Disclaimer: CSI:NY does NOT belong to me. The only characters that belong to me are Alexis and Emma. And this is a slightly AU story. Hope that's not a problem with anyone. And I hope people like this story!
Spoilers: None…maybe borrowed concepts, but that's about it!
Summary: What do we get when we give Detective Mac Taylor a niece? A little drama but mostly a whole lot of fun!
Chapter 5:
6 months later
"I can't believe Christmas vacation is already here!" Alexis exclaimed as she walked with one of her friends.
"What are you going to do for vacation?" Stacie asked, popping her gum.
Alexis shrugged. "Whatever my uncle and Stella are going to do." She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and skipped to another song. She glanced back at Stacie. "Want to come over for awhile?"
As they stopped outside of what was now Alexis's apartment, Stacie leaned against the railing of the steps and thought for a moment. "I suppose for a few minutes but then I've really gotta get home to work on my paper," she laughed.
Alexis nodded. "I hear ya. Thank goodness I'm almost done with mine," she teased.
Stacie shoved her friend as they climbed the steps and Alexis unlocked the main door, leading them inside. Once upstairs, Alexis opened the door and then locked it behind them. "Hot chocolate?"
"Definitely," Stacie answered, dropping her bag by the door. "Hey, were we supposed to pick Emma up from daycare?" she wondered, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.
Alexis paused in the making of their drinks. "Oops," she said, realizing that she was indeed supposed to pick up Emma.
"Want me to go with you?" Stacie asked, already putting her jacket back on.
Alexis laughed. "Sure." She grabbed her keys and her iPod while Stacie dug around in her bag for her iPod. "Let's go."
The girls made their way through the city, arriving at the department not too much later. Alexis flashed a badge her uncle had given her and signed Stacie in as a guest. Weaving her way through the detectives and various people, Alexis led the way to her uncle's office. "I want to say hi real quick," she explained.
Stacie nodded and followed, trying not to trip as she stared in awe at her surroundings.
As they neared his office, she saw that he wasn't in. "He might be down in one of the labs. Come on," Alexis said.
The girls made their way from one lab to the other, stopping now and then to introduce Stacie to Danny, Aiden, and Flack. Alexis told her about Hawkes but suggested they meet him later. At the last lab, they finally spied Mac and Stella, working side by side.
"Hey Uncle Mac," Alexis greeted from the doorway.
"Hey Mr. Taylor," Stacie added her greeting.
Mac and Stella both looked up. "Hey girls," Mac said with a smile. "You here to get Emma?"
Alexis nodded. "Who's picking her up tonight?"
Mac glanced over at Stella before looking at his niece. "Actually, we were wondering if she could spend the night. I'm taking Stella out for a special date."
Alexis grinned knowingly. "I see…and sure, she can spend the night."
"No boys," Stella warned playfully. She loved playing aunt to Alexis and the two were practically best friends.
Alexis pretended to be shocked. "But Stella, don't you know me better than that?"
They laughed as Mac motioned for them to leave. "Go get Emma and take her home so she can play with you two," he told them with a smile. As the two turned to leave, Mac wrapped an arm around his niece and whispered in her ear, "Do you think it's too early for me to propose to Stella?"
She looked at him with happiness. "Not if you feel that it's the right time."
Mac nodded. "Thanks. See you tomorrow!" He waved at them as they headed for the elevators that would take them upstairs to daycare.
"Lexi!" Emma cried as she stood up in her crib, rubbing her eyes with a tiny fist.
Alexis entered the room with a yawn. "What's wrong kiddo?" She leaned against the crib and reached out to caress Emma's hair.
"Bad dweam," Emma said, sniffling. She held her arms up and Alexis reached in to lift her out.
"Well, I think you can come sleep with me as long as you don't kick," she teased, trying to draw a smile out of the toddler.
It worked and Emma smiled. "Otay. Love Lexi," she said sweetly.
Alexis hugged the little girl close. "Love you too."
"Where daddy and mommy?" she asked as Alexis carried her to her room. Emma had referred to Mac and Stella as daddy and mommy from the moment she started talking. Now that she was a little over a year old, she was developing quite a vocabulary.
"They went out tonight. But because you're little, you had to go to bed early. I'm still up cause I'm trying to finish some homework before the weekend starts," she explained to the toddler as she settled her in under the covers.
"Why?" Emma asked curiously, sticking her thumb in her mouth.
Alexis laughed as she lifted her laptop onto her lap. "Because it's almost time for finals and I don't want to save the homework until Sunday."
"What tomorrow?" the toddler asked.
"Tomorrow's Friday but I don't have any classes. I get to start my weekends early," Alexis told the little girl as she continued to type her paper.
Emma quieted down and soon fell asleep against the comfy pillows. In her sleep, her thumb had dropped out of her mouth and her teddy bear had fallen away from her.
