A/N: Usual disclaimers. Sorry for the delay. School work always gets a bit tight at the end of the year like this, and academic stuff trumps fic writing priority wise. Then the speculation and the finale slowed my writing mojo. It's back though, and with it a new chapter! This is much much lighter than the finale. Much. Also this is the 2nd last chapter, so next update does it for this story. But the sequel will follow the next so much for sticking with it! I really appreciate all of you.


April stood in the corner of the crowded Columbus airport, carefully up screwing the cap off a water bottle, and reaching for the pain killer that Callie had sent along on the trip. She didn't know why it irritated her so much to need the pills. In fact, she didn't really know why she had been so irritated the whole day. Even with Alex.

Alex stood nearby, by the baggage carousel, waiting for their luggage. His arms were crossed and he had his head tilted to one side, posture that made him seem closed off. Maybe it was just her nerves about having Alex meet her family. Especially, in light of the fact that sometimes April still felt that he still kept her shut out from a lot of his family stuff. Maybe because he did.

Swallowing the pill, April took a second swig of water, and smiled at Alex. His hair was a little longer than normal. Since becoming an attending, he hadn't had the chance to get it cut as often as before. The flight had made him look tousled and as April watched him deftly grab and lift their two bags off of the conveyor belt, her earlier irritation lessened.

Making his way to April's side pulling their suitcases behind him, Alex glanced around pursing his lips, "Where is this brother in law of yours?"

Pulling her phone from her pocket, April carefully reread the text message she had received from Alice's husband, "He said he would meet us by the baggage claim..."

Alex sighed and gestured to the big carousel behind him, "Well, we're here..."

"April? April!"

She caught sight of Deigo Ferrera waving a hand over his head as he emerged from the crowd, smiling brightly. April waved as the dark haired man quickly made his way to her side. His eyes drifted to her cane briefly and for a split second Diego's smile faded. But the moment quickly passed, without comment he lifted his eyes to hers, and grinned.

Diego was the only brother in law April hadn't grown up with. Mike Anderson's family had lived 2 miles down I-71 from the Kepner farm for as long as she could remember. Long before he and Libby had gotten married, Mike was a fixture in April's childhood. And Wendell Meyers had been in April's year in school. She'd tutored him in AP bio their senior year of high school. It felt like he was always around the house that year. At Wendell and Kimmie's wedding, April had joked that his need for biology help was a contributing factor to the couple getting together. He'd been around the house so much that Kimmie'd gotten far too used to him.

On the other hand, Alice had met Diego while she was away at college in Chicago, well after April had left home for med school. At first, she'd felt a bit like she wasn't as close to Diego because they hadn't known each other for most of their lives, but the more time April spent living Seattle, away from the farm, the closer she felt to her youngest sister's husband. She loved the farm and she loved her family, but the longer she lived away from it all, the less April felt like she belonged there.

And even though she'd spent a childhood dreaming of leaving her little town, of going off and becoming a great surgeon somewhere, it still stung a little to realize that she fit in less and less with her old home. Probably even less now, after everything that had happened with her leg, and passing boards. Diego was from the Chicago and in a lot of ways they both ended up being outsiders on the farm. At least, when he and Alice had first gotten married. Now Diego lived in Columbus. In Ohio like the rest of them.

Two summers previous, the year April had come back to Ohio early after the shooting, it was Diego who had understood her the best. She'd pretty much been a mess the whole time she was home, and had been prone to sudden bouts of uncontrollable sobs. He didn't push her to explain, or try to convince her to stop before she was ready. Diego had just been a silent supplier of kleenex, and a nearby person if she ever did want to open up. Which April had appreciated, because as much as she loved having as many sisters as she did, at the time their well intentioned attempts to comfort her had only felt overwhelming. And for some reason had made her miss Reed even more.

Pulling April into a warm embrace, Diego said, "Hello! It's so very good to see you."

"You too," she replied. April gestured to Alex and said, "Diego, I'd like you to meet Alex Karev. He's...we're..."

"Ah, yes," Diego grinned, making April blush and held out his hand. Still, out of all her family, she guessed Diego was the least likely to interrogate Alex about being her boyfriend. That was the reason she'd asked Diego if he could pick them up. "Pleasure to meet you!"

Alex straightened up a bit, and held out his own hand to shake, clearly trying to be more genial than normal, "Hey. Um...yeah. Nice or whatever. You're married to...uh, Alice, right?"

Diego nodded happily and reached over, taking one of the suitcases from Alex, before he began leading the way out of the airport, "Yes, nearly three years now. Hard to believe. I can take one of these..."

As they made their way to the parking lot April gushed excitedly, "How's the baby? Alice sent me the pictures from Easter. How cute is she? I can't wait to meet her."

April's youngest niece, Gabriella, had been born in late December, after April had returned to Seattle the previous year. Then with the earthquake and everything, she hadn't been back to Ohio until now. Gaby was already nearly 7 months old. Her youngest sister's first child had been alive for over half of a year, and April still hadn't met her yet in person. April actually had vague memories of 4 year old self meeting Alice as newborn. Now her little sister was a mother. Unreal.

