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Jackson's plan to confront April whenever he had the chance to didn't go as well as he had imagined. He caught her at a bad time. She was moody and his favorite douche face just happened to be present when he finally found her outside. It wasn't rejection. More like a rain check. At least he hadn't received the type of answer Ryan did, which actually made the plastic surgeon quite optimistic about himself.

12 hours ago…

There she was, standing in front of two men who each expected to be favored over the other. Both of them were waiting for an answer from her, but her mind was telling her to think for a minute. They needed her for different reasons, but what about her needs?

"April, I think we found your car!" Kimmie's voiced echoed loudly from the parking lot. "Do you have a pink vibrator sitting in the backseat?"

Closing her eyes and pursing her lips, April knew her sister was purposely embarrassing her in front of Jackson and Ryan, possibly also trying to tell her that she and Libby were growing impatient. "No. That's not my car!" she sternly yelled back. "Give me a minute!"

"Well, hurry up! We're starving!" Libby shouted.

She opened her eyes, first glancing at Jackson and then at Ryan. "Today's been super frustrating. My sisters are waiting for me and I swear to God, if one of them says one more obnoxious thing, I'm going to kill them both. It's late and I'm tired and… I just can't right now – with either of you. So, I'm going home with my sisters," she declared.

"Okay…" the pretty boy slowly replied.

"Jackson, can we save whatever you want to talk about for tomorrow?" April let out a sigh of relief when he simply nodded in response. She turned around to leave, then she stopped to look back at Ryan. "Don't call me."

Watching the trauma surgeon retreat to the parking lot, Jackson couldn't help but feel smug about how her attitude towards him differed from how she acted with Ryan. He was mentally thanking the guy for sleeping with Kimmie and destroying any hope of a second chance with, what his biased mind believed, was the better and more attractive Kepner sister.

A small smile formed on his face until the orthopedic surgeon scowled at him. He simply cleared his throat, turning to his right while Ryan awkwardly walked the opposite direction.

Now, Jackson stood at the entrance of the pit staring at April. She was standing by the nurses' station explaining instructions to Shane, appearing to be in a brighter mood. He had actually found her angry side sexy. The way she had been wound up and then taking control of the matter, how could he not love that side of her? She had been confident with her decision even though it hadn't gone his way. Angry, but confident.

Her resident left her alone, so he casually approached her afterwards. Jackson leaned against the countertop, resting his forearm on the surface and using his pretty boy smile to catch her attention. "Good morning," he greeted her.

"Your creepy staring remains unflattering, Jackson," April teased with a smirk.

"I was simply waiting for Ross to leave," he insisted, though he truly was doing the creepy staring thing again. He mentally scolded himself for assuming she wouldn't have noticed. "How was your night with your sisters?"

"It was a great stress reliever, actually. We pigged out on Chinese food in their hotel room, though I'm beginning to feel the after effects of what we ordered," she answered, lightly clutching her abdomen. "And I probably came off really bitchy to you last night and I'm sorry."

Jackson dismissively waved his hand. "No, don't be sorry. I have an idea why you weren't in the mood to talk. So, I was thinking we could talk privately… over dinner? You know, where my mother isn't lurking around? Somewhere that won't be full of interruptions," he suggested in a serious tone. "My place at eight o'clock? I'll cook."

"You don't cook," April chuckled. "And the microwave doesn't count. What can you cook?"

"As a matter of fact, I can cook a really mean… well, it's mean. Trust me," he adorably responded and winked at her. "Is that a yes? I promise I won't poison you."

She softly smiled and nodded. "Dinner it is. I'll see you at your apartment."

The amount of happiness and excitement Jackson was feeling showed on his face. He tried not to show how giddy he felt because he practically asked April out on a date without using the big 'D' word. She had also accepted fairly quickly. When he thought about it thoroughly it was going to be their first real date, one that had been a long time coming. And he slightly regretted gloating about his cooking abilities considering she knew him too well. For somebody who enjoyed food and ate anything and everything in sight, his skills in the kitchen were crap. There was a high possibility the beautiful redhead in front of him would have to save the night from going completely awry.

"Anything else?" she asked, interrupting his cloud nine moment.

He suddenly felt silly because he was certain he had been grinning like a lovestruck teenage boy with uncontrollable hormones. "Oh, umm… did your sisters say anything to you about me?"

"Nothing that should concern you," she replied with a shrug. "Libby told me she didn't have to make use of the brass knuckle she had hidden in her purse."

"Her what?"

