So I know it took FOREVER, but finally, here is the promised epilogue that finally ends the journey that has been "Who I Am Without You."  Since we started this story with Addison's thoughts and feelings as her life fell apart, it seemed only right that the epilogue return to just her musings about the way life is now that things have fallen back into place.

Thanks to everyone who faithfully hung in there for this story, even with the long delays in updates and my endless battles with writer's block.  And with that, here you go...

Ever since she had been a little girl, Addison had loved weddings.  She hadn't been obsessed with actually getting married.  In fact, she'd never really dreamed about walking down the aisle herself until Derek had stolen her heart over a med school cadaver.  But she just thought weddings were beautiful.  From small backyard ceremonies to full cathedral-to-ballroom affairs, she just enjoyed the details--the flowers, the decorations, the music, cake.

Her first wedding to Derek had been bigger than she'd really wanted; The Montgomery family guest list started with 150 people and went upwards from there as business allegiances came into play.  And the Shepherds were no small clan.  The size of Derek's immediate family was average for the larger brood, and so by the time they'd gotten around to planning a seating chart, they were looking at 400 guests.  She barely remembered who had been there without looking at photos, but she could easily recall the combinations of white roses and hydrangeas that had decorated the tables, the small white lights woven into the trees around the hotel courtyard and the stunningly beautiful and delicious chocolate buttercream cake that Derek had eaten three pieces of, he'd enjoyed it so much.

It had taken years for her husband to admit that he'd kind of hated their wedding because he felt surrounded by strangers.  She remembered his surprise when she'd expressed some agreement, wishing that they had kept it limited to close friends and family, and really, thinking back on it now, she wondered how neither of them had seen it as a sign of some disconnection that they hadn't been able to communicate their desires over their own wedding ceremony to one another.  Maybe if they had realized then that they needed to talk more, risk arguments a little to make things clear to one another, well, maybe the years of heartache that had interrupted "Derek and Addison" might have been avoided.

Then again, if anything about their old life together in New York had been different, there was the chance that they wouldn't have ended up being "Derek, Addison and Charlotte"... and they were mutually agreed that nothing, not even saving themselves the pain of their affairs, was worth risking that.

Their ability to joke about how little their first wedding was really about them was just a testament to how different they were now in this new life, in this second chance to get things right.  And although they still kept their stunning wedding portrait showcased on their family photo wall, they were far more apt to discuss the ceremony that marked their remarriage when people asked them what their wedding was like.

"Small... and perfect" was the way Derek would describe it to anyone who asked, and Addison wholeheartedly agreed.  In fact, when she thought back on that day, she had no trouble remembering who was there or what anyone had said or done because only the most important people in their life had been there, making the day utterly perfect and all about the restoration of the Shepherd Family from Seattle.

So much had led them to that point, and sometimes when Addison remembered the journey from the Fairmont Hotel to the home that Derek had built for them near the lake on their property in Washington, it was hard to believe how much they had battled and worked through to get where they were now.  Meredith, Mark, their own insecurities and jealousies and fears... and yet somehow they were on the other side, far from perfect, but healed and together and, finally, content.

That house that her husband had so lovingly put together looked like a setting from "Martha Stewart Weddings" today, classy and elegant with just enough personal touches to make it feel intimate despite the formality.  Silver and white chairs trimmed in white lace and lavender satin were neatly setup on the front lawn, perfectly positioned to take in the upstairs balcony, where greenery garlands accented with white orchids helped create a picturesque setting for a ceremony.  By the lake, a large tent had been erected--just in case the forecast turned on them--to protect the orchid centerpieces and the butterfly-accented place cards that Addison, Izzie, Callie Torres and George had spent hours cutting out of lavender craft paper.  A chocolate mousse cake covered with white icing, white and purple orchids and a few small sugar-crafted lavender butterflies waited disassembled in the kitchen so it could be put together in a final masterpiece after dinner, and a jazz trio was already setting up in the tent, ready to keep their guests dancing for hours.

