More Christmas fluff – because you needed some Harm and Mac Christmas fluff today, right? :)
"Chloe, hold still!"
"I can't help it," Chloe said, wiggling her toes with delight. "They're so pretty!"
"But if you keep wiggling, I won't be able to paint on the candy cane stripes," Mac pointed out. She grabbed her little sister's big toe, and Chloe collapsed on the couch in giggles.
Mac loved these sleepovers and sharing these moments with the younger girl. She had turned on the Christmas tree lights that evening and started a fire to take the edge off the winter chill. Now she and Chloe were curled up on the couch in their pajamas, experimenting with an extensive collection of nail polish.
With only a small amount of additional wiggling from her little sister, Mac finally managed to finish the candy cane stripes, and Chloe bent down to admire her toes.
"Okay, your turn," Chloe declared, selecting one of the other colors. "How about Frosty Icicle?"
"Sounds cold."
"It's a sparkly white treat for your toes," Chloe read from the bottle.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Chloe bounded off the couch before Mac could object, waddling to the door on her heels to protect her freshly painted toes. She swung the door open. "Hey, Harm."
"Hi, Chloe," he said. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas. Come on in."
"What are you doing here?" Mac asked, rising from the couch. "You get another break in the case?"
"Not yet," he replied. "But I want to talk to the wife and daughter again tomorrow. I think they know something that they don't know they know, and I think it'll help us find the lieutenant."
Mac nodded. "Sure. So why'd you come by?"
"Well, actually I came to deliver Christmas presents."
"Presents?" Chloe asked eagerly.
Harm handed her the red and green box in his hands. "Chloe, I think this one has your name on it."
Chloe's face broke into a wide smile, and she plopped down on the couch to open the gift. She pulled out a pretty jeweled box and when she opened it, she squealed at the selection of nail polish.
"Oh, this is perfect," she said. "Mac, there's a bright red one in here called Forbidden Temptation. I think it would look good on you."
"Oh, you do, do you?" Mac threw a pillow at her little sister. "Thanks a lot, Harm."
"Harm, Mac has a present for you under the tree," Chloe announced. She set the nail polish down on the coffee table and walked over to the tree to retrieve the rectangular box.
"She did a really good job wrapping it," Chloe said. "I watched her."
Both she and Mac watched as Harm made quick work of the wrapping job.
Cars, trains, ships, and planes. Models of the U.S. military.
"An F-14 Tomcat," Harm said, his face breaking out in a grin.
"It was the closest I could get to the real thing," Mac admitted.
Secretly she adored the way his eyes had just lit up, and she thought he looked even more handsome with such an expression of happiness and...love.
"So Harm, what did you get Mac?" Chloe asked bluntly.
"Chloe!" Mac hissed.
"What makes you think I got her something?"
But his grin gave him away, and Mac's eyes were shining with anticipation.
"Come here," Harm said, taking her hand and pulling her off the couch.
"Where are we going?"
"Well, your present wouldn't fit under a tree." He motioned to the door. "It's sitting in the hallway."
"The hallway?"
Mac looked at him suspiciously and went to open the door and she gave a small gasp of surprise.
Just outside the door, against the wall where she hadn't noticed it before, there was a very large object draped in red and green foil with a puffy silver bow on top.
"Harm, how did you get this here?"
"Oh, I had help from a couple of elves."
Carefully, Mac peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal a wooden frame with six slanted shelves.
"A shoe rack?" she asked in wonder.
"Well, I thought you might need somewhere to store all those comfortable shoes of yours."
Mac ran her hand along the wood. It was strong and sturdy, perfectly smooth, and stained a dark cherry red. "Harm, I've never seen anything like it. How did you...where did you...?"
"In the middle of my living room."
Mac's eyes widened as her fingers brushed over an elaborate design on the top shelf. She realized that there was an engraving carved into the wood.
Sarah.
Slowly, Mac traced the letters of her name in flowing cursive script. She didn't think she had ever received anything so exquisitely made – and it was all made by Harm's own hand.
She couldn't stop herself. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. "Thank you," she murmured against his lips.
Suddenly, she heard a quiet little voice chanting behind her. "Harm and Mac, sitting in a Christmas tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."
Without releasing Harm from the sweet liplock, Mac reached over and closed the door in Chloe's face.
Chloe just grinned.