Deciding her paper was as perfect as it could be, Alexis saved her work and wrote on a Post-It note to remind her that she needed to print her paper tomorrow. Shutting down her laptop, she set it on the chest that sat against the wall next to the bathroom.
She walked to Emma's side of the bed and tucked the covers around her small body so she wouldn't fall out. She tucked the bear next to Emma and kissed her soft curls. She quickly got in bed and pulled the covers over herself. Turning off the light, she pulled Emma closer and closed her eyes.
The next afternoon found Alexis with Emma, turning in her paper early so she didn't have to worry about it on Monday. "Well, what do you want to do now?" she asked, glancing down at the toddler walking slowly by her side.
"Food!" she said with a giggle. "Up?" she requested, holding her arms up.
Alexis swung the little girl up into her arms and settled the toddler against her hip. "What do you want to eat?"
Emma thought, stroking her chin as she always sees her daddy do. "McDonald's?"
Alexis grimaced. "Well, do you have another choice? What about pizza?" she suggested hurriedly.
"Pizza!" Emma cried excitedly.
"Great," Alexis grinned, heading for Ray's Original Pizza place. "Then we can go to the mall and see if we can't get some Christmas shopping done."
"Mommy and daddy got presents," Emma told the older girl.
"Shh," Alexis admonished. "Christmas is a time to keep presents secret, okay?" she tapped Emma on her nose playfully.
Emma giggled and covered her mouth with her hands. She turned her body slightly so she could people watch as she was carried down the sidewalk. She glanced down as Alexis's cell phone rang and watched as she answered.
"Hey Uncle Mac," Alexis greeted, sticking her tongue out at Emma who giggled. "No, we're good. We're going to grab some pizza and do some shopping at the mall." She listened to her uncle on the other line, nodding as he spoke. "We'll be home in time for dinner. I'm going to come home for the weekend."
She crooked the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she hoisted Emma up slightly. "Cause I never have any classes on Fridays and I'll come back to my place sometime Sunday afternoon." They finally came across a Ray's Pizza and she ducked in under the awning. "I have a week left, actually, three days because my finals are this next week."
Emma started squirming impatiently so Alexis set her down and held her hand tightly. "Eat!" the little girl complained.
Alexis smiled down at her. "Uncle Mac, we're hungry so I'm gonna go now. We'll see you at home," she rolled her eyes as she listened. She squatted down slightly and held the phone up to Emma's ear. "Say hi to daddy," she directed.
"Hi daddy!" Emma said cutely, holding the phone. "Uh-huh, I had fun!" She giggled at something Mac said before she said, "Daddy, I hungry. I wanna eat, love you!" She held the phone out to Alexis who took it hurriedly and said her goodbyes to her uncle.
"Alright kiddo. Let's eat!" Alexis said with a grin. She directed the girl inside and up to the counter where she placed their order for a cheese pizza. Plopping down at the nearest available table, Alexis lifted Emma up into the chair next to hers. "There ya go."
"Thanks!" Emma grinned. She swung her legs back and forth as she looked around the pizza parlor.
When their number was called, Alexis quickly went up to the counter and took it back to their table. "Here we go," she said, cutting up a slice for the little girl and handed her a baby fork. "Enjoy!"
Alexis took her own slice and folded it in half before taking a bite. "Delicious," she sighed around her bite. She wiped her mouth and took a sip of her root beer.
"Milk?" Emma requested, holding her hand out.
Alexis reached in Emma's little bag and pulled out her sippy cup.
"Thanks!" she said sweetly, accepting the cup and loudly slurping on it.
"Drink quieter," Alexis laughed. She finished off her pizza and reached for another slice, immediately starting in on that one.
The girls chatted about anything and everything that toddlers talk about and before they knew it, they were done with their pizza and ready to go. "Let's go wash our hands, okay?" Alexis asked, slinging the bag over her shoulder and reaching for Emma's hand.
Emma followed behind Alexis, who was basically an older sister to her, and obeyed when she was lifted to the bathroom sink. She even used soap and rinsed it off by herself.
Alexis set the toddler down with some paper towels to dry off with while she washed her own hands. Grabbing a couple of paper towels for herself, she dried her hands while watching Emma as she carefully threw her towels away.
"Ready?" Alexis asked, opening the door with her towels before tossing them in the trash.
"Yep!" Emma responded. "Shopping?"
"Yeah, we'll go shopping now and then we'll go home to your house," Alexis told her. "We're going to take the train!" she said excitedly.
Emma clapped her hands. "Yay!" She bounced up and down as they headed down the sidewalk towards the mall. "You staying?"
Alexis nodded. "We'll stop by my place so I can pack a few things and then we'll head home," she answered.
Emma was so excited that she started singing some of her nursery rhymes. Her eyes lit up as they entered the Downtown Manhattan Mall. "Toys!" she demanded immediately.
"Be nice," Alexis told her. "And we'll stop by Toys 'R Us before we leave Times Square, okay?"
