Guitar
By Dimgwrthien
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY or affiliates. I own Nathaniel.
Mac sat on the edge of the couch, carefully handing his bass guitar to Nathaniel, his and Stella's son. He was a handsome boy of eight years with his mother's brown curls and olive skin and his father's light green eyes and face. Every time Mac looked at the boy, he felt a surge of love and nostalgia. There was the child that he and Claire had always wanted and had tried for years to have. It seemed odd to see the boy in front of him looking so much like Stella rather than having blonde hair and bright green eyes.
However, Nathaniel - or Nat as he wanted to be called, or Nathan as Stella always called him - reminded him of every moment he had spent with Stella, from buying cannoli at the fair to trying to hold himself together after so many bad memories flooded him, only to find that Stella was his only glue now.
Nathaniel held the guitar carefully, looking up at his father to see what he should do.
"Move this part on your leg more," Mac told him, gently moving the body of the guitar more onto the boy's left leg. He took one of the small hands into his own and touched it against the strings, bending his wrist. "You're going to be plucking upward, so put your fingers like this." Again, he took control over the boy's limp hand, setting it like concrete.
"Loosen up," Mac told the boy, smiling. It was something that he had grown used to Stella telling him. It carried on through all of their days in work until even a few years ago when Mac worried over Stella during her pregnancy and worried over his newborn shortly after.
Nathaniel moved his left hand on his own. "Like this?" he asked, holding his fingers over the ridges of the neck.
Mac grinned at him. "Perfect. I ought to start getting out the earplugs for your first garage band now."
Laughing, Nathaniel plucked one of the strings. "Was that good?"
"Yeah, it was." Mac watched the boy pluck a few more strings, using his forefinger, waiting out vibrations before he plucked a new one. "Watch this." Mac took Nathaniel's fingers and used all of them to pluck out different chords. The small fingers looked like legs walking.
Even when he let go, Nathaniel repeated the pattern of the walking fingers a few times, watching the strings in interest.
Nathaniel handed the guitar back, carefully lifting it over his legs to stop it from touching anything. "Play me something, Dad."
Mac raised his eyebrows, adjusting the body and neck to his legs. "What do you want, Nathaniel?" he asked, stressing out the boy's name.
Nathaniel made a face as he always did when someone called him by his full name. It reminded Mac of Stella, the way his nose crinkled at the bridge, but his eyes didn't quite close. His mouth tightened into a straight line before he said, "It's Nat!"
Mac apologized at him, smiling to himself as Nathaniel dropped the face. He turned back into Mac's copy in a younger body.
"Whatever you what to play." Nathaniel sat back a bit, watching Mac's hand carefully as they moved a bit, trying to find the perfect song.
"'Good Enough to Keep'?" Nathaniel nodded, so Mac started to play the chords. There wasn't much to the song as it was really for the trumpets and percussion. He started to pick out the chords, moving through the quick notes with grace, slowing down at parts to let the vibrations fill the room with a sound.
"I like that one," Nathaniel told him, watching as Mac finished the song a few minutes later. He continued to stare at the guitar, then looked into Mac's face. Mac felt nervous seeing his own eyes look back, but it seemed oddly comforting.
"Everyone likes it." Mac moved the guitar so that he could drape an arm over the body of it. He glanced up to where Stella was setting the table. When he saw her, he noticed that she stood in the doorway from the kitchen, watching them both closely. She had an odd expression on her face, which could have been closed or the most revealing expression Mac had seen in his life. Her eyebrows weren't raised or furrowed, but her eyes seemed wider than usual. Even from far away, he could see the green color and the pupils. Her mouth seemed smaller than usual, not smiling nor frowning, but just there. In fact, she seemed to just be there, not reacting to him at all or ignoring it.
Nathaniel looked between the two, obviously trying to see what they were saying. Mac, once he noticed this, knew that the boy could have been able to read their expressions if there had been anything said between the two.
"I think everyone does like it," Stella finally told him, crossing her arms and giving him a small smile. "It's beautiful."
Mac felt his cheeks redden just a bit. "You should hear the whole song, then."
And she's something that was good enough to keep, Mac found himself thinking as Stella waved them into the other room to eat.