Silent Night – Sara Ramirez

Year 61

The Avery's got together for their near annual Christmas picture. Jackson and April sat together on a small bench in front of a snowy backdrop while they patiently waited for the rest of their family to get into place. The family was a lot larger than it was over sixty years ago when it was just Jackson and April waiting on their first little bundle of joy.

Graycin and his wife Emily were the first to arrive at his parents' house to get ready for pictures. They didn't live far, just down the street actually. They were still in the large family home that they bought from his parents nearly thirty years ago and they were even thinking about selling it themselves at this point to move into something smaller. Their girls Isabelle and Gracie were full grown now. Isabelle was an OBGYN and she was living in LA with her husband who was also an OBGYN, whom she met in med school. They had the crazy two year old twins, Ethan and Emma and were expecting another baby boy in two months.

Erin and Scott were divorced, there was rumored to be a vacuum involved in that decision but no one knew the full story. She wasn't alone though, Erin was actually married to Alex Karev's son Tommy, who went by Tom. They had somehow reconnected at a medical conference in Germany about five years ago. Tom had two grown kids from his previous marriage that Erin had already grown to love.

Colin and Rachel were still happily married. They had a twenty something year old son Mason, two more teenage boys and a five year old surprise.

Slowly the crew was starting to accumulate. There were so many of them that the photographer was struggling to get them all in the frame. "Can you squeeze together a little tighter?" He asked a couple different Avery's on both sides of Jackson and April. Most of the kids were standing and the great grandkids were all on their butts.

"Do you want me to just sit down with the kids?" Erin joked after the photographer had moved her several times, motioning to her nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews sitting on the ground. The photographer surprised her by agreeing so Erin and Tom plopped down on the ground to bookend the kids.

"Jackson and April, how are you two doing?" The photographer asked, making sure the two founders of the family were happy. They were.

"Oh we're fine. Don't you worry about us two." April assured him, motioning for him to continue about his business while Jackson adjusted his bowtie.

April took over. "Here, let me fix it." She slowly leaned over to her husband and pulled at both corners of the tie until it was evenly settled. It looked good. All of the men had opted for bowties that year instead of regular suit ties. Two years ago the family wore all green and red tops.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked, looking around at the family. They all stopped their small side conversations to get ready for business. The little ones weren't even crying this year.

"Okay, good. Now I'll take a bunch of family photos and afterward we'll take individual photos. In a week or so you'll be able to decide which ones you like best."

They seemed happy with that so he started snapping pictures. He made a few arrangements here and there to make sure they got a few that they would really like.

The family finished their day at Graycin and Emily's with dinner and conversation. Grace pulled her Grandma April aside to ask her a few things. "What's wrong dear?" April asked her sounding full of concern, it wasn't often she got the chance to only speak to Gracie.

She shook her head quickly to shake off concern. "Oh nothing Grandma. Actually, I was wondering if you would write down that recipe for me. Your mother's sugar cookie recipe? I'd love to give them a try and it's Christmas."

Grace knew the recipe was top secret. April shared almost all of her family recipes with her kids and grandkids but that recipe she was always hesitant to give out because her mother kept it so deeply under wraps. April studied her granddaughter, deciding if now was the time to share the recipe. She smiled. "Find me a pencil and paper and I'll write it down for you." She grinned, kissing her granddaughter on the cheek.

April walked over to the kitchen table and settled in while she waited for her to find something to write it down with. The rest of the family was wrapped up in talking to Erin about one of her awards.

"Here you go, Grandma."

April carefully wrote down the recipe. Her handwriting wasn't great, she was a physician after all. So she took the time to make it legible.

Cookies:

4½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter
1⅔ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1½ teaspoons vanilla

Frosting:

1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk

1.Line baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3.Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4.Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined.
5.Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
6.Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes.
7.Cool completely and decorate with frosting and sprinkles.
8.For frosting: Beat butter and vanilla using a mixer until creamy and smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar mixing until combined. Add milk and continue mix until combined. Tint icing and mix thoroughly. Decorate tops of cookies with frosting and sprinkles.

9.Bake with love, pass out with kindness.

At the end of the recipe, April wrote a little extra message:

Love, Grandma April. 12-25-2074

April and Jackson were the first ones to leave, it was after nine pm and they were ready for bed. Emily and Erin made sure they had all of their belongings and gifts and Graycin got ready to drive them home. Everyone got a hug goodbye and a kiss. Jackson promised the grandkids that he would finish telling them the story about their Grandma sneaking patients into a closed ER and nearly getting them all fired later since that was when she came back from talking to Grace.

"Jackson, we need to get up and get ready for church." April moaned quietly. Just sleeping had made her sore, but that was life at ninety one. Every day was a blessing to them at this point.

"Jackson… wake up." She told her husband again when she finally sat up herself. Once she noticed the thick cloud of silence in the room she turned to look over at her quiet husband. The kids were all meeting them for church while they were in town so they needed to get moving.

"Jackson?" April called for him again, her voice getting quieter.

Only fractions of a second went by before she called out for him again. "Jackson? Honey?"

Her eyes filled tears and she looked up at Heaven and back down to her husband. Her medical instincts kicked in and she tried to find his pulse. Her hands and nerves weren't exactly cooperating though. She shook him softly, calling his name over and over like she would be able to gain his attention. He didn't budge. She called it again like she would be able to bring him back.

"Jackson, wake up!" She cried, cradling her hand in his while she began to pray. Both his hand and hers were wet from the tears that fell down from her wrinkled cheeks.

Whether seconds went by in that moment or hours, she didn't know. But she knew she had to call an ambulance.

A/N: So sorry for not posting this yesterday! I should have put it on the cloud since I wasn't going to be home all day yesterday or today.

And I'm terribly sorry about Jackson. I didn't know how to even go about writing this, so I hope that I did him justice. He was 91 when he died in this story and I hope that it was relayed that he lived a long and beautifully happy life.

I'm also going to post Day 25 of the story tonight. I'll probably leave this story up for about an hour before I post the next one.

I ask that you please, please, please leave me so reviews/notes/comments/questions on the ending of this series and/or the series overall after you're finished reading. I've put so much work into these that it would mean a lot to get your opinion on how it turned out.

Again, thank you very much for sticking with me and my story.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a glorious New Year.

-Lindsay