Are you still with me?
I Hope you'll like Mac's answer to Stella's announcement … and Adrian is back!
Tense ending…Thanks Lily Moonlight!
Chapter 7
Mac framed Stella's face with his hands and looked her straight in her eyes, "What?"
She put her hands over his - and smiled, "Yes, I think I'm pregnant" she said softly.
Mac couldn't believe his ears, he lifted her like she was his princess. "I love you so much, thank you, thank you!" He put her down and kissed the lips he loved so much. After a sweet kiss, he asked "You're sure?"
Stella nodded "I was so tired today when I woke up, I knew there had to be some reason. I looked at my diary and realised there was a chance that I was pregnant. After I sent you that text, I went to the pharmacy and bought two pregnancy tests, came home and both were positive."
Mac closed his eyes like he didn't want to wake from this dream "God, Stella," he looked at her again grinning "How did it happen so fast?"
"I guess somebody up there," she said looking up "Didn't want us to waste any more time…"
"I'm so happy." He looked her straight in the eyes "Do you realize what it means? We actually created a new life, from our love…"
God she loved his honesty. She was so glad Mac had taken the news like that. He was excited like she was, but she knew both of them were aware of how much was in front of them. "I'm so happy too, but we're only at the beginning, I scheduled a meeting with my doctor next week and I guess there'll be some tests to make sure everything's okay."
"Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with, I want to be a part of every little detail."
"Like always" she said. "But, Mac, there's just one little thing we didn't consider when we took this chance."
"What's that?" Mac raised his eyebrow.
"The team. If everything goes well, I won't be able to hide this little secret in a few more months" she said smiling a bit self-consciously and touching her stomach.
Mac grinned "You just say it and I'm feeling excited, just to see you with a pregnancy belly" he said and continued "But you're right, we'll think of something, don't worry about that."
"You know I could always just tell Lindsay and the secret would spread like wildfire" she said with a smirk.
"I think we should do it in more responsible way, they deserve it." Mac said while caressing her cheek.
Stella nodded at his suggestion.
"Do you want to go eat something down the block?" Mac asked.
"Actually, I'd prefer a take-out on my couch and a movie, I feel so tired" she said as a yawn took her by surprise.
He smiled, "Sounds good to me".
Stella tightened her grip on Mac's neck "Have I told you today how much I love you?"
"Mmmmmm, no…" He held her like he didn't want to let go, ever.
"I love you, Mac Taylor and I'm so happy I have you by my side." Then she closed the distance between the two of them and kissed him with all the passion in her. Their tongues mixed together and for just a moment they forget where they were.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Hey, Stella" Lindsay called when she arrived at one of lab rooms.
"Hey kiddo, how are you?" Stella asked while checking something in the microscope.
"I'm great, Danny and I went to the opera last night and it was amazing, we had so much fun."
"Who watched Lucy?" Stella asked and then lifted her face from the microscope.
"Danny's mom…" Lindsay looked at Stella and seemed to notice something different in her. "You look great Stella! Wow actually, you look amazing today."
Stella brought her face to the microscope again, "What? I'm just the same."
"No, no," Lindsay touched her shoulder "Look at me for a moment". Stella again looked at Lindsay, "I'm telling you, you look different, in a good way."
Stella blushed at her comment and looked aside, trying to avoid Lindsay's scrutiny.
"I know it's connected to your new guy," Lindsay said with a knowing smile. "So when are you going to tell me about him? God, Stella, you really are in love with him, I can see that plainly."
"You can see it in my face?" Stella knew she couldn't hide herself from Lindsay anymore.
"Yes, I know you, and you've never looked so glowing."
Stella took her gloves off and then took Lindsay's hand and led her to a quiet corner in the room. After looking around to see nobody was listening, she said in a low voice, "Okay, you're right, I do have someone I'm totally in love with."
"Stella! I'm so glad for you" Lindsay almost squealed, hugging her in enthusiasm.
"Shhh…I don't want anyone to know yet." Stella whispered.
"Yes of course, sorry about that. Wow I have to know him, he must be a great guy."
"He is" Stella blushed, while playing with her fingers.
"I can see it in your eyes, your face, and your body language. Do you think he's the one?" Lindsay asked gleefully.
"Yes, absolutely and I think he thinks the same about me." Stella glanced for a moment down to her flat belly, knowing something wonderful was growing inside of her, a symbol of this beautiful union.
Lindsay opened her mouth like she couldn't believe she'd actually heard Stella saying it before demanding "Who is it?"
"Stella you're with me" Mac called her from the other side of the room, saving her from the question.
Both Stella and Lindsay looked at him surprised.
