Chapter 17: Peekaboo

. . .

It was early in the morning when Mac returned home from his run. He walked quietly through the apartment and carefully opened the bedroom door, as he was sure that Jo was still asleep. Much to his surprise, she was already awake, dressed up and putting on her make-up.

''Hi.'' She greeted him with a smile, looking at him in the mirror.

''Hi.'' He answered. Then he checked his watch. It was 8.45. It was way to early for Jo to be awake on a Saturday. He glanced at her again and furrowed his eyebrows.

''What?'' She asked, as hand held the mascara wand in mid air.

''Umm... nothing.'' He murmured and looked down at the mail in his hand.

''I know what you're thinking!'' Jo told him with a laugh. ''You're wondering why I'm already up!''

''Yea... it did cross my mind.'' Mac answered with a smirk.

''Tyler will be here at 9.'' She explained. ''We're going out for breakfast and then I want him to meet the kids.''

''Right.'' Mac nodded. He watched how Jo finished painting her lashes and how she put her earrings on. Then she turned around and looked directly at him. He noticed that her bandaid was gone. Without thinking he gently brushed away her bangs and took a look at the cut.

''It's almost healed.'' He stated.

''I told you, it was nothing.'' She said and then looked down at the mail in his hand. ''Anything for me?''

''Yes... From the court.'' Mac confirmed and handed her a letter. ''I got the same. The judge wants us to come in for the meeting next week.'' He said as he watched how Jo opened her envelope hastily and quickly skimmed over the text. ''With the kids.'' He added and she looked up at him.

''Do you think he's gonna make the final decision?'' She asked.

''It's possible.'' He nodded. Her eyes dropped again and she read through the letter, more carefully this time. Then she sighed heavily and put it down on the chest of drawers. She didn't have to say anything; he knew exactly what she was thinking.

''I'm going to take a shower.'' Mac said after a moment, breaking the silence. ''Do you need anything from the bathroom?'' Even though she looked at him, it was obvious that she was still deep in her thoughts. She slowly shook her head. Mac nodded and entered the bathroom.

Jo couldn't stop thinking about what could happen if the judge decided that Lily and Rick should stay with the other couple. She couldn't even imagine them not being around anymore. Also the idea of making things as they were before seemed to be too unreal. Possible, but definitely unwanted.

She shook her head quickly, as she wanted to get rid of those thoughts. Then she glanced down, wanting to check the time, but her watch wasn't on her wrist. She slightly frowned, but then she remembered that she left it on the sink in the bathroom. She knocked on the door, but Mac was clearly in the shower as she could hear the water running. She sighed and hesitated, considering if she should go out without her watch. Then she thought that all she had to do was open the door and stretch her arm to grab it.

She placed her hand on the doorknob, but then she hesitated again. Finally, she rolled her eyes at herself and pushed the doorknob. She opened the door slowly and looked to her left in order to spot her watch. It was lying next to the sink on the counter. She couldn't reach it from where she was standing; – she needed to take at least two steps into the bathroom. She moved closer to the sink and grabbed her watch. When she turned around to leave the bathroom, she glanced fleetingly towards the shower, making sure that Mac didn't see her. She let out a relieved breath as she saw that there was so much steam in the cabin that he couldn't possibly have seen her. But she could see him. Only the outline of his body, but it was enough to make her freeze. She watched how he raised his hands and washed his hair. She could easily imagine how his muscles flexed with the slightest movement. She was aware that he was in shape, as she had already seen him without his shirt once or twice, but only now that she found herself wanting to see all of him. To take her sweet time while as she ran her hands over his well toned body and...

''Mooom?'' Ellie's voice coming from the bedroom violently brought her back to reality. She quickly exited the bathroom, closed the door behind her and slightly leaned against it for support. Ellie was standing in the middle of the bedroom and watching her carefully.

''Yes?'' Jo asked and forced a smile.

''Tyler's here...'' Ellie murmured. ''He woke me up.'' Then she frowned, as she heard the water running. ''Is... Mac inside?'' She asked.

''Yes.'' Jo nodded, hoping that her daughter wouldn't notice the blush that was inevitably creeping upon her cheeks. ''He's taking a shower.'' She added, trying to sound casual. Ellie arched an eyebrow at her mom, but she didn't manage to say anything as a high-pitched shriek suddenly pierced the air.

As they both rushed to the living room, they bumped into Lily, who was running and screaming. Jo quickly picked her up and she wrapped her arms around Jo's neck. Jo glanced towards the door where Tyler was standing with a confused look on his face.

''What did you do?'' She asked him.

