Chapter 11

Jackson stood in the hallway, outside of the daycare. He looked through the glass window, staring at Lydia. She sat there at the table with another little girl, having a "princess tea party", as he heard them say. She sat there with a tiny tiara on her head, it stayed put since her hair was now braided into two pigtails.

He thought about what his mother said. He couldn't ignore April forever, and he definitely couldn't ignore Lydia. It wasn't her fault he didn't know. She didn't deserve to not have her father in her life. Jackson peeked down at his watch, he realized that he had a consult with Owen in 30 minutes. He decided to go finish some post-ops before he went to meet him. He took one last look at Lydia before walking away.

As Lydia sat there playing, she slightly looked up. She spotted Jackson just as he was leaving. A smile appeared on her face. She hadn't seen him since the argument at the house. She was curious to know if he was ok, if he was still mad.

She looked around the daycare, no one was paying attention to her and her friend.

"I'll be right back," Lydia said to her friend as she took the tiara off her head.

She took one last look around before running towards the door. She stood on her tiptoes, opened the door and slipped out without anyone seeing her, but her friend.

She peeked around the corner and spotted Jackson walking down the hallway. She put on a little smirk. She was about to play Super Spy, she was going to sneak around the hospital and follow Jackson, which she thought was really fun.

Lydia found herself hiding behind gurneys and peeking around corners following Jackson. Most people didn't notice her because they were too busy, and the people who did thought she was with people who came to visit some patient since she always found herself around them. She spotted Jackson going into one of the conference rooms on that floor. She followed him into it. Once she opened the door she stepped in.

"Hi Dr. Jackson" Lydia smiled as she walked in

Jackson looked up from his papers with a confused look on his face

"Lydia?" he got up walking to the door "What are you doing here?"

He opened the door and peeked outside, wondering if she came with April.

"I came to see you" she smiled

"How'd you get here?" he asked going back to his seat

"I saw you outside the daycare, so followed you," she said "like a super secret spy" she whispered with a grin

"Oh" Jackson smiled "So you snuck out of daycare?"

"Yep," she said walking around the table taking a seat next to him "what are you doing?"

"Uh, paperwork" Jackson answered

There were a few seconds of silence until Lydia asked what she's been wanting to know for a while now.

"Dr. Jackson......." she said

"Yeah?" he said looking up at her

"Are you mad at me?" she asked

"No, I'm not mad at you. Why would you think that?" he asked confused

"I heard you and mommy yelling and I heard you say my name, and you never come over anymore, so I thought you were mad at me" Lydia frowned

Jackson felt like his heart broke. Because of his attitude, Lydia thought he was mad at her.

"I'm sorry about the yelling Ok? and I'm not mad you," he said

"Are you mad at mommy?" he asked

"Uh, a little" he somewhat lied. He was mad at her, but he mad at her A LOT!

"Is she in trouble?" Lydia asked worriedly

"No, she's not in trouble" he smiled "But you might be for sneaking out of daycare," he said getting up and putting his hand out to her

"Where are we going?" she asked

"Back to the daycare, before your mother finds out and starts freaking out," he said

Lydia took his hand and they left the room. A few minutes later they arrived at the daycare. Inside was a panicking April.

"Uh oh, too late" Jackson whispered

"How could you not see her leave?!" April yelled at one of the workers

"Lydia!!" Lydia's tea party friend cheered as she saw her standing by the door

April quickly turned around. The worried look on her face quickly faded when she spotted her daughter.

"Thank you God," April said running up to her picking her up and holding her tight "are you Ok?" she asked

"I'm fine mummy" she smiled "I was with Dr. Jackson"

"Where did you find her?" April asked him

"Actually she found me. She saw me and followed me, like a super secret spy" Jackson said smiling at Lydia causing her to giggle

"I was like a real spy mommy, no one saw me" she bragged

"I bet they didn't," she said turning her head giving the daycare workers the stink face

"Can I go play now?" she asked

"Sure sweetie," she said placing her down "But no sneaking out ever again ok?"

