So this is a Jackson & Alex friendship story. Japril and Jolex are canon. Most likely a one-shot. Let me know what you think!
"I still can't believe my kid got Big Papi's autograph," Alex laughed, shaking his head. He wasn't used to these kind of things, but going to the ballgame with Jackson and Jordan had it's perks.
"I know, right?" Jackson laughed, watching his six year old son Jordan and Alex's five year old son Ethan carefully. They were leaning against the railing, waving at the baseball players who were greeting fans before the game.
Jackson had scored the tickets from a foundation board member who had four season tickets for the Mariners but couldn't get to this game. He was well aware of the fact that Jackson was a diehard Red Sox fan and offered them up.
Alex and his kid were in full on Mariner gear and Jackson and Jordan were representing in their blue, red and white Sox jersey's. They sat in the first row behind the Mariner's dug out and took in the scenery. The ballpark was just starting to fill up, there were hot dog and beer vendor's filing in and more and more players were filling the dugout.
"Can you believe our kids man? We've got great kids. How did we get so lucky?" He sighed and motioned towards their boys. They'd left the girls at home for a girls day since they only had four tickets. Neither April or Jo were too happy about it since they both enjoyed baseball themselves but they were going to make up for it later.
Jackson shook his head, rather nostalgically. "I really can't. Jordan and Lyla aren't even babies anymore." He wanted another one but knew it would take some convincing for April. She wanted more but he wanted more now.
Alex agreed. "The twins aren't either. They're almost two. Where does the time go?"
Both men were actually blissfully happy for once, living in Seattle and working at Sloan Grey. There hadn't been any kind of tragedy there in over five years. Knock on wood.
Jackson shrugged. It flew by. He didn't want to blink in this life he had because then he might miss some of it.
"Jo wants another, but I think we should be done. Three kids. I'm surprised I'm not drowning ri-" Alex was laughing when Jackson called for their kids.
"Guys! You're leaning too far over the edge, scoot back a little. Be careful!" He ordered them, watching them every second even though they were two rows back. The two rows in front of them were empty so they didn't think it was a problem to have them stand up there and watch the players.
Alex was in the middle of talking about the twins when the announcer came over the loud system. "Attention ladies and gentleman. Please stand up and remove your caps for the National Anthem."
Jackson and Alex motioned for their boys to come back to their seats since the game was starting. Alex picked up Ethan and slung him over his hip and Jackson pulled Jordan to his side. "Hat off," he instructed again into his ear and pulled it off his son's head and held it with his hat.
They watched and listened carefully as an army cadet sang the Anthem and then the the crowd erupted into cheer. They watched and pointed out their favorite players to their sons as they all marched out onto the field for the first inning of the game. The two boys were mesmerized. They loved baseball and Alex and Jackson took them any chance they could get.
Ethan tried to take his glove off. Alex stopped him, "Hey, you know if you leave that on then you might be able to catch a foul ball? One that one of the batters pops up?" He shared with him, pointing up into the sky. The little boy smiled the same token smile that Karev boasted.
The first two innings of the game went smoothly. The boys were sitting on their dad's laps and watching every second of the game. They took every chance they could get to teach them about the game too.
Ethan watched as the batter struck out but didn't run to first base. "Run! Go to first!" He yelled to the batter which got a giant laugh out of everyone around them.
"He can't run kid, he struck out. Now it's another batters turn." Alex instructed him and he seemed to understand. He was a quick learner but Alex didn't get to take him as much as he wished he did so he didn't know everything about the game yet.
Jackson thought since it was between innings that it was the perfect time to get up and get his crew some snacks. "Snack time. What would you boys like?" He asked the two younger ones. He was 99% sure he son would say a hot dog. The kid loved ballpark hot dogs.
Jordan answered first. "Oh! Can I have a hot dog daddy?"
He decided to allow it. April hated it when he fed the kids crap like that but they almost never found time to have father/son time and he felt like giving Jordan everything he wanted today. Plus he couldn't eat a hot dog either if he told his son that he couldn't have one.
