A/N: Just a little 2 shot of MaDi, scenes from their married life as they celebrate their 5 year anniversary. Mac sets up a pictorial scavenger hunt for Dick. Together they look at photos and remember those little events that brought them where they are today. This idea has been in my head for a while so I decided to share it here. While this is designed as a stand alone piece, I do reference a couple events in my multi-chapter story, One for the Road. And there is another event in here which I plan to include in the sequel (which I haven't written yet). You don't have to have read One for the Road though to read this. But of course if you haven't read that one yet, I hope you will. I'll post the conclusion to this story in a couple of days. Thanks for reading...
Disclaimer: No, sadly, I still don't own Veronica Mars, that honor belongs entirely to Rob Thomas. I don't own any other product, song, book or game mentioned here either. But being paid for product placement would be nice...
Chapter 1—Picture of happiness
June 2016
Damn, Mac muttered to no one in particular as a wine glass went crashing to the floor, raining shards of glass all over the kitchen. Dick would be home soon and she had a lot left to do in preparation as it was, but she couldn't just leave the glass there.
Mac let out another curse as she carefully knelt down to pick up the larger pieces of glass, narrowly avoiding cutting herself. She had picked up most of the glass, but went off to the linen closet to get a broom and dust pan to finish the job.
With that task done, she went back to putting the final touches on the vegan Eggplant Parmesan she was making for dinner. She put a sheet of Reynold's wrap over the pan, and put it in the fridge. One more thing she could cross off her to do list.
On this day, 5 years ago she became Mrs. Dick Casablancas to the surprise of everyone except her close friends and family. They had decided to just have a quiet night at home this year. Mac was pleased with the little celebration she'd planned. She would cook a special meal, give Dick his present and then send him on a little photographic treasure hunt.
The idea for the photo hunt had come to her during a conversation with Veronica Mars Echolls of all people. It was just something V had mentioned in passing, nothing really, but the idea it sparked had festered in Mac for months. Veronica had mentioned that each moment in time was like a little snapshot, and good relationships were made up of thousands of these little snapshots. Mac wasn't nearly the photographer (artiste) her friend was, but she thought she could dig up a few remnants from the life she'd been busy building with Dick.
She grabbed the shoe box where they'd pooled together both photos from their respective childhoods and also their life together. Mac, being the more techie minded of the 2, preferred saving digital photos on a flash drive but Dick, it turned out, was a closet sentimentalist. He truly loved photos lying around, actual tangible paper pictures, old school style. She glanced at the top photo and frowned slightly. Dick was probably around 9 and he was holding on to the back of Cassidy's bike, helping his little brother stay upright. Cassidy couldn't have been more than 7 at the time. No, she wouldn't go there tonight. The scavenger hunt would be about their relationship only.
The first few photos she chose were pretty easy, they represented turning points in their early relationship. She didn't have any trouble choosing the last 3 pictures either, they were symbolic of their present and future respectively. The middle several pictures were harder, but once that task was done she felt pretty confident in her selections. Next, it was time to make the clues for Dick to follow. They weren't particularly cleaver, but they would hopefully get the job done. She never pretended to be a poet.
Mac grabbed the dishes and silverware and set the massive table in the formal dining room for the celebratory dinner. She placed an envelope with the first picture under Dick's plate. That would kick off the hunt. Mac also wrote a cryptic clue on the back of the envelope so Dick could hunt down picture number 2.
Roses are red, so are apples. Follow this clue, find the next picture.
Mac nestled the photo in the giant fruit bowl sitting on the island in the kitchen. On top of the picture, was a sticky note saying:
We Used To Be Friends, but now we're that and so much more...
That clue referenced We used to be Friends, from The Dandy Warhols, of course. They had a storied history with that song. It reminded Mac of her not-so-glory days at Neptune High, but still there was something appealing about the song too. And being one of Dick's favorite songs of all time, he'd insisted it claim a place on their wedding play list. So now the song had eclipsed all bad memories of geekdom at Neptune High and reminded her instead of one of the happiest days of her life, the day she became Mrs. Dick Casablancas. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, Mac thought it was a theme song for some show back when she was in high school, but she couldn't remember the name of it. Oh well, not important, she told herself sternly. She tucked picture number 3 under her iPod dock in the family room.
Mac quickly went around to various other rooms of their big (too big in her opinion) house hiding the other 10 pictures for the hunt. The last photo was placed on their bed, appropriately enough.
