Fun with Lucy Goosey

Peyton Driscoll had decided not to leave the United States after all. She accepted a teaching job at NYU. She was surprised at how upset she was at Mac's new relationship,

His engagement.

Mac's heart was no longer hers. Moreover, it was readily apparent that seeing her hadn't stirred up any emotion of Mac wanting her back. In the back of her mind Peyton knew she and Mac could have never had a life together. Or a happy one, at least.

Mac wanted children.

She did not.

Her mind couldn't be changed and Mac would have been unhappy with that part of his life, that dream, not coming true. Peyton was too dedicated to her career for motherhood. Just as there was no changing Peyton's mind she didn't want children, there was no changing Mac's mind that he did. If his mind could have been changed then maybe he had a future with her. Still, there was something about seeing Mac so happy and affectionate with another woman that bothered Peyton immensely even if she realized she could never make him happy.

Mac could count on one hand the number of times he had kissed Peyton Driscoll the way he kissed Hope daily,

More than once a day if they had the chance to see each other.

He had always tried to be as affectionate with Peyton but she pushed him away half of that time. Hope never did. He knew Hope enjoyed being close to him and he enjoyed holding her.

The first time the two had spent the night together Hope told him that she were a "cuddler" and she hoped that this didn't bother him. It was just the opposite for Mac.

"Makes two of us, baby," he had said.

It was now only two weeks till Hope and Mac's wedding day. Even at work, the future groom couldn't get the smile off his face—when not at the actual crime scene or questioning suspects, victims or their families. Grinning was okay in the confines of the lab around friends. On his wedding day, with all of the team, Danny, Lindsay, Sheldon and Don—plus Stella, who was still on maternity leave, attending the wedding—all in the wedding party except Stella, Mac didn't know who was going to be in charge of the lab.

And this was one day he didn't care.

During Mac's honeymoon in South Carolina Danny would be the lab's interim boss. Mac teased him that it was the only eight days of his life that he could tell Lindsay what to do.

"You'd better enjoy that. But be careful, you live with Lindsay."

"You sure you guys don't mind takin' Lucy for the night?" Danny asked Mac and Hope. Her parents had won tickets of the premiere of the movie Tower Heist. The parents hadn't had a night out in a while. Hope had come to the lab just as Mac were to clock out at 4:00pm. If the two still agreed to it, he and Lindsay were going to go home and surprise Lucy with the idea. She had asking when she was going to hae a sleep-over at the couple's home for weeks.

"We're sure, Danny. We just want to make sure she wants to." Hope said.

"Are you kidding?" Lindsay said.

Nights with Lucy were always fun. She had been aware fairly early in her relationship with Mac that him being Lucy's godfather, if anything happened to her parents, Mac would be raising the little girl. Naturally translating into the fact Hope would also be raising the child if she and Mac married. She did not want anything to happen to Danny and Lindsay but Hope would be glad to raise Lucy.

Lucy had a full toybox with blocks, puzzles and other things like crayons and coloring books at Mac's place, along with a shelf or two of books, and another couple of shelves children's dvds. That selection expanded a lot once Hope moved in with Mac, being Hope had her own large selection of Disney dvds. The child would bring over a favorite toy or two in her backpack but mostly all she bought over was her pajamas, extra clothes and toothbrush.

"Hi ya, cutie," Hope smiled at Lucy when she answered the door after she heard a tiny soft knock.

"Hi!" Lucy said, her Disney Princesses roll-on luggage behind her.

"I'm surprised to see you! I didn't think you'd want a sleep over?" Hope teased the girl.

Lucy's mouth turned into an 'o'.

"I love seep-overs!" The little girl smiled. "'Member?"

"I'm just teasing you, sweetie," Hope said, letting her and her parents into the apartment.

Danny and Lindsay didn't stay very long and their daughter didn't mind one bit. After they left, Hope, Mac and Lucy ate pork chops with gravy and fries for supper. Lucy had big plans for after supper; she wanted to build a castle out of her mega-blocks and draw some pictures with the new box of crayons Hope had bought for her. Many of the old ones were broken and flat. Because it would give her more time to play, Lucy agreed to wash up and put her pyjamas on right after supper.

In the castle of blocks that Lucy built with babysitters, she said that mommy and daddy lived in the part that was made from red blocks and that Hope and Mac lived in the part made with green blocks.

"And where do you live?" Mac asked her.

"I lives in both. I got two rooms. One here," she said pointing to the red part, "and one here," she pointed to the blue part.

"That sounds cool, pumpkin," Hope told the girl.

After a story, Lucy was fast asleep cradled in Mac's arms on the sofa by 8:00pm, her chubby hand holding on to the fabric of his t-shirt.

"She so adores you," Hope said, caressing Lucy's blonde hair.

"I can't say the feeling isn't mutual," Mac said smiling down at the child in his arms.

Lucy slept clear through the night and had her babysitters up by 7:15am. Across town Lindsay and Danny were enjoying sleeping in for first time in close to three years.

"I have an idea," Danny said after he yawned and stretched, placing an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"What's that?" Lindsay asked.

"I forgot how it feels to sleep in. On Friday nights, after Lucy goes to sleep, we should bring her over to the Taylor Residence, and let her stay there so she can wake them at 7:00am on a Saturday. Then we'll pick her up just before lunch."

Lindsay just laughed.

"I pick up my dress for the wedding from the seamstress today. Hard to imagine the wedding is in less than two weeks."

"Yeah. I bet they're gonna enjoy time alone together where Mac's phone can't reach 'em, too."

"Definitely. By the way, when you're interim boss, I strongly suggest you not forget that the 'boss' title stops at the exit."

`Over breakfast the two talked about how Peyton had accepted the teaching position at NYU and the level of disdain the British coroner towards the fact Mac had moved on with his life. Lindsay told her husband that only for the fact that Mac wanted children, the two would be together. She never said it but Lindsay disagreed.

"Somehow I doubt that," said Danny.