"Ok, so we have one hot dog. Mustard only. What about you Ethan? You want a hot dog?" He smiled. Karev's kid really was quite cute.
"Dippin' dots!" He cheered and Jordan joined but Alex shut them down. "No buddy, we have to eat food food first. We might be able to get dessert later though." He winked.
Ethan went with it. "Hot dog!" and Alex answered Jackson's next question before he asked it. "He just likes them plain. So that's easy."
Jackson nodded. "Great. I'm getting helmet nachos. What about you?" as he turned to walk up the stairs while waiting for Alex's answer. "Nice! I'll have the same. Thanks Avery."
Alex reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet but Jackson stopped him. "It's on me. You treat when we go to that Boston for that Bulls/Celtics game we've been talking about." He thought about it for a minute and that sounded fair to him so he let is slide.
The bottom of the third inning was just starting when Jackson jogged up the stairs so he didn't figure there would be any lines. He walked right up to the hot dog vendor and paid and then found the nacho line.
There were two guys in front of him which wasn't bad so he jumped into the line. While he was waiting he felt a small tap on his shoulder. "Jackson Avery?!"
He turned around, only to find Samantha Williams behind him. His two year "fling" during the first two years of med school. They started out as study buddies and ended up as fun buddies. She looked the same, maybe showing a little more age than what he was used to.
"Samantha Williams." He greeted her, surprised. She wanted to go in for a hug but he backed away enough to show her he wasn't interested. "What in the world are you doing at a Mariner's game here in Seattle?"
That got a laugh out of her. "I'm in Seattle for vacation. I just passed my boards and my mom and I decided to come out since we've never been to the west coast." She grinned and he could tell she was flirting with him by the way she was smiling. Just like old times.
"Oh, well I hope you enjoy the game." He smiled and peaked back at the line he was in. Now he was wondering how many orders of nachos the two people in front of him were getting.
"Thanks. You know, we actually have an extra ticket if you want to join us? We could catch up, just like old times," She grinned and placed her small hand on his arm lightly, trying to persuade him.
He was actually caught off guard by her advance. He didn't remember her ever coming on this strongly.
"Well, I'm here with my six year old son Jordan. And besides, I don't think my wife April would like that very much. She doesn't like to share." He grinned, holding up his left hand with his wedding ring on it and pointing to it. He saw her face go pale white.
"You're...married now?" Samantha asked him disbelievingly. She didn't think the day would ever come. Mostly because she couldn't even get him to call her his girlfriend and that's why their two year thing came to a stop.
He nodded. "My wife April and I have been together for 7 years now. We have Jordan who's 6 and Lyla who just turned 3. She's head of trauma at Sloan Grey where I work." Jackson never missed an opportunity to brag about his kids or his beautiful and brilliant wife. He had it all.
She stumbled around her words. "Oh. Two kids..uhh… congratulations." She told him quietly. He smiled. "Thanks."
"Well, I should go find my mom. She's probably wondering where I am. Nice seeing you." She waved, looking up at the gate numbers to find her seat. He waved and now bought his nachos from a now empty line.
When he made his way back to their seats Alex gave him a look. "Where ya been?"
Jackson handed their kids the hot dogs and Alex his nachos helmet. "Funny story," he kind of laughed as he dug in to a chip, jalapeno first.
"I just ran into an old...friend…. from college. And had to point out the fact that I'm happily married with kids to her multiple times," He chuckled. Alex shrugged. Sounded uncomfortable to him.
"Is she still hot?" He asked, handing Ethan a bite of his nachos. The kid loved food. That wasn't really surprising to anyone though.
Jackson didn't think so. "Nah, not really." He laughed. It was already somehow the bottom of the fifth inning and the Red Sox were losing. Against the Mariners of all teams.
The score remained 4-2 Mariners until the top of the 9th inning. When they heard the crack of David Ortiz's bat, it was clearly a home run. But when they noticed bases were loaded and Big Papi had just hit a walk-off home run to win the game, they stood up and cheered. The boys were going crazy and Alex and Jackson were pretty excited about it too. Alex wasn't really a Mariner's fan, he had just started watching them since moving to Seattle. So to see anyone his a grandslam in person was something special.
