"But I don't want to go" Lydia huffed, folding her arms, putting on her meanest "angry face" for her mother

Lydia had woken up, as always, for school that Monday morning and did her usual of going to her mother's room for help to get ready. But she was now upset, because she had found out that she had to spend the day with her grandparents and cousins, and not at school.

"But it's the last day you get to spend with your grandma, grandpa and cousins" April reasoned with the little girl

"I don't want to spend time with grandma" she said

"Why?" April asked

Lydia kept silent for a moment. She had noticed some things with her grandmother that she didn’t quite like. She wasn't sure though, if saying this was the good girl thing to do.

"Because she hates my daddy" she finally said

April frowned; she should have seen this coming.

"Why do you think that sweetie?" she asked

"She didn't say hi to him when he came over and-and I heard her say he was a bad daddy and that he ruined your life!" Lydia huffed again

It was weird how much she looked like Jackson when she was mad. She would furrow her brows and squint her eyes like he does when he's mad. Even the way their mouth curved looked the same. And when she yelled, she would widen her eyes just like he did.

"So, I don't want to go, I want to go to school instead” Lydia added after giving her reason.

How was April supposed to tell her daughter that Karen didn't hate Jackson, when it was quite obvious that her mother wasn't so fond of him?

"Ok, fine, I'll take you to school”

Lydia's face quickly softened and she left the room, going into hers, to wait for her mother. April followed behind, ready to assist in whatever her daughter needed.

About thirty minutes later, the two were heading out of the apartment, after calling out to April's parents in the guest bedroom, telling them they were leaving. They were out the door before her parents could exit the room and question why Lydia was off to school. Telling your parents that your daughter didn't want to spend the day with them was a hard thing to do. She was sure that she would get a call from them, later that day.

The ride to school consisted of Lydia asking April questions about why her grandmother was acting the way she was, and how confused she was about it. “If daddy didn’t do anything wrong, why does grandma hate him?” she thought.

______________

The Thanksgiving weekend didn’t go as planned for Jackson. He had expected to spend the weekend by himself, watching football, but that wasn’t the case.

Lydia was supposed to spend Saturday and Sunday at April's, so she could spend some time with her grandparents, aunts and cousins. But for some reason, Lydia didn't want to go back to the apartment and April didn't force her to. The same could be said for April. She was either at the hospital or at his apartment, and would only spend an hour or two, with Lydia, at her apartment, when her daughter needed something that Jackson didn't have at his.

He suspected that it had something to do with whatever happened at their thanksgiving dinner, and he was ready to confront April about it.

He walked out of the elevator and quickly spotted her standing at the nurse's station. She was attentively looking down at one of the tablets. He quickly made his way towards her.

"Hey" he greeted standing next to her

"Hey" she said looking up at him, giving a quick smile, before placing her eyes back down on the tablet.

Not sure on how to bring up his questions, Jackson decided to just talk about Lydia and slyly squeeze it in there.

"I bet Lydia's having fun right now huh?' he casually brought up as he picked up a tablet

"Huh?" April asked looking up at him

"Lydia, she's hanging out with her grandparents and cousins today right?" he asked, although he thought he already knew the answer

"Actually, she's at school"

"School?"

"Yeah, she didn't want to miss today. Her teacher always starts something new on Monday and you know her, she didn't want to miss it" April forced a smile

"Yeah" Jackson agreed

He halfway believed that story. It was true, Lydia always wanted to be at school on Mondays, to learn whatever "new thing" her teacher was about to teach. By Wednesday though, she deemed the "new thing" easy, and would be ready to learn something else. Jackson knew his daughter was always eager to learn, but that wasn't the whole reason why she didn't want to spend the day with her grandparents. The night before, the little girl had thrown a fit, because she wanted to stay with him and not go back to her mother's. It took Jackson promising her she would come back the next day, and playing princess tea party with her and Mr. Avery Bear, for her to go with her mother.

"What's going on?" Jackson decided to finally ask, after putting the tablet back on its stand

"What do you mean?"

"You and Lydia have been acting kind of weird. Did something happen at the dinner?"

April looked at him, and sighed when she noticed his "don't lie to me" look. She knew this was coming. She knew she had failed horribly at trying to act as if nothing had happened. And Lydia didn't help the situation by constantly wanting to stick to her father's side. She knew the questions were coming and she knew they had to talk about it.

"I can't..." she began

"April...." he said putting his hand on her arm

"I can't talk about it now; here" she clarified "We can talk about it once we get home"

"Are you sure? I'm free right now, we could go talk" he asked moving his hand down her arm, grabbing a hold of her hand

"I'm sure" she faintly smiled

Jackson’s pager suddenly sounded. He quickly pulled it from his elastic waist band, reading it.

"Gotta go. So we'll talk later?"

"Yeah" she answered, reassuringly squeezing his hand

He nodded with a slight smile, before releasing her hand and walking back to the elevator. April turned her attention back to the tablet, before hearing an all too familiar voice.

"What was that all about?"

April quickly turned around startled, and saw her younger sister Alice, accompanied by Kimmie and Libby.

"W-what are you guys doing here?" April asked

"We came to have lunch with you silly, remember?" Libby answered

"Oh Yeah" April said remembering their phone conversation from the night before

"Soooooo what was that about?" Alice asked again

"What was what about?" April asked

"You and Jackson" Libby said

"Him rubbing your arm and holding your hand" Kimmie pointed out

"Are you guys dating?" Libby asked eagerly

"Oh my god" April said under her breath, worrying about her and Jackson's little slip up

They were usually careful about how they acted at work.

Alice gasped, noticing her sister's uneasy stance "You are dating" she grinned

"That explains a lot" Libby said

"And I'm guessing you and Lydia were with him most of the weekend" Kimmie added

"When were you going to tell us?" Alice asked

"Uh....well" April began

"Wait, was this supposed to be a secret?" Kimmie asked

"Well...." April began again, but was cut off by her sisters once more

"Oh em gosh, it was" Alice gasped "We outted your secret" she added with a whisper

April groaned as she hastily moved her sisters away from the busy nurse's station, to the side of a vacant hallway.

"Yes we're dating and YES it was a secret! And thanks to you guys, the whole hospital may know now" she said, trying to keep her voice low

"Why was it a secret though?" Kimmie asked

"Yeah, I thought that's what you wanted?" the eldest Kepner sister asked

Right there, April's mind went back to a conversation her and her sisters had a few years ago.

Flashback

April sat on the couch, looking down at the tiny human laying in her arms.

"She is sooo cute" Alice gushed

"I know right" Kimmie grinned

"Not cuter than Caroline though" Libby smirked looking down at her daughter who was also in her arms

"Oh hush Libby" Alice said, playfully slapping her sister's arm

April smiled at her sister's antics as she continued to stare down at her daughter.

It was about 8 months after Lydia was born, and her sisters were visiting her for the first time, after the family event at their parent's home. Her parents were still upset about her affair with Jackson, but her sisters had somewhat come to terms with her decision.

Baby Lydia looked up at her mother, waving her tiny hands and cooing. At first, she thought her daughter might have her eyes, but recently, the blue hues were beginning to show.

"She has his eyes" April whispered to herself

"What?" Libby asked, hearing her sister mumble

"I said she has his eyes" she repeated

"Who's eyes?" Alice asked

"Jackson's" she answered

The three sisters looked at each other, then back at April. It was the first time she had ever brought up his name to them, since the farm house. As much as they wanted to know about the affair, they kept their mouths shut, since she never bought it up. But now they were tired of waiting, and the sisters wanted all the details.

"You know..." Libby began "....you never told us what really happened with you and Jackson"

"Yeah" Kimmie agreed

April looked at her sisters hesitantly, she much rather be talking to Natalie than her sisters. But they were here, and they weren't on her like her parents were.

"Look, we're not here to judge you or anything, we just want to know what was going on with you" Alice said

April sighed "I don't know where to start"

"How about you start with Why" Kimmie suggested

"Because I love him" April simply answered, she didn't have to think twice about it

"Love him?" Alice asked, emphasizing the present tense

"Yes" April answered

"Then why did you come back with Matthew?" Kimmie asked

"And why are you still here?" Libby added

"I came back with Matthew because it was the right thing to do" April answered "And I'm still here because.......I don't know. I can't just go back"

"Yes you can" Alice disagreed

"And say what?"

