As a child you trust your mother to fight your demons for you. You trust your mother to guide you, you hold her hand when you cross the road and you trust her to cut up your food into child sized pieces. Once you become a teenager however the demons live in your head and you get sent off to therapy to help fight the demons for you, sometimes you win but a lot of the time you don't. But once you become an adult? You don't fight the demons, the demons fight you and you rarely win but you find the strength to get up every day and pretend. You pretend until you believe that you're winning yourself.

Catherine shut off her phone and stared at the screen. She promised Jackson that she would take the first flight out of Boston and be in Seattle after nightfall or even in the early hours of the morning depending on the flight she got. What bothered Catherine most of all was the fact that her son didn't even protest, he needed her and usually hated admitting when he did. She sighed as she put her phone on the couch and reached for her laptop. She could not and did not want to believe this. She was not the happiest person when it came to HOW Jackson and April went about getting married however she was over the moon that they did, although she would not admit it.

The Avery family was an influential one, one where wives were chosen based on Academic merit or what they could bring to the table, she herself had been the first that was chosen based on true, undying love, a love that forced her to cooperate and learn the ropes after Jackson's father had left, she never regretted the decision to be an Avery but she would never admit to wholeheartedly loving it since day one. This was why Catherine was so anal about who Jackson chose to marry, it needed to be a woman of strength, one that's as able to carry on the legacy she would leave behind. Catherine thought of the time she found April crying in the supply closet and then she was faced with the fear only a mother understands; the fear for the wellbeing of your children. As Catherine waited for the web page to load, she thought back to the first time she had met April Kepner at Mercy West, when she had come to help out with a surgery. Back then, April was much more afraid and a lot more annoying than she was now but she was still a very sweet girl, a girl Catherine pitied deep down. She was glad Jackson had April, she was glad that they had each other, but she feared what would happen if they lost this baby.

Catherine booked the flight to Seattle robotically and packed a suitcase in the same fashion. She could not get the conversation with Jackson out of her head,

"Jackson, Jackson honey what's wrong?" she asked as she shooed away an assistant that came in with portfolios of potential beneficiaries for the Harper Avery Foundation and focused completely on her son.

He rarely called her and when he did it was to berate her for meddling or when something was seriously wrong, this time however, it seemed that the reason for the call was the latter. "The baby, Mom. The baby is going to die."

Those few words had Catherine sitting down to regain her composure. "Jackie, what do you mean?" she probed. Jackson was her only son and this baby would be her first grandchild, as well as the future head of the Harper Avery foundation and here her son was telling her that the baby wasn't going to make it.

She could hear Jackson struggling to maintain composure on the other side of the line and this instantly brought tears to her eyes, it was heart wrenching to hear her child suffering and she could do nothing about it.

"OI. They did a scan and the baby is breeched – has been for about a month – and Herman looked at it and said it looks like T-type two.. or t-t-three"

Catherine put her hand against her chest. She shook her head, refusing to believe this. She had seen what Osteogenesis Imperfecta had done to babies but she had also seen the effect Type 2 and 3 had on parents, many parents terminated pregnancies if possible and those that chose to have the baby were in for a hellish few weeks or few months if they were lucky, seeing the baby they came to love suffer before passing on; before they could even open their eyes properly. Never did she think one of those babies would be her grandbaby.

"Jackson.." she whispered in utter disbelief. She swallowed. She needed to remain strong. God knew that Jackson and April would not handle this well, not after everything they had been through.

"Does April know?" Catherine asked, biting her lip.

The picture she had of April in her mind was not a pleasant one, she had seen how April reacted to the accident at the mall and she knew that this would be ten times worse. At the mention of April she heard Jackson's breath hitch on the other side,

"No. She doesn't."

Catherine frowned, "I'm coming over there, I'll take the soonest flight out of Boston, baby. It's going to be okay"

This time, as opposed to the many other times Catherine offered to visit, Jackson did not protest.

Jackson tidied himself up enough to go and find April in the attending's lounge. She had already changed out of her scrubs and was slipping on a jacket, the fact that she was pregnant was becoming obvious and could not be hidden as well under normal clothing anymore.

"Hey!" April cheerfully greeted as she picked up her bag and walked over to him, locking her arm in his.

" How was your day?" she asked, completely unaware that this was one of the worst days of his entire life. But he wasn't going to tell her here, he was going to tell her at home where the entire hospital did not have to witness their grief, so he lied through his teeth.

"Great, and yours?" April smiled knowingly as she squeezed his arm tighter.

"I have a surprise for you" she said in a secretive tone, her eyes were bright and sparkling and it looked as if she had a hard time keeping it from him.

Jackson tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible, "Really? What is it?" he asked.

April laughed as she pulled open the passenger door of his car, "Not here Talkie Tina" she giggled as she slipped into the car.

The smile never left her face

Jackson and April got into the car and April began rambling non stop about a a baby catalogue that one of sisters had emailed her. Jackson saw how bright her eyes became and how she basically trembled from excitement. He clutched the steering wheel tighter to the point where the whites of his knuckles were visible. He didn't want to be the one to take that smile off her face. He wished that they had found out via a doctor and not through Jackson overhearing Herman and Edwards talking. He knew that he would have to tell her. He'd rather she find out from him than find out afterwards that he knew and that he had kept it from her.

"Oh my God, Jackson we have to go baby shopping soon!" She exclaimed as they pulled up outside the apartment.

"I saw the cutest baby growers and blankets. Also we have to look for more things to put on the walls, I do want it to be gender neutral though.." She continued as she slipped out of the car and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"This is finally happening Jackson. Which reminds me, I need to-"

"Stop stop stop!"Jackson exclaimed as he gripped April's shoulders.

