"Daddy here?" Michael asked his mother as they stepped into the building the morning after their arrival in Seattle. He hadn't seen or spoken to his father in approximately two months. Michael was incredibly attached to both his parents; being apart from Derek for two months had been a challenge.

"Yeah, sweetheart, he is definitely here." Addison told her son. She watched his face light up with a smile that always brought a smile to her own face.

"Do-es Daddy wants to see me?" Michael asked her in concern. "You's ask him, pwease?"

"Michael, I'm sure your father would love to see you." Addison promised.

"Daddy!" Michael screamed with excitement when he spotted his father at the coffee cart in the lobby. He let go of his mother's hand and ran straight toward his father.

Derek barely had enough time to figure out what was going on. He turned to see his son running toward him and opened his arms just in time to catch the child.

"Daddy." Michael squealed again, wrapping his arms tightly around his father's neck.

"Michael!" Derek exclaimed, trying to sound just as enthusiastic as his son had. "I missed you so much, buddy."

"Weally?" Michael asked sounding a little surprised. "Mama trieded ta call you so I's can tawk ta you but you's never pickded up."

"Well, I'm very sorry about that, Mikey. I didn't mean to do that, I did not realize that you were the one that wanted to talk to me." Derek apologized to his son, placing a loving kiss on the little boy's forehead. "You forgive me?"

Michael nodded his head and tightened his arms around his father's neck so he wouldn't put him down.

"I promise to make it up to you. I'm glad Mommy brought you to work with her today. I really missed you. We will spend lots of time together before you go back home."

"Derek..." Addison spoke up from where she stood a few feet away from the father and son duo. "I have to go prep my patient for surgery and get to the OR. I was gonna drop Mikey off at day-care but apparently the day-care at this hospital is a pre-school and there is a waiting list so I'm pretty much screwed. Do you think you can keep an eye on him for a few hours? If you have surgery scheduled then I can try to find someone else to stay with him."

"I'll stay with him. I can give my cases to someone else." Derek replied without even looking her way.

Addison moved closer to them and lean in to give Michael a quick peck on the cheek. Addison quickly pulled away after her son returned the gesture of affection, she could tell that Derek was uncomfortable with their proximity and so was she. "I'll come find you when I'm done so I can take him. I'm sure you've got work to do." she said before walking away.

"So, Mikey, you hungry? Wanna go to the cafeteria and grab breakfast?"

Mikey nodded his head. "Chocolate milk!" he exclaimed happily.

Just a few minutes later Derek had his son situated at a table with a small milk carton of chocolate milk and a cookie. He sat across the table, silently watching as the three year old attempted to eat the large cookie.

"I'm really sorry I left you, Mikey. I'm sorry that I never call..."

"S'okay, Daddy. Mommy 'splained it ta me."

"What did she explain to you?"

"Her telled me that you had ta go because her is do-ed somefing bad. She telled me that you's stopped luffing her a wong time ago, that's why you's never comed home. But she telled me that you's always gonna luf me. Wight, Daddy?"

"Mikey, buddy, this whole thing is so much more complicated than you will be able to understand. You're just a little kid."

"I's a big boy!" Michael insisted.

"What happen between me and your mom, it's too complicated for you. You're too young to understand love and trust. It's something that a lot of grown ups don't understand. I don't think I understand it, honestly buddy."

"Oh..." Michael murmured in surprised. He had always thought his father was the smartest person on the planet. He thought his father knew everything.

"Daddy, you's use ta say that peoples haved babies cuz they weally, weally luf one anotha. If you don't luf mama anymore do-es that mean I's gonna dis-pear?"

"No, you're not going to disappear. Your mom and I are going through something really hard right now but we both love you more than anything else in this world. We will figure out a way to keep you happy." Derek told his son reassuringly.

"Is you happy now?" Michael asked, looking up to meet his father's eyes as she waited for an answer. "Cuz' I's think Mama is not happy. Her is cries a lot now. And I's not happy cuz Mommy's sad and you's not there to kiss her and make it betta like 'fore. But is you happy?"

"I..." Derek struggled to compose an answer for the child. He thought back to the life he created in Seattle. The life that did not include his wife and son. He was happy but a part of him was missing. He wasn't complete. "I don't know." he admitted.

His eyes widening as a smile grew on his face. "Daddy!" he exclaimed in excitement. He jumped up onto his seat and said, "Unca Archie camed ta visit me and he gots me a Blue's Clue DVD!" he started rambling uncontrollably and Derek had never been so grateful for his son's childlike attention span.

After hours in surgery, Addison stepped into the locker room and retrieved her cell phone from the pocket of the lab coat hanging inside. A glance at the screen revealed a text message from Derek informing her that he had taken the whole day off to take Michael sightseeing. The message concluded with I'll bring him to your hotel tonight. She was glad that Derek was making time for Michael. She was glad that he was willing to make the effort for their son. On the other hand, she wished he'd realized to make that effort sooner so their family wouldn't have fallen apart.

She changed out of her signature salmon scrub and back into yet another all black outfit. She'd be wearing a lot of black, almost as if she was mourning for the death of her marriage. With no one to turn to and no where else to go, Addison headed back to her hotel room. What hurt the most was the fact that going home to no one would become common. She was sure that Derek would seek join legal custody and she was willing to grant him that, she wanted him in their son's life. But that also meant that Michael would spend his time split between New York and Seattle which would leave Addison alone in an empty house more often than she'd like.

