A/N: Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads out there. Hope you enjoy! Mac is 17 and just finished her junior year in high school in this story!
Sonny walks into the kitchen from the garage to find Mackenzie putting the finishing touches on dinner. "Happy Father's Day." She smiles as she turns to face him.
"Aw thank ya." Sonny looks around the kitchen. "Ya made me dinner and everything? Ya didn't have to do that." He chuckles.
"Well, I am the reason you're a dad, it would be a little rude if I didn't." Mac smirks.
"Now that's a point, ain't it?" Sonny nods. "Ya need me to do anything?"
"Nope, I got it." Mac says pulling the garlic bread out of the oven.
"What ya make?" Sonny asks.
"Cajun pasta, Caesar salad and garlic bread. I know you prefer barbecue, but I wasn't brave enough to attempt it." Mac laughs.
"Naw, this sounds good. Thank ya for makin it. Too bad Lisa is out of the county at the moment. I know she would have loved this." Sonny smiles.
"Yeah, it's too bad Mom isn't here, but at least you get to spend the day with you amazing daughter." Mac grins.
Sonny cracks open a beer. "Ya have turned out to be a pretty good kid."
"You're welcome." Mac laughs.
"God you're such a smartass." Sonny shakes his head.
"How could I not be?" Mackenzie counters.
"Yeah, yeah." Sonny laughs as the two make their way to the kitchen table, dinner in hand. "But seriously, thank ya for makin me dinner."
"You're welcome." Mac smiles. As she watches Sonny take the first bite of the pasta. "How does it taste?"
"It got a damn kick to it." Sonny chuckles as he reaches for his beer.
"I mean you have drilled into my head how important it is to season food, so..." Mac defends.
"Good, glad ya took that lesson to heart." Sonny says before taking a bite of garlic bread.
"You didn't give me much choice." Mac responds.
"Ya say that like it's a bad thing." Sonny laughs. "But it's all really good."
"Thanks Dad." Mac smiles.
"How does it feel to know ya are officially a high school senior?"
"I don't know." Mac shrugs. "I hope it will be fun. You know, like everyone talks about how great their senior year is, I just hope it lives up to the hype."
"That's fair." Sonny nods. "I had a damn good time, but as ya already know, I wasn't the best behaved back then."
"You say that like you're well behaved now." Mackenzie responds.
Sonny holds up his pointer finger. "I'll have ya know this is a great improvement."
"Okay Dad, whatever you say." Mac chuckles.
"Not cool Ma'am." Sonny shakes his head.
"Can I ask you something?" Mac asks sounding very unsure of herself.
"Kenz, ya know ya can ask me anything. What's up?"
"Um, I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to do after high school." Mac pauses. "And the more I think about it, I don't think I want to join the Navy. Um, how disappointed would you be if I didn't?"
"What?" Sonny says confused why she felt that way. "Do ya think we expect ya to join up?"
"I don't know, maybe." Mac says.
"I'm sorry if we ever made ya feel that way Mackenzie." Sonny says." I promise ya your Mom and I just want ya to be happy and find the path that works for ya. If that's the Navy, then great. If it's one of the alphabet agencies, then that is good too. If it's nothin in this world, cause ya have seen enough from your mom and Mandy, then that works too."
"Really?" Mac confirms.
"Really sweetie." Sonny smiles. "Ya gotta find your path and travel it."
"Thanks Dad."
"But please remember that you're 17, ya ain't gotta know what to do right now, or even in a couple of years." Sonny tells her.
"Well, I know I want to play volleyball in college, if that's a start?" Mac says.
"It is." Sonny nods. "Just enjoy these years, you'll never get them back."
"You tell me that all the time." Mac reminds him.
"Maybe I say it with the hope that ya will listen to me one of these days." Sonny says.
"Fine." Mac says with an eyeroll. "I guess I can work on that."
"Thank ya." Sonny chuckles. "Speakin of volleyball, y'all ready for camp?"
"I never knew how much work went into running those camps until I started working there last summer." Mac says.
"It's not takin the fun out of it for ya, right?" Sonny asks.
Mac smiles and shakes her head. "You are always worried about me having fun and enjoying what I am doing. But no, it hasn't taken the fun out of it. I actually really like coaching and helping other girls be the best players they can be."
"I know ya hate it when I say this, but I'm hell proud of ya." Sonny smiles.
"Thanks Dad."
"Anytime." Sonny says as he takes the last bite of his dinner. "That was real good kenzie. Thank ya again for makin it."
"It was good." She agrees.
"I appreciate takin the time to make this. I know ya would rather be hangin out with your friends." Sonny says as he walks their dishes to the sink.
"I figured I could spare one night to hang out with you." Mac jokes.
"A year from now ya are gonna be gettin ready to leave us for college. Just so ya know, we will take as much time with ya as we can get." Sonny says.
"I'm not just going to magically forget about my wonderful parents when I leave for college." Mac tells him.
"Good to know. Lisa and I always wanted to be parents that ya knew ya could lean on, but actually wanted to spend time with."
"I'll have you know that you guys succeeded in that. I have friends that feel like they can't tell their parents anything and that is a problem I will never have." Mac smiles. "I kinda fell like I won the parent lottery."
"Aww Kenzie." Sonny laughs and wipes a fake tear away.
"Don't be rude Dad."
"I'm sorry, that was all a little too serious for my likin." Sonny says.
Mac nods. "That was some pretty deep conversation we were having over dinner."
"Mmhm. Any other plans for this evenin?" Sonny asks.
"A game or two of pool?" Mac suggests.
"Sounds like a mighty fine idea to me." Sonny agrees and walks towards the game room.