Alright y'all. I have decided that you are ready. You have seen Mac in emotional pain, you have seen Jack in papa bear mode. But have you ever seen... Jack being Proud Papa Jack, and Mac being Silly Kid Mac? I decided I wanted a purely fluff chapter so be prepared for ultimate father/son cuteness and legit bromance moments! Hope y'all're prepared! Enjoy!
Mac rolled his shoulders out, relieved to have finally taken his pack off his shoulders. he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over at Jack, who was pouring over a map. Their Humvee had somehow run out of gas. Thankfully they had been near a town and another truck was on it's way with enough gas to get back to camp. For the moment, however, the two soldiers were trapped in a rural town in the middle of the Sandbox.
"How the hell did the tank not get filled up?" Mac rolled his eyes, "that doesn't happen, right?"
"Evidently it does, Blondie," Jack smirked, wiping the sweat off his forehead, "we are out of gas in the middle of a desert with slowly dying rations of water. It has clearly happened."
"Well," Mac looked around, "we might as well double check for IED's. We clearly have the ti-"
Mac was cut off by a giggle from behind him. He froze, glancing at Jack in confusion.
"Kid," Jack grinned, Mac followed his finger to a small girl that was hiding behind his legs.
"Well, hi there," Mac grinned, crouching down to her level, "what's your name?"
"Kelilah," the little girl giggled, she couldn't have been more than five years old and she spoke with halting English and had an adorable look of concentration on her face as she spoke it, "who..you?"
"I'm Mac," Mac smiled, holding out his hand and shaking her tiny one, "and that's Jack."
The girl waved shyly, "what...doing?"
Mac exchanged glances with Jack, unsure how much to tell her, "we're here to make sure you and your friends stay safe."
"I...no have... friends," the girl frowned, then she smiled looking over at Jack and Mac, "now..do!"
Mac grinned, "yeah you do, kiddo."
"You sure do," Jack knelt down next to her, "hey, you wanna see something cool?"
"Yeah!" Kelilah's enthusiasm was infectious and Mac found himself grinning ear to ear.
"Yeah you do, ya little stinker," Jack swung her up and around in the air, "look," he exclaimed, "now you're an airplane! Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!" The little girl giggled with excitement as she swung around once more before landing safely on the ground, "fun!"
"Yeah?" Mac challenged playfully, "well, I bet I can do something even more fun," he picked her up and flipped her onto his back, holding her tightly and spinning around in circles before setting her down on the ground.
"Fun!" Kalilah shrieked with laughter, "Friends!" she looked around, "Momma! Come met friends!"
The two army soldiers looked up and saw a young woman standing in the shadows of a building, she couldn't have been any older than 19 years old. She walked slowly towards Kalilah, who was clearly her daughter, and took the girl's hand.
"It is nice to meet you, I am Mara," she said slowly, carefully forming each English word to perfection, "I am sorry if my daughter was bothering you."
"No bother at all, ma'am," Jack tilted an imaginary hat to the woman, "we are just plumb overjoyed that your precious little girl feels that she has some friends now."
"She is very sweet," Mac smiled down at her, causing her to giggle and hide her face, "it was no trouble."
"Momma," Kalilah tugged on her mother's sleeve, "can they meet Amir?"
"Kalilah," the woman spoke softly, "these men have work to do," she chided her daughter, "they have no time to meet your dog."
"Actually," Jack grinned at her, "we've already finished this section and our Humvee's out of gas. We have a unit on it's way but they'll take a little while."
"I hate to pull you away from where your men will find you," she protested, "it is not exactly safe for you Americans here."
Mac and Jack exchanged glances, "well," Mac spoke up, "how about this, Kalilah brings Amir to us and then we can stay with our transport."
Mara smiled, "very well," she turned to her daughter, "Kalilah, you may bring Amir out to show these men."
"Thank you momma!" Kalilah squealed and she ran into a nearby house giggling excitedly.
"Thank you for humoring her," the woman thanked the two soldiers, "she does not have many people to talk to."
"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Jack asked her, "no offense but you don't exactly look old enough to have a child her age."
Mara pursed her lips and shook her head, "I am not. I had Kalilah when I was sixteen," she admitted, "I am not married and so have no one to provide for me, but we get by. I am trying to save up to get us both out of here."
"Where would you go?" Mac asked, trying to imagine how in the world Kalilah's father had gotten away with this.
"I want to get us to America," Mara's voice softened, "where she can have a fair chance to grow up, and I can get a job," she sighed, "and where we can both get an education," she shook her head, "our country does not allow for women to get a suitable education. I want Kalilah to have all the chances she can at a good life."
"She will," Jack promised, "I know she will."
Mac was silent, trying to wrap his head around just how much this woman loved her daughter. He wasn't able to imagine what it would feel like to have a parent that cared that much.
"She is lucky to have a mother like you," he spoke almost as quietly as she did.
Mara considered him carefully for a moment before they were all distracted by a small dog leaping onto Mac's leg.
"Well, howdy there little pup," Mac grinned, scratching the dog's head, "who are you?"