She skipped dinner, raiding the minibar in the hotel room instead. An overpriced bag of potato chips, a mini bottle of wine and a pay-per-view movie kept her occupied until she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door to discover Derek with Michael shly hiding behind his legs.

"Hey." he greeted, glancing back at Michael who was trying to hide behind his legs. "Michael wants to stay with me tonight. If that's okay with you, we just need to grab a couple of things and we'll be gone."

"Stay with you?" Addison asked.

"Yeah. I think it's good idea, I miss him and having just one day was not enough. I wanna do the bedtime ritual. I miss all of them. We thought it would work well for everyone. He and I will have some extra time together and you will have the night off to do whatever you want."

Having no other choice, Addison agreed. She packed her son's pajamas and a change of clothes in his Cars backpack. She held it out to Derek and tried to get a peek of her son who was still hiding behind his father. "Can I get a hug and a kiss before you go, buddy?" she asked, trying to sound as carefree as possible.

Michael timidly pulled away from his father and wrapped his arms around Addison's thighs, which is about as far up as he could reach to hug. "You's not mad, Mama?" he asked softly just to double check for her approval.

"No, buddy, I'm not mad. You should go have fun with your Daddy." Addison replied, managing a smile that could fool anyone. "I can never be mad at you, buddy. I love you too much."

"I luff you, too." he replied, puchering his lips to gesture his mother to kneel down so he could kiss her cheek.

Once Derek and Michael were gone Addison got back into her bed and continued watching her movie. There were a few emotionless, expressionless minutes before Addison broke into a fit of tears. This is what her life had become. She and her estranged husband would split their time with their son, he would have two homes instead of one. Two separate lifestyles. Everything that Addison vowed to protect her children from. She ended up crying herself to sleep to fight the feeling of loneliness that was overcoming her.

Just four hours late Addison woke to knocking on her hotel room door. She groggily forced herself out of bed to get the door and found Derek standing in the hall with their son in his arms. "What happen?" she asked sleepily.

"He woke up and started crying for Mommy and he refused to go back to sleep." Derek replied, passing their child into her arms.

"Mikey, you love sleepovers." Addison said to the child. "You love staying over at Archie's when I'm on call. What was so different about Daddy's house?"

"I misted you." Mikey told her. "You and Daddy is mawwied, wright? How's come you wasn't there wif us, Mama? I's wanted to be wif you and Daddy. Mawwied people live togetha!"

"Honey, we've explained this to you before. Mommy and Daddy are not together anymore. We're still married but we're not for much longer."

"Cuz Daddy stopped luffing you, wight?" Michael asked, recalling the conversation he had with his mother before they came to Seattle.

"No, honey, it's not that." Addison answered. Although Michael was right that Derek no longer loved her, Addison did not want to ruin Michael's image of his father. "We just grew apart. It happens sometimes after a couple has been married a really long time like me and your dad."

"Oh." Michael murmured as he got into his bed in the hotel room. He lied still for a second then got out of his bed and moved into his mother's bed. "We's cuddle tonight, kay?" he asked.

Addison smiled at him and nodded, "Sure, buddy." she answered before turning back to Derek, "I'm sorry that he gave you trouble. It's hard on him. I'm sure he'll adjust slowly. I'm sure that once we go back he'll miss you like crazy and when he comes back to see you he won't even remember me."

"This is weird." Derek muttered.

"What's weird?"

"These problems. He's my son. I left him and came here and now he can't spend a night with me."

"I'm hard on him, Derek. It's hard on all of us. We'll all get used to it." she repeated.

"It's just going to get harder. You're going to take him back to New York and I'm gonna stay here. I'll see him maybe once a month if I'm lucky. I'm gonna be one of those dads I vowed not to be." Derek realized.

"It doesn't have to be once a month."

"You're right, it doesn't." he agreed. "Would you consider moving out here?"

"Moving here?" she repeated, her brows inclined in shock at the idea. "Is that a serious suggestion?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because you're asking my to uproot and change my whole life for you!" she exclaimed. "You want me to leave my home and my family, you want me to sell the practice I built up from nothing, you want me to change everything in my life so make this situation easy for you. We're not even together anymore and yet you feel that you've got the authority to make such outrageous requests."

"It's not for me, it's for our son, Addison. We need to do what's best for him and what's best for him is having both of us in his life."

"Then maybe you should think about moving back to New York." she replied.

"Addison, I'm not expecting you decide right now. This move might be great for you. I heard what the job offer Richard extended to you, you'd be a rock star here. You'd have everything you ever dreamed of for your career. And if you accept that offer and you move here then you won't have to raise our son on your own. It will still be a joint effort. Addison, just because we won't be married anymore doesn't mean that I'm not always gonna care about you. I'd be able to help you with anything you need if you were near by. I can't make sure you're okay if you're all the way across the country."

"The job offer was really very generous of Richard and I wouldn't want Michael to grow up without his father."

"Just think about it, okay? That's all I ask." Derek requested softly.

You guys asked for a prequel for "When the World Comes Crashing Down" and you got a prequel. I've been working on it forever and it's finally ready to post. It's going to be three parts and the end of this story will lead right to the beginning of the original story. Since Mikey is a little younger in this, I added a few words that he misprounces. He says "ta" instead of "to" and he says "luff" instead of "love." I realized that most three years can pronounce these words but where is the cuteness in kids who say everything perfectly? Hope you guys like it :)

Don't forget a review!

Btw- I think the main reason why I actually wrote a prequel was because I really wanted to do another Michael story. I love the way that kid speaks, I can't help myself.