They had hardly gotten any sleep last night, but neither cared. Jackson's hand traveled up and down her back, sending shivers everywhere. April still fit perfectly in the nook of his arm. Jackson was resting his eyes, but April could see the outline of a grin. She took the opportunity to study his face, it had been so long since she had been this close. She studies his strong jaw, his freckled nose, the crinkle between his eyes. God, she had missed this side of him. Last night felt like a dream. It felt familiar and new all at the same time. He knew that kissing her neck made her toes curl. She knew that it drove him crazy when she gripped his shoulders and called out for more. At times, it felt like the year and a half separation never happened, and other times, it glared them right in the face.
The door slammed, unnoticed, behind them. Jackson pushes her against the wall as they begin hurriedly undressing each other, desperate to touch and feel only skin between them. As clothes fall to floor, they kiss hungrily before he pulls her shirt over her head and carries her to the bed. He lays her down gently, and continues to travel down her body, kissing her along the way. He throws off her boots and moves up to unbuckle her jeans. She bites her lip and sighs as she feels his mouth return to her body. Jackson remembers every inch of her, what it feels like, what it tastes like. Suddenly, he freezes as he notices the large thin scar that runs across the base of her torso.
"Jackson?" April sits up slightly confused at the sudden change of energy in the room. He doesn't say anything for a few seconds, just strokes the smooth skin along the scar.
"I hadn't seen it up close," He finally manages. As they lock eyes, April understands.
"It's okay. It doesn't hurt anymore," She reassures him.
"That was the scariest day of my life," He looks back down at the scar. It was the first time he had said it out loud, but he had spent nights thinking about it. Playing it over in his head, how he could have lost either of them, both of them. It scared him half to death.
"Me too." April states. She then reaches down and lifts his chin up. "We're okay. We are both okay."
They stare at each other for a few seconds. Finally, acknowledging the things that they couldn't say before. April pulls him on top of her and wraps her hands around his neck.
"We made it through." She whispers in his ear. They kiss deeply and get lost in their own world.
Jackson opens one eye as he feels April staring at him.
"Hi," He lifts his head and kisses her. It is a sleepy, morning kiss. Something they had done a thousand times before.
"Hi," She smiles as they rest back comfortably with one another.
"We should get to the hospital soon," April states, apologetically. She doesn't want to pop this happy bubble, but they still had business to attend to.
"Mhmmm. Not yet," Jackson mumbles as his hand continues to stroke up and down her arm.
"You'd have us stay in bed all day, huh?" She laughs as he shoots her mischievous grin. Neither speak for a few minutes. It feels too good, just being there, together.
"You know what I was thinking about?" Jackson asks.
"Hmm?" April hands draw circles on his chest. She loves the way his skin feels and the familiar way it radiates heat. Jackson enjoys April's touch for a few seconds before continuing. His voice is still raspy from waking up.
"I know why my mother sent you. She wanted me to have some back up. She must have figured that I was probably going to see him and knew better than to try and talk me out of it," Jackson confesses. He couldn't have done this without April. He couldn't have done any of it.
"She wanted me here," April realizes. Everything makes much more sense. Catherine's vague phone call stating that April should go to Montana, because 'she's the only one who can handle it all.' April thought she was just being supportive after she had lost the promotion, but there was much more to her ex-mother-in-law's agenda.
"That is so…" He struggles to find the most all-encompassing word to describe his mother.
"Catherine," April laughs.
"I was going to say infuriating, but yeah," Not that he was complaining. He could never complain about feeling this good. April listens to his heartbeat and holds him. This night has been so perfect, but April knows that his mind is still elsewhere, still in that diner.
"Jackson, I know what a good father is. I've had one my whole life. You are a good father," April can feel his whole body tense. "You took both of us in. You took care of her when I couldn't. And you haven't stopped taking care of either of us since. Even with everything that happened between us. You never bailed. And he couldn't do that."
She looks up at him. He looks away but she can see the emotion across his face. It was something he had needed to hear for a long time. That he was different from his father. He was a good man.
"You came here to tell him something. Don't leave until you do," April affirms. Jackson doesn't know what to say. He looks down at her and is just in awe of her, for what she is and everything that she has become. He kisses her. Suddenly, their hands move, pulling each other closer, and Jackson feels that familiar hunger.
"We should shower," April states, breaking the momentum.
She gets up from the bed, the sheet draped around her, as Jackson groans. He watches as she heads to the bathroom, however when she gets to the door she turns to him and drops the sheet. April tilts her head and sends him a smile that he knows to mean, come and get it. He eagerly follows her into the bathroom and they get lost in one another as the hot water fills the room with steam.