Actually, getting to know her nieces seemed to get harder and harder with each child. Seven years ago, April had only just began her internship at Mercy West, and things just seemed far less cramped, and she'd even managed to be in Ohio with Libby when Claire was born. Two years later when Libby had Tiffany, things in her residency were tighter. April had at least made it back home to see the baby when she was only a few weeks old.

Kimmie's daughter Haley had been born during April's month and a half of being fired. She'd gone home for a while to lick her wounds, so she saw a lot of the new baby, and a lot of her two older nieces. It was probably the only reason the older two kind of remembered April at all. But she had basically been a wreck that whole time, so their memories were probably a little messed up. And since then, she had only managed to go home a few weekends and holidays here and there, aside from the July trip. Skype and phone calls can only do so much. And so now here it was, yet another new niece.

Quickly unlocking his car and opening the trunk, Diego beamed, "Gaby is fantastic. Growing as you wouldn't believe. Loves playing the peek-a-boo! Luckily Mr. Joe does too. Keeps them both occupied when need be."

Alex listened in silence, looking a little sullen as he lifted their bags into the trunk of Diego's sedan. April couldn't tell if he really was feeling that closed off, or if he was just being shy or tired. She really hoped that things would go okay with him meeting her family. Maybe it was just awkward to hear them babble about people Alex didn't know. Which was exactly why April had given him a list of her relatives. If only he'd bothered to read it. She'd just have to make more of an effort to include him.

All three clamoured into the small car, Alex insisting that April take the front seat for leg room, and began the drive out of Columbus. They'd lost 3 hours in the time difference between Ohio and Washington and it was already late afternoon, so they hit the beginnings of rush hour traffic. Alex still wasn't saying much, and April glanced sympathetically back at him as he sat uncomfortably in the backseat with his arms crossed, pressed up next to Gaby's car seat. His answering half smirk gave her a sense of relief.

As they crawled along in traffic, Alex suddenly perked up and pointed to a billboard on the side of the road, "Dude, that's you!"

April squinted and leaned forward to see what Alex was pointing at. Sure enough, a giant billboard read: Steer Clear of Traffic, with Diego Ferrara. Weekday Mornings starting at 5am. ABC6 On Your Side, WSYX. Next to the words was a giant picture of Diego's face, grinning toothily. She cracked up. She'd known he'd gotten a promotion, but the whole thing was a little ridiculous. The sign was huge.

"It is a new advertising strategy," Deigo replied. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Except posing for the freakin' photo shoot," Alex snorted. April hoped that Diego wouldn't be put off by Alex's sarcasm and way of speaking. Sometimes...okay, a lot of times, people were.

Luckily, it looked like her brother in law took the wise crack in stride, as Deigo casually replied, "It's a living."

From the back seat, Alex gestured vaguely to the multitude of cars surrounding them, "Did you predict this?"

"I'm a traffic man not a weatherman," Diego countered. "We report. We don't predict."

Alex shook his head, "Nah, I pretty sure predictions are involved..."

"Maybe. But it's my day off."

Both men laughed and suddenly the awkwardness seemed to disappear. For the rest of the drive to Cook, Alex and Diego chatted easily, and by the time they drove down the long driveway that lead to her parents house, they were locked in a friendly debate on the merits of lucha libre style wrestling and standard american style. At least that's what April thought they were talking about.

Their conversation allowed April to drift, taking in the familiar sights and landmarks that lead up to her childhood home. There was the small town of cook. Her old school, the corner drug store, a tree she and Kimmie had often gleefully climbed, and the county library. Then the tiny town gave way to expansive fields, and farms. When the car finally came to a stop in front of the Kepner house, April was feeling suitably misty and nostalgic.

Getting out of the car, April closed her eyes and breathed in the familiar scents of grass, daisies, and manure. A smokey smell also made her realize that her Dad was probably barbequing out back. Opening her eyes, she turned to Alex reaching out and taking his hand. He was looking the house up and down with a bemused expression.

"What?" April asked squeezing his hand.

"Think they have enough flags?"

Okay, so maybe her parents had overdone things a bit with the flags, plus the red, white, and blue streamers placed on the front of your house. They always went all out with decorations, and April had always loved it. Why not have a little fun? After all, it's not like everyday is a holiday.

A flicker of movement from the front blinds caught April's eye, and she could see Libby watching them suspiciously through the window.

"Welcome to Middle freakin' America," Alex continued, nudging her shoulder. "Where no one half-ass's the holidays."

April snorted but didn't have time to reply before the front door burst open, and her sister Alice, baby on her hip, bounded carefully down the stairs, enveloping April in a tight embrace. Neither of them could help it, and the tears began to flow.

"I'm so happy to see you," Alice tearfully whispered in April's ear.


"Oh, geez..."

Alex stepped to the side, thrusting his hands into his pockets as April and one of her sisters hugged tightly. Then came the waterworks. Then came the rest of the women of Ohio. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But only a bit.

It was like pebbles falling before an avalanche. Of chicks. First the brunette with the baby, who quickly got handed off to Diego. That had to be Alice. Then another woman, who looked almost exactly like a younger version of April's mom and Alex later learned was Libby, rushed from the house. She was followed closely by Karen Kepner who shot him a bright smile and gave him a small shoulder squeeze, and lastly by Kimmie, who was taller than the rest. The group all hovered around April alternately pointing to her cane, blubbering, and embracing.

