A/N - Thank you so much for the lovely comments & PMs for the previous chapter - see - they make me get on with the next one quickly!

Hope you enjoy this - you Charlie fans out there might like this chapter and I hope you'll all like how it ends!

Enjoy!


Mackenzie awoke god knows how many hours later and noticed the TV was still flickering away although the sound had been turned right down. The last thing she had remembered was the credits rolling on News Night and Will joking how they never needed to return to work before he started to gently stroke her arm while placing tiny kisses to the side of her head. She felt so safe, so warm and so damn comfortable draped across his chest that it wasn't long before she had obviously fallen asleep and by the sounds of the gentle snores coming from Will he was fast asleep too.

Mac reached for her phone which was laying on the sofa and checked the time – it was five to five in the morning and somehow they'd managed to lay in this position for over eight hours which explained precisely why her back felt like it was about to split in two.

She twisted her head slightly to see Will sound asleep with his head leant back against the sofa and a small smile on his face. When they slept together in the past, before she'd ruined everything, she'd often wake in the morning to find Will gazing down at her and at the time she had never really fully understood why he liked to watch her sleeping… But she had to admit watching Will now, she finally realised how much it could make her feel for him – just to see him calm, peaceful and without a care in the world.

After five minutes of just watching him sleep Mackenzie knew she had to move… Firstly, she'd spent so long last night explaining to Sophie that she wouldn't be here in the morning when she woke up and she didn't want to confuse the poor little thing anymore than she was already was, and secondly, she had ten days of work to catch up on and she needed to get an early start if she stood a chance of being any use at work today. She started to move as gently as she could but she'd only moved the blanket off her when Will started to stir and sighed…

"Kenz?"

"Shhhh…." Mac whispered and stroked his cheek…. "Go back to sleep…"

She wriggled out from underneath his arm and off the sofa but by this time Will's eyes were fully open…

"Hey… Where you going?"

"Go back to sleep Will… it's only five – you can sleep for another couple of hours before Sophie wakes up…"

Mac got to her feet and began to tuck the blanket around Will completely….

"Don't go." Will mumbled sleepily and caught hold of her wrist, pulling her back towards him….

"Will – I have to shower and get into some clothes that are suitable for work… I can't live in your oversized t-shirts much longer you know!"

Will chuckled in his sleepy haze but still kept hold of Mac's wrist and closed his eyes again. Mac sat herself down right on the edge of the sofa and with her spare hand started to gently stroke Will's hair…. "Go back to sleep and call me later when you're both awake…. You two will be absolutely fine today – remember, one step at a time…"

Will nodded and reluctantly let go of her hand while Mac carried on gently stroking his hair…. It didn't take long until Mac heard his gentle snores again letting her know he was sound asleep once more. She grabbed her phone and made her way to the bathroom and splashed some water over her face in a vague attempt to wake herself up. A minute later she crept into Sophie's room to see the little girl sound asleep with Ginger Bear wrapped tightly in her arms – a sight that was so sweet it almost made Mac call in sick just so she would be able to spend the day with Will & Sophie .

Quietly, she crept over to the side of the bed and pulled the duvet up so it covered her little body and then ever so gently pressed a tender kiss to Sophie's cheek.

"Bye bye darling…" she whispered, so very quietly so she didn't wake her…

Next, she tiptoed over to Will and did the same thing, being careful not to wake him, before heading to the kitchen. She picked up a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled a note for him to call her when he was awake and then signed it with their new phrase "One step at a time". She leant the note up against the coffee maker and quickly crept from the apartment.


Her first morning back at work was much more difficult than Mac had ever imagined it would be. She'd never in her whole working career been the type of person to take a lot of time off from work but on the odd occasion she had she'd never once suffered the blues when she had returned to work. This morning was proving to be different though. She had arrived at work early enough and by the time she'd finished her second coffee she had caught up on her emails enough to be able to start the day.

So far so good but it was when everyone else started to arrive that Mac had found it difficult - she knew that their team were only interested in Will's wellbeing and were genuinely concerned for him - for them both - but the constant questions that were being fired at her every few minutes were starting to take their toll. For some reason Mac was finding she had to hold back the tears and twice already she'd had to taker herself off to the ladies room to try to get her emotions under control.

During the pitch meeting it hadn't gotten much better as Elliott was still anchoring and Don and Jim seemed to have everything under control – it was as if without Will she was hardly needed here anymore. The meeting soon came to an end and afterwards the questions started again much to Mac's dismay. The more questions that were asked the more Mac struggled to keep her emotions under control and annoyingly, the thing that was worrying her the most was the constant wondering just why the hell Will hadn't rung her yet.

