Chapter 3

Friday, 8 August 2003

2000 EST

Mac's Apartment

Georgetown, Washington, DC

When there was a knock on the door right on the dot of 2000, Mac knew that it would be the Admiral dropping off Dammit for her ten-day stay at Mac's apartment. Opening the door after a quick look through the peephole to make sure, Mac greeted her CO. "Hello, Sir…come in."

"Good evening, Mac, thank you for doing this," he said.

Sinking to her knees in front of the dog, Mac reached out and scratched her behind the ears, "Hi, Dammit," she said, getting her face washed for her efforts. Sputtering, Mac got to her feet as AJ began to apologize for his dog's behavior.

"I'm sorry, Mac, I have taught her better manners than that, but she's excited about being here in a new place."

"Oh, its okay Sir. I'm used to Jingo doing that-but at least he was male!" she replied with a grin.

With a wide grin of his own, he answered, "Well, you know what they say. 'Don't ask, don't tell'."

Mac laughed at this comment and stepped back so they could both enter the apartment. AJ bent down and picked up the large bag of dog food that had been resting unnoticed at his feet. Mac's eyes widened at the size of the bag and she asked, "How long are you planning on being gone, Sir?"

AJ looked a bit startled at this comment, not quite understanding what she meant. "I thought I mentioned that we would be gone ten days?"

"You did, Sir, but just how much does Dammit eat?" Mac nodded at the twenty-five pound bag resting on his shoulder.

"Oh, this! I just thought it would be easier to bring an unopened bag rather than try and drag over her current one. I brought a scoop in the bag with her toys; she gets two scoops of food a day. I feed her in the mornings before I leave for work."

"I think I can handle that. Where does she normally sleep?"

"Well…if she had HER way, she would sleep in bed with you, well, me…um…well, that is…well, she wanted to sleep with me anyway…not to say that she would want to sleep with you, Mac…I, um…mean not to say that she wouldn't…um…she sleeps on the floor next to the bed," he finally sputtered to a stop.

Surprised at the Admiral's loss for words Mac figured there must have been a major battle over which female would win the right to share his bed. Trying not to laugh, she replied, "I bet Meredith put a stop to that!"

AJ just looked at her and shook his head, not saying a thing, then with a bit of a sigh, he said, "Thank you again for doing this, Mac. I'll pick her up the Sunday night that we get back. Don't spoil her too much."

"I did plan on taking her for runs with me when I go, if that's okay?"

"She would love that, but here in town you'll need to keep her on her leash. I put that in the bag too. Although she doesn't like the leash as much as running free."

"It's a good thing that you brought it, then-I don't have one of my own."

He raised an eyebrow, looking at her suggestively. She finally realized what she had implied by saying 'one of my own'. She quickly corrected, "Since Jingo has been gone I mean! Chloe took JINGO'S leash with her when she took Jingo…"

Grinning even wider now, he said soothingly, "Yes, Mac. Well, I really better be going." He looked down at the dog and said, "Dammit," thumping the front of his chest with his hand; Dammit rose up on her back paws and placed her front paws on AJ's shoulders. She nuzzled his cheek with her nose instead of licking his face as she had done with Mac.

Mac exclaimed, "What? No good-bye kiss?"

"Dammit, down," and the dog quickly obeyed. "Well, if you insist," AJ said as he leaned over and gave Mac a brief peck on the cheek. "See you on the eighteenth."

As the door closed behind him, Mac placed her hand on the cheek he had just kissed, and sighed. She had a slightly sad look on her face as she thought about how lonely her life had become lately.

To be continued….