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Mac woke up to an empty bed. Well, not completely empty since Elvis was lying next to him. But even though Mac loved Elvis, he would have been a little happier seeing his lover in bed next to him when he woke up instead. He couldn't hear the shower running so his lover wasn't there and there were no sounds coming from the kitchen or… anywhere. The house was completely silent.

Mac sat up on the edge of the bed and winced as his shoulder throbbed where he had been shot. He had spent only two days in the hospital and had now been home for four days. His lover was pampering him and although Mac enjoyed to see Horatio in a full mother-hen mode and loved the fact that the redhead cared for him. It was also beginning to show how hard it was for the older man. They had talked about the shooting, but only about Mac's feelings. Horatio hadn't opened up about how he felt; instead he had managed to convince Mac that they only needed to focus on his feelings. Now Mac knew that it had been a mistake to do so.

Horatio probably had so many thoughts and feelings inside him that he didn't know how to get out. It was starting to show in the way that Horatio acted. He snapped more easily at both Mac and Danny, he looked dead on his feet and sometimes it seemed like he was about to burst into tears. Mac knew that his lover was trying to keep himself from falling apart because he felt that he needed to be there for him, but also because he didn't want to do it in front of Danny.

The young New Yorker was still in Miami helping out. Only Horatio didn't let him help with a lot of things and Danny had also noticed how Horatio was beginning to get stressed out. Danny was using in the guest bedroom and Mac knew that he was still asleep. Danny wasn't a quiet person in the morning and if he had been up, Mac would have heard it.

"Do you think it's time to have a serious talk with Horatio?" Mac asked the ginger cat.

Elvis purred and rubbed his head against the back of Mac's hand; he sat beside his master and meowed.

"I agree. I need to talk with him." Mac said, "You are such a smart cat."

Elvis meowed again as if he agreed with Mac that he was indeed a smart cat. When Mac got out of the bed and headed for the kitchen Elvis followed him. He rubbed against Mac's leg as he poured himself some coffee and when Mac searched through the house for his lost lover Elvis continued to follow him.

"Don't you have some hobby you can do instead of going after me?" Mac asked and looked down at the animal.

Elvis meowed again and looked up at Mac as if he begged him to pick him up. Then Elvis looked towards the back porch and Mac followed his gaze.

"You are a smart cat." He grinned.

He finally figured out where his lover had gone; the beach. Sure enough, Mac found the redhead sitting on the beach and watching the ocean. It was so early in the morning that the sun had just risen. Mac sat down next to the older man.

"What are you doing up so early?" Horatio asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Mac said.

"Good point. But I'm not the one injured and the one that needs to rest."

"Sure you do. You're pregnant." Mac said.

Horatio looked down at his pregnant belly. He and Mac both put a hand on it and felt their baby kick. It was an active little fellow in there for sure; keeping daddy Horatio up almost all the time. Horatio sighed and put his head on Mac's uninjured shoulder.

"I'm scared Mac." Horatio whispered after a moment of silence.

"Scared of what?" Mac asked.

He knew that Horatio had finally chosen to open up to him about what had happened six days ago.

"Scared of losing you, scared of losing our child and scared to lose what we have; our life together."

Mac grabbed Horatio's hand and squeezed it gently.

"I'm not going anywhere and neither is our baby." He said, "And what we have together will last forever."

"How can you know that?" Horatio asked quietly.

"I can't. But I can believe in it." Mac smiled.

Horatio lifted his head up and looked at his younger lover. The terror he had felt when he had heard that Mac had been shot was indescribable. He couldn't find the words to describe what it had felt like. How relieved, yet still scared, he had felt when he had seen his lover in the hospital bed. How much it hurt him to see Mac in pain every time his shoulder hurt.

"I came so close to losing you." Horatio said, "I don't ever want to feel that way again."

"You won't. I won't let it happen again." Mac said.

He pulled Horatio in for a soft kiss and felt tears run down his lover's cheeks. Horatio rarely cried, but after days of keeping his emotions in check he needed to let it go.

