Title: Twenty-Six Weekends

Author: Tsarina Smith

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Disclaimer: JAG isn't mine. If it was, nothing after season 8 would have happened.

Spoilers: Mostly everything after Lifeline and Measure of Men, But the show ended years ago, so the whole series is fair game. Seasons 2-10 anyways.

Summary: When Mac returns from the Guadalcanal, Harm decides to convince her to give them a chance. Mac, who is fed up with men is reluctant. So Harm talks her into spending the next 26 weeks with him, doing different activities for each letter of the alphabet. For example, Harm will pick an activity for 'A' and Mac for 'B', etc.

The idea for this comes from Elizabeth Noble's novel Alphabet Weekends. If you like chick lit, I highly recommend it.

Authors Notes: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! The reviews kept coming!!!! You guys rock my socks off so much!!!! Love y'all! I'm actually going out of town for a couple of days, so the next post won't be until Thursday. And when I get back from my trip, I hope to see tons of reviews!!!

B is for Baking

Mac stormed into her office, slamming the door behind her. The week had been hellish and Harm's latest stunt in court hadn't helped matters.

She sat in her chair and powered up her computer. She was waiting for her desktop to load when a timid knock on her door caused her to look up. She glared at Harm and looked back at her computer. He opened the door and sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Mac, you can't be mad at me. I was just doing what was best for my client."

"Was part of your defense completely humiliating me?"

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on her desk. "Mac, I never meant to humiliate you. I would never purposely do that."

Knowing he was being honest with her, a little of her anger subsided. "I know. But I'm still pissed."

He grinned. "I know. But as long as you know I would never purposely hurt you, I can deal with that." He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Are we still on for Saturday?"

Mac nodded. "Yes. I did have something planned that I thought you'd really enjoy. But now I think I'll make you suffer."


Mac pulled her Corvette into a spot outside of his building. Getting out of her car, she locked the door and hurried inside. She knocked on his door twice and stood back waiting for him to answer. He finally did and she flashed him a smile.

"Hey Mac." He looked at her casual attire and smiled. "So I guess I'm dressed okay?"

She looked him over; admiring the way the navy blue t-shirt clung to his muscular chest. "You might want to change into a lighter colored shirt if I were you?"

He looked down at his chest and back up to her confused. "What exactly are we doing today?"

"You'll see when we get there. But trust me. As nice as the blue looks on you, a lighter color would probably make it through the day a little bit better."

He was confused, but did as she asked. "Ok. I'll go change."

She walked around his apartment while he found a different shirt to wear. Stepping over to the massive bookcase she scanned the titles. Harm had good taste in books and she wanted to see if he had anything that looked interesting to borrow. Her eyes fell on a framed photo of him and baby AJ at the park. She smiled on the sweet image and set the frame back down when she heard his footsteps. He had changed into a gray t-shirt that was just as fitted, but a safer color choice. "Much better."

They walked out of his apartment, locking up behind them. They climbed into Mac's car and she pulled out of the lot. "Want to tell me where we're going yet?"

"No, not yet." She smiled at him before concentrating on the road.

"Mind if I change the station?" He said, gesturing to the radio.

"Not at all." She waited for him to turn it to a jazz or blues station, but was pleasantly surprised to hear Trisha Yearwood piping through the speakers. "Country, Harm?"

"I know you like it. And over the years it's started to grow on me a little."

His kindness made her feel a little guilty about choosing an activity he may not enjoy, but arrangements had been made, the fee had been paid and they were now pulling into the parking lot.

"Tyson's Galleria?" He stared at the massive, upscale shopping center with curiosity. "Mac, I don't know about you, but I don't think that shopping begins with a 'B'."

Mac grinned, parked the car outside of the Neiman Marcus entrance and got out. "Harm, I've known the alphabet since I was two and a half. Trust me here."

They walked at a comfortable pace through the mall. Mac paused briefly every so often to admire an outfit from the fall lines of these exclusive stores. While she gazed longingly at a pair of lightweight, winter white pants, he gazed at her. He really believed that she had no clue as to how beautiful she was. Finally, they stopped in front of Sur la Table. The chalkboard by the door advertised baking lessons.

"Mac, please tell me you didn't sign us up for baking classes."

She smirked at him and walked up to the counter. "Excuse me; we're here for the 2:00 baking class. I'm Sarah Mackenzie, and this is Harmon Rabb Jr."

The young lady at the cash wrap gave Harm an appreciative once over before consulting her list. She spotted their names and then looked up at them with a smile. She handed them a little bundle of white fabric and directed them where to go.

Mac pulled something small out of his bundle, fluffed it up and placed the pristine white chef's hat onto his head. "Come on Harm. We have some serious baking to do."


