Chapter 2: Dinner

"Bonasera," Stella answers her cell phone.

"Hey, Stel," Mac says. "My mother wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight."

"Oh, that's nice of her, but I don't want to intrude on your time."

"She's been here a day, and I'm already counting the days until she leaves. Please come; it'll give her something to talk about other than my lack of visiting her."

"Okay, what time do you want me to meet you?"

"Seven o'clock at my place. She refuses to tell me what she is cooking but claims that it was one of my favorites."

"I'll see you later," she hangs up as she walks by Hawkes, who is waving her inside of the trace lab. "What are you so desperate to show me?"

"I found a match to the fingerprint you lifted from the victim's wallet."

She looks at the screen, "Call Flack and have him bring the guy in. In the meantime, we'll look for a motive." The detective pulls on her lab coat, joining the former ME in looking over the victim's clothing.

"So… I didn't bother you last night, did I?" Sheldon asks timidly.

"No, I kind of forgot you were there until I saw you on the couch this morning."

"I have a few appointments to look at apartments this evening so I'll be back a little later tonight; sorry in advance if I bother you."

"It's fine, Sheldon. You might be home before I am; Mac invited me to dine with him and his mother."

"I take it you've met his mother before this."

"Yeah… at Claire's funeral. And then she came back five years ago to visit. And after meeting her, I realized where Mac gets his stubbornness from."

Hawkes smiles, "I… didn't realize that Mac still had family alive. Other than you."

"Mac and I aren't family."

"Might as well be."

"You and Mrs. Taylor would get along then. Mac told me after she left five years ago that she told him that he should ask me to marry him. And apparently she hasn't forgotten that idea of hers."

"Maybe you should… You two know each other better than any married couple I know."

"It won't happen. He doesn't have those kinds of feelings for me. To be completely honest, I'm not even sure that he's over Claire, and it's been eight years."

"Stella… you said something yesterday… about Mac breaking your rule… Have you two…?"

"God, no. He's just been in my apartment a lot. To talk and have dinner and other… things friends do. Why am I having this conversation with you?" she looks up from her work to ask him.

"Because I'm easy to talk to," the doctor smiles.

"Well, you are right about that."

MSMSMSMSMS

Promptly at seven o'clock Stella knocks on Mac's door. He answers it within seconds, a look of relief on his face, "Hi."

"Hi," she smiles, glad to see him stressed about something other than work. "Dinner smells good."

"She made chicken and noodles. Here, I'll take your coat, and you can go into the kitchen." Mac helps her remove her coat before hanging it up.

"Sheldon broke our case open this morning, and we made an arrest later in the day. Danny and Lindsay took the only other case we had. So… I spent much of the day doing your paperwork for you. Most of it just needs your signature."

"Oh… you really didn't have to do that, Stella," he says, glancing at his mother.

"See, Mac? You can go in to work tomorrow morning for half the day to finish paperwork and spend the rest of it with me. I've always wanted to go see the Statue of Liberty," she hints.

"It's too cold to go over there. We'll both freeze to death."

"Oh… then what's on Broadway? Maybe we could go to a show tomorrow."

Mac looks at Stella for some sort of excuse so he'd have to stay at work all day. "That sounds like a wonderful idea; I heard that the new musical that just came out was spectacular," Stella smiles. He gives her a death glare but she doesn't notice. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, I just have to serve dinner, and then we can eat. Mac, bring me the plates," she tells him.

He pulls a chair out for Stella, the one in the middle of the three place settings, perhaps hoping to get the attention off of him. "You're going to pay for that," he whispers as he reaches over to get the plates from the table.

Mac sits to her left, Mrs. Taylor on her right. "So, Stella, Mac tells me that he is not seeing anyone. Can you confirm this?"

She glances at Mac, wondering about his mother's upfront questioning, "I don't think he has, but I really don't… study your son's love life. We don't really… discuss that much."

"Oh. Well, what about you?"

The conversation continues with somewhat private questions despite the two detectives' attempts to switch topics. Mrs. Taylor excuses herself in order to do the dishes, refusing to allow Stella to help her. "Don't you have a dishwasher, Mac?" Stella asks once his mother is busy.

"Don't tell her that," he whispers back.

"So what are you plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, I'll definitely be at work in the morning. I guess it depends on how busy we are."

They sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes while Mrs. Taylor finishes up. "I made apple pie for dessert," she announces, pulling out some plates for them.

"I don't think I can eat another bite, Mrs. Taylor; dinner filled me up," Stella says, turning around to face her.

"Oh, don't worry. One night of good, homemade food isn't going to kill you," his mother says, slicing the pie. "Mac has told me about your eating habits. I can't believe you two stay in shape with all that eating out you do."

"Thank you," Stella says as a plate is set in front of her. "It looks delicious, but I really didn't need such a big piece."

"Oh, let me get you two some forks," she turns around, opening a few drawers until she finds the silverware. "Well, I'm going to go to bed; it's getting kind of late for me. So… I'll leave you two alone to talk or whatever you want to do. Good night." As she finishes speaking, she place a hand on each their wrists, Mac's right and Stella's left, to disguise her actions. When she turns to leave, the two are handcuffed together.

A/N: First, thanks for the many reviews you guys sent. Please keep sending them; I will try to start replying to them. Second, I meant to update yesterday but it kind of slipped my mind. So I will try to update again Friday, and hopefully I don't forget this time. I don't think I have much else to say... hope you liked this chapter too and that you don't think Mac's mother is too out of character even though we don't really know her.