Alex moved to the back of the car and lifted out their suitcases. He stood next to Diego by the side of the trunk, and they both stared at the tangle of chicks surrounding April, with puzzled expressions. Gaby stared too, because it was probably about as interesting as anything else a little baby could look at right in that vicinity. And they weren't exactly being quiet.

It'd been awkward at first, but Alex thought Diego was a nice enough dude, and he was glad he wasn't the only one there who thought that everything was just a little ridiculous. Sure, it was the first time they'd seen April since her injury and recovery, but still. Sometimes women really did seem like they were a different freakin' species or something.

After a moment, Diego shrugged and smiled at Alex, expertly bouncing the baby in his arms and taking the handle of one wheeled suitcase, leading the way into the house, "Don't try to understand. They cluster. It is just how they are. You'll get used to it, eh?"

Maybe he would. Maybe he'd have to. Especially if this whole relationship with April kept going. And Alex had to admit he didn't want it to turn out to be a bust.

Following the other man into the house, Alex had a chance to get a good look at the place. There was a barn off to the side of the house, with a tractor in front, and a well worn swing set and slide next to it. It was like little house on the freakin' prairie. Well, he'd never actually watched that show, but this was how he'd imagined a farm house would look. Gables, and windows and a big front porch. Hallway and stairway walls lined with pictures of grinning freckle faced little girls. Quilts draped on couches and rocking chairs. The smell of baking in the kitchen. A gray cat curled up asleep in the front window.

Cozy. All so God-damn picturesque. Nothing like the dingy little house on the eastside in Davenport. The kind of place that had been miles away from his own childhood, to the point where Alex doubted it existed for anyone.

It was the kind of place he'd spent the whole afternoon worrying about. Because Alex wasn't sure he could fit in. Even just for a visit. It seemed nice, if a little foreign, but on some level he felt like he'd always be on the outside of a family like this, only able to look in.

Diego led Alex to a small room toward the back of the house and leaned the suitcase against the wall. Gaby fussed a little and Diego moved to the doorway and inclined his head to the left, "Beer and barbecue in the back, if you are hungry Alex...but no rush."

Diego nodded once again and then headed outside, leaving Alex alone in the small room. Judging by the frilly comforter and girly wallpaper, he could almost be certain that this room had been April's or one of her sister's before it had seemingly been converted to a guest room. Sniffing slightly, he shoved his hands in his pockets and casually made his way into the hall, heading the same direction as Diego. Alex could always eat.

On the way, he got a little side tracked by looking at photographs in the hallway though. He leaned forward and squinted at the neatly placed frames hanging on the wall. Laughter and the sounds of people talking filtered into the house. He could easily pick out April in the photos, she was the only redhead aside from her mom. He saw that April and all her sisters looked reasonably alike however, in one way or another. The smiles, or ears, hand shapes, even postures. One way or another. You could see it in the pictures.

Meredith had told him, once after meeting Aaron, and again after meeting Amber that Alex and his siblings had "Karev foreheads". He'd never really bought it, but then again there weren't really any photos of the three of them together that he could look at to compare.

Alex continued to slowly walk down the hall. There were baby pictures, pictures of April in pigtails with science fair ribbons, one of her sisters on a horse, another with a sports trophy. Formal studio portraits with the lot of them all dressed up, and pictures of Kepner family vacations showing Joe and his kids mugging for the camera from behind one of those roadside photo cut out deals you put your face in.

But it wasn't just little kid, childhood stuff either. There was a photo of April, Jackson, Charles, and Reed in front of the space needle. A few others her sisters as adults in various places. The wall practically had a whole section of graduation photos, featuring April, Kimmie, and Alice in caps and gowns. Then, there was a series of wedding photos and grandkid photos. It was like a whole family history laid out on the walls of their house.

But Alex guessed that's just what you did when your family life wasn't crap. Meredith and Derek were already starting to do it with Zola. Shepard was hardly around his daughter without some sort of camera, and Mer was always whipping out her phone to show the latest pictures. Sloan, and Robbins and Torres were just as bad. Even Bailey, if he really thought about it. But then again, if you have a happy life, it must be the thing you'd do. Document it. Because you wanted to remember.

Alex didn't think his mom had that many pictures of him throughout his whole life. There was probably stuff from when he was little, but no one had really been pictorially documenting his life when he was in foster care. There wouldn't really be more recent stuff either, because he hadn't actually gone home that much after he left for college. He'd been to Davenport more times in the past 7 months than he had in the previous 7 years. And Alex knew his Dad didn't have or care to have any photos of him. Alex's family didn't document. Probably because they really didn't want to remember.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Alex yawned and opened the back door, squinting in the bright afternoon sunlight.

In the backyard he spotted, Joe and Diego, still holding his baby, and another heavy set dude in a John Deer cap hovering around a massive grill near a picnic table. Beyond them, another man stood across from a curly haired toddler as she kicked a mini sized soccer ball. All in front of a giant freakin' corn field. Alex made a face a he walked down the back steps. So many freakin' people. Norman Rockwell would be all over this crap.