Everything was perfect, and Addison smiled as she made one last survey of things before she headed upstairs to finish dressing.  An even bigger grin pulled at the corners of her mouth as she reached the master bedroom and found her husband looping his untied bowtie around his collar so it wouldn't get lost.

"What you do for a tux should be illegal."

Derek laughed and turned toward her.

"I'd say the same thing about you and that dress lying on the bed except you haven't let me see you in it."

Addison shrugged and walked toward him, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders as he pulled her body against his.

"Hey, even an old married lady likes to surprise her man once in a while."

"I'm the best man here.  I'm supposed to be focused on the groom, not my incredibly sexy wife."

"Aww, you poor baby.  I guess it's a good thing I kept my robe on then, huh, instead of flashing you the expensive lingerie."

"Ah, come on.  That's no fair."

"I'll model it for you tonight, I promise.  You have a groom to go look after, remember?"

Derek rolled his eyes and then leaned in, kissing her in that way that had her already looking forward to tonight and the quiet once they had their home back to themselves.

"I should get over to the trailer," he said, pulling back from the kiss.  "Richard called and said they were about 20 minutes away."

Addison nodded and stepped away, breaking their physical contact as she moved over to where her dress lay on the bed waiting for her to slip into it.

"And I need to get dressed.  The girls are on their way, and Charlotte should be waking up from her nap soon."

She watched as Derek headed toward the bedroom door, his jacket folded neatly over his arm, his shirt still partially unbuttoned so he wouldn't overheat before it was time to polish his look for the wedding.

"Hey, Dr. Shepherd."

He stopped and turned toward her, and she smiled.

"Don't plan on waking up early tomorrow.  You're going to be very tired."

That earned her a hearty laugh and one more kiss good-bye before Derek slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him so Addison could finish dressing.  She pulled on the deep purple piece of silk with flutter sleeves and a deep v-neck and then headed into her incredible closet to decide between the Jimmy Choo Slingbacks or the Louboutin peep toes she had finally picked as the top contenders for today's shoes.

As she sat on the window seat Derek had built into the closet so she'd have a place to sit and consider her shoe choices, Addison marveled at how much they had managed to change when faced with the reality that, without change, they would lose each other forever.  As silly as it was, the closet was a perfect example of that.  He didn't mock her shoe collection anymore; in fact, he sometimes prodded her into expanding it.  He got it now... the shoes made her happy, logical or not, and it wasn't like she couldn't afford them, and so he now chose to embrace her habit and share in the joy it brought her.

The trailer was another example of how they'd evolved as a couple; they'd learned to compromise.  Their once hated former home had become the official fishing hangout for Derek and their friends.  Addison was happy to walk over in the afternoon and enjoy a meal with whatever assorted group was gathered there, but the lines and rods and assorted paraphernalia that went along with Derek's favorite pastime had a place to live other than their house and the fish was always cooked in the trailer kitchen, keeping the new house free of any nasty odors.

Compromise and understanding were two things they'd both lost sight of in New York, and it had left them too weak to fight the deepening cracks in their marriage.  But they had learned from their mistakes.  There was room in this new life for the Addison who loved $900 shoes and the Derek who loved trout from the lake first thing in the morning, for the drive that pushed them both in their careers and for the insecurities they carried as human beings, and while their lives away from the hospital were dominated by Charlotte, Derek and Addison the couple were being careful to steal away some time for them whenever one of their friends offered to baby-sit their darling baby girl.

But the biggest difference Addison saw in them was that they finally understood that keeping your hurt feelings to yourself wasn't "protecting" the other person, it was setting up a land mine to go off in your relationship at the worst possible time.  It wasn't fun to admit you were feeling jealous about how much time your husband got to spend at work when you were referring non-emergent patients to colleagues so you could be home to breastfeed, but no good would've come from Addison keeping her frustration to herself, so she hadn't.  And Derek, to his credit, had listened and told her he didn't know what to say to make her feel better, but he was sorry she was having a hard time, and his honesty and his willingness to just sit and hear her out had made things better even if the only real solution was to accept that for those first few months of motherhood, her life had not been her own.