April burst into high-pitched laughter. "Jackson, I was kidding. Relax," she amusingly stated. "Do you honestly think my sisters would beat you up?"

"They were rather intimidating, actually," the plastics attending sheepishly responded.

Callie appeared from behind the nurses' station, sitting down in front of one of the computers. "Avery, what are you doing tonight after work?"

Jackson faced his coworker, smiling gleefully. "I have plans, why?"

"Drop those plans because you're babysitting Sofia instead," she nonchalantly said while she stared at the computer screen. "I have my own plans, very important plans that were brought up at the last minute."

"Uhh... I have plans," he reminded her.

"And I told you to drop them. Remember our deal with the apartment?" Callie countered, tilting her head and raising her eyebrow at Jackson. The look on her face meant business. "You're babysitting. Pick my daughter up from daycare at 6:30. I'll let them know ahead of time you're coming to get her. Don't be late, Avery."

April snickered as the Latina woman stood up and walked away. "You? Babysitting?" She gazed down at her tablet. "I guess dinner is off the table then."

Jackson shook his head. "Nope. Dinner is not off the table," he determinedly said, placing his hands on his hips. He hardly knew squat about taking care of a child and she was the expert babysitter amongst their small group of friends. "Come over anyway – to Torres' place, I mean. We can watch Sofia together. Besides, even if you decide it's a bad idea, I'll be calling you nonstop for help."

"It would be terrible of me to let Sofia be alone with you," she quipped, drawing a playful eye roll from him. "My shift doesn't end until seven, so I'll be running a little late. Should I buy us dinner on the way there?"

"No. I'll think of something. All you have to do is come over," he quickly answered. "Hopefully, Sofia will fall asleep by eight and then we can have dinner and talk. It'll be fine. Almost like my original plan except there's a kid thrown into the equation, which changes up the game a little, but not in a bad way, of course."

"Yeah, of course," April timidly agreed, forcing herself to laugh. "She's a sweet girl. I don't think she'll give us a hard time later. And I've babysat toddlers in the past, so I'm not entirely clueless about caring for a child."

Jackson scratched the back of his head as he stepped away from her. Talking about kids brought back not so fond memories of their pregnancy scare and the downfall that followed because of it. "Okay, so we're all set," he concluded. "I'll see you tonight."

"See ya, Jackson." She smiled back at him and laughed after he clumsily bumped into a nurse on his way out. The end of the conversation felt somewhat uncomfortable, yet she found herself looking forward to hanging out with her best friend again without the awkwardness.

"Baby, I paged you at least four times now," Catherine called out to Jackson after she finally spotted him roaming down a hallway. Her red high heels clanked against the floor as she marched towards him. "How come you didn't answer my pages? What if it was an emergency?"

"Somehow, I doubt it," he humorously replied. His mother sternly stared back at him and he sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry. What do you need me for?"

The urologist squeezed her baby boy's shoulder and grinned. "I was thinking you should come over for dinner tonight," she cheerfully suggested. "You, Richard and I. We thought maybe the three of us could have weekly dinner dates at his house. Just once a week. No whining allowed."

Jackson smirked at his mother. "This is why you paged me?" he asked, feeling partially annoyed. His gut feeling had told him Mama Avery was paging him for a non-emergency. "Thanks, but I can't. I'm babysitting tonight."

"Babysitting?" she skeptically inquired and folded her arms. "Is that your new code word for sex, dear?"

"What? No, of course not," he retorted. "I'm serious. I'm babysitting."

"Who trusted you enough to watch their precious baby?"

"Torres," the plastic surgeon muttered.

Jackson wasn't surprised by Catherine's skepticism because she rarely saw him holding a young child, let alone interacting with one. That was partly due to his own father leaving the family when he was barely past his toddler years. Without a solid father figure for guidance, he doubted the likelihood of becoming a good parent to his own kid, so he avoided children as much as possible.

"Do you need an extra set of hands? We can reschedule dinner and I'll stop by to ensure you won't kill little Sofia," she offered.

He instantly shook his head. With April already joining him, his mother coming over would ruin everything. "No, thank you," he declined. "Mom, I can handle this. Do not think about stopping by the apartment tonight. I'm a grown man. I can watch a 2-year old on my own, okay?"

She remained unconvinced. "Are you sure, baby? What do you know about taking care of a toddler?"

"I know they wouldn't want their babysitter's meddling mother involved," Jackson sarcastically replied.

