Thank you for the reviews! :) So this is probably the longest chapter I've written, but it does cover a few things that also set up the next chapter.
Enjoy!
A loud pounding on the front door of Alex and April's apartment slowly woke them both from their sleep. It was highly unusual for them to have a visitor arrive in the middle of the night. The only friends they had in Seattle were from the hospital. None of them would abruptly appear at their home at 3 o'clock in the morning without any notice.
Alex was the first person to climb out of bed and leave his bedroom. It was nearly pitch black except for the moonlight creeping through the closed blinds in the living room. He stubbed his toe against one of the dining chairs on his way to the door and cursed loudly. The lights in the living room suddenly turned on causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. He figured April had flipped on the switch behind him. "Holy crap. A warning would've been nice," he irritably stated as he blindly approached the front door.
"Sorry," his roommate whispered with a grimace. "Who could be at the door at his hour?"
"I don't know, but I might have to kick their ass because we have to be up by five for work," he grumbled.
"I'll get the baseball bat from my room just in case," April informed him before sprinting off to her bedroom.
Once his eyes finally adjusted to the lights, Alex rubbed his eyes with one hand and opened the front door with the other. He barely had time to react to the surprise visitor as she invited herself inside. "What the hell? Amber?" he said in disbelief.
A small rolling suitcase in one hand, Amber Karev-Avery stepped into the apartment and grinned at her older brother. "About time you opened that door. I was beginning to think one of your neighbors would call the cops on me," she jokingly replied. Alex simply scowled back at her while he closed the door. "What? Not excited to see your little sister?"
"I probably could have planned a better reaction if I knew you were freaking coming," Alex retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "What are you doing here? Do Mom and Dad know you're in Seattle?"
"Uh, yeah. They paid for my ticket to come here. How else would I be able to fly over here?" Amber cheekily answered. "I told you that I wanted to visit for Christmas. Did you think I was bluffing? And Mom and Dad are okay with it, so don't badger them with a phone call over my surprise visit."
Alex sighed in annoyance. "But a heads up would have been helpful. Dude, I'm a busy guy. Third year's been no joke, and actually, I'm supposed to be waking up in two hours to get ready for work!"
"If I told you I was coming, you would have done everything you could to convince me to celebrate Christmas in Iowa. I almost forgot how pissy you get when you haven't had enough sleep," she teased.
Alex really cared about and loved his kid sister, but sometimes Amber drove him crazy with how unpredictable she can be. Even her birth had been a surprise because she was two weeks early, and their mother had gone into labor during Alex's pee wee football game. He missed the second half of the game and sported a pout when he met his sister. She liked making plans at the last minute. He suspected she only decided to actually spend Christmas in Seattle a couple of days ago.
Neither of them were perfect, but they had a lot of things in common. Just like her older brother, Amber was inspired by Dalton to become a doctor. She decided to become a pre-med major at the University of North Carolina where she played volleyball on a full scholarship. Both of them used athletics to earn scholarships for their respective universities. They enjoyed watching college football, horror movies and Mexican food. Alex also taught her how to be tough and not take crap from anybody, which somewhat backfired on him since she knew how to deal with his attitude when they bickered.
April tiptoed out of her bedroom and stopped at the entrance of the living room. Alex noticed her gripping a baseball bat with two hands and rolled his eyes. "Put the bat down, Kepner. It's just my sister. Why do you even have that?"
"For protection, obviously," the redhead sternly said, setting the baseball bat on the floor. "You can never be unprepared for home invasions."
Amber turned around to look at April. She couldn't help but feel amused by her pink pajama pants that had cows on them. "Who are you?" she asked with a smirk.
"I'm April Kepner. I'm Alex's roommate," April cheerfully introduced herself. Despite the bags underneath her eyes and the tired expression on her face, she smiled at their surprise visitor. "He and I go all the way back to medical school when he was practically a gross, frat type of guy."
"The clean apartment makes more sense to me now," she quipped, shaking April's hand. Amber looked back at Alex and pointed over her shoulder. "You live with a woman and you aren't sleeping with her? How is that possible?"
Alex scrunched his face in response. "Because I have my own girlfriend and she's dating your other brother. I'm pretty sure sharing April would make things more complicated than they already are," he sarcastically replied. "And I haven't pictured her naked since fourth year of med school."
April shot a glare at him before smiling at Amber again. "Anyway, you must be exhausted from the flight. Do you want to sleep, or maybe eat something?" she offered. "I hope the couch is okay with you."
Amber sat down on the couch and lightly bounced on the cushions. "Nice couch. The cushions are so soft," she complimented. "I have a feeling Alex didn't pick this out."
"I bought it off Craigslist," she proudly answered with a grin. "I'll get some spare pillows and a blanket for you."
After April left the living room, Amber turned to face Alex and whispered gleefully, "She's cute."
"And straight, so don't even think about it," Alex nonchalantly replied. "Again, she's Jackson's girlfriend, so don't make things more awkward by hitting on her when I'm not in the room."
"There's nothing wrong with just looking," Amber insisted. "So, when can I meet Jackson? You told him about me, right? Last time we spoke on the phone, you said he knew and that he wanted to meet me. Can I meet him tomorrow?"
