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 19th, 2021. This is chapter four so it is necessary to read the third chapter before moving on. This story has been edited to include headings and images.

Happier: Chapter 4

Still of Jake (played by Benjamin Bratt) reading Amelia's (played by Caterina Scorsone) (not pictured) chart while Addison (played by Kate Walsh) tries to read the chart while she rests her chin on his shoulder from Private Practice 5x22

“Hi, I’m Dr. Montgomery and this is Dr. Reilly, I was paged?” 

“Dr. Deluca,” Carina said back, Italian accent and all. “The labor isn’t progressing and we were hoping you’d take a look,” The expectant mother was hysterical.

“Yeah, so there’s something going on but no one’s telling me anything!” the mother shouted back as Addison walked over to the ultrasound.

“Everything’s going to be fine, just give Dr. Montgomery a second to take a look,” Carina tried to calm the patient but it clearly wasn’t working. That’s when Jake steps in.

“Hi there, I’m Dr. Jake Reilly. What’s your name?” he asked the patient in his calm, smooth voice that Addison and all of his patients loved so much.

“Maren,” she said back.

“Alright Maren, listen to me,” Jake started. “Everything’s going to be okay. You see that doctor over there,” he pointed out Addison, who was looking at the ultrasound talking to Jo. Maren nodded back in response.

“That over there is Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, the best of the best. And she is going to figure out what’s going on and do everything she can to help you and your baby, alright?” Jake said calmly as he squeezed her hand.

Maren Freaks Out

Still of Carina (played by Stefania Spampinato) from Grey's Anatomy 16x01

“But I don’t even know what’s going on!” Maren clearly was still freaked. She looked over at all the doctors in the room, who were all gathered around the ultrasound speaking softly amongst each other. All but Jake, that is.

“Look, forget about them,” Jake tried to get Maren to face him. “Maren, look at me,” he said calmly as he finally got Maren to stop looking all over the room. “We are going to figure this out. Everything’s going to be fine. Now just take a deep breath, alright?” 

Jake’s voice was always so calming and even though Addison was obviously preoccupied, she could tell he was calming their patient. These expectant women were always so frazzled but Jake always knew what to say. Finally, the picture started registering on the ultrasound.

“Damn it,” Carina said under her breath. She, like Addison, knew exactly what they were looking at.

“Alright Dr. Wilson, could you tell me what I’m looking at?” Addison knew what was on the ultrasound. A placental acreta. She’d dealt with enough in her career to know what to do. But Grey Sloan was and still is a teaching hospital.

“A placental acreta?” Jo said in a questioning but hushed tone (as to not freak out their patient). She was still new to OB but she was confident in her diagnosis. Dr. Montgomery’s presence just made her nervous.

“Is that a question?” Dr. Montgomery said back, looking closer at the ultrasound.

“No. Sorry,” Jo apologized for her hesitancy and made a mental note to be more confident around the world-class surgeon. 

Addison Gets to Know Jo

Still of Addison (played by Kate Walsh) meeting Jo (played by Camilla Luddington) from Grey's Anatomy 18x03

“Alright, Maren,” Addison looked over to their patient. “Everything’s going to be okay, we just need to get you into surgery now,” Jo wiped the gel off Maren’s belly as Carina propped the rails up from the bed.

“Wait, why? Is there something wrong with the baby,” Maren’s heartbeat hastened again. Jake squeezed her hand again to reassure her once more.

“Everything’s going to be fine. You have what’s called a placental acreta. It just means that your placenta’s growing too deeply into the uterine wall so going into labor can be very risky so we’re going to take you for a C-section,” Addison explained as they all started moving her bed.

The Doctors Scrub In for Surgery

Addison scrubbing in for surgery while talking to Sam (played by Taye Diggs) from Private Practice 3x16

On the side, Carina told Jo to call down to book them an OR for an emergency C-section.

“Wait, wait. Is she going to be okay?” All the doctors wheeled her to the elevator. “Wait, am I going to be okay?” she realized.

“Yes, I’ve done this many times before. And all these doctors here are going to help take care of your baby while I work on you, alright?” The elevator doors closed as they all made their way to the OR.

