1Thanks to all that reviewed...
Lily G, mjels, ImaSupernaturalCSI, camilita, ..x, Hazmatt, and csidle! You guys are amazing and keep me motivated, thanks a bunch!
This chapter will have a little bit more Mac and Stella interaction, including the first doctor's appointment for Stella. I hope you enjoy it and as always; leave me a review please!!!
Also, I'm only a teenager and have never been pregnant, so I'm very sorry if my information is completely wrong regarding Stella's pregnancy. If anyone feels like offering help in that area, go ahead and send me a PM. Thanks for bearing with me.
Disclaimer: Me owning CSI: NY would be like Bella choosing Jacob. Not ever gonna happen! (Reference to Twilight, don't own that either... DANG IT!)
Mac had at least a hundred pictures spread out around him; covering the entire surface of his home office desk. All of the snapshots were pictures of Sapphire as a baby. Mac had been overseas during Sapphire's infancy and had never really been around babies much.
That being said, he was definitely a nervous wreck for his own upcoming bundle of joy. He and Stella hadn't really gotten to talk much since she had announced that she was pregnant. Mac was scared and very nervous about what kind of father he would be. His dad had died before he was even born and the only father figure he had ever had was his grandfather.
His mom had gotten remarried, but Mac was already an adult by that time. Mac allowed his thoughts to drift to his mother. Both himself and Sapphire had inherited her stubbornness and her brown tresses. Other than that, Mac didn't think he looked anything like her.
From the pictures that she had kept around during Mac's childhood, he knew that he took after his father. Steel gray eyes and a chiseled jaw line were both qualities that came from Edward Jackson, Mac's father.
Both times that Elena, Mac's mother, had gotten married, she kept her maiden name of Taylor. Mac had always been very close with his mom and had been devastated when she passed away due to cancer last year.
Her death had hit both Sapphire and himself hard. He had buried himself in work and it had been Stella who finally got him out of his funk. She had traipsed into his office one day, actually sat down on top of his desk and proceeded to yell at him in a tone that had him cowering in his chair.
Mac shuddered, thinking back to that day. He had actually taken an entire week off of work because Stella had scared him so bad. She had threatened, very vividly, what she was going to do to Mac if he even thought about stepping into the office that week.
When he came back, Stella was in his chair and told him that it was good to have him back. That was the first time Mac gathered enough courage to ask Stella out. She said yes, obviously, or he wouldn't be here right now, with Stella asleep in his bed, carrying his child.
Mac was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of the door creaking open. He turned around and came face to face with the woman of his dreams, dressed in one of his t-shirts and socks.
Mac smiled, "Stella, it's 3 a.m. Did I wake you up?"
Stella shook her head and grinned sheepishly, "No, I kinda had a craving."
Mac grinned, "For what?"
"Promise not to laugh?"
Mac got up out of his chair and walked over to Stella, placing a hand on her barely protruding stomach, "I promise."
"I really wanted pistachio ice cream and bar-b-que chips, but we don't have any." Stella's voice took on a whining tone at the end and Mac had to stifle a laugh.
"I'll run out and get some."
Stella smiled, "Thanks, Mac. I hate being a pain in the ass, but your daughter wants bar-b-que chips and I want pistachio ice cream."
Mac grinned, "Daughter?"
Stella nodded, "Mother's intuition."
"I love the sound of that."
"Sound of what?"
"Mother. You'll be an amazing mommy, Stella."
Stella leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on Mac's lips, "And you will be a fantastic daddy, Mac."
Mac rubbed his hand on the back of his neck nervously, "I'm gonna go get your stuff. I'll be back soon." and then he left the room briskly, leaving Stella standing there confused.
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Mac was browsing the aisles of the corner 24-hour supermarket and trying to find pistachio ice cream. This was the third store he had to been to. He hadn't had trouble getting the chips, but it was proving hard to find the ice cream. Apparently pistachio wasn't very popular.
Mac finally found the flavor that Stella had requested when something caught his eye. He turned around and there were two boys wearing black hoodies and dark jeans, who looked around 15 years old. They both had their hoods pulled up and were reaching into their pockets. Their eyes were shifting around restlessly and they seemed to be nervous.
Realizing what was about to happen, Mac set the ice cream down and approached to two boys.
The taller of the two, puffed out his chest and gave Mac a glare which rolled right of the ex-Marine's back. Mac pulled his jacket to one side to reveal his 9 mm and the other side to reveal his NYPD detective shield.