Joe looked up and smiled at Alex, waving him over, "There he is! Nice to see you again, Alex."

He didn't seem pissed. Or like he was about to beat Alex to a pulp. He still had small level of apprehension though. But then again, so far all of April's family were all being really nice, and not crowding him or whatever. He was glad for that.

Lifting his own hand in greeting, Alex moved down the back stairs. He was slightly started to find two small girls sitting on each end of the bottom step, clad in different colored, but matching sun dresses. They looked pretty glum and faced away from each other, with their heads resting on their hands and their elbows on their knees.

When she noticed Alex coming down the steps, the older girl looked up and smiled brightly, saying in that child-like sing song way, "Are you Aunt April's boyfriend?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm Alex."

"Can you...um can you tell me...what's a vantage? I heard my mommy say you take vantage...where do you take it? To the park? In Seattle?"

"That's a lot of questions..." he replied awkwardly. "We only just met. You know what they say about talking to strangers..."

"You're not a stranger! I seen your picture."

"You're the stranger!" Alex teased. "A stranger who is missing a couple teeth. How do I know you won't try to take mine?"

The girl giggled and covered her mouth. These must be Libby's kids. Alex could only wonder what other stuff they'd overheard from April's oldest sister. April had hinted that Libby didn't seem to like him very much.

"Do you like sparklers? We have some for later...my daddy said I could hold one."

"Claire! Shh! We're not s'posed to talk," squeaked the she smaller girl, as she spun around angrily, holding a finger to her lips. "We're in trouble!"

Alex held back a smile. The voice seriously had to be genetic. So did the rule following. Seriously.

"Girls," the man standing with the green baseball hat said firmly. "What have we told you about talking in timeout? You've still got two minutes on the clock."

Both children gasped and spun back to their previous positions. Claire glanced up at Alex surreptitiously however, giving him an apologetic smile.

"We got in a fight," she whispered, in that loud way that all kids think is really really quiet.

"Uh oh. You guys better finish serving your time. We can talk pyrotechnics when your done," Alex said quietly as he walked past them. Claire nodded earnestly and twirled her fingers in her whispy hair.

It was funny, he realized. Alex understood kids. He was used to kids after all these years working in peds. Kids didn't judge. He was happy around kids. Especially kids acting normal. that's why he loved his job so much. Alex wanted to help sick kids so they could get back to being normal. Because all a kid should have to worry about is fun stuff. Words they don't know, games they want to play. Sparklers. Stuff like that.

April's nieces had somehow put Alex at ease. Because suddenly he felt better about the whole thing. The little house on the freakin' prairie, and the museum of Kepner on the walls, and the Norman Rockwell scene in the backyard didn't seem quite so overwhelming, or foreign. Not when little kids still giggled, and fought, and had timeouts.

When Alex neared the barbecue, Joe rushed up to him and held out one hand. Alex grasped it and shook and this time, when Joe pulled him into a hug, he was expecting it.

"Alex," April's father said quietly. "I'm so glad you could make it. What did I say? As good as family."

"Hey Joe," he replied uncomfortably, still not entirely used to Mr. Kepner's tendency to embrace him.

"How are things?"

"Uh, fine. Pretty good. You?"

"Hungry. Which brings me to the really important question: How would you like your burger, son?"

"Um...well done is fine."

It startled Alex. How easily Joe Kepner had embraced him into his family. Even before he'd started dating April. The word 'son' just rolling off of his tongue, and not dishonestly. Alex didn't think he was the kind of guy people wanted. As a son, a surgeon, or anything else. But April wanted him. She'd stuck with him. And her dad called him 'son'. Weird, but Alex had to admit that he kind of liked it.

When they pulled apart the older man clapped Alex on the back and quickly introduced the rest. Wendell and his three year old Haley, married to Kimmie. Mike, in the hat, married to Libby and Dad to the pint sized delinquents, Claire and Tiffany. Alex shook hands with all. No one looked like they wanted to inflict bodily harm.

"Did you have a good flight?" Wendell said, sitting down at the table and lifting Haley into his lap.

Actually they'd been a little tense on the flight, but he wasn't exactly going to tell her Dad and brother's in law so Alex shrugged, "Yeah sure."

Turning back to the house, as he sat down with a beer, Alex caught a glimpse of April through the kitchen window. She was still surrounded by her mother and sisters, and when she caught his eye, her expression made him smirk. She was smiling her fakest of smiles and her hand hovered near her ear, and everything about it screamed 'help me!'. Of course, April wouldn't actually say anything. She'd just suffer through while her mom and sisters bugged the crap out of her. Watching Alex's smile, April gave a small eye roll and then turned her attention back inside the house. He knew April's family was happy to see her, but he half wished they could skulk off in a corner somewhere and hangout alone.

"So you're a trauma surgeon too, right? Like April?" Mike's voice snapped Alex away from his observation of April through the kitchen window. He'd joined Alex and Wendell at the table and slid a bowl of chips in Alex's direction. "That's why you were with her when...you know, when she go hurt?"

He blinked turning his attention away from the house, "Uh, trauma surgeon? No. Way morbid. Usually too depressing even for me. I do pediatrics. Surgeries on kids. That's why I was...there was a kid trapped in the earthquake."

