So here it is; the first part of the secret is to be revealed.
10 – Way Back When
Hannah and Aaron were the first to climb into the taxi. Harm helped the driver load their suitcases into the trunk. All the while Mac stood by the open doors and watched him.
Finally all the bags were packed. "You can take this side." Harm gestured for Mac to enter the car after their children, as he reached for Kenny's hand and picked the little boy up. Then, they walked around the back of the car and slipped into the seat behind the driver. Mac only nodded and settled onto the seat next to Hannah.
Little did the driver know that these would be the only words he would hear from the adults, except for the 'Thank you,' and 'Happy Thanksgiving,' from the woman when she paid their fee.
Both seemed to prefer to watch the city flowing by the car's windows. The woman leaned her head against the cool glass of her door and kept staring outside. The driver didn't know if she actually saw anything.
The man had the youngest kid on his knees, the two older ones to his right. His head was turned and his eyes fixed on the skyline racing by.
And although the parents didn't talk, the children were making up for that. They were talking rapidly. 'If they'd keep that speed, there would be nothing left for tomorrow to tell,' the driver thought amused.
The driver wondered anyway why these two siblings had so much to tell to each other. It was as if they'd lived worlds apart.
He focused on their talk a little. Maybe one day he would write a book with all the stories he'd heard through the years. No one ever seemed to mind that there was always a driver present when they were telling their secrets in the back of a taxi.
After a few moments he was distracted by an incoming call for his next round. When he concentrated back on the kids talk he caught something odd.
Had the boy just said his mum? Weren't they a family? They seemed so close, even though neither of the parents spoke. But they didn't seem to be very uncomfortable with this. Maybe he hadn't been that wrong with them living worlds apart. There had to be a good story behind this, he knew for sure.
The moment they had reached the hotel, the kids already started to leave the car. The man followed suit and unloaded their bags, having a watchful eye on the three children.
The driver's eyes followed the five of them until they were well into the hotel. Only then did he take off for the next customer. He shrugged his shoulders. That most probably had been the only time he would meet them, so he'd never find out what their story was. So why bother with them? He didn't know, but something got him caught with this 'family'.
ooooo
All three children stayed with the bags while Harm and Mac approached the receptionist.
"Hello, I've booked two rooms for Rabb."
"Me one for MacKenzie."
The receptionist checked with his computer and nodded his head.
"Ms. MacKenzie, Mr. Rabb, we do offer a Thanksgiving dinner in our restaurant tonight. Do you want me to save you a place?"
Harm and Mac looked at each other. They hadn't thought much about what to do tonight, or the following days, for that matter.
"Guys," Harm motioned for the kids to step closer. "How about some turkey tonight?"
All three of them nodded.
"We'll take five places then," Mac answered the clerk.
"A joint table?"
"Yes please."
He typed their reservation into the computer.
Then, only turning slightly to get the keys from the shelf behind, he said:
"Here you go. Ms. MacKenzie room 204 and Mr. Rabb rooms 320 and 322. Sorry they're not on the same floor. We didn't know you belonged together."
"That's no problem," Mac tried to assure him and Harm nodded.
"Okay. Dinner will start at half past seven in the restaurant over there." He motioned for a door to the right. "Have a nice stay."
"Thank you."
Both Harm and Mac herded their children back to the bags and to the elevators.
When they reached the second floor and the lift came to a halt Hannah remembered something.
"Had the clerk just said that your last name's MacKenzie?"
"Yeah. What about it?" Aaron answered.
"I just find it kind of funny, 'cause –"
This very moment Mac softly pushed Aaron along to leave the lift. They headed off to find their room without Hannah getting the chance to finish her sentence.
