Twelve Days of Christmas CSI:NY

Spoilers up to Season 4: "Child's Play."

A/N: There is surprisingly little action on the 10th day of Christmas, so I decided this would be a good day for a song. The one I chose is "A'Soaling" popularized by folk singers Peter, Paul, and Mary. It is the type of song mummers would sing outside the door at the New Year (Samhain or Hallowe'en in Celtic cultures), begging for a bit of food or some money.

Thanks so much to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story; I really love all the response.

Disclaimer: The characters and the show CSI:NY are the intellectual property of their creators and CBS TV.

On the tenth day of Christmas: Jan 3

Soal, a'soal, a'soal cake, please good missus a soal cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

Any good thing to make us all merry.

Cozy's was full, with people doubled up at tables and sharing booths with strangers. Mellow jazz poured from the stage like mead: heady and sweet.

Stella was sitting in a corner reserved for friends of the band. She had been coming most Wednesday nights since Lindsay had 'outed' Mac's hobby nearly two years earlier, often just coming for one set before or after shift. The night Mac received the letter Peyton had sent explaining her decision not to return to New York, Stella had shown up at the bar and closed it out with Mac and the band, refusing to leave him until she was sure he was on his feet.

Mac was different when he played, she thought, watching him with her chin on her hand. Smiles came more easily; that connection he forged with his band seemed more effortless. It was a simple thing – that creation of music. People played their own instruments, told their own stories in their melodies, put their own feelings out for other people to feel. And yet, when several people did that together, they made something that was truly bigger than itself. They made something so unique it could never be replicated, no matter how many times that melody, even that arrangement, was played.

Her mind wandered, as it so often did, to the team members. Danny and Lindsay had never had an easy time of it, she thought. First Lindsay's history, then Danny's disaster-ridden present, had stood in the way of them simply being together. She had talked to Lindsay, a little carefully, earlier that morning, after Adam had emailed her the youtube link. Lindsay had, as always, kept her own counsel, but Stella had sensed a steely determination in the younger woman: Lindsay was not going to give up easily.

Mac came and joined her when the set was done, and they talked casually of work and holiday plans while he drank his soda water. Nothing but water while he was playing; one small Scotch at the end of the night. Order and consistency in nearly everything he did.

"Did you manage to get some time with Reed this holiday?" Stella twirled her glass around restlessly.

Mac's face lit up at the mention of Claire's son, the child she had given up as a teenager and never had the chance to meet. "We had lunch on Boxing Day," he said quietly. "He gave me this." He pulled his wallet out and showed Stella a picture of Reed wearing his high school graduation robes. "He's promised to replace it when he finishes university."

Stella nodded, admiring the picture. "He does look like Claire. Did you have something for him?"

Mac nodded a little self-consciously, "I had a photo of Claire when she was about the same age, pregnant with him. I got it from her parents. I had an artist turn it into a sketch."

Stella could feel tears gathering at the thought. "Did he like it?"

Mac shrugged, "I guess so. I didn't watch him open it. He called later to say thank you." He didn't give Stella any details – some emotional scenes were too painfully private even for this friend to share in.

"And – Peyton? Did you talk?" Stella knew she was pushing, but Mac so rarely volunteered anything.

He frowned into his glass, and then finished off what was left in one swift shot. "Yeah.

She said she misses me."

"That's good. Isn't it?" Stella was watching him carefully, a little surprised when he signaled the server for another drink, and asked for Scotch this time.

"Yes." He didn't say anything for a while, then glanced up at her. "Yes, it's good. But she wouldn't … discuss anything. Work anything out. She only had a few minutes to talk – she was on her way to court."

"Court? She's working?"

"Consulting work for the regional police force. She was giving expert testimony." He didn't say anything else. They both knew a medical examiner with Peyton's expertise would have no trouble working in any field.

The other band members were beginning to re-settle on the stage, and Mac knocked back his drink. "You sticking around?"

Stella nodded, "Christmas music in a minor key suits me tonight. I'll be here when you're done."

He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her cheek. "You're a good friend, you know that, don't you?"

"Everybody's best friend or big sister, that's me," she said lightly, waiting until he was back on stage to take a quick sip of her drink, trying to wash the bitterness out of her mouth.