Hello, all... yet another installment of Mac and the Big Apple for you. Also, a note on my review policy; from now on since they've added a reply option, I'm only going to respond to anonymous ones publicly. If I get a signed review, I will respond personally.

And now, on with the show.

"Mac... Mac, wake up..."

For the second time in one day, Mac squirmed and swatted at the arm gently shaking his small body. He grunted in protest at being awake.

"G'way. Wanna sleep..."

"C'mon, lazy bones," the blur of green and red teased as the shaking increased. "We're almost there..." At that, Mac sat up with a jerk.

"We are?" Mac yelped, putting his small hands and nose against the window. "Where is it?"

"We're not there-there, yet, kiddo," Kathy called over her shoulder. "Frankie just wanted to wake you up for when we are."

"Oh..." Mac mumbled, sitting back in his seat.

"I'm sorry, Mac, but, I just wanted you to see it for the first time," Frankie blushed. "It's just really cool..."

"It's okay, Frankie," Mac shrugged, rubbing his matted hair.

"So, Mac, you said you weren't afraid of heights, right?"

"Yeah. Did you still wanna take me to that tall building?"

"The Empire State? Sure did. Tallest building in the world for forty years, you know. They were gonna land airships o--"

"For crying out, Kathy, Mac's here to see the sights, not listen to a history lecture..." Frankie scowled, crossing her arms.

"I just get excited..." Kathy mumbled, looking down.

"I know," Frankie smiled sympathetically. She looked out of the windshield to the left. "Ooh, ooh, Mac, look to your left, quick!"

"Why?" the small boy asked. "What is i--" Mac trailed off as his eyes caught sight of a large mass. It seemed to be miles in size itself, topped with crags, flattops, and spires of various sizes, shapes and colors. Shaking his head, he realized he was getting his first look at Manhattan Island.

"Wow!" Mac cried, eyes wide in shocked delight.

"Welcome to New York City, kiddo," Kathy grinned at him in the rear view mirror. "Whatcha think so far?"

"It's... big?" Mac shrugged.

"To put it very mildly. Now, all I have to do is take the Grand Central to the Triborough, and get across th--"

"Kathy..." Frankie groaned.

"Shutting up," the woman nodded.

"Ah, home sweet home..." Kathy said, dropping her bags at the door. "C'mon in, make yourselves at home," she nodded to her guests. Frankie and Mac stepped in, the elder one dropping her stuff next to Kathy's, the younger clutching his and looking around in amazement."

"You want a soda, Mac?" Kathy called, opening the fridge.

"Milk's fine," he said shyly.

"Sure. Go ahead, sit down. You won't break anything," she nodded towards the nearby couch. Nodding, Mac gingerly sat down. Frankie plopped down next to him, her arm on the couch top over him.

"I'll take one, Kathy," she called.

"Oh, you would," Kathy scoffed as she came back with two Pepsis and a large glass of milk. She passed them out to the respective drinker before sitting on the other side of the couch.

"So, whenever you're ready to go, guys, we can head up. I got us some tickets before I picked you up..." Kathy said, sipping her Pepsi.

"Sure, Kathy, that seems fine to me."

"And you, Mac?"

"It's okay," he shrugged. "Is it with you?"

"It's why I asked, you lovable twit," Kathy giggled. "Oh, you haven't a clue, do you," she added as she put down her soda and pulled a shade. "See the big tall pointy one, Mac? That's where we're going."

"Wow, cool..." he gaped, staring at the mammoth structure. "Well, I'm ready to go if you are..."

"Just let me use the bathroom," Frankie asked. "Because I don't think a thousand foot plus tall building is going to take off anytime soon, so highly doubt we'll miss THIS one."

"It's okay, Frankie, go ahead," Mac smiled while rolling his eyes. Frankie replied with a small smile of her own before vanishing around the corner.

"What's so wrong about going to the bathroom... is Frankie having some sort of trouble or something?"

"Kathy!" Frankie cried from behind a closed door.

