January 8th 2015, Thursday.

Jackson Avery was a man known for many things. Doting father, plastic surgeon extraordinaire, retired star basketball player of the Harvard Crimson Men, and heir to the Harper Avery name, fortune and foundation – in this order. One thing he was not known, and didn't want to be known for: running late. However, that was exactly what he was doing right now.

Although he was nine days shy of four years in the role of his life, he still encountered moments of failure. Honestly, he doubted there would be a day where he wouldn't. Parenting was full of errors, especially for a single parent, who had to make every single decision all by himself. On the other hand, he had no one to argue about those decisions, and no one to judge him. So that was something (or so he liked to tell himself, whenever he found himself doubting).

The reason he was running late today was almost pathetic. He'd forgotten to take his son's favorite plushie, an Octopus named Otto, which he only noticed halfway on the way to his mother. There was no way the almost four-year-old would go to bed without Otto, and so Jackson found himself turning around and getting the toy before he dropped his son of at his mother's house. By that time he was already six minutes late. Add a few traffic lights and you've got a perfect academic quarter of lateness.

It wasn't that bad, right? This wasn't a man waiting on life saving surgery. This was a parent-teacher night. Nobody would care-

He shook his head. Even as he tried to convince himself he couldn't. Parents were judgy. Especially those who managed to get their children into the Giddens school kindergarten program. Few private schools in Seattle offered kindergarten. Getting into one of those wasn't exactly easy. In fact, he'd only gotten in thanks to the recommendation of a co-worker of his, who had applied to the program before her child was even born. That, and a poignant story about the hard life of a single dad/ super surgeon. He never felt particularly bad about getting the waterworks on when it benefited his son. For that little guy, he'd do anything.

Including coming late, which was still very unlike him, and smile about it.

"Good evening everyone. Very sorry about the delay. Got held up at work."

The waterworks where one thing, throwing his kid under the bus was a different story. Luckily, he didn't have to. Not at Giddens, anyway. Since they knew him from a few previous parent teacher nights. they also knew about his situation. In fact, most of the mothers and a few fathers of the few fathers present nodded at his explanation.

"Good evening, Mr. Avery", Linda Baxter, not exactly his son's favorite teacher but definitively a very respectable one, greeted him. "Take a seat. We were just getting started."

"Glad to hear that", Jackson replied truthfully as he found an empty chair in the half circle between Catherine and Heath.

He hated missing important information, that's why he never was late. The notes he got from other people afterward were hardly ever satisfying. To feel really secure he had to be present. His mom called it trust issues. Jackson preferred thoroughness.

"As I was saying we will focus on the music project for the next couple of weeks..."

As Linda went on the other parents took notes and nodded along, and Jackson, too, took notes and nodded along. This was their job as parents of children in kindergarten. Or maybe it wasn't. But everyone was doing it, so he didn't want to be the odd one out. He was already a bit of an outcast being a single parent. He didn't care to add to his list of failures. Besides, taking notes gave him a sense of control that greatly satisfied him. If anyone asked about his son's education – Jackson was on top of it. He might not offer a complete family, or an excessive amount of time spent together, but he could offer that. He could care. And that made him feel much better about their situation.

Parent teacher nights at Giddens followed a strict routine. First the teacher would talk about upcoming projects. If parental help was required the tasks would be distributed to the parents. A part to which Jackson always payed attention so he could get into the sports events, not into the finger painting contest (that was just way too messy). At the very end there was time to mingle with the other parents that appeared to be about setting up play dates, but really offered an opportunity for the teacher to pull parents aside for 'trouble talks'. Jackson had never been pulled aside for a trouble talk, not that he'd brag about it.

That very night, the teacher talk part went on for what seemed to be hours. It was really just minutes. However, one of the qualities that Linda had not been bestowed with upon birth was a rhetoric gift. Paying attention got harder and harder with every word she spoke, especially after a ten hour work day transitioning seamlessly into dinner and bath time with a three-year-old. In the end Jackson found his eyes wandering across the half circle of parents, hoping to see something interesting.

Valerie's husband had come tonight, which was unusual. Maybe that little break from work he'd taken deliberately had not been so voluntarily after all. Dana, next to them, sported a decent layer of make up and a nice dress. The disappointment on her face clearly showed she had expected someone other than Linda to host the evening. When Jackson took his eyes off her and kept wandering he met the steel blue gaze of his co-worker. Arizona sported a sly smile, happy she'd caught him in the act. Her lips parted and moved, forming 'pay attention' in the silence of monotone talking. He mouthed 'You're one to talk' back at her before he shifted his gaze to the other half of the circle.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be far more intriguing than possible parent teacher affairs and lost jobs on the left side. There was a new parent. In the middle of the school year.

Jackson couldn't make out her face, because she was bent over in what seemed to be a relatively uncomfortable position caused by the fact they were sitting on chairs made for toddlers and the fact that she was scribbling away in a tiny red notebook. All he could see, beside the notebook, was her red mane, which completely hid her face.