However hard she tried for the next few minutes she couldn't concentrate on anything apart from what Will & Sophie were doing. She had even picked up her phone to ring them twice but the placed it firmly back on the desk each time – it was her who had decided she should leave them to cope by themselves and however hard it was for her she had to stick by it – it was for the good of all concerned she'd told herself many times.

"So, how's the first day back?"

Mac jumped as she looked up from the report she was desperately trying to concentrate on and couldn't hide her delight at seeing Charlie leant against the door frame grinning happily...

"Oh God, am I pleased to see a friendly face…" Mac muttered as she got up from her chair and met Charlie half way across the room….

"The troops are restless?"

"It's the constant questions… I can't beat them off for too much longer and I know Will wouldn't want it discussed like it was office gossip… Then I can't stop thinking about them two back home and how they're coping and I just I don't know where the hell my head is at the moment… but apart from that I'm fine…"

"Oh Mackenzie – what you're feeling is normal… You guys have been through one hell of an ordeal this past week – of course your head's all over the place…" Charlie replied, desperately trying to find the right words to comfort her… "If there's somewhere else you need to be we'll all understand here…"

"No… it's fine… I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to offload on you… There's just no one else to talk to about this…" Mac muttered feeling the emotion rise up through her body. She bit her lip in an attempt to stop the tears that she felt coming… She couldn't understand why she felt so bloody emotional right now but she did…. She shook her head and smiled weakly at Charlie, embarrassed by her actions but the moment he reached for her arm and stroked it gently the tears started to creep out of her eyes.

Charlie was shocked to see her cry – throughout everything they went through when her & Will split up he'd never once seen a single tear leave her eye – Will yes - but not Mackenzie. He wasted no time as he pulled her into his arms and held her for a few moments before pulling away and tugging the handkerchief from his top pocket… "Here – I don't like to see tears in those beautiful eyes…"

That almost started Mac off again as all she could see was her Father standing before her – that was a gesture her Dad would do when she was upset as a child – he'd find a handkerchief from his blazer pocket and dab her eyes and tell her silly jokes until she was okay again…

"I'm sorry Charlie… I don't know what the hell's wrong with me today…."

Charlie took her by the arm and slowly led her over to the sofa in the corner of her office… "You don't have to apologise to me kiddo… You know you can talk to me okay?"

"It's just… Oh god – forget it…. I'm being all emotional – it's ridiculous…" she said, waving her arms frantically in the air at absolutely nothing…

"It's not ridiculous – I would think it's normal considering the type of pressure you've had recently….. I'm guessing these tears would involve Will somehow?" Charlie asked, obviously already knowing the answer….

"How did you get to be so damn wise Charlie?" Mac asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and taking a deep breath in an attempt to stop the tears…

"It's the bourbon!" Charlie joked before taking her hand in his… "Kiddo, You're bound to be upset right now… I'm guessing you haven't slept properly since this whole thing began, haven't eaten properly right? And then there's Will – I'm know for certain you've been a good friend to him too because he's told me so… I would place a bet that you've been doing everything you can to comfort him and the kid – even if that meant ignoring yourself…."

Mac didn't answer but just nodded her head….

"He has been behaving himself hasn't he?" Charlie asked and Mac could tell he was slightly anxious in what he was asking…

"Yes – of course… he's been fine… Mind you, he doesn't know what he's doing half the time at the moment…. All this… it started out as helping a friend in need but now… Now I don't know what the hell it is… I'm so confused and I'm trying so hard to ignore what I feel but we've ending up falling asleep together more often than not this past week, there's been little kisses, hand holding and just when I thought I got it all straight with him yesterday he begs me to stay the night last night… I know he'll do the same tonight and I can't say no to him…Not when he looks so helpless right now…"

"Mackenzie I know you… you can ignore helpless – even when it comes to the mighty Will McAvoy… I would say it's more to do with the fact that you're in love with him rather than him looking helpless…"

Mac's head shot up but before she could say a word Charlie stood and smiled… "And there's nothing wrong with being in love with him so don't even try to deny it… Anyone with half a brain can see it and anyone with half a brain can see he's in love with you too…. You two kids just have to figure it out."

