Baby Jitters || Mac/Stella

Don was in the room with Jamie preparing for work himself. He put his phone on his shoulder as he fixed his hair. "Sure, that sounds good, Stella. Jamie and I are about to head out ourselves. We'll see u guys soon." he said.

Mac raced through the essentials as he always did in the mornings. Shampoo, conditioner, the whole nine yards and .... Really, that's not something that needs spelled out. After that and a quick brushing of his teeth, he dressed and then headed downstairs to join Stella.

Stella heard Mac's footsteps and smiled. "Mm, perfect timing, Mac. Don and Jamie are still at home but they're about to head out themselves. Here's your coffee. That the same shampoo u used to use when u were with Claire?" she asked.

Mac smiled, not needing to hear the offer of coffee twice. Since she, of course, made him feel like blushing, he his shyly behind a sip of coffee and a nod. "Yeah," he told her, knowing he hasn't quote managed to hide his shy smile as he shot a look at her in almost accusing manner for making him act so shy.

Stella sat down at the table and nodded. "It's a nice scent. Very attractive. Sweet. It's only fitting, right? U using it?" she asked, sipping at her coffee.

Mac gave her a glare over the rim of his cup, nearly choking when he laughed at how she carried on. He recovered well enough though. "Congrats. You've successfully made your morning goal of making me blush at least once," he told her, shooting another look at her.

Stella put her cup of coffee down and walked over to Mac, wrapping her arms around him and smiling. "If I'm a betting woman, you're gonna try your damnedest to try and make me blush today, aren't u, Taylor?" she asked.

Don grabbed the car keys and he and Jamie headed to the Crime Lab. "Jamie, babe, u ready to go?" he asked. Jamie nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm ready to go. Let's get this over with shall we?" she said jokingly.

Mac smiled and set his own cup on the kitchen counter behind him. "Mmmhhmm. You know I'll try my damned old best," he told her, resting a hand gently on each of her arms. "What man would I be if I didn't?"

Mac Taylor, what a charmer. Stella chuckled and looked at Mac's beautiful blue eyes. "What kind of a man would u be if u didn't make me blush? Hmmm let's see. I can think of a couple of things u could be. But only one comes to mind. A boring one." she joked, playfully punching Mac on the arm.

Mac grinned, laughing as she punched him before playfully shooting a look at her. "Boring? Me?" he asked, a mischievous smile playing across his features as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Then you must be the lucky lady that goes out with the charismatic, badass, stunning cop, yes? What'd you say his name was again?"

Stella chuckled even more at Mac's last question. "Well, u see, that's what I'm trying to figure out, my dear. Not sure if you've heard of him but he's head of the New York Crime Lab, and he was a Recon Marine. Mac Taylor. U heard of him?" she asked.

"Mac Taylor, you say?" Mac drawled, leaning against the counter now as he theatrically took on the thinking pose and looked at her as if looking over rims of old glasses. "Say... I think I might have... Lucky lady to be with him, indeed. Can't say I've ever run into him though... Or... Have I?" he asked, now frowning and resting his hands back against the counter as he put on a look of deep reflection and thought, although the corners of his lips were tilted up in a knowing smile.

Stella didn't say anything for about a minute or so as she watched Mac ponder over who she was talking about, as if he didn't know who she was referring to. Of course he did. "Very lucky indeed, Detective. A lucky man to have a great woman like myself. U see, Detective, there's no need to be jealous. Mac's a very understanding man and he never gets jealous." she said with a bit of a laugh. She then went over to where Mac was standing and placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him, not aware that they said they would leave to meet Don and Jamie ten minutes ago. "I love u, Mac. If I haven't said it yet today, I want u to know that I love u." she added.

Yes, of course, he knew. Finally, he just flat out smiled when she walked over to him, not hesitating at all to kiss her back. "I'm a lucky man indeed," he said, unable to resist running a hand through her curls, "And I love you too, Stella." And yes, if you were wondering, he wasn't tracking the time. Why would he?

Don and Jamie had arrived at the Crime Lab Conference Room and Don shot Mac a text. "Mac, we're all here, we're just waiting on u and Stella." he said.

Mac was almost dissapointrd when he heard his phone. That was until he saw Don's text and realized they were being waited for. "We're late," he said looking back at Stella, "They're waiting for us."

Stella looked at her watch, not realizing that they had stalled the team. "Oh my, we better get going then, Mac. I'll drive." she said.

Mac smiled guiltily, "Yeah, alright. They'll be wondering what happened to us," he said, handing her the keys to the truck.

Stella laughed as she took the keys from Mac and they both made their way to the Avalanche and headed to the lab. "Don, we're on our way, sorry for being late, Mac and I were too caught up in our personal lives. I know, that's a lame excuse, but don't worry, we're coming." she texted.

Mac had to smirk as he listened to Stella explain to Don why they were late, unable to resist playfully elbowing her in the arm before jogging the rest of the way to the truck to avoid retaliation for the moment. With a boyish smile shot at her over his shoulder, he quickly took up position in the passenger seat for the ride to the lab.

Don pulled out his phone and texted Stella back. "Hey, no worries, Stell, we'll see u when u get here." he said.

Stella nodded. "U bet, Don, we're about 5 minutes away. See u soon." she said.

Don nodded. "U got it, Stella." he texted back.

Mac looked over at Stella, unable to keep himself from smiling softly when he did. "Guess we should head on over, then?"