Chapter One

The car had just exited the airport to pull onto the freeway and Harriet was already asleep. She almost always fell asleep during car rides, but April was hoping she would stay awake this time. The trip to Montana was the first time she had been away from her little girl since Jackson took her home from the hospital, and she was looking forward to hearing her giggles in person again. Because was watching Harriet sleep so intently, it took a few moments for her to realize Catherine was speaking from across the backseat.

"…and I only showed her a couple medical journals. She really seemed to like them, especially the urology ones. You know, she might just take after her grandma. Surgery is in her blood, after all." Catherine smiled as she thought of the idea of Harriet taking after her.

April met her eyes and smiled back at her. There was a time when the last thing she would have wanted was to have a child that took after Catherine Avery, but lately, she was starting to think it wasn't such a terrible idea. Catherine had supported her decision to take the Interim Chief of Surgery position when no one else did. And her support seemed genuine. Catherine's invitation to visit the Avery Trauma Center in Chicago had surprised April even more than her support, but regardless of the reason for the invitation, April couldn't wait to go. The Avery Trauma Center is one of the best in the country, and getting the chance to see the work they do there is an amazing opportunity. Their flight to Chicago was scheduled for tomorrow morning. She would never have planned two trips away from Harriet so close together but going to Montana was a last minute decision. Catherine had explained that Meredith couldn't go because Zola was sick, but after everything that happened in Montana, Jackson and April both knew that was not completely true.

Jackson's phone rang pulling April out of her thoughts. From the backseat she could not see his phone screen to know who was calling him, but she did recognize the puzzled look on his face as he pressed the accept button and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Maggie." He said. "What's up? Okay. Okay. Yeah, of course. Oh, she's on her way now? Like now, now? Umm…yeah, yeah. I'll meet you at the hospital." Jackson dropped the phone from his ear with a deep sigh.

"Jackson, you just got back. You're going to the hospital now?" Catherine asked.

"Um yeah. Maggie's mother came back to town earlier than she had planned and I need to do a consult with her." He answered while staring out the window.

The hesitation in his voice told April that he wasn't quite sure how to answer his mother's question. It must seem odd that he would need to rush to the hospital to consult for a breast augmentation, but he apparently hadn't filled Catherine in on the real reason Maggie's mother had sought him out. April was actually surprised he had told her with all of the tension that had been between them lately, but late one night he confided in her just as he had a hundred times before.

April had just finished one of Harriet's middle of the night feedings and was quietly headed back to her room when a dim light shining from beneath Jackson's bedroom door caught her attention. She was surprised that he was awake. Shortly after April's incision healed, they had gotten in a good routine of switching off on Harriet's feedings. Jackson no longer got up every time to check on April. He only did that sometimes, and he always claimed that he wasn't checking up on April – he just missed Harriet – but each time he would ask April, "Do you need anything? Can I help with anything?" and April would thank him but assure him she was just fine. Sometimes he sat and talked to her while she fed Harriet. They didn't really talk about anything important during those late night feedings, mainly surgeries, plans for the next day, or how cute their baby girl was. And really it didn't matter if he was there for Harriet or April, either way she enjoyed the company. But lately, ever since the attendings were divided over this ridiculous Minnick/Webber competition, Jackson hadn't checked on her at all. So seeing his light on this time made April take notice and against her better judgement, she knocked on his door.

After a long silence, April decided to head back to bed. Just as she was turning toward her room, she heard the click of his door handle and the light from his room flooded the hallway. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness and when she focused on Jackson's face she could see stress in his eyes.

"Do you need something?" His voice had that same annoyed tone he used so often with her recently.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Jackson, it's 2:00 am. What are you doing awake?"

"I'm working." Jackson ran his hand across his forehead and his brow creased with stress.

"Working? What could you possibly be working on this late? Can't it wait? You have surgery in the morning, right? You are going to be exhausted." Confusion filled April's face. Jackson was a dedicated doctor, but choosing work over sleep was not like him. Whatever this surgery was, he must be really concerned about it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just go back to bed, April." Jackson snapped at her. But as he turned to walk back into his room, April saw the scans the were spread across his bed. There were numerous scans of breast tissue from multiple angles and varying degrees of magnification.

"Jackson…" April whispered as she slowly walked through the door to his room and across the floor to his bed. "What are these? Is this… Diane Pierce isn't getting breast implants, is she?"

Jackson sunk down on to the edge of his bed with a sigh.

April walked slowly around his bed picking up a scan and examining it for a few moments before setting it down and moving on to another. "How is Maggie handling all of this?" When Jackson didn't respond, April lowered the scan in her hand and met his gaze. "She doesn't know?"

"Diane is refusing to tell her. She keeps insisting that it will be better for Maggie to wait, insisting that she will tell Maggie when the time is right. I can't force her to tell her, and of course I can't say anything either. So I am stuck in this awkward mess of listening to Maggie complain about her mother's breast implants and listening to Diane justify her choices. And the whole time I am just thinking that this surgery has to go well. I have to pull this off because if I don't, I'll forever be the guy who couldn't save Maggie's mom." Jackson begins to stacking the scans together. "I don't know why I'm telling you any of this. I shouldn't have even said anything."

