Begin Again: A Jaddison Fanfic Chapter 3

Notes: This is a fanfiction based on characters from the TV show, Private Practice. This fanfiction looks at Jake and Addison’s story (as well as the other doctors at Seaside Wellness Group) after Private Practice ends. They’re married and take care of baby Henry together. This story and chapter were originally posted on Archive of Our Own on November 5th, 2021. This is chapter two so it is necessary to read the second chapter before moving on. This has been edited to include headings and images.

Begin Again: Chapter 3

Violet watches Lucas and Henry playing together, talking and laughing. However, Henry’s babbling nonsense.

“You know, I swear Lucas can understand him somehow,” Violet says, tilting her head to the side as she watched them from outside the window of Seaside Wellness Group’s makeshift daycare. 

“He really likes being a big brother, huh?” Cooper teases and he playfully elbows her. Violet mockingly smiles but can’t help but laugh a little.

“Well, this is the closest he’s getting to being a big brother,” Violet says back. As they continue watching the kids, Sam and Naomi walk a pregnant patient out of his office.

“You’re sure everything’s set for when I go into labor?” The pregnant woman was anxious as her baby had a heart problem. But all three of them had just discussed how Sam would do surgery on the baby after she was born.

“Yes, everything will be fine Sandra. All you need to do is relax until you go into labor. I know it’s scary but it’ll all be fine,” Naomi reassured her as they walked towards the elevator. Once they got to the reception desk, Sandra noticed Violet and Cooper looking into Pete’s old office and after straining her neck to see, she noticed the kids playing. 

“Aww, is that a daycare center you’ve got over there?” Sandra asked pointing.

“Yes, we have a little daycare center for the kids that have parents coming for appointments as well as for our kids,” Sam said politely.

“So, this isn’t your first baby?” Sandra reached toward Naomi to gently touch her small belly bump.

Naomi Says Goodbye to their Patient

“No,” Naomi laughed a little. “This is our second pregnancy, third kid,” Naomi had, by now, mastered giving polite and simple answers about her pregnancy and her status as a mother. While she wasn’t Betsey’s biological mother, she and the girl had gotten close over the past few years. And even though they’d both been back in LA for almost two months, Sam and Betsey were still getting to know each other. But she knew they were both doing their best. As hard as Naomi had tried to make a stable home for her over the past couple of years, Betsey was still hesitant in letting Sam into the little family they’d created.

“That’s great,” Sandra said as they reached the elevator. “I just can’t wait to be a mother,” she beamed as she looked down at her own belly bump.

“You’ll be a great mother,” Naomi reassured her. “And with the other Dr. Bennett’s help, your baby will be just fine,” she looked over at her husband and Sandra smiled, still anxious but she trusted they’d do everything to make sure her baby would be okay. 

Sam and Naomi Watch the Kids

After the elevator doors closed, both of them turned around to see Cooper and Violet still talking and watching the kids. Smiling at each other, they walked over to join them. It was kind of incredible to see how fast they were all growing. Henry was walking around and talking, mostly in gibberish but it was still something. And he really loved playing with his toy trains the most. All three of Cooper and Charlotte’s girls were starting to roll over, which, at almost five months, was something Cooper was insanely proud of. And Lucas was starting to show more of a personality. He recently got really into bugs, to Violet’s dismay, and started getting Henry into it. Which wasn’t something Addison was happy about either, but at the very least, it was something both women could commiserate about together.

“That’s where our son will be soon,” Sam wrapped his arms around Naomi’s waist and slightly around her belly bump as he stood behind her and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Naomi breathed out and kissed him on his temple and put her hand over his. This isn’t where either of them thought their lives would turn out. For a long time, it was just plain messy. But now that they were in a good place, some would argue one of the best places, they were glad that they went through that mess to get to where they were now.

Jake Goes Surfing

“I don’t know how you do that,” Addison said as she reapplied some sunscreen as Jake walked towards her, wet and holding a rented surfboard.

“Are you gonna get in the water at all while we’re here?” Jake chuckled as he ran a hand through his wet hair. They’d been in Fiji for a week now and they’d spent the other days sightseeing. They were finally spending a relaxing day on the beach without a map or a schedule, which they’d done the previous days.

“You do realize it’s not even noon yet,” Addison retorted, giggling. Jake insisted he wanted to go surfing at least once while they were here and Addison gave in. So they got up early so Jake could catch the waves. But she refused when he asked if she wanted to learn how to surf.

