This is a story that I wrote a while ago and posted on the Yahoo Harm/Mac shipper board. I'm also working on the next chapter of "What Hurts the Most" and it should be up soon. Stay tuned! A slightly different take on the baby deal. Be warned the first ending is not shipper friendly.
Baby Talk
Harm tickled her tiny feet
as she kicked at the air. "You look like
you're riding a
bicycle, but that won't happen for a few years yet."
She
gurgled and smiled at him, spit bubbles popping at her mouth.
He
looked into her big brown eyes and couldn't help smiling. He rubbed
a
hand ever so gently over her silky fine hair. "I'm so glad you
look
like your mother." She flailed wildly for a moment,
waving her arms
and twisting her torso towards Harm. He settled
her with a large hand
on her stomach, marvelling again at her tiny
size as his fingers curled
lightly around her waist.
"You're
glad too huh?" She smiled again, clapping her hands against
his,
trying to get a firm grip on his skin. "You're on very
lucky
lady. You mom loves you very much. And she wanted you so
bad. You
should have seen her the day she found out she was
expecting you."
Harm remembered vividly. The glow to her
skin, the new sparkle in her
eye, her smile. She hadn't been able
to stop smiling. His attention
was called back when the petit body
under his hand moved again,
drawing in a deep breath as she
yawned.
"No, you can't go to sleep yet. Your mom's going to be home soon."
Harm tickled her gently, feeling
guilty, not for keeping her awake
until Mac got home, but for
keeping her awake for himself. He didn't
want to waste a minute of
their time together although he knew it was
time for her nap, and
that Mac needed more time to rest.
He touched his index finger
to her brow, feeling the soft, warm skin
before moving to her
nose. She giggled and grabbed his finger, trying
to move it to her
mouth.
He gave her his knuckle to gnaw on, grinning as she
tried to pull it
in farther. "Oh no you don't miss. I already
fed you today."
She had her mother's appetite as well,
along with her timing. She ate
regularly, every 3 hours finishing
off a bottle with regular consistency.
He ran a hand over her
side as she yawned again, letting go of his
finger. "Maybe I
should put you in your crib." He pushed himself off
of the
bed, careful not to jostle her in the process and lifted her
into
his arms just as he heard the door open. He walked into the
kitchen,
cradling her close to his body with her head pressed to his
neck.
The baby smell overwhelmed him and the warmth of her tiny body
seeped
through his clothes, infusing his heart with warmth that
shocked
him every time he felt it.
Mac shrugged off her coat and smiled at them. "How was she?"
"An angel. Like always."
Ending #1 (not H/M!)
"I'm so glad.
And I'm so glad you were available to baby-sit today. I
didn't
realize how much I needed groceries and with Bud and Harriet at
her
parents - "
"Mac its okay. I like spending time with
Maggie." And you' he added
silently.
"And you're
so good with her too. I always knew you'd be good with
children."
I just though it would be with our child' they both thought.
Mac
lifted the baby into her arms, the child immediately cuddling
close
to her mother, recognizing her voice and her scent. Harm touched
the
cap of her hair again and lifted his eyes to find Mac watching
him.
"I'd better get going." He said, picking up his coat and putting it on."
"Harm ... "
He
looked at her, the Madonna mother cradling her child to her breast.
A
vision of pure beauty.
"Mic would be proud of you."
He
watched her draw back from him, although she didn't move. He
kissed
Maggie's forehead, touching her back one more time before
he tore
himself away and opened the door.
"Bye."
Harm
took the elevator to the bottom floor and walked out into the
sunset.
He strode slowly down the street, thinking about lost chances
and
the beautiful child that he couldn't help loving. Yes, he was
very
glad that she looked like her mother.
The door closed
behind Harm with a click and Maggie began to fuss, as
if she could
sense his absence and her mother's distress.
"Shhhh"
Mac murmured, swaying slightly till Maggie settled again.
"He's
right you know. Your daddy would be proud. He'll always be
watching
over you."
She settled her daughter into her crib,
dimming the lights and
starting the quiet mobile hanging from the
ceiling. She rubbed
Maggie's stomach as she thought back over the
last year. Mic
leaving after Harm's crash and their failed
wedding, discovering she
was pregnant and informing him. Then
hearing about his death at sea a
few days later.
Mac
watched her daughter inhale and exhale in her sleep, knowing that
as
sure as they had survived this far, that they would surviving in
the
coming years. Even if they were on their own.
But as the sun
faded in the window and the shadows washed over them,
she
couldn't help imagining her child with familiar blue-green
eyes.
Ending #2 (the shipper ending)
Harm kissed
his wife as she they looked at their daughter as she slept
in her
father's strong arms.
"That's cause she's Daddy's little girl."
"Well, Daddy's little girl is ready for her nap so we'll be right back."
"I'll come with you. We can cook dinner after."
He lifted an arm around her
shoulder and she slipped hers around his
waist.
As the last
rays of the sun bathed the house in a golden light, the
couple and
their child, the beautiful product of their love, made
their way
up the stairs, both looking forward to a lifetime of nights
together
like this.
