Chapter 3: I'll Be

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above"

Mac gets up to turn on the CD player. "Would you like to dance?" he comes over to Stella and holds out his hand as a slow song comes on.

"Yes, I would, but since your making me get up let me go to the bathroom first," she says taking his hand and getting up. Then she heads to the kitchen and a few moments later returns with a box in her hand and continues to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Mac asks watching anxiously as she closes the bathroom door without answering.

"Stel, what are you doing? Is that a pregnancy test?" he asks as she comes back into the living room.

"Yes," she says, her eyes not meeting his.

"Why would you need to take a pregnancy test? It was just last night; even if you are pregnant that wouldn't be able to tell you," he comes and sits back on the couch next to her, dancing forgotten.

"Mac, I'm five days late," she finally looks into his blue eyes, and he can see she is scared to death again.

"I guess it wouldn't be mine then," Mac puts his arm around her hoping to get rid of some of her fear.

"No, Frankie and I were still together, so it's probably his."

"Stel, we don't even know if you pregnant or not. And what do you mean it is probably Frankie's. Besides me you haven't been with anyone else." Stella doesn't reply, and they just sit in silence until there is an answer.


"I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life"

"You ready?" Mac asks as Stella reaches for the test. "I'll tell you if you want me to."

"As ready as I'll ever be," Stella looks down at the results. "Oh my God," she says with a look of horror on her face.

"Would that be a yes or a no? I'm going to say it's a yes by the look on your face," Mac leans over to see the test. When he sees the positive sign, he pulls her closer to him. "Everything will be fine, Stel."

Stella sits silently, her head leaning against his shoulder, tears threatening to fall. "Mac what should I do? I can't raise a kid alone. I couldn't even raise a kid if Frankie was still here to help me. Why did he do this to me?"

"I think you should let life take its course. If you don't end up having a miscarriage, you should keep the baby. Stel, you're good with kids; you'd make a good mother. But if you really don't want to, you could have the baby aborted or put up for adoption."

"I'm not going to let my kid have the same life I did in the system," Stella says pulling away from him.

"Stel, even if Frankie wasn't dead you wouldn't want him to be the father of your child after what he put you through."

"What if he had never given me that stupid sculpture and I never found out about the website? What if I hadn't broken up with him and he hadn't attacked me? What if I hadn't killed him?"

"Nobody can keep a secret forever, Stella. You would have eventually found out and broken up with him. He may or may not have attacked you," Mac says, pulling her back to him. He sees the tears now falling from her eyes.


"Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive not dead
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache, that hang from above"

"Mac, I don't want this. I can't be a mother alone," Stella continues to cry into his shoulder as they sat on the couch.

"Stel, look at me. I have an idea," Mac says, gently lifting her chin forcing her to look at him. Her cheeks are stained with tears, which he wipes away cautiously with his thumbs. "I'll be the father, Stel. Nobody has to know the baby if Frankie's. For all they know, it could be mine; they think we're sleeping together anyway. It will be alright. You can keep the baby and you'll be a great mother. Unless you don't want this."

"I already told you I don't want any of this. You're just doing this because you know I won't put the baby up for adoption or have it aborted."

"That's why I won't let you go through this alone, Stella. I love you and you shouldn't have to do this alone. Let me help you. You have already helped me so much," Mac kisses her. "Why make yourself suffer through this when I can help you? Let me be the father."

"Are you just doing this for the baby?" she asks softly, a part of her wanting to let him be the father while the other was still afraid he might hurt her.

"No, I am doing this for both of you and because I love you," Mac's eyes are practically begging her to let him help.

"I really want to let you do this, but what if the baby ends up looking like Frankie? Obviously it wouldn't be yours. And I just don't want a repeat of what happened with Frankie. I can't live through that again," she says, putting her arms around his neck.

"I won't hurt you, Stella. Very few people could be as cruel as Frankie-"

"Why, then, are there so many domestic violence cases?"

"Okay, there's more than a few men like that, but I swear I will never hurt you. I could never do that to you or any other woman for that matter. I'm sure the baby will look a lot its beautiful mother and oh well if it looks like Frankie. Ready to dance now?" he puts his arms around her slender waist, and they stand up.

She smiles weakly and nods. "But I don't know that I could live with someone who looks like the man who tried and would have succeeded in killing me had he checked the safety on my gun."

"Too many what ifs. Let's just wait and see. So, Detective Bonasera, will you let me be the father of you child?" Mac can see that the fear is still in her eyes, but he can also see relief that she wouldn't have to face this alone.

"Why not, Taylor?" Stella leans in to kiss him, long, slow, and filled with passion. When the need for oxygen becomes too strong they break apart. "Thank you for this, Mac. I'll never be able to pay you back."

"Don't worry. You've helped me a lot. This is my way to pay you back."


"I've been dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said"

"Hey, Stella, Mac, you want to grab a drink with us?" Lindsay pokes her head in to ask as they kiss. Everyone at the office was used to the two being together after a couple of weeks, partially because they always thought that they belonged together.

"Who's us?"

"Danny, Flack, Hawkes, and I."

"Sure, we'll go out for awhile," Mac says as Stella gives him an angry look. "See you in a few minutes. We'll meet you there," Mac continues after Lindsay leaves.

"What?" he asks turning back to the look on her face.

"Now we have to tell them," Stella waves a few curls out of her face.

"Tell them what?" he asks, obviously clueless as to what she is talking about.

"I'm only four weeks pregnant, and we have to tell them now. I was going to tell them, but not this soon. I can't drink, Mac."

"Oh."

"I can't lie to them about Frankie. We work together and we're all friends. I'm sure they'll understand."

"It's your decision," Mac says as they head to the car.

---CSI: NY---

"Come on, Stel. You have to have something more than Coke to drink," Flack joked.

"I can't," she says, still trying to avoid telling everyone so soon.

"Why not?"

"I'm about four weeks pregnant," 'there goes that plan.'

"Whoa, Mac, what are you doing to the poor lady?" Hawkes teases.

"The baby's not Mac's; it's Frankie's," she says softly. "Mac says he wants to be the father, so I'm going to let him. I wasn't really planning on telling you all so soon. We were just going to tell everyone it's Mac's, but your friends, and we couldn't lie to you. You would have probably found out anyway."

"Congratulations! Are you two going to get married?" Hawkes asks, giving Stella a hug.

"I-" Stella begins but is cut off by Mac.

"Yes, I would like Stella to be my wife and I hope she feels the same way. Probably not until after she has the baby, though," Mac pulls a ring from his pocket and takes her hand. While putting the ring on her finger, he gets down on one knee. "Stella, will you marry me and let me be the father of your child?"

"Oh my God, Mac, of course I will marry you," after staring at the ring for awhile she looks back up into his blue eyes. He leans over and kisses her. "I love you, Mac."

"I love you too, Stel. Everything will be alright," he hugs her while the others all congratulate them.

In Mac's arms, Stella feels safe. She knows he would never hurt her. And she knows no matter what happens he will be there to help her raise the baby. Mac Taylor always keeps his promises.

"I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life"

A/N: "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. Thanks for reading my story. I hope you liked it, although it is very unlikely to happen, not that Mac wouldn't help Stella like this is she was pregnant with Frankie's baby. It seems like there was a lot more "hints" of Mac and Stella in the first season, but I assume that was because Stella was with Frankie the first twenty-one episodes of the season and couldn't handle a relationship until she got over Frankie. I hope there's more with them in the next season. Of course you have a lot of hints of Danny and Lindsay and the writers probably wouldn't put two couples on one show. Please review!