With that finished, she glanced at the clock by Dick's side of the bed, it was time to get dinner in the oven. Mac went back downstairs to retrieve the eggplant dish and placed it in the oven to bake.
Finally, all her chores were done. Mac had a little time left before Dick came home, so she stretched out on her aubergine sofa. It was a remnant from her college years, but one she couldn't bear to part with. She considered it her first major adult purchase. Well, first big purchase other than the Beetle convertible she bought in high school with funds she earned by selling results of the purity test online. It was proclivities like that which brought her where she was now, president of her own company, MC2 Software. She wasn't even 30 yet.
Her eyes shut and she was drifting off to sleep when a car pulled into the garage. Moments later Dick strode in. He wandered into the family room and found Mac stretched out on her side. He touched her belly briefly, then leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Hey wifey. Wake up, babe."
Mac's eyes slowly opened. She grinned when she saw her favorite surfer hovering over her. "Hi ya. I must have drifted off. I'm so tired these days."
"Can't imagine why," Dick smirked. "Come on, wifey. Fix me some grub, I'm wasting away here."
"Oh, look at you, turning on that Casablancas charm I love so much. I knew there was a reason I married you."
"Yeah, you love me. And that legendary Casablancas charm you keep talking about"
"Oh, that's right. I do. I think you love me, too."
"Eh, you're alright, I suppose, Mackie." He pulled her off the couch and up into his arms where he showed her just how much he did love her. Mac leaned into Dick, one hand playing with his short blond hair, the other one cupping his butt. Very reluctantly Mac pulled away first.
"Dinner. I don't want it to burn. There's time for more mushy stuff later."
"My ever practical Mackie. Okay, well, I'm holding you to that promise. Mush, lots of mush stuff later."
"Deal. Now, get to work. Open the wine and the sparkling cider."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir?" Mac quirked her brow at Dick.
"We know who wears the pants in casa de Casablancas."
"True."
Mac put on her Ove Glove and removed the Eggplant Parmesan from the oven. Then she took out a carry out container from the fridge and removed a big T-Bone steak for Dick. She plated it up and put it in the microwave to reheat. She made a face while dishing up Dick's steak, she didn't bother hiding how revolting she found meat these days.
Dick was already at the dining room table when Mac came in with the food. She placed the eggplant on a trivet in the center of the table and then placed Dick's steak in front of him.
"Awesome, thanks babe. I'll try some of the eggplant too though."
"You better." Mac took a sip from the glass of sparkling apple cider Dick had placed in front of her. "Yummy. The perfect vintage for Eggplant Parmesan."
Dick laughed. "Yeah, I'm totally jealous. Guess I have to make due with my Pinot Noir. Well, only 4 more months to go, then you can drink wine again."
"Four months to go, you're telling me! What do you mean Only? Only! Talk to me when your bladder is being used for kickball."
Mac was 5 months pregnant with their first child. They had not been trying to have a child per se but they weren't preventing it either. After the initial shock wore off, both parents-to-be were so excited. Mac had had the big ultrasound appointment three weeks before, but they'd asked the tech take a picture of the baby's gender but not to show it to them. Instead the tech had placed that picture in a bright yellow envelope and sealed it. Both Mac and Dick had agreed that they'd wait to find out the baby's gender on their anniversary. That was the picture Mac had placed on their bed earlier, the final one in the hunt.
As they ate their dinner, the talk focused on work, and their friends, just typical meal time chatter. Dick mentioned he'd had lunch with Logan earlier in the day. Veronica and Logan had just had their 2nd child, another little girl, Lynne Mackayla Echolls. Dick was already calling the 3 week old girl Mac, trying to start a trend. To his way of thinking the world needed another Mac.
Finally, dinner was done. Mac didn't think she could eat another bite, even with her increased appetite. She was so thankful the nausea that had plagued her almost the entire first trimester had finally dissipated. "Ready for dessert?"
"I'm stuffed right now, Macster. I think I'll wait a bit. You go ahead though."
"No, I couldn't eat anything more right now either. I actually have another activity planned. I'll clear the dishes and you can look at the surprise I placed under your plate."
"Surprise huh?! I can think of a couple surprises I'd like."
"Yeah? Me too. Like you doing the dishes tonight. That would be a good surprise. Let's do this one little activity first."
"Alright wifey, whatever you want." Dick grinned. Man, he loved that woman. He gave her a gentle slap on her butt as she passed by. He used to think he'd never find a woman who would put up with his shit, let alone find a woman who could handle him as well as Mac did. He was the first one to admit he was lucky.
