Thank you for the reviews! Hope you enjoy the next installment! :)


Alex arrived home following a 23-hour shift at the hospital. It was barely 5 AM, and although sleep was what he needed the most, he had a sudden craving for his beloved Crispy Puffs. He set his bag on the floor, removing his jacket on his way to the kitchen. The messy side of him tossed his jacket onto the counter before he grabbed a clean bowl from the cupboard. He poured himself some cereal and milk, and he brought his bowl and the cereal box to the couch. He comfortably sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

As he munched on a spoonful of cereal, the sound of April's alarm clock rang from her bedroom. Her timing was always on the dot, never too early or late. In about a minute, his roommate would be claiming the bathroom to take her morning shower. He was playing a countdown in his head and soon after, her bedroom door opened. Just like he predicted, he heard footsteps walking towards their bathroom. However, after hearing the toilet flush, the footsteps moved down the hallway towards the living room.

Alex slowly raised his eyebrows when Jackson appeared wearing a t-shirt and boxers. "What are you doing here?"

"I slept over," he nonchalantly answered, walking into the kitchen. "Hey, can I have some of that cereal?"

"Uh, sure. Whatever," Alex muttered. Normally, he would be protective of his cereal, especially the marshmallows, but he lacked the energy to argue with Jackson at that moment. He returned his attention to his cereal and listened to April's footsteps travel to the bathroom. The shower turned on shortly after, giving him the opportunity to interrogate his coworker. "You and Kepner doing it now?"

"What?" Jackson chuckled, approaching Alex to serve himself some cereal. "No, we're not. I was just too tired to drive myself home last night after we had dinner here."

"Must be difficult for you," he teased.

Jackson sat down on the arm of the couch with his back facing Alex. He was going to give him a pass for his typical crass jokes. He could tell by the bags underneath his coworker's eyes that he would be going to bed very soon. "I have no problem with waiting," he insisted, feeding himself cereal afterwards. "I mean, we haven't really talked about it. Is she a-"

"No," Alex interrupted. "And no, I didn't devirginize her, so don't ask."

"I wasn't going to," he murmured, letting out a soft sigh of relief. "You look like crap, by the way."

"Whatever. I scrubbed in with Altman and she let me close," Alex bragged. "And once I get some sleep, I'll look better than you by the time my date with Jo starts."

Jackson smirked as he looked over his shoulder. "She finally gave in?" He was aware of the fact that Jo was playing hard to get with Alex. It wasn't a complete surprise to him, though. There were plenty of men who showed interest in his friend since their intern year, but nobody quite stuck around long enough. "What food truck is it this time?"

Alex slightly scowled at him. "Kiss my ass. We're eating at a restaurant tonight," he retorted. "I had to practically beg her to agree to go on this date. Dude, sometimes I can't even tell if she's actually into me or she just freaking pities me. Successfully asking her out is harder than a quadruple bypass procedure."

Despite the fact that Jackson could easily give him a hard time about it, he decided to go easy on him. "You'll be fine," he assured Alex. "To be honest, you might last longer than the guys she dated in the past."

"How many were there?"

"Uh, I don't keep count," the pretty boy answered. "Nobody serious."

Alex finished his first round of cereal and poured himself another. "This is gonna sound random as hell, but do you ever think about your dad… err, Dalton?" he reluctantly asked.

"Why are you asking me that?" Jackson suspiciously answered with his own question. He wondered if Alex knew that he had briefly taken his cell phone at the Seahawks game. Nothing had actually happened. After it stopped ringing, he returned the phone back into Alex's jacket pocket. He hadn't been ready to speak to his father at all, let alone listen to his voice on the other end. "I don't cry myself to sleep thinking about the father I barely had or anything."

"Oh, well… just wondering," he casually replied. Alex struggled to find a way to tell Jackson that they shared blood through a younger sister. The news was always going to be difficult to reveal and the timing never felt right.

Jackson furrowed his brow as he stared at his half-eaten cereal. "You two talk a lot?"

"Sometimes we talk every week. I tend to forget to call him back because I'm too tired at the end of the day, though. He just wants to know how I'm doing over here, gives me updates from home."

"Does, umm… does he know why you came here?" That was the million dollar question for Jackson. If Dalton was aware that he was working at Seattle Grace as well, then he and Alex had to be talking about him on the phone. "I'm the reason why you left Mayo, isn't it?"

