"A 42 year old woman has pain in her right arm two hours after she falls while grocery shopping. Your physical exam shows a deformity and swelling of that arm, and she cannot dorsiflex that wrist. What's your next step?" Callie asks, watching her from her kitchen island, a pile of notecards in front of her.

"X-ray." Briar answers instantly, flipping over the last crepe in the pan, wincing when it comes out a darker color than she'd like.

"That reveals a spiral midshaft fracture of the humerus. Which nerve is most likely to have been affected by this?"

"Radial: it courses posterior to the middle third of the humerus shaft and is prone to injury with humerus fractures." Briar decides, handing Callie a plate. Arizona is still sleeping, as is Mark in the apartment across the hall, so Briar puts their portions in the microwave for them to heat up later.

"Bingo. How's Avery? Is he freaking out?" Callie asks her curiously, pushing away the notecards in favor of their breakfast.

"Oh yeah." Briar laughs, shaking her head. "Did I tell you that he tried to ship me off to Chicago? He was going to buy me a plane ticket to 'go visit Kelly' and it just happened to fall on the day his mother will be here."

"You turned down a free trip?" She asks her, sounding disgusted.

"Uh, yeah." Briar scoffs. "It's my fifth year, I need to put in all the time I can. I can't miss out on mandatory lectures because Jackson is worried that I won't get along with his mother."

"Fair enough." Callie accepts, giving her an approving nod. "Alright! 12 year old boy with intermittent hip pain . . ."

✦

"You look like death." Alex tells her, making her shove him down a step of the lecture hall, grinning to herself when he nearly falls into Cristina. He recovers at the last second, turning to glare at her and almost tripping himself up in the process.

"Ugh, I can't believe Altman postponed our surgery for grand rounds." Cristina complains as she follows Meredith into a row with four available seats. Briar smiles at the people they pass as they do the awkward shuffle into their spots. "It's just a boring lecture."

"Your husband said it was mandatory." Meredith tells her pointedly.

"One more hour of sleep, that's what it is." Alex decides, bundling up his lab coat to use as a pillow. Briar sits down next to him and immediately starts using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Don't talk to me about sleep." She whines. "I'm the one waking up at 4 every single morning."

"Oh, no, it's not gonna be boring." April pipes up from the seat behind them. Briar turns to look at her, seeing clear excitement on her face. "This is Jackson's mother, Catherine Avery."

"She's a urologist, right?" Meredith asks, twisting to face Jackson. He looks completely over the day already.

"Yeah. I met her when I was an intern at Mercy West." April gushes. "She's amazing."

"She is . . . a lunatic." Jackson adopts April's tone, causing Briar to laugh, along with Meredith.

"No, she's not. She's brilliant." April retorts, but Briar only has eyes for Jackson, who is running his fingers along the top of his coffee cup and looking nervous, even as he tries to hide it behind humor. Briar has barely heard him mention his family, but everything she has heard isn't the best. Briar can't begin to imagine how he feels right now. "She says these things that shock you, but then when you think about them later, they change your whole life."

"Or they ruin your whole life." Jackson murmurs back. "She's toxic. She's a meddler. My mom has no boundaries. Be warned. Briar, there's still time to get on that plane."

"And get in trouble for missing a mandatory lecture? Yeah, no thanks." She tells him, twisting around again and ignoring Alex complaining to her about the movement. "I can hold my own, don't worry about me."

"What plane?" Cristina asks, leaning over Alex to look at Briar.

"He tried to ship Briar out of state to her ex-husband so that she wouldn't meet his mommy." Alex explains, and Briar tries to stifle her laughter, shrugging at Jackson when she can't manage it.

"Wow. And you chose to be here instead of with your ex hubby and his gorgeous girlfriend?" Cristina asks her, leaning in and pretending to check her for a temperature. Briar plays into it, laughing the entire time. "I thought you loved getting your freak on with them."

"Stella is Kelly's fiancée now." Briar tells her, correcting the term. "And my freaky threesome days are over."

"That sucks for you." Cristina says bluntly.

"I am right here." Jackson points out, sounding amused, and Briar smiles to herself.

"Hmm, did Kelly hide you under a rock when his parents came into town?" Cristina asks her, only for Meredith to jump in to defend Jackson.