From the grill Joe commented, "I'll never stop being thankful you were there..."

Alex reached to the bowl on the table and grabbed a few chips. He chewed them carefully, letting the salty food cover up his discomfort. Because while on the one hand the earthquake had been the wake up call Alex had needed, and it had set him and April on the path that lead to their relationship, he still felt a lot of guilt over what it meant for April's leg. And guilt that it had taken so much, the literal movement of tectonic plates, for him to pull his head out of his ass and face his feelings. But it was what it was, and Alex liked to think that he and April came out happy on the other side.

Sensing Alex's discomfort Diego continued, "Trauma surgery is like car crashes and stuff?"

"Gunshots, broken bones...Emergency room stuff. Acute injuries," Alex agreed.

Wendell shook his head and said, "Never would have pegged gory stuff as April's thing. In high school, she felt bad about dissecting a frog."

"You gotta be really organized. She's actually pretty good at it," Alex replied, taking a careful swig of his beer. "Brilliant actually. We didn't think she'd go for trauma either, but...people surprise you, you know?"

"Yeah," Mike chuckled. "We all thought April would end up becoming a nun. She practically was as far as I knew. You getting together with her is about the biggest surprise we've had from her in years."

Wendell and Mike laughed heartily, and Alex glared.

"Everyone is different," Diego said quietly, as they continued to chuckle.

So whatever, April didn't have the longest past history when it came to guys and stuff? He may like to make fun of her a little bit, but hearing her sister's husband's tease about April's lack of relationship experience made Alex's blood boil. None of their business anyway. Here he'd been all worried about April's brother's in law wanting to beat him up, but now Alex had to resist the urge to punch two of them. Diego looked angry too, and Alex was about to tell the dweebs to cut it out, and lay off, when a small but piercing voice interrupted.

"Daddy? Has it been two minutes yet?"

Mike glanced down at his watch, "Yep, you can come down now. But no more hitting or hair pulling or name calling or-"

Claire was already running down from the step with Tiffany hot on her heels, on their way to the swing set.

"Just you wait," Joe called over sternly, as the food on the grill made an ominous popping noise. "You'll be laughing real hard when your girls grow up and start bringing people home...you'll want them all to be nuns."

He expertly flipped a burger patty, and Alex watched the other men's faces fall as they each seemed to contemplate with horror the idea of their own daughters growing up. Diego cuddled Gabby closer, Mike frowned and pushed his hat back on his head revealing his slightly receding hairline, while Wendell gulped and looked down at Haley as she padded her tiny hands on the tabletop.

"Either that or you'll want 'em to be sure they find someone who cares about them, no matter how long it takes..." Joe continued, winking. He actually freakin' winked at Alex.

Joe was a strange sort of dude. Strange mix of a grown up Opie Taylor and Buddha or something. Not that Alex really thought about it that much. But he had thought about it a little. Alex still didn't think he totally understood him at all, but somehow he still felt like Joe just knew exactly what he was thinking. He'd felt it the first time he'd met April's Dad and he felt it now. Freakin' weird.

He felt a small tug on the back of his shirt and turned around to see Tiffany smiling up at him, with Claire not far behind.

"Come push us on the swings!" the older child pleaded.

"What do you say when you ask something?" Mike chided.

Claire rolled her eyes, and Tiffany tugged Alex's shirt harder, "Come push us please!"

"He just got here, he's busy, he doesn't have to play with you. You guys both know how to pump," their father replied waving them off toward the swings. "Or I can push you, but Alex is-"

"But Daddy! He knows about pirates!" Claire interrupted, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. Alex smiled. Really didn't miss a thing that little girl. Even if she didn't understand everything she heard.

"What?"

"In Texas! They have pirates and Alex said he'd tell us about it!" Tiffany said, nodding earnestly.

Alex had to laugh. He'd said it before and he'd say it again, sometimes kids were really were better to talk to than adults. Better priorities. He rose from the picnic table and said, "As cool as pirates in Texas might be, I said I'd talk to you about pyrotechnics...like sparklers and fireworks...When you hear pyro in front of another word or whatever. It means like fire, or stuff to do with fire."

"Oh. Tell us about fire then! We have sparklers!" Claire was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Alex you don't have to," Mike added, messing with the brim of his baseball cap again.

The thing was, Alex wanted to. He didn't really feel like sitting around. And kids were easier to deal with than grownups. And hanging out with 2 little kids seemed like a lot better than chilling awkwardly with April's brothers in law, and her puzzle of a Buddha Dad. Less pressure to make a good impression. Her nieces were easy not to disappoint. He might not be good with grown ups, but he was generally a hit with the "tiny humans".

"It's fine. I don't mind," Alex said as Claire and Tiffany began pulling even harder on his T-shirt. Turning to Joe, he continued, "Call us when the food's done."

Mike gave him a long appraising look and nodded, "Please don't teach them too much about fire."

"Done."


"Are you sure you don't need to sit down?" Kimmie asked for what seemed like the billionth time. The first time when they hugged her outside. Then again as they made their way into the house. Then again when her sisters all gave her the requisite 'you live out of town, here's what going on with my life' update on their kids, jobs and husbands. And now again in the kitchen.

