A/N: Who wants a chapter of cute MaDi-ness? You do? Then keep on reading, my MaDi-loving friend ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 27

Mac turned the next page in her text book and stifled a yawn. It wasn't a boring subject at all, in fact she was quite enjoying it. Unfortunately, just getting out of bed seemed to make her tired right now. It was hardly surprising since she was just over eight months pregnant at this point, and more than twice the size she had been just a few weeks ago. It was exhausting just to function some days, and Mac would be glad when she no longer felt like a ginormous marshmallow woman.

The plan had been to go to college as long as possible, but after the Holidays had gone by, Mac found it impossible to return to Hearst. The very idea of schlepping into classes almost every day was just too much to bear. Her back was starting to ache regularly, carrying books would do her no good, and though she was hardly one to fuss too much about her looks, Mac knew it'd take a miracle to make herself look reasonable first thing in the morning.

Between the greasy hair and dodgy skin that seemed to go hand in hand with looking like a beached whale, Mac wasn't totally sold on the idea of a whole bunch of people seeing her. The pointing and staring had got pretty old before these were ever problems, and so she stayed home. She still studied as much as she could, caught what lectures and seminars she could via Skype, and tried to keep up with assignments. It wasn't the same, not quite the college experience she had in mind when she first went to Hearst, but that was okay.

Mac had adjusted pretty well to the concept of how her life would be now, and far from trying to convince herself it would be just okay, she was now quite happy with it all. She and Dick had made a real connection. She knew a lot of people still couldn't wrap their head around the idea of them being together, but Mac had never loved anyone like this or felt as loved as she did by Dick Casablancas.

It was still strange to think about sometimes, how far the two of them had come. To think their only real connection before this was a boy they both loved and yet now were forced to hate in part for all he had done in the world, and for how he had come to leave it.

If nothing else, Mac would always have to love Cassidy for bringing her and Dick together. It made sense to look at it that way, that she had to be with him and suffer all she had as Beaver's girlfriend, to get what was looking like some kind of happy ending with his brother. She and Dick needed to go through their hard times and tragedies to grow as people and get to this point where they were okay with being parents and ready to make a commitment to each other.

Heaving herself up off the couch, Mac dumped her text book on the coffee table and all but waddled across the living room to the hallway. One side was the bedroom she and Dick shared, and the other across the hall was a little work in progress. With a smile, Mac opened the door and peeked inside. It was really coming together, her little project. Dick kept on telling her to let him do the decorating and all, especially since the Doctor told them Mac really should be taking it easy more often, but she couldn't help herself.

Veronica had gone all Psych 101 and called it nest building, at which Mac had stuck out her tongue in a childish manner and fast-shuffled her friend into helping her pick out colours for the walls, and posters to go up there too. It was looking good, pretty neutral in shades and decor on purpose, since Mac and Dick had opted not to know the gender of their baby until he or she popped out into the world. A few short weeks and that child would be here, ready to sleep in this room, in this crib that Dick and Mac had put together on one hilarious Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Who knew a flat-pack piece of furniture and its strange Swedish instructions could be so complicated and so funny?

Mac looked around the room and sighed. She saw in her minds eye how things might be with her and a little girl or maybe a little boy. There was plenty of room on the floor to set up a train-set or a big dolls house. There were shelves to be filled with books or board games or both, as their child grew up.

"I'm gonna be a Mom" said Mac to herself, the realisation hitting her in a different way than it ever had before as she stood there now.

"No, you're gonna be the best Mom" she heard behind her, and turned around with tears in her eyes to see Dick stood in the doorway.

She found a watery smile as he came in and hugged her. Mac might have appreciated the gesture more if they could get close than two feet apart, and if Dick didn't appear to be covered in dust. She made a face as she pulled out of his arms, wiping her hand across his yellow T-shiort that was grubby in places.

"Yeah, apparently moving furniture around gets you totally dirty" her boyfriend sighed, "and not even in the fun way"

"Why were you moving furniture again?" asked Mac, "Given the zip code they moved into, I kinda figured Logan would have people employed to do that kind of thing"

"I kinda hoped so too" he confirmed as she turned in his arms to look back into the room she had been enjoying before he came in, "Turns out Ronnie has got way into the whole 'let's do it the poor way' thing" he complained, "She has Logan, like, putting up shelves and everything"

"We put up our own shelves too" Mac noted as she leaned back into his embrace, his arms wrapped around her body and resting across her pregnant belly, his chin on her shoulder.

