I'm up at 6:30, much earlier than my normal wake-up time. My bags were all packed and loaded into the car last night, so the only thing left to do is to get dressed and do one final sweep of my condo. I'll have to leave for April's in just over an hour to get there by 8:00.
At 7:45, I grab my keys – which I put on the hook for once – and make my way over to my first stop. Once I get to April's, I find her and Harriet sitting on the front porch with a bunch of bags.
"It was too nice outside to not wait out here," April says, answering my unasked question.
I ruffle Harriet's hair and start loading their bags into the car. We drive over to my mom's place, and she comes out dressed to the nines.
"Mom, it's an airport, not the Oscars," I say as she gets in the back seat.
"Oh hush, Jackson. Let Catherine dress up if she wants," April retorts. I roll my eyes and turn out of the driveway.
At the airport, we drive over to the tarmac where the Avery plane is waiting for us. I greet the pilot and Katie, our flight attendant. The ground team starts loading our bags into the cargo hold, and I slip them each a $50 bill to thank them for their troubles. I'm walking over to where April, Harriet and my mom are chatting when I see another car pull up beside mine. I can't make out who the occupants are, but I can see the car looks pretty full.
The passenger door opens first, and out steps Bailey. I raise my eyebrow and hope this isn't some last-ditch effort to get me to stay at Grey-Sloan. It's far too late for that and it wouldn't work anyway. Then, the driver's door and back two doors open simultaneously, and soon I see Richard, Meredith and Ben. My mom comes over and puts her hand on my shoulder.
"You know we couldn't let you leave without a little goodbye party," she says with a wink. I shake my head in return and the four of us walk over to where they're standing.
Bailey's holding what looks like a huge card and hands it to me with a big grin. The front has 'Good Luck, Boss' spelled out in fancy gold lettering. The inside is covered with what I think are comments from hospital staff. I can't believe they went through the trouble of doing this for me.
"Since you're our boss now, we thought we needed to start off on the right foot," Richard says, laughing heartily.
"Is this a bribe?" I jokingly ask.
Ben pipes up with a reply. "That isn't, but this is," he says as he hands me a small blue box. "And for you, Kepner," he says as he hands April a rectangular red one. I'm speechless and turn around to look at April, who has tears starting to form in her eyes.
"And one for Miss Harriet, of course," Richard adds, giving Harriet a gift bag of her own.
Harriet wastes no time and opens her present to find a curly-haired American Girl doll accompanied by doll-sized scrubs and a lab coat. The blue lettering on the side of the lab coat reads "Harriet Kepner-Avery, MD." I know those dolls cost at least $100 a pop, and that custom-made outfit couldn't have been cheap either. They really didn't need to do this.
Harriet starts screaming with glee, until April gives her a stern look that I know means "remember your manners." She gives Richard a hug and says thank you to him, Bailey, Meredith and Ben.
"Well, what are you two waiting for? We're not getting any younger out here. Open up!" Meredith tells me and April.
April and I both slowly untie the ribbons on our boxes and pull off the lids. Inside mine is a gold-toned watch with engraving on the back of the face that says, "To Jackson, from your friends at GSM." I shoot a glance April's way to see what her gift is, but I can't tell since she's just holding the open box bawling.
"Hunt chose yours, April," Bailey explains. "He said to make sure you read the little card underneath. He wanted to be here too, but a trauma came in earlier this morning, multiple GSW I think. He wasn't able to get out of surgery in time."
With that, April reads the card and starts crying harder. I move closer to her, nosiness getting the best of me. Inside the box is a gold pen engraved with "I am a soldier" along the barrel. I can't read the card since the handwriting is too small, and don't want to anyway. Owen was April's mentor at Grey-Sloan, so whatever he wrote was clearly very touching and best left private. Since April's unable to talk, I speak for the both of us.
"Wow, guys. I'm not even sure what to say. You didn't need to do this for us. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it," I say genuinely.
"Is this the beginning of a speech from the new boss?" Ben asks, laughing.
"Why not?" I reply. "You've all had such a huge influence on my life. I think I can speak for April and say the same for her." I look back at her for confirmation and she nods vigorously while wiping her eyes. "You took us in when we were just residents from Mercy West and taught and nurtured us for so many years. You've always been there for us, and your friendship has meant a lot." I'm not sure if it's April's sniffling being contagious or the wind in my face, but my eyes are starting to feel misty too.
"It's been an honour to watch the two of you grow over the years. I remember when the merger happened, we weren't sure about the quality of doctors we'd be getting from Mercy West. But you met and exceeded our expectations. You've both become excellent surgeons and wonderful parents. You will be missed around here," Richard says poignantly.
"Don't be strangers," Meredith adds. "You've all left me alone here to be the last one from our resident class. I'll be roaming the hallways like a relic soon," she laughs.
"Especially you, Kepner," Bailey says with a wag of her finger. "The most we've seen of you these past few years is brief stops in the cafeteria to grab Harriet a snack when you pick her up from daycare. I hope both of you come back to visit sometime."
