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Enjoy!

Ellen's home office

Georgetown, VA
1650 hours local

Ellen's POV

I put the phone back in its cradle, and lean back into my chair. I never thought I was going to call in favors… And even if I was, it would be because I needed something. Well, I needed something.

Spent five hours on the phone; but it was so worth it. The police are looking into the Newton's right now. Kate Biancavilla from CPS agreed that although what Harm and Mac did was stupid, they did the right thing. Eventually, after talking to Kate and Judge Elfman from the Child Welfare Court, Harm and Mac got temporary approval as foster parents and temporary custody.

All right, I have to admit that if their reputation wasn't so flawless, it would've taken me a lot more favors than it took me now. There are only very few people who can get away with what they did. Judge Elfman is a former Marine, maybe it was that… Oh, I don't know, and frankly, I don't really care. The most important fact is that they got custody.

However, there will be a hearing in two and a half weeks. If everything works out the way I think it's going to work out, Harm and Mac will have permanent custody of the kids soon. Okay, so not really really soon, but soon enough. Temporary custody is one thing to get. Full custody is something else altogether.

"Mommy Ellen?" Taye sticks his head into the room, and when he sees that I'm no longer on the phone, he comes running over. I lift him into my lap.

"What's up, Taye?"

This little guy is so precious… I can't imagine what I would do if someone started to abuse him. Taye starts an incoherent story about an airplane and a bulldozer. I think that is why I asked Mac (and in the back of my head I knew Harm would be the one to tag along) to take care of the kids.

Mac has been through a lot in her life, and she's seen her father beat her mom up. She wouldn't want that to happen to kids. And Harm… well, Harm lost his dad. If there is someone who wants kids to stay just that, it's Harm. Besides that, I haven't seen better partners; in and out of work.

Suddenly, Taye has stopped talking. I register it somewhere. My ears no longer fill themselves with the voice of a two-year-old. When I look down at his face, his big grey eyes look up at me. I smile and stroke him over his head. "Sorry, honey. I was a million miles away. What were you saying about that bulldozer?"

And Taye starts again. This time I listen with interest. Taye is really the baby of this make-shift family. June, Carter and Misha sometimes find him annoying, and when you're a teenager, he probably is. But I love this little guy so much… I love all of the kids so much…

I look at my watch and see that it is almost time to start on dinner. The kids should all be coming home from school soon. There is one other thing to do before I go downstairs though. Call the happy family.

Rabb/Mackenzie Residence

Rosslyn, VA
1704 hours local

Harm's POV

"Hello?"

"Harm?"

Hey, I recognize that voice. I've been talking to her not too long ago. "Ellen?"

"Hey," Ellen breathes. "You got a sec?"

I smile. "For you always."

Ellen snorts. "Not so sure that Mac will be happy to hear that."

Shrugging, I move some of Gabe's toys out of the way and ruffle through his hair. He is sitting at the bar, drawing again. If there is something he loves to do, it's that. He barely does something else. "Well, she's not at home, so that shouldn't be a problem."

She starts to laugh. "Harm, be a little nice to her, will you? Did she go to work today?"

That she went. Didn't like it, but she had to. She had court and there was no way that the Admiral was going to let her stay at home with us. So I kissed her goodbye this morning and showed her to the door, telling her that everything was going to be okay and that we would be waiting for when she got back.

So, here we are. I'm trying to decide what I want for dinner. Still not sure. "Yeah. Had to throw her out this morning. She had a little separation issue."

"Seriously? Mac having a separation issue? That's new."

Are you kidding me? New? Hardly. More along the lines of: always-been-there-but-suppressed. "Not really. But I don't think that you called to ask me about my day."

There is no way in the world that Ellen would be calling us just out of nowhere. There has to be reason. And I'm sure there. I still don't know what I want for dinner. God, this can't be so hard, right? I do this every day. Decide what I want, cook it, clean up dishes… That's all my job.