Derek had been a real partner to her, though, and he had passed on surgeries and referred less severe cases to other doctors so that he could be home to help with Charlotte or to just deliver a much needed break.  In fact, one of their best new memories together had come on a day when Addison had phoned Derek in tears as Charlotte battled an early ear infection.  She had been hesitant to call because Derek had a full day of surgeries and he was pushing himself to finish the house after a storm had set him back two weeks.  But after every home treatment idea she could think of had proved unsuccessful, and too exhausted from a whole night with a sick infant, Addison had finally broken down and picked up the phone.  He'd returned her page after only a few minutes.

"Addie, how are you guys?  She feeling any better?"

Addison sniffled, a crying bout brought on by frustration and exhaustion only adding to how miserable she felt.

"She's not, and we're not doing well at all.  I called Fenton, and he says to put her on amoxicillin.  He's calling it into the hospital pharmacy."

"I'll grab it and run it home as soon as I can."

His easy agreement and the gentle tone of his voice brought a smile to her face even as she blinked away more tears and looked down at the whimpering baby in her arms.

"I know I hate abusing the interns and residents, but if you're busy, I'm sure Izzie would..."

"I'm not that busy.  I'll see you soon."

Soon had been about 45 minutes, during which time Charlotte had exhausted herself with another screaming fit, the warm compresses her mother held to her ear doing little to make her feel better.  By the time Derek walked through the door, Addison was cried out, her eyes burning and her nerves totally shot.  He walked to the living room table and set down a small pharmacy bag and a larger brown paper bag and slipped his jacket off before he headed over to give Charlotte a kiss.

"She's so tired, and I know she's gotta be hungry, but she keeps pulling off, and I just..."

"Hey, you're both just tired," he said, his voice low.  He leaned in and kissed her cheek.  "I know you probably haven't stopped to eat all day, so I got you a chicken salad on wheat.  Just let me grab a bottle and then you can sit down and eat before you go get some sleep."

"Derek, what about your schedule?"

He waved his hand as he headed toward the kitchen.

"I gave Nelson the afternoon craniotomy, and labs weren't good on the Sorenson case, so we're going to try again tomorrow."

Some part of Addison's brain told her to ask more questions or argue that she was perfectly capable of taking care of things now that she had the antibiotics, but the truth was, she was ready to drop and starving, so she ignored the voice in her head and patiently bounced her squirming, miserable baby up and down a few minutes longer while they both waited for rescue.

When Derek returned, he had a bottle in hand along with what she assumed was another warm compress.  He moved past them, sitting the bottle on the table before he grabbed the medicine and carefully measured out the proper dose in the dropper.

"Okay, baby girl, here's the deal... Daddy has to put some medicine on your tongue, and then you're gonna have this bottle and give Mommy a little break, okay?"

Addison shifted the baby slightly and watched as Derek delivered the dose of antibiotics while Charlotte cooperated fully by opening her mouth wide as she screamed bloody murder.  Taking his cue, Derek moved quickly, closing the medicine and taking Charlotte into his hold, the compress pressed against her ear as he eased down into the living room chair and positioned the bottle.

Feeling defeated, Addison sat down on the couch and pulled the sandwich he had brought for her free of its wrapping.  Her stomach had actually started to hurt an hour earlier, and the promise of food was making her mouth water.  She indulged in three incredible bites before she glanced over and watched as Charlotte's hand clutched at her daddy's shirt while he hummed softly, shaking the bottle occasionally to get her to start drinking again.

"I think this might be the best sandwich ever made."

Derek laughed and looked over at her.

"I promise not to tell my mom you said that."

She smiled, then took another bite, but now that her body had some food working through it, exhaustion was starting to drain the last of her energy.  She leaned back to rest her eyes a moment, and the next thing Addison knew, she was being cradled against Derek's chest.

"Where's the baby?"

"Asleep," he whispered.  "Which is where her mama's going, too."

