A Friendly Demonstration
Chapter 53
A little to Harm's disappointment Mattie had opted to take her lunch with Jen and Julia at one of the café bars on North Audley Street, where the teenager had been fascinated by the passing traffic and pedestrians, and it was with marked disappointment that Mattie had reluctantly agreed to wheeling her chair into the warmth of the café, only Jen's reminder of how chilly she had felt when they sat outside at the Black Horse, culminating in a warning that she was 'like to freeze her ears off' making her relinquish her idea of sitting at one of the sidewalk tables.
Lunch had been nothing special a choice from the snack menu, Jen and Julia both choosing a half-baguette sandwich – which Mattie identified as being a submarine sandwich - while the teenager, determined to experience what Britain had to offer on all fronts, opted for a Cornish Pasty and when offered a choice of drinks, Mattie had grinned and asked, "How's the coffee here?"
Julia and Jen had just looked at her and then at each other. Mattie had giggled, "Okay, I'll have a diet Pepsi then!"
"Well… if you really want a coffee, there's a Starbucks a little way up the street," Jen suggested innocently; too innocently for Mattie's taste and the youngster sent Jen a fulminating glance, the only result of which was renewed laughter from both Jen and Julia.
The three enjoyed a laughter filled lunch, but there was little time to linger over it. Although Harm had extended lunch time by twenty minutes, to allow his staff time to change out of and then back into uniform, the time fled all too quickly, but it was a still chuckling trio that made it back to the JAG wing of the embassy.
"She's funny," Julia commented with a tilt of her head towards Mattie who was wheeling away towards the work station Jen had set her up with.
Jen grinned, "Yeah, she's great kid, and I love her like she was my sister."
"Yeah, you seemed really close," Julia agreed as she fired up her computer.
"Hard not to be when you've shared the same small apartment for nearly a year," Jen agreed, and then gasped, "Oh… me and my big mouth!"
Julia looked disappointed, "Oh… I was going to ask how that happened, but if you'd rather not talk about it…"
"Well…" Jen hesitated, "No… it's okay, really, but I can't talk about it here, it would take too long… Look, way back when I moved into my apartment, I promised I'd have you over for a housewarming, so why don't you and your Johnny – you are planning on seeing him this weekend?"
Julia nodded.
"Good, so why don't you and Johnny come over for dinner on Friday. I'll warn Victor that he's needed, and we can rig a pair of cots in the spare room so that you and Johnny can stay overnight."
"I'd like to say 'yes, thank you', immediately," Julia replied honestly, "But I'll need to run it by Johnny first."
"Of course, you do that!" Jen smiled and then the subject was dropped as Julia's phone started to insist that it be answered.
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Secretary of the Navy Sheffield smiled in grim satisfaction as he replaced his phone on its cradle. He'd done it. Against all the odds he had done it. He still had to run his idea past the Secretary of Defence, and probably the Joint Chiefs, but as a temporary fix, he needn't bother the Senate, or the White House. But he had overcome what he had foreseen as the biggest obstacle to his plans, the resistance to his idea from the object of them. And it had only been a last second appeal to sense of duty and to patriotism that had caused the opposition to fold, albeit grudgingly, but folded it had at the last.
Some people, he considered, might have thought that he had jumped the gun, but he was confident that Cresswell's letter of resignation would be on his desk by nine the following morning, the General even as a Marine and in face of his shortcomings as JAG surely wasn't stubborn enough, in the light of the evidence against him, to stick by his guns and face a court-martial.
No, Edward Sheffield was convinced that in the short-term, at least, his plan was a winner!
Once again he leaned forward and picked up his phone, this time it was the CNO he intended to call. 'Start at the bottom,' he told himself, 'and once you have a groundswell of support, then it would be time to take your plan to the Secretary of Defence.'
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Harm worked on steadily through the afternoon. The stack of files in his in-tray diminishing as the stack in his out-tray grew higher. He frowned on one occasion as he closed one file and opened the next, it was very quiet this afternoon, he had remained undisturbed since he'd returned from lunch, a most unusual occurrence, and for a moment he was tempted to check that he still had people working in the bullpen and the outer offices, but then decided that he wasn't a qualified equine dentist, shrugged and sighed as he looked down at the file in front of him. Even so, when, at about fifteen-thirty hours, Julia knocked on his door so that she could empty his out-tray, he couldn't resist asking, "Everything okay out there, Yeoman Two?"
"Oh, yes, sir. All quiet… in fact I don't think I've ever known it so quiet!"
"Neither have I, Yeoman Two, neither have I… and that's what's got me worried!"