His tone was low and menacing, "If you two boys want to take your hands out of your pockets right now, I won't call for back up. If you want to be stupid, I will have both of you unconscious in under a minute. What's it gonna be?"
Both boys pulled their hands out and Mac stepped forward and reached into the pockets of the taller boy, pulling out a .45 and unloaded the magazine of bullets before placing the gun on the shelf next to him.
He repeated the process with the smaller of the two and put the gun next to the other .45. He turned back around to face the two boys. "What are your names?"
The taller one answered for the both of them, "I'm Tony and this is Derek."
Mac looked at Derek, "You don't speak."
Derek was positively shaking in his boots, "Sorry...sir. My name's...Derek."
Mac glared harder, "Derek what? And son, don't call me sir. It's Detective Taylor to you."
Derek shook harder, "Derek...Derek Black, Detective Taylor."
Mac nodded once, "What about you, Tony? Gotta last name?"
Tony wasn't as scared as Derek, until he himself was bearing the brunt of Mac's furious glare, "Tony Carter, Detective Taylor."
"What the hell were you two thinking?"
Both boys had the decency to look ashamed, but it was Derek who answered, "We were dared."
Mac's glare toned down, just a bit. He knew what it was like to be young and give into peer pressure. "And like fools, you took the dare."
"Yes sir...I mean Detective Taylor." Tony answered this time.
Derek spoke up, "Are you gonna take us in?"
Mac started to answer but was interrupted by his phone ringing, the displayed showed that it was Stella, so he decided to further intimidate the two teenagers in front of him.
"This is Detective Mac Taylor speaking."
"Mac?" Stella greeted him.
"Detective Bonasera, what can I do for you?"
"Mac? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. There was little bit of an altercation at the grocery store."
Both Tony and Derek eyes were wide as saucers.
"Oh my God. Is anyone hurt?"
"Everything is fine."
"Are you sure. Do you need me to come down."
"NO. I'll be back as soon as I take care of things. Can you make sure to have the AK-47 assembled when I get back to the lab, I'm still not sure that it's firing right and I need to test it out."
By this time, both boys looked like they were going to pass out or pee their pants.
"Mac? What the hell are you talking about? Is that like some secret code?"
"No. I'll call you later. Bye."
Mac hung up and hoped that Stella wasn't going to be too pissed. But it would be worth it, the look on the two boys faces were priceless.
Mac turned back to face the two, who were frozen on the spot. He gave them another glare and started to speak again, low and deadly, "If I ever, I mean ever, see you boys causing anymore trouble I will throw your asses in jail so fast, you won't even have time to blink. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Detective Taylor." both boys answered in perfect harmony.
Mac picked up both of their guns, slipped them in his pockets and gave them one last threatening glare. "I mean it. Don't even think about doing something this stupid again. If I was going by procedure, both of you would have criminal records right now."
Both boys looked ashamed and one last glare from Mac sent them scampering in the opposite direction
Mac turned around and went back to pick up the pistachio ice cream and headed towards the checkout line. He bought the ice cream and headed out to his Avalanche.
He buckled himself in and dialed Stella on his cell phone. She picked up in a worried tone.
"Mac? Are you sure you are all right?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart. I got your chips and ice cream. I'll explain everything when I get home, ok?"
"Just as long as your ok."
"I promise, I'm fine. I'll see you in a couple minutes."
"Ok, I love you."
Mac smiled, "I love you too, Stell."
Mac snapped his phone shut and pulled out of the parking lot of the grocery store. He was glad that things had ended peacefully with Derek and Tony. It also caused another thought to pop into his brain; he was going to have to start being more careful. He was going to be somebody's husband and someone's father. He couldn't take stupid risks anymore.
Finally, he pulled up outside of his apartment building and parked his Avalanche. He grabbed the two grocery bags and got out of the car. He quickly made his way into the lobby, but opted to take the stairs instead of the elevator, hoping that some physical exercise would clear his mind.
Besides, he only lived on the 8th floor.
Four minutes later, Mac was on the 8th floor and not even breathing hard or sweaty. He walked briskly to door 808 and knocked softly. He assumed that Stella was still up, but didn't want to wake her if she wasn't.
The door was flung open and Mac was pulled into the apartment by his shirt collar. Stella was instantly all over him, kissing him, caressing him and trying to get him out of his clothes.
Mac was thoroughly confused. What brought this on?
Mac pulled back, "Stella? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
It was then that Mac noticed the tears threatening to pour out of Stella's eyes. With Mac's words, they spilled over and Stella started blubbering incoherently.