"We've a new body at Lincoln Square, Lindsay stay here, Sheldon is on his way with new evidence from yesterday's case."
"The car crash?" Lindsay asked.
"Yes, I knew you'd like it" he smiled to his young detective.
"It must be my lucky day" she announced.
Stella stepped closed to Mac, he put his hand on the back of her back and led her from the room. "I know you love cars, but pay attention to every little detail."
"No problem, Mac." Lindsay was so glad she didn't even see the touch Mac and Stella were sharing as she put her lab coat on and went to work.
XXXXXX
"Lindsay said I looked glowing today." Stella said to Mac on the way to the scene, and waited to see what he would say.
"Really?" He glanced at her appraisingly. "You do… although maybe that's since we know about the pregnancy. So what did you tell her?"
"She knows it's about the new guy, so I told her." Stella said without looking at Mac.
"You told her? About us?" He tried to focus on the road.
"No, you silly," She patted his knee. "I told her that I have someone. The funny thing, was when she asked me who it was, you entered the room." She looked happily at him.
He shared a grin with her. "Have you thought about how we should tell them?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." She turned her body round to face him. "Seeing as I haven't celebrated my moving yet, I thought I could invite you all to dinner at my new place and then we can tell them." Stella looked at the road for a second and then back to Mac "But maybe we should keep the pregnancy to ourselves, I think it's too much to take in one evening."
"Agreed. So, when do you plan to have this dinner?" Mac asked glancing for a moment at his love.
"In two days it's my day off. I have the doctor's appointment in the morning, when we'll see the baby heartbeat, and I think I can handle a dinner preparation after that."
"Can I offer you my help? Someone once told me I'm not so bad at cooking." Mac kept his face straight but there was a smile in his eyes.
"Yes, I'd love you to help." She put her hand on his thigh touching it gently. He put his hand on hers and affirmed her grip.
They passed the Lincoln square sign and saw Jessica waiting for them near one of the alleys.
"I'm glad you got here so fast" Jess welcomed them as they took their case from the vehicle. "The body's in pretty bad shape." She wrinkled her nose.
"Walk us through the scene." Mac said and Stella followed him.
They saw a pool of blood with a few drops along the alley. Stella started to smell the familiar stench of a body that had lain there more than a few hours. At first she wasn't bothered, being used to all kinds of odours, but as she followed the drops the smell increased and she started to feel sickness.
"Stella, are you okay?" Jess asked her when she started to walk more slowly, Mac had noticed, too.
Without a word, Stella held her hand over her mouth and ran back to the exit of the alley.
"Stella?" Jess called her but she didn't turn away.
Mac held Jessica with his hand and indicated that he would go check on her.
"Are you okay?" he had his worried face as he approached and touched her back.
"I'm so sorry Mac, but that smell…" She just couldn't continue talking, even the thought of it made her sick again. She tried to swallow air as much as she could, desperately wanting that feeling to go away.
"Do you want me to get you some water?" Mac asked, anxious now.
Stella shook her head, trying to control herself and after a few moments she was able to stand up.
"It's never bothered me before, you know me." She tried to explain herself shakily.
"Maybe it's because of the….." He turned to see nobody had heard them.
"Yes, I guess it is" she completed his thought.
Mac couldn't help himself, he smiled looking down at the floor.
"You think this is funny?" Stella asked angrily, waiting to catch his look.
"Of course not," he tried to hide his smile, then he came closer to her and whispered "It just makes it so real, Stella. Of course I'm not happy about your suffering but all these symptoms make me realize how real this situation is, and for that I'm happy."
Stella didn't have time to react because Jessica appeared looking concerned "How are you feeling, Stella?"
Mac and Stella took a step from each other.
"I'm fine, thanks Jess. It's probably something I ate this morning." Stella gave her a weak smile.
"I think you should take some rest, don't you Mac? You still look pale to me."
"Jessica's right, Stella. I can handle this. You can take my car to the lab and I'll go back with Jessica when we finish here."
"Maybe I should…" Stella wanted to stay feeling that it wasn't professional to leave.
"It's a direct order, Stella" Mac looked at her as if he didn't meant to be so official.
Stella nodded with her head and reached to take his keys, Jessica turned back to the alley and Mac held on to Stella's hand while she took his keys. "If you don't feel any better at the lab, go home. Please don't make me worry, promise?"
She smiled and released herself from his touch "I won't."
He watched her driving away and went back to Jessica.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Danny, check if we have Adrian Martinez's handwriting, I think he killed another one to get our attention." Grim-faced, Mac gave his order to Danny the moment he saw him in the lab.