Alex softly groaned. "You're asking too many questions at once while my brain is barely functioning," he complained, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "I'll figure something out in the morning, but I really gotta get some sleep."
Amber kicked off her shoes and propped up her feet on top of the coffee table. "Sure, go ahead. I'll just relax for a bit before I go to sleep myself." She smiled as Alex crossed the living room. "And don't pretend you're pissed that I'm here. I just made Christmas a lot more fun for you."
Alex snickered as he slightly smiled back at his sister. "Yeah, whatever." He stopped in the hallway as April passed by carrying pillows and a blanket. "Thank freaking goodness you and Avery didn't boink tonight. Can you imagine his face if he saw Amber standing in our apartment?"
"What are we going to tell him at work?" April whispered. "We can't pretend she's not here. He'll find out eventually."
"Yeah, we'll tell him as soon as possible. Maybe you can give him a hand job first and soften him up a bit before telling him," he playfully suggested.
April gently kicked Alex's leg and laughed. "You're disgusting. Go back to bed. I'll see if Amber needs anything else."
"Alright, but just think about it." He cackled when she attempted to kick him again and missed. "Trust me. When he finally meets Amber he may need one."
Alex and April entered Seattle Grace Hospital with opposite moods. He appeared broody and exhausted, while she was bubbly and sporting a smile on her face. After getting Amber acquainted with their apartment, both of them went to bed. However, Alex struggled to fall back asleep. When he finally managed to sleep his alarm woke him up five minutes later. He was grateful that it was Friday, but he had only gotten about five hours of sleep.
Amber was passed out on the couch, and even the noise Alex made in the kitchen hadn't woken her up. At least she would be able to fight off the jet leg throughout the day before Lexie's dinner. He hadn't officially asked his coworker if he could bring her along, but he doubted she would reject the idea. The brunette was beginning to get on his and April's good side for a change, so he didn't expect her to ruin that.
Before they left their apartment, April left a note on the coffee table for Amber to read. Alex initially didn't want to leave anything, but his roommate insisted on being courteous, which wasn't a surprise to him. Her note consisted of instructions for using the kitchen, the bathroom and what time they would be home to pick her up for Lexie's dinner party.
Between the two of them, April was the more excited person. She was eager to see Jackson's reaction upon meeting his half-sister later that night. She and Alex agreed not to tell him at the hospital because the news might become a distraction for him. They would wait until they were at Lexie's house to introduce him to Amber. It was possible his reaction might not be the most pleasant, but April remained optimistic that the meeting would go well.
As they were walking towards the elevators, April spotted Jackson at the coffee cart. She quickly ditched her roommate and approached her boyfriend. "Good morning!" she cheerfully greeted him.
Her energetic mood wasn't a surprise to Jackson anymore, but sometimes her enthusiasm at the crack of dawn still caught him off-guard. "Hmm, I can definitely tell that you're not here for the coffee," he playfully replied. "You want a muffin or something, though?"
"No, thank you. I ate breakfast at home," she answered, grinning widely at him.
Jackson eyed his girlfriend suspiciously. Something about her bright mood felt off. "I know you're normally in a better mood than everybody else at this time, but what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your face hasn't changed since you showed up. Isn't your jaw hurting yet?" he quipped. Jackson gently pressed on her cheeks as an attempt to shrink her grin. He placed a lazy kiss on her bottom lip. "And I want to kiss your lips, not your teeth."
April giggled and softly smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm just excited for tonight, that's all."
Jackson smirked back at her. "You're excited for a dinner party at my ex-girlfriend's house?" he skeptically answered. He retrieved his coffee from the vendor before slipping his free hand into hers and walking towards the elevators. "No offense, but I'm not that thrilled about it."
"Why? Lexie and I are on good terms now. We're trying to be friends." Also, April knew Lexie was actively sleeping with Mark Sloan, so she had a reason to expose her if she needed to stoop to her coworker's level. "I never got to experience dinner parties like this when I was at Mayo. It was always kind of just Alex and me."
"Maybe Karev was the reason why people had a hard time warming up to you," he suggested.
"No, he's not. We were both outcasts," she insisted. "Here, I actually fit in with people besides Alex. Makes moving to Seattle well worth it."
Jackson sipped his coffee with a smile on his face. "I can give you a couple of more reasons why moving to Seattle was a very wise decision," he insinuated. "I mean, I don't want to brag or anything…"
"Trauma surgery became intriguing and I've grown addicted to Molly Moon's ice cream," April nonchalantly replied, drawing a playful eye roll from Jackson. "Hey, you brought me there, so you have nobody to blame but yourself."
"Is it just me or has Karev's smart ass personality rubbed off on you?" he teased, stepping into an elevator with her after it arrived.
April chuckled. "Honestly, I like to think I rubbed off on him." They stood at the back of the elevator car as it began ascending to the fifth floor. She slyly grinned as she whispered into his ear, "If you're not too busy on your lunch break, come and find me? I'll get you warmed up for tonight."
Jackson almost choked on his coffee as April continued to whisper naughty things in his ear. "Jesus," he mumbled to himself, trying to hold back the smile creeping from the corner of his mouth. He remained slightly confused by her overly cheerful mood, but he swore to himself that he would never question it again, especially when she was giving him ideas he didn't know she actually had in that innocent looking body of hers. "I am definitely paging you later."
