A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay, it took me a few tries to get this chapter going in the direction I wanted it to. But thanks again for all of the reviews! Without further ado, here's the Avery family!

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Clara."

April smiled distractedly at the new daycare worker, catching her daughter's eye across the playroom. The little girl grinned excitedly, hopping up from the table she had been coloring at and running to go get her bag. She had just hit a growth spurt, and watching her run was like watching a baby giraffe learning to control is gangly limbs. The sight was so adorable that April almost didn't hear the question the new worker asked.

"Are you her nanny?"

Her eyes snapped to the young woman in front of her, smile disappearing as she tried to convince herself that she really hadn't heard what she had said.

"Excuse me?"

The woman gestured to the sign out sheet on the clipboard in her hand,

"I'm only authorized to sign Clara out to her parents."

For a moment April could only stare in complete disbelief, noting that the woman must have only been in her early twenties, probably a college student brought on to help with the busy summer months. Still, it hardly excused the way she stared condescendingly, waiting for an answer.

"That's correct," April said finally, fighting to keep her voice even, "I'm her mother."

The woman, still a girl really, shrugged as she checked Clara off on her list.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realize she was adopted."

It felt like a blow to the stomach, and April moved a hand instinctively to her baby bump as her jaw dropped in outrage.

"Excuse me?"

The girl only raised her eyebrows in response, and April prepared herself to give her a piece of her mind when there was a sudden tug on her arm. She looked down in surprise, forgetting the girl entirely as Clara stared up at her with worried green eyes.

How long had she been standing there?

"Mama?"

"Let's go sweetie," April cut in quickly, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her out of the daycare. The little girl trotted alongside her mother anxiously.

"Mama," she whined, hanging off of April's arm as they headed towards the hospital lobby.

"What's up sugarplum?"

"Am I adopted?"

April stopped dead in her tracks, swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat before turning to Clara. The little girl clung to April's hands with both of her own, staring up at her mother with eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"No sweetie," April said with a small smile, tucking a loose curl behind her daughter's ear, "You're not adopted. The lady in the daycare was just confused."

Clara still frowned, "But why did she think that?"

"I'm not sure," April lied, "But she was wrong. Now let's go find Daddy, okay?"

"Okay."

Clara looked down at her feet, still upset, but April continued to lead her down the hallway. She didn't know how to explain to her daughter that the reason the daycare worker assumed she was adopted was because she thought that April was too white to have a dark skinned child. Or that Clara was too dark to have a white mother. Either way, it was a conversation that was going to have to wait until they got home and she had a chance to let Jackson know what had happened. Luckily their schedules had actually lined up for once, and as April and Clara entered the lobby Clara spotted her father across the room and ran excitedly into his waiting arms.

"Daddy!"

She squealed as Jackson lifted her high into the air and brought her back down against his chest, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey there Cece," He said with a grin as April caught up to them, "Did you have a good day?"

Clara nodded, wrapping her arms around her father's neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Jackson's smile dropped as he looked to April for some kind of explanation. Usually Clara was a ball of energy, talking nonstop about her day and insisting on racing her parents to the car. But now she was clinging to him for dear life, actually letting him carry her out of the hospital and to their car. April's only explanation was a murmured "I'll tell you when we get home" after he had buckled Clara into her car seat.

The ride home was quiet with April and Clara lost in their own thoughts. It was unnerving for Jackson to see them that way when he was so used to noisy car rides where Clara chattered on and on about her adventures at daycare and April sang along with the radio and he reached back at red lights to tickle Clara, sending them all into fits of laughter as she filled the car with her happy squeaks.

By the time they got back to their house he felt like he was going to explode from the tension. It took all that he had to wait for Clara to run to put her things away in her room before he started questioning April.

"Did something happen at daycare?"

April sighed, taking a seat at the kitchen island and resting both hands on her stomach as she bit back the feeling of embarrassment that came with thinking about what had happened.

"The new girl thought that I was Clara's nanny," she said finally, refusing to make eye contact with Jackson, "And when I said that I was her mother she said 'Sorry, I didn't know she was adopted'".

Jackson found himself momentarily speechless, rage pooling in his stomach. He would go down to the daycare himself in the morning and make sure the stupid girl who had been so rude wouldn't have the opportunity to make the same mistake with another family. Then he noticed tears pooling in April's eyes and pushed away his anger, walking over to where she sat and pulling her into his arms.

