"At least we weren't supposed to go to work today anyway," Jackson commented, scratching the back of his head as he looked out the window. Snow was pretty much the only thing in sight, covering cars and everything else in view. A blizzard had rolled in overnight and now, the results of it were clear. No one would dare to go out in it unless they absolutely had to. "Sucks for Alex, though, he's stuck at the hospital. No way he's getting home in all of this."
"I doubt he has any problem with it," April remarked, stretching up on her toes to look over his shoulder. "I'm sure there's a field day of stuff coming into the E.R. now."
"You're probably right," he chuckled. "There's got to be some good stuff coming in."
The redhead gave a little nod of her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. She was glad that the power and more importantly, the heat was still on, though she kept a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders while inside. "I almost wish we were there." She muttered, a little pout forming on her plump lips. Her head tilted to the side. "But I'm happy to stay inside."
"I'm sure we can find something else to do." Jackson glanced at her and then back out the window. Both their cars were covered in snow, April's completely and the top of his just barely peeking out. "You grew up in a normal family. Don't you have any holiday traditions or something?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Mostly for Christmas day, though."
"What did you guys do?" He asked.
"Well, every year, we would always open one present on the night of Christmas Eve before going to bed. Everyone would get a brand new pair of pajamas. We'd put them on and get all snuggly, have a cup of hot chocolate, then go to bed. The new pajamas the night before were our little tradition." A smile curved at her lips as she remembered back fondly to the days of her childhood when everything had been simple and easy. There was a reason that she loved the holidays and the fact that they had always been so wonderful as a child helped. She missed her family this time of year, but residency made it impossible to really get the chance to go home. "I loved it. I love a good pair of pajamas still."
He looked over at her, warm sea foam eyes scanning over her frame. Checkered pajama pants were visible beneath the blanket she had huddled around her shoulders. "I can tell." He remarked. "I don't know anyone who owns as many pairs of pajamas as you do. Most people just sleep in old college shirts."
"I do that sometimes," she shrugged her shoulders, adjusting the blanket. "I just prefer these."
"Guess that means I know what I'm getting from you this year," Jackson chuckled. "Pajamas."
"You and Karev both, actually. So maybe you'll stop walking around in your boxers in nothing else." Her cheeks turned a rosy shade with the teasing comment fluttering through her lips.
"Well, now I know what to get you too." He smiled.
"That's fair."
SIX YEARS LATER.
The top of the hangers squeaked against the rack as April shifted through the racks of toddler clothes. It was easy for her to get caught up in shopping for Harriet, no matter what the time of the year was. The fact that it was Christmas time only just gave her an excuse to go a little more crazy than usual without any kind of judgment from anyone else. Even though she typically tried to remain frugal, even on her attending salary, spoiling came naturally with her little girl. She just couldn't resist when Harriet was as cute as she was.
"What do you think about this?" She pulled a particularly cute pair of pajamas off the rack, pink with reindeer antlers and a big red nose on the middle of the shirt. "It's cute, isn't it?" She smiled.
"Yeah." Jackson tilted his head as he examined it. "It's cute."
"You don't like it." She chuckled and hung it back up on the rack. "I told you we should have done this sooner. All of the cute stuff is already gone." She clucked her tongue.
"Work." It was an excuse for both of them, unable to help it. Their jobs dominated their lives even though they made every possible effort to spend as much time as possible with Harriet. They were both good parents even though they were busy. "You know that," his smile softened. He wasn't worried about it even if this was a team project. They would find something that would work well.
She nodded. "I know," she hummed. "I just want to find something perfect. And something matching. She'll actually remember and appreciate stuff this year, you know? I know this isn't her first Christmas but it's an important one still." Every Christmas was.
"We can always try another store if you're not liking anything here," Jackson suggested. He continued to sift through the rack of clothes that he was looking for.
"What about Old Navy?" The redhead suggested, glancing up at him from the other side of the rack.
"I don't understand what your obsession with that store is," he chuckled.
"The one dollar fuzzy socks, probably." April smiled brightly, giving a little shrug of her shoulders. "I love their socks. They always have comfortable and cute stuff that isn't overpriced. You know I appreciate things that aren't overpriced." That he was well aware of.