"Did Kelly have a hypercritical surgeon for a mom?" She asks next, turning and exchanging a commiserating smile with Jackson. "I get it."

"Is your mom ambidextrous?" Cristina asks him, changing the subject. "I bet you she is. All the best surgeons are."

"Awe, thanks." Briar says with a cheesy grin, surprised when Cristina whips around to face her.

"You're ambidextrous?" Cristina snaps.

"Not naturally, but when I was learning how to box, my friend Jay forced me to train with my left hand as well as my right. He said it was important to train both hands so that I'm not ever caught off guard." Briar explains. "I'm always inclined to use my right hand over my left, but it has come in handy during surgery. So . . . it's more mixed-handed than it is ambidextrous."

"I hate you so much." Cristina scoffs. "Wait, if you know how to box, why do you have that black eye?"

"I'd love to see you do better." Briar snaps, crossing her arms over her chest. "The guy was tall, okay?"

"Wait a second. How often do you talk to my mom?" Jackson suddenly questions April.

"We're Facebook friends." She tells him, causing Briar and Alex to burst into laughter.

"You're–you and my mother?" Jackson exclaims, sounding bewildered.

"She's a brilliant surgeon and woman." April defends. "She's a trailblazer."

"And she's got a stalker." Meredith adds. Briar wheezes for air, clutching her stomach. The look on Jackson's face only adds to the humor.

"Hey!" April complains. "You know what? Just meet her. You'll see."

"Wake up everybody!" Catherine Avery calls, snapping the room into attention. Briar sits up straight, cutting her laughter off as she watches her walk across the stage, admiring the way she demands attention with her appearance alone. "I know, I know, it's grand rounds, where we have to sit and listen to somebody talk about how somebody did something and here's how they did it and there's not enough coffee in Brazil for this."

That gets laughter from the room.

"Well, not today." Catherine continues. "Today we are going to do. Today I'm going to change a life and maybe make medical history, too."

Jackson sinks down in his chair, but Briar only has eyes for his mother.

"And I can't do it alone, so who wants to step into the future with me?"

"Whoo!" April's shout echoes through the empty auditorium, causing people to turn and look at her while she freezes in mortification. Briar feels her and Alex both shaking as they hold back their laughter, the look on April's face being way too funny as she sinks down to be at level with Jackson.

"Okay! That's–that's alright. That's a start." Catherine says, while Briar makes eye-contact with Mark, having to quickly turn away so she doesn't lose the battle and start laughing properly. "Let's see if I can get a few more. Ryan, honey, would you come out here please? Everyone, this is Ryan."

They all watch as Ryan walks out in a plaid bathrobe, greeting them with a simple 'hi.'

"Ryan, could you show everybody what we're here to do today?" She asks him, and Briar leans forward as he starts untying the robe, only for her mouth to drop when it falls to the floor, revealing that he has no penis. Gasps and murmurs fill the room, and Briar laughs at the looks on both Alex and Jackson's faces.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to invite a few very lucky residents to scrub in on this country's first . . . penis transplant." She announces powerfully, her head held high as the energy in the room shifts from boredom to excitement.

"Thanks to a case of penile cancer, Ryan underwent a full penectomy 11 months ago. Good margins left him basically cured and cancer free." She explains, giving Ryan a high-five. "So that's gone! And today we'll be replacing the other thing Ryan lost. A suitable donor has become available here at Seattle Grace Mercy West, and Ryan generously agreed to fly out and make this day a teaching opportunity. Who wants in on it?"

Every hand in the room flies up, aside from Jackson's.

"Hello! That's more like it!"

Mark coughs, standing up now. "Mark Sloan, plastics. Isn't penile reconstruction the standard approach in cases like these? Why a–a transplant?"

"Well, I can answer your question with a question. Do you like your penis?"

"Yeah he does." Briar whispers, laughing with the room at how ironic it is to ask Mark Sloan, of all people, if he likes his junk.

"It does the job." Mark says dryly, and Briar has to hide her face in Alex's shoulder for a second, giggling. She would kill to see Callie's face right now, considering she's the one who had his child.

"If one day, it wasn't there, wouldn't you want it back? Or would you be satisfied with a reconstructed organ that has very little function?"

