He stood outside the main hall entrance, waiting to be introduced at his wedding reception with his bride.
Married, he thought for the millionth time that day. I still can't believe we're married…
He watched her as she took care of a last-minute crisis with the caterer, her long white dress clinging gently to the curves of her body, and thanked his lucky stars—again—that she was his. They had been through so much together, and it was probably inevitable that they end up together, but still he refused to take her presence in his life for granted.
She finished with the caterer and swept gracefully toward him. "Okay, everything's all set," she reported. Then, catching the glint in his eyes as he gazed at her, she blushed. "What?"
He grinned and shook his head. "I was just thinking that I must be the luckiest man in the world to have you."
She mirrored his grin, sliding her arms around his neck and leaning in for a kiss. "Then that makes me the luckiest woman in the world," she told him, brushing her lips against his.
One of the waiters cleared his throat politely and the couple drew apart, eyes shining, smiling happily.
"The DJ is ready to announce you," the waiter informed them.
"Okay," she replied, loosening her grip on her husband. She found her bouquet and took his hand in hers. "Ready?"
He nodded. "Definitely."
In the big main hall, the DJ received the word that the newlyweds were set, and he switched on his microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention please. The happy couple has arrived, and I know they're anxious to get the party started. So without further adieu, it is my pleasure to introduce for the first time in public…Mac and Stella Taylor!"
The guests rose from their seats and applauded enthusiastically as the bride and groom navigated their way to the head table and took their places. Almost immediately someone began clinking a fork against a glass, setting off a chorus of tinkling silverware.
Mac sighed. "Already?"
"You don't want to kiss me?" Stella asked, trying to feign hurt but unable to smother her wide smiled.
"Of course I do," he replied quickly. "I'm just not good at public displays of affection."
She laughed. "I know you're not. But don't think of it as a public display. Just think of it as kissing your wife."
He smiled softly at her words, brushing a hand gently over her cheek as he leaned in close. "I think I can do that."
The song a robin sings
Through years of endless springs
The murmur of a brook at eventide
That ripples by a nook where two lovers hide
A great symphonic theme
That's Stella by starlight
And not a dream
My heart and I agree
She's everything on earth to me
"Aren't they adorable together?" Aiden sighed, sitting beside Maddie at the head table as they watched the newlyweds dance their first dance.
Maddie smiled. "They are," she agreed. "See the way he looks at her?"
"It's the same way Danny looks at you," Aiden reminded her. "Even now, after five years of marriage and three kids."
"Yeah," Maddie replied, drawing the word out with a satisfied sparkle in her eyes. "But it's getting close to becoming four kids, I think," she giggled.
"Shayla and Dantrell?"
Maddie nodded. "Dantrell's doing so well working at the lab, and Shayla's just about finished with college. They may still wait a bit, but I think he might propose when she graduates."
"Are we old enough to have a daughter gettin' married?" Danny laughed, pulling a chair up beside his wife at the bridesmaids' end of the table.
"They aren't getting married yet," Maddie corrected. "Don't rush them. We certainly took our time."
He nodded. "We did. Although I can't say the same for Don and Aid…" he winked.
Aiden ran her hand unconsciously over her rounded abdomen, her wedding band glinting in the light. "Hey, we had lost time to make up for. And I didn't see you complainin' at our wedding when Maddie was pawin' at you in your tux."
Maddie laughed at that. "I know! If we have any more weddings to go to, I'm gonna end up pregnant again…"
"Sheldon and Sarah's is in three months," Danny reminded her slyly, brushing his lips over her neck.
"Daddy!" called a small voice, accompanied by a cloud of lavender fabric.
Danny turned to find his second child, four-year-old Carrie—named for his mother, Caroline—running toward him. "Hey sweetie!"
The little girl launched herself into his arms, smiling at him proudly as he picked her up and settled her on his lap. "Uncle Sheldon promised to dance with me," she explained to him.
