Never Forget Pt. 01

"Oh hush and leave Mackenzie alone. It gets really hot out there, you don't want him to get sick do you?" she asked her husband.

"Oh course not dear," he said placating her fake anger and they all laughed again.

"He hasn't learned his lesson. He was walking around earlier without a shirt on," Cody chimed in.

Mac looked over at him and smirked. "I hope my walking around shirtless didn't make you uncomfortable," he said staring into Cody's eyes. They blazed with raw heat for a second before it was gone and a smile that didn't reach his eyes appeared.

"Oh course not, we're all family here," Cody said before turning away to talk to Trent.

The family comment had hit a nerve that he didn't want to look too closely at. Family didn't look at family the way Cody had just looked at him, and family also didn't get hard when other family members were around, or at least they shouldn't, and Cody had been sporting wood earlier.

"Yeah, family," he muttered.

"Did I hear Megan calling you earlier?" Katherine asked him pulling things out the fridge to cook breakfast. Cody tried to intercept telling her he would cook but she shooed him off.

"Yeah, the baby's moving and kicking was bothering her," he answered.

"My poor baby. I never had pain like that when I was pregnant, but all my kids were small. That baby's probably going to be tall like his daddy." Mac saw Cody's shoulders stiffen and had this intense urge to go over and soothe him. He didn't know what the fuck was going on with him, but being around Cody was frying his brain.

"That's what the doctor said. He said the baby was already really long and because of that they might have to give Meg a surgical birth," he answered. That had really worried him. He hadn't let Meg know, but it scared the shit out of him.

"Yeah, he's going to be a beast just like his pappy," Meg said as she waddled into the kitchen. Her curls were tangled and laying every which way all over her head, she was wearing gray sweats and his favorite shirt that said "Banger's Club" with a silhouette of woman bent over and a man standing behind her. Megan had gotten it for him for his birthday a few years back and had confiscated it when she'd started to get round. She said it was the only thing she could sleep in that didn't confine her stomach.

"I just put you back to bed, what are you doing up?" Mac asked her.

"My growling stomach woke me. I tell you this little guy isn't going to be satisfied until I gain another thirty pounds," Meg laughed.

"You should've just called. Someone would've brought it up," Katherine scolded. Meg frowned and shook her head.

"I don't need bed rest mom. The doctor says I'm fine so stop worrying."

"Mac says the kicking's getting worse. You need to rest," Katherine insisted. The look Meg turned on him would've had lesser men crying.

"Don't look at me that way," he said pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back. "You know she's right. The pain has gotten worse. The only time you have peace is when I'm around and I'm not always here. I think that you need to rest. You're always up and moving and I think it's aggravating the baby." He felt the muscles in her back relax and the baby stopped his womb acrobatics.

"Fine, I'll rest more. But I'm not and invalid, I'm just pregnant so stop treating me like I'll break at any minute," she huffed squeezing Mac tight before turning and going to sit at the kitchen table. Katherine brought her over a plate of fruit to tide her over until breakfast was done.

Mac looked at Cody who had been oddly quiet through the entire exchange. Mac wasn't used to the Cody that didn't ramble on and on about random shit. This new Cody was going to take some getting used to. The new Cody just stood and watched everything like he was doing now.

"Will you stop staring at me?" Meg asked her mouth full of fruit.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Meg, geez," Katherine scolded. Meg made a face and turned back to Cody expecting an answer.

"I'm not used to you being pregnant that's all," Cody answered smiling. This one reached his eyes and made him look like old Cody again.

"So, are you done being a shit?" Meg asked getting right down to it. Mac shook his head at her bluntness. She'd never been one to hold her tongue.

"I don't—"

"Don't give that shit brother mine. You know what I'm talking about. When you found out that Mac was the father you flipped your lid and stormed off," Meg interrupted cutting through Cody's bullshit.

"I wouldn't call it flipping my lid but—"

"Then what would you call it huh? Because that's the way it looked to me and I'm sure that's the way it looked to Mac." Mac could tell that she was getting riled up and that it was affecting the baby because she was rubbing her stomach and she really only did that when the baby's kicking was painful.

"Meg, calm down okay. Your agitation is upsetting the baby," Mac warned. He walked over to her and sat down so he could rub her back and stomach.

"I won't calm down until Cody apologizes to you. That was uncalled for and a really shitty thing to do and Mom taught us better than that Cody. Where a person came from shouldn't matter, who they are should," Meg snapped. This was going to end very badly if someone didn't step in soon.

"It had nothing to do with where he came from!" Cody snapped back. Trent tried calming him, but unlike Mac, Trent's calming abilities sucked.

"Meg, Cody, you guys need to take a deep breath and calm down," Katherine said interceding. Mac mentally thanked her.

"Then what is it then?" Meg asked continuing the argument despite what Katherine said.

"That's enough," Harold said forcefully, but even he couldn't make them listen.

"It's because I...he...I don't have to answer to you. I don't care if you are older than me. I'm not a kid anymore Meg and if shit pisses me off then that's my problem not yours or his or mom or dad's," Cody griped before heading towards the door in the kitchen where the back stairs that led up to the second floor was.

"Where are you going?" Meg yelled rising from her chair. Mac was sure she would've followed Cody up the stairs but he grabbed her hand and sat her back down.

"Running!" he yelled back taking the stairs two at a time.

The kitchen got eerily quiet, nobody saying or doing anything. "I'm going to go upstairs to...um...to check on him," Trent said before heading up the back stairs. As soon as Trent was out of hearing range Katherine whirled on Meg.

"You just couldn't leave it alone could you?" she asked indignantly.

"No mother, I couldn't. I don't like how Cody handled that; he needs to apologize. I don't care what his reason was, it wasn't enough to be a complete ass to Mac," Meg answered starting to relax again as he rubbed her back.

"Will you be quiet? I don't need you fighting my battles for me. He was probably just shocked that you picked me to have your baby with. Stop starting arguments. It's bad for the baby," he interjected.

"Everything I do is bad for the baby apparently," Meg muttered angrily.

"Just think about what you'd normally do in a situation and then do the opposite and it'll probably be better for the baby," Katherine instructed. Meg lifted her finger to flip Katherine the bird but he grabbed it and placed it back in her lap.

"I gotta head over to the Miami dealership today. Just to see how things are going. Profits have been screwy," Harold said kissing Katherine's cheek. He turned to look at Mac.

"You want me to come? I'm just going to the shop to work on a few things but I could always get Miller to handle it," Mac asked.

"Yeah, I want you to come. I might need a little muscle if what I think is going on is going on," Harold answered. He had a frown on his face and was in deep thought.

"Is something wrong dear?" Katherine asked turning away from the stove to look at her husband. She must've heard the worry in his voice too.

"I really hope not, but I think my manager there is stealing from me. The books just aren't flowing right so I have to check it out before something I can't fix happens," he answered kissing her on the cheek. "Don't worry though, everything will be fine."

"I'll be right back. Just let me go shower and change," he told Harold before leaving the room and heading up to the room he slept in when he stayed over. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a black T before heading to the shower. He really hoped that that manager wasn't stealing from Harold. He really didn't want to go back to jail for assault. He would do it though; he'd do anything for Harold. The man was like a father to him and nobody fucked with his family.