SURPRISEEE! As A Thank You For Your Support, And An Apology For The 2 Year Wait, Here's An Additional Chapter For You All.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT GREY'S ANATOMY, STATION 19 OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS.
20 years later
Maggie stood in the mirror smoothing out her gold gown in a sort of blissful daze, when she heard Jackson's voice.
"Here, let me help" he said as he approached her and gently closed the zipper on the back of her dress, then placed a gentle kiss at the nape of her neck.
Maggie spun around and placed her arms around his neck, looking up into blue eyes that always seemed to drown her, even now "Thank you. Did you see our girl?" she beamed.
"Baby, I- I don't have words. She looks stunning. I've only ever see one woman look as beautiful" he says with a sparkle in his eye.
"Flatterer" she responds with a light kiss on his lips, "we did good huh?"
"The best. Fantastic 4 actually kicked me out" he sighs as he grabs Maggie's hand and goes to take a seat in the sitting area, pulling her down on his lap, "so this is really happening?"
"It's happening," when she looked over at him she could see the war swirling in those baby blues, "we're not losing her Jackson."
He looked up stunned, although he shouldn't have been. Maggie had always been able to articulate what he was feeling better than he could. "I mean, I know that technically we're not, but aren't we? I know this is how life goes but she's my little girl. Our little girl."
"And she'll still be our little girl when this day ends. She's a grown woman, and she still thinks you hung the moon, and no one can tell her any different." She kisses him softly, and stands with her hand out, "come on, let's go bust up the huddle. We've got one more thing to do."
They hear them loud and clear as they walk down the hall. She glances back at Jackson, "I'm so glad she chose to do this here."
"Me too," he says pushing the door wide open, "ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. BREAK IT UP!" he shouts.
"EVERYONE TO YOUR OWN ROOMS. Go to bed!" Maggie shouts after him, and the entire room bursts into fit of laughs. How many times over the years had Maggie and Jackson found them huddled together laughing at something, or cooking up some mischievous plan over the years and done the same exact thing? Countless.
Trey's the first to speak as they continue to laugh, "good one guys." He says as he walks over to place a kiss on Maggie's cheek, "you look beautiful."
Jackson places his arm around Maggie's shoulder and pulls her into him, "get your own wife!"
"Whatever old man," Trey laughs.
"Hey! We are not old. We don't look a day over 30" Maggie replies.
Jason comes up to place a kiss on her cheek and says, "that's cause black don't crack. Doesn't mean you're not old in age" he chuckles.
Before he knows what's happening, Jackson has him in a chokehold, "I'll show you old." He says, and before they know it Trey is hopping on Jackson's back to help free his brother.
Maggie is shaking her head and laughing as she walks over to where Harriet is sitting dying of laughter, "one day. Just one day of normalcy is all I asked."
"Oh please. This is our normal" Diane says.
"Where's the lie?" Harriet chuckles.
Maggie places her thumb and her forefinger in her mouth and whistles, "TIME!" she shouts and the guys immediately stop and stand at attention. "Aye, Aye Captain," they say in unison and then the room is in a fit of laughter again, as the ladies try to help the boys straighten out their tuxes again.
Looking around at the room full of Avery's, Maggie couldn't believe how lucky they were. They were truly one another's favorite people on Earth. The six of them against the world. Forever.
She looked over at Trey, their 2nd child and oldest son. He was the spitting image of his father, from skin tone, to build, to those mesmerizing blue eyes. She did all the heavy lifting and had nothing to show for it when she looked at him. But his personality? 100% Maggie. He was her worrier. The one who needed the most assurances. The one who needed to weigh and measure every single thing. He was a lot less neurotic than she had been at that age, and he definitely had a charisma that was definitely all his dad, but he was her. The one she related to the most.
