Start Again: An Addek Fanfic Chapter 7

Notes: This is a fanfiction based on characters from the TV shows, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. This rewrites parts of the second season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. But this fanfiction tells an alternate story of what happens after Derek and Meredith have sex in the exam room at Seattle Grace hospital. Instead, it asks the question: What if Derek and Addison didn’t end things after Derek cheated on her with Meredith? What if they decided to give their relationship one more shot? This story and chapter were originally posted on Archive of Our Own on January 2nd, 2022. This is chapter seven so it is necessary to read chapter six before moving on. This has been edited to include headings and images.

Start Again: Chapter 7

There it was: two lines on a pregnancy test. Derek couldn’t believe it. Addison was pregnant. They were pregnant. 

“Is that…Are you..?” Derek stuttered. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Pregnant? I think so,” Addison took a breath. “I’m gonna have Nai do a blood test to be sure,”

Derek’s face stayed blank for another minute. It was hard for Addison to gauge how he felt. He just stared at the test sitting between them. After letting him freak out for another minute, she’d had enough.

“Derek!” Addison snapped him out of his trance. “Say something!’

To her surprise, Derek looked up and smiled as if it were hard for him to contain. Then, he started to laugh. And it confused Addison. Was he happy? Or did he think this was like some kind of karmic punishment? It was hard to tell.

“What?!” Addison started laughing along. She could play along. If he was laughing about the irony of it all, she could pretend like she felt the same. But to be honest, laughing out loud, even for a short minute, felt like a relief in itself. She felt like she’d been holding in her breath ever since she took the test. Things weren’t great with them. I mean, he did just say that he wanted more than this life they’d made for themselves here in LA.

“Derek. Please say something because you’re starting to freak me out,” Okay, so maybe Addison couldn’t just play along. Not while her hormones were on the fritz. 

Derek Speaks Up

“Addison,” Derek stroked his hand on her cheek. “We’re having a baby?”

“Yeah, that’s kinda what the pregnancy test means,” Addison said, plainly. “I mean, unless it’s a false positive, which is why I’m taking a blood test to be sure. Actually, I was gonna wait to tell you but it kinda just came out and…” Addison began rambling. But Derek quickly shut her up with a deep kiss. Addison returned the kiss by deepening it.

“We’re having a baby,” Derek said it as a statement this time as he pulled away from the kiss. 

“This is more than enough,” Derek added as he kept his hand on her cheek, stroking it slightly with his thumb. Addison smiled back and sighed a sigh of relief. He was happy. This was a good thing.

“If you need more than the practice,” Addison started. She didn’t want to ruin their marital bliss they’d somehow found again, but she knew she couldn’t just put it off. “We’ll figure it out. You can work at St. Ambrose, or another hospital, if that’s what you want,”

“We’ll figure it out,” Derek echoed. His boredom at work didn’t feel like it was such a big deal anymore. They were having a baby. They were gonna be parents. And it’s all he’s ever wanted.

In fact, he wanted to have kids years ago but they kept putting it off. There was always an excuse why they didn’t. They were young and focused on their career. Every time Derek brought it up, Addison would insist it wasn’t time yet. Not the right time. And Derek would groan. When was the right time? Was there ever going to be a right time? It was a topic that would always warrant an argument between them.

Derek and Addison’s Marriage

He knew Addison was trying to be responsible. Trying to do the right thing. Trying to be a grown-up, she would say. And Derek was tired of fighting about it. A part of him knew she was right. If they had started their family during residency, they probably wouldn’t be where they are now in their careers. They were both determined, not just to become great surgeons. They wanted to be world-class. And now they were. 

Was that what went wrong in their marriage the first time around? Did he just resent her for not giving him children? After a while, he stopped believing he’d ever be a father. He’d never admit that out loud, but it was true. But it was all he ever wanted to be. Before he ever knew he wanted to be a surgeon, before he ever knew he wanted to be a doctor, he wanted to be a father. Maybe it had something to do with watching his father get murdered in front of him and growing up with four sisters. Whatever it was, he had what he’d heard people call a parent’s instinct. And he, and everyone around him, knew it.

Addison never had that. She was great with babies. After all, she was a baby doctor. But she was always afraid she’d turn out to be like her mother. Cold and impossible to please. Derek used to say that she was nothing like her mother. That she was warm and a good person. Addison wanted to believe him. She knew, deep down, that he was right. But that didn’t stop the fear that she held of being a bad mother. And it didn’t help that Carolyn constantly made her feel that way.

