"You'll be pregnant before you know it…you two are all over each other," Meggie laughed a short time later while they wandered the aisles of Whole Foods.

"Not if Will has anything to say about it. He watches my birth control pills like a hawk," Mackenzie replied, picking up some yogurt and tossing it into the cart.

"He's concerned Kenzie. He knows how determined you are and he doesn't want to see you throw yourself headlong into something that should wait."

"I'm not going to get pregnant," Mackenzie nearly shouted, and then forced herself to quiet when she noticed the other shoppers looking at her. "I'm not going to go against his wishes. Jesus Christ! If you two don't calm down a little it's me who's going to be talking care of you both when you have strokes!"

"I won't say another word," Meggie replied.

"No, stop it, don't be like that Meggie! You know I love talking to you. I just get tired of being everyone's pet project. I'm a grown woman…you and Will need to start remembering that."

"Come on, let's go pay and arrange to have these groceries delivered and then you and I are going to Tiffany," Meggie said excitedly.

"Why? I think Will is taking care of the rings Meg."

"I know that. But your father and I would like to buy you a little gift and maybe you'd like to get something for Will?"

"Am I supposed to do that? I had no idea!" Mackenzie exclaimed.

"It's a nice idea, I always thought."

"You're right. It is a nice idea. Let's go!"

Mackenzie wandered around Tiffany, leaning carefully against the display cases and pondering all the possibilities. Will was hardly a jewelry wearer. In fact, she wondered how he was going to feel about wearing a wedding band. She had never even thought about it.

"Ma'am, can I help you?" a young man asked her.

"God, I hope so," she mumbled.

"You're looking for a gift then?" he asked, chuckling slightly.

"I am. Does my total lack of ideas radiate off me in waves?"

"You do look a little uncertain," he said politely.

"What do you get the man who has everything for a wedding present?" she asked, hoping like hell this young salesman had the answer.

"Are you his bride-to-be?"

"I am," she responded, still getting used to the idea herself. She had gone from girlfriend to fiancé to almost-wife in a few short days.

"What does he enjoy?"

"The news and scotch," she told him truthfully.

"Well, does he have his wedding band already?"

"I think so. He told me not to worry about any of the wedding plans…so I'm assuming he's taken care of that?" Mackenzie said uncertainly.

"Would he have bought it here and does he have an account? I can check our sales records."

Mackenzie thought about that. Tiffany certainly did seem like the place Will would go. She remembered several gifts he had bought her here over the years.

"Yes, I'm sure he did," she replied, hoping she was right.

"The gentleman's name?"

"Will McAvoy," she said quietly.

"Let me go check for you," the man said, discreetly.

"He bought a platinum band for himself," the man replied when he returned.

"And for me?" Mackenzie asked eagerly.

"Sorry, ma'am. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," he told her firmly.

"Spoilsport. Ok, what would you recommend?" she asked, eyes glazing over at all the choices.

"A watch? We could engrave a message on the back if you like."

"Sold. Bring on the choices Andrew," she replied, looking at his nametag.

After quite some time staring at all the possibilities, Mackenzie settled on the stainless-steel Atlas chronograph. It was clean and elegant and….well, Will. Now, what to engrave on it?

"But it can be," she told the salesman.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" he asked confused.

"That's what I want you to engrave on the back of the watch. But it can be. Love, Mackenzie."

"Ok, we can have this to you by tomorrow evening. Will that be alright?"

"Perfect," Mackenzie replied, her energy was waning and she was eager to pay for her purchase and leave. "Oh wait, one more thing. I need a bridesmaid/thank-you sort of present. What would you suggest for that?"

"The Enchant Flower Diamond studs are a popular gift choice," Andrew responded helpfully. Mackenzie looked at the beautifully elegant earrings and knew Sloan would love them. Will had wanted to get her a little thank-you gift…this seemed to fit the bill.

"I'll take them. You've been a great help Andrew, thank you."

Mackenzie quickly signed the credit card receipt, trying not to look at the astonishing sum she had spent in less than a half hour and waved Meggie over to help her to a cab.

"Are you alright dear?" Meggie asked.

"I forgot my pills. We need to go home," Mackenzie said, tired but happy with her purchases.

Once home, Meggie helped Mackenzie change into some comfortable old yoga pants and a large t-shirt of Will's and settled her into bed with some juice and her pills.

"Congratulations," Meggie said, as she climbed into bed next to her niece and presented her with a box.

Mackenzie delightedly tore into the simply wrapped robin's egg blue box and sighed once she saw her gift.

"Oh Meggie, they're beautiful!" she whispered in awe at the platinum and diamond teardrop earrings.

"I thought they would look lovely with your dress," Meggie replied.

