Work Text:
Addison lingers in the apartment foyer as she listens to the back and forth between her husband and son.
“C’mon, JackJack. It’s time for bath, then jammies and bed.”
“Nuh uh, 52 more minutes.”
“That’s a very specific amount of time, but no dice. We need to get you in the tub now.”
“Can’t catch me!”
“Jackson Avery Montgomery-Sloan…”
Addison peeks around the wall to find her son, shirtless and wearing his Arthur leggings, darting around the living room. Mark pushes himself up from the floor, dropping the matching top in his hands as he goes to chase their son. Addison walks fully around and grabs their son before he runs smack dab into the wall.
“What do I always say about walking feet, Jackson?”
Her son’s eyes light up. “Mommy!” He throws his arms around her neck, squeezing her tightly. Addison can’t help but beam as she hugs him back. “Daddy! Daddy! Mommy home!”
“I can see that, Ducky.” Mark walks over, placing a hand on the small of his wife’s back. “I wasn’t expecting you until after bedtime.” He manages to get a kiss in without Jackson noticing.
“I got everything settled sooner than expected and managed to switch my flight. I wanted to be back in time so I could see my two favorite boys.” She bounces Jackson a little. “Especially my most favorite.”
Jackson looks up at her, beaming. “I miss’t you, Mommy.”
“I missed you, so, so much.” She plants kisses to his face. “Were you my good boy for Daddy while I was gone?”
He nods, as if she didn’t just witness him running away from his daddy to avoid bath time. “Yeah-huh.”
“Oh, really?” She tilts her head. “So, you were being a good listener just now?”
Jackson dips his head, whining a little. “Mommyyy.”
“Walking feet inside, Lovebug,” she gently chides. “And you don’t run away from your daddy.”
Jackson pouts, but manages to look over at Mark. “Sorry, Daddy. No more runnin.”
“I appreciate that, baby boy.” Mark kisses his forehead. “I know you’re a little wound up. We had dinner with your cousins.”
“A piccy-nic,” Jackson reports to Addison. “In the park! Lotsa twinkly lights.”
Addison’s smile reappears. “Oh, that sounds like a fun time. You’ll have to tell me all about it while I give you a bath.”
“I can do it, Red,” Mark offers. “You just got home.”
“And I missed my baby. You’ve been on duty for a week, Mark. I can handle this.”
Jackson looks between the two of them. “Mommy and Daddy bath time?”
“Sure thing, Lovebug. C’mon.”
Usually, just one of them tackles the bath while the other cleans up dinner dishes and tidies the living room. Given that Mark and Jackson ate out tonight, there’s no dinner to clean, and surprisingly, the living room isn’t too bad. It’s helpful to have an extra set of hands when it comes to bath time anyway, especially as Jackson clings to his mom as if they’ve been separated for 6 months, not 7 days.
A bit of guilt settles in as he starts whining once the water is ready. It takes a few tries for him to finally let go, so she can put him in the tub. Addison has to instantly direct him to his favorite collection of rubber ducks.
“Mama Ducky, Daddy Ducky…and JackJack Ducky!” The little one squeals with excitement as he starts pushing them around the water. “Just yike park.”
“You saw duckies at the park?” Addison asks, leaning a bit over the edge of the tub to watch him carefully.
“Yeah-huh. Family duckies.” Jackson cuddles the “mommy duck” (aka the one with blue eyes, because that’s how he determined that). “Yike our family,”
“I wish I could’ve seen them.”
“Go park tomorrow?” Jackson asks, tilting his head.
“We can go tomorrow,” Addison promises. “Mommy has one more day off. It’ll be me and my little buddy.”
Jackson looks over at Mark. “Daddy?”
Mark shakes his head. “I’ve got to work, bubs.” Jackson pouts. “But, you’re going to have so much fun with Mommy. You’ve got a lot to catch her up on. Why don’t you tell her about our picnic in the park?”
Jackson starts chattering about the children’s band they saw there, as well as the yummy food they ate, and the antics he got up to with Alex and April. Apparently, they went up to the highest spot of the jungle gym, being very, very brave.
