Title:
New Trials and Tribulations
Author:
rooster dawn
Classification: Harm/Mac
Spoilers: season seven
Disclaimers: The characters of JAG are the property of Donald Bellisario and Bellisarius Production, Inc. Used without permission. No copyright infringement intended. May be reproduce if unchanged, author given full credit, and no financial transaction is involved.
Summary: Bud goes to the Seahawk. Harm and Mac prosecute. Tragedy strikes with many fallouts.
Good feedback is good for the soul and my happiness.
part eleven Trip to Grandma's farm
21 Dec 2002
Harm and Mac wanted to get on the road early to his grandmother's farm. It was going to be a longer trip then normal. It had snowed the night before which meant getting out of the DC area was going to take more time than normal.
It truly was amazing that even though it snowed a few times every year, everyone seemed to forget how to drive in it. Also the forecast for tonight was for more snow in Pennsylvania, maybe up to a foot or more.
After driving for three hours Mac was beginning to get hungry. She wanted to stop and get something to eat. Even though he wasn't hungry Harm felt the need to stretched his long legs and get some more coffee.
They pulled into a Wendy and went inside. Mac got herself a double hamburger sandwich with super fries. Harm settled for a chicken sandwich and baked potato.
"How much longer is the trip Harm?" asked Mac.
"It shouldn't take more then three or four hours now that we are out of the city. It will depend upon how much snow we hit. It's highway driving most of the way. The last ten miles though are on narrow back roads leading out to the country." replied Harm.
"It's going to be nice to finally meet your grandmother. I know how much you love her." commented Mac happily.
"She's been looking forward to meeting you too Sarah. I've told her so much about you, that she feels like she already knows you. And since she knew Diane, she already knows what you look like." smiled Harm affectionately.
"That was a long time ago flyboy. I'm much older then the last time she was up here. Even though we looked alike we still look different." replied Mac.
"Maybe, if you stood side by side one may be able to tell the difference, but viewed separately you really can't tell. But at least she will know what to expect. By the way Mom and Frank decided to come up for the week." informed Harm.
"Boy do you really know how to put pressure on a girl." smiled Mac.
"Hey Mom loves you Mac. She's been after me to make an honest woman of you since I started telling her about you. She thinks you are the best thing that has ever happen to me." replied Harm.
"Thanks Harm. I think she's a wonderful person too." responded Mac blushing.
A few hours later Harm was pulling into the driveway. It was beginning to snow. Harm and Mac got out of the car and retrieved their things from the back.
"It's times like this I'm glad I have this boat." smiled Harm.
"Yeah, as much as I love driving the vette, it's not a good car in snow." replied Mac as they headed up the porch to the front door.
Harm knocked on the door as he went in. He wanted to let his grandmother know that he was here. As he put their bags down by the stairs his grandmother and mother came out from the kitchen. They went up to Harm and Mac to give them a big hug.
Harm then proceeded to introduce Mac to his grandmother. "Grandma, this is Sarah MacKenzie. Sarah, this is my grandmother Sarah Rabb."
"It so nice to finally meet you Sarah. Harm has told me so many wonderful things about you. I was wondering if I was ever going to meet you." greeted his grandmother.
"Thank you Sarah. Harm has told me all about you too. He says you are his guiding light. Hello Trish. How are you doing?" asked Mac.
"I'm doing pretty good. Everyone I love is here." replied Trish with a big smile.
Harm was puzzled not to see Frank in the room. He must be around here somewhere. He usually wasn't far away from his mother when they had guest in the house.
"Where's Frank, Mom?" asked Harm.
"He's outside getting some firewood. He heard that it was going to snow. He wanted to make sure we had enough wood." replied Trish.
"You should have told me Mom, I better go out and help him. He's not as young as he use to be." grinned Harm.
"I'll leave you young ladies to get acquainted." grinned Harm as he put on his coat and went outside to find Frank.
Harm saw Frank loading some wood into his arms. Harm quickly went over to him to help.
"Let me help you Frank." smiled Harm.
"Thanks Harm. It nice to see you. Your mother must be very happy right now. She was worried that you wouldn't get here before it started snowing. Seeing you is her favorite pass time. Did you bring Sarah with you?" asked Frank as he greeted Harm.
"Yes, Mac is here. She's in the house talking to mom and grandma right now. And yes, she was very happy to see her. I don't think I've ever seen mom this happy." smiled Harm.
"Well she misses you and she does want some grandchildren one day while she's still young enough to enjoy them." grinned Frank.
"Yeah, I know. I'm happy that both of you decided to come. I have something planned for Sunday night." smiled Harm.
