Notes: This is a fanfiction based on characters from the TV shows, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. This rewrites parts of episodes 18×03 and 18×04 of Grey’s Anatomy where Addison comes back to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to do the hospital’s first uterine transplant. In this version of events, Addison’s husband and son, Jake, and Henry, show up to visit. This story and chapter were originally posted on Archive of Our Own on October 18th, 2021. This has been edited to include headings and images.
Happier: Chapter 1
“Alright, wait outside for me. I’ll be right back.” Jake said looking down at a now eight-year-old Henry. Jake disappears behind the bathroom doors.
Henry’s always been a good little boy, but still a curious one. Instead of standing by the door, he walks over to the reception desk to stand so he’s not standing in front of the bathroom doors. But at the moment, there’s no one at the reception desk so he stands alone. As he stands there, Teddy and Owen walk in.
“Ooh, what about Maleficent?” Teddy asks, pointing Owen towards his phone which shows a kid’s Maleficent costume.
“I thought he was just gonna be Elsa,” Owen says, finishing up a patient chart on his tablet.
“He’s Elsa every day already,” Teddy says, continuing to swipe on her phone looking at other kids’ costumes.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing! I just think it’d be fun for him to dress up as something else for Halloween,” Teddy says.
“Well, we’ll have to see what Leo has to say,” Owen says.
At this point, both Teddy and Owen are standing near the desk where Henry’s been standing. It’s not until then that they notice Henry’s standing there, and has been since before they got there. Teddy looks at Owen for a second before crouching down to face Henry.
Teddy and Owen Meet Henry
“Hi there,” she says to him.
“Hi,” Henry says.
“Can we help you with something?” Owen asks.
“No, thank you,” Henry says politely.
Owen and Teddy share another glance.
“What’s your name?” Teddy asks.
“I’m Henry,” he says back. Teddy smiles as she fondly remembers her late husband of the same name.
“Okay, Henry. Are you…maybe here to see someone?” Owen asks.
“I’m here to see Dr. Shepherd,” he says back, proud that he sounds so grown-up.
“Oh, well I think she just got out of surgery so why don’t we see if we can find her in her office,” Teddy says, reaching out a hand.
Henry takes her hand as Owen and Teddy lead them to Amelia’s office. By the time they leave, Jake comes out of the bathroom looking around for Henry.
“Henry?” Jake calls out. But by then, Owen, Teddy, and Henry are gone. After walking and looking down each hallway, a nurse returns to sit behind the desk. Jake knows Henry’s smart enough to not just wander off too far.
“Have you seen an eight-year-old boy? About yay high?” Jake gestures with his hand.
“No, sorry. I just came back from the bathroom,” the nurse replies.
“Okay,” Jake takes a breath. “Then, can you point me towards Dr. Amelia Shepherd’s office?” Again, Henry’s a smart boy and if he were to go somewhere, it’d be to find either his mother or to find his Aunt Amelia.
Henry Finds Amelia
“Knock knock!” Teddy pokes her head inside Amelia’s office.
“Hey, I just crushed a surgery. Long story short, she’s gonna live!” Amelia said excitedly as her head’s turned the other way putting away some files. There was nothing like successfully performing a surgery that made Amelia happier.
“There’s a kid here looking for you, Dr. Shepherd,” Owen said as he and Teddy walked in with his hand behind Henry’s shoulder.
Amelia finally turned around and saw Henry, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Henry!” Amelia exclaimed as Henry started running towards her.
“Look at you! You’re so big now!” Amelia hugged him tight and held him in front of her to see how big he’d gotten.
“Your mom didn’t tell me you were coming!” she said, bringing Henry in for another embrace.
“It’s a surprise,” he whispered, smiling.
“Oh, I see,” she said, chuckling.
“Wait,” she realized. “Where’s your dad?”
Jake Finds Henry
“Right here,” Jake said, stretching out the word “right”. He audibly sighed to express his disappointment of Henry disobeying. But he also couldn’t help but smile.
Teddy and Owen stood looking at everyone, both utterly confused.
“Henry is Addison’s son,” Amelia explained, feeling bad that they’d stood there for so long without the necessary context. Teddy and Owen nodded their heads, thankful they finally understood what was going on.
“Where is she anyway?” Jake asked.
“She’s probably checking on her patient, with Richard and all the residents. Come on, I’ll lead the way,” Amelia grabbed Henry’s hand, leading him back towards the door.
“Thank you for taking Henry here,” Jake looked to both Teddy and Owen. “I know he didn’t get here on his own.”
“No problem,” Owen said as they all walked out the door.
“You have a very smart boy on your hands,” Teddy said as Amelia and Henry walked ahead of them, catching a glimpse of Amelia letting go of his hand and wrapping her arm around him instead.
“Well, I’m sure you two have some work to get back to. So, thank you again,” Jake said, sincerely.
“Of course, we’ll see you around,” Owen said as they parted ways.
Additional Notes
When I was thinking about what Henry would look like, I thought of Xolo Maridueña, who’s now 20 but I was thinking of how he looked when he was on Parenthood. Do with that what you will.
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