The agitation was clear in his voice. April looked taken aback and confused at Jackson's sudden outburst. She had thought he looked off but had tried to keep the conversation going and be cheerful.

"I can't listen to you talk about this when I know that our baby is going to die!"

April froze. Tears pooled in her eyes. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he instantly regretted them. He hadn't meant to be this harsh with her. This was not how he intended her to find out.

"What..." She muttered as she shook her head and tears fell out of her eyes,

"April. April I didn't mean for you to-". She shook her head and removed his hands from her shoulders. He could see her shaking and how she tried her best not to cry.

"April, I'm sorry.." He tried to reach out to hug her but she pulled away and shook her head.

"No, no. I can't. My baby.." She tearfully stated as she turned and headed inside. She ran quickly and slammed the door behind her.

"April!" He called behind her in a broken voice.

But it was too late. He had done one more than more than break her smile, he had broken her heart.

April removed her jacket and sat on the couch, she felt numb. She felt as if every fibre in her being had been anasteathised. She felt like a patient going in for an emergency trauma surgery, a patient she usually operated on who went in feeling numb and confused, not knowing if they were going to make it out and still in the middle of processing what had happened. She felt totally vulnerable as she sat on the couch, her hands protectively wrapped around her stomach. She should not have treated Jackson the way she did, he did not deserve it. He was suffering just as much as she was in this situation and she hadn't been fair but she needed to get away. This was all her fault. She didn't even know what was wrong with their baby, their Buddha baby boy, but she didn't need to. She did not want to know exactly how her baby was suffering when he was going to... Die.

April let out a sob when she realized that she hadn't even told Jackson the gender of the baby yet. They both got pieces of information they hadn't intended to and the piece of information April got was nullified by the fact that it didn't matter the sex of their baby if he wasn't going to make it.

April gripped herself tightly, she always screwed up. She screwed up their first try at a relationship and had a huge part in their other failed attempts. Their marriage and their baby was very impromptu, but it felt right.

But the way they went about it was not right, they had hurt many people along the way and maybe, maybe this was God punishing her. Maybe it was punishment for losing her virignity before marriage, maybe it was punishment for the way she had hurt and embarrassed so many people to find love for herself. Ever since she was a little girl in church she knew that God punished people who sinned and she had done so much of that in the past few baby was paying the price for her selfish actions, her innocent, perfect little baby boy.

"I'm so, sorry baby. I'm so, sorry" she whispered as she tried to combat the tears threatening to fall, she then thought of her parents, sisters, Catherine and..Jackson. It was his baby too. It was their baby, after everything they had been through. It was their baby. At the thought of this, April dissolved into heart wrenching sobs.

He could hear her crying through the door in the lounge when he passed. The door was unlocked but he respected her enough not to open it. They always said that mothers took the loss of a child the hardest, they tended to blame themselves.

God knew what was going through her mind right then.

Jackson sighed and looked at the clock, if was 2 hours since they had gotten home and was now just before 1AM. At that moment, the doorbell rang and Jackson trudged along the carpet to open it.

Before he even opened the door, he knew who it was. His suspicions were confirmed when he was engulfed into a hug and the strong smell of an expensive jasmine perfume hit his nostrils. His mother.

"Mom " he choked out into her curly brown hair. "You came" she rubbed the back of his head comfortingly,

"Of course I did, baby" she answered and let go of her of her son but kept his face between the palms of her hands.

"How's April?" She asked in a soft voice.

Jackson looked down and shook his head.

Catherine sighed. "Where is she?"

Jackson nodded with his head towards the dining room. Catherine let go of her son and walked towards the room. She pushed open the door.

April was sitting on the ground with her body against the bottom of the couch. She wasn't making a sound but tears were flowing out of her eyes like rivulets. She had her arms wrapped around her bump and looked much more pregnant than the last time Catherine had seen her. Catherine nearly started crying herself.

"Oh, April," she muttered.

April looked up with red eyes. When she saw Catherine's face she dissolved into even more tears. Catherine removed the coat she was wearing and went to sit on the couch close to April. She put her arms around her shoulders and pulled her head onto her lap. April buried her face in Catherine's leg and held onto her hand tight while her cries became louder. This was a broken woman, how Catherine hoped that it was some or another misunderstanding.

"It's going to be okay, baby" she whispered running her free hand through April's hair. Jackson watched from the half open door, he knew Catherine was giving April something he couldn't, that something was a mothers love.

"April, honey look at me" Catherine spoke softly.

April raised her head after a few seconds and looked into Catherine's eyes. Her red hair was hanging all over her face and was damp with tears.

"Do you know what is wrong with your baby?" She asked.

April was the mother and deserved to know, she doubted that April had let Jackson get far enough to tell her. April shook her head meekly and looked towards the door, she didn't see Jackson. She instantly felt like shit.

"Honey, they think that your baby has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, type 2 or 3" April gasped.

Catherine tried to break this to her gently, she knew that April was a doctor and knew what OI entailed. She watched as April digested this information before she pulled her body up from the floor, Catherine could see slight trembles.

"I'm going to talk to Jackson." She concluded before pushing back her hair and biting her lip while she turned slowly and walked out the door.

Her reaction had puzzled Catherine, but all that mattered now was that she speak to her husband. They needed each other now more than ever.

In the meantime, Catherine Avery had a few calls to make, she wasn't going to accept her grand baby's death sentence without putting up one hell of a fight.

Winning is not easy. The end result is one that has many consequences, consequences that include losing people or yourself. If you're strong enough to overcome these consequences, you're strong enough to win. Nothing comes easily especially not overcoming something that seems impossible to conquer. But you fight like hell. The demons will never go down without one hell of a fight. But fighting isn't all. You also have to determine how much you're willing to lose.