April couldn't help but roll her eyes. For crying out loud. Maybe if this was several months ago, before her cane, back when she was on crutches, and didn't have stamina, she'd need to sit down. But as an attending, April had to stand up for hours on end every day. And she could. Really. And right now she was fine leaning against the kitchen sink.

"I'm sure, I'm sure," she replied as diplomatically as possible. "When I need to sit down, I'll sit down. It actually feels good to stand after the plane and the car."

Kimmie and Libby and her mom all still looked suspicious. April reached her right hand to her ear and made eye contact with Alex through the kitchen window. Right now, she disliked the tendency of families to segregate by gender at big gatherings. Well, her family seemed to any way. At least when everyone first arrived. But April would much, much rather be outside with Alex.

She realized her mom didn't really seemed to know what to do. And couldn't accept that April really was okay, and that she really didn't need to do anything. Sighing, Karen wrung her hands, "Well, you should have something to drink, at least. How about some lemonade? And a cookie. We have some with frosting like the American flag. We have pie too..."

Her mother pulled a giant pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and began pouring glasses. Go to Kepner family solution. Food. Even April turned to it when pressed with a hard situation; she had with Amber. Alice stood near the stove stirring the steamed vegetables, watching April closely.

"You only have eyes for him, huh?" her youngest sister teased. "It's been months since you've even seen us. You've gone through a traumatic experience, fallen in love, passed the biggest test of your career, and you got promoted. So much to tell us, and you won't even spill the juicy details. All you can do is stare at your man...its all very cute."

"Very..." Kimmie agreed.

"As in love as you can be after dating what? Three? Four months?" Libby added less then enthusiastically.

Their mother nudged her and murmured, "Libby, they just got here...you haven't even really talked to-"

"Five months," April said firmly as she pulled her gaze away from the window. She'd forgotten how insufferable her sisters could be all together all at once. Or maybe she only felt that way now because they were ribbing her about Alex. At least Kimmie and Alice were ribbing. Libby still seemed unconvinced. No big surprise. They had reverted to a childhood pattern. Everyone talking over each other. April getting teased. Libby thinking she knew best. Alice joking, but basically on April's side. And Kimmie on the fringes.

"Five months isn't a very long time," Libby said. "Mike and I-

"Well, the Cook Ohio dating pool is just full of catches who we've known our whole lives," Alice cut in. "We should've all limited ourselves. I mean think about it: April could be missing out on the likes of Bobby Wojechski. He's still single right? And he's got that whole tractor repair gig. Or Paul Holt? He's embraced deodorant now. Clearly a missed opportunity."

Libby rolled her eyes, "I'm just saying that jumping really quickly into a relationship isn't the best thing. Especially since it all happened after your accident; you have to take a lot of time before making life changes after surgery something like that..."

"Yeah," Alice joked. "Just like they say after you get a root canal...don't buy a house."

"It's a legitimate thing, Alice. It's not good to make huge life decisions after a live changing event," she gestured to April's cane. "This is so much more than a root canal."

Libby really was going to insist they go into this right that very second. April groaned and took the glass of lemonade her mother quietly offered her, "First, you are after me for not putting myself out there and dating, then when I finally do, you say I shouldn't be. I had a knee replacement, Libby. Everything else is fine. I can make my own choices."

Alice shook her head and quipped, "Oh, but you just can't win. It would be no fun for Libby."

"I never said you couldn't, I just-" Libby rolled her eyes, ignoring their youngest sister.

"Olivia," Karen said offering her oldest daughter a freshly poured glass. "Let them be. I don't think it matters how long a relationship lasts before you know you love someone. Your Dad asked me to marry him after three months. It's how well you know a person."

Oh boy. April really didn't need the marriage word to start getting tossed around. Not in front of Alex. Not near him. It wasn't as though the idea had never crossed her mind, at least in the theoretical sense. Because she didn't want to imagine not being together with Alex, and marriage seemed like the inevitable way to make that happen. But it was Alex, and he'd had bad experience with marriage, and it was probably too soon to even mention it, and she was really pretty sure it might never be okay to mention it. At the very least April didn't need Alex to hear her family throwing the word around.

"Mom, no one said anything about getting-"

"Well, frankly April knew everything she needed to know about Alex Karev long before they started dating," Libby said hotly. "And I don't think anything about him changed because April got hurt. He's just taking advantage...the whole rescuing hero thing works on almost everyone. You may know a lot about medicine April, but you've never been good with men."

Alice and Kimmie both nodded in agreement. Traitors.

April sighed and looked back outside. Alex had left the table, and appeared to be over by the old swing set, with Claire and Tiffany. Ironic that Libby's kids seemed to like Alex just fine. She really really was beginning to regret telling her sister about the whole on-call room incident two years ago. At the time she'd just felt so rejected and confused, and confiding in Libby had made her feel better. Now that she had the full information about why Alex had acted they way he had, April forgave him for it. The whole mess had really been the result of poor decision making on both their parts. And now they'd moved way past it, but it was Libby's only real impression of Alex.

"Alex was a godsend to your Dad and I when we were in the hospital with April," Karen said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out brightly colored Tupperware. "And he pulled her out. Where would we be without that? That's enough for me to know."