The bed was beneath her a minute later, and Addison curled into her blankets and pillows without argument.  When she woke up again, it was dark except for the hallway light and Derek was asleep on top of the covers with a burp cloth and one of Charlotte's blankets spread over his chest.

A quick trip to the nursery told her that Derek had fallen asleep recently after giving the baby another dose of antibiotics, which he'd marked on a notepad on her changing table.  Their daughter was sound asleep and finally her little face looked relaxed and content again.  Addison kissed her fingers, brushing them lightly over Charlotte's forehead before she padded out of the room and headed back to her own bed, where she found that her absence had been noticed.  Derek was looking around anxiously, still half asleep.

"Hey, I didn't not hear her, did I?'

Addison shook her head and climbed back into bed, her body on its side so she could see him.

"No, I just woke up and went to check on her.  I see her daddy has taken excellent care of her, though."

Derek smiled and eased back down onto the bed, his body facing hers.

"She sucked that second bottle down in record time after a few hours of sleep, so hopefully we're past the worst of it.  I'm sorry you had such a rough night."

"No worse than the worst on-call shift, I guess.  Except that hearing her cry like that makes my heart hurt."

He sighed and nodded, and Addison reached over and let her hand rest against his cheek.

"Thank you for being here.  I'm really not sure I could have made it through another hour on my own."

His fingers wrapped around her hand and drew it to his lips for a quick kiss, and then he held it tight against his chest.

"You'd have made it through just fine, but I'm glad you called me.  I always want you to call when you guys need me."

They had just lain there together smiling, staring at each other for a while, and then Addison had leaned over and kissed him, and Derek had kissed her back, his hands winding into her hair as her arms wrapped around his neck.  And just that naturally and easily, without any worry over how it might happen, they had found their way together again, making love for the first time since their reunion.

She smiled at the memory as she slipped on the Louboutins peep toes, declaring them the winner.  She and Derek had been together again before that day, there was no doubting it.  But having that important physical bond back had made it real to her in a way she hadn't expected.  Even when they'd been struggling as a couple, they'd been capable of having incredible physical chemistry, so that was to be expected now that they were on the same page again.  But she'd underestimated... or flat-out not understood... the impact it had on her to feel so wanted by him, to see herself so desired in Derek's eyes.   As a fully capable independent woman, it sounded a little clichéd and ridiculous, but as a woman who loved her man?  There was simply nothing that compared with knowing you were the woman he wanted in his bed.

Their newly rekindled sex life had, however, delayed Derek another week on the house, and so Charlotte had been four and a half months old when her parents had left her safe and sound with Izzie--and Mark, who had come over to keep her company--and headed out to the new Shepherd family home.

The house had been beautiful to her from the moment it came into view, and Addison couldn't imagine not loving everything about it.  Her earlier misgivings and her sadness about leaving behind the home she had so carefully picked out when she'd imagined her life without Derek gave way in those first minutes to the reality that he had really done this... built them a new home from the ground up... and he had done it with the goal of their family living in it together someday.  When he had started this, Derek hadn't had any guarantees that his hard work would pay off, and he yet he'd forged ahead, and now that she could see all the ways he had taken them both into account throughout the house, mixing her love of classic lines with his appreciation for a more rugged look... the truth was Derek had truly built a home for them, and it felt like home to her as soon as she saw their wedding picture on the fireplace mantel beside their first family photo with Charlotte.

Then he'd shown her the walk-in closet he'd built "just for her."  And Addison wondered if she could possibly love him more.

So then he'd taken her into Charlotte's nursery, and she discovered that yes, she could in fact love him more than she'd ever imagined.

He had duplicated the original nursery entirely, save for the lovingly-made nicks in the paint or scratches on the floor that had resulted from the room decorating party.  Every last detail had been replicated here in her "new" room.  Derek had even gotten everyone to paint on a new canvas to recreate the original artwork that hung on the baby's wall.

"I didn't want to ask Mom to copy the quilt, so we'll just wait to bring the original with Charlotte when she comes home."

