New Chapter :) Thanks to everyone that reviewed, fav'd or followed! & to everyone that had concerns, I hope this chapter addresses it, I wanted to spread it out a bit.

April walked into her room about an hour after Jackson left with Anna, after Karen settled in for the night. She had done it, she had sent Anna off with Jackson for 2 days & managed to keep herself together in front of him & her mother. But now, as she sat on her bed, she couldn't help the tears pouring out of her eyes & the breaths coming in pants. April knew she had to be quiet, she couldn't wake Karen up so she was trying her level best to keep her hyperventilation to a minimum. She let her tears soak her pillow as she buried her face in it, lying down. The facade of strength & calm broke and all she could do was let it out. This was the plan, they were respecting the plan, they weren't fighting and were doing what was best for Anna, April thought this would have made her happy. But she wanted to scream, she wanted answers. Why was it like this? It wasn't fair, it wasn't supposed to be this way. She wasn't supposed to be away from her newborn daughter, she wasn't supposed to be a single mother divorced from the man whom she had loved more than life itself, they should have been raising her & spoiling her & protecting her together. She might make peace with this situation, she might settle but she'll never be happy about it. She thought she could live with it but only just realized how hard living with it was going to be.

April lasted a whole additional hour before caving in & calling Jackson after debating with herself for 10 minutes. She was just calling to check up. No big deal.

"April?", Jackson answered on the second ring.

"Hey."

"Everything okay?"

"Uhh yeah. Just wanted to check in on Anna. Is she doing okay?", April asked, trying to sound nonchalant. The last thing she needed was for Jackson to find out about her little meltdown.

"Yeah. She's asleep now but was a little fussy about the new surroundings for a while. But she calmed down.", Jackson replied, as he settled on his own bed.

"Okay, good. That's good.", April's voice caught in her throat.

"April, how are you doing?"

"Me? I'm fine, I told you. Nothing new here."

"Really?", he replied sarcastically. He knew her, probably better than anyone else on the planet & the last thing she was, was fine. Hell, he himself found staying away from Anna for extended periods of time torturous, he couldn't imagine what she must be going through.

"Yes, really. I just wanted to make sure that she wasn't being difficult. I'm glad to hear she isn't. So Richard & Catherine are coming tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah.", he sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to reveal anything else. "I'm just glad I didn't have to call her now in panic, I wouldn't have heard the end of it.", he chuckled.

She laughed with him, "I was confident you'd be fine, even if they weren't coming tomorrow. Anna is already becoming Daddy's girl. Trying to pry her away from me, are you?", April said as a joke but the comment made her tense. She shouldn't have said that.

"I uh-", Jackson didn't know how to respond to that. Of course he wasn't going to try to take Anna away & April knew that but the comment just made him realize just how close he had come to doing just that. That whole patch of their 'relationship' was just a source of awkwardness.

"Ignore that. Just my stupid self making fabulously stupid jokes that flop.", April tried to brush it off.

"April, are you sure tha-"

"I'm fine, Jackson. I honestly only wanted to check in before sleeping. It's your night to get a disturbed sleep, mister. While I sleep away soundly.", She cut him off, trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay. I think she's good for the night. Good call on feeding her. I mean, I'll be prepared if she needs more but still.", Jackson replied solemnly.

"Good, I'm glad.", she replied and they were both quiet for a few seconds.

"I miss her.", April murmured, finally breaking the silence.

Jackson felt another sting as her heard the pain in her voice, "I know, April. Honestly, I do. Do you want me to-"

"Goodnight, Jackson. Enjoy your time with her. I'll see you both in a couple of days.", April interrupted him and cut the call without giving him a chance to respond.

Jackson stared at his phone for a few seconds before sighing and angling his head back & resting it on the headboard. He had 30 different things going on in his head but he decided what he had to do. He had a phone call to make.

April was having green tea the next morning when she heard the door knock. She frowned and looked at the clock to check the time and it was 7:10 am making her even more confused because they weren't expecting anyone to show up this early. Noticing that her mom was in the bathroom, April walked over to the door, opening it and seeing a very chipper looking ex-husband on the other side, car seat in one hand & a paper bag in the other with a bag on his shoulder.

"Jackson?", suffice to say, she as confused.