"Oh, drop the attitude, sweetie," she scolded him. "Fine, I won't bother you. You're right. You are a grown man who may or may not have a clue about how to handle a child in a non-surgical setting. You do need to practice if you're ever going to give me some grandbabies, which leads me to another question. Have you talked to April about your feelings for her?"

"Not yet and you're still not allowed to intrude," he agitatedly answered. "Leave her alone."

A light bulb nearly exploded in Catherine's head when she spotted April exiting an elevator nearby. "Ah, Dr. Kepner! Just the lovely face I've been eager to see," she boisterously said, to Jackson's dismay. She rushed towards the nervous redhead, grinning from ear to ear. "What are you doing tonight, dear?"

"That's not necessary, Mom," Jackson intervened after catching up with her. He stood behind his mother, nodding his head at April as if to tell her to run away and never look back. "I'm sure April's got somewhere she has to be at this very moment, so how about you let her go do whatever important thing that needs to be done?"

"Let her speak for herself, baby," she chided, then she smiled at the trauma surgeon. "April?"

"Umm… I am babysitting." April noticed Jackson frantically waving his hands and shaking his head. She forced herself to smile at Catherine. "Zola and Bailey. I'm babysitting Zola and Bailey, so Grey and Shepherd can enjoy a relaxing night out alone."

Raising her eyebrow at her, Mama Avery reached behind her, grabbing her son's wrist and pulling him beside her. "Oh, what a coincidence? Jackson's babysitting Sofia tonight. A play date for all of the little ones would be fun, don't you think?" She leaned forward close to April's ear and whispered, "I really worry Sofia won't survive the night under his watch."

"Actually, I think Jackson will be fine, Dr. Avery. Don't worry about him so much." Shyly backing away from the two Averys, April nervously bit her lower lip. If she stuck around any longer, she was certain she would crack and fess up. "Well, I'm going to the cafeteria to get some lunch. Stomach's gurgling and I have a feeling a trauma will come rushing in before I can eat, so I should head out now."

Catherine watched the redhead scurry through a set of doors before she looked up at Jackson. "You know, you could always bring Sofia to Shepherd's house instead," she insinuated.

Her son spun around on his heel and walked the opposite direction. "Give it a rest, please," he groaned.

"What? You've had plenty of time to talk to April and you're still acting like a coward," she nagged as she followed him through the hallway. "She is a sweet woman who obviously cares about you-"

"Hey, is that Grandpa?" Jackson convincingly asked, pointing over Catherine's shoulder.

"What in the world would he be doing here?" she responded, turning around to search for Harper Avery. The sounds of footsteps running away alerted her, but the plastic surgeon was already too far away from her to stop him. "Jackson! I'm your mother and you will never be able to evade me even after I die!"

April managed to eat a complete lunch without being paged once from the pit. It almost felt like a victory for her because she had been interrupted all week, so she was happy to have timing on her side this time. She waited for an elevator to take her back downstairs to the ER. Timing decided it would only be kind to her lunch break. She should have known some mystical power was going to force her to face Ryan again soon after she saw him inside of the elevator. She knew she couldn't pretend he didn't exist anymore. Avoidance wasn't one of her biggest strengths.

He didn't seem too pleased to see her either, but he cared enough to hold the door open for her. The trauma surgeon hesitantly stepped inside, keeping space between her and Ryan. "Going down to the pit?" she politely asked.

"Yes. I was paged to check out a dislocated shoulder," the orthopedic surgeon calmly replied. "Are you okay now? Did you cool off?"

"If you mean I'm not mad at you anymore for sleeping with Kimmie, no. I'm still upset about that," she straightforwardly stated. "A secret like that doesn't just fly out of my head like I never found out. It… changes how I perceive you as a boyfriend, as a friend too."

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at April. "So, what are you trying to tell me? You're breaking up with me?"

"You openly said that you weren't going to tell me that you slept with my sister, so you've been lying. I've done the lying thing in the past and it blew up in my face." She sighed and folded her arms. "When we were just friends we never fought or had tension like this. Sometimes best friends should never cross that line."

"Like you and Jackson?"

"Yes," she murmured, gently biting down on her lower lip. April wanted to kick herself for her last comment because she figured it would backfire on her. "But Jackson never slept with any of my sisters. That's a big deal, Ryan."

"And that makes him better than me?" he retorted.

She shook her head. "He's not better than you and you're not better than him. You two are very different people, who I both just happen to have deep friendships with. Can we… can we just be friends again?"