There was no discussion needed after that about if they were really ready to move in together officially, if she was actually going to follow-through on her promise that they would join him in the house now that it was finished.  The house by the lake was their family's home, and it was time for them to all start living their life there together.

They had been in bed staring out at the moon musing about housewarming parties and family holidays when Addison rolled over and propped herself up on Derek's chest, a smile easing across her face.  She had been half-joking when she'd typed in her Google search a few days earlier, their big weekend looming and making her feel hopeful and giddy even if she was still nervous.  But in that moment, feeling how right they were and how certain their path felt, Addison decided there was no point in postponing the inevitable.

"So I was doing some research online."

"Yeah?" he asked.  "About?"

"Marriage licenses in the state of Washington."

The look of surprise that burst onto Derek's face quickly gave way to that devilish smile so often responsible for leaving Addison feeling like her head was floating off her shoulders.

"There's a three-day waiting period.  So if we took Monday or Tuesday morning off and got the paperwork filed, we could get married... next weekend."

He kissed her and rolled them over so he was staring down at her even as they both burst into giggles.

"Did you just propose to me, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd?"

"I think I did.  What do you have to say about that?"

When he rolled away from her, Addison felt her breath catch, but the flicker of uncertainty passed quickly as he sat up and opened the nightstand drawer, then turned back to her with a huge grin on his face... and the engagement ring she had left behind in what seemed like another lifetime resting in his hand.

"I think this belongs to you," he whispered.  And then he slid the diamond ring back in place where Addison had continued to feel its absence over all the long months it had been gone.

They took Monday morning off and filed the paperwork, and on Friday afternoon, a judge who was an old friend of Richard's married them in the chapel at Seattle Grace with Miranda, Preston, Izzie, Richard and Adele looking on, Charlotte cradled in her grandmother's arms as Patricia beamed.

When Addison felt her wedding band bump against her engagement ring, she had sighed, feeling as if some part of her had been restored.  And she remembered every detail of the way Derek's face had brightened as she returned the ring he had asked her to hold on to until she was ready to give it back.

Three weeks later, the Shepherd clan had arrived en masse, and a combination housewarming/wedding reception blowout had christened their new home and given all of their friends and family a chance to celebrate their official reunion.  It had also become the day that had, in large part, set today's celebration in motion.

Mark's late arrival to the party hadn't gone unnoticed by the Shepherd women, by Addison or by Izzie, who seemed unusually concerned about where he was.  When the plastic surgeon finally had arrived, Addison had seen him being scolded by Patricia, and she had gone to his rescue only to find him nursing a black eye and bruised knuckles.

"Mark Sloan, who in the world are you fighting now?"

"Hey, I didn't start it, okay?  So you want to blame someone, go find Karev and kick his ass."

Addison looked at him curiously.

"You and Alex got into a fight?"

"Yes!" he bellowed, clearly still angry over whatever had happened.  "We were shooting some hoops, and I was telling him about how Stevens wants to redo my kitchen now that I let her decorate my office, and the next thing I knew, he charged into me and knocked me into a damn pole."

She laughed and he looked at her furiously, which made her laugh even harder.

"You think it's funny that Karev has lost his mind?"

"I think it's hysterical that you don't understand why he's lost his mind."

"Oh, and you do?"

Addison nodded, and Mark motioned toward her, indicating she should go on.

"You were talking about Izzie and Alex lost it and started a fight with you."

Mark scoffed.  "Look, I know he's still hung up on her, but Izzie's not ready to get serious with anyone, and that doesn't have anything to do with me."

"Mark..." she shook her head, a little surprised at how blind he was to what was happening in his own life.  "You know, when everyone was here for my shower, Nancy Mary, Kathleen and Leslie, they all cornered me wanting to know what was going on with you and Izzie.  And I told them nothing because, well, you know them... they'd love nothing better than for you to finally settle down, even if they're not sure it's actually possible.  So I told them nothing was going on."

"And nothing is.  We're friends, Addison.  You know that."