By the time they got down to the OR, word had gotten around the hospital. And all available OB residents made their way to the gallery to watch. Meanwhile, Addison, Carina, Jake, and Jo started scrubbing in.

“You ever scrub in for this before, Dr. Wilson?” Addison asked.

“No, not yet, Dr. Montgomery. But I have surgical experience. I just recently switched to OB from general,” Jo said.

“From general? What made you switch to OB?” Addison asked, curiously.

“Well, after COVID, I just wanted to do something that made me happy,” Jo said back. 

“That tracks,” Addison said as they all finished scrubbing and made their way into the OR. Addison started working on Maren and got the baby out via C-section with Carina and Jo’s assistance as Jake held Maren’s hand. 

They Deliver the Baby

Still of Jo (played by Camilla Luddington) in pink scrubs talking to Jackson (played by Jesse Williams) from Grey's Anatomy

“Alright, here comes the baby,” Addison pulled the baby out and handed her to Carina. But the baby wasn’t crying.

“Why isn’t she crying?” Maren said. So far, she’d been pretty calm in the OR but seeing the baby look blue in the face made her freak out all over again. 

“It’s okay, she’s having a little trouble breathing right now but just give them a second,” Jake said, calmly.

Carina brought the baby over to the other side of the room to work on the baby. About 20 seconds later, she started crying. They all sighed a breath of relief. Then, the monitors started beeping faster.

“Alright, we’ve gotta put her under now. Jake?’ Addison looked over to her husband.

“Go,” Jake looked at the anesthesiologist and he proceeded to put her under. Addison and Jo continued working on Maren as Carina cleaned up the baby.

The Doctors Check on Maren

Still of Carina (played by Stefania Spampinato) in pink scrubs from Grey's Anatomy

Later, Maren woke up to Jo checking on her vitals.

“What happened? Where’s my baby? Is she okay?” Maren was still groggy from the procedure but it didn’t stop her from worrying. Then, Carina walked in rocking her newborn baby girl, who was calmly resting.

“She’s doing just fine, Maren,” Carina said, showing her her baby. “But you need to rest. Your body’s gone through a lot,” Carina said calmly.

“What happened to the other doctors?” Maren started to relax now that she knew her baby was okay. Jo looked out the room to see Addison and Jake in the hallway as Addison typed in some notes onto a tablet. Jo caught Jake’s attention and motioned for them both to come in.

“Hey there, Maren,” Jake walked in, smiling at her.

“Everything’s really okay?” Carina already told her just as much but she wanted confirmation from Jake.

“Everything’s really okay,” Jake said back.

“But Dr. Deluca’s right, you really should get some rest,” Jo added. Maren nodded in response and started drifting off. All the doctors except Jo left the room, as she still needed to finish up her post-op.

Addison and Jo Talk

Still of Addison (played by Kate Walsh) asking Jo (played by Camilla Luddington) to get her some coffee from Grey's Anatomy 18x03

After she finished checking everything, Jo walked out of the room and took a deep breath. But to her surprise, she found Addison still out in the hallway dropping off the tablet with the nurse at the station.

“Good work in there today, Wilson,” Addison said looking at Jo.

“Thank you, Dr. Montgomery,” Jo said back, smiling.

“So, general surgery to OB,” Addison started, slightly chuckling. “How’s that been?”

“Harder than I thought,” Jo said, smiling.  “But worth it,” Jo looked back at their resting patient.

“But you were amazing in there,” Jo complimented the surgeon. “It’s no wonder why you have such a stellar reputation,” she added.

“Thank you,” Addison placed a hand on her arm. “And from what I saw today, you are already a great surgeon,” Addison said. “Even if you are switching to OB,” Both women smiled and after giving her arm a slight squeeze, both women went their separate ways.

Additional Notes

So not a lot of Jaddison in this chapter but I just wanted to see all the OBs work together (Jake included). Regardless, I’m not ready to see Addison leave Grey Sloan yet. Even though I know Kate’s only back for two episodes (as far as we know), I’m probably going to keep her at Grey Sloan for a little longer in this fanfic.