Both of them screamed at the same time.
„Ooooh, Billy!"
„Mac!"
With one last thrust Will fell down on top of her, nestling his head in the crook of her neck while panting for air. Hearing Mac trying to catch her breath in his ear he remembered his size and wanted to roll off her, but she held on to him and shook her head. „Stay, don't move."
He happily obliged but he did at least shift some of his weight onto his elbows and forearms. Breathing heavily he looked at her beautiful face. „That was... amazing... I know we've been good before but have we always been that good?"
Mac lifted her head to give Will a long kiss while her hands ran up and down his back. „You were unbefuckinglievable, Billy... God, I have missed you so much..."
„I've missed you more." he murmured while placing small kisses along her jaw down to her neck. „Didn't you... write... something... about a... special... spot... on your... neck and... asked me... to do something... with it? Is it... this one?" Mac squirmed when he flicked his tongue right underneath her earlobe. „Or this one?" Now he slowly ran it along the hollow above her collarbone and was rewarded with a loud moan.
„Both" she gasped and he smiled into her neck. After a last kiss he did roll around and pulled Mac with him so that she came to lie on top of him.
„I love you, Mac."
„I love you, too, Billy." Mac contently snuggled her head into the crook of his neck and drew little lines on his chest with her fingers. After a while they started to drowse off, but then she suddenly turned her head and started to move.
„What?" Will asked sleepily.
„I'm sorry, it's time to check on Cathy, sometimes she wakes up around this time. I'll be right back."
„Wait... Stay put, I can do that."
„Will..."
„Don't worry, if I hear anything I won't go in but come and get you. I won't have her find a strange man in her room. Okay? I'd like to do this."
„Okay." Mac smiled with watery eyes.
Will quickly put on his boxers and t-shirt and went to check on his daughter. When he came back a minute later he gave Mac a reassuring smile. „CitCat is sound asleep, don't worry."
He took off his shirt and slid back right next to her. Then he saw that she was biting her lower lip again, so he knew she was uneasy about something. „What is it, Mac?"
She hesitated at first, then sighed. „Not that I'm complaining but you... you really seem to put your whole heart into being a father..."
„Well, there is a big part of my heart that belongs to you, but basically... yeah, I do. And that is a problem because...?"
„I thought... maybe you only came because of Cathy?" She ducked a little and held her breath.
„What...? And I probably only just had mind-blowing sex with you because you were available... Seriously?"
„I'm sorry..." she said feebly. „It's all just so overwhelming..."
He shook his head and took her hand. „Listen to me, Mac: After reading your very first e-mails explaining everything, all I wanted was to call you immediately. I wanted to be with you so badly, right then and there. But then I started to think and you know that's almost never good when it concerns you... I just didn't want to mess everything up again, and I thought it would be better to let it sink in first, so I kept reading... Only then I learned about Cathy."
„So why didn't you call then?"
„Well... First of all it was not even an hour after that first revelation when I read the mails in which you told me you were pregnant. Not really much time to let it sink especially with those news on top. Believe me, I was pretty overwhelmed, too...
And then in last year's mails you never wrote anything about your feelings for me anymore, instead I had to read about Wade... I was afraid you really had moved on...
„You're an idiot, you know that?"
„I told you that the moment I got here..." he said contritely.
„Come here" With a teasing smile Mac pulled him into her arms. „At least you are my idiot now, so why don't you try to make it up to me?"
And so he did.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
„Mommy... Mooommyyy..."
Will woke up the same moment as Mac lifted her head from his shoulder. „I'm coming, Sweetie, hang on."
She turned and looked at him, smiling at his wide eyes and leaning in for a light kiss. „Morning... I'll have to go get her." She slid to the edge of the bed. „No sleeping in on the weekends with kids around."
When he didn't answer she turned back to him and laughed quietly. „Don't look so terrified, Will. She will love you!"
„Moooommyyyyyy!"
„I'm coming, Darling..." She softly put her hand on his cheek.
„Just get dressed and wait for us downstairs, okay? We'll be down in about ten minutes."
When he nodded she got up, quickly put her PJs on and left the room. Will followed her with his eyes and then forced himself to leave the bed. Grabbing his clothes he went into the adjoining bathroom to take a quick shower. After he got dressed he looked at himself in the mirror. „Are you really ready to do this, old chap?"
Well, it didn't matter if he was, Cathy was awake and he was going to meet her. Damn, he should have asked Mac a lot more about her; what he should say, what she liked and especially what she didn't like.
