Mac felt a hand on her belly and soon a warm body pulled her closer. She felt a chill as she moved her arm outside the sheet and blanket, and hurried to move it under the sheet again and put her hand over his.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbled into her ear as his hand moved inside her top and caressed her belly. He kissed down her neck and smiled when she turned to him.

"Merry Christmas, handsome," she whispered before she reached for the mints on the nightstand. She took two out of the box and gave him one of them. "Morning breath."

He smiled and put the mint into his mouth.

She got out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. The floor was freezing. She finished and washed her hands before hurrying back to bed. "Come on, Sailor."

Harm pulled her down on the bed, kissing her deeply. Clothes hit the floor and their bodies communicated their own way.

Then the door flew open. "Merry Christmas!"

They froze, both wondering who had forgotten to lock the door the previous night and thanking God that the room was so cold that the sheet was covering them.

"Give us a minute," Harm said.

The door closed. "We almost gave all the kids a show," Mac said.

Harm felt her hands move down his back and pull him closer to her and he forgot about the kids. He wanted to finish what they had started. He moved a little, making her moan and trust against him and then he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

Mac was the first to go downstairs. The kids were seated by the kitchen table having breakfast with Trish and Frank.

"Morning," she said. "Ready to open gifts?"

"Me first!" Matthew jumped up and ran to the living room.

"I'm totally rethinking my gift for you and dad. I should have gotten you a key," Nathan said.

"We have one," Mac responded as she went for the coffee.

"Use it," Mattie, Nathan and Claire said.

Trish and Frank laughed just as Harm joined them. "What?" he asked.

Mac stopped on her way past him. "We need to lock the door," she smiled and kissed him before continuing to the living room.

Harm shrugged. "Just don't come barging in without knocking. Problem solved." He went for the coffee.

"Never surprising you with breakfast again," Claire said and stood.

"It was a nice thought," Harm ruffled her hair.

"You totally messed up my hair, dad," she hurried to straighten it.

Mac walked into the kitchen. "Are you guys coming?" she asked with the eagerness of a child.

"I don't know who's worse, you or Matthew," Trish teased as she stood.

Harm smiled and followed them to the living room. Christmas had gone from his worst holiday to his favorite holiday. He couldn't get into the same Christmas spirit as his wife, but most people couldn't, because she loved it. He sat down beside her and took her hand in his, ready to see the kids go wild with the gifts.

Later in the day Mac and the kids went outside to play in the snow. Trish decided after a little while to join them. After watching in the window, she thought it looked fun. Harm sat down by the kitchen table with Frank. Frank wasn't in his best shape. After his heart surgery age had caught up with him, and the once so energetic man had resigned to his age.

"It was a good idea to spend Christmas here," Frank said as he leaned back and looked out the window. "Looks like fun."

Harm chuckled. "Mac's really just a kid inside."

Frank smiled. "It's nice to see you so happy, son. Ever since you married that amazing woman out there, you've been a changed man. It makes an old man happy."

"It took me long enough to commit, but once I finally did I definitely chose the right woman," Harm smiled than hesitated before he continued. "I know I never told you, but I'm glad my mom found happiness again."

"I know it wasn't easy for you. It wasn't easy for us either, your mom wanted to protect you and I knew I was taking a chance, but we loved each other," Frank said honestly. "Christmas was the hardest for us."

"I know, but you really tried to create something special for us at the same time as you always used the holiday to help those who needed it most. You're a good man, Frank. I've seen you over the years, a successful man, but you never bragged or made a big thing of it, instead you used your time and money to help those less fortunate. I've always tried to live up to that."

"I appreciate you saying this. I've always seen you as my son, Harm. I'm proud of the man you have become, and I thank you for including me into your family. Having four kids call me grandpa has given me so much joy," Frank stood and offered his hand to Harm. "Thank you, son."

Harm stood and took Frank's hand, and to the old man's surprise Harm hugged him. "Thank you, Frank."

That night after dinner Harm and Mac offered to clean the kitchen. The kids went to watch a Christmas movie, and Trish and Frank joined them. Harm looked out the window on the falling snow. It was truly beautiful, and reminded him of so many late nights at the farm as a kid. He always loved it here.

"You look thoughtful?"

He turned to his wife. "Yeah, just a lot of memories. I always loved it here."

"I know," she walked over. "I do too."

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. "I love you."

She smiled lovingly. "I love you too," she leaned in and kissed him softly.

Harm ended the kiss when someone entered the kitchen.

"I thought you guys were supposed to clean the kitchen?" Nathan said as he went to the fridge.

Harm held Mac close and smiled. "We are."

Nathan reached for the soda and closed the fridge. "Come watch the movie with us."

"In a minute," Mac released her husband. "I'm making popcorn."

"Sounds good," Nathan smiled and walked out of the kitchen.

"This is nice," Harm reached for a plate and put it in the dishwasher. "I'm glad we decided to come here for Christmas."

"Me too," she put the popcorn in the microwave and turned it on. "Are you okay with not being able to visit the wall?"

"I am," he smiled and closed the dishwasher. "Christmas isn't as hard as it used to be, you know. I guess I've been able to replace the bad memories with good ones. It's a pretty amazing life we have together."

"I agree," she walked over and kissed him, then hugged him close.

On New Year's Day, they drove back to D.C. Nathan had to report to the Academy the next day. Mattie had left two days after Christmas to report back to Bethesda. Then the day after she got a visit from Brian who would stay until New Year's Day. Trish and frank flew back to San Diego the next day, and suddenly everything was quiet and back to normal in the Rabb household.

