RANDOM BITS OF MARRIED LIFE
QUALS
Harm finished packing and put the last item in his sea bag. He sighed, knowing that Mac would be frustrated with him at not giving her further notice. But the opportunity had come up so suddenly and the Admiral had found a few days for Harm to head out to the Seahawk, if he could leave the next morning. Mac wasn't due for three weeks and so Harm had agreed. He had raced home to pack and to tell Mac but when he arrived at their large home, she was gone. Probably out shopping, he assumed. She was determined to have enough things for when the baby arrived and shopping seemed to ease her stress, for some reason. He tried calling her on her cell but no one answered. That was weird; she had been gone for a few hours.
He tried calling a few more times before calling the office to see if she had shown up there.
"JAG Headquarters, Petty Officer Coates speaking."
"Jen, is the Colonel there?" Harm asked.
"Captain! Where are you? We've been trying to get a hold of you for a while. The Colonel went in to labor and was rushed to the hospital. She tried to call you but your cell phone was off or something," Coates exclaimed.
Harm was already grabbing the car keys and racing out to the car. "Is anybody with her?" She had probably called while he was talking to the Admiral.
"Lieutenant Sims drove her to the hospital; she was the only one your wife could reach. Sir, the Admiral's on his way there too."
"Thanks Jen," Harm was racing down his street, heading for Bethesda.
"Sir, I'll pick up Mattie, if you want," offered Jen.
"Thanks, that'd be great. Just bring her by the hospital." Harm was already distracted. She could have already had the baby by now. Mac would hate him for this, for not being there with her. He was already hating himself for not being with her.
"Drive carefully, sir."
"I will," he promised. "Bye."
"Bye, sir. And good luck."
Harm set the phone down on the passenger seat and concentrated on getting to Bethesda the fastest way possible, trying not to break too many traffic laws. Tires squealed as he pulled into the nearest parking spot he could find. He ran in, flashing his ID to the guards and headed for the maternity ward.
He skidded to a stop in front of the nurses' desk. "Colonel Rabb…where is she?" he gasped, breathing hard.
"In room 407. It's down the hall on your right, sir," the nurse called out as he sped down the long hallway.
Harm nearly crashed into the Admiral who was just coming out of a room. "Captain, where have you been?" demanded AJ.
"Sorry, sir. I was at home, Jennifer just called me. I got here as soon as I could. Where's Sarah? Is she okay?"
AJ smiled, immediately seeing how nervous Harm was. "Sarah's fine. She hasn't given birth yet. Come on," AJ assured him, leading him back into the room he had just left.
Harm found his wife lying on the hospital bed, trying to concentrate on her breathing. Harriet was by her side, trying to calm her down.
"Where the hell is he?" Mac asked, her voice full of anger and worry.
"I'm right here," answered Harm, moving to stand by her.
"Where have you-ahh!" she cried out as another contraction hit her.
"I'm sorry, so sorry," he whispered, wincing as she gripped his hand tightly.
"Harriet, why don't we go get a cup of coffee?" AJ suggested.
"Yes, sir." They quickly vacated the room.
"I tried calling you, Harm, where have you been?" Mac asked.
"I was in with the Admiral all during my lunch break and then I went home to pack," he explained. Oops.
"To pack for what?"
"Umm…" he trailed off.
"Harm," she warned.
"The Admiral was going to send me out to the Seahawk for a couple days."
"For your quals?" questioned Mac.
"Yes." He hung his head.
"Harm, it's okay, AJ already told me. He called me before he told you to make sure the timing would be okay. Unfortunately, our baby decided otherwise," she told him.
"I was at home packing when I started calling around for you. I called the office and Jen told me you were in labor, I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier," he apologized yet again.
She would have answered but another contraction hit her and she clenched her teeth together and gripped his hand tightly.
"This is all your fault," she seethed.
What else could he say at a moment like this? "I know, of course, it's all my fault," he soothed.
As soon as the pain had passed, she leaned over and pulled his face down. She kissed him for a few seconds then pulled back.
"Remind me that you love me," she pleaded. "before I start hating you for this whole situation."
"I do love you," Harm assured her earnestly.
"Good, because this is still all your fault," announced Mac.
Despite her declaration, he couldn't help but smile.
"What?" she asked.
"You're still beautiful when you're in labor," he complimented sweetly.
She eyed him suspiciously. "If you're trying to make up for showing up now, it's working," she told him.
An hour later, her attitude towards him had changed. He could hardly speak without her snapping at him. She had even yelled at AJ who was just politely trying to defend Harm a little. He quickly left the room, with the excuse of going to get some coffee.
At one point, Mac looked over to find Harm sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, looking as if though trying to hide. She had sent him to the chair because she was becoming impatient with the baby and told him that their child now had the Rabb sense of timing, or lack thereof. She took pity on him and held her hand out to him, giving him a small smile. "I'm sorry."
He warily moved to stand beside her and gently took her hand in his. He lifted it to his mouth to gently kiss it. "I love you."
"Why do you have to be so wonderful when I've been so mean to you?" she asked, emotionally on the verge of tears.
"You have a right to be mean to me, this is my fault after all."
"It wasn't like I was stopping you when we began this," she returned.
"That's right, I believe you started it that time," he remembered.
"Don't press your luck," she warned him.
"Sorry."
Her face tightened up and she bit her lip as another contraction hit. This time she couldn't hold back the cry that burst from her lips. "Harm, I need to push!"
"Let me go get the doctor," he offered.
"Don't you dare leave me!"
"I'm not going anywhere," he promptly responded.
Outside, Bud and Harriet had just arrived in the waiting room where AJ had been since his supposed coffee break.
"Are we too late?" Harriet asked, slightly out of breath.
Before AJ could give the couple an answer, a loud scream and a couple of choice words filled the room. What the words were, the trio knew not….they were in Farsi.
Minutes later, Harm came out. He was tired, but grinning from ear to ear.
"Sarah's fine. She'd like you all to come see her in a bit, to meet our son, Tyler David Rabb," he proudly announced.
Harriet let out a squeal of joy as AJ moved forward to congratulate the new father. As he gripped Harm's hand to shake it, he watched as the younger man winced. He gave him a puzzling look, waiting for an explanation.
"Marines."