"I don't know Charlie… I don't think he's in love – I think his love for me ended years ago…. I think he's just clinging to what he can right now… He's scared, he's lonely and he's grieving the loss of his Sister while trying to be a parent for the first time…. When this all settles down I know I won't be part of their lives – they won't need me around and that's fine… it's just confusing for me at the moment… In a few weeks Will will go back to being… you know…"

"Will the idiot?" Charlie joked, a smile on his face…

"More like Will the betrayed boyfriend of years ago…. I know I deserve whatever comes my way but… it's just hard…"

Mac wiped the fresh tears that had fallen over the last minute away and smiled dejectedly at Charlie…

"Firstly – you don't deserve anything and secondly, all this closeness between you – it's just natural – just let it happen – don't fight it because who knows what might happen…"

"Sadly, I think I've well and truly lost that chance with him Charlie…"

"Whatever you say Mac… but I know he loves you still – he just finds it hard to….."

"Forget everything that's happened?" Mac finished for Charlie…

"Mackenzie – I don't know much about love these days but I do know you two kids have been in love with each other for what ten years? Maybe, with everything that's happened, you needed something like this to realise just what you mean to each other… I bet he's not even thinking about what happened before…."

"You sound like my Sister – she said the same thing on the phone the other day…"

"Well, maybe she drinks too much bourbon too – she sounds like a genius!"

As Mackenzie giggled, Charlie heard a commotion outside the office door and smiled to himself… "Hey… wipe those tears away kiddo – you've got company…"

Mac looked up as Charlie opened the office door to reveal Will & Sophie walking towards them hand in hand…. The minute Sophie saw Mac she let go of Will's hand and ran as fast as she could into the office...

"Kenzie…" she shouted as she landed in Mac's waiting arms and clung on tightly….

Both Will and Charlie watched as Mackenzie picked up Sophie and spun her around in her arms, the sound of their giggles and chatter warming both their hearts… "I was just wondering about you little one…" Mac said placing a kiss on both of Sophie's cheeks… "Have you had a good morning?"

"It's good to see you Son…" Charlie said, pulling Will inside the office and hugging him briefly…. "We've missed you around here!"

"Hey Soph – this is Uncle Charlie!" Will said but the little girl hid herself shyly behind Mackenzie's leg, still clinging onto her hand… "I know – I'd be scared of him too!" Will added making his way over to Mac and kissing her lightly on the cheek as if it were the most natural gesture in the world…

"What are you guys doing here?" Mac asked, her cheeks blushing slightly from the peck on the cheek in front of Charlie…

Will plonked himself down on the sofa and Mac swore she hadn't seen him as upbeat as this for a long time… He was wearing a natural happy smile Mac hadn't seen in years and he had a real sparkle in his eyes…

"Well…. Sophie & I went out shopping after breakfast this morning… Hey Soph – tell Kenzie what I made you for breakfast…" Will said, pulling Sophie onto his knee….

"Boiled eggs & marching soldiers…" Sophie squealed excitedly, waiting for a reaction from Mac…

"Hey – that's my favourite…" Mac said, sitting down next to Will on the Sofa… "Did the soldiers march around the plate and jump into the egg?" Mac asked...

Sophie giggled loudly… "They jumped into the egg then into my mouth..."

"See – I told you Kenzie would say you had to make the soldiers march around the plate didn't I?" Will said, winking at Sophie…. "She didn't believe me Mac." Will added, looking at Mac happily - both of them remembering a silly but happy breakfast from many years ago…

"Anyway," Will continued, as his hand lightly stroked Sophie's long blonde hair… "After breakfast, we went shopping for a new bed but once we got to the bed store and looked around Sophie decided she wanted to keep the old one because – hey wait for this - that way there's enough room for all her dollies and teddies to go to bed with her every night…." Will explained looking from a giggling Sophie to a beaming Mackenzie…. "So, instead we went to choose some paint so you can come help us paint at the weekend Kenz… and what colour did we pick young lady?"

Will looked down at Sophie who was crawling across his lap and onto Mac's… "Yellow" she shouted, as she sat on Mac's lap – her little legs dangling over the side of Mac's…

"And tell Kenzie why we have to have yellow Soph?" Will asked, arching his eyebrow at Mackenzie and shaking his head in mock despair… "Wait till you hear this…" he whispered to Mac…

"Because it's the colour of Belle's dress when she becomes a princess…" Sophie said excitedly, jumping up and down on Mac's legs….

"Of course it is! Because it's the colour of Belle's dress when she becomes a princess." Will repeated, trying to look exasperated but failing miserably…. "What other reason would there be? And, apparently, your bedroom will look the best if it's the colour of Belle's dress! Did you know that?"