"Good! You're awake.", Jackson said, with a smile, entering the apartment, walking right past April & her startled expression, "Here, I got you & Karen a couple of muffins.", he said, handing her the paper bag as April closed the door and he walked right in.

April stood there holding the muffins for a few seconds before collecting her thoughts and following Jackson in.

"So.. How'd you sleep?", Jackson asked as he set the car seat and bag down.

"Fantastic. Can I see my daughter now, please.", April said, eyeing the car seat.

"She's all yours."

April walked over and unbuckled & lifted Anna into her arms, "Hi there!", she said kissing her baby. Jackson looked on holding Anna's bottles in his hand and saw the smile on April's face, rivaling the one she had on her face when they ran out of the barn holding onto each other's hands for dear life. He had to swallow roughly to keep the emotions that had flooded through him, in check.

"Little Miss Anna, here, got up particularly energetic at 5.", he said, clearing his throat, "So thought we'd take an early morning drive & you know just happened to pass by."

April side-eyed his obvious lie as she sat on the couch with Anna, Jackson sitting next to them. "I did feed her before coming in case you're thinking that I came because I couldn't and needed help."

She laughed at that, eyes never leaving Anna, "Noted." They sat there for a few minutes quietly as April stared at and nuzzled Anna with Jackson's eyes darting between mother & daughter. Karen walked in a few minutes later, surprised to see the new additions in the living room.

"Good morning, Karen.", Jackson said politely.

"Jackson.", she nodded, "And how's my little angel doing?", she said, reaching out for Anna and taking her from April.

"I think her diaper needs changing, I was just going to do that.", April said, as she handed her over.

"Oh, I'll take care of it.", Karen replied as she walked out of the room to change her.

Both Jackson & April's eyes followed her out and then met as they smiled.

"Jackson..", April started as she looked away awkwardly, "Thank you for bringing her over, seriously. But I hope I didn't make you feel weird when I called yesterday. I honestly just wanted to check up. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Stop.", Jackson interrupted as he hesitantly placed his hand on hers, "April, never feel like you can't call me about Anna or about anything, really. We're doing this together. Me & you. And this arrangement will only work if we're honest with each other & communicate openly."

She nodded at that, still staring at their joined hands.

"I mean,", he continued, "there's always a chance that one of us needs her around on a day that happens to be the other's. I want us to be open enough to be able to approach each other. I would never want to keep her away from you when you really needed her."

April looked up at him, locking eyes and smiled. Sometimes, she wondered exactly how & why had she fallen for Jackson as hard as she had, but then he turned around and said things like this & she knew that she never really stood a chance.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that, Jackson. Really."

"She's way too young to be splitting time anyway.", He said reluctantly, pulling his hand away.

"What? No no no. Jackson.."

"It's okay, you still need time with her, I understand."

"Jackson. No.", April said firmly. "We need her to get to know you, to be comfortable around you and your house. And I can handle myself. That's what we had decided. It's okay. Really."

"April - "

"We've decided this and we're sticking to it, no discussion."

"Fine.", Jackson sighed, "But I have a condition."

"Okay?"

"Anna will stay with me on my days off every other week, not every week. That should be enough to make her comfortable. The days I'm supposed to have her, I'll take her with me the night before so you can rest and get the night off. But on the day of, you'll come by and spend the day at my place. With Anna there. Atleast while you're on leave."

"Jackson we don't have to-"

"We'll do this or you'll be keeping her the entire time for now. Choose."

April couldn't form words to express what she felt. Of course she didn't want to spend any time away from her daughter but she didn't want Jackson to feel like she was hogging all the time with her and not giving them alone time. But this suggestion and the conviction with which he said it, she just wished she could lean over and kiss him.

"Okay.", she replied in a small voice, "I'll come over. I guess I can dri-"

"Yeah, right.", Jackson scoffed, "Like that's gonna happen. Don't worry about the commute. Just be ready." He knew she needed this. She was trying to be strong and fair but he never, for once believed that she was okay with being away from Anna and last night's phone call just confirmed it. After deciding to call his mom and cancel for today, he stayed up a long time trying to figure out the best plan for their situation because he was pretty sure April would not be receptive to stopping the time splitting all together. And looking over and watching the small smile that refused to leave April's face, he was convinced that this was the right call.

