Private Practice
Season three, episode eleven
Another Second chance

The flight to L.A was a little nerve wracking for everyone, the thought of Sloan and the baby bleeding out on the table was clear in everyone's minds and no matter how hard they pushed the thought down, it still came right back up and invaded their thoughts.

"I'm very good at accepting apologies, Mark" Addison told him while she held the wand to Sloans stomach.

"I apologized over the phone" Mark told her, uninterested in the conversation.

"Telling her that you'll bring Sloan to L.A is not an apology, Mark" Max rolled her eyes.

"See, thank you Max" Addison nodded her head to her former friend.

"Wh-what is that?" Sloan asked, pointing the the dark spot on the monitor.

"That's just a shadow. That's the baby" Addison said pointing the the little boy.

"Where's the A.T.M?" Sloan wondered.

"A.V.M., sweetheart. A.T.M. is where you get money" Mark stifled a laugh.

"You won't be able to see the A.V.M. from here, that's just a cluster of blood vessels" Max looked at Sloan.

"That aren't supposed to be there and if you pop them, I'm gonna die?" Sloan asked, looking back at Addison.

"W-no. Um, Sloan, it's just a tangled cluster of blood vessels under the baby. I'm not gonna go anywhere near them, so I won't be popping them. I'm gonna go in, uh, laparoscopically and very carefully cut one of the amniotic bands from around the baby's legs"

"Then he'll be okay? He'll be able to walk?" Sloan asked, worry evident in her head.

"He'll be perfect" Addison told her.

"Well, that's what you said last time" Sloan told her.

"Actually, that was your dads fault" Max said pointing over to her Fiancé.

"I shoulda let her finish the surgery the first time" Mark smirked, looking over at Max and then to Addison. 

"Now that is an apology" Addison looked back at him.

"What is that? What is that right there? Is that something growing out of his head?" Sloan asked, pointing to the screen again.

"That's his penis, Sloan" Max told her softly, "You're gonna make yourself crazy, honey. I promise if something comes up we will tell you"

"Has her blood pressure always been this high?" Addison asks, looking at the numbers.

"Yeah, it's been going up. She's scared" Mark places his hand on his daughters shoulder, rubbing it gently for comfort, "So are we" He adds, looking over at Max who nods.

As Addison brings a man named Pete into the room, Max steps out. She wanted to find Sunny, after years of only talking on the phone, seeing each other face-to-face was super exciting for the both of them.

Max stood outside of Sunnys office, knocking twice before walking in, "Miss. Sunstra Furiosa, this office suits you well"

Sunny didn't say a word, just a loud pitch scream. Jumping up from her chair and pounding Max into a hug, "Maxine Mallard, in the flesh. To what do I owe the pleasure? Should I get your autograph? Maybe a picture?"

Max peered down to her prosthesis and then back up   laughing at her longtime friend, "Hilarious, Sunny"

"Really though, what are you doing here?" Sunny say on the couch in the corner, patting the spot next to her for Max to sit.

"Sloan is here, after Addison came to Seattle and then Mark freaked out, we both decided that Sloan needs to be here for Addison to cut the bands" Max sat down with a sigh, she was tired.

"I just can't believe Mark has another kid and I can't believe it's from that girl at that party" Sunny shook her head in disbelief.

"Tell me about it" Max rolled her eyes, "In all honesty, she's a great kid. Maeve seems to take a liking to her so that's good"

"Last time I heard about Maeve and Sloan, you were telling me about how Maeve likes someone in the house dumber then her" Sunny let out a hearty laugh and Max couldn't help herself either.

"I've created a monster, Sunny"

"Enough of that! You should be happy to know that Maeve will actually do something with her life, she has a very very bright future" Sunny disregarded Max's comment with ease, "I wish I had a bright future growing up, dim light at best"

"I've never been more proud of something then I am of Maeve, sometimes I just wonder how I've been so lucky. With Mark, Maeve, Malakai, my friends and my family, it's everything I ever could've wished for and more" Max smiled, "Oh speaking of, have you talked to Amelia?"

"Amy? No, why would I talk to her" Sunny voice becomes hard, it was a subject that she liked to avoid.

"Last time I talked to her she was being a little short with me and usually she does that when she has something to hide, it worries me and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask you" Max told her honestly. She hated bringing Amelia up in front of Sunny but considering Max grew up with Amelia, she was always going to worry.

"Look, I don't care what she does as long at she doesn't come here" Sunny told her, grabbing onto the couch arm to steady herself as she got up.

