PART THREE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2007

DINING ROOM

RABB HOME

OVER BREAKFAST

HARM'S POV

"Harm, are you going to go to the grocery store today like usual?" Abigail asks between bites of her pancakes.

"Yes, and the dry cleaners and a few other places. Why?" I ask curiously.

"Tyler says that the bakery lady likes you, and she gives him and Sami a cookie when they go with you to the store, so I wanted to know if you'd take me, too."

"Of course, I'll take you. I would've taken you before, but you've never wanted to go," I say, feeling a need to make it clear that she'd always been welcome to go, but had always declined the invitation.

GIRLS' ROOM

AFTER BREAKFAST

MAC'S POV

Harm and Tyler have been waiting for the girls for four minutes and ten seconds to come and join them so that they can be on their way, but the third time I saw Harm look at his watch, I decided to go check to see what was taking them so long.

If the girls were a little older, I'd think that they were having a hard time deciding on their outfits, but Sami and I pick out her clothes to be worn the following day before she takes a bath each night, and Abigail picks out something by herself before she takes her bath, too, so I can't imagine what's taking them so long.

I walk in the room, and Sami is dressed and sitting on her bed. However, the outfit that Abigail had picked out to wear today has been thrown on the bed, and she's in a different outfit and staring into the closet.

I don't have to ask because Sami volunteers, "She says that she doesn't know what to wear."

"Abigail, the outfit that you picked out yesterday or the one that you're wearing now is fine. Why don't you want to wear one of them?"

"Because I have to look extra nice so that Harm will like me."

"I told her that Daddy already likes us," Sami says, sounding certain, but I can tell by the look on Abigail's face that she doesn't believe her.

I wish that I could get down on my knees to get on her level. However, since I'm almost eight months pregnant, I'm afraid that, if I get down, I won't be able to get back up again.

I decide to sit on the edge of Sami's bed instead and motion for Abigail to join me.

When she's sitting next to me, I say to her, "Abigail, he already likes you. In fact, he loves you both very much."

I added the word 'both' in the last sentence when I saw Sami eyeing me closely. I need to make sure that I don't hurt Sami's feelings while trying to make Abigail feel better.

Abigail looks up at me with her big brown eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure, so why don't you wear the outfit that you have on with the new ballet flats that your grandma bought you last Thursday evening?"

I pull her into a hug. "We both love you very much," I assure her before Sami has her little arms around my neck, hugging me.

"I'll go tell Harm that you'll be ready in a minute," I say as I pat Abigail on the knee.

KITCHEN

I enter the kitchen to find Harm alone. "Where's Ty?" I ask.

"He's in the garage, putting the bag of our dirty uniforms in the car. He was starting to get antsy. I needed to give him something to do that made him feel like it was getting close to time to leave. What's taking so long?"

"Sami's ready, but she's waiting for Abigail, who's trying to find the right outfit to wear."

"I know that she's a girl, but isn't she a little young to worry about having on the perfect outfit to run a few errands?" Harm asks.

"For her, today isn't about going to the grocery store. It's about having time with her daddy."

"You think so?" Harm inquires with a raised eyebrow and a hopeful lilt in his voice.

"I just talked to her. I know so. She's ready to get closer to you."

"What should I do?"

His cocky bravado is gone, replaced with sincere curiosity about how to bond with his daughter.

"Go with the flow. Let her come to you…don't push, but don't pull away," I advise him.

"Do you want to come, too, to make sure that I don't screw this up?" he asks nervously.

"You won't screw it up. You'll be fine. You need to do this alone," I reassure him.

"Alone…I'll have two other children with me."

"One step at a time, Harm. First, she'll go with you when you take at least one of the other children, but soon enough, you'll see that she'll go somewhere with just you."

"Okay ... don't push, don't pull and take one step at a time. Anything else that I need to remember?"

"No, that's it."

He steps closer to me. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't intend to ever let you find out," I say, gazing up at him.

"Good," he says before his lips meet mine.

As usual, during a time like this, our kiss is interrupted by one of our children.

