Here is the next chapter! I decided to finish the wedding chapter till my birthday next week and add this chapter maybe on that day, but probably I'll add it the day before.

Thank you for all the nice reviews! It makes me happy to know that there are people who like this story and it keeps me enjoying to write the story! Special thanks to: neuhuli, Catulicious, rocksmacked and gary4ever-1725 for adding this story to your favorits!!! (You were the one's who added this story to the list till today :) )


In the mean time Stella have had breakfast with Mac's mother Marian and little Lucy Messer. Now they were sitting in the living room and playing with Lucy.

"What do you think if we look at the dresses for the wedding and you choose a dress you want to wear, Lucy?" Stella said after a while.

"Great! Love dresses! Can I be a princess?" the little girl said excited.

"Honey that day everybody will look like a princess."

"Really? You will be a princess?"

"Of course. Every bride is a princess."

"Love brides and love princesses."

"Then let's choose a nice dress for the smallest princess on that wedding, okay?" Stella said and went to the coffee table to pick up the magazines with the wedding dresses. She opened one magazine and turned to the page with the dresses for children. Lucy looked at the dresses for a few minutes and then she put her little finger on one specific dress.

"This one." She said seriously.

"You sure, sweetie?"

"That one and nothing else, Stella. I'm going to look like a princess in that dress."

The dress was white and had a shirred tulle bodice with spaghetti straps and a beading detail. It was tea-length and the skirt was made of tulle. So it would be comfortable but pretty. Stella found it was a beautiful dress and so she was satisfied that Lucy wanted to wear this dress. Marian looked at the dress, too and nodded.

"This will be perfect for the little girl." She said. Stella smiled.

"What about you, Marian? What will you wear?" Stella asked and let Lucy look through the magazine.

"I don't know yet, because it depends on what you have planned for your wedding. If you have a special theme or a special color you want for the special guests and for the bridesmaids and so on."

"I thought gold would be a nice color for you. And I wanted to have champagne dresses for the bridesmaids."

"That's a nice choice. How many bridesmaids do you have?"

"Two. One is Lindsay and the other is my best friend Lisa McCaine. You'll get to know them on Wednesday. They're coming for dinner."

"Okay. You know, I don't say that when Mac is around but… I was very proud of him when he moved to New York and I was happy that he married Claire but after she died I was sad that he hadn't anyone around him. I'm happy that he let you into his life and that he decided to marry again. I know you're good for him. You're making him happy and that's everything I ever wanted for him."

"Thank you… you know it was a hard way to get into his life and to be a big part of it."

"I know, but you two… you have something special. It's a special kind of relationship."

"I know. We've been through a lot together and that made it special. I have that feeling for him to know when he's okay and when not and I always cared about him when he didn't. But it's the same with him. He cares about me when I don't care about myself. He's got that special feeling for me, too. But he doesn't show his feelings very often."

"Mac's a lot like his father was. Never showing the feelings to everyone and never give up. I know that he was his hero and idol."

"He must have been a loving man to his son and to you." Stella said.

"Oh, my husband was very proud of him, especially when Mac joined the Marines. He was the one who told Mac to move to New York and take the job as the head of the Crime Lab. He was the one who said he should marry Claire. That was a short time before he died. I guess Mac doesn't speak a lot about his life." Marian said and Stella thought it sounded a bit sad.

"It's hard for him to speak about his past and the things he's been through but sometimes he talks about it. The only thing he doesn't speak of very much is Claire."

"I know. It still hurts him, I guess. I can't speak about his father very much because it hurts and I can imagine what he's feeling even after so many years. But some day people get used to talk about it and they get used to speak about the person they lost. It just takes a lot of time."

"Stella?" Lucy interrupted their conversation.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Stella said looking to Lucy who was still sitting on the floor with one of the wedding magazines on her lap.

"When uncle Mac comes home?"

"You have to wait a few more hours. He has to work till 8 or 9 pm. It's just midday."

"Will he play with me when he comes?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know when your mother comes to pick you up."

"But I want to play with uncle Mac…" the little girl whined.

"I'll see what I can do for you then, okay? But you still have to wait." Stella said and sat down next to her and together with Marian they looked through the magazines.