A/N-In my world Jessica Angell didn't die, she survived the shooting and as soon as she regained consciousness Flack put an engagement ring on her finger and married her as soon as she could walk down the aisle with the whole team there...hmmm, maybe that's a story for another day. Still this fact figures into this chapter. I went for the schmaltz.
()()()
During the height of summer…
New York City was melting and tempers frayed everywhere. Mac had done a special tour with the Mayor and Police Commissioner as a media stunt to reassure a sweltering city that the N.Y.P.D. higher-ups were doing what they could to keep a lid on the five boroughs.
But the only thing people really cared about was when the oppressive heat would break. Then, that would end the rolling brownouts along with the pleas to cut back on power usage. That meant that despite the media circus Mac had been shanghaied into, the lead item on the newscasts would be meteorologists predicting a storm moving in to break the heat before the break of dawn.
At least that's what Mac figured the lead item would be, he had other plans for his before bed hours. He noticed his building's elevator was going a little slower or maybe he was looking for a faster trip home.
Mac wanted out of the heat, out of his suit and into Stella's loving embrace. He let himself into their new condo balancing a small bakery box in the hand not holding his keys. He was pleased to note she'd used the second lock; she didn't always take that extra safety step when she was home alone.
He kicked the door shut gently when he noticed darkness cloaking the interior. Mac strained his ears and didn't hear music playing, a constant when Stella was puttering around. He glanced up and noticed the ceiling fans she'd insisted on for every room were motionless.
All the clues slowed him down more than the heat. He quietly slipped out of his jacket and headed for the kitchen. Mac placed the box in the refrigerator while grabbing the pitcher of chilled water with his other hand. Stella kept it filled and spiked with thin slices of lemon.
The temptation to chug it straight out of the pitcher nearly won out. He shook off that idea and grabbed a glass. He guzzled down its entire contents as he hung on the refrigerator's open door. It was an old trick from those childhood days during hot Chicago summers. But these days there was no parent to yell at him for wasting electricity. These days the whole city was breathing down his neck to save power.
Mac shut the door and noticed the condo's air conditioning was on, it just wasn't cranking out as much cool relief as usual. He thought he heard a distant shout of thunder from Mother Nature. He encouraged her with a soft, "Bring it on."
Thirst quenched, he moved to secure and seek. He locked the deadbolt, stored his gun and kicked off shoes. He picked them up and draped his abandoned suit jacket over his arm before heading down the hall to the closed master bedroom door.
He eased it open to step inside. Here he could hear the gentle whirring of the ceiling fan and some light from the cityscape outside the drawn shades lit up the room enough to see the blades turning to supplement the air conditioning.
Mac listened to Stella's even breathing and let that sound remind him he truly was home. He could give thanks for another day they were together and safe. He prayed for that intention at the start of every day and then prayed his thanks for it being granted at day's end.
It wasn't easy to fight the impulse to wake her; actually he tabled that impulse until after a quick shower. There was always the chance she'd wake up and join him in the master bath if she heard the water running. If not he decided, she really needs the rest.
()()()
Okay, so Stella really needed the rest. Mac came out of their bathroom with one of the Egyptian cotton bath sheets with multi-twisted threads wrapped around his waist. He had come to appreciate their absorbency, coverage and plush feeling. He sighed, the towel looked even better on Stella.
Of course, so did the sheets. He knew she'd be naked under the top sheet covering her body despite the heat. She said being covered made it easier for her to sleep. Mac had laughed at the picture she presented at these times—elegant, long legs hanging out with the sheet draping from her hips to across her shoulder almost like gowns seen on countless Greek goddesses.
She had laughed with him before nudging him and reminding Mac that he liked to sleep on his back with his arm behind his head. Stella had giggled that it was his thinking pose and proof his magnificent brain never completely turned off.
He thought now about the room's layout allowing him to slip toward one of the dressers. Mac fumbled for matches and lit the pillar candle sitting on top of the rich, dark wood. No floral scents for Stella, the air picked up notes of spice and moss. The flair of the match and the sound of it striking didn't rouse her.
So Mac simply stared in the candlelight at his reason for living. He could make out her legs and that one shoulder gleaming golden in the candlelight. The glint of her wedding set caught the flame's glow. The drape of the sheet held his eyes and he bent over whispering, "Hello, precious."
Mac gently kissed the sheet pulled taut over the slight rounding of her abdomen. He nuzzled tenderly hoping this would be the time he'd feel their baby stirring in Stella's womb. Instead, he heard the clink of her engagement ring and wedding ring on the chain around her neck as her fingers combed through his damp hair. She sounded half asleep, "Mac…."
He turned his face to kiss her hand. He let his hand cradle her stomach. "You were out like a light."
"Guess so. How was the ride-along circus?"
"Pointless since the weather is about to break." He tilted his head toward the window, "Listen."
Thunder and lightning were picking up in frequency and intensity. If they'd been nearer to ground level they would have seen trees waving back and forth like dancers in a frantic production number.
"We need a break." Her hand trailed down his bare arm. "You've had a shower. I guess I really was out."