Before changing into his scrubs, Alex approached Lexie's cubby. She was tying her shoes when he hovered above her, causing her to slowly glance up at him. "Yes?"
"Hey, uhh…" Alex briefly turned around to ensure Jackson wasn't entering the locker room. "Do you mind if I bring an extra person tonight? She's uhh… my sister randomly showed up last night, and I don't want to leave her at home where she's probably already snooping through my crap as we speak."
"Sure. That's fine," Lexie politely answered. She paused, raising her eyebrow at Alex. "Your sister? Is she just your sister or is she also Jackson's?"
Alex crouched down, so they were at eye level. "Her name's Amber and she's Avery's half-sister, okay? But don't tell him. I don't want him freaking out and deciding not to show up tonight. Kepner's gonna butter him up all day to keep him in a good mood, if you know what I mean."
Lexie scrunched her nose, shaking her head. "I'll pretend I don't know what you mean, but I get it."
"Alright, cool. I'll see you tonight," he said, standing up.
"Oh, and bring something we can all eat," she reminded her coworker. "I trust April to do that, but I'm not sure about you. A box of Cheez-Its won't cut it. Even a store bought dessert will do, Alex. Also, nothing that contains eggs. I'm allergic."
"Yeah, yeah. April already nagged me about this," he scoffed. "She assigned me what to bring, so don't worry about it."
Just as Alex walked away to change into his scrubs, George took a seat beside Lexie. "Hey, Lex. Umm, I know this is going to be awful, last minute planning, but do you mind if I bring a date to dinner?" he eagerly asked. "It's just that Olivia, you know that nurse who works in the ER, isn't going home for Christmas and I may have brought up tonight to her, so she's not completely lonely…"
"What? George!" Lexie sighed, running her palms down her cheeks. "Karev is already bringing an extra person, and Jo is pretty much his other half now that they're dating. Then, there's Jackson and April. You and Olivia would make me such a loner."
"Well, I can't exactly rescind the invitation," he timidly replied. "Plus, I think she actually likes me. Why don't you invite another person for yourself? You know, I'm sure somebody you know at this hospital has nothing better to do on a Friday night. Unless, you want to invite Mer-"
Lexie groaned. "And watch her be friendly to everybody in the room except for me? No, thank you. She and Yang are going to be slumming it at Joe's tonight."
She did have one option, though she was fully aware that her choice would lead to a dysfunctional dinner. Not that it wasn't dysfunctional already. Her ex-boyfriend would be present with his current girlfriend. Her other friends either were each other's date or decided to bring one, and since she didn't know Amber, she really would be the loner of the dinner party that she was hosting.
"If you're really uncomfortable about this," George started. "I can lie and tell Olivia it was cancelled. But then she would probably want to do something regardless, and I'm not sure how I can get out of that one-"
"George, it's fine!" Lexie impatiently responded. "You can bring her. I have it figured out. It's fine."
On the opposite side of the locker room, Alex was halfway changed into his scrubs when Jo arrived and sidled up to him. "What are you bringing to dinner tonight?" she curiously asked.
"A bag of potatoes. April's gonna mash them up at Lexie's later, why?" he murmured. "I can't cook for crap, so my job is to carry a sack of potatoes to the house. Easiest job in the world."
"Oh, because I have no freaking clue what I'm bringing. I haven't been able to prepare ahead of time," Jo admitted with a grimace. "And this potluck dinner started when we were interns, yet every year I procrastinate and end up bringing beer. I don't want to look like a total slacker this time."
"Why don't you bring Cat?" Alex suggested with a smile. "I'm sure Lexie won't mind. You said you would introduce her to the others, remember?"
Jo slowly nodded. "Yes, but not tonight. It's not an appropriate scene for her. It'll be all adults and she's not going to understand anything anybody's talking about, so she'll be bored to death."
"When I came over for dinner your grandma made some jokes that I'm sure Cat didn't understand," Alex recalled, then he chuckled. "I gotta say, Jeanette is hilarious. She might be the coolest grandma ever with that David Bowie tattoo she has on her shoulder."
"Yeah, she's something. She used to threaten to show that off to my friends while she sang one of his songs at school if I misbehaved," she amusingly replied. "So anyway, I'm going solo. What's something I can make fast that you'll eat and genuinely enjoy?"
"That spaghetti you made for dinner was pretty good. Why don't you just make that again?"
Jo snapped her fingers and grinned. "Great! Then, that's what I'll do." She quickly kissed Alex's cheek before walking to her cubby. "See you later!"
Dinner was scheduled to begin at 8 PM. Lexie was in the kitchen preparing her share of the potluck dinner after leaving work early. She had rearranged the living room by moving the couches and setting up a long table for everybody to sit at. The doorbell rang, so she left the kitchen to answer the door.
The first guest to arrive was Jackson. Lexie opened the door for him and softly smiled. "Hey, you're the first one here. Come in," she greeted him, closing the door after her ex-boyfriend entered her house. He was holding a pie in each hand. "You brought dessert."
"Yeah, it's apple and strawberry. And they're vegan. I didn't want to risk buying pies that might contain eggs in the pie crust, and accidentally send you to the hospital due to anaphylaxis," the pretty boy sheepishly answered. "They might be good. The bakery I bought them from says they are."
