This story is part of my MacGyver AU series. You can find information on its premise, philosophy and origins and a timeline of stories on my profile page. The characters of Katie, Donnie, Callie, Marya and Luke were introduced in First Day.
Feedback is welcome! I hope you enjoy!
-February 22, 1988-
Becky suddenly awoke to music, blearily staring at the clock radio as it played a rock'n'roll song. Weird, she thought. I could've sworn I set it to the soft-rock station, not the one that plays the much louder stuff.
"That was the Beatles' Happy Birthday Song, by request from Jack Dalton to his good friend Becky. Hope you have a great one, kiddo. And we wish you the same here at KOST-FM. The time is six-thirty, we'll be back after a quick commercial break..."
The teenager groaned and turned onto her side, eyes widening at the small bouquet resting on the pillow beside her. She raised herself and picked it up, sniffing at their delicate scent and marveling at the idea of such flowers blooming in the middle of winter. Only in Southern California.
Then she noticed the card that had lain hidden beneath the bouquet, reaching for her glasses and reading the familiar handwriting:
For the Birthday Girl
Hope you enjoy your special day!
Love, Mac
She smiled. Her uncle may not like a lot of fuss over his own birthdays, but he knew she enjoyed celebrating hers. They were still learning how to take care of each other in their changed relationship, showing their support and affection in ways large and small.
Like a bouquet of flowers on her birthday.
In two hours' time- at 8:30- she would be officially be turning sixteen. It was supposed to be a landmark age of sorts for a girl, one that would always be remembered. Sweet sixteen and all that.
Then again, it was just another birthday. Another year older, and eighteen months since she lost her parents and brother.
She abruptly shook her head, clearing the depressing thought away. Nothing was going to spoil her enjoyment of the day, much less the evening to come with her friends. Nothing.
The commercials on the radio finished and the music resumed playing. She stood up from the bed and stretched her petite form, then headed for the bathroom.
Time to get the day started.
Thirty-five minutes later Becky- showered and dressed in her most favorite clothes and jewelry- stumbled her way down the stairs, still not fully awake. She entered the kitchen, finding MacGyver leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the table and perusing the newspaper. "Morning, Unc. Thanks for the flowers."
He looked up and smiled warmly. "Morning, Beck. You're welcome. Sleep well?"
"Well enough. Too bad today's a school day, though. Would've loved to sleep in."
Mac shook his head, chuckling. "Why am I not surprised? Go and get yourself something to eat, already."
She assembled her breakfast and carried it to the table. She blinked at the small stack of brightly wrapped packages and cards that had mysteriously appeared at her place while her back was turned. "Are those for me?"
He looked over at her, raising his eyebrows, dark gaze twinkling with mischief. "What do you think? Anyone else we know who deserves presents today?" Becky rolled her eyes and he grinned broadly, leaning over to hug her and kiss her forehead.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart," he murmured as he pulled back, gently playing with a loose strand of hair. "You're sixteen already. Can't believe my little princess is growing up so fast."
She ducked her head. "Thanks, Unc." To hide her blush she pulled the gifts toward her. When she was finished opening everything she ended up with several books and CDs, a gift certificate from Pete for her favorite bookstore in town, and a beautiful card from Harry as well as others from Mac's friends.
"Quite the haul, huh?"
"Sure is." She reached over to return the hug and kiss. "Hey, it's okay, isn't it, that my friends are coming over after school and taking me out tonight? I know we spent my birthday together last year, but this time they insisted. I hope you're not disappointed."
"Becky, don't worry about it. You know it's perfectly fine with me; I'm really glad you've got friends who want to celebrate with you. That just means we get to spend all of Saturday together, and I've got big plans for the two of us."
"Oh? Care to share them with me?"
"Sorry, Beck. Top secret." He winked and Becky chuckled. "I promise I'll stay out of the way tonight. Nikki's coming over with some files we have to review for Monday and we'll work on them in the guest room. It's no problem. You won't even know we're here."
"Well, I just wanted to remind you they're coming over. I'm not kicking you out or anything." She grinned. "I know several of my friends want to see you, anyway. For some reason they think you're a hunk."
"A what?"
"You know, good-looking. Gorgeous. Even sexy, in a way."
His eyebrows rose. "Who, me? A hunk? Sexy? I don't get it."
"Yeah, me neither. Go figure. I mean, you're from my parents' generation, for crying out loud. You're practically ancient." He threw her a glare and she held her hands up in defense. "Kidding."
MacGyver shook his head and pushed her plate back towards her. "Finish your breakfast already, why don't you? You gotta get to school, birthday girl."
It wasn't until four in the afternoon when Becky and her best friend Katie finally stumbled through the front door of the apartment- slamming it shut behind them- and made their way over to the kitchen, each one carrying two full brown paper bags from the nearby supermarket. "Remind me why we volunteered to get the munchies for this party?" the redhead muttered as she dumped her bags on a nearby counter.