"Trust me, if I'd have come this close to you before taking the shower the smell would have awakened you." His hand soothed her stomach, "And I'd have frightened our baby into never wanting to come out."
"Bite your tongue." There was a smile in her voice, "Besides I like it when you're sweaty: very virile, very sexy. I think that explains why I'm in my present condition."
"No, that's explained by the fact that you're bewitching and the woman I love more than anything or anyone." He admitted, "And we've pretty much been insatiable since that first night."
"At least you made an honest woman out of me before I got pregnant though just barely. You should be aware Mac: there is a pool for the date of conception."
His groan widened her smile, "That's the downside to working with scientists driven to be precise." He arched up to kiss Stella. It began lightly at first before their tongues tangled and the temperature in the room seemed to rise. Mac eased back, "Speaking of driven, one good thing came out of me being driven around."
"Do tell, Darling."
"We were in Little Italy and I brought a couple of cannoli home for us or for you since you love them."
She sighed and leaned back onto the pillow. "Thanks for thinking of me but this heat has me too sluggish to eat. No appetite."
"Stella, please don't tell me that. I thought you…"
"Learned my lesson? I did. I had some Greek yogurt and some fruit when I came home along with plenty of water. I don't want either of us scared again."
He nodded remembering the day early in her pregnancy when he'd been working in the lab. He'd heard Don Flack shout for Sheldon Hawkes. Mac realized he'd just seen Stella with Flack. Mac abandoned the evidence he was studying leaving the lab techs open mouthed when he went tearing down the hall.
Stella had fainted and Flack caught her before she hit the ground. Sheldon helped carry her to Mac's office couch and she was just coming around when Mac hit the doorway running at full speed. Mac had insisted they head for the ob after being talked out of a trip to the E.R. It ultimately was determined that Stella was dehydrated and hadn't eaten anything. She agreed to be more careful about keeping fuel in her body. The couple didn't know that everyone on their team started keeping extra water and healthy snacks around just in case. No one wanted to see that look of fear on Mac's face again.
Mac shuddered at the memory of her pale face. Stella intuitively understood and drew him forward. She kissed him and murmured, "I'm fine. We're fine. And the change in the weather will help revive my appetite."
"It better or I'll be forced to be a bully and make you eat things like cannoli."
They laughed and fell back onto the pillows. She smiled expecting him to cover her body with his. Mac surprised her by taking her left foot peeking out of the sheet and beginning a gentle massage.
She moaned, he smiled and increased the pressure. Stella was over the morning sickness and most of her weight gain was all baby. However, the heat wave seemed to bring on swelling in her extremities. It forced her to abandon her heeled boots and shoes for flatter footwear. But the worst was the swelling in her hands. It made her rings too tight and she'd tearfully removed them and then turned weeping into Mac's arms.
Jessica Angell Flack and Lindsay Monroe Messer came to the rescue when Mac mentioned Stella's distress to their respective husbands. The women called her to commiserate telling Stella they'd had the same thing happen in their pregnancies. They suggested she wear the rings on a chain around her neck.
Mac heard about the solution and immediately offered to take her to a jewelry store. Stella laughed for the first time since her hands swelled up and reminded her husband she had plenty of chains already in her possession. She asked him to help her sort through them and together they made a choice. They threaded her diamond engagement ring and wedding band onto the fine gold chain. Mac then pushed her hair aside to fasten the chain around her neck and tenderly kissed the nape of her neck before she turned into his arms. This time her tears were of happiness.
Stella hadn't removed the chain since. It was the glint of the chain, precious metals and diamonds around her neck that caught Mac's eyes on the threshold of the bedroom. He continued the massage now and added the other foot alternating his ministrations. She propped herself up on her elbows, "Mac, you sure know how to spoil a girl."
"Pretty good for someone with no game."
"I suspect you have a better game than you let on at the time and selfishly, I'll be keeping that secret."
"You're the only one that needs to know."
"Believe it and what I need now is for you to come up here and kiss me."
As Mac moved toward his wife on the bed, she reached out and ripped the towel away from his waist. However, her fingers strayed back below his waist and she grabbed him with a wicked grin. "I'm recharged by the foot massage and am also ready for the cannoli."
He hissed as her grip tightened and she continued, "But to do complete justice to them and get the most out of the filling I think I need to give my mouth some exercise on a similarly shaped object."
"I did buy the larger size cannoli."
"Better still." Stella inclined her head to coax him onto the bed with her. Once he complied she took her free hand and swept it over his body. "After we're done here, I want to go for a walk in the rain."
"Stella, look out there." Mac indicated the window, "That storm's not going to let up."
She purred at him, "By the time I'm finished with you, that storm will have burned itself out. Us, not so much."
Mac looked a little bit nervous and that delighted his wife even more as she went to work on him using her mouth and hands while slithering her body built for sin over his lower body.
He fisted his hands into the sheets remembering luxury linens would take the strain. Mac also recalled something Don Flack and Danny Messer had told him about pregnancies. The second trimester included an uptick in the woman's desire.
