#japril ff

[beachy--head]

Love, dad

Jackson writes letters to his son.

One-shot.

Note: this was written in an evening, after months of struggling to write, or even to open my google doc files. Feels pretty good :)

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I don’t know how to start this. Hey, you? Hey, fetus? We have not decided on a name, though your mom already has tons of ideas.  So, hi. It’s your dad. I don’t know much about this parenthood thing, but I can already tell you one thing: you’ve really lucked out. Your mom? She’s going to be the best mother you could ever wish for. And the kid she’s going to mother is my kid, too? I tell you, we’re both so lucky. Can’t say the same thing about me as a dad, though. I’ll try my best to match her, but I’m going to lower your expectations right from the start, kiddo. I’m going to do anything I can to learn about this stuff, but please be patient with me. I guess that if I need any guidance, I’ll look at what my father has done, and will do the opposite of that. Your grandmother is going to be a little crazy. Okay, a lot. I’m sorry for that. She’s going to love you so much, though. We all already do. Love, dad. (I’m going to be a dad!)

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[beachy--head]

We are headed home (3)

For as long as he could remember, the name ‘Avery’ had represented everything he was struggling with - legacy, fatherhood, high expectations and stiff meetings.

It had taken him a long time, but he finally felt like maybe he could try to take it on.

Jackson navigates his new life in Boston as a son, a father, and everything in between.

Trust me, I'm as surprised as you probably are, but chapter 3 is finally here! I'm sorry it took so long, and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Just so you know, the rating of this fic has been raised to M because of this chapter. 👀

In the few years when they'd been apart, Jackson had missed a lot of things about April. He'd missed the smug expression she usually sported when telling him about a bargain she made during a purchase, the way she would swat him when he made a joke, her laugh and the way her dimple would slowly appear or sometimes just pop. He'd missed seeing her with Harriet, cuddling her or playing with her, he'd missed her both in his professional and his personal life. But he was man enough to admit that one of the things he'd missed the most was the look she was sporting right now.

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[beachy--head]

Wish I could turn you back into a stranger

"Cautiously, he sits beside her and stays silent. They've been so distant these past weeks, haven't shared more than a few sentences ever since she moved out of his place, that he knows better than trying to touch her to comfort her. He even wonders if she would be comforted by him, and the thought makes him sick."

Set in season 14. April treats a patient that brings back memories, and Jackson goes on a hunt. One shot.

Note: Sometimes you want to write sweet, tooth-rotting fluff, and sometimes you just want to embrace the angst and lean into it. Guess which option I chose.

trigger warning: child loss, grief, abysmal communication.

Oh, and even though this takes place at the beginning of season 14, Stephanie is still there, just roll with it.

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“Edwards, Wilson, you’re on plastics again tomorrow. Deluca, you're free to join us in the burn center?” “Sorry Dr. Avery, I'm with Dr. Kepner in the ER all day again tomorrow.” Jackson nods to show he's heard the resident’s answer and starts reviewing the paperwork for the procedures he’s done today. The burn center, once Mark Sloan's brainchild, is something he's very attached to, and perhaps the only department for which he doesn't mind managing the admin side, even after a long day of gruesome surgeries, which mobilized most of the residents and several attendings. Next to him, at the nurses' counter, Deluca stops where Jo and Stephanie are charting and where Arizona, who operated on a 10-year-old burn victim with him, is reviewing a file. Deep in his paperwork, Jackson hears them more than he listens to their conversation. “If you're too busy to help us, go away,” Stephanie grumbles. “I’m just waiting for some lab results, and then I’m back in the pit. I still have to log more hours in trauma. Which is great, because something cool always happens when you're on Dr Kepner's shift in the ER. She has the coolest cases,” Deluca gushes, and Jackson thinks to himself while signing a form, what is it with Deluca that he always sounds like an enthusiastic golden retriever?

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[beachy--head]

Damn it, Avery!

"So yeah, Mark notices things, but he doesn’t need to be in full observation mode (Callie would say he’s nosy, but what does she know?) to notice Avery fidgeting in his seat in front of him as Kepner joins her paramedic and the pastor and the ceremony starts."

A silly little AU, because we deserved to have Mark react to Japril's shenanigans.

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If the trauma surgery thing doesn’t pan out, Kepner should be an event planner.

Mark’s not usually a wedding fan, but when you’re engaged to Lexie Grey and have been planning your own wedding for the past months, you start noticing things you didn’t use to. For example, as he’s watching Kepner walk down the aisle of a carefully-decorated barn, he makes a mental note of asking her where she got these little mint-to-be favors – he actually thinks they’re kind of lame, but Lexie squealed when she saw them and thought they were cute, and what Lexie Grey wants for their wedding, Lexie Grey will get.

So yeah, Mark notices things, but he doesn’t need to be in full observation mode (Callie would say he’s nosy, but what does she know?) to notice Avery fidgeting in his seat in front of him as Kepner joins her paramedic and the pastor and the ceremony starts. 

And it’s funny, because Mark used to think (still does, if he’s being honest), that Avery and Kepner would have made a decent couple.  

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[beachy--head]

Memories I will never find (2)

“You don’t think it’s destiny, do you? That the things in the visions are bound to happen?”

“April. You can’t seriously think that just because we see these… things, they’ll happen no matter what.”

