Disclaimers: None of this is mine
A/N: Everything will be in local time instead of zulu.
A/N 2: I'm not a lawyer. The legal strategies used in this story wouldn't hold up in the real world. Take them with a grain of salt and humor me.
Well, this is it. The last chapter. A big thank you to everyone who's been reading this! I hope you've enjoyed it. And to the people who've been commenting, thank you so much! You're awesome!
1900 local time
December 24,2004
Falls Church, Virginia
"Can I hold him?"
"Of course ma'am, I mean Harriet." Jen corrected herself when Harriet arched an eyebrow at her.
The Roberts', along with a few more of her and Harm's old JAG friends were over at their house for a Christmas Eve get together. Bud and Harriet, along with Mike Roberts, had actually just arrived, the last to do so.
Jen carefully passed the baby in her arms to Harriet, untangling a strand of her hair from his tiny hand after Harriet had a hold of him. She looked down at her son in the other woman's arms then glanced over at her husband. Harm was across the room, talking with Mac and AJ Chegwidden. When he noticed her looking at him, he turned his head slightly and smiled at her before continuing his conversation. Her gaze was drawn to the photo hanging on the wall behind him. It was one of their wedding photos, the one of just the two of them taken right after they had been pronounced husband and wife.
She and Harm had been married in Spain at the end of June the previous year, only a month after he had proposed. It was a simple ceremony, performed by the base chaplain, with only Harm's family and a few of their friends from JAG in attendance. Including a very pregnant Harriet Sims who had told her doctor, and her husband, what to do with the idea that she shouldn't travel that late into her pregnancy.
They had married so soon because neither of them had any desire for an extended engagement, but there were practical considerations as well. Harm had been unemployed and unable to live on base with her until they were actually married. Jen's pay rate hadn't been sufficient to afford off base housing for them, so Harm had had to use his savings to pay for a small room at a local hostel until the wedding.
"I just love his little outfit."
Jen looked back down at her son. The outfit in question was a little red one piece with Santa Claus and his reindeer on the front. "Thanks. Harm's mom actually sent it to us." Jen looked up at Harriet and grinned mischievously. "Along with a matching tie for Harm."
Harriet looked across the room at Harm, hoping to get a glimpse of the tie in question. Jen smiled to herself, remembering just how she had persuaded Harm to wear it tonight. Finally deciding that she would have to wait till later to see it, Harriet turned her attention back to the baby in her arms.
"My godson has got to be one of the three cutest babies ever." Harriet said.
Jen looked at Harriet before glancing over to where the newborn Roberts twins were, sound asleep in their car seats. Bud wasn't very far away, keeping a watchful eye on them while he talked with his brother and Commander Turner.
Jen turned her attention back to her son, watching as he balled up his tiny fist, succeeding in getting it into his mouth on his second try. Harriet looked up at Jen and the two women grinned at each other.
"It means a lot, to Harm and myself, that you and Bud agreed to be Jeffrey's godparents."
Harriet would have waved away the thanks if she had a free hand. Instead, she settled for shaking her head slightly. "You've said that already, several times in fact. Really, Bud and I were thrilled you asked us."
Jen had discovered she was pregnant while they were still in Spain, shortly before her enlistment was up. Having already made the decision not to reenlist, the news that she was expecting confirmed for her that she'd made the right choice. Harm had been over the moon when she told him; they had been trying for several months without any luck.
Jeffrey Harmon Rabb had come into the world at 0330 on November 6, after almost eighteen hours of labor. He was almost two weeks late. Afterward, sore and exhausted, sweat plastering her hair to her forehead, the nurses gave her her son to hold for the first time. He'd turned towards her, quieting down as he instinctively sensed she was his mother. Jen had glanced up at Harm, who stood there next to her with tears in his eyes, and knew that it had all been worth it.
"How much longer do you have on your maternity leave?"
"Actually," Jen said, "I've been thinking that I might not go back to work right away."
After her discharge, her and Harm had come back to the States. The training and experience she'd gotten in the Navy had enabled her to get a position as a paralegal at a DC law firm. They had been very understanding about her pregnancy, eager to have someone with her experience for however long they could.
