A/N: Thank you very much for your reviews and the new followers :)
The day had arrived and Mackenzie was nervous: her family was scheduled to arrive that afternoon and her nervousness was driving everybody crazy. They had told her that, after landing in JFK, they would swing by the brownstone to leave their luggage and they would meet her after the show was over. She didn't mind them picking her up at work, she was scared of Will meeting them again after almost four years.
In the control room, she looked at her watch for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes, wondering if they were already in the newsroom waiting for her. The show was on its last commercial break so everything would be over soon.
The show had been running smoothly but, five minutes to the end, everything had gone to hell. Mac's constant nagging had made Will take off his earpiece to stop her chatter on his ear, thing that made Mac go crazy. Once the show was over, she saw Will leave the studio as fast as he could. She wanted to follow him to give him a piece of her mind but she had to stay behind in the control room to straighten some things with team. When everything was fixed, she wished the guys a happy Thanksgiving while they scurried out of the room, wanting to be as far as they could when she exploded.
After gathering her things, she left the control room and walked to her newsroom. She opened the doors and looked around trying to find Will. When she didn't see him, she threw her things onto a nearby desk. "WHERE THE HELL IS THAT FUCKING IDIOT?" She yelled, startling the remaining staff. "WILL! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE! RIGHT NOW!" She continued, knowing he had to be there, somewhere.
When someone shyly pointed to her office, she grabbed her things and stormed there. She was about to scream again but the words died in her mouth when a little pair of arms encircled her legs. She looked down and everything that she had wanted to yell at Will vanished when she saw her niece. Mac left her things on a chair and knelt down to hug little Emily before scooping her into her arms and covering her with kisses, making the child laugh delightfully. Her brother Tom quickly stepped in to give his sister a bear hug and took Emily from Mac's arms so she could hug her parents.
Finally, Mac hugged her sister-in-law and picked her one-year-old nephew. "Hello there, cutie-pie! Look how much have you grown!" Mac said in a silly voice while kissing little David's cheek.
She forgot that Will was there while she made small talk with her family. Will took advantage of that to study her: she looked truly happy with her family there and she looked absolutely adorable holding the little guy in one arm while half hugging the girl with the other. His mind wandered to years ago: if he hadn't broke up with her maybe she would be holding their son or daughter, not her nephew. He quickly erased that thought, thinking of maybes made him feel sad and made him want to drink a whole bottle of scotch.
The McHale family made a cute picture: famous rich and important father married to an equal important and beautiful mother with two beautiful successful children, one of them with a perfect family with him. He knew Mac had always been like the black sheep of the family: nearly forty, unmarried, childless, with an amazing career and a successful job, far from home and her family, far from the life her mother wanted for her, and he admired her for that.
He snapped back into reality when he heard Mac's father reprimand her for the colorful language she had used a few minutes ago. Will tried to defend her but Mac spoke before he could.
"He deserved it." She told her father before turning to look at him. "Be grateful that they're here or you would be hearing a very pissed EP throwing profanities at you."
"We raised you better than that, Mackenzie." Her mother told her.
"Yeah, well, try working with him and you'd understand me." Mac replied. "Don't you think I'm gonna forget, mister." She told Will. "We'll talk on Monday."
"I can't wait." Will murmured sarcastically. Tom heard him and snorted, earning a death glare from his sister.
Mrs. McHale, wanting to lighten the mood around the room, approached Will and patted his arm. "Why don't you join us for dinner?"
"Oh, no, but thank you, Elizabeth." Will quickly replied. "It's family time." He said, smiling kindly at her.
"But you'll think about what I told you?"
"Of course." He assured her.
"Well, then, let's go." Sir McHale said. "I made reservations and we'll be late."
Everybody put their coats on while Mac gathered her things and got ready. Then, she went to stand in front of Will and, out of the blue, she kissed his cheek, surprising him.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Billy." She whispered next to his ear.
"Happy Thanksgiving." He said, too astonished to say anything more.
