Hey dear readers! The world is on fire and it's been taking a lot to focus on this story. But I finally managed to fix some details and get this done. So my gift to you in the midst of this madness across the globe is a bit of drama. Hope you're hungry.

I want to say a very big thank you to everyone who review last chapter! The handful of guests, the B to my S geminibbyy, rebelspy023 and Gingersndspice1. Your words really make a difference to me and I'm happy to have so many of you along for the ride. I know I sound like a broken record but every view and visit and favourite and message and review can really make this even more worth it for a writer. I'm happy to have you in this world with me and Mackenzie.

also, i did my best to accurately capture what genetic testing is like, although some of this is probably happening quicker in my fictional world than it would in real life.

Away we go!


It was a 23 and a half minute cab ride from the Bass Foundation office to Gracie Square. Not that Mackenzie was intentionally counting down the moments until her appointment with the geneticist to finally get her test results. She was just keenly aware she was about to find out some information she may not want.

Mackenzie slowly paced around the lobby, her heels echoing into the grand empty space as she waited for her sister. Jenny agreed without question to come to the appointment with her and Mackenzie was grateful she would have someone's hand to squeeze if needed.

She glanced down at her phone to see a message that Jenny was close by. A sigh escaped Mackenzie's mouth and she double checked the time. Triple checked. She ran a hand through her hair and pushed it to one side of her shoulders, continuing to pace around.

"I'm so sorry I'm almost late! Hope you weren't panicking."

Mackenzie paused and turned to see Jenny walking in, a smirk on her face and oversized purse on her shoulder.

"Is this really my sister Mackenzie wearing Burberry?" Jenny continued, reaching out to analyze the trench Mackenzie was wearing.

"Oh, stop," Mackenzie pushed her sister's hand away. "I've been leaning into some of the suggestions from Nate's styling team and I liked this coat enough to keep it."

Jenny just rolled her eyes and linked onto her sister's arm. "You look great. Although I do remember you complaining a lot about the girls in London wearing tan coats and trying too hard."

"Which is why I insisted on this slate grey and the real thing, not a cheap knock off. And please just let me live, it's one coat."

"And one new pair of Valentino booties," Jenny replied, glancing down at her feet.

Mackenzie just let out a dramatic groan and steered them towards the elevator to head upstairs.

Okay, the studded black boots had been a real indulgence. If Mackenzie was being completely honest, she wasn't used to having disposable income the way she did now as a full time employee for the Bass Foundation. Not that she needed expensive designer clothes but she was surrounded by it. Between meetings with deep pocketed donors and events with Nate, dressing the part had become an essential part of her day to day life. It was nice to play dress up and Jenny always reminded her it was smarter to invest in certain pieces that would last a long time in her closet. Plus, looking put together really helped Mackenzie feel like she knew what she was doing. And letting Nate buy her one pair of shoes had really escalated.

As they walked into the doctor's office, Mackenzie's brain went from her fashion worries to what was really more important: her genetic makeup. She had to put her thoughts into two different silos - she was going to find out how her genetics matched her sister and beyond that, she was also going to find out if she potentially had that same marker in her DNA that could lead to the same issues their mom died from. In all this worry about Maya, that was pushed far into the back of her mind. There were two ideal solutions she was waiting for.

She was hesitant about returning to the doctor who had leaked out her information to William Vanderbilt, too. But her pained curiosity helped her get beyond that issue.

Mackenzie and Jenny sat quietly in the small meeting room of the doctor's office. Jenny mumbled quietly to herself about design mockups as she scrolled through her emails. Mackenzie tangled her hands together, enduring a mental battle over her most rational and irrational thoughts.

Mackenzie glanced at her own phone for a few moments. She smiled at the encouraging messages from Nate. Then her face fell as she moved past a long conversation with Maya, which was mostly one-sided. She wasn't sure what was going to happen.

Her thoughts were derailed when the doctor finally came into the office. She had chatted with him briefly before the initial testing and felt him to be pleasant enough. After brief introductions, he opened the folder.

"So, Mackenzie. It's easy enough. You don't have the genetic marker that matched your mother." Mackenzie let out a sigh of relief as Jenny grabbed her hand, a small smile growing on her face.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

Mackenzie glanced from her doctor to Jenny, then reached to grab a copy of her paperwork.

"This is all confidential, right?" Mackenzie asked him.

She watched him let out a breath and remove his glasses. He gave her a weak smile. "Of course."

"I'm wondering if you could just help determine something else for us. If you could even compare my results with my sister's test results. What on here indicates we're related?"

Jenny grabbed some papers out of her purse and laid them on the table.

"Well, let's take a look," the man continued, grabbing Jenny's paperwork. "Siblings that share the same two parents usually have a DNA match of 50%. So you would share half your DNA, because each of you would share half with your parents. Does that make sense?"