The doors closed behind them and the elevator started for the upper floor. Hannah turned to face her father to tell him about what she'd found out. But Harm was now talking to her brother. So she had to keep it to herself, silently wondering about the strange coincidence.
ooooo
The moment the elevator's doors closed behind her, and Mac was left on the hotel corridor alone with her son, the tension she'd been experiencing for hours, lessened a bit. Things had not been as bad she had expected them to be. She leaned against the wall inhaling deeply. Her heartbeat had slowed down to normal during the taxi ride.
"Which way, scout?" She handed her son the keycard for him to lead the way.
"This corridor." He had carefully read the numbers on the golden signs.
They followed the indicated corridor and passed two doors before they reached their room. Aaron run the card through the reader and opened the door for his mother to step in.
"Could we go up to Hannah and her family?"
"We've only just entered our room. Don't you want to rest a little first?" She'd prefer to.
"I'm not tired. Please, mum."
"Okay, but let me go to the bathroom first."
When she came back out, she felt refreshed, not only physically because of the cold water she had splashed on her face, but also mentally. Maybe she would now be able to relax a little over the weekend.
Aaron had put his coat off and was sitting in one of the chairs scanning through the room service menu.
"You're hungry?" Saying this Mac felt that she was hungry herself, as her stomach made a soft rumble.
"Yeah, a bit. But we can order something from Hannah's room, can't we?"
"We might."
And so they headed for the floor above where Harm and his kids were just inspecting their rooms.
ooooo
When he heard the knock, he went to open the door.
She was already back. Aaron slipped round him to join Hannah and Kenny who were sitting on the master bed. Harm hadn't moved at all, still blocking the way inside.
"You're going to let me in?" Mac finally asked.
"Sure." He stepped aside.
But only slightly, so her arm brushed over his chest when she passed him.
"You guys want to go somewhere?" She motioned for the kids who were still clad in their jackets.
"We thought about taking a walk on the waterfront," Harm answered and added in a whisper, "I need to tire them out, they're still two hours earlier."
"I see. But it's raining."
"Does anybody mind?" he asked, eyes shifting to his children.
"No," came from both.
And a 'no' followed from Aaron. "Can we go too, mum?"
"What about your hunger?"
"We can have something on the walk," Aaron suggested.
"Okay, if they are taking us." Mac was still eying her son, but in reality asking Harm whether he would like being left alone until dinner tonight.
"We're taking you." It was Hannah who answered first.
Harm only nodded a short 'Yes'.
"Why don't we meet in the lobby in 5 minutes, so we can gather our things?"
"Alright." Harm had followed Mac and Aaron to the door and held it open for them.
ooooo
They'd walked a paved footpath following the waterline. The rain had stopped shortly after they'd left the hotel but the wind was still strong.
Kenny was walking beside his father, his small hand wrapped safely in his father's. Mac was walking alongside him at his other side. Hannah and Aaron were several steps ahead still talking vividly, every other moment laughing out loud.
Harm would love to be back in a place where he could share some laughs with his best friend. But he just didn't know how to get there. How to get past all the things that had been happening between them.
Mac wondered how long they would proceed in this silence. They had already walked for 15 minutes and 47 seconds without saying a single word. She longed to talk to him. But what about? She could always ask something about Hannah and her growing up. How his life went in California, what he had been doing. There were many things she wished to know. But she didn't know how to approach them or if she was able to stand the answers. Thinking and hearing about the past would bring back so many memories. Bring back resentments over chances not taken.
The moment she was about to open her mouth to finally say something, a cold little hand caught her by surprise. Kenny had slipped his hand inside hers that she had kept dangling alongside her body. The small hand felt so naturally there. But it kept her from voicing any question. She just took in every bit of the moment.
Harm felt Kenny jump. Automatically he stiffened the muscles of his arm. Slowly he registered what his son was doing, he was playing flying. But that had to mean that… Harm's eyes which had been fixed on the horizon wandered down to his son and then back up. Up to meet with Mac's. He saw her holding Kenny's other hand, her arm moving synchronously with his, to let the little boy fly. He shot her a small smile and silently voiced "Sorry," towards her.
"It's okay," Mac smiled back.
Actually she liked it, though a slight pain had already started to climb her arm. There hadn't been many occasions she'd played this with Aaron, simply due to the lack of somebody to play it with. So right now she enjoyed the obvious joy of the little blond boy. They kept their movement going for a little while longer until Kenny was bored. His fingers slipped from their hands and he hurried off to his sister to find something else to do.
Mac watched the blonde boy run ahead. "He hasn't inherited much of your features."
"No, I guess. But that's because I'm not his biological father." Harm was surprised that he had really said it aloud. There weren't many who knew. And normally he didn't tell that on the first chance anyway. But this very moment with Mac it felt as if they'd never been apart.
Mac was equally taken by surprise. She would never have guessed. She'd just pictured someone like Renee to be the little boy's mother.
"Why?"
"His mother and I met at my mum's gallery. We talked a lot and found out that we were both working and living on North Island. So we met a few times during the following weeks."
"We got along pretty well." 'She'd been the best friend I had in a while.' "Then when Kenny was born, his mother and her husband asked me to be his godfather. And I adored him. When I held him in my arms I remembered the days I had held AJ and Aaron." His eyes clouded a little, the blue getting a darker shade.
"I longed to be part of a family. Longed to have friends. Hannah had been all I had back then."
Mac nodded her head, she knew perfectly well what he had been feeling. From the day Harm had left, Harriet had tried to fill his place, she had done well, but still, it felt that there was something missing.
"But when Kenny was about four months old, his parents died in a ferry accident on their way over the bay to San Diego. Relying on their wills and with no relatives there who could claim guard, Kenny was given into my care. And with Hannah at good health I had proven my capability to raise a child, although I was single at that time. The juvenile court let him stay with me. Half a year later I legally adopted him. And now he's just as much my son as any biological could be."
Mac was watching him closely. She knew he loved Kenny like his own son. She could see it from the start and was seeing it in his eyes now.
"Thanks for telling me this." She knew it hadn't been easy for him to do so. Maybe they were getting back on track. One step at a time.
Somehow the tension both had been feeling eased afterwards. The feeling of having someone to confide in, someone who would listen, was obviously still there.
But still, how to open a conversation after ten years of silence? Neither Harm nor Mac knew for sure.
"You're going to tell him one day?" Mac asked, her eyes following the six year old.
"Should do so, don't you think?" He had given it much thought lately. Ever since things started to take another sharp turn in his life. Since the possibility of seeing her again had appeared.
"Just don't know when. When is he old enough to understand, but young enough not to tell me I kept it from him?"
Mac only shrugged her shoulders. How could she tell? But within this statement she heard so much about him that she'd come to know a long time ago. He hadn't changed that much at all. He was still eager to always do the right thing. And she was sure that when he was convinced about something he went through with it. He was ready to face whatever consequences there might be, no matter how hard it was for him, just because he figured it to be right.
ooooo
"Mum?"
Mac and Harm had closed up to the children.
"Can I have a hotdog please?" Aaron tipped his head in the direction of a nearby stall.
"Still hungry, aren't you? And so am I," Mac smiled at her son, a hand lightly resting on his shoulder to walk him to the stall.
"We're back in a minute."
"How about the two of you?" she heard Harm ask his children and turned back round.
"You allow your kids to eat hotdogs?" Her eyebrows had risen to the hairline, emphasizing her questioning look.
"Occasionally." Harm's eyes said it wasn't a serious matter.
"I'd bet they'd only live on veggies."
"They refused to do so." Now his eyes had a glimmer within, which Mac knew from the happy days before their friendship had become a downhill ride.
He stepped up to her, while Hannah and Kenny joined Aaron to run to the stall.
"I see each of them has got you wrapped round their little finger. The tough fighter pilot is not able to resist a children's wish," she teased.
"Is the kick-ass Marine?"