"Fine, fine" Max said surrendering, "I better get back to Mark and Sloan, you're welcome to join, I'm sure Mark would love to see you"

"Maybe later, Maxi. I have an appointment at 3 that I can't miss" Sunny told her, patting her prosthesis to let Max know that is was a daily check up for her leg.

"Swing by after, maybe we can get lunch" Max told her with a smile before walking out of her office and shutting the door.

Max walked into the room just in time, Mark had said something about not putting needles in Sloan and Addison saying that Pete was doing her a favor.

"With respect, I didn't bring my daughter down here for witch doctoring" Mark told Addison in a low voice.

"With respect really?"

"Am I interrupting something?" Max walked further into the room but more slowly.

"Max Mallard, Pete Wilder" Addison pointed to each person.

"Mallard?" The guy questioned.

"You're either at awe by my mother or father" Max joked, walking over to Mark and snaking her hand around his torso.

"What kind of medicine do you practice?" Pete looked back at Mark, ready to continue there conversation.

"Plastics"

Pete laughed at that, "What are you laughing at?" Mark asked the man.

"Ah, nothing. Saving the word one boob job at a time" Pete rebuttals.

"Okay what is going on here? Are you going all Alpha male because Mark slept with Addison, is that why this is? Dr. Wilder, I suggest you get over it and Mark I highly suggest that you do the same" Max let go of Mark and glared at Pete and than stared at Mark when she was done with Pete.

"Just let Pete do his thing, okay? He'll be done soon" Addison sighed.

Max pulled Mark out of the room so Sloan could have privacy, she still hadn't said hi to Naomi or Sam  and she guessed that Mark hasn't said hi to anyone.

They walked passed the kitchen and saw Sam, Naomi and a couple of people they haven't met before, "Hi, sorry to interrupt. We just wanted to say Hi to Sam and Naomi" Max knocked on the metal and smiled at everyone who turned there heads.

"Maxi!" Naomi smiled, pulling her old friend into a hug.

"How are you doing Max?" Sam asked after Naomi let go.

"You know, a hospital to run, a wedding to plan" Max shrugged but still smiled nonetheless.

Someone from the back made a noise which made everyone turn back to look, "Oh right! Max, Mark, this is Dallas Keating, Beckett McKenna, Charlotte King and you already know Sunny"

"We're sorry to interrupt guys, we're only here for a short few days so we wanted to catch up" Mark game them all an apologetic smile.

"Maxine Mallard, right?" The blonde also known as Charlotte said.

"She's that one chick that's just like Addison but a hundred times better. I heard that she had to preform an emergency surgery all by her self because there was no staff on hand" Dallas looked at Charlotte.

"Um, uh? I'm Maxine Mallard? Thanks by the way, I guess" Max stared at the red head and then back at Mark, widening her eyes.

"Just ignore her, that's what we all do. You can call me Beck, I'm a real fan of your fathers" Beck moved from his position and extended his hand for them to shake which they gladly did.

"Oh, quite the accent you have! I've visited the Netherlands years ago, is that where you're from?" Max asked politely, she was sure that he got annoyed when people asked about his accent, Graham did too.

"Born and raised in Delft" Beck smiled cheekily, happy that someone knew where he was from.

"We would love to stay and chat but our daughter is here for a surgery so we better see how she's doing" Max gave each of them a nod, "Sam, Naomi, we should do dinner before we leave"

They had all done dinner like Max asked, sitting outside on Addisons deck was the most relaxed Max had been in awhile. Addisons house faced the ocean so the calm water made it all better.

"Do you ever get used to this view?" Mark asked, looking out at the water.

"No" Both Sam and Addison replied back.

"So... you're doing the surgery tomorrow, right?" Sloan walked up to the group and asked Addison.

"I am going to do the surgery tomorrow" She confirmed.

"This is so beautiful, isn't it beautiful, Bubba?" Mark turned to his Fiancé and asked.

"Definitely worth visiting every once and awhile" Max agreed.

"And everything's gonna be okay, right, after the surgery?" Sloan continued, ignoring Max and Mark.

"Yes"

"I've always wanted to learn how to surf, do you want to learn to surf?" Mark said, still staring at the ocean.

"Never really crossed my mind" Max replied back to him.

"Whatever. Good night" Sloan sighed and walked inside the house.

"Good night, honey" Max said giving her a wave.

Mark sat up from his chair and gave Sloan a kiss on the cheek and then walked closer toward the ocean.

"I mean, do you ever get used to this view?" Mark said once again.

"Mark, that little girl is not ready to be a mother" Naomi said looking at Mark, "How is she gonna handle it the first time the baby spits up in her mouth?"