Alex sighed, setting his bowl on his lap. "I also left for April," he admitted. "I mean, not because I have feelings for her or whatever. Definitely not anything to do with that. She told me not to come, but I did anyway. She was the only real friend I had over there."

Jackson turned his body around to face Alex. "Why exactly did she leave?" he questioned curiously. The only reason his girlfriend had given him was that she needed a change in environment, but of course, he wanted to know why she wanted that change in the first place. Although he knew many random facts about April, parts of her remained mysterious to him and their coworkers. "She won't tell me any specifics."

Alex finished his cereal, drinking the leftover milk from the bowl as quickly as possible. Without answering Jackson's question, he stood up to put away the cereal box and drop off his bowl in the sink. He knew the pretty boy was waiting for an answer since his eyes followed his every move. "Dude…" He rolled his eyes as he walked out of the kitchen. "That's something she's gotta tell you herself. It's not my place to talk about this behind her back."

After Alex retreated to his bedroom to get some sleep, April entered the living room wearing her pink bathrobe. "Oh, you're still here," she chirped when she found Jackson washing his and Alex's bowls at the sink. Her bubbly mood made him smile. "I thought you would be gone by now."

"Had a quick breakfast – with Karev, actually," Jackson explained. "He just went to bed."

"And how was that?" she inquisitively asked. The redhead knew some bad blood remained between the two men, but if none of their furniture was broken, then it must have been a calm conversation.

"No big deal. Told me he has a date with Wilson tonight." He finished washing the dishes and dried his hands with a towel. Jackson turned around, wrapping his arms around April's waist. "Which made me think you and I could have another date night after work?"

April smiled as Jackson placed gentle kisses against her neck. "My place or yours?"

"Here would be better. Who knows how long Karev will be out?" Jackson's lips traveled up to her chin and stopped at her lips. "We could order some takeout, watch a movie… maybe finish the date in your bedroom?"

She gently grasped his face and stared at him with wide eyes. "I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but we're talking about sex, right?"

"Look, I won't force you to have sex if you don't want to," he assured her. "I'm positive I'm clean, and I can get myself tested at the hospital today if that'll help you feel more comfortable around me. If you're waiting until marriage-"

"I'm not," she nervously laughed. "I'm just… really insecure about my body. I know that's probably stupid…"

"Don't be. We change beside each other at work almost every day. I may not have seen how you look without any clothes, but I would be lying if I said I haven't checked you out when you're not looking," Jackson teasingly said, playfully tugging on her bathrobe's tie. "And solely based on that, I think you're incredibly sexy."

April buried her face against her boyfriend's shoulder to cover up her blushing cheeks. He could make a living sweet talking to women if somebody paid him to. "Why are you so good at that?" she chuckled. "We'll talk about this at work, okay? You should probably go."

Jackson forced himself to pull away from April. He retrieved his jeans from her bedroom and gathered his belongings. He gave her a kiss goodbye before stepping out of the apartment. "See you at work, beautiful." She laughed in response, then he officially left.

His conversation with Alex had given him something to think about when he wasn't distracted by work. When he asked about Dalton he hadn't received a clear answer. Instead his coworker deflected the topic to April. Something about the way Alex responded when he asked about her felt protective, like he had to swear on his life about whatever secret she was hiding. In order for their relationship to progress, he really hoped April would eventually become more open with him.


George entered the locker room, his eyes immediately noticing peculiar splotches on Jo's back as she changed into her scrubs. "Uh, what is going on with your back?" he asked concerned. He cautiously approached his friend and stared at the red spots that covered her shoulders and upper back. "Are those hives?"

"Yes. They're stress hives," Jo mumbled, whipping her scrub top over her head to quickly hide her medical condition. "Pretty self-explanatory why I have them."

"What are you stressed about?" George inquired as he stood in front of his cubby. "Is it about leaving that skills lab? Because that's been done and over with, and I'm sure the attendings already forgot about that."

"It's not that. I have a date tonight," she timidly answered.

George softly laughed. "Seriously? That's what caused your stress hives?" His lighthearted response only elicited a scowl from Jo. He cleared his throat and hung his backpack in his cubby. "But why?"

"Because…" Jo folded her arms as she approached George. She scanned the locker room hoping Alex wouldn't arrive anytime soon. "I haven't been on a formal date in four months. And I'm going out with Karev. We're actually going somewhere nice. I have to shave my legs in our nasty locker room bathroom later!"