Now Jason, he was the perfect mix of Jackson and Maggie. He had Maggie's eyes and nose, but his smile was all Avery. He had smooth caramel skin, that was a couple of shades lighter than Maggie's own. He was the only one of their children that decided against medicine. He was going to Georgetown for undergrad, and then he'd be off to Harvard law. That was the plan. And if there was one thing Jason got from Maggie it was the need to plan things out, and execute. He wasn't quite as crazy and meticulous about it as she and Trey were but her baby boy was definitely a planner. A planner, and a player. Try as she might, Jason was his father as a teenager according to Jackson. He was good looking, charismatic, and he came from money. He could have any girl he wanted, and he did. He was going to give Maggie a heart attack. He swore he was being responsible, and she believed him. Their kids had no reason to lie to them, as they'd always had open lines of communication, and blunt, honest conversation with each of them. But accidents happened, and she'd always be a worrier. Jackson laughed it off and said it was some kind of rite of passage or whatever.
Diane was their baby, an exact replica of Maggie and at 16, she was giving them a run for their money. While she may have been her mom's doppelganger, she was her father in every other way. She was reckless and spontaneous. They were being called to her school every other week for one thing or the next. But she had a heart of gold and was a baby genius just like her mom. They knew a big part of her behavior was due to her being bored and the work not being challenging enough for her, but Maggie didn't want her to miss out on all the experiences she did by skipping past all of life's milestones. They'd decided as a family, all 6 of them, when the discussion came up, that despite her being a certified genius, Diane would go through school like a normal child. They'd let her fly through college if she wanted, but a normal childhood was important.
She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Harriet's voice, "What's that Mama?" Harriet asked pointing to the Tiffany blue jewelry box in her hand.
Maggie smiles over at her, then looks at the others "could you give your dad and I a moment with your sister please?"
They nod and walk out, while Maggie grabs Harriet's hand and walks over to the couch in the corner. They sit, she and Jackson flanking both sides of their daughter, and once they're settled Maggie grabs her hand.
"This…. is your something borrowed," she says as she opens the box, "your father and I want you to wear this. That is if you want to."
Harriet gasps when she sees the contents of the box, she smiles over at Jackson, then looks back at Maggie, "I mean of course I want to, it's freaking Tiffany, but Mama, are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I mean I wasn't sure if I wanted to just give it to you and have it be your something old, or loan it to you for your something borrowed, but I always knew that when the time came, if you'd have it, I wanted you in this necklace." She glances over at Jackson, "we wanted you in this necklace. Do you remember it?"
Harriet touches the necklace gently, as if she's afraid it'll break from her touch alone, "of course. Dad gave this to you as your something new for your wedding day. You rarely wear it."
Maggie nods, "we always hoped you'd wear it someday, so I wanted to keep it in tact. That day we decided that my something new would someday be your something old, but there's DeeDee. And we'd love for her to wear it too someday, so instead of something old, something borrowed."
"No, I get it. I actually love that. The thought that all of us will have worn the same piece of jewelry on our big day, and it came from the best man we all know" she says as she smiles up at Jackson, whose eyes well up with tears instantly. He was getting soft in his old age.
Jackson gently pulls the necklace from the box, and Harriet turns so her back is towards him. When he clasps the necklace in place, she turns, glances down, and then her blues meet his, "how does it look daddy?"
Jackson clears his throat and chokes out the same truth he did all those years ago to the woman sitting 2 feet away, "breathtaking."
There were days he woke up and Jackson couldn't believe his life was his. His spray on skin had finally come to fruition 15 years ago, and it was being used all over the world to help heal burn victims. His wife revolutionized medicine with her rechargeable hearts. Initially the procedure wasn't as accessible as Maggie wanted it to be, but Jackson always knew it would be eventually. And it happened almost ten years ago. He was proud of their professional accomplishments, but there was nothing he prided himself on more than the family they'd built. They had 4 amazing children, and a love that got stronger every day. Grateful didn't cover what he was feeling in the moment.
His oldest daughter was entering her second year of residency at Grey Sloan Memorial, and today she was getting married. He was a little sad that she wouldn't be an Avery in name anymore but at least she'd hyphenate professionally. That was a win. She'd taken to Cardio like Maggie, but he still had two more shots to get another Avery into Plastics. Although if he was being honest, it was probably only one. Diane would probably end up in Trauma with the way she loved a rush of adrenalin. He smirked when he thought of his youngest baby girl, she would no doubt be the death of him. Especially if she decided against being a doctor. She was a certified genius but she had a passion for hair and nails. She'd started by using Harriet and Maggie as her test subjects and now she did hair and nails out of their pool house on the weekends, and during the summer. She'd even done Harriet's hair and nails for today. He wouldn't be surprised if she started up her own salon instead of going to Med School. She'd joked about it before, but he could tell it was something she was really considering. Either way he and Maggie would support her and she knew that. That was his greatest accomplishment as a parent. The fact that his children knew he'd love them and support their choices no matter what.
