Meeting the Past

Disclaimer: Not mine...never will be, but I wish I owned DJE.

Notes: Here's a short one that I wrote as I embarked on my senior year. Sorry for any mistakes.

La Jolla, San Diego

Ah...the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the shore. Can we say perfect? Because that's what this is. Absolutely perfect. Enjoying yet another day of my summer vacation before I start my senior year of high school. What's my first thought, enjoy it while it lasts. I laugh to myself.

People walk by minute after minute, some tourists, some locals, but all looking for one thing, the beauty of the Pacific. My mind starts to wander as I lose myself in the depths of the blue landscape before me.

That is...until my cell phone rings.

"Hello?" I speak into the phone.

"Kenzie. Hey honey your mom was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with her and Mattie."

"Hey dad. Um...sure. When are they leaving?"

"They said in an hour or so come and get ready or whatever it is you do when you go shopping." He sounds so clueless although he's been living with mom, Mattie, and me forever.

"Dad, you get dressed and prepare yourself for some spending." I was never much of a shopper, I enjoyed the outdoors more, often taking plane rides with dad, but mom and Mattie had gotten me hooked a while back.

"Well, you are your mother's daughter." I can see his grin now.

"Yes, but I'm also your daughter. I AM a Rabb you know." I notice that someone was walking along the shore when the lady stopped a few feet in front of me. Blocking whatever view I had of the ocean. Weird. She stopped in her tracks and looked as if she wanted to make her way toward me.

"Yes you are. Hey I was thinking...you want to go flying in Sarah this weekend?"

How could I say no? Being in the air was one of the most liberating things in the world. Yup, definitely a Rabb I thought to myself. "Yeah! I'd love that dad."

"Ok. So it's scheduled then. Ok, I'll see you in a while honey. Hurry before your mom and Mattie leave you behind."

"Ok dad. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

I disconnect the call when I notice the lady is looking at me almost as if trying to look right through me. Or maybe find something she was expecting to find. I don't know, but I'm beginning to freak out a little.

She approaches me after she realizes she was staring and I was becoming uncomfortable. Once she gets closer I can make out a lot of her since the sun is no longer directly in my eyes. She has light brown hair peppered with a few grays, colored eyes, and a big smile.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help but hear that you were a Rabb." So her hearing is good.

"Um, yes. I am." I don't know what else to say. What is there to say?

"Would you be related in any way to a Harmon Rabb Jr.?" I'm curious now.

"Rear Admiral Harmon Rabb, Jr." I nod. "He's my father." Her look is even more observant.

"Yes. I can tell now. You have his eyes." Everyone tells me that. But it's the truth. Mom says I got his looks and her brains, but I think I'm a mix of both. Blue eyes...definitely dad's. Dark hair...mom's. Coloring...both. Brains...no comment. Although I did get the time-telling thing from mom. I smile. We love to double team dad and have time-telling contests. He still doesn't know how we do it. But neither do we.

I finally snap out of it and let curiosity get the best of me. "Do you know my dad?"

"I do. I worked with him for a while." She extends her hand. "I'm sorry. My name is Kate Pike-Johnson."

I shake her hand. "MacKenzie Rabb." I pause. "So where did you work with my dad?"

"Well, here and there. We were aboard carriers sometimes, sometimes in Virginia. It changed when ever the Navy needed us somewhere."

"Sounds about right. Mom and dad sometimes had to go halfway around the world." I smile. "You're a lawyer?" I ask.

"Yes. A Captain in the JAG corps here in California."

"Yeah. My mom is the CO of the Joint Legal Services Southwest."

"She's in the Navy, too?" I can tell she's somehow dying to know more.

"No! She's a marine." I laugh and her eyes widen.

"Your dad, the-Navy-man married a marine? How do you manage at home?" She asks with wide eyes.

"Yes. He did. He and mom were actually partners for the longest before they actually decided to admit their love to each other. And sometimes it's fun to see how Marines and Sailors interact."

She smiles."They were partnered?" She's catching up on something. I don't know what it is, though. "Is your mom..."

I interrupt before she finishes...she can't quite get her words out, so I help her out. "Major General Sarah Rabb."

"As in Sarah MacKenzie?" I nod. "No way! I'll be damned." She chuckled. "No wonder your name sounded so familiar."

"You knew my mom, too?"

"Not that well, but yes." She looked in amazement. "So those two finally hooked up? Wow. How long did it take them?"

"Are you sure you want to know? It's a very long story. Sometimes I tell them they should make a show about their lives or something." I laugh. "I don't know call it 'The Complicated Tales of Harm And Mac' or something."

"How long do you have?" She smiles as she gets comfortable on the sand.

I guess I'll call mom and tell her I won't be going with her and Mattie shopping. Explain that I recently met up with some of their past. I don't know why, but I want to tell as many people as possible the story of my parents' lives.

THE END