Life in London starts in June 2005 and take a closer look into the start of Harm and Mac's new relationship. It's based on the story "The early years" that is part of the "Nine years after" series. In "The early years" the chapters jumped weeks or months, while in this story we get a closer look into the day to day life.
Thursday June 9th
Harm groaned as he slapped his arm around to reach for the alarm. A laugh made him open his eyes and look in to the smiling face of his wife. His wife. He, Harmon Rabb, had a wife. She turned the alarm off and headed back to the bathroom. What was she doing up? And why wasn't she as jetlagged as he was? She always got used to the time difference so easily, while he was a mess. He stretched lazily.
"Don't you have work?" she teased as she walked out of the bathroom.
"Why doesn't jetlag affect you?" he wondered with annoyance.
"Mostly because I haven't been flying in and out of time zones this weekend," she chuckled.
"I have no idea what zone I'm in, between London for two weeks, then DC for a weekend, and now back here," he let out a sigh. "And I have to go to work."
"Yeah," she walked over to the bed. "That's a shame. I could have put you to good use around here."
"Yeah?" he wiggled his eyebrows as he reached for her and dragged her down on the bed.
"To unpack," she rolled her eyes. "This place is a mess. I think that's why I'm not jetlagged, too worked up about this …" she motioned for the boxes on the floor.
He chuckled. "So, the Marines have landed, huh?" he moved his hand up her thigh. "You're in the reserves now, you can relax, kick back and enjoy making all the decisions on your own. It's on your time, not the Navy's or the Marine Corps," he kissed her softly.
"Is that your inspirational speech for the day?" she wondered between kisses.
"Yup," he moved them around so that he was on top. "I can help you figure out what to do."
"Ah," she patted his back. "Don't you need to go to work?"
He stopped his assault on her neck and let out a grown. "Damn it, I do. Not much of a honeymoon."
She smiled. "I'll let you make it up to me, when there's time."
He reluctantly moved out of bed. "Shower with me?"
"I thought I'd go for a run before I do that," she got out of bed. "So, about these boxes…"
"Leave it. We're getting a bigger place soon, no point in getting too comfortable here," he moved to the bathroom. "Please join me," he held out his hand. "I'll make it worth your while," he flashed her a charming smile.
"You use that smile on all women?" she teased.
"It doesn't work well on Marines apparently, or you'd be in the shower by now," he hesitated. "Sorry, I shouldn't bring up the Marines all the time."
"Hey, I'm still a Marine," she took his hand. "Just taking a break."
He tugged on her hand. "Lucky me."
"Yeah, lucky you," she moved in and kissed him deeply. She moved him into the bathroom and tugged on his boxers. "We need to lose these."
He moved his hands inside her shirt. "And this," he said between kisses.
Even though the shower took longer than planned, he decided to make the time to have breakfast at home. It was Thursday already, the previous day spent up in the air, the day before in Mattie's hospital room with the judge. He had left DC a married man and with custody of a minor. Mattie was joining them in a few weeks. She was progressing nicely, her nerve damage so minimal it was only her left hand that had problems responding. The Doctor's had a hard time explaining why but feeling that with time and physiotherapy Mattie would recover fully. The swelling in her brain had healed, she was showing no sign of brain damage, a miracle according to her Doctor. If anyone was deserving of a miracle it was Mattie, and when the Judge ruled that Harm and Mac had full custody, Harm swore Mattie healed a little just by hearing those words. She had no doubts about moving to another country, in fact, she was looking forward to a new start.
"What's your plan for today?" Harm wondered.
"Check out our housing situation and find out about our health care provider. For Mattie and for us," she shrugged. "Mattie needs to have a Doctor and therapists that can provide what she needs. And I need follow up on my endometriosis, so I need to see if your health care plan covers a specialist. I've never been a Navy wife before, so I have some things to figure out."
"So, my idea of taking it easy and enjoy retirement you're just ignoring?" he teased and took her hand, then sobered up. "Thank you for thinking about Mattie."
"Of course," she smiled.
"And we should find the time to sit down and talk about what we want to do concerning pregnancy," he added as he stood and took his plate to the sink.
"Yeah, we really should," she agreed. "And we haven't really talked about our financial situation."
"I guess," he leaned on the counter and crossed his arms. "We talked about you waiting until you reached your twenty to hand in your request for an inactive billet."
"Yeah, and we dodged that by two days," she chuckled. "But at least I have full benefits. Anyway, I've put money aside so I'm comfortable. What about you?"
"Yeah, I've put some money aside. I have a trust fund that I haven't touched. Frank set one up for me after he married mom. I'm comfortable too," he hesitated. "It can come in handy if we need money when we go ahead with our plan to make a baby."
She stood. "Yeah, and speaking of that," she walked over and put her plate in the sink. "Pregnancy gets harder with every passing year for a healthy woman, and I'm already thirty-eight. You're forty-one. Time is working against us, so is my condition."
He nodded. "We should hurry up then."
"My Doctor back home wanted me to start on contraceptives to keep my endometriosis in check, but I told her I wanted to wait because I want to try and make a baby. With my chances of conceiving she warned me that I was putting my health at risk," she shrugged. "I think I want a second opinion, but I want someone who's really an expert on the area."
