Chapter 7

Mac didn't ignore the fact that Stella wearily eyed her Mercedes as she slipped past it and into the house. He was glad crime scene clean up had already run though.

"I'm going to put Aaron down," he announced as he followed her in, carrying their son. Stella didn't say anything as she threw herself down on the couch. When he returned, she was no longer in the living room. The loud thud in the kitchen alerted him. He walked into to find her dropping cans of chicken noodle soup into a cardboard box. He assumed that's what she was fed by Nathan. It was unfortunate they had so many cans of it around the house. Stella went through gobs of it while she was pregnant with Aaron, so they had a lot on hand. "Stel, don't you think you need some rest?" he asked cautiously.

"I will in a minute, I have to finish this first," she replied adamantly. Mac knew better than to stop her, and since she wasn't endangering herself in anyway, he didn't. He just stood and watched. When she finished with the cans, she found the large roll of duct tape and tossed it in the box as well. "Get rid of that," she started, pointing to the box, knowing it was far too heavy for her to lift with a broken wrist. "I don't care what you do with it, I just never want to see it again," she finished. "I'm going to take a shower," she announced before walking off. Mac lifted the box off the counter and carried it out to his truck; he would make a final disposal of it later.

Mac made his way to the bedroom to check on his wife once more. To his surprise, she had yet to get into the shower.

"I need your help," she stated, holding up her broken wrist. The cast needed to be covered. Mac gathered what items he'd need and quickly wrapped up her arm so she could shower as she pleased. He was again surprised when she closed the door to the bathroom as she showered, something she hadn't done since they were dating. To be honest, Mac felt somewhat helpless. Before he could think anymore about it, the phone rang. He checked the ID and saw it was Elena. Mel must have called her. He sighed heavily and answered.

"Let me talk to Stella," Elena demanded.

"I'm sorry El, she's in the shower," Mac informed.

"How could you let this happen to her?" Mac could hear the tears in Elena's tone. His chest tightened further, he'd been asking himself the same thing for the past two days.

"I, I don't know," Mac admitted.

"oh, Mac," Elena crooned, realizing Mac was not to blame. It was just one of those situations that really sucked. "How is she?" she asked.

"She's here but she's not back yet," he provided.

"It's going to take her some time," Elena replied softly.

"I know," Mac stated. "She's got Aaron and me to help her through, so we'll get her back on her feet," he added optimistically.

"I know you will, tell her I love her, and have her call me when she'd feeling up to it," Elena responded.

"So you're not, uh, upset with me?" Mac wondered. Elena had never heard him so unsure of himself.

"No Mac, I could never be mad at you. This is not your fault, you need to understand that. You found Stella and like you said, you're going to get her through this," Elena consoled him. "I love you Mac, take care of our girl," she said in a lighter tone.

"Love you too, El, I'll have her call you," Mac ended the call.

When he walked back into the bedroom, Stella was brushing out her hair. She was wearing her Marines t-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants.

"Elena called, wants you to call her back when you're up to it," Mac disclosed. Stella nodded.

"Have you checked on Aaron?" she wondered.

"Not since we've been home," he answered. "Are you hungry? Do you want something for dinner?" he questioned. Stella stopped at the doorway and turned to look at him.

"Um, could we just order a pizza?" she suggested.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want," Mac shrugged.

"Then I'll have the usual," she said with a soft smile. It was little moments like that, that told Mac his Stella would be back.

When they finished dinner, Stella was more than ready for bed. Mac noticed her lids drooping as she finished feeding Aaron.

"What do you say we keep him in our room tonight?" Mac suggested, not wanting there to be a chance Stella could wake up alone if Aaron needed his attention.

"I'd like that," Stella grinned.

"Are you ready for bed?" he wondered.

"Absolutely," she informed, standing from the table. Mac reached over and took Aaron.

Once everyone was settled, Mac lay awkwardly on his side of the bed. He wasn't sure how close Stella wanted him. She had been a little skittish all night and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. He relaxed considerably when she moved closer to him and let her head rest on his chest.

"Will you stay home with me tomorrow?" she asked softly.

"Of course," he replied without a second thought. He had already planned on staying home the next day, but he felt much better knowing she wanted him there.

Something had woken him and he was trying to pin point just what it was. His immediate thought was Aaron. Yes, the child had mastered the sleeping through the night some months ago, but that didn't stop Mac's jump to conclusions. However, one glance in the direction of Aaron's play pen, disproved that theory. Aaron was sound asleep. It was Stella; she was having a bad dream. Unfortunately, he knew this would happen. He'd been married to Stella for just over two years and was best friends with her for many years before that so he'd been there through it all with her. He knew the nightmares would plague her nightly for awhile until they would eventually slow to only one every once in awhile. Hell, she still had nightmares about Frankie on occasion. His initial reaction was to reach out to her, but he couldn't find her in the dark and he didn't want to reach around and frighten her more. So he tried another approach.

"Stella," he called.

"Leave me alone," she replied gruffly. He knew she was still trapped in her dream.

"Stella, honey, it's Mac," he mentioned.

"Mac?" she squeaked.

"Yeah, sweetheart, wake up for me," he prodded.

"Mac, where are you?" the change in her tone, told him she'd pulled herself out of it.

"Just scoot towards my side of the bed, I'm right here," Mac provided. Stella moved about a foot in his direction and slipped easily into his arms.

"It was bad," she stated plainly.

"I know, but it's ok, it was just a dream. I'm right here," Mac said in a soothing tone as he slid his hand up and down her back until she once again fell asleep.