Derek and Addison Go Back Inside

“So…,” Addison started. “What do we do with your mother?”

Derek looked back into the house at his mother, who was still at the stove making more pancakes. He took a deep breath. It was time to stand up to his mother, it was time to stand up for Addison. More importantly, it was time for him to grow up and be a man. So, he got up and went into the house as Addison followed closely behind, holding her plate of pancakes and her green juice.

“Mom,” Derek opened the back door as Carolyn turned to look at them. 

“Good morning, Mom,” Addison nodded as she sat down at the table with her breakfast. 

“Morning,” Carolyn said back.

“Mom,” Derek started. He took a deep breath. He’d never really stood up to his mother before. Not really, anyway. But he knew he should’ve when it came to Addison. It’s not like Carolyn hated her, but she didn’t particularly like her either.

“Look, Derek,” Carolyn spoke. “Maybe I was a little harsh last night, but I just couldn’t stand seeing you guys pretend like you’re happy here,”

“We are happy here,” Derek insisted. Although, he knew he wasn’t completely telling the truth.

“No, you’re not,” Carolyn argued. “You’re both kidding yourselves if you think that’s true,”

“We’ll figure it out,” Derek straightened his posture to take a stronger physical stance. “And for the record, Addie’s happy here,” 

Carolyn Questions Addison

Addison just looked up from her plate of pancakes that she’d been staring at as Derek motioned over to her. Not knowing if she should say anything, Addison took a sip of her green juice. Was this really how he was going to stand up to his mother? If it was, he wasn’t doing a very good job. 

“How?” Carolyn asked rather sarcastically. But when she saw Addison get back to eating her breakfast, avoiding her eye contact, she knew Derek was telling the truth.

“You’re really happy here?” Carolyn directed the question towards Addison.

“Yeah, I am,” Addison quickly swallowed her food as she spoke. Bizzy would kill her if she saw her now. 

“How?” Carolyn asked earnestly this time. To be honest, Derek didn’t understand it either. But he could tell that she was happy here. Both professionally and personally. He just didn’t get how. They were surgeons. World-class surgeons, who spent their entire adult life working hard to get to where they were now in their careers and competing with other surgeons to be the best. Addison’s drive was part of the reason why Derek first fell in love with her. But here, in Los Angeles, at the practice, it was quiet. 

As Carolyn and Derek looked at her for an answer, Addison thought about what she’d say. She wanted to be honest, but she didn’t want to sound like she was rambling nonsense. It was hard to put into words, but there was something about this place that made her happy. 

“I don’t know,” Addison said honestly, shrugging her shoulders slightly. This only made Carolyn and Derek more confused.

Addison Calls L.A “Magical”

“It’s just…magical here,” she finally said. It was the only real way she knew how to describe it. She wasn’t doing groundbreaking surgery like she had been in New York or even in Seattle. But there was just something about this place that she loved. Something about LA and the practice. It felt like this was where she was meant to be.

“What do you mean…magical?” Carolyn asked. To be completely honest, Addison sounded crazier than usual to her. But she wanted to understand her. And by the look on Addison’s face, she could tell she was being serious. But what the hell was magical about this place?

Before Addison could answer, or more accurately, come up with a better answer, her pager went off.

“I’ve gotta get to the hospital,” Addison glanced at her pager as she stood up to put her dishes in the sink.

“But I’ll…um, see you at the practice?” Addison directed her question at Derek as she grabbed her purse.

“Yeah,” Derek breathed as Addison leaned in for a quick peck on the lips.

“Bye, Mom,” Addison said, offhandedly as she rushed out the door.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” Carolyn looked over at Derek, who just sighed in return.

After Addison left, Derek finished his breakfast as he and his mother made small talk. They both already said all that needed to be said, as far as either of them was concerned. To them, Addison was the one who confused them. Derek loved Addison, and he was willing to stay and fight for their relationship, their marriage, and their possibly growing family. But he and his mother didn’t understand Addison’s fascination with this place or this practice. 

How Derek Felt About L.A

Everyone was perfectly nice at the practice. It was nice to reconnect with Sam and Naomi, but it wasn’t very exciting. At least not to Derek. He missed the OR. Desperately. And he still got to go in from time to time at St. Ambrose. But it was infrequent and St. Ambrose was minuscule compared to the other hospitals he’d worked at before. Most of his time nowadays was spent doing consults for non-surgical patients or consulting with another doctor at the practice.