"Ok" Lydia smiled running over to the table to finish her princess tea party, leaving April with Jackson

"I'm sorry if she bothered you" April apologized

"It's Ok. Kids are supposed to bother their parents right?" he said causing her to giggle a little "Look, I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, I was being immature and....."

"It's Ok, I get where you were coming from, it's Ok to be mad at me," April said

"But it's not fair to Lydia, she thought I was mad at her," he said "And that's why we need to talk about this"

"Agreed" April nodded

"Is tonight at Joe's Ok?" Jackson asked

"Uh, yeah. I'll drop Lydia off at the house and meet you there around 9:00?"

"9:00 is good," Jackson said

"Good, see you tonight," she said

Jackson nodded then left the daycare. He was finally going to make sense of this whole thing._______________

April walked into Joe's. After dropping Lydia off at the house, she hurried back to meet with Jackson. She spotted him sitting in a stall in the corner. She walked up to the table.

"Hey," she said

"Hey," he said looking up at her

She took a seat opposite to him.

"Want anything to drink?" he asked

She mentally debated if she should get a drink. This was a serious conversation she was about to have with Jackson, so alcohol might not be the right thing to drink right now. But she was pretty nervous, and some alcohol might calm her down.

"A beer would be nice," she said, settling on something that wasn't as strong as vodka

He simply nodded and headed to the bar. After getting a beer for them both, he headed back to their table. He handed her her drink while taking a seat.

"Oh, I almost forgot," April said placing the beer down and going through her purse.

She pulled out a piece of folded up paper.

"Lydia asked me to deliver this to you" she smiled "she warned me that she would be very angry if I didn't give it to you"

Jackson took the paper from her and slowly opened it. Inside was drawing of him Lydia did. At the bottom was "DoCToR JacKSoN" written in her handwriting. He smiled at the portrait of himself, the dark blue scrubs, the lab coat, she even had the eye colour down. The smile slowly faded from his face.

"Were you ever gonna tell me about her when you got here?" he asked still looking at the drawing

April took a deep breath.

"Yes, I was, it's the reason I came back to Seattle in the first place. I've just been trying to figure out how I was going to tell you, and when exactly the right time would be. I didn't just want to pop up and tell you you have a daughter" she explained

He placed the drawing down. "Does Matthew know?" he asked

"Yes" she answered

"So he doesn't have a problem taking care of a kid that isn't his?"

April took another deep breath.

"Matthew and I divorced before Lydia was born" she answered

"He left you?" Jackson asked wide-eyed

April nodded "I'm not really upset about it. Things weren't going well with us, it was going to happen eventually, Lydia just speed up the process"

"So you've been taking care of Lydia by yourself this whole time?" he asked

"Yeah" she sighed

"So............" Jackson said taking a sip from his bottle "....what made you finally decide to come here after all this time to tell me?"

FLASHBACK. 

"...Happy Birthday dear Lydiaaaaaaaaaa, Happy Birthdaaaaaay, toooooooooo, yoooooooooou" Everyone sang as Lydia had a huge smile on her face

"Blow out your candles and make a wish," April said holding the camera up at her daughter

Lydia closed her eyes and made a wish. She sucked some air in her mouth. She leaned forward and blew the flames off on the number "4" candle, and the four other candles around it. Everyone cheered as she smiled.

"Time for presents " April announced

It was Lydia's fourth birthday, and her first birthday party, she was finally having the one she wanted. She's been wanting one since she knew what a birthday party was. April always seemed to be busy at the hospital when her birthday came around, so she never had the time to plan a birthday party for her. But this year she had a day off and she decided to go all out for Lydia's first birthday party.

All of the kids from her Pre-School were there, along with their parents and so was a few kids from the daycare at the hospital. There was the whole Fairy/Pixie theme, with a life-size cut out of Phoenix the Unicorn, which Lydia was very excited about.

Lydia smiled as April brought the first box in front of her.

