Disclaimer: not mine
xoxox
Despite the success of their night, neither Harm nor Mac were naive to think the hormonal battles would be a onetime thing. However, it did heighten their awareness of the situation and both tried their hardest to ensure matters were discussed and dealt with much earlier.
As the back fields were being prepared for the airstrip and the paperwork was being submitted for 'Rabb Runways' Mac felt she was being left behind somewhat. Everyone had their own projects and she was left with the kids –not that she minded, after all, moving to the farm had been her idea. Still, it had been months since she had done anything intellectually challenging, forever since she'd spoken Farsi and her archaeological things were still boxed up in the barn.
After days of quiet contemplation and internet research, Mac had come up with something which had her interest. There was a summer course at the nearest community college called Ancient Artefacts. The write up explained how a retired professor, now local resident, had spent years working on digs around the world and how over the course of six weeks, once a week, he would share his adventures, and artefacts, with students. It sounded perfect.
Harm was very supportive of Mac's plan, he'd been concerned she would be bored on the farm before they moved and he was surprised it had taken this long to materialise. Although the farm, new business and family had been keeping him busy, he had found time to miss the demands of his life at JAG and those of being a lawyer. Some days he longed for something more than casual conversation. He missed the verbal sparring and the need to think on his feet and while he didn't regret his retirement, there were aspects of his former life he missed more than he expected.
"Any chance you're going to finish that before dinner?" Mattie asked startling him.
Harm looked down and realised his pen was still midair and the form still half completed.
"Ah, yeah, nearly done," he said with a quick shake of his head.
"What's got you so preoccupied this afternoon?" she asked, dropping in the chair beside him.
Blowing out a big breath, Harm shrugged. "Just thinking."
"About?" she prompted when he said nothing more.
"This, that, the other," he said, ticking the next box.
"Harm?" Mattie called, resting her hand on his to stop him writing. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, kiddo," he said, with a smile. "Everything's okay."
"Kiddo?" she questioned, it had been years since he'd called her that. "What's on your mind?"
"Just thinking that I miss some of the aspects of life before I retired," he finally admitted.
"Like what?" she questioned.
"Like having a good argument."
They both laughed but later that week Harm found out that not all arguments are good and that living in close confines with the person you are arguing with isn't ideal; especially if that person is your grandmother and it's the first argument you've ever had with her.
The cause of the argument was Grams' birthday, her 90th birthday, which was coming up in two weeks and Harm wanted to mark the occasion with a grand celebration. Grams was adamant she needed nothing but the family around and a cake but Harm thought such a milestone needed more than that. And given everything that Grams had done for him over his life, Harm decided to push ahead anyway believing that she really wanted something special but didn't want others to fuss.
So, he made a few calls, invited a few people and when one of those people, Mary, Grams' cousin, called the house and told Grams her grand niece would be bringing her and hoped it would be okay, she didn't realise it was meant to be a surprise; Harm had left out that detail.
Rather than confront her grandson in front of his children, Grams waited until they were in bed and then cornered him in the kitchen as he was making coffee for the adults.
"I explicitly told you not to do anything for my birthday, did I not, Harmon?" she growled and that, coupled with the use of his full name, Harm knew he was in trouble.
"You did, Grams, but I..." he started to explain but she cut him off.
"I might be old but I'm not senile, you know!" she said rather loudly. "I still know what I want and what I don't and I will not have you or anyone else making such decisions for me. Is that understood?"
Suddenly Harm felt like he was ten again and automatically came to attention. "Yes, ma'am."
"I'm very disappointed in you, Harmon. Very disappointed," she said as she turned towards the living room door just as Mac appeared.
"Everything alright?" Mac asked quietly.
"I'm heading to bed," Grams said, "Goodnight, dear."
"But you haven't had your tea or cake," Harm called which earned him another glare.
"I don't want anything from you," she snarled before quickly saying goodnight to Mattie and Colin and going into her room.
"What was all that about?" Mac asked Harm as he stood in the middle of the kitchen.
Harm related the story and Mac shook her head.
"I told you not to organise anything," she said picking up the tray of coffee. "But you wouldn't listen."
It was two days of apologising before Grams would even acknowledge Harm's presence such was her annoyance. The boy was always headstrong, she knew that, but this was the first time she had asked him not to do something and he hadn't listened to her. Sometimes, she still wanted to put him across her knee and spank him.
It was Mac who helped bridge the gap between them when she spied Grams sitting on the back porch with her cup of tea one afternoon.
"May Frankie and I join you?" she asked before sitting down on the chair Grams indicated.
"Of course, dear," she said. "How is my boy?"
"This boy is hungry for his lunch," she said, settling him in for his feed. "Your other boy, he's a little upset."
"Sarah," Grams said in a tone which clearly indicated the topic was closed.
"Sorry, Grams," she said, raising a hand. "It's just I love you and I love him and it hurts me to see you both upset."
"Why couldn't he have just let it go?" Grams said staring off into the distance.
"He wanted to do something special for you," Mac said quietly. "You have done so much for him over his life that he thought this was one way he could repay you."
"He doesn't need to repay me," she said, "I have not done anything any grandmother wouldn't have done."
"Oh, I think you have," she said, looking at Frankie. "You gave him a sense of hope when he thought he had lost everything; that was such a turning point in his life."
"I don't want a fuss for my birthday," she said quietly but firmly.
"May I ask why not?" Mac questioned. "Turning 90 is a big deal."
Grams took a deep breath and looked at her granddaughter-in-law, she wanted to talk to someone, maybe this was her chance.