But since he was having a relatively light work day, again, he invited his mother to tag along. I mean, it beat hanging around the house waiting for him and Addison to get home. So she agreed. They both agreed that maybe they’d see whatever “magic” Addison saw in the place if they stuck around long enough. Though, they both thought it was unlikely.

When they got to the office, Derek guided Carolyn to the kitchen and agreed to come back after the morning meeting. If the meeting wasn’t going to be about their patients, he would have invited her to sit and watch. But with doctor-patient confidentiality, they both figured it’d be best not to let her listen in on everyone’s patients. 

Before the meeting ended, Addison took Derek aside for a minute to tell him that she was having Naomi run a blood test later that day. Their relationship clearly wasn’t in the best place at the moment with Carolyn in the picture, but Derek couldn’t contain his excitement. Despite Addison’s best efforts to at least try to hide his excitement. But with her (probable) hormones raging, she couldn’t help but be excited too.

Carolyn Chats with Addison

“We’re gonna be parents!” Derek whispered, excitedly.

“Maybe,” Addison warned, but she couldn’t help but let a small smile sneak through.

“You’ll let me know when you get the results back?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Addison smiled as Derek pulled her in for a sweet kiss. 

Then, as they parted ways, both Derek and Addison couldn’t help but look back at each other for one last smile.

After Derek met Carolyn back in the kitchen, he informed her he had a patient coming soon so she’d have to entertain herself for a bit. He assured her it wouldn’t take too long and that Addison was free for another 30 minutes if she wanted to go see her. Considering the fact that they didn’t really get to finish their conversation from that morning (not really, anyway), she agreed. When Carolyn came into Addison’s office, she found her scribbling down some notes.

“Derek said I should wait here with you until he’s finished with his patient,” Carolyn said, plainly.

“Of course,” Addison took a sharp inhale and awkwardly gestured towards the chair in front of her desk. Something about Carolyn always made her a little nervous. 

“So, how was your patient this morning?” Carolyn asked, trying to make light and polite conversation.

“Good,” Addison took another sharp inhale. “Eight pounds, two ounces,” she added as she continued looking at her papers.

“That’s nice,” Carolyn said, politely. She wondered why Addison found pleasure in normal baby deliveries when she knew Addison was known for being a world-class surgeon. Derek certainly didn’t like short consultations, so what was it about this job that made Addison feel…magical?

Dell Comes In

Then, Dell interrupted their awkward silence.

“Addison, we need you,” Dell said, urgently. Addison got up immediately as Carolyn followed her. Then, Dell led them to the lobby, where Sam was calming down a female patient.

“Dell, I thought you meant there was an emergency,” Addison sighed.

“She said that they had to leave the hospital because they were trying to kill ‘em. Her and her baby,” Dell tried to explain. Addison (and Carolyn, for that matter) was still confused. But I guess they had to check her out now.

“Hi,” Addison walked up to Sam and the woman. “I’m Dr. Montgomery, why don’t we take a look at your baby,”

Calm, polite, and warm, Carolyn thought. She knew Addison was a brilliant doctor, but she’d never really seen her work before.It was clear she had her bedside manner down. She was empathetic yet professional. She’d seen Derek with patients before but never Addison. I guess she wouldn’t be a great doctor if she wasn’t great with patients, Carolyn thought.

After Sam and Addison whisked the patient away, Carolyn waited in the lobby. She was curious to know what happened to that girl but she knew it wouldn’t be right to just follow them into the exam room. 

“Mom,” Derek spotted Carolyn as he came out of his office. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were gonna wait with Addison,” He gave his mother a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.

“I was,” Carolyn insisted. “There was some kind of emergency,” 

Derek and Carolyn Watch

Derek looked to see what Carolyn was looking at. The blinds were drawn in the exam room but he could tell she was just waiting to see her come out and listen in to figure out what was going on.

“You know what happened?” Derek asked, also curious about this emergency.

“Not really,” Carolyn said, honestly. “Some woman left the hospital and came here,”

“Huh,” Derek joined her in staring at the door, waiting to see Addison come out. Shortly after, she did with Sam. But neither of them noticed Derek and Carolyn staring as Naomi came up to talk to them.

