April scanned in the last of the charts from the pit before checking her work email. There were some administration emails about upcoming events at the hospital as well as some procedural changes, but nothing important, so April closed out of it. She had been back at work now for a few weeks and was on desk duty as her pregnancy was coming to an end. She was thirty-five weeks now and Emma was growing right on track to be full-term and on-time. Her recovery after the car accident was easier after she had come out of the ICU and was able to be released from the hospital to go home. She and Jackson both were now fully recovered and back at work while the twins were back to their usual daycare schedule.

"April, have you seen Derek since this morning?" Lexie asked as she came up to the desk with a chart. "We were supposed to have a consultation this morning, but I haven't seen him since he was at the coffee cart with Mark."

"No I haven't, but let me check the board," she said as she rolled back and looked at the surgical board. She looked through each of the operating rooms. "Ah, there he is...he had an emergency come in and is in OR-1."

"That explains why he didn't answer any of my pages," Lexie replied.

"Yeah, it was a bad wreck that came in this morning just before lunch. I didn't even think about letting anyone else know, I'm sorry. Pregnancy brain."

Lexie laughed. "Don't I know it," she agreed, moving her hand over her own bump.

"How far along are you now?" April asked.

"Twenty weeks and four days," her friend said. "I still can't believe I'm finally pregnant again. Mark and I didn't think it would take that long, but I'm so thankful."

"Well you guys are great parents and I know that Sofia and Josh are going to be so excited with their new baby sister."

"I can't wait to see who she looks like...Josh looks so much like Mark, so I'm kind of hoping she takes after me with dark hair."

"I feel the same way...but Harper and Eli both have some similar looks to both Jackson and I. Emma I think is going to look a lot like her Daddy...I just have a feeling."

April could not believe that the twins were already two and that her newest little one would be here in just five short weeks or less. Harper was so much like Jackson, thoughtful and quiet until she had something to say while Eli was all Kepner. He was loud, rambunctious, and loved to be the center of attention. Her babies were not so much babies anymore and while she was sad about it, she loved seeing them grow and their personalities come out so much more.

"Have you and Mark settled on a name?"

Lexie nodded and smiled. "We decided on Carly Susan, after Mrs. Shepherd and my mother."

"That is a beautiful name," she agreed. Lexie had lost her mother several years ago due to a freak rare complication from acid reflux and the hiccups. April could not imagine losing her mother so young, especially in the same hospital where she was working.

"Mark loved it since Mrs. Shepherd is the mother who raised him and then my mother. He wanted to honor both of them."

"That's what we did with Eli and Harper," she said, smiling. "And now Emma will have Catherine as her middle name for her Grandma."

Lexie smiled and nodded in agreement. "I'm really glad all of our kids will be around the same age and grow up together."

Since she and Jackson had moved into their home, Lexie and Mark were a regular fixture there for holidays and other functions. They hosted birthday parties and had lots of regular cookouts together as families, with Meredith, Derek, and everyone else invited as well. April loved that their work family was as close as they all were and that they all had children around the same ages to play together. And when her family visited from Ohio, she and Jackson loved having them stay at the house.

"Oh don't forget we are having lunch at our place this Saturday," April said as she thought about it. "Jackson is excited about the game and having Mark over, so I imagine the guys will be busy. I imagine Josh, Eli, and Harper will want to spend time with Mark and Jackson since they love watching the games too."

"And we will have time all to ourselves," Lexie grinned. "Have you started nesting yet?"

"Oh you have no idea...it's so bad!" April replied, shaking her head and laughing. "I have rearranged Emma's nursery three times already and washed all her clothes, organized her dresser, and arranged the changing table with all the diapers, wipes, and everything underneath. Jackson says I've lost my mind."

"Me too! I also have been buying clothes and things for Carly because we did not have anything for her. Until the ultrasound, I honestly thought we were having another boy."

"I thought Jackson and I might be having another boy until the accident, but when I woke up and he told me that we were having a girl, it was like I knew all along," she said, smiling. "Now I can't wait to meet her."

"Well I hope that Carly and Emma are as close as we are one day," Lexie said, smiling as she took her chart and went back to work.

April smiled and went back to work before she looked up to see that it was time to head home. She got up and made her way to the elevator before getting in and going to the first floor where the daycare center was. As she approached, she saw Jackson already standing there signing the kids out and smiled. He had their bags on his shoulder. Her heart melted as he scooped up Eli in his arms and took Harper's hand. Jackson was such an amazing father and she knew that she was the luckiest woman in the world to have a husband who knew her as well as he did.

"Mommy!" Harper giggled as she let go of Jackson and ran over to April.