Becky set he own bags down and went into the living room to check for messages on the answering machine. "Nothing new, so I guess Uncle Mac wasn't roped in for any emergency assignments. He promised he'd call if anything had changed."
"So it's still just you and your uncle?" Katie asked, following her and looking around. There was a couch, coffee table and a large comfortable armchair, along with the television, VCR and stereo system. The wall behind the couch was full of shelves holding books, records and CDs, magazines and interesting items from around the world. Sports posters, family photos and a few of Mac's paintings from his art classes lined the free walls that remained. "He doesn't have any girlfriends, does he?"
"Nah. Unc's been too busy for that sort of thing. He travels a lot, you know, does a lot of stuff. There's a friend of ours at his work- you'll meet her tonight- and she's great, but so far there's been nothing between them. They do seem to yell at each other a lot, though."
"Well, you know what that means," Katie remarked. "Romantic tension. Just like the male and female leads who bicker all the time in the movies or on TV. They're obviously fighting a strong attraction to each other. It's only a matter of time before they get together."
"Come help me get the snacks sorted." They returned to the kitchen and began to unpack the bags. An assortment of junk food soon sprawled along the counters.
Becky reached into the broom closet for a stepstool and collected serving bowls from the upper cupboards. "I hope you're right. She would make a terrific aunt, but so far they can't see beyond each other's bullheadedness. I'm trying to trick them to realize they really have feelings for each other, but so far it's not working."
"Grown-ups," Katie sighed dramatically as she stowed cans of soda pop in the refrigerator, then grinned. "Like I said, only a matter of time. Keep chipping away at them, Beck. You'll get there."
"How's everyone getting here?"
"Donnie's giving Callie, Marya and Luke a ride in the car she got last month for her birthday. She needs the practice, so she's taking all of us. Unfortunately, Stacey's mom won't let her go since her brother has a violin recital tonight."
"That's too bad."
"Yeah, it is. Hey, why don't we go up to your room? The guys won't be here for another half hour, at least."
"Sure. You haven't been here in a while, right? Let me refresh your memory on the way." Becky led the way, with the redhead following.
"The kitchen and living room you've just been in. The bathroom on this floor and the one upstairs are self-explanatory. We got three bedrooms; the one downstairs we use as a guest room, but it's also the office and workroom since it has the computer and Mac's lab equipment. He and Nikki will be in there tonight, keeping out of the way unless they're needed to act as chaperones. His bedroom is upstairs- definitely off limits, by the way, in case anyone gets any ideas- and so is mine." By that time they had reached her room; she held open the door and ushered Katie in.
"Hey, I forgot you have a skylight. Cool," she said. "I like your bed, too. The black metal with all the curves is kinda romantic-looking. And you got a ton of books up here; I love that."
"Yeah. It's getting pretty comfy." They headed straight for the bed and flopped down on it, looking up at the cloudy sky showing through the glass. "Would you believe we only finished unpacking everything from the very last moving box a week ago? A year and a half; that's how long it took to get all our stuff sorted, we've both been so busy."
The redhead propped herself up on an elbow, looking down at her. "You lost your folks about then, right?"
"Yeah. I still miss them. I mean, I love living with my uncle and everything, but..." She shrugged.
"Sorry about that." The two friends were silent a while, contemplating the clouds. "Think it's gonna rain tonight when we go out?"
"God, I hope not."
"So what do we do now?"
Becky frowned briefly in thought. "Why don't we go back downstairs and watch one of the videos we rented."
"Sounds great to me."
The sound of the front door being unlocked an hour later pulled their attention out of the movie. Katie looked up from where she was lounging on the couch. "Is that the rest of the guys?"
"Don't know. I'll go check," Becky said, uncurling herself from her place in the armchair. Before she could reach the entrance hallway MacGyver stepped inside the room, with Nikki following close behind him. Both carried heavy briefcases that, she surmised, were full of the files they intended to review.
"Hey, Uncle Mac," she said, walking over to kiss him on the cheek.
He returned the kiss and beamed down at her. "Hey, sweetheart. Havin' a good day so far?"
"Pretty good. How was work?"
"Slow, lots of paperwork. Pete and everyone wanted us to give you their best wishes for today."
"Great. Hi, Nikki."
"Hi, Becky. Happy birthday."
"Thanks. Katie, you remember my uncle, right? This is Nikki Carpenter, who works with him at the Phoenix Foundation. Guys, this is my friend, Katie Lynch."
Katie stood up and mover over to the adults, shaking their hands. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. And nice to see you again too, Mr. MacGyver."
"Same here, Katie. And please, it's just MacGyver."
"Nikki's fine too." She turned to Becky and handed her a small wrapped box. "Here, I got you a little present."
