Wow, many thanks for all the lovely reviews, the alerting, favoriting, and the birthday wishes :). Also thanks to didi, sorry I couldn't send a proper reply.

I can't quite believe I joined this site a year ago :). Hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day.

Stella's POV

I don't try to contain my smile. He knows I'm up to something anyway, even though he doesn't see it because he's in another room. I check my watch, still some time left. I use it to let my thoughts wander while we work the scene. Yeah, scene, not even I thought it possible to convince Mac not to work in the field tonight, though I did try. I'm glad I succeeded in getting on the same case with him so at least we're working together. I could have called him on his cell of course, but that's not the same, no, I want to be there. And I'm grateful nobody died here. It wouldn't have felt right to congratulate Mac on his birthday around where somebody has died.

Or rather wish him a happy birthday. Because why congratulate someone for something that he hasn't achieved but that is just a biological fact. As Mac said, the congratulations should go to his mother. I sent her flowers, and a thank you for having him. For which I'm really glad. I can congratulate him for being such a wonderful friend. And I will.

He may not think that his birthday is anything special, worth celebrating. Actually we're pretty much alike in that, and have been for a long time, because even when Claire was still alive … well, Mac would do something with her of course, have a nice birthday dinner or a day out. And sometimes we'd all go for a drink, but nothing more. I remember going to his apartment two years ago to bring him his present because he wouldn't have a party. And in the end I'm glad I did. Who knows if Reed would have come into his life otherwise, and I feel that it does Mac good to have him around.

And Mac's birthday is something special. It is a special day, because, let's face it, where would we be, where would New York be without him? I don't want to know. I don't want to think about how many mistakes he's kept me from making. Better not think about how I've thanked him most of the time either. I vow not to get annoyed with him, and not to annoy him. Would be great if I could manage that a whole year. He'd deserve it, not just on his birthday.

I remember my birthday. How I had felt, how he had made me feel. Special, yeah, and at the same time not, no fuss. It had just felt so good to have him around, and also, for the first time in my life it had felt like the day was my birthday. Not about inviting people, not about offering cakes, looking good and getting presents. No, just being there, and letting me be, that's what he did. If I had felt like crying I know he would have let me. But with him around I didn't feel like crying.

I smile at the memory that he had caught me in my pajamas. Well, kind of. I've stopped ages ago to wear anything for bed that I couldn't also wear on the street without causing too much disorder. Partly due to the occupational hazard of being called out unexpectedly. Though unexpectedly is relative, no, my schedule I got used to, guess I just like to be prepared.

So I have a couple of coffee shops in my head that are not far away and still open. And if we don't make it there I have muffins in my rucksack. Because no way am I going to fall back on getting him a wanna-be cake from the vending machine. I guess it is a last resort, and better than nothing, but it is not going to be my last resort. I also have a flask with hot water to make coffee. I'm not going to give Mac coffee on his birthday that has gone stale from hours of sitting in a flask. Sure it would still be drinkable and it gives you the caffeine alright but I know full well that's not all that coffee is about for Mac.

Forty seconds to midnight. I get up and walk towards the room he's in. He's absorbed in gathering evidence. But he must have felt me approach, he looks up and smiles. "Is it time?" he asks. I nod and say "Happy birthday." For a moment he is quiet, remembering, "Thank you … somehow this has just made me feel like when I was a boy. My mother used to come into my room at midnight on my birthdays … and it had always made me feel like she had really wanted to have me."

I don't quite know what to say to that so I give him my present and while he unwraps it I say, "No need to hurry, we have almost twenty-four hours. But you can be sure that I am going to have a cup of coffee with you at some point today." Smiling he looks around the room, "In about an hour sound good?" I nod, "Perfect."

An hour later we leave the building. It starts to rain. Not the kind of rain that would normally warrant an umbrella but he opens it anyway. "If that's not a sign to try out your present." he says. And he discovers the card inside the umbrella. A sketch of an angel holding its wings over someone, protecting from rain. He turns it around and sees the keychain, an angel holding a heart. Maybe he'll never use it, but I don't mind because the key is the message he is reading now.

Dear Mac, I trust you with my life, so why should I not trust you with everything else? Every rule has an exception, and you are the one for mine.

I see his eyes move as he reads. And I see his response in them and in his smile. I watch the moonlight sparkle on leaves dancing under the raindrops. It makes me smile and shiver at the same time. I guess Mac doesn't see my smile because he pulls me closer. I let him, I don't need it but it feels good. And that somehow makes me shiver a little more. Better stop or he's going to offer me his coat. He stands still and I feel his breath in my curls. His breath moving his chest.

Eventually I try to pull away but I don't get very far. Far enough though to see his eyes, exploring mine. And his smile, I don't remember having ever seen him smile like that, but I hope that I will see it again. I want to hold it in place with my hand. His hands under my rucksack, holding me close. He leans in, and …

Wait, I was supposed to make him happy today. Or am I …

I stop thinking. I just feel, so good. Feeling his smile on my lips.

Thanks for reading. I really hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you did, and if you didn't, let me know where I could do better. All comments are appreciated any time, and all logged reviews replied to.