Thursday, July 1st

Mac had just finished in court for the day and was walking back to her office. June had gone by in a hurry. The kids enjoyed their time off from school. Mattie had spent most of June with her father, working at a local crop-dusting firm, manding the office. She was back with them now, spending a few weeks before she'd go back to stay with her father while she worked at a local doctor's office as a receptionist. Originally, she had wanted to find work in Jacksonville, but Tom had been asking around for jobs on her behalf and been eager to have her stay with him, so she had decided to do that.

Harm had been away since Monday attending meetings in D.C and was scheduled to come home later that night. She was surprised when she saw him across the hallway when she walked out of the court room and headed for the elevator.

He smiled when he noticed her and excused himself from the Lieutenant he had been talking to.

"Hey there," he stole a short hug despite both being in uniform and at work.

"When did you come back?" she wondered.

"A couple of hours ago," he motioned for the elevator. "Let me get my things, and we can go home."

They fell into steps. "Sounds good. I know four kids who will be excited."

Harm let her enter the elevator first. "It'll be great seeing Mattie again."

"She's happy to be home," Mac took the opportunity of being alone in the elevator with him and kissed him. "It's good to have you home too, Sailor."

He pulled her closer and kissed her again, just as the elevator doors opened. He reluctantly let her go. "We can continue this later."

"I'll just be a minute," Mac smiled. "Meet you outside in five?"

Harm nodded. "I'll be there," he let the doors close and pushed the button for his floor.

Later

Mac heard laughter as she neared Matthew's open bedroom door. Harm was in charge of bedtime, trying to make up for the time he had been away. He never liked being away from them more than a day or two. Mac smiled as she peaked inside and found her husband and their son in the middle of a lively book reading. Before they had children she had never imagined Harm could read out loud like this, with lively voices and sound effects. Seeing this side of him, she fell more in love with him. He was an amazing father.

She headed for her daughter's room. "Hey, Sweetie. Ready for bed?"

Claire looked up from her book. "I'm waiting for, Dad."

"He'll be here soon," Mac bent down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Claire smiled.

Mac headed for Nathan's room. He was already sound asleep, tired from getting up early to go fishing with Frank and Mattie. He had been so proud when he told them about the big fish he caught, and that it was that night's dinner.

On her way across the hallway, she ran into her husband. "Nathan is asleep, but Claire is waiting for you."

Harm smiled. "Meet me in the bedroom in a minute," he winked at her.

Mac chuckled as she slipped into Matthew's room. "Good night, little man," she hugged and kissed her son. "I love you."

Matthew held her close. "I love you too."

Mac sat down on the bed. "Are you liking your time with your grandparent's?"

"Yes!" Matthew smiled brightly. "Tomorrow I'm going to work with Daddy."

"Really?" Mac didn't look convinced.

"He said so," Matthew' eyes were huge.

"I believe you," Mac kissed him again and stood.

Matthew snuggled under the covers. "I'm going to wear my uniform."

Mac smiled as she slipped out the door.

"I'm heading to bed," Mattie yawned as she headed for her bedroom. "Tomorrow I'm sleeping in."

"Nathan was thrilled that you came fishing with them," Mac smiled. "Even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn."

"It's so good to be home with them," Mattie smiled. "Tell Dad that we'll catch up tomorrow because I'm too tired tonight. And I suspect that he's going to bed early too," she added the last part teasingly. "Good night, Mom."

Mac chuckled. "Good night," she hugged the young girl. "It's wonderful to have you home." She headed for the master bedroom to pick out something to wear for her husband. He would be getting a very welcome home.

Friday, July 2nd

Mac was in the middle of a hearing when the door to the court room opened, and her husband walked in, holding the hand of their four-year-old. Harm notice that Matthew was about to forget whet they had talked about, so he crouched down and put his finger to his lips and the boy nodded before turning to his mom with a huge smile on his face. Mac returned the smile and focused on the lawyers again.

"My client is a young man who made a mistake. It was his first liberty and he had a little too much to drink. The civilian started the fight. My client has an exemplary record. The Seaman also paid the bar owner for the damages and wrote a personal letter to the man he hit to apologize. I ask that you consider his good behavior when you decide his punishment. The defense rests your honor."

"Seaman Lee," Mac penetrated the young man with her eyes. "You have shown regret and both your commanding officer and your fellow crew members speak very highly of you. I don't see any reason to drag this out and I'm not sure why opposing councils couldn't figure this out without the courts intervention," she looked between two young lawyers with an impatient look. "Lieutenant Owen, Lieutenant Russo, I'm going to give the two of you some homework. Figure out a fitting punishment for the young Seaman and report to my office at 0900 Monday morning. I expect the both of you to explain to me why you couldn't find a solution without taking this to court and apologize for wasting my time. And tell your commanding officer that he should be able to train the two of you to become better lawyers without the court's intervention," she added offering an amused look in her husband's direction.

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison, looking bothered. They had just got their heads chewed off, and they knew it.

Harm smirked.

"Seaman, I wish you good luck. I expect you to overcome. With the support of your fellow crewmen and your commanding officer, I don't see why you shouldn't have a great Naval career," Mac smiled. "And I don't want to see you in here again. Court is adjourned." She banged the gavel.

"Now can I talk?" Matthew's voice was loud in the almost empty court room.

"Now you can talk," Harm shook his head with amusement as Matthew darted for his mother. Mac took his hand and led him out the door in the back of the court room.

"Did you have a fun day with Daddy?" Mac wondered as they stepped into the elevator.

"It was fun, and a little boring," Matthew jumped up and down and was rewarded with an amused look by the young Petty Officer who was also standing in the elevator.

