Japriet. Christmas.

Jackson walked in to his bedroom with Harriet & smiled to himself, noticing April still asleep.

"Go wake up Mommy.", he whispered to Harriet & she giggled & ran towards the bed.

"Mommy!", she jumped on the bed, squealing. "Mommy, WAKE UP! It's Christmas morning!"

April stirred awake, opening her eyes slowly, seeing Harriet jump excitedly on the bed.

"Baby.. Be careful.", she said, her voice groggy from sleep, as she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and getting rid of the sleepiness.

A smile spread on her face when she observed the people in the room. Harriet & Jackson were wearing matching maroon and green sweaters & while Harriet was on the bed, he was leaning near the bedroom door, smiling slightly.

"What is this?", April couldn't keep the smile from her face, they both looked absolutely adorable.

"Daddy got us matching sweaters!"

"He did? Did he?", she looked back at him.

Jackson shrugged softly, "Thought it was about time we started our own cheesy family traditions, don't you think?"

"Well you both look really cute, if I may say so myself. But why didn't tell me about it? I would've woken up earlier!"

"You spent all last night running all over the place for the dinner so I thought if you're taking care of Christmas Eve, I can do Christmas morning!", Jackson smiled, walking towards the bed.

"Mommy, go get ready. Daddy got you a sweater too!", Harriet pointed at the paper bag kept on the bed.

"Yeah mommy! Get changed, we'll wait downstairs by the tree.", Jackson held out his hand for Harriet & she skipped towards him, as they left the room.

April came downstairs to the living room after freshening up & changing into her sweater. She saw Jackson & Harriet sitting on a rug by the fully decorated tree & with a small table in front of them with 3 mugs on it.

"I'm here! Merry Christmas, guys!"

"Merry Christmas, Mommy!", Harriet ran towards her & pulled her by her hand to the rug. April snuggled up on Jackson's side as he wrapped his arm around her, kissing her head softly.

"Merry Christmas, babe."

She kissed his cheek in return as he handed her a mug of hot chocolate.

They all sat sipping on their drinks quietly for a few minutes, before April spoke.

"Should we wake them up?"

"They'll be up soon enough. I want some time just for the 3 of us, if that's ok?", Jackson replied, solemnly. He'd wanted this for so long. Christmas morning with his family. He'd had them in the past with Harriet but deep down, he always knew something, someone was missing. Now, that hole was filled & he wanted to really sit with that for a bit.

"Of course!", April said, taking another sip of the drink, "This is delicious, by the way."

"I learned from the best.", he smirked in response.

She stared deeply into his eyes, a small smile gracing her face & looked so beautiful, it took Jackson's breath away. He still couldn't believe they were here & had somehow found their way back to each other. He pulled her in closer & bent slightly to kiss her deeply as April stroked his face with her free hand.

"Ewww stop kissing.", Harriet whined in the background, pulling them out of their moment. April pulled back, laughing softly at the pout on Jackson's face.

"Okay, okay! What do you want to do today, baby?", April asked her, pulling her on her lap.

"Mmm.. I'm gonna make breakfast. Daddy said that I make the bestest cereal in the whole complete world. Right, Daddy?"

"Yup! You should win a prize for it. Ask Mommy if you can enter the contest.", he replied, sipping his cocoa.

"Can I?", Harriet got up & turned to face them in a frenzy, "I want to win a prize for making it. Can I enter the contest, Mommy? PLEAASSEEEE?"

"Great suggestion, Jackson.", April looked at him, unimpressed, as he chuckled hiding his face behind the mug, "Sure, baby. You can enter when we can find out about it."

Harriet smiled widely & April's heart soared.

"Come here.", she put her mug down & gestured Harriet towards her, kissing her cheek softly & hugging her. "Mwah! Who's mommy's big girl?"

Harriet pulled back & frowned, "But I'm Daddy's big girl."

"Hey!"

"Ha HAH!", Jackson cackled in the background, "That's my girl!", he raised his hand to give Harriet a little high five, which she returned, giggling loudly.

"I'm hurt", April faux sniffed, pretending to be wounded.

"No, Mommy. I'm your nugget! You say so yourself. So, your nugget. Daddy's big girl. That was the decision we made.", she replied & went towards the tree to play with the toys she'd gotten as gifts.

