Lucy bounced excitedly in her chair, her pigtails whipping her back with every move. She was so excited she could hardly stand it, and the suspense was killing her. She looked at the door every few minutes and had even stared at the clock, even though she didn't know how to tell time yet.

It was career day in her kindergarten class and originally, Danny was going to come to talk to her class. Then he got called into court, so Lindsay said she would do it. But yesterday Jack had come down with a really bad cold. Lucy had been worried that no one would show up for her, and she would be the only kid in her class with no "parent" on career day. She was certain it would make her a social outcast for the rest of her life. Lindsay had assured her that come eleven o'clock, someone would be there for her. She was excited to see who it would be.

Her converse clad toes tapped against the floor and she chewed on her fingernail. Her dad would have said she had ants in her pants. Her mom would have said she had crawdads in her britches. Either way, she was having a hard time sitting still.

She watched the clock again, knowing that when the big hand touched the twelve, that meant it was "o'clock." It only made sense then that the other hand needed to be touching the eleven at the same time for it to be eleven o'clock. Satisfied with figuring it out herself, she stared out the window at the parking lot. There were a few parents arriving, some she recognized as her friend's parents. She squinted a little, trying to see further out, but having no luck. Sighing, she went back to her class work, diligently copying the short words onto the lined paper. Her tongue crept out of her lips as she pressed pencil to paper quickly getting lost in her work. Everyone said she was just like her mom when she worked, shutting the world out getting a one track mind. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she loved being like her mom, so she would just smile at the compliment.

She didn't look up again until the room got noisy, with parents entering and greeting their children. She whipped her head around and stared intently at the door, gripping the back of her chair tightly while she waited. It seemed that every kid had a parent with them and she was starting to panic. Maybe her mom had been wrong. Maybe no one was going to show up. Maybe she would be the alone kid for real. Her bottom lip crept out and she could feel tears welling in her eyes.

She wouldn't cry in front of her friends. She wasn't a baby and this wasn't a big deal. Sometimes adults had to work. She knew that. She understood, and she wasn't mad at them for leaving her, but knowing that didn't make her feel any less abandoned. She started to turn around in her seat when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye.

"My Mac!" she shouted, jumping up from her chair and running to the door. She crashed into his legs and he lifted her up, giving her a hug. "I was scared no one was coming!"

"Well we all fought over who got to come, and I won," he teased.

"Didja tell everyone neener neener neener?"

"No, but I wanted to."

She giggled and he set her back down on the ground, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Go sit down, Luce."

She smiled and went back to her seat, turning around to make a goofy face at him. He half smiled, then made a twirling motion with his finger. She shrugged her shoulders and faced forward, placing her hands nicely on the desk. Mac chuckled to himself as he watched her, noticing the way her feet twitched and how she twirled her hair around her finger. The older she got, the more he saw Danny in her. Constantly moving, her brain going a million miles an hour, and totally passionate about everything. And then he saw Lindsay in her too, a long winded, fast talker who had a comment for almost everything. A perfect blend of her parents could only mean one thing. Lucy was going to be trouble someday. He just hoped she stayed the kind of trouble that made him laugh, rather than the kind that would mean beating the boys off with a stick.

"Are you takin' me home?" Lucy asked, skipping along beside him, her pink backpack sliding off her shoulder.

"Actually, I'm going to take you back to the lab and we'll meet your dad there."

"Can we get lunch first? I'm so hungry."

"Sure, we'll find some junk food in the vending machine. Just don't tell mommy."

"Okay! Know what? I teached myself how to tell time today!"

"You did?" he asked, opening the car door and lifting her in. She crawled into her car seat and buckled herself in, while Mac reached over and tied her shoe.

"Yep. I can only tell the o'clocks, but I'm going to figure out the rest."

"I bet you will."

She kept chattering as they drove back to the lab, telling him about all the kids in her class, why she liked them or didn't like them and which ones she wanted to be friends with forever. She barely took a breath as they drove, and he could tell she was getting tired. She usually had a short nap after school, but he figured she could crash on the couch in his office until Danny could take her home.

They arrived at the lab and made their way to his office. Lucy tossed her backpack onto the couch, then climbed into Mac's desk chair.

"My Mac, can I do some coloring?"

"Sure. You stay here and I'll go find some lunch."

She nodded and pulled open the bottom drawer, taking out her coloring book and crayons. Mac smiled to himself. Never in a million years would he guess that he would have such things in his desk. There was also play-doh and some small puzzles in that drawer, and Lucy could keep herself occupied for hours when Danny and Lindsay were working.

Mac went into the small kitchen and found some frozen corndogs. He heated them in the microwave and put a little bit of ketchup onto Lucy's plate before grabbing two water bottles from the fridge and heading back to his office.

"Mmm, that smells yummy!" Lucy exclaimed as he put the corndog down in front of her. "Mommy and daddy don't like corndogs, so we never eat them at our house."

"Did I ever tell you about the time your mommy ate bugs?"

She giggled.

"That's daddy's favorite story. He calls her bug breath and she tells him to "shut up, Messer." It makes me laugh all the time."

They finished their lunch quickly and Lucy sighed, looking around the office.

"My Mac?"

"What, honey?"

"Could you teach me the guitar?" she asked, pointing to the guitar that stood in the corner. He played bass now, but he had started on guitar, and still like to pick it up every once in a while.

"I could try. I don't think I would be a very good teacher though."

"Please, oh please! I would really like it."

"Alright, let's see what we can do."

He picked the guitar up and sat down on the couch and Lucy crawled into his lap. He settled the guitar somewhat awkwardly, but in a position where she could at least strum on it.

"Why don't you tell me what you know."

"Well, I know that you have to move your fingers over here and you strum over here. I just don't know how one hand talks to the other one and tells it what to do."

He chuckled and handed her the pick, letting her strum a few times before showing her how to finger pick.

"That kind of hurts my fingers."

"Yeah, it's not that pleasant, but you get used to it."

"How long did it take you to learn this, My Mac?"

"It took a while, but it's one of those things that you never forget."

She smiled as Stella poked her head in the door.

"Hey you two."

"My Stella! Guess what we're doing!"

"Um, I think you're washing my car."

"Why are you so silly?"

"I've been around Mac too long."

"Yeah, sure," Lucy giggled, rolling her eyes.

"I'm on my way downstairs, but I just wanted to say hi."

"What time are you going to be done?" Mac asked while Lucy strummed lightly on the guitar.

"A few hours. I'll know more after I talk to Sid."

"Okay. Let me know."

She leaned down and kissed him, then tweaked Lucy's nose before leaving the room.

"My Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm very tired now."

He nodded and moved the guitar to one of the chairs.

"You can take a little nap on the couch if you want to."

She nodded and laid down with a sigh.

"My Mac?"

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Thank you for talking to my class today. Even though I accidentally said you were a defective."

He chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"Anytime, little girl."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Luce. Go to sleep."