What Are You Doing New Years Eve? – Idina Menzel

Year 35

A/N: I'm incredibly proud of this update today. I put a lot of effort in to it and I would really, really like to hear your feedback. Thanks for reading!

"I'm just going to lay down for a few minutes Jackson." April whispered, holding her stomach tightly. The chemotherapy was starting to affect her less than a half hour after making it home from Grey Sloan Cancer Treatment Center. Her body turned on her when three months ago she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.

"Do you need anything? Are you hungry?" Jackson asked her quickly, trying to do anything he could to help alleviate some of her pain and discomfort.

She shook him off because she felt anything but hungry. She was almost violently ill feeling and needed to lay down.

He waited for her to walk into their bedroom, which was now easier to do because they moved to one of the downstairs bedrooms. She was just sitting on the edge of the bed, head in the trash bin while she waited to toss up the contents of her stomach.

Eventually she was able to empty her stomach and take a few sips of the water Jackson brought her. He sat next to her on the bed, rubbing her back. Her hair was still red, but a darker shade. She was still convinced she was too young to be gray so she insisted on covering it up. He tucked what was stray behind her ear.

When she stood up, he handed her pajamas to her and helped her strip out of her hospital outfit and pull on her favorite set of matching pink floral pajamas.

"I'll just be in the living room if you need me." He forced a smile and told her kindly, then he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Me and you."

"I'm going to beat this you know." She surprised him, pulling his hands into hers while he pulled the blankets up around her. The way she promised him was surprising. She had complete faith that the cancer was only temporary. "I'm a soldier."

April hung up her phone carefully and set it on the kitchen counter. Jackson was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, eating breakfast and doing a crossword puzzle. It was his pre-church Sunday morning routine. "The cancer's gone!"

The newspaper he was doing the crossword from fell to the table, landing on top of the plate of waffles his wife made for him. Syrup soaked through the paper, effectively ruining his last thirty minutes of work.

"What?" He asked her again, he wasn't sure if he heard her right. His hearing was getting a little bad and she spent most of her time yelling into his 'good ear'.

"The cancer's gone!" She said again, a little slower and a little louder this time.

He stood up and pulled her into a tight hug, planting a soft kiss on her lips. When they pulled away, she saw the tears in his eyes. "What's wrong? We're supposed to be happy. I told you I could beat it." She told him, rubbing the palm of her hand against the side of his face.

She figured he must have been a wreck the past three months. Everything was about her and she couldn't remember the last time she had asked him how he was doing with all of this. If the situation was reversed she would have been an absolute disaster.

Jackson nodded his head, agreeing with her but still speechless. A smile was spreading over his face and he was grinning. Bliss looked good on him.

"You did." He agreed with her. He learned a long time ago that there was no reason to doubt his wife because she was always right.

"We have to call the kids." They decided, both picking up their cell phones.

A month later all three kids and their families were home for Christmas but April and Jackson didn't know there was another reason. Arizona and Amelia called them all and told them about a surprise party they were throwing for April for beating breast cancer and they were thrilled about the idea. They knew their mom liked a good surprise now and then and she deserved this one.

Arizona had an elaborate plan that got April and Jackson to Joe's bar, their old hang out across from the hospital. She was shocked to see all of her closest friends. Some that she still worked with, mostly while teaching at the hospital and some that she hadn't seen for years. Meredith was there with Derek, though Zola and Bailey were married and both living internationally coincidentally. Jo and Alex were there with their kids, all of which the two families remained quite close with over the year. Owen and Amy were there, two of their best friends. Maggie and her husband Tim and even Ben and Bailey. The list went on and on.

Everything was going well, food was served and they even had a cake. The kicker was in the surprise at the end. Erin walked up to the stage to grab the mic.

"Hi everyone!" She greets them, waiting for the crowd to notice her presence and quiet down. "I'm Erin Avery-Olsen and I want to thank you for coming tonight."