“Oh, that sounds very brave,” Addison agrees as she starts scrubbing his body with the aloe scrub. “Was your daddy very brave too?”
“Yeah-huh. Daddy only get little pinchy face.” Jackson mimics his dad’s stressed face, doing remarkably well for a toddler.
Mark rolls his eyes. “Because I was worried about you, silly boy.” He double-checks the hairwrap on their son as it’s not a wash night. “You and Lex were being very silly.”
“Lex Spidey-Man. JackJack Miles Mor-ally-es.”
“Was April Gwyn?” Addison asks, scrubbing his chest.
“Nuh uh. Apes Jane, yike Tarzan.” He rolls his eyes. “Silly, Mommy.”
Mark smirks. “Yeah, Mommy. Keep up.” Addison pinches his thigh, causing him to yelp and splash the water. “Hey!”
“No spashin,’ Daddy,” Jackson reprimands.
“Yeah, Daddy,” Addison mimics her husband. “No splashing.”
Mark shakes his head. “I have not missed you two teaming up on me.”
“Oh, really? That’s one of the things I missed the most.” Addison leans over to kiss him.
Jackson makes a face. “Yuck. No miss dat.”
Addison and Mark pull apart from one another, chuckling a bit. “Oh no?” She asks.
“No. Miss Mommy…and Mommy hugs…and Mommy kisses for JackJack.”
“Ah, yes. Mommy should only kiss JackJack?”
He nods triumphantly. Addison smiles and plants a kiss to his damp cheek.
“Mommy will always give her JackJack some kisses.”
“Mommy go ‘way ‘gain?”
Addison bites her lip when she sees the anxiety written across his deep green eyes. She rubs his back, not caring that she gets some of the lavender-scented bubble bath on her in the process.
“I know Mommy’s been away quite a bit recently,” she says, softly. “First when I had to hide from that mean man…”
“Mean man go bye bye.”
“He did. He’s taking a very, very long timeout for what he did,” Addison reassures him. “But then Mommy had to make sure those vans were set up. So people could get help if they needed it.”
The mobile clinics had been Bailey’s idea. Luckily, in Seattle, reproductive health isn’t at risk. The Elena Bailey Memorial Clinic is still up and running, even after all the drama. They’ve been able to get better security to make sure that everyone remains safe. Sure, they can’t stop the protestors or detractors, but it’s a lot better than when they originally started. The same cannot be said country-wide, especially since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. People need safer access. Thus, the mobile clinics come in. Several OBGYNs have offered to donate their time to drive across the country to places where there’s less access.
Given that Miranda is busy with her job as chief of SGMW, as well as running the Seattle clinic, Addison agreed to help get the mobile ones off the ground, double-checking insurance, paperwork, and making sure everything was above board so no one would get in trouble. It was an exhausting 7 days, but it will be well worth it for everyone to get the care they need.
“But Mommy isn’t going to have to leave again for a good long while,” Addison promises. “I’ve got the best people on the job out there.”
“Mommy the best,” Jackson points out.
Addison smiles. “I am very good at what I do, but there are other people who are too.” She kisses his forehead. “And because they’re out there, Mommy can be home with her baby. Right where you need me.”
Jackson sleepily smiles. Addison kisses his forehead before going back to the bath. She does most of the work while Mark mostly readjusts their son as needed. Bath time isn’t typically a team sport, but she enjoys having him there for some family bonding time.
Once Jackson is out of the bath and wrapped in his duckling towel, Addison gives him to Mark to get ready for bed. The little boy whines, making grabby hands for his mama.
“Hey, Mommy just needs to take a quick shower,” Addison promises, kissing his nose. “I’ve been on a yucky plane all day. Once I’m done, I’ll put on my jammies too.”
“Want Mama to put mines on,” Jackson complains.
“I’ll get you dressed tomorrow. Can you be my good boy and let Daddy get you ready?” Jackson pouts. “What if Daddy gets you ready in here while I take my shower?”
