The morning air was cool on her pale skin and the sand soft beneath her feet as she sat on the deck watching the sun rise. Dreams had prevented Addison Montgomery-Shepherd from getting any sleep. Dreams of the tiny little body that had lain lifeless in her arms, cold and blue. Then suddenly a little cough and splutter and signs of life began in his little chest. He pinked up and suddenly a faint cry was heard in the OR. The fear that had gripped her heart so tightly relaxed its hold as she laid the little boy on his mother's chest. 'Welcome to the world little man' she said as she watched the tears well in Kate Maguire's eyes. Her partner Mark stood beside her, his eyes transfixed on their little boy. Addison knew that Kate and Mark had been waiting for over a decade for this moment. 11 years of pain and heartbreak, 12 miscarriages and 1 still birth had left them battered and bruised. But they refused to give up on the hope that one day they would have a family. And here he was the miracle that would complete their family. 'Congratulations you two, the stork has landed!' Mark grabbed Addison and took her into a massive bear hug squeezing her so hard he cut off the blood circulation to her arms. 'Thank You Dr. Montgomery. You never gave up on us, never. We never thought this would happen, we never thought....' His words came out in such a rush that Addison was sure he would stop breathing. 'Mark I know, I know. But he's here now and he's safe and sound'.

'Oh Dr. Montgomery, before I forget we have a little surprise' Kate piped up from the bed cradling her son. 'We decided on a name. We're going to call him Aidan'. Well we couldn't name him Addison and we thought Aidan was the closest we would get without giving him a girl's name!'

'Thank you Kate that is an honour I will most graciously accept. Now you two spend time getting to know your son'.

As Addison sat on the decking replaying the incident over and over in her head she wondered if that would ever be her. Would she ever be lying in a bed, someone she loved so truly at her side, holding her child for the first time, the most exciting moment in a woman's life, or so she'd been told? She hoped against hope that it would happen someday. But realistically she knew that time was not in her favour and those she had loved and lost were never going to come back. Pete, Derek, Mark, Kevin, Noah. 'My God' she uttered it audibly as she repeated the list in her head. Married, not married, kids no kids, they'd all moved on except her. This is going to be a very long day she thought to herself. Suddenly a familiar figure caught her eye jogging on the beach. The blonde lithe figure was unmistakable as Dr. Charlotte King. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, there was some sort of charisma that Charlotte exuded that drew people to her. And as quickly as they were drawn to her, they backed off, fear of being eaten alive seeping through their veins. Addison smiled to herself as she thought of the faces of the scared interns on the first day they encountered the formidable Dr. King. Charlotte reminded her of Miranda Bailey in some ways, that same kind of authority, but once you penetrated the frosty exterior there was a caring individual underneath. Never had Addison seen that more clearly than when Charlotte consoled Cooper when his constant self recrimination over what happened to Violet ate him up. It had cost him his relationship with her but she remained by his side as a friend and confidante when he needed it.

Addison called out across the deserted beach; 'Charlotte' – the sudden need for company overwhelmed her and she needed someone, more specifically she needed a friend, to keep her company. She saw Charlotte turn her head towards her. As suddenly as she called her name she saw Charlotte fall. 'Damn, what the hell'. Addison jumped up and ran over to where Charlotte lay in the sand. She fell to her knees in the sand and grabbed Charlotte's hand where she was rubbing her ankle to remove it to get a clearer look.

'Good morning to you too Montgomery. I could have done with a less distracting greeting though – you know maybe whacking me with a baseball bat or something!'

'Sorry Jesus Charlotte I'm so sorry'

'Addison I'm kidding, my God girl relax'

'Did you do any serious damage? Let me take a look'. Addison ran her hand over the area where some swelling was beginning to appear on Charlotte's ankle. She saw too the stone that had tripped her up.

'Addison relax, at most it's a sprain'. Addison took her advice and relaxed a little sitting back onto the sand.

'Ok so what was so important that you felt you had to cause me to nearly break my neck at 5:40 a.m. on a Tuesday morning?'

Addison's head dropped as she stared at her hands and Charlotte realised that something what wasn't quite right with the top-most neo-natal surgeon in the U.S.

"Addison" she said more quietly "You ok?"

Addison's intense study of her hands made Charlotte smile. It was something she used to do as a little girl when her Daddy was mad with her and she didn't want to look at him for fear of seeing the look of disappointment in his eyes. Addison lifted her head and looked at the back drop behind Charlotte. The waves were lapping against the shore and the sun had risen higher since she'd woken an hour earlier. The sky was now a kind of crimson colour.

'I'm fine, sorry again, I just....' Addison's voice trailed off.

'You just what?' – Charlottes voice was full of concern.

'I just needed company. God how sad does that sound?'

'That doesn't sound sad at all, that sounds like you need a drink, but its 5:45 in the morning it's a bit early for wine. Coffee instead?' Charlotte inclined her head towards Addison's house.

'Yeah ok coffee sounds good'

'Slight problem though, I can't really walk on my own at the moment unassisted. I could use a lift. You up for a bit of early morning weight lifting?'

