses his cheek and settles back down. “You don’t need to rush out of there, Mark.” She smiles, thinks its sweet, but knows that he probably needs some time to process everything.
He shakes his head. “Addie, I listened to you sing her to sleep last night and it was amazing. I don’t want to miss out on any moments like that, I don’t want to miss out on her, and I don’t want to miss out on you.” He emphasizes the last so much that she looks at him with surprised eyes.
She sighs and smiles and cups his cheek with her hand. “I think you just convinced me that I don’t need to worry.” She kisses him softly and then suppresses a yawn. “Wake me up before you leave, okay?”
He nods and kisses her one last time before he feels her breathing even out and her body relax.
if you’re liable to cough, you might very well fall off
Addison wakes up at an ungodly hour for a Sunday morning and blinks at the empty space beside her and nods and tells herself it was all a dream, but then she notices a light drifting into her bedroom from the hall bathroom and can’t remember the last time she used the hall bathroom so she gets out of bed to check on Leah and turn off the light. She rubs her eyes and walks into the hall and stops at Leah’s door. She shivers in spite of herself and rubs her arms to ward away goose bumps and smiles at the sight in front of her.
Leah is awake, like Addison expected, but in Mark’s arms, which Addison didn’t expect but, in hindsight, should have. Addison watches father and daughter sit in the rocking chair and bond for a while before she gets too cold and slips back into bed unheard. Mark wakes her up out of a half-sleep with a kiss and tells her that he has to go but she doesn’t have to get up. She insists and quickly finds a sweatshirt to tug over her bare shoulders and doesn’t mention what she saw.
The cab waits outside while Mark gets his last hugs in with Addison. He tells her he’ll call when he lands and again when he knows details about leaving. Addison smiles widely at him and melts into his embrace and gives him one last kiss before playfully shoving him toward the taxi with a warning that he’ll miss his flight. He laughs as he sets his bag in the trunk, blows a kiss and says that this is one flight he wouldn’t mind missing, but gets in anyway and calls her like he promised.
and tumble down flop on your knees, knees
She stirs as she feels the bed move next to her and she blinks herself awake. Her smile is interrupted by a soft kiss and she stays where she is, halfway turned to him, and just smiles.
“I thought you were coming in tomorrow?” She whispers and stretches a little, cuddling into him once he’s settled.
“I was. But I got bored waiting around. You don’t mind, do you?” He kisses her neck and drapes an arm over her stomach and tangles his fingers with hers.
“No. Not really.” She closes her eyes and is asleep again within seconds.
He eventually drifts off, too.
tumble down flop on your knees
“Motherhood suits you,” Mark sips at his coffee and watches Addison try to convince Leah that her earring is not a toy.
“Really?” She gives up and takes the earring out, pries it from her daughter’s fingers that way, and slips it back in. Leah immediately finds interest in Addison’s necklace instead. Addison rolls her eyes; equally annoying, but less painful.
“Yeah. You’re happy. Happy looks good on you.”
Addison rifles through the kitchen junk drawer and unearths a plastic melon baller she’s never used and will never use. In desperation, she hands it to Leah who immediately forgets that there ever was a necklace. Addison blinks at the accidental toy and doesn’t quite know what to make of her discovery so just laughs and looks at Mark. “Yeah, I am. It took some work, but I made it here.” She omits that she’s still working on it.
“Because of her?” He shakes his head and smiles at Leah playing happily with an oddball kitchen utensil in a color reminiscent of the inside of acorn squash.
“Her. The sun. Being away. Some Zoloft as a short time thing.” She leaves out that ‘short time’ means over a year. She scrunches up her nose and makes a face at the last, hoping to pass over it quickly (and she only mentions it because she knows he saw the bottle when he searched for aspirin), and then smiles softly as her attention returns to her daughter. “But mostly her.”
and when the stormy winds wail, and the breezes blow high in a gale
“How long have you been on it?” Mark asks as he comes up behind her in the bathroom. He settles his hands on her hips and gently guides her out of the way so he can have access to the sink that isn’t surrounded by too many hair appliances.
She spits out her toothpaste into the sink Mark wants and smirks at him before she rinses out her mouth and lets him have it. “About a month after she was born.”
“Post-partum?” He manages to say around a mouthful of toothpaste and a toothbrush. He playfully whacks her when she laughs at him but he catches the twinge of sadness in her nod. “I’m sorry,” he says once he can speak again and wraps her in a hug and wishes he could have been there for her.
Addison hugs him back and then steps away. “If I’m not allowed to apologize for crying, you’re not allowed to apologize for things like that.”
“Deal.” He watches as she pulls her shirt over her head and walks over to her closet in her shirt and pair of boxer shorts (he assumes they’re his or Derek’s, like most of anything comfy she has ever slept in). He’s disappointed when she pulls off her shirt and unhooks the clasp of her bra from behind and he doesn’t even get a look before she pulls a well-worn t-shirt (definitely hers) over her head. “You’re still on it?” It’s a question with no motive.
She nods slowly. “It helps.” With what, she doesn’t know, she only knows that it does and she smiles more.
Mark smiles at her and settles his hands on her hips again, from the front this time. “Good.” And he lovingly kisses her deeply.
there’s a curious dropping and flopping and plopping
Her eyes connect with his and she smiles and nods her consent. He slides into her slowly and gently and they both gasp and sigh at the contact. She never forgot the feeling of him inside of her, so exquisite and amazing and so much better than she remembers. She holds still for a moment and he asks in a whisper if she’s okay.
“It’s been a while, give me a sec,” she whispers in return and he smiles in understanding and waits for her.