"Are you guys ready to leave?" Jackson asked happily. They had waited out most of the traffic and he stood up to start collecting their things. The boys were down by the fence again, trying to talk to the players and get a ball. When they noticed Robinson Cano of the Mariners pull two balls out of a bag, sign them and hand them over the fence for the two kids he knew their night was made.
They ran back up the stairs towards their parents screaming. "Dad! Dad! We got a ball!"
The guys looked at them. "Wow! They're signed too! Did you say thank you?"
After the two boys promised they had thanked Cano for the balls, they headed towards the car. Liek the two older men promised, they stopped at the Dippin' Dots vendor on the way out of the park. The boys crashed as soon as they were buckled in.
It was just after 10 pm when Jackson pulled into Jo and Alex's driveway. "Do you need any help?" He asked Alex as his friend carefully unstrapped his son out of his seatbelt and slung him over his shoulder. Both kids were passed out.
"I think I'm good," He looked down to make sure he had everything. "Hey, thanks for everything. We had a great time."
Jackson smiled back and patted Karev on his shoulder and got back into the car. When he pulled into his driveway about 15 minutes later. "April?"
She answered him quickly. "In here!"
He did the same thing with Jordan that Alex did with Ethan. Once he got him to bed he checked on Lyla and pulled her door closed. He brushed his teeth and washed his face on the way to his bedroom where April was.
"I didn't think I'd see you tonight," She laughed and sat up. He leaned over the bed and kissed her. When she pulled her hands up to the side of his face to pull him down towards her, he knew she wanted him in their bed. Now.
He pulled his Sox jersey off and put that, along with his pants and socks in the hamper. He got into bed settled above his wife. "I missed you today."
April felt the same way. "I miss you more."
He loved the warm feeling his wife gave off when he touched her. Her skin was so soft and so beautifull. She almost looked porcelain to him and he couldn't get enough. When he found her neck and started sucking hard than he was usually allowed to, she pushed him away. "Hey killer, how was the game?"
"Great. Jordan and Ethan got balls from Cano. I'm jealous." He teased and went back to where he was admiring her. She sighed. This was one of those things he did that she could never get enough of. He couldn't believe that no matter when he kissed her, she smelled like strawberries. He needed to touch her.
"And we ran into Samantha from college. Remember I told you about her?" He asked carefully. He wanted to tell her about it because they had a completely honest relationship. He just didn't know how she'd take it. Her self esteem had gotten better over the years but he still worried from time to time.
April frowned. She waited for him to finish what he was going to say. "She just passed her boards. She was in town visiting for the weekend with her mom."
His wife nodded. "She wanted you back, am I right?"
Jackson stared down at her. She kind of seemed to but he didn't know how to answer her question. "Uhh… what?"
"It's ok, I know you turned her down. You can tell me about how she wanted to pull you into the nearest dirty stadium bathroom and have her way with you. You came home to me, I know I have nothing to worry about." She teased and ran her hands up and down his perfectly chiseled abs.
"Have I ever told you how sexy it is when you're so confident like that?" He asked, pushing his hand up the tiny nightgown she was wearing.
She went to back to talking before he could again though. "You're such a great husband and a great father. You're amazing with Jordan, and with Lyla."
He pulled away from her neck and looked her in the eyes. "Thank you." He told her earnestly. "And I wouldn't want anyone else to ever be the mother of my children. They adore you April. You are such a great mother."
She blushed. His compliments were something she loved but could never hear without surrendering to a full on blush, no matter how confident she became over the years. She hoped after hearing him say that that he would be happy about what she was about to tell him. She took a deep breath, "Jackson, you got me pregnant again."
It took less than three seconds for his face to turn into a full on grin and if she wasn't pregnant after what he did to her a few weeks ago he would have gotten her pregnant tonight.
Review? :)