Halo there everybody. I think it's taken far too long for this chapter. What do you think? Yeah, that's what I thought as well. :-) I am so sorry for it taking THIS long. Real life has just royally been kicking my six lately. Just gonna have to suck it up and keep moving.

There have been several people who have joined the party and I just would like to thank everyone for reading, commenting, and following. I do hope that I continue to earn that very welcome support. Thank you so very much.

With that being said…ON WITH THE SHOW!

"In that case Colonel, please step this way and we will let you get changed. Congratulations Colonel. Good luck and Semper Fi."

"Oorah!" was the response from the blood relatives.

With that, inmate O'Hara was once again Colonel Matthew James O'Hara, USMC (ret.)

18 DEC 2005

08:30 p.m. CST / 0230 Zulu

Danny Edward's BBQ

Kansas City, Missouri

Shortly after the three exited the disciplinary barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, Harm, Sarah, and Uncle Matt found themselves at a well know barbecue joint in Kansas City.

Sarah was still running the events of the last 12 hours through her head. She was running through gambit of emotions; starting from happiness to fascination; fascination to confusion; and finally confusion to frustration.

Matt could see the gears turning in his niece's head and the flurry of emotions she was going through. He took her hand in his and asked, gently, "Sarah, talk to me. What questions are running around inside that head of yours?"

Sarah looked at him with a look on her face eerily reminiscent of how a deer would look if a car's high beams were suddenly flashed up it. Sarah took a few moments to collect her thoughts. She finally spoke up saying, "Why didn't you tell me what was going on Uncle Matt…you, too Harm? You've been working on this since he was first convicted? I was his lawyer, too, damn it!"

"Sarah, I asked Harm to keep you out of the loop. I didn't' want you to get your hopes up in case this didn't go the way we wanted," Matt explained. Then he let a glimmer of mischief sparkle in his eyes and said, "As a matter of fact, I've spoken more to your husband in the last nine years than my own niece. Can you tell me why THAT is?"

Sarah was about to take offense at this when she looked at her Uncle Matt's expressive face and began to feel her own face begin to flush crimson. "Well, Uncle Matt, I've been pretty busy watching some squid's sorry six. He's kept me pretty much on my toes the last nine years," she said. As another thought crossed her mind she gasped, "Uh, Harm?"

Harm looked her in the eye and answered, "Yes, dear?"

"Harm, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for Uncle Matt. I'm gonna have to come up with some sort of punishment for keeping this from me, though," Sarah postulated with a sly grin of promise.

Matt chuckled and looked at his new relative saying, "Well, Harm, I've been in your shoes before with Sarah's aunt. Let an old man give you some advice: Whenever a woman gets THAT look in her eye, you will do one of two things; you'll either really enjoy or really, really hate what she does to you. I'll leave that decision for you to decide." Then Matt gave Harm a small slap to his back.

It was at this point the waitress stepped up with their orders. Harm received a shredded chicken sandwich with sweet and smoky barbecue sauce and a Cesar salad. Sarah had a 9 oz. medium rare prime rib with horseradish and Worcestershire sauces, baked potato with butter, sour cream, bacon, and cheese.

Uncle Matt, being this was his first meal as a free man, opted for the 23 oz. Porterhouse steak, medium, with no sauce. He was of the firm belief that if a steak was prepared and cooked properly with the right spices, there was absolutely NO need to ruin it with sauce. His idealism had served him correctly in this instance as the steak arrived cooked to his exacting standards with juices oozing out every time he cut into it.

Harm finished first and watched the two newest additions to his family. He had watched Sarah eat thousands of meals and had yet to not cringe at the sight of his Marine devouring dead cow. She set to it as if each meal was her last. In contrast Matt, having been a guest of the military penal system for the last nine years, was savoring his steak with each fork-full he brought to his mouth. Matt understood, better than most, how fleeting freedom could be and was going to enjoy every single, solitary bite.

One hour after receiving their meals, each member of the small group sat equally satisfied and enjoying their coffees. Harm handed Matt a small manila envelope taken from his briefcase.

After opening it, Matt looked up at Harm and asked, "What is this, Harm?"

Harm grinned and responded, "That, Uncle Matt is, essentially, an offer of employment from an old friend who used to be stationed at 29 Palms before he retired. He owns at a small airfield close to the base and wants to open a flight school. It's about 4 hours from Red Rock, so you can go there on weekends."

Matt found himself in the midst of a proverbial tennis match between his new nephew and the envelope now in his hands, contemplating this overwhelming series of events over the previous four hours. After continuing the calisthenics for approximately 45 seconds, by Sarah's count, he finally found his voice and asked, "When do I start?"

Harm smiled at his new uncle-in-law and responded, "As soon as you give him a call. We can have you out there within the next 12 hours if you want. I know Sarah would enjoy coming to see you without having an orange jumpsuit cramping your style." The last sentence was tinged with just a slight bit of sarcasm with a half grin towards his new bride.

Sarah smacked Harm's shoulder with the palm of her hand garnering a wince from both Harm and her uncle and Harm's sad attempt at feigning hurt. "Take it down a notch there Flyboy. There's not enough room in this restaurant for two Marines and a Naval Aviator's ego," she stated with a saucy grin.

This brought chuckles from both men at the table.