"Satisfied, no, but that's not the–"

"Neither would Ryan here." Catherine pushes on, speaking over Mark. "Yes, this is new ground. But here's a young man with his whole life ahead of him, with the will to live it as a whole man, with bravery and selflessness to help advance medical science along the way. So let's give Ryan a hand."

"And a dick." Briar whispers to Alex, using the room's applause and cheering as cover.

"And now let's give Ryan a penis!" Catherine shouts over the crowd, amplifying the applause.

Jackson is nearly touching the ground by this point, one hand covering his face.

✦

"Shouldn't you be meeting Jackson's mom?" Alex asks her as soon as she sits down next to him in the skills lab, taking the seat from a different resident.

"Nah, he's clearly not ready for that." Briar laughs. "Poor guy tried to ship me out of town. If I meet her, fine, but I'm not going to force myself into that situation."

"You could skip this lab." Alex suggests, grinning at her.

"So there's one less person for you to compete against? Not a chance. This would look amazing on my boards." Briar scoffs, turning to the front of the room as Catherine walks in with Jackson slipping in after her.

"Who has worked with the tissue of the penis before?" Catherine asks them.

"Kepner, keep your hand down." Alex jokes, making Briar and Meredith laugh as April shushes him.

"Its delicate vascularity demands a grace and elegance that not many surgeons of your station have mastered. The two surgeons to do the best end-to-end anastomosis of their chicken's femoral vessels will scrub in with me, so be cautious, be careful, be brilliant. Begin!"

Briar bites her bottom lip, eyeing the tray of instruments in front of her. She grabs a needle applier, testing its tension by placing it between her fingers and partially closing the tips, turning her hand over and frowning when the tip rotates out of position. Too weak, she thinks, grabbing a different set, relieved when that one has perfect tension. She grabs an extra blue rubber glove, cutting a piece off and setting it aside for the time being, moving to focus the microscope at low power over the femoral artery, elevating it away from the vein with the use of forceps.

Briar blocks everything around her out, knowing that she has only one chance of this, and that Callie really wants her to scrub in. She doesn't want to let her down after all of the time she's spent teaching her, especially recently.

The piece of glove from earlier is placed underneath the artery, and then she applies a temporary clip approximator to the artery, facing the clip away. Next she grabs the microscissors with her left hand, finding the long axis and dividing the artery perpendicular to that, removing the Murphy's branch section of the artery.

"You need to lay off the lattes, dear." Catherine says from the table diagonal to hers, speaking to Cristina. "Your left hand is shaking like a motel bedspring."

"It's–it's just tired." Cristina attempts.

"I hear you, honey. Aren't we all? Step to the back." Catherine orders. Briar fights down the temptation to look around the room, wondering how many people Catherine has tagged out already. Only the knowledge that she could be next if she loses focus keeps her eyes locked on her tray.

"It's very simple, people! All it has to be is perfect."

A few minutes later, Briar feels someone hovering over her and Alex's shoulders. She knows it's Catherine but pretends not to notice. Alex's pager goes off before Catherine can step away or say anything to them, and Alex ends up leaving the room.

"Hey, he forfeits, right? He walked out!" Mark calls out. "So, it's down to these three. Come on, Avery, you've got this."

"Thank you, Mark." Briar says dryly, even if the way he's practically adopted Jackson is something she loves seeing. "I love your support."

"Call Callie down here if you want support from your mentor. Jackson is all mine." He shoots back.

"Uh, thanks?" Jackson tells him, and Briar laughs at the confusion in his tone. He's always so confused by Mark suddenly taking him under his wing, even though Briar has assured him that it's a good thing.

The next few minutes are tense, with Briar competing against Jackson and an unknown other resident–Briar refuses to take her eyes away for long enough to find out.

"Out." Catherine announces after Briar has placed the initial sutures. Her heart drops even as she turns around, surprised when she sees Catherine looking and speaking to Meredith.

"What? Why?" Cristina asks for Meredith, who looks disappointed even as she stands to join her in the back. "They all just did the same thing."

"Doctor Grey's sutures were placed at the 9:00 and 3:00 positions, not the 10:00 and 2:00." Catherine elaborates, moving to stand behind Briar again and examining her work. "If you'd like to see what it should look like, Dr. Yang, this is a perfect example."

"Congratulations! We have our winners." She continues, and Briar twists to give Jackson a proud smile just as Cristina protests again.

"Uh, he's your son, and you're the judge. Isn't there some rule against that?"

