"Daddy, I think my tug boat has a leak in it." Danny said, holding up the toy boat.

Mac put down his paper, and looked at the toy his son was holding out to him. He extended his hand, and Danny placed his bath toy in his father's hand, waiting for his judgment to pass.

"Hmm… I guess we'll have to take him to get it fixed." Mac said.

Danny grinned.

"You can be the boat fixing station, and when it's fixed you can put it back in the tub to see if it'll float." Danny said.

Mac smiled, putting down his paper and searching for his lighter. He didn't smoke anymore, but a lighter came in handy sometimes. Especially when there was a toy boat that needed fixing. He held the lighter under the boat, and melted the plastic enough that he could easily push the plastic around enough to cover the whole. Danny watched in fascination.

"Don't tell your mother that I used my lighter to fix this, okay Danny?" Mac said.

"Okay Daddy. Is it fixed?" He asked.

"I don't know… we'll have to give it a test run." Mac told him.

Danny moved to the back of the tub, smoothing the bubble away so they could see if it would float or sink. Mac squatted down by the edge of the tub and put the boat in, both his eyes and Danny's eyes fixed on the blue toy bobbing up and down in the water. Danny bit his lip and crossed his fingers, a characteristic he got from his mother.

"You fixed it Daddy! Thank you!" Danny laughed.

Mac smiled at the boy.

"You're welcome. Now dunk your head under the water and we'll give it a quick wash with shampoo." Mac said.

"But Daddy I'm not even all wrinkly yet! Just a little bit longer?" He pleaded.

"Danny, you've been in here for almost half an hour, and Mommy still has to give Aiden a bath. You know how long girls take in the bathroom and Aiden has to go to bed in an hour." Mac told him.

Danny sighed, but did as he was told, requesting that Mac pass him the wash cloth to hold over his eyes so they didn't get soap in them. When Mac had thoroughly washed his hair, he got Danny to dunk again, and then they drained the water.

"Okay, stand up and I'll wrap you in this towel." Mac said.

Danny got up carefully, letting himself be wrapped into a big fuzzy towel. He had gotten it for his birthday from Gampa Sid. Mac rubbed him down gently, then picked him up and carried him over to the counter, sitting him down.

"Can't go to bed with wet hair, Daddy." Danny said.

"That's right. You'll catch a cold if you do."

Danny watched Mac plug the hair dryer in, then put in on its lowest setting, picking up a brush. Danny closed his eyes, letting the warm hair blow onto his face and hair. He couldn't help but smile. Using the blow dryer right after you got out of the bath just made him start to feel warmer.

"You've got some pile of hair on your head, baby boy." Mac smiled.

"Yup. Mommy says that the hair fairy is taking the hair from your head and putting it onto mine." Danny smiled.

Mac, tongue in cheek, held back a bark of laughter. Stella always teased him about becoming bald… something he was far from becoming, but his hair didn't grow as long, or as fast as it used to.

"There you go. Let's go get you dressed into your jammy's." Mac said.

He carried Danny into his bedroom, helping him change into his New York Yankees PJ's. Danny smiled at him, running his hands through his dry hair. He didn't like the way Mac brushed it, making it all neat and tidy. He made it stick up on end, and got a disapproving look from his father.

"What? It's gonna end up like this in the morning anyways… I'm just helping it along." Danny said.

Mac smiled.

"Go say goodnight to your mother and Aiden." Mac instructed.

Danny ran out into the hall, bumping into Stella's protruding belly.

"Danny, be careful now, okay?" She said sweetly.

"Sorry, Mommy. Did I hurt the baby?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so. She's one tough cookie." Stella told him.

Danny nodded. He reached his hands up to her, and she bent down to give him a hug and a kiss.

"Good night, Danny." She whispered.

"G'night Mommy," Danny knocked on the bathroom door, "G'night Aiden!!" He yelled.

"Night Danny! Sleep tight!" she called back.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite!" Danny replied, laughing.

Stella smiled down at him, ruffling his hair.

"You'd better hurry before Daddy falls asleep in your bed like last time." Stella told him.

Danny nodded, and ran back into the bedroom, jumping up onto it and squirming into Mac's arms.

"Did you pick the book, Daddy?" He asked.

"I sure did. Do you want to try reading along this time?" He asked.

"I don't know… I don't know this one a good. I'll yell out the words that I know." Danny said with a nod.

"Mac smiled, wrapping his arm around the youngster. He was going to be a handful once he could read everything in sight… and Mac couldn't wait.

*

"He fall asleep?" Stella asked.

"Yup. Aiden?"

"Not yet, but she's well on her way. I called Sid, he said that Sheldon and Don were going to play one more round of Parcheesi with him and Darla then they were heading off to bed." Stella said, pulling Mac down and onto the couch.

Mac gladly went, wrapping his arms around her belly and giving her a gentle squeeze.

"What did Bea say?" Mac asked.

Bea was Stella's Pediatrician and long time friend. Stella sighed, resting her head on Mac's chest and closing her eyes.

"Well, we've got a bit of a surprise… don't know why we didn't see it before, but it could have been because we had a freaking newbie." Stella frowned.

Mac laughed, kissing her neck. Stella still had not gotten over the fact that a newbie doctor had been treating her during one of the most vital months during her pregnancy… I guess they just rubbed each other the wrong way.

"Seriously Stella, what did she say?" Mac whispered, "What's the surprise?"

"We're gonna need a bigger house for sure… I'm eating for three." Stella said.

Mac frowned… eating for… oh. Oh!

"Oh my God, twins?" Mac asked, shocked.