"We haven't talked about her options yet, she said no to abortion which is fine but she can still choose adoption" Max told Naomi honestly, knowing that she hates the idea of termination.

"We're gonna help her, nobody is fully ready to be a parent" Mark looks back at Naomi, slightly offended.

"But some people at least get semi ready but Sloan seems like she doesn't want to be a mother" Naomi pushed.

"I think we might move here" Mark told them suddenly, walking back to sit next to Max.

"What?" They all said but Max's was clearly louder then the rest.

"I could join your practice, hell I could open a practice and it'll be ten times better then your guys. A plastic surgeon living in L.A. I'd bring in a fortune" Max listened to Mark speak, knowing he was drunk and not even fully understanding what he's saying.

"Bubba, you're drunk" Max told him, placing her hand on the back of his head to play with his hair.

"Come on, Max! The kids would love L.A, there'd be better programs for Maeve and I'm sure programs for whatever Malakai is in to and a lot more kids to adopt" Mark turned to fully face Max, he was getting excited and Max felt bad for having to turn it all down.

"I can't just leave, Mark! I have the hospital, which is literally drowning. I have my family over there, all of my friends" Max shook her head at Mark, he was being ridiculous.

"Besides, who really loves L.A. anyway?" Sunny asked from beside Addison.

"Look Mark, I'm not saying never but for right now, I am not moving to California. We can revisit this in a couple of years"

Max waited in the hospital with Mark, Sloan was currently in surgery for the baby and as much as they both wanted to be in the room, that just wasn't the option.

It had only been two hours since they went into surgery and less than an hour since she got out but considering she hasn't waken up yet, they weren't aloud to see her.

"Do you think she's okay?" Mark looks over at Max.

"Of course she is, if she wasn't someone would be here notifying us" Max told him gently, squeezing his hand gently for comfort.

"Max, Sloans asking about you" Addison came into the waiting room and look at Max, "Just Max, Mark" She said once she saw Mark getting up to move.

"I'll be right back, okay? You need to eat the food I got for you earlier and finish that water" Max bent down a little and gave him a kiss before heading to Sloans room.

Knocking softly before entering the room, Max could tell that Sloan wasn't in the right head space.

"Sloan? What's wrong, honey?" Max quietly walked into the room and sat on the chair next to Sloan.

"I'm just scared" Sloan sniffled.

"I can go get your Dad?" Max asked, uncertain why she asked for her and not her father.

"I want you, I want to talk to you"

Max gave her a small nod, "What do you want to talk about?"

"How did you know that you wanted kids?" Sloan asked, getting right into it.

"Um, well, I knew I wanted to start a family with Mark. We never really had a preference on the time or how we got there but I think we both knew that we wanted each other so that made it easier. He knew I wanted to adopt someday so we've always kept that into mind" Max furrowed her eyebrows at the question, wondering why she was curious in the first place.

"How did you feel when Mark left you and then you became pregnant with Maeve?" Sloan suddenly asked.

"I-I I was devastated. I knew that Mark was the love of my life and after we broke up I had to keep telling myself that if we were meant for each other then we would come back. It was hard at first and then a lot harder when I had Maeve but the amount of love that is between us was something I wasn't willing to let go. I wasn't devastated when I had Maeve, I was more sad that Mark wasn't with me but I think she made it easier, I'm extremely lucky to have her" Max told her honestly.

"I don't think I'm ready to be a mom, I don't think I want this" Sloan began to cry.

"Nobody is ever ready to be a Mom, it's hard work and it's definitely tiring. I surely wasn't ready and I know we haven't talked about it but you do have another option, you can place this baby for adoption. We can find a wonderful family who desperately wants a child" Max looked at her with kind eyes, it's not easy doing this alone, Max knew all about thats "Your Dad would kill me if he heard me speak about it but ultimately it comes down to what you want and what you think feels right and whatever that is I will stand by you" Max grabbed the girls hand and rubbed it gently, "I think it would be best to talk to Addison about this, I don't know how to come across as one way or the other and I think you need someone who can be objective but still forward at the same time"

Later that day, Addison had agreed to talk to Sloan and from what she said it sounded like Sloan was happy to hear about the agencies that could help her.

The hardest part was telling Mark but Max knew that it wasn't her place to sit him down and tell him, even though the thought of telling Mark gutted her.

Once they walked onto the plane to head home, they all felt a little more at ease but with the glances Sloan was giving Max, she couldn't help but get sick to her stomach. The last couple of months have been really great for Mark and he was excited for Sloan to bring in another baby but the choice was still Sloans to make and Max will help wherever she can.

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I know this chapter is short and a little rushed but I really wanted to write their wedding and the shooting episode so YOLO