"It's okay, pumpkin. It's okay." Derek is standing next to a crib in the pediatric oncology ward wiping vomit from his daughter's chin when the door opens. He and Meredith - she's resting in the rocking chair - both look up to see Doctor Byrne's grim face.

"Doctor Shepherd, Doctor Grey," she begins, "we got the results back. I'm afraid no one in your family is a close enough match."

Derek doesn't turn away from the oncologist, but he can tell by the hitch in Meredith's breathing that she's on the verge of crying. He gets it, he's close himself. "My mother, four sisters, nine nieces, and five nephews...and not one match? Nothing?" They're almost out of options, and he knows it - he and Meredith were tested first, and neither was a match, nor was Lexie. Meredith even asked her father and half-sister Molly to be tested, but neither came close to matching, and now his entire family had been ruled out as donors. "Okay, so now what?"

"Now we start looking for an unrelated donor. I'm sorry."

Derek wants to ask what the chances of finding an unrelated donor are, but Riley throws up again. He sons a fresh pair of gloves and cleans her up again before lifting the crying eighteen-month-old to his shoulder. When he looks up, the doctor is gone and Meredith is at his side, head against his shoulder, smoothing back what's left of their daughter's wispy, dark blonde hair. He puts his free arm around his wife and kisses her forehead, sharing her pain before his phone rings.

"That's Nancy," he announces, recognizing the ringtone. He passes the toddler to Meredith and wanders down to the waiting room to take the call. "Hey, Nance."

He can tell she's been crying. "Derek, we got the results back today. None of us-"

"Are a match," he finishes with a sigh. "I know, Doctor Byrne was just here."

"Derek, you need to call Addison."

"Nancy, I will hang up on you. You know I will."

"Derek, grow up! I know what she did was terrible, but you haven't exactly been a saint yourself. I get that you don't want to talk to her or see her, but it's not about you anymore, it's about Riley. It's time to swallow your pride. You call her, or I will," his sister threatens, then hangs up before he can.

He's sweating now, his heart racing. He hasn't seen or spoken to Addison since the night he found her in bed with Mark over five and a half years ago. She's called, texted, e-mailed, even gone so far as to send letters to the hospital - damn Richard for telling her he was there - but he has ignored her, deleted voicemail, e-mails, texts, thrown the mail away unopened. He would be perfectly content to keep it that way forever, but he knows that is no longer an option - not if he wants to keep his daughter this side of heaven. He just hopes he can keep both his wife and his little girl after he opens this can of worms.

He paces the room a few times, takes some deep breaths and tries to calm down before returning to Riley's room. Meredith is back in the rocker with Riley asleep on her chest. He grabs one of the plastic chairs by the window and sits in front of her. Looking in her eyes he takes her hand and swallows hard. "Mere, we need to talk."

…..

"Emme, sit down, please."

The not-quite-five-year-old defiantly clicks her tap shoes against the tile a few more times before sliding into the booth across from her mother. "Daddy's takin' too long," she whines as she scratches her belly, itchy in a purple, aqua and black sequined costume. "How much longer?"

"It's busy in here tonight, please be patient," Addison begs as she digs her phone out of her purse and opens the Angry Birds app. "Here, you can play for a few minutes," she offers, hoping to keep the girl occupied until Mark returns with their ice cream, Emmeline's treat for doing so well in her first dance recital.

Emme doesn't get far in the game before the phone rings. "Can I answer it?" the she asks. Addison looks at the name and quickly hits ignore. "Who was it, mama?"

"Nobody, baby. Just play your game." Addison tries to act calm, but her mind is racing. What on earth does he want after all this time? She's still pondering it when the phone rings again.

"D...Der...Derek," Emmeline sounds before Addison hits ignore again. "Mama, who is Derek?"

"No one you know, Emme. Oh, look, here comes daddy."

Mark hands Addison her ice cream - cherry vanilla on a waffle cone - and sets a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough with hot fudge and rainbow sprinkles in front of Emmeline before sitting down. The little girl is shoving a spoonful into her mouth when the phone rings again. "Is it Derek?" she asks around the ice cream, hot fudge dribbling down her chin.

Mark turns to Addison so fast she thinks he might have whiplash. "Why is Derek calling you?"

She turns her phone off and throws it in her purse. "I don't know, but whatever it is can wait."

Okay, I know I have no right starting something new right now, but I'm doing it anyways. The idea popped into my head and needs to come out so I can focus on my other stories. This chapter is kinda short, but the rest will be longer.