"Daddy, we're ready," Sami says.

I turn to see that Sami is all smiles, while Abigail is looking away bashfully.

Harm looks over at his girls and smiles. "Then, I guess that we should get going so that Momma can get some rest." He looks back at me. "We'll be out for awhile. Enjoy the peace and quiet, and get some rest."

"Dad, is it time to go yet?" Ty asks, coming in from the garage to see if the girls are ready.

"Yes, go get in the car."

Harm turns back to the girls. "Let's go, ladies. We've got a lot of things to do today." He waits a heartbeat before he continues, "And may I say, Abigail, I think you look very pretty today."

Harm bends down and scoops up Sami to take her to the car. In doing so, he must notice Abigail's new shoes because he asks her, "New shoes?"

'That's a way to turn on the charm with our little princess, Sailor: ask about her new shoes.'

"Yes, Grandma bought them for me on Thursday while you and Mac were going to your last class."

I think that Harm grows at least two inches taller when he takes his first step with Sami towards the garage, and Abigail takes hold of his hand.

RABB HOME

1325

HARM'S POV

Sami fell asleep in the car, so I've taken her to her room and put her to bed.

On the way back to the garage, I peeked into our room and saw Mac asleep on our bed. 'I'm glad that she's getting some rest,' I think as I head back to assist my helpers with unloading the groceries and putting them away.

KITCHEN

1331

MAC'S POV

"I thought I heard you come in," I say as I enter the kitchen.

"Momma, do you feel better?" Ty asks.

"Yes, I do, and I'm dying to know what you've been doing all this time. What do you say, Dad? Can I have them for a little while now?"

"There isn't much left to put away, so I think that they can be excused," Harm says with a smile.

"I'll stay and help you, Dad," Tyler offers.

"Then why don't you and I go talk about what you did with Daddy today, Abigail? You go ahead to the living room and wait for me while I get something to drink."

"Okay," she says as she heads off to the living room.

I move to the refrigerator and open the door, reaching for a container of juice as Abigail leaves the room.

"Dad, if you really don't need any help, can I go over to Larry's to see if he can come over to shoot some hoops?"

"Sure, son, and whether he can play or not, I'll come out in a few minutes and shoot hoops with you for a little while," Harm answers.

Ty then leaves the room to go next door to Larry's.

I walk over closer to Harm and set the container of juice down on the counter, about to speak to him, but he speaks first.

"I'd have brought a glass of juice in to you, but I figure that you don't want the juice as much as you want to ask me how things went." His 'flyboy' smile appears. "It went great!" Then his smile fades some. "At least, I think it did, but I guess when you finish your conference in there, you can tell me how it went."

"Then let me get to it. Will you wait a few minutes and then bring me a glass of juice?"

"I'll finish up in here. That should give you enough time to get the initial report before I bring it to you."

"Thank you," I say before turning around to go visit with Abigail to hear how she feels about her outing with Harm.

KITCHEN

1630

I walk in the kitchen and get a nice shot of Harm's six. He's bent over and getting something from one of the lower cabinets.

"I never realized that the view from this angle was so awe inspiring before," I say teasingly.

He stands and turns to look at me. "Is the view better now?" he asks with a grin.

"I don't know. They're both pretty inviting," I reply with a grin of my own.

Harm smiles. "Where are the kids?" Harm asks, changing the subject.

"I sent them to wash up if they wanted to help you make dinner. However, while they're out of earshot, I wanted to tell you that you did a fantastic job today. They all had such a good time. Of course, I think the stop for a lunch, complete with French fries and milkshakes, may have been a little over the top."

He shrugs his shoulders. "Abigail wanted to spend time with me, so I thought that we should celebrate that as a special occasion."

"Well, she's talking about going with you next week, too, so be careful that you don't spoil them."

Unable or unwilling to look me in the eye, he says, "I'll try not to, but I'm not making any promises." Then he looks at me and continues, "After lunch, we went to the grocery store before coming home. She held my hand almost the entire time that we were in the store."

