Title: Trick or Treat
Author: Mari
Spoilers: All seasons
Summary: Halloween
Previously posted, but in honor of my favorite holiday…
AN: "Friend to share my condition… priceless!" Thanks, Marsha, for making it all more fun! Mari
Thursday
October 23
I drop my keys and the groceries I'm carrying on the counter and run for the phone, trying to beat the machine.
Still in work mode, I answer "MacKenzie" instead of hello.
"Hi! It's ME!" A little voice greets me with such enthusiasm I have to smile.
"Hi, A.J., how are you?"
"Can you come over? Today? Now? Pleeease?" He begs.
I hate to say no to my godson, but I have two briefs to prepare for the morning and I have to be at Bethesda to interview a witness at 07:00 before he starts his rounds. "Not right now, darling, how about tomorrow?"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"You hafta see my costume!"
Halloween's next Friday. I forgot. "What are you going to be?"
"Surprise. I'm not telling!" He giggles.
In the background Harriet's asking, "Who's on the phone sweetie? Is it for Mommy or Daddy?"
"It's for ME, Mommy!"
"Hello?" I hear Harriet take the receiver.
"Hi, Harriet, It's Mac. A.J. called me. You didn't dial for him?"
"Oh, no, he's got quite a beat on the speed dial. It's his latest thing. Did he bother you, Ma'am?"
"Don't be silly, I love talking to him. He wanted me to come see his costume. I promised I'd stop by tomorrow, if that's okay with you and Bud."
"Of course its okay, his costume is so cute. He's going to be..."
"No, Mommy! It's a surprise!" I hear from A.J.
"Sorry, Darling, Mommy forgot. It's top secret, Ma'am. You'll have to see it tomorrow."
She laughs. "Say goodnight to Auntie Mac, A.J."
"'Night!" He yells and I hear him scamper away.
"See you tomorrow, Harriet." I hang up and scavenge a sandwich so I can get a few hours of work done.
16:30 EST
JAG Headquarters
October 24
"See you later, Ma'am?" Bud asks as we walk out the door toward the parking lot.
"Definitely, Bud. Tell A.J. I'll be there after I make a quick stop."
I pull up at the Roberts' and I see a pair of blue eyes peeking out the porch window as I walk up the steps. The door opens before I ring and A.J. flings himself at me, Harriet close behind, holding Jimmy.
"You're here!" He yells and drags me inside.
"Hi honey, where's this great, top secret costume?" I ask. He's bouncing in place like he's going to blast off.
"We can't! Uncle Harm's not here yet!"
"Uncle Harm's working at Annapolis all day, sweetheart." Harriet tells him. "He may not be back before your bedtime."
"Ann-o-polos? With Uncle Mikey?"
"Yes, sweetie. Where Uncle Mikey is."
"He'll be back, Mommy. I called his house. I told his 'chine."
"You did?" I ask, impressed.
"Yep." He grins at me. "Seven times." He holds up seven fingers to make his point.
"Oh God." Bud comes in from the kitchen and takes Jimmy from Harriet. "A.J., one message is enough, Son. Remember last week when we talked about that?"
"Uhhh, yeah, Daddy. I forgot."
"He left 27 messages for the Admiral last Tuesday. I though I was going to have a heart attack when I found out."
"The Admiral told you?"
"Well, not exactly, Ma'am, he told Jen who told me."
I stifle a laugh. "A.J., I think there's something in here for you." I hold out the bag I brought in with me.
"Ice cream!" He smiles Bud's smile at me. "Look Jimmy! We got ice cream!"
"Stay for dinner Ma'am. We have pasta, there's plenty."
"Pleeease stay!" He's hanging onto both my hands and is lifting his little feet off the floor.
"Okay, thanks."
"Yea!"
After dinner, A.J. is telling me all about his Halloween plans. "…and Jimmy's going to be a Star Trek guy…" Harriet rolls her eyes at me. "First I wear my costume to school for the parade, then, we Trick or Treat after school. Then we can maybe go to the park for the scary haunted house, maybe, right Mommy, maybe?"
"I don't know about the haunted house, darling, it may be too scary for you."
"Pleassseeee? I'm not scared. I'm big. Aunt Mac, can you come, too? I'll hold your hand!"