Lexie chuckled. "I'm sure they are. You can set those in the kitchen for now."
Jackson followed the brunette into the kitchen and set the pies on the counter. He watched Lexie open the oven and remove a glass baking dish with her oven mitts. He recognized the dish and smiled. "You made your famous spinach and artichoke dip."
"Indeed. I'm also preparing a salad, but keep your hands away from this dip until everybody is here," she playfully warned him. "Knowing you, you'll finish half of it before anybody else arrives."
He took a seat at the smaller dining table, while she continued dinner preparations. "It's really nice of you to invite April and Karev to this. I wasn't sure if you wanted to because this is a tradition we started before they came to Seattle." Also, he remained unsure if his current girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend bonding would work out. "But it's cool, thanks. Really more for April, but thanks."
Lexie smirked as she washed lettuce at the sink. "Are you worried I'll poison her drink?"
"No, of course not. You two are trying to be friends or whatever," Jackson awkwardly replied. "That's good, I guess."
"You sound so confident about that," she sarcastically said. "Relax. I won't be trying to pummel April for surgeries again. That's behind us now, okay? I don't want things to be weird between us anymore."
"I'm not trying to make it weird. I just hope you're comfortable with me dating someone else."
Lexie turned around when she finished using the sink. "I am, actually. In fact, I am happy for you, Jackson," she sincerely responded. "I'm hoping we can stay friends, despite the crap I pulled with April… and some of the other women who were interested in you. I'm done with that stuff. I'm moving on too."
"Anybody I know?" Jackson inquired, not that he was feeling jealous over Lexie dating other men. He was relieved that she wasn't secretly obsessing over him anymore. "Or do you mean you're going to jump into the dating pool again?"
She quickly shook her head. "No. Not anybody in particular yet." He probably wouldn't believe her if she told him that she was sleeping with Sloan, she thought. "I just meant I want to start dating."
The doorbell rang and Jackson stood up to save Lexie some time. "I'll get it." He left the kitchen to answer the door. Jo was standing outside appearing frantic as she carried a grocery bag. He opened the door and she bolted past him before he could greet her. "Nice to see you too, Wilson."
Jo entered the kitchen and approached their coworker. "Lex, mind if I use your stove?" she anxiously questioned as she pulled out ingredients from her bag. "I got off work a little later than expected, so I haven't had the time to make this spaghetti."
"Sure, help yourself," Lexie casually replied. "The noodles aren't-"
"It's whole grain. I know the drill," she confirmed, filling a large pot with water.
Lexie glanced up in time to catch Jackson trying to sneak a taste of her dip. "Jackson, put that cracker down!"
"Dammit!" he muttered, dropping the cracker. "I'm going to use the bathroom."
Meanwhile, April and Alex arrived at the house with Amber in tow. Prior to leaving their apartment, Alex had given Amber some ground rules. He wasn't sure what to expect from Jackson once he met their sister. April had a more positive mindset about it, but he was going to do everything he could to avoid another punch in the face. He already imagined the worst case scenario, that Jackson would assume Amber's surprise visit was planned as a way to force them to bond.
All of their hands were full with trays of food, so Alex used his elbow to ring the doorbell. Lexie appeared a minute later and answered the door. "Hey, come in," she greeted them. She stood by the door, watching her coworkers enter the house before smiling at Amber. "You must me Amber. I'm Lexie. I work with Alex and April."
Amber smiled back at Lexie. "Yeah, I heard about you. Alex told me you almost cut off April's finger to get into a surgery," she bluntly said.
Lexie furrowed her bow at Alex, who quickly shrugged. "I can definitely see the resemblance between you two." She led the threesome into the kitchen. "You can set everything in here first. If you need to make some last minute preparations, go ahead and use what you need."
Alex dropped off a bag of potatoes on the counter before creeping up on Jo. He playfully pinched her sides from behind causing her to yelp. "Sorry," he chuckled, kissing her on the cheek. "You got a minute? I want to introduce you to somebody."
"Did you bring a date?" Jo quipped.
He turned her around, so she was facing Amber, who stood a few feet away. "Jo, this is Amber. Amber, this is Jo. She's my girlfriend."
Jo gasped, then she grinned and immediately grabbed a hold of Amber's hands. "Oh, I've been looking forward to meeting you, and I didn't even know you were coming!" She turned her head to look at Alex. "Why didn't you tell me she was here?"
Alex lazily threw his arms up and sported a half-smile. "Surprise," he answered in monotone. "She kind of, uh, never told me she was coming either until 3 AM when she showed up at the door."
"Yeah, I blindsided him," Amber proudly stated. "So, your name is Jo? You have a boy's name. That's hot."
"Don't even think about it," he mumbled to her.
Jo snickered, eying Alex curiously. "Anyway, Avery doesn't know she's here, right? I can't wait to see the look on his face when he comes out of the bathroom. He's already here."
April's face lit up. "He is? Okay, stay here. I'll go get him and bring him over here when he's out," she announced, scurrying out of the kitchen. There was a bathroom located underneath the stairs, and the door opened just as the swinging door closed behind her. Jackson stepped out of the bathroom, stopping when he spotted his girlfriend. "Hey!"