Ryan softly laughed. "Nobody becomes just friends immediately after a break up," he bitterly answered, shoving his hands inside of his lab coat pockets. "I don't blame you for dumping me, but it still hurts. I have an idea why you're doing this and it's not just because I slept with Kimmie."

"What do you mean?" April asked confused.

"The evidence was standing next to me outside last night," he cryptically implied before stepping out of the elevator. The blonde man turned around to face her. "C'mon, I knew about your history with Jackson prior to us dating and I most definitely know that kind of history doesn't just get locked up in a dungeon never to be heard from again."

"Ryan-"

"No, I get it," he continued. "I suppose I jumped at the opportunity to date you too soon. You were engaged and Avery had just rejected you. A lot of things were going on with you at the time and I kind of threw myself into the picture like it was no big deal. But you're hot, you know? And we grew up together. It was a trust thing."

April sadly smiled at Ryan. "I was attracted to you, though."

He slowly shrugged and sighed. "But I'm pretty sure I showed up in your life again a little too late. Maybe if I reappeared two years ago, things would be different."

She nodded. "You're probably right."

"So after I do the moping, drinking thing at Joe's for a week, we can be friends again," Ryan jokingly said, sharing a laugh with April. "Honestly, though. I don't want to lose you as a friend, given I don't have a lot of them in Seattle right now."

"I would appreciate it if we can stay friends. I mean, I don't have that many friends here either. I'm… kind of just there, but not usually the first person people want to talk to." Walking out of the elevator, April entered the ER with Ryan. "It's the invisibility syndrome. I've always had it."

"You're not invisible," he assured her and half-smiled. "People just haven't taken the time to see what an amazingly beautiful and caring person you are."

As he walked away to tend to his patient, April headed towards the nurses' station to retrieve her tablet. She lazily scanned the various patients listed, her mind drifting elsewhere. Breaking up with Ryan was the right thing to do, she thought. She felt relieved that he hadn't shut her out afterwards or accused her of being a horrible person, which she originally feared would happen.

But she was glad he still wanted to remain friends. There would likely be some awkwardness at first, though. Past history reminded her of that.

"Alright, Sofia. Your mom gave me instructions for preparing your dinner and thankfully, all I had to do was pop this into the microwave," Jackson proudly stated as he removed leftover spaghetti from the microwave. The 2-year old was waiting at the counter in her booster seat, appearing bored. Her arms and her chin rested on the surface. "I know you're starving, but dinner is almost ready. Just hang on a minute."

Babysitting hadn't started off on a very high note. Picking Sofia up from daycare had been uncomfortable because she initially refused to leave with Jackson. They hardly interacted to begin with, despite being the daughter of his former mentor. The last time he took care of her, he had brought her to Mark at the worst possible time. His boss was coding and whether or not the little girl understood what was happening, she had seen her daddy dying. While he had no idea he would walk into a scene like that, he still felt awful about it, especially now that Sloan was no longer alive.

And Sofia wasn't much of a talker to begin with, at least around people she barely knew. Jackson wasn't a stranger to her, but they certainly didn't have a close bond compared to some of the other doctors who watched her frequently. He and Alex always let their female roommates take care of the babysitting duties. Neither of them ever wanted to be caught dead babysitting. Plus, nobody had trusted them enough to handle the job in the first place.

The plastic surgeon placed spaghetti onto a small, pink plate. He carried the plate and an apple juice box to the counter, setting them in front of Sofia. "Here you go. If the food is too hot, remember to blow on it," he advised and stood across from her on the opposite side of the counter. Instead of digging into her dinner, the toddler simply sat up and stared at her plate. "What's wrong? Your mama said you love spaghetti."

Sofia picked up a chunk of noodles with her hand and launched them at Jackson, nailing him directly in the face. She giggled loudly, while he stared back at her stunned. The quiet girl went from shy to obnoxious within three seconds.

"Umm… okay," he mumbled, picking up a napkin and cleaning off his face. "I wasn't expecting that."

Unfortunately for him, she found it amusing and didn't hesitate to throw more spaghetti at his pretty face. He grew paranoid thinking Sofia had a personal vendetta against him, like she was paying him back for taking her to Mark when he had been on the verge of death. His mentor was probably laughing at him from up above, he thought. He really had no freaking idea how to take care of a child by himself.

About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Jackson immediately rushed towards the front door. His first real babysitting gig had been frustrating, especially since most of Sofia's dinner ended up on his face and clothes than in her mouth.