Looking at him, I swear that he has the brightest smile that I've ever seen, even from him. I think the big guy is beaming.

"Dad, what's my job?" Ty asks, entering the kitchen.

Over breakfast, Harm told the children that I needed to get some rest this weekend, so, with the first child here to help with dinner, it's time for me to go back to my resting place on the couch and wait for dinner to be served.

MASTER BEDROOM

BEDTIME

I've been in a light sleep, but feeling Harm get into bed behind me and settle in has me relaxing just that little bit more so that I'll get a restful night's sleep after a wonderful day of resting, relaxing and enjoying time with my family.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2007

BURNETT HOME

1100

I know about my surprise party, so the fact that Harm wanted to go to his parents' house earlier than usual for dinner was to be expected, but coming here this early was certainly a surprise.

We walk into the Burnett home in our usual fashion: the children, me and then Harm.

Trish is standing right inside the door, so I guess that she was expecting us this early.

She greets each of her grandchildren, and then I get a big hug, too.

"How are you feeling, darling?" she asks with true concern.

She always reminds me of Eva Gabor from that show "Green Acres" the way she says 'darling'.

"Fine," I reply with a sigh.

"Fine…but ready to have the baby so that Dad can share the load?"

I must look guilty, because she offers her perspective of the situation.

"It's perfectly normal, dear. We have a surprise for you, and then you can go into the living room, put your feet up and get comfortable."

I see that Trish is eyeing Harm, so I turn to look at him, wondering if he was the one who planned my baby shower.

With my eyes pinned on him, he states, "My orders were to get you here…and early so that you two would have a chance to talk before…" Harm's words trail off at the look of warning that he's getting from his mother.

I don't get a chance to analyze if the looks between mother and son are because of the fact that Trish doesn't know that I know about my baby shower before I hear her voice.

"Ma'am, you're here. I'm so glad to see you."

"Harriet!" I say, turning in the direction from which her voice came.

Harriet and I embrace before I look over at Harm. "Is this why you had to go out early this morning?" I ask him.

"Yes, I picked her up at the airport and brought her here. Her bags are in the back of the SUV. She'll be staying with us for a few days.

"This is why we came over so early today, so that Harriet and I could catch up before dinner." That should keep Trish from finding out that I know about the baby shower. "This is wonderful. Let's go sit down, and you can fill us in on everything that's happening at JAG HQ and show us the latest pictures of the children."

Trish has us move from the living room to the dining room for a light lunch at noon.

After lunch, Harm disappears with Sami, presumably to put her down to take a nap.

Trish is leisurely sipping tea with us, but at 1245, I find out that Harm had let in Jennifer Coates when he'd taken Sami to put her down for her nap, and she's been decorating the living room while Trish and Harriet have occupied me with tea and chit chat.

With Jennifer here, I find out that Harriet is my shower planner. I don't know how Harriet managed to coordinate so much from across the country, but I know that Jennifer had to have had a big part in carrying out the plan.

The shower was scheduled for 1300, and the guests started to arrive in a steady stream at 1251. Lieutenants Graves and Mayfield, among a few others from the office, my friend Peggy and her surrogate, who is due before the end of this month, and a few friends of Trish's all arrive by 1310.

1420

Harm, Ty and Frank disappeared when the shower began. I'm sure that they've been in Frank's den.

Sami joined the ladies for only a moment when she woke up from her nap before searching out the boys. However, Abigail has been sitting next to me on the couch since the beginning of the shower.

When it was time for the gifts to be opened, Harriet sent for Harm and Frank, so Ty and Sami came, too.

To give Sami a good view of me opening the presents, she's up on Harm's shoulders. Ty is standing off to the side of the couch, uninterested in 'this girl stuff.'

I've started to open the gifts, and, so far, they've been either diapers, blankets, Onesies or gift cards to purchase what we don't have yet - all useful items to fill the empty spaces in his dresser and changing table.

I hear the phone ring, but I don't pay much attention to it. Then Trish says, "It's for you."

I'm surprised when Trish hands me the phone while there are still a few gifts left to open – until I answer.