She nodded.  "I do.  I also know that Izzie was trying to stay from underfoot at the house when we brought Charlotte home, and you were trying to give us space, and so you guys ended up spending a lot of time together.  A lot of time, Mark."

"Addison, I know you're officially a Shepherd again, but don't turn into one of the girls, okay?  Izzie's... she's my friend.  That's it.  She's barely put back together again after Duquette dying, and I'm... I would be the last thing she'd want or need in her life in that way."

She sighed at his stubbornness.  "Mark, let me put this another way.  How many women have you seen in the past five, six months?"

Addison waited as Mark stared at her a moment, his silence speaking volumes.  Mark pre-Seattle would've quipped about the two dozen or so women he had bagged, if not more.  This Mark Sloan had to think about it, and when he finished his mental review, he looked a little stunned.

"No one who made an impression apparently."

"Uh-huh.  I'm going to go ahead and guess the real answer is 'zero.'  You know why?  Because every single time anyone turns around, you are with... Izzie Stevens."

They were on the far side of the house, opposite the lake, and Derek had put a lovely redwood bench beside some of the existing trees.  Mark sank down on it, his head dropping as he let out a deep sigh.

"She's 27 years old, Addison.  She just lost the love of her life.  And Karev and her, they have history.  I'm not up for my part in that story if I let us be anything more than friends.  I've already been that guy.  I can't do it again."

Addison moved beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You think she's gonna end up with Alex?"

Mark shrugged and brought his eyes up to meet hers.  "You don't think she will?"

"I think... if you're comparing you and Alex and Izzie to you and Derek and me, you've miscast the roles.  Because I'm pretty sure that if you give yourself permission to admit that you and Izzie aren't just friends, you'd see pretty quickly that Alex is the Mark in this story."

"And what does that make me?" he asked, so earnestly needing to hear it out loud.

"That makes you Izzie's Derek.  That makes you the right guy... for the right girl."

The doorbell rang as Addison's mind ran over the look of surprise and hope that had radiated across Mark's face that day as her words penetrated his thick, stubborn skull.  She could never remember seeing him that way before, and the joy she felt for him had been incredible.  He was a good man no matter what he had tried to show the rest of the world for so long, a man who had been willing to uproot his whole life to fight for love, who had been ready to raise her child as his own should the need have arisen.  And he deserved the future he had dreamed of, even if it had taken a little recasting of the female lead to make it happen.

Izzie, Meredith, Cristina and Callie Torres, George O'Malley's now steady girlfriend, were waiting at the door when Addison arrived to open it.  Izzie looked nervous and excited and positively beautiful, her hair and makeup already done, and the girls were all wearing their lavender halter-top bridesmaid gowns and looking beautiful.

"And we have a bride," Addison teased as she pulled Izzie inside and waited for the others to make their way in before she closed the door.  "The master bedroom is all yours, and your dress is all ready for you and hanging up on the wardrobe door."

Over the course of her separation from Derek and her pregnancy, Izzie had become a treasured friend, and now she was basically becoming family.  Still, she knew that the younger woman was more than a little worried about how to make everything work with all the history of the participants and including everyone she wanted to be a part of it when she'd set about planning her wedding.  So after talking to Derek, Addison had asked Izzie if they could host the wedding as their gift to her and Mark, making Addison a very big part of the celebration without Izzie having to wonder about the uncomfortable nature of having both Addison and Meredith in her bridal party.

"Addison, this place looks amazing," Izzie gushed.  "I don't even know how to thank you."

"You have a beautiful day and night and that's thanks enough.  And everything here is under control, so why don't you go upstairs and get ready and just relax, okay?"

Though it was still weird to have Meredith Grey in her house, the truth was, things between them had been fine in recent months.  To everyone's surprise, the fallout of Izzie and Mark turning into a couple had been Alex and Meredith commiserating and turning into a couple themselves.  Yang and Preston were still... well, Yang and Preston.  But it worked for them.  Still, even though she spent more time around Cristina nowadays because of how close she and Derek were to Preston, Addison still wasn't sure the two of them qualified as friends.  Callie, though, was someone Addison liked a great deal, and the two of them had struck up a quick friendship as the orthopedic surgeon had come to her for advice on how to deal with the awkward feeling of being the outsider among the "fab five."   Even now, when she had been asked to be a part of the group, Callie lingered behind as the rest of the women headed upstairs.