"Waiting for the shoe, sir?" Julia asked with a grin.
"Just about," Harm admitted, "I can' help feeling this is just the calm before the storm."
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing like that sir, after all…" Julia realised that she was about to cross a line, and clamped her mouth shut.
"After all, what?" Harm asked.
"Nothing, sir. It wasn't my place to say what I was thinking, so I'd rather not incriminate myself!"
"Taking the fifth, huh?" Harm smiled and shook his head, "Alright then, go on, you're off the hook!"
"Aye, aye, sir! Thank you, sir!" Julia almost gasped and fled from his office.
Harm merely grinned, shook his head, and turned his attention to the last three files in his in-tray.
At last seventeen hundred hours rolled around and Harm took advantage once again of his private bathroom to change back into civilian clothes for the drive back to Northolt before he exited into the outer office to find a still uniformed Jen and Julia wrapped up in a round of hugs with Mattie, while Hawkes stood to one side, a grin on her face.
She was the first to notice Harm and was about to snap out a 'Captain on Deck!" when she noticed his indulgent expression as he took in the scene in front of him, so contented herself with a cough and a polite, "Petty Officer?"
Jen looked up and around, "Oh, we were just saying goodbye to Mats, sir…"
"That's okay Legalman One, but if I'd known she was going to be such a disruptive influence I wouldn't have brought her in with me!"
"Yeah, right," Mats muttered just loud enough for Jen to hear. Jen fought down the grin that threatened to erupt and said in a severe a tone as she could manage, "You watch your tongue, young lady!"
Mattie not at all intimidated by Jen's pretence, merely returned one of her sunniest smiles, accompanied by a sloppy left-handed salute and an "Aye, aye, ma'am!"
"Sir," Jen protested as she fought back her laughter, "She's totally impossible! Can't you get her out of here?"
"I think I'd better," Harm agreed gravely, "If only to preserve a modicum of good order and discipline! On your way Squirt!"
Mattie grinned even more broadly but obediently spun her wheelchair to face the door, but before she started rolling, she called back over her shoulder, "Jen, you won't forget, will you?"
"Of course not, Mats! I'll come and see you on Thursday evening once we get visiting hours straight!"
"'Kay, bye!" Mattie beamed as she gathered speed around the edge of the bullpen.
"Come on Hawkes, let's get moving or she'll beat us to the car!" Harm said, and then turned to his two assistants, "See you in the morning!"
A ragged chorus of "Yes, sir!" trailed after Harm as he and Hawkes quick-timed it towards the elevator where an impatient Mattie was already waiting for them.
Julia watched the trio depart and then propped her butt on the edge of her desk, "Phew! I'm glad they're gone for the night!"
"Why? I thought you liked Mattie?" Jen frowned.
"Oh, I do, I do. It's just that I think I've just had a narrow escape from the brig!"
"Oh, why's that?" Jen asked curiously.
"Well…" Julia, to Jen's surprise looked embarrassed, "When I went to clear the Captain's desk, he mentioned that this afternoon was really, really, quiet…"
"Yeah… it was…" Jen said slowly, "And…"
"And the thought sprang to mind – and I very nearly blurted it out – that Trouble and Strife are still dating, and that explained a lot of the quietness!"
Jen winced, "Ouch! I don't think that would have gone down too well!"
"No… disrespectful words, and all that," Julia grimaced, "But I was lucky, I stopped myself from saying it, and the Captain, well he asked me what I was going to say, but I chickened out and he didn't press me, but I think he realised the sort of thing I was going to say."
"Oh, why?"
"Oh he dismissed me and said that I was off the hook!"
"H'mm… Well, I wouldn't say you chickened out, just showed a lick of sense – just in time. But Julia, as easy going as he is, don't mess with the Captain! You can only go so far!"
"Oh, I know, and I know just how lucky I've been. Trust me, next time I'll engage brain before operating mouth!"
"Well… that would be a start!" Jen teased her friend, "And don't forget to call Johnny about Friday!"
"I won't!" Julia promised as she locked her desk and grabbed her purse and cover.
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The traffic seemed a little calmer today as well, so Hawkes managed to knock about ten minutes off the usual forty minute journey, pulling up in front of Harm's quarters at just gone seventeen forty hours where there was the usual slight delay due to having to get Mattie's wheelchair from the trunk and then both Hawkes and Harm stood by, with bated breath an nervously on their toes ready to dive in to support Mattie as she edged out of the car and precariously transferred herself into the wheelchair.
An observer would have been hard put to tell which of the trio was the most relieved when Mattie grabbed her knees and lifted each foot in turn onto the chair's footrests, "Made it – again!" she grinned.
