Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any of the cast or crew of DC, nor do I own the show. This is purely fictional and for entertainment purposes. However, I do own McKenzie and her story.

McKenzie was nervous as she got ready. She knew her dad was up to something, what exactly she wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, Jake took his 2-year-old daughter to the aquarium and watched as she was amazed at everything. Her favorites though, were the sea otters and the seals. After the aquarium, he took her to his mom's house where Aubree played with her two dogs, Maggie and Misty out in the yard.

"I'm going to try to get them back." He told his mom. "I can't let them go back."

"You shouldn't have in the first place a year and a half ago."

"I know, mom." He sighed. "I'm going to make everything right."

"That's good." His mom smiled pleased. "I always loved Mac. She's a good girl and is good for you. Not to mention, she gave me a beautiful granddaughter."

"I had something to do with that too."

They laughed and she pushed her son playfully.

"I'm just glad to see a smile back on your face." She said hugging me. "I've missed that."

"Yeah, the first thing to do is get my family back, get the business on track and rebuild my relationship with my family and friends." He told her.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." She said. "I will help you in any way that I can so you can get them to stay here."

"Mark is too."

"I know he's missed them almost as much as you." She said knowingly. "So, how are you planning to get Mac to stay?"

"I don't know." He shrugged looking at his daughter then back at his mom. "Her boyfriend's in town and from what Mark told me yesterday, he thinks the guy is not as good as Mac's making him out to be."

"Well when it's too good to be true, usually it is."

He nodded and got up to go play with his daughter.

McKenzie got ready and knew Zach had been there for half an hour. She was just scared of what her dad was talking to him about. She slipped on her shows and went into the livingroom.

"Ok, I'm ready." She told him with a smile. "What do you want to do today?"

"You look great." Zach said kissing her cheek. "Whatever you want to do."

"Well your flight's in 4 hours." She said looking at her wristwatch.

They said bye to her dad.

"Nice meeting you, sir." Zach said shaking his hand. "Maybe I'll see you again when you come to Colorado one day."

"Maybe." Mark said walking them out.

He watched his daughter and her boyfriend leave with a smile on his face.

"Yep, Jake…Operation Get Your Family Back is in go mode."

"I hate that I couldn't see Aubree before I left."

"We'll be back in Colorado next week."

He nodded. They spent the day together and he pulled up at her dad's a few hours later.

"So, what did my dad say to you?" McKenzie asked curiously.

"Just the fatherly talk." Zach said with a shrug. "You know...'Treat my daughter right, or I'll come after you' and that you should be back here and not in Colorado."

"Typical."

"He also said that whether I liked it or not that Jake would be in Aubree's life." He said shrugging it off. "That her parents should be together."

"What?" She asked upset. "He had no right…"

"He's your dad, M." He told her. "I would probably say that to my daughter's boyfriend….no, I don't think I would say they needed to be together just because they have a kid."

"Depends on the circumstances, I guess."

He nodded and they got out of the car.

"Well I love you." He said hugging her. "I've got to get my things from the hotel and head straight to the airport."

"Well call me when you make it back." She said kissing him. "Have a safe flight."

"Ok." He said kissing her again.

He left and McKenzie turned her attention to the house. She walked inside, slamming the door.

"What's wrong with you?" He dad asked looking up from his newspaper.

"What did you say to Zach earlier?" She asked pissed off.

"I gave him the fatherly talk." He said setting his newspaper down. "Like any dad would do."

"Did you tell him that Jake and I needed to be together because we have Aubree?"

"More or less, yes." He said with a nod.

"Why?" She asked sitting down on the couch.

"Because it's the truth…you two need to work out your issues and try to make it work for my Aubree's sake." He said. "She doesn't need to be in Colorado away from all of her family."

"What difference does it make if I'm in Colorado? Jake will be back in Alaska in a few months and he will be gone for months at a time." She said.

"Why are you being so damn difficult?" Her dad asked.

"You know why didn't you follow your own advice?" She asked standing up. "Why didn't you try to work it out with mom for the sake of me and Matthew?"

"I…"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She said getting up.

She went outside to the backyard and sat down. She was so mad now that she couldn't even see straight. When she came back, she feared seeing Jake. She had no idea that coming back, she would have to argue with her dad about him.

An hour later, the sliding glass door open and closed.

"Dad, said you two got into a fight." Her brother said sitting down beside her and offering her a beer. "What's going on?"

"Dad called you?"

"No, actually." He said opening his beer. "Chel is working and I came over to watch the game with dad."

"So, why aren't you in there watching it?"

"I wanted to come out and see what was wrong with my sister." He said. "So, what's up? Dad told me some of the story."

"Dad is so…" She said and stopped. "It just pisses me off that he's trying to give me relationship advice when he didn't take his own when it came to his own marriage."

"Believe it or not, Mac…but he did try to save his marriage with mom." He told me. "He wanted to make it work; it was mom who wanted to end it."

"What?"

"Mom just didn't want to be married to him anymore. She wanted a change."

"I didn't know that." She admitted. "Crap, now I have to apologize."

"You never liked doing that. You hate to say I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "It's just how is moving back here going to help anything?"

"What's so great about Colorado? What do you have there that you couldn't here?"

"I have a job there, Matt. I just can't pick up and leave."

"You did when you moved from here." He said. "You can get a nursing job here, so I don't even want to hear that crock of bull. The best place for you and Aubree is here. If this Zach guy really loves you, he would even tell you that."

She didn't respond.

"With that, I'm going to leave you to your thoughts. Knowing you, you're going to process it all anyways." He chuckled getting up. "I'm going inside to watch the game."

She just nodded.

30 minutes later, she went inside and her dad was making his famous chip dip.

"Dad, I didn't know about mom not wanting to be married anymore." She said. "I just wanted to say I'm…."

"Don't apologize." He said cutting her off. "It's alright."

She smiled and he hugged her.

"Now come in the livingroom and watch the game with us."

Jake realized that taking care of a 2 year was hard work. She wasn't potty trained yet and changing diapers were a mother. After throwing away about half a dozen, he finally got it right. He turned the t.v. on after feeding her some Spaghetti Os. He made a mental note to himself to never give her anything with spaghetti sauce until she was about 10. He cleaned her up and they went into the livingroom and he turned on the t.v. She crawled into his lap and rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"You sleepy?" He asked. "You've had a long day."

She drank some of her juice from her sippy cup and handed him the cup. His cell rang and he seen it was his brother.

"What's up, brotha?" He asked answering the phone.

"Not too much…watching the game over at Luke's…want to come by?"

"Naw, I can't…I have Aubree."

"By yourself?" Josh asked surprised. "Oh, man…how has that been?"

"Not bad." He said. "McKenzie will be here shortly."

"Well tomorrow we need to meet up and talk some business."

"Alright."

He hung up and seen that his daughter was asleep. He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Daddy loves you, Aubree."