"Amen to that!" Ben exclaims. "Mercy West forever, right?" he asks with a fist bump in each hand for both me and April. We smile and return his fist bumps. The three of us had outlasted most of the other Mercy West staff brought over in the merger, and now we were all gone.
Somehow finding her voice again, April starts talking. "We will definitely be back. We left in such a hurry that we both still have loose ends to tie up here with our places, so you will be seeing us in the future for sure."
With that, my mom comes out of the plane with some glasses and a bottle of champagne. I didn't even see when she went in there.
"I know it's early, but I think this calls for a toast," she says while she passes around the glasses and starts pouring.
"To Dr. Kepner, Dr. Avery, and the future Dr. Kepner-Avery!" she cheers. Everyone repeats it back and clinks glasses. Even Harriet, who is drinking what I think is apple juice from a champagne glass like a queen.
After a bit more chatting, we see the pilot come out and motion that it's time to go. April, Harriet and I make our way around to everyone, giving hugs and reassuring that we will keep in touch. Lastly, we get to my mom, who is openly crying now.
"Oh Mom, don't you live in Boston part-time? We know we'll still be seeing a lot of you. It's just a short ride away when you have a private plane," I say while hugging her tight.
"I know, I know. I'm just so proud of you," she says with a kiss on the cheek. "You too, April," she adds with a kiss for her too. "I know you'll both do great work."
"Thanks, Catherine," April responds with a hug. She picks up Harriet, who looks much too pleased to be the centre of attention for the past little while, and we make our way up the plane steps. Once we're seated inside and the engines start, we look out the windows and wave goodbye to the five people standing on the tarmac below. The last clear view we have of Seattle is my mom blowing kisses to Harriet from the ground.
Once we've safely reached cruising altitude, Katie brings out coffee for me and April and orange juice for Harriet. She mentions that she's warming up some breakfast burritos that should be ready in ten minutes. I say thanks and turn to April, who looks lost in thought staring out the window.
"Whatcha thinking about?" I ask her.
"Nothing and everything," is her cryptic response. She doesn't turn around to look at me or elaborate, so I don't pry any further.
Katie brings out the breakfast burritos, which April and I eat in silence. Harriet has already fallen fast asleep, worn out by the excitement of this morning. After we finish eating, it looks like April is nodding off as well. Soon, I'm left awake alone. I can't sleep so easily, especially when I remember what happened to Mark and Lexie, so I start planning what to do when we land instead.
I got us a reservation at the Four Seasons hotel, but check-in isn't until 4:00. Our ETA is 2:30, so we'll have a bit of time to kill before we get our room. I booked a suite that I know April will think is way too fancy, but who knows how long it'll be until we get housing sorted out. I want us to be comfortable if we're gonna be there for a few days. The room has one king bed, one pullout bed and a smaller rollaway bed for Harriet. I can take the pullout and April can take the king; although the bed's big enough for us to share, I don't think that's such a good idea. We'll probably drop off our bags at the hotel, get lunch, and hopefully the room will be ready by the time we're done eating.
Looking over in their direction, it's clear that April and Harriet won't be waking up anytime soon. I stretch my legs and pull out my laptop. There's still well over four hours of flight time left, and the quiet ambience of the plane gives me a great opportunity to work.
Harriet wakes up just in time to watch us land at Logan International. She was so excited to get on a plane that I'm surprised (and honestly relieved) she slept basically the whole flight. April, on the other hand, is still fast asleep. I nudge her to indicate naptime has come to an end.
"Sorry, Jackson," she says, rubbing her eyes. "I guess I didn't sleep that well last night."
"You and Hats both, it seems," I chuckle. "I won't lie, the silence was pretty great for getting work done. If you're still tired you can sleep when we get to the hotel, but that won't be for a couple hours. I'm thinking we drop off our bags and grab lunch in the meantime, what do you say?"
"I say food sounds wonderful right now. But nothing fancy, Jackson. We all look like we just got off a five-hour flight," she points out.
"How about pizza? I think indoor dining is still closed, but I do know a place that has the best deep-dish take-out. The weather's pretty nice, maybe we can sit in a park and eat," I propose.
Before April can respond, Harriet offers her own input. "I love pizza!" she exclaims. April and I laugh. I guess Harriet settled that.
When we finally land, I thank Katie and the pilot as we pass them on our way down the steps. April is holding Harriet's hand to prevent her from running around the tarmac, and I collect our bags from the ground crew. We make our way over to the terminal's pick-up area, where my family's usual driver is waiting for us in a black Lincoln.
"Jackson," April whispers as we walk. "This looks like a fancy Uber. How much did you pay for this?"
"It's not an Uber. We have a driver who usually does stuff like get us to and from the airport or around town for business activities. His name's Ted, I think I told you about him once a long time ago. He's nice – you'll like him," I reply. April gives me an almost-frown, but I figure she's too tired to question why we need a personal driver to take us to the hotel since she doesn't say anything back.