"Hey Jackson, I don't know if you remember me, but we had an affair, I got pregnant, and now you have a daughter, yay" Libby said, putting on her best April impression.

"Like it's that easy" April said glaring at her sister

"It could be, you'll never know if you don't try" Kimmie said

"And maybe you guys will have a shot of having that perfect little family" Alice added with a smile

"I don't think that could ever happen" April said

"It could" Libby said "Look, if you had a chance to be with him again, wouldn't you take it?"

"Yes, but....." April began

"No buts, just go for it" Alice smiled

"Look, we don't agree with you having an affair, what you did to Matthew was wrong, we know it and you know it. But you need love too, and it's time to move on" Kimmie smiled

It was nice hearing those things from her sisters. It was good to know that they weren't that angry with her affair. But this was harder than they thought. Just running back to Seattle like that would cause some problems. It wasn't just her now, it was Lydia. True, Lydia needed her dad, but April wasn't sure she was ready for what going back to Seattle entailed.

As her mind wondered on about Lydia, a question came up in her mind.

"When do I tell her?" April asked

"Tell who what?" Alice asked

"Lydia. One day, she's gonna want to know how she came about. When would be the right time to tell her about it?"

The sisters looked at each other. Honestly, none of them had the answer to that question. This was one of those things April had to figure out on her own.

End of Flashback

April's mind was back in the present.

"I just wasn't ready to tell anyone yet" April finally answered her sisters' question "Look, you guys can go down to the cafeteria and wait for me, I'll be there in a few minutes, after I check on some patients"

"Ok, but we're not done talking about this" Libby said with smirk

April gave them directions to the cafeteria, before going back to her tablet and then heading off to her patients.

_______________

"Mom said the kids are having fun" Libby said, as she sat back down at the table.

She had excused herself from the table to check up on the kids and their parents.

"That's good" Kimmie replied

"Why didn't Lydia go? She would be having fun with them too" Alice said to April

"She didn't want to" April answered

"Why?" Alice asked

April wondered if she should tell her sisters the whole story as to why Lydia didn't want to go.

"She heard" April simply stated

"Heard what?" Kimmie asked

"The argument with mom on thanksgiving" April answered

"Oh" all three sisters responded

"When I asked her why she didn't want to go, she said it's because grandma hates Jackson"

The sisters frowned hearing Lydia's reason. She may not have heard her grandmother say anything of that nature, but she could tell that her grandmother didn’t like her father very much.

There was an awkward silence between the sisters, before April decided to talk.

"She asked me if Jackson had done something wrong, and why did mom say he ruined my life while I was driving her school this morning"

"What did you tell her?" Kimmie asked

"What was I supposed to say? That we had an affair? Does she even know what an affair is? I just told her no he didn't" April said

"Are you going to talk to Jackson about it?" Libby asked

"Yeah, I'll talk to him tonight. He already knew something is up" April answered

Just then, Libby spotted Jackson walking into the cafeteria with a tray, with Alex following behind.

"Heeey Jackson!" she called out

April quickly turned and spotted Jackson. She quickly turned back to her sister.

"What are you doing?" April asked with a whisper

"Inviting him to sit with us. He is your boyfriend after all" she grinned

April bowed her head and groaned as her older sister called Jackson over.

"Hey guys" Jackson greeted once he approached the table

"Hello Jackson" the three sisters smiled at him

"Nice to meet you again" Libby added with a smile

He smiled and nodded at the sisters before taking a sit next to April.

"Hey" he said to her

"Hey" she said back, ignore the wiggling eyebrows Libby was shooting her way

"Just to give you a heads up, we already know" Kimmie informed Jackson

"Know?" Jackson asked confused

"That you guys are dating" Libby whispered with a grin

Jackson looked at April, who nodded in confirmation.