There were some changes in the new year. Mattie and Brian had decided to go their separate ways. They were both busy with their careers and they agreed that they were just not meant to be.

Claire finally admitted that she had a new boyfriend, and she agreed to invite him to dinner so that her parents could meet him.

"So, you'll be nice?" she asked her father for the tent time.

"I'm always nice," Harm argued as he steered the sauce.

Mac offered an amused look. "Sure you are."

Harm flashed her a charming smile as she walked over to him. "You think I am," he leaned in and kissed her softly.

"And no kissing and inappropriate touching," Claire added with warning.

Harm looked at her innocently. "We don't do that."

"Of course you don't," Claire rolled her eyes.

"You should be glad we love each other. Remember the Clark's and the meltdown at the Owen's summer party?" Harm said.

Claire hesitated. "Okay, fine. I really felt sorry for Rita when her parents did that. But there's a middle way, and the two of you are a little too much on the other end."

Mac smiled as the doorbell rang. "He's here."

Claire looked between her parent's. "And don't embarrass me by telling cute stories."

Mac and Harm shared amused looks as Claire turned to get the door. "She's going to hate us after tonight," Harm said.

Mac chuckled. "Uhu."

A little while later Claire walked into the kitchen followed by a tall teenage boy with blonde hair and dark blue eyes. "Mom, Dad, this is Tim. Tim this is my Mom and my Dad."

"Nice to meet you Tim," Mac said with a sweet smile.

Harm offered his hand. "Nice to meet you Tim."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Rabb," Tim said politely.

"Just call us Harm and Sarah," Mac said reassuringly. "Please sit down. I'll just go get Matthew."

Harm put the food on the table and joined them just as Mac and Matthew came back. "That's my brother Matthew," Claire said.

"Hi, I'm Tim," Tim said.

"Hi," Matthew sat down. "So Tim, do you like gaming?"

"Not really, I'm more of a reader," Tim said.

"You two will be really happy together," Matthew said.

Mac and Harm shared looks of amusement. "Matthew," Mac warned.

"It's the truth," Matthew said with an innocent shrug.

"What books do you like?" Mac asked Tim.

"Mostly about computers and programing. I do like a good biography though. And I'm into history too," Tim said.

Harm handed the salad to Tim. "So, I take it you're not a typical teenager then."

Tim shrugged. "I find people my age really immature. I have an IQ above average, but my Mom can't afford a private school. We have good teacher's here though so I love the new school. My last school back in New York was pretty awful, so I stopped going. That's why we moved here so my Grandma can help keep an eye on me. I just didn't see a point in going to a school where I knew more about the subjects than my teachers just to get beat up by the next generation gangsters. We lived in a pretty bad neighborhood too."

"Tim is brilliant," Claire said.

"What do your Mom do?" Mac wondered.

"She's a nurse practitioner. It's just been the two of us since my Dad died. He was a marine and he got killed in Afghanistan," Tim explained.

"I'm sorry," Mac said.

"I'm sorry," Harm said too. "I lost my Dad when I was five, so I know how that feels like."

"Mom, Dad, didn't you go to Afghanistan?" Matthew asked.

"We did," Harm confirmed. "When we used to work together."

They talked during the whole dinner, and Harm had to admit that he found it hard to dislike the boy his daughter had brought home.

"You like him," Mac said as they were cleaning up after dinner.

"He seems like a nice boy," Harm said with a smile. "He's the first of her boyfriends I can say that about."

Mac chuckled. "Don't let her know that, she'll dump him right away."

Harm looked questioningly at her. "Why?"

"No teenage girl wants to date someone her father likes," Mac explained.

"Do I want to know why?" Harm asked.

"It's a girl ting," Mac said with laughter just as the phone rang.

Harm smiled. "I'll get that."

Harm was gone a long time, so Mac went to look for him, and found him in their home office. He was just saying goodbye to his Mom when Mac joined him.

"What's up?" Mac questioned when she noticed the serious look on her husband's face.

"Do you remember Mom's sister Rose?" Harm questioned.

"Yeah, we went to her husband's funeral. Two years ago was it?" Mac asked.

Harm nodded. "You remember her daughter Ruth dying in a car crash ten years ago? She left an eighteen-year-old daughter behind. Anna. She came to Uncle Phil's funeral with her daughter Rose, remember?"

"I remember," Mac confirmed.

"Well, Anna died earlier today. She was beaten to death," Harm said.

"That's awful," Mac said.

"The boyfriend is the main suspect," Harm continued. "Rose, the daughter is nine, and she's with Mom and Frank now. There are no relatives who is in a position to take care of her. Aunt Rose is too old. Rose's Dad is unknown, so she doesn't have anyone."

"That's just sad," Mac said. "What will happen to her."

"She can stay with Mom and Frank until something more permanent can be arranged. As my Mom pointed out that means a foster home," Harm moved his chair closer to Mac's. "Mom asked us to take on Rose."

Mac hesitated. "And you said?"

"That I had to discuss it with you," he took her hand.

Mac studied her husband's face. "You want to do this," she stated.

"I'm not sure I can say no," Harm admitted. "Rose is family, even though I don't know her very well, or knew her Mom very well. But I knew Ruth, and I'm close with Aunt Rose. The thought of her going to stay with strangers is a little heartbreaking. We have room, and we have the resources."

Mac squeezed his hand. "I agree."

"Mac, if you're not sure…"

Mac stopped him with a kiss. "We have to do this. As you said, she's family."

Harm smiled. "You are amazing."