I don't want to disappoint A.J. but I look at Harriet, afraid to agree to anything she's not happy with. Just then the bell rings, saving me from having to answer.
"Uncle Harm!" A.J. screams and runs for the door like a bat out of hell.
He comes back dragging Harm saying "I knew you were coming. I told your 'chine!"
"You certainly did, Pal!" Harm scoops him up while waiving to all of us.
"Mommy! Uncle Harm needs some ice cream!" A.J. tells Harriet, who jumps up.
"Harriet, sit. I'm fine. I stopped at Wendy's."
"You're sure, Sir? We have pasta left and, of course, ice cream."
"Wendy's? But, no burgers, no chicken. No burgers, no chicken" A.J.'s chanting. We've taken him for fast food enough times for him to realize what Harm doesn't eat. "What did you get? You told them no burgers no chicken, right?"
Harm laughs. "Right A.J. salad and a potato, that okay?"
"That's good… you gotta see my costume now! It's a secret, you can't tell nobody 'til Halloween! You got a costume, Uncle Harm?"
"No, I don't, but why don't you go get yours?"
He disappears with Bud and comes back a few minutes later. I can't help bursting out laughing because he's so damn adorable.
"Guesswhoguesswhoguesswho!" He's yelling and striking a serious pose in front of us.
"You're a SEAL. That's great A.J." Harm tells him.
"But guess WHO!"
"You're the Admiral, aren't you sweetie? You're going to be Uncle A.J. for Halloween?" I ask. He looks so cute. He's got his face painted in cammo and he's all in black. He is wearing a plastic SEAL trident pinned to his shirt. Not exactly regulation, but it gets his point across.
"Yep! Yep! Yep! I'm Uncle A.J. when he was young! A way loooong time ago. When he was a SEAL before he was an Admiral!"
Harm and I look at Harriet. "Think he'll mind?" she asks. A.J. saw an old picture of him at his house and decided he had to be like his Uncle A.J.
"Mind? He'll be thrilled, Harriet. But I'd watch the 'way long time ago when he was young' thing." Harm chuckles.
A.J. isn't letting go of the haunted house so he jumps onto Harm's lap and stage whispers "Can you take me to the haunted house, Uncle Harm?" all the while looking sideways at Harriet.
Harm, caught between the two, gives me a desperate look. Before I can answer, Bud says, "A.J. go get ready for bed and Mommy and I will think about it, okay?"
"Remember you said maybe, that's not no, right, Mommy, right, Daddy? Maybe's not no, right?" He looks at Harriet with the same expression of innocence and adoration Bud would give her when they were dating.
He scampers upstairs and Harriet turns to us. "We weren't going to take him because it's late and I was afraid he'd have nightmares."
"It IS Halloween, Harriet, what do you think?" Bud's sold, I can tell.
"Oh, well, I guess we'll let him go. She looks at us. "Would you like to come along? We could grab a pizza first and then I'll take Jimmy home and you and Bud can take A.J. to the park."
Hell, I'm in. I was in the first time A.J. asked me. I glance at Harm.
"Sure, Harriet. We'll meet you here after work on Friday, okay? But right now, I've got to get going."
"Great, Sir! Hey A.J., come down and say goodnight."
A.J. flies down the stairs wearing Sponge Bob pajamas and a little leftover cammo face paint. Bud tells him the plan and he starts to bounce again. "Yea! Yea! We're goin' to the haunted house! We're goin' to the haunted house!" He grabs my hand and says "I'll hold your hand, okay?"
"I'm counting on it." I tell him, kissing his cheek.
"Okay! Okay, good! And we'll eat lots of pizza. No meat, no chicken, right, Uncle Harm?"
"Right, A.J." Harm's smiling ear-to-ear. "And now I really have to go home. See you on Halloween." A.J. hugs us. "C'mon, Mac you ready?" I get my purse. A.J. walks us to the door with Bud, like a little host. God, he's adorable.
We say goodnight to the Roberts and head to our cars.
17:30 EST
JAG Headquarters
October 31
After changing into civvies, I finish packing my briefcase and go meet Harm in his office. My car is inexplicably dead, so we have one car tonight. He was still in court last I checked, so I sit behind his desk to wait. Surprisingly, he's only 10 minutes late.
