forty-nine

Allison asked Derek. She was sitting in front of his desk, seeing as he got a new office, "I mean, you both are working on this and you promised her."

"Us three." Derek corrected, "You're helping."

"Barely." Allison sighed, "I'm covering your service and I'm barely there, but thanks."

"She won't like it." Derek nodded, the government don't want his sensors to work on anything else but their project, but Derek has been using them with Callie and Allison for the brain mapping project.

"She won't." Allison agreed, "But you have to tell her, before she finds out herself."

"You got the guy." Derek changed the subject, causing Allison to smile, feeling her ring on her left hand.

"I got the guy." She nodded, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"It's fine." Derek dismissed, "You're finally happy, I like that look on you."

***

"What happened?" Allison asked as she opened the curtains seeing her husband sitting in a gurney, since Stephanie accidentally hit him with a gurney.

"I'm fine." Jackson assured her, before looking at Stephanie, "I got hit by a gurney."

Allison mouth was wide as she looked at Stephanie who rolled her eyes, before leaving them alone.

"Did you get to talk to her?" Allison asked her husband as they walked down the hallway, after Dr. Webber checked him out.

"No, I was on the floor." Jackson told her.

"She didn't do it on purpose did she?" Allison asked, looking at him.

"No, no. I don't think so..."Jackson shook his head, Allison sighed in relief, "Maybe."

Both, Allison and Jackson have been wanting to make amends with the people they hurt while they ran away to get married.

Stephanie has been avoiding both of them, not wanting to look at them seeing as they have hurt her. Micheal has been ignoring Allison's calls.

"Well," Jackson turned around to face her, "What about you? Did you talk to Micheal?"

"I left another message." Allison nodded, "His best friend, Alyssa said he quit his job, and then she called me a name, so that's all I know."

***

"Babe, it isn't that hard. How long does it take to wash one, like 10 seconds?" Allison asked, as they reach the nurses station in the main lobby.

Allison and Jackson have been talking about the dirty dishes that is flooding in their apartment sink. The two haven't had time to wash them, being on-call and being in the hospital.

"I don't like a dirty kitchen either. Dirty cereal bowls in the sink aren't gonna exactly tip the scales." Jackson said.

"Oh my God." Allison looked at the familiar figure, who just entered the hospital.

"Okay, I'll make sure to clean the bowls tonight." Jackson assured her, still typing on the tablet, not daring to look up.

Allison cleared her throat, tapping his side, "Your mother. Your mother."

"Hm?" Jackson looked at Allison, before turning his head to look at the direction Allison was looking at, "Oh—"

"She does not look happy." Allison stated, shaking her head, "She'll hate me even more."

"Come on." Jackson gestured towards the end of the hallway, "It'll—It'll be fine."

The couple walked forward as Allison looked at Jackson, "Y-You told her, right?"

"Her? I did." Jackson nodded.

"How did she take it?" Allison asked, before Jackson could respond, Catherine met them halfway as she eyed both of them.

"So—I understand congratulations are in order." Catherine said, eyeing Allison who nervously chuckled. Jackson wrapped an arm around her shoulder causing Allison to tightly smile at her in-law.

***

Allison and Jackson were seated inside the conference room on one side while Catherine sat on the other.

The silence was killing Allison. She expected for either Jackson or Catherine to speak up first, but she should have known that they are both stubborn.

"I-I know this was a shock, and it was a shock to me too, I mean..." Allison nervously talked, "I love your son, you know I always have loved your son."

"You know what? Babe, don't." Jackson stopped Allison, "She doesn't care. But I know why you're here, mom, and I could have saved you a trip." Jackson put his hand on top of Allison's, "I already called Mike Farris."

"The time to call Mike would have been before you stood up at that...barn" Catherine spoke, eyeing her son up and down.

"Wait," Allison furrowed her brows looking at Jackson, "Who is Mike Harris?"

"Farris." Jackson corrected her, "He's our attorney for the Avery Foundation."

"Protects our financial interests." Catherine eyes her daughter-in-law.

Allison couldn't help but not cover her shocked expression, "You think I'm after your money?"

"I have no idea what you're after, dear." Catherine narrowed her eyes at Allison, causing her to quietly scoff.

"All right." Jackson narrowed his eyes at his mother, "That's enough. You're not gonna march in here and start questioning my wife's character."

"You want to talk about her character?" Catherine retorted. "She left a man at the altar. She broke his heart and humiliated him in front of everyone that he loves. I have no idea what she's capable of, never mind you."

Allison looked up at Catherine, "I am not nor was I ever interested in your money."

"Wonderful." Catherine sarcastically said, "That's what I said when I married into the Avery family, and you know what I did next? I signed a prenuptial agreement."

"I said I'd handle it." Jackson glared at his mother, "This is totally inappropriate."

"What's inappropriate is that the engagement was 15 minutes at a rest stop on the turnpike." Catherine argued, narrowing her eyes, "Fortunately, postnuptial agreement were created for moments like this."