"You must really be stressed out then. I don't think I've ever met anybody who can develop stress hives over a simple date."

"Simple? Bowling is simple because I wouldn't have to directly look him in the eye at all times, and I can gloat about kicking his ass. But at a restaurant, I'll be sitting across from him and we have to talk for like, an hour, while making eye contact," Jo dreadfully explained. "And if it goes well, I don't even know what will happen then."

George smirked at his worker. "You make a date sound more horrifying than a rectal exam," he quipped. "You like Karev, though, right? I don't understand what the problem is."

"That's my problem – I like him a lot."

"I still don't understand…" George raised his eyebrow curiously. Jo could be straightforward, yet an enigma at the same time. He wished he knew more about his friend aside from the basic facts. She hardly talked about her childhood or high school, or even her current interests. It took a lot of begging sometimes just for her to join their group of friends for drinks. "You like Karev, but that's a problem for you? Is it because he burps out loud and tends to sneak in a fart in the OR gallery?"

Jo covered her face with her hands and laughed. "No!" She dropped her hands to her sides. "I don't want to screw it up, that's all. If things go south after this date, it'll be awkward being around him. And he seems like the type who has no problem shutting people out at the drop of a hat. I don't want that to happen."

"I don't think that'll happen. Just be you," he advised. "Well, the you I'm familiar with."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she defensively replied.

George shrugged his shoulders. "It's just that… it feels like I don't know as much about you as I thought," he confessed, avoiding eye contact with Jo. "And I'm not trying to say it like it's a bad thing, but do you tell Alex things about yourself that you haven't told us? Jackson, Lexie, even April?"

"If you want to know something about me, then ask. I just don't have the most exciting life, so there isn't much to talk about," she insisted. Jo turned her head and noticed April walking into the locker room. She quickly rushed towards the redhead and tugged on her wrist. "We need to talk."

April was caught off-guard when Jo practically dragged her into the private restroom. The latter locked the door, blocking it with her body. "Umm… what did I do?" she nervously asked.

"Nothing. I'm sure you know that Alex and I have a date tonight."

"Oh, yeah!" she cheerfully replied. "I'm so happy for you two. Alex really likes you. You must be so excited!"

"Excited doesn't necessarily describe my feelings at the moment, but sure," Jo answered with a shrug. "What are some topics I can talk about with him? I don't want to come off boring or totally sound like we don't relate at all."

"Well, you've been hanging out with him more than I have lately. What do you talk about?"

Jo chewed on her bottom lip. "Work, stupid jokes, work." She slightly grimaced. "I mean, we talk about other stuff too, but I want this date to be more about deeper things. I don't want to talk about surgeries during dinner, ya know?"

April stroked her chin as she quietly thought to herself. "You can talk about wrestling," she suggested. "Alex takes a lot of pride in being a national champion at Iowa. If you two haven't talked about his wrestling career, then bring that up. He can talk about that for hours if you can't find anything to say."

"And when he stops?"

"Talk about yourself," she encouragingly replied. "C'mon, Jo. I bet you have a ton of stories you can share with Alex. Or you can do what he normally enjoys doing and make fun of the people around you, which isn't the classiest thing, but that's Alex."

Jo slightly smiled. "I'm sorry if I sound like a nut. I'm actually nervous about this date. I don't want it to end badly."

"If it makes you feel better, I think Alex will be a little nervous too," April assured her. "His nickname isn't Romeo for many reasons, but you two will be okay."

"Thank you. Honestly, I'm not sure I can talk about this with anybody except you," she admitted. "Jackson would be too awkward to approach, and Lexie would only discourage me from dating Alex because she finds him obnoxious. And George-"

April placed her hands on Jo's shoulders and smiled. "And I'll be glad to offer you advice when you need it. I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty good at that," she proudly said. "Calm down, take a deep breath, and let me out of this stinky bathroom."

Jo laughed as she unlocked the door. They both exited the bathroom, so April could change into her scrubs.

Jackson eyed the brunette curiously as she sat down on the bench in front of him. "What were you two talking about?"

"Lady gossip, Avery. Lady gossip," she teasingly answered, bending over to tie her shoes. "And before you wet yourself with excitement, it wasn't about you."

"Funny. Someone needs to get laid," Jackson murmured, chuckling to himself. He caught the stern stare from April and cleared his throat. "It would be good… for everybody."

