Addison couldn't take her eyes off the little bundle of joy in her hands. She was mesmerized by her few hours old daughter and her divine beauty. Being an experienced doctor she knew sometimes newborn babies look funny after birth with blood and bruises from natural blood process. But her daughter looked gorgeous from the moment she was born. Addison skipped a heartbeat whenever her daughter fluttered her eyes open and gazed into her mothers'. It was unbelievably awesome. Addison had this brand new person in her hands whom she had never met before. But she felt as if she already knew her. She was exactly like how Addison had imagined her first child would be. 10 long and slender fingers and toes, rosy cheeks, silky soft skin, hints of red hair, blue orbs hiding behind the eyelids and a small dimple to top it all, a perfect combination of Addison and Derek.

"Emily! Emily Vivian Montgomery Shepherd!" Addison whispered staring at her precious jewel.

Naming the Forbes-Montgomery-Shepherd heiress wasn't easy. Addison preferred a unique (and pretentious if you asked Derek) name for their daughter. But after meeting her daughter her instincts told her that she was Emily.

She slightly tiled her head to see Derek's reaction. Derek thought about the name for few moments and then nodded slowly once he felt satisfied with the choice.

"Emily Vivian Montgomery Shepherd" Derek repeated smiling contently.

He inched closer to Addison on the small hospital bed to have a better look at his little princess. He had one arm wrapped around his wife and the other one protectively around the baby peacefully sleeping on her mother's chest. The moment was surreal. Derek felt if there was anything called heaven this was it.

Outside Addison's private room the hospital was running as usual. There was rush to admit patients, receptionist and secretaries were shouting to get the work done, nurses were rushing around burdened with unending work, interns were hunting for surgeries, surgeons were running around to save lives and in between all this chaos people were peeping through the blinds to get glimpse of the Shepherds' princess.

But Addison and Derek were oblivious to any of this. They were in a different world where nothing else but they and their little princess existed. They had often imagined how it would be to hold their baby for the first time, to be parents. But what they were experiencing was beyond anything that they had anticipated. With the birth of their daughter their life had completely changed in a single moment. They were no more just Addison and Derek. A new life was attached to theirs forever. Their every single action was going to impact an innocent life. They were responsible for shaping future of this new soul.

But they weren't scared. They understood it was a huge responsibility. But when they decided to start a family they knew they were ready for it. They were Addison and Derek and it was time to add a little one to the mix.

Amelia lingered outside Addison's room smiling at Addison, Derek and their new born. She didn't want to disturb their intimate moment but she couldn't hold herself back for too long. After all she was also a part of this family.

"Can I take a picture of the happy family?" Amelia asked peeping through the door.

Derek gestured her to come in. She clicked some pictures to send to their eagerly waiting family.

"So how is my God daughter doing?" she asked settling on the bed.

Derek scoffed at her presumption. "What makes you think we will make you her God mother?"

"The fact that I held her mother's hand while you were stuck in OR." Amelia replied pointedly.

"Oh please don't remind me that." Derek groaned. He already felt terrible for missing his child's birth. When Addison's water broke, he immediately rushed back home to bring her to the hospital. He stayed by her side throughout the afternoon but the labor was progressing very slowly. Being a Chief of Surgery he couldn't delay few hospital matters for long and then there was an emergency requiring his experienced surgical skills. Unfortunately his daughter chose that moment for her entrance in the world. Derek constantly talked to Addison through the intercom in the OR, but as the labor progressed Addison couldn't handle the stress alone. That's when Amelia stepped up to comfort her sister-in-law. She was the one who cut the umbilical cord. As soon as the critical part of the procedure was over, Amelia and Derek switched places. But still he felt guilty for missing the birth and first few minutes of his daughter's life. He was grateful that his little sister was there with his wife when he couldn't. Addison and Derek exchanged a glance and decided to formally ask Amelia to be their daughter's God mother.

"Amy, would you be Emily's God mother?" Addison asked.

"Of course I will be! Emily? Is that her name?"

"Yes. Emily Vivian Montgomery Shepherd". Derek announced proudly.

"Emily Vivian that's sweet. By the way who's my God husband?" Amelia asked stealing an apple from Addison's gift basket.

"God husband? What is that?"

"Dude! Emily's God father. I am her God mother so whoever is her God father will by theory of transitivity be my God husband." She explained. Derek just rolled his eyes at her weird logic.

"Well Derek gets to choose that one. We agreed that I will choose the God mother and Derek will choose the God father." Addison answered. "Honey have you decided who do u want Emily's God father to be?"

"I think we should go with Karev." Derek replied.