Mac giggled and pulled Sophie into her for a hug… "Well, I think Sophie's spot on – what better colour is there for a room than the colour of Belle's dress?"

"I should have known you'd agree with her!" Will said, nudging Mac's shoulder…

"Us girls have to stick together don't we Soph?" Mac said, pulling Sophie's hair band out from her hair and redoing her pony tail… "Soph… I think your Uncle Billy needs lessons in how to do your hair!"

"They're ganging up on me already Charlie…. The hair looked perfect, yes?"

"Hey, don't you bring me into this…" Charlie said watching the perfect family scene play out in front of him so naturally… Whatever Mac's thoughts earlier about her not being needed were obviously rubbish - he could only see this relationship heading one way and that was up the aisle...

Will chuckled and leant his head back wearily on the sofa and rested his hand on Mac's arm… "Hey… I know you're busy but have you got time for lunch with us?"

"Yes she has." Charlie answered from the doorway, a smile a mile wide appearing on his face… "And before you can argue Ms MacHale – that's an order!"

Mac giggled and smiled back at Will… "Seems like that's a yes." She replied feeling a flutter in her tummy at the look of happiness on Will's face…

"Shall we go and introduce her to the troops?" Mac suggested… "They've been asking after you all morning and I didn't know what you wanted to say… I can't cope with anymore of their questions…"

"Sure… You go ahead and I'll be out in a minute…." Will said… "I don't really want to talk about it too much right now... but don't be too long – those marching soldiers didn't fill me up much this morning – I'm starving…"

"You had eggs and soldiers too?" Mac asked giggling…

"Of course – we had to see whose soldiers could march to our tummies the quickest!"

Oh my…" Mac giggled as she stood and took Sophie by the hand and made her way towards the door… "I'm almost pleased I didn't have to watch that one!... Dare I ask who won?... No – you know what – I don't want to know!... Come on Sophie darling – let's go say hello to Jim…"

Will chuckled as he watched Mac head out the office and towards Jim's desk, Sophie skipping along happily next to her… "I'm not sure which one of those two babbles the most… you should hear the conversations they have sometimes…" Will said laughing…

"How's it going?" Charlie said, taking a seat next to Will…. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I think so… I have no idea what the hell I'm doing with this parent/guardian thing but it feels good today… I like days like today…"

"You look like you're doing great…. Apart from the hair of course!"

Will laughed and stood up to watch Mackenzie proudly introduce Sophie to Jim…

"Hey – I don't think the hair is bad for a fifty two year old man who's never tied a ponytail in his life! I'm amazed she looks semi-presentable considering I was in charge this morning!"

Charlie joined Will and noticed the huge smile that was across his friends face as he watched the scene unfold outside – he couldn't remember a time seeing Will quite as chirpy…

"So… you and Mac?" Charlie asked, knowing he was probably pushing it a bit but feeling he should say something… "You two kids seem closer than normal…"

Will smiled and nodded his head….. "I don't know how the hell I would have even got through one day of all this without her… She's been amazing and she's so good with Sophie…. a real rock…."

"And you've told her that I hope…. You're not still messing with her? She's fragile too you know….."

For the first time all morning Will felt his smile begin to fade as he took in the seriousness on Charlie's face… "I'm not messing her about." he stuttered defensively…

C'mon Will… You have done this past year… I'm not sure she could handle it now – not after everything that's happened this week..."

Will looked up at Charlie before he let his eyes wander back over to Mackenzie and the small crowd that was growing around her…. "That was different…" Will muttered…. "Everything's changed now… Everything's different…"

Charlie rested his hand on Will's shoulder and patted it… "I can see that Son… Just make sure you do something about it – that's all I'm saying… She deserves some happiness…. You both do…"

"I'm trying…. But it still scares the crap out of me…" Will mumbled, feeling slightly ashamed at his inability to actually do something concrete about his feelings for her even after all the closeness of the past ten days…

"Why?" Charlie questioned, raising his eyebrow…. "I already told you – when you find the special one… You need to hold onto it…"

"Because I still don't know what she wants – whether she's doing all this because she feels guilty about before, because she's a friend… Will she want to take me on with a child as well? I don't really know how long she plans to stay around before she heads off to some warzone again or until she gets a better offer from another station… That contract was for three years – that only leaves one more year… She's never stayed longer than two years anywhere she's been…."

"Then give her a reason to stay Will - do something to keep her here for good…. She's right here and she's waiting for you to make your move."

"You think so?" Will asked, his face looking genuinely surprised…

"I think if you asked her to stay – really asked her to stay - she'd settle for the rest of her life – I promise you that."