"Yup. A little girl and a little boy." Stella smiled.

Mac smiled, turning her face to he could give her a big kiss.

"This is wonderful! Twins… another boy. One closer to Danny's age, I'm sure he'll be thrilled." Mac smiled.

Stella laughed at the dreamy face Mac was wearing, slapping him gently on the arm. He shook his head and looked back at her, smiling again. She smiled back at him, and intertwined her fingers with his. Who would have thought they would be parents of seven kids? And living in a three-bedroom apartment in the heart of New York City?

"We're definitely going to have to get a bigger house." Mac murmured.

"Yup… I was thinking four bedrooms. We can put Don and Sheldon in their own room, Danny, Aiden and Lindsay can share a room, and then the twins in the other." Stella thought out loud.

"Why don't we get a five bedroom house? We can afford it, and there's a really nice one on Staten Island that I've been looking at for a while… I've talked to the couple living there too. They had eight kids, all of whom are grown up now." Mac told her.

"Mac, have you been keeping things from me?" Stella feigned anger and shock.

"Yeah, I guess I have. Sorry. Anyway I was thinking, if we've got five bedrooms we'd give Don his own room. He's almost a teenager now and he needs his own space. Then, Sheldon and Danny could share a room, Aiden and Lindsay could share a room, and the wins would share a room." Mac said.

"That would work… until the twins grew up enough and wanted their own rooms." Stella mused.

"Well, the basement is unfinished, we could make more bedrooms down there." Mac shrugged.

Stella turned and looked at him.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

Mac smiled and gave her a kiss.

"Of course I have. You didn't think I wouldn't think it through, did you?" He teased.

Stella laughed, closing her eyes again. She was getting tired, but it was rare that they got time alone together like this.

"Mommy?" someone cried.

Stella opened her eyes and looked over at Lindsay, who was hugging her stuffed rabbit tight, tear trails dirtying her face.

"C'mere baby doll. Come to Mommy and tell me what's wrong." Stella said, holding out her arms.

Mac let her go enough that she could pull Lindsay onto her lap… well, as well as she could, what with her huge belly. Mac could see she was struggling to hold her, so Mac took her in his arms and let her rest her head on Stella's chest.

"I had a bad dream." She sniffed.

"Aww, baby. Don't worry; it was just a bad dream. It's not real. Why don't you sit here with us for a while until you fall asleep, okay? Maybe Daddy will sing you a song." Stella said, running her hand through her hair.

Lindsay nodded, looking up at Mac, her eyes pleading. How could he resist?

*

"Dad, come on! If you're gonna help Mom with getting to the hospital, you've got to be quick to get all her stuff!" Aiden whined.

Mac lay on the floor, diaper bag and over night bag by his sides, clothes strewn across the floor.

"I can't Aid… I'm too tired. You've had me do this ten times already." Mac panted.

Aiden frowned and marched over to him, sitting on his chest with her arms crossed.

"You know the babies aren't going to wait for you. And who's gonna take care of us? You can't load us all in the car and take care of Mom at the same time." Aiden told him.

Mac sighed, smiling.

"I know, Aiden. Gampa Sid and Gamma Darla are going to come over and stay with you guys while Mom and I are at the hospital." Mac assured her.

Aiden sighed, lying down on top of him, resting her head on her arms and watching him.

"You've got baggies under your eyes." She told him.

Mac laughed, holding her close.

"I know. It's hard for me to get sleep, what with Lindsay's nightmares, Danny waking up at odd hours and your mom thinking the babies are on their way." Mac yawned.

"You need to go to sleep, Dad. Why don't you call Gamma Darla? She'll take care of us while you sleep for a bit?" Aiden suggested.

Mac thought about it. When did his daughter get to be so smart? He should have thought about that hours ago… he really was going to drop dead on his feet if he didn't go to sleep. Stella was out right now with Jane Parsons buying baby clothes and looking at the house Mac had told her about.

"Great idea, honey. Let me up and I'll do just that." Mac said.

Aiden got off of him and helped him up, watching him stumble into the kitchen to make a phone call. She grinned and laughed. He looked like a zombie.

*

"Thanks again, Darla. I really need to sleep." Mac yawned, letting her into the apartment.

"Nonsense, Mac. You know I'd do anything for you, Stella and the kids. Don and Sheldon are still with Sid, so maybe I'll get them to sit and watch a movie… something to keep them quiet." Darla said, patting him on the hand.

Mac smiled.

"That would be wonderful. I'm gonna go lie down. Thanks again." He said.

He walked off into his bedroom, and flopped down onto the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. He eyes closed and before he knew it, he was sleeping soundly… that was until he felt little fingers poking at his side.

Mac opened his eyes, seeing a pair of eyes looking at him from over the mattress. A tuft of golden brown hair told him who it was, even if the glasses and eyes didn't.

"Danny." He croaked.

"I didn't mean to wake you, Daddy… Gamma Darla is watching some girly movie with Lindsay and Aiden, and I thought I'd come and see if I could hang out with you." He whispered.

Mac smiled, and moved over in the big bed, helping him up and into it.

"Under the covers, Daddy. You don't want to catch a cold now." Danny instructed him.

Mac smiled, but did as he was told, pulling him close to his side.

"Tired, baby boy?" He said.

"Yuhuh. I've had a bust day." Danny yawned.

Mac smiled, removing his glasses and placing them on the bedside table. Danny smiled back at him, using his chest as his pillow. He snuggled in as close as he could, and Mac knew that he would be asleep within minutes. He let his fingers play though his hair, before he too was pulled off into a slumber the sleeping beauty would have been envious of.

~T.B.C.~