He slowly went downstairs and nervously paced through the living room. After a few minutes he heard Mac coming down the stairs, speaking in a gentle voice. „I know we still have to get you dressed, CitCat, but I have a surprise for you first. How would you like to see your daddy?"
„Daddy in TV!"
„Right, normally Daddy is on TV, but not today. Look who is waiting for you..." With these words she stepped inside the room, carrying the most beautiful little girl on her hip Will had ever seen.
Cathy had dark brown hair, gorgeous eyes – MacKenzie's eyes – and her cheeks were rosy from sleeping. He registered all this within a second while feeling rather awkward standing in the middle of the room.
Mac gave him an encouraging smile. „You're daddy wants to say hello to you, Pumpkin."
Will cleared his throat. „Hello, Cathy... I'm so happy to meet you."
Cathy coyly dug her face into Mac's shoulder and Will sent her mother a desperate look. What if she didn't like him?
But Mac just whispered a few words into her daughter's ear who started to giggle and then cautiously turned her head to give him a quick look. „Hi."
„Hi." Will's face lit up. And then he remembered. „I brought you a little something, hang on."
He bent down to pick up the bag he had discarded on the floor the evening before and when he got back up Cathy had lifted her head and looked at him curiously.
„You're mommy told me that you like Sesame Street and I found this little fella who is looking for a new home. Do you think you could take good care of him for me?" With this he pulled out a stuffed Grover doll and held it out to her.
„GOVA!" Cathy squealed excitedly and started to wiggle around so that her mother would let her down. Once on the floor she ran to Will with her short legs, who went down on one knee to hand over her new friend. She grabbed him and held on to him tightly while she gave her father a happy smile that actually did make his heart do a backward somersault. He shakily smiled back at her.
„What do you say, Sweetheart?" Mac's voice interrupted the moment.
„Thank you, Daddy." Cathy said in the most adorable way and then she flung her little arms around her dad's neck and hugged him.
Time stood still and Will almost stopped breathing. He carefully put his arms around his little girl and tears started running down his cheeks. He looked up at Mac who didn't even try to hide her own emotions at seeing the two people she loved most in the world together for the first time.
When she saw that Cathy was getting ready to let go off Will she stepped forward. „Why don't you sit down on the couch with your daddy and show him the Grover book you like so much, CitCat?" The little one nodded fiercely and ran off to a bookshelf in the corner.
Will used that moment to get off his bad knee, quickly took Mac's hand and whispered „Thank you."
She just smiled. „I told you not to worry, didn't I? You did great!"
When Cathy came back with the book she took Will's hand, pulled him over to the couch and climbed up to sit next to him. „Read, please?"
Soon the two of them were so absorbed in their doings that they didn't even notice Mac leaving the room.
When she returned, now fully dressed and the smell of coffee following her, Will and Cathy were still sitting on the couch, but now a whole stack of books was spread out around them on the couch and they were browsing through Dr. Seuss' „The Cat In The Hat".
„What are all these books doing on the couch, little lady?"
Cathy looked up and tilted her head, while Will came to her rescue. „I asked her what other books she liked so she had to show them to me, didn't she?"
„I guess she had to", Mac replied with a chuckle. „Let's clean up this mess so that we can eat breakfast, and then we have to get you dressed, okay Munchkin?"
Cathy nodded and started carrying the books back to the shelf.
Mac looked at Will. „Are you okay?"
He answered with an amazed smile. „I'm more than okay, this is just perfect."
After breakfast and after Cathy was dressed they decided to go to the park to feed the ducks. After a stop at the playground and the supermarket to get a few things for the weekend it was time to go home for Cathy's midday nap and Will was proud as a peacock when she insisted on being carried home by him, even falling asleep at his shoulder.
After Mac had put her to bed she came downstairs and found Will sitting on the couch, his head resting in the cushions and his eyes closed.
„Are you sleeping, old man?" she chuckled.
He didn't open his eyes. „I should be... Come here." His hand quickly moved forward and pulled her down next to him. She laughed and then curled herself up at his side, putting her head on his chest.
„I know it's not over yet but I can already tell you that this is the happiest day of my life."
„Mine, too", she whispered. „You were just wonderful with Cathy, you're a real natural, Billy."
„I was so terribly nervous, I think without you we wouldn't even have gotten to our 'hellos'."
„Give yourself some credit, McAvoy. I'm not into bribing children but Grover was genius."
They spent the next minutes in silence, pondering over the events of the day, until Will shifted to sit up a little and lifted his head.
„Mac?" He slowly ran his fingers through her hair.