“She won’t tell us where she came from,” Sam says as he starts filling Naomi in. “She’s afraid we’ll send her back,”

“Damn right we’re sending her back,” Naomi said. “I’m gonna get Dell to call all the local hospitals,”

“I’d like to run some tests,” Addison stated.

“Fine,” Sam gave in. “But just until we figure out where she belongs,”

“Thank you, Sam,” Addison said as she walked away.

“What’s going on?” Derek walked up to Sam and Naomi with Carolyn following closely behind.

“Some woman left the hospital and won’t tell us where she’s from,” Naomi explained.

“She said something about how they were gonna kill her and her baby,” Sam added.

“And Addie thinks we should help her,” Naomi said, rather begrudgingly. She didn’t understand why Addison was so insistent on helping this woman. For all they knew, she could be a crazy person.

“I’m sure it’s for a good reason,” Derek said, coming to Addison’s defense.

“She said she’s always had stomach problems but nobody’s been able to figure out what’s wrong with her,” Sam added.

Charlotte Arrives

“Well, I’m still getting Dell to make some calls,” Naomi said as she walked back to the front desk.

After that, Addison took care of her next scheduled patient as Derek chatted with his mom between patients. They both weren’t sure why Addison was arguing with everyone else about this woman, but Derek kept insisting that there must be a reason why. After Addison walked her next patient to the elevator, Dell came out of the exam room to find her.

“Hey, I just checked on our Jane Doe,” Dell said to Addison.

“What are you doing checking on my patient?” Addison asked. She knew she was the odd man out at the practice with this Jane Doe patient. 

“She’s having contractions,” Dell interrupted Addison.

Then, the both of them hurried back into the exam room where Addison gave her some medication to stop the contractions and to check on the baby. Out in the lobby, Derek and Carolyn waited patiently to see what would happen next. Then, the elevator dinged, revealing Charlotte King, who didn’t look very happy to be at Oceanside Wellness. 

“I hear you have something of ours,” Charlotte said as Addison came out of the exam room.

“She came here on her own,” Naomi argued. “We called every other hospital in the city to figure out where she came from,” The last thing they needed was to get on Charlotte’s bad side. Charlotte was the chief of staff at St. Ambrose and it’s where they got most of their business.

“You know our Jane Doe?” Addison asked, curiously. Derek and Carolyn watched as if they were watching a movie.

“Her name’s Rebecca Hobart,” Charlotte informed them.

Learning More About Rebecca

Then, everything became clearer. Apparently, Rebecca left the psych ward at St. Ambrose but Charlotte was going to arrange transportation to get her back to the hospital. Eventually, Charlotte told them that Rebecca had Munchausen and had been in and out of the psych ward since she was a teenager, which only made the other doctors more skeptical about treating her at Oceanside. However, Addison wasn’t convinced.

“Rebecca wants to stay here,” Addison argued. Everyone, including Derek and Carolyn who sat back watching, looked at Addison, confused. 

“Her mother is her medical guardian. Under state law, if she wants her back at the hospital, Rebecca goes back,” Charlotte argued.

“Agreed, she goes,” Naomi gave in. But Addison still wasn’t ready to give up.

“She’s having contractions, you wanna move her now? Make her lose the baby? Be my guest,” Addison added. Naomi looked back at her. Why was she fighting this?

Reluctantly, Charlotte agreed and Sam, Naomi, and Addison went off to the hallway to argue some more as Derek headed off to see his next patient. Which left Carolyn in the lobby alone, once again. But she didn’t mind. She raised five kids, all of which became doctors. By now, she was used to waiting around while they worked or emergencies coming up, interrupting dinner plans, or canceling them altogether. It’s why she always kept a book in her purse nowadays.

Meanwhile, Naomi was not happy with keeping Rebecca at Oceanside. Especially now that she knew she was a Munchausen patient. But Addison was adamant. Even after finding out who Rebecca really was, she still believed she was telling the truth. Eventually, Addison convinced both Sam and Naomi to allow Violet to do a psych evaluation on the woman, even though Rebecca already had a long documented psych history.

Pete and Violet Consult

Rebecca was less than thrilled about the psych eval. She knew by then that they all knew she came from a 5150 hold at St. Ambrose. And she knew that everyone saw her the way everyone else had since she was a teenager: crazy. But it did help that Addison was still willing to help her and that she seemed to convince the other doctors here to give her another chance. Plus, Violet and Addison moved her to Addison’s office, which was far more comfortable than sitting in the exam room.

