Disclaimer: I own only Mackenzie. ABCD owns everyone you recognize from the show, and Ashley owns Raven and Shanelle!
Author's Note: Raven is Bo's daughter that he didn't know about and Shanelle is her daughter. Both are from the imagination of Ashley and appear in many different fics with many different pasts. Raven is always awesome and Shanelle always adorable!
Dedication: To Amanda for sharing the childhood story starring her and her twin sister that this is based on with me and for having no problem with my using it in a fic. Oh and of course for her just being her! Love ya sis!
And also to Ashley for naming Mackenzie and letting me borrow Raven and Shanelle—and for just being there for me whenever I need it. Love ya!!
A/N2: I've had this written for quite some time but was trying to find the perfect title. Now that I've decided to help Shama out in the giving everyone feel-good Jolie fics during this angst-filled week however I've decided to just stick with the title I've got.
Title: Fish
"Mommy, Mommy! Can we get a fish?" Mackenzie McBain, an adorable three-year old with red pigtails and her parents' blue eyes jumped up and down excitedly as she tugged on her mother's hand. "Please, please, please?" she begged, freeing one hand to point towards the brightly-colored aquariums a couple of aisles away.
Natalie laughed and allowed herself to be dragged over to the pet department. "We'll have to ask Daddy first but I see no harm in looking."
Fifteen minutes later Natalie and Mackenzie were walking out of Wal-Mart with an aquarium, several bags of fish food and water, and of course the fish. Four little goldfish were swimming around in a bag of water that Mackenzie was carrying carefully and proudly.
"Daddy gets to come home to a surprise!" she exclaimed happily as they reached the car. Natalie smiled and shook her head, fumbling for her keys.
"Yeah, I'll say he does," she said, her smile widening at her little girl's excitement. She finally caught hold of the keys, pulling them out of her pocket and unlocking the trunk of her car. Opening it, she slid the aquarium, fish food and water inside before shutting it again and walking Mackenzie around the car and unlocking her door.
"Do you think Daddy's going to like the fish Mommy? He won't make us get rid of them will he?" Mackenzie asked worriedly as she buckled her seat belt and Natalie shut the door and climbed into the driver's seat.
"No baby, he's not going to make us get rid of the fish. He'll just be a little shocked to see them but I don't think he'll have a problem with them."
"Daddy look what we got!" Mackenzie began to run to where John was sitting on the couch but remembered the fish at the last moment and returned to a walk.
John looked at Natalie in confusion for a moment and then returned his gaze to Mackenzie as she carefully climbed up to sit in his lap. "Look, this is Raven, this is Michael, this is Kevin and this one is Joey," she said, pointing to each fish in turn. "Aren't they pretty?"
"They're beautiful baby."
"Beautiful like me?" Mackenzie asked, smiling angelically.
John chuckled and nodded, leaning in to kiss her cheek as he picked her up and swung her to the ground. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you leave them down here with me so when I get their tank put together we can put them in and then I'll have Mommy call you down to see okay?"
Mackenzie's brow furrowed as she considered his offer and then she shook her head no. "I don't want to."
"Baby, why don't you go play with your new tea set Raven gave you?"
Beaming, Mackenzie nodded at Natalie's request and gently set the fish down by John before she turned to run for the stairs. Natalie giggled at the look on John's face. "You have to know how to negotiate McBain."
"So… We decided we'd give her fish?"
Natalie shrugged. "You should've seen her face when she was looking at them… I couldn't say no to that face."
John chuckled. "And yet you say I'm the one who spoils her."
"You spoil her more than I do. Who was the one who just had to buy her that Big Wheel the instant she asked for it?"
"Yeah well at least the Big Wheel wasn't alive."
Natalie stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed. "Very mature, Mrs. McBain."
"Yeah, yeah. Well I got her the fish and I'm sorry I didn't call you first, but I didn't think you'd mind."
"Well, I don't really," John admitted with a small smile. "It's just—fish are alive."
"Yeah, you know I think we went over that in my forensics class," Natalie said teasingly.
John sighed. "No, what I mean is they're alive—so they're going to die."
"Oh," Natalie replied. "Then we'll have to—"
"Explain life and death," John finished for her.
Natalie shook her head. "I'm an idiot," she announced.
"You're not an idiot."
She eluded his attempts to pull her into a hug and shook her head. "Yes I am. I should have thought about this. What kind of a parent am I?"
"The kind who likes to see her daughter happy." John finally managed to pull her into an embrace and he held her close, kissing the top of her head. "It'll be fine… We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Shanelle, come see my fish!"
Raven and a two year old Shanelle had barely walked in the door when there was Mackenzie, tugging on the younger girl's hand and trying to get her to come towards the stairs.
"Go on and play baby," Raven told her and Shanelle smiled as she allowed Mackenzie to drag her up the stairs, with the five-year old Bree following close behind.
"Hey, these fish look wet. My mommy says that being wet makes you sick," Bree announced as she turned away from the fish tank.
"Really?" Mackenzie asked, looking more closely at the glass. "I don't want my fish sick," she said worriedly as a bored Brennan walked out to go to the downstairs playroom.
Shanelle moved to stand beside Mackenzie and pressed her face to the glass as she watched the fish swim. "Get them out?" she suggested and Mackenzie's face lit up.
"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "Good idea Shanelle, we should get them out and let 'em dry off. Then they won't get sick. Can you help me?"
Shanelle nodded with a grin and the girls went to work.
Natalie was laughing at something Raven had said as she walked out of the living room and up the stairs to check on the girls. She gasped at the sight that awaited her—Mackenzie's fish were sitting outside the tank and the girls were studying them carefully.
"Girls, what are you doing?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
"Bree said that Aunt Tess says that being wet for too long makes you sick and I didn't want my fishies sick, so I took them out so they could dry," Mackenzie said matter-of-factly.
"Well fish are different—they need to be wet," Natalie explained gently, not wanting to say anything that would upset them. "Why don't you go downstairs with your daddy and Raven honey?"
Mackenzie smiled and took Shanelle's hand, leading her towards the door. "Come on Shanelle, we'll go see your mommy."
"And tell your daddy to come up here," Natalie called after them. Staring at the fish, she could only shake her head and smile ever so slightly.
The fish had lived for over a week—a long life for a goldfish, at least in Natalie's experience. And would they ever have a story to tell about their daughter at the next family gathering.
FIN