Thanks to everyone who's still with me!

Dedication: Julia--this fic wouldn't exist without you. I won't forget that.

VVVVV

Stella checked the peephole and saw two weary, yet smiling, faces.

"Hey, you two," Stella greeted the Messers with a smile as she pulled open the door and let them pass through.

"Hey, Stell," Danny replied. "You look rested."

"Yeah, right," Stella laughed. "Lucy and I were asleep when Mac came home. She wore me out!"

"She tends to do that," Lindsay added.

"You know, I gotta tell you, I've never seen Mac bust out of a place that fast," Danny said. "But I'm glad to see that you and Lucy are fine." He clapped his hands together and looked past Stella. "Where is Lucy, anyway?"

"Daddy! Mommy!" Lucy squealed as she zoomed past Stella in a blur, eager to greet her parents. Her arms wrapped around Lindsay's waist in a quick hug, then she held her arms up to Danny for him to pick her up.

"Hey, Baby Girl!" Danny exclaimed as he lifted her up. "Mommy and I missed you today!" he told her, kissing her cheek.

"I missed you and Mommy, too, but me and Aunt Stella did fun things all day!"

"I bet you did! What else did you do besides get ice cream?"

"Daddy!" Lucy exclaimed with a minor eye-roll, arms held out wide. "I already telled you on the phone!"

"Well, Daddy didn't tell me," Lindsay interjected. "So what'd you and Aunt Stella do?"

"Um, got ice cream, and crayons and paper…"

"Luce, you've got a whole bunch of crayons at home!" Lindsay sighed.

"But I didn't got any here, and I really needed to draw Lucky."

"What's Lucky?"

"Uncle Mac's puppy."

"Uncle Mac got a puppy?" Danny asked surprised.

"Not a real one, 'cause Aunt Stella said he wouldn't like a real one. So I drawed a puppy--"

"You drew a puppy," Lindsay corrected her.

Lucy sighed. "I drew a puppy for Uncle Mac," she repeated, emphasizing the corrected word just as Lindsay had, "and a butterfly for Aunt Stella. Wanna see 'em?" she asked as she squirmed in Danny's grasp.

"Sure do, Luce," Danny said with a smile. "Lead the way."

Moments later, Lucy led the three adults into the kitchen where Mac had begun to load the dishes in the dishwasher.

"See?" Lucy said, pointing to the fridge. "That's Lucky and Sunny."

"Sunny?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, that's what me and Uncle Mac…"

"That's what Uncle Mac and I," Lindsay corrected her again.

"Mommy! I'm trying to say what I did today!" Lucy whined, fists on her hips.

"And that's fine, Luce, but we need to work on your grammar."

"Relax, honey," Danny said, lightly squeezing Lindsay's shoulder. "She's only five. Of course her grammar isn't going to be perfect." He squatted down to Lucy's level. "So Sunny is the butterfly?"

"Yeah, that's what me and Uncle Mac named her."

Lindsay took a breath and started to correct Lucy again but held back when she caught the look Danny shot her way.

"Do you like that name, Aunt Stella? 'Cause if you don't, you can change it."

"I'm not changing it, Lucy Goosey, that's a perfect name!"

"I was going to ask you about that, Stell. 'Lucy Goosey?'" Mac said as he loaded the last dish into the dishwasher and moved to stand next to Stella.

"Yeah," Lucy giggled. "That's what Aunt Stella calls me."

"Cute," Danny offered.

"And Aunt Stella does 'tickle fingers,' too!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yeah, let's show 'em!" Stella said, fingers flexed, as she headed toward Lucy, ready to demonstrate.

"Don't let her get me, Uncle Mac!" Lucy shrieked as she ran to hide behind her parents.

"I won't!" Mac promised as he followed Stella and wrapped her in a loose embrace. "Hurry, Luce! Use the 'tickle fingers' on Aunt Stella!"

"Mac, no!" Stella declared, trying to break free of Mac's grasp, only to have him tighten up. "Come on, Lucy. You don't really want to tickle me, do you?"

Lucy nodded and grinned widely as she ran to Stella and began tickling her ribs as Stella had done to her all afternoon.

Stella squirmed, really trying to get away, but Mac held on and Lucy's fingers dug deep into Stella's ribs. Finally able to get an arm free, Stella swung more out of reaction than thought, her elbow landing swiftly in Mac's ribs.

Stunned, Mac released his hold on Stella, a hand immediately going to his injured ribs.

"Hey, Luce," Danny said, the smile fading from his lips, "I think 'tickle fingers' is over for the night, okay?"

Lucy sighed and backed away from Stella, then sulked across the room to her parents.

"Oh, Mac, I'm so sorry," Stella said, turning toward him. She reached to pull his shirt from his pants. "Are you okay? Let me see."

"I'm fine," he said as he pushed her hands away.

"Lucy," Lindsay said as she ran her hand over her daughter's hair, smoothing it, "why don't you go pack up your stuff. It's way past your bedtime!"

Again, Lucy did as she was told without putting up much of a fight. She bounded back into the kitchen less than a minute later. "You didn't sign my book paper!" she said, handing the reading log to Stella. "I know 'cause only Daddy and Mommy writed on so far."

Again, Lindsay wanted to correct her daughter, but refrained when she saw the look she got from her husband.

"You're absolutely right!" Stella stated. "What would I do without you here to remind me?"

"Um, you'd forget!"

The four adults laughed at Lucy's innocent answer, and Stella pulled Lucy into a hug.

"Then you'd better come over more often!" Stella told her. "Come on, let's go find a pen."

"Can I leave my crayons and paper here? So's I'll have 'em when I come back?" Lucy asked as she and Stella left the kitchen.

"You sure can! We'll even find you a special place to leave them, okay?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed with a yawn.

Together, they packed Lucy's things, and soon Mac, Danny, and Lindsay joined them in the room. Everyone stood near the door, exhausted from the long day--even Lucy's second wind seemed to be disappearing. She tugged on the hem of Stella's shirt.

Stella squatted so that she was eye-level with Lucy. "What's up?"

"I had a lotta fun today. Thanks, Aunt Stella." She hugged Stella and kissed her on the cheek.

"You're so welcome!" Stella replied, wrapping her arms around the little girl.

"Can I come back and have more dinos and dino trees?"

"You got it, Lucy Goosey," Stella said with a grin.

"Okay, Baby Girl," Danny said, "we gotta get you to bed, so say goodnight to Uncle Mac."

"'Night, Uncle Mac," Lucy said, arms in the air, obviously wanting him to pick her up.

He picked her up and hugged her; Lucy returned the hug, kissing his cheek as she had Stella's.

"Stell, thank you again for watching her," Lindsay said.

"Not a problem," Stella smiled. "As Lucy said, we had a lot of fun today. She's a great kid, Linds."

"Yeah," Lindsay said with a chuckle. "I think she's a keeper."

"Definitely," Danny declared as he gently tugged on one of Lucy's pigtails.

"Daddy!" Lucy protested.

"Lucy!" Danny mocked her. "Come on," he said in his normal voice. "I'll carry you."

Mac passed Lucy to Danny, and Lindsay picked up Lucy's small backpack.

Then they said their goodbyes, and Mac shut the door after the Messers left.

VVVVV

Thanks for reading!

Again, this is a weird place to leave it, I know, but it's the only place that made sense with what's left. Yes, there's one more chapter!