Or as Don had cautioned, "I'm telling you Mac, when they give out that trimester's prenatal vitamins they oughta include Viagra for the father-to-be. It's the only way you can get ahead." Danny had nodded solemnly in agreement.
Maybe they were right Mac thought and then his mind was wiped clean when Stella took him flying into pleasure and release with only the sheets tethering him to Earth.
()()()
Stella was correct, as usual in Mac's world. In the time it took her to finish having her way with him and then directing her own bout of pleasure, she was hungry and relaxed. She turned Mac on all over again with the sensuous and R-rated way she ate the cannoli. He was ready to take her back to bed and turned them back toward the bedroom hallway.
Instead, she detoured Mac to the window, "See no more storms. Let's get dressed and head out."
"Darling, can't we just admire it from in here?"
"Maybe you don't want to be seen with me. I'm starting to look like a beached whale and that's not very romantic."
Don and Danny had also warned Mac about this phase of pregnancy. He had rehearsed some lines and fervently hoped they'd suffice. "You don't look anything like a beached whale. You look beautiful and desirable. In fact, I'd like to head back into the bedroom."
Stella tilted her head and sized him up. "Did you get that out of the manual written by men who've been through this before?"
"Of course not, wait—there's a manual?" He gave her a small smile, "I'm just lucky that what sounds like a line is the absolute truth."
"You may not feel that way about me in a few months."
"I'm not likely to change my opinion but ask any time." He grabbed an umbrella out of the closet and headed toward the door.
Her look of reproach froze him in place, "What, Stella?"
"Mac, it's not a romantic walk in the rain with an umbrella."
"I don't want you catching a chill."
"Then we'll leave a few towels by the door and I promise to strip out of my clothes the second we're inside. I'll even add some dance steps as I peel them off."
He sighed, "If we have a daughter, I'll never win an argument at home again."
Stella laughed and reached for his hand. They rushed down the hall, slid into the elevator and rocketed to the lobby. Theirs was a quiet building especially on what had become a dark and stormy night.
The pounding thunderstorms had tapered into a gentle rain. The temperature had plummeted with the storm to a comfortable range. She tugged her husband by the hand loving him for humoring her whim. Mac had loosened up in their time as a couple; smiling and laughing openly more than anyone could ever recall. Those closest to them realized that he'd found contentment.
The baby on the way brought Mac more fulfillment and joy than he'd ever had or hoped for in his life. Something other than work now centered him.
He followed Stella's lead as they walked toward the nearest corner. But he skirted the puddles on the sidewalk while she scampered through them. They were just about to the corner when she rounded on him to pull him into an embrace. Mac noticed they were under a streetlight and it made the rain drops left on the trees sparkle like diamonds.
Stella sparkled even brighter as she draped her arms around his neck. Blue eyes met green, "So this was your plan all along, to get me to kiss you."
"You are a crack investigator, Taylor in every facet of your life." Her smile was luminous, "Mac, a kiss in the rain…"
"Well, as long as we're here." He slipped his arms around her waist and bent his head to take her lips. Her scent and softness combined with the rain to wind around him and invade every pore.
The kiss was all innocence and tenderness. It spoke of promises made and promises to come. The rain blessed their union with its version of gentle caresses.
As the kiss continued to ride its course Mac tightened his hold on Stella. She pressed closer to him on her own. This position made him more conscious of the changes in her body. Her breasts were fuller and her stomach was filling out.
Then something changed for Mac. Stella appeared to be motionless in his arms but he felt movement. Their kiss changed as Stella began to smile. She unwound one of her arms from his neck and used it to bring his hand from her waist to between their bodies.
Mac gaped in wonder when she placed his hand on her rounded abdomen and proclaimed, "Someone else wants in on our action. What do you think of that Daddy or is it going to be Papa?"
"Stella." Her name had fallen from his lips like a prayer. "Was that? Did I feel? Does it hurt? Are you all right? God, there it is again. I feel our baby."
His hand stayed where it was as she used hers to cup his face and kiss him. There was wetness there, not from the rain but from his tears.
"Oh, Mac." She let one of her hands cover his. "It's real and you can believe in our reality and be happy. It's allowed."
He swallowed hard. He didn't mind Stella seeing his tears because she understood him. He had felt these tentative explorations into a new world before when friends or relatives were expecting a baby. However, these stirrings came from his child, the happiness he'd longed for and never expected to get.
Ultimately, Mac was a man of action. "Okay, time to head back, get you undressed and little one, we'll get your Mommy wrapped up in one of those Egyptian cotton towels she loves."
"Hey, I converted you to liking them too."
"I can't resist any of your temptations, Stella." Mac turned her to head back home keeping one arm around her waist and his opposite hand protecting their unborn child. "Once we're there, I'm going to take both of you back to bed where I can put my face down where you are Taylor-baby-to-be. We'll have a long talk and I'll hope you do some more showing off for your old man."
Stella laughed and the carefree sound shot straight to his heart. Yes, Danny and Don had offered hints and advice but they hadn't come close to telling him how incredible it would be to feel his child move for the first time. It was one of the things that defied description, defied words.
However some things weren't beyond words. "I love you Stella and thank you."
(TBC)