„Hmm?"
„I would like to ask you something but I want you to know that, whatever your answer is, it has nothing to do with this... with us... Okay?"
Mac raised her eyebrows and turned her head slightly to look at him. „What are you up to now?"
He nervously cleared his throat. „I know you like teaching here and if that's what you want to do I will support you in any way I can... But... did you ever think about getting back into a newsroom?"
She didn't answer at first. „Is that a job offer?"
„Most definitely. If it was up to me you could start on Monday already."
„What about your current EP?"
„You've seen Thursday's show?"
Mac giggled. „Yeah... right..."
„Exactly... And by the way: Not funny..."
„A little bit funny. That's what you get for not sticking to your principles. You know, if I came back I wouldn't do a format like the one you're doing now. What happened to our show? The important topics. The tough follow-ups. Informing the electorate. What happened to the News?"
Will squirmed. „That's a question with an easy answer, Mac: You weren't there...
There's no one else I could do that show with. I need you in my ear, I need you to kick my ass and I need you to bring out the best in me... So what do you say? Can you see yourself back in my newsroom?"
Mac sat up and looked at him. „I like teaching here and I like spending time with the students or as they like to call themselves: The new media elite."
Will looked down. „So you don't..."
„Shhh..." Mac lifted his chin up with her fingers. „Let me finish. I was gonna say: But there is no place I'd rather be than in your control room." Will's eyes lit up. „I miss reporting the news, Billy. I've been offered several EP-positions over the past years, but I couldn't imagine working with anybody but you. So yes, if you want me, I'd love to come back."
Will took a deep breath. „Yep... Definitely the best day of my life..."
With that he leaned towards Mac, pushed her onto her back and started kissing her passionately. She responded immediately, moaning and grinding her hips into him, but when he started to open the buttons of her shirt she stopped his hand and whispered hoarsely. „There's a little kid in the house, Billy..."
He closed his eyes, buried his face in her neck and sighed. „Right..."
Then suddenly she felt him grinning against her skin.
„What now?"
Will sat up and grabbing his phone he winked at her. He pushed a few buttons and when she wanted to ask him, what all that was about he raised his hand and showed her the picture someone had taken of the three of them on the swing set in the park this morning, Will holding little CitCat on his lap while Mac stood next to him with his arm around her waist and all three of them were beaming into the camera.
„Just wait a minute." And sure enough a moment later his phone rang and he put it on speaker. „Yes?"
„What the hell? Did I just get a picture of you, MacKenzie and Baby Mac? What the fuck is going on?"
Will grinned at Mac. „Hi Charlie. I just thought I'd let you know that I hired a new EP for my show. Big Mac that is, not Little Mac... However, Little Mac is my daughter I would like you to meet soon."
Will wasn't completely sure but this was probably the first time he ever experienced Charlie at a loss of words. He started to speak several times, never managing to utter more then a simple 'but...".'
Mac finally took pity on him and leaned towards the phone. „Hello, Charlie. You have to forgive this big kid next to me, he's kind of been in kindergarten all day today..."
„Mac, is that you? Will's with you? You have a daughter? And you'll be coming back to ACN?"
„Yep..." She grinned back at Will.
„I need a Bourbon..." They heard him opening a bottle and pouring a generous amount of liquid into a glass. „You know you're talking to an old man, right? Never ever shock me like that again." He gulped down his drink. „But MacKenzie?"
„Yes, Charlie?"
„I'm glad this idiot sitting next to you finally got his head out of his ass. I'm very happy for you." She could actually hear him smiling through the phone.
„Thanks, Charlie, me too. See you soon." She hung up and turned to Will, putting her arms around his neck. „By the way, ready for my first pitch?"
„Shoot." He put her legs over his and began to draw circles on her thighs with his fingers.
„I want you to do a few segments on the economy and invite Sloan Sabbith as an expert guest. She'll be great and if she likes it I want to get her on as an economics newscaster and later co-anchor."
Will almost choked. „You don't even know if she can do that!"
„Sure I do. She's smart, articulate, has 2 PhDs and on top of it she is darn sexy. Everything else I can teach her; look how you've turned out... Sloan is exactly what you need. And aside from that... We wouldn't wanna leave Cathy's godmother back here, do we?" Mac tilted her head, looked at him with innocent eyes und Will knew he was in trouble. „I'll talk to her..." he sighed.
So in the afternoon they visited Sloan, who was very protective of Mac and Cathy and gave Will a good grilling. Only when he openly pledged his eternal love for the both of them she accepted him as the new man at their side, not without telling him that she'd keep an eye on him.