"Right after I dance with Aunt Sarah," Sheldon added, finally catching up to his energetic charge. He dropped into a chair, joining the little group and taking a moment to catch his breath.
"You okay, Sheldon?" Aiden asked.
He smiled tiredly. "I'll live."
Sarah followed behind him, carrying the Messers' youngest child, two-year-old Nicky—named Nicholas, in a compromise, after no one. "Come on, Sheldon," she teased, handing the boy off to his mother. "You gonna let a couple of little kids wear you out?"
Don, returning from the bar with a soda for his pregnant wife, laughed at Sarah's comment. "I'm always exhausted after we babysit those two. They definitely are, uh, 'high-spirited'."
"You just wait 'til yours is born," Danny told him, kissing Carrie's hair. "You'll be sleep deprived and ornery, your sex life might be nonexistent, and you'll never spend a night out without worryin' about what's happenin' at home. But at the end of the day," he smiled, sliding an arm around Maddie again and squeezing her shoulders, "you'll put your children to bed and watch them sleep while you hold your wife, and nothin' else will matter."
A great symphonic theme
That's Stella by starlight
And not a dream
My heart and I agree
She's everything on earth to me
The little group shared a collective smile, soaking up Danny's loving words as they watched Mac and Stella continue to dance, his cheek resting gently against hers.
Then Don piped up. "Geez Messer, you've gotten soft."
Danny laughed at his friend. "Shut up, Flack."
Mac sat at a table off to the side of the dance floor, alone for a rare moment that night, watching the guests mingle and dance, having a good time in celebration of his marriage.
Don sat with Aiden on the other side of the hall, her shoes tucked underneath her chair, her feet resting in his lap as he massaged her aching soles. He smiled as he rubbed her feet, pausing every so often to run a hand over her pregnant belly, soothing the baby as he soothed his wife. She grinned at him and winked, no doubt making some smart remark, expression her love as only Aiden could. They had been through a very rough patch when she left New York, and though she never returned to work at the Crime Lab, she had come back to the city—back to Don—where in her heart knew she belonged.
Mac smiled as he watched them. He remembered how hard it had been for Aiden to leave, and how hard it had been for her to stay away once she'd gone. But despite all the hurt and anger they had caused each other, he had been secretly cheering for the two of them to work things out. It was difficult in their line of work to have a successful relationship, even when it was meant to be, as he well knew. And deep down, he had decided that if they could make it work, so could he and Stella.
Mac's eyes wandered over to the dance floor, where Danny was dancing with Shayla. The groom's smile changed, taking on a proud quality as he watched his protégé lead his adopted daughter around the floor. He chuckled to himself when Danny spun her around and pulled her back to him, her smile lighting up her face. Shayla had grown up so much in the last five years, now nearing the end of her senior year at NYU and volunteering as a Big Sister. Her maturation was due in large part to the growing up Danny had done himself, taking responsibility for his actions in the past, taking care of his family, and becoming a good husband and father in the process.
Dancing beside Danny and Shayla was Dantrell, holding little Carrie tightly in his arms. The young man was another one to be proud of, having graduated from City College with honors with a double major in biology and chemistry. The day after the ceremony, he appeared in Mac's office, résumé and diploma in hand, and reminded the CSI of the comment he had made so long ago at the Eastside High School science fair. I might have a place for you in my lab some day…
Mac grinned at the memory, and at Dantrell's tenacity. He had learned well from his grandmother, from his teacher, and from his mentors at the Crime Lab, and refused to take no for an answer. Mac had hired him along with two other new graduates, and sent them through rigorous training. Dantrell had been the only one left standing at the end, earning a full-time position in the lab. In choosing a partner for him, Mac had initially been reluctant to pair the young man with Danny, thinking that the personal tie they had might interfere with their professional relationship. But Dantrell had taken to hanging around the lab while he was off duty, going over cases with Danny, picking his brain, and lending a hand whenever he could. Mac could see how much the boy looked up to the detective and how proud Danny was of Dantrell, and allowed them to work a case together. They fed off each other so well, that now, more often than not, when a case came in for Danny, Dantrell was the first one to grab his coat.