"I don't play favorites, dear. Nepotism is for the weak."

"That's what my birthday cards always said." Jackson jokes, causing Briar to laugh, although she's the only one. All she can imagine is a young Jackson excitedly opening a birthday card, only to see nepotism is for the weak instead of the typical happy birthday.

"Now that that's settled." Catherine dismisses, turning back to Briar and holding out her hand. "I don't believe we've been introduced."

"Briar Sinclair." Briar bites the bullet, shaking her hand with a firm grip and giving her a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The smile on the woman's face makes it clear that she knows that Briar is dating her son, although she thankfully doesn't say anything in front of their audience, instead giving her and Jackson instructions.

The look of dread on his face worries Briar.

✦

"Now it's gonna be big, right?" Ryan's brother, Chad, asks them in his brother's hospital room. Along with Jackson and Briar are Mark and Catherine.

"Chad." Ryan sighs.

"What? I'm just sayin', maybe you could be trading up, you know? Have you seen it?" He asks Briar, who gives them her most patient smile.

"I have, yes." She admits, a little lost on what to say in this situation.

"How's it measure up? It's nothing to be embarrassed about?"

"Chad, shut up."

"I'm just sayin', my little brother's a good looking kid. He's gonna need–"

"He's gonna be happy with it." Jackson reassures, taking the focus away from Briar, who is relieved.

"And it's gonna work? Not just the plumbing, it'll stand up and report for duty?"

"Chad, I swear to god." Ryan grits out, his entire face bright red.

"That's the point of doing a transplant–to hopefully restore full urinary and sexual function." Catherine explains, right before Mark jumps in.

"If you're worried, there's always penile reconstruction. It's less risky."

"I saw the signs for months before I saw a doctor. By the time I finally saw someone, they tell me it's cancer, it's too far gone and I have to lose it. I'm tired of, every time I look down, being reminded of what a coward I am. This feels like a second chance, and like she says, if you can learn something from me that might help out the next guy, then I can feel pretty good about that too."

"Okay. See you in surgery." Catherine tells him, giving him a smile before leaving the room.

✦

"Thanks." Briar says softly, smiling at Jackson when he puts her scrub cap on for her, handing him a pair of shoe covers before putting her own on. Across from them, Mark and Catherine are putting on their own O.R. gear.

"I was impressed with your work in the skills lab, Dr. Sinclair." Catherine states suddenly, surprising Briar, who is slipping her bracelets into her pocket.

"Thank you. And please call me Briar." She responds, getting a smile in return.

"What are you specializing in?"

"Trauma and orthopedics." Briar tells her, watching as surprise grows on Catherine's face.

"You're trying to be double-certified?" She questions. "That's a lot of extra work, and not very common."

"Yes, well, hopefully it'll work out. I'm logging in extra hours in both fields to pass both boards." Briar laughs the comment off, even as she feels nerves growing at the mention of the tests that'll define her future.

"Hmm, or you'll end up failing both tests." Catherine says.

"Mom!" Jackson hisses, looking shocked, while Briar tries to swallow down the anger building up inside of her. She does not want to snap at her boyfriend's mom.

"Briar is already studying hard for both tests, and she's brilliant." Mark defends her, frowning at Catherine. "I tried to steal her for plastics a long time ago, in fact."

"And instead you stole my son." Catherine scoffs.

"Jackson had a chance to be on neuro, but he turned it down to follow me into plastics." Mark says proudly, flashing Jackson a wide smile. Jackson smiles back, although it quickly falls at the look on his mother's face.

"You had an opportunity to work with Derek Shepherd and you turned it down . . . for plastics? Jackson Avery, who raised you when I wasn't looking?"

"Mom, let's not–"

"I'm standing right here!" Mark exclaims.

"I know, honey, but this isn't about you. This is about this boy and, oh . . . and here he is, the man of the hour!" She says, her tone changing when Ryan is wheeled in behind Briar and Jackson, his brother standing next to the bed. "Chad, honey, this is as far as you can go."

"Buddy, as soon as this is over, I'm gonna take you to test drive that thing in every strip club in Long Island." He tells his brother while Briar gives Jackson a disgusted grimace.

"Okay, Chad, stop. For the past year, all we've talked about is this. I miss talking about the Knicks. Tell me this is gonna work so I can have my brother back."

