Jennifer

It was almost six o 'clock when Harm entered his apartment. Another day of hard work had ended and he looked forward to a quiet evening. Mac was otherwise occupied so he was on his own. Dinner, a bit of housekeeping and a lot of relaxing, he decided. He walked over to the bedroom to set the cats free. Immediately he was surrounded by little meowing furry bodies. McKinley was on her favourite spot, his shoulder, in the blink of an eye and Mac the Knife testes his claws on Harm ankle, causing him to jump. That caused McKinley to almost lose her balance so now Harm had two kittens digging their claws in. He couldn't stop himself from a little yodelling. Luckily, as soon as he had opened two large cans of kitten food and filled several bowls, the kittens' attention was distracted and for a moment they were happily tucking in.
Harm put a container of frozen pasta in the microwave to defrost and heat, set the timer and went to change.
When he was back in the living, the phone started to ring.
"Commander Rabb speaking."
"Hi Harm, It's Jennifer here."
"Hi Jennifer. How are you? And how's your mum?"
A sniff sounded at the other end of the line. Harm got alarmed.
"She is not … she didn't die, did she?"
A deep breath.
"No, she didn't. But for a while it was touch and go. She caught pneumonia. It was an antibiotic-resistant strain and she was very sick."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Harm told her. He had met her mum once or twice when she visited Jennifer and really liked her. "Please, sent her my best."
"I will do that. But there is more. You know my sister was to come and take over so I could come back to Washington for a while?"
"Yes," Harm said.
"They were on their way to the airport when a car hit them. My sister is okay but her husband ended up in hospital with several injuries. So she can't come and I won't be able to return to Washington for some weeks. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry," Harm tried to console her. "We'll take care of Mac and her kittens."
"I know," Jennifer sighed. "But they are ready for their new homes and I won't see them."
Harm kept silent. She was right.
"Have you already found them new homes?"
"No, not yet. We asked around at JAG but no response. Only Mackenzie, she will stay with us."
"Us?" Jennifer sounded curious.
Harm blushed, grateful Jennifer couldn't see him. "Yes, us. Mac and I are together now."
"Finally!"
Harm sucked in his breath, wavering between amusement and exasperation It seemed the whole world had known Mac and he belonged together, long before he himself had reached that conclusion, let alone acted on it.
"Why Mackenzie?" Jennifer wanted to know.
"Because she is the cutest," Harm gave her the reason he had given to Mac weeks earlier.
"And that's why you called her …?"
"Yes." Harm had to curb a flash of irritation. He didn't like to discuss his feelings. Luckily Jennifer changed the subject again.
"What is your account number? I do some odd jobs here and want to start repaying you. And don't try to object, I insist."
Harm named the digits.
"It might take some time but I will reimburse everything."
"I know you will," Harm reassured her.
"I have to go. My mum will be back from her therapy in a minute."
"Okay. Speak to you later and don't forget to say hi to your mum from me."
When he placed the receiver back in its socket he heaved a sigh. Finding new homes for the kittens was more easily said than done. No one at JAG seemed to want to have a fluffy fur ball. Maybe it was time to find other ways. He wasn't too sure about Craigslist, though. He wanted to be sure each kitten got a good home. Rolling his stiff shoulders he rose. It was time for action. First eat and then tidying and cleaning the house, that is.
After dinner he did the dishes and made a round through the living and bedroom area to retrieve all loose items. It was only now that he discovered the box of condoms, lying in front of the nightstand, its contents scattered over the floor. Wow, last night must have been wilder than he remembered, he thought. He quickly collected them, put them back into the box and placed it at its rightful spot in the nightstand drawer. It wasn't the time yet to get rid of them. Of course he and Mac wanted a child, preferable more than one, but for now he enjoyed their new relation and anyway, he wanted to be married before fathering a child. All in good time! He fluffed the pillows and straightened the comforter. Dirty clothes went into the hamper.
Rooms tidied he grabbed the vacuum cleaner. This caused the kittens to run for cover. Mother Mac jumped on the table, her tail flicking, keeping a watchful eye on the rumbling machine. The last of Harm's chores was downstairs to retrieve a load of laundry he had put into the dryer that morning. He folded the laundry and put it away. Then he grabbed a book and, with a cup of tea on the side table next to him and Mackenzie in his lap, started reading.