He opened the door for April, who stared at him in amusement. His gray t-shirt was stained with tomato sauce. "You have a noodle on top of your head," she pointed out before reaching up for the lone noodle on Jackson's head. She handed it to him as she entered Callie's apartment. "How's it going in here?"

"Terrible. She won't stop throwing her dinner at me," Jackson complained, tugging on his t-shirt to study the damage to it. "Do you mind if I disappear for a minute to change out of this shirt? At least it wasn't one of my favorite ones."

"Sure, no problem," the redhead responded, then she sat down beside Sofia with a cheerful grin on her face. "Hi, Sofia! Are you having fun with your Uncle Jackson?"

"No!" Sofia responded and chuckled.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'll be right back," he murmured, leaving Callie's apartment for his own. After changing t-shirts, he returned to find the toddler eating her spaghetti with her fork. He approached April, eying Sofia curiously. "How did you get her to eat?"

"All I said was, 'Sofia, eat your dinner', and she started eating," she casually answered. April turned around in her seat and smiled at him. "So, where's our dinner?"

Slapping his forehead, he grimaced because he hadn't thought of what to do with dinner. "Okay, so the stove is broken…"

"Jackson, I ordered pizza before I left the hospital. You know, just in case the stove was broken," she teasingly replied. "Don't feel bad. A babysitter can't focus on more than one thing until the kid is in bed and asleep anyway."

Jackson placed his hand against his abdomen, letting out a sigh of relief. It didn't surprise him, though, that April saved his ass. It seemed she always had a backup plan because she knew he couldn't cook. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of Budweiser. "I brought the beer this time," he sheepishly added.

"Wow, you're good at planning ahead," April sarcastically noted.

"When did you become so snarky?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I've been around Cristina long enough. She's contagious." She sipped her beer after he handed a bottle to her. "Did Callie ask you to give Sofia a bath after her dinner?"

Jackson slowly nodded after swallowing a large gulp of beer. "Umm, can you do it?" He cleared his throat and forced himself to laugh. "It's sort of weird for me to do it because I'm a guy and she's not my kid- not that I have perverted thoughts or anything like that… I mean, I've never done the bathing thing before and I'd rather have my first experience with my own kid."

April softly chuckled. "I can see how that would weird you out." She waved her hand at him. "I know babysitting isn't your favorite thing in the world and you were pretty much cornered into doing it, so I don't mind helping out."

"You're really good with children," he complimented. "Like, it's natural for you."

"I grew up with two younger sisters, so I learned at a very young age. I enjoyed helping my mom around the house when Kimmie and Alice were around Sofia's age." The trauma surgeon checked on the 2-year old to see if she was still eating. "It made me want to become a mom one day."

"You'll be a great mother." Jackson set his beer on the kitchen counter and leaned forward, resting his weight on his forearms. He stared intently at April, while her eyes were focused on Sofia. "Actually, I always knew you would be."

She glanced back at him, slightly frowning. "Jackson, when I was relieved not to be pregnant I… I wasn't celebrating the fact that we wouldn't have to get married. It's not that I didn't want to marry you-"

"I know. I realize that now," he insisted, lightly tapping his fingers against the counter. "Maybe we should've talked about what to do if you weren't pregnant. We were so caught up in finding out if you were that we never considered the possibility it was just a scare."

"Well, I didn't help much with my freakouts."

"It wasn't all your fault, April. We were both confused about a lot of things, but I just wanted everything to be fine and drama free. We were far from that," Jackson noted, shaking his head. "And I hardly tried to see things from your perspective. I was kind of an ass, really."

April pushed back strands of hair behind her ear, her eyes staring down at her shoes. "I'm not sure either of us truly knew what we wanted from each other. I think we cared more about our own personal needs than figuring it all out together," she suggested. "So we fell apart."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I wish we hadn't."

She looked back at him, raising her eyebrow. "Wish we hadn't what?"

"Fallen apart." The room fell silent as both doctors stared directly into each other's eyes. It was the most honest conversation they had had since Jackson confessed to April he had been sleeping with Stephanie. The doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation. He walked towards the front door pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. "That's probably the pizza. I've got this one."

Shifting in her seat, she noticed Sofia had finished eating and playfully applauded. "Good job! You ate everything!" April unstrapped her from the booster seat and picked her up. "Let's get you cleaned up now, okay?"

Jackson brought the pizza into the kitchen just as April carried Sofia into the bathroom. "Hey, do you want me to wait for you?" he called out.

"You go ahead. I'll eat after her bath."

