A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for the overwhelming response every chapter gets. It's getting harder and harder to keep up with all the expectations lol. But I promise, it's all smiles from here. Some tears here and there but it's gonna be good.

I won't babble any further. So I bring you 'the dinner scene'. Enjoy!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GARY SINISE! (I won't be around for the rest of the week :( … )

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I wanted them to have some time alone. This place is nowhere near private but at least I picked a quiet spot where Mac can get to know Dylan. The line wasn't that long so I reached the counter right away. 'Bonnie' was the one who'd be taking my order – a sweet girl of nineteen, blue eyes and short blond hair. And she does in fact know me.

"Oh Miss B," she said, "what are we having tonight?"

"Chicken nuggets with fries and two cheeseburgers both with fries and three iced tea, large," I said a bit distracted. I heard her say that she'll be getting them then I remembered, "Oh for the dip…"

"Extra catsup, I know, Miss B," she winked at me. Just goes to show how many times I've been eating at fast foods lately.

So I waited. But my mind drifted back to my – uh, the… boys. Dylan's not a shy boy so he probably has been talking to Mac already; that is if Mac wasn't a crying mess yet. No, Detective Mac Taylor is not like that. He'd be composed and proper – but who could resist my little boy's smiles? Just thinking about them made me giggle.

The whiff of chicken snapped me back to reality. Bonnie was smiling at me with a glint in her eyes. "He looks like a nice man, Miss B," she said, her line of sight to Dylan and Mac. "Tell him that he'll be good to my sweetheart Dylan, okay?" We laughed. I hired Bonnie a couple of times to baby sit Dylan on weekend mornings.

"I will," I almost whispered, pulling out a few bills.

The look on her face was so funny; she looked like a tomato with teeth and braces breaking out a grin. "So…" one of those elongated syllables, "thaaat's hiiim?" We must've looked like neighbors sharing gossip over manicured hedges. I nodded shyly. "Great catch! Do they have more of him back in New York?" At that, we burst out laughing that we must've attracted the whole place. There wasn't anyone behind me so it was okay to chat a little bit.

"You pick, a blond blue-eyed with glasses or a tall blue-eyed brunette?" I replied after I recovered from the giggles. "Both with badges and New York accents," I continued giving her the eyebrow.

She was about to answer when she spotted the manager enter the front of the store doing his rounds. "Hold that thought, Miss B and I'll take my pick the next time you and sweetheart come in," she said giving me my change. I took the food and walked back to our table.

Those were some of the times I wish I had a camera with me. Dylan was talking animatedly at Mac, his right hand flying left to right, Mr. Cheeks flush to his chest and his left hand… oh, his left hand holding on to Mac's thumb. Mac was laughing at what my baby boy was telling him – maybe his story of how he found a bug under his bed and spooked me out with it on the morning of my birthday.

"And Mommy almost fell off the bed when she saw the little legs on the buggie," I heard him say. Oh yeah, I was right. "But I wasn't ascared." He spotted me with his French fries. "Mommy! I was tewwing Mac 'bout the buggie. It's my pressie for you on your berfday."

"I know, baby. I heard," I said as I slid into my seat and distributed the food. Dylan dove into the chicken nuggets right away. He opened the sauce packet on his own and poured it on top of the food. Then he put his hands to a prayer position and closed his eyes. I looked at Mac as he was looking at him and there I saw love. Dylan finished with his little prayer and took a bite off one nugget.

I noticed that neither Mac nor myself was moving. I risked a glance at him and I saw him still gazing at Dylan. He picked up a napkin and wiped the corner of Dylan's lip with it. "Thank you," he managed to say with a fry in his mouth. "You're not eating?"

"Uh, yeah… I am now," Mac replied. As far as I can remember, we took our burgers the same way: catsup under the top bun and under the patty. That took two catsup packets. We paused after the first bite when we heard Dylan laughing.

"You do the same things!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. I wasn't aware that he was watching us. I was too busy looking at what Mac was doing. I blushed and went on with my eating.

After a while of silence, I felt Dylan tapping my elbow. When I looked over to him, I saw that he's finished his pack of fries and he wanted more… he wanted mine. He smiled at me sweetly as if begging for it. "Okay, baby," I said. But when I was about to dump the fries to his nugget plate, Mac did the same.

