HOW TO : PICK THE RIGHT ONE
"I give up." Holly spoke as she and Jackson collapsed onto their couch, defeated after seeing numerous houses with no luck on falling in love with them.
"Me too." Jackson agreed, exhaling as he turned his head to glance at her, "What if we just live here?"
Holly shrugged, "I guess—"
"You are not living in this apartment for the rest of your lives so my Grand-babies can cry whenever they go to a house with space." Catherine Avery criticized— successfully spooking Jackson and Holly as they both jumped and Jackson reached over to hide Holly behind himself before realizing it was his mother.
"Jesus Christ, Mom..." Jackson groaned, placing a hand over his heart.
"I think we shouldn't give too many people our house keys." Holly voiced, feeling her heartbeat calm down as Jackson nodded.
"Agreed— Mom, what are you doing here?" Jackson quirked a brow, glancing at his mother, who looked over the various pictures the couple had decorated around their living room.
"Thought I could help you two with the decision making of picking out a house." She grinned, "Richard told me you two were struggling, and I thought—"
Holly blinked, "H-How does he know?"
"He found you two excitedly talk about houses before coming back to work with depressed looks on your faces." Catherine remarked, chuckling lightly as Jackson and Holly gave each other a look, wondering how obvious they were with their emotions.
"Well, Mom, we talked about this." Jackson reminded, "You promised you wouldn't meddle in—"
"Wait," Holly began, flickering her eyes between the two Avery's before shrugging, "s-she might actually be of some help—"
"Great! Then it's decided!" Catherine cheered, clasping her hands together, "I—"
"I haven't said anything." Jackson blinked, shaking his head, "Mom, are you sure you want to—"
"Look for a house where you two, Frodo, and the children can live? I'm sure I can manage." Catherine assured with a nod as Jackson quirked a brow and looked to his fiancée.
"You told her about Frodo?" Jackson questioned, squinting at Holly.
Holly flashed him an innocent smile, "I mean, he was the name of your imaginary friend—"
"Okay." Catherine voiced, checking her watch, "How about you two go on and pick out Frodo from the neighbor-lady you talked about while I go find a house?"
"I don't think we'll take long finding a dog we like from the litter..." Holly mentioned, "I think it might take you longer to find a house—"
"Then go on a date, explore Seattle— I'll call you when I'm ready." Catherine smiled, grabbing her bag with excitement before rushing off and calling her assistant, "Yes, they agreed! I need..."
"I know you don't want to hear it," Holly began, smiling as she met Jackson's eyes, "but your Mom just saved the day."
Jackson closed his eyes and buried his face into Holly's neck as he groaned, "You're right— I didn't."
She chuckled before her eyes widened, "Wait—" She reminded, grabbing Jackson's arm to bring him to a stand, "let's go find Frodo!"
Jackson gave her a squint, "I was peacefully resting."
"Too bad." Holly shrugged, jumping onto his back before pointing forward, "Onwards!"
"All right, M'Lady." Jackson nodded, matching her energy as he began to walk, "Off we go to find our dog!"
✧
The process of finding the one proved an easy task a few moments after they arrived at the neighbors house— there, in the corner of the living room, remained a large playpen where tons of Australian Shepherd puppies roamed around and played with each other.
Jackson and Holly glanced over the pups with eager eyes— already knowing a few were reserved for others by the collar on their neck, Holly grinned as she saw one of them excitedly wagging their tail at them upon waking up from a nap.
Jackson, being distracted from looking at the other dogs, grew oblivious to Holly grabbing one before he abruptly felt a tongue meet his cheek— making him turn around to face the puppy who did so.
Instantly, Jackson fell in love— making him spend the remainder of their time there attempting to convince Holly to adopt the dog on the spot while she wanted to look at the other dogs— yet, as the same puppy began to follow her around, she knew she couldn't resist denying the pup a chance of becoming their dog.
"That was easy." Holly noted, walking out of the pet store they decided to visit after choosing Frodo with a ton of puppy supplies— Jackson and Holly had, to say the least, gone crazy in spoiling their future dog.
"Yeah— I thought it'd be harder process." Jackson admitted, taking a sip from his slushee as he quirked a brow at her, "I'm glad Glady's gave us a list of what Frodo needs."
Holly squinted up at Jackson with a smile as a small chuckle escaped her lips, "You've been planning that pun, haven't you?"
Jackson grinned with a nod as her phone rang, "Yes, I have."
Frowning her brows as she helped Jackson place the supplies in their car, she answered the call, "Hello?"
"Holly, I'll send directions to your phone— get here and look at the beautiful house I've selected for you and Jackson!" Catherine declared, enthusiasm pouring out of her voice as she chuckled, "You'll love it."
"O—" Catherine hung up, prompting Holly to deepen the frown of her brows, "Okay...?"
"Who was that?" Jackson asked, quirking a brow as he closed the trunk of their car.
"Your mother."
✧
"Okay, here's the plan." Jackson nodded as he turned the corner to meet the house his mother chose, "No matter what— we don't let her win."
Holly quirked a brow, "Okay?"
"We'll look at the house— we'll smile out of politeness and respect, but we won't fall in love with the house because then she'll want to meddle again." Jackson reasoned, quickly glancing at Holly with a quirked brow as he began to pull into the driveway, "Right?"
Holly chuckled as she nodded, "Right—" Her eyes briefly flicked forward before taking a double take, "holy crap..."
