The weekend was amazing and the two managed to spend some quality time together. Jackson had been right, Maggie loved the surprise. They decided to hold off on selling the boat but instead they will be making money of it by renting it out time and again. The two were driving to the hospital and Maggie was awfully quiet. Jackson knew something was on her mind; he put his free hand rubbing the back of her neck a little and said "hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I am okay" she said with her eyes looking out the window watching the sky

"Babe, talk to me" he said as he continued rubbing her neck with his thumb. Maggie bit her lip a little. She contemplated in her head if this was the right time or if he was going to even agree on it. He gave him the encouraging look with a warm smile. She turned to face him taking the hand that was on her neck and holding it in between hers.

"It`s just, I don`t know how to say this without sounding unreasonable, it`s nothing really"

"If it`s in your mind then it`s something" he said

"I know things are good between us or should I say great so please don`t take this the wrong way but I think we should do counselling together" she said looking up at him after seeing him making a face. He didn't expect that at all because the experience he had with marital counselling was not a great one. He was against it then but he did it anyway and it made things worse "well, are you going to say something?" Maggie asked. He took his hand off her and scratched his head a little.

"I mean you said yourself things are great so why do we need it?"

"Because things won`t be always great and I think it will help us, you have been married and I have never been married so clearly our understanding of marriage is way different"

"Babe, I know you like to weigh and measure but I don`t know about this. I did counselling before my divorce and it didn't help so I don`t know how to feel about that"

"It helped and that's why you divorced, therapy doesn't always have to end with people fixing things, sometimes it helps you see its best to walk separate ways. I have been doing it since everything happened and it has helped me and Dr Carr recommended it"

"I mean I get it but still..."

"Look all I am asking is for you to think about it" he took his eyes off road and looked at her

"Fine, I will think about it"

"Thank you" she said with a smile as they arrived. They quickly made their way to change into their scrubs and got on with their day.

...

It was lunchtime and Maggie had changed into her regular clothes. Jackson walked into the attending lounge and found her on the couch with her head buried on a tablet.

"Do we have a lunch date I forgot about" he said bending kissing her forehead as Catherine walked in saying "oh dear, I hope you are ready for lunch because I am starving"

"Mum, I am busy and you can`t just...

"Oh baby, I wasn't talking to you" Catherine said cutting Jackson off. Jackson looked at his mum and then looked at Maggie who was already on her two feet. Maggie smiled at him and stood on her tippy toes and gave him a small kiss and said "I will see you later; I am having lunch with your mum"

Catherine was now holding the door when Richard joined them "if I had known we were having lunch I would have made arrangements" he said surprised by the sight of Catherine.

"You two need to know that I have a life that doesn`t revolve around you" she said to Jackson and Richard "Maggie are you ready?"

"Yes, let`s go" she said and the two walked out leaving the two gentlemen wondering what just happened.

"What was that all about?" Richard asked

"I have no idea" Jackson said pouring himself some coffee

"Haven't seen you since your trip to SF. How are you?"

"I am good all things considered, just been busy with that and then there was LA but otherwise all is good" he said sinking on the couch

"That`s wonderful, it`s amazing what you are doing, you should be proud" Richard said grabbing his food from the small fridge and sitting down to eat.

"You two set a date yet?"

"No, not yet, we haven't talked about the wedding at all"

"Well it`s too soon anyway, you two must enjoy your engagement"

"It`s funny because there is more talk about marriage than the wedding. Is that how it`s suppose to be?"

"What do you mean?"

"She wants to do counselling to "prepare" for the marriage" he said shaking his head because he thought it was unnecessary.

"Is everything alright, are you two alright?" Richard asked with a little concern

"Everything is great, I don`t know why she wants that"

"Well, it`s not a dirty thing Jackson. It`s actually a good thing"

"Did you and mum do it?"

"No because when we married we were both experienced and we knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into. You are divorced; she has never been married so she is probably scared. You just got to go at her pace"

"What if we do it and it destroys us? April and I tried it but we still ended up divorcing"

"If you both want this to work then it won`t destroy you. Maggie isn't April, just because counselling resulted in your marriage ending, it does not mean it will happen again work with Maggie"

"I just don`t want anything to get in between us"

"So don`t let it"

"Are you and mum okay?"

"Oh yes, just planning on surprising her for her upcoming birthday"

"Oh is that why she is having lunch with Maggie?"

"Oh no, that I have no idea what it's about, while you are at I will need the two of you to help me pull it off"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"She keeps things from you, you still want to plan surprises for her and spoil her?"

"That`s because I know the person I married, if she does it she probably has a good reason and I trust her. Speaking of which, have you spoken to your father at all?"