"So you & Harriet make decisions without me, huh? You two are ganging up against me!", April lightly punched Jackson's shoulder.

"Hey we decided this months ago!", he laughed, "But, if you're really feeling left out..", he trailed off, his face morphing into a smug smirk.

"What?", April narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher where his mind was at.

"I mean.. If you're feeling outnumbered…", his voice lowered, "We can always work on adding more members to the team."

April flushed slightly at the tone of his voice but tried to maintain eye contact, "Oh yeah? And what would that entail?", she flirted back while trying & failing to keep the blush off her face.

"Not sure you'd want me to get into details while our daughter is so close by.", he whispered, "I doubt you want her to see you pounce on me."

She punched his shoulder again, laughing lightly, "Yeah right. I have more self control than that. Might I remind you I was a 29 year old virgin."

"Hmm & might I remind you who was the person you gave that up for because you just couldn't resist him?", Jackson replied, pleasantly.

April shook her head slightly, blushing again, "I hate you."

"You love me.", he gave her a quick peck on her lips & then on the side of her head when they were interrupted.

"Good morning, babies!"

They all turned their heads towards the entrance of the living room to see Catherine & Richard walk in.

"Gramma grampa!", Harriet ran towards them, "Look at my sweater. Daddy got it!"

"Aww you look gorgeous baby! Merry Christmas, my love."

"Merry Christmas gramma! Merry Christmas grampa!", she reached up & kissed both on their cheek.

"I see you're all up early.", Richard chuckled.

"Yeah just trying out some new traditions.", Jackson replied as he & April made their way towards them, giving both Richard & Catherine a hug & exchanged wishes.

"Well Richard, Catherine… Harriet has a whole Christmas Day planned with you both.", April said before turning to Harriet, "Right, Hattie?", making her nod excitedly before continuing. "Starting with her future award winning cereal.", resulting in a laugh from their guests.

"We have plenty of other breakfast options too, if you're worried.", Jackson whispered to Richard, as they chuckled & made their way to the dining area to start celebrating the holiday with their entire family.

"Catherine, we had a plan.", Richard said, solemnly.

It was the day after Christmas. Richard & Catherine were due to fly back to Seattle & were packing up.

"Richard, drop it.", Catherine replied, sternly, while continuing to pack.

He sighed deeply, shaking his head & getting up from his chair & making his way towards her. "Catherine. Look at me.", he rubbed her arms softly, hoping she'd stop her movements & talk to him. "Sweetheart…"

Catherine inhaled & huffed, dropping the clothes in her hand & turned to look at him.

"I know this is hard.", he started, "And I know that the holidays aren't a great time to bring this up. I get it. But we're losing time. You need to tell him. Tell them. They deserve to know."

"I know, Richard. I'm aware. I just…"

"There's always going to be something. It's Christmas, then new years, birthdays, a wedding seems imminent too. There will always be an occasion.. "

"It's not that.", Catherine interrupted, "I was gonna tell him. I was. But then I saw it.."

Richard looked at her in confusion & she shut her eyes, sighing deeply.

"You should've seen Jackson yesterday morning, Richard. When he was sitting by the tree with April & Harriet? I…", she held back her tears, hating the situation & everything about it, "I've never seen him like that. His face was.. pure joy. The closest he ever came to that before was.."

"Before Samuel's..", Richard completed for her.

"Yeah. He's so happy. He's content. He's in love. He has her, fucking finally. He's proud of the work & his purpose. He's exactly where I always wanted him to be. Exactly where he wants to be and I just want him to have that.. Just that happiness. For some more time."

"Hiding this from him isn't.."

"I know. My prognosis isn't changing. And he'll be mad once he finds out. I know. But I can't do this now.", she shut down again, turning to resume packing.

"Catherine…"

"I'll tell him. Soon. But not yet."

Hey again. I know I've been MIA with this but I'm hoping to get back into it with a few more chapters! So here's a little delayed Japriet Christmas for ya! And some potential for future drama with the Catherine angle..

PS: Thanks for the continued love for Me & You (& Boston). I love that you all are still coming back to it more than a year later! I did get word about folks recommending it on twitter & let me tell you that means the world to me (maybe I should make an account there hehe)

Thanks again & Happy New Year!