Will gazed out into the Newsroom and watched Mackenzie introducing Sophie to his team… She turned round while Maggie was chatting to Sophie and she smiled and gestured for him to come over… Seeing her standing there, the smile on her face and the look in her eye seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks and for a moment he felt a little dizzy…

All the talk with Habib about cheating, betrayal and forgiveness - it was all bullshit… Forget finding a way to forgive her - it simply came down to the fact that he loved her and he wanted to be with her – for forever – till death do us part kind of forever. He was happiest when he was with her – this last week had proved that point clearly enough and someone who had supported him like Mackenzie had supported him through this terrible ordeal surely must be in love with him too. Then his mind wandered back to the hospital when he was sick – how she'd hardly left his bedside the whole time, how she'd badgered him for weeks about what the message said… how she got that dreamy look on her face every time he'd come close to telling her…

"God, I've been a fucking idiot, haven't I?" Will suddenly muttered under his breath….

Charlie watched his friend as the recognition finally dawned on him, followed by the biggest smile he'd ever seen appear on Will's face…

"Go take those girls of yours for a nice lunch…. They deserve it." Charlie whispered…

Will smiled and shook Charlie's hand vigorously… "I like the sound of that – 'girls of yours'…"

"So do I" Charlie said to himself as he watched Will make his way over to Mackenzie & Sophie and the small adoring crowd that had engulfed his two girls.


"So…. Apart from an amazing sounding breakfast and yellow paint shopping, how's it gone this morning?" Mackenzie asked Will once the three of them were sat in a booth in Mac's favourite Deli a few blocks from the studio…

"It's been a good day today…" Will said marvelling at how natural Mac was with Sophie as she got her settled and started to read her the menu….

Once they ordered their lunch, Mac pulled out a notebook from her bag and a bunch of crayons for Sophie to occupy herself with…

"What about you? How's it been in there this morning?" Will asked… "Missed me?"

"Of course I did…" Mac replied, wondering if Will realised just how much she'd missed him… "And now I've heard your morning I wished I was eating eggs and marching soldiers with you two!"

Will chuckled and gazed across the table at Mac & Sophie who of course had chosen to sit next to Mackenzie… He'd hardly been able to stop gazing at her since they'd left the office all the time thinking how he had to talk to her and as soon as possible… Walking to the Deli they'd both taken one of Sophie's hands each and Will was certain he'd never been prouder than that moment walking along like a family - his family…

"Will? You okay?" Mac asked, bringing him out of his dreamworld…

"What? Yeah…." He mumbled trying to remember what she'd said a moment before and then it came to him – marching soldiers!… "Well, we did think the marching soldiers part would be better with the three of us! I promised Sophie you'd stay for breakfast at the weekend if you could – maybe a sleepover type of thing on Saturday night?" Will added, smiling at her hopefully…

"Will – you're fifty two years old…. I think you're too old to call it a sleepover!"

"Yeah well… I was kind of thinking that if I made out like it was Sophie who was desperate for you to stay over you wouldn't realise that it was actually me…."

"Will…." Mac whispered…. His face was suddenly so sad but so hopeful at the same time…

"Shhh…. Please don't say no - not now…. It'll upset Sophie…" Will said quietly, nodding his head to the little girl that was totally oblivious to everything that was going on around her….

Mac waited a moment with more tears threatening to fall…. Her head telling her to let this tender moment go, to ignore it like she's ignored so many moments between them but her heart was pleading with her to do anything he wanted – anything at all… Finally she took a breath and managed to find her voice…

"Who will it upset? Sophie or You?"

For a moment Will considered whispering a lie but he knew he couldn't – not anymore - there had been enough lies over the years …. "Both of us…"

"Both?" Mac repeated…

Will reached for her hand and gently wrapped his own around hers… "Yeah… both of us… We missed you so much this morning Kenz..."

"You did?" Mac replied instantly, noticing he had that look again – the look he had just before he kissed her yesterday….

"Yeah…. You see… We love you…."

Mac swallowed the giant sized lump that appeared in her throat and although most of her body had turned completely numb she seemed to be able to feel Will squeezing her hand….

"We?" Mac finally replied, a faint trace of hope in her voice….

"Yeah… We…." Will said, reaching for her other hand… "You see – it seems both Sophie & I suffer from the same fate when it comes to you… We both fell in love with you from the day we met you… and the thing about falling in love with you Mackenzie is, it's pretty much impossible to stop loving you once you fall."