"You realize it takes a special kind of evil to think grown women should wear lavender, right?"

Addison laughed and put a comforting arm around Callie's shoulders.

"Your hair looks amazing, if that helps.  And your cleavage should be illegal."

The brunette smiled widely and laughed.

"That does help.  I knew I liked you for a good reason."

With that, the ortho resident headed for the stairs, stopping to give Charlotte a kiss as the little girl came down the stairs in Patricia's arms dressed only in a white t-shirt and diaper.

"I went in to check on her and she was sitting up playing with her bears, so I figured grandma would get her a snack before we put her in her fancy dress."

"Charlotte, did you know your grandmother is brilliant?"

The little girl who was so very much the best of both of them--Derek's hair and her eyes and a smile that sometimes reminded each of her parents of the mischievous, devilish sides of the other's personality--clapped as she spied Addison at the bottom of the stairs and she reached for her mother, waiting for an after-nap kiss.

"There is some oatmeal ready to heat up," Addison reported, "and a banana waiting to be cut up.  And mama is going to go slip on one of daddy's shirts for some silk protection, and I'll be in the kitchen in a minute."

"You go fuss over your wedding people," Patricia commanded.  "I'll get this one fed and dressed, and we'll be ready on time.  The boys are all gathered at the trailer?"

Addison nodded.  "I'm supposed to call once Izzie's safely hidden upstairs so they can start to convene over here.  Oh, and I should check on Doc.  He'll be sulking all day about having to stay in the playroom, even though he's got his bed, his toys and two bowls of food in there to occupy him."

Patricia laughed and headed off with Charlotte into the kitchen and Addison found her phone and alerted Derek that the coast was clear and he, Preston and George could bring Mark to the house.  Then she peeked in to check on Doc, who looked perfectly content until he noticed her looking at him, at which point he hung his head down and started to whimper into his overstuffed dog bed.

"Oh, please.  You're lucky I don't let the Shepherd cousins chase you all day.  You remember the last party, don't you?"

The dog looked at her quizzically and then he stood up, spun around and turned his back to her, then he curled into a tight ball.

"Uh-huh.  Not so bad now, is it?"

The day kicked into high gear after that, and Addison was soon moving up and down the stairs to alternately calm Izzie's nerves and to check on Mark for Izzie and to reassure everyone that Derek had the rings safely tucked away in his pocket.

Derek being Mark's best man today felt like a victory to them all, and even though just basic good taste had made it seem too awkward for Mark to be at their remarriage ceremony, it had made Addison proud of both of men that they had celebrated together at the housewarming/wedding reception a few weeks later.  When Mark had decided it was time to go ring shopping, it was his lifelong best friend he had asked for help in picking out just the right one, and once the proposal had been accepted, the reformed Romeo had made quick work of officially asking Derek to stand up for him.

The last errand Addison ran was to hand off a small gift-wrapped box to Derek, who nodded and presented it to Mark, who tucked it into his pocket for safekeeping.  And then suddenly the bridesmaids were arranging Izzie's dress so that it would float behind her effortlessly as she and Mark stepped out onto the balcony for their wedding.  Addison opened the door to the judge... the same man who had married her and Derek, and once Izzie deemed herself absolutely ready, Addison walked over to her friend and hugged her tightly.

"You know how happy I am for you, don't you?"

Izzie nodded and fought not to cry.

"If you hadn't asked me to stay with you... if you hadn't been there after Denny... I'm not sure I'd be here right now."

Addison swallowed, fighting back her own tears.

"And I'm not sure I'd be where I am.  So thank goodness we ran into each other that day in the hospital, huh?  From party dress shopping to happily ever after."

