"April, we got incoming," Hunt's voice said as April jerked up from her reading.

"On it, what's coming in?" she asked as she put down her chart and reached for a pair of gloves.

"There was a three car pileup off the freeway with multiple injuries and some critical condition patients. Someone lost control getting off an access road and it's a mess," he explained as they walked toward the ambulance bay to wait.

April nodded and gowned up to wait, knowing that the coming storm of traumas would put the storms of her mind at ease for the time being. She had told Jackson a few days ago about the baby and hadn't heard from him since, so she assumed that he was going to keep his distance from her. And frankly, she was okay with that since their encounter hadn't been the best one. It was calmer than past arguments, but she was done fighting and done arguing because she needed to remain calm and as healthy as possible for her unborn child.

"You seem distracted today, Kepner…something wrong?" Owen asked as they stood waiting.

"Just a lot on my mind…still getting used to the divorce thing," she replied, keeping the information to a minimum for now.

"That takes time…it isn't easy at first, but it does get easier," he assured her. Owen had been through divorce before and she knew that he was a mess when Cristina left.

"I hope so…thanks," she replied.

The ambulance arrived and April brought in the first patient, immediately beginning her assessment and going into her zone. When she was working, it was like time passed so quickly that she didn't realize it. Her focus was her patient and not her own problems, which helped a lot when she was trying to forget what was going on in her own life right now. April quickly was able to assess her patient and brought him up to surgery immediately to stop a huge amount of bleeding in his abdomen. It took hours, but April was calm and focused as she operated and barked orders to the residents and interns, making sure they understood the seriousness of the surgery they were performing to save this man's life. Everyone in the room respected her though and understood her methods.

After the surgery, April stood in the operating room with her hands on the gurney. Everything was being cleaned off and sterilized, but she remained. She had saved a life today and it felt good, but her troubles were now weighing on her mind again.

"Kepner, you doing alright?"

April turned to see Owen coming in the room, seemingly concerned for her.

"Yeah, I uh…sometimes I need a minute after big surgeries like that," she said. "They get intense and stuff."

He nodded. "I get it…but this is more than that."

Owen was her mentor and her friend, which meant he knew her better than a lot of people. And he was good at reading people, which was a talent he picked up in the military from his explanations. So she knew that she couldn't lie to him anymore. However, tears came to her eyes as she looked at him.

"I…I'm pregnant, Owen. I'm having a baby with the man I signed divorce papers with almost a month ago," she said, biting her lip as she tried to hold her tears back. "I told Jackson and he…well, he reacted like he always does. And I'm screwing everything up because I didn't tell him the morning I found out because it would have held him back from signing the papers and made everyone miserable. But he's mad at me for not telling him and I just…I'm so lost."

"April, you haven't screwed anything up…you're having a baby. That is a miracle and something to be excited about," her mentor explained. "It might not be the circumstances you hoped for or the right time, but this is not a bad thing."

Owen hugged her and she hugged him back, tightly. He was one of the truest friends she'd ever had and understood her in her insecurities. During her residency, he had taken her under his wing and showed her a whole other side to herself that she never knew existed until she was introduced to trauma and how exciting, fast paced, and complicated it could be. And he had given her the motivation to be great at it.

"I'm just…after Samuel, I'm scared and praying so hard that this baby…that everything will be okay," she rambled.

"You have overcome a lot, April. And your strength is what has seen you through it. Your baby is lucky to have you as their mother."

April knew that hearing those words of affirmation, confirming that she was doing alright, made all the difference for her as she stood back and smiled a little through her tears. She was trying to make the right decisions for her child, but it wasn't easy given the history she had with losing her first child so devastatingly. There was about a two percent chance of her second child developing Osteogenesis Imperfecta, but the risk was minimal and she had talked with her physician about it at length when she found out that she was pregnant. They would monitor her ultrasounds, but no invasive testing would be done at the risk of miscarriage, which April didn't want.

"Thank you, Owen…you're a really good friend and I'm glad to have you around," she said sincerely.

Smiling, she left the operating room and went to scrub out before returning to her charts. She had to catch up on some documentation, but otherwise she was done for the day and ready to go home, put her feet up, and relax. Today was a good, but exhausting day, and she knew that she was going to have even more exhausting ones ahead as she navigated this pregnancy mostly alone and then had to work out a custody agreement with her ex-husband. But that was another worry for another day.

On the opposite side of the floor, Jackson stood in front of a nurses' station and looked over at his wife. April was concentrating on her charts and had the same look on her face that she always got when she was focused and intense. It was a look he admired and had come to love in the time he'd known April. As frustrated as he was at their lack of communication right now, he understood that she was hurting. She hadn't asked for the divorce, so in her eyes…he didn't deserve to be near her right now and he could agree to that while he sorted out his own emotional rifts.