Harm nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. And even if our health plan doesn't cover it, we'll go ahead and do it anyway," he leaned in and kissed her. "I really want to give you what you want the most."
"Well, she smiled. "You did. I have you."
He kissed her softly. "I love you, you know that right?"
"I love you too," she kissed him softly. "And now you're seriously late for work," she teased.
He kissed her again. "Let's continue this later. Tonight," he pushed off the counter. "Come by the office today. We can do lunch and you can meet my staff."
"Sure," she looked around the kitchen, most of their kitchen supplies in boxes. "I'm going to see what I can do about housing. We need more space and I need to be able to put things where they belong."
Harm laughed softly. "Good luck with that. Let me know if you need me for anything."
Later that day
Mac took the elevator up to the right floor after going through security. The offices of the Force Judge Advocate were located in a historic building, surprisingly the inside was modernized though. Security was tight, so she didn't have to worry about Harm's safety while he was in the building.
"Can I help you, ma'am?"
She met the look of a female Ensign. "I'm here to see Captain Rabb."
"Is the Captain expecting you, ma'am," the Ensign wondered.
"Sorry," she offered her hand. "I'm Sarah Rabb, the Captain's wife."
"Oh, ma'am," the Ensign offered her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. And congratulations on your wedding. I'm Ensign Delgado. I mostly help out with research and such."
"Nice to meet you, Ensign," Mac looked around. "It's surprisingly modern here."
"Right, you can't see that on the building," she motioned for Mac to follow her. "The Captain is in his office."
Mac followed the Ensign. A young female Petty Officer stood as they walked up to her desk. "Petty Officer Larsen, this is Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Rabb."
"Oh, the Captain's wife. It's really nice to finally meet you, ma'am," the Petty Officer smiled.
Mac was surprised that the Ensign knew her rank. Apparently, Harm had talked about her to his staff. A door opened behind them and Mac turned. There he was standing, all tall and handsome in is summer whites. "Hey."
His eyes met hers and he smiled. "Hey," he walked over and kissed her.
"Ready for lunch?" she wondered.
"Yeah," he turned to Larsen and Delgado. "I take it you already met my wife."
"We did," they said in unison.
Harm smiled. "Come on, let me show you around," he took her hand.
"It was nice meeting you both," Mac said and followed her husband.
Petty Officer Larsen and Ensign Delgado waited until they were out of earshot. "She's as beautiful as the Captain is handsome," Delgado said.
Larsen nodded. "They sure seem like the perfect couple."
After showing Mac around and introducing her to his people, they headed out of the building. Harm suggested a Chinese restaurant he had used before. He took her hand as they walked.
"So, you've told your staff about me?" she questioned.
"I might have mentioned you," he chuckled. "You've talked with O'Neil before, when you've called me. Let's just say that I didn't have to tell them about your rank after you introduced yourself to her the first time you called."
"Office gossip travels fast on the other side of the pond too, huh?" she smiled. "Are you happy with your staff?"
He hesitated. "Yeah, they're great. Since Coates and Bud didn't want to come with me, the only one I did bring was Lieutenant Denton. He shows good promise, although he does need some grooming yet. Reminds me of Bud. I hope to have Lieutenant Graves join my staff too as soon as she finishes Naval justice school."
"Don't give up on Coates and Bud quite yet," Mac smiled. "They'll come around. I got the impression that Coates regretted staying at Headquarters. Especially now that Mattie is relocating."
"We'll see," he stopped in the middle of the street and pulled her close. "I have you here, that's all I need," he leaned in and kissed her.
Surprised by his public display of affection, she looked at him funny as the kiss ended. He had never been one for any public displays of affection with any of his previous girlfriends, much like herself with previous men. "What?" he wondered.
"You're just being really sweet, that's all," she chuckled. "I guess it still takes me by surprise."
"I guess it does need some getting used to," he took her hand again and started walking. "Sometimes I surprise myself too."
She studied him. "Yeah? What changed?"
He hesitated. "We did."
She nodded. "Yeah, how about that," she let out a happy sigh. "I can get used to this side of us."
He stopped as they neared the restaurant. "Me too," he kissed her softly before holding the door open for her. "Ladies first."
They shared a nice lunch, then Mac walked Harm back to the office.
"What are you up to now?" he wondered.
"I'm going to walk around for a while," she smiled sweetly. "I've always wanted to explore London, and now I have the chance. I promised Mattie I wouldn't explore too much without her, because we have all summer together to do that before she starts school in the fall," she hesitated. "That reminds me that I promised her I'd get a hold of all her books and I have to talk with her previous school to get an overview of what she's missed, that way I can help her get caught up."
Harm couldn't help to be in awe. "You really have thought this through, haven't you?"
"Of course," she shrugged.
"I should have known," he pulled her close. "I've never seen you not prepared. Thank you for being so committed to us, and Mattie."
"I always have your back," she leaned in and kissed him. "See you later. Love you," she kissed him again.
"Love you too," he moved away, then changed his mind. "One more," he kissed her deeply. "To be continued later."
"I can't wait," she smiled and watched him disappear into the building.