'I cook. I don't bake.' Harm thought as he kneaded the pastry dough. 'Mac had to have known that this wouldn't be my ideal way to spend a Saturday afternoon.' He looked up at her and his mood lightened a little. She had flour nearly everywhere. Her apron was cinched tightly around her and did nothing to take attention away from her amazing figure. And the tip of her tongue protruded from her mouth as she was in deep concentration. All in all, she was the most adorable sight he had ever seen.

She felt his eyes on her and looked up. He was watching her with a look she had noticed from him a lot lately. The chef's hat was now tipped to the side and he looked absolutely adorable. She caught herself staring and looked back down at the dough. It was now to the consistency that the instructor told them was what they wanted for a light and flaky crust. She molded the dough to her baking dish and then turned back to Harm's. The dough had no shine to it yet and she decided to help him out. "Want some help?"

He smiled at her. "Please." He watched and she moved her hands to his dough and kneaded it the way she had her own, using firm, but quick movements.

"Now you try." She took her hands out of the way and watched him. "There you go. That's the right consistency. He molded the dough into his dish and then looked up at her for approval. "Looks great, Harm."

The filling of the pie was to the discretion of each 'chef'. Mac chose a mixture of her two favorite fruits, peaches and strawberries. While the fruit macerated in sugar granules for a few minutes, she turned to Harm. "I never knew you liked apple pie."

He nodded. "My grandmother makes the best apple pie on the planet. I figured since someone made me come take a baking class, I should try to duplicate something I know I enjoy." He layered the rest of the sliced apples into the dish and looked up at her.

"Smart thinking."

"Why baking, Mac?"

She smiled and spooned the fruit into the pie crust. "I don't know. I've always loved baked goods and I've always wanted to take a class. My original plan for today was a baseball game. But when you made me mad at work, I thought I should torture you a little bit."

He glared at her. "Just you wait, Colonel. Just you wait."

Mac laughed and began securing the latticed top they had made first to the top of her pie. "This isn't too bad is it?"

He shook his head. "Actually, it's not. It's something different, that I probably never would have done myself. And that's one of the things I like about each of us picking weekends. We're bound to choose things the other person has never done, or would never think to do."

"I'm beginning to think this little weekend game was the best idea you've had in a long time."


They pulled into Harm's parking lot and Mac put the car in park. Harm reached into the back seat and pulled out a pink bakery box and smiled. "Today actually was fun. And my pie smells a lot like grandmas."

"I know. Mine smells pretty good too."

"Want to come up for a little while? We can have some coffee and pie, maybe watch a movie."

She looked surprised. "Not sick of me yet?"

"No, the opposite. I miss spending time with you the way we used to. Come on up. I'll even let you pick the movie."

"Ok. You're on." She started to get out of the car when he stopped her with a look. "What? Change your mind?"

"No. You're forgetting your pie. If we're going to try mine, we're definitely going to try yours."

She laughed and grabbed her own pink box. They went upstairs and he let them both into the apartment. "I'll serve up the pie," he said, "and you can pick a movie."

Mac nodded and moved over to the DVD rack. "I can't believe you finally bought a TV and DVD player."

He laughed and started pouring the coffee. "I know. I was watching AJ one day and he wouldn't stop crying. So I called Harriet and she told me that some DVD they watch a lot calms him down. I strapped him into the car seat and we went to Best Buy right away."

"It's funny that a little kid would finally make you cave and buy a TV."

"Hey, that constant crying is enough to drive someone crazy." He managed to make it to the sofa and deposit their snacks safely. Mac turned to make sure he made it and then popped in a movie. "What are we watching?"

"Dial M for Murder. It's one of my favorites; I can't believe you have it."

Not wanting to admit to it being one of Renee's he just smiled. "Come sit."

She joined him on the sofa and picked up her slice of pie. "Whipped cream too, wow, I'm impressed Harm." She took a bite, closed her eyes and sighed. "Not to toot my own horn, but this is pretty fantastic."

He mumbled his agreement. "Mine is pretty good too. Not quite as good as Gram's but its good." After another bite he looked at her and smiled. "Want to trade?"

She nodded her agreement and they switched plates. After a bite, the compliments began flowing. It wasn't long before the remainders of both pies were sitting on the coffee table and were quickly disappearing.

As good as the pie was Harm's favorite part of the day came when the pies were more or less gone and the movie had ended. And Mac was still comfortably reclined on the sofa. He picked up the remote and switched off the movie. "Mac, how about we go get some real food and have an early dinner?"

She smiled and nodded. He stood up and extended his hand to pull her up. She groaned and then laughed. "We better not do anymore baking classes or we'll end up too fat to move."

He grinned and pulled on a light coat. "Well, as long as we're fat together, I'm fine with that."

End of "B"

Two letters down, 24 to go!!! Next time, Harm gets to pick… will he pay Mac back for the baking classes, or do something fun and romantic to win her heart… only time will tell.