Mommy Dearest

Chapter 11
Up to no good?

Switching topic yet again, the third time today, thought Harm, he asked Loren, "How's my niece now, I understand she created a bit of an environmental disaster earlier?"

Loren stiffened at what she thought was an implied criticism of her daughter, and then as she caught the teasing twinkle in Harm's eye, she remembered what Jennifer had said earlier about this family's habit of joking and teasing each other, and she realised that by not acting any differently towards her, that Harm really was just treating her as one of the family. "Well, she's sleeping again now, but I had to feed her again before she'd settle down, so I suppose the little monster will be imitating Mount St Helena again before too long."

Harm just stopped himself from commenting on what was quite possibly the first joke he had ever heard Loren Singer make, and said, "That is so comforting, now Jen and I just can't wait until we have our own little volcano to bury us in cr...," he broke off with a guilty look at Trish, "Sorry mom!"

"So I should think! Any more of that sort of language, and it'll be straight to bed for you with no lunch or dinner! Speaking of lunch, Jen, can you come and give me a hand in the kitchen, please. No, no Loren you stay where you are, I'll give you a shout in a few minutes and then you can set the table if you will; that kitchen's too small for more than two to try and work in it!"

Trish obviously had some objective in mind in leaving himself and Loren alone Harm thought, and judging by the dawning suspicion in Loren's expression she was coming to the same conclusion. He looked at her helplessly for a few seconds and finally said, "Look, Loren, I guess mom has left us alone here for some deep secret reason, but what it is I have absolutely no idea. Has she said anything to you about why she thinks we need to talk?"

Loren looked at him carefully, unsure whether she could trust him. He had always struck her as sincere, but seeing him here with his mother, she was beginning to think that he was more devious than she had thought. She had, she reflected, seen him obfuscating and pulling fantastic stunts in the courtroom, she had lost cases to him because of them. There was even a highly improbable tale of him firing an automatic weapon into the courthouse ceiling while the court was in session - obviously it could not be true, but it was a part of the legend that had grown around him. On the other hand, he had certainly seemed sincere enough last night when he had formally welcomed her and Alexandra to the family, but just how far could she trust him?

"Sir," she began tentatively, but he interrupted her.

"Loren, it's Harm now, we're sort of related, so the Commander and Lieutenant crap can be dropped unless we need it back in the office." Then it struck him; the office and getting Loren back to DC was what Trish had left them alone for. For some reason, she was expecting Loren to be resistant and was relying on him to persuade her to go back to work.

"OK, then Harm," she ventured a brief smile, "what's going on here. Really?"

"Loren, there's so much going on at so many different levels, that I'm not sure what you're asking me, and even if I knew, I probably wouldn't be able to come up with an answer. I realise that this is all very strange to you, but I wasn't expecting to find you here when I arrived, and I guess I'm still trying to process just what's happened in the last twenty-four hours. The only thing I am certain of is that the directing brain behind all this isn't mine, it's my mother's. And I guess what happens next depends a lot on what you're fixing to do. But first, before we start trying to unwrap one of my mother's mysteries, I just want to say thank you for saying you'll stand beside Jen next week. We're keeping, or we're trying to keep it, not exactly secret, but low key, so it's a very small do and apart from mom and Frank there'll only be two of my friends attending, and there won't be anyone there for Jen, so thank you very much."

"Oh, I hadn't really agreed..."Loren said dubiously, "I don't know if we can get back to DC, Alexandra's only going to be twelve days old, and I'm worried that the stress might be too much for her... that's if we can even get a flight that'll take such a young baby..."

"That's taken care of. No, let me finish, please. I flew Jen out here in an F-14, and I nearly had a fit when I found out after we had landed that pregnant servicewomen aren't allowed to fly in an airplane fitted with ejector seats... oh, and please don't tell her that. I haven't been able to myself, I was so scared of what the consequences might have been if we'd had to eject..." he sat in silence for a few moments and then continued, "Well, with no F-14 for the return trip, we're looking at a commercial flight. Frank and I did some number-crunching, and we figured out that with door to door service and no hanging around in airport halls, and with the extra convenience and extra baggage allowance, and looking at the air-fares for five adults and a child, that chartering a small 'plane would be just as cheap. Frank's downstairs on his 'phone sorting that out now. We plan to fly on Friday, and to get to DC well before sunset, so that will give us all plenty of time to rest before the ceremony on Saturday. So you don't need to worry about travelling with Alexandra. Oh, and I haven't had a chance to say good morning to her yet, so you just let me know when she wakes up next time."

Loren couldn't resist his smile, and responded with one of her own, "I think you'll know without being told by me the next time she wakes up!"

"Loren, you've changed, and I like the change."

Loren bristled, "I have not! I'm still Lieutenant Witch!"

"Yes, you probably still could be - if you wanted to." Harm said shrewdly, and watching Loren for her reactions.