As Mac took their plates to the kitchen, she saw Dick pick up the picture and study it. He smiled slightly, remembering that day. She quickly returned to the dining room. The first picture was a group shot taken at Dog Beach the end of their freshman year at Hearst.
"Remember the Sea Monkey?"
"What? Oh yeah, Wallace's mechanical plane. I also remember that could have been our first kiss."
"No, no it couldn't have been. You were a Dick to me. Really earned your name there."
"I apologized that day, if I recall."
"First time that ever happened."
"So why this picture? Why the stroll down memory lane?"
"This picture was the turning point of our relationship. Don't you agree? And I thought maybe we could have a scavenger hunt, a little photo tour of our marriage. Veronica mentioned marriages are made up of little snapshots and I thought that would make a fun little way to cap off our anniversary celebration."
"Does this little hunt end up with you naked?"
"It can."
"Alright, well, I already like the ending. Let's do it."
"Read your clue. Figure it out."
Dick turned the photo over and read the sticky note. "Roses are red. How long did it take you to come up with that one?"
"Are you going to play, or just critique my lack of writing skills?"
"Both? Okay, well, apples are kept in the kitchen."
"Sounds like a good place to start to me. Lead the way."
Dick headed into the kitchen and went straight towards the fruit bowl on the island. Buried under a couple Fuji apples was a picture. He unearthed it and smiled softly when he saw the subject matter. He and Mackie were overdressed standing in front of this ramshackle little Mexican restaurant he'd found near San Diego that had an extensive vegan menu. It was taken fall of sophomore year of college, and they were on their first official date. Though really looking back, they were probably dating well before that, but it marked the first time they labeled what they were as more than just buddies who liked to kiss each other. Funny, but he never did feel that way with his other close friends, not that he ever kissed them of course. Mac had always been different, special. He sensed that even when he used to tease her. Maybe especially when he was teasing her.
Mac came up behind him as he looked at the picture, remembering.
"Best first date EVER," she whispered in his ear.
"I did pretty good, didn't I?"
Instead of answering, she kissed him.
Dick turned over the photo and read the next clue. "We used to be friends?"
She could almost see the wheels turning in his brain as he worked out the clue. It wasn't long before he was heading towards the family room where the iPod dock was. He lifted it up and revealed a picture of Mac sitting in front of her parent's camper, her leg propped up on another chair. Dick was leaning down rubbing her shoulder as he whispered something in her ear.
"Aw, my first ever Mackenzie Biannual Rite of Torture."
"And the standard to which all others were judged."
"Well, since that was such a rock bottom trip, the others were by comparison awesome."
"Only if by awesome you mean slightly less torturous."
The week after their first date Dick joined Mac and her family on one of their twice yearly weekend camping trips. Not being a fan of camping in particular and the great outdoors in general, Mac did not enjoy the trips as much as the rest of her family. Dick, on the other hand, loved nature, and hiking, and spending as much time with Mac as possible so it was an invitation he could not refuse. On paper, it should have been a wonderful trip, but the reality did not meet expectations.
While bonding with Mac's kid brother Ryan, Dick mentioned his own younger brother who had recently died. Ryan hadn't made the connection between the guy Mac used to date who killed himself and Dick's younger brother who died. He got really upset when he found out Dick was Cassidy's brother. Then Dick got depressed and mad, reliving everything with Cassidy, and all the guilt he felt. He went off on a hike by himself and Mac, feeling concerned, tried following him. Unfortunately, she fell aggravating a prior knee injury. Dick found her about 20 minutes later, and ended up carrying her all the way back to the campsite. He told her later that his back was sore for 2 days. Of course she still one upped him, as she was on crutches for 3 weeks.
"Do you remember what I whispered in your ear?" Dick said, interrupting Mac's reveries.
"That you finally understood why I call it the biannual rite of torture. Except, as usual, you filled that innocent sentence with tons of that signature Casablancas innuendo."
"You love my sense of romance."
"Whatever."
Dick turned the picture over for his next clue. You are my angel, complete with this Angelic accessory.
He went right over to their gaming system, sorted through the games until he found Halo 3. Turning it over, there was another picture taped to the back.
"On the first guess. Good boy!"
"Can I get a cookie?" Dick unstuck the picture and studied it a minute. A big smile crossed his face. "The epic spring break road trip."
Spring break of their sophomore year at Hearst she and Dick took a road trip with Logan and Veronica. Somewhere during that trip Logan had started calling them the new Fab Four, an hommage to what everyone called Veronica, Lilly Kane, Duncan Kane, and himself back in junior high up to their sophomore year at Neptune High. Thinking of that trip brought back some tough memories for Dick, but he refused to dwell on that part.
