I've Loved You Once, I've Loved You Twice, I'll Love You a Thousand Times
Author's Note: Hello! This is my second Newsroom fic, but my first with the Will/Mac pairing. They've been my favorites from the beginning, but they're both such complete characters, and I was – still am – nervous to write about them. I do hope I did them some just anyway, and please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Newsroom or any of its characters. They all belong to Aaron Sorkin and HBO.
Chapter One: Good Things Come in Pairs
She didn't think it was possible. She didn't think it would happen. But it did, and now she's heading towards 2 Hudson Street 27 at three am, wondering what on Earth she was supposed to do.
It had been about three months. Three months since Will and Mac went out on a star-all-over dinner. Three months since they started their odd, unlabeled relationship.
They went out, they slept together, and they spent time together, but so far, they hadn't felt the urge to define what they had just yet. It was good, and they were having fun, and they both thought they were too old to pretend to have a relationship they really didn't. And so it was, for three good months, until Nina fucking Howard came along and shattered everything. And in one night, Will had managed to get even, fuck Nina Howard and screw up a broadcast.
Mac knew Nina was a revenge fuck. The most hurtful, easy, stupid, meaningless fuck he could find. But none of it made Mac feel any better. She'd cheated, but she'd paid for her sins and what he was doing just wasn't fair.
As she paid the cab fare and walked to the curb, a million thoughts raced through her mind. What was his reaction going to be, if she would be able to forgive him, and if they'd be able to make it. She hurried inside to protect herself from the cold, and the doorman, Manuel, let her inside.
"Night, Manny." She said, her voice raspy and low.
"Night, Ms. McHale." He smiled, pressing the 'up' button on the elevator.
"Thanks." She said, passing the door he held open for her and entering the elevator. She clutched the tiny brown bag in her left hand, pressing the button to the 7th floor with the right.
The elevator ride was short, but it felt incredibly long. The elevator made a ding and she got out, walking to his door and ringing the bell.
She heard the sound of heels tapping in the wooden floors, and she wondered what kind of shoes he owned that made that kind of noise. But the sound she was hearing didn't come from his shoes. No, the sound was coming from the person who opened the door. Nina fucking Howard.
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Mac!" she exclaimed "Lovely to see you."
"Mm, yeah." Mac murmured "You too."
"Do you wanna come in?" the blonde woman asked, and Mac had the feeling that she was being mocked. "I'll call Will if you want. He's just taking a shower. Shouldn't be too long."
"No, actually, I'm in a hurry." She lied "could you give this to him, though? It's rather urgent."
"Yeah, sure." Nina smiled "You sure you don't wanna come in?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Mac said "Thanks, Nina."
Mac walked towards the elevator, gathering all the energy she had not to cry. The door opened, and entered the vehicle.
"Bloody hell." She said, sounding more British than ever.
She wasn't even sure she could do it with his help, she surely couldn't do without it.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Not fifteen minutes later, she was walking across Central Park, her hands shoved inside her coat pockets and her scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. It was a cold February evening, and she wondered if winter really was the season to be blue.
She never gave the expression much thought, because she always did like the colder weather, but right then, alone in Central Park at night, seeing the happy couples and families around her, she felt less than cheerful.
The buzz of her Blackberry took her out of her trance, and she reached for it in the bottom of her purse.
"Mackenzie McHale." She said, without looking at the caller ID.
"Mac!" Will shouted, his voice a mix of desperation and anger.
"Jesus Christ Billy, was that really necessary?" She reprehended, bringing her phone back to her ear.
"Mackenzie, what's this that Nina just gave me?"
"Oh, she remembered!" she faked "tell her I said thanks!"
"Mac!" he yelled again "What is this?"
"I'm pretty sure you've seen a pregnancy test before, Will."
"Mac, what are you fucking around with me for?" he asked, anger audible in his voice.
"It's a pregnancy test, Will. I'm not fucking around."
"Who's pregnancy test? And why am I holding it?"
"You're not that stupid, Will. You know whose pregnancy test that is, and you know why you're holding it."
"Is it yours?"
"Do you think I'd take somebody else's peed fucking stick and deliver it to your doorstep?"
"You're… you're pregnant?" he asked, stumbling through the last word.
"Yeah, turns out I'm not too old."
"Is it mine?"
"No, Sancho Panza's." she said "of course it's yours. How much of a whore do you think I am?"
"I didn't mean to imply…"
"I know."
"We need to talk."
"What are we doing right now?"
"I mean face to face." He said "you nearby?"
"Not too far."
"Come over, then."
"I really don't want to see your girlfriend right now."
"My girlfriend? You mean Nina?"
"Are you growing dumber with your old age?"
"Mac, Nina's not my girlfriend."
"It's none of my business anyway." She said "I didn't want to interrupt anything."
"You didn't…" he began "Mac, just come over. Nina's not here."
"You sure you want me to come over?" she asked "Don't wanna let it sink?"
"We really need to talk right now."
"Alright. I'll see you in a little bit."