"Don't let yourself be fooled! This isn't me, it's just my body and brain reacting to the extra hormones sloshing around inside!" but her protest lacked any real conviction.

"OK then, but could you help me out here, for a bit? Just go along with Jen over this matron of honour thing, after all," he said, "you should remember just how peculiar some of the urges are that pregnant women get, and Jen really wants to do something nice for you, just to mark Alexandra's entrance into the world."

"Why?" she asked bluntly.

"Why what?" he asked baffled.

"Why does Jennifer want to do something nice for me?" He marked the use of the full length Jen's name and the mocking tone of her last few words and debated on how he was going to answer her.

"I could say it was just because Jen's who she is. And that's a huge part of it. But it's also because she feels that the birth of a baby is a cause for celebration, and maybe because you didn't have a baby shower, and maybe because the guy who ditched you is someone who is about to become her brother-in-law, and if he'd been any sort of man, that tie would have been doubled, because he wouldn't have run from you and your child!"

"I don't want her damn pity!" Loren flared up,

"No! And you're not getting it! And you're not getting Jen either. Jen doesn't pity you, she's happy for you because you've got Alexandra, and she's even a little bit envious, I think. Next time you're holding your baby, sneak a look at Jen and look at the expression on her face! And maybe she feels just a tiny bit guilty, because she knows that she's got all the support that a pregnant woman and a new mom will need, and she knows that you haven't quite understood that you've got just as much support as she does!"

"I don't!"

"Yes, yes you do. I don't know why mom's adopted you, I guess I never will, I'm just glad she has, but I can promise you one thing, if you ever need help with Alexandra in the future, and probably with just about anything else, then mom will be there for you; you may have to dig in a little bit to stop her taking over, but that's only because she cares! And for those times when mom isn't around, and there's something that you can't quite fix on your own, and you don't want to bother her, then Jen and I will be there!"

"Why should she care? Why do you care?"

"I'll answer that the other way around. I care, because Alexandra is my brother's child, and he let me down, and he let himself down and most importantly of all, he let you and Alexandra down. I've a sneaky feeling that raising a child is going to be tough enough with a committed partner, trying to do on your own, Loren, is going to be hellish tough, particularly as a single mom in the navy. Have you even thought of a family care plan for when you get reassigned to sea-duty? Or are you thinking of resigning? For what my opinion is worth, that would be a mistake. Loren, you're a good lawyer, and even if you don't make it to be the first female JAG, you could still be a great lawyer, but you've still got some ways to go. And despite what some people might think, you're a good officer too, but you could be better. No, don't look at me; I'm no example for you to follow, I've played fast and loose with the rules way too many times. And I am not snowing you either, I know the admiral has a real admiration for some of your qualities and Sturgis Turner thinks that you have potential. So Jen and I are going to be there for you and help iron out some of the domestic wrinkles so that you can exploit that potential as a lawyer and as a navy officer. Why mom cares, I really don't know; she said that when she first met you, you looked like you needed a mom. Maybe she's always wanted a daughter, and all she got was me - must have been a helluva disappointment for her!

"That's a very pretty speech Harm, but what happens when you get tired of me, tired of Alexandra? That's what you do isn't it, just like your brother? And didn't he move out of your apartment because you lost interest in him and he'd rather live with strangers than stay with an indifferent brother? That's what you did to Colonel MacKenzie, played her along and then lost interest in her."

Harm had stiffened at Loren's intrusion into his life, but forced himself to relax, after all she was only doing to him what he was doing to her, except that maybe he hadn't judged her in the same way.

"Loren, have you been talking to Mac? That's not what happened, neither with Sergei nor with Mac, or maybe that's the way Mac sees it. Because that sounds like something she once said to me. I was attracted to Mac, but for the wrong reasons, not that I thought there was anything wrong with her, but because she reminded me so much of someone I'd lost; well, physically she did. I was, I admit, pretty much in love with her, but after I found out she was married and then the whole Brumby mess I realised that she had only got engaged to him in order to make me jealous, and then when she insisted I should be at the ceremony as her best friend, we had a fight, and I told her that if she really needed me at her wedding to make it complete, then she was maybe marrying the wrong man. But I still went along with it, and I took that stupid risk of trying to fly though a storm to get to her damn' wedding, I damn' near killed myself and my RIO; and then I woke up and smelled the coffee. Mac doesn't love me, she never has and she never will. I didn't lose interest in Mac, I had hoped that we could still be friends, but I did move on."

Loren remained stubbornly silent, and Harm gave a mental sigh. He had laid his cards on the table for her to see, and all he could do now was wait to see if she believed him, believed in him.

