I'm still alive, ya'll! (LOL. But not really.) I could give you guys a ton of excuses about my lack of writing - family issues, 3 jobs, etc - but mostly I've just been stuck and really not sure where to go or what to do with this story. But, I'm gonna keep trying and even though updates may be few and far between, I hope you guys will keep sticking with me. Maybe the new season starting up will give me some new inspiration - we'll see. At any rate, if you're still reading this, just know how much I appreciate it and I hope you enjoy. And even if you think it sucks, please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!

The ride from Boston-Logan to the Avery home in the Beacon Hill neighborhood was not a long one and Lydia was soon pulling the car into the otherwise empty garage.

"Well, Mom's not home yet, but Grandpa could be," she remarked as they got out of the car.

Jackson caught the quizzical look on April's face and explained, "Grandpa doesn't drive. Doesn't even own a car anymore, says there's no point."

"Wow, really?" April replied. "I can't imagine not having a car."

Lydia shrugged as she popped the rear door of the car and started pulling luggage out. "I like having one, but it's easy to get by without one. The hospital's not even a mile away, so we can walk in nice weather and when it's bad, he uses the car service. Or as a last resort, a taxi."

"There's always the T, too," Jackson chimed in, before adding dryly, "Not that our grandfather would ever be caught dead there."

Lydia laughed. "Grandpa on the subway? Never in a million years."

April shook her head. "It's so different from where I grew up. You had to have a car. Even if you were going somewhere only a few miles away, there are hardly any sidewalks, so if you try to walk, you'll probably get run over. And we don't have taxis. We have like, one, in the whole county, but it's just some sketchy guy in a mini-van with 'taxi' stenciled on the side, so trust me when I tell you, it's not even a last resort."

Lydia looked a little wide-eyed at this response and Jackson realized it was her first time hearing one of April's breathless monologues and he couldn't help laughing.

April looked sheepish. "Sorry," she said. "I have a tendency to kind of, um, ramble?"

"You get used to it," Jackson said simply, looking affectionately at his wife and Lydia had to smile at the love and adoration written all over his face. Her little brother had it bad.

"Well, come on; let's not stand in the garage all day. Come on inside and we'll get you settled."

"Jackson said you and your husband live here, too?" April asked as she followed Lydia up the steps, Jackson bringing up the rear.

Lydia nodded. "Yup. I know, it's probably a little weird, but it's so close to the hospital and the house has been in the family for like, a hundred years, so it just made sense to stay here."

"But how is there room for all of you?" April wondered. "And for us to stay here too – oh." Her voice trailed off as they stepped into the hallway and she realized that, while the house was narrow, it was a lot bigger than it appeared from the outside.

Lydia grinned. "I know, right? It doesn't look like it, but it's like, almost eight thousand square feet. There's five bedrooms, plus a nanny suite. So Grandpa has the master suite on the third floor and then four bedrooms on the fourth floor. And each has an en suite bathroom, so it's all good. Mom has her room and Cal and I have ours. And of course, Mom's not been around much lately, getting ready to move to Seattle and all." She grinned at her brother, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't remind me," he sighed, before glancing over at April, who looked a little bit shell-shocked. "You okay?" he said softly.

She swallowed hard, but nodded. "I'm – I just – "

"Overwhelmed?" he filled in and she nodded again.

"Come on, let's get our stuff upstairs and then you can have a nap before we have lunch, if you want?"

She nodded a third time and once again followed her sister-in-law up the stairs, feeling really hugely pregnant all of a sudden, especially as they started up the third and final flight. She was glad this time to only be carrying her purse and to have let Jackson and Lydia carry everything else.

"Why are we dragging all this crap up the stairs?" Jackson said suddenly, as they reached the fourth floor. "Is the elevator broken or something?"

"I didn't even think about the elevator," Lydia admitted. "I try not to use it, don't want to feel like I'm being lazy, but I'm sorry, April. I shouldn't have made you go up all those steps."

"You – you guys have an elevator?"

"Yup, it's right down the hall." Lydia pointed in the general direction and then turned towards one of the closed bedroom doors. "This will be your room – it was Jackson's growing up, but I think we've managed to get all the teenage boy funk out of it."

"Haha," Jackson said dryly as Lydia continued speaking, pointing at doors as she did so.

"That's mine and Cal's room, Mom is over there and we'll put your parents in that room when they get here."

"Thank you for letting them stay here," April said.

Lydia shrugged. "Not a problem. We have plenty of room."

April just nodded. That was the understatement of the century.

"I'll let you guys get settled and rested or showered or whatever – I know you had a long night. Mom said she'd definitely be home by lunchtime, so I'll keep her downstairs until you're ready to come down."

"Thanks, Lyd. Appreciate that," Jackson said, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Lydia grinned and turned to leave. "Glad you guys are here," she said and then left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Jackson turned back to look at April, who had slowly sank down to sit on the bed, one hand cradling her belly. She looked up at Jackson, wide-eyed, and he couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face.

"Jackson," she said, slowly, calmly, quietly.

"Yeah?" he replied, a little warily.

"You are rich. Like, really super hugely wealthy. Aren't you?"

Jackson shrugged. "I guess. I mean, I don't think of myself that way. It's my family's money, not mine."

"Yeah, but I mean… Jackson, this house! This house is – is amazing! And you grew up here! On Beacon Hill! Across the street from the Boston Common!"

Jackson shrugged again. "Yeah, but so what?"

April laughed shortly. "So what? I just – I –" she took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts. "I grew up on a farm, Jackson. In a decent size farmhouse – we all had our own room, but I shared a bathroom with my three sisters and I had to get up early every day and help feed the pigs and milk the cows and, and, and - had to walk down the dirt driveway to catch the bus to public school."

Jackson sighed, sitting down beside her. "So we had drastically different childhoods – we knew that already." He glanced sideways at her. "Does this change anything? Seriously?"

April shook her head. "No," she said quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm being ridiculous, I know that. I just – I mean, I knew all this in the abstract – the family legacy, the money, the privileged childhood – but to see it for real is just a little startling."

Jackson nodded, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to his side. "I get that. It startles me a little too, when I'm here. I can kinda put it out of my mind in Seattle. I mean, you know that's part of the reason I went to the other side of the country, so I could be my own person without all –" with his free hand, he gestured at the room around them "—this." He brought his hand down to gently caress her belly. "I'm glad this kid has a mother who knows what a normal childhood should be like. Because that's what I want this kid to have."

April smiled at him, leaning over to give him a kiss. "And that's why I love you," she said quietly. Then she frowned. "But now I have something else to worry about – that everyone's gonna think I got pregnant on purpose so I could marry you for your money."

Jackson made a face. "Please," he said sarcastically. "Everyone knows you married me for my body, not my money."

April giggled. "It was a selling point," she agreed cheerfully before turning serious. "But you know it's not true, right?"

Jackson nodded. "I know. You married me because you love me." April nodded back at him and he continued, "And we're a kick-ass awesome couple and we're gonna be kick-ass awesome parents."

"Right," April agreed.

"But first," Jackson said, leaning down to take off his shoes, "I'm going to take a kick-ass awesome nap, because I'm exhausted. You in?"

April laughed. "Totally," she said, kicking off her own shoes. Jackson grinned, pulling her close as they lay back against the pillows, putting off the craziness for just a few more hours.