One by one, Mac's family said their goodbyes and left her office. Mac was the last to leave. She smiled shyly at him before following her family towards the elevators. Will stood there, for a few seconds, a grin appearing on his face, before he also left the room and walked to his office.
The next day, Mac arrived at her parents house at noon and used her key to open the front door.
"I'm hoooooooome!" She said out loud when nobody greeted her.
"We can hear you, Mackenzie, there's no need to yell." Elizabeth, her mother, reprimanded her from the dinning room's door.
"Where's everybody?" Mac asked her mother after kissing her cheek.
"Tom and Sarah took the kids to the park."
"And Daddy?" She asked again while hanging up her coat.
"Reading, in the den."
"I'll go say hi." Mac told her mother.
"Do you want some tea?" Elizabeth kindly asked.
"Please."
With an smile, Mac took the hallway towards the den. She hadn't take three steps when her mother stopped her.
"Are you planning to wear this tonight?" She said, pointing to the designer jeans, red blouse and knee-high black high-heeled leather boots her daughter was wearing.
"It's a family dinner!" Mac exclaimed. "Why the hell do I have to dress up?"
Elizabeth, knowing she wouldn't win the argument, ignored her daughter's reply and went to the kitchen. Smiling proudly to herself, Mac walked the rest of the hallway to the den. She found her father sitting on the couch, with his glasses perched on the end of his nose and reading the newspaper. She quickly left her purse on an armchair and plopped down on the couch next to her father, lifting her legs and resting her feet on the coffee table, disturbing his reading and earning a short disapproving glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Mac said before kissing his cheek.
Alexander had to smile at his daughter's antics, she always managed to bring an smile to his face. "Hi sweetie." He replied, returning the kiss. "I heard you bickering with your mother."
"It wasn't my fault." She shrugged.
"Yes, sure." Alexander told his daughter. "You two are too much alike."
"Not my fault either." Mac quickly said making his father laugh out loud.
"Oh, Mac, I missed you." He said while embracing her with one of his arms, tucking her into his side.
"Me too." She replied, resting her head on his shoulder.
Mac loved the way his father said her name, nobody did it like him. Her mother always called her Mackenzie because she hated any kind of monicker or nickname but, sometimes, terms of endearment like darling escaped her mouth. Her father usually called her Mac, or sweetie, except if he was really mad at her; then, he usually used her full name. Her brother had a big range of names that he used to annoy her, from calling her Mackie when she called her Tommy to things like little monster, MacMac or her favorite: M. She also loved the way her niece said Auntie Kenzie with her cute high pitched voice.
Sitting there, in the den, made her remember all the years she had spent in that same house growing up and, in moments like that one, she regretted living so far away from her family even if sometimes her mother annoyed her or her brother tried to fix her life. Mac sighed deeply and looked at her father.
"What?" He asked, noticing the somber look in her eyes.
"Nothing." She quickly replied, smiling slightly. "I'm just glad that you're here."
Before Alexander could say anything, his wife entered the room carrying a tray with the teapot and three teacups.
"Feet off the table, Mackenzie." Elizabeth told her, nudging Mac's legs with her own. Mac complied, reluctantly, and Elizabeth left the tray on the coffee table. She served the tea and gave the cups to her husband and daughter before sitting down on the armchair. Mac only had time to take one sip from her cup before her mother began to speak.
"Can you believe your daughter?" She asked her husband.
"Lizzie." He warned her.
"What the hell did I do now? I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes!" Mac exclaimed, shocked.
"She has the intention to wear these to dinner." Elizabeth explained, pointing to Mac's clothes.
"You said casual attire. This is casual." Mac calmly replied, sipping her tea.
"You know what your mother means when she says casual, Mackenzie." Alexander told her daughter.
"And you two understand that I'm not fifteen anymore, right?" Mac told her parents, slightly annoyed.
"Mackenzie." Her father warned her. He loved her daughter and his wife dearly but he also knew how they liked to get on each other nerves.
"I brought my clothes and my bag two days ago, ok? They're upstairs, in my room." Mac finally told them. Then, she stood up with the cup on her hand and grabbed her purse. "I'll be outside."