''Nothing. She entered the living room, she saw me and started to scream.'' He explained.

''She probably got scared.'' Jo sighed. Then she looked down at Lily. ''Hey, baby... It's OK. That's my son, Tyler.'' Jo told her calmly. Lily risked a glance towards Tyler, but then she quickly hid her face in Jo's hair. ''And that's Rick.'' Jo added and nodded her head towards the boy who was standing in the doorway.

''Hi.'' Tyler said somewhat shyly, but Rick only frowned at him and moved closer to Jo.

Jo sat on the couch and placed Lily on her lap. She brushed her hair away and looked at her face.

''Don't be scared.'' She told her in a calming voice. ''He came here to meet you and take me out for breakfast.''

''Don't go.'' Lily asked in a quiet voice, snuggling herself up even closer against Jo.

''Oh, honey...'' Jo sighed. ''You're gonna stay with Ellie and Amy.''

''Amy?'' Lily asked and looked up at Jo.

''Yes. She'll be here in a couple of minutes. You're gonna be fine.'' She assured her. ''OK?''

''OK.'' Lily nodded and slipped from Jo's lap to the couch. As soon as she did Rick sat next to her and started to show her something in a book he was holding. Jo kissed his head and rose to her feet. Then she approached Tyler.

''Mom... are we going?'' He asked, clearly confused about what to do.

''Yes, yes, we are. I just need to wait for Amy. She texted me and said she'd be here any minute now.'' Jo said and before she even finished the sentence the intercom buzzed. ''Oh, that has to be her, for sure. Ellie, let her in, please.''

''Amy?'' Tyler asked, addressing his question both to Jo and Ellie.

''Yes, she's our nanny.'' Jo told him with a smile. She took her handbag and Tyler held her leather jacket for her. In no time there was a knock on the door.

''I'm really sorry, I didn't expect such a heavy traffic on a Saturday.'' Amy said after Ellie let her in.

''It's OK.'' Jo told her with a smile and stretched her arm to catch Lily, who was jumping around Amy, making everyone dizzy. ''You said you're free until 2 PM?''

''Yes, I have to go to the library to finish my paper. The deadline is tomorrow and...'' Amy started to explain, taking off her shoes and her jacket at the same time.

''No problem.'' Jo told her quickly. ''I'm not on call today, so I'll be back soon. I only wanted to meet with my son...''

In the exact moment when she uttered those words Tyler noticed how Amy couldn't reach the highest peg, which was the only one that was vacant. He took her jacket and hung it up for her. Amy got a little startled as she didn't know there was anyone standing behind the door. She turned around abruptly and almost bumped into him.

''Oh! I'm sorry!'' She exclaimed with surprise. Tyler looked at her and wanted to shake his head and tell her nothing happened, but somehow he couldn't find his voice. His hand, still holding Amy's jacket, was as if he was enchanted, hanging in the air mere inches away from the peg.

Jo looked at Amy, who was staring at Tyler with her eyes wide open, probably trying to figure out who he was and what he was doing in here. Then she glanced at Tyler, who was staring back at Amy with his brows furrowed. She waited a few more seconds and then she rolled her eyes.

''Amy, this is Tyler, my son.'' Jo explained.

''Oh... right...'' Amy said and smiled at him. ''Nice to meet you.''

He didn't really have a chance to answer when Lily finally became fed up with the lack of attention and freed herself from Jo's embrace. She caught Amy's hand and pulled her down.

''Amy! Amy! Amy!'' She chanted.

''Well, hello there, Lily!'' Amy answered with laughter.

''Let's play!'' Lily asked and pulled Amy towards the living room.

''Sure! What do you like to play?'' She asked, turning around slightly and sending Jo a smile over her shoulder. She noticed that Tyler finally hung her jacket and now was studying his shoes.

''OK, let's go.'' Jo said and opened the door, letting Tyler out. ''I'll be back soon!'' She added and kissed Ellie goodbye.

''Bye, mom.'' She answered and closed the door behind them.

Once in the elevator Jo smiled at Tyler and said, ''As you can see it can be really crazy at times.''

''That's your nanny?'' Tyler asked, ignoring her remark.

''Umm... yeah.'' Jo nodded with hesitation, wondering why he was suddenly so curious about Amy. Suddenly she frowned. ''Why? Do you know her?''

''No...'' Tyler shook his head and looked away as he saw his mom scanning him with her eyes.

''How's Alex doing?'' She asked after a moment with a little smirk playing on her lips.

''She's fine... I guess.'' Tyler said.

''You guess?''

''I haven't talked to her for a while. She's been in Florida for a month now.'' He said with a shrug of his shoulders. ''With her boyfriend.'' He added.