"Your son is very cute, ma'am," she smiled at Matthew. "You are very handsome in your uniform."

"Just like my Daddy," Matthew smiled brightly.

Mac chuckled as they exited the elevator.

Matthew continued. "Commander Graves gave me chocolate and we had soda in her office."

"Lucky you," Mac smiled as she headed for her office.

"Mom, are you the boss?" Matthew wondered. "Because I thought Daddy was the boss."

"In my court room, I'm the boss," Mac explained.

"Over Daddy too?" Matthew wondered.

"Yup," Mac chuckled.

"Cool," Matthew got up in one of her visitor's chairs. "Can we go home now?"

"Yes, we can," Mac gathered her things and looked up when her husband walked into the room. "Hi, honey."

"Am I off the hook?" he wondered with amusement.

"I think I got my point across in the court room," she smirked.

"I though I'd just let them play this one out," Harm chuckled. "They both felt stupid."

"Good," Mac reached for Matthew's hand. "Come on, Sweetie."

"I think they can become good lawyers. One needs to understand that we aren't here to put everyone behind bars and throw away the key, and the other that we're here to punish those who should be. If they'd both just meet in the middle it could work out," he reasoned.

"Next time put them on the same side," Mac suggested.

"That's the plan," Harm touched her back softly as they walked and was offered a sweet smile in return.

That night

Harm kissed Mac's neck softly as he massaged her shoulders. He was on the couch, she on the floor between his feet. They had finished dinner, and the kids were watching some TV before bed. Matthew had been exhausted and gone to bed straight after he'd eaten and fallen asleep instantly.

"What should we do this weekend?" Harm wondered.

"Nothing seems like a good plan," Mac suggested.

"Can we go to the beach?" Nathan begged.

"I want that too," Claire looked pleadingly at them.

"I'm sure we could spend a day at the beach," Mac agreed.

"Cool," Nathan stood. "I'm going to go bed now."

"Good night, Buddy," Harm said.

Nathan hugged both his parents. "Good night."

"You should too, Claire," Mac ruffled her hair. "Tomorrow is another day."

Claire smiled. "Good night," she hugged both her parents.

"I'll come to check on you guys in a little while," Mac promised.

Harm continued massaging her shoulders. "It's been a long week."

Mac nodded. "Yeah. You never told me how it went in D.C?"

"Too busy catching up on other things last night," he ran his hands down her arms and around her waist as he started kissing along her neck.

"You are impossible," she accused with laughter.

"To resist?" he wondered as he continued his assault.

"Something like that," she moved to a standing position, before leaning down for a real kiss. She found herself dragged into his arms.

He cupped her face. "You are so beautiful."

"And you are a charmer," she accused.

He caressed her cheek. "I try."

"You succeed," she leaned in and kissed him softly. "I hate it when we're apart."

"I know, and I hate it too. The meetings were a drag," he hesitated. "The new JAG is a special guy."

"Yeah, you know him from before?" she wondered.

"No," he leaned back on the couch. "We had drinks. He had one too many. I'm not sure I like him."

"You won't be working that closely with him," she reassured.

"No, not now but who knows," he studied her cautiously.

"What aren't you telling me?" she wondered.

"There's talk of a new Deputy JAG, next year," he shrugged. "Admiral Lee already served two terms. A few people mentioned it to me. There's a lot of Admiral's in line so it probably won't happen."

"But it could. You're going places," she smiled. "You're on the fast track, Harm."

"Nah, we'll see," he leaned in and kissed her. "I only care where I go with you," he added and kissed her again, cupping her face.

"Where are we going?" she asked teasingly.

"It's getting better and better," he sobered up. "I love you, Sarah."

"I still get chills when you look at me like that and call me Sarah," she smiled lovingly. "Even after fourteen years of knowing you. Five years of marriage."

"I tell you how I feel," he looked worried. "Don't I?"

"Sure, in a way, but when you get that look…" she put her hands on each side of his face. "You're only this way with me."

He nodded. "You're the only one that matters."

"You know I love you too that way, right?" she leaned in and kissed him. "It's hard to put into words how I feel."

"I know," he smiled and pulled her close. "This is the best part of the day."

"It is," she agreed.

The front door opened and shut. "Hello parents," Mattie smiled.

"How was the movie?" Harm wondered.

Mattie slumped down in a chair. "We didn't go; we just hung out."

"Hung out?" Harm questioned.

"Yeah, we met some other people and just hung out," Mattie checked her phone.

"Do we know these people?" Harm wondered.

Mattie studied her father. "Dad, I'm not a little kid."

"No, you never were, but still…"

"You don't know everyone I hang out with when I'm at Harvard," she pointed out. "These are friends of Laura."

"We don't even know Laura," Harm reasoned and got a poke in the side from his wife. "What?"

"So, Mattie, how is school?" Mac wondered. "We haven't had the chance to talk much about that."

"It's fine. I mean, pre-med is a lot of work, but I'm on top of things," she smiled. "Don't worry so much."

"It's kinda what we do," Harm pointed out.

"I know," Mattie got up. "Okay, I'm going to go read for a while."

"We were thinking about a day at the beach, what do you think?" Mac wondered.

"Sounds perfect," Mattie agreed.

They watched her leave. "You're a cop," Mac smiled. "Will you ease up a little?"

Harm chuckled. "I guess I can try to do that."

"We trust Mattie, right?" Mac ruffled his hair. "She's a young adult."

"She is," he leaned in and kissed her. "Now, where were we? Oh yeah, I was impossible to resist."

Mac laughed softly. "Hold that thought for about an hour while I finish that book I started on Wednesday."

"Okay," he kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go shoot some hoops."

"Have fun," she reached for her book.