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Hey." He said, opening the door for her "come in."
"Where did Nina go?" she asked, sliding her coat off and handing it to him.
"I have no idea." He said, leading her towards the couch "she doesn't owe me any kind of explanation. After all, we are not dating." He said, emphasizing the words not and dating.
"Will…"
"Mac, I slept with Nina." He said "You know that, I'm not hiding that. But I am not, and never have been, in a relationship with her."
"You don't owe me any explanation either."
"I think I kind of do now." He said "We are having a baby, after all."
"Can we really do that?" she asked, bringing her legs up to the couch and hugging her knees.
"I have absolutely no fucking idea." He told her "I fucking don't know. But it's not like we have an array of choices."
"Oh Billy, you hopeless romantic." She mocked "we do have other choices."
"No."
"We…"
"No, Mac. We've created something here. No, not something. Someone." He said, taking her hand in his "We've created a person, Mac."
"We did."
"We are so fucked."
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Billy, calm down." Mac asked, placing a comforting hand on his knee.
"I'm perfectly calm, Mac." He said, stubbornly.
She'd told him not three days ago, and in the past seventy-two hours, their lives had been turned upside down. She's slept over at his apartment that night, and the night after that one. On the next day she went to sleep at her own place, but after two hours of tossing and turning, she'd run back to Will's place, carrying her pillow and a bag of clothes, asking for his companion to sleep. They'd both slept better than ever, and Will even had abandoned her in the early morning to make her some pancakes. The smell woke her up, and they had breakfast together. They even rode to work in the same cab. He'd booked her an OB/GYN appointment with an old friend, and asked if he could come along. Mac didn't understand why he felt the need to ask. They were going to do this together. So there they were, in a sunny February 12 morning, sitting in the waiting room at Dr. Pearce Wells' office, both nervous – and happy – as hell.
"Yeah, sure you are." She said "gonna give yourself a heart attack, for God's sake."
She looked at him and gave him a small smile, grabbing his hand in the process.
"Mackenzie McHale?" a young nurse called, holding a small clipboard and looking around the room.
"That's me." Mac said, standing up from her chair "You ready Billy?"
"What if I said no?" he asked, and stood up.
"I wouldn't be able to help you out."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Dr. Wells was a tall, handsome, middle-aged man, who made an amazingly good first impression, transpiring comfort and wisdom.
"Good morning." He said, entering the small room "Will, good to see you!" he said, offering him a hand "long time."
"Too long." Will said, shaking his hand "How are you, Pearce?"
"I'm good. My kids finally stopped shoving things inside their noses – thank god – and I've moved out of the city chaos. Things have been good. And you?"
"Well…"
"Of course." Dr. Wells laughed "You must be Mackenzie." He said, offering Mac a hand "Nice to meet you."
"Yes, you too." Mac smiled.
"I hear you took a pregnancy test a few days ago, and it was positive?"
"Yes." She said "Not one, though. Seventeen."
"Well!" he laughed "that's some seriously skepticism."
"I didn't wanna believe it, I guess." Mac laughed.
"How far along do you think you are?"
"About ten weeks or so." She said "The window is not too big. We weren't… irresponsible every time."
"Okay. How've you been feeling?"
"I've been a little nauseous and lightheaded, but that's all there is to it. I haven't been throwing up or anything, just feeling queasy."
"I can give you something for that, if you'd like." Dr. Wells said "Also, we'll need to run some tests, given your age." He said "For now, you can see the baby and I'll get you an ultrasound picture. How's that?"
"Sounds marvelous." Mac said, smiling brightly at him.
"We get to see it right now?" Will asked, in a mixture of excitement and fear.
"Well, yeah." Dr. Wells said "If you'd like."
"We do." Mac said.
"Alright, follow me."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Mac lay on the table, her dark eyes staring fixatedly at the ceiling. Will held one of her hands and stood on the right said of the bed, and Dr. Wells stood next to a machine on the other side, adjusting some kind of setting on the gadget.
"Ready?" he asked, holding a tube of gel over her stomach.
"Yeah."
The gel felt cold against her belly, and she made some kind of non-understandable sounds.
"Ah, there you go." Dr. Wells said, a couple of minutes later, looking at the screen "Do you see it? There's your baby." He told them "that's the head, and the legs, and…" Dr. Wells stopped abruptly, startling both of them.
"What's wrong?" Will asked, squeezing Mac's hand "Pearce, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Dr. Wells said "Nothing, really. In fact, everything is just right… twice."
"What?" Mac asked, fighting back the urge to wipe the disgusting gel off her stomach.
"Congratulations, guys. You're having twins."
The words 'twins' echoed in their ears for a while, both of them taking some time to process the news.
"We just can't do things the easy way, can we?" Will asked, leaning forward in a way his face was only inches apart from Mac's. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and without backing away, he said "We're having babies, Mac."
"Fuck."
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this. It's definitely not a one-shot, so if you did, be on the lookout for chapter two, which will be up later this week. Please review and let me know what you think!