"Babe, that's like a totally different thing" he told her definitely, "First off, I don't want our kid being spoiled like me, 'cause I want him or her to be all cool and stuff, like you" he explained, "and second... well, Logan's just always had servants and stuff. Veronica's making him all, like, normal and everything. The guy lived in a hotel for two years, he's used to having everything done for him. It's gotta come hard, y'know?"

"Maybe" Mac considered, "or maybe it'll be good for Logan, to live like the rest of us do? Maybe it'll help him and Veronica connect on another level and make their relationship stronger" she said thoughtfully, "That has to be a good thing"

Dick couldn't argue with that, first because it made total sense, and second because it was something Mac had said. She was so smart, pretty much all of the time. He didn't try to find fault with things she said or did because he trusted it was for the best, no matter what. Sure, he had his own opinions, he wasn't completely whipped or anything, but Mac just knew more stuff than him about the things that mattered, and that was cool with Dick.

"Gotta say, whatever Ronnie and Logan are doing, they're doing it right" he said eventually, "I never seen the two of them smile so much, it's crazy"

"That is a very good thing" said Mac with a smile of her own as she turned in Dick's arms and planted a kiss on his lips, "I should get back to my studying" she said then with a sigh as she moved to go past him.

Dick grabbed hold of her arm and kept her from leaving.

"Uh-uh" he argued, "No more studying right now" he told her definitely as he pulled her close as he could get her once again, "You look tired Macky Mac" he said, tapping the end of her nose with his finger, "And the Doc said you have to rest more, so leave the stupid books alone, 'kay?"

Mac sighed heavily like she was entirely annoyed by his interference. The truth was she kind of loved how much he cared about her. Dick really was growing up and everybody told her it was all her doing. Mac knew better than to think she was the singular reason for the changes in her boyfriend's nature. Her, the baby, and before that his brother's death, his fathers imprisonment, it all made a difference. Every person, young and old, changed over time, in ways that were noticeable, and other ways that weren't so much. Right now, Dick was everything Mac ever wanted, and somehow she had become just the same for him.

"How about we try a different book that we can both enjoy?" she suggested, one eyebrow raised.

It was mean, she knew, to get Dick's hopes up. He was thinking along the lines of the Karma Sutra or similar, she was sure, despite the fact they didn't own it, and she would fail miserably at anything in it in her current state. Slipping from his grasp, she removed the grin from his face with one of her own as she returned a moment later with the last book he had been expecting.

"Dude, seriously?" said Dick, looking down with distaste at the A-Z of Baby Names held in her hands.

"Dude, seriously!" she echoed in a different tone, grabbing onto his hand and leading him out into the hall, "Shower, change, then we pick baby names" she ordered, all with a smile on her face, "I am not having this baby be born, whether it's a boy or a girl, with no idea what to call him or her" she said determinedly, "We have to pick a name - today"

With a sigh, Dick gave in and went to do as she asked. She had a point, of course, they really should have some clue what to call their child when he or she came along, but honestly, he still couldn't quite imagine even having a baby. Dick was all over Mac being pregnant. It didn't bother him that she was fat, because it wasn't like the gross kind of fat like chicks that ate too many burgers or whatever. Mac was beautiful, even now she had expanded a whole lot with the baby inside of her, and before long she'd be back to her regular shape and they'd have a kid. That last part was what kept making Dick think harder than his brain was really comfortable with.

Dick Casablancas was a lot of things, he was a student, a surfer, a jackass sometimes, a pretty good boyfriend, he reckoned, but a father, that was a whole other ballgame. It wasn't exactly clear to Dick how to be a really good Dad. His own father was no role model, and those of his friends were as bad and worse. Aaron Echolls, Jake Kane, these were not good fathers. There was Sam Mackenzie to look to for advice, he seemed pretty cool, and Dick actually had Keith Mars in mind for another role model. Sure, Ronnie could be bitchy and all, but she came through a whole lot of crap in one piece, and she had said herself her Dad had a lot to do with that.