Jackson and April experience a few intense, vivid, highly realistic dreams.

Note: Thank you so much for all your comments on chapter 1, I'm glad you liked this silly idea! Fetus Japril is dear to my heart, and writing them is really fun. Here's the second and last part, hope you'll enjoy!

(chapter 1)

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April Kepner is freaking out. And Jackson has already been witness to a proper April Kepner freakout before – every candidate who wrote their intern exam pretty much has, because she was… well, a mess – but not like this. She’s almost hyperventilating, and her eyes are so wide that, well, they kind of remind him of how she looked when he dream-interrupted her wedding.  “April. Breathe.” “Breathe? Breathe?? What the hell was that?” “I don’t know!” He’s making an effort not to show it, but he’s rattled too, and he would also like answers. “It doesn’t make any sense, the previous ones were nothing lik–” “The previous ones? Did you have visions like this before?” April looks at him accusingly, as if he were responsible for these things. “Well, yeah, a few,” he admits. “You didn't?” “No, I did, but I thought I was the only one. Dreaming, I mean. The scenes didn’t really make sense.” He passes a hand on his face and sighs. “Tell me about it. Wait, really, tell me about it. Was I in your… visions?” “Yeah.” “What was I doing?”  “You weren’t getting sliced open on a kitchen table, that’s for sure!” 

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[beachy--head]

Memories I will never find (1)

“You don’t think it’s destiny, do you? That the things in the visions are bound to happen?”

“April. You can’t seriously think that just because we see these… things, they’ll happen no matter what.”

Jackson and April experience a few intense, vivid, highly realistic dreams.

Note: The inspiration for this fic comes from silly tags from a tumblr post, an ask from @cancara and some precious insights from @japril12. My brain went in overdrive and wouldn't quit until I started elaborating on this idea. It's hard to classify this one, but I'm having fun writing it. Hope you enjoy!

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The first time it happens, she chalks it up to a weird dream.  It’s 7 a.m, she’s been up since 4 a.m. doing pre-rounds and charts, and she’s dozing off in the residents lounge. Her second year of residency is coming to an end, but her job at Mercy West is more demanding than ever. Especially with the rumors about the hospital shutting down and her potentially losing her job, or having to go work at Seattle Grace or another hospital in the city. It’s not like she’s a relaxed person to begin with, so to say she’s been under pressure and stressed out lately is an understatement. Still, falling asleep just before rounds is new.  Falling asleep just before rounds AND having a sex dream is even newer. 

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[beachy--head]

a new kind of waiting (3)

During those long, never-ending hours when the plane is missing and no one knows anything, she pretty much lives at the hospital, because if she doesn’t stop moving, maybe she won’t think.

A Japril AU take on the plane crash, the days spent waiting for news and the aftermath.

Surprise! Here is the third (and last) chapter of this drabble-turned one-shot-turned-three-parter :)

(part one / part two)

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Things seem to be going back to normal on month 1. He stays a few weeks in the hospital, because his leg seems to be acting up in addition to his heart, and Webber and Bailey (and of course Catherine) want to make sure everything’s fine before releasing him. April stays by his side whenever she can, between two shifts. She’s been rehired by Owen, and she tries her best to ignore the reason the hospital had enough budget to extend her contract in the end. Lexie’s funeral is excruciating, between Meredith and Mark’s loud sobs and Jackson showing absolutely no emotions, and she feels guilty for crying as much as she is when she was not that close to her as the rest of her peers.  They decide (‘they’ being Catherine and April, who have become Jackson’s unofficial recovery team) that it would be better if he didn’t live alone, at least for now, so she stays in their apartment when Alex moves out. She cleans it from top to bottom the day before he leaves the hospital, stocks up the fridge with all his favorite meals, and makes his bed, adding more throw pillows than he’d deem acceptable, but she doesn’t care.  He’s coming home. His first few days out of the hospital are full of winces (his), encouraging smiles (hers) and nights spent watching TV on the couch. They’re both masters of avoidance, so they don’t talk about anything of substance. He asks about patients and her boards prep, she randomly comments on his decision not to go to Tulane, but that’s the extent of their serious conversations. When it feels like they might mention the crash or his injuries, he puts his arm around her shoulder, she puts her head on his chest, and not another word is uttered.

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[beachy--head]

We are headed home (2)

For as long as he could remember, the name 'Avery' had represented everything he was struggling with - legacy, fatherhood, high expectations and stiff meetings.

It had taken him a long time, but he finally felt like maybe he could try to take it on.

Jackson navigates his new life in Boston as a son, a father, and everything in between.

Chapter 2 is here! Thank you so much for the reception chapter 1 got, I'm really glad this story spoke to you and I hope this chapter will as well. Feel free to leave me a review or note!

The plant on the table seemed like a good place for his gaze to fall.

His therapist’s office didn’t look like what he’d always thought a therapist’s office would look like. Sure, there was a couch, currently unused, and he was sure there were boxes of tissues easily reachable if needed, but there were also comfy chairs, pillows, a counter, a fancy coffee machine, warm light entering through the windows, and plants. Absolutely everywhere, there were plants. 

“And so what you’re saying is that you don’t know if either of you are ready to have this conversation?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure of what I would say. Every time I think about it, I change my mind.”

Read more on ao3 or ff.net, and enjoy!