“Come on,” Jake put down his board and stripped off his wetsuit to just his swim trunks. Then, he kneeled down to level with Addison, who was sitting up in a reclining chaise. “Just once,” Jake reached over and grabbed one of Addison’s hands, which had been putting sunscreen on her long legs.

“I’ll swim later when it gets a little warmer,” Addison laughed a little as she said this. It was warm and beautiful watching the water as well as her husband surfing, who, she had to admit, was a pretty good surfer. Over the past two hours, she’d only seen him fall a few times.

“This isn’t warm enough for you?” Jake pointed towards the sun, which was beaming right at them as Addison chose the perfect spot to suntan.

“Yeah, well the water isn’t,” Addison pointed out. Jake sighed and hung his head low. But not long after, he started chuckling.

Jake and Addison Have Some Fun

“What’s so funny?” Addison laughed along with him. Jake looked up at her for a beat and she gave him a look back.

“What are you up to?” Addison said suspiciously. At that, Jake got up off his knees and reached over his wife to pick her up over his shoulder. Addison screamed a little but laughed more.

“Jake!” Addison yelled. “What are you – put me down!” As much as she was yelling, she couldn’t help but laugh too. With Addison over his shoulder, he walked towards the water.

“No no no no no,” Addison said as she saw them get closer to the tide. “Jake!” she yelled but continued laughing. As they got close to the water, Jake repositioned her so he was carrying her like a groom carrying a bride. Addison looked down to see the wet sand and Jake’s feet walking on wet sand until the water went past his ankles. When she looked up, she saw him smiling back at her, to which Addison couldn’t help but giggle back at him.

Then, Jake kept walking into the water until finally, the water was just above his hips, and Addison, who was still being held by Jake, was about an inch from the water’s surface. Then, Jake stopped and just chuckled at her again.

“What?” Addison said, giggling. At that, Jake lowered her into the water until the water reached her chin as she screamed. The water was cold, but not freezing. But still, it’d been a long time since Addison actually went into a body of water despite the fact that she lived on the beach.

Jake and Addison Play in the Water

She loved the view but she was admittedly not much of a swimmer. At least not since she quit the swim team when she was 12. In reality, Addison just wanted to get out of the swim team. It’s not that she didn’t like swimming. It was the competition she hated. Or more accurately, the girls she was competing against. They were mean and snobby, snobbier than the girls at her school, which was saying a lot considering she went to a private boarding school. And of course, Bizzy wasn’t happy about it. But when Addison said she was joining the after-school French club instead, Bizzy let it go.

Eventually, Jake let Addison down onto her feet but still dove for her to get her head underwater. But he gave her plenty of time to see it coming. They both lifted their heads out of the water and Addison splashed him playfully and it quickly turned into a splashing contest as they both laughed. It’d been a long time since Addison had this much fun. 

She felt like she was fourteen years old and in love for the first time. And splashing and having fun with a guy at the beach was such a small simple thing but she realized, she’d never done that before. She’d gone on dates with guys before and had been in love, but it’d been a long time since she’d felt this free. The last time she felt this happy was when she and Archer snuck out of the house as teenagers to go to a party at the pier. And even then, she didn’t get in the water. She just had fun talking and drinking with her friends. This was different. Good different.

Jake and Addison Go Back to the Hotel

After a while of splashing, Jake eventually walked closer and leaned in to kiss her as they stood in the water. At that, Addison wrapped both her arms around him and kissed him back. 

“See?” Jake said as they pulled away from their kiss. Addison kept her arms wrapped around his neck but looked back at him confused. “It’s not that cold,” he said mockingly and Addison couldn’t help but laugh back.

They continued swimming around in the water for a while until finally, it was lunchtime. Their hotel was close by so they decided to go back to the hotel to wash up before finding a restaurant for lunch. Back at the hotel, they showered together and made love. Without Henry around, it gave them a lot more time to be intimate together. They loved Henry but now that he was a little older, they couldn’t just leave him in his crib to play on his own anymore. They were still, after all, on their honeymoon. Plus, Violet did tell her that honeymoons were about having a lot of sex. At the time, Addison just laughed along with her, but she had to admit a lot of sex was exactly what they needed. By the time they were both cleaned up and dressed, it was already 1:00.