April playfully slapped her boyfriend's shoulder, rolling her eyes at him. "Don't be mean, or else no date tonight."

"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend, Avery," Jo chimed in, smirking at him. She was enjoying the fact that she and April could form a double team against Jackson and Alex. Plus, she knew the redhead had her boyfriend wrapped around her finger making it easier to tease him.

Jackson pursed his lips, furrowing his brow at Jo. "Go… go feed your cat," he lamely chided.

Jo and April shared a laugh when Jackson walked to another part of the locker room. "He just makes it so easy," the brunette amusingly stated.


Alex checked the time on his watch as he stood outside of the Italian restaurant he and Jo agreed to have dinner in. He had offered to pick her up from work, but she insisted that they meet outside of the restaurant instead. Although he found it slightly odd, it hardly bothered him. He was more concerned that she might be running late or ditching him altogether. Their reservation would be up in about five minutes and he didn't want to lose it.

He had dedicated his afternoon to preparing for this date. He couldn't remember the last time he worked this hard to make an impression. Perhaps it was because he never went out of his way to be a gentleman for someone. The whole romantic aspect was just not him, no matter how much his mother tried to help him. The sweetest thing he had done for a woman – at least from what he could remember – was call her back after a cheap date. His high school and college years were all about fun. Now that he was older, he started to think it was time to grow up a bit.

But he wasn't going to clean up his act for just any woman. He remained selective with his choices. Jo stood out because she didn't allow him to push her buttons as much as he could with other people. He wouldn't freely admit it, but he admired that about her.

Alex was so apprehensive about the date that he had even texted April his wardrobe options, to her amusement. She chose a clean buttoned down red shirt, dark blue jeans and a brown leather jacket he rarely wore. He stuffed his hands inside of his jacket pockets, scanning the area for Jo.

A minute later, Jo arrived, almost panting heavily after running to the restaurant from a block away. "Hey! Sorry, if I'm late. I had trouble finding parking," she breathlessly greeted him.

"Uh, it's fine. Our reservation's still there," he murmured. His eyes were locked in on Jo's appearance. "You look really good."

Her long hair flowed past her shoulders, a different look from the ponytail or side braid she sported at work. She wore more makeup than usual, and she was wearing her nicest top, a purple blouse, along with black jeans. Just like Alex, she had made an effort to look nice for their date. "Thank you."

"We should go in," he suggested, walking towards the entrance with her. Alex opened the door, stepping a foot inside before he paused and took a step back. He awkwardly smiled as he allowed Jo to go inside first. "Sorry."

They were brought to their table, which was beside one of the windows. After ordering their beverages and entrees, it was fairly quiet between the two of them as they both tried to come up with a topic to discuss.

"So… how was work?" Alex shut his eyes and grimaced. "Wait. We agreed not to talk about that crap."

"Right," Jo chuckled. She slowly sighed, raising her eyebrows as she stared out the window. It was much easier to start a conversation when it didn't require being courteous to the other person. She kind of missed their banter already. "Umm… heard you were a big shot wrestler at Iowa. How many titles did you win?"

"Individual, team or both?" he asked. She simply shrugged in response. "Well, we won the team title three years in a row. We lost my freshman year, but I won my weight class every year. Actually, I was undefeated in my last two years. Iowa is one of the elite schools. We've won 23 team titles, and no freaking clue how many individuals, but we're a dynasty."

Jo nodded and smiled. "Impressive. To be honest, I don't know jack about wrestling. I just know the sport is one of the easiest ways to contract MRSA if you don't clean the mats well after a match," she lightheartedly replied. He raised his eyebrow at her, and she shifted in her seat. "I played volleyball… in high school."

"Oh, what position? Outside hitter? Setter?"

"Defensive specialist – for the J.V. team," she sheepishly answered. "My volleyball career never took off."

"But you were an athlete. That's cool," Alex insisted. "My sister, Amber, she's a sophomore on the University of North Carolina's volleyball team. She's an outside hitter. A bit undersized, but she's got a nice vertical and a hell of an arm."