"There is my little nugget," she said as she felt the little girl wrap her arms around her legs.

"Mama me too!" Eli cried as he looked on from Jackson's arms.

"You too, my little man," she said, kissing his cheek and then kissing Jackson. "And my handsome husband."

Jackson smiled and kissed her back. "How was your day?"

"Busy, but mostly just paperwork since I can't be in the operating rooms," she replied. "What about you?"

"Did a lot of work in the lab with Mark on skin cell growth from stem cells," he explained as they walked out toward their car in the parking lot. "We're nearing the end of the trial before we can see if they're viable."

"That is amazing," she said as she helped load Eli and Harper into their car seats. "You guys have worked so hard on that."

"I'm excited to see what happens," he admitted as he got into the driver's seat. "Mark thinks that this time is going to be a success."

"I think that it will be too," she said. "You guys have been working on it for a long time now...since before I was pregnant."

Jackson nodded, "It took so long to get anything approved through the board, but Mark had some heavy persuasion."

April nodded and smiled as he talked a while more on it while they drove home. Once they were home, she made a quick dinner for the kids before they were bathed and put down for bed. She and Jackson read them a story and kissed them goodnight before slipping out of the nursery. Thankfully, both Eli and Harper were worn out from their day and went right to sleep so they could have some time to themselves. Jackson made her some pasta before she ran her own bath, sinking in the water to relax her aching back. It had been a long day. Jackson came into the bathroom and smiled at her as she moved her hands over her bare belly.

"How's your back?" He sat down on the side of the tub.

"Mm better, but still pretty sore," she replied. "Emma has been bouncing around like a monkey all day."

"She is getting ready to come out," he chuckled. "Everyone asked about how you were doing on the surgical floor and already starting their little wager on how big she's going to be."

April laughed. "Well she is going to be the only one, so my bet is she'll be around seven or eight pounds with how big I am now. But who knows?"

"Mom thinks that she'll be close to eight," he mentioned as he leaned in and kissed her once.

"Your mom has a good sense on those things," she said. "And she was pretty close with Eli and Harper."

"Speaking of, she said that she and Richard would like to babysit for us so we can have a date night before Emma arrives." Jackson smiled and stood up, pulling off his shirt.

"Oh I would love that," she said. "We could go to that place we love near the pier."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," he agreed as he undid his pants and pulled them off.

April moved forward and he slid into the tub behind her. She relaxed her back against his chest and smiled as he moved his arms around her waist, resting his palms on her belly. After her first pregnancy, April had been self conscious about her body, but she realized she had carried and birthed two humans. Jackson had always made her feel sexy and wanted too, which helped boost her self esteem this time around. She wasn't shy around him anymore at all, when she was pregnant. As he rubbed her stomach, Emma stretched out her little foot.

"Oh there she is," he said as he tickled her foot.

"She likes hearing her Daddy's voice," she said. "She moves so much when she hears you."

"I think she is going to keep us on our toes."

"Yeah?" April smiled and turned to kiss her husband. "What makes you say that?"

"She is the baby," he said, kissing her again.

April laughed and nodded. "Well she is also an Avery and a Kepner, so she is bound to be stubborn, passionate, and wonderfully assertive."

"She has her Mom and Grandma to teach her that as well as her big sister," Jackson replied.

"I'm so happy that your Mom lives close by and that she gets to see the kids so much," she added. "She and Richard are so good with them."

"Me too. I know my Mom can be a lot, but I think becoming a Grandma has been a dream come true for her."

"She told me that she didn't think she ever would but that she is so proud of you," April mentioned as she relaxed again. "You are a wonderful father to our kids and she knows that too."

"I had a good example with Grandpa. Better than my own dad," he said, rubbing her arms gently. "Grandpa wrote me a letter…the day of our wedding."

"Oh?"

"He told me that he was proud of me and that he always knew I would be destined for great things," he said, smiling a little as he did. "And that I was a lucky man to have met someone as wonderful as you. That I should cherish and protect you. He also said I should give fatherhood a chance…and he was right."

April kissed his cheek lovingly.

"He also said no medical journals, surgeries, or awards could be better than having me as a grandson," he said.

"You were his greatest accomplishment, Jackson," she said. "He loved you more than anything in the world."

"I hope he is proud of me now and that he knows how much his great-grandchildren will know all about him."

April nodded and smiled. Their children would always know about their great-grandpa and that he was a wonderful man, a pioneering surgeon, and would have loved them dearly. April would make sure of that and so would Jackson. As she leaned against her husband, she was thankful for all she had and knew that things would only continue to get better for them in the future.