"Thanks, but you know you didn't have to." She accepted the gift, tearing open the brightly patterned paper; she opened the box and gasped, pulling out a pendant in pale brushed silver, molded in the shape of a bird's nest with a purple freshwater pearl set in the center as an egg. The chain was of the same pale brushed silver. "It's beautiful. I love it. You know, I've got some bird earrings upstairs that are the same shade of metal; now I know what to wear with them. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Nikki said, leaning in for a hug. She looked up at Mac. "Told you she'd like it." He shrugged helplessly and Becky laughed.
"Don't worry, Unc," she informed him. "If you're ever stuck for a gift for me just get me either books, music or jewelry and I guarantee I'll be happy."
He grinned. "Whatever you say, Beck. C'mon Nikki, let's take these files in the guest room and get to work, okay? Have a good party, guys."
After they left Katie's eyebrows shot up and she turned to Becky. "That's her, right? The one who fights with him a lot? You're right; they'd make a great couple."
"Yeah. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." The doorbell rang. "Sounds like the gang's here. Let's see if Donnie managed to follow my directions."
MacGyver slowly opened the door and poked his head out. There was a short hallway separating the guest room and bathroom from the rest of the first floor; from his vantage point he could cautiously observe the teenagers moving between the kitchen and living room, stuffing their faces, draping themselves over every piece of furniture, and chatting over the loud music playing on the stereo.
He shook his head at the irony. It was one thing to work with teens at the Challengers Club, encouraging them and helping them make the most of their lives. Quite another for a crowd of them- including his own niece, right in their midst- to be occupying his home, even if it was only for a few hours.
Nikki looked up from her place at the computer desk, files spread out around her. "Penny for your thoughts."
He grinned over at her. "You know, it wasn't all that long ago I was living a carefree bachelor life, and now I'm worrying about how much of a mess these kids are gonna leave behind once they go."
"I can imagine that being a guardian of a teenage girl must take some getting used to."
He closed the door and returned back to his seat. "Tell me about it. But really, you know what Becky's like. I love having her around and she works hard at taking care of things when I'm away. And I'm glad she's made new friends here. It's just that sometimes I still think of her as a shy little girl, you know? Hair in braids and snuggling in my lap while I visited with her folks." He sighed. "Man, I miss Allison."
"What were you and you sister like, growing up?"
He shrugged. "The usual. We had some pretty spectacular fights but deep down we loved each other. Usually I was the one always gettin' into trouble while she stayed behind to pick up the pieces, but there was one birthday my sister had with her friends when we were teenagers. Turned out quite the fiasco for the both of us."
"I'm almost afraid to ask what happened."
He leaned back in the swivel chair, crossing his long legs. "It was in '65. We were both in high school and the Beatles were doing a concert in Minneapolis. Allison and her friends wanted to go for her birthday but Mom and Harry worried about the crowds and the heat and wouldn't let her go. So she told them she was staying overnight at a friend's house instead and secretly wrangled me and a friend's older brother into going with them to the concert."
"But she was older than you, right? You told me once she was the more sensible of you two."
"Yeah, but not when it came to the Beatles. She was a big fan, had a crush on Paul McCartney and everything. And Allie was pretty stubborn in some ways; she would've come up with an ingenious scheme to see him no matter what."
"Sounds oddly familiar somehow," Nikki commented with a smile.
MacGyver rolled his eyes but continued. "The concert itself was a madhouse. You know how popular the Beatles were back then. So picture it, an August night in Minnesota, hot and humid. The stadium filled with screaming girls, which included my sister and her friends. I was trapped all four sides with no escape in sight.
"Then it got worse. One of Allie's friends fainted. She was screaming right along with the rest of them and wound up passing out from all the excitement. Landed right against me. So there I was, tryin' to keep her upright while her brother went to search for something to wake her up with. A bunch of screaming girls pushing from all sides, loud music, and dead weight in my arms."
Nikki burst into laughter. "God Mac, that must have been a nightmare for you!"
"It was. You can believe how much I wanted to be camping out in the woods with Harry right then. Fortunately her brother came back with smelling salts, and we got her conscious and moving. Then we corralled Allison and the rest of her friends and left the stadium. Took us all night to drive back to Mission City."
"Did you get into trouble when you got home?"
"You bet. Man, did Mom and Harry let us have it. Turns out they had called her friends' parents, and knew the whole time where we went. All of us were grounded for a month."
There was a gentle knock on the door and Becky poked her head in. "Hi, Unc. Just wanted to let you know we're leaving now."
"Okay," Mac said. "Have fun. But be careful, and don't get back too late. Love you."
"I promise. Love you too." She left, but a second later she was back. "Oh, I almost forgot. We, um, kinda had a little food fight earlier. We cleaned it up, but the living room still smells like potato chips. Katie says it should go a away in a few hours, though. See you later."
He groaned and turned to Nikki when Becky had left. "Why do I have the gut feeling there's going to be trouble before this night is over?"
She laughed again. "Welcome to parenthood, Mac."