THE PERFECTIONISTS
OK - here's another one from the vault. This one was from another one of Pixie's challenges - this time Halloween LOL.
Author: Gibs
Genre: H/M Romance/Comedy
Completed: 6 October 2005
This takes place in the AU I created in the series "I Surrender" (or as I like to call it… the real world ;0)
Anyone who has a perfectionist for a child will understand this one.
HARM AND MAC'S HOUSE
WILLESDEN GREEN
LONDON, NW2
28 OCTOBER 2009
Mac looked through the living room window and smiled as her family drove up the drive. She had been a mess this morning with morning sickness so Harm had secured early and come back home to pick up the car and get Evan from school. He had even taken Katie with him to give her a break entirely. She was feeling much better now though, and was thoroughly relieved. She hadn't gotten morning sickness at all with Evan, and only a little bit of queasiness with Katie. This one however, seemed to be intent on being the end of her some days… but she smiled in the knowledge that she wouldn't trade if for the world.
Harm opened up the back door on Evan's side and then went around to help Katie out of her car seat.
"Daddy – don't let me drop these!" Harm's son held tightly to his art project which was balanced precariously on his lap. At school today, his class had died hard-boiled eggs orange with green tops, and painted faces onto them to make them into Jack-O-Lanterns. Three of these eggs sat on a base of raffia "straw" on a cardboard platform. They weren't particularly pretty, but to Evan, they were the proud offering he had intended to present as a gift for his mother.
"OK, kiddo." In retrospect, it had been an automatic response – not one he had actually thought too much about before answering.
It was while Mac was on her way out the door to give Harm a hand that she heard the blood curdling scream. Expecting broken bones, blood or at least a deep gash of some kind, she bolted around the car and braced for the expected scene of carnage. Instead, what greeted her was Harm standing on the driveway with his briefcase in one hand and Katie on the opposite hip, while Evan was kneeling on the pavement in front of three orange eggs and a pile of what looked like old hay.
"Daddy! You were supposed to make sure I didn't drop them!" Evan wailed pitifully with his head in his hands.
Harm stared at Mac with a look of panic on his face. Sliding Katie off his hip, he deposited both her and his briefcase on the driveway – oblivious to the fact that she then attempted to toddle off with it.
"It's OK buddy." He offered supportively as he knelt down on one knee to help him collect the eggs. "Look – there are only a few little cracks – you can barely see them…"
"Noooo! They're ruined!" he sobbed mercilessly.
Harm had the project in his hands now and had rearranged them back to their original positions. "Look Ev – we can just turn this one around a little bit so you don't see the cracks…"
Evan looked like he'd just lost his best friend. He shook his head as tears spilled over his cheeks. "No! It won't work. I'll know that they're there! Oh Daddy – how could you let me do that?"
Harm looked up at Mac for help but it was all she could do refrain from laughing. She wasn't quite sure who looked more destroyed, Evan or Harm.
The boy had sobbed all through supper and there was nothing they could do to console him. Harm barely touched his food at all. He just alternated between trying to cheer up his son and prodding noodles around his plate. He didn't even notice when Katie attempted to paint spaghetti sauce on his white dress shirt.
When Mac came down the stairs after bath time, she found Harm angrily pacing the living room, tossing cushions and up-turning discarded items of children's clothing and toys.
"What are you looking for Harm?"
He threw down the blanket he was looking under in frustration. "I was looking for my Miles Davis CD. I need something to calm my nerves."
"Which one? You have like a million of them."
Harm just looked at her sarcastically. "The one I was listening to last night!"
"Oh, 'Witches Brew'? That's in the portable. I'll go get it." She walked over to the buffet and proceeded to retrieve the disc.
Harm looked at her in surprise, but was still irritated enough to not drop the sarcasm. "It's not 'Witches Brew', it's 'Bitches Brew' and since when do you listen to Miles Davis?"
He spit a sunflower seed into a plastic cup and collapsed grumpily onto the couch.
Mac held the disc out on her finger as she settled next to him. She nodded her head toward the sunflower seeds on the table and smiled. "Trying not to smoke, aren't you?"
Harm just huffed grumpily.
She grinned even more and sat on one knee as she turned towards him. "This is really eating you up inside, isn't it?"
Harm only eyed her briefly and then turned back to staring at the coffee table.
"Harm, he's not going to mourn the eggs forever – don't worry. And he's not really holding you responsible."
Her husband just grumbled to himself. "I know… but I can't stand the way he looks at me like that… and I did tell him I would make sure he didn't drop it… I didn't pay attention…"
"Harm…"
Suddenly there was another ear splitting wail from the second floor and Harm and Mac only stared at each other for a second before 'parental gear' engaged and they took the stairs two at a time. As they skidded to a stop in front of Evan's room, they found their two children staring at each other. Evan had a look of horror on his face and Katie, holding an orange Jack-O-Lantern egg with a large part of the shell peeled off of it, simply had her big brown eyes open wide in a state of shock.
Evan's lip trembled and he spoke hoarsely. "M-m-mommy… she…"
Mac bent down and put her arm around her son. "Evan sweetie, it's OK… we'll make new eggs tomorrow."
Harm was just glad the latest crisis in his son's life wasn't caused by him. He looked over too late to find Katie removing the last bit of orange egg peel. His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. "Katie honey – don't…!"
Katie held up the completely nude boiled egg to her brother with pride. "Look Ebby – no mo cwacks!"
Mac clamped her hand over her mouth and stifled a giggle and Harm cringed as he awaited a new batch of waterworks, but to both their amazement, Evan simply walked over to his little sister, took the egg from her, inspected it and replied. "Thanks Katie! That's brilliant!"
Harm and Mac descended the staircase 45 minutes later, after tucking two happy children into their respective beds. Harm had his arm draped lazily over his wife's shoulder as they strolled into the kitchen.
"Another crisis averted." Mac sighed dramatically.
Harm smiled. "Yeah. You know, Mac… our kids scare the hell out of me sometimes."
Mac had to laugh. "Yeah, but that Katie is going to make a great lawyer some day."
"Well – she definitely thinks outside the box, I'll give her that."
Mac turned slowly into her husband's chest and smiled up at him. "She gets that from her Daddy."
Harm wrapped his arms around her lower back and clamped them tightly. "See and I thought she was taking after her Mom's skill on the bench."
Mac nodded in acquiescence. "It could be that too." She laid her head on Harm's chest for a moment, relishing the sense of security that she always felt there. When Harm gave her a little squeeze, she looked back up at him. "Feeling better now that your son doesn't hate you anymore?"
"Yeah…" Harm breathed huskily and kissed her softly on the lips, "…much…. much better in fact."
Mac giggled as he backed her slowly up into the kitchen counter. He reached down behind her and ran his finger tips up the back of her thighs and under the hem of her short dress. When he reached her bottom, he lifted her up onto the counter and pressed himself suggestively against her. Mac groaned in response as Harm's lips descended on the crook between her shoulder and her neck.
"You know, the last time we did this here, you ended up pregnant."
"Harm, you're good, but even you can't get a pregnant woman any more pregnant than she already is."
Harm just cocked his head over in a grin and ran both his thumbs up the inside of her thighs. His grin never left his face and his lips remained inches from hers as he then cocked his head over to the other side.
"You're going to try though, aren't you?" she smiled.
"You bet your eagle, globe and anchors."
THE END