"It's gonna work." Catherine assures him. "I'm gonna go harvest the organ right now. I'll see you in the O.R."

"When this is over, you can never mention my penis again." Ryan tells his brother.

"Promise." Chad says, pulling him into a hug.

They wheel him in, working to get him prepped while Catherine and April harvest the donor organ.

✦

"Alright, my dears, what do you say we get to anastomosing these deep dorsal vessels?" Catherine asks, while Mark requests more suction from Jackson, who is next to him while Briar stands next to Catherine. There is a room full of residents watching their every move.

"Dr. Sinclair, easy on the suction." Catherine tells her gently, and Briar quickly follows her instructions. "Perfect. Are there any other doctors in your family?"

"No, ma'am."

"Hmm. And you attended college in Pittsburgh, is that correct?"

"Yes. I completed my bachelors at the University of Pittsburgh, and then I completed med school at the University of Chicago."

"Did you have a preference?" She asks, sounding curious.

"Chicago." Briar says honestly. "I learned a lot there. Not to be cliche, but I discovered myself in Chicago. It's a beautiful place."

"That it is." Catherine nods. She opens her mouth to continue her interrogation, but Jason, one of the nurses, speaks up before she can.

"Dr. Sinclair, your pager is going off."

"What is it?" Briar asks, still focusing on suctioning. Anything less than an emergency won't get her to leave the room.

"It's Karev, but it doesn't say why."

"Unless it's a 911, I'm not leaving this O.R." Briar tells him, getting an approving nod from Catherine.

"You're not leaving this O.R., period. Someone else can handle things out there." She tells her firmly. "More suction, please. Where are you planning to go for your fellowship? Any plans on moving back to Chicago?"

"Um." Briar blinks, surprised at the question. "I suppose it'll depend on what, if any, offers I get–"

"Your ex-husband lives there, does he not?" Catherine asks her casually. Briar opens her mouth before shutting it, surprised by her knowing this.

"Mom!" Jackson exclaims, giving her an angry look, but Catherine ignores him. "How do you even know that? I never told you anything other than her name."

"Oh, don't act like I stalked her. I only know what a quick Google search told me." She says dismissively, turning to Briar again. "I am right about him living in Chicago, aren't I?"

Before Briar can respond to that, James speaks up again. "It's Karev, 911." He tells her, holding up her pager. Briar bites her lip, trying to figure out what to do, before twisting around and looking at the group of residents in the room.

"Mer, can you go see what he needs?" She asks, relieved when Meredith nods and slips out of the room.

"Hmm, so you know how to delegate." Catherine tells her. "That's an important skill to have, especially if you're going to become trauma certified."

"Dr. Hunt trusts her to run the emergency room for him very often." Jackson pipes up, and Briar fights down a smile. It's sweet, this whole trying to talk her up to his mother thing.

"Ah, and this Dr. Hunt is the new Chief of Surgery, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. He's one of my mentors." Briar tells her, lightening up on the suction when Catherine asks her to.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, completes the work on this dorsal artery." Catherine proclaims to the room. "Everybody, stretch, shake out your hands, take a breather."

Briar takes the opportunity to crack her neck, sharing a relieved look with Jackson. Honestly, meeting his mother hasn't gone as poorly as he'd talked it up to be. Sure, they're not instant friends, but Briar can handle the woman questioning her. She's handled much worse.

"Your technique has improved, baby." Catherine tells Jackson gently.

"Thanks."

"It's easy to teach when there's natural ability to work with." Mark jumps in. "Your boy's born for plastics."

"That might be so, but, you know, you gotta be careful with that easy road." Catherine warns. Briar bites back a sigh as she gets back to work, hating the way she's insulting Mark and Jackson. "A person can get used to taking the easy road, and next thing they know, they find themselves . . . the boob-job king of Seattle, a tummy-tuck tycoon."

Oh my god, Briar thinks, desperately keeping her eyes focused on her microscope. She can only imagine the look on Jackson's face right now.

"I don't think that's fair." Mark says with a frown.

"More irrigation and suction." Catherine tells Briar, who rushes to do as she says. "Are you saying there isn't easy money in plastics, Dr. Sloan?"

"Are you saying there's no valuable work to be done there?" Mark questions back, and Briar has had enough, turning to face Catherine.

