Dr Lisa Montana's office

Monday morning

The office was nice and warm, and Dr. Montana seemed very professional. Harm had pictured a weird person, like all those shrinks on television, but he was pleasantly surprised.

"Please sit down," Lisa smiled warmly after the first introduction. It was a beautiful couple who stood in front of her, and she didn't have to look hard to see the love between them. Their hands entwined, and sharing small looks of love.

"I like to create a comfort zone between me and my patients, so please call me Lisa. I'll refer to you both by first name too."

Mac and Harm nodded.

"Now, let's talk about why we're here. Harm, why don't you start?"

"Well..." he hesitated. It's.. ah..." he looked at Mac for help.

"We've been having some difficulties lately," she helped.

"Yeah," Harm agreed.

"Lisa nodded. "Care to share more?"

"I guess it all started about six months ago," Mac started and looked at her husband.

"I got the news that my eyesight could be fixed, and I had the procedure, which was successful, and then I started the process of returning to a squadron," Harm continued.

"I guess this has to do with your Military career? Ah, you're both lawyers, right?"

"We are, but I started my Military career as a pilot," Harm clarified.

Lisa nodded. "And how did this make you feel?" she asked Mac.

"When he finally told me about it, I was angry," she answered honestly. "I would have liked it better if he told me before he decided so that we could have discussed it."

"Did you go back?" Lisa asked Harm.

"I did."

"How did that make you feel?"

"At first I was happy to be back. My whole life has been about becoming a pilot, and when it was taken away from me I felt empty. It was great to be back on a carrier, being part of a squadron again. But it didn't make me happy," he admitted.

"I'm going to stop you there and let Mac talk a little," Lisa said and focused on Mac. "Where were you while he was at sea? You're stationed here in D.C, right?"

"I was offered a new position in Europe, and since Harm left I decided to take it. Our son and I spent six months in Brussels," Mac said.

"How old is your son?"

"He's four," Harm said proudly.

"Do you want more kids?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah," Mac looked at her husband and smiled.

"We were talking about adding to our family about the same time as I decided to get my eyes fixed," Harm reached for Mac's hand.

Lisa smiled by the look between the couple. "I don't think the problem here is lack of love and respect. It seems there's plenty of that. I'm going to ask both of you to tell me why you fell for the other?"

"She was different than anyone I'd ever met. I can't really explain it, but I pretty much fell in love with her right away," Harm smiled warmly. "At first there was the issue with Diane..."

At this point Lisa wondered who Diane was, and Harm told the whole story.

"That must have been like seeing a ghost?" Lisa said.

Harm nodded. "Yeah, but then I got to know Mac and it wasn't long before I didn't notice the resemblance. There might be a likeness there, but the personality is entirely different."

"Have you ever thought about what would have happened if Diane hadn't died, and you'd met Mac?" Lisa asked.

"Absolutely. And Mac and I have actually talked about that. The way I see it is that I survived losing Diane, but had I lost Mac, I'm sure that I couldn't have lived on." Harm swallowed hard as he fought his feelings. He always had a lump in his throat when he talked about his feelings for his wife.

"And still you chose to leave her for flying?" Lisa questioned.

"I guess I didn't think of the risk of losing her completely, because deep down I think she understands why I made the choice I did," Harm admitted.

"Do you deep down understand?" Lisa asked Mac.

Mac nodded slowly, irritated that she had to admit it. "Yes."

"But still you didn't tell him, you didn't support him. Why?"

"Because I wanted him to chose me," Mac admitted.

Lisa nodded, satisfied with the progress. "Okay, let's talk about JAG. So you worked together?"

"I was assigned to JAG after my Uncle stole the Deceleration of Independence," Mac explained.

"I remember that. That was your Uncle?" Lisa looked surprised. "How long did it take before your first date?"

"About two months. It took some persuasion from my side, since she thought I was a womanizer," Harm answered.

"Why did you fall for him?" Lisa asked Mac.

Mac smiled teasingly. "He was charming, and behind all that macho, flirty attitude he was a true friend," she sobered up. "He was different, and he respected me and my opinions. Like him I can't really explain it, but it felt right to be with him."

Lisa smiled. "Sounds like there's a lot of love here. How's your relationship now? Are you fighting much? Sharing a bed? Having sex?"

"We had some bad days right after I arrived home from Europe," Mac admitted. "But we're still very much in love and have decided to stop fighting and work on fixing what went wrong. We just had a week with Harm's parent's in California, and that allowed us some quality time without our son."

"It was helpful to be able to focus on us for a while," Harm added.

"So I take it there is no intimacy issues?" Lisa questioned.

"Sex has never been a problem," Mac said.

"Yeah, if anything I think it's our safe spot if everything else is bad," Harm agreed.

"Good. Intimacy is important in a relationship, and can go a long way in fixing other problems. I get the impression that your problem is communication, which is also important. We're out of time now, but I want you to think about why you went about it the way you did when you decided to go back to flying, Harm. Mac, think about why you didn't ask him to chose you. Schedule another session with my secretary before you leave."

Harm stood and reached for Mac's hand. "Thanks Doc."

"See you next time," Lisa smiled warmly as she watched them leave.

Later that day

JAG Headquarters

Harm entered the library and found Mac busy in the search of a book. He smiled when she tried to reach a book just out of her reach.

"Please, feel free to just stand there," she said sweetly.

He chuckled. "Let me get that for you."

She watched as he reached for the book and gave it to her. "Thank you."

He just smiled.

"How's your day coming?" she asked.

"Slowly working my way through it. I feel a little undressed after that session we had actually," he admitted.

"I think it was helpful."

"It was, and it got me thinking," he looked around to make sure that no one was around. "Do you think that we are too good at sex, and not that good at communicating?"

"We're not very good at communicating," she agreed.

"At least we're good at something," he mumbled. "Do you like Lisa?"

"I do."

"I'm not sure I'm that comfortable with someone knowing so much about us," he shrugged. "But I guess she's okay."

He looked thoughtful, before he got a wicked look on his face. "It's been a long time since we've made out in the library."

She chuckled. "When have we ever done that?"

"Never, so maybe it's time we started," he said as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"This could get us into some trouble," she said as the kiss ended.

"So?"

Someone cleansed their throat loudly behind them.

"Admiral!" Harm snapped to attention.

"Sir," Mac blushed.

"It looks like we're getting along better," the Admiral was amused. "The vacation must have worked."

With a small laughter the Admiral left them alone.

"See what you did?" Mac slapped her husbands arm.

"Me? You didn't hear him enter either." Harm said innocently and pulled her close again. "I love you, Mac."

Despite her embarrassment, she had to smile. "I love you too."

To Be Continued...