While Violet evaluated her, Derek finished up with his patient, leaving him a scrip for some medication. He was still worried that he had a brain tumor, but Derek assured him that it was just migraines caused by vascular spasms. God, what he would kill for a good ole brain tumor. Then, he met his mom sitting in the lobby and joined her. But before they could really talk for long, Addison and Violet came out of the exam room.

“From what I can see, Rebecca doesn’t totally fit the Munchausen profile,” Violet started.

“Do you think I’m personalizing this case? Like, maybe I need to believe in the happy miracle baby?” Addison asked.

“Well, instinct’s a bitch, right? You only know you can trust it after the fact,” Violet said. It didn’t really help answer anything for Addison, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that Rebecca was telling the truth. Shortly afterward, Pete came out of his office, walking his patient out.

“Pete,” Addison called out to him.

“Could I get a consult on my patient’s nutritional status?” Addison asked after Pete introduced his patient to her.

“Yeah sure,” Pete said.

“Great, thank you,” Addison said, handing him her patient’s paperwork.

Addison Checks on Rebecca

Later on in the day, Addison went back to her office to check on Rebecca. With all the drama that came with this patient, it gave Addison something to focus on. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with Carolyn Shepherd. But at the very least, Addison did get Naomi’s help for a blood test for herself. So, by the end of the day, she and Derek would know for sure if they were having a baby or not. So working with Rebecca all day also gave her something to distract herself with as well.

Carolyn and Derek watched Addison as she came closer to Rebecca to feel her baby move inside of her. Derek was right, Addison did look happy. But it didn’t last long because Charlotte came back with Rebecca’s mother and an ambulance waiting to take her back to the hospital. They couldn’t hear what was going on in her office but they could tell that Addison was still fighting to keep Rebecca here. And Rebecca definitely wasn’t happy that her mother and Charlotte were here to drag her back to St. Ambrose.

Then, they saw Naomi pass them to get to Addison’s office and by the look on her face, they knew it couldn’t be good news. When she got in there, Naomi handed Addison some paperwork and Addison walked back behind her desk, looking defeated. They saw the other doctors say something as Rebecca argued back with them. 

Sam Asks for More Time

Then Addison said something back. They weren’t sure exactly what she said, but they knew she was finally accepting defeat. Shortly afterward, Dell brought in a wheelchair as Carolyn and Derek watched from the lobby. Then, Rebecca’s mother wheeled her out of Addison’s office with everyone following closely behind. Everyone but Addison kept a good amount of distance between them. But before they got to the elevator, Sam surprisingly spoke up.

“Wait,” Sam started. “We need more time with her,”

“I know that you’ve been through Hell,” Sam started after Charlotte and Naomi protested.

“And maybe your daughter is a master manipulator. But…she risked a lot to come here because she thought we were different. And better,” Charlotte rolled her eyes at him. 

“And I believe we are,” Sam looked straight at Addison, who, by the look on her face, was silently thanking him for believing in her.

After some more protesting between the doctors, Mrs. Hobart finally agreed. It’d been years of dealing with Rebecca so if they could find something medically wrong with her that wasn’t psychological, she was willing to take that chance. So she gave them all one hour to see if they could figure something else out.

“Derek?” Addison turned to him as Charlotte and Mrs. Hobart left. “We could use your help,”

The Doctors Convene

Then, all the doctors went into the conference room and laid all of Rebecca’s files out. They even pinned up scans they got from St. Ambrose. By now, all the information was out there so there was really no reason to keep Carolyn out in the lobby, so she came too. But she’d just act as a silent observer. This was a chance to see how things really worked at Oceanside Wellness.

“I don’t know. I don’t…nothing’s jumping out at me,” Addison said as she sat down after looking at the scans on the board.

“Why’d you believe her in the first place?” Derek asked, curiously.

“Because I thought she was telling the truth,” Addison said, honestly.

They were all stumped. They now had less than an hour to try to figure out what was wrong with this woman. If there was something physically wrong with her. She’d been to multiple different hospitals and she’d been checked out by multiple doctors. All of which couldn’t find anything wrong with her. Nothing physical, anyway. How could they possibly figure it out in less than an hour?