“Oh, we should call Henry before we go to lunch,” Addison said as she checked her watch. Fiji was 19 hours ahead and even though they hadn’t made plans yet for the rest of the day, they knew that calling around lunchtime was usually a good time to call home. Plus, they were in their hotel room which had wifi, which meant they could video call Violet without worrying about how bad the signal might be.

Jake FaceTimes Violet

“I’m on it,” Jake said as he FaceTimed Violet from his phone. Addison walked toward him as she kept drying her hair with her towel. After two rings, Violet picked up.

“Hey, guys!” Violet said excitedly. “You guys having fun?”

“Yes, yes we are,” Jake said, chuckling.

“Yeah, like a lot of fun?” Violet teased, knowing that Addison knew what she meant. From Violet’s tone, Jake got a little suspicious and looked back at Addison.

“Yes, “ Addison emphasized mockingly. Leave it to Violet to encourage Jake and Addison to have a healthy sex life. Jake still looked confused but figured it was an inside joke.“Can we see our baby now?” Addison laughed back at her. Violet was still at work so they heard her shuffle around a bit as she walked over to the daycare center. She poked her head in the door.

“Henry,” Violet called out sweetly. Henry looked up at her as he was holding a toy train that he and Lucas were playing with. “Your mommy and daddy want to talk to you,” she said as she walked toward him. There was a small set of tables and chairs near him so Violet picked him up and put him in a little chair as she knelt down on the floor and gave him the phone. When he saw his parents on the phone, he gave them a big smile.

Jake and Addison Talk to Henry

“Hi, baby!” Addison cooed.

“Mama Dada!” Henry exclaimed and looked over at Violet, who smiled back at him. 

“Hey buddy, you being good for your Auntie Vi?” Jake asked.

“Yeah,” Henry said shaking his head up and down. Violet smiled back at him. Henry couldn’t say much yet but he obviously knew Mama and Dada as well as yes, no, up and down. Jake and Addison couldn’t help but beam back at him through the phone.

“Good job,” Jake praised. “Mommy and Daddy are gonna go find something to eat soon but we just wanted to check in to see how you were doing,” he added. Addison couldn’t help but smile bigger when Jake called himself “Daddy”. It still made her heart melt whenever he said “our family” or “our son” or call himself Henry’s father. Even though they weren’t together when Addison first got him, Jake was the only father figure Henry knew. Things had been a little rocky with the whole love triangle that was Addison, Sam, and Jake but regardless, Addison had always felt sure when it came to her feelings for Jake. Which is why she chose him over Sam in the first place. And it’s why saying no to Sam’s proposal was easier than she thought it’d be.

Addison Remembers Sam’s Proposal

“When you asked me if I was all in, I should’ve said yes,” Sam said as he came to the full realization at this moment. “So I’m…I’m saying yes now,” he added.

“Well it’s too late,” Addison said, knowing that Jake was probably on his way over already.

“I love you,” Sam argued back.

“I – y’know, I just told you, it’s too late,” Addison insisted.

“I’m in love with you. It’s not too late,” Sam argued again. Addison tried to stop him from speaking and put a hand up but he kept going. “It’s never too late,” he added.

“When you had the chance, you didn’t want me, you didn’t want to have a family. But then you see me with Jake,” Addison starts to make her point.

“I don’t care about Jake,” Sam interrupted her. Addison sighed as she moved to sit down with Henry, who was reaching to play with her hair despite the toy in his hand. “You’ve been with him, what? Two minutes?” Sam added. Addison sighed quietly as she sat down cooing with the baby in her arms.

“Look,” Sam started again. “You’re right, I didn’t want a baby,” Sam explained. “And I don’t. I don’t want a baby,” he paused. When he looked up, he looked lovingly at Addison and Henry sitting in front of him.

“I want this baby,” he added. He wanted to say everything he should’ve said before. “I want Henry. And…I want you, and me and Henry to be a family,” Addison gave him a frustrated look back at him as she continued bouncing Henry softly in her lap.

Sam Fights for Addison

“I was afraid of that before,” he continued explaining. And he ignored Addison’s attempts to stop him. “I…I just couldn’t imagine, being a new father, and having a whole new family, and…it was unimaginable. But…but I can imagine it now. I can see it,” Sam looked at them both, nodding his head as he finally knew that this was what he wanted.

“So…I’m all in,” he finished as Addison looked up at him. “I’m all in and I’m…fighting for you,” he put his hands up for a second as he said this. Then, he took a second and realized this was his moment.