They developed a comfortable rhythm after that. Karen left once April was completely cleared by Arizona. Jackson came by April's place for 15 minutes everyday before work, muffins in hand and once every two weeks, April was driven to Jackson's place by a chipper Arizona or a friendly Ben or an extremely grumpy Alex. She stayed at his place all day and helped make his house a home for Anna.

But Jackson was very particular about April not exerting or putting any extra stress on herself. Even though it had been a month since she had been cleared, he still made sure she was being accompanied when she stepped out and had someone driving her everywhere. She decided that she'd had it. She was done being babied around.

"I'm driving myself to your place tomorrow.", April told Jackson as he was collecting Anna's things to take to his place.

"No, you're not."

"Yes. I am.", She was willing to fight him on this, "I've been deemed completely fit and I'm tired of being treated like a child when I'm completely capable of getting around. You do realize-"

"April, breathe.", Jackson smiled, as he took all of Anna's things and picked up her car seat.

"Okay.", she calmed down, "Thank you."

"You're welcome!", he replied and continued after a beat, as he stepped out, "I'll let you know who's picking you up tomorrow!"

"JACKS-"

"See ya tomorrow!", he called out, closing the door behind him.

A while later, April was still huffing and fuming while angrily poking at her food, "INSENSITIVE, CONTROLLING-"

She knew exactly who was calling when her phone rang, "NO, Jackson.", She answered before he could even say anything.

Jackson smiled on the other end, she was so cute when she got angry for not getting her way, "Alex will be there at 8."

"I won't be here. I'm gonna leave at 7.30 and get there on my own."

"April, don't be difficult."

"I AM NOT HADICAPPED. Let me do things on my own! I'm driving myself and that's that."

"April-"

"No."

"FINE. Do you remember how, though? Right- gas, left- brake, ok?"

"Oh shut up.", April replied, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, okay", Jackson said, rolling his eyes, "See ya tomorrow. Please reach in one piece."

"Bye Jackson.", with that, she hung up.

Jackson was pacing. It was 8.45am and April had messaged him that she was on her way 45 minutes ago. His place was a 15 minute drive from April's, 20 if you were slow, 30 if you basically were following a bicycle the whole way but 45 minutes was too much of a stretch.

Anna was awake, strapped in her stroller, he had thought they'd take her for a stroll in a park nearby. "Ugh. I knew it. I KNEW I shouldn't have listened to her stupidity.", Jackson mumbled as he reached for his phone again, dialing her number.

He threw his phone on the couch angrily when the call went to voice mail again and slumped on to the couch and buried his face in his hands.

When he heard the door knock, he practically tripped over himself running towards it.

"Good morning!", a smiling April said as she stepped in to his place.

"Are you kidding?", Jackson frowned.

"What?"

"Where the hell have you been? Are you ok? Are you hurt?", Jackson came over and started looking her over for injuries.

"No! Why would you think that?", April asked, confused. "I'm fine, Jackson."

"Well then, what the hell took you so long? and why weren't you answering your phone?", he asked, anger rising up in him. He was scared half to death & she was being so nonchalant.

"Well... I stopped to get muffins for you.", She replied, indignantly, lifting her hand and showing the paper bag, "The shop was crowded so it took a while and my phone was in my bag so I didn't hear it. And come on, it's not like I was missing for 2 hours, just like 20 minutes, it happens. Can you ease up a bit now?"

"Sorry, I uh- I was just a little worried." Little was probably the understatement of the century but still, "Just keep your phone on you?"

"I will. Sorry if I freaked you out.", she said sincerely.

"No it's fine.", Jackson said as they both stepped towards Anna.

As April took Anna in her arms, Jackson tried to shake the discomfort he had been feeling the past few minutes. She's here. She's okay. He could once again write off his worry to the fact that he didn't want anything to happen to her because she was the mother of his child but there was no denying that he over reacted. Being 20 minutes late in Seattle is a very common occurrence. But the thought of anything happening to her made him hyperventilate and when he saw her at the door, a weight lifted off his chest and he could breathe.

He schooled his features to be calm when she looked up at him but he knew, in his heart, he wasn't doing very well at the whole moving on thing.

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