As Mac's wedding drew closer, she became upset when she discovered that Harm would not be present at the wedding rehearsal, because his flight qualifications were being held that same weekend.
Harm was not too fussed on missing the rehearsal and said he would try and get back for the ceremony itself. Mac was not happy as she accused him of not considering her wedding as being terribly important.
"But Mac!" Harm tried to give her one last chance to prevent her from making a mistake. "My quals were scheduled long before you set a date. And quite frankly, if you think you need me to be at your wedding to make it work, then maybe you should reconsider who you are marrying." He left the next day for the Patrick Henry.
By the time Harm had completed his quals, a large storm cell was hanging over the carrier, and Harm made the decision to NOT fly back. He called the JAG office and explained his reasons to the Admiral.
Since he was not in the wedding party his presence was not absolutely essential. Harm knew that Mac would not be happy, but she had made her choice, and unless she changed her own mind, she was on her own. The Admiral called Mac into his office to listen to Harm on the speaker phone.
"Mac, I'm sorry but I don't feel that I should be flying back in this weather. I have to think of both my own safety and that of my RIO.
"But you promised, Harm, You promised, and you never break a promise." Mac was furious.
"No, Mac, I never promised to be at your wedding. I said I would try and get there but I never made a promise." He tried one last time. "Mac, are you absolutely sure you love Mic enough to marry him? This is a life altering decision you are making. I doubt he will be willing to stay in the States. You may need to think about moving to Australia."
"Harm, I need you at my wedding!" Mac screamed loudly enough that the entire bullpen heard it.
"Why Mac? Tell me exactly why you need me to be there." Harm asked.
The admiral was getting concerned at Mac's behaviour. His Chief of Staff was usually so steady and calm, and now she was almost panicking.
Mac still didn't know why she needed Harm to be there, she only knew that she did. So she settled for her usual excuse. "I can't get married without my best friend there, can I?"
"Well, Mac, You are supposed to be marrying your best friend, and if Mic is not your best friend, then why are you marrying him? I can't be your best friend any more. That will be Mic's job. I don't think he would appreciate me hanging around. Look Mac, I gotta go, I have a debriefing still to do. Good luck and I truely hope you will be happy with the man you have chosen to marry." Harm hung up the phone.
As Mac sat in her chair, sobbing, the admiral looked at Mac. He had seen that Mac was almost desperate to have Harm at her wedding. It was almost as if she wanted Harm to stop the wedding.
'Now why would she want that?' he thought. 'Harm did say that maybe Mac needs to think about Mic being the right man for her. Most of us agree that he is not, but she needs to make that decision for herself. Oh I get it. Mac can't make that decision herself. She wants Harm to make that decision for her. She wants Harm to tell her, that she can't marry Mic. He did say that she needed to think about who she was marrying if he was not her best friend, but he never said outright, not to marry him.'
The rehearsal went ahead as planned. Mac had red eyes and she looked like she was a lamb heading for the slaughter. The wedding was scheduled for the very next day. After the rehearsal, the admiral decided to try one last time. He called Mac on the phone that night.
"You didn't seem to be terribly happy during the rehearsal today. I hope you are OK."
"I was just upset that Harm was not there. I really need Harm to be there."
The admiral continued."You know, it doesn't really look good to your new husband to have an old boyfriend hanging around for your wedding."
"He's not a boyfriend, he's my best friend. "
"Mac. Have you ever considered that usually when a couple get married, they are best friends to each other? If you don't consider Mic to be your best friend, then why are you marrying him?"
"Because Harm has not asked me!" Mac wailed.
AJ was not too surprised at this revelation. "And if he did ask you, would you accept?"
"Yes." hiccoughed Mac as she wiped away more tears.
"Is there any reason why you couldn't ask him? It's ok for the girl to propose too, you know."
"I did ask him. Down in Sydney. He said Not yet. He wanted me to wait."
"So why are you not waiting for Harm to be able to marry you?" Chegwidden asked bluntly.
"Because he wants me to wait as long as it takes for him to be ready, and I can't wait that long. I want to have children now, and not get too old to have them."
"I see." said AJ nodding his head. "Then Mac, you have a decision to make, and this is one that you have to make on your own. Noone can tell you what to do. You have to decide, for yourself, what is more important to you. Having children now with Mic, or having Harm in your life later."
The next day at the wedding, which was a huge ornate affair, something that Mic had pushed for, Mac walked down the aisle to Mic, but she still could not say NO.
If Mac had done what Harm and the admiral both asked her to do and thought about her life, the decisions she had made, and why she made them, she might have eventually figured out that she was unable to make her own decisions. She was scared to make her own decisions. She desperately wanted children, but she also needed to have the security of a husband to tell her what to do as well.
While she did love Harm, she really only loved his good looks and his height. She was not in love with him. Mac actually considered Harm to be a weak man, simply because he refused to tell her what to do. He gave her the pros and cons of the decisions she wanted to make, but left it to her to make the final decision. So why was she even thinking about wanting to be with Harm when he would refuse to tell her what to do. Also, Harm had never actually said those words, that he loved her, and he was not in any hurry to marry her. Therefore he probably did not love her.
No, she would stay with Mic, because at least she knew for sure that he loved her, because he said so and he made it plain. Mic also made all the decisions about what they did whenever they were not working. Mac loved a decisive man.
Mac had grown up being told what to do, practically all of her life. Her father, her first husband, (despite them being drunk most of the time), Uncle Matt and finally the Marine Corps, had all made decisions for her and told her what to do.
The one time Mac had made a decision on her own, she and her friend Eddie had ended up crashing the car and Eddie ended up dead. Mac had not even made the decision to become a lawyer. The Marine Corps had done that for her.
As Mic and Mac walked back down the aisle together, Mic had a huge smile on his face, and Renee was pleased. Finally, maybe Harm could concentrate on her and forget the colonel. Mac was now off limits.
At the reception, Mic told everyone that he was taking Mac down under for the honey moon and that they would be staying in Australia for his next tour which was expected to last at least three years.
During the reception, Admiral Chegwidden asked Mac what she was going to do with her commission. Mic interrupted. "She is going to resign". he said. "I don't need my wife to be working. She is going to stay home. Anyway, she still has to go through the immigration process to become an Australian resident, and she won't be able to work while her application is being processed. Even if she does eventually want to continue working as a lawyer, she will still have to go back to law school to learn Australian law."
Chegwidden watched Sarah while Mic was making his speech. Mac's face had a tight tense smile on it, but she nodded her head as if she was in agreement. The admiral decided to try one more time.
"Colonel? Do you wish to resign or go onto inactive reserve status?"
Mic frowned and opened his mouth to speak. The Admiral glared at Mic and growled. "I am asking your wife, Commander Brumby. I am not asking you. So please, give her the courtesy of being allowed to speak."
Mac looked the Admiral in the eyes, and spoke. "Mic's right, Sir. I don't really want to go back to Law school and do that all over again. I'd like to try something different, so yes, I do wish to resign my commission."
"Very well, Colonel, I will start the process." The admiral was disappointed that Mac had not chosen to accept inactive reserve status, but she had made her choice, and now she would have to deal with the fallout.
After the reception, Mic and Mac left for Los Angeles and then flew to Australia. Once again, Mac had not had any say in the honeymoon decision. She just did what she was told.
A/N - Mac always struck me as a conflicted character. On the one hand she kept repeating her Mantra, "I'm a Marine and can look after myself," and yet on the other she seemed to need a third party to tell her how to live her life, from Chris, through Eddie, Uncle Matt and eventually the Marine Corps. Which is why I wrote this one shot.