"Look, Loren, think over what I've just said, and then if you still have questions or doubts, then ask. You once told me that you were neither a thief nor a liar, and I believed you then and I believe you now. When you finally said that Sergei was Alexandra's father, I didn't for one second doubt that you were not telling the truth; I don't have to pretend to see that she's got his eyes, or his nose to prove paternity. I've got your word. Please repay the courtesy of believing that I don't lie either, and I've given my word that I shall be looking out for you and Alexandra whether you think you need it or not!"

"You remember that?" She asked in surprise, "You remember me telling you that?"

"Of course I do, we were fighting... no... I accused you of leaving that air accident report in Mac's car, and you denied it, but I didn't believe you until you said that. And I looked you straight in the eye, and what I saw there was honesty, so I believed you. Now, I've got a thing or two to do, and I suspect that mom and Jen have been dragging their heels over lunch just to let us have this talk. So let's not try to disappoint them, hey? Let's take something positive out of it, OK"

Loren tried a smile, "OK," she whispered.

"But Loren, there's just one thing that's got me puzzled," he said as he paused by the door, and when she questioned him with a look, he continued, "When we had our talk in Benzinger's..."

"When you were trying to bully me, you mean."

"Yeah, well, maybe. Just a little bit", he admitted uncomfortably. He had been a little over insistent that night, and maybe he had come across as being a bully, though he hadn't meant to, it had been the urgency of the situation driving him beyond his normal behaviour. "You said you were going to put your baby up for adoption, and that you weren't going to throw your career away to become a coupon-clipping single mom; what changed your mind?"

Loren looked at her daughter and said simply, "She did."

Finding that while he and Loren had been talking that Trish and Jen had not only prepared a light lunch but had also set the table, Harm stuck his head back into the family room to summon Loren to the table, while Trish called Frank up from the depths of the basement. Lunch was simple, as was the conversation; the only reference made to the conversations held earlier was Trish's breezy, "And did everyone play nice this morning?" and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, she plunged into plans for the acquisition of a dress for Loren, covering such avenues of opportunity as Mission Valley or Fashion Valley and Westfield Malls, her enthusiasm was infectious and even the still reluctant Loren found herself dragged into the conversation as her opinions of style, material and colour were suborned. At length when Loren confessed she was no longer sure of her dress size, Trish urged the two younger women to go to Loren's room armed with tape measure and pencil and paper, while she and Frank cleared up after lunch. Harm had pleaded off that duty on the grounds that he had to make a couple of important phone calls.

His first call was to a man he considered his frenemy and he waited for him to pick up at the other end.

"Hey, Webb, this is Rabb. I'm in San Diego, and I need a favour."

"What do you want this time, Rabb?" CIA Agent Clayton Webb's voice was filled with suspicion mixed with resignation.

"I need you to take a peek at a Service Record for me."

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"Because it's got to be done under the radar and if I use a terminal here, I'll be leaving an electronic trail eight miles wide! Come on Webb, with your super spook computer crap it won't take more than a minute."

"OK, who, and what am I looking for?"

"Lieutenant Loren Singer, USN, and I need to know exactly what fruit salad she's been awarded."

"Is that it? Loren Singer's ribbons, that's what you disturbed me for on a Saturday afternoon? OK. Hold on a minute... there... wait... wait... OK got it, now are you ready? OK... here goes..."

Harm scribbled furiously for a minute and said cheerfully, "Thanks Webb, I owe you one!"

"Yeah, you do, and don't think I won't collect!"

Armed with this new information, he returned to the family room while he waited for Jen and Loren to finish their measuring. Trish was waiting for him, with a knowing smile on her face and said, "I know you are up to something Harm. Jen tried to wring it out of me, and was most disappointed that I didn't know. What have you been telling that girl that she suddenly things I am the source of all knowledge?"

"Nothing much, mom, just that you're devious, cunning, totally committed to getting your own way, and that I love you very much!"

"Flatterer!" scolded Trish, but secretly pleased that Harm was now so relaxed that he could initiate teasing jokes rather than just going along with as had been his previous habit.

The muffled sounds of outraged infant hunger broke out as Alexandra once again made her demands known to the whole world, and Trish and Harm exchanged looks. Trish's look said very plainly that this was what he had in store for him; Harm's wince acknowledged that truth. Alexandra's cries stopped abruptly as Loren responded to her daughter's needs, and it was very shortly after that that Jen joined mother and son, handing Harm as sheet of paper covered by notes in Jen's careful left-handed writing. Jen pulled a comical face, "It's a good thing Alexandra woke up when she did, I think Loren was about to have a fit, she was cursing up and down that she was going to have to put in some serious exercise to get back into shape, or she was going to have to buy a whole new slew of uniforms!"

Harm quickly scanned the sheet and said, "You, my darling, are a wonder! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go out for a few hours! I'll be back by six!" And planting a quick kiss, he was headed for the door before either mother or fiancée could stop him

Their questions as to where he was going, what he was doing and why he was doing he met with "I can't tell you! It's a secret."

Jen and Trish looked at each other and then said simultaneously, "He is up to something!"