"Why do you think so?" Danny asked while looking into the folder of the case.
"We found a note in one of the victim's pockets, we investigated in Lincoln Square:
'I WANT MY MONEY BACK A.M'.
And he added a key to the note, to a luggage storage locker at the subway."
Danny continued to look in the folder but didn't find any handwriting. "Do you want me to check the prints on the note?" he suggested.
"Yes."
Minutes past and the computer found a match. Mac nodded, his thought was right, it was the same guy and he was back.
Stella and Lindsay passed near the room they were in, Mac signed with his hand asking them to enter the room. He told them what Danny and he found out.
"Check which station this key belongs to and take Flack with you. He might be waiting for us and I don't want to take any risks."
"No problem, Mac." Lindsay said.
They both left the room. "I hope we'll find you today, mister Martinez" Mac said tightening the muscles in his jaw like he did always when he was mad.
XXXXXXXXX
"I WANT MY 10 GRAND. COME ALONE WITH THE MONEY. NO COPS. TOMORROW 11AM IN THE OLD FACTORY AT DOWNTOWN JERSEY CITY."
While they were alone in his office the next day, Stella showed Mac the new note she and Lindsay had found in the subway.
"I have the doctor's appointment tomorrow morning" Stella reminded him while Mac looked again at the note.
"Yes I remember," he tried to smile although he was angry. "I'm going to meet Adrian, I'll take Flack with me to watch my back."
"Mac, I don't like the sound of it. I'll be worried sick." She paused for a moment, and a determined look came into her eyes. "I want to come with you."
"Not a chance, Stella. I don't want to risk you."
Mac knew he would not have said such a thing to Stella at any other time: she was his best CSI. But now the circumstances were different.
"Mac, I can still do my job." She told him, a flash of stubbornness in her face.
"I'm not in any doubt of that…"
"At the very least let me stay with Flack."
"You invited everybody to your house tomorrow evening remember? You have to do the dinner preparation." Mac tried so hard, although he knew it wouldn't be easy. It wasn't easy giving such orders to Stella, but at the same time, the need to protect her was overriding his professional detachment.
Sensing this as she stared at him, Stella folded her arms across her chest and nodded slightly. "Okay. How about we go together to meet Adrian, and right after we catch him you'll have the courage to take the rest of the day off, and come help me."
"You're not going to give up, right Bonasera?" Mac asked while closing a little the distance between the two of them.
"No." she said with her mischievous smile.
"Okay, but you stay in the vehicle with Flack all the time."
She nodded and then looked around to see nobody was looking before she kissed his cheek whispering "I love you, and can't wait for tomorrow."
He closed his eyes while shivers ran all over his body. "Now go away and let me work or I won't be able to control myself." He sat back on his chair trying to focus in his computer. Not before he glanced one more time at the woman he loved the most while she exited his office.
XXXXXXXXXXX
While Mac prepared for the encounter with Adrian, he received a very good text message: "We've got a strong heartbeat, almost 8 weeks, I love you."
He smiled to himself, knowing that the day was going to be a very good day, they only needed to catch their murderer and then the announcement to the team.
"I love you so much. Can't wait to celebrate, see you in a bit." Mac texted back to his lovely Stella.
"Me too. On my way to meet Flack."
XXXXXX
"Can you hear me?" Mac spoke into the tiny device attached to his hand while he entered the old factory.
"Loud and clear. We're one minute away from you, don't try to be a hero." Flack answered from his speaker in the vehicle. Stella sat near him, tensed like a cat. She didn't want anybody to get hurt and Mac was taking a big risk only to catch this guy.
"Everything okay Mac? Do you see him?"
"No, I'm looking all around, wait… I can see one room open, let me check it." Mac entered the room and found a mattress with some cans near it, and understood right away that somebody was sleeping in this room, maybe Adrian himself.
"What did you find?" Flack asked in his ear but he didn't get his answer.
"You've got my money?!" Adrian's voice yelled from behind Mac.
Slowly, he turned around, lifting his hands, and found their suspect pointing a gun at him.
Remaining as calm as he could, he answered, "I've got the money, Adrian. Put the gun down."
"Take off your speaker," Mac's heart sank, but he stayed still, Adrian tightened his grip on the gun, "I'm telling you, take it off right now!"
"You know, you can't run forever. Even in Mexico we'll find you." Mac said, his eyes never leaving the man while he slowly removed his speaker.
Back in the van, Stella and Flack heard a muffled noise and then what sounded like a thud.
"Mac?" Stella called his name in fear, but nobody answered on the other side. "Mac!" When there was still no answer, she waited no longer, instead she opened the vehicle door and ran into the factory.
