While Maggie and Cal seem to be better than ever in Sullivan's Crossing season 3, Maggie has finally stopped running from her problems.

Meanwhile, Cal has had to heal from even deeper trauma, losing his wife, Lynne, to ALS a few years ago before he gave up his law practice and fled to Sullivan's Crossing in an attempt to find some peace. Their individual baggage of Cal's grief and Maggie's emotional walls made the start of their relationship slow in coming. It's been gratifying to see them no longer dancing around their feelings in Sullivan's Crossing season 3, finally committed to them and to each other. That doesn't mean it will all be smooth sailing this season, though - in fact, it probably won't.

Cal Still Doesn't Want Kids In Sullivan's Crossing - But Maggie Does

Neither Of Them Has Changed Their Stance So Far

Prior to the events of Sullivan's Crossing season 3, now airing on CW, Maggie had a miscarriage and is no longer pregnant. While the actual miscarriage happened off-screen, the aftermath is still rocking Maggie, who has finally started to open up about her grief and sadness despite pushing Cal away at first. Steady as always, Cal has been an emotional rock for Maggie, giving her the space she needs while still ing her in her grieving process. However, it still hasn't changed his mind that he decided long ago to never have kids.

Cal's decision to never be a father stems from his childhood. He is a good man, and stable in a way his father isn't, but his father's schizophrenia – a condition with a strong genetic component – is always a looming specter hanging overhead. He wouldn't want to potentially that on to a child, but even if he were to adopt, there is always the chance that he could develop the same schizophrenia as his father. While schizophrenia usually develops in one's late teens to early 20s, it's not 100% guaranteed that it couldn't still surface in Cal, and he refuses to do to a child what his father did to him and his siblings.

Initially, Maggie wasn't even sure that she was ready to be pregnant, though her feelings partly stemmed more from the fact that she didn't want Andrew to be the father, whether she wanted to it it to herself or not. Once she committed, though, she was thrilled about the prospect of being a mother, putting to bed any doubts she had about having kids. Maggie knows Cal doesn't want kids, and she still decided to be with him, and Cal knows Maggie does want kids, and still decided to be with her. Unless one of them changes their mind, they want fundamentally different things in life, no matter how much they love each other.

Sullivan's Crossing Season 3 Is Setting Up A Storyline That Will Either Cement Or Soften Cal's Stance On Being A Father

Cal Has To Make Peace With His Father And His Past

Sullivan's Crossing season 1 found Maggie repairing her relationship with her dad, Sully. Season 2 found Maggie being betrayed by her stepfather, Walter, and coming to a deeper understanding of why her mother, Phoebe, did what she did years ago when she took Maggie away from Sully. It would appear that with Maggie's relationship with her biological parents sorted (for now at least), it's Cal's turn to grapple with the sins of the father and make peace with the past. We already saw that hinted at with the flashbacks to Cal's childhood bubbling up in Sullivan's Crossing season 3, episode 2, during search and rescue training. The news that his father is sick with cancer will surely upend Cal's life and force him to confront things he'd rather not.

The news that his father is sick with cancer will surely upend Cal's life and force him to confront things he'd rather not.

Depending on how his inevitable confrontation with his father goes, it could unburden Cal from the trauma of his past and open him up to the idea of one day being a father. Or it could go the opposite route and make him more firm in his convictions that bringing a child into the world is not something he wants to do. As it's Sullivan's Crossing, it will almost certainly take the more traditional and predictable route and find him rethinking his decision not to have kids.

Even if he were to decide he wants that with Maggie, though, whether this season or a potential Sullivan's Crossing season 4, Cal clearly has a lot of work to do to put the demons of his past to bed and heal. It may not be smooth sailing for him and Maggie in Sullivan's Crossing, depending on how badly she wants to try for another child.

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