She looked out into the faces of the people in the crowd and her heart was warmed. "As you all know, we're here tonight because my mother, Dr. April Avery beat the dirty, rotten breast cancer that tried to take her down!" She ended up yelling into the mic, roweling up the crowd and leading them to hoots and hollers.

"And first of all I'd like to thank her best friends and my favorite aunts, Dr. Arizona Robbins, Dr. Amy Hunt and Dr. Maggie Pilsen."

"Second, I'd like to thank everyone else as well who helped make this. We love you all very much."

With that, she turned on the projector that they helped her set up beforehand. Life Ain't Always Beautiful by Gary Allan started playing quietly in the background and her Uncle Luke came onto the screen first. The project was a documentary style montage of everyone who had ever been important to April.

"April is the best sister I could ever ask for. Even though I didn't know her until we were both adults, I feel like I've been a part of her family forever. I always knew she was a strong woman, but her strength the past three months has been remarkable. I'm grateful to have you in my life, sister."

Cristina Yang came onto the screen next. She was still in Switzerland and the two actually kept in fairly-close contact. Cristina and Meredith were still each other's person, thirty plus years later and April saw her frequently either via FaceTime or when she visited the states. They had all matured a lot since their time together at Grey Sloan as residents.

"April Kepner. My friend Mary," She grinned, causing April's cheeks to get bright red even to this day and Jackson to look down at his wife and laugh.

"Where do I start? We did our residency together at Seattle Grace way back in the early 2000's where I was practically running the program. I was chasing away attendings like no one's business, they had nothing left to teach me." She gloated, still the same Cristina Yang as always.

"But when Kepner beat me out for Chief Resident, I knew she was going to go far and maybe even be able to teach me a thing or two…And I was right. And when her and pretty boy got married, I knew she was going to be unstoppable." Cristina teased at the end but April's heart fluttered at her message.

There were a few messages that came next from her sisters Alice and Kimmie, Libby passed away a few years ago after having some complications during heart surgery.

Alex Karev came on the screen next and she looked over to see him standing with his wife Jo of over 30 years looking as happy as could be. "April Kepner was an acquired taste to me, you know, like coffee or…Peds." He joked with everyone, almost everyone getting his joke and laughing. Especially Arizona.

"But once I understood her, she's hard not to like. She's the best trauma surgeon I've ever known, maybe a little on the crazy side." He faked like he was looking around the room for Hunt, their old chief, and got more giggles. Alex Karev was a charmer in his old age.

"When I think about April Kepner, I think about the day her, Avery and I were doing trauma certifications. And as you can tell, Avery and I didn't do very well. It was pouring rain and April Kepner had finally lost it. We stole an ambulance, drove it 10 feet down the parking lot of Seattle Grace and saved a bunch of dummy lives, although according to Chief Hunt, that's debatable. That day, I knew she was someone I was going to have to keep up with for the rest of my tenure in Seattle."

April was sniffling and trying to hold herself together. No one had ever said such nice things about her, no one other than Jackson at least. Alex walked over to her and gave her the biggest bear hug he could muster. If Jackson didn't see it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it.

The videos went on and on. Each of her kids had something sweet to say mostly all about how they knew she would beat the cancer and they weren't even surprised a little bit.

Jackson was the last to come on the screen.

"April Avery, my sweet wife. The best doctor I know, the best teacher I've ever seen. You're an amazing mother to our children and grandmother to our grandbabies. When I thought that I might lose you, I couldn't fathom the thought of living every day of the rest of my life without you. You're my other half, you keep me sane and you give me a reason to wake up in the morning. I can only pray that God takes me right before he takes you, just so I never have to be without you, not even for a day."

After that message from her husband, she took a couple of moments to collect herself. There wasn't much to say to that, but April still got up to speak. She thanked everyone for coming out and for helping her the past couple of months. Then she thanked them for their kind words. What she said next was off the top of her head, which proves that she was someone special. "There's an old quote, by…Haruki Murakami that I've kept with me through most of my life. It applies to so many things and I'd like to share it with you all today. "Once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."