Her birthday sort of sneaks up on her and it's only when she's in the Compound reading up on prenatal care that she realizes she's 36 now and not 35 anymore. It's a weird feeling, not having any acknowledgement of the day other than a slow realization and MacKenzie has always been fond of her special day.

She knows that on the island, the only people who'd know today was her birthday are Jackson and Jim and while she hasn't received any presents or acknowledgment from them yet, she assumes it's coming. Jim's always been a thoughtful man and Jackson's in love with her; if anyone would celebrate her birthday, it'd be them.

When she hears someone come in to the room she puts her book back on the shelf and grins. Of course. No time like the present.

"Hi."

It's fucking hot.

Mac has never been the best when she's not in complete comfort and while she didn't bitch when she was embedded because she had a job to do, she's back on the island after having been in air conditioning for three days and she's annoyed. It's irrational, but nothing about pregnancy is rational, is it?

Jackson is next to her, which makes the bed that much warmer, and she huffs and comes out from under the sheet to lay on top of it completely naked. She fans herself ineffectually with her hand.

"Why does it have to be so goddamn hot?"

She's possibly whining more than a little.

[From Here.]

Mac lets them in and rubs her temples lightly before stripping out of her clothes. She hasn't gotten sick yet but she's still queasy and a little dizzy and thinks that feeling hot is only going to contribute to that. Once she's in her underwear, she crawls into bed and buries her head beneath the pillow.

"I am completely unequipped for life."

Things seem to clear up on the island as quickly as they come about and Mac is grateful that the only injury she got was a sprained ankle - which was easily dealt with by wrapping it and being annoyed for a few weeks. Hannibal, on the other hand, seemed to be in bad sorts when she left him and she felt she owed it to him to visit him once he was home from the clinic.

It takes a while to actually track him down because he apparently doesn't live in a proper hut and just drifts from place to place. She finally finds him at his damned boat.

"I believe you were supposed to come tell me you hadn't died. You failed at that but if you want somewhere better to sleep than...this...I'm offering."

Continued from here.

"So, how many women have you given massages to lately? I need to know where I'm going to rank after tonight."

It's flirty and light because Mac isn't really looking for a relationship. She fucks those things up and sex is much, much easier in that respect.

Mardi Gras had been an enlightening experience and Mac isn't entirely sure it happened given just how tipsy she'd been. But it had, apparently, and her dry streak of God only knows how long had finally been broken with Nikola and she's keen to have it continue. It's not serious. How can it be, when he's technically in a relationship with someone else? Still, it's fun and she's had very little of that in the past few years. She's not about to turn down a good thing.

They've agreed to keep it to her place in the GAE for now, which is fine; Mac is much more comfortable in her own bed with her own things than she is skulking off in the night to someone else's. She's expecting Nikola and while it makes her nervous, more than half the butterflies in her stomach are from sheer excitement - it's a nice feeling.

When she hears the door swing in, she pads out to greet him, a grin on her face. "You're punctual. I suppose I gave you proper motivation?"