"No and I don`t think I will"

"I know things haven`t been easy between you two but you need to see him, he is dying Jackson"

"Why? And no it's not like things haven't been easy but things have been nonexistent between us. Why am I supposed to start feeling sorry for him just because he is now dying? He had a life without me and he can finish it without me" he said getting a little angry

"You are not doing it for him, just do it for yourself, clearly you need to let out all that anger you are harbouring towards him"

Jackson sat there and looked at Webber, he was right, he was angry and each time anyone mentioned his father, all he wanted was to punch him in his face. He felt bad that he was dying but all he wanted was to cuss him.

"I`ll think about it, I got to go grab some lunch at the cafeteria" he said getting out making his way to eat.

...

After Maggie finished her lunch with Catherine, she dropped her off at the hospital and she went on to scrub in to a surgery with Owen. The two finished late and Owen had to drop her home. She walked in and found Jackson dozed off on the couch. Maggie went upstairs and took a shower; she came back down and warmed some dinner that was in the microwave waking Jackson up.

"Hey" he said stretching himself "when did you get here?"

"A little while back"

"Come here" he said signalling her to sit next to him. Maggie took her food and did as asked. He pulled her closer and embraced her "you smell so good"

"Just took a shower"

"Well, I could have taken that shower with you"

"I didn't want to wake you"

"So how was lunch?"

"It was nice"

"Just that, nice?"

"Yeah, I mean we just went out to eat babe" she said as she started digging on her food.

"You two are probably up to something" he said smiling at her while she just smirked and continued eating. Jackson was grateful that his mother was getting along with his wife to be. His mum had never been so attached to any of his past girlfriends. Hell she never had a genuine loving relationship with April, she just tolerated her because she was married to Jackson and she was now her granddaughter's mother. Catherine often used her insecurities to get what she wanted like when she made Bailey choose her to be Chief of General when Meredith was suspended and April often fell into her traps time and again. Catherine had sent her to Montana with Jackson, she believed she had sent her there because she was an amazing surgeon who needed to see the foundation hospitals but little did she know that Catherine only wanted her to be a comfort to Jackson after an encounter with his father. With Maggie it was different, yes she was worried at first that he getting with Maggie would cause problems for her and Richard, she never disliked Maggie, she was always aware of her brilliance and kindness and she had utmost respect for her. Jackson was lost in his thoughts until he heard Maggie speak

"Hey, where are you right now?"

"I was just thinking about how you are the only person I have been with that my mother has genuine love for"

"Come on, she loves April so that is not true"

"Nope, she tolerates her, that`s different"

"I wouldn`t say that, she has her way of showing her love to her and yes it might be different but she cares"

"Oh yes she cares and that`s not the same, listen, I thought about what you said this morning"

"Okay" Maggie said putting away her finished takeout dinner box on the table

"I am willing to try counselling"

"Really, are you sure?" Maggie said with a beaming face. He nodded his head, she then pulled his face towards her and kissed him "so what convinced you because this morning you were adamant about how we don`t need it?"

"Well firstly I love you, secondly I think I was against it because I failed to separate the fact that I did it with April first and you are not April"

"Thank you, this means a lot" she said kissing him again

"I just don`t want it to destroy us okay, we are in a great place and I don`t want to lose it"

"I know, the thing is so much of the world operates without us ever thinking about it. We expect it to work out in our favour and most of the time it does. I just don`t want us to operate our marriage like that, you know, have it on auto pilot because eventually anything on autopilot will crush"

"I hear you babe" he said as he made her to sit on his lap

"I know it might sound crazy but it`s easy to take what's good, easy and working for granted until it's no longer good, easy and working. That`s what most people do and it's normal, but we need to do better because we are not like most people" Jackson looked at her and kissed her once more. He knew Maggie was an intelligent woman but every time he found himself amazed by her way of thinking.

"I don`t want to take it for granted Maggie, I don`t want to leave it until it`s no longer great. I want to constantly work on it so let`s do it" he said as he rubbed her back while his other hand kept rubbing her thigh. She was so happy he had agreed, because she knew how some people frowned upon it but she didn't care because she was not like most people.

"I will get Dr Carr to maybe recommend a good counsellor for us, so when are we going to start planning for the wedding?" she said as she rubbed his face with a little soothing

"Whenever you are ready, it's up to you" he leaned back

"Babe, it`s okay, it doesn't have to be right away" Maggie said after seeing that his face had suddenly changed

"No, I am sorry I know that wasn't the answer you were looking for, it`s not even that" he said as he held her hand "I think I need to go to LA and see my father first if that`s okay"

"Of course, when are you planning to go?"

"Soon, I just feel like it`s something I just need to get off my way" Maggie moved from his lap and sat next to him.

"Okay, do you want me to fly down there with you?"

"Nah, I think I will have to do this on my own but thank you" he said as he leaned over to kiss her

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything"

"You have been everything I need and more" he looked at her while she just smiled at him. She knew not to push him; he had been struggling to deal with this ever since he had found out. They had fought about it and a lot had happened after, she wanted to go with him but he needed to do it alone. She understood and all she had to do was to support him in the best way she knew how. She curled on his shoulder as they sat on there watching a game on TV.