This particular photo was taken before all the drama that ensued later on during the trip. It was a group shot of the Fab Four in front of this seedy motel they stayed at the previous night. Though he and Logan could easily afford a luxury hotel when they saw the sign for this place it was a no brainer, The White House Inn. Mac said it was a sign, anyone named Casablancas had to stay in the White House Inn. What exactly it was a sign of though, even to this day Dick had no idea. The motel reminded him of the movie Psycho. But it had ended up being a fun overnight stay. The next morning before they hit the road again, Ronnie found another guest to take a group shot of them in front of the sign. Dick did his best Vanna White imitation, pointing to the sign while maintaining an over the top pose. Logan was laughing at him, while Ronnie rolled her eyes and Mackie joined in with her own Vanna impression.
Dick turned the picture over for his next clue. Like the subject matter of the next photo, my love is always in bloom.
He tried, and failed, to hide his grin. "If MC2 Software ever goes bankrupt, there's a future for you in the greeting card industry."
Mac smirked as she punched him hard on his arm.
Dick went out the front door and around to the side of the house where Mac had planted several sun flowers. She wasn't much for horticulture, but she had always loved giant sunflowers. Though it was dark now, from the faint light of the neighbor's flood lights Dick could see something lying among the giant flower stalks. He bent down to retrieve it, but it was too dark to make out the image.
Once inside he saw the picture was a professional shot of Mac catching the bouquet at Logan and Ronnie's wedding almost 6 years ago. No one had any doubt that the whole thing was a set up. A not so subtle nudge to get Dick to move his ass and get Macster to the alter already. Of course the gleam in the eyes of one Mrs. Veronica Mars Echolls as she purposely aimed the bouquet towards her maid of honor was a major hint. And a few minutes later he was in possession of Ronnie's garter belt, beamed directly at him by Logan. Again, nothing subtle there.
Dick read the clue on the back of the picture and figured it was guiding him to the first floor powder room. He found the next photo buried in an old issue of Wired magazine which was placed haphazardly in a wicker basket by the toilet. He and Mac were locked in a passionate embrace, her left hand was posed so it was resting on his cheek, prominently showcasing the large oval Sapphire and white gold engagement ring Dick had commissioned just for her. Flanking either side of the large stone were two Celtic knots symbolizing their everlasting love.
Veronica, herself only married for a couple of months by then, took the engagement pictures. Even Dick had to admit the pixie spy had skills in the photographic arts, honed no doubt from years of taking pictures on the sly of cheating spouses and other nefarious characters. A much larger version of this picture was hanging in their living room. It was one of his favorite pictures of his Mackie.
Dick's mind wandered back to when he proposed to Mac. He wanted something unique but not flashy, like Mac herself. One night he was drinking with Logan at the bar in the Neptune Grand, discussing Logan's own recent foray in marriage. Trying to sound like a man of wisdom and experience, Logan then shifted the conversation towards Dick and Mac's relationship. He asked him when he was going to get off his ass and propose already. They started discussing proposal ideas, and Logan even told him to feel free to steal his own Karaoke proposal, but Dick didn't think that would work as well on Macster. As the night wore on Logan's ideas started getting crazier and more outlandish. A billboard on the PCH would not be the key to Mac's heart. But that did give Dick an idea.
***Flashback—Dick & Mac's apartment, 5 ½ years ago***
Dick was on sitting on the large aubergine sofa in their cozy living room, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He was reading a book, an actual book. Well, an actual eBook as he was using Mac's Kindle. Having long since graduated from college, it wasn't for an assignment or anything like that. He was reading for fun. Mac had finally talked him into reading The Catcher in the Rye and it was actually pretty good. He would laugh out loud periodically at something Holden Caulfield was saying, or thinking, or doing. That was one messed up fictional dude, Dick thought, but he couldn't disagree with a lot of what the narrator said or did.
Though Holden was a good diversion, an entertaining way to pass some time, Dick was actually waiting rather patiently for his plan to take effect. At least, as patiently as he was capable of. And when it came to one Miss Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, well he had unlimited patience.
Macster was on her laptop, doing some Q-type work for Neptune's favorite pixie spy PI, Ronnie. It was actually all part of Dick's plan, and Ronnie was more than happy to play a part in it.
"So, how are you liking Holden?" Mac said.
"Oh, yeah, the book. It's pretty good, actually."
