I do not own any characters, plots, or anything else pertaining to "Greys Anatomy". Thank you for everyone that's continued following this story. This is an emotional chapter for our favorite couple. I hope you continue to enjoy and review.

Chapter 10

Mending Hearts

Jackson grabs two pieces of pizza and places them on his plate. He watches April begin to eat her salad and he feels a pain in his heart. She had been so upset about Samuel that she hadn't stopped crying for nearly a half-hour. All he could do was hold her tightly and reassure her that they'd get through everything together. Something they hadn't done after their son had died. "What do you want to tackle first?" He notes her puffy eyes and figures they should work themselves up to the bigger issues. "I overheard a few nurses talking about me when I walked passed the nurses' station today. I also ran into Maggie who said that her Residents were the ones that told her about us." April nods and places her fork down. "Alex came to me today and said that he knew we were 'doing it' again because we both had goofy smiles. Are we really that transparent?" Jackson gives her a smirk. "We're happy April, there's nothing wrong with that." April gives him a smile and he knows things will be okay for them. Her eyes lock with his. "So, what do you think we should do?" Jackson finishes his first piece of pizza and sighs. "I don't think we should hide us. We need to agree not to let the drama at the hospital become bigger than our relationship." April nods and grabs a piece of cheesy bread out of the box. "I agree, so no more hiding?" He can't help but smile at her. "No more hiding." Jackson feels a warmth envelop his heart, he's happy that this brief conversation temporarily took her mind off of Samuel. He knows that there's always going to be a missing piece of their family and nothing is ever going to fill that empty space in their hearts. He looks over at April who's playing peek-a-boo with Harriet. They're both smiling and there's something about this moment that he wants to hold onto forever.

They finish dinner and April gives Harriet a bath. She dreads their upcoming conversation about Samuel because they've never been able to really talk about him without fighting. When Jackson had brought up their son to two complete strangers in Montana, she'd been angry that he had revealed something so personal. Something that had also happened to her. April had wondered why he was so comfortable talking to total strangers about Samuel, but not her. Maybe the topic was too painful for him to talk to her about or maybe he just didn't know how to bring it up. April takes Harriet out of the bath and dresses her in her favorite pajamas. The one decorated with the tiny multicolored butterflies. Ever since she was a child, she's always loved butterflies. Their various colors and designs had entranced her and that had been the reason why she had butterflies at her almost wedding.

April rocks Harriet to sleep in the rocking chair and returns to the kitchen nearly forty-five minutes later. Jackson has finished the dishes and is sitting in the living room on his laptop. She makes her way to the couch and settles next to him. He looks up from his laptop and gives her a smile. "Was she fighting sleep again?" April nods as he places his laptop on the empty seat cushion next to him. He wraps his arm around her and brings her closer to him. April places her head on his shoulder and exhales. "Yeah, I thought a hot bath would help, but it seems that our daughter refuses to go to sleep until she wants to." Jackson laughs and she lifts-up her head from his shoulder to look at him. "What?" His eyes lock with hers. "You told me once that you always got what you wanted. Harriet doesn't want to go to sleep before 8:00, so she doesn't." April slaps him on the arm as he continues laughing. "I don't always get everything I want." Jackson's eyes lock with hers and his smile disappears. There's a silence between them for a few moments and April knows that it's time. "Talk to me April." April sighs and lays her head back down on his shoulder. It'll be easier if she doesn't have to look at the pain in his beautiful eyes she knows will be present once they start this conversation. "Sometimes, I wonder what Samuel would look like now. Would he have your smile or mine? Your eyes or mine? Then, there are other times I wonder what he'd be like. Would he have a sense of humor or would he be serious? Would he like playing sports or would he like doing other things? There's not a day that goes by that I don't wonder what our son would be like or what we could have had if Samuel had lived." April feels tears spilling down her cheeks and she knows that they'll keep coming throughout this conversation, whether she wants them to or not.

Jackson can feel April's tears soaking through his shirt and his heart clenches. He runs his hand up and down her arm to comfort her. "I wonder what kind of brother he'd be to Harriet. I never had any siblings, but I've imagined how they'd be together. Samuel protecting Harriet when I'm not around and them bickering about different things. He's always been in my thoughts too April. Samuel is still a part of me and you, even if he's not here with us." Jackson feels the tears begin to blur his own eyes as her sobs grow louder. "I'm sorry I ran to Jordan, I just felt like everything was closing in around me and I couldn't breathe. I regret not asking you how you felt about everything. I've just always seen you as someone that's emotionally strong, my pillar. I didn't realize at the time that I'm your pillar too." Jackson places a kiss on the top of her head, as his own tears fall. "I couldn't understand why you left and grieved without me. We had always leaned on each other through everything and I needed you to heal. I let grief and anger cloud my judgement when you came back. I didn't want the divorce, but it felt like we were going in circles and I wanted it to stop." April stiffens and lifts her head up once again. Their eyes lock and his heart aches within him. April brings her hands up to his chest. "Let's promise that we'll talk about Samuel openly with each other from now on. I want us to be able to talk to Harriet about him when she gets older, so she knows that she had a brother." Jackson runs his fingertip over her chin and his heart does a somersault for this woman in front of him. "I promise." April smiles through her tears and leans in for a kiss. It's short, but it seals the promise they just made to each other. Forever and Always.