There was a light knock on the door.
"Come in," Maggie called out after they'd all pulled themselves together.
"Hey," she said as she peeked into the room, "I just wanted a quick minute before we start."
"Yeah, of course. We'll give you two a minute," Maggie says as she and Jackson get up and head towards the door.
"Actually, you two can stay," she says as they stop and turn around, "I truly can't thank you enough for the life you've given her."
"You've been here too mom," Harriet says.
"Yeah, but I wasn't always" April says, "I'm just grateful that you all were so gracious and allowed me back into Harriet's life. There were a lot of years I never thought I'd get to see this day."
"It was all Harriet. You don't have to thank us." Maggie says as she walks over to Harriet and cups her face in her hands, "I love you Hattie Bear."
"I love you Mama Bear." Harriet responds.
"We'll give you a minute." Maggie says as she grabs Jackson's hand and they exit the room.
As soon as the door is closed Jackson grabs Maggie's hand and drags her back to their room. "Jackson," she laughs, "what are you doing?"
He closes the door and before she can blink he has her pinned against it and his lips come crashing down on hers. His kiss was desperate as he tried to put all the love he felt for her into it. They were an instant tangle of lips, and tongues. He never broke their kiss as his hands roamed her body. She was even more perfect than she was the first time they'd done this nearly 25 years ago. This body had carried four of his children. Her breast had nurtured their children. Her hands had prepared meals, and cleaned up messes, and massaged shoulders. But her heart, her heart was the reason for it all. Her wide-open, forgiving heart. She forgave Meredith for being a bitch when she first came to town, and decided to stay and develop a relationship with her, placing her in his life. She forgave him for every cruel word, and poorly told joke, and stupid mistake. The biggest thing of all though? She forgave April. He wasn't sure he ever would, but Maggie? Maggie had forgiven her and made sure Harriet never forgot her, and she'd done it for the sake of their daughter.
They stood against the door like that until the need for oxygen became apparent, then and only then did Jackson turn her around so her breast were up against the door. He landed open mouthed kisses on her neck and shoulders as she moaned for more. His hand went to her zipper, and just as he was about to pull it down there was a knock on the door startling them both.
"Don't you dare! Your daughter is getting married in 5 minutes" Amelia shouted through the door.
"Go away Amelia!" Maggie shouted back, breathless.
"I told you they were in there getting it on. She's out of breath." they heard Amelia whisper to someone.
"Let's go you two. Out!" Meredith says.
"Ughh, we're coming. 2 minutes." Maggie says.
"Okay, but we're not leaving. You know, just in case." Amelia says.
Maggie looks over at Jackson who's straightening his tie with a smirk, "I hate them, but I guess it's good they came when they did."
"I wish I came when they did" he grumbles.
She bursts into laughter and leans up to place a small kiss on his lips, "later. I promise. I mean, this is our house. We know all the secret spots. What was that about anyway?"
"I just love you. I love you so much words can't express. I mean, no one would ever guess Harriet wasn't yours biologically."
"Biology doesn't make parents. I know that more than anyone."
"I know but, letting April into our lives all those years ago because you knew it was what Harriet wanted and needed back then when even she didn't know? I just- 23 years later and your love for her still floors me. You, as a person, astound me. I don't know what I did to deserve you but when I figure it out, I'll do it again."
Maggie smiled up at him with unshed tears in her eyes, she'd never get tired of hearing how much he loved her.
"You know, it's not just you" she says and Jackson tilts his head in question.
"I love you beyond words Jackson Avery," she says as she leans up and kisses him.
"I love you too Margaret Avery."
The End
SOOOO, Be Honest, What'd We Think?