"This is Amir!" Kalilah grinned, coming back into view, "Amir, this is Mac...Macgy..."
"Mac," Mac smiled, ruffling the girl's hair, "call me Mac."
"Mac," she grinned and patted her dog's head, "Amir say hello to Mr. Mac."
The dog barked and wagged his tail violently, jumping up and licking Mac's cheek, causing the soldier to fall back. Jack smiled as Mac wrestled gently with the dog, pulling Kalilah in and tickling her. His smile widened as Mac laughed loudly. A rare, genuine Mac laugh.
Jack leaned up against the Humvee, standing next to Mara as they both watched their kids play.
"How did you manage to serve with your son?" Mara asked, looking at Jack questioningly.
"Huh?" Jack was caught off guard, he hadn't thought anyone else had ever caught on to his feelings about the blonde, "what do you mean?"
"Mac," Mara smiled, "I see the way you look at him," she followed his gaze to the two that were running around with the dog and playing tag, "it is the same expression with which I look at my Kalilah."
"Honestly," Jack shrugged, "he's not my blood kid," he watched as Mac pretended to fall over then reached up to tickle Kalilah as she ran to check on him, "actually, I kind of hated him at first," he shrugged again, "but, he grows on you. Pretty soon I just accepted the fact that I was stuck with him. When I quit thinking he was annoying he started becoming adorable and pretty soon I was attached," he paused, "I'm going home in 15 days and I'm not sure how either of us are going to take it."
"Then don't go," Mara said simply, watching Jack carefully, "if you truly care for him then don't ever let him go," she sighed, "you hold on tight and don't let them go until you have no choice," she gazed at Kalilah fondly, then looked back over at Jack, "don't ever let Mac get away from you. He's a good man."
Jack pondered her words for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement, "you won't get an argument from me on that. He's the best darn EOD Tech this sandbox has ever seen but," he paused and sighed softly, "he's one of the greatest damn people I've ever met."
Mara patted his shoulder, "then don't let him go, Jack."
He smiled at her, knowing it was some of the best advice he'd ever received, "I won't," he watched Mac with a smile on his face, "I won't ever let him go."
***Line Break***
Mac and Jack finally got gas in their Humvee and were headed back to the base. Mac had never been more confused. Since they had left the small village, Jack hadn't stopped smiling. His face was split in his big, dumb looking Texas grin and Mac could not figure out figure out why.
"Okay," he finally spoke up, "what gives?"
"Huh?" Jack looked confused, but his grin didn't drop, "what'ch'u talkin' 'bout, Mac?"
"You haven't stopped grinning since we left the town," Mac raised an eyebrow, "what's up?"
"Can't a fella just be happy?" Jack asked, dodging Mac's question.
"Jack," Mac dragged out the 'a' in his friend's name, his tone dripping with irritation, "what is so funny?"
"Nothin's funny, kid," Jack answered mostly-truthfully, "excpet for that entire hour and a half you were playin' with that little girl," he grinned at his partner, "you were adorable."
Mac's face flushed scarlet, "she just wanted to play tag," he protested, suddenly sorry he'd asked.
"And hide-and-seek, and ring around the rosy, and-"
"Okay, okay," Mac stopped Jack from speaking, "I get it. I played with the kid a lot."
jack smiled fondly at him, "it was sweet, Mac," he said, "I've never seen that side of you before."
Mac shrugged, "there's not much use for it over here," he glanced out the window, "besides, the kid just wanted a friend."
"And you gave her one," Jack told him, reaching over and allowing his hand to rest on the back of Mac's neck, "I'm proud of you, Mac."
Mac felt an uncharacteristic happiness well up in his heart as Jack said that. He didn't know how to explain it. Bozer had told him ne time that it was how a son felt when a father spoke the words that Mac had never heard. And now he had. From Jack. He wasn't sure what to do with it.
"Thanks Jack,' his voice sounded slightly strangled as his throat closed up. Jack squeezed the back of the blonde's neck lightly then let his hand drop. Strangely, Mac wished he hadn't. This feeling was so unfamiliar that he didn't even know how to process it. He'd never had someone tell him that they were proud of him before. Everyone had only ever been disappointed in him. It was strange, but nice. Really nice.
That night, Mac went to bed with the warm feeling fluttering in his heart. He held onto the feeling as he drifted off, feeling for the first time that someone truly cared.
A'ight peeps! There you go! Chapter 3 complete!For those of you who will undoubtedly wonder 'yeah Jack cares but Mac knows Bozer cared about him! Right?' Yes, Bozer cares, but if you remember in the series Mac says somewhere that Bozer's parents didn't really approve of their friendship so I feel like (with Mac's less than trusting attitude most of the time) he probably put protections around himself to keep himself from being hurt if Bozer left as a result of his parents. So that's part of the reason this moment is so important for Mac, he finally let his guard down enough to actually believe Jack when he said it. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Leave your suggestions on what I should write next! All suggestions are welcome and appreciated! Love y'all!
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