"Dude, you stare any harder and you're going to turn her to stone like Medusa or something," Karev said, plopping down a chart next to Jackson, causing him to jerk.

"I wasn't staring," he defended quickly, looking down at his chart.

"I know it when I see it. You still got it bad for Kepner." Alex shrugged and picked up another chart.

"She signed the papers."

"But you didn't." Karev looked over at him smugly. "You're gonna have to tell her sooner or later or sign the papers."

"How did you know that?" Jackson hadn't told anyone about not signing the papers, sans his lawyer.

"It's written all over your face that you are still married to her…single men don't look at their ex-wives like that, trust me. Don't be an idiot and let her find out from someone else."

"Uh thanks," he said, glaring at Alex for a moment before going about his business.

Sometimes it made him so peeved that Alex was right. But Alex wasn't a complete asshole that he had been a few years ago, so he could respect that. And he was right…Jackson couldn't let April find out from someone else that he hadn't signed the papers. Somehow Alex had known, so other people might know as well. He wanted to tell her because he loved her and because he had a realization sitting in that room watching her sign the papers that it wasn't what he wanted. Seeing her put him first had slapped him in the face, hard, because she put aside her beliefs and gave him the exact thing he asked for.

"Baby Boy," a voice called from behind him, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn.

"Mom…what are you doing here?" he asked, honestly surprised to see his mother.

She looked at him with a dull stare, like he shouldn't have even asked that question. "You know why I'm here."

Jackson sighed and went into one of the conference rooms to have this conversation in private with his mother. He knew that she was about to let loose on him and he wasn't going to have that go public with all the other drama that had happened around here lately. But he also respected his mother and would listen to what she had to say because she was his mother and sometimes, even though he hated to admit it, she was a lot wiser than him.

"Are you going to tell me why you made my daughter-in-law sign divorce papers and then not sign them yourself?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Mom, my marriage is none of your business…it's complicated enough as it is," he replied, knowing that the meddling would make matters worse.

"Jackson, I raised you better than that…what is going on?" Catherine raised her eyebrow at him and he knew that she expected an answer.

"Things just…fell apart after Samuel died. April left and went to Jordan and I…I just lost it, okay," he said, exasperated that all this was being rehashed for the thousandth time. "You saw me in the ER with a cut on my arm and face from when I took down his nursery."

"I remember…but I thought you and April were trying to work things out in counseling?"

"I quit…it wasn't working with the same fight being brought up over and over again with no give on either side."

"So you decided that divorce was the best option because you saw no other way out and then decided after she already signed the papers that you regretted that decision?" God he hated when his mother knew him better than he knew himself sometimes.

"Alright…alright, yes I regret it…I realized that the moment she signed her name on the dotted line and bolted out of the room," he admitted. "But it's a whole hell of a lot more complicated than that now, Mom. April's pregnant…she didn't tell me for three weeks because she didn't want to feel like I would stay in the marriage for the baby."

Catherine's look softened as she watched her son.

"Now I don't know what to do because if I tell her I didn't sign the papers, she'll get mad or might not believe me because I know about the baby now," he explained, motioning with his hands to make his points.

Jackson, despite how angry he had become with April over abandoning him in their grief, never stopped loving her. He knew her better than anyone and knew how much she loved sappy romantic movies or fortune cookies because they were fun and silly to read out loud. During the winter, she loved to put their comforter in the dryer before bed because it made her feel comforted and safe. He knew that after sex, she liked to be held because she liked the intimacy of it. And he knew that her faith was one of the most important things to her, even if he didn't understand it all the time.

"Marriage is never easy, but if you still love April…you need to show her that you do. Prove to her that you're still the man that she fell in love with. Start small by just being there to support her through this pregnancy. Put aside your anger and hurt…I know that it's hard for you because there is a lot of hurt, but she's hurting too," his mother said. "You both need to talk through your grief at some point because you never did that. But start with the small things, baby boy, like just being there for her through this pregnancy because she's bound to be afraid and anxious."

Jackson nodded in understanding. "I'm hoping she'll speak to me…after the other night. I reacted poorly."

"Apologize. You would be surprised how far a genuine apology will go," his mother instructed. "And then I expect you both to tell me about my grandchild at some point in the near future. I'll pretend to be surprised."

Jackson never ceased to be amazed at his mother. She could turn a conversation on a dime without even trying. It was a natural talent he didn't have. But she was right, if he wanted to prove to April that he still loved her, he would have to start small and let her decide when and how she would let him in. And he knew that he wanted to mend those bridges because he still loved her, even if he was upset that she didn't tell them about their unborn child before the morning of the divorce papers being signed. However, he understood her reasoning and had come to respect it since she had been thinking of his wants. For that, he loved her as it reminded him of the woman that he had married. The selfless, compassionate, funny, and kind woman he loved. He just hoped she would still see him as the man she married in the end.