Chapter 26
AN: Chapters 25 and 26 were meant to be posted together but my internet wasn't working well so that's why this one is posted so soon after the last one. This chapter is angst-filled, just thought I'd warn you all!
Something jarred Mac out of a restful sleep and she blinked for a moment before realizing it was the phone. She picked it up quickly and saw that Harm was waking up too.
"Hello," said Mac.
"Yes, this is Sarah Mackenzie," said Mac.
"What?" she asked, her face paling. Harm watched her wearing a concerned expression.
"How? When did this happen?" asked Mac, she reached out for Harm and took his hand.
"What is it?" he mouthed. Mac shook her head.
"Yes, I understand. Thanks, well, thanks for calling. I'll be in touch," said Mac hanging up the phone, her face now completely devoid of color.
"What's wrong?" asked Harm.
Mac said nothing but buried her face against him, holding onto him tightly.
"Honey, you're worrying me," said Harm.
"Chloe's father…he…he was killed in an accident during the training exercise," said Mac softly.
"How are we ever going to tell Chloe?" she asked tearfully.
Harm was speechless for a moment, but tightened his grip on her.
"We'll help her get through this," said Harm.
"How much can one little girl take? This isn't fair," said Mac, more tears running down her cheeks.
"I know. Kyle was a good man, Chloe adored him," said Harm, wiping her tears away.
"How can we tell her something like this?" asked Mac.
"I don't know. We'll have to tell her today though. We have to be strong for her, she'll need us," said Harm.
"She shouldn't go to school," said Mac.
"No, I'll call and let them know. She may need up to a week off," said Harm.
"I'll call the Admiral too," added Harm.
"Good idea," said Mac.
One hour later
Harm and Mac sat in the living room, they hadn't had the heart to wake Chloe and were waiting until she got up.
A few minutes later, Chloe entered the living room.
"Morning, have you guys had breakfast yet?" asked Chloe.
"Morning. Not yet, what would you like?" asked Mac.
"I'll have cereal," said Chloe, heading to the kitchen.
Harm and Mac exchanged a look before following her for a quick breakfast, knowing that once they told her Chloe probably wouldn't feel like eating.
"You two are really quiet," said Chloe as she put her bowl in the sink.
"We need to talk to you Chloe," ventured Harm.
"Let's go to the living room," said Mac.
"Okay," said Chloe, looking confused.
Once they were seated, Mac took a deep breath and took hold of Chloe's hands.
"Is something wrong?" asked Chloe.
"We got a phone call this morning Chloe, from the ship your Dad was stationed at," said Mac.
"How come you didn't wake me up to talk to him?" asked Chloe.
"Ah, sweetie, this is really difficult, but there was an accident on the training exercise that your Dad was on," said Mac.
"Is Dad okay?" asked Chloe worriedly.
Mac started to speak but stopped, not being able to get the words out. She looked at Harm.
"Chloe, two men died in the accident. I'm sorry, but one of them was your father," said Harm.
"What? No," said Chloe, her eyes wide with shock.
"We're so sorry sweetheart," said Mac.
"No!" said Chloe, tears now running down her cheeks.
"We're here for you Chloe," said Harm carefully.
"No, they're wrong. They're wrong!" said Chloe, her voice rising as she yanked her hands out of Mac's grasp and ran sobbing to her room.
"Should we go after her?" asked Harm, pulling Mac close as she cried.
"I think we should. I want to be strong for her, but I can't. I can't watch her going through pain like this," said Mac.
"I know honey, I know. I wish we could take the pain away from her but we can't. We can just do everything we can to get her through this," said Harm.
Outside Chloe's room, Mac had to fight back the tears again as they listened to Chloe's sobs. Glancing at Harm, she squeezed his hand and knocked on the door.
"Chloe, can we come in?" she asked.
"No! Just go away!" said Chloe.
"Please Chloe, we want to help you," said Harm.
"You can't!" said Chloe.
Harm tried the door anyway, but it didn't open.
"She's locked it," he whispered to Mac.
"Honey please open the door. We're so sorry, we wish we could make it all better but we can't and we just want to support you," said Mac desperately.
They heard movement after a moment and the door was unlocked. Harm and Mac looked at each other and then entered the room where they found Chloe lying face down on the bed, her body shaking with sobs.
They both sat down beside her and Mac reached out to comfort Chloe.
"Honey, sit up for me okay, let us comfort you," said Mac.
Chloe sat up reluctantly and Mac wrapped her arms around the girl, letting Chloe cry against her shoulder. Harm wrapped his arms around them too and the three of them sat like that until Chloe's sobs subsided.
"What's going to happen to me now?" asked Chloe finally as they pulled apart.
"We're here for you sweetie. You're going to stay here, we're a family," said Mac, her arm around Chloe comfortingly.
"But I don't have a real family anymore," said Chloe, tears running down her cheeks.
"Harm and I may not be biologically related to you, but we love you and we want you to live here with us. What we have now is a short term arrangement, but we can change that," said Mac.
"I miss him," whispered Chloe.
"I know sweetie, but your Dad loves you and he'll be watching over you from Heaven now," said Mac.
"Really?" asked Chloe.
"Of course. I know that my Dad watches over me," said Harm.
Chloe nodded and wiped her eyes but the tears kept coming.
Harm held his arms out and Chloe clung to him tightly while Mac stroked her hair, the two of them doing their best to comfort Chloe as best they could.