"Where the heck are you going?!" Flack yelled after her, before he snatched up his radio and demanded "I need a backup now…"
XXXXXX
Stella entered the old factory cautiously, her gun held out in front of her. It was dark and she couldn't see much and for a second she regretted her hasty actions. But if Mac was in trouble...
She narrowed her eyes trying to find the room Mac was talking about, when her ears caught the sound of raised voices.
She walked towards them.
"Let me take the bag and go, I promise I'll never kill another person." Adrian pleaded while closing the distance between him and Mac.
"How could you kill your own sister? She was your blood!" Mac tried to get some answers.
"What do YOU care?" Adrian's voice changed from pleading to angry.
Before he could answer, to Mac's surprise and dismay, Stella slipped into the room with her gun pointed. Try as he might not to react, he tensed, and Adrian noticed. He glanced around and his face darkened.
"So, I see you didn't listen to me when I said no cops." Adrian said while taking a knife from his pocket. "If you shoot that gun lady, I'm killing him with my bare hands."
"Keep your hands off him. Take your money and go." She ordered, the grip on her gun not wavering.
"Don't tell me what to do. I'm the one in charge here! Now go stand near him and drop the gun, bitch!" Adrian yelled at her.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that." Mac spoke out loud, fury in his voice.
"Mac, I'm okay." She approached him and felt safe for just a moment.
Mac blocked Stella's body with his determined that Adrian would not hurt her or their child. She spoke quietly "I'm sorry, Mac, you took off your speaker…"
"It's okay Stella, just stay back." Mac spoke calmly although he wasn't.
"Yeah, stay there," Adrian said while pointing his gun at Stella. "And drop the gun, I'm not going to tell you again." With a glance at Mac, Stella let her gun fall to the floor, which seemed to calm their suspect for a moment. He picked the gun up and addressed Mac again. "Now, you, give me my money. Slowly toss it in my direction. And don't make any unexpected movements or I'll shoot her."
Mac didn't want to give him the money, but Adrian was very armed and they knew he was capable of hurting either one of them without blinking. They could only hope Flack would catch him on his way out.
Mac slowly bent down, keeping his eyes on the gun and tossed the bag to Adrian. Still with the gun pointing at Stella, Adrian hid the knife in his pocket and counted the money.
Apparently satisfied he lifted it on his back and smirked at both of them. "Okay you two, don't make a move and don't try to follow me…" The smirk on his face turned cunning and cruel. "And just in case you were thinking of doing so…" His finger moved and a shot exploded from his gun. An exclamation jerked out of Mac and Stella gave a cry, as Adrian ran from the room.
"Mac…"
He spun round hearing the fear in Stella's voice, and felt cold wrench at his gut. She had her hand pressed to her side, and he could see his horror reflected in her eyes.
"Oh god, Stella…" he darted forwards, catching hold of her.
"I'm so sorry…" Dazed, she looked at her hand, covered with blood and then at Mac, who tightened his grip, slipping his arm round her waist and taking her weight as she drooped against him.
"Stella, stay with me, okay?" he ordered as he lowered her to sit on the floor, her back against a concrete pillar. Hearing more shots fired somewhere in the factory, he called out, "Flack!"
Her face creased in pain, Stella clutched at her side where the bullet had hit, more blood oozing from between her fingers. "Are… are you okay?" she gasped and he nodded, pressing his hand over hers while with his other hand, he fumbled for his cell.
"Worried about you, that's all."
As he answered, Flack came bursting into the room "We've got him," he announced, and then his expression changed in an instant when he noticed Stella's condition "What happened?"
"He shot her," Mac growled, giving up the hunt for his cell as Flack was already shouting into his radio that they had an officer down.
Holding her stomach now, her skin paling, Stella whispered so quietly that only Mac heard her, "Mac…the baby…"
"It'll be okay, Stella, I promise," Mac said urgently, cupping her face in his hand. "Just stay with me." He tried not to look down at the growing pool of blood on the floor, focusing instead on Stella's heavy eyes, aware of Flack in the background giving directions for the ambulance. With his fingers wrapped around Stella's cold hand, he brushed his other hand down her cheek, but her eyes were losing their light and moments later she sagged against him, unconscious.
Desperately afraid that he was going to lose the person who mattered most, Mac looked up at Flack, "How long's it going to take for the bus to get here?"
"ETA ten minutes…" Don began and Mac shook his head his only concern now being Stella.
"We need it sooner. Stella's pregnant…"
Flack looked amazed at Mac, "What?"
:0
TBC
