"Three down, one to go – can you believe he said that?"

Jackson wrinkled his forehead as he tried to decipher what April had just mumbled into his arm. They'd wandered away from the reception, winding up back on the second-floor deck on the whicker love seat outside their room, her head resting on his shoulder as they looked out at the ocean. Finally, he shook his head, giving up.

"I'm sorry, what? I couldn't understand a word of that," he admitted.

April laughed softly as she sat up. "Sorry. My dad, when I was dancing with him earlier, said 'three down, one to go.' I mean, I know he didn't mean it to be mean, but…"

"Well," Jackson said, trying to be diplomatic, "He was just stating his observation, I'm sure."

April shook her head. "I know, but come on. Doesn't he realize I'm already very aware of being the last unattached daughter?" She made a face. "Maybe that's why mom was being so cool last night – maybe they're just thinking 'oh, thank God she's actually got a boyfriend, maybe we actually have a hope of marrying her off.' Ugh," she sighed. "Dad did say he liked you though, that you seem like a nice guy."

Jackson nodded. "Good to know I have his approval," he said wryly.

Something in the tone of his voice caught April's attention and she turned towards him with a horrified look on her face. "Oh, God – crap. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to - I didn't mean – I shouldn't have said – " She stopped, took a deep breath and attempted to compose herself.

Jackson studied her for a minute, not really sure what to say. "You okay?" he finally asked.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Bringing up marriage?" he shrugged. "You're at a wedding. It's kind of a natural leap."

April rolled her eyes. "Not exactly for us, do you think? We've only been dating for like three months. You're my first – well, everything really. It's just a little bit too soon."

"You brought it up," Jackson pointed out.

"Only because my dad did," April replied, sounding a little confused. "And he wasn't saying we should get married, just saying that I was the only one not married and why the hell doesn't this conversation make any sense?"

Jackson laughed as he pointed at the red plastic Solo cup in her hand. "Because I'm pretty sure that you've got a whole lot more rum than Coke in that drink."

"So?" was her brilliant comeback, sticking her tongue out at him.

Jackson raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the one who told me tongues should be kept away unless they're going to be put to good use?"

"Oh, shut up," she said, giggling as she leaned over to kiss him.

"Besides," she added good-naturedly when they finally broke apart, "If you can't get drunk at your sister's wedding when you're the only single sister left, when can you get drunk?"

Jackson laughed. "Seems as good a place as any to me," he said, taking a sip from his own beer bottle. "No one's driving, the hospital is three thousand miles away…"

"Exactly."

They were quiet for a moment before Jackson spoke. "And see, you can look at it this way – you're really better off being the last Kepner girl standing."

April regarded him curiously. "How do you figure?"

"Okay, well Kimmie got married first, right?" April nodded and Jackson continued, "Okay, well no offense to her, but she kinda settled, don't you think?"

April frowned. "You're just saying that because I told you that none of us really like Brett very much."

Jackson laughed. "Sweetie, trust me. The last 24 hours have been plenty of time for me to figure out on my own that you all are right."

April laughed. "God, he's a jerk, isn't he?"

Jackson nodded in agreement. "Okay and so then there's Eric. He's okay – a little bland, really serious, but not a bad guy. And then Rob seems really cool – like, I could totally see him and Alice coming to visit us in Seattle and we'd have fun."

April nodded. "Yeah, that would be cool," she replied, reflecting on the idea for a moment before turning the conversation back to the original point. "So – why am I better off?"

Jackson grinned, looking mischievous. "Because – you've held out all these years – and you wound up with me. Pretty lucky, huh?"

April stared at him for a minute before bursting into laughter. "Really? That's your reasoning?"

"Yup," he replied, still grinning.

April shook her head as the implications of his words started sinking into her brain, which was just a little fuzzy. "Wait a minute…"

"Hmm?"

"Does that mean you would think about marrying me – like one day?"

Jackson looked mildly uncomfortable – he hadn't fully thought his whole theory out, obviously.

April shook her head again. "No, no, wait, never mind, forget I said that –"

"April," he said, interrupting her. "I'm nowhere near ready to get married right now. But one day – yeah, I could see you and me…" he shrugged as his voice trailed off.

"Okay," April said, nodding slowly as she took a sip of her drink before resting her head on his shoulder again. He breathed an inward sigh of relief.

"So, to answer your earlier question, yeah," she said quietly. "I guess I did get pretty lucky."

Jackson smiled as he kissed the top of her head.

"It's been really nice to have these couple of days away from everything, hasn't it?" she mused and he nodded.

"Back to reality tomorrow," he said.

"God, I hope Lexie remembers to pick us up from the airport!" April exclaimed and Jackson laughed.

But before he could reply, Lisa ran down the steps, calling "Aunt April! Grandma says you and Dr. Jackson have to come downstairs and wave goodbye to Aunt Alice and Uncle Rob!"

"Okay," April replied, smiling at her older niece. "Thanks for coming to get us, honey."

The four-year-old nodded in grateful acknowledgement of her aunt's realization of the importance of her task before racing down the next flight of stairs, determined to get there first.

April laughed as Jackson stood up and held his hand out to her. She took it, gratefully – the idea of standing up was a bit daunting at the moment. Jackson couldn't help laughing a little as she got unsteadily to her feet.

"How drunk are you?" he asked, still laughing and April rolled her eyes before shaking her head.

"Dunno," she said, thinking a minute before offering, "Drunk enough not to worry about getting caught having sex in my parents' house?" She giggled as he grinned at her.

"Just drunk enough then, I guess," he said and she rolled her eyes again.

"Oh, shut up," she said as she took his hand and they headed down to the driveway to send the newlyweds off on their honeymoon.