"I think you're focused too much on the physical aspect of plastic surgery, and not what Mark spends the most time working on."

"Excuse me?" She asks with a huff, narrowing her eyes at Briar, who refuses to back down.

"I'm just saying, plastic surgery is an important job. They repair and reconstruct all kinds of injuries, including burns and birth defects. It's–"

"Sure, it can be important, but that's not what I'm talking about." Catherine brushes her off.

"She's saying I don't have the discipline to resist the easy money." Jackson states, sounding annoyed.

"I'm just saying, there's a temptation." Catherine continues, only digging the hole deeper for herself. "Gently, Briar."

"Yeah, well, maybe if you knew a little more about me, you'd know that I'm incredibly disciplined." Jackson snaps.

"And I'm not a tummy-tuck tycoon." Mark adds, bothered by that nickname.

"I'm sorry about that, Dr. Sloan. She's obviously tr–"

"Don't apologize for me." Catherine chastises her son, while Briar frowns, trying to slow down the suctioning, but unable to.

"Dr. Avery, I need–" Briar starts, only to be talked over.

"Yeah, well, somebody needs to!" Jackson tells her, not noticing the way that Briar is struggling. "You are way out of line. I chose plastics! I pursued Dr. Sloan. These are my choices. I'm not gonna sit here and let you trash them because they're not the same choices you would've made!"

"I need help!" She calls out, finally catching Catherine's attention, only for it to be too late. "The suction won't turn off!"

"Here, let me try." Jackson offers, reaching over to try and help her, just as the vein gets stuck in it.

"Don't move, it's shredding!" Catherine orders her.

"It won't turn off!" Briar tells them desperately, forced to watch as the vein gets mangled. "Oh, god. Oh no. What's the back up plan?"

Briar can feel her entire face turning red as she makes panicked eye-contact with Mark, who grimaces at her. She refuses to look at Catherine.

"You destroyed my dorsal vein." Catherine tells her, sounding horrified. "I knew I should've had Dr. Grey perform this instead."

"Oh, back off." Jackson snaps, shocking both Catherine and Briar. "She won that contest, and this could've happened to anyone. You should've been paying more attention to what she was doing instead of berating me for my life choices."

"Jackson Avery–!"

"Enough!" Briar calls out, bringing the attention back to her. "I'm sorry that I destroyed the vein, I really am, but we need to figure out how to fix this for Ryan's sake. You can argue with each other later."

"Okay. New game plan. We harvest the saphenous vein from his leg and use it as extension tubing." Catherine decides after a long second, turning away from her.

"If we use a deep inferior epigastric perforator flap, we wouldn't need to cut into his leg." Mark suggests.

"I'm not familiar with that technique." Catherine admits.

"It's been used recently in genital reconstruction surgeries."

"I've seen him do it. The results have been amazing." Jackson tells his mother, with Briar nodding along.

"More natural looking, ages better, there'd be no visible scarring, less post-op pain, fewer post-op complications." Mark lists the pro's. "You want me to go on?"

"I'm not gonna risk Ryan's penile function because I bruised your ego."

"I'm not trying to impress you." Mark retaliates. "Let me do this, and that'll come naturally. Come on, Dr. Avery. Step into the future with me."

"Well, if you feel comfortable doing it–" Catherine sighs.

"Hell, I feel comfortable letting your kid do it." Mark says brightly. "Avery, prep the abdomen. Sinclair, you're his assistant."

"Got it." Briar says with a smile, helping him prep Ryan and sharing a pleased look as they get to work.

✦

"Alright. Good anastomosis, Dr. Avery." Mark says while Jackson finishes up, sounding proud of his mentee. "Perfect flap."

"Thank you."

"And Mrs. Dr. Avery, here is your brand-new dorsal vein." Mark tells her, showing it off. "Impressive, no."

"If it actually works." Catherine tells him, not willing to give him the win just yet. "I mean, right now all we've got is a sad old gray penis with a piece of belly in it. Dr. Sinclair, release the clamp."

Briar does just that, setting it in the tray reserved for that purpose.

"Yep. Pinker." Jackson announces a second later, and Briar tilts her head as she studies the organ, relieved to note that it has become pinker.

"Yay blood flow." She cheers quietly, getting an amused look from Jackson and Mark.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say that's just about the pinkest penis I've ever seen." Mark brags.