She nods when she’s ready and pulls him down for a kiss as he begins to move inside of her. He hasn’t forgotten what makes her moan and all he wants to do is hold her and make love to her. They lose track of time and focus only on each other and moving together. The pleasure builds up and they have to break away their kiss in order to breathe. She comes first with a quiet moan of his name and he quickly follows as the tightening of her muscles sends him over the edge. He buries his head in her shoulder and whispers her name.
He holds steady above her for a while, waiting for her to open her eyes. He cups his hand lightly over one cheek and tells her he loves her before kissing her softly. Slipping out of her, he rolls to the side and doesn’t need to tug her to him: she’s already right there. He wraps his arm around her and she smiles and reminds herself how nice it feels to be held by him.
After a while she turns over and lies on her stomach. “I love you,” she smiles at him and he kisses her again and can tell she means it.
and fat little babies just hail, hail, fat little babies just hail
“Can we just tell her to shut up?” Mark suggests by way of question as he comes down the stairs after the complicated endeavor of getting Leah to bed.
Addison snaps a kitchen towel at him, though she thinks the same thing with increasing frequency, and he jumps backward. “No. And I’m blaming you. She was nice and quiet and talked on occasion and then three months after you show up she’s...put me down!” She shrieks and kicks her feet in insolent protest as Mark lifts her up into the air. He does as he’s told but begins tickling her and doesn’t stop until she’s out of breath. Once she can breathe again, she kisses him and loops her arms around his neck as he deepens it and slides his arms around her lower back.
and the babies lie there in a pile
Mark isn’t one for grand gesture, so he doesn’t try. He simply asks one sunny afternoon, the ring solidly in his pocket, while they’re sitting in the park by their house. The remains of a successful picnic boxed up again, he leans against a tree trunk and she sits between his legs, resting her back on his chest, and together they watch three year-old Leah chase butterflies. He kisses the back of Addison’s neck and whispers the question in her ear. She smiles and nods and turns her head for a quick kiss and to whisper her answer before turning back to keep an eye on their daughter. She feels him play with her left hand and looks down at the sparkling diamond ring on her fourth finger. His arms tighten around her and she settles into him with a smile.
and the grownups they come after a while
She’s learned her lesson and this time agrees for an epidural. Her engagement ring has been joined by a wedding ring and she doesn’t break any of Mark’s fingers, for which he is thankful, but comes close as she screams out one last push. Her pain immediately disappears as she hears the cries of her second daughter, Anna Elizabeth Montgomery-Sloan. She takes a moment to breathe and watches Mark cut the umbilical cord and carry their blanket-wrapped child to her. Tears of happiness run down his cheeks, too, as he places Anna in her mother’s arms. He kisses her cheek and she tells him she loves him and rests her head on his shoulder. He wants to remember the smile she smiles at the infant forever but knows a picture will not do it justice.
When they go home, he pulls out a calendar for the next year and writes Anna Birthday on November 24th.
and they always pass by all the babies that cry
They leave the two girls with Addison’s parents against all sensibilities, because they know they’ll be spoiled rotten when they return in two weeks, and go to Italy for their anniversary. They’ve both wanted to go for years and they embrace the cliché and make love by the light of a Mediterranean sunset because it’s perfect.
and take only babies that smile, smile
Mark comes home one day to a tiny package on the counter with his name on it. Anna wriggles out of his arms and he sets her down carefully and makes sure she’s steadied herself against a kitchen chair before turning to catch Leah as she runs across the living room and into his hug. He hangs up his coat and opens the fridge to find the girls a snack before dinner. Leah informs him very knowledgably that Addison is taking a nap because she had a long day and that he is supposed to make dinner. He laughs and lets Anna sit on the counter while he chops up some carrots.
When the burgers are up on the grill, he comes back inside to boil water for the macaroni and cheese Leah has craved for days and scrutinizes the white box. He stops and thinks hard as to whether there was a date he should have remembered and even checks the calendar but sees an empty square. He opens the package and smiles as wide as he can.
Addison makes her way downstairs after Leah wakes her up, excited about dinner. She picks Anna up off the counter and shoots Mark a look because they’ve talked about that and sits her in a chair after giving her a hug and asking about her day. She receives a bubbly answer about building blocks and books and kisses the girl’s forehead. Mark goes outside while Addison holds a conversation with their three year-old about the literary merits of Frog and Toad versus Where the Wild Things Are and flips the burgers over with Leah watching intently beside him. He taps her nose with a grin and assures her that dinner is almost ready and leads her back inside.
It’s only after dinner and after their daughters are safely tucked in bed and songs are sung and stories are told that Mark and Addison find time alone.
He hooks an arm around her waist and elegantly pulls her toward him into a hug. “Hi, Mom,” he whispers in her ear with a smile.
She laughs and drops her head and pushes her hair out of the way when she looks up at him again with a happy crooked smile. “Hi, Dad,” she returns.
Four days later they find out that there are two on their way, scheduled for June 9th.
Addison informs Mark that she’s done after these two. He laughs and agrees with her and seals it with a kiss.
they take only babies that smile
“I never thought I’d end up here.” Addison sits on the steps of their front porch and leans her head on her husband’s shoulder. She smiles as she watches Leah’s kickball game at the end of the street, Anna’s hopscotch tournament in their driveway, and Katherine and Jenna blowing the fuzz off of dandelions in their front yard.
Mark smoothes her hair out and kisses her forehead. “End up where?”
“Here. With you. With them. Happy.” She lifts her head and looks at him. “Thanks for calling.”
He laughs and wraps his arm around her. “Thanks for answering.”
even triplets and twins if they’ll smile...