Izzie laughed and the two hugged once more before Addison moved to the doorway and waived Derek, Preston, George and the groom into the room.  Mark's eyes sought Izzie out the second he was inside, and when Addison saw the way they looked at each other, the hope she felt for them nearly overwhelmed her.  They had both been through so much to get to this day, and more than any two people she knew, she wished for them a smoother road ahead than the one they had already traveled.

By the time she made it downstairs, Patricia was waiting with Charlotte, her white and lavender floral dress as positively adorable as Addison and Izzie had predicted.  As Richard escorted Patricia to her seat beside the Shepherd sisters, Addison joined Miranda, who had Tuck dressed in an adorable summer suit.  The mothers escorted the "flower girl" and "ring bearer" down the aisle and to their seats, and a moment later, as the jazz trio filled the air with music, the bridal party filtered out onto the perfectly dressed balcony, and with the sun just beginning to set, Mark and Izzie exchanged their vows.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur... the reception, dinner, dancing, a bridal bouquet toss that found Callie the winner and finally, with all of them sprinkling bird seed over the retreating bride and groom as they headed off for a night at the Archfield before they caught their morning flight to Tuscany.

It was long past midnight when Addison turned off the last of the downstairs lights and made her way up toward bed.  The nursery door was standing open, and she could see that Derek was inside lulling Charlotte back to sleep after a late-night diaper change.  She knew it wouldn't help the cause for the baby to see her, so she kept going into their room and slipped out of her shoes before stretching out on the chaise lounge Derek had placed in the far corner of their bedroom.

"Mark said to tell you he did not lose the key."

Addison laughed as Derek closed their bedroom door and then tossed his tuxedo jacket and bow tie onto the bed before he joined her, sliding onto the chaise, his arms wrapping around her.

"He better not.  I went to great pains to wrap that for him.  I wish I could be there when Izzie realizes he bought the Queen Anne house for them.  She really loves that place."

Derek snuggled against her and kissed her shoulder.

"Did you let Doc out?"

"I did," he replied.  "And you, wife... can I just say, you throw one hell of a wedding?"

Addison smiled, her pride undeniable.  "It was nice, wasn't it?"

"It was spectacular," he said, his voice a purr against her neck.  "And that cake."

She laughed and playfully batted his face.

"You and wedding cake... I'm starting to think you have a problem."

"We'll just have to get wedding cakes to celebrate our anniversaries.  That way I can get my yearly fix."

Addison shook her head, a small giggle escaping despite her best effort.  Sometimes when he was like this, she felt like they were back at Columbia, those young, unknowing med students who didn't have a clue what life had in store for them.  But as much as she loved this playful side of Derek, she was fine with the years they carried now, the wisdom that came along with knowing happy didn't come easily and it didn't just fall into your lap.  Those young, wide-eyed twentysomethings had been sure everything would happen the way they wanted it to because they loved each other.  The grown-ups they were now knew there were days when love wasn't enough, but they also knew it was worth anything they had to do to keep it alive.

Derek's fingers slipped between hers, and Addison glanced down and saw the rings on their hands seemingly melded together.  She sighed deeply before she turned in his arms, his lips hovering just above hers in their new position.

"You know what I love?"

"Besides me?" he asked, his eyebrows cocked.

"Besides you."

"What?"

Addison eased closer to him, her arms wrapping fully around him.

"I love that I'm starting to have days where I forget to worry about us.  Not like I'm forgetting we need to keep working hard, but... all day today, I just knew how right we were, how good our life is."

Derek's breath was warm against her mouth, and she knew the time for talking was going to end soon as they somehow managed to get even closer to one another.

"I think I'll have to love that, too.  Not worrying is good.  And I'm pretty sure if either one of us forgets to be grateful for how lucky we got... someone will remind us."

She nodded, quite certain he was right.  But hopefully they would never need the gentle push to get back on track again.

"Now I seem to remember someone promised me some sexy lingerie modeling and a very exhausting night."

Addison sighed and let her fingers sink into the dark curls that loomed above her.

"Well... a promise is a promise."

And just as she'd predicted, the time for talking came to a very quick end.