Disclaimer: JAG and its characters are the property of Belisarius Productions, CBS and Paramount. No copyright infringement intended.
This story is AU, and I'm leaving the identity of Harm's wife up to you.
Will You Be My Valentine?
by: fananicfan
Harm felt tired as he fixed tea and toast for his wife.
Though his wife had had a cold or minor aches and pains during their marriage, she'd never been what he'd call sick. Nothing had ever rendered her seemingly helpless like this before.
However, this year's strain of the flu, probably brought home to her by their little girl from school, seemed to really have his wife down, and she'd been in bed for three days, leaving him to do all the household chores such as cooking and laundry.
His years as a bachelor had prepared him to adequately manage such chores around the house. However, the bombshell that his daughter had dropped on him this morning when he'd taken her to school was something else.
He picked up the prepared tea and toast and headed for the master bedroom where he hoped that he'd find his wife recovered, or at least feeling well enough to take care of their daughter's needs for school tomorrow.
'At six, why was it even necessary for the school to have a Valentine's Day party?' he wondered as he pushed open the door to their bedroom.
He reached their bed and placed the cup of tea and plate of toast on the night stand, and then he kissed her on the forehead.
Her eyelids fluttered for a moment before she opened them, and he knew when they began to water that she wasn't going to be in any shape to do anything for their daughter's school party, which was tomorrow.
"You're looking less tired. Were you able to get some rest while I was taking our girl to school?" Harm asked solicitously.
"My stomach is still upset, but I did get some sleep while you were gone."
"Good! I brought you some tea and toast. Hopefully, it will help to settle your stomach," he said as he brushed her hair off her forehead.
"I'm sorry, Harm," his wife said.
Now he wasn't sure if her eyes were watering or she was crying.
"Sorry for what?" he asked while waiting for her to sit up enough to be in a position to eat her toast and drink her tea.
"That I'm so sick. I don't think that I've ever felt this bad in my entire life."
"No reason to apologize. I'm sure that it wasn't your idea to get sick," he stated with a reassuring smile on his face. "Although I hate that you aren't feeling well, I'm enjoying the time with our daughter."
"She is daddy's little girl, so I'm sure that she's enjoying having you all to herself, too."
"I might think so except for the fact that I'm going to be out of my element with her tonight and I'm going to look like an idiot."
"What's so special about tonight?" his wife asked, the sound of her sore, scratchy throat obvious in her speech.
"She told me this morning that, since Valentine's Day is on Sunday, Friday is her Valentine's party at school, and she needs to take cupcakes and Valentines for the party."
"Yes, her party is Friday, but what's that got to do with tonight?" his wife asked, her mind a muddled mess from having the flu.
"Because tomorrow is Friday," Harm replied.
"It is? I've been so sick that I forgot all about it," she said, starting to get up, but the room began to spin even before she had both feet on the floor.
"Oh no you don't, Mrs. Rabb. You're going to stay in bed until you're better," he said, pulling the covers back up over her. "You just tell me what I need to know, and I'll see that our daughter has what she needs for school tomorrow."
"You need thirty-five cupcakes and thirty-two Valentine cards," she got out before a bout of coughing stopped her from talking.
"So there are three kids who she likes well enough to give them a cupcake but not a card?" Harm asked, confused about why there were different numbers for each.
"No," his wife replied with an implied 'don't be silly' before explaining, "There are thirty-one students in her class, plus she wants a cupcake and a card for her teacher."
That made perfect sense to Harm, but one extra of each added up to thirty-two of each to him.
"So why the extra cupcakes?" he asked.
"Because she needs an additional cupcake for her special Valentine. Then, of course, you have to have a quality check after baking, so you need one for her and one for you to eat after you bake them."
"After we bake them? I guess that rules out stopping at the store and buying the cupcakes," Harm said, saying out loud what he was thinking.
"No, you have to bake them and you have to let her help you."
"We don't have to make the cards, too, do we?"
"No," she replied again with the 'you're silly' tone, which was amazing to him that she could manage it as sick as she was. "Any store bought ones will do ... but remember that they're supposed to be from her, so don't buy "Cars" or "Transformers". Buy something girlie like Barbie, but let her sign them and write her classmates names on them. She needs the penmanship practice. The list of names that the teacher sent home is on the side of the refrigerator. I put it there as a reminder for when I went to the store to pick up everything, but then I got sick and..."
"If I'm going to the store, is baking from a mix going to get me into trouble or do I have to bake from scratch?"
"A mix is fine," she said before yawning.
"Will you be okay while I'm gone?"
"Hmm hmm ...I'm just going to take a little nap," she said sleepily, her eyes already closed.
"Sweet dreams," he whispered before kissing her on the forehead and leaving the room to make his list for the store.
THAT AFTERNOON
While waiting for their freshly baked little cakes to cool before the frosting could be applied, Harm watched as his little girl concentrated on forming each letter on the outside of an envelope for one of her Valentine cards.
"Momma told me that you have a special Valentine this year. He must not be in your class because she also told me that you need an extra cupcake for him."
"No, he isn't in my class, but Momma said that Valentine's Day was to tell the people in your life that you think that they're special or that you love them."
"So, you think this boy is special?"
"Uh huh, and I love him, too."
"If you love him, then he must be really special. What's his name?"
"I can't tell you. It isn't Valentine's Day yet."
"So you'll tell me tomorrow on the way to school?"
"No, not until the real Valentine's Day, Daddy!" she said with that same 'you're silly' tone that her mother had used just this morning.
He also knew that his little girl had the same stubborn streak as her mother, making it pointless for him to press her for the name of this boy who had his little girl's heart. He'd just have to wait until Sunday to find out.
SUNDAY
Valentine's Day
For the practical reason that, if he got as sick as his wife with the flu, there would be no one to take care of their daughter, Harm had taken to sleeping on the couch until his wife was feeling better.
He woke slowly.
Sleeping on the couch might be the best option for minimizing the possibility of spreading the flu germs that were affecting his wife, but it was doing nothing for his back.
He yawned and, hoping that at least some of the aches in his back would work themselves out, he stretched and arched his back before sitting up.
When he sat up, he saw a cupcake sitting on the coffee table next to a folded piece of paper with a hand-drawn heart on the front.
He recognized the cupcake as one that he and his daughter had made, so the note was of the most interest to him.
He opened the piece of paper to read what was written inside.
I love you. Daddy, will you be my Valentine?
He jumped to his feet and went to his little girl's room where he found her sitting on her bed as if she'd been waiting for him to get her Valentine and come in to give her an answer.
"I love you, too, Pumpkin. Of course I'll be your Valentine," he said, scooping up his little girl and hugging her tightly, and then he kissed her on the cheek before he heard a click.
Harm turned to see that the click had been the noise of a camera shutter.
His wife was obviously feeling better because she was up and had just captured the father/daughter moment with her camera.
He moved over to his wife with their daughter still in his arms.
"What do my special girls want for breakfast?" he asked.
"A bath, since I haven't had one in days," his wife replied.
"You can't eat a bath, Momma." She definitely had that 'don't be silly' tone down. "Pancakes," his daughter then added with a smile.
"I'll tell you what. Why don't we let Momma take her bath while you and I go make pancakes for breakfast?"
"Heart-shaped ones, Daddy?"
"Is there any other kind on Valentine's Day?" he asked with a chuckle.
"I'm hungry, so make lots of them," his wife said.
"You must feel a lot better if you're hungry," he said with a smile.
"Finally!" she answered with a smile of her own.
"I love you," he said, and then he kissed her.
THE END