"People are idiots," he mumbled against her hair as April rest her head against his chest, agreeing with a quiet hum.

"Clara overheard the second part," April said with a sigh, "I told her she's not adopted, but she still seemed pretty upset about it. I just didn't know what to tell her."

"I don't know."

Just then Clara poked her head into the kitchen hesitantly, taking a few steps in when both of her parents responded with warm smiles.

"Can I have a snack?"

"Sure sugarplum," Jackson responded, picking her up and lifting her onto the seat next to April at the island, "Do you want an apple?"

"Yes please."

"You got it."

As Jackson busied himself washing and cutting up the apple, Clara turned to April with a very serious look on her face.

"Mama," she said, "I think I know why that lady thought I was adopted."

Jackson looked up from cutting the apple and caught April's eye. The two exchanged a nervous look before April turned her attention back to Clara.

"Why's that?"

"'Cause of we're different colors."

April raised her eyebrows in surprise at how perceptive Clara was for a five year old. When she didn't respond immediately, Clara continued talking.

"When we drew family pictures Bailey drew Zola and Imani different colors because they're adopted," she explained, "So maybe the lady thought I was adopted because I'm a different color from you."

"I think you're right sweetheart," April said finally with a nod.

"That's probably going to happen a lot as you're growing up," Jackson added, placing the plate with the apple in front of Clara and leaning on the counter, "Sometimes people get confused when they see a kid who doesn't have the same skin color as one of their parents, and they jump to conclusions."

The little girl frowned, biting into an apple slice.

"But why do I look like you and not Mama?"

"That is a really good question. When two people with different skin colors make a baby, the baby usually comes out a mix of their skin colors. So your skin is a little bit lighter than mine..."

Jackson placed his hand on the counter, and Clara placed hers next to it for comparison.

"And a little bit darker than mine," April chimed in, placing her hand on the other side of Clara's. As the little girl examined their hands all lined up April and Jackson exchanged a smile across the countertop. Finally, Clara pulled her hand back.

"I get it," she announced solemnly, turning to face April again, "but I want to be like you Mama!"

April laughed, "You are like me silly girl. Just because we don't have the same skin color doesn't mean we're not alike."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," April bopped Clara on the nose, eliciting a giggle, "You have the same nose that I had when I was younger."

"You both have the same smile," Jackson added, feeling his heart swell when he was met with two grins and matching dimples.

"We both have curly hair?" Clara suggested, blowing a loose curl out of her face as April chuckled and nodded.

"And we both like apples," she said, stealing an apple slice from Clara and popping it in her mouth.

"Hey!" Clara giggled, swatting her mother's arm and biting into her own slice. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then started up talking again.

"Do you think the baby likes apples too?" She asked, gesturing towards April's stomach.

"I sure hope so," April replied with a laugh, causing Jackson to smirk as well as he snuck an apple slice of his own.

"Will the baby look like me?"

"He might," Jackson answered, "some of his features will look the same, and some will look different."

"Because he's a boy?"

"Partially, and partially because siblings don't always look exactly alike."

"Janey and Adam don't look exactly alike, and they're twins," April added. Clara nodded in agreement- her cousins couldn't be more different if they tried. This information seemed to satisfy her, but just as April and Jackson thought the stream of questions was over, she came up with just one more.

"How'd the baby get in your tummy Mama?"

April began choking on her apple as Jackson's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open to answer, but nothing came out. When she regained control of her windpipe April laughed nervously,

"Well sweetie, you know, it's all very complicated..."

"Yeah, very complicated," Jackson agreed, nodding his head up and down like a bobblehead. Clara looked between her parents, bewildered by their bizarre responses.

"You guys are weird," she announced finally, hopping down from her seat, "I'll go call Nana Catherine and ask her."

As she ran from the room April couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Should we stop her?" Jackson asked, fighting back a grin. April shrugged,

"I think we've met our difficult question quota of the day, she can handle this one."

"And that's why I love you"

Jackson leaned over the counter, cupping April's cheek and pulling her in for a kiss. His lips smiled against hers as the sound of Clara's voice carried in from the other room.

"Nana Catherine? It's Clara. I have a really important question to ask you..."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome as I'm working on the final chapter! Keep an eye out for it later this week, featuring the future family of Jo and Alex :)