As he watched her in what he hoped was a discrete way she continued to fascinate him. Who was this woman that seemed incredibly invested in her self-given task of taking notes that showed up in the middle of the school year on parent teacher night, of all days? Where did she come from? How did she get into Giddens? What did she do? Was she famous? And (he just couldn't help this one) what was her family situation?

You didn't just change kindergarten in the middle of the year if your life was peachy. It was an unwritten rule in all of the relevant pedagogical works. He knew he wouldn't. Getting into Giddens had been hard enough as it was. If nothing out of the ordinary came up he'd keep his son here for as long as possible. So what did push her to do just that with her child?

The scenarios in Jackson's head were so captivating he barely noticed when the talk was over. He only noticed when everyone, including the mysterious redhead, gathered their things and got up from the chairs to start mingling. As he gathered his own things he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She headed straight for the refreshments. A woman to his own liking.

Getting ahead of yourself, Avery, he told himself with a quite head shake. Nonetheless he followed her to the table and watched as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Her eyes wandered over the table. His time had come.

"Looking for something?"

Slightly startled she looked up to meet his eyes, which gave him a chance to finally put a face to the- well, woman he still had so many questions about, really.

"Oh... uhm... yeah, actually, I'm looking for sugar."

Jackson nodded and grabbed the little golden box that read coffee, popped it open. "One? Two?"

"One, please", she said. Her voice was really nice. Melodic, easy to listen to, unlike other people's. He followed her request and put another one into an empty cup before he poured coffee all over it.

"That's a relief", the redhead acknowledged, "I was afraid I'd already put myself into the weirdo position for drinking coffee at this hour."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's all the same to me. We drink it like water at work."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're a teacher?"

He laughed, but somehow she understood it wasn't malicious. "No. I'm a parent first, surgeon second."

"No way!"

"What? It's possible." Jackson's lips formed a little mock pout. Somehow despite only knowing her for mere minutes, and not even knowing her name yet, he felt at ease with her. There was something about her...

She shook her head, red hair flying everywhere. "No. I mean. I know. Me too." Her eyes lifted to the ceiling and she took a deep breath before she spoke again. "I'm too. Parent first, surgeon second."

"Really? What specialty?"

"Trauma", she beamed, "You?"

"Plastics", he replied easily, "Just wrapped up my first year as chief."

An odd look crossed her face and for a moment he thought he'd ruined it all by bragging. Then she said: "That's- don't get me wrong, but you look far too young to be that far in your career."

She blushed a little, the fair skin that accompanied her red hair a dead give away. He'd rarely seen something quite so beautiful.

"Oh, yeah. It wasn't-" Jackson scratched the back of his head, a habit he often came back to when he was nervous. He couldn't exactly blurt to her about how his boss had died, but not really died, in a plane crash only to really, really die at the hospital a couple of months later. How he'd been promoted to chief just because he was there (and maybe because he owned some of the hospital, too) when no one else was. "It was a... coincidence. I got lucky."

In a way, he did. Losing his mentor was still not something that he considered lucky.

"Oh, I see...", she trailed off. Her left hand tucked some stray strands behind her ear. "I'm only starting my third year as attending... I mean if you keep counting after switching hospitals, that is."

"Oh? Where'd you come from?" A move would of course explain why she needed to change her child's kindergarten situation.

"The ProMedica in Toledo", she said shrugging. "It wasn't the best, but it was close to home, and that was just..." She waved her hands. "...easier with Levi and all."

"Levi?"

"My son", she told him with a tone in his voice he knew all to well from listening to himself talking about his son.

Jackson laughed again.

"What?"

"It's just... The irony hit me. I know what your son's name is, but I don't know yours."

She gasped, almost spilling her coffee over herself... or him, her hand jerked for only a second, though.

"I'm so sorry." To extend her hand for the customary shake she abandoned her cup, and he chose to follow her lead. "I'm April. April Kepner."

He prolonged the handshake until it was bordering on weirdly long. Her hands were soft, softer than you'd expect those of a trauma surgeon to be. "Jackson. Jackson Avery."

April's eyebrows shot up at that for a moment. If she recognized his name, however, she chose not to say anything. Something Jackson could add to his list of things to be thankful for tonight.

"So..."

"Jackson!" An arm fell onto his shoulders and rested there. "Making friends with the new mom?"

He felt awkward with Arizona standing so close to him, touching him like she did. April, after all, did not know that they were co-workers and friends, as well as parents of different children. As in: not a couple.

"Uhm... April Kepner, Arizona Robbins, Arizona, April", he introduced, purposefully putting April's name first, and stressing the fact that he and Arizona did not share a last name. Maybe the readhead would get the hint that they didn't share anything of that kind. Hopefully.

"Kepner, Kepner... That name rings a bell. Now if I only knew which one it is", Arizona mused.