"Let's go Marine." He's not only changed, but he's carrying a little package as well. He is ready to go. I'm impressed and I tell him.
"Hey, I'm on time occasionally! C'mon."
We get to the Roberts' in record time and A.J. is all dressed and waiting. "Yea!" He screams, jumping into Harm's arms.
We decide to follow Bud and Harriet so she can use the van to take Jimmy home after dinner. Jen is sitting for the twins. We have to put the booster in Harm's car because A.J. insists on riding with us.
At the pizza place, we order a couple of pies and grab a table. A.J. keeps watching the door.
"What are you looking for, Honey?"
"Nobody, I mean nothing, Mommy."
"Then eat your pizza, so you can get to the park."
"Here, A.J., this is from Aunt Mac and me." Harm hands him the package he had earlier.
I have no idea what's in it so I watch him unwrap it.
A.J. opens it and it's a US NAVY SEALs T-shirt.
"Wow! Now I can be Uncle A.J. when it's not Halloween!"
"What do you say, A.J.?" Bud prompts.
"Thank you!" He tells us through a mouthful of pizza.
Harm and I have our backs to the door, so when A.J. bolts up, slides out from between his parents and starts running past us, I jump up to make a grab for him.
I miss, chase him about 10 feet, and run right into none other than the Admiral. "Sir!" I stumble, one hand on A.J.'s little shoulder.
"At ease, it's Halloween!" He smiles. "And here's my buddy. A.J., I got your message, Son, now what's this about a secret costu… Ahh." He takes in the costume when A.J. stands at attention and salutes. "Very good, Mr. Roberts. At ease. Excellent!"
"I'm you, look!" His namesake beams up at him pointing to the Trident. The admiral is thrilled. He follows us back to the table.
"Sir!" Bud and Harm stand. Harriet attempts to with Jimmy in her arms.
"As you were, people. Retired, remember? I'm here to see A.J.'s costume. He asked me to meet him at the pizza place near his house. I guessed this was it."
"Oh, God, Sir, we're sorry, did he bother you? He's got that fascination with the phone… oh, where are my manners, please join us?"
"Harriet, thank you, but I can't stay, I just stopped to say hi and drop this off." He gives A.J. two chocolate bars shaped like an anchors. "Happy Halloween, A.J., share with your brother Jimmy."
"Thanks Uncle A.J.!" That earned the Admiral a hug and a kiss. "Do I look like you when you were young?"
"A very, very long time ago, maybe." he chuckles.
"See, Mommy, I told you it was a way long time ago." Harriet turns red, Bud cringes and Harm and I are suddenly very interested in our food.
The admiral actually laughs out loud, though, and hands Harriet little stuffed bears. "These are for the twins, since they're too young for candy this year." With that, he ruffles A.J.'s hair and says "Good night people."
18:30 EST
Mario's Pizza
October 31
We've had a slight change of battle plan. Harriet felt a migraine coming on after dinner and Bud needed to drive her home. She can sleep for awhile while Jen's with the twins. Not to disappoint our godson, we offer to take him to the haunted house and drop him off later.
We file into the section of the park which is set up as a Halloween "fright fest" -- complete with zombies, spider webs and dry-ice machines blowing smoke. The whole thing is created by some local youth groups to raise money for charity.
A.J., who was so very enthused until we got out of the car, is now crushing my hand in a vise-like grip. Okay, maybe Harriet was right about the nightmares?
"Where's Uncle Harm?" He asks, nervously looking over his shoulder.
"He's buying the tickets, honey. Look, here he comes."
He spots Harm and loosens his grip on my hand just a bit. Harm joins us and I whisper, "He's a little n-e-r-v-o-u-s, maybe we should l-e-a-v-e?"
"You okay with this, Pal? Cause we could go trick-or-treating instead."
"No, I'm not scared!" I'm BIG! Jimmy'd be scared though, 'cause he's little." He tells us, or maybe himself.
"All right, let's see what this is all about." We each grab a little hand and get in line for the haunted house.
Harm leans over and asks the kid wearing a Jason mask a question. The kid nods and we move ahead.
There are a lot of people in line with pre-schoolers so how bad can it be? As soon as we walk through the 'entrance' which isn't into a house at all, but a pathway through the park that's set up to look like one, A.J. wants to be carried.
