This is my first JAG fanfic that I've actually had the guts to publish. It was raining here the other day and this one just kind of came to me. It's just simple one-shot that I thought might be worth posting, so here it is. I hope you enjoy.


The rain pounded steadily on the windows as it had for the majority of the day. The clouds blotted out any sun that might be shining and the thunder that ripped through the air every few minutes shook the windows with its ferocity. The temperature had dropped a few degrees as the storm had blown in overnight and between the cold and rain, frost had developed on the cold windows as if someone had blown their warm breath on them. The fire in the fireplace kept at least the living room warm even if no other part of the house felt quite as warm.

It was the first Saturday in March already, and she was beginning to tire of the cold weather. She longed for the temperatures and colors of spring. Sighing heavily, she pointed the remote at the TV one more time and pushed the power button. There was nothing on as far as she could tell, not even a decent B movie. She had looked through all her DVDs and nothing had caught her attention. Even the books on her shelf seemed old and mundane. She had already polished off her newest novel the night before. She had nothing better to fill her time right now. She hated when he had to be out of town anymore. There was a time when she would have reveled in it and wanted to go with him, but now that they had been together for almost nine months, she hated their time apart. With her new position, she was no longer allowed to go with him on these fact finding investigations.

Glancing at the clock to visibly verify what her internal clock told her, she sighed heavily again. It was only a little after 1500, which meant he wouldn't be calling for a few more hours. Reaching behind her to the blanket across the back of the couch, she quickly pulled it over her legs and snuggled underneath. She told herself it was to keep warm, but deep down, she knew it was an attempt to ignore the loneliness that was building inside her. She missed his strong arms that should be wrapped tightly around her right now. Even the light snoring of their newly acquired Irish setter, couldn't completely push away her desire for companionship in the raging thunderstorm. Sammy was a great dog and always ready for a game or just to sit calmly in front of the fire alongside her. Harm had surprised her with him at Christmas, and so far he had been a great addition to their home and family.

Staring idly into the glowing fire, her eyes began to feel heavy. The rain still beat monotonously at the windows unable to get in. Its steady pace and rhythm finally lulled her into a light slumber as she snuggled deeper under the blanket to get comfortable. Her final thought was that she would just take a quick little nap before she got up and finished the little bit of house cleaning she told herself she would get done this weekend while Harm was still out of town.


In her dream, Mac felt the warmth from his body as she snuggled closer to him trying to take in all the heat she could. She knew it would disappear as she awoke and returned to the real world of rain and thunder and his absence. Her dream of his return had been so real that she wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible. As she slowly allowed her body to return to a state of wakefulness, she found that surprisingly, the warmth from his body didn't dissipate. It was if she could still feel his arms wrapped tightly around her from behind. The odd thing was she could also still feel his warm breath on the back of her neck.

"Mac, if you snuggle in any closer, you're going to push me through the back of the couch," he whispered in her ear.

"Mmm-hmmm," was her reply as she tried to remain asleep in her warm cocoon. Suddenly her mind was awake as it registered that the words spoken were really there. "Harm?!" she questioned as she sat up quickly and looked behind her.

"Hey, there, Marine," he said reaching up a hand to touch her cheek. "Great reflexes you got there," he joked.

"Are you really here? When did you get here? How did you get here?" all the questions flowed out of her mouth at once.

"Yes, I'm really here," he stroked her cheek once more and moved his hand into her hair trying to calm her down. "I wrapped up the investigation when the Master Chief admitted the incident was his fault, so I caught the first transport home. I've been here about twenty minutes. I couldn't wait to be with you again, but I didn't want to call and tell you in case something happened. I didn't want to get your hopes up and then have something prevent me from getting here."

"Oh, Harm, I can't believe you're here," she said throwing herself back into his arms. "I missed you so much," she whispered as she buried her face in his chest.

"I missed you too," he responded with a kiss to her hair. Suddenly he felt something wet soaking through his shirt. "Mac, what's wrong?" he asked carefully pushing her head back from his chest. He could see the tears streaking her face and moved his thumb to wipe them away gently. "Why are you crying?" he asked again quietly.

"I don't know," she shook her head trying to smile but not quite succeeding. "I'm just so glad you're home."