"You can take mine, Dylan," he said, laying the pieces on his plate and squeezing more catsup on them. "And here's my extra catsup too." Dylan took a sip of his iced tea and let out a slight burp. "Oops, excuse me," Mac laughed, again wiping the chicken nugget sauce off the little boy's lip. I had to mask a sob. The picture was so perfect that I didn't want it to end.

After dinner, Dylan was a little sleepy but still excited enough to keep on talking. I parked my car at the McDonald's parking lot; the night was still young so we decided to take a little walk. Yes, the three of us. He kept on telling Mac about daycare, Margot, Dora, Blue and Barney as we walked in the forgiving Saturday night with him in my arms.

As the night went on, he got sleepier and heavier. I was having a harder time keeping him in my arms without him slipping after a few minutes. Mac might've noticed it because he said, "Here, I'll uh… I'll carry him for you." Dylan's eyes were at the verge of closing already when Mac held him in his arms. He also offered to carry his backpack for me.

It was like he was doing it for all his life. Dylan rested his head on Mac's shoulders and dozed off. "And Boots said…" he sighed before his eyes closed. I put his Superman jacket over his shoulders as we found an empty bench to sit on.

Mac kissed Dylan's forehead a couple of times whilst we were sitting there in peace. I didn't know what to say; I don't want to ruin the moment for him with my talking. Mac was staring straight ahead, weaving his right hand into Dylan's hair. It looked to me that he needed a hug himself – something that I gave him wholeheartedly. "Mac…" I sighed.

"Stella," he sighed back against my hair. We stayed that way for what felt like forever; I wanted it to be forever. Until he said, "You guys should be getting home. Dylan might get sick. And you need your rest, too." We stood up and he followed me to my car.

When he tried to place the sleeping little boy in the backseat, he wasn't budging. Apparently, Dylan became very comfortable on Mac's shoulder. He would whimper when he felt he was slipping off. He took a handful of Mac's shirt in his small hands. We had to laugh and wonder, "Is he really sleeping?" His even breathing when we stopped extracting him proved that he was.

Then a make or break idea hit me. Mac was sitting in the backseat of my car, peppering Dylan's forehead with kisses and humming a lullaby. After this night, I can't imagine them apart anymore. "Mac, do you want to come home with us?" I asked him, placing my palm against his cheek. "We can swing by your hotel, get some stuff and…" He was looking at me as if I was speaking in a language he doesn't understand. To convince him, I told him the truth, "Dylan would be so happy to spend the day with you tomorrow."

With a smile, he agreed. We stopped at his hotel; by that time, Dylan was lying down on the backseat while Mac gathered some of his things. He came out a few minutes later and we continued on to my place. It felt so natural like this… going home with your son and his father. It made me feel warm inside.

I let him tuck his son in for the night. I watched them from the door of Dylan's room. Mac was cherishing every moment with him so I left him alone for a while. I went down to the living room to pick up some of the toys Dylan left lying around. There wasn't much really; I just needed something to distract me. A whirlwind of emotions was rushing in my system. One can never be too happy, they say.

I went over to the bookshelf. One level was just for pictures. I was rearranging them when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. "Making space for me?" Mac whispered from behind. Maybe I was.

I faced him and hugged back. I missed the warmth – his warmth. California Decembers can be as chilly as New York's sometimes. But ever since I left, every night was cold… no one's hug was enough to warm me up from the cold that I was feeling inside. Only Mac could do that – only Mac was doing that. "Mac, come for Christmas, will you?" I sobbed. Dylan has never spent a Christmas with a father yet.

He stroked my hair lovingly. "I'll try," he said. "Can't promise anything right now."

I know that. And I also trust him when he said that he'd try. But… "There's one thing you can do for me right now." He must've been thinking of the same thing because the next moment, his lips were on mine and soon, we found ourselves in déjà vu.

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Reine – got my email:) Yeah, I like Dylan too of all the CSI babies I've cooked up. And I can hear him non-stop in my head sometimes hahaha…

Murgy31 – a couple more to go. And there's Dylan in all of them. Is that good?

Mandi – me hearts Dylan too

Lil Kass – aww… hugs well, I'm glad you liked it

Mo – well, here we go. Dylan picture, please? Lol…

csi-ds9 – oh thank you for that. Yeah, there are a lot of unexpected babies in fanfiction but I'm glad this one is somehow standing out

mj0621 – hay alam mo, fluff … is next! ;)

Catherine – hahah, thanks for clearing that up. What kind of Sinise fan am I? Hahahaha…