"Yep, you sure did!" Harm agreed and then turned to Hawkes, "Thank you, Hawkes. Now don't forget, zero seven forty-five hours tomorrow!"
"Zero seven forty-five hours, aye, sir!" Hawkes responded in her best Parris Island fashion.
Harm shook his head, "G'wan, git outta here, and get that car gassed up before they close down the motor pool for the night!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Hawkes drew up into a momentary brace, and then with a grin at Mattie scurried around the car to the driver' side.
Harm shook his head and turned to Mattie, "Give me a minute or so to open the door, and then you can come ahead… That's if you think you can manage the ramp on your own?"
Mattie treated him to a ferocious scowl, "Hey I managed it when I was half dead from the flight from DC, so what makes you think I can't do it now?"
"Parental concern?" Ham offered hopefully over his shoulder as he strode up the ramp.
"Damn… uh darn it! That's dirty pool Mattie complained, as Harm turned the key in the lock.
"Well, yeah, but did it work?" Harm grinned as he opened the door and stepped through into the hall, leaving Mattie a clear run at the ramp.
Mattie took a couple of really deep breath, saturating, or so she hoped, her blood with oxygen and grabbing the wheel handholds she spun the chair onto the ramp, bent forward, her face fixed in a scowl of determination and her arms pumping furiously as she rode the chair up the ramp and over the threshold. Coming to a halt, she glared up at Harm, who saw the beads of perspiration on her forehead, but she ground out between the defiant grin on her face, "Told you I could do it!"
"Yeah, you, did, but it was only an itty bitty little old ramp," Harm grinned back.
"Yeah, but the thought of me not making it bent you out of shape a bit, didn't it?" Mattie demanded in a teasing voice.
"Hey, Squirt, even when you're one hundred per cent fit and back on your feet, I'm still going to worry about you, full time. It kinda goes with the territory of being a dad."
"Oh…" Mattie's eyes prickled, and the best she could manage was a gruff little, "Hey reduce altitude, sailor!"
Harm knew what was coming and happily dropped to one knee next to the chair where Mattie drew him into a fervent hug and murmured into his ear, "I do so love you, Harmon Rabb!" before she deposited a soft kiss on his cheek.
"And I love you too, Squirt," Harm agreed, dropping his head so that his cheek rested against her riot of copper curls.
They stayed in that position for a good few minutes, reaffirming their bond in the first few minutes it seemed to Harm that they had been alone together since Mattie landed in the UK. But eventually Harm hauled himself back upright and smiled down at Mattie, "I needed that," he confessed.
Mattie blushed, bowed her head and bit her lip, but eventually looked, nodded and smiled, "Yeah, so did I!"
"Well, now that we've made a public spectacle of ourselves, how about you move your chair so I can shut the door, and then we can make a start on dinner.
"What have you got in mind?" Mattie asked.
"Well there's some cold mash and greens in the fridge, and Gill showed me how to make what she called Bubble and Squeak, and I thought if we had that and a fishcake to go with it, with maybe some beans?"
"Uh-huh," Mattie nodded dubiously and then brightened as she glanced out of the window, "But there'd better be enough for three!"
"Oh, why's that, Squirt?"
"'Cause Gill has just pulled into the kerbside!" Mattie announced with satisfaction at putting one over on Harm.
"Gill? What's she…" Harm began and then stopped short as he heard the sound of Gill's key in the door. "Is this your doing, Squirt?"
"Nope, nothing to do with me! Honest Injun!" Mattie protested.
"H'mph!" Harm snorted, eyeing her sceptically. Although Mattie was generally truthful, she had been known in the past to parse the truth like an attorney – all in Harm's best interests, or so she claimed when she had been caught out.
But now as the door swung open to reveal a shopping bag laden Gill, Harm's face broke into a smile, "Hey sweetheart, it's great to see you but…"
"No, we didn't make any arrangements!" Gill said firmly, dropping the large paper carrier bag onto Mattie's lap, as she closed the distance between herself and Harm and stepped into his arms.
Mattie observed the greeting with indulgence until she thought that the kissing had gone on just a little too long, "Hey! Teenager here in the process of being traumatised!" she protested with a grin.
Gill half turned in Harm's embrace and grinned, "Get used to it! There's more where that came from!"
Mattie shook her head in mock despair, "Scarred for life, that's what I'll be…" but her mournful voice was betrayed by the laughter in her eyes.
"Incorrigible pain!" Harm glowered, but then turned back to Gill, "You're always more than just welcome, sweetheart, but what are you doing here on a school night?"
Gill took Harm's hand and led him into the lounge, with Mattie