Danny stepped into Mac's office around 2:30pm that day. It was a mild spring day in late April.

"Hey Mac, you got a second?" Danny asked him, standing in front of his desk.

"Sure Danny, what's up?" Mac replied, glad to have a distraction from the case file he was looking over.

"You and Hannah are close, right?" Danny started.

"Yeah," Mac said, nodding his head, "she tells me everything."

"What if I'm not a good father to the baby?" Danny confessed.

"Danny, mine and Hannah's situation is a special one. You will be there for every part of that baby's life. Hannah and I had to start from the ground up and we have a great relationship. You'll be a great father Danny; and if not you're the only father that baby will know so it won't know any different," Mac joked.

"Ha ha very funny Mac," Danny laughed.

"No, but seriously, you'll be a great father," Mac told him.

"Thanks Mac," Danny said.

Mac just nodded and said, "Now get back to work," with his signature half smile.

Danny smiled back and exited Mac's office.

The rest of the day went by relatively normally. There was a break in the case they had been working on and Flack brought the suspect in and the got a confession.

The next day however, wouldn't be quite as calm. Mac woke up around 6:30am and went into Hannah's room to wake her up for school.

"Hey, Hannah, it's time to get up," he said, gently shaking her.

Hannah rolled over and opened her eyes.

"If you hurry I'll take you to breakfast before school," Mac told her.

"Don't you have to get to the lab?" Hannah asked, sitting up in bed.

"I'm taking the day off," Mac informed her.

Hannah gave Mac a look as though he had sprouted antennae.

"Come on, go get ready and we'll go eat," Mac said, smiling at his daughter.

It was a little after seven when Hannah was ready. She grabbed her backpack and followed Mac downstairs to the Avalanche. They went to Mac's favorite diner and had breakfast. After breakfast Mac drove Hannah to school. He then headed to meet someone very important. That person was Talmadge Neville. After Mac had unsuccessfully tried to get Talmadge to tell him what actually happened, he decided he needed Flack's help so he made his way to the precinct.

"I thought you took the day off?" Flack inquired when Mac got there.

"Why is everyone concerned about what I do on my day off? Mac asked and took a sip of his coffee.

"Why do you wanna reopen this case Mac? I thought it was pretty cut and dry." Flack said.

"Talmadge Neville was released today and I just keep thinking what if that was Hannah lying in the street. I'd want the real person responsible to pay," Mac told his friend.

Flack nodded his understanding.

"So how are things going with you two?" Flack asked.

"Things are great. She's a great kid. I just can't figure out why Claire wouldn't tell me about her," Mac inquired.

"Does she ever ask about Claire?" Flack asked.

"Yeah, all the time; the hardest part though is that I want to know about her life before me but I don't want to upset her by asking her about it," Mac confessed.

"She'll tell you when she's ready. Keep in mind that she lost both her foster parents; one pretty gruesomely," Flack told him.

"Yeah, I guess she's like me where she doesn't open up easily," Mac thought out loud.

Finally Flack found what he was looking for and printed the document and handed it to Mac.

"Thanks Don," Mac said, grabbing the paper and exiting the precinct.

Flack just nodded as Mac walked away.

Just then Mac got a text from Stella. Linds is in labor. Danny's on his way to the hospital now. I'll keep you updated. Lunch later?

Mac typed his reply: Sure. Deli across from the lab at noon?

Sounds good: was Stella's reply.

After Mac had taken care of some more business with the Maris Donovan case, he went to the deli to meet Stella.

"Hey," he greeted Stella when she joined him in the booth.

"Hey," Stella replied.

"How's Lindsay?" Mac asked after they had placed their orders.

"She's worried she's not going to be a good mother. I went to see her earlier," Stella told him.

"Yeah, I had the same conversation with Danny a couple of days ago," Mac said with a small smile.

"More importantly how are you and Hannah doing?" Stella asked him. "It's been almost a year, hasn't it?"

"Things are great. I can really see sometimes how's she's just like Claire…" Mac's voice trailed off.

"What's wrong Mac?" Stella asked. "Tell me," she said.

"I just want her to talk about what she witnessed that day in the bank. I can tell that sometimes it bothers her but she won't talk to me about it," Mac confessed.

"She will Mac; I'm sure it was very difficult for her. Think about Lindsay when she had to go back to Montana to testify. She didn't want to talk about it right away either but eventually she opened up to Danny," Stella assured him.

"Thanks Stella, you always know what to say," Mac told her.

"We've been partners for ten years. I think sometimes I know you better than you know you," Stella told him with a smile.

Mac smiled back at her. He paid the bill after the waitress set it down on the table.

"Well I should get back to the lab," Stella said.

She kissed Mac on the cheek and left him sitting at the deli. A little while later Mac headed to Hannah's school to pick her up. As he was waiting for her he got a text from Stella that said the baby was here. When Hannah walked out of her school she immediately saw Mac in the Avalanche and climbed in.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Hannah asked, surprised to see him.

"I thought I'd surprise you and pick you up today. Lindsay had her baby. You wanna go see it?" Mac asked his daughter.

"Definitely!" Hannah said excitedly.

A little bit later they had arrived at the hospital. Mac just sat there, not getting out.

"Dad?" Hannah said.

"I love you Hannah," Mac told her.

Hannah broke into a smile, "I love you too now let's go see that baby."

A few minutes later the whole team, minus Sid, was gathered in Lindsay's room.

"So does she have a name yet?" Hawkes.

"Lucy; Lydia," Danny and Lindsay said together.

"I guess that's a no then," Flack laughed.

After the laughter died down, Danny turned to Mac. "Mac, Lindsay and I were wondering if you'd like to be the god father," Danny asked.

"I'd love to," Mac replied.

"That's code for diaper changes," Flack joked.

"You get to spoil her," Hawkes said.

"I think Danny's got that covered," Mac said with a smirk.

Just then Stella grabbed the baby and handed her to Mac who smiled at her. The team gave Danny and Lindsay their gifts for the baby and stuck around until the end of visiting hours. One thing was known for sure: Baby Messer was loved by a lot of people.

Here's chapter 10! Sorry it took me sooo long to update. I've gotten really busy with school but I've recently started a new job that'll give me more time to write. I hope you like chapter 10 and I promise I won't make you wait as long for chapter 11. Thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome.