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Part 11

"What time is your performance, tonight?" Harm asked his daughter, as he dished out a late lunch for her, a few weeks later. He and Mac had plans for that evening, first meeting with some contacts for work, before moving on to get dinner somewhere.

"Uh, I have to be there for seven, for costume and make-up prep and all that, but performance time isn't until eight…"

"Hmmm…Mac and I are in our meeting until around eight-thirty…that's if the people we're meeting are on time. It'll probably be nine before that we'd be able to get there…"

"That's okay, Dad," Kim shook her head, "It's not like you two haven't seen me dance, before."

"But you've got a principal role again," Harm commented, genuinely disappointed.

"I'm sure I'll get another chance," Kim shrugged, "You can both come and watch me then."

"I'll tell you what; you work hard and Mac and I will come and pick you up after our meeting ends, before we go out for something to eat. Sound good?"

Kim nodded around a mouthful of pasta, eagerly.

Neither of them had any idea that tonight would be Harm and Mac's last chance to ever see Kim dance again.

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The temple car park was clogged with tourist buses when they finally arrived. They had made good time, but not good enough to catch any of the performances, let alone Kim's one.

The tourists were still inside, so they had to slowly pick their way through the crowds, towards the dressing rooms. The atmosphere was jovial and it seemed that the performance had gone particularly well that evening. Kim had explained to her teachers that she had plans after, so she was already waiting for them, dressed and with her make-up removed, when Harm and Mac got to her.

"You ready for some chow?" Harm asked her.

"Definitely!" Kim laughed.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair, perhaps even more so than usual. Harm and Mac were more relaxed around Kim and she didn't seem at all fazed about their more carefree, hands-on, affectionate manner towards each other.

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Kim sleepily made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. She heard her Father's voice, downstairs, so assumed that he'd arrived home from his dinner-date with Mac and was dismissing Melissa for the night. Rather than go downstairs to see her Dad, she instead entered the bathroom, nature's call too demanding to ignore. Once she was done, she washed her hands and exited the bathroom, turning out the lights and taking a second to let her eyes adjust again to the lack of light. The sound of the switch for the stairway made her pause. The light-bulb had gone earlier that evening, but because Harm had gone out before nightfall, he hadn't used the light, so hadn't noticed this.

"Damn…Looks like the light's out…watch the stairs, some of them are needing to be repaired, but I haven't gotten round to it, yet."

When Harm appeared at the top of the stairs, Kim realized who he'd been speaking to, because Mac appeared behind him. All three of them froze, when Harm and Mac realized that Kim was there.

"Hi Dad," Kim was the first to break the silence, greeting Mac respectfully, "Hello, Major MacKenzie…Was dinner nice?"

"Yes, dinner was very nice. I was saying to your Father that we'll have to go back there, all three of us, sometime soon," Mac smiled at the child standing before her in the pink and white cotton pajamas.

"Why don't you get back to bed, honey?" Harm suggested, "You've got plans with the Pattersons tomorrow, so you'll have to be up early, to get ready."

"We're going out to that safari park, Major! I told my friend Yan how awesome it was and his Mom and Dad invited me along with them tomorrow!" Kim enthusiastically told the smiling woman standing next to her Dad.

"Sounds like you're going to have a good time," Mac nodded, "You'll have to see if you can get a photo of those camels that were hiding from us, when we were there!"

"I will!" Kim smiled, remembering clamoring all over the car, trying unsuccessfully to get a decent photograph of the shy, new additions to the park.

"Okay, Kim," Harm put his foot down, "Time to say goodnight…"

"G'night Dad," Kim leaned up and gave her Father a kiss goodnight, then turned to Mac and gave her a hug, "Goodnight, Major…See you tomorrow."

Without another word, she disappeared into her bedroom and Harm looked at Mac and vice versa.

"Are you sure this is okay…" Mac began to ask.

"As long as it is with you," Harm took her into his arms, "Nothing has to happen, unless you want it to…"

"I do…I just wasn't sure, with Kim in the house…" Mac trailed off.

"It's okay, Sarah," Harm stroked the hair back from her face, "Kim is really okay with us. I want her to get used to having you around, because I hope that you'll feel comfortable being here a lot, from now on…"

"I'm sure I will," Mac smiled back.

With that, Harm took her hand in his and led her to his bedroom.

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