"No," Mac replied, shaking his head. "It's just something... well, let's just say really private between me and Frankie."

"Ah, I got it. No sweat."

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Frankie snapped.

"Sorry, Frankie."

"I thought you said we could ride the subway," Mac huffed, his small arms crossed in annoyed disappointment.

"We will, I just felt that after that long drive we should work the kinks out of the ol' legs and all," Kathy defended as they walked north on Fifth Avenue. "We'll be using the subway plenty, Mac, I promise."

"Well... okay," Mac said, brightening. "Sounds fair. Hey, Frankie, have you ever been to this place?"

"Once or twice. Kathy took me up in my second semester, freshman year."

"Is it good? The view, I mean?"

"Sure is. You can see several states when you're up there on a really clear day. All the way to Massachusetts, if I remember correctly," Frankie nodded.

"Wow!" the boy boggled.

"One little problem, Mac," Kathy said. "As well as having the biggest viewing range in New York, the Empire State has another 'largest' title."

"What's that, Kathy?" Mac asked.

"The biggest line," the woman replied, pointing at the long stream of humanity winding around the base of the landmark.

"Oh, crud," Frankie muttered as she slumped slightly. "This isn't going to be moving anytime soon. Maybe we should take Mac to Rockefeller Center, Kathy."

"It's okay, Frankie," Mac said as he tugged on the hand of Frankie he was holding. "I'm willing to wait for a while."

"I dunno..." Frankie mulled.

"Please?" he begged. Frankie looked away.

"Not the puppy dogs, Mac, I can't stand them!" she pleaded. Finally, she sagged her shoulders in defeat.

"All right, Mac, we can wait," the redhead muttered as she led him to the end of the line. Kathy followed with a teasing look.

"How could you even try to resist such a wonderful little guy," she smiled.

"Shut up, Kathy."

"This is crazy. There's a line for the line."

Frankie kneaded the bridge of her nose in frustration as the three continued their slow march across the second floor to the ticket window. They'd spent a half hour now weaving through columns, Art Deco railings, and other people just to wait for getting into a line. This was not the best start of the vacation.

"Oh, will you relax, Frankie," Kathy scoffed. "I swear, you haven't changed a bit. You're always in a rush, always stressed, it's terrible."

"You spend time working for an anal retentive Victorian rabbit, and then tell me how much you're not stressed," the young woman growled back.

"It's okay, Frankie. We're getting there," Mac urged.

"Yeah, I guess," Frankie sighed, crossing her arms. With nothing else to do, she listened to the cynically placed employees hocking various goods for visitors waiting to get to the top.

"...so get the audio guide! You don't want to go up and see New York City, the most famous and greatest city in the world, and not know what you're looking at..."

"...best flight simulator in the city, you do not want to miss this..."

"...express way up. You pay now, you go straight to the top..." Frankie's eyes brightened at that. At least that was a gimmick that sounded useful.

"Hey, Kathy! Why don't we just..."

"Frankie, I'm a New Yorker. I don't have money."

"Oh. Right," Frankie blushed. She looked down to see Mac shifting slightly. "Let me guess, Mac. You have to go to the bathroom."

"I'm sorry, Frankie," he muttered in shame.

"That's okay, there's some up top. Just hang on... see? The elevators are right there, and we'll just stop off when we're up."

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF...!"

Frankie smacked herself in the face to see them being herded into yet another line on the 81st floor... so close and yet so far. She glanced at her companions; Kathy was drumming her fingers on crossed arms, and Mac was hopping from one foot to the other, eyes bugging out, yelping slightly every few minutes. She shot a glare at a sign promising she was at the 'capital of the capital of the world.'

"'Capital' of what, eternal lines!" she groused.

"Frankie, please, you're not helping..." Kathy sighed. "We're probably less than a half hour from the top. Besides, I'm thirsty. I don't wanna talk right now."

"Fine. You holding up okay down there, kiddo?"

"...I think I'm gonna explode..." Mac whimpered.