"She's a trauma surgeon. Maybe you two have worked together before", Jackson suggested.

"Oh, you're both surgeons?"

Both? Jackson had to interfere. She was already putting them in the couple box. Nope, no, definitely not. Not happening.

"We work together. Arizona's in peds", he explained quickly.

At April's rather uncertain nod he added: "We're co-workers, colleagues, work at the same hospital. Yep, that's us." And that was as far as they'd ever come, but that remained unspoken.

"Ha! Surgery! That's it! You're the new trauma attending, aren't you? The one Hunt met in Jordan a couple of years ago?" Arizona beamed at her own memory.

April reacted in the same fashion. "You work at Sloan Grey Memorial?"

The peds surgeon nodded. "Jackson didn't tell you."

"No, he didn't."

"Well, Arizona, you kind of interrupted-"

"Shame on him. Now, April, you need to tell me everything about your time in Jordan. I need some dirt on Hunt..."

And just like that, Jackson found himself standing alone besides the refreshments cart, the only memory of April her abandoned cup that glittered lightly with the remains of her chapstick.

"Hey, April, wait up!"

Jackson caught up to her at the parking lot, just when she was about to leave. Somehow he continued to miss her throughout the evening, never getting another opportunity to talk to her again. Luckily, Arizona told him she 'loved' her, which made him aware of the fact that she'd left the building. Without giving it a second thought, he'd gathered his things and sprinted after her.

"Oh. Jackson, hey. What's up?" She seemed exhausted. Who wouldn't be after an evening of meeting so many new people?

Her question caught him off guard. Maybe he should have given this whole thing a second thought after all. Made a plan. Something like that.

"I... uh..."

She raised a single brow, and even then she looked beautiful. Jackson couldn't explain it, neither to her nor to himself, but somehow he was attracted to her. It was weird. Right after his son's birth he'd jumped back into the dating pool, but around last year it all died down. Nothing ever lasted longer than three dates. Besides work and raising an infant he just didn't have the time and energy anymore. And he'd felt fulfilled, happy with what he had. Yet, somehow he found himself inexplicably drawn to her. Wanting to know more and more about her.

He didn't say anything. She sighed.

"Look. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, I just didn't think you'd want to talk about it, so I thought-"

Jackson narrowed his eyes. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"What are you talking about?", he asked.

April shrugged. "You being an Avery. Why? What are you talking about?"

He laughed. He'd laughed so much with her this one evening. He rarely ever laughed so much, only with his son.

"What?", she demanded, apparently annoyed.

"Nothing", he told her, "nothing."

They stood for a while. Just staring at each other. The air was chilly. Their breath formed little clouds into the dark of the black night. Her lips were slightly parted, so were his. As if they wanted to say something. Neither of them said anything. They just stared. Hazel meeting green, April meeting Jackson.

She shook her head, spell broken. "Look. I really need to go pick up Levi, so if there isn't anything urgent I'd prefer to-"

Levi! Of course!

"Actually, I wanted to invite you."

"Invite me?", she almost squeaked.

"Levi and you", he clarified, "To Casper's birthday party. It's on January 17th, Saturday. Nothing big, just a few friends coming over and kids playing games... I don't know, he's only turning four, so I didn't want to go overboard... Okay, I think I should shut up now."

April smiled as he rambled. He wish he could read her expression.

"I'd love to."

"Really?", he asked in a surprised tone. As soon as he heard himself say it he could have slapped himself for it. After all, it wasn't like he'd just asked her out. He'd invited her son to a birthday party that given their children's ages would have to be attended by their parents, too. It was quite reasonable, actually.

"Yes. It's not I've got anything planned and I would love for Levi to make some new friends", her tone wavered a little at that. Or maybe Jackson just imagined that. He didn't really care anyway. They were coming to the party.

"That's... great."

Again, they stood in silence. Barely a few feet away from each other. If one of them had wanted to they could have reached each other in a matter of seconds. Yet neither of them moved.

"Jackson?"

"Hm?"

"I really have to go now."

He felt himself blushing. Despite knowing full well she wouldn't see even a hint of embarrassment in the dark he still averted his gaze. He'd been staring far too long and far too intently anyway. "Oh, yeah. Of course..."

"It was really nice of you to invite us", she added, still not moving.

"Yeah, no bother. That's what co-workers are for, right?" Co-workers? Seriously, Avery?

April grinned, never noticing how he beat himself up about this. Or just hiding her reaction very well. "Goodnight, Jackson."

"Goodnight, April. I'll see you at the party then?"

She hesitated before closing the door of her car. "So you're not coming in for work before that?"

"Work? Oh... oh, of course."

His co-worker laughed at his sheepishness, and damn was that a musical laugh. "Goodnight, Jackson", she repeated shaking her head before closing the door and starting the car.

Jackson stood in the parking lot, in the cold of the night, his breath forming little clouds as he watched her drive away.