Disclaimer: I don't own it.

This is a sequel to 'The Love that Keeps Us Together'. I'd recommend reading it first but it's not necessary. I hope you enjoy!

Love That Keeps Us Together summery – Mark's daughters from New York come to live with him. Kaitlyn is 16 and was pretty much raised by Mark, Addison, and Derek all together. She starts hating Addie but ends up bringing the three friends back together. Lily is 5. You don't yet know much about her mother except that her mother was high with Amelia. Derek gets Addie pregnant, which brings them back together as a couple. They have a daughter, Grace. Mark and Izzie end up together. Izzie is pregnant. Derek and Addison get remarried at the end of the story. Derek's mother, Carolyn, and his sisters, Kathleen, Nancy, and Sarah, try to be involved in the big events of Derek and Addie's life. Derek's youngest sister, Amelia, shows up unexpectedly at their wedding after no one had seen her in four years.

This story takes place almost a year later. Kaitlyn is now 17, a senior in high school, and deciding what college to go to next year. She's still dating Will. Lily is six, a great big sister, and loves school. Grace is one and a half, walking and talking, and has curly red hair the color of Addison's. Derek and Addison are still madly in love. Izzie has moved in with Mark.

Addison stared at her watch. These two minutes seemed like an eternity. Finally the time was up. She looked at the pregnancy test in her hand. Negative. She was disappointed yet again. She thought back to the moment she decided she wanted another baby.

"Push Izzie. Just one more push and you can see your baby." Addison encouraged Izzie to keep pushing. She was getting tired. It had been a long labor but Izzie was so close. "Ready. One, two, three, push." Izzie tried her hardest.

"That's it Izzie. You're doing great." Mark said calmly holding her hand.

"It's a boy!" Addison announced placing the screaming baby on Izzie's chest. "Do you want to cut the cord?" Addison asked.

"Yeah." Mark said taking the scissors from Addison. Someone took the baby to get him cleaned up.

"7 pounds, 2 ounces." The nurse announced. She brought the baby back and put him in Izzie's arms.

"He's beautiful Iz." Mark said rubbing his baby's head.

"He is." Izzie responded. Neither one could stop smiling. Derek came in.

"Congratulations!" Derek said.

"Thanks." Izzie replied.

"Finally a boy for us to hang out with." Mark said to Derek.

"Good. There are way too many girls around." Derek said.

"Hey you better be careful what you say. You live with them." Addison warned him.

"I know. I live with four amazing girls." He said as he kissed her.

"Does he have a name?" Addison asked.

"Not yet." Izzie said.

"We'll leave you alone for a little while. Just have me paged if you need me." Addison said as she left with Derek.

"I love him so much already." Izzie said admiring her baby.

"I know. He's perfect." Mark responded.

"Want to hold him?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah." He took the baby from Izzie, loving the feeling of holding his child for the first time. "What are we going to name him?"

"What do want to name him?" Izzie asked him.

"Tell me some names you like." Mark said.

"Umm, Brandon, Joseph, Benjamin." Izzie listed.

"Not Benjamin. We can't name him Benjamin." Mark said quickly.

"Okay. Are you going to tell me why?" Izzie asked.

"How much did Addison tell you about New York and her and Derek?" Mark wanted to know.

"She told me about Elizabeth and she told me that she and Derek tried for a baby for a long time, but it never happened." Izzie said.

"This isn't really my business to tell, Addison doesn't like to talk about it, but she did get pregnant, once, in the middle of all of that trying. She carried a baby full term. He died a few hours after he was born. They named him Benjamin. Benjamin Joel Shepherd. Izzie, that was the hardest thing they ever had to go through. It just tore them apart. It tore all of us apart. You can't name him Benjamin. You can't do that to Addison." Mark told Izzie.

"I had no idea. That had to be so hard." Izzie said sadly.

"It was for them." Mark agreed.

"Do you want to name him after you?" Izzie offered.

"No Junior." Mark declined.

"How about Nathan?" Izzie asked.

"It's different. I like it." Mark said.

"Nathan Marcus Sloan?" She asked.

"Perfect." He confirmed. He kissed her.

"Hi Nathan. I'm your mommy." Mark gave her the baby back.

Later….Addison came in.

"How are you feeling?" Addison asked Izzie.

"Wonderful." Izzie said smiling.

"Only you, Iz." Addison examined her. "My turn." She took the baby. "He's beautiful. He looks just like Mark."

"I think he looks kind of like him." Izzie said.

"Oh he looks identical to Mark's baby picture." Addison told her.

"Really?" Izzie asked excited.

"Yeah." Addison said.

"You have that look." Izzie observed.

"What look?" Addison asked confused.

"The I want another baby now look." Izzie informed her.

"I miss when Grace was this little." Addison told Izzie.

"They grow up so fast." Izzie said.