Emma's face lit up with a huge grin that threatened to take over her face. "Okay!"
The girls wandered through each other mall's eight or so floors, stopping every now and then in certain stores. Most were Alexis's choice since she was doing some of her Christmas shopping now. She had been busy for the past couple months that she really hadn't had any time for herself.
"Toys now?" Emma pleaded, getting tired of walking around the big mall.
"Yep. We're leaving now," Alexis replied as she accepted her bag from the cashier. "And we can't stay too long because it's getting dark."
They hurried through the crowds, locating Toys 'R Us and quickly heading inside. After spending a decent amount of time in the store, the two girls were soon rushing back to Alexis's apartment, then to Union Station to catch the train to upstate New York.
"Where have you two been?" Stella demanded as she flung open the door. She took Emma into her arms and hugged her tightly, kissing her hair.
"Sorry, Stell," Alexis apologized. "We hurried as fast as we could."
Stella smiled. "Not a problem. I was just feeling a little anxious when it got dark."
"Hey!" Mac said, coming into the hallway. "Glad you guys made it back safely!" He hugged his two girls and led them into the living room. He took Emma from Stella and tickled her, making the toddler giggle.
"Come on, you two can play later. Dinner's ready," Stella informed them, heading into the kitchen with Alexis trailing behind her.
"Stell, I'm sorry we made you wait for dinner," Alexis said apologetically.
Stella laughed and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. "I told you, it's okay. I'm not mad, just worried. But you're here now so wash up and sit," she said with a grin.
Alexis peeked at one of the dishes on the table and saw a Greek salad. "Yes!" she declared on her way to the sink.
"What?" Mac asked, entering the room with Emma hanging over his shoulder, laughing hysterically.
"A Greek salad!" Alexis said happily, over her shoulder as she washed her hands. Quickly drying them on a towel, she rushed over to her chair and sat down.
Stella placed the main entrée on the table and joined the family. Silently holding her hand out for Mac's plate, she filled it and did the same with the others before filling her own.
Alexis and Emma told them about their day as Mac and Stella entertained them with anecdotes from the office in return. "Oh Danny and Aiden told us to tell you hi," Stella informed Alexis.
Alexis looked guiltily at her plate. "I need to go visit them. I feel bad that I haven't made time to come down," she said, taking a bite of her food.
"Yeah, we're feeling neglected," Mac teased his niece, receiving a playful glare from her in return. He dodged the ball up napkin that was thrown at his head.
Emma giggled and tried to do the same, hers ending up in the salad bowl and causing everyone else to crack up. She just grinned and looked back and forth between the three adults.
Once the table had been cleared and the kitchen cleaned, all four retreated to the living room to enjoy each other's company. "Daddy, up!" Emma demanded, pulling herself up by Mac's pant legs.
Stella shook her head and answered her, "What do you say first?"
Emma looked over at her and pursed her mouth in thought before it brightened into a bright smile. "Please!"
Mac and Stella grinned at each other as he leaned over and lifted her up into his lap. "Lex, can you hand me that book over there?" he requested, pointing to the table that sat by his recliner.
Alexis crawled over to the table and retrieved the designated book. "Here ya go!" she announced, handing it over to her uncle.
"Thank you, my dear," he answered.
Alexis chuckled at him as he opened the book and began reading the children's stories to his little girl. She felt a pang of sadness knowing her father wouldn't ever be able to do that for her again. When she was feeling sad, she would go to her father for a story to comfort her.
Stella reached over and rubbed the girl's back comfortingly. She smiled, knowing what the young woman was thinking. "Wanna play checkers with me?"
Alexis grinned. "Absolutely. And I'm gonna kick your butt," she boasted.
Stella scoffed. "We'll see about that." She got out the board and set up the pieces for her side as Alexis did the same.
As the girls engaged themselves in a friendly match of checkers, Mac and Emma watched them, talking quietly to themselves. "Daddy, are you and mommy married?" Emma asked innocently.
Mac looked at her in surprise, but at the same time knew exactly how she was becoming so advanced in her vocabulary. She spent a majority of her time around the team. "Well, sweetie, we aren't yet but," he lowered his voice to a whisper and had her stand up in his lap so he could whisper in her ear, "I asked her last night!"
Emma smiled widely. "Yay!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. When she realized she had been too loud, she clasped her hands over her mouth, looking behind her.
Mac looked behind her as well as he settled the little girl back into his lap. "I just told her I'd take her to the park tomorrow," he explained to the curious stares of Alexis and Stella.
Alexis and Stella looked at each other, raised their eyebrows and returned to their game.
Mac and Emma sighed in relief. "That close daddy," she told him.
"It sure was," he agreed. He watched as the toddler made herself in the crook of his arms, resting her head against his chest as she watched her mommy and big sister. He smiled to himself, amazed at how easy fatherhood had come to him.