"Really? Karev? I don't believe you are making that smart ass your baby's God father." Amelia was never shy in expressing her opinion.

"Well my other option was Archer." Derek said scrunching his nose. Till few years back Mark was the undisputed choice for the roll. But now he was out of picture and they didn't have many options in Seattle.

"Oh so you chose the least of the two devils?" Amelia chuckled.

"Yeah right. But actually that guy took good care of Addie during her pregnancy. We both appreciate everything he has done for Addie."

Amelia nodded in understanding. She didn't like the guy much but he was good to Addison.

Emily caught everyone's attention by fluttering her eyes and waking up from her short nap.

"May I please hold her?" Amelia asked, rubbing sanitizer on her hands.

Addison carefully handed the newborn to the younger woman.

"She is the cutest baby on this planet!" Amelia declared. "Aren't you the cutest bunny? I am your aunt. You can call me Aunt Amy. I am the coolest of all your aunts. I am going to take to Paris for your 13th birthday. We are going to have so much fun together." Amelia continued talking animatedly to her youngest niece.

Derek and Addison watched them with a proud smile. While Amelia was lost in baby talk, Derek broached the topic which he had been avoiding. He enveloped Addison's hands in his own and began talking softly.

"Addie, I am so so so sorry for not being with at the time of delivery. You can't possibly imagine how terribly sorry I am for missing our daughter's birth."

Addison was moved by the sincerity in this voice. "Derek it's all right. I understand your commitments. It's one of the perils of being married to a brilliant surgeon."

"Really? You are not mad at me?" Derek eyed her skeptically.

Addison just shook her head smiling. Derek sighed in relief. "I thought you will hold it against me for a long time."

"Honey I know you wanted to be here and that's what matters." Addison assuring him.

"Thank you." Derek said pecking per lips.

When Emily started fussing Amelia returned her to Addison. She kissed the top of her niece's head and reluctantly left to attend her patients.

Shortly after that Alex came to check on Addison and the baby. He was a second year resident now and had chosen to follow Addison's footsteps in ob/gyn and neonatal. He had come a long way since his early internship days. Addison saw good potential in him. He was also eager to learn everything that Addison had to offer. He felt honored when Addison trusted him to be her doctor.

"Everything looks perfect." Alex declared after thoroughly checking the baby and the mother. "Addison, how are you feeling? Is there any pain or discomfort that I should know about?" He asked gently.

"I am feeling on top of the world" Addison grinned.

"Good to know. And how is my little patient? Is she eating properly?"

"Your little patient's name is Emily. And we both want you to be Emily's God father." Derek announced.

"Really? Me?" Alex was surprised. No one had ever trusted him even for babysitting their kids. So being asked by his mentor to be a God father was a big thing. "Cool. Thanks."

He took Emily from Derek and cooed her a little. "Okay Emily. It's time to say good night to your parents. Let's go to the nursery to have a sleepover with other babies." Alex said putting her down in the crib.

"Whoa. Slow down dude. You are not taking my baby away from me." Addison protested reaching for the baby.

"I am not taking her away from you. She will be right down the hall in the nursery. Addison you have been through a long labor today. You need to rest and so does she. Let her be in the nursery for tonight till you feel little better." Alex calmly reasoned with her.

"No. I won't leave her alone in the nursery." Addison argued.

"She won't be alone. Your neonatal staff which you have trained so well will look after her tonight." Alex replied patiently putting his bedsides manner to good use.

"No. I won't let her out of my sight even for a second. She is staying here with me." Addison declared adamantly.

Alex looked at Derek for help but he just shrugged helplessly.

"Stop being a royal ass Addison. You know I am right. This is what you advice to all your patients. So just shut up and let me do what is right for you and your baby." Alex barked at her.

"Don't shut me up. I am your boss." Addison shot back.

"No, right now you are not my boss. You are just an annoying patient and I am your doctor whose instructions you are going to follow." Alex replied sternly.

"Addie, please don't be so adamant. Honey, you have been through a lot today. You need good sleep. Don't you want to be fresh in the morning when we take our daughter home?" Derek tried to convince her.

"Fine. Let me at least say goodnight to her." Addison compromised shooting deadly looks at Alex.

Alex handed the baby back to Addison and waited patiently for 10 minutes while Addison and Derek bid goodbyes to their daughter.

"Good night sweet heart. Sleep tight. Daddy will come to bring you back early in the morning. Till then mommy's friends will take care of you. Love you lots." Derek reluctantly handed Emily to Alex and stood in the doorway till Emily was out of sight.

"I already miss her." Addison grumbled.