"Sarah," he tried again using her given name. This was something he did only in their more tender moments. He did this to get her attention or to convey his feelings for her. "What's wrong? I've been gone before, and I always come back. What's causing these tears?"

"I wish I knew. I just can't seem to stop," she tried taking a gulp of air to steady herself. "I've just been real emotional since you left last week. I'm honestly not sure where this is coming from." She took one more deep breath and managed to wipe away the tears and keep anymore from falling.

Harm pulled her close again placing a tender kiss on her lips. He could taste the salt from her tears, but he didn't care. He knew he just wanted to make her feel better and let her know that he was truly there. She pulled away from him after a moment or two and laid her head back on his chest holding him close. He could tell that what she needed most was to feel his arms around her at the moment, so he obliged her and wrapped her against him as tight as he could. "I'm right here, and I'm really home," he whispered into her hair.

"I know, and I'm glad," she responded into his chest. "Can I ask a favor?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Anything," he promised.

"Can we get something to eat? I'm starving," she finally admitted laughing at her stomach that had started growling.

"Sure," he agreed. "Does Chinese sound good?" he asked looking down at her. When she nodded her head, he smiled and made another suggestion. "How about we order in some chicken and pork fried rice from Charlie Chiang's for you, and I'll get some vegetable chow mein. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great. We haven't had Charlie's in awhile," she agreed. She didn't really want to get up off of him, but she knew if she didn't, they would never get anything to eat. Slowly she extracted herself from his arms and sat up on the other end of the couch. Reaching for the phone on the table, she handed it over to Harm to allow him to make the call. He took the phone and opened his arms back up to her indicating that he wanted her to join him and hold her close again. She moved swiftly back into his waiting arms and snuggled in closer than before as she quietly listened to his end of the conversation. Once he placed their order, he placed the phone on the table, and wrapped his arm back around her.

They laid that way for the next half hour waiting for their food to arrive and listening to the storm that still raged outside. The rain continued to steadily beat on the windowpanes tapping out a gentle rhythm that tended to lull Mac to sleep as Harm occasionally placed gentle kisses on the top of her head for reassurance. When Harm heard the knock on the front door, he was almost reluctant to get up from his comfortable position, but he knew his Marine needed to be fed. "Mac, the food's here," he nudged her gently to get her to sit up. He carefully eased himself from underneath her and went to the door. With very few words, he paid the delivery guy and took the food from him closing the door behind him.

Mac had woken up the rest of the way and gone to the kitchen to grab the chopsticks and some bowls for them. She poured a glass of raspberry tea for each of them and set everything on the kitchen table. Harm smiled when he walked through the door and realized that she was waiting for him patiently at the table.

"I see you and your stomach are both awake now," he commented laughing at her impatience.

"Yes, we are, Sailor," she grinned at him. "Now where's that food you promised me?" she asked holding out her hands for the carton of food that was hers.

Harm grinned and handed her the cartons of fried rice and sat down at the table with his own cartons. Opening them slowly he enjoyed the smell of warm food that met his nostrils. "Smells good as always," he commented before he dug in with his chopsticks and started eating.

Mac sniffed the food as well and smiled as she nodded her head in agreement. She quickly picked up her chopsticks and began to dig into the food with a ravenous appetite. They spent the next half hour enjoying their food and quiet conversation. Harm told her what he could about his investigation and the deal he ended up making with the Master Chief in Pensacola. She spent time telling him what little she could about one of the cases that was before her in the court. When they had gotten married, Mac had moved over to the judiciary side the courtroom so they could at least live and work in the same city. She didn't want to be transferred to another billet that would require her moving away from him. He had remained at JAG and continued to deal with investigating and prosecuting or defending the accused as ordered by General Cresswell. The one thing they had yet to encounter was Harm being forced to try a case in front of his wife. So far, General Cresswell had managed to avoid that problem, but they both had a feeling it wouldn't be able to always stay that way. There were only so many judges in the system, and at some point, he was more than likely to end up appearing before her. That was not a day he looked forward to as she knew all of his tricks.