"Really." Harriet said, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Have you told Harm yet?"
Jen nodded. "We've talked about it. He says it's up to me. It's not like we need my paycheck right now. And as much as I enjoy my job, I just don't want to miss this time with Jeffrey."
Harriet nodded. "I understand that. It seems like just yesterday little AJ was this small."
Before they can say anything else, Jeffrey started fussing, no longer satisfied with sucking on his fist. Harriet tried bouncing him a little, hoping to quiet him. When that didn't work she reluctantly gave him back to Jen.
"He's probably getting hungry." Jen told Harriet, who nodded in understanding. "Excuse me."
Jen moved further into the house, heading towards the nursery.
Harm looked up from his conversation with Mac and AJ when he saw Jen leaving the room. Seeing that she was headed in the direction of the nursery he realized that she was probably going to feed the baby. He caught her eye right before she left the room and she grinned at him.
"Fatherhood seems to suit you Harm." Mac said, noticing the exchange.
Harm turned back to her, the grin still on his face, but said nothing. He watched Mac glance around the room while she sipped at her drink. She lingered on the pictures hung up around the room.
"I really like what you guys have done with the place."
"Thanks." Harm said, remembering that Mac hadn't been over since right after they had moved in, when most of their stuff had still been packed up in boxes. "Jen gets most of the credit though. She was going a little stir crazy after she passed her due date."
The first nine months of their marriage had been spent living on base in the married enlisted quarters. After they came back to the States, they had moved back into Harm's old apartment. Harm had asked Bud to arrange a sub-let for it when he left for Spain and it just happened to be up at the same time that Jen's enlistment was. Harm still wasn't sure if that had been Bud's idea or if Harriet had thought of it.
Harm had started looking for a house after they had been back for a couple of months. Jen had told him that it wasn't necessary, that she was fine with an apartment but he'd kept looking anyway. The apartment was fine, for just the two of them, but he knew it would be a little too crowded once the baby was born. About a month before the baby was due they finally found this one, a small three bedroom house a couple of blocks from Bud and Harriet.
"Are you still with the same company?" AJ asked.
Harm nodded. "Still consulting. Although I've managed to persuade them to let me do some test flights as well now."
"How the devil did you do that?"
"Well, I've gotten a few offers from a couple of the law firms I've worked with the last couple of months. So in an effort to keep me on their payroll, they're willing to...indulge me a little with the flying." Harm grinned.
There had been too many hoops to jump through for him to be able to practice law in Spain. After the wedding, he and Bud had been discussing what he might be able to do for work instead when Tom Boone had joined them. Harm considered the older man family so Jen had insisted they invite him. When he found out about Harm's employment situation, he had promised to see if he could set something up with the company he worked for. Harm hadn't really expected anything to come of it but a week after he and Jen had returned from their honeymoon, he was offered a position as a consultant. Since he could do most of the work from Spain, Harm had accepted the offer.
He'd continued to do that when they returned to the States but he'd also gotten a few opportunities to do some legal work as well. Jen had mentioned in passing to one of the lawyers she worked with that her husband was a former Navy lawyer. A few weeks later that lawyer had asked for his help on a case he was working on. The case, and Harm's involvement with it, had attracted the attention of several other law firms in the DC area, who also approached him to assist with cases they were working on.
"Are you considering any of those offers?" Mac asked.
"Hm. I don't know. Right now I've got the best of both worlds. Plus, I can do most of my consulting work from home here so I'm around to help Jen
with Jeffrey."
Jen came back into the room then, finished nursing the baby. She walked over to Harm who kissed her cheek and slipped his arm around her once she was standing next to him. He looked down into her arms; his son looked wide-eyed back up at him.
"Hey buddy." Harm said, gently tickling his stomach. "You're still awake?"
Recognizing the sound of his father's voice, Jeffrey flailed his arm about, trying to grab Harm's nose.