"Did you just get here? I heard a doorbell, so I figured it would be either you or O'Malley." Jackson slipped his arms around April's waist before greeting her with a kiss. "Boy, am I happy to see you again."
"Why? What's the matter?" April asked in between kisses. "Something bothering you?"
"No, I just can't stop thinking about our rendezvous in the on-call room earlier today," he murmured against her lips. The sex they were having continued to be amazing, but on this particular day, April had surprised him. She had done things to him that even he hadn't experienced before. It had put him in a very good mood for the rest of the day. "I do wonder where you learned how to do some of those things you did."
The redhead giggled, forcing herself to pull away from . "I have my sources," she teased. Taking his hands into hers, she couldn't stop herself from grinning at him. She was way too excited about what was behind the kitchen door. "I hope you're up for another surprise."
"I'm not sure what else could surprise me today, but I trust you," Jackson humorously answered. He followed April into the kitchen, his eyes locked in on her rear end. She was wearing very tight jeans that distracted him from noticing Amber's presence.
He finally glanced up and saw all eyes were on him. Of course, there was one face that wasn't familiar to him, but he had an idea who she was. He connected the dots in his head. Lexie was alone when he arrived, Jo had shown up alone as well. Now that Alex and April were present, there were two conclusions he could come up with. Either she was one of April's sisters, or she was Amber.
But he knew that all of the Kepner women were redheads, and this woman had long, flowing brown hair that ended past her shoulder blades. And her eyes, they stood out like a sore thumb because they were almost exactly like his own. Those bluish green eyes were hard to miss.
Jackson swallowed hard, his forehead crinkling as he became lost in thought. The realization that he had a biological sister was slowly hitting him. He wasn't sure how to feel, but he was a bit shocked to see her standing in his ex-girlfriend's kitchen, while everybody else waited for him to respond.
"You're Amber," he murmured, though it sounded as if it was both a statement and a question. "You… you probably already know who I am based on the smile on my girlfriend's face."
Amber quietly approached Jackson and stopped in front of him. She took a moment to soak it all in. She had only seen what he looked like in a picture from April's cell phone, but seeing him in person overwhelmed her more than she had anticipated. Without saying a word, she threw her arms over his shoulders and hugged him tightly.
Jackson slightly stumbled back, then he tentatively returned the hug. He awkwardly smiled as April lightly bounced on her feet excitedly nearby. "So… you don't talk?"
"Oh, my God, I've been wanting to meet you for so long!" Amber boisterously replied. She stepped back and playfully slapped Jackson's chest. "Dude, I get this is a lot to take in, but you have no idea how happy I am to meet you. You should've seen the look on Alex's face when I showed up at his place in the middle of the night. But you, you look like you just saw Dad."
Alex winced, wishing he could duct tape his sister's mouth. "Uh, yeah. I didn't know she was coming."
"Don't be mad or anything, I purposely never told Alex I'd be crashing in Seattle for Christmas," Amber insisted. "But he did tell you that I wanted to meet you. And now that we've met, what do you think?"
Jackson nervously laughed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. He was certain he wouldn't be able to handle any more surprises for the rest of the night. If his mother were to suddenly appear again, he might have a heart attack. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you," he politely replied.
"By the way, that April is super cute. Nice catch," she whispered, winking at him.
"Uh, thanks," Jackson reluctantly answered, softly smiling back at her.
The sweet, yet awkward moment was interrupted by April's cell phone ringing. She sheepishly grinned as she headed out of the kitchen. "Excuse me. I'll take this in the living room. You two keep talking. This is a momentous event!" she encouragingly said before leaving.
Jackson slipped his hands inside of his pockets and sighed deeply. "Okay, so… how old are you again, Amber?"
"I just turned 20 in September," Amber answered, sitting down on a stool beside the island counter. "You know, you can ask me anything you want. I'm probably more talkative than Alex by a landslide. He just makes ugly faces and stuff when he doesn't want to answer questions."
Jackson glanced at Alex, who scowled, then he nodded in agreement. "That's actually true. Well, I won't bombard you with questions right now, especially with an audience." He pointed over his shoulder towards the kitchen door. "And now I understand why my girlfriend was in such a good mood today, but I'm not complaining. Just saying."
Alex scoffed as he opened the refrigerator to get a beer. "The hickeys on her neck says it all."
"Before this turns into a tell all session, I'm going to step out for a minute," he stated, then he left the kitchen.
April's voice can be heard from the living room. She was hardly a soft speaker. Her high-pitched voice was very distinct, but also louder than she assumed. Jackson stood outside of the living room and hid against the wall. From what he had picked up, she was on the phone with her mother. His girlfriend sounded somewhat irritated, but it was unclear why.
"No, Mom. I stopped taking those seven months ago," the redhead impatiently replied. She was slowly pacing back and forth by the dining table as she listened to her mother nag her on the phone. "Because they were making me feel sick and exhausted. And I've been fine. I haven't needed them."
Jackson furrowed his brow out of curiosity. What was April taking, or used to take? It was obvious to him it was some sort of medication, but the details were so vague that he couldn't quite figure it out.
"I'm not alone in Seattle. I told you that Alex is here. Alex Karev, Mom. Yes, the one from medical school. He's not like that anymore, okay?" she irritably answered. "And I found friends here. They're really great people. I have a boyfriend. His name is Jackson, and he's very sweet. You would love him."