"They will. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Now, get some rest. You only have another day before your wedding," Meggie reminded her, leaving her to her thoughts.

Mac spent the afternoon lounging in bed and resting. She watched Will at eight and was watching Terry when she heard the elevator and knew he was home. He walked into the bedroom and didn't say anything, just collapsed onto the bed.

"What's wrong?" Mac asked.

He sat up and pulled her into his arms and held her. "Will."

"Not yet, okay," he said.

She nodded against his chest and held onto him, caressing his back, hoping to ease whatever was wrong.

"Will you take a bath with me?"

"Love to, can we have bubbles? Bubbles make everything better," she added, pulling back.

He smiled at her and said, "I'd love some bubbles, come on," he said getting out of bed.

Mac followed him into the bathroom and started their bath, adding lots of bubbles. "Do you want in front or back?" she asked.

"Back, please." She nodded and he got into the tub and she followed him. "How'd your grocery shopping go today?"

"Good, we went to Whole Foods."

His hand was resting on her stomach, idly tracing the scar. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not yet."

"Can I do anything?" she offered.

"What you're doing is perfect. Tell me about your day."

"Meggie and I went to the grocery store and then we went over to Tiffany. I found the perfect thank you present for Sloan, and Meggie and Michael bought me some gorgeous earrings. We came home and I spent the afternoon resting and lounging in bed."

"Have you had dinner?"

"Meggie and I shared some leftovers. There's more if you're hungry."

"I'm not."

They soaked in the hot water for a while, just being quiet together. Mac had learned a long time ago to not push him if he didn't want to talk he wouldn't. He, always, would eventually tell her what was bothering him, but not until he was ready and there was no rushing him.

They got out of the tub and Will paid special attention to Mac, making sure she was dry and helped her put on a long sleeved t-shirt, nothing else. He grabbed a clean pair of boxers and they went back to the bed.

They were lying there, his head on her chest, she was rubbing his scalp. Very quietly he asked, "did you watch the show?"

"Yes."

"Did you notice anything?"

"You seemed tense, but I think I'm the only one who would notice that, why?"

"Jim and I had a very bad afternoon. He lost control of the show and the four o'clock meeting was a disaster. Even the six o'clock was bad. I don't know what happened, but I don't think it will ever happen again."

"Are you okay with Jim being the EP tomorrow? I'll be back on Monday and he will be ready, I promise you that or I will delay surgery."

"I'm not sure what happened today, he may tell you, but he couldn't tell me."

"Were you yelling?" she asked.

"Very loudly. I'm so used to you being there and making sure everything is running smoothly and Jim has been able to hold it together until now. I don't know if the pressure finally got to him, or he got lost in a story of his own that he neglected everything else, I'm just not sure."

"I'm sorry. I'll talk to him and find out what happened. I'd bet he got caught up in a story of his own that he was chasing and he quickly got behind and things just got out of control. How was he during the broadcast?"

"Only spoke to me when he absolutely had to and even then it was very brief. He did what I needed him to do, though and we got through it, but I don't like doing a show like that and it's just not good journalism."

"Would it help if I come in for a little while in the morning with you and at least do the pitch meeting? Michael doesn't land until two and I'm sure Meggie could use the morning at the brownstone."

He lifted himself up and looked at her, "I think it would but only if you're up to it, Kenz. Do you feel well enough to do that?"

"Yes and it will give me a little time with Jim. He and I need to dissect what happened and how to keep that from ever happening again."

"Thank you," he said and kissed her.

The next morning Mac got up with him and they got ready. Will had gone to the kitchen to fix them breakfast while Mac went to see Meggie. She knocked on her door and heard, "come in."

Mac opened the door and Meggie was already up and dressed. "Good morning," Mac said hugging Meggie.

"Good morning, my girl. How are you feeling?"

"Good. There was a problem at the studio yesterday and I'm going in with Will for a little while this morning to see if I can get it fixed. I wanted to find out if you wanted to spend some time this morning at the brownstone, maybe take the groceries over and open the drapes and that sort of thing?"

"That's an excellent idea, my dear. Maybe find some fresh flowers, too."

"There's a great shop very close to the brownstone that has the most amazing flowers and they're really nice, you'll like them. I'll give you directions. What I was thinking was that we can drop you off and we'll go to the studio and I'll come by and get you for our trip to the airport. Does that sound like it would work?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Will's making breakfast if you want anything."

"I'll be out in a few minutes."

Mac kissed her cheek and walked to the kitchen and sat on her favorite stool. "What's for breakfast?"

"Omelets with vegetables. Did you want bacon?"

"No thanks. Meggie will be joining us shortly. She is going to go to the brownstone this morning. We're going to drop her off."

"That's good. I'm sure she needs to open some windows and get some sunlight in there."