Horatio rested his head on Mac's good shoulder again and let his tears fall. Mac continued holding his hand and they sat there for a while; just enjoying the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

"I will do everything I can to help you until you're better again." Horatio said.

"I like that. But Horatio listen… you, you have to let Danny help too." Mac said.

Horatio sat up more straight and looked at Mac. In Horatio's mind it was his job as the lover to help Mac. It was up to him to make sure Mac was well taken care of and he was going to continue making sure of that.

"But I'm helping you." He said.

"Yeah, but you need to rest too. You are certainly not in any condition to be working yourself half to death." Mac said and put a hand over Horatio's belly, "You have to think of the little one in here."

"I know." Horatio sighed.

The two men rested their foreheads against each other. The baby kicked and Mac smiled.

"Yes, we're talking about you." He said and bent down to give the belly a kiss.

"It's not that I don't trust Danny, because I do… but…"

"But you want to help all the time." Mac said, "I'm the same, right? Always worrying about you and definitely pampering you since you've become pregnant."

Horatio smiled and nodded.

"But you're worse than me. You don't rest, you barely eat and don't even get me started on the way it's affecting your mood." Mac said and Horatio chuckled, "I know that you have mood swings because of the pregnancy hormones, but you are barely able to keep yourself together anymore."

"Have I been really horrible?" Horatio asked with a small smile.

Mac chuckled and shook his head no. Sure, Horatio had probably shocked Danny with his sudden mood swings, but then again Danny understood why so he wasn't scared or angry when Horatio snapped at him. If anything, Danny wanted to help his redheaded friend.

"You need to take a break and let Danny handle things sometimes. He is also here to help; both of us." Mac smiled.

"I will let him help from now on." Horatio smiled and gave Mac a kiss.

-I-

After a lot of persuasion Horatio had finally agreed to get out of the house and do something by himself. So while Horatio was away taking a break Danny helped out with the dishes and putting new bandages over Mac's wounds.

"I think Horatio is more stubborn than you." Danny grinned, "I've never seen anyone drive you so… frustrated when you know you're about to lose an argument."

Mac rolled his eyes. Horatio truly was the only man whom could stand against Mac's stubbornness.

"Yeah, well it goes the other way too." Mac said, "We're both just as stubborn."

"I'm guessing he wins most of the time though." Danny teased.

"Well, he does now. How can I say no to my pregnant lover?" Mac huffed playfully.

Danny grinned and put the new bandages over Mac's wounds. Mac winced and felt that it was time for a new pain-pill; it had been a few hours since he last took one. The pill made Mac drowsy and while he took a nap, Danny decided to do the older men's laundry and clean the kitchen. It wasn't messy but sometimes he got the need to clean. It was his little secret, because he knew that if the others found out they would tease him for wanting to clean by his own free will.

It was almost afternoon when the front door opened, Danny looked up from the book he was reading and went out in the hallway and he smirked when Horatio walked in with several shopping bags and a huge grin.

"I went shopping a little." He said timidly.

"A little?" Danny asked.

Horatio shrugged happily and Danny helped him take it all to the living room. He peeked inside the bags and saw that Horatio had bought new kitchen utensils, paternity clothes (which were just like maternity clothes but for men instead of women), baby clothes, baby toys and some movies for himself and Mac.

"Did you use up all your money?" Danny asked.

"Not all of it." Horatio grinned innocently.

Danny laughed and then he and Horatio made some late lunch. Horatio wanted to show Mac everything he had bought when the other man woke up. Mac woke up just as the redhead and the young New Yorker had finished their lunch. He eyed all the shopping bags and then looked at his grinning lover.

"You got a shopping-frenzy didn't you?" He smiled.

"Maybe a little." Horatio shrugged and started rummaging through the bags.

Danny had to admit that Horatio had good taste in clothes and that some of the paternity clothes looked way cooler than his own.

"Why do you pregnant men get such cool clothes?" He asked.

"Because we are better than you others and therefore deserve better clothes." Horatio joked.

After the paternity clothes and the kitchen utensils it was time to look at all the things Horatio had bought for his and Mac's baby. There were both girl and boy clothes and toys in the bags.

