A month later a lot had changed in their lives, they were almost forced to reveal their wedding and everyone at the hospital was now talking about it. Arizona, Callie and Meredith were the most supportive, they were pretty surprised at first but couldn't wait to know everything about it, how he asked, where they got married, how was their first night together, if they planned to have a nice honeymoon in some exotic place. April was so happy to share every detail with her friends that she almost forgot that not everyone was thrilled about the news. Almost. Because it didn't take long for her to get a reminder. The day after, the news that they were married spread like fire in a wood. The first to remind April that she was an awful human being was paramedic Nicole. It wasn't really what she said but how she looked at her, like she was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. She learnt that Matthew was devastated and quit his job. Nicole told her not to bother to try to contact him ever again, he never answered her calls and he never would have. April felt really bad, and it got worse when she saw Stephanie hiding in a closet, crying her eyes out. She touched her wedding ring. It was all nice and easy while they were hiding from the world, in their perfect secret bubble of happiness. But now that reality hit her, she realized how much damage they had done. She didn't regret anything, but she needed to see Jackson as soon as possible, she really needed a hug and a 'I love you' from her beautiful husband.

She softly knocked on his office door. "come in" She walked in, Jackson was busy as usual with a lot of boring paper work, he didn't even lift his head up to see who was coming in.

"Hey Jackson…"

"April!" he looked at her with worried eyes "is everything alright?"

"everything sucks!" she pouted, getting closer to his desk. "everyone hates us."

"that's not true, tonight we're dining at Arizona and Callie's, they seemed pretty thrilled to have us over"

"yeah I know…" "

come here" he moved away from his desk and she sit on his lap "I know we hurt people badly, so badly they don't even want us near them ever again." Jackson caressed her hair. "but we would have hurt them even more if we didn't do anything. No one wants a relationship with a person that doesn't love them. I'm not saying we did the best thing ever, we were selfish, and I was very stupid for sure. We have to face the consequences of what we did. But at the end of the day we will always have each other and this is what makes me go through each day."

April smiled softly "thank you"

"for what?"

"because you know when I'm about to freak out and you always prevent it."

"well as I told you once, I love everything about you, even the things I don't like, I love" She kissed him, leaving him breathless "I love you more than anything else in this world Jackson. And by the way, is there a key for the door in your office?"

"yes, I have it here somewhere" he smiled at her " is there something you have in mind dr. Avery?"

"I really like to thank my husband for being the most amazing man in my life." She wrapped her legs around his waist and he kissed her neck. "we…should…really…close that…." But she couldn't finish the sentence because the door flung open.

"Dr. Avery, we need you for…oh!" Jackson stood up as quickly as possible and April fell on the ground without even realizing why. It would have been very funny if it wasn't for the fact that she was completely embarrassed.

"I'm sorry…I … I didn't know you were busy…"

"uhm…no I'm not, dr. Ross" he helped April to get back on her feet "I'll be right outside with you." The young doctor got out quickly, while both April and Jackson smiled a little "I'll see you later babe. I love you!"

"love you too!" she sat down on his chair letting out a small sigh: she had still a long day ahead.

By the time they had to go at Arizona and Callie's new place, April was feeling a bit better. They had brought the ice cream maker as a gift and an apple pie that April baked the day before. She waited for Jackson just outside the hospital: even though she had known him for almost 8 years now, every time she saw him in street clothes he left her breathless.

"have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful man I've ever seen?" He smiled before kissing her. "And the thing that amazes me is that not only you are gorgeous on the outside, you are also beautiful on the inside, kind, clever, responsible. And now my husband too. You couldn't be any more perfect than this" She sticked her tongue out.

"we make a pretty amazing couple, don't we?"

"we definitely do"

A few minutes later they were knocking at Arizona and Callie's door. It was a very nice house, in a quiet neighborhood and with a lovely garden that was perfect for Sofia.

"The newlyweds are here Arizona" Callie shouted before opening the door with a huge smile on her face "hello strangers! Come on in and don't mind all the boxes. We're still settling down."

"your house is really lovely" April hugged the two women who looked thrilled to have them there.

"well it is definitely different from the apartment. And we needed a fresh start."

"Sofia is loving the backyard so much. She spends hours picking daisies."

"but enough about us. You two lovebirds have so much to tell us…"

"we do" Jackson smiled while hugging his wife.

They sat down at the table, and after some glasses of white wine they were laughing hard, remembering Mark Sloan and the day they first walked in at Seattle Grace.

"I still remember those awful orange thing we wore…"

"well to be fair they perfectly hid vomit…they had the same exact color!"

"you guys were so lost! It seems like a lifetime ago and now you're married. Isn't that amazing?"

"it's the best thing ever" April and Jackson hold hands. Arizona smiled so brightly that she lit up the whole room and Callie filled up their glasses.

"so, I was wondering… How did mama Avery took this whole thing?"

April opened her mouth but nothing came out of it, while Jackson looked at his ring in silence.

"I cannot believe this!" the blonde woman exclaimed " she doesn't know!"

"you still haven't told her…"

"we were waiting for the right moment…" April tried to explain "which would have been in a year or two" Jackson added.

"guys, she's going to be majorly pissed off!"

"plus by now Webber told her everything for sure"

"Maybe I should call her tonight, it wouldn't be nice if my own mother found out from her boyfriend that I got married to April…"

"now that I think about it…your mom never knew about us." The two exchanged worried looks: a lot had happened that week and they forgot completely about Catherine. "I'll try to call her later tonight, I'm sure she won't take it so badly as we all think she will"

The three women looked at him shaking their heads: they certainly knew better.

Jackson tried to call his mother three or four times before going to bed, but she never picked up the phone. April noticed he was very impatient "are you worried babe?"