"They do." Addison agreed. She gave the baby back. "Enjoy it while you can."

"We will." Izzie said.

Addison went home to Derek that night. They were laying in bed.

"Let's have another baby." Addison announced. Derek looked a little surprised. He sat on the bed.

"Okay." He agreed with her.

"I know based on our track record, it may not happen and Grace isn't that old yet, but I really want a baby." Addison ranted.

"Honey, I said okay." Derek said stopping her.

"Really?" Addison was excited. Derek smiled.

"Yes, let's have a baby." He agreed.

"But we need to try to be relaxed about it. Let's not get stressed if it doesn't happen. Especially because I'm still breastfeeding." Addison said.

"Okay. Let's just casually try and if it happens it happens." Derek said.

"Are we going to casually try now?" Addison asked suggestively.

"Definitely." Derek confirmed smiling. "Add?"

"Yeah?" She said.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that baby you held today?" He asked.

"Maybe." She said.

"I thought so." Derek said.

"Well, I do want a baby and I know you do too so now's as good as ever." She told him.

"Now is perfect."

Tears began to fall from Addison's eyes. She wanted another baby badly and getting there was stressful. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Getting pregnant with Grace was the only time she ended up with a baby in her arms and she wasn't even trying to get pregnant. Being older now was only going to make it harder. Derek came in behind her.

"How did it go?" He asked excited that she might be pregnant with his second child. Addison turned around and he saw that she was crying. Derek wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay. You'll get a baby when the time is perfect." He gently reassured her.

After hold onto his wife for a few minutes Derek let go. "I have to go to work now. Are you going to be alright?" He asked. She nodded. He kissed her.

"I love you." Addison said to him.

A little while later, Addison was playing with Grace in the living room when Izzie came in carrying the baby seat containing her screaming baby.

"I don't know what to do with him anymore. He screams all the time. And spits up all the time." Izzie said near tears. She put the baby down and sat on the couch. "I haven't slept in days."

"Has he eaten?" Addison asked picking the three month old baby up.

"Yes. He's been feed, changed, rocked. Everything I can think of." Izzie said.

"How did the doctor's appointment go?" Addison asked.

"Everything came back normal, which is frustrating because I know something's wrong." Izzie told her.

"We'll figure it out. You look exhausted. Lay down and take a nap. Grace and I will take care of Nathan for a little while." Addison said.

Izzie was so tired, she managed to stay asleep through the hour of screaming and the loud chatter coming from Lily and Kaitlyn when they got home from school. Addison ushered them into the playroom quickly. They took turns holding their little brother and played with Grace. Derek and Mark also snuck into the playroom past Izzie when they came home from work.

"Honey we're home." Mark said laughing. "Hey how'd you do that?" He asked referring to his sleeping child.

"Magic touch I guess." Addison replied handing the baby over.

"So you had a good day?" Derek asked kissing her.

"We did." Addison said.

"Even with Izzie melting down and my baby screaming?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I got my baby fix in for the day." Addison said smiling. Lily walked over to Mark.

"Daddy, Nathan is soo cute." Lily told him.

"He is, isn't he?" Mark said.

"Yeah, I got to hold him." Lily squealed.

"That's great." Mark said, wishing he had Lily with him all the time, and Kaitlyn, his whole family together. "Lily, do you want to spend the night we me tonight?" He asked.

"Yes, can I have a sleep over with Daddy tonight?" She asked Addison.

"Of course. You don't need to ask to be with Daddy." Addison answered.

"I'm going to go pack my stuff." Lily said as she ran out of the room.

"Is your wife having a sleepover at my house?" Addison asked him.

"No. I'm going to wake her up." Mark said but he didn't move.

"Are you afraid?" Derek asked laughing.

"A little." Mark responded.

"She's been asleep for four hours, she'll be in a good mood." Addison told them. They all walked into the living room and stood around Izzie until she opened her eyes.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Mark said to her.

"How long have I been asleep?" Izzie asked.

"Four hours." Addison said.

"Wow. Nathan?" Izzie said

"He's here. He's asleep." Mark said.

"We should go. He's going to be hungry any minute." Izzie said getting up.

"We have to wait for Lily. She's having a sleepover." Mark said.

"Oh good. I'm glad Addison can have a quiet night after helping me." Izzie said. She turned to Addison. "Thank you. Really. I needed it."

"Clearly." Addison said. Lily ran in the room with her bag.

"I'm ready!" Lily announced.

"Let's go." Mark said putting Nathan in his carseat.

"Have fun." Addison said. They all left and Derek shut the door behind them.

"It's just us. What do you say we try again for that baby?" He asked pulling her in for a hug.

"I'd say yes, but we still do have Kaitlyn and Grace. How about we feed them dinner and then try for that baby." Addison responded.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Derek said.