That part of the conversation made Jackson smile. He wondered if April's mother was the complete opposite of Catherine. From the sounds of it, she probably was. Now, he wanted to meet her since April had insisted that her mother would accept him easily. His concentration was focused on picking up any intriguing details from April's conversation that he hadn't noticed somebody sneaking up on him.
"Hey, whatcha doin'?" Amber whispered, accidentally scaring Jackson in the process. He jumped, hitting the back of his head against the wall. She held back her laugh as he grimaced and rubbed his head. "Sorry."
April had heard the loud thud from outside of the living room, raising her eyebrow while she stared at the entrance. "Mom, I have to go. I love you too. Bye." After hanging up her phone, she walked out of the living room to find Jackson and Amber standing nearby. "What are you doing?"
Fortunately, Jackson spotted George outside of the house through the window of the front door. He immediately pointed at his roommate as he rushed towards the door. "O'Malley sent me a text. He said he needed help bringing some food inside. Amber just tagged along because we were talking about… sports," he reluctantly answered. "She's a fan of the Patriots."
"What? The Patriots suck!" Amber retorted. "I can't believe I'm related to a Patriots fan."
Jackson smirked before opening the front door. George entered the house with his date, Olivia. He was carrying a rather small rotisserie chicken in his hands, and Olivia carried a foil covered tray.
"Uh, need help with that chicken, O'Malley?" Jackson chuckled. "Lexie's gonna love this."
The group walked into the kitchen to greet the other guests in the house. Lexie's eyes were instantly glued to the chicken in George's hands. "What the hell is that?" she exclaimed. "That's not a chicken! George!"
"It is a chicken! This is all they had at the market," George defensively replied.
"That thing is the size of a hamster. How is that supposed to feed everybody? Jackson or Alex can devour that on their own!" Lexie argued. "The chicken was supposed to be our meat source."
"Well, Olivia is a vegetarian, so that's one less person." He nodded his head towards Amber. "And I have no idea who she is, but maybe she doesn't eat meat either."
"She's my sister. Actually, and Avery's too," Alex acknowledged, sipping his beer. "Amber, this is George. He's kind of a moron."
George rolled his eyes, then he removed the foil from the tray Olivia was holding. He revealed about two dozen small corn on the cobs. "I also brought a lot of corn. It was to compensate for the tiny chicken," he proudly announced. He tried to avoid Lexie's icy stare and forced a laugh. "So, when are we eating?"
Once everybody was settled and dinner was ready, the group claimed their seats at the dining table. Lexie was seated at the head of the table, and smiled at her guests. "Okay, if nobody has anything profound or some prayer they wanted to say before we eat, then we can dig in."
Lexie gave them a few seconds before she started serving herself food. The rest followed her lead and began passing the various dishes around to each other.
Jackson helped himself to some of Jo's spaghetti before passing it along to April, who was sitting beside him. Since everybody else in the room had their own conversations amongst each other, he decided to bring up her phone call with her mother. "Umm… so you were speaking to your mother earlier," he murmured, hoping it hadn't sounded like he was probing for answers, which he truthfully was.
"Yes. She calls every day, even more now because I'm farther away from home," April nonchalantly replied. "She's mostly bummed that I won't be home for Christmas. It was easier in medical school, but we can't be as selective with our vacation days in residency."
"Oh," he simply said. "You two get along?"
"Mmhmm," she hummed. "But I'm more of a daddy's girl, honestly. Growing up on the farm, out of the four daughters, I was probably allowed to ride with him on his tractor the most. When I was old enough he trusted me to operate it by myself. We're really close."
Jackson slowly nodded. "I see. That's cool."
April suddenly frowned back at him. "Oh, gosh. I'm sorry. I… I shouldn't be bragging like that since I know your father is a sensitive subject for you. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," she quickly apologized. "We can talk about something else."
"No, it's fine," he softly chuckled, reaching up to gently rub the back of his girlfriend's neck. "Don't worry about it."
The front door opened and a loud, obnoxious voice echoed from outside of the living room. Mark entered the house holding a bottle of wine in his hand. "Am I late for the party? Brought you kids the best in Seattle," he smugly greeted them. The room fell silent as he approached the table. "What happened? Someone die?"
"My appetite did," Jo mumbled to herself.
April eyed Lexie suspiciously until the latter made eye contact with her. Neither of them spoke a word, but the guilty expression on the brunette's face confirmed that she had invited Sloan, which made little sense to her. If they were supposed to be keeping their relationship a secret, this was the worst way of hiding it.
The plastic surgeon noticed Amber and offered his hand. "I don't think we've met. Who are you, lovely lady?"
"Amber. She's my sister," Alex grumbled, scowling at Sloan.
"And I'm a lesbian," Amber firmly added, grinning back at the older man as she shook his hand.
George spit out his beer, partially splashing his food and Lexie's shirt. He coughed and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. This time, everybody was staring at him. "Well, that explains why Amber was so eager to sit beside Jo," he jokingly said. "Carry on."
Lexie cleared her throat and pointed at the open seat at the opposite end of the table. "Have a seat. There's plenty of food to go around – except for the hamster chicken George brought." She tried to act as casual as possible, but she knew some of her friends were more than suspicious now, especially Jackson. "Eat, guys, before the food gets cold."