''Oh...'' Jo sighed and smiled sadly at her son.

. . .

Much to Mac's surprise, the day at work was much calmer than usual. Because of this, he managed to finish most of the paper work and decided to prepare a timetable with shifts for the next two weeks. While doing so, he suddenly remembered that they were supposed to go to Sheldon and Camille's wedding next weekend. He checked the schedule for Friday and noticed that every member of the team already asked for a day off, which left him no other choice, but to put Jo and himself on an afternoon shift. He knew Jo wouldn't be happy about it, but they could still take the night flight and make it to the wedding. As he thought about it, he decided to book the flight to Cincinnati. He picked the one after 11 pm, which would leave them plenty of time to finish the shift and drive to the airport. Now he only needed to remember to ask Jo to talk to Amy about staying with Lily, Rick, Ellie and Lucy, as Lindsay and Danny were going to the wedding as well. He frowned slightly, wondering if Amy would agree to babysit four kids at the same time. He thought that maybe it would be convenient to ask Tyler to help Amy with babysitting, since he was on summer holidays. He took his phone, wanting to call Jo and ask her to talk to Tyler about it, but before he dialed her number, Danny entered his office.

''Mac, we're done with the Backer's case. Piece of cake. Flack got a confession within 3 minutes.'' He said.

''Well done.'' Mac nodded his approval. ''So, you're free to go.''

''Oh, right! How about you? Any plans?'' Danny asked.

''I'm heading home as well.'' Mac told him and threw his phone into his pocket, deciding not to call Jo, but rather to just talk to her at home. Danny smiled at him, as he thought how his boss' life had changed. He barely stayed in the office after working hours now, leaving for home as soon as the work was done.

''Say 'hi' to Jo for me.'' He said. ''Bye, Mac.''

''Bye.''

After Danny left his office, Mac rose from his desk and grabbed his jacket. On his way to the elevator, he glanced towards the lab and saw Adam, who was still in there. He decided to tell him goodbye.

''No... you hang up...'' He heard Adam's playful voice as he entered the lab. ''No, baby, you...''

He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

''I'll call you back.'' Adam quickly said on the phone and turned around to face Mac. ''Umm... Hi, boss. I was just...''

''Go home, Adam.'' Mac told him with a smirk.

''Huh?''

''Ask your girlfriend out for a nice dinner instead of... being silly.''

''Umm... but I still have a half an hour 'till my shift's over.'' Adam noted with hesitation.

''I'm not going to repeat myself.'' Mac said in a serious tone.

''Right. Understood.'' Adam answered quickly and stood up abruptly, almost knocking the chair over. ''I'm already gone.'' He added. Mac turned around and headed for the door. ''Thanks, boss!'' Adam yelled after him.

. . .

The breakfast with Tyler took slightly longer than Jo had anticipated, as her son was unusually reluctant to share anything. He didn't want to talk about his personal life, nor about college. Since it was his final year, Jo wanted to know what his plans were for future education. A few months back, he was interested in going to law school, but now he didn't seem to be so sure about it anymore. She knew that Russ really supported this idea and already told all of his friends that their son would be a lawyer, which only made it harder for Tyler to change his mind.

After breakfast, Jo needed to go shopping for a dress for Sheldon and Camille's wedding. As she suspected, Tyler showed no interest in accompanying her, so she was forced to pick up a dress on her own. It wasn't as hard as she had thought, though, as she found the perfect one in the second shop she visited.

When she returned home, Amy was already leaving. Even though she was in a hurry she managed to slip in a few questions about Tyler. Jo smiled to herself at that. There was nothing new about it – she was very much aware that Tyler was a handsome young man and girls showed constant interest in him since he turned 10. Amy, of course, was doing her best not to be obvious about it, but it was pointless. Jo was unrivaled at reading people and she had caught the spark flying between them instantly. Despite Tyler's efforts not to show anything, she could easily tell that Amy had caught his attention as well. To be honest, Jo wasn't really surprised about it. She wouldn't label Amy as beautiful, but there was definitely something about her. She was rather petite, with big green eyes and a shock of auburn hair. She was slightly shy and rather adorable with her lack of confidence. Completely different than Tyler's roommate, Alex, the one he had had a crush on for the past few months. If she had to be honest with herself, she would like a girl like Amy for Tyler. Not to mention that she had already looked her up in every possible record before the girl had started to take care of Lily and Rick.

Breaking from the thoughts, Jo entered the kitchen and found Ellie there.

''Hey, what are you doing?'' She asked her.