"Hold me?" he asks me in a little voice. I lift him and he buries his face in my neck, peeking out at the 'monsters'.
He's heavier than he looks, and Harm has his hand on my back, guiding me through the maze. A.J. relaxes when he realizes the 'monsters' aren't going to touch him, and Harm tells him that it's pretend every few steps.
By the time we get halfway through, I've handed A.J. off to Harm, but he's way more relaxed, and is riding on Harm's shoulders.
At the exit, he's not scared any more, and the kid Harm talked to at the entrance comes up and takes off his mask, saying "Hi, kid, did you have fun? It's all pretend, see?" He lets A.J. try on his mask, and Harm thanks him.
"No prob, Mister." He says, and donning the mask again, disappears back into the maze.
"Well A.J., want to go home, now?" I ask, figuring he's had enough.
"No, can we have ice cream first? Pleeeeease?"
Okay, ice cream it is. I call Bud on the cell and tell him our plans. A.J. wants to talk to his daddy and as soon as I give him the phone he's asking to stay the night.
"It was good. No I wasn't scared. I held Aunt Mac's hand so she'd be okay. It's just PRETEND, Daddy! Ummm, Daddy… can I go home with them? I'll be really good, I promise, promise, promise." He's in begging mode now.
"No, I forgot. I can ask now. Can I come home with you, Uncle Harm? Please? We can have a sleepover and I'll be really, really good. Please. If you have a bad dream from the monsters I can hold your hand!"
Harm and I shrug at each other. "Let me talk to your dad, okay, A.J.?"
I hear Harm's side only. "Yes. No. No, we don't mind. Bud. It's okay. It'll be a break for Harriet, is she better? Okay. Okay. Yes. Bud, stop calling me Sir, for the love of God, I just carried your kid through a haunted maze."
I smile at that. Bud is Bud, he can't turn off the Sir and Ma'am. Harm's wrapping up the conversation.
"Well?" I ask
"We're all set. A.J., we have to stop at your house to get your stuff and then we'll go for ice cream and have a sleepover." To me he says "Bud said fine, but he's afraid A.J.'s gonna t-r-a-s-h the apartment or something."
Before going to the ice cream shop, we stop at Bud and Harriet's and pick up A.J.'s stuff. Pajamas, clothes for tomorrow, and his stuffed Sponge Bob, among other items.
"Goin' to Uncle Harm's. Goin' to Uncle Harm's." He chants from the back seat. He loves the apartment. The lack of a bathtub is especially appealing, as he can flood the bathroom floor in no time flat during a shower. The on-again off-again elevator is also a thrill.
We arrive at Harm's and it's already close to 8:30. He's wired from the ice cream and is running in circles around the living room.
We corral him so he can call home and say good night. I get Bud and hand him the phone. "Hi Daddy. We had ice cream. I had strawberry. With sprinkles. Yep. And Daddy? Aunt Mac had the big ice cream. The one Mommy doesn't like you to get 'cause it's too fattenin'. You shoulda been there, it was like four scoops and she finished it all up! Me and Uncle Harm just had cones. Can I say g'night to Mommy now?"
Harm raises his eyebrows at me and I stick my tongue out at him as A.J. says good night to Harriet and hangs up.
Harm has shower duty which means I'll clean up the flood when they're done while he tries to settle Mr. Sugar-rush down for the night. Three soaked bath towels and a roll of paper towels later, I'm done and my godson is running around the kitchen counter like a madman.
"A.J., come sit and watch a movie. Your Dad sent Halloweentown for you," I tell him, making a grab for his hand. Ever since Harm and I got together, he acquiesced to a TV. It was only a matter of time. I really can not spend days on end without one. Besides, I have a little known obsession with LOST that he can't quite grip, but Jen and I watch and discuss it every week.
"Mac, he's not gonna…" Harm starts, only to be interrupted by A.J.'s "Okay." as he grabs my hand and walks to the sofa.
I smile at Harm who's shaking his head at me. "It's all in the secret weapon, Sailor. I have the Disney movie, you don't."
A.J. sits between us and after half an hour, he's crashed. We tuck him into a makeshift bed on the sofa and Harm, the big softie, sleeps on the floor. I tell him this is nuts… that we're 20 feet away and there's no door so we can watch him but Harm says "In case he, you know, has a bad dream or rolls off and gets hurt."