"You gonna be in that shower all day, Dick?" Mac called to him, making the guy himself realise he had been standing under the spray a very long time, not even focusing.

A half hour later, after Dick got dried off, dressed, and fixed his hair the way he felt it absolutely must be done, he sat down on the couch with Mac and the baby name book.

"Dude, this is gonna be impossible" he exclaimed, "This book has like a gazillion pages, how are you supposed to pick just one name?"

"I wish I knew" she sighed as she looked over his shoulder, "Maybe we don't start with the book. I mean, maybe it's better to pick out names we like and then look up what they mean or variations to see if we like them better" she considered, not really sure herself how best to go about this.

Naming their child was a big deal, it was always supposed to be. Whatever name they gave to their baby would be with them their whole life. Mac never did appreciate her own first name, which was why no-one but her family ever called her Cindy. Clearly Dick was named Richard after his father and probably would not want to carry on that tradition given his awkward relationship with Daddy Dearest.

"I can tell you what names I don't like" said Dick thoughtfully, "No kid of mine is being called Madison, Betina, or Bonnie. Exes are so out!" he said emphatically, an explanation of why those names were no good.

"Agreed" Mac nodded once, "No Max, Bronson, or... or anything like that" she faltered when she realised the only other name she had to say was Cassidy, and they both already knew that was a no go, "What was your Mom's name again?" she checked, realising she couldn't recall.

"Sadie" Dick reminded her, "but we're not going down that route either... unless, y'know, you really want to name this baby after your folks?" he checked.

There seemed no question that she meant the Mackenzie. Though they discussed the switching at birth thing a while ago, it had kind of been put away in a box since then and allowed to fade away. Dick knew the truth of Mac's birth, and there were no big secrets between them anymore, but Sam and Natalie were still her parents as far as both of them were concerned. This kid would be their grandchild, no doubts about that, but naming said child after one of them didn't sit right with Mac somehow.

"I think we should go for a unique name, that nobody close to us has already has" she considered, "It's important for a kid to be an individual, y'know?"

"Totally" Dick nodded his agreement, "So... hang on a second" he frowned, looking down at Mac where she was tucked under his arm, "Are we going for Mackenzie-Casablancas, or Casablancas-Mackenzie?" he checked.

His girlfriend looked awkward a moment. She had thought about this, because she knew eventually it would come up as a relevant point. This was her baby but it was Dick's child just the same. It did make sense for their son or daughter to have both their names in a lot of ways, and yet she couldn't help thinking that was an awful lot of name to saddle a baby with.

"Well" she said at length, not even looking at him as she spoke, "I just thought we'd go with Casablanacas" she shrugged, glancing up to meet his eyes then, "You're not going anywhere, right?" she checked.

Dick couldn't help the grin that spread across his lips then. He never thought he could be happy about any kind of commitment. Sure, he married a chick once, but that was a total mistake. Mac wasn't exactly asking him to be a husband right now, but she clearly wanted him to stick around, and he couldn't explain how much he wanted that too. From a family of freaks and misfits, Dick had finally found a place of his own in the world, and that was here with Mac and their unborn baby.

"Babe, you are so stuck with me for a long, long time" he told her, kissing her long and hard on the lips til Mac could barely breathe.

"Good to know" she sighed right after, with a smile that wouldn't shift.

That kiss made her head go a little hazy, but Dick's declaration to be by her side, pretty much forever, that was what really had her mind scrambled. She hoped it would be true, but Dick never really said it out loud that way until now. It gave Mac a warm glow inside that she hadn't entirely expected, and that she hoped never went away ever again.

"So, we got a last name for this kid" said Dick thoughtfully, "Still no first names"

"Start from A?" offered Mac as an option, since she was fast running out of any other plans.

With a heavy sigh, Dick opened up the book of baby names and began reading aloud all those he could actually pronounce, which was about half. It was going to be a long afternoon, but that was okay. Sitting here comfortably together, everything was just fine as far as Mac was concerned. She could stay here forever, just like this.

To Be Continued...