Mark reached for the mashed potatoes April had prepared, then he smirked at Jackson. "Missing you in Plastics, Avery. Where have you been hiding?"
"Everywhere that isn't your department," Jackson sneered. "Still all about cardio for me."
"Kepner, what about you? I bet you're the perfectionist type. Plastics would be perfect for you," Mark suggested, winking at April.
"Uhh…" April briefly glanced back at Lexie, who rolled her eyes. "Trauma has been pretty great, actually. Hunt has taught me a lot since I started spending more time in the ER."
"Dude, why are you even here?" Alex intervened. "Since when did you start hanging out with residents?"
Mark simply shrugged. "Gotta find a way to poach for prospective plastic surgeons. The pool isn't very large, and I have a short list of candidates. By the way, you're not on it. I know Robbins is basically dry humping your leg to get you into pediatric surgery, so I'll let her have one."
"Are we not going to address the jackass in the room? I mean, elephant. Excuse me," Jo sarcastically said, staring at the plastic surgeon.
"We're all here to do the same thing, and that's to eat dinner," April calmly replied, sporting a smile. "Let's not blow up our tempers over this. It's really not that big of a deal, right? We can eat, then pretend he's not even here."
Mark laughed to himself, playfully pointing his fork at April. "Listen to Kepner. It's like nothing fazes her."
Lexie pressed her palms against the table and stood up. "You know what? Let's just get this out in the open. I think that's the better solution." She breathed in deeply before she announced, "I've been sleeping with Sloan. So, yeah. We're dating – I think."
"Okay, we'll call it that," he concurred.
Jackson switched back and forth between looking at Lexie and Mark. "What?" he said in disbelief. "Uh, congratulations?"
"Thanks, man," Mark gratefully answered, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder. "I know about your history with Lex, but don't worry. I'm taking good care of her."
"Awesome," he muttered, picking up his beer bottle and chugging what was left inside.
Jo stood up and nervously grinned at her peers. "Well, since we're suddenly doing honesty hour now, I would like to share something with you all before I get cold feet," she declared. "I have a daughter. Her name is Caterina, but she goes by Cat, and she's 12 years old. I don't actually own a cat. Any reference I made to my cat was just code for my daughter."
George pounded his fist on the table. "A-ha! I knew it!" he proudly stated. "That girl I saw in the ER was her, wasn't it? April tried to convince me that I was just having some awkward sex dream about you."
"Wait, you're serious?" Lexie intriguingly asked. She smiled at Jo after she nodded. "Holy crap. Can we meet her?"
"Yeah, sure. Although, this isn't like some extraordinary science experiment to be in awe with. She's just my kid," Jo wholeheartedly replied. "And she also happens to be better at Xbox than Alex, which is still funny to me."
"That's not fair. We played a game I've never heard of before," Alex retorted. "But she's a cool kid or whatever."
Amber gestured towards April and grinned. "I think April is fucking hot!" Her unexpected confession resulted in dead silence as everyone stared back at her. Alex could only bury his face into his hands and shake his head out of embarrassment. She threw her arms up and shrugged. "What? Everybody's admitting random shit about themselves, so that's my contribution to this weird party. I'm not exaggerating, April. You have really nice boobs."
April softly laughed as she poked at her food with her fork. "Uh, thanks."
"What about you, April? Anything you want to share with everyone?" Jackson probed, drawing a confused look from his girlfriend.
"Nope," she murmured. "I'm fine, thank you."
Alex sensed discomfort in his roommate's face, so he decided to put an end to the current conversation. "Dudes, food is getting cold, and I'm freaking starving. Let's eat."
Fortunately, the group listened to him and began eating dinner while making small talk in between. The awkward tension was able to subside, and it was almost as if the past five minutes of spontaneous confessions hadn't happened at all.
After the dinner, Jackson had gone back to April and Alex's apartment for the rest of the night. He was stressed due to meeting Amber for the first time and being forced to sit close to Sloan during dinner, and he knew that April was stressed as well. Her bubbly mood had dropped many levels from that morning. She was quieter and less talkative, and he hoped that she would explain to him why. Instead, they ended up ripping off each other's clothes once they reached her bedroom. He didn't want to stop her. Sex was one of the best ways to relieve stress, at least for him.
He suspected that something was wrong because she didn't seem to be into it as much as he was. Her fingernails weren't digging into his back compared to their previous sexual encounters. She wasn't moaning or panting as loud as she normally did. Her mind seemed to be completely elsewhere.
Jackson forced himself to pull out of April, but he remained on top of her using his hands to support himself. "What's wrong?" he whispered, taking note of the frown on her face.
"Were you upset earlier?" she inquired. "About Lexie and Sloan?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did the idea of them together bother you? You weren't jealous of him?" she clarified, gently biting down on her bottom lip. "You seemed pissed after Lexie told everybody about their relationship."
He slightly raised both eyebrows, surprised that she was concerned about that. All along, he thought it had to do with her phone conversation with her mother, and the fact that she was aware he had been eavesdropping. "No, I wasn't bothered. Grossed out would summarize my feelings best. I just think she can do so much better than that asshole."
"Okay," she quietly said, forcing a smile.