"Look, we're not all gung ho about how all this happened in the first place, but you seem like a good guy and an excellent father Jackson, so we'll give you a chance. Just don't hurt her, cause we know how to use rifles" Kimmie smiled

"Understood" Jackson said with a nervous smile

"Good" the three sisters answered

_____________

April opened the door to her apartment and allowed Lydia to walk through, before going in herself. Instead of going straight to Jackson's as Lydia wanted, they went to her apartment to get some things, and to say goodbye to her family, who were living in the morning.

"Hey Lydia" Joe greeted the five year old as she walked in

"Hi grandpa" she smiled

"Hey Lydia" Karen said walking out from the kitchen "You missed a lot of fun today"

"I know" Lydia shrugged

"Why didn't you want to come with us today?" Karen asked "We missed you"

"I had stuff to do at school" Lydia answered, not wanting to tell her grandmother that she didn't want to go because she hated her daddy.

"Oh, ok" Karen answered

Lydia then turned to April "I'm gonna go get my stuff" she said before running off into her bedroom

April headed off into the kitchen and her parents followed behind her. There was a few seconds of silence, as April rummaged through her refrigerator, then Joe spoke up.

"Is she spending the night at Jackson's again?" he asked the question that was on both his and his wife's mind

"Yes she is" April said closing the refrigerator door, preparing herself for a lecture

"Are you purposely trying to keep our grand daughter away from us?" he asked

"No, I'm not" April answered as she reached into her cabinet, and pulled out a packet of cookies for Lydia

"Are you sure? Because most of the weekend she been with her father" Jo pointed out

"April, I know you're upset with us, mostly me....." Karen said, getting an agreeing nod from April "...but that's not a reason to keep Lydia away from us"

"I'm not keeping her away from you"

"Then why is she spending the night there? Especially when it's our last night here" Joe asked

April sighed "Because she wants to" she answered

"Why?" Karen asked

April pressed her lips together, she wasn't sure if or how she should tell her parents about Lydia's reasoning.

"Why?" Joe asked with pleading eyes

April sighed once again and turned to her mother "She over heard our argument at thanksgiving dinner and she saw how acted around him. She believes that you hate Jackson and she doesn't get that, or like it either, so she rather stay away" she explained

The kitchen was silent as they took in their granddaughter’s reason. It was surprising how much the little girl had gathered by just what she saw and heard.

"Why would she think that? I don't hate Jackson" Karen finally said

"Are you sure about that? Because you act like you do, and even Lydia sees it.  What do you expect her to think when she introduces him and you flat out ignore him? What do you expect her to think when she hears you imply that he is incapable of being her father, right in front of her, when she thinks he’s the best?!” April said, trying her best not to yell

“Well I’m sorry if she feels that way, but I can’t help but act like that when you sleeping with him and letting him ruin your marriage, was the biggest mistake of your life!” Karen shot back

“You know what, I’m done with this!” April said slamming her palms on the kitchen counter “I’m done with this whole Jackson ruin my marriage and life thing. How many times do I have to say that we know what we did was wrong, and I’m sorry for it? I have made my peace with Matthew, myself and God about this, so I’m done talking about it! I just want to move on from it! And Jackson wasn't a mistake, marrying Matthew in the first place was!”

“April….” Karen began to scold

“No mom, listen! Matthew is a good guy, he was probably the perfect guy, but I didn't love him. That alone doomed our marriage from the start. Aren't you the ones that always told us that a loveless marriage never works? He may have been the right choice, on paper, but he wasn't my first. I was willing to drop everything with Matthew to be with Jackson. If Jackson would have told me to not marry Matthew, I wouldn't have done it. If he had stood up in my wedding and told me he loved me and wanted to be with me, I would have dropped that bouquet and ran away with him!” April let out, no longer being able to keep her voice low “The point is, if I didn't marry Matthew, none of this would have happened!”

Silence filled the room once again. Her parents knew she had a point in what she said, and saw how upset she was about the situation. Joe had sat there and watched as his daughter spoke, he noticed something in her that he hadn't before, a recognizable passion.

“You love Jackson don’t you?” he asked, breaking the silence

“Oh Please…” Karen began to object

“Yes!” April quickly answered “And we’re dating now!” she added, might as well say it now

“What?!” Karen gasped as her eyes widened

Before April could respond to her mother, Lydia called out to her.