“Ignore the files,” Addison said as she pushed the papers aside on the table. “Ignore all preconceptions and let’s look at the facts as if everything Rebecca has told us is the truth,”

Then, everyone started brainstorming together. If there was really something physically wrong with her, it meant that the doctors missed it at the beginning. And with the psych diagnosis, everyone assumed it just meant she was becoming more destructive. Then, after listing out all of Rebecca’s symptoms, they eventually came up with a game plan: they needed to do a GI camera study, which was a newer procedure. And whatever Rebecca had could be some kind of autoimmune disease.

Addison Finds the Right Diagnosis

After that, they all went into the lobby and found Dell near the elevator. Apparently, Charlotte and Mrs. Hobart already took Rebecca back to St. Ambrose despite Dell’s best efforts because their hour was up. So Addison, Sam, Derek, and Carolyn rushed over to the hospital, with Carolyn riding with Derek and Addison. She wanted to know how the story ended and wanted everything to turn out okay for this poor woman who’s been stuck with a psych diagnosis.

Eventually, they all convinced Charlotte to run the test. She was reluctant, but Charlotte finally agreed. After they ran the test, they finally had their answer. Carolyn wasn’t going to go into Rebecca’s hospital room but Derek left the door open a smidge so she could at least hear what was going on.

“You have Crohn’s disease,” Addison told Rebecca. Never had anyone ever been so happy to hear that news than Rebecca.

“You were eating, and it was making you sick,” Addison added.

“So you believe me?” Rebecca asked, gleefully.

“I believe you,” Addison confirmed.

“You believe me,” Rebecca said, excitedly as she held onto her arm.

Then, Mrs. Hobart came in to apologize and everyone else cleared the room to give them a moment. But Addison couldn’t help but look back at them and Derek and Carolyn caught her lingering for another moment. She helped fix their relationship. And that was magical. 

“Magic,” Addison said simply after she came out of Rebecca’s room.

Naomi Gives Addison Her Results

Derek and Carolyn looked back at her and smiled. Addison fought all day for Rebecca, even though everyone else thought she was crazy. But she wasn’t. She was telling the truth, and Addison was the only one who seemed to believe her. And now, Rebecca and her family knew what was really wrong with her and could now effectively treat the symptoms instead of locking her away in a psych ward. Rebecca’s strained relationship with her mother was no longer strained because of her. She did that. And that was magical. And even though this practice was much smaller than what Derek and Addison were used to, Carolyn knew what she meant now when she called it magical.

Then, they all came back to the practice to let everyone know that Rebecca was indeed not crazy. So they all decided to come back to Derek and Addison’s place to celebrate with some takeout and drinks. But before then, Addison got her blood work back from Naomi, who wasn’t excited about giving it back to her. She already knew her answer before she looked at it herself. She wasn’t pregnant. When she told Derek, she could tell he was disappointed but he was still hopeful.

“I still want a baby,” Derek admitted.

“I do too,” Addison said, softly.

“You do?” Derek was surprised. In every conversation they’d had about having babies in the past, it was never the right time. But now it suddenly was?

Derek and Addison Talk

“Yeah,” Addison breathed.

“Let’s have a baby,” Derek said, as he held her in his arms.

“You say that like it’s easy,” Addison joked.

“We’ll figure it out,” Derek pulled away from their hug and leaned in to kiss her.

Finding out they weren’t having a baby wasn’t exactly great. But they took comfort in knowing that they both wanted one. They both wanted to be parents. And that was, at the very least, a small victory. 

Additional Notes

So I decided to dig a little deeper for this chapter when it came to Carolyn Shepherd so sorry that this chapter’s longer than what I usually post. I think it’s pretty clear that Addek nation kinda hates her so I wanted to at least give her the benefit of the doubt and give her a reason why she doesn’t like Addison. This chapter was definitely harder to write than the rest so far just because I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to do with it. But I did still want Carolyn to at least start warming up to Addison and eventually get their relationship somewhere better. As for the patient, it’s taken directly from Private Practice 1×04 but I’ve changed it a bit to add Derek and Carolyn into the story.

I know that there’s probably a doctor-patient confidentiality issue with Carolyn being involved but it is a fictional story so keep that in mind, lol. Also, I know a false positive pregnancy test isn’t super common but I didn’t want to make it that easy for them. Plus, Addison in the show is known to have fertility issues and I thought it’d be more interesting if I kept that detail in. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter and I’ll try to update again soon! And thank you again for all the kind messages, it’s greatly appreciated. <3