''Making a banana cocktail with peanut butter and chocolate.'' Ellie answered.

''Nice...'' Jo smiled. She watched how Ellie cut two bananas into slices.

''Mom... What do you actually think about Mac?'' Ellie suddenly asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

''What do you mean?'' Jo asked, even though she knew exactly what she meant. She just wanted to stall for some time.

''Well... Do you find him attractive?'' Ellie asked bluntly.

''Umm... Why do you ask?'' Jo answered with a question.

''I was just thinking... It's obvious that you like him. And he likes you. A lot. So why aren't you together? As a couple?'' Ellie asked and sent her mom an unsure look. ''I mean, if you like his company and you do find him attractive, then... it's all that it takes, no?''

''All that what takes?'' Jo asked, raising her eyebrow at her daughter.

''To fall in love.'' Ellie simply answered. Jo stared at her for a moment and then she chuckled.

''Well, maybe when you're 16. It gets more complicated with time.'' She explained.

''Why?'' Ellie asked, placing two glasses on the counter and focusing all her attention on her mom.

In the meantime, Mac entered the apartment. He slowly took off his jacket and shoes. He could hear Jo and Ellie talking in the kitchen, but he decided to check on Lily and Rick before joining them. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Jo saying his name.

''Ellie, you can't be serious. Mac's my boss.'' She stated the obvious.

''So what?'' Ellie asked.

''I can't put myself in a relationship with him. It's asking for trouble.'' Jo said firmly.

Mac furrowed his eyebrows and quietly moved towards Rick's room. He found both kids were playing a board game. They greeted him joyfully and he had no choice but to join them for a game.

At the same time in the kitchen, Ellie was doing her best to make her mom realize how great it would be if she and Mac became a couple.

''I really think you're both made for each other.'' She told her mom. ''You always say how well you two get along at work.''

''Well, yes. But being in a relationship is something different, El.'' Jo sighed, getting slightly frustrated by this conversation.

''Couldn't you at least try?'' Ellie asked with unhidden hope.

''Ellie...'' Jo sighed. ''It's not that easy.'' She repeated. ''What if it won't work?''

''You won't know that until you try.'' Ellie remarked truthfully.

''Right. But I don't think we can risk it. What if we won't be able to stand each other after all?''

''Like you can't stand Tyler's dad?'' Ellie asked, catching up instantly.

''Yeah...'' Jo nodded. Then she became silent for a moment. Ellie watched her carefully. She was aware that even though so many years had passed since her mom's divorce, it was still too painful for her to discuss it. She hadn't been in a serious relationship since then and Ellie started to lose hope that she would ever be in one again. She wanted her mom to be happy; to have someone by her side and Mac seemed perfect for her. Also, she was quite sure that he was attracted to her mom already. But she also knew, taking into consideration how stubborn her mom was, that nothing would happen until she was truly ready.

''I guess I should start to prepare lunch.'' Jo said suddenly, pulling Ellie out from her thoughts.

''OK.'' Ellie sighed, understanding that the conversation was definitely over. Jo moved to the fridge and studied its contents for a second.

''Grilled salmon and salad? What do you think?'' She asked.

''Fine with me.'' Ellie said with the shrug of her shoulders.

''Maybe I'll ask the kids if they will like it.'' She said and closed the fridge. Then she left the kitchen.

When she entered the kids' room, she was quite surprised to see Mac there.

''Hey! I didn't know you're back from work already.'' She told him with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.

''Yup, I am.'' He nodded without looking at her, which made her frown.

''Did something happen?'' She asked with concern.

''No. Why?'' Mac asked.

''I don't know.'' Jo shrugged her shoulders. ''You're kinda...'' She started, but then he looked up at her and raised his eyebrow. ''...I don't know. Tired?'' She finished with a shy smile.

''Yea.''

''I'm making lunch – grilled salmon. Any objections?'' Jo asked, looking at the kids, but they shook their heads. ''Good. Anyone willing to help me?'' She asked. Lily glanced at Mac, who was looking at the floor.

''I can help.'' Rick said reluctantly and rose from the carpet.

''Thanks.'' Jo told him and patted his back. Before they left the room, she turned around and said, ''I'll call you when it's ready.''

''Fine.'' Mac murmured, still not looking at her.

. . .

A/N I know, I know... It took me forever to update. I'm terribly sorry for that, but I thought my summer would be dull and boring, yet all of sudden it became crazy. Isn't it always like this?

I'm also sorry that this chapter is rather... boring? But I needed to tie up some loose ends and prepare the ground for future events ;)

Many thanks to Jess ( csinyfan28) who again was fighting all my mistakes bravely!