Meggie brought her bags and sat them by the elevator along with the groceries and then joined Mac and Will for breakfast.

"Morning, Meg," Will said, kissing her cheek.

"Good morning. Breakfast smells wonderful."

"Thanks."

After they'd all finished breakfast and got ready to go, Will carried Meggie's things to the waiting SUV. Lonny drove them to the brownstone and he and Will unloaded Meggie's things while Mac showed her where things were and how to shut off the security alarm.

Everyone was surprised to see Mac walk in the bullpen with Will, most of all Jim. Will walked Mac to her office and then went into his office. It didn't take but a few minutes to pass for the first knock on her door to occur. It was Jim.

"Have a seat." She could tell he was very nervous. "Tell me what happened yesterday."

"I was chasing a story and forgot to be an EP. It all fell apart very quickly. I've never seen Will that angry. I take complete responsibility for my failure yesterday. I know I let him down and I feel horrible."

"Did you apologize to him?" she asked.

"Yes, after the show."

"Have you seen him this morning? Checked in with him yet?"

"I thought you should be my first stop this morning. I apologize Mac, I know what happened and I promise you that it won't happen again."

"Thank you. Starting today, you and I are going to go over everything that happens at News Night. We don't have a lot of time today, but beginning on Monday it's full steam ahead. I'm here today mainly to make sure things start off well and a show like yesterday's doesn't happen again."

"Can I go see Will before we start?"

She smiled at him and said, "yes."

Having Mac in the office seemed to make everything run smoother. Will wasn't sure if it was her leadership, or her organization, or just the energy she brought to the office, but he was thankful she was in, if only for a little while.

After lunch Mac had a car service pick her up and take her to the brownstone where she picked up Meggie and together they went to JFK to meet Michael.

Mackenzie waited in the car while Meggie went into the international arrivals area to search for Michael. She popped a vicodin into her mouth and took a sip of water and laid her head back against the seat and took a few deep breaths. She knew Will had needed her presence in the office this morning, and she knew Jim would need her advice next week if he had any chance of running the show while she was on medical leave, but she was already worn out. If she didn't want to nod off during her wedding night, she needed to drop her father and Meggie off at the brownstone and head back home to rest for a while.

Just then the car door swung open and her father stuck his head into the Town Car.

"Well, you must really be hurting! Imagine my surprise when my daughter was not there to greet me when I stepped out of customs," Michael joked, getting into the car and giving Mackenzie a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm fine Dad. Just saving my energy for my wedding day," she replied, leaning against him as he sat next to her.

"So, you two don't waste any time do you?" Michael asked.

"I don't know…I think we wasted a good five years or so," Mackenzie replied.

"True. But you both know better than that now. Nice to see you do something about it," Michael told her, examining the ring on her left hand. "Excellent taste William has."

"Are we talking about his choice of rings or his choice of a wife?" Mackenzie chuckled.

"Both."

"I hope you two don't mind me dropping you off at the brownstone and letting you get settled. I think I'm going to need to go home and get some rest. You're both welcome at the studio later tonight. I'm going to head back in at seven so I can supervise my senior producer, who will be taking my place while I'm on medical leave."

"Maybe another night love, you don't need us in your hair while you're trying to get your staff ready for your departure. And I'm sure Will would like you all to himself for a bit," Maggie said knowingly. Mackenzie blushed.

"Probably not. He's old fashioned…knowing Will, he'll sleep on the couch tonight or something. When will you be at the apartment tomorrow?" Mackenzie asked.

"Whenever Will tells us to be there. He really is enjoying keeping all this a secret, isn't he?" Meggie asked.

"He is. He was a born party-planner I think. And thank God, because I don't have the slightest interest in any of it," Mackenzie told them with relief. And, the more she thought about it, it was true. While she had been shocked at first, that Will wanted to move ahead with their wedding so quickly, she was actually more than a little thankful for the fast pace at which all this was happening…both the wedding and the surgery. It didn't give her any time to panic.

Not that she didn't want to marry Will. Nothing was further from the truth. But she knew if she'd had to spend months paging through seating charts and planning menus and the like she would have gone insane! She could put together a broadcast with her eyes closed, but force her to consider the vagaries of wedding etiquette and bridal parties and she was lost.

She could tell Will was enjoying himself with all this. And she knew part of the reason for that was that it gave him something to occupy his mind. Will was a born worrier. And if he had a moment to spare, he was going to think of all the worst possible outcomes of her surgery. She was thankful that lately, after a full day of work and wedding planning, he was too tired to obsess about anything. He would just fall into bed, curl himself around her and sink into a deep sleep.

"Expect a call or email from Will with all the pertinent details for tomorrow," Mackenzie called out the car window at Meggie and her father. They waved her off and scurried into the brownstone.