"Ted!" I greet the driver with a handshake. Ted's been driving my mom and I around this city almost as far back as I can remember.
"Jackson Avery, how long has it been?" he says back excitedly. "And this must be your wife April and daughter Harriet. So nice to finally put faces to the names Catherine tells me about!"
"We're not married," April and I blurt out quickly in unison. Ted gives us a confused look and cocks his head to one side. I have a feeling my mom has been omitting some information when she updates people around here on my life.
"We were, I mean, uh, we used to be. But not anymore," I clarify.
"Ah, my mistake. Well, nice to meet you all the same, April. You too, Harriet," he says, getting down to her level and giving her a high-five.
"What's the destination today?" Ted asks as he stands back up.
"Four Seasons hotel," I let him know while April and Harriet load their bags and sit down in the back.
He responds with a thumbs up, we both get in and set off.
Ted drives us to the hotel and waits outside while we leave our bags with the concierge desk. I order food as we're there, and have Ted take us to a pizzeria around the corner to pick it up. He then drops us off at a nearby park, noting he'll come back by 3:45 to get us to the hotel for check-in. Once there, April, Harriet and I find an empty picnic bench where we enjoy our lunch of pizza and wings.
"Ted seems like a nice guy. I like him, you were right," April mentions as we watch Harriet play with her new American Girl doll in the playground.
"He is, I knew you would. He's been around for most of my life. Even played chauffeur for me and my date at prom." April rolls her eyes and I can't help but laugh at her reaction.
"I had a prom chauffeur too, although no date. My dad drove me in our old beat-up pickup truck. So, we're even," she says with a smug grin.
"You got me there," I retort with a shrug. April smiles a bit, but I can tell something's been bothering her all day since it doesn't reach her eyes.
"Still don't wanna talk about whatever's bugging you?" I ask with a nudge on her shoulder.
"Is it that obvious?" she asks with a sigh. "Nothing's bothering me, really. I've just been thinking about a few things. I don't think it really sunk in until today that I was liked and missed at Grey-Sloan. Seeing everyone show up with gifts and kind words was shocking. I mean not that they would show up for you, but that they'd do it for me. Most people made fun of me or thought I was annoying for so long, and then when they didn't, they hated me for what happened with the whole Minnick issue. I never won any awards or did anything amazing while I was at Grey-Sloan. Then I left and things there went on as usual. It was just nice to feel loved, I guess."
I raise my hand and take a breath to reply, but she continues. "I've also been thinking about Matthew. The call we had yesterday was…not good. I haven't been fair to him, Jackson. I wasn't at our first wedding, and I haven't been ever since marrying him for real the second time. He told me I was inconsiderate, and he's right. I hurt him and I'm not sure I'll ever get over how I treated someone that way. Someone who I was supposed to have loved," she says with a deep sigh.
I'm not exactly sure what April means by "I haven't been fair since marrying him the second time." My wishful thinking says she's implying that she wasn't in love with him. What she said at the end, about how she was "supposed" to have loved Matthew, confirms that. But I don't ask her about it, because I'm probably only hearing what I want to hear and because it's none of my business. April stayed married to him for over two years; I'm sure if there was no love there, she would've been out a long time ago.
"You aren't a bad person or inconsiderate, April. I'm sure Matthew just said that out of anger in the moment. We did a bad thing, we hurt two people deeply, but we aren't bad people. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't figure out our feelings earlier and avoid all of that. Although, wasn't it you who said that life doesn't always go the way you plan?" April nods and gives a small, closed-mouth smile.
"And about what happened this morning – you underestimate yourself too much, April. The gift and kind words about you weren't surprising to me at all. You were good at your job and people respected you. The Minnick situation was petty, I think we all see that now. Cristina and Alex may have teased you a lot, but I know they both thought of you as a sister deep down. Bailey, Richard, Owen and Arizona love you, and my mother absolutely adores you. I think she even likes you better than me," I say tapping my finger on my chin. April laughs, but still looks a bit sad.
"I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. What did I call you once? Ah, a 'brilliant, gorgeous trauma surgeon.' That's still true." She blushes, and I'm not sure if it's at the compliment or the memory of sneaking around the hospital pretending not to be married.
"I missed you after you left. You almost just died, and I narrowly avoided losing my best friend, but then it felt like I was going to anyway. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one – Bailey and Owen once said the ER didn't run the same without you. Don't sell yourself short, okay?" I ask seriously.
"Okay," April whispers with a nod. We both sit there for a minute and stare at each other, our faces a little closer than best friends'/co-parents' faces should be. Luckily (or maybe unluckily), the moment is interrupted by Harriet.
"Daddy, the big black car is back," she yells from across the playground.
"That must be Ted," I say to April. "Let's get a move on to the hotel, I'm itching to take a shower and nap." She agrees and we meet up with Harriet to make our way over to the car.