"There's too much going on out here and he's picking up on all the excitement." Jen said, laughing along with the others when the baby managed to get a hold of one of Harm's ears.
"Maybe he just wants to stay up to see Santa." Harriet joked as she walked over to join the group, one of the twins, little Mikey, in her arms. "I like your tie Harm."
Harm looked down at his tie, blushing, before mock glaring at Jen. Jen just shrugged her shoulders at him.
Bud came up behind Harriet, holding Nikki. Mike and Sturgis came over as well, completing the group. Seeing everyone gathered around, Harm raised his hand asking for silence.
"I know you're all probably hungry. But before we move into the other room, I just want to say a few words. Jen and I want to thank you all for coming tonight. A lot has happened in the last couple of years and we just want you to know that we're grateful to still call you all friends." Next to him Jen nodded her head, looking around at the people in the room with them. "Okay. That was basically it. So lets go eat."
Before anyone can move, Sturgis spoke up in a teasing tone. "You guys aren't feeding us takeout Chinese are you?" When everyone looked at him he shrugged. "I've heard about that strange tradition you two have. Did you really have some flown over to Spain when you guys were over there last year Harm?"
"I don't know who your source is but you heard wrong..." Harm answered straight faced. Then he grinned. "Chinese is Christmas Day, not Christmas Eve. And no I didn't have some flown over last year. Wish I would have thought of that, you have no idea what I did go through to get it."
Harm looked down at Jen and shook his head in mock resignation. "The things I do for you..."
Jen stuck her tongue out at him and everyone laughed as the group made their way into the next room.
"He's still up?"
Harm walked into the nursery, pulling the knot out of his tie as he went. Jen was sitting in the rocker with the baby, trying to get him to settle down. He was fussing, obviously tired but for some reason unable to fall asleep.
"Yeah. He just won't settle down." She grinned sleepily up at Harm when she saw him balling up his tie as he walked over to her. "You know your mother's going to want to see you wearing that thing when she and Frank get here tomorrow."
For a second Harm looked like he might argue with her. Then he nodded in reluctant agreement. Instead of throwing it into a corner like he had planned he folded it and set it down on the dresser. He crouched down next to the rocker.
"Let me have him. Go to bed. You're exhausted and you're going to have to get up again soon enough when he decides he's hungry again."
Jen didn't argue when Harm took the baby from her even though she knew he had to be as tired as she was. She pushed herself up out of the chair and pressed a kiss to Jeffrey's cheek and another one to Harm's lips. She headed out of the room. In the doorway she paused, turning back around to watch as Harm started pacing around the room, rubbing Jeffrey's back soothingly, as he tried to get him to fall asleep. She watched them for a minute longer then headed towards the master bedroom.
Later, Harm slipped into the room, quickly changing into a pair of loose pajama pants. Jen rolled over, snuggling close to him as he slipped under the covers.
"You finally got him down?"
"Yeah." In the darkness he wrapped his arms around Jen, nuzzling his nose in her hair. "You're still awake?"
"Mm." She lightly trailed her fingers along his ribs.
"You are not allowed to have any more Christmas cookies."
Jen pinched him, eliciting a cry of protest. "That was not my fault."
"Really?" Harm chuckled, his tone teasing not accusing. "How else do you explain a not quite two month old, who doesn't eat any solid food yet, being on a sugar high?"
Jen didn't answer and Harm fell silent.
"Harm, are you happy?"
Caught by surprise, Harm props himself up on his elbow so he can look down on her. There's just enough light for him to make out her face. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then cupped her cheek in his hand.
"Where did that come from?"
"Seeing you tonight with everybody...It just looked so natural, like you belong there, with them." She paused. "Do you ever regret it? Resigning your commission?"
"I do miss it sometimes. But Jen," he paused, looking her in the eye so she would know he was serious. "I'm exactly where I want to be. No regrets."
He lowered his head and kissed her. They were both too tired to take it any further though. Harm flopped back onto his back and wrapped his arms around Jen as she snuggled close to him again. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
"I love you Harm."
"I love you Jen."
They drifted off to sleep, secure in their love for each other.