Mac caught a couple of words, most of them sounding along the lines of "You don't want me."
To say that Mac was confused would seriously be an understatement. Ten minutes ago Stella had been fine and now she was crying and wailing.
"Stella. Stella. STELL!"
Stella looked up, sniffling. "What?"
"Sweetheart. I do want you, but I want to know what's going on first. I love you and want to know what's running through your mind right now."
A new wave of tears cascaded down Stella's face. "I don't know, one minute I'm talking to you and when we hung up I just started crying. I have no idea. It must be the hormones. I wouldn't know, I've never been pregnant before. Do you have my ice cream and chips?"
Mac laughed, "Yes. They are right here." and Mac reached into the bag and pulled out the chips and Stella's pistachio ice cream.
Stella grinned gleefully, "Yea!" and all the traces of Stella's previous sour mood were gone.
Mac decided that he would quickly explain what happened at the grocery store and then they could get to bed, as both of them had to work tomorrow and Stella had her first OB/GYN appointment.
He regaled Stella with all of the details and told her what happened. She reacted just as he had expected; she was glad he was ok, but pissed that he hadn't called for back up.
Mac calmed her worries and promised that he would go by procedure next time, but his promise was unheard, as Stella had fallen asleep with her head on Mac's lap and her hands on her stomach, protecting her child.
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It was 9 a.m. and Mac was just finishing up a pot of coffee when Stella came strolling into the kitchen. She was wearing a pair of dark slacks and tight red shirt that showcased the small swell of her stomach.
Mac quickly poured a cup for himself and started to pour a cup for Stella when she stopped him.
"I'm not supposed to drink coffee."
Mac looked sheepish, "Sorry, honey. I forgot."
Stella gave Mac a smile, "It's ok. Are you coming with me to my OB/GYN appointment today?"
Mac nodded, "There's no place I'd rather be."
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Mac was exhausted, there had been 4 different homicide cases to investigate this morning. He sent Hawkes to one, Danny to another, Lindsay to a different one and had Stella and himself on one. He hated that Stella was out in the field, but refused to let anyone else go out on a call with her.
He knew she was peeved that he was being so protective, but she was keeping her mouth shut and not saying anything. Mac knew it would be a while before Stella was restricted to lab work and she wanted to make the most of her last few months in the field.
It was now 2:30 in the afternoon and Mac couldn't find Stella anywhere, her appointment was at 3 o'clock and Mac knew that traffic could be brutal. He was going up and down the halls of the lab, looking through the glass walls, but not seeing her.
He spotted Lindsay in AV and popped his head in to ask her if she had seen Stella. Lindsay said that she had noticed her go into the bathroom about 10 minutes ago.
Panic rose in Mac's chest and he fought it down quickly, trying not to appeared flustered. As he approached the woman's restroom, he could hear the sounds of someone retching inside. Without thinking, he flung the door open and rushed inside.
What greeted his eyes, broke his heart. Stella was sitting on the floor, head pressed to the cool porcelain. Her hair was matted against her head and plastered to her forehead, her eyes were watery and streaks of mascara raced down her cheeks.
Mac quickly rushed to her side and pulled her sweat-soaked hair back from her face. He rubbed soothing circles on her back and waited for the dry heaves to subside. Stella finished and stood up on shaky legs.
She walked to the sink and washed her face with cold water, splashing some around in mouth to get ride of the foul taste. She turned back to Mac and gave him a weak smile, "Ready to go?"
Mac sighed, "Oh Stell. I'm sorry that you have to go through that."
Stella shook her head defiantly, "No apologies, Mac. I'm thrilled to be carrying the baby of the man I love."
Mac's grin split his face and he kissed, much to her protests about her bad breath. He pulled back and whispered, "I love you too." and then he bent down on his knees and pulled Stella's shirt up, exposing her tummy.
"Hello Little One. I'm your daddy and I can't wait to meet you. But please be nice to your mommy. She loves you very much, just like I love you very much."
Stella's eyes were watering as she hauled Mac up by the collar and showered him with kisses. Only to be stopped when the door was thrown open by a surprised lab tech. Mac and Stella pulled apart and quickly rushed past the flustered woman.
Five minutes later, Mac was weaving through the New York traffic and barely resisting the urge to flip the lights on and race to the doctor's office. Stella was laughing at him from the passenger's seat.
"Mac, it's not the end of the world if I'm a couple minutes late."
"I know. I just can't wait, I'm really excited."
Stella smiled at Mac's enthusiasm, "Me too. You know we won't be able to find out the sex for a couple weeks, right? I mean, do you even want to find out or do you want to be surprised?"