"You know that we can afford fuzzy socks that cost a little more than one dollar." He remarked with a shake of his head. "Do you want to try Janie and Jack? I'm sure they have something that you'll like. They always do."
A hum and sigh left her lips as she pushed through the end of the rack before nodding her head. "Yeah, let's try there. Nothing here is singing to me."
Her fingers reached out for her husband's and they interlocked together as they walked out of the store and into the rest of the mall. It was crowded with other Christmas shoppers trying to finish up their list. Most of her Christmas shopping was done, everything big, though a few little things were still being picked up here and there when she couldn't resist. It doesn't take them long to reach their new destination, only a couple of stores down.
"What do you think about this?" Jackson held up a matching pair of navy pants and shirt, the shirt embroidered with a Christmas tree and little ornaments on it.
"Mmmm," April hummed as she thought of a polite response. "I don't love it."
Even though the selection of things here were nicer than they had been at the other store, the selection was smaller. It doesn't take long for the both of them to go through everything the store had available and even though April does find a little dress to buy for Harriet, it's not what she came there for.
"You know what? I know what I want. I'm going to pull a you and just order it off of Amazon Prime." She decided as she took the bag with the dress from the cashier and they walked out of the store.
"That's fine with me." Jackson agreed.
Two days later when the package arrived on their doorsteps, it was bigger than what Jackson was anticipating. He grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and opened it up, pulling out three packages of clothes instead of the one that he expected. It's only when he realized that just one of the three of the outfits was for a toddler that it didn't make any sense.
What had April ordered?
"Hey, babe?" He called out over the television so that she could hear her in the kitchen. "Your package from Amazon is here. Come here for a minute, will you?"
He could hear her coming before he saw her, turning to greet her. As he opened up all three packages and pulled out their contents, he realized exactly what it was that she had ordered – something different than he realized what she was going for. Jackson was well aware of her childhood tradition, but he hadn't thought that it entailed anything like this. At least it hadn't during the past years that they had gone through with it together.
"What's all this?" Jackson asked, holding up the reindeer onesie that was apparently his.
"Well, the pajamas before Christmas is a typical Kepner family tradition…" April started, her shoulders giving a shrug and tucking her hands into her front pockets. "But I was thinking that maybe we could put a little twist on it and make it a Kepner–Avery family tradition to do matching pajamas. It'd be so cute for family photos and, come on, these are adorable." She grabbed Harriet's from the package as she spoke and held it up. "Harriet's going to look so adorable in this. So, so cute." She grinned.
His brow furrowed though a smile slowly cracked across his features, shaking his head and letting a slight chuckle slip from his lips. Even if it wasn't something that he would have ever thought about for himself, there was no denying that something like that would look absolutely adorable on their daughter. She could pull off anything, but that would be especially cute.
"Alright, alright," Jackson gave a nod of his head. "I think we can do that. You're right, she'll be adorable."
"I told you." A grin brightened April's lips, her hands clapping together. "It's going to be so cute. I promise. Why don't you try yours on and make sure that it fits okay? I wasn't too sure about the sizing because you're so tall but so fit, so it might be a little baggy on you." She warned. "But we need to hide this from Harriet. I'm going to wrap up mine and hers."
The loving mother hoped that Harriet would remember what they had done last year but there was no guarantee of it. Either way, she knew the little girl would be excited by the prospect of getting to open a present early. She always had as a kid.
Both of them went back to their bedroom together and Jackson tried on the onesie as April packed up the little onesie for Harriet and her own, making sure to put a little mark on the packages so she wouldn't confuse them with the other big bundle of presents that would be under the tree. There were a couple already, but most of them would go up the night before Christmas so they could keep up with the Santa Claus rouse for as long as their little one would believe it.
"What do you think?" He asked with a sheepish expression, modeling the onesie. As a husband, he was always happy to do what he could to please her. It was a little baggie around his waist, but otherwise fit just fine.
"I think that you look like one big, adorable papa reindeer." She beamed at her husband. "I love it."
"Thanks," he chuckled and gave a shake of his head. "But papa reindeer is only doing it for mama reindeer."
"And I am just fine with that." April stepped forward, stretching up and giving him a gentle kiss.
"You're lucky that I love you so much." Jackson teased her, placing a little kiss on her nose.
"Yes, yes I am."
