A/N This is pretty much pointless...but I wrote it anyway...
I own nothing!
It had been almost two months since Stella was kidnapped. Things, for the most part, had returned to normal. Her arm was still healing, but she was finally back in the field. However, you couldn't get her within ten feet of a can of chicken noodle soup. But that was ok, Mac wasn't missing it much. He did however have to be a little more cautious around, she spooked easily and he didn't want to scare her. He knew that would fade with time, it had every other time.
Tonight however, all of those concerns were being put aside. Reed was coming over for dinner. He had been so busy with work in the past few months that he had yet to see Aaron in person. Reed managed to find a break in his schedule to meet the young Taylor. Plus he wanted to spend time with Mac. Mac brought Reed's mom to life through stories and old pictures.
Stella was changing Aaron. He had just woken up from his afternoon nap.
"What do you think Aaron? You're going to meet Reed! He's very important to your daddy," she cooed. Aaron giggled and reached up at her. "Just one more minute, baby boy," she assured him, knowing he was getting antsy. She snapped his onesie closed and lifted him into her arms.
Mac looked over his shoulder as he heard Stella enter the kitchen.
"Well, look who's up," he smiled, waving at his son. Aaron smiled and buried his head in his mother's shoulder.
"Silly boy, it's just Daddy," she laughed, kissing Aaron's head.
"Come here bud," Mac said, setting down the knife he was cutting vegetables with and reaching for Aaron. A second later he was consumed in entertaining his son and all thoughts of making dinner were forgotten. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Stella taking over with dinner. "Stel, I can finish that," he offered apologetically.
"No, go play, I can finish dinner," she allowed. Mac smirked and walked out of the kitchen.
About an hour later, the door bell rang. Mac scooped Aaron up off the floor where they had been playing and went to answer the door.
"Hey Mac," Reed smiled.
"Hey Reed, come on in," Mac replied, ushering their guest in. "Have you ever seen our house?" Mac asked, realizing anytime he met Reed in the past year, it had been at the deli.
"Uh, no, but it's nice, very homey," Reed said with a shrug. Mac laughed lightly.
"Hi Reed," Stella greeted as she walked into the living room. Reed stepped in her direction and hugged her.
"How are you, Stella?" he asked.
"I'm doing good, thanks," Stella smiled.
"How's the arm?" he asked, pointing at the brace on her wrist.
"Much better," she replied.
Out of nowhere Aaron let out a rather high pitched squeal of excitement.
"Oh hush, no one's forgot about you," Stella chuckled, reaching out to tap Aaron on the nose. The little boy reached up and grabbed his mother's finger.
"It's Aaron, right?" Reed checked, his eyes locked on the child.
"Yes, would you like to hold him?" Mac offered.
"Ok," Reed shrugged. Mac set his son in Reed's arms. Aaron squirmed a little until Reed could get a comfortable hold on him. "Hey little guy," Reed grinned. Aaron giggled and smacked a slobbery hand against Reed's chest. "How old is he?" he wondered.
"Just past six months," Stella provided.
"He's great," Reed laughed as he tickled the little boy, spurring a fit of giggles. "He looks so much like Mac," he added a moment later. Mac smiled proudly.
"Well, dinner's ready when ever you guys are," Stella announced.
"Alright, let's eat!" Reed urged, causing Aaron to laugh again. Aaron reached up and tugged on a lock of Reed's curly hair. "Hey, ow, Aaron," he reacted, removing his hair from the child's hand. Mac laughed and reached for his son.
They all sat down at the table.
"So how's Addison?" Mac wondered, mentioning Reed's rather serious girlfriend.
"Actually," Reed began with a smirk. "We're engaged," he admitted.
"Really? That's great!" Stella stated.
"It's still very new, so we're still getting used to it, but yeah," Reed replied shyly.
"Congratulations," Mac smiled. He liked the young woman. They had met on a few occasions and each time he could tell she was a good fit for Reed.
Dinner went on with more light hearted conversation. Aaron cooed happily whenever he saw fit.
After dinner, Mac pulled the very messy Aaron out of his highchair and carried him into the kitchen, murmuring promises of a soon clean baby.
"He uh, he's really good at this dad stuff, isn't he?" Reed asked, somewhat surprised to see the ever stoic Mac Taylor act in such a fashion.
"The best," Stella grinned proudly.
"It's good for him, sometimes I think he's too serious," he mention with a crooked grin.
"I couldn't agree more," she laughed.
"Agree with what?" Mac wondered, returning from the kitchen, a very happy, very clean baby squirming in his arms.
"That you're too serious," Stella provided. Mac raised his eyebrows. Stella smiled at him. He couldn't help but smile back. "Why don't you two go continue catching up while I do the dishes?" she suggested.
"Stel, you made dinner, I can do the dishes," Mac protested.
"You can owe me one," Stella responded, not taking no for an answer. Mac nodded slowly and led Reed into the living room. Stella turned to gather the dishes from the table and got to work.
Reed listened on while Mac shared stories like he usually did. He enjoyed watching to older man's expression light up as he spoke about Claire. The only time he lit up more than that, was when he talked about Stella and Aaron.
Stella found them still conversing. Aaron was sound asleep, nestled against Mac's chest.
"How's it going in here?" Stella wondered as walked up next to the couch. She noticed Reed checked his watch.
"Actually, I should probably get going, I told Addison I wouldn't be out late," Reed announced. Mac smiled and pushed himself off the couch, careful not to disturb his son.
"Well, thank you for coming to dinner and again, congratulations," Mac mentioned with a handshake.
"Thank you for inviting me, I'm glad I finally got the chance to meet the infamous Aaron Taylor," Reed smirked.
"Don't be a stranger," Stella interjected, giving Reed another soft hug.
"I won't," he promised, then took his leave. Mac turned to face his wife.
"You could have been an active participant in this evening, you know," he scolded gently. Stella shrugged.
"I don't know Reed as well as you do and I guess I really don't have a connection with him. I mean I don't dislike him by any means, but I don't think he's very comfortable around me and I just feel awkward I guess," she explained.
"Well, Reed's somewhat of an enigma, even to me still so I guess I get where you're coming from," Mac replied.
"Let's get him to bed," Stella instructed, stroking a hand down Aaron's back.
After Mac put Aaron in his crib, he made his nightly rounds, checking all the doors and setting the alarm, and finally met Stella in the bedroom. He wrapped his arms around her trim waist and kissed her soundly.
"What now, Taylor?" she asked with a smirk.
"I don't know, Aaron went down early tonight," Mac shrugged. Stella gave him a thoughtful look and started plucking open the buttons on his shirt. Mac raised his eyebrows. Stella's hands slid up under his white t-shirt and eventually divested him of the garment.
"I can think of a few things we could do," she whispered seductively. Mac pulled her closer and kissed her again.