Mackenzie just nodded. She appreciated him explaining it in a language she understood - math and percentages.

"But if you only shared one parent, your DNA match likely wouldn't exceed 25%."

"Can you tell that from those tests?"

He glanced down at the papers in front of him, taking a few moments to compare a few different statistics between the two. To Mackenzie, it was agonizing. She wanted to scream at him to do this faster, to tell her what she needed to hear so she could just deal. She took a few long deep breaths to try and remain calm as he looked at the numbers.

"This would be a lot easier if you had both gone to the same doctor, so let's see if we can get a digital copy of this," he said to them shortly, grabbing Jenny's file. "Do you mind if I call your doctors office? This shouldn't take long."

Jenny just nodded. "Yes. We can wait."

Mackenzie collapsed onto the table as the doctor exited.

"Well, that was one piece of good news so far," Jenny said quietly, gently patting her sister on the back as she laid her head on the table.

"Yes. Let's just hope we can go two for two here, Mackenzie muttered out. She sat up and pulled her phone out as she started to feel it buzzing in the pocket of her jeans.

She glanced down at the screen as it continued to vibrate with a phone call.

Jenny looked over at it, too. "Why is Carter Baizen calling you?"

Mackenzie just shrugged and dismissed the call. She was not in the headspace to deal with Carter. Admittedly, she didn't mind having Carter as a friend. They got along well enough and he was always a nice challenge in conversation. But after talking to Viv about him, she had been having serious doubts about his intentions. She didn't take Carter Baizen as the type to have a lot of girls he was just friends with. Perhaps she was being judgemental but she knew enough about the male species to keep her guard up. She thought she had been perfectly platonic with people before only to have them have different intentions. And truly it wasn't fair to anyone involved.

When she didn't take his call, a text from Carter came in next: 'Mackenzie! You free tonight? Call me back, doll.'

She just rolled her eyes and dismissed the message.

A few moments later, the doctor returned with a laptop. He returned to his seat and smiled at both the girls.

"Okay, so. Our basic algorithm is just finishing off running a comparison between your DNA breakdowns and it will give us an answer to your question." He paused and looked back to the screen. Mackenzie clutched her hands together and watched as his eyes moved.

"So your DNA data can be reduced down to this: this tracks what are called centiMorgans, which is just like a unit of measurement. Full siblings and half siblings can share a range of these, making up your percentages. The information I'm going to give you isn't 100% accurate but should give you some peace of mind. You two share over 3,000 of these centiMorgans which is a huge amount for full siblings and if you were to compare it to -

Jenny's eyes flew open. "So, that means we share the same parents?"

"I will say with nearly 100% certainty you do. The only way to guarantee would be to test your parents too but that wouldn't be possible anymore for you both, of course." The doctor paused and smiled at them. "But I hope this answers any questions or concerns you may have had. I'll print the report for you to take home." He gave them a final nod then stood to leave.

Mackenzie let out a sigh and reached over to Jenny, wrapping her halfway into a hug. "Oh my god, what a relief."

Jenny clutched onto her sister. "Okay, before you lose it about what to do next, let's go get dinner or at least a glass of wine."

"It's like you read my mind."


Much to her excitement, Chuck advised Mackenzie to let the Bass Foundation have a half day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. She spent her afternoon tidying up at the loft and packing an overnight bag to stay at Nate's. She then promptly left to avoid running into her dad who was to be staying there for the long weekend.

After the news Monday, Mackenzie felt a serious sense of relief over the paternity situation. But she knew she probably owed her father a serious, honest conversation. She wasn't sure how to start that and while she desperately wanted to just text him, she knew it had to be in person. It was a face to face topic and she had to be an adult about it. She just didn't want to deal with it yet. She also had to figure out what to do about Maya. She ended up explaining she got her results and despite the data, Maya was still insisting they get together and talk about it. Mackenzie was uncertain that was a good idea. So she was avoiding her, too.

She ran a few errands before heading to Nate's late Wednesday afternoon. He was still going to be at work for a few more hours and Mackenzie was looking forward to doing a bit of nothing until he got home.

Mackenzie wanted nothing to mean catching up on bad television or reading but it turned into napping on the couch. She didn't realize how tired she was.

She didn't even stir until she heard the door opening when Nate came home.

"Hey," Nate said softly as he walked over to the couch as she lifted her head off the pillow. "I guess this explains why you didn't text me back." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then pulled away to take off his coat.

"This is not what I wanted to do this afternoon but apparently I was exhausted," she replied as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, still draped in a blanket. "You managed to escape the office on time?"

"Earlier than I thought, even," Nate said as he moved a few bags onto the kitchen island. "You hungry?"

Mackenzie just nodded and moved over towards him in the kitchen, taking a seat at one of the stools at the island. She peered into one of the bags curiously.

"I'm gonna go change," Nate said as he unpacked some of the groceries. "Dan dropped off some records for me today if you want to pick one out while we cook dinner."