"Doesn't erase everything..."

"Please Libby," April begged, internally cringing as she realized she was coming dangerously close to whining. "Stop talking. You don't know everything, and I shouldn't have to tell you everything. I am happy. That should be enough. No one acted like this when any of you dated anyone! Just because I...t-took so long, doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. I'm not the same person I was when I left Ohio. Alex is a really great guy. I promise. Just give him a chance."

All three of her sister's looked momentarily shocked. The April they'd grown up with didn't usually stand up for herself, but that had slowly been changing. Libby opened her mouth to speak again, but the sound of a ringing timer interrupted her and Karen began flitting around the kitchen. Kimmie pinched the bridge of her nose, and Alice gave April a sympathetic eye roll. That made her feel more relaxed. There were definitively worse things in life than having an older sister who worries about you. Worse things than having a family who cared.

"Okay, okay, okay," Karen said, opening the oven and peering in. "Pie's good to go. Kimmie take the potatoes out, please. Libby grab the casserole, and Alice can grab that off the stove, and April and I will get the pie. Go on..."

Mumbling and grumbling, April's sisters grabbed the foods and filtered out of the kitchen leaving April and her mother alone. Moving away from the oven her mother reached her hands to April's face.

"Here, let me see you," she said, letting her hands drop to April's shoulders and down her arms. "You look look so healthy. And happy. That's all I care about. So much better than in January. And muscles too, hmm..."

Then Karen pulled April close and they hugged, "Don't worry so much about Libby. She'll come around. She just doesn't want to see you get hurt. None of us do..."

"But what if she's right?" April was mad at herself. She knew how she felt about Alex, and how he felt about her. When they were together. In Seattle. 10 minutes with her older sister and suddenly she was doubting? Libby had a way of getting to her, but April wasn't going to let the doubts consume her. Because it just wasn't true. "I know she isn't. Alex and I, we...we love each other. I've never felt-it's strange, and logically we shouldn't work, but..."

"Well, I don't know," Karen said gently pulling a strand of April's hair behind her ear. "When your Dad and I were in Seattle, we thought Alex..."

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't exactly a huge surprise to me that two started dating."

"No?"

"Not at all."

As they pulled apart, April blinked and smiled at her mom. She could always make her feel like everything would be fine. And things really were. Despite a rocky start, the rest of the evening was actually pretty fun.

April and Karen brought the food out, and everyone sat down to eat. Somehow, Alex ended up flanked by Claire and Tiffany with April by the younger girls side. Across from them Libby looked terse, but seemed to be giving Alex a chance. Soon all the food was laid out, introductions were finished, and April's Dad triumphantly doled out burgers and barbecued corn on the cob. At first everyone concentrated on food but eventually, little conversations sprung up all up and down the table. April was happy to find that none of her nieces were shy with her at all, either because they didn't remember her or because she had a cane.

In the middle of passing around slices of pie, Tiffany looked up at April and whispered, "Gramma says you hurt'd your knee."

"Yeah, I did," April replied, setting a plate with a tiny piece of pie in from of the little girl.

"And we sent you flowers," Tiffany dug into her pie, getting sticky apple goo all on her face, and hands.

"You did. They were very pretty."

Claire leaned forward and looked past Alex listening to the conversation intently, "I fell off of, um...I fell off of my bike and hurt my knee. It hurt bad. I had a princess bandaid. Do you still hurt?"

"Not really. Sometimes I get stiff."

Both children nodded, and it was the last time either girl even mentioned April's injury at all. They were far more interested in playing a little game of 'Do they have it in Seattle?' with her and Alex.

"Do they have farms?"

"Not in the city," Alex said shaking his head.

"Unless you count the urban farming stuff..." April interjected.

"That's a bunch of crazy people keeping chickens in their garages."

Wendell and Kimmie snorted and Alice murmured, "Amen, the backyard is no place for a chicken."

April rolled her eyes, "I think urban farming is important."

Mike shook his head, "Glorified gardening."

Claire tapped Alex's shoulder, "Do you have Tasty Freeze?"

"We have Molly Moon's..." Alex waggled his eyebrows.

As they finished up dinner and got ready for what Wendell and Diego had dubbed, the "Firework Extravaganza", April watched Alex help with the clean up. She was startled by just how well Alex actually fit in with her family, even if he didn't realize it. How he seamlessly helped her brother's in law and father as they moved the table closer to the house. How he grumbled about dishes, but still loaded up dessert plates and took them to the kitchen with April's mother. Libby, over the course of the evening had seemed to warm to Alex, because of how good he was with her children. It kind of felt as though Alex belonged. All in all, it was turning out to be a good night.

Her older nieces nieces convinced April to roll up her jeans and show off her scar, and Gaby was more than content to sit in April's lap observe everyone else set off fireworks and hold sparklers. They held sparklers and set off smoke bombs and fireworks, whistling and hooting. When Mike accidentally had a very close call, Alex was the one to rush over and stomp on the smoking edges of her brother in law's discarded hat. Alex and Alice got along better than April had ever imagined, and as the last firerocket was launched into the sky, they joined forces to sing a few sloppily sarcastic verses of 'You're a Grand Ol' Flag" before her sister's and their families decided to head home. Alex and April spent the rest of the night hanging out on the back porch with her parents until went to bed.