Perhaps it was the sunset, or the backyard Jackson took note of— already planning camping nights in his head, or the smoke escaping the chimney Holly glanced towards— excited to finally have an actual fireplace in a house, or the way the house looked beautifully elegant both externally and internally, from what they could see through the windows, or the fact it was in a secure neighborhood where neighbors were somewhat close for friendship yet far enough to give each other distance, or that it was a house near their workplace— but Holly and Jackson instantly fell in love.
"We can't tell your mother." Holly deadpanned, snapping her head to Jackson as she shook her head, "She'll never let us live it down."
"Right." Jackson nodded, "Right— is that Derek with my Mom?"
"Crap." Holly cursed again, shaking her head, "She enlisted the guy that built his own house to find our dream house— Jackson, we're losing."
"We won't lose." Jackson assured, shaking his head, "Maybe the house is ugly inside and we'll hate it."
Holly nodded, "Right."
✧
They were wrong.
The house, despite being bare of furniture, turned out to have one of the most beautiful interiors they had seen throughout their search— making it harder for them to act unhappy as the smile on Catherine's face grew with each room tour.
"The living room," Holly started, quiet excitement pouring out of her as she whispered to Jackson from across the hall and away from Catherine and Derek, who grew with smug confidence the couple would love the house, "Jackson— it's the living room. The one we're gonna grow old in and watch movies with our kids in— that's it."
"I know that's it." Jackson groaned, bringing a hand to his face as he continued, "Just like I know that backyard has to be the one our kids have camping trips in— even if we'll actually go to the woods sometimes."
"And the kitchen." Holly looked at him with wide eyes, "Jackson— they have a pasta thing... you could make the pasta for Holly's favorite pasta— and it'll be the only thing our kids will feast on."
"I know..." Jackson admitted with an exhale, realizing they were quickly losing the battle before a small grin met his lips, "and the kids rooms—"
"Please don't make me fall in love with this house more than I love you." Holly groaned, bringing her hands to her face as she rested her head on his chest and cried out with a muffle, "What are we gonna do?"
"Lie to my Mom and then buy the house behind her back— and never tell her where we live." Jackson nodded, "It's the only logical explanation."
"Jackson," Holly snorted, "I think we should just admit defeat at this point."
Releasing a large sigh, Jackson rested his chin atop her head, "...You're right."
"Okay." Holly exhaled, taking a step back, "Let's go—"
"Wait," Jackson remarked, holding onto her arm as he nodded, "let's make them wait a bit more for our decision before walking over."
Holly grinned as she looked towards the room Derek and Catherine were talking in, "I like your idea."
✧
"Aha! I knew it!" Catherine chuckled with pride, clasping her hands together as she practically jumped with joy, "You love it— see," She pointed a finger at Jackson, "meddling can be helpful."
"This is the one, rare occasion it was." Jackson clarified before a grin broke across his lips as he hugged his mother, "Thank you."
"Aww, no problem." Catherine assured, accepting Holly's hug as she continued, "I began my search long before you two did—"
Holly quirked a brow, "When did you begin your search?"
"The day after Christmas a year or two ago." Catherine shrugged, making Holly turn to Jackson with a quirked brow.
"I thought we agreed to not tell anyone?" Holly questioned, releasing Catherine from her hug as she crossed her arms in front of her chest while Jackson offered her a smile.
"Sweetheart," He began, offering her a smile as he realized he had been caught, "I love you— and I just want you to know, my Mom would not stop calling me afterwards."
"Mm." Holly chuckled, unable to keep an intimidating face as she nodded, "Good— payback, even."
"So, the dog?" Derek voiced for the first time, having been an innocent spectator throughout the entire conversation with a grin on his face before looking towards the couple, "Did you choose?"
"Yep." Holly smiled, "Frodo, the Australian Shepherd pup, will be with us shortly."
"Australian Shepherd?" Derek chuckled, "Guys— you missed out on an opportunity—"
"I refuse to name my dog 'Derek'." Holly deadpanned, shaking her head as Jackson laughed.
"I don't know..." He admitted, grinning as he joked, "Saying something like 'Derek peed on the street' just has a certain ring to it."
"Ha!" Holly laughed, nodding her head as Derek squinted at the couple, "I agree!"
✧✧✧
IT'S THE WAY JOLLY LITERALLY LOVED THE CHILDREN ROOMS EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE LITERALLY EMPTY ROOMS— THEY JUST SAW IT AND WENT YES THIS IS WHERE MY CHILDREN WILL SLEEP AND IMAGINED THE POSSIBILITIES ALKSDFJHAJKS
ALSO SADFKJHASDF THE WAY JACKSON LITERALLY TOLD HIS MOM ABOUT HIM BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP THE DAY AFTER KISSING HOLLY— ADFKLAJSDF IM DECEASEDDD HE HAD TO UPDATE JOLLY'S #1 FAN AND SHE WENT IMA GO PLAN A WHOLE ASS HOUSE FOR Y'ALL TO LIVE IN
the way i'm basically going off grey's to write these chapters 😳 like we had jolly's bachelor/bachelorette parties, now we got frodo introduction and jolly's dream house, then next chapter and CHAPTER 90 👁👁
the way it's planned rn — chapter 90's ending makes me want to *i don't know if this is a spoiler/hint of what's to come, so i'm deleting what i said and replacing it with this✨* you know?
ANYWAYS, I AM EXCITED TIMES AS ALWAYS :}} i hope y'all like these chapters ✨ we'll go back on grey's time on chapter 91 :}