Be Nice! This is my first CSI: New York Story, centered around Mac finally being able to move on after the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the death of Claire.

From above, Claire Conrad-Taylor felt relief that her widowed husband was finally to let go of his grief and come to terms with her death. For the past ten and a half years he had done little more than exist, not truly live. Claire knew Mac had always wanted to be a father and Claire wanted to watch him be the wonderful husband he was to her, to some one else...and also finally become a father. Watching from the heavens she knew exactly who to send to him to make this happen. She had been watching a young woman with the ironic first name of "Hope" and Claire knew Hope was the woman to bring joy back into Mac's life.

Prologue

The Girl with the Sapphire Eyes

Mac had seen her frequently at the café where he went for breakfast every morning. But like a teenager, too many butterflies in his stomach would prevent him from talking to her beyond greetings and morning small talk. He wondered if the young woman of approximately twenty-eight years of age, with shoulder-length black hair and sapphire blue eyes, lived in the city or not. He would see her here for weeks and then not see her for over a month.

Yes. He counted the weeks.

The waitress at the diner, Amy, who knew Mac's usual order of oatmeal with raisins with a side of syrup and a cup of coffee, knew the crime lab supervisor couldn't get the nerve to talk to the woman he obviously had a crush on. The waitress noticed his disappointment any time the young woman in question didn't show up.

"Her name is Hope Conway," Amy finally said to him one morning when she placed Mac's order in front of him.

"Who?" Mac said, trying to sound as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"The girl you're looking for."

"Oh," Mac said simply.

"And she's isn't from the city. But she will be. The firm she works in Rhode Island, who sends her here every couple of weeks for a few weeks at a time just bought a small company here. She's being transferred and will be moved here by Friday."

That was in three days. Mac smiled at the information.

"Anything else she told you?" Mac replied with a smile, half-joking.

"She's 27, a professional photographer. History buff, likes visiting museums and collecting antiques. Single, No kids, no pets. And she's interested in you, too," Amy said, walking away. "She told me the place she's movin' in to."

Mac's eyebrows rose and he couldn't hide the fact his brown eyes lit up. Then his jaw almost dropped when Amy said where Hope's new apartment was; in the same complex where he lived. Ten years and a week after his late wife's passing, Mac had decided it was time to move from the apartment he had shared with her and start fresh in a new place. It was part of the beginning of starting life over again for him.

Amy, the waitress didn't know where Mac lived, only it was in a nearby apartment building so she didn't make the connection.

Hope wiped her brow as she put away the last can of soup. An hour ago she had finally finished unpacking her apartment and had spent the last hour grocery shopping. She didn't start work for another week. Since she already knew the city pretty well, considering all the time she had already spent there, her next order of business was to track down a man named Mac Taylor, a sergeant with the NYPD and the head of the crime lab. She knew Mac was forty-two years old and a widower. His wife, Claire had died on 9/11. There was something about him that drew Hope to him and although seeking out an older man was something she never thought she'd do, she wanted to get to know Mac Taylor. She would probably see him in the morning at the café, Hope told herself. This time she was determined to get the nerve to introduce herself.

Sick of her apartment walls after spending most of the day there outside of the short trip to the grocery store and not hungry, Hope decided to take a walk around her new neighborhood. It was getting dark out when she arrived back in the main lobby where she checked her mailbox. She was engrossed in the stack of fliers and envelopes when she saw a man with dark hair a short distance away.

Her heart began to pound when she recognized it was Mac Taylor.

"Mac?" The word escaped her lips before her brain caught up.

"Hope. Hope Conway," Mac smiled. "Good to see you."

Hope was surprised, and relieved Mac remembered her, that she didn't embarrass herself.

"Nice to see you, too. Been a while."

"Yeah. Amy from the café said you're a New Yorker, now."

"Yep. I'm actually just down the hall."

Mac was shocked.

Hope lived just doors down from him?

"I guess that makes us neighbors then," Mac replied with a smile, trying not to sound as thrilled as he felt.

It had taken him ten years but it only seemed as if on the anniversary of Claire's death his grief lifted and Mac felt he could finally to move on with his life and not feel guilty or as if he were being unfaithful to his late wife. Part of him knew Claire would say "it's about time, Mac!" On September 11, 2011, he finally removed the wedding band Claire had given him and placed it in the fire-proof safety deposit box where he kept the few mementos and many photos he had decided to keep of the years they spent together. Mac knew Claire would always be in his heart but it was time to start to totally live again, and share his life with someone new. Now, six months after that date, the woman who intrigued Mac lived just doors away.

Would Hope Conway be the one to give him the family he thought he lost the chance to have?

Read and Review, please! Should I continue?