When they finished staring at the stars, they walked hand in hand to the downstairs room and readied for bed.

"Who's room was this?" Alex asked as he pulled down the bed quilt and climbed in. "Before?"

"First, it was just a guest room. Me and Libby shared and Kimmie and Alice shared upstairs when we were little, until we were old enough to be alone. In the end?" April said, laying by his side and resting her head on her chest. "Alice got it, but getting the downstairs bed was a hotly contested thing."

"Alice, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Bet that pissed Libby off..." Alex added smirking.

Sighing, April rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry about Libby. I know she's a little cold sometimes but-"

"Nah, I get it," Alex wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I'm on her turf. Her sister. Her kids. Whatever."

"So," April asked tentatively. "What do you think?"

"You guys eat a lot of freakin' food. I'm stuffed."

"Alex! I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"What do you think...about everyone? The farm. Everything."

"It's...nice," he said finally, after a long pause. "Your Mom and Dad. The kids. Alice and Diego. Everyone really. I mean...it's hardly a surprise your family would be mostly nice."

Alex paused and ran one hand up and down April's shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry if they think I am an ass."

"No one thought you were an ass...well, maybe Libby at first, but that's not your fault."

"I...I'm not really good with all this family crap or whatever."

That just wasn't true. At all. Alex had had a pretty bad traditional family experience, and it contributed to his prickly nature. He was afraid of getting hurt, and April thought he was perfecty justified for having that fear. But he was selling himself short. Alex didn't realize that he'd been part of a family all along. He treated Meredith and Cristina as much as his family as April had seen him do for his sister, brother and mother. And, in the same way Alex had been awesome with her nieces, he was wonderful with Zola too. He just didn't realize he had a family. Even if it was different. And because of that family, he'd been pretty good with hers, meshing better than she'd ever hoped.

April sat up slightly, so she could see his face, "No, Alex. You are good. You're great."


Alex grunted as he carefully loaded the suitcases into the back of Meredith's SUV. He would never have guessed, but he actually had a really good time with April and her family. Cook Ohio wasn't much more than a wide spot at the intersection of two freeways, but he could see why it meant so much to his girlfriend. She light up around her parents and as she animatedly showed him the locations of her childhood highlights. Her family was pretty nice too. Honestly Alex could say The four days he'd spent on the farm had been worth it.

Slamming the back of the car shut, Alex dashed around the side and hopped into the front seat, before Meredith pulled the car out of the airport arrivals lane at SeaTac Airport. As they pulled onto I-5, and began the small journey to Seattle, Meredith smiled and spoke animatedly, "I'm so glad you are back..."

April murmured something positive in the backseat, and yawned. Alex smirked and stretched, "Us too."

"I mean, you left me here for four whole days with out anyone to run down hospital gossip with," their friend teased. "With Cristina away, you're my go to people."

"Clearly you need to branch out in your social circle," Alex rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what about Lexie?"

"Normally, she'd be an option," Mer replied. "But she's the one who told me."

Leaning toward the window and blinking drowsily, April mumbled, "And Jackson?"

"Again, normally I would have," Meredith said tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. "But, this particular tidbit of information is about Jackson, so telling him wouldn't be satisfying."

Alex decided to take the bait, because it seemed his friend was hell bent on telling anyway, "Spill."

"Well, Lexie said apparently Mara and Jackson are an item now!"

"Big deal," Alex teased. "April saw that coming months ago."

"No one said anything to me," Meredith continued, with a furrowed brow. "You've been holding out on me, Kepner!"

When April didn't reply, Meredith and Alex both glanced to the backseat. She was fast asleep, breathing deeply so the window fogged up in a small area near her mouth.

"She is out."

They rode in silence for a few more moments before Meredith spoke, "Well? How did it go? With 'the family'?"

Alex shrugged, "I liked them...and I think they liked me. Most of them anyway. April's nieces are cute."

Meredith eyed him closely out of the corner of his eye. He shifted in his seat under his gaze, wondering what she was thinking. She wanted to say something. Alex could tell. Probably looking for more tidbits to add to the hospital gossip train. For crying out loud.

"They're all squeaky clean," Alex said tilting his head from side to side, and making air quotes. "No deep dark hidden secrets. At least nothing I found out about in a 4 day weekend."

"I wasn't expecting that," Meredith rolled her eyes. "I just..do you think...could you see yourself being around long enough to get to know them better?"

Alex swallowed, and ran his hands down to his knees. He knew what she was really asking. Did he see his relationship with April lasting long enough that he would get to know her family. If he saw himself with her longer term. And the thing was, he did. He actually did. Before, Alex had tried to keep things in broader terms. Vague. Like Alex was happy with April now, why think about the future? He just knew that he didn't want it to end. And that was enough. Or at least it had been. But now, Alex could see that maybe it was safe to think about things with a little bit of a longer view. Because...he probably would see her relatives again. Maybe he'd go back to Cook with April for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or they'd convince Libby to bring the little girls to Seattle. Or maybe Alex and Diego would go to a lucha libre match sometime. He would see her family again. He probably wanted to.

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "Yeah, I do."