She only shook her head slightly. No, she wasn't.
ooooo
"Everybody ready? We've only got 57 minutes left to be back at the hotel and get dressed," Mac announced.
The four of them had a hotdog while Harm just stood by and smiled at how much one could enjoy a simple roll with a sausage in it. When Kenny finished a half of his meal, his face was already covered in ketchup.
"You're still able to tell the time?"
"I am, nothing much changed."
"You changed a lot."
Mac was looking at him stunned. What was that supposed to mean?
"For what?"
"For the better." While walking alongside her he had had the chance to take a glance at her, registering all the small things that had changed. Not only was there the healthier taint he had seen earlier at the airport, but the love and affection in her eyes every time she watched one of the children. And there seemed to be a new kind of self-assurance about her. The trained level of being a Marine seemed to have given place to one resulting from the knowledge of being a good mother, having done something right and being absolutely sure about it.
ooooo
They had been walking back for quite some time. The children still in front and Harm and Mac following.
"Kenny, no!" Harm suddenly yelled.
But it was too late.
Kenny had approached a big puddle had jumped into it with a splash. But what he hadn't thought of was it's depth. So now there was a little six year old standing in a pool of water rising well above his ankles and rinsing into his shoes.
Kenny was too shocked to do anything other than stare at his father who immediately rushed to him. Harm reached out to pull him out. And with Kenny dangling from his outstretched arms, Harm walked over to a nearby bench, accompanied by Mac and their children.
Carefully he took off the first shoe. A cascade of water ran down and splashed on the ground.
Harm spun around when a soft grunt could be heard behind him. He was facing Mac who desperately tried to suppress her laughter, although she wasn't quite successful.
"You think that's funny?"
She shook her head 'no', but a giggle escaped her lips.
"Oh, okay." And an evil grin crossed his lips.
He picked up the shoe which was still tripling wet and threw it at her.
"Ahh!" A wet spot formed on her chest were she got hit. "That wasn't nice."
When he saw Mac's mocking face, Harm had to start laughing himself.
At first, she was just standing there, holding the wet shoe at arm's length and looking at the spot were it hit her chest. He hadn't done that, had he? When the water started seeping through her pullover she knew he did.
"Come on, let me help you." She crouched next to Harm.
Meanwhile Hannah and Aaron were tripling over with laughter. Their parents were acting just so strange. Neither of them had seen his or her parent at such ease.
"No need to." Harm reached for the second shoe, and an equal cascade of water came out.
"But I'd like to," Mac pulled at one of the wet socks. "and I'd like to return the favor." And with that she stuffed the cold sock into his collar, slapping him on the back so the water was running down his back.
"That's da― cold!" Harm jumped and tried to remove the sock, some of the water having already reached his boxers.
"Mac, please take it out. Pleeaase!"
By now Kenny had started to laugh as well. The shock passed with the socks removed and his feet being relatively dry again.
"Okay, come over here," Mac had stood up and pushed Harm down to search for the sock.
She handed him the offending object still laughing so wildly she had to sit down. "Here you go, flyboy." His nickname had slipped without her even thinking about it. It felt just so natural.
"Well ninja girl, thank you very much." For a moment there it was like these ten years never happened. That they were just that, flyboy and ninja girl laughing together.
When Harm looked at all of them, Mac and Kenny sitting side by side on the bench and Hannah and Aaron holding on to each other to keep straight, he felt totally relaxed for the first time in months. With all of them happy, there seemed to be nothing to worry about anymore.
After a few more minutes they all calmed down and were ready to walk on.
"You take these?" Harm asked Mac holding the shoes for her to take.
"As long as you don't throw them at me again." A small smile played round her lips.
As Kenny had no shoes to walk in, Harm took him to sit on his shoulders. The boy's small feet were stuck into the sleeves of his father's leather jacket to keep them warm.
The rest of the walk was filled with easy chatter. And it weren't only Hannah and Aaron who talked.