Jackson thinks about it for a minute. “And pick Mommy’s jammies?”
“Yes, and you can pick Mommy’s jammies. I’ll wear whatever you want me to.”
“And Daddy’s?”
“That’s up to him.”
“You can pick mine too,” Mark agrees. “Can you remind me how that pajama time song goes? The one from the book?”
Addison smiles as Jackson starts singing it while he’s carried out of the room. She tries to stay true to her word and keep the shower quick, but it’s easy to get caught up in the jets she had personally added a few years back. She certainly wasn’t staying at dumps during her trip, but nothing compares to being home, with her own shampoo and conditioner. She even grabs Mark’s body wash, just happy to finally be back in the same vicinity of her boys.
As she washes herself, she hears them re-enter the bathroom. Even through the running water, she can hear Jackson’s sleepy giggles and Mark singing slightly off-key to keep him happy. She peeks through the fogged-up glass every now and again, just to be reminded of everything she missed.
She wraps a towel around herself before exiting the shower completely. Jackson sits on the floor, wearing his favorite Barney footie pajamas. Mark’s got on some flannel pants paired with his “Groom” t-shirt, with two rings for the o’s. They had a small ceremony with just Jackson, Meredith, Derek, Alex, Amelia, April, and Owen present, but Liz had sent matching, corny shirts as a gag. Addison isn’t surprised to find her “Bride” shirt on the sink paired with her favorite pink linen pants. There’s a tiny tiara on top of the t, with a veil hanging off the b. Addison found them cringey from the minute she opened them and only wore them to thank her sister-in-law, but they always seem to be Jackson’s go-to when he’s allowed to pick out his mommy and daddy’s pajamas.
“I swear Auntie Lizzie puts you up to this,” Addison muses as she grabs her pajamas to get ready.
Jackson beams. “Auntie Lizzie send fun gifts.”
“She sends the cutest outfits for you. Me and Daddy…”
“I swear this was punishment for her not getting an invite,” Mark grumbles, pulling Jackson onto his lap.
“Daddy in t’ouble with Auntie Lizzie?” Jackson asks.
Mark shakes his head. “Nope. I just sent her pictures of my adorable JackJack, and I’m off the hook.” He presses a raspberry to his cheek, earning him a giggle.
Addison quickly gets dressed and scoops Jackson into her arms. She carries him out to the bedroom to find his stuffed animals are already waiting for them.
“JackJack’s spent the night in our bed since you’ve been gone,” Mark explains.
“So’s Daddy no lone’lee,” Jackson whispers.
“You’re such a sweet boy,” Addison coos, snuggling him close. “C’mon, let me say hello to Ranger and Hank.”
The family cuddles up in bed together. Jackson leans against Addison, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She kisses the top of his head and nuzzles her cheek against his. Mark passes her a pacifier from the nightstand, and she slides it into her son’s mouth.
“Mommy’s here, baby. Get some sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”
“P’mise?” Jackson mumbles beneath the nipple.
“I promise.”
Addison rubs his back soothingly, long after she feels the shift in his breathing. She keeps her cheek against his and lets out a soft sigh. Mark moves closer, wrapping an arm around both of them, sandwiching their little boy in the middle.
“I missed you,” he whispers.
“I missed you. Both of you.” She runs her fingers against his chest. “Thank you for holding down the fort while I was gone.”
Mark shakes his head. “You do it all the time when I have conferences and such.”
“Still. I know it isn’t easy, the solo parenting thing.”
“You were doing important work, Addie. I meant what I said, if you wanted to go out there longer, help them get set up…”
“No.” Addison snuggles Jackson closer. “I’m proud of the work I did, Mark. It was good. It was important. People really need it…but I also know I’m needed here.” She pauses. “I’m double board certified, and I’ve always had to do a million jobs at once. But this…this is where I want to be. With you, with our baby. We waited too long for all of this. There’s no way I’m letting go of it now.”
Mark kisses her temple and strokes her hair. Addison lets out another content sigh, happy to be back where she belongs.