Addison smiled as she realised that Charlotte really wasn't badly injured and her heart beat slowed down considerably.

'Yeah no problem'

Charlotte had been expecting a hand around her waist and a hopping tour to the house. Instead, Addison took Charlotte totally unaware and scooped her up into her arms and carried her to the house. Charlotte laughed the whole way there.

Addison put a still giggling Charlotte down on the couch.

'Ok what was that about Montgomery?' Charlotte said as she regained her breath.

'What was what about?' Addison said with a wry smile on her face.

'That sprint across the sand'

'Well you mentioned coffee and I don't feel like I'm fully awake yet. So I've put some on and now I want to take a second look at that ankle where I can see it properly'

'Montgomery, how many times do I have to tell you, I may not be a top surgeon but I know it's not broken, there's a tiny bit of swelling.... Oww'

While she had been protesting Addison had positioned herself on the coffee table in front of the sofa and began to knead the muscles around Charlotte's ankle and the upper part of her foot.

'Dammit Montgomery, give a girl a bit of warning will you'.

Addison laughed 'I'd say sorry if I thought you'd believe me, but I don't think there's any point'.

'You'd be right on that' Charlotte said as the pain subsided

Addison continued to massage Charlotte's foot making sure she didn't aggravate the injury any further. Charlotte put her head back and relaxed it against the back of the sofa. She began to moan softly. Addison stared at her a little bemused but continued until she heard the percolator click and realised the coffee was ready. She removed her hand to a slight moan of disappointment from Charlotte. Suddenly the blondes head snapped up and her cheeks were red as she blushed furiously. 'God Addison I'm sorry, I was a million miles away'.

'It's okay; I know where that is, I've been. In fact I wish I could stay there sometimes. Coffee is ready; I'll make two cups shall I?'

'Yes please thanks' Charlotte voice was still a bit shaky – she was half way back to reality but it was a long journey.

As they sat coffee mugs in hand there was an uneasy silence. Addison was trying hard to find something intelligent to break it with. But nothing came. That little voice in her head kept repeating 'Addison, you're a doctor, make with the small talk it's what you guys do best. Come on, 'God it looks like it's going to be a nice day out there, or got any plans for the weekend?' However, no words came.

Suddenly she felt a hand slip into hers. She looked down at the couch and realised that she had no desire to slip it away. This was the company she had been searching for when she called Charlotte earlier. Another desire overtook common sense and she leaned in to kiss Charlotte softly on her temple. When she pulled back Charlotte had already moved forward and was placing a kiss on her lips. Gentle but insistent she felt Charlottes mouth claim hers. As she felt her tongue slip into her mouth she moaned. Charlotte's body moved towards her and leaned into her pressing hard. Suddenly Addison felt Charlotte pull away a look of pain on her face.

'Charlotte, are you ok?'

'Ankle, sore, sorry' – coherent thought had deserted her. All she could think about was the feeling of that kiss on her lips, the feeling of Addison's body pressed against hers, how good it felt and how much she wanted to do it again.

Addison turned so that she was facing Charlotte and positioned her straight against the back of the sofa again where she had turned to lean into her. She moved but kept hold of Charlotte's hand as she repositioned her ankle on the cushion she had put on the coffee table earlier. She returned to the couch, but instead of sitting beside Charlotte she knelt across her lap, one knee either side of her hips, careful not to put any pressure on her leg lest it hurt her ankle. She leaned down and claimed Charlotte face with her hands leaning in to kiss her softly at first, little tiny kisses. As passion rose the kisses became more persistent and probing. She felt Charlotte moan and move her hands up to cup her ass as she ran her tongue around the outer edge of her lips and plunged her tongue deep into her mouth.

In order so they could both catch their breath Addison pulled back to look into those deep blue pools. It seemed to her that Charlottes eyes were actually smiling which she had never seen before.

'Ok wow, emm, what are we doing?' – the questioning in Addison's voice made Charlotte concerned that she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life with someone she was finally about to concede, she could call a friend, and she didn't have many.

'I can leave' Charlotte said abruptly about to try and move; but Addison pushed her back against the couch gently. 'God no, no Charlotte, I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay, God how I want you to say'. Addison smiled and reluctantly Charlotte smiled with her, she couldn't help it, that smile was infectious.

'What I meant was, is this ok? I mean one minute we're saying good morning, twenty minutes later I'm straddling you on my couch, imagining doing things to you that weren't really in my plans for the day!'

'Really, what kind of things?' – Charlotte said this with an edge of real amusement to her voice but she was caught off guard as Addison began to show her exactly what she meant

'This' – she kissed her deep and long

'This' – she began to massage her breasts through her jogging top rubbing her nipples until they were straining under the Lycra

'This' – she ran her hands down her sides and began to massage Charlotte's stomach

'And this' – she slipped one hand gently down the front of Charlotte's shorts and cupped her wet panties slipping one finger inside them to find the point that would eventually make Charlotte surrender.

'Jesus Addison, oh God don't stop, yes there please, please.....'

Their plan for the day was decided in that moment.