"This one is from Auntie Natalie," April said dropping the box in front of her

The smile turned into a grin, Natalie always got her the best gifts. She grabbed the box and started ripping the wrapping paper off. She opened up the box and the grin on her face got even wider.

Inside the box as the new Fairy princess Barbie.

"Thank you Auntie Natalie!" Lydia said

"Your welcome" Natalie smiled then turned to April "I want to see you beat that" she whispered with a grin

April rolled her eyes and bought more presents for Lydia to open up._______________

Lydia climbed into bed, holding onto Mr. Avery Bear. She was a tired mess after running around with her friends.

"Did you enjoy your party?" April asked tucking her in

"I Loved it" Lydia grinned "Thank you"

April smiled. She as glad her daughter liked her party, her hours of work paid off.

"Mommy, can I ask you something?" Lydia asked

"Sure"

"Do I have a daddy? All of my friends have one, why don't I have one?" Lydia asked

The question has been heavy on the little girl's mind since the week before. Her teacher had given them the assignment to draw their family for the "Family Wall" in the classroom. She had only drawn herself and her mother, along with Mr. Avery Bear. But she noticed that her picture had one grown-up while her friends had two. When she asked them, they said it was their mom and dad. That bought up the question if she had a dad or why didn't she have one.

April took a deep breath. She knew that this question was going to come sooner or later. She thought many times of how she would tell her, but now that the time came, she was blank.

"Yes sweetie, you do have a dad" she answered

"Really?" she asked excitedly

"Yes" April smiled

"Where is he?"

"Uh, he lives far away" she answered

"Cool!" Lydia grinned

"Ok, close your eyes, so we can pray" April instructed, not wanting to go down the dad road with Lydia

"I'm a big girl now, I want to pray by myself now," Lydia said

"Ok, I'll just leave you to pray then," April said kissing her forehead "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Lydia smiled

Once April left the room and closed the door, Lydia jumped out of bed and kneeled down next to her bed, as she saw her mother do when she prayed. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes.

"Dear God, My birthday party was awesome! Thank you for helping my mummy make me one. I want you to bless my mummy, grandma and grandpa, Auntie Alice, Auntie Kimmie, Auntie Libby, Auntie Natalie and my daddy........who lives far away. I know I wished for a daddy when I blew out my candles, but since I already have one, I want to change my wish. I wish that I get to meet my daddy one day!"Lydia said then continued onto the prayer her grandmother taught her "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen"

Lydia got up and climbed into bed. She cuddled up to Mr. Avery Bear and closed her eyes, unaware that her mother was on the other side of her door, listening to her pray.

April felt her heartbreak, her daughter was wishing and praying for her father. How was she going to explain this all to her four-year-old daughter? She wouldn't understand anything about her mother having an affair. How was she going to tell her that her father doesn't know about her?

But she knew she couldn't keep it from her any longer, she had to know.

End of Flashback.

"And about two months after that, we moved back here. Being a single parent was hard but I enjoyed it. You and Matthew were the furthest things from my mind when I was around Lydia, and I liked it, although sometimes you came to mind when she did things exactly like you. I just liked not having to negotiate with someone else, it was all on me, I felt independent, but she needed you. I couldn't be the selfish mother that put her feelings before her daughter's" April said

"You could have still told me about her when you found out you were pregnant," Jackson said

"I know, but, I thought that maybe you would have moved on and wouldn't want anything to do with me after I left you" April answered

There were a few seconds of silence.

"So, how are we going to do this parenting thing?" Jackson asked

"You really want to do this? You don't have to, I can do it by myself" April said

"She's my daughter, I want to be apart of her life, I already missed out so much. you've been doing it yourself this whole, you need a break" he said with a smile

The two spent their rest of their night at the bar, discussing how and when they were going to tell Lydia about him being her father. They were going to try and put their past behind them and do their best to raise Lydia.

AN: hope you like this one, the comments and votes are very appreciated. Only one more chapter left!