He sat alone at the kitchen counter quietly eating a slice of a vegetarian pizza. The sounds of April's high-pitched voice, Sofia's giggles and water splashing echoed throughout the apartment. For a brief moment, he imagined they weren't babysitting. Instead, he pictured their lives as a family with the kid he wanted to raise together if she had been pregnant. They probably would have struggled in the beginning, but he was confident everything would have worked out because he loved her.

And he was positive she loved him too. They just needed to say it out loud.

After April gave Sofia a bath, she dressed her in purple pajamas and brought her into the living room. "All clean. How about you hang out with Uncle Jackson, so I can eat some dinner?"

Jackson wiped his hands on the front of his jeans and took Sofia from April. "I know how to help you fall asleep faster," he claimed, carefully holding her over his shoulder. He started running around the living room making her squeak and laugh loudly. "Superwoman to the rescue!"

Watching the two play while she ate, the redhead smiled as he made airplane noises with his mouth. Sofia quickly found the plastic surgeon's fun game entertaining, spreading her arms out to pretend she was flying. He raised her over his head, dipped her close to the floor and finished it off by collapsing onto his back on the couch while he held her above him.

"More! More!" Sofia excitedly squealed. "Again!"

"Alright, one more and then it's time for bed."

Jackson spent the next five minutes playing superheroes with Sofia again. By then, he had exhausted her and he handed her off to April, who read her a book in her bedroom until she fell asleep. Closing the door behind her, she sat down on the couch beside him, leaving some inches of space in between them. "She's asleep now."

"I'm glad she softened up to me," he said, yawning afterwards. "But now, I'm tired too. Hopefully, Torres comes home soon."

"Umm… I broke up with Ryan," she blurted out, catching his full attention. April chewed on her lower lip and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Not just because he slept with Kimmie. Other factors too."

"And you're okay?"

She quickly nodded. "Yeah. I did feel bad about it, but I also knew it was the right thing to do."

Jackson scooted closer to April, resting his hand on top of hers. "I love you," he confidently admitted. Her head shot up with wide eyes. "I… I should've told you this sooner. And I'm not talking about the night of the storm. Before that, even before Matthew and Stephanie came along. At the time, I had these deep feelings that I had trouble translating into words, but I know what those feelings mean now. I'm sorry I waited this long to tell you. I was afraid then, but I'm not now. I can't lose you again. Me and you? I want this. Also, if you go on another week-long vacation again, I'm coming with you."

Staring back at him with tears in her eyes, April laughed at his last comment. She was relieved to know that her best friend felt the same exact way she did about him. She placed her palms against Jackson's cheeks. "I-I love you too," she answered softly, her voice partially cracking as a tear trickled down her face. "I love you, Jackson."

He pressed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer. Kissing her again was like winning the Harper Avery in his mind. The feeling was indescribable. He was kissing the woman he loved, the one he hoped he would spend the rest of his life with. His right hand traveled up her back and gently grasped her auburn locks, while deepening their kiss. Smiling against his lips, April's fingers dug into Jackson's scalp causing him to groan and squeeze her hip.

Neither of them heard the front door open and close until a playful whistle alarmed them. Callie stood nearby, grinning at the reunited couple. "My daughter's still alive, right?" she jokingly asked. "I'm also not surprised Kepner showed up to cover your ass, Avery."

"O-oh, yes. She just fell asleep about five minutes ago," an embarrassed April replied, standing up from the couch and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sofia was good. And Jackson had no problems whatsoever."

"Yup. Even ate all of her dinner," he added, though partially lying about the one-sided food fight.

The orthopedic surgeon nodded as she approached the couch. She patted the top of Jackson's head and chuckled. "Thank you. Now get out of here, you lovebirds."

After they gathered their belongings and said their goodbyes, Jackson escorted April out of Callie's apartment. They stood in front of his own place, but he wasn't as eager to kiss her like he did minutes earlier. "Umm… I'm not sure what your thoughts are on sex now, but I'm not going to pressure you if you don't want to tonight."

"I don't. I want us to go out on a real date first," she truthfully stated. "I've learned to accept the fact that I'm no longer a virgin and I can't pretend I wish I still was. That would be a big, fat lie."

"I understand. I want to take you out on a date too. You deserve that." He unlocked his front door, then he bashfully smiled at her. "Will you spend the night with me anyway? I mean, sleep next to each other? Talk some more first?"

"That we can do," she agreed, happily taking his hand and leading him into his apartment. "We have a lot to talk about."