"What do you do with all the boy stuff if the baby is a girl?" Danny asked.

"Keep them for the next baby or sell them." Mac said.

Horatio stopped dead in his tracks.

"Next baby?" He asked.

"Uh-oh." Danny grinned, "Run Mac."

"Next baby?" Horatio asked again, "Can you wait a few years before you start going on about the next baby or at least until this baby is born?"

Mac smiled and gave Horatio a kiss to apologize. Horatio smiled and went back to showing his lover and friend all the shopping items. When he was done he was already tired and slumped down on the couch. Danny sat in the recliner and Mac sat down next to his redheaded lover. He put his hand on the belly again and felt the baby kick.

"Can I feel?" Danny asked.

"Sure, come on." Horatio said and Danny got up from the recliner chair and sat down on the other side next to Horatio.

Danny had never felt a baby kick in the belly before and the feeling of it was actually quite cool.

"You're having an active little bundle of joy." He said and got back to the recliner chair.

"Oh, tell me about it." Horatio sighed.

Both Danny and Mac could see that the redhead was tired and ordered him off to bed. They knew that he was having trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep in and therefore didn't sleep very long or often. That's why they also felt that it was important for Horatio to rest and take naps; he needed his energy.

-I-

Later that night after some dinner and a lot of talking and just hanging out with each other and Ryan (whom had come by for a visit), Mac had been sent off to bed after looking like he was going to fall asleep as they all talked. An hour later, Ryan had gone home and Danny and Horatio had felt it was time to get some sleep too.

Horatio found his lover in bed, snuggling with his pillow and with Elvis sleeping behind his back. Horatio scratched Elvis's head and the cat grabbed his hand with his claws and started biting him (something the cat thought of as fun).

"Ouch! You little imp!" Horatio hissed and picked his cat up.

Elvis purred and Horatio kissed his head before putting him down on the floor. Elvis seemed to understand that this was his master's way of telling him to get out, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He glared at Horatio before he walked out of the room.

Horatio got undressed and lied down behind his lover, careful not to touch his injured shoulder. Mac yawned and shifted to the other side (as much as he could with his injured shoulder) so he was facing the redhead. He kissed him and pulled Horatio's head closer to deepen the kiss. Horatio felt his lover's erection press against his thigh and when they parted he looked down under the sheet; he felt a rush of arousal go through his body at the sight of his lover's erect manhood.

"Mac, are you sure?" Horatio asked and looked back at his lover.

"Please, I need to feel the release." Mac whispered.

Horatio smiled gave him a quick kiss before he wrapped his hand around Mac's throbbing length. Mac gasped and closed his eyes; he rested his forehead against Horatio's.

Horatio started stroking faster; wanting to bring his lover to climax because he knew that Mac needed it.

"Uh, H." Mac moaned softly.

Mac to bite his lower lip to keep from making too much sounds and let Danny know what was going on. Horatio tightened his grip around Mac's erection and smirked when he gasped. He started kissing Mac's neck and gently nip at his earlobe; sending shivers of pleasure through Mac's body.

"Horatio!" Mac gasped.

"Cum for me, love." Horatio whispered.

He slid down a little so he could envelope Mac's nipples with his mouth. Mac arched his hips and then rolled over to lie on his back. Horatio sat up next to him and continued teasing him. His tongue swept over his nipples and his hand stroked his hard member.

"Oh, god!" Mac gasped.

Horatio slid further down Mac's body and soon enveloped Mac's length with his mouth. Mac grabbed a fistful of Horatio's red hair and tried his best not to thrust into his lover's mouth. Horatio pinned Mac's hips to the bed when it was clear that the younger man was unable not to thrust. Horatio sucked on the head of Mac's member and let his teeth gently nip at the sensitive skin.

Mac's body tensed and he held his breath as he felt pleasure rush through his entire body. He moaned and came. His body stayed tense until he came down from cloud nine. He slumped down on the bed and pulled Horatio up for a kiss.

"Thank you, love." Mac smiled.

"Anytime." Horatio grinned and gave Mac one last kiss before they snuggled close and fell asleep.

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