19 DEC 2005

08:30 a.m. CST / 1430 Zulu

Adam's Mark Hotel

Kansas City, Missouri

The rest of the evening was spent with the trio saying their goodbyes as Uncle Matt made his way to the airport to catch his flight out west and the rest of his life as a free man.

As Sarah watched her uncle walk away, she was overcome with the desire to thank her husband properly. She grabbed him by the arm and tugged him, rather forcefully back to the honeymoon suite where she thanked him…repeatedly.

Sarah woke up early at 06:45 local time and leaned up on her elbow and looked at Harm. She thought back to all the times they had been on assignment where they had shared the same bed, platonically of course, and thanked whatever powers may be that she…finally…had the third part of her "perfect" life. She had the great career while she was a Marine, she would have to figure out what to do once they were back in London, maybe sooner. She had lots and lots of comfortable shoes, of which she always wanted more. Now she had the great man that she longed for. She breathed a contented sigh of happiness and continued to look on as Harm slept peaceably.

She stayed like that for another twenty-seven minutes and thirty-four seconds when the object of her fascination began to stir. "Good morning, Mr. Rabb," she said.

Harm opened his right eye and murmured, "Good morning, Mrs. Rabb. How is my beautiful bride this morning?"

Sarah smiled at the endearment handed to her and replied, "Happy. I'm so completely happy; and it's all because of the man I married."

Harm chuckled and reached out his right hand and caressed Sarah cheek with the back of his fingers. "Anybody I know," he asked.

"Oh, just some squid I met in a rose garden. He kinda freaked me out when we first met, but he grew on me in the years to come," Sarah deadpanned.

Harm raised an eyebrow and gasped in mock indignation before answering, "So, this squid, why did you marry him then if he freaked you out?"

Sarah let a saucy grin appear at the corners of her mouth and said, "Because, I fell so very deeply in love with him. Don't ask me how. He made life on me Hell on Earth for a couple of years before he finally wised up."

"'Hell on Earth,' huh? 'Finally wised up,'" Harm growled before he jumped up and grabbed her sides with both of his hands and proceeded to tickle them making Sarah howl with laughter. "I'll show you, Jarhead!"

Still squirming and laughing under the assault, Sarah was barely able to get out between gasps of air, "HARM…STOP…IT! YOU'RE…GOING…TO…MAKE…ME…WET…MY…SELF!"

Harm was laughing the whole while he kept up his attack. Only when she did nearly wet herself did he finally stop. "Surrender, Marine," Harm ordered.

Sarah looked him dead in the eye with all the love and devotion she had and responded, "Never!" Then she pulled Harm down to her and claimed his lips with hers in a searing and long kiss. Only when the need for oxygen was required did she release him. Then she proceeded to return the both of them to a state of undress to resume their bonding.

After multiple vocal responses to each other, they finally started to gather their things to leave the hotel and continue on with their honeymoon.

Sarah dropped her toiletry kit on the bed, looked at Harm, and asked, "Where are we going to next, Flyboy?"

Harm smiled when she called him that. He loved how it flowed from her lips. Checking his mental calendar, he replied, "Now we fly to L.A. and then onto Honolulu for a few days before we end up in…"

"'End up in' where, Harm," Sarah asked. Harm was still playing his cards extremely close to his vest and it was beginning to tick her off.

"Ok, ok. I might as well tell you before I seriously tick you off. We will end up in Cairns, Australia. We're going to the Great Barrier Reef."

Sarah stood there with her mouth hanging open and made an impersonation of a fish breathing. "Oh my God. I've always wanted to go there. How could you afford that? It's not that I don't appreciate it, I do. It's just way to mrmph…" She was muted when Harm rested his large paw upon her mouth.

"Slow down there, sweetheart. This was a wedding gift from Mom and Frank. I was having a hard time figuring out what we could do that wouldn't be so cliché that you'd be bored out of your wits. Frank suggested what he and Mom did for their honeymoon and helped me set it up."

After nearly thirty years, Harm was really starting to think of Frank as his dad. It had only been since his first trip to Russia that Harm really started to make an effort to get closer to his step-father. Finding out what had truly happened to Harm Sr. had forced Harm to reevaluate how he looked at Frank. The last six years had seen the two of them grow closer, especially the last two years since Harm has known Mattie. The step-father dynamic had taken on a whole new meaning for him. He now understood what it meant for a man to come into a child's life as a surrogate, or even second, father. Harm resolved to treat Frank as he would have Harm Sr…as his dad.

30 DEC 2005

12:30 p.m. / 1430 Zulu

Burnett Residence

La Jolla, California

After enjoying their time in Hawaii and Australia, it was time to pick their daughter up from Harm's parent's home. As they were getting out of their rental, Harm's phone started going off. Harm groaned his disapproval before answering his phone saying, "Rabb!"

"Rabb, its Webb."

Harm mouthed to Sarah, "Its Webb."

"What's going on Webb? Have you heard anything?"

"Yes. Turn around."

Harm and Sarah both turned around. To say they were surprised at what they saw would be an understatement. Webb was standing about twenty feet away in his three piece suit holding a small wriggling bundle in one arm and pushing a stroller with the other. Everything they saw said he was the very image of a doting father; everything except the look on his face that seemed to say 'Get this kid away from me!'

Once Sarah regained her voice, she asked, "Clay, what are you doing here….and with a baby?"