I don't argue. I just collapse on the bed and fall asleep.
I wake up first and find Harm on the sofa with A.J. asleep across his chest. Harm hears me, and opens his eyes. "Bad dream." he mouths, not waking A.J.
"Yours or his?"
"Funny. I'm crippled, here. Wanna help me up or you going to bust my chops?" He laughs.
I lift A.J. who says "Mommy?" before he's totally awake. When he sees it's me, he smiles and says "I kept Uncle Harm company! We weren't scared at all. Can we eat?"
After a breakfast of pancakes we call Bud and Harriet.
As I'm cleaning up, I hear Harm on the line. "Hey, Bud. He's great. No problems. You're welcome. Anytime. Harriet feeling better? Good. What? Where? What's at the Marriott? Con? What's a con? Who? I'm not laughing. Well, not much anyway. Okay. That's fine, see you at noon."
I raise my eyebrow at him. "Well?"
"We're dropping A.J. off to Bud at the Marriott at Metro Center at noon. Apparently, they have tickets to a convention and Jen's going to give Harriet a hand this morning, so he can take A.J."
"Convention? What kind of… a Star Trek convention? Oh, Harm, no way. We're going to see him in his element."
"It's actually a Sci-Fi "con" as he called it, not just Star Trek. And we've seen him when he's on a roll, remember? Just not surrounded but a thousand more just like him."
"Still, I'm curious." Just picturing Harm surrounded by convention goers is hysterical. We were at a hotel with Quantum Leap conventioneers once and he so didn't get it, it was funny.
We park at a garage 2 blocks away and walk to the hotel. A.J. is pointing out characters as we walk through the lobby. "That's a Ferengi, Uncle Harm! And that guy's from SG-1. Me and Daddy watch that one a lot. Jimmy likes the old guy, his name's Jack. But my favorite is Teal'c. He's a Jaffa, and he's even bigger than you!"
Harm looks amazed. "Mac, these are adults, in costume, and Halloween's over." He whispers.
"Shhh, Harm, you'll hurt his feelings! And while I'm here, I'm running over there to buy Jen a LOST shirt so wait here for Bud."
"Oh my God, okay. Hurry, please."
I get back in time to hear Harm and a guy in a black cape having a conversation. "I went to the con in Vegas, it was twelve hundred."
"Dollars?" Harm looks incredulous. He was trying to ignore the guy but the boy scout emerged and he just can't be rude.
He gives Harm a "duh" look. "Yeah, dollars. It included coffee and donuts with the actors, though. This one's a lot less but they have some better organizers, don't you think?"
Before Harm can answer, cape-man gets flagged down. "Excuse me… gotta run, Dwight Schultz is here. Enjoy the con." He runs off toward a friend.
"Mac, that guy paid $1,200 to meet an actor."
"Well, Bud says some of the stuff they sell goes for thousands."
"But those actors are just regular people like us, aren't they? I must be missing something."
Just then A.J. spots Bud "Daddy! Daddy! We're here!"
"Hey, A.J., I heard you behaved. Good job!" He kisses A.J. and turns to us. "Thanks, Sir, Ma'am. I appreciate you dropping him off. The auction starts at one and we'd have missed it if I had to come get him."
"No problem, Bud, we enjoyed it. Now this," Harm indicates the room, "is interesting…"
"Don't laugh, Sir. This is a huge con. People come from Europe and everything."
We pass a row of actors selling signed photos on the way to the elevator.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look, there's Al but he's old and he looks like your boss!"
We turn, seeing an older man at sitting at a table.
"Like General Cresswell?"
"No, Aunt Mac, like the SecNav!"
We all turn around. "Well, he does a little."
"Bud, who is that guy?" Harm asks.
"Sir, that's Dean Stockwell from Quantum Leap. Remember that case when we were at the hotel with the leapers? Same show."
"Quantum Leapers, lepers, whatever. Is it still on TV, is that why he's here?"
A.J. tugs at his hand. "No, Uncle Harm! Don't you know? A way long time ago, the guy who did Magnum did this show about Sam and Al…"
Harm looks at me like he can't believe it and I laugh out loud. Like father, like son.
End - Thanks for reading.