He swung Carrie around, making her laugh and call out to her little brother, who was sitting with Sheldon and Sarah watching his sister dance with Dantrell. Nicky sat on Sheldon's lap, his bright blue eyes shining with excitement as he clapped his little hands. After a moment, his attention waned and he was drawn to Sarah's engagement ring, one that Sheldon has spent long hours searching for with the help of Maddie and Stella. The little boy's eye was attracted to the sparkling diamond and he reached for it, grabbing hold with a toothy grin. Sheldon laughed, sharing a look with Sarah over Nicky's head.
Mac sighed contentedly. Love was all around him, in the air, in the music, in the eyes and hearts of his friends.
"That was a pretty big sigh," a cheerful voice told him.
His gaze shifted from Sheldon and Sarah to the woman standing beside him. "Maddie," he smiled. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know you're pretty pleased with life right about now," she smiled back. She settled into a chair next to his and patted his shoulder. "Reminiscing?"
He glanced down at his left hand, twisting the newly acquired wedding band. "A little."
"Thinking about Claire?" she asked quietly.
He nodded. "A little," he repeated. "I can't help but think about the first time I got married."
"You miss her still, don't you?"
He nodded again. "Yeah, but it's different now. I'm not grieving anymore, and I know—I know—she'd be happy for me today."
"Because it happened again, Mac," Maddie grinned. "You found love a second time."
His eyes moved back out toward the dance floor, where Stella was preparing to throw her bouquet to all the single women at the reception. He watched her curls bounce and her eyes flash as she took her place in front of the crowd of women, winking mischievously before she turned around, and the soft smile on his lips grew into a joyful grin.
"I did find love," he agreed, his eyes twinkling. "And so did you. It happened to both of us."
The bouquet flew from Stella's hands, and she turned quickly to see who caught it. When Shayla came up with the flowery bundle the bride laughed. "Uh-oh, Danny…looks like you're gonna be wearing that tux again soon…" she teased.
Maddie chuckled, watching Shayla stroll over to Dantrell with her prize and escort him out to the dance floor, where Frank Sinatra's voice poured from the speakers.
Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night
It could happen to you
Don't count stars or you might stumble
Someone drops a sigh and down you tumble
"It looks like it might have happened to someone else, too," Maddie smiled. Then, turning back to Mac, she teased, "now why are you still sitting her with me? Go dance with your wife!"
He laughed, rising from his chair. "You go dance with your husband!"
She grinned impishly. "I believe I will."
Keep an eye on spring, run when church bells ring
It could happen to you
All I did was wonder how your arms would be
Mac took Stella's hand and led her out to the dance floor, wrapping his arms around her as they took their place among the other dancing couples. Danny and Maddie followed, winking at their friends and waiving at their kids, pulling each other close, sharing a contented kiss.
And it happened to me
A/N: The song lyrics are from (in the middle section) Stella by Starlight and (at the end) It Could Happen to You, both by Frank Sinatra.
A/N 2: Well, what do you think? It's been a great run, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself through the whole thing. I really hate to see it end! But, since I've been writing Maddie and Danny for so long together, and because I left some issues in their story unresolved, I have a sneeking suspicion that they'll turn up in a oneshot or two here and there—I can't just quit cold turkey ;). I also have another writing project in the works for all you Mac/Stella fans, so be on the lookout for that, too.
And, because I want to make sure I don't forget this part, THANK YOU! Thanks so much to all of you that read and left reviews for me, and to those of you who read and didn't review, too. You spoiled me rotten with all the wonderful things you said, and I couldn't have asked for better reviewers. I hoped you were entertained, that you smiled, that you giggled, that you cried, that you became angry, that you got butterflies in your stomach, that you felt warm and fuzzy…that you felt. Because, after all, that's the point, isn't it?
Cory, aka Zelda49