"Is Amber… Jackson's half-sister?" Jo curiously asked. With what little information she knew about Dalton Avery, she knew he had met Helen Karev when she only had Alex, so the only possibility would be that Amber arrived afterwards. "I don't mean to pry. You said you were an only child when you met Dalton…"

Alex slowly nodded, chugging his water. He wanted to punch himself for letting that information slip. He had planned to tell Jackson about Amber Karev-Avery before telling anybody else. Now, two other people knew about her existence. He trusted April to keep it a secret and he hoped Jo would as well. "Don't tell Avery. I haven't told him yet."

Jo quickly shook her head. "I won't. I promise. Does Amber have any similarities with Jackson?"

"They both got Dalton's eyes. It's actually pretty freaky now when I think about it," he softly laughed. "She knows about Jackson. She wants to meet him, but I have no idea how to set that up without pissing off Avery."

"How do you plan on telling him, though?" she inquired. "I'm sure that's a hell of a lot to take in."

Alex furrowed his brow as he served himself some bread. "I don't know. What am I supposed to say? 'Dude, you got a half-sister. Awesome, huh?' Any way I tell him will probably lead to him being pissy or worse, he'll want nothing to do with her. And that's a crappy thought, you know? Not her fault Dalton screwed up with his first kid." He stuffed his mouth with bread. "Anyway, whatever. What about you? Got siblings?"

"Nope. Just me," Jo replied, sipping her wine. "No secret siblings for me."

"Damn. If that were the case, we'd be freaking soulmates," he quipped, then he pushed the bread basket towards her. "You should eat some of this. It's pretty good."

Jo reached for a slice of bread and small packet of butter. "Can I ask you something about April?" He seemed reluctant to answer at first, but he eventually nodded. "What about her made you decide to be friends with her? You guys are so opposite of each other. She's so kind and sweet, and I just imagine you being so cruel to her."

"It started off like that in med school, but… I just trust her. She trusts me too," Alex casually answered. He already let one secret slip. He refused to make that mistake again. "She's, uh, she believed in me. A lot of people are quick to give up on me because my attitude sucks sometimes, but she never did. I wouldn't even be a surgical resident right now if it wasn't for her. I owe her a lot."

"That's fair. I should confess something to you now. A couple of months ago, I overheard you two talking in a stairwell. It was after April bailed on us during lunch because Lexie kind of freaked her out about dating Jackson. And you were so warm and caring towards her that it really changed my mind about you," she explained. "You're a really good friend, Alex."

Alex slightly ducked his head, feeling almost embarrassed about the compliment. His cold attitude growing up resulted in very few compliments from his peers. As a result, receiving compliments always made him feel awkward. "Thanks."

"And I don't want to sound like I'm interrogating you, but April is hiding something and you know what it is," the brunette added, biting her bottom lip nervously. She hoped he wouldn't throw a pissy fit over it. "Will she ever tell us? I mean, George, Jackson and I have gotten pretty close to you two-"

"She'll tell you when she's ready," he interrupted. "But don't push her."


Following dinner, Alex and Jo left the restaurant and stood outside on the sidewalk. It had been a successful date. Despite a few awkward moments, they were able to have a smooth conversation about various topics while they ate their dinner. They split a dessert before Alex paid the bill.

"Thank you for dinner. Seriously, we could have split that," Jo graciously said.

"Nah, it's okay. The food was good, so I don't mind taking this one." Alex placed his hands inside of his jacket pockets to protect them from the chilly air. "You're off tomorrow, right?"

"I am."

"Well, I'm on-call tomorrow, but I won't be at the hospital unless they page me, so… we could meet up, if you want?"

Jo wrapped her arms around her body to keep herself warm. She hated the fact that she left her jacket in the car, but she had been rushing to meet with Alex. "I have errands to run, sorry," she regretfully replied. "But tonight was fun. It was enjoyable. Much better than the food truck."

Alex softly chuckled. "I had a nice time too." He ached to kiss her, but found himself freezing on the spot. She wasn't walking away, so that was a good sign. He began to lean forward, though he was immediately caught off-guard when she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Alex," she muttered, turning around and walking away quickly.

"What the hell?" he mumbled to himself.

The drive home hadn't been pleasant. Alex was both confused and irritated by how the date ended. It felt so abrupt, like he had done something wrong. Jo had kissed him on the cheek, but that wasn't what he had hoped for. A kiss on the cheek was equivalent to a handshake, in his opinion. He couldn't recall saying anything wrong. She had been in a good mood after dinner.

He entered his apartment, angrily shutting the door behind him. The noise startled Jackson and April, whose heads shot up over the couch after Alex interrupted their makeout session.