"no-no, I'm just… she never answered my phone calls tonight" he sat on their bed and April hugged him from behind. "maybe she has a big surgery and can't answer you right now, I' m sure she'll call you back tomorrow."

"yeah maybe you're right…I shouldn't worry about this. I mean, you two were friends on Facebook, she always liked you."

"and we shouldn't forget all the times she wanted me to have sex with someone!"

He turned around to look at her "and about that…" he kissed her on the neck, there really was no need to worry, he had a beautiful wife, the rest of the world didn't matter.

The morning after April woke up with a huge smile on her face. It was their day off. That meant a whole day laying in bed, doing nothing but cuddling and watching tv. She stretched and hugged her husband. "good morning honey, did you sleep well?"

"mmh-mmh." He lazily opened his green eyes "how can you be so gorgeous so early in the morning?" April smiled sliding on top of him, she opened her mouth trying to reply but someone else spoke.

"well it's 10.30 am, I wouldn't say it's early"

Jackson stood up as fast as he could "mom!" April fell off the bed, she seemed to be falling a lot these days. She quickly recovered from the surprise and tried to cover herself with some sheets.

"you seem surprised. Surely not as much as I was when I found out you two got married in Nevada! Can you imagine that?" Catherine Avery was sharply dressed and looked elegant as usual, but it was clear that she hadn't slept at all that night. "I demand an explanation!"

The two newlyweds looked at each other feeling like two kids that were caught stealing chocolate.

"I don't have time now, get dressed quickly, I'll see you both at the hospital. Make it quick" The older woman turned around, slamming the door on her way out. "well I guess Webber told her…" Jackson tried to joke around but April could tell that he was worried.

"let's get dressed. We've got some explaining to do"

Richard Webber walked past the conference room where the Averys where discussing. He felt a bit guilty about the whole situation, Jackson and April were both good guys and Catherine was impossible to deal with when she was pissed off. He watched Jackson stood up and leave the room, soon followed by April. "Jackson…" he called out

"look, Dr. Webber, this really isn't the best of times. Why don't you just go in there and calm down your crazy girlfriend who thinks it's ok to come here and insult me and my wife. She knows April, she has known her since our first year together at Mercy West. I can't believe that just because we ran off together she thinks we are bad people."

"I'm sure she's doing this with your best interest in mind"

Jackson shook his head snorting "yeah, whatever". I've got stuff to do" He stormed off leaving behind the older doctor and April. "I'm sorry dr. Webber, Jackson is very upset about this"

"I know, and I feel responsible"

"you really shouldn't though. I get where Catherine is coming from. I mean, I'm a farmer's daughter and I married the only Avery heir. Catherine just wants to protect Jackson and the foundation. I get it. I would probably do the same thing…maybe using different words…" she smiled softly "I'll try to talk to Jackson and to calm him down. Please try to do the same with Catherine." She walked away and Webber smiled: former dr. Kepner had changed so much since he first saw her, she went from being an insecure young lady to being a confident , polite woman. Jackson was in good hands.

April found Jackson in his office, it was their day off but he was sitting at his desk signing papers, even though it looked more like stabbing papers. "Hey Jackson. May I come in?"

"yeah, sure."

April sat in front of him, with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry about what happened. My mom was totally out of line. She disrespected you. And that won't happen ever again."

"Jackson I know you're mad at your mom and she was a bit rough, but she meant well. She is saying all that stuff because she cares about you so much. And the Avery foundation is her life. She's just protecting what she loves and I get that. But the point is… I don't care!" She took his hands " I love you, Jackson. I love you more than I ever loved anything or anyone in my life. I never once cared about your money, not when we were residents, not when we became friends. It never mattered to me. That's why I will sign that contract and I won't feel insulted. Money means nothing to me."

Jackson shook his head "you're too perfect to be real"

"well I do my best" they hugged each other tightly "I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend"

The three Averys and Webber met at the cafeteria an hour later. They sat down at a small table, hot coffees in hand and serious looks on their faces. Catherine was the first to speak. "I have to apologize for my manners April. I know you're a good girl, I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone. it's just that i've been protecting the Avery foundation all my life and i need to know i can trust the people who are part of it. and moreover I just wish that you two lovebirds told me earlier that you were crazy in love with each other. So in love to stand up at a wedding and run off into the sunset to get married a few hours later." she glanced at her son. " I just wanted to be part of that"

"I know mom and I'm really sorry about that. But it's not like we planned it or something. It was just…" he looked at April, his green eyes full of love "when I saw her standing there, looking so beautiful, I realized I couldn't let her marry someone else. She is my person, my best friend, my soul mate" April squeezed his hand but Catherine was still baffled.

"but, I mean, how did you know it? You never dated, you never had sex…"

It was April's turn to explain the situation " we actually did both…it all started at the boards…it was my first time…our first time together. It later became very complicated, we broke up and tried to go on with our lives…Matthew…Stephanie…"

"never liked her anyway" Catherine whispered "but you two kids were able to keep this a secret from me! The queen of all the meddler"

"the point is, Catherine" April cleared her throat "I will sign the postnups. I honestly don't care about the money. I love Jackson and he loves me. This is all the richness I need in my life." She grabbed a pen and she signed the papers. Jackson caressed her back. Catherine smiled and looked at Richard proudly. "Welcome to the family April!" the two women hugged tightly "of course I always liked you and I'm sure my beautiful son was a real gentleman on your first night together" April blushed, slightly nodding "but I'm still not over the fact that I didn't get to be with you on your wedding day. This is why I will organize a small reception for our friends and families. Everyone has to witness what true love is."

Jackson and April shared a nervous look: their little happy bubble was long gone, it was time to face the real world.