“Mommy! I need help!” she could be heard from her bedroom down the hall

“Coming!” April yelled back, before taking in her mother’s shocked expression and leaving.

_________________________

Jackson walked out of Lydia's bedroom, and quietly closed the door, as to not wake her. After helping her with her home work, and watching some cartoons, she had finally fallen asleep in Jackson's arms.

He walked back to the couch were April sat. This conversation had been on his mind all day, and now that Lydia was asleep, they could safely bring it up.

"Ready to talk?" Jackson asked as he sat next to her

"Huh?" April asked, pulling her attention away from the TV

"About what happened at thanksgiving dinner?" he said

April got uneasy "Oh, yeah" she turned the TV off and turned to him "How exactly did you know something happened?"

"You guys had been here almost all weekend. And you're parents are leaving tomorrow and instead of you and Lydia being with them, you're here. Plus, her little tantrum last night kind of gave it away" he explained "But what first gave it away was after you dropped her off Friday night, she asked me if I did something wrong and why is her grandmother saying that I ruined your life"

April frowned. She didn't know Lydia had mentioned it to him.

"She told you?"

"Yeah"

April sighed.

“It all started when Lydia was talking about watching me do surgery…..” April began to explain.

She went on to tell Jackson the events of the dinner and about Lydia’s reason to not spend the day with her parents. Jackson was surprised his daughter had this loyalty towards him, even when she didn't know the story behind her grandmother’s behavior and distaste towards him.

“As much as I like the fact that my daughter has my side, we can’t allow her to keep wanting to stay away from her grandmother. That’s a relationship she needs in her life” Jackson said a few moments after April’s explanation

“In order to talk to her about this, we might have to bring up the affair. How do you even explain that to a five year old?” April voiced her concern

“We can’t” Jackson answered simply “She won’t understand. We’ll just have to figure out a way to talk to her about not wanting to be around her grandmother”

April thought back to the conversation she had with he sisters a while back.

“But one day she’ll want to know, how would we explain it to her?” she asked

Jackson had thought about this question before, but he still had no answer. His curious daughter was sure to ask about it one day, and he had no idea how he was going to explain it to her. He hoped that she would ask when she was a teenager, that way she may understand a little better. But then again, something like that could cause him to have rebellious teenage girl on his hands. “Well this is complicated” he thought to himself

Before he could respond to April’s question, her cell phone rang. She checked the screen and saw it was a call from her apartment. She groaned, she was not in the mood to talk to her mother.

“Hello?” she said after swiping the answer button

“April honey, it’s your father” she heard on the other end, and breathed a little sigh of relief. Thank goodness it wasn't her mother

“Is everything Ok?” she asked

“I just called to check on you, you were very upset when you left”

“I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly after getting Lydia’s things. I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with mom” she explained

“I understand, your mother can be a little too much sometimes” he chuckled before going back to a serious tone “Look, your mother may not be okay with you dating Jackson, but I am”

“Really?” April asked, not expecting him to say that at all

“Yes, as long as you love each other. You two being together and being a family is good for you and Lydia. He’s new to the whole father thing, but from the way Lydia talks about him, I know he’s doing a good job.” He said

April smiled. Not only was her sisters okay with it, but her father was too, and that meant a lot to her.

“And if he hurts you in any way, my shotgun and I would be booking a flight to Seattle and give him a visit” he said

April giggled at the smug smile that she was sure was plastered on her father’s face.

“He’s right here, you can tell it to him yourself” she said, causing Jackson to look at her confused

“Well, let me speak to him then” her father said

April held out the phone to Jackson. He mouthed “Who is it?”, and she mouthed back “My dad”. His eyes widened and he shook his head frantically.

After a few seconds of refusing, he took the phone from her hand

April watched as her boyfriend cautiously said hello. She couldn't hold back her laughs as she saw his expressions and reactions to her father’s threats. Maybe this time around, this relationship could actually work.

_______________

There you go, hope you liked it! Sorry for taking so long, been in a off mood lately. Just comment and vote please, it really means a lot!

Can you believe that April is pregnant though?! It's about to get crazy in Japril land!