A little drabble for the Season 21 premiere.

He really didnotwant to be back at Grey Sloan.

Jackson knew that his mother could be both a handful and a force to be reckoned with, but he hadn't expected her to fire half the staff without so much as a phone call to him. He'd had to find out from his former co-workers that the hospital was once again in shambles, and that it was his job as the head of the Fox foundation to deal with it (and as one of the few people that his mother occasionally listened to). Taking the time out of his schedule to actually have to be in Seattle meant time away from his family, as neither of them wanted to pull Harriet out of school for a few days to deal with work-related business.

Yeah, he was definitelynothappy.

"Hi! Hattie just wanted to say goodnight." The sound and view of April and Harriet beaming on his phone screen was definitely worth taking a quick break from the conversation he'd been having with his mother. (Who naturally, hadn't been happy at the fact that she'd been 'robbed' of a visit from her only granddaughter, on top of everything else that she clearly wasn't happy about)

"Daddyyy! Night-night! Come back soon!" The six-year-old beamed, as April moved the camera a little to show her sweet little face more.

"Night-night, bug. Love you. I'll be back as soon as, I promise," He assured, because he didn't keep promises that he couldn't keep, and he was missing them just as much (if not more) than they were missing him.

April smiled as Harriet plodded off to her bedroom to get into bed, ready for her bedtime story to be read to her, "Okay, call me later tonight when we have more time. Good luck!"

She blew him a kiss before hanging up the phone, and he sighed to himself, wishing that they could've spoken for a little longer. Ultimately, he understood that April was busy putting their little girl to bed though, and he needed to focus on trying to clear up everything as quickly as possible before he could leave. He just hoped that this wasn't going to take all week.

When he finally made his way to his hotel room, Jackson breathed a sigh of relief. He still hadn't sorted everything out yet - after all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and his momwasinherently stubborn (as was Meredith, and himself...so of course, there had been some butting of heads, and of course, he was already over it all), but at least some progress had been made. Still, all he wanted was to change out of his work clothes, make himself comfortable and finally call April. He spent much of the first half of the call going over his day, and asking how Harriet had been at school, but April could sense that something was up, based on the conversation they'd had before he'd left.

"Hey, you're allowed to be worried about her healthandbe annoyed at everything thats going on at the hospital. You know that, right?"

It was almost like she could read his mind at this point. She really did know him better than anyone else. "Yeah I know...I just...worry that she's not telling me everything. What if sheisgetting worse and thats what's causing this? I don't want her to think she can't tell me if that's the case."

Her voice softened, "Then we'll get through it together."

When April raised her free hand to brush a piece of hair behind her ear, he couldn't help but feel his heart swell at the glint of the ring on her finger. He wassoin love with her, and so grateful that they'd had the chance to get remarried. He'd never get tired of being able to call her his wife again.

Jackson lent out a content sigh, feeling at least a little more calm from her words. She always did know how to centre him, too. "I love you."

"I love you too. Try not to let your mom sue you, or me, whilst you're there," She joked, doing her best to try to lighten the mood.

He snorted at her response, remembering that awkward period of time all too well. It was nice that they could make fun of it now, "Hey, I can't make any promises there. Who knows what her next move will be. She's still pissed at me for not bringing Harriet."

"Well, tell her that Hattie can FaceTime her after school tomorrow. That might butter her up."

"Fingers crossed it does."

"I'll try to put in a good word with my buddy Jesus to get her to listen, so that you can come back ASAP."

Jackson chuckled again, and they found themselves just enjoying one another's company (or as much company as a screen could provide - it definitely wasn't as good as the real thing), until April relocated to her bedroom and made herself comfortable in bed. He could tell that she was getting tired, but she was reluctant to give in - not wanting to be the first to hang up and say goodbye. They'd gotten far too accustomed to being able to sleep in the same bed together again all the time, and she hated not having him there.

"Hey, go to sleep."

"Mhm, I'm okay. Not that tired." She mumbled, her phone stood up on its side on the bedside table and angled towards the bed so he could see her. Her head was resting on the pillow and her eyelashes fluttered from how heavy her eyes felt.

"Yeah, you are. You're practically falling asleep right now."

"Nu uh. Don't want to."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes - she was just as stubborn as Harriet sometimes, but it was adorable.

Placing his phone on the bedside table to mimic hers, he plugged it in and then stripped out of his clothes and down to his boxers, getting comfortable under the covers. "There, now we can fall asleep together."

"Thats nice. I miss stealing all your body heat."

"Oh, sothatsall you want me for?"

"Yeah, thats all," She replied softly, trying hard to be serious.

"You're such a liar. What would Jesus think?"

"A liar? Me? Don't think so."

There's silence for a moment, and he can tell that she's almost fully drifted off to sleep.

"April?" He said quietly, and he can see that her eyes are still closed on the screen when she responds.

"Mhm?"

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Being you."

A sleepy smile forms on her lips, and they both allow themselves to succumb to sleep - not even bothering to hang up the call.