April takes a few steps and closes the distance between her and Jackson and quietly says his name, "Jackson."

Jackson continues to stack Diane's scans without acknowledging April standing at his side. After a pause, April lifts her hand and places it on Jackson's shoulder. "Jackson," she says again, a little louder this time.

Feeling April's hand on his shoulder causes Jackson to pause. He sets the scans in his hand down on his bed and looks up at her.

Her eyes are filled with kindness and comfort and a rush of guilt pulls at his stomach. He doesn't know how she manages to do that. He had been anything but kind to her lately, he knew that, but here she was, supporting him like none of the tension of the last few days had ever happened.

"I know why you are worried. This is not a situation that anyone should be put in – operating on a friend's mother and keeping a secret about why. But Jackson, you are doing the right thing. Diane is your patient, and you are respecting her wishes. She said she chose you because you are the best, and she's right. You can do this. You might be doubting yourself, but I'm not. I know you can do this." April truly believed what she was saying. He could see her confidence in him reflected in her eyes.

Jackson reached up and grabbed April's hand that was still resting on his shoulder. He squeezed her hand lightly. "Thank you," he smiled up at her and her face brightened in response. For a few moments they remained there in silence with their eyes still on each other until Jackson finally spoke, "We really should get some sleep. Harriet will be up again before we know it."

April let her hand fall from his shoulder and gave him one last reassuring smile before she walked from his room. His eyes followed her as she walked away from him and out the door and he resisted the urge to call out to her and ask her to stay.

Jackson asked the driver to drop him off at Grey-Sloan before taking April and Catherine home. He wanted some time to review Diane's files before he met with her again, and Maggie had said her flight would be landing any minute.

Their driver pulled up to the entrance of the hospital, and Jackson grabbed his work bag and stepped out of the car. Before walking away, he opened April's door and leaned into the backseat. "Thanks again, Mom."

Catherine waved a hand at him in dismissal. "Son, you know I will never turn down quality time with this baby girl. Stop thanking me! I loved every minute of it."

Jackson touched a hand to his sleeping daughter's forehead, careful not to wake her, before turning to April. "I'm sorry I have to go in when we just got back, but I will call you tonight when I get a chance. Hopefully I will be home before you leave for Chicago in the morning."

"I completely understand, Jackson. Don't be sorry."

Jackson reached up and brushed her hair from her face, smiled at her, and closed the door.

As Catherine and April watched him walk into the hospital, Catherine knowingly said, "You two seem to be getting a long much better. I take it things went well in Montana."

April blushed, "Things went very well."

Catherine smirked as she replied, "Well, whatever happened needs to happen more often because Jackson sure seems much happier."

"I couldn't agree more." April responded with a hint of laughter in her voice.

April had been sleeping for several hours when her phone vibrated against her night stand. The screen was lit up with a text message from Jackson.

Jackson – Are you sleeping?

April – I was, but that's okay. How's work? How are Diane and Maggie?

Jackson – A mess. Both of them, really, but I'd rather talk about that later. Where are you sleeping?

April – In my room…

Jackson – I thought maybe you'd be in my room.

April paused, unsure of what to say next. They hadn't had time to talk about what had happened in Montana. It's not that the thought of sleeping in his room hadn't crossed her mind, but she didn't want to assume that he wanted her there. She still wasn't completely sure what he wanted. I mean, obviously things between them had changed, but what did that mean?

Before she had a chance to ask him, her phone vibrated in her hand. He was calling her.

"Hello?" her voice was still full of sleep.

"You sound exhausted. Now I feel bad that I woke you." Jackson sounded apologetic, but she could hear in his voice that he was smiling as well.

"Me? Have you slept at all?" April asked.

"I got a few hours in an on call room earlier while Maggie got her mom settled in at their house. But I didn't call to talk about that. You didn't answer my text. You aren't going to sleep in my room?"

"Well, I didn't really know if you wanted me to. I mean, we haven't really talked, and I didn't want to just assume you wanted me to sleep in there now." April explained.

"Of course I do."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. Well, it would be better if I was home to sleep in there, too, but still…"

"So you won't be home before I leave for Chicago tomorrow?"

Jackson sighed, "No. I need to go over the new information that Diane's oncologist in Hawaii sent over and that is going to take awhile. But you don't have to wait for me. You can move into my room whenever you want."

The idea of sharing a room with Jackson and sleeping in his bed again made April happier than she had been in a long time. "How about this? I will move into your room, and sleep in your bed, but I want to wait for you. Sleeping in there alone will just make me miss you more, so how about my first night back from Chicago? That will give us something to look forward to."

Jackson smiled, "That sounds like a good idea. And you in my bed again is definitely something to look forward to. You should get some sleep now. I know you have an early flight tomorrow."

April yawned, "Okay. Thanks for calling. And try not to stress too much about the surgery tomorrow. You'll be great."

"Thank you," Jackson replied, "And I can't wait to hear all about Chicago."