"Hello."

"Hi, Mac. It's Mattie.

"Mattie ... " I feel Harm's hand on my shoulder from behind the couch. I know that he wants to talk to her.

We received postcards from her during her journey across the country and we've received emails from her almost daily, but this is the first time that she's called, and the sound of her voice reminds me of how much I miss her.

"It's so good to hear from you. How's school?"

"Everything's fine. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there, but I sent a gift."

"You did? You didn't have to do that." Trish is handing me another gift. I look quickly at the gift tag. It's the one from Mattie.

"I'm opening your gift right now," I say while I adjust the phone against my ear to keep it in place with my shoulder so that my hands are free to open the box.

I pull the paper back and look at the baby book. "Mattie, it's beautiful. Thank you."

"You make sure that you keep it up-to-date. I want to read it when I come to visit, okay?"

"I'll make sure that it's done. We miss you." All of a sudden, I'm feeling a little teary-eyed. "Harm wants to speak to you," I add quickly. I'm hoping that, by stopping our conversation, it will keep me from starting to cry in front of my guests.

"I want to talk to him, too. I just wanted to talk to you first."

"Thank you again for the gift. I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, open the rest of your presents and make sure that someone calls me when my baby brother arrives."

"I will," I say with a sniffle. It's hard to believe that she's been gone for only a month.

After we exchange goodbyes, I raise my hand straight up that's holding the phone. I know that Harm is standing there, waiting to speak with her.

I think that I have only one very large gift left to open. It's so big that I'll have to go to it to open it, but I'm in for a surprise when Trish turns to Frank.

"You want to bring in our gift?" Trish asks. To give Harm time to talk to Mattie and to give Frank time to go into another room to get whatever it is, Trish keeps talking. "We want our newest grandson to come to see us in style and safety, whether you're walking over or driving," she says as Frank reappears, pushing the expensive travel system that Harm and I saw at the baby store.

'Travel system' was the store's way of labeling the stroller and car seat/carrier combination set.

After gasps around the room and expressing my thanks to Trish and Frank, Harriet offers her gifts.

The first one is a bath set for baby: a hooded towel and a washcloth. As I open the second gift, Harriet's features take on an odd expression, like she's worried that I won't like it. I can't imagine what it could be that would make her feel that way.

I lift the lid on the box and see a little sailor suit like the one that Carolyn and I gave her for little AJ. "Oh, Harriet," I say before I get choked up.

"Little AJ wore it. Well, all my boys have worn it, so I thought that, since you gave it to me…I should give it back to you so that your son could wear it, too."

"That's so sweet, Harriet."

"I wasn't sure…because you're a Marine."

"Yeah, but his daddy's a sailor," I say with a big smile.

I'm down to the last gift. It's time for me to stand up. I move to the big cardboard box, which isn't adorned with any fancy paper, ribbons or bows, and look at the shipping label. "FRAGILE" is in bold print, and the sender's address is in Pennsylvania. It's from Harm's grandmother.

Harm helps me by pulling open the top flaps of the box. I pull the other two flaps up and I can't believe what I see inside.

"It's a rocking chair," I announce to those who don't have my view of the contents.

"It's her rocking chair – the one from in front of the fireplace in the den. She wanted you to have it for his nursery so that you could rock her great grandson in the same rocker in which she rocked Harm's father and Harm...when we were able to visit," Trish explains.

Okay, that did it. The pregnant woman is going to cry.

First, a call from our oldest daughter, then Harriet's sentimental gift, and now this – I'm surprised that I haven't cried a river before now.

Harm's arms come around me, and I lean my head against his chest under his chin, nestled between Sami's dangling legs.

Sensing that I need a moment to compose myself, I hear Trish say, "Ladies, if you'll follow me, it's time for some refreshments." Then I hear Frank tell Harm that he'll take Sami in for some cake and punch.

Harm's arms leave me for a moment and then return. This time, without Sami on his shoulders, he's able to hold me a little closer while I pull myself together before rejoining the others.