"Mm. Yep." Jackson agrees, the two sharing a pleased look with each other over the operation going smoothly. While Briar hates that she ruined part of it, she's relieved that Jackson got to show off to his mom and prove a point.

✦

"Dr. Avery!" Briar calls out, hurrying to catch Catherine before she can leave. She's with Jackson, who had invited her to get drinks at Joe's with them after their shift. "I have an invitation for you."

"Oh, what for? Also, please call me Catherine, honey." Catherine adds, sounding pleasantly surprised.

"Dr. Altman and her husband are throwing a dinner party tonight. I already checked in with them and they would be thrilled to have you both come." She offers.

"Oh, I would love to, but I can't show up empty handed." Catherine frets, frowning.

"Don't worry about that. I have gifts for them, all you have to be is my plus one." Briar tells her warmly.

"In that case, of course we'll come. Thank you for the invite, dear." Catherine gives her the first real smile of the night, exciting Briar. "Now, are you driving, or is Jackson?"

"Jackson can drive. I want to get to know you." Briar tells her, linking arms with her and leading the way out, laughing at the shocked–and slightly horrified–look on Jackson's face. "You're from Boston, right? How do you like it there?"

Briar learns about Catherine's upbringing during the drive, and is honestly fascinated by the way Catherine talks. That woman knows how to tell a story and she has Briar hanging onto her every word by the time they arrive, and she's reluctant to get out of the car, wanting to hear more.

"Henry, it's so great to see you." Briar greets her friend warmly when he opens the door, pulling him into a quick hug. "Have you met Jackson? No? Henry, meet Catherine and Jackson Avery."

"Thank you for having us." Jackson says, shaking his hand. His mother does the same, looking around as Henry ushers them inside.

"Oh, Briar, you didn't have to bring anything." Henry tells her, even as he graciously takes the wine bottle from her, handing it off to Teddy when she comes to stand next to him.

"Uh, have you met me? Of course I did." Briar scoffs playfully, handing over the wrapped gift basket next. "Teddy, you look gorgeous. Oh, I'm so sorry! Teddy Altman, this is Catherine Avery."

They get through their introductions, with Teddy gushing over Catherine for a minute and asking about the surgery. Henry takes the chance to open her gift, laughing loudly when he sees what's inside.

"I had to." Briar giggles, watching him show off the game night kit to his wife. It's complete with Jenga, dominoes, two decks of cards, Clue, and, of course, UNO. "I figured you'd want a rematch."

"I absolutely do. Thank you." He tells her genuinely, pulling her into another hug. Teddy looks delighted from over his shoulder; Briar knows that not everyone took so warmly to their marriage. "We should play some of this tonight! That's perfect. I didn't even think about entertainment."

"All this group needs is food, don't worry." Briar assures him, laughing when Jackson nods along at that. The doorbell rings, pulling away the hosts, and Briar leads the way into the kitchen. She makes a point of pouring a glass of wine for Catherine, and then they settle in the living room with their drinks and plates.

Catherine wastes no time turning to Jackson once they've settled in. "Tell me about plastics."

"Mom, come on." Jackson sighs, looking around the room. "Can we not argue here?"

"I'm not trying to argue with you." Catherine tells him, sounding upset that he thinks that she would be. "I'm asking you to share your interests! But if you don't want to, fine. Briar, sweetheart, what made you choose orthopedics?"

"Oh, well, I need Callie for this one." She says with a laugh, waving Callie over from across the room. "She's my mentor, and she takes all the credit. She'll tell it better."

They spend the entire night getting to know each other, and Jackson has relaxed completely by the end of it. At some point he talks with his mom privately, and Briar is relieved to notice that it seems to be a necessary conversation that starts off tense and ends with them hugging. He spends a lot of time just watching Briar talk with his mom, his eyes sparkling when they team up to beat him and Henry at Jenga.

For a guy that complained so much about her coming into town, and even tried to fly Briar into a different state, he truly is a mama's boy. 

✦

so I have the next chapter written, and I'm working on the one after that. I'm thinking weekly updates from now on!! most likely on Sundays since that's my guaranteed day off. I'm hoping to get all of season eight written ahead <3

are there any episodes/plot lines etc that you want to see in season 8?

love you guys, hope you're all well <3