"Me too. Let's take her and run home." Derek suggested mischievously. "I can't wait to take her home."

Addison nodded resisting a yawn.

Derek smiled at her. Addison looked exhausted and excited at the same time. Derek smoothed her hair, planted a kiss on her forehead, tucked her in the blanket and pecked her lips kissing her good night.

"Goodnight Addie. Try to have some sleep. Once we go home we probably won't be getting straight 8 hours sleep for next I don't know how many months." Derek said getting in the make shift bed beside her.

"Good night Derek. Thanks for bring her in my life." Addison whispered closing her eyes.

In the midnight a sound of rustling sheets followed by light footsteps woke Derek up.

"Addie, are you alright? Do you need anything?" Derek asked rubbing his eyes.

"I want to see Emily. I can't stay away from her. I was sneaking to the nursery." Addison admitted sheepishly.

"I already tried that but the nurses didn't let me in. They are acting on Karev's strict instructions." Derek confessed.

Addison sat back on her bed "I can't sleep. I am way too much excited."

"Me too." Derek said joining her on the bed.

"We work here. You are the chief. I am head of neonatal. We should be able to get in the nursery whenever we want." Addison complained.

"I am sure we can if we pull our ranks but that will upset the people who are trying to help us. We don't want to offend them. Do we?" Derek asked gently rubbing her sore back.

"Fine. We won't barge in the nursery. But we can still sneak out and have glimpse of our daughter. Her crib is near the right side's window. We can stand outside and watch her from the window." Addison proposed.

"That's a great idea." Derek grinned jumping from the bed. He then helped Addison to stand up. They ensured that the corridor was empty before stepping out.

"There she is." Derek smiled locating Emily's crib.

Addison grinned and stepped closer to the window. Derek followed wrapping his arms around Addison. Emily was sleeping peacefully in the dimly lit nursery, like a divine Angel.

"We made her." Addison whispered.

"We did." Derek had a smile permanently plastered on his face. He was beaming with pride for creating something so perfect.

Addison was overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions. She was excited for the future. She wondered how her daughter will turn out. Whether she will prefer the rains or the slow? If she will be a city girl like her mom or would be a country person like her dad. Whether she will play piano or be a ballerina? Whether she will be interested in any sports? Whether she will be interested in medicine? Whether she will join either of her parents' specialties? Her daughter had a whole life ahead of us. Her life was a clean canvas without any past, mistakes and regrets. It was her and Derek's responsibility to make this blank canvas into a beautiful painting.

Addison thought about their past, their mistakes and their regrets. Tears rolled down her eyes. She remembered her lonely New York days, Mark, the cheating, Derek leaving her, Meredith, coming to Seattle, giving him the divorce papers, Derek giving her another chance, those early terrible days in Seattle, ripping off the band aid, moving in with Derek, countless nights spent together like strangers, Derek's devastating confession on Christmas Eve, the nagging thought of walking away that sometimes creped in her head, Derek requesting her not to leave him, Derek taking small efforts for restoring their relationship, moving out of the trailer in an apartment, building a house for a family and finally deciding to have a baby. The journey wasn't easy. It was slow and painful. They hit lots of bumps on the way. Often it felt like 2 steps ahead and 10 steps back but then they also managed to sprint towards their happily ever after. And now they were here content with the life they had created.

"Hey what are you thinking about?" Derek asked bringing her back from her trance.

"Nothing I was just thinking about past few years."

Derek noticed the tears and panicked out of reflex. Addison wiped her tears and gave him an assuring smile.

"I was just thinking how lucky I am. There was a time when our marriage was on a blink of divorce. We were so close to losing it all. Sometimes I feel it's a dream and when I wake up all of this will be gone." Addison admitted her fears, letting out new string of tears.

"It's not a dream. It's real. I and Emily are not going anywhere." Derek promised her. "We were very close to losing it all but we didn't. We made it through everything. We survived the storm. Addie thanks for believing in our love when I didn't. Thanks for staying with me when I was pushing you away. Thanks for putting up with me when I was at my worst. Thanks for patiently waiting for me. Thanks for building a new life with me. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being in my life and loving me so much." Derek said with teary eyes. Both of their cheeks were soaked in tears.

They had been through a lot. They had drowned and hit rock bottom. But they bounced back and built a perfect life.

People say you can't have it all. But Addison and Derek proved them wrong. They showed the world that life could be perfect. True love is never lost.

A/N: Is anyone interested in knowing how Addison and Derek reached to this point? This is a story in which Addison and Derek make it work and save their marriage? It won't a very fluffy story, will have some august and lots of subtle romance. Please share your thoughts.