So there was a conversation on AIP's SMACKED board about a week or so ago about Melina and how she used to take her daughters to the set and they wanted to play tea party with Gary. I thought the image was too cute so I had a bit of a think and I came up with this, another installment in my little Mac and Lucy series. Hope you all like it.
Jill xx
P.S The next chapter of my big Mac and Claire fic Windy City Romance Blues is up *hint hint* lol.
Tea Party
It was Friday afternoon; a beautiful, sunny afternoon at that. It was also the day that both Mr and Mrs Messer were due in court. They had to testify on the William's case and it was likely to take a while. Danny's mom was out of town and neither of them trusted the teenage girl who lived down the hallway so they had decided to bring Lucy into the lab.
"Just for a couple of hours?" pleaded Lindsay as she looked at Mac's raised eyebrow.
"A couple?"
"Alright, a few hours then. Please Mac? She won't be any trouble."
Mac sighed.
"You know if I keep giving in to stuff like this people are gonna say I've gone soft."
Lindsay grinned and stepped up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"Thanks Mac, we owe you one."
She turned back to where Danny was attempting to keep a hold of their not-quite-four-year-old daughter. The little girl struggled in her father's grasp, huffing and pouting up at him, but Danny was used to it and he definitely wasn't letting go until he had Mac's agreement. If she took off it could be forever before they found her.
"Come here princess," said Lindsay, holding out her hand to her daughter. "You get to stay with uncle Mac this afternoon, isn't that fun?"
Lucy bounced and clapped her hands in glee.
"Yay, uncle Mac!"
Danny finally let go of his struggling daughter and let her run to her mother, who picked her up to kiss her goodbye.
"Now you be a good girl Lucy and we'll see you later. Okay?"
"Kay," said Lucy, pecking her mother on the cheek.
"Hey, do I get a kiss too?" asked Danny.
Lucy giggled before leaning over and kissing her father's cheek as well.
"Okay, here we go," said Lindsay, handing the little girl over to Mac.
Immediately she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him on the nose.
"Hi uncle Mac," she said sweetly.
"Hey sweetie."
"All her stuff's in there," said Danny, off-loading a blue back-pack from his shoulder. "Just try and make sure she has a nap at some point or she get's grouchy."
"You hear that Lucy?" asked Mac. "Daddy says you're a grouch."
"Not a grouch daddy!" Lucy replied firmly, pouting until Mac tickled her and she giggled again. "Stop it uncle Mac!"
"Well, have fun you two," said Danny, putting a hand on Lindsay's shoulder and guiding her towards the elevator.
"Wave bye-bye Lucy," instructed Mac and Lucy waved obediently at her retreating parents, before Mac picked up the knap-sack and carried both it and the little girl into his office.
He set her down on his sofa and rummaged in the bag.
"You want to do some colouring in baby-girl?" he asked and she nodded.
He pulled out the big colouring pad and the brightly coloured pens Danny had packed for her.
"Can Dolly colour too?" she asked, indicating the red woolly head of the patchwork doll that was poking out the top of the bag.
"Dolly can colour too," said Mac, handing the doll to his goddaughter. "Now, I have some work to be getting on with, but if you sit and colour like a good girl for a little while then we'll play a game, okay?"
"Kay."
Mac was granted another kiss on the cheek before Lucy opened up her book to a random page and began colouring, Dolly perched on the sofa beside her.
Smiling fondly at her, Mac went back to his desk. There were files and reports that needed checking, not to mention one or two that needed to be written up. What with the Messers in court and Stella and Hawkes out at a scene he had offered to take over the majority of the paperwork for the day; especially as he had half suspected that he might end up babysitting.
Every now and then he would glance up at Lucy who was still busy with her colouring book. But after a while Mac became heavily engrossed in the report he was writing.
"Uncle Mac?" piped up a small voice.
"Hm?"
"I's done colouring, we play a game now?"
"Not right now honey, I'm still kind of busy."
"But I's bored."
Mac sighed.
"Please Lucy, just a little longer?"
She was pouting at him. Just then an idea occurred to Mac.
"How about this, see that clock up there?"
He pointed to the large clock on the wall of his office. Lucy nodded.
"Well, when the big long hand gets to where the number four is we'll play a game okay?"
It was already ten past, Mac just needed a little extra time to finish up.
"But should I do till that happens," said Lucy, who wasn't entirely sold on the idea.
"Why don't you think about all the games you'd like to play?"
Lucy thought about this; she looked a lot like Lindsay when she was thinking.
"Kay," she said after a little while.
"That's my girl."
Mac went back to his report. Lucy looked around the room, drumming her heels on the sofa as quietly as possible. She knew her godfather had an important job and that when she came to visit she had to be good and quiet. But Lucy was three, and as much as she appreciated that Uncle Mac needed to work, she was bored.