Her voice breaking hadn't gone unnoticed by Jackson. They were in the middle of sex and she looked as if she was about to burst into tears at any second. Clearly, everything was not fine. "What's on your mind?" he asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Are you worried that I might still have feelings for Lexie? Because I only care about her as a friend. That's the truth."
"I believe you," she insisted.
"Then, what's the matter?"
April sighed, lightly grasping both sides of Jackson's face. "You make me really happy. I hope I make you just as happy. The thought of me not making you happy scares me a lot," she admitted, tears creeping out from the corners of her eyes. "I… I don't want to end up alone because I make you unhappy."
Jackson wiped away her tears with his thumb. "You do make me happy. I can't help but smile whenever you walk into the room. When we're not in the same room I miss your voice, your laugh, everything. That's how happy I am with you." He leaned in, smiling as he kissed her lips. "Don't ever worry about making me unhappy, okay?"
She quickly nodded before pulling him in for a more passionate kiss. They eventually fell back into their routine, this time successfully finishing without another interruption. They had fallen asleep, but Jackson woke up an hour later to use the bathroom and to get a glass of water. He carefully climbed out of bed hoping not to wake up his girlfriend. He slipped on his boxers and quietly left the bedroom.
After using the bathroom, Jackson entered the living room where Amber was comfortably sprawled out on the couch and wide awake. Her laptop was sitting on top of her stomach, but she managed to peer over it when she spotted her brother walking towards the kitchen.
"Thank God, we're related and I'm not straight," she quipped. "Women totally faint at the sight of you, huh?"
"I try not to notice," he chuckled, setting his glass in the sink after he finished drinking from it. "It's 2 AM. Why are you still up?"
"I'm a college student, it's the offseason for volleyball, and it's my Christmas break. Oh, and it was a Friday night," Amber amusingly replied. "You were in my shoes once. Don't tell me you weren't a night owl before you became a doctor."
Jackson smirked, approaching Amber from the kitchen. "Fine. Guilty." He took a seat on the coffee table and was greeted by a throw pillow tossed his way. "What's this for?"
"To cover your junk," she casually answered. "Boxers are too tight. I don't need to see that."
"You're so much like Karev that it's frightening," he jokingly said, setting the throw pillow on his lap. "He probably taught you everything, huh? You two share the same vocabulary and personality. Are you planning on becoming a doctor too?"
"Yeah. Dad says I don't have to, but I want to. Growing up around medicine, it kind of just feels fitting, ya know?" Although Amber wasn't directly looking at Jackson, she figured he had nodded based on the lack of verbal response. She closed her laptop and sat upright on the couch to face him. "What's your last memory of him?"
Jackson slowly shrugged. His memories of Dalton Avery were very fuzzy. Anything he could remember might be images he created in his head, but never actually happened. "I don't know. He left when I was three." He raised his eyebrow at Amber. "What has he said about me?"
"Umm, a lot of things. That he has a ton of regrets when it comes to you. He should've been a better father to you. He told me about how you would sneak into his office when he was working at home, and you'd play peekaboo from behind his desk. Said you always laughed when he pretended he didn't spot you in time before you went back into hiding," she recalled. "Well, I know about the time you broke Alex's nose-"
"We don't have to relive that moment," he interrupted, pursing his lips. "He knows I work with your brother, doesn't he?"
Amber nodded. "But Alex never told him he was coming here until after the fact. It was a surprise for him too." She paused for a moment. "And Alex is your brother too. He may not be connected to you by blood, but he's family. We're all family. I hope one day you'll be able to accept that."
"Sure," he answered, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'm going back to bed. Goodnight."
"Hold on a second." Amber reached for her backpack, which was sitting on the floor next to the couch. She retrieved a small photograph from her wallet and set it on Jackson's lap. "I got this for you. I kind of stole this during my detour in Iowa. Dad doesn't know I took it, but he has a ton of other pictures, so it'll be hard to notice it's missing."
Jackson held the photograph in his hand, staring at it closely. It was a picture of himself when he was 3 years old, clad in a Harvard sweatshirt, and he was sitting on his father's shoulders. Both smiled brightly, his hands resting on top of Dalton's head. They appeared to be genuinely enjoying each other's company. The memory of when the photo was taken was a blank space in his head, but it made him miss his father just a little bit.
He immediately shut down those feelings and stood up. "Thanks for this. I mean it. Thanks."
Amber smiled in return. "If you ever want to call him, the door is open."
"Right." Jackson turned to leave, but he stopped and looked back at Amber. "I'm glad we met. You're not as bad as Alex."
She laughed in response. "You're not as pretty as April."
The two of them shared a laugh, then Jackson pointed towards the direction of April's bedroom. "I'm going before this conversation becomes too awkward for the both of us," he lightheartedly replied. "See you in the morning."
Returning to April's bedroom, Jackson didn't immediately return to bed. He sat down at his girlfriend's desk, picked up a flashlight that was sitting by her lamp, and turned it on to examine the photograph of himself and Dalton once more. After his conversation with Amber, he had even more questions he wanted answered. If what she had told him about their father was true, then perhaps there was more to the story of Dalton's abandonment than he originally thought.
Let me know what you think, please! Up next: a mini time jump and you'll finally find out why April left Mayo :)