Once they had finished eating, they cleaned up the trash and few dishes together. Mac glanced out the window of their kitchen as she rinsed out their glasses and bowls to put them in the dishwasher. She sighed as she watched the rain continue to fall and the wind bouncing the trees in their yard back and forth. She hoped they would make it through the storm without any damage. As she put the last glass in the dishwasher, she reached for a dish towel to dry her hands on and turned toward Harm who closing the door to the dishwasher.

He looked up and saw her watching him. Opening his arms, he pulled her in for a gentle hug and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He too glanced out the window and gave voice to her previous thoughts. "I hope we don't lose any trees or have any damage with this storm," he said grimacing at the thought of cleaning it all up.

"Me too," she agreed. She loved their little garden out back and loved even more to spend her mornings with her coffee cup out there just thinking and enjoying the start of a new day.

Carefully Harm steered her back into the living room and sat down on the couch, pulling her with him until she was sitting in his lap. Without a word he wrapped his arms around her again and did the one thing he had wanted to do since he walked in the door. He captured her lips in a heart racing, desire-filled kiss leaving no doubts as to how he wanted to spend the rest of the evening. She responded fully to his kisses as his mouth moved over hers in that familiar way she loved so much. His hand moved up her back to her neck as he kept her in place with one hand on her neck and one on her waist. They pulled away as the need for air became greater than the need for affection. Harm refused to be idle, though, as he moved his head to kiss her neck and collarbone. The hand on her neck moved down her back to find the hem of her shirt as he slipped underneath to stroke the soft skin he found there.

Mac raised her hands to run them through his hair as he continued his ministrations at her neck. Without letting go of him, she moved herself to where she was finally straddling his hips. Pulling back, she moved his head up until it was even with hers as she recaptured his lips in a feverish kiss. Harm quickly pulled her in closer as he rose carefully from the couch with her still attached to him. Mac, however, slid down his body as he stood, gaining her own two feet without breaking their kiss. Harm reluctantly broke the kiss and reached down lifting her up in his arms with one hand under knees and the other behind her back. Mac slipped her own arms around his neck and reattached her lips to his as he headed for the stairs of their house which would take them to their bedroom. He carefully took one step at a time doing his best not to drop or hurt her in any way.

He pushed their bedroom door open with his foot and edged inside heading for their bed. Gently he set her on the bed and continued placing gentle kisses on her face and lips. She suddenly pulled him to her with so much force that they both toppled backwards in a laughing heap. Their laughter turned to desire as reached for her and picked up where he had left off. Soon the world outside including the rain and thunderstorm was forgotten for the time being.

Some time later Mac was curled up against Harm's side with her head laying on his shoulder as she drew lazy circles on his bare chest. She sighed quietly feeling completely comfortable and sated from their lovemaking.

"So, Mac, what were all the tears about earlier?" Harm finally asked quietly placing a kiss on her forehead.

At first Mac didn't reply as she quietly mulled over her answer.

Harm could see the inner struggle on her face as he watched her intently. "Sarah, what aren't you telling me?" he asked again.

"Harm," she started looking up at him as she pushed up on her elbow to look him squarely in the face. "I got a call from the doctor yesterday."

Harm's face fell at her statement. "The endometriosis is worse," he concluded. "We'll get through it. We'll have him do whatever needs to be done…"

She quickly placed a finger over his lips to stop the flow of words. "Harm, that's not it at all," she interrupted. "I've been so emotional lately because I'm pregnant," she finished waiting for his reaction.


At that moment, Mac woke up from her dream startled and sat straight up. "Wow, that was some dream," she breathed trying to calm her racing her heart. As she heard a key turn in the lock, she looked to the door expectantly.

"Hey, sweetheart," Harm called walking in the door. He was covered in a trench coat that was soaking wet from all the rain. "It seems we have a deluge outside," he laughed.

"Hey, you're home early," she said standing up and walking toward him. She waited until he had removed his cover and coat and placed them on the coat tree before wrapping her arms around him.

"Hmm," he grinned wrapping his arms around her as well. "That's a nice greeting," he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I wrapped up the investigation when the Master Chief admitted the incident was his fault, so I caught the first transport home. I couldn't wait to be with you again, but I didn't want to call and tell you in case something happened. I didn't want to get your hopes up and then have something prevent me from getting here."

"I'm so glad you're home," she said pulling him further in the door toward the couch. "I have something to tell you…"