She looked around the room, Uncle Mac's office was full of lots of nice things. It wasn't quite as nice as Aunt Stella's office: she had lots of pretty things that she let Lucy play with. Lucy rarely got to rummage in her godfather's office, besides which, most of his stuff was on the wall, too high for little fingers to reach.
Lucy looked up at the clock. The big hand was already at the number three, she just had to hold on a little longer.
Looking around again her eyes lit upon an object on a shelf. She had an idea for what game she wanted to play.
Mac finished his report. He checked the clock, bang on twenty past. He looked over at Lucy, she was sitting quietly, swinging her feet and smiling. Good as gold.
"Okay baby girl," he said, switching off the computer, "what do you wanna do?"
He crossed to the sofa and looked down at the colouring book she had been playing with.
"Say, you and Dolly are getting' pretty good at this."
She had managed to stay inside the lines, more-or-less, although he didn't think he'd ever seen a blue pony before.
"Dolly and I wanna have a tea-party," said Lucy happily.
Mac frowned.
"I don't think daddy packed your tea-set honey," he told her: Lucy had a little pink plastic set of cups and saucers with pink and yellow daisies on them.
"Tha's okay, we can play with your set."
Mac's frown deepened.
"I don't have a tea set Lucy."
"Sure you do," she said, pointing to the object on the shelf behind him.
Mac turned, a small smile forming when he saw what Lucy was pointing at. It wasn't a tea-set, it was a set of coffee cups; Greek coffee cups to be exact. They were small and white and came with a slim elegant coffee pot, all arranged on an etched metal tray. It had been a present from Stella.
Mac shook his head.
"That's not for playing with honey," he said.
Lucy folded her arms.
"I wanna have a tea party," she said.
"I know sweetie, but that isn't a toy."
"Please uncle Mac?"
Lucy batted her lashes at him. Mac sighed deeply.
* * *
Stella and Sheldon were on their way back from a scene: stabbing outside a five and dime; dumb kid dropped the murder weapon by accident then came looking for it while the cops were still there, gave up there and then.
Stella took off her sunglasses as she re-entered the lab. It was a beautiful day and she had half a mind to take the rest of the day off. She headed towards Mac's office, hoping she might be able to cajole him into taking her out for lunch. But as she approached the glass walls she realised that Mac already had a lunch date.
Leaning against the door she watched the scene before her.
Mac was sat cross-legged on the floor, Lucy opposite him, Dolly leaning up against the coffee table. Between them was her little Greek coffee set. Lucy was pretending to pour using the pot while she garbled on to her guests about her favourite cartoons.
"And then Fred fell over Dino's take and hurt his head," burbled the little girl. "Would you like a cake?"
She held out a little saucer.
"Uh yeah, thanks Lucy."
Mac pretended to take a cake from the plate, miming eating the delicacy for Lucy's amusement.
"Mm, it's very nice," he said. "Did you make these yourself?"
Lucy giggled and nodded.
"My compliments to the chef," he said.
Lucy caught sight of Stella and grinned.
"Would you like a cake Aunt Stella?" she asked.
Stella came into the room and sat herself down next to Mac.
"No thanks sweetie," she said, "I'll just steal some of Uncle Mac's." She pretended to swipe some cake from his unresisting hand. "Hey, this is good," she said.
"It's mine," said Mac, pretending to steal it back.
Lucy continued to laugh as the two grown-ups pretended to fight over the invisible cake.
"I have an idea," said Lucy suddenly.
"What is it honey?" asked Stella.
"Aunt Stella can have uncle Mac's cake if she gives him a kiss," she said happily, as though this were the most obvious solution.
Stella grinned but Mac blushed.
"Sounds like a good idea Lucy," said Stella, holding out her hand.
"Here," said Mac, pretending to pass her the cake. "But you don't have to kiss me."
"Don't be silly," Stella told him. "If I'm going to have my cake then I'm going to eat it too."
And with that she leant forward and planted a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.
Lucy cheered.
* * *
When Danny and Lindsay finally made it back to the lab they found Mac and Stella in Mac's office.
"Shh," whispered Mac as he motioned them inside. "She's pooped."
He indicated Lucy who was asleep on the couch.
Danny smiled and picked up his little girl, feeling her snuggle into his shoulder without waking.
"Was she any trouble?" asked Lindsay, picking up the ruck-sack full of Lucy's things.
"No trouble at all," said Mac.
The Messers smiled and thanked him again before wishing both him and Stella goodnight and leaving for home.
Mac turned to Stella as they left.
"So," he said, "seeing as we didn't have much of a lunch, do you wanna grab some dinner?"
Stella grinned, moving closer to him.
"That depends. Will there be cake?"
He smirked.
"That depends. Will you try and steal it?"
"Only if I get to kiss you again."
"In that case," he said, putting an arm around her as he guided her out of his office, "there will definitely be cake."