Title : Another Harriet
Author : Jaggie 107
Disclaimer : JAG characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.
Rating : G to PG-13 (Just in case!)
Let's believe that Harm and Mac are married and expecting their first child, that they still have Mattie in their lives, and that Jen has moved with them from the apartment in Union Station to the garage apartment at their new home. No particular spoilers, but the new JAG (don't know his name) is in place.
JAG HQ1005 Monday morning
Mac put down the telephone receiver on Harm's desk and got to her feet, then fell back heavily into the chair as she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.
"Oh," she murmured, more in surprise than shock, and then a more aggrieved 'Oh no!' was heard, and Jennifer Coates almost ran from her office across the bullpen.
"Ma'am? Is everything all right?"
From between gritted teeth, Mac managed to mutter quickly. Her words caused Coates to blanch, and then take a deep breath and walk quickly into Lieutenant Commander Roberts' office next door. Bud, however, was already on his feet and making his way to Mac's office, having heard her groan.
"Bud?" Mac managed a weak whisper, as she stared down at the now-obvious puddle of amniotic fluid on the floor. "My waters broke!"
"Yes, ma'am, they did!" Bud's cheery acknowledgement was followed by a more brisk order to Coates. "Jen, call an ambulance, and then call Harriet."
"To come to JAG, sir?"
"No; by the time she could get here the Colonel would have been moved to..." Bud stopped as Mac shook her head.
"Not time...need to lie down...NOW!" Mac ground out, in between panting, and cursing Harm silently in her mind. It wasn't fair, she knew, to blame him in absentia, but he had fathered the child she was about to give birth to, and for that alone she felt he deserved a few choice words. "Call. Harm. Now."
"Ma'am, the Captain is still with the SecNav. They're not due back until tonight..."
"Don't. Care. Call!" Mac didn't voice the words 'That's an order' but she certainly conveyed them with the expression in her eyes and the mutinous look on her face. Bud nodded.
"Jen, call Harriet and tell her to come here. I'll call the Captain."
"Aye, sir. What about Mac?"
"We'll move her to the Admiral's office," Bud authorized, helping Mac to her feet on one side, while the new JAG lawyer who replaced Mac at JAG Ops (when she was moved to Judges' chambers) came to assist her at the other side. Smiling gratefully between Bud and Nick Glennan, Mac moved slowly to the Admiral's office, using the central office door rather than having to walk all the way through Jennifer's office too. That was asking too much right now!
Lieutenant Helen Morgan, who had taken over Harriet's duties as Office Administrator, was also on hand to field curious onlookers, and give Mac what little privacy she could. Ordering up a member of the janitorial staff, she showed them into Harm's office and pointed out the wet patch on the tiled floor.
"What happened here then?" asked the man, curious as to why there would be a wet patch in the office of JAG's golden boy.
"We're having a delivery," returned Helen, smiling, but not elaborating on her statement. The janitor shrugged, went about his job, and when he had finished he made his way back towards the service elevators on the JAG Ops floor.
A short while later...A tall, handsome, dark haired Naval Captain stepped off another elevator and walked through the glass doors and into the bullpen. At that point, there was no-one familiar in view, and while he nodded and smiled at the staff in the bullpen, he continued into his office and lay his briefcase and cover on his desk, and hung his coat over the nearby stand. His foot slid a little on the still-damp tiles, and he looked down at the patch that had still not dried fully. Raising his head, a questioning look on his face, he caught the eye of Jennifer.
"Sir! You're back! Oh, this is great! Welcome back, sir!" Jennifer all but ran to Harm's office to greet him. "Sir, the Admiral's office, you have to go in, now..."
"The Admiral? He's with the SecNav, Coates. I've only just left there..." Harm was confused.
"Not the Admiral, sir! His office! Now! Move!" As Harm stood his ground and began a speech to try to calm Jennifer down, Bud appeared at the door of the Admiral's office.
