*************

Tuesday

March 16, 2004

1:20 p.m. MST

The Homestead

Lyons, Colorado

It was wonderful, everything she could ever imagine. It ran the width of the lodge. It was like two master bedrooms in one. There was a king-size poster bed pushed up against the middle of the wall that was against the great room facing the stone fireplace across from it.

The fireplace had a sunken floor in front of it where you could just lay for hours and watch the flames or sit in one of the two love-seats that were facing it.

To the right of the entrance was a gigantic walk-in closet which was big enough to fit a whole years worth of clothes for four people. There was even a rack for shoes.

Laughing, she asked, "Oh my, who decided to put in an enormous walk-in closet?"

"That was Mrs. Webb's idea. Along with putting whirlpool tubs in all the bathrooms, she's added shower stalls, and his and her sinks. Said it was the only kind of bathroom to have, which is why we're not done yet. We should be finished by next weekend though." Zek said shaking his head in laughter.

"Oh, I think I just love her!" Mac went into the bathroom that was just past the closet and thought that when she finally would get in she would most certainly never get out of the tub. There was even a speaker system hooked up so that you could listen to your favorite music while relaxing in the tub. Mac then realized that the tub was big enough for two! "I think I died and went to heaven."

Zek came over grumbling good natural as he responded, "Yes, that's what Rose and Estelle said. Now we have to add them to ours and the rest of the girls' bathrooms."

Walking out, Mac gazed over to the bay window that was across the room and saw that it had a window seat. She could imagine sitting there while staring into the night sky. She walked over and looked at the view. It was magnificent, especially today since it was sunny and you had a clear view of the mountains.

Turning to her left, she saw a room which was empty. She thought, 'It's big enough for a small office, or maybe… someday, a nursery.'

That thought put a small smile on her face and that was what Matt observed when he came over. Putting his arm around her, he asked, "What put that grin on your face? Not that I'm not happy to see it, just wondering." He had an idea, but wanted to hear it from her.

"Just a dream, Uncle Matt, just a dream," she replied as she turned back and walked out to see the rest of the building.

It turned out that all the bedrooms were finished just not all the bathrooms. Of the six completed rooms, Matt chose the corner room. One window faced the mountains while the other would allow him to see the sun rise. He liked to be up early. After all, he is a Marine, or used to be anyway.

The kitchen was the size of a gourmet one with four ovens, two large refrigerators and a chest freezer. It had plenty of cabinets and a huge pantry which was the size of her bedroom in her old apartment back in D.C.

Off the kitchen there was a dinette facing a bay window where, if you wanted to, you could eat your meal in one of the many seats. 'Yeah, I can see myself eating breakfast there,' she thought with a smile.

Going through the kitchen and turning left, she walked into the dining room. It wasn't overly elegant, but it was not rough looking either. The table was made of pine with two captain chairs at each end and four long benches along the sides, which would easily sit thirty people. There was a smaller room at the other end that had eight small round tables which were for couples to have romantic dinners. "If only," she sighed softly under her breath.

Walking through the room, she came to a door that led to the office, which was the same size as the Admiral's. "I could get use to this," she murmured. There was a beautiful mahogany desk in front of a ceiling to floor window that when you looked out, you had a wonderful view of the mountains. She opened one of the three doors that were at opposite walls of each other and found it lead to the den.

Mac turned back around when she heard Matt call for her. "So this is where you disappear to?" He had not seen Sarah smile this much since she was a child. He was now reassured that this was the best choice for her to deal with the PTDS.

She gave him a huge hug. "Oh, Uncle Matt, I haven't felt this good in a long time." She looked up to him and he saw unshed tears brimming in her eyes. He didn't think she had dealt with the emotional turmoil involving Paraguay or with Sadik. 'If she would just let it all out,' He thought, but knew how stubborn she could be.

"I know, Sarah, and I am just as happy for you and that I am able to be with here you. This is going to be great. It might not be Red Rock, but I think I can live here."

"I still have to talk to Zek, but I think I'll have him show us the rest tomorrow if you don't mind. I'm getting jet lagged and I'm sure you are too. We can eat dinner and relax in front of a fire if you want."

"Sounds good to me, I'll go grab our bags and groceries so we can get settled in and I'll send Duke in." He kissed the top of her head and left.

Later that night Mac was going over everything they had seen today and all the people that they had met as she sat in the bay window staring out of them and although visibility was poor on account of the heavy snow fall you could still see the mountains. Matt and Mac were visited by Zek and his family as well as his wife, Rose, who had brought enough food to feed the Marines, which was good because everybody stayed and had dinner with them. She and Matt learned that come fall, Jeb and Rita were expecting their second child. They already had a five-year old boy named Joseph, Joe for short. They also earned that Zek's and Rose's youngest Emily was heading to college this fall as well as learning about the rest of the family.

Kelsey had been married to David for only two years and still acted as if they were on their honeymoon. David had his own veterinary clinic and came by to take care of the horses and any pets that the staff or any of the guests staying there had.

Rose's and Zek's other son is a family doctor and is on call here if any of the guests or staff needed help. His wife, Debbie, is also a doctor, but is an ob/gyn and has delivered a few babies here. They also have children: a boy named Zack, who is thirteen going on thirty and a daughter named Laura, who is seven and thinks she knows everything.

Mac and Matt also learned that the families had their own homes that were about two to three miles from the Homestead, but still within the boundaries of the property. That gave Mac a warm feeling of having a family. Even though she had that at JAG, at one time, but it was different there now. It did not feel like much a family, well maybe one that was falling apart.

Duke nudged her hand which was resting on his head and gave a little woof. "Okay, I'll take you out and then we hit the sack."

Twenty minutes and fifty seconds later, after sniffing every single tree nearest to the building, Mac finally got Duke to come back in. Climbing into bed, she was surprised to see Duke sound asleep guarding her door. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Mac was sound asleep and dreaming of a handsome dark haired man that she could clearly see, but would soon forget when she awoke in the morning. She also dreamed about brown haired sweet chubby babies.