By now, Addison had grabbed Henry’s bottle and was feeding him as she rocked him in the chair. 

“Sam…” Addison started.

“Look,” Sam started. “I know this is…uh…” Sam stammered a bit as he went down on one knee.

“Sam, what are you doing?” Addison said as she tried to get him to stop.

“Wait. Wait a minute,” Sam could tell Addison wanted to stop him but he couldn’t stop now. Upon seeing Henry’s little monkey toy on the ground, he picked it up.

“This is not as uh, traditional,” he started as he gave baby Henry the toy. “But for now,” he chuckled as he saw Henry play with the monkey toy. “Uh, Addison Forbes Montgomery, I love you. Will you marry me?” he looked her straight in the eyes as she gave him a frustrated look.

If it had been a year ago, if he’d said all of this a year ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated. She would’ve said yes and jumped into his arms to kiss him. But it wasn’t. He didn’t want the baby or the family with her. She jumped head-first while he barely sank his toes in the water.

Addison Already Knows her Answer

Now, she had Henry and had gone through the excruciating process of trying to have a baby on her own. And then when she realized she couldn’t get pregnant, she cried. She blamed herself and called it bad karma. And when she did, Sam was nowhere to be found. In fact, he’d been relieved and saw it as a blessing. But the one person that was there through it all was Jake. And it wasn’t just because he was her doctor half the time. 

Henry cooed as he played with the stuffed monkey and Sam laughed as he watched him. Addison looked at him and laughed. But not for the same reason.

“Sam…” she started. “No,” she said, half-laughing

“No?” Sam laughed along a bit as he thought she was joking. But when he looked up, he could tell she was serious.

“No?” he asked again.

“No,” Addison said again. “Sam, if you’d asked me a year ago…or if you’d even asked me a few months ago, I probably would’ve said yes,” she started. Sam sighed back.

“But now?” Addison looked at Henry, who looked very focused on his monkey toy.

“I know it’s easy to picture now,” she started. “But I could picture it then. And you couldn’t. You…wouldn’t,” she corrected herself. Sam hangs his head low in shame.

“I know, but I – “ Sam started countering but Addison stopped him.

“No, don’t,” Addison interrupted him. “Just let me finish first, please?” she looked up at him and he nodded back at her.

“Maybe I have only been with Jake for two minutes,” Addison started. “But in those two minutes, he could already picture it,” she said, thinking back on Jake and her conversation in the elevator.

Addison Remembers Her Conversation With Jake in the Elevator

“You know why I asked how you felt about me?” Jake asked as they stood in the elevator. Addison looked up at him as he paused before saying what he wanted to say next

“Because I could fall in love with you, Addison” he started. “I could buy a house with you, I could make a baby with you…in a test tube or…however,” Addison turned to face him fully as she leaned against the wall.

“But I could be with you,” Jake stated. Addison looked back at him longingly. This was everything she ever wanted. Someone to love her completely. Without hesitation about her desire to be a mother. But at the time, even she had to admit there were still lingering feelings when it came to Sam. And he knew it.

“But when I go in, I go all in,” Jake stepped closer to her as she continued watching him say all the right things. “And I can’t do that while you’re pining after another man,” he leaned a little closer.

Jake Tells Addison How He Feels

“You’re not ready for what I have to offer,” Jake whispered in her ear. And everything in that moment, the close proximity, the whispering in the ear, and the words he was saying, gave Addison goosebumps. And it was at that moment that she knew that Jake was the one for her.

As he pulled away, Addison kept her eyes on him, keeping her composure but her eyes said it all. She wanted him. But she knew he was right. They’d never make it if they started something now when she was still getting over Sam. In an effort not to rush into things with Jake, she knew what she had to say next.

“I could get ready,” she said back. 

“That would be nice,” he said smoothly after the elevator dinged and the doors opened. As he walked away, she couldn’t help but watch how smoothly he’d been. How calm and collected he was but most of all, how sure he was in what he was saying.

Addison Explains Herself

“How could you possibly know that if you’ve only been with him for two minutes,” Sam laughed, frustrated.

“Because he told me,” she said back. “Before anything actually started with him,” she said, smiling slightly as she recalled the memory. After a pause, she started speaking again.

“I know this is a lot right now,” Addison started. “Especially today with everything that happened with Amelia,” She paused as Sam scoffed. She just wanted to say the right thing.