She didn't loath the idea of moving to New York and give her lessons on the economy to a cable network audience instead of an auditorium full of students and it was agreed that she would come to New York in a couple of weeks to meet with Charlie, Will and her potential producer Don Keefer.
When they were ready to leave she offered to keep Cathy overnight at her place so that the two of them could have „a good go at it" as she said and promised to bring their girl back first thing in the morning.
Leaving the house Mac gave Will an amused look. „So, what do you think?"
He grinned. „She sure is one of a kind... But I like her. Don will have a blast keeping the reins on her tight..."
Much later, after long hours of wild and passionate – and loud – lovemaking, they lay entangled on her bed, completely oblivious of everything except themselves.
Will carefully reached under his pillow and pulled out a little velvet box he had placed there before.
„Mac? Can I talk to you for a second?"
„Mmmh... sure."
„Come on, sit up please." He lifted himself up against the headboard and waited for her to follow his lead, before he took her hand in his.
"MacKenzie, I love you. You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in real life. I love your smile, I love your voice, I love your passion and I love how you love Cathy." He showed her his other hand with the opened box inside and her eyes grew wide.
„I bought this ring a few days after we came back from the Hamptons and I was just waiting for the right moment to give it to you... After we broke off I wanted to return it but I couldn't..."
He leaned forward to give her a soft kiss. "Relax, Mac, I am not proposing to you right now, I know we still have a lot to work out... But this is yours and I... I thought maybe you would like to wear it on your right hand... and whenever you're ready... you just put it on your left?
Mac looked at him with teary eyes. "Oh Billy... of course I would like that. It's beautiful!"
"Not as beautiful as you." he said before leaning in for a rewarding kiss.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Epilogue
28 July 2010
Mac had been back at ACN for about three and half months, immediately being thrown in at the deep end with the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill being the top story on her first day.
Cathy had adjusted beautifully to the new surroundings, Sloan had signed a contract with ACN and Mac and Will had never been so happy as they were now.
They surely hadn't forgotten how to fight, but they both took care that they only really fought on professional issues. So far they had managed well to leave work disputes in the office and for their occasional arguments in their private life they had established the rule to never go to bed while being angry with each other.
Today they had had a heated argument at the rundown meeting about a segment Will absolutely insisted on having in the A-block while Mac was only prepared to put it in the C-block instead. In the end Mac had gotten her way and Will had been grumpy all evening, deliberately ignoring several of her instructions while on air.
Mac was livid but when she went to his office after the show he had already gone, so she had to go home on her own. Today she was prepared to throw the no-office-fights-at-home rule overboard and stormed into their new – child-friendly – apartment to give Will a piece of her mind when she heard it.
She carefully sneaked into the living room and saw Cathy sitting on the floor in front of Will who was playing the guitar and singing her a song.
…. searching for gold
I am my father's daughter
he has his mother's eyes
I am the product
of her sacrifice
I am the accumulation
of the dreams of generations
and their stories live
in me like holy water..
I am my father's daughter.
My father raised me...
At this moment Cathy saw her mother standing in the door and she jumped up to run over to her. „Daddy sing for me, Mommy!"
„I heard, CitCat, that was beautiful. But shouldn't you be sleeping?" She lifted her up into her arms and gave her a kiss.
„Not sleepy, Mommy."
„Oh? I think you are, it's late. Let's give daddy a kiss goodnight, okay?"
She let Cathy say goodnight to her father and carried her to her room to put her to bed, all the while thinking about that beautiful scene she just ran into.
This was the most important part of her life, not the newsroom, not the stories and what the hell if they disagreed on some things. The important thing was the love they had for each other and for their daughter and as long as they had this everything else was of no importance and would be figured out eventually.
Slowly she went back into the living room and set down next to Will who was still absentely plunking the guitar but now looking at her.
„I'm sorry about tonight, Mac..."
„Will, I can't wear this anymore." Mac said, pulling his ring off her finger. Will stopped playing and looked at her in shock. Holding the ring out to him she went on with a loving smile. „I think it would look much better on my left hand, don't you, Billy?"
Will gasped and then broke into a relieved and happy smile. „Yeah, I think it definitely would."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Well, that was it - I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing this.
I'm looking forward to your comments!
Lyrics part of the song:
My Father's Daughter by Jewel ft. Dolly Parton
Album : Picking Up The Pieces 2015
(Doesn't really fit the timeline but I liked the words, especially seeing Will's family history, even though it wasn't mentioned here.)