"I've never had a birthday party," she said so quietly Mac had to ask her to repeat herself.
"Never?" Mac questioned in disbelief.
"Never."
It was then Grams told her namesake of her birthdays past. Growing up in a poor family, birthdays were marked by a hug and kiss and extra helping of dessert. Married at 19, a mother by 20, her birthdays were not as important as those of her darling baby boy. When he was home, Georg would hug and kiss her, give her a flower he'd picked from the garden and that would be it. Widowed at a young age, even those small birthday gestures became a thing of the past.
Then as her son grew he had no real interest in anyone's birthday but his own but, when he married, Trish sent her her very first birthday card – she was 41. Every year since she had received a card from Trish for her birthday and, in later years, when Harm married Mac, she had received cards from them, and then the children. Still, her 90 years had amounted to a collection of 70 cards. 48 from Trish alone.
"Don't cry, honey," she said looking up to see the tears on Mac's face. "It was just a way of life."
"So, why not let us spoil you on this occasion? Let us throw you your very first birthday party. It would be our honour," she said, adjusting Frankie once more. "One birthday party, just with the whole family," she added, tilting Frankie so she understood the meaning.
"I wouldn't know what to do," Grams said quietly. "I've never had that kind of attention and I think at my age it might be a little overwhelming."
When Frankie was finished and burped, Grams put her arms out to take the boy. He was such a beautiful thing and he still reminded her of her beloved husband, just as he had on the day he was born.
"How about you think about it and talk to Frankie for a bit while I go to the bathroom and make us some fresh tea?" Mac said, getting to her feet.
When Mac returned ten minutes later with hot tea and cookies, Frankie was sleeping peacefully.
"Let me put him to bed," Mac said reaching out for her youngest child.
"How about you bring his basket out and let him get some fresh air?" Grams suggested and Mac nodded before returning to the house and collecting the item.
When the baby was settled in his basket and Mac was settled in her chair, her legs tucked up underneath her, her cup in one hand and a cookie in the other, Grams spoke.
"Frankie thinks a birthday party might be a nice idea," she said, her eyes fixed on the infant.
"Does he?" Mac said, with a smile.
"Yes, says it would be his first family party and that I would like it," she said quietly.
"I have a very clever boy," Mac said with a smirk.
"Yes, you do," she agreed. "There's only one problem though."
"What's that, Grams?" Mac asked, placing her tea on the table.
"How do I tell Harm without him being angry with me?" she asked sadly.
"Leave Harm to me."
Later that night, Grams went to bed at the same time Lily did feeling very weary and not long after, Colin and Mattie said goodnight. Deciding it was a probably good to have an early night all around, Harm started his process of locking up. As he was going through the living room, Mac came in with two hot chocolates and some left over apple pie from dinner.
"Are you going to bed too?" she asked in surprise.
"Aren't you?" he questioned before turning around and seeing her hands full.
"I thought I might spend some quality curled up with my husband," she said, placing the tray on the coffee table.
"Sounds good," he replied as he slipped in a CD and turned the volume down low.
Taking her hand, Harm spun her around before pulling her close and kissing her tenderly. Wrapping his arms around her, Harm swayed with her as she linked her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss her.
All too soon, Mac pulled away and got Harm to sit down before handing him his mug and sitting on his lap, her legs hanging over the arm of the chair.
"This is nice," he said as she kissed down his neck.
"Mmha, very," she muttered before pulling back and caressing his face.
Harm kissed her before handing her her mug of hot chocolate and then kissing off the foam moustache that was left after she'd taken a sip.
"Can we talk?" she finally asked when her mug was empty and the pie was gone.
"Sure," Harm drawled, he'd been wondering if there was an ulterior motive to all this.
"It's about Grams," Mac said and she felt her husband bristle. "It's good though," she said, raking her fingers through his hair.
As Harm sat there, Mac continued her ministrations as she told him of the conversation she and his grandmother had had earlier in the day. She told him of how her birthday had pretty much been a non-event and how she felt completely overwhelmed at the thought of a party just for her.
It was of no surprise to Mac to see her husband's tears and she leant in and kissed them away.
"She loves you very much, Harm, she just got more and more anxious about it and when you planned things that she specifically asked you not too she got angry," Mac said gently. "Angry at you, angry at herself."
"At herself? Why?" Harm asked, holding Mac a little tighter.
"Because deep down she wanted something special but couldn't bring herself to ask for it and when you planned it anyway she was angry with herself for not simply saying thank you, but her nerves had gotten the better of her and she panicked," Mac explained.
"So what are the plans now?" he questioned. "Do we celebrate it? Ignore it? What?"
"We're going to have a party," she started and Harm's eyes widened. "But only a very simple, family one. Just the nine of us, maybe mom and dad if they can come. I'll work on her allowing Mrs Anderson and maybe Mrs Stevens to come along too, and of course her cousin, Mary, who already accepted with her grand niece."
"After what she said to me when I'd planned something, why did she listen to you?" he asked, as Mac played with the collar of his shirt.
"It wasn't me," said Mac. "It was Frankie."
"Frankie?" he challenged. "Our four month old baby?"
"Yep," Mac said. "During the conversation I told her I understood she was nervous but that she should let us spoil her this once...I was also in tears at the time when she'd told me about having no previous celebrations...then I went to get us some tea and told her to think about it and talk to Frankie whom she was cradling at the time and when I came back she said we could have something for her as Frankie thought a small birthday party would be very nice, especially as it would be his first one."
"We have a very clever boy," Harm said with a smile.
"That's exactly what I said," Mac replied kissing his cheek.