“But this isn’t what you want,” Addison said. “Maybe you think you do because today’s been a hell of a day. But you don’t,”

“But I do want it,” Sam argued, unable to give up on them just yet.

“No, you don’t,” Addison argued back. “You said yourself that wanting a baby, wanting a family was biological. You either want it or you don’t,” 

“I was wrong,” Sam insisted.

“No, you weren’t,” Addison said. “I know you want it now. But a year from now…a couple of months from now, you won’t,” she said softly. She paused for another minute. 

“This is just your…Hail Mary pass,” Addison chuckled slightly. “Because…after what you’ve been through today, what we’ve all been through today,” she corrected herself. “All you want is to come home and be reminded that there’s something…someone there waiting for you,” Sam said nothing back. Instead, he sighed and hung his head low.

“And that isn’t me. Not anymore,” she added. 

Violet Asks the Boys What They Want for Dinner

As Henry held onto the phone, he smiled back at them. Considering he couldn’t really tell them all that much, Violet moved back into the frame next to Henry.

“Everything’s going fine,” Violet reassured them. “We’re actually gonna leave soon to get something for dinner,” she explained. Then, Lucas walked up to the two of them holding onto a toy construction truck.

“What are you guys in the mood for tonight?” Violet asked as she wrapped her arm around Lucas, who looked up at her.

“Pizza!” Lucas shouted as he raised his arms up. Now all the adults started laughing.

“What do you think, huh?” Violet wrapped her other arm around Henry, who looked at her giggling.

“I think it’s safe to say Henry’s fine with it,” Jake laughed along.

“Alright then boys,” Violet said as she started getting up. “Let’s get ready to go, okay?” Lucas started walking towards the back of the room to put the toy away as Henry looked up at Violet but continued holding onto Violet’s phone.

“Hey, baby?” Addison said to Henry. To this, Henry perked his head up to look at his mom through the screen. “Do you think you can give the phone back to Auntie Vi?” Then, Henry nodded his head up and down and reached up to her with the phone.

“Thank you,” Violet said. Lucas grabbed their jackets and was making his way back to them as Violet took the phone back.

Violet Says Goodbye

“You guys have fun, Henry will be just fine,” Violet insisted. Addison and Jake chuckled back.

“We know he will, we just miss him,” Addison insisted. They both knew that Henry was in good hands with Violet. 

“Well, you still have another week until you come back so you guys make sure to have fun while you’re there,” Violet said. “A lot of fun,” as Violet added in the last part, Addison laughed. But again, Jake was left out of their inside joke.

“We will!” Addison insisted. “But before you go, just let us say goodbye to our boy,” Violet knelt down beside Henry with her phone and held her arm out so Jake and Addison could now see all three of them in the frame.

“Bye baby, we love you!” Addison blew kisses as Henry, Lucas, and Violet waved back.

“Bye Auntie Addison! Bye, Uncle Jake!” Lucas added.

“Bye guys! We’ll talk to you guys tomorrow,” Jake said back. After that, they hung up and Violet helped Henry put on his jacket. Then, she helped Lucas zip up his jacket after he’d put it on himself.

“Alright, we ready to go?” Violet asked as she held each boy’s hand.

“Yeah!” both Lucas and Henry said in unison.

“Alright, come on,” Violet said as she walked hand-in-hand with them both towards the elevator.

Additional Notes

I wanted to actually write out what I think could’ve happened between Sam and Addison after he proposed at the end of season five. I was definitely already rooting for Jake and Addison (partly because I’m not a big fan of Sam). But I feel like they never really explained why Addison said no to him. And then after that, everything between Addison and Jake went by really fast. But granted, the show went into its last season because Kate Walsh was leaving so I guess because of that, it makes sense as to why.

But the one thing I do remember is that at some point, Sam and Addison talk about his proposal. And Sam said that she called it a “Hail Mary pass” so I wanted to add that in somewhere but still have it make sense. And I think this does make sense. I also added some Sam/Naomi stuff at the beginning because they deserve a bit of cutesy stuff together but I did want to add stuff about Betsey. They never really addressed it at the end.

Even though Sam and Naomi got back together and are having another baby together, Naomi wasn’t just gonna throw Betsey onto the street. So Sam would have to deal with having Betsey as another kid too. And I can only imagine it wouldn’t be easy for a while because I don’t think they ever really bonded in the show before. Plus, Betsey’s always been a little hesitant towards people. The only people she really bonded with on the show (other than her parents, obviously), were Naomi and Violet.