After a long hiatus I'm back. Sorry, for the extremely and unfairly long wait, but College was a witch the last few weeks and I had a very long and even more boring paper to write and since proof-reading always takes me a whale of a time I didn't have the time to do it.

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Later that morning Harm requested audience with Admiral Chegwidden.

When he was finally seated before the man Harm was stumped.

He'd never had this kind of a talk with any of his COs before and so he had no clue how to go about it.

Which is why he decided the frontal assault was the best option.

"Sir, I think you have the right to know what I found out recently."

At the man's raised eyebrows he continued.

"I talked to LT Singer and, only because it will affect this office and because it's the reason for some very big changes that have happened and will happen in the future, on duty and off duty, I think it's fair you know she revealed the identity of her baby's father to me."

"Oh?" the Admiral leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table with a very interested look on his face. "Well, don't keep me waiting, CDR, who is it?"

"It's Sergei." Harm sighed. "My brother, sir."

"Huh." was the response as the older man leaned back, trying to process the information and how it fit into the bigger picture. Off-handedly he commented. "So, the charges really were bogous, it wasn't even anyone in the service."

Harm knew he was talking about Loren's fraternization charges. "Yes, sir, they were." The Admiral could hear accusation, disappointment and rebuke in Harm's voice.

Harm was the only one to believe Loren innocent of her charges from the very beginning, even in his mind, and he'd felt betrayed that Mac and Chegwidden believed her guilty from the start, even though Loren had repeatedly said she was innocent. If they'd in their minds convicted Loren of the crime, even against her protest that she was innocent, so quickly and without thought, then that didn't bode well for the others who could end up being accused of something. Accused falsely and finding themselves without support and belief in them by the ones that should've been there for them... It filled Harm with worry, what if some day HE would wind up framed and these people who should believe in him, would believe he was guitly even though he would insist he was innocent... Or would even act they didn't care and let him rot in the cell alone, without even bothering to visit him, even after all he had selflessly done for them over the years.

The Admiral fell silent, just watching Harm and trying to figure out what the information of the baby's paternity meant for the man Harm was. Suddenly he got it and it was so obvious he wanted to call himself a moron for not having realized it earlier. Family had always been everything to Harm...

"You're not letting this go, are you?" at Harm's confused expression he explained "You won't be satisfied with just knowing who the father is. Now that you know it's your own brother's you won't just sit back and do nothing. You're going to be fully involved with the child's life aren't you? That also means you'll be fully involved in the LT's life which is why you're here." he concluded.

"Yes, sir." Harm was relieved he didn't need to go into any complicated or even embarrassing explanations. "That baby is my niece or nephew and I want to be as involved in it's life as possible. I told her exactly this a few days ago."

"Bet that went over well." smirked the other man with a knowing grin. Loren was well known for her self-sufficiency, independence, stubbornness and pigheadedness.

Harm shook his head, chuckling ruefully. "It went over like a rock in water. The LT was... not entirely enthusiastic over the prospect. More like 'less than enthusiastic'. She turned me down flat and left for home."

"But something's obviously changed."

Harm nodded. "Yes, sir. It did. I received a phone call yesterday from her, asking me if I could come to her apartment. After having some time to herself she seems to have realized that my proposition was not that bad and that she wants, perhaps even needs, help during her pregnancy and later on with the baby. She admitted to feeling terrified of everything, of the pregnancy and of being a single mother and she doesn't want to do it alone. Any of it."

"Quite understandable. Pregnancy and motherhood are big, life changing events and normally women don't go through them completely alone, they at least have their family around them if not a life partner and/or the father of the baby. The LT had no-one. It's pretty understandable that she would be scared of doing it all completely by herself. So, she took you up on your suggestion, whatever it was... Okay, what exactly does that mean?"

Harm inhaled deeply and prepared to drop the bomb. Until now the Admiral had been understanding and sympathetic, but who knew how he'd take this piece of news. Until now it had been pretty much innocent, Harm having only a minor, sideline, role in the whole thing, but now he was right in the middle of it and in a situation with Loren that screamed about deeper personal involvement. "We're moving in together and are gonna raise the baby together, sir."

There was a silence for a couple of minutes, but Harm was sure the rapid beating of his heart could be heard clearly. Finally the JAG spoke.

"This is why you're here..."

"Yes, sir. Loren and I know the frat regs top to bottom and we know it's the couple's commanding officer who has the final word and who decides whether to allow them to be together or court martial them. Not that we're a couple, sir, we're not in a romantic relationship, but we are together in the sense that we want to raise a baby together. It's a full commitment, a commitment for a lifetime, and not some fling or a relationship that in the end won't work. We're fully committed to this, to the baby and to each other and we'll make it work. There's no other option."

"You know how this will look to an uninformed observer, don't you?"

Harm's heart beat slowed down with relief. The way the Admiral had phrased the question sounded like he had already given them his permission. "Yes, sir, we know. They'll assume it's my baby she's carrying. I personally don't have a problem with it, so I'm asking you not to discourage that perception, as long as it doesn't negatively affect our careers or our private life. We don't want any trouble with anyone, we just want to live in peace and have our small island of happiness. That's why I came to you."

"What exactly do you want of me, Mr Rabb?" the Admiral said, sighing heavily and pinching his nose. He could already feel the headache coming.

"A way, sir, for Loren and I to make it work without being courts-martialled or face any kind of punishment. It's the CO's decision what to do anyway. I'll take any transfer except one that would take me away from DC and from Loren and the baby."

"Does the LT know you're here?"

Harm nodded. "Yes, sir."

Chegwidden nodded and pressed the intercom. "Tiner, get me CDR Rabb's and LT Singer's personnel files."

"Aye, sir." the confusion in Tiner's voice was evident. Chegwidden nodded and closed the link.

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Reviews would be greatly appreciated (but flames not, so don't bother. Those idiots who will still flame will be blocked and their reviews erased.)