"Oh! May I ask what it is you have planned?" asked Frank. He had an idea since he had directed the conversation in this direction. He was looking for confirmation.
Harm reached into his pocket to pull out a small box. He opened it to show Frank a beautiful engagement ring.
"I plan on asking Sarah to marry me after dinner Sunday night. I wanted all the important people in my life to be there when I asked her." smiled Harm.
"You're going to make three women very happy Harm." smiled Frank with a tear in his eye.
"No, actually it will be four women. We're going to visit Chloe later this week. I think she will be even more excited then Mom and grandma. Sarah wants to spend Christmas with her. Even though she's Sarah's little sister, Sarah loves her like a daughter." replied Harm.
"That's great Harm." responded Frank.
They spent the rest of the day catching up with each other before a roaring fire. They enjoyed a wonderful dinner as Trish and Grandma Sarah look on as Mac ate a hearty meal.
They were quite surprise to see how much she ate. After all she had a body all women envied, long and lean with a lot of curves. Everyone decided to call it a night early. They were all tired from their long trips.
The next morning they decided to exchange gifts. It was a couple of days early, but with Harm and Mac leaving first thing Tuesday morning they wanted to relax and enjoy opening the gifts. It was a perfect winter day. The ground was cover with freshly fallen snow. Harm had made a few more trips to the wood pile for more firewood.
Trish had prepared a wonderful breakfast leading Mac to comment
"Now I know why Harm is such an excellent cook. It runs in the family."
Later after lunch and making sure there was enough firewood in the house, Harm went out to the barn to hook up a couple of horses to the sleigh. Everyone got in and covered themselves with a couple of blankets.
They spent the next couple of hours on a sleigh ride through the snow. When they got back to the house the women went inside to fix dinner. Harm and Frank took care of the sleigh and horses. Harm was quite surprise to see that Frank knew how to cool down a horse on a cold winter's day.
After a nice turkey dinner everyone went into the living room to have coffee and dessert in front of the fire. There was polite conversation while they ate their dessert.
Mac was pleasantly surprise about the sleigh ride. It was something Mac had never experience before and she was glowing. Even though Trish had been on sleigh rides before, it had been a long time. She thought back nearly forty years ago remembering when Harm senior had asked her to marry him after going on a sleigh ride.
Harm looked around the room. He noticed that everyone had finish eating and were comfortable. He got up and went over to Mac. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and got down on one knee in front of her.
Mac looked at him in total surprise. She then looked around to see if anyone else knew about this, but all she saw was a look of surprise and anticipation from everyone.
Trish lean over to Frank and asked "Did you know about this honey?"
"Yes dear, Harm told me yesterday afternoon while we were getting the firewood. He asked me not to tell anyone." replied Frank.
Harm looked into Mac eyes as he took the ring out of its box. He then placed the ring on her finger as he began to tell her how he felt.
"I love you Sarah MacKenzie. I'm sure you have been wondering whether this day would ever come. Sometimes I wonder about that myself. When I first saw you in the rose garden so many years ago I thought I was being given a second chance for love.
But I knew I couldn't ask you to marry me that day because you didn't know me. And I soon found out I didn't know you either. You had built up so many walls around your heart, but I knew somewhere in there was a very special lady.
I knew it would take time to tear down the walls around your heart before I could earn your trust and love. We've had our ups and downs, our misunderstandings over the years, but we have always managed to be there for each other when we needed the other.
This past year has been very special as we allowed ourselves to be together as a couple learning to love each other unconditionally. I love you Sarah MacKenzie. I want you to become my wife. Will you please marry me Sarah?"
Mac had been sitting there very patiently listening to what Harm had to say. She was so happy and very nervous. She couldn't believe how wonderful it was to hear Harm tell her what she had waited for so long to hear.
Even though she was hoping that Harm would propose to her over the holidays, she hadn't expected it would be today with all his family present. And it had been so much better than she expected.
Harm was very passionate and loving. She didn't think she could love him any more than she loved him at that moment.
"Yes Harm, I'll marry you. You are my life and salvation. I too have loved you since the beginning. You were too good to be true. I couldn't believe that someone as wonderful as you could ever love me.
But all you have ever done is show me how much you do. You have always been there for me helping me deal with my demons. I love you so very much. I would be honored to become your wife."
Harm stood up bringing Mac up with him. He gave her a loving kiss as he took her into his arms. She then rest her head against his chest as they embraced each other for a few minutes more.
They turned around to receive hugs and congratulations from Frank, Trish, and Grandma Sarah. Everyone was so happy. It was the best news they could possibly have received. Christmas was definitely a very special time this year.