"Sir! Harm! Welcome back! You're not going to believe this one, sir!"
"Believe what, Bud? What's going on?"
"It's the Colonel, sir! She's pulled another Harriet!" Bud was beaming from ear to ear.
"Another 'Harriet'?" Harm was beginning to think someone in JAG Ops had been slipping 'happy' pills into the break-room coffee that morning! Then he realized Bud had been talking about Mac. "Mac's bought another house?" he queried, a dazed look on his face, but Bud shook his head.
"No, sir! The Colonel's in the Admiral's office, having the baby!"
"Baby?" At those words Harm went pale, and then suddenly smiled. "The baby! Now?"
"All but, sir!" Bud stepped aside as Harm strode across the bullpen and into the Admiral's office. Mac was laid on the floor, her face flushed and her hair matted with sweat, but to him she had never looked more beautiful. In her arms she held a blanketed bundle, and her head was bowed over, cooing softly. Harriet was there, getting to her feet and coming to greet Harm with a hug, and a murmured 'Congratulations!' Harm accepted the greeting with a smile of thanks, but he thought nothing amiss with Harriet's presence, as Mac had already agreed with Harriet that should Harm be absent at the time of birth, Harriet would be her birthing coach. It was the presence of the second man in the room that caught Harm's eye, and made him first smile, and then stand to attention. He was waved down immediately.
"I'm retired, Harm. Good job I came by for a visit, though... say 'hello' to your wife, and your daughter." AJ Chegwidden, Rear-Admiral, retired, grinned at Harm as he shook hands, and then dropped to his knees beside his wife and child.
Mac looked up into eyes the color of the sea, and laughed softly at his expression. "Say 'hello', Daddy," murmured Mac, softly, leaning her cheek into Harm's hand as he caressed her skin. Pulling the blanket away from the newborn, Harm watched as sea-colored eyes looked back at him.
"Sarah, she's beautiful. You're beautiful. I love you," Harm murmured, leaning down to drop a kiss on Mac's lips.
"I love you, too, Harm. I've cursed you from here to the end of the world and back today, but I love you," she told him, laughing and crying at the same time.
As the new family were given some privacy after all the excitement, Bud and Harriet went with the Admiral to clean up a little in the respective washrooms, and when they returned to JAG Ops, the new Admiral was just about to enter his office through Jennifer Coates' room.
"Ah, sir?" AJ Chegwidden managed to divert his attention slightly.
"AJ! This is a surprise! I don't recall Coates saying we had an appointment."
"We don't, sir. It was a spur of the moment decision. I was in the area, and decided to call in. Good job I did, too."
"Come on into...the office, then, and we can talk for a while."
"If you don't mind, sir, would you come across to Captain Rabb's office for the time being. I can explain the situation in there," AJ stood to one side and waited for the man to cross the room.
"What's going on, AJ?"
"Nothing bad, sir. In fact, something very good." As AJ waited until the other man sat, before taking the seat next to him, he then began his explanation of what had happened in his absence from his office, and why there was a little need for privacy until the ambulance arrived.
"Well, sir, it would appear you have a new member of staff..." AJ began, smiling.
Epilog – Naval Hospital, BethesdaIn the room there were five people. Three adults, one teenager, and a baby.
"So, Flyboy, what are we going to call her? We can't have another AJ, even though the Admiral did the honors, again..." Mac spoke up, looking directly at Harm. Jennifer and Mattie waited for his response.
A few names were suggested, between the adults and the teenager. Many were discarded, until one was settled upon with good grace, and a lot of humor.
As the two parents remained in the room with their newborn child, the third adult escorted the teenager down the corridor and out of the hospital. As they made their way across the grounds to the car park, Mattie's voice could be heard quite clearly, the laughter in her voice evident as she spoke.
"Can you believe it? Another Harriet !"
The EndPS - For those of you out there who have followed the JAG/FBI x-over, I'm still working on the third part, just having problems bringing it together.