"...okay," Frankie replied, clearing her throat. "Well, try to smile everyone, 'cause we get to be gimmicked one more time," as they were herded in front of a camera. The redhead managed a weak smile, then blinked the flash out of her eyes. That done, the three entered the line once more and continued their long journey to the top.

"Okay, everyone all set now?"

"Uh huh," Kathy managed as she happily guzzled a bottle of water.

"Uh huh," Mac added as he came out of the bathroom, tongue hanging out slightly in relief.

"Good. Now, let's all go look at the pretty buildings," Frankie replied as they climbed up a small staircase. They reached the large gift shop, then walked outside onto the open air observation deck. Frankie stiffened slightly at the colder air, but her body adapted and she walked forward, marveling at the city below spread out like a carpet.

"Now this part is as good as I remember," she grinned.

"Yup," Kathy added with a nod.

"I can't see anything," Mac whined, jumping up and down trying to see over the stone wall blocking his view.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mac," Frankie blushed as she picked him up around the waist. "How's that?" she added, standing him on the wall and holding tight despite the tall fence preventing him from falling.

"That's better, Frankie... this is awesome!" he gaped. Below lay New York, stretching out for miles in almost every direction. He marveled at the ant-like cars and the dust speck-like people moving through the labyrinthine streets below. Around them were buildings of all shapes and sizes, all sorts of colors and designs. It was even more impressive the pictures he'd seen before made it out to be.

"Okay, Mac... let me show you some stuff," Kathy insisted. "See that pointy one? That's the Chrysler Building... That big green thing is Central Park... that cluster of wonky buildings is Times Square... over there's the boroughs, you can see the road and bridge we came in on..."

"Oh, right," Mac nodded as his eyes followed the thin ribbon of silver snaking through the city in the distance.

"Yep. Anything else you wanted to see, kiddo?"

"Uh, the Statue of Liberty would be nice," Mac shrugged.

"Sure," Kathy nodded as Frankie put him down. "It's on the other side," she added as they walked to the opposite end of the deck. Once they reached it, Frankie again hoisted the boy up. "See that green thing out there? That's her."

"It's kinda small..." Mac observed.

"Wait 'til you see her in person," Frankie promised him.

"What else is here," Kathy thought aloud. "Oh, okay. There's Ellis Island. Maybe we could stop by, see if you have any family listed there. That's the Brooklyn Bridge. And that void is where the Twin Towers were."

"Huh," Mac nodded in acknowledgment. "There sure is a lot of stuff here."

"Oh, I could go on, but I'd bore you," Kathy blushed. "Now, come over here, and I'll show you guys the Garden."

"So, what'd you think, Mac?" Frankie asked.

"Well, the waiting was lame, but the view made up for it," the boy said. "Thanks for taking me up."

"No sweat," Kathy replied, ruffling his cowlicked hair. "I was thinking we could go to Times Square next, see the Toys 'R Us. It's got a ferris wheel."

"Wow," Mac blinked. "In a building?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, let's do that."

"Sure, as long as we go to Virgin next," Frankie urged. As she turned back to the exit, an employee handed her the photo taken on their way to the top. She raised an eyebrow at her half scowling, half smiling face, Mac dancing and holding his groin, and Kathy smacking her lips in thirst. "Oh, this is a keeper," she snarked.

"Actually," Kathy said peering over her shoulder, "I kinda like it."

"Fine. You're paying for it though," Frankie sniffed.

"I'm a New Yorker."

"I'm a housekeep."

"I can pay for it!" Mac chirped, digging in his pocket. At this, the man smiled warmly.

"That's very sweet," he grinned. He looked around for a moment, then peeled the bar code off. "I'll pay for it. Enjoy your stay in the City," he added.

"Wow, thanks..." Frankie blinked. As they stepped into the elevator and rode in downwards, she smiled wryly to herself. "I love this."

"Love what, Frankie?" Mac asked.

"It takes two hours to get up, two minutes to go down."

"...next stop, Times Square," Kathy sighed as the three piled out of the elevator and headed for the exit to 34th Street.