"Nice to see you too, Karev," Jackson irritably greeted him as he sat upright on the couch.

April pushed herself up into a sitting position while Alex plopped down in between the couple. "What's the matter? Was the date a disaster? Oh, gosh! What did you do, Alex?"

"I didn't do anything!" Her roommate retorted and sported a pout. "It was a freaking good date!"

"So, why are you so pissed?" she asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Because," Alex grumbled, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I leaned in to kiss her, but she cut me off and kissed me on the cheek. On the cheek! I swear, my breath was fine. I popped in a mint when I used the restroom before we left."

April slightly frowned, placing a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry. This doesn't make sense. Jo was so nervous about tonight because she likes you a lot. Why would she do that?" She glanced over at Jackson, who appeared just as annoyed as Alex. "You know her more than we do. Is that weird for her?"

"I don't know. I don't monitor her dates," Jackson unenthusiastically replied. "Told you we should've taken this to the bedroom."

"Jackson, please," April scolded him, then she returned her attention back to Alex. "So what now? Will you call her tomorrow, or wait until you see her at work?"

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose and deeply sighed. "I don't know."

Jackson smirked at his coworker. "Are you gonna cry?"

"Dude, shut up!" Alex stood up and stormed off to his bedroom. He practically ripped off his jacket and threw it at the wall. He was throwing a childish tantrum, but he couldn't care less. The date was perfect until that kiss attempt and now, he felt humiliated.


The next day, April and Alex went to the mall. The latter had hoped to stay in bed all day unless he was paged to the hospital, but his roommate managed to coax him into going to the mall with her. Although, it was more like she nagged him incessantly until he couldn't stand it anymore and forced himself out of bed. Now, he was following her around while he carried her numerous shopping bags. His mood hadn't improved from the previous night. He remained hurt and angry about how Jo ended their date.

"Be grateful that I dragged you out of the apartment. You need to do some Christmas shopping for your family," April reminded him as they exited another store where she successfully made a purchase for one of her family members. "It wouldn't hurt to get something for Jo, you know."

"Why? She's the one who didn't want to kiss me," Alex complained. "And I just buy stuff from Amazon and ship them to Iowa. Who cares if they're wrapped or not?"

April rolled her eyes. "I just think that she has a reasonable explanation for how she reacted. That doesn't mean you should suddenly drop her out of your life," she lectured. "When you talk to her again just be straightforward. You two keep sending each other mixed signals."

Alex softly groaned. "Can we stop talking about her? I'm already doing you a favor by carrying all of your crap. I mean, what the hell are you buying a glass elephant for?"

"Kimmie loves elephants. I'm on a budget this year, okay?" she chided.

They continued walking and made a pit stop at the food court. Alex was aching for a corndog and he asked April to buy one for him, so he wouldn't have to drop all of her shopping bags. While they stood near the stall waiting for it to be prepared, the redhead spotted Jo walking towards their direction.

"Oh, look who's here!" April chirped, leaving Alex behind and approaching their friend. "Jo! Hey!"

Jo stopped in her tracks, surprised to see them. "Hey," she murmured, forcing a smile. "You're here."

"I'm getting my Christmas shopping out of the way. What about you?"

"Same, sort of." Jo looked away when Alex joined April's side. "Hi, Alex."

Alex remained quiet, taking a large bite out of his corndog. April cleared her throat and smiled. "Funny to see you here. We were just talking about you – not in a negative way, of course," she insisted. "Want to join us? I still have half a list of shopping to do."

"No, it's cool. I've got my own plans. I won't be staying long," Jo anxiously replied. "Anyway, I should get going."

A young girl approached the threesome, stopping by Jo's side. Alex stared at her curiously. She appeared to be around 11 or 12 years old, and a few inches shorter. Her physical attributes were similar to Jo's, but he knew she didn't have any siblings. "Is this a little cousin of yours?"

"N-no," she hesitantly answered, wrapping her arm over the girl's shoulder. "She's… my daughter."

April, though extremely shocked, had a forced, cheesy smile on her face. Alex, on the other hand, raised his eyebrow as his eyes grew wide. Holy shit, was what he wanted to say, but nothing came out when his mouth partially opened. He had his share of bizarre experiences, but he truly had no idea how to respond to that.


Now that the cat's out of the bag, let me know what you think please! ;)