"You guys got temporary custody."

I almost drop the phone. What? Hammer, you're going insane. Really. Ellen did not just say that you and Sarah got temporary custody. "What?"

Ellen is smiling a very self-satisfactory smile right now, I'm sure of it. There are not a lot of things that make me speechless. "You heard me, Harm. The two of you got temporary custody of Gabriel, Noa and Shireen Moreno."

Completely dumbfounded I sink into a chair. We got temporary custody? After that stunt we pulled last weekend? Is she kidding me? "Are you sure? After what we did…"

"Harm, trust me, I'm sure. My ear is still red and hurting from all the phone calls I made in the past five hours or something to get it done. I'm not kidding."

Obviously. "You did all that for us?"

"Of course." She pauses for a moment. "Look, Harm. When I asked you guys to take care of the kids, I never figured that it would turn out to be like this. I never for a single moment figured that you guys would turn into a family."

You're not the only one, Ellen. Neither did Sarah and I. I run a hand through my hair and try to grasp reality. Temporary custody of the kids…

"But that is what happened," Ellen continues. "And honestly, seeing the five of you together yesterday, I hit me. You really care for those kids, and the kids adore the two of you. They deserve to be with you."

I don't know what to say. I look at Gabe's little form sitting on that stool; his hand above the pencils he laid out, trying to decide what color he is going to use next. Noa climbs onto my lap and nestles herself against my chest. And Shireen… I can hear Shireen babble somewhere in the living room.

My face breaks into a smile. This is my family. My soon-to-be permanent family. I can feel it. "Thanks, Ellen. We owe you."

"Nonsense," Ellen protests. "I just did what I thought best for the kids. And in this case, that's to let them stay with you and Mac."

I stroke over Noa's little head and my smile grows ever wider. "Even so… Thank you."

Ellen nods. "No problem, Harm. Tell Mac I said hi."

With that, I put the phone down and pick Noa up in my arms. Gabe gives me a strange look. The kids are staying! They're not going anywhere for the coming fifteen years! A couple minutes later we hear the front door. "Guys, I'm home!"

That's Sarah's voice. Putting Noa down on the ground, I run over to the hallway and swirl Sarah around. She is completely caught off guard and starts to giggle. "Harm! Put me down!"

But I'm too excited to put her down. We got the kids! Finally, I set her back on her feet, take her head between my hands and kiss her long and hard.

Sarah is the one who breaks the kiss in her need for air. Panting, she rests her forehead against mine and searches for her eyes. "What is wrong with you? Not that I'm complaining…"

Trying to catch my breath myself, I grin at her. "Go get changed. We're going out for dinner. Wear something nice." See, dinner problem is solved. We're going out. We are going to celebrate!

"We're going out for dinner? Harm, we can't. It's a school night. The kids have to be in bed on time." She narrows her eyes at me. "Will you please tell me what is going on with you?" She checks my temperature. "You're not coming down with something, are you?"

I grin at her, the biggest grin I've produced in ages. "We got temporary custody of the kids, Sarah," I whisper.

Moments pass as Sarah tries to understand what I just said. She opens her mouth only to close it again. There are no words as she looks into my eyes. "What?" She's just as blown away as I was minutes ago.

"We got temporary custody of the kids. The hearing is in two and a half weeks."

We stare at each other for what looks like eternity. Then Sarah starts to laugh. Wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me. "You sure? Really, Harm?"

"Really, honey. Really."

When we look up, Gabe and Noa are standing in the doorway, looking at us. Gabe doesn't understand why we're standing there, smiles like a couple of high school teenagers. It doesn't make any sense if you ask me. Not really. "Can we eat? I'm hungry…"

Sarah and I lock eyes and laugh. This is our family. Our temporary soon-to-be permanent family. With one last kiss we let go of each other and pick the kids of the floor. "Who wants to go out for dinner?"

Gabe giggles and squirms in my arms. "Me!"

TBC