Mac shrugged his shoulders, "Both. I kinda want to be surprised, but at the same time it would be nice to know what to buy and what color to paint the nursery and such."
"I agree. I think we should find out."
"Ok, as soon as it's possible, we'll find out."
"Ok. What do you want? A boy or girl."
Mac looked over at Stella, "I just want a healthy baby and a healthy mommy."
Stella smiled, "Me too."
Mac pulled into the lot that was adjoining the clinic, parked the truck and raced over to open Stella's door.
Stella smiled at Mac and laced her hand through his as they walked through the clinic doors. She walked up to the receptionist's desk and gave the older woman her name. The receptionist introduced herself as Jillian and handed Stella some papers to fill out and sign.
Stella took them and sat down in a chair with Mac by her side. She circled, signed, initialed and dated all that she was supposed to and handed the forms back to Jillian and sat back down to wait.
Ten minutes later, her name was called and Stella stood up with Mac by her side. They followed the young, brunette woman back through the double doors that led to the examination rooms of the clinic.
The nurse said her name was Terri and Stella immediately didn't like her. She was eyeing Mac like he was something to eat.
Hello??? He's the frickin' father of my baby. Do you not see the rock on my flipping finger???
Terri asked Stella to step on the scale and Stella obliged, while grumbling curse words under her breath. Mac was laughing quietly and Stella assumed that he had figured out what was bothering her.
Stella stepped off the scale and Terri led them to another room where she asked Stella some questions and finished up the pre-exam. She left with a wink at Mac and a quick, "Doctor'll be here shortly."
As soon as the door closed, Mac burst into laughter. "You...were...jealous." he got out between gasps for air.
Stella pouted, "Mac! She was trying to flirt with you."
Mac stopped laughing, "She's not wearing my ring and carrying my baby, is she, Stella?"
"No but..."
"Is she?"
Stella smiled, "No."
Mac nodded, "Exactly, that's you. You're the one I'm in love with Stella. The only one."
Stella smiled again, "I love you too."
Mac got up out of his chair and went over to the table where Stella was laying down. He bent over her and gave her a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips. They were interrupted by the doctor coming in.
"Sorry to disturb you two, but I need to check Ms. Bonasera out."
Both Mac and Stella blushed at being caught. The doctor laughed and continued, "Oh please, I've seen much, much worse. I'm Dr. Corinna Kostopoulos by the way. You can call me Dr. K if it would be easier. Although Bonasera sounds Greek, so I'm sure you won't have a problem with the pronunciation."
Stella grinned and then began speaking rapidly in Greek, the words flowing out of her mouth excitedly. Dr. Kostopoulos answered just as fast and Mac was lost as the two woman began conversing in their native tongue.
Mac cleared his throat and both woman stopped talking before bursting out into laughter. Stella was absolutely beaming, "You don't know how long its been since I've gotten to speak Greek. The last person who I talked Greek with tried to kill me."
Mac glowered as he remembered, Sebastian Diakos. Stella and Dr. K were talking in Greek again and Mac gave up trying to interpret the confusing language.
Finally the two woman stopped and took pity on Mac. Dr. Kostopoulos left to get the ultrasound machine and was back quickly.
She plugged the machine into the wall and had Stella lift up her stomach and reveal her small bump.
Dr. Kostopoulos spread a gel on Stella's stomach and Stella squealed. At Mac's confused look, she explained, "Cold."
Mac nodded and got up out of his chair and walked to Stella's side. He took her hand and looked towards the small screen, anxiously waiting to see his little boy or girl.
The doctor moved a small wand across Stella's stomach and a blurry image appeared on the screen. Mac tried his hardest to make something out, but couldn't tell one thing from another.
He heard the doctor gasp and both Stella and Mac tensed, "What's wrong?" Stella asked. "Is my baby ok?"
Dr. K didn't reply, only moved the wand around some more. Stella was becoming distressed and gripping Mac's hand tight, she started speed talking in Greek and Dr. K replied in Greek as well.
Mac was confused, "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on? Is my baby ok?"
Dr. K shut the machine nodded and turned to face the couple with a smile on her face, "Congratulations you two, you're having twins."
Well, that's chapter 10! I hope you guys liked it!
As I previously said, I've never been pregnant, so I have no expertise in the area of pregnancy. Please let me know if I completely write something wrong. Thanks!
Reviews = *Hugs from Flack, Danny, Mac, Hawkes and ADAM!!!*