"Holden is pretty disenfranchised. Definitely more of an anti-hero, but I've always loved that book."
"Yeah, you read my mind there, Macster."
"I'll bet. But I heard you laughing quite a bit."
"He's a funny dude."
"That's just what my English teacher used to say."
"Well, don't let me disturb your concentration. I know Ronnie has you doing a lot of techie stuff for her latest case. And well, I don't want to piss off the pixie spy. Little Dick does not want to bring on the wrath of Mr. Sparky."
Mac just laughed and focused her attention back to the computer. A few minutes later she shook her head, looked briefly at Dick and back at the screen on her lap. She tapped a few more keys, screwed her face up in concentration, sighed, then looked back at Dick.
"What?" Dick asked dragging his attention out of the book.
"I'm not sure yet." Mac looked briefly at Dick and then back to her screen. She shook her head again. For several minutes no one spoke, the only sound was Mac tapping on the keyboard and Dick tapping the eReader screen to turn the pages.
"Dick, um, something hinky is going on," Mac said cutting the silence. "I'm um digging into some financials for Bond, and well...I'm not accusing you of anything, please know that. It must be someone else in your company. Brad, maybe. I never trusted him. Anyway, everything I've tried the past several minutes keeps coming back to Casablancas Real Estate Holdings."
"What do you mean everything keeps coming back to my company?"
"It just does. Why I don't know. I just follow the trail wherever it takes me. V interprets it."
"Oh great. Ronnie would just love to think the worst of me. She'll bring my company down so fast."
"She doesn't have to know everything I found. I can keep it hidden for a few days, just until we figure out who is screwing you over. Or I could convince V it's not you. She trusts me, she'll believe me. We'll get to the bottom of this."
Dick tried not to smile at that. "Mac, stop. I didn't do anything wrong. V isn't going to take me down. I'm not going to lose the company. Just go to my website, check it out. You'll see, everything is on the up and up. Thanks for your faith in me though."
Mac clicked on what she thought was he link to Casablancas Real Estate Holdings. Instead she was taken to a dummy website which was streaming Adele's "Make me feel your love." The text read: Casablancas Real Estate Holdings would like to file a motion to merge with MC2 Software. Then the image switched to a montage of pictures of him and Mac. The group shot at Dog Beach. The two of them in San Diego in front of the Symphony Hall. Several shots of them at the Hearst College campus. One of them with their arms around each other, tossing their caps at graduation. And one of his favorites, Mac and Ronnie playing Halo. Dick loved her warrior stance when she was concentrating on the game, her posture slightly hunched, her face taking on a fierce look as she prepared for virtual battle.
Dick enjoyed watching Mac's face as she watched the images on the website. Her eyes got wide. Then narrowed. She smiled at some images flashing by, frowned at others. She bit her lip and looked over at Dick, a little confused about whether this was actually going to lead to what she was starting to suspect. Her question was quickly answered though when flashing on the screen were the words:
Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?!
"Yes, yes, YES." Mac said in increasing volume. The computer was once again tossed aside as Mac climbed onto Dick's lap. She then placed the eReader off to the side. His face met hers and they kissed slowly and sweetly. Finally, reluctantly Dick pulled away so he could dig into his pocket to find the ring. He put it on Mac's left finger.
"I think I was supposed to get out the ring first, then ask you to marry me."
"Well, we never did do things in the right order anyway. Why start now?"
"Good point, future Mrs. Dick Casablancas."
Mac looked down at the ring. "Oh Dick, it's gorgeous. And not a conflict diamond either."
"I thought this would be more your style."
"It is, it really is." She loved the deep blue color of the sapphire. Dick thought it matched her eyes perfectly."So, this was all a set up wasn't it? Something you cooked up with V?"
"Yes, it was. And it obviously worked, Mrs. C."
***End of flashback***
"Hey, come back to me," Mac said waving her hand in front of Dick's face. "You're a zillion miles away."
"Just thinking about when I proposed."
"I really can't think of any other couple who got engaged via a website."
"Well, with you and your computer mojo I thought it was rather apropos."
"True! Apropos, huh? Reading the dictionary again?"
"Ha ha ha, Mrs. C. Ha ha ha."
Dick turned the photo over to see the next clue. A Fast car to get us to the chapel in time. Dick headed towards the door to the garage to find the next picture.
TBC...
I decided to end the chapter here so these first few pictures were about their relationship up to their engagement. Part 2 will focus on the wedding and married life, plus the baby gender reveal. Thanks for reading. Please review. Concrit is always welcome.