He was in the bed next to his wife and his daughter in her crib. They were both asleep and all that his mind could play over, and over was…"It figures, after 9 years, 9 hours and 9 months…and so his mind went there…

He started to talk out loud to her.

"You're perfect." "My looks and her brains, perfect."

Let me explain. "That night, just only 9 months ago, here's how it all happened."

"Bud, Uncle Bud, flipped Uncle AJ's JAG coin. Yes, we put our fate in the hands of Bud and a coin. Kind of romantic, don't you think? Anyway, as we all watched, and waited to see which one of us would resign our commission, I was holding onto your mom so tightly, I was, and still am so in love with her, and I am pretty sure she is very much in love with me too. It only took you 9 months, but it took us 9 years."

"Your grandparents and older sister will be here tomorrow so we need to get some sleep tonight."

"Ok, dad, finish the story." He thought to himself.

"The coin went up, your mom called tails, so I had heads, that's how that game works. I'll teach it to you when you are older. The coin came down tails, which means your mother won. You will also learn that your mother wins most of the time, sometimes I let her win, but most of the time it's all her. So, San Diego it was to be."

Still talking to his baby girl, he said, "I was going to be a civilian and had no idea what I was going to do."

"Did I want to be a civilian attorney?" He asked her.

"Did I want to fly?" He asked as if she could answer him

"No carrier traps, but I'd have to be away from my girls and I was not sure I would have liked that." "A teacher?" he questioned, as if any moment she would speak and give him the answer.

"I could teach flying lessons, and I have Sarah. Oh, not your mom, Sarah, although I call her Mac. That will be an explanation later." He joked, getting a smile from his little girl.

"Could she really understand this early?" He thought and then said, "My yellow bi-plane, and what a story she would tell you about that!" "She was not too happy with Daddy during that trip!"

"Ok, dad, focus, your daughter is waiting for the story." He once again said out loud.

Good thing no one was in the room, they'd think he was crazy. Well he was crazy, for one Marine and one mini Marine.

"Dad's focused now little girl, so on with the story". Fatigue evident in his voice.

"You're new room is painted bright yellow with teddy bears, puppies and kittens all over. It is also filled with stuffed animals, I knew you would love them, so every chance I had I picked one up, your mother gave me that look every time I brought one home, you'll see it too I am sure, as you are a Rabb and it seems she loves giving that look to another Rabb, and that would be me too."

"After the announcement, that we were going to marry", "She was so beautiful," he continued, "We had to meet with General Cresswell in the morning to re-do our orders, so we said our goodbyes to the others and headed home." That sounded so great to say out loud."Home, together, forever." He continued.

"We headed home to discuss our next move and what exactly that meant. But first, good, you're asleep, you don't need to hear the details of that night, we held each other as tightly as we could and made love for what seemed like hours, I can't believe it took us 9 years to get there. We made love several times that night and could not get enough of each other and after making love we just laid there in each other's arms. Little did we know that in 9 short hours we'd be husband and wife, and 9 short months later, (well not so short to your mom), you'd be here, the littlest Rabb, Emma Mac Kenzie Rabb."

"We awoke to the spring air as we had left the window open, I got up and made coffee and your mother sleepily stumbled from the bedroom, she looked as gorgeous as ever. You'll see that side of her too." He rambled on and on to his daughter as she slept, feeling sleepy as well.

"Good, you're awake. You can hear the rest of the story; it is approved for all audiences." He laughed, as he reached to touch her soft skin as she held his finger, she was so tiny.

"So, we met General Cresswell, I was reassigned to the Pentagon and your mom's job in San Diego was postponed a few months, so neither of us had to resign our commission. We found out 5 weeks later we were pregnant and your mom decided to retire to raise you and I went back to JAG. Which is why, we are still in Washington DC. Daddy is off work for two weeks and your mom will be home with you every day. Daddy still has to go away sometimes, but not to any place dangerous so don't worry. You are perfect. My looks and your mother's brains, which is yet another story you'll hear later."

"I love you Emma Mac Kenzie Rabb." He said as he placed a kiss on his daughter's head as she drifted off to sleep again"

"What a coin toss it was." He thought and then for the last time that night, he spoke out loud.

"It figures, after 9 years, 9 hours and 9 months, that you'd be 9 days late", he laughed out loud to himself, just as a nurse entered the room with a big grin.

"Did she hear the entire conversation?" he thought as he was kind of embarrassed

He didn't care. He loved his girls and he didn't care who knew! "Love you, Emma,""Love you, Mac." "He said softly, and could swear he heard each of them answer, "Love you, Daddy", "Love you Harm". Harm was exhausted as his head hit the pillow, and with his wife and his daughter in the same room with him, he was finally able to drift off to sleep.

"What a coin toss, indeed!" To be continued? You tell me!