Disclaimer: I do not own any of the cast nor do I own any of the crew of DC, nor do I own the show. This is purely fictional and for entertainment purposes. However, I do own the original character.

3 weeks into Jake being gone, she had managed to move all of her things into Jake's. She got a job at the hospital in Seattle, the same one her dad was admitted to months earlier.

"Ok, sis…Aubree's good to go." Matt said after converting her crib into a toddler bed.

"Thanks, Matt…I owe you."

"Don't worry about it." He said getting up off the floor. "I promised to help you anyway I can while Jake's gone."

They walked into the kitchen and Mac grabbed 2 beers out of the fridge and handed her brother one.

"Way off of topic…but when are you going to crack and propose to Chelsea?"

Matt nearly choked on his beer.

"What?" He asked wild-eyed.

"Oh come on, Matt." McKenzie said. "You two have been together for 6 years and you never once thought about proposing."

"I've thought about it."

"Well?"

"I'm not ready, Mac." He said. "I'm just not ready for the whole being a husband and then being a dad deal."

"You're great with Aubree."

"That's different." He said taking a swig of his beer. "Besides I like how things are between Chel and me. She's cool with it, I'm cool with it."

"What happens when she gets tired of being "cool with it"?" I asked. "What happens when she decides that she's tired of being just a girlfriend?"

"Has she said anything to you?" He asked getting nervous.

"No." McKenzie said putting her hand on her brother's shoulder. "This is just brother and sister talk."

He sighed a sign of relief.

"You know I love Chelsea."

"I know you do, Matt."

After her brother left, Mac's dad brought Aubree back.

"Daddy!" The toddler said excited looking around the house.

"Daddy is at work, Bree."

The little girl's lip started to tremble and McKenzie scooped her up in her arms.

"He'll be home soon." She told her daughter.

A few tears fell from the little girl's eyes and Mac wiped them away. Seeing how much her daughter missed Jake made her heart ache.

"Duke's missed you." She said trying to cheer her up. "Duke."

Duke came from the kitchen and looked up at her.

"My puppy!" Aubree yelled excited forgetting she was just sad.

McKenzie sat her daughter down and Aubree hugged Duke.

"Are you going to call Jake later?" Mark asked his daughter.

"Yeah, I wanna see how the season's been going and to wish him a Happy Birthday and to let Aubree talk to him."

McKenzie showed her daughter her new bed and told her she had a big girl bed. She cooked dinner and her and her daughter ate, she gave her daughter a bath and they went down to the living room and McKenzie picked up the phone and called the Northwestern's boat phone. She talked with Sig for a minute while he called Jake up to the wheelhouse.

"Happy Birthday, babe." She told her fiancé. "How's fishing going?"

"Thank you." He said happily. "Good, it's going good."

She could tell by the sound of his voice, he was glad he had a job but still missed his boat.

"How's Bree?" He asked on the other end.

"She's been missing her daddy. Matt came over earlier and converted her crib to the toddler bed."

"Does she like it?"

He had a small sadness in his voice. He wished he would be the one to do that but he knew he was doing the best thing he could for his two girls and that was being up on the Bering Sea making money.

"How's the new job?"

"3 days a week, 12 hours a day isn't bad." I told him. "I love it there though."

"I miss you guys." He told her.

"We miss you too, Jake."

The little girl heard her dad's name and immediately wanted to talk to him.

"I have a very determined little person wanting to talk to you."

"Ok." Jake chuckled. "Put her on."

"Talk to daddy." Mac told her daughter putting the phone up to daughter's ear.

Mac giggled softly as her daughter tried to have a conversation with her daddy. She knew that Jake made out some of what she was trying to say.

"Love yew." Aubree said handing the phone back.

"Dora's on so she got sidetracked."

Jake chuckled.

"Ok, babe…I've got to go back to work." He told her. "I love you and I'll be home soon."

"Ok, I love you too and have a good birthday."

"Will do."

McKenzie hung up and knew Jake went back on deck to haul some more pots. She let her daughter watch the rest of the show and put her to bed. She put up a safety gate at her daughter's door so she wouldn't get up during the night and try to walk down the stairs.

"Mommy will see you in the morning." She told her daughter putting on the night-light.

McKenzie went to her bedroom and lay down in bed. She heard Aubree talking to Duke and giggled before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

McKenzie woke up at 5 a.m., let Duke out of Aubree's room and the dog followed her downstairs. She opened the kitchen door so Duke could go outside for a minute. McKenzie put on a pot of coffee and when Duke came back inside, she closed and locked the door. She went upstairs and took a shower. She got out; blow dried her hair, applied her makeup and slipped on her scrubs. She went back downstairs to the kitchen and made her a cup of coffee. She ate some yogurt and went into the utility room and got out some of Aubree's clothes out of the dryer. She went up to her daughter's room and turned the light on. She fed her daughter some breakfast and let Duke out in the gated back yard and made sure he had food and water. She loaded up her daughter and headed to the daycare and headed to the hospital to start her 12 hour shift.