"We?" Mackenzie gave him a sly smile.

"Yes, this is a team effort, Humphrey." Nate smirked at her and leaned in, gently joining his lips with hers. "Plus, we're celebrating, you know."

Before Mackenzie could question him, he kissed her quickly again and disappeared down the hallway.

She just smiled to herself, now even more curious about what he meant by his statement. Celebrating the long weekend? The Spectator's recent growth? The answer to Mackenzie's genetic woes?

She dug into the bag of records from Dan and flipped through the choices. She paused at an old Ella Fitzgerald compilation that had a sticky note attached: Mom's fave.

Mackenzie couldn't help but smile at Dan's written commentary and went over to set up Nate's record player. She stood there for a few moments as the scratching noises turned to soft jazz and melodic voices.

It took Nate's arms wrapping around her from behind to break her away from the music. She clutched onto his arms as he held onto her.

"So, what are we celebrating?" Mackenzie said as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder.

Nate brushed her hair away and kissed her neck, laughing. "It's kind of silly."

Mackenzie spun around as Nate's hands stayed locked around her, resting on her lower back. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Try me."

"Well, it was this day three years ago now when a particularly bad ice storm stranded me in Brooklyn." Nate released his hands as a smile grew on her face. He led her towards the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge as she sat back on the stool.

"So, we're celebrating my ex-boyfriend breaking up with me?" Mackenzie smirked as he handed her a glass of wine.

She remembered that night quite fondly. Nate Archibald showing up at her door, a knight in shining armour donning a soaking wet suit. Crying her eyes out on the kitchen floor. Getting drunk. Falling asleep beside Nate. Everything changing.

"We're celebrating the series of events that lead to us finally being honest with each other. It didn't help that I couldn't resist flirting with you for weeks leading up to your break up."

"Yeah. Well, the universe really wanted you to make things right with Jackie Humphrey after all."

Nate let out a groan and smiled at her. "You know, I wanted this celebration to be romantic."

Mackenzie just laughed then let out a breath. "Nate, trust me when I say this: you changed my life three years ago. This day will always be special to me. To us."

"I love you, Mack."

Mackenzie turned to face him as he stood beside her, tilting her head up to kiss him. "Remember how I wouldn't even let you kiss me the next day?"

"Oh, I remember. I think you're the first girl to ever resist me like that." He smirked at her, staying close enough to rest his forehead against hers.

"Good thing I'll always be here to keep your ego in check, Archibald."

Nate kissed her again, a smile spreading across his face.

"C'mere," he said quietly, taking her hand and pulling her to stand up. "Why did you pick this album?" He directed her into his tiny kitchen and tucked an arm behind her back, starting to sway with her. He hummed along to the Louis Armstrong duet flowing through their ears.

Mackenzie just laughed, blushing at his actions as they started to dance in his kitchen.

God, I love this man.

"My mom went through a big jazz phase when we were kids," she replied. "Well, an Ella phase at least." She rested her head on his shoulder as they swayed around. "Not Rufus' favourite but he did buy her this record, if my memory is correct."

"Not my favourite either," Nate replied with a laugh. "But I see the appeal." He ran his hand up and down her back as they moved to the music.

"I like this." Mackenzie said quietly, closing her eyes. "This moment. Can we just stay right here forever?"

"Yes, yes we can."

Reminiscing about their night three years ago lead to reminiscing about their first time together so after dinner, they found themselves back in the hot tub then quickly horizontal on Nate's bed.

Afterwards, Mackenzie was sitting in bed, draped in just a T-shirt and her underwear, texting with Jenny about Thanksgiving. It was bound to be a long day. Really, a long weekend.

Nate and Mackenzie were heading to brunch with the Vanderbilt family in the morning followed by dinner with everyone at Lily's. And a drive out to Albany Saturday for dinner with the Archibald's. Frankly, it was overwhelming. But at least she'd have Nate by her side the whole time.

"Found it." Mackenzie looked up to see Nate heading back into the room, dressed in just a pair of plaid pajama pants. She smiled at the sight of him. There was something about his casual, vulnerable bedtime appearance that warmed her heart. He joined her on the bed, holding a framed photo in his hands. "This is from the Vanderbilt reunion years ago."

"Are you all wearing matching suit jackets?" Mackenzie looked down at the photo to analyze. It was exactly how she pictured Nate's family to look - stoic and elegant, all at the same time. She knew his family had a legacy - it wasn't hard to learn the history of the Vanderbilts in New York City. But all of a sudden, the idea of diving in headfirst and being a part of it all seemed overwhelming.

"Yes, with the family crest," Nate replied to her, almost embarrassed by the entire concept. "It's just tradition."

"Is this where we're going tomorrow?"

Nate shook his head. "This is at the family estate. We'll be there for Christmas. But my uncle William is hosting Thanksgiving at their place tomorrow. Tripp's parents' place."

Mackenzie nodded then her eyes went wide. "Oh my god. Your hair." She narrowed in on Nate in the family photo. "Okay, Justin Beiber."

"Oh, come on. That's not fair," Nate laughed. "I can't be blamed for my 16 year old hairstyles."

"So who can we blame? Blair?"

"No, we were broken up around this time," Nate shrugged. "Actually, it was your brother and Vanessa who came to the family reunion with me."

"That's right. You dated Vanessa, too," Mackenzie said, turning to smirk at him. "That's cute, actually."

"Okay, enough about my past relationships," Nate smiled and rolled his eyes. "Let's see." He scanned over the photo and started to point out his family members. "That's Grandfather. Easy enough. Family patriarch, high standards, hard to please. But he's the one who taught me to love sailing and has pushed me to take a lot of steps in life."

Mackenzie just nodded, biting her tongue. She was apprehensive about meeting William Vanderbilt again. The day he visited her office was still burned into her mind. She knew she would be civil but she was worried for how it may play out.

Nate continued on about his family. "And of course my grandmother, we just call her Cherry. Obviously Tripp will be there and his dad William, and his mom, my aunt Patricia. My great aunt and her family will be there too, the Hathaway's. My uncle Robert and aunt Genevieve and their kids. There's my cousins Bronson and Bryant and Gracie." Mackenzie nodded as he spoke. "And my mom's sister Emily and her husband my uncle Tobias, the Burke's. And my cousins Eliza, Louisa and TJ." He paused and looked over at Mackenzie. "You following along here?"

"Not even a little bit. You lost me at Grandma Cherry." Mackenzie shrugged and gave him a coy smile.

Nate just laughed and put the photo down on the side table. "Well, I'll guide you along. It's going to be painless."

"I hope so," Mackenzie replied, sighing.

"Do you want tea? I picked up some of that hibiscus stuff you like," Nate asked as he turned towards her and kissed her forehead.

"I would love that," she said with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Nate kissed her again then stood up, heading to the kitchen.

Mackenzie leaned back onto the headboard as she watched him walk away, happily letting Max rest in her lap after jumping up on the bed. She started to feel something buzzing and she looked to Nate's side of the bed to see his phone ringing.

"Nate!" She called out. "Your phone is ringing!"

She didn't mean to look at it any further, though she couldn't help but notice it was Taylor Wheeler's name coming up on the caller ID. The call ended moments later. Nate didn't hurry back from the kitchen so it must have not been important.

Mackenzie tried not to think about why Taylor Wheeler might be calling Nate at nearly midnight on a Wednesday. Especially before a holiday. She tried not to over analyze or let her mind go off track. And she certainly didn't want to look at his phone as a message popped up on his screen too. But she did. She shouldn't have looked but she leaned over and looked anyway.

The message was from Taylor: 'thanks for the recommendation! My parents loved the restaurant. And you were right, the crab cakes were unreal lol :)'

Mackenzie shook her head and returned to her position sitting up right. That was harmless. But she was still bothered by Nate's young female coworker messaging him well beyond normal working hours.

You wouldn't be bothered if it was Leo, Mackenzie. Let it go.

She took a few deep breaths and tried not to worry. This was not a big deal. This was one text message. There were more important things to worry about.

Let it go.


Mackenzie knew the Vanderbilt family had money but it hit her even harder at specific moments. Like pulling up to the five story recovered family brownstone on East 79th street. Gentrification aside, it was a beautiful home and easily worth more money than Mackenzie could even wrap her head around.

She clutched onto Nate's hand as they exited the cab and climbed the front stairs to the door. Nate squeezed her hand as he knocked, giving her a supportive smile.

She found out that morning that Tripp was bringing his girlfriend over for their first big family event, too. So she took so comfort in knowing she likely wasn't alone in her anxiety about meeting the whole family. She was nervous about everything - from her navy blue skirt and black halter neck blouse ("Nate, are you sure this looks okay?") to not bringing anything as a gift ("We could pick up some florals on the way?") to meeting William Vanderbilt again ("Mack, he's going to love you.")

But once that door swung open, all Mackenzie could do was dive in.

"Nathaniel, hello! Happy Thanksgiving."

Mackenzie was surprised when Nate's uncle pulled her into a hug as they met. It put her at ease for a brief moment before the headed further into the house.

Despite having dated for half a year before, Mackenzie had managed to avoid all of Nate's family functions. She had been out of the country for Christmas and Easter had been soon after the gala incident and they had chosen to lay low. Then their relationship ended and it was as if this girl Nate had been talking about for months never existed.

But he was elated to be showing her off now. He hasn't brought a girlfriend to Thanksgiving events in a long time. Maybe since Blair. He was serious about Mackenzie and hoped it would be clear to his family.

They made their way around the house, saying hello and meeting any family member they came across.

Mackenzie was quick to sort his family into categories: stiff and, well, less stiff. She was happy to see Tripp and made sympathetic eyes with Monica who was in the same situation as her. But, she was making it through.

As if on cue, the last person Mackenzie met as they got deeper into the house was William Vanderbilt himself. He extended his hand out and offered Mackenzie a warm smile as Nate made introductions.

"It's so wonderful to finally meet you, Mackenzie," William said to her, clasping her hands in his. "Nathaniel has spoken so highly about you."

"I've heard so many things about you, too, William," she replied, doing her best to keep a genuine smile on her face. Before they could continue, he turned to Nate.

"Can I borrow you for a moment?"

Nate glanced over at Mackenzie who just waved her hand. "You go ahead." He gave her a glance as if to ask: are you sure?

She just smiled at him and nodded.

She could hear William say the word campaign plan as they headed towards the back of the house. Before Mackenzie could get very far, she felt an arm cross over her shoulders. She turned to see Howard, holding a flute of bubbling juice.

"I thought you might need this," he said to her with a smirk. "Champagne with a splash of orange juice."

"It's like you read my mind," Mackenzie said with a laugh.

"They're not all so bad," Howard continued as they walked through to the formal living room. Most of Nate's cousins were gathered there, feet kicked up on the coffee table and watching the parade repeat on the mounted television. They paused behind the couch and Howard released her from his arm. "But we still have an entire meal to suffer through."

Mackenzie made it through brunch. Not without some help.

It turns out, there was some solidarity between all the family members who married into the Vanderbilt tree. And they were especially helpful to both Monica and Mackenzie to make it through the meal. Anthony, the husband to Nate's cousin Louisa, was really helpful. Well, his flask that never seemed to empty was helpful.

It was right after they finished eating that Mackenzie found herself meandering through a small hallway exiting the powder room off the kitchen. And she ran right into Nate's grandfather. It wasn't a surprise she needed the assistance of Anthony's secret flask after she spoke with William.

"It was so nice to have you here with us today, Mackenzie," William said flatly. "And I appreciate you keeping our first meeting to yourself."

Mackenzie just swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

"I have a lot of high hopes for Nathaniel's future," William continued. "And I'm really hoping the next couple of months go smoothly."

"So do I," she finally muttered out, crossing her arms. She didn't want to show her discomfort but she felt her heart rate pick up as he looked at her.

"How did your appointments at Gracie Square work out?" William paused and narrowed his eyes. "You don't have to go into details with me. As long as whatever is happening can be swept away." He continued before she could say anything else. "And I've been doing some research about the medication sertraline. Have you heard of it? Apparently increased doses can have uncomfortable side effects. Especially paired with alcohol. So I do hope you're taking care of yourself." He put his hand on her shoulder for a brief moment then smiled and walked away.

As she stood there alone, her brain raced. Clearly there were no boundaries anymore. How on earth could Nate's grandfather know about her anxiety medication? She knew at that moment this wasn't going to be easy for her. If her future involved marrying into the family, it was going to be challenging at times. And she knew that shouldn't have driven her to drink more, but it seemed like the only answer.

Nate was not impressed to find Mackenzie drunk by the time he had called a cab to take them to the Van Der Woodsen's. It was unintentional but Nate spent most of the day in his uncle's study, discussing his campaign with his grandfather and uncles. He didn't intend to leave Mackenzie on her own for so long after they ate but when he realized she had found some solace with his cousins, he knew she would be okay.

Until he realized that meant his cousin's husband helping her self medicate with a flask of whisky.

"Nate, I handle my alcohols very well, I'm sure no one noticed. Plus, your entire family clan was just going on-and-on-and-on about how Tripp brought home someone not white so," Mackenzie said to him as he climbed into the cab beside her.

"You can't battle my aunt's racism with alcohol, Mackenzie," Nate replied to her, rolling his eyes.

"You left me alone all afternoon! I had to fend for myself." Mackenzie sighed then closed her eyes. "Your grandmother said I have good child bearing hips. And your mother, Queen Anne, agreed with a laugh."

"Mack," Nate shifted and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spend so much time locked away today. It was just.. there's a lot of complicated stuff behind the scenes of a political campaign and I've been avoiding it for a while." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "But I'm still cutting you off. No wine tonight."

She sighed and opened her eyes to look over at him. "I'msorry for overindulging." She wanted to tell him about her conversation with William but couldn't muster the courage. "Is everything okay? With the champagne? Sorry. Campaign. The word is campaign. I know that."

Nate glanced over at her, forcing a smile on his face.

"So, I was reading over your campaign plan and I couldn't help but make some notes about some of these policies."

"Do we have to do this today?" Nate plunked down onto the couch across from his Grandfather in his uncle's study. "It's still a draft."

"I'm aware. That's very clear. I thought Kenneth would be giving you more guidance here." William flipped through the stacks of paper and paused. "I think it would be better for you to remain more neutral about some of these far left ideas. Especially surrounding gun control policies. This is an incredulous take for an exaggerated municipal campaign."

Nate grabbed the paperwork from his grandfather and glanced at the notes. "You think this is too extreme?"

"Nathaniel. You've got to consider who you want to back this campaign financially. Many of them won't agree if they've got their investments with other organizations too." William sighed and took a sip of his drink. "I was really hoping by now you would have changed your mind about the Kennedy offer."

Nate rolled his eyes and stood up, walking towards the back row of bookcases lining the wall. "I'm not talking to you about this again. You can't just offer me up as a pawn to Christopher Kennedy. I'm not interested in Cassandra and frankly, your insistence is starting to offend me."

"Hey now, I'm just trying to help you. This is the big leagues, Nathaniel. You've built a great foundation with the public but this is about to get more serious. Our family name will only get you so far without the proper backing forces. You need to seriously consider these options before you. And amending these policies. Sometimes a soft approach is a better place to start."

Nate let out another breath and just nodded to appease his grandfather. As much as he wanted to avoid it, he knew guidance from his politically inclined family and their friends was vital to help his campaign. He just wished it didn't come at the potential cost of sacrificing his personal relationships or morals.

"Yes, everything is okay with the campaign. Grandfather is just seriously opinionated and I was hoping that might change as I grew up but it was wishful thinking." He extended his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "Now, are you gonna make it through the night, you lush?"

As they rode up the elevator to the Van Der Woodsen's penthouse, Mackenzie leaned into Nate. "Okay, I am regretting these heels and the whisky and only nibbling at my food earlier…"

"Well, let's just make it through round two then you can pass out in my bed," Nate laughed, planting a kiss on her head. "C'mon." As the elevator dinged, he took her hand and led her inside.

"Hey, also, your cousin Bryant told me Anderson Cooper is one of your distant cousins? You didn't point him out in your family photo?" Mackenzie rambled on as they walked into the apartment. Nate just rolled his eyes as he took her coat.

He tucked his arm around her back and walked with her into the living room. "Can we talk about the family tree later?"

Mackenzie paused and turned towards Nate, grabbing his arm. "Yes. Especially Grandfather William Vanderbilt. I think I should tell you that-"

Mackenzie was cut off by her sister appearing in front of them. "I'm so glad you're finally here!" She pulled her sister into a hug then turned to smile at Nate. "Wine?"

"No, she needs a cup of coffee," Nate jumped in, giving Mackenzie a curious look as she mentioned his grandfather.

"I had a bit too much to drink this afternoon," Mackenzie admitted, pursing her lips together to hold back a smile. "I don't think Archibald is happy about it."

"Okay, well, I'm going to go figure out Lily's fancy coffee machine if you can be responsible for her," Nate said to Jenny, letting go of Mackenzie and heading off towards the kitchen.

"Was it really that bad?" Jenny hooked her arm with her sister's and laughed as they headed further into the apartment. As usual, Lily has committed to the full Thanksgiving decor with beautiful autumnal fabrics and elaborate centrepieces. A long family style table was set, encompassing the dining room and a rearranged living room.

"No, it was fine. They're mainly all lovely people," Mackenzie stammered out, holding on to Jenny's arm. "You know I just get into my head."

"Miss Kenzie!"

Mackenzie turned to see Henry bounding towards her, dressed in a perfect little suit with matching maroon bow tie. He had a stuffed dinosaur tucked under his arm.

"Hey Henry," Mackenzie replied to him with a smile.

"Will you come play with me?" He reached for Mackenzie's free hand to tug her away from Jenny.

"Of course," Mackenzie said with a smile, pulling away from her sister. She glanced around the room quickly, taking an inventory of who was there. "Is dad here alone?"

Jenny nodded. "Apparently Lisa is in Seattle with her family."

"Kenzie, come on," Henry repeated.

"Okay, take it easy on her, Hen," Jenny called after them as Henry led Mackenzie towards the couch near the fireplace.

Nate ventured into the kitchen to find something to try and help Mackenzie return to a normal sober state of mind. Their day had already felt so long yet he knew they still had to sit through a four course Thanksgiving feast Lily had prepared. Or, paid catering to prepare. He shuffled behind the catering staff and paused in front of the espresso machine on the counter, fiddling with a few buttons.

He saw Lily hurry into the kitchen and he gave her a warm smile.

"Nate, hi," Lily said, extending an arm out to give him a quick half hug. "I'm so glad you and Mackenzie made it."

He smiled in response and watched as espresso poured into a coffee cup. "Thanks for having us."

Lily dismissed his words with a smile. "Of course, it went without question to include you both." She paused and glanced around the kitchen. "And right on time. I think we're nearly ready to go here."

Lily gave Nate another gentle pat on the shoulder then turned away, muttering something about the desserts.

Nate grabbed the coffee cup and went back into the dining room, scanning around to find Mackenzie. He was quickly intercepted by Chuck.

"I figured you'd need something stronger than that today," Chuck commented, motioning to the mug in Nate's hand.

"This is for my drunk girlfriend, actually," Nate said with a smirk.

"I see she handled the Vanderbilts appropriately."

Nate just rolled his eyes. "I mean, I don't blame her. Grandfather stole me away for most of the day and my cousins can be a lot to take in."

"Hey. I meant to ask. Did anything come from that digging? About the prodigal sister?"

Nate shook his head. "I didn't even open the envelope, if I'm being honest. Mackenzie's results came back and she's a full Humphrey so I've just let the whole thing go."

"Huh." Chuck paused to take a sip from his drink. "Andrew doesn't always follow up but he had messaged me about it the other day. Said the whole thing was a lot juicer than he would have thought and was curious to see what happened."

Nate tilted his head as he listened to his friend. Maybe he should read the envelope anyway. It didn't make much of a difference now. "Well, hopefully none of that matters. I think Mack drew the line in the sand with Maya so that chapter can be closed now."

"Well, you should probably go deliver that before Miss Kenzie slurs more words with my son." Chuck just laughed as he motioned across the room to Mackenzie and Henry sitting on the couch, laughing about whatever the young boy was rambling on about with his toys.

By the time dinner was over, Mackenzie was feeling worse and worse. She hadn't been day drunk in a while so being day hungover was not especially great. She was hiding out in the kitchen as the catering crew finished cleaning up, picking at the remains of a pecan pie with Eric and Jenny.

"So, how are things with Elliot going?" Mackenzie asked Eric, nudging him with her arm.

"Incredibly well. Mainly because we are taking it one date at a time and keeping it quiet from most people in our life. Which means you two are the only one who know." Eric gave them each a hard glance. "Not that anyone in this mixed up family holds onto secrets very well."

"Speaking of secrets," Jenny's face flushed red as she turned to her sister. "I have a confession."

Mackenzie's face fell as she looked at Jenny.

"I told Eric the news."

"Happy to hear there's no extra love child causing a family rift," Eric said quietly, taking another bite of the pie.

"Why do I trust you with any information, Jen?" Mackenzie rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Please don't be mad." Jenny paused and quickly glanced around the room. "I also told Dan."

"Oh my god, Jennifer." Mackenzie put down the cutlery she was holding and threw her hands up. "Honestly. Why do you think that was a good idea?"

"Hey Nate, can I talk to you for a second?" Dan slid into the chair beside his friend near the end of the table, as most people dispersed after dinner.

Nate tucked his phone away and shifted in his chair to face Dan. "What's up?"

"Jen just told me about the situation with this Maya girl. What happened?"

Nate sighed. He really wanted this to be wrapped up, chapter closed. But he had a funny feeling that wasn't going to happen. "Listen, don't be mad if Mack didn't want to tell you."

"I'm not mad. I'm more concerned, I guess. And a little bothered she kept this to herself instead of, you know, telling her actual family."

"You know how she gets in her head." Nate sighed. "I think it's all done, now. I mean, I was worried about how legitimate this girl was but now that Mack had the testing done, none of that matters anymore. Maya can just be a thing of the past."

"Did you just say Maya?" Nate and Dan both turned to face Rufus who was suddenly standing behind them. "Someone named Maya showed up at the loft looking for Mackenzie late last night."

Nate's eyes opened wide. "Really?"

Rufus nodded, then shrugged. "She seemed a little anxious but I just turned her away. I was going to mention it to Mack."

Nate stood up. "Excuse me a second." He hurried towards the kitchen and found Mackenzie in the middle of a heated argument with Jenny.

"That wasn't your information to tell, Jen."

"Well, you weren't going to say anything about it so I thought it was only fair to share now that it's all over."

"Mack," Nate paused on the far side of the island and peered over at his girlfriend. "Maya showed up at the loft last night. I thought you cut things off with her."

"Are you serious?" Jenny turned to Nate then back to Mackenzie. "That's super weird."

"I did…" Mackenzie trailed off, shaking her head.

"Who's Maya?" Rufus stood beside Nate and looked between everyone. "Am I missing something here?"

"Mack, you need to tell him," Jenny urged her sister. "Come on. It doesn't matter now."

"Tell me what?"

Mackenzie let out a sigh and walked out of the kitchen. She didn't need to do anything. She paused and looked around the room. Lily, Serena, Chuck and Blair were tucked into the couches in the corner but all were turned to look towards Mackenzie. She stood a few feet away from Rufus, who was leaning against the island with his arms crossed.

Nate stood a few feet away from her, eyes darting between Mackenzie and Rufus.

"Mackenzie, what's going on?"

"Listen, I don't want to do this right now," she said quietly, running a hand through her hair.

"He deserves to know, Mack," Dan said with a sigh, motioning to Rufus.

"Fine." Mackenzie threw her hands up then crossed her arms to match her dad's pose.

"About a month ago, this girl, Maya, showed up at my office. Long story short, well, her name is Maya Peron. She said she was my sister." Mackenzie let out a breath then summarized everything else that happened, wrapping up with the genetic testing results.

"I was going to tell you," she said to Rufus, "and Dan and everyone else. When I felt it was best. This isn't how you were supposed to find out."

This time Rufus threw his hands up. "You didn't think you should talk to me about this directly? At no point in the last three weeks you could have told me you were questioning your parentage?"

Mackenzie took a deep breath and shrugged, doing her best to control her heart rate. "You know this whole thing is really complicated for me."

"I'm your father, Mackenzie. Can't you see how this whole thing hurts me?"

She felt Nate put a hand on her shoulder. Preventatively. He knew she wouldn't like what Rufus just said.

"Are you joking? Is this really happening? You're making this all about you?" She shook Nate's hand away.

"Mack," Dan took a step towards his sister.

Mackenzie whipped her head around to look at her brother. "Don't." She paused. "You always take his side, Dan."

Rufus shook his head then rubbed his face, confused and frustrated. "I'm not making this all about me. And there's no sides here! This is about our family, Mack. How could you go behind our backs all this time and look into this stranger's claims? Just because she tells you a story about her father and your mom."

"You know, you're treating me like a bad guy when you started this."

Rufus pursed his lips, holding back a reactive comment.

"You're the one who ripped this open years ago. Do you know how it felt to come across that old buried paternity test? And that letter you wrote mom?"

"Mackenzie, I have apologized for that so many times."

Mackenzie tried hard to listen to her dad's words but she had a hard time believing him.

"You know, actions speak louder than words." She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. "I have so many clear memories from childhood that have left a huge void. This void." She motioned between herself and Rufus. "I remember you coming home from some weekend away when we were kids. It was after school one day you showed up. Jen rushed up to you and you wrapped her in a hug. You went up to Dan and ruffled his hair, asked him about his music class. And I was sitting at the table doing homework and you just smiled at me and moved on. It felt like I was in third place. Always in third place."

"Mackenzie, I-

"You didn't even hug me! The worst part is that you didn't try. You didn't even bother to try." She took a deep breath. "Third place."

"He can't turn back time, Mack," Dan added in, crossing his arms and glancing between her and their father.

"Dan, stay out of it," Jenny called to her brother.

"All my life there have been these wild double standards of the way you treat me compared to Dan and Jen. And literally the only difference is that at one point you must have made some sort of conscious decision to treat me as a second class citizen." Mackenzie ran a hand through her hair, pacing in a small circle. "You hold all these things against me - like how I live in the loft for free or how you helped pay my tuition or -

"That's not fair," Rufus cut her off, visibly frustrated. His tone of voice was growing louder.

Nate took a step forward to place himself between Mackenzie and her father.

"You've taken this one indiscretion, this one seed of doubt I had, and blown it out of proportion. You don't know what your mother and I went through. What we struggled through. How we tried so hard to fix it but it was broken. Because she cheated on me, emotionally and physically and -

"Leave mom out of this!" Mackenzie was shouting back. "You know, at least she was always honest with me. And to think she used to apologize for your behaviour. You didn't deserve that. You say you've apologized but for what? For having doubts in mom, sure. But you never apologized for the distance you put between us. God forbid you actually call me and see how things are going instead of asking Dan or Jen."

"Just because I show how I care in different ways than you want doesn't make me a villain, Mackenzie. And you're one to talk. You've been calling me Rufus and not dad since you left for college. You built a wall to keep me out."

"Because I had to!" Mackenzie could feel herself shaking. She didn't want to do this anymore. "You're not even listening to me right now. The whole reason I even thought this Maya girl could be telling the truth is that it would give me some sort of explanation for why you treated me like shit. I wanted to give you an excuse. Do you understand that? Yes, you think I'm being selfish and that this is all about me - because, well, for once it is. Maya had some sort of relationship with her dad and I was so deeply jealous because I didn't have one with mine." She just shook her head and looked over at Rufus. "Sorry, I don't. I don't have a relationship with my dad."

She could feel a well of tears reach her eyes. Nate appeared beside her with their coats.

"Mack, lets go get some air."

Rufus opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out.

Mackenzie gave her father one last look, then let Nate help her slip on her coat. He took her hand and led her towards the elevator.

As the doors shut in front of them, Mackenzie collapsed into Nate's shoulder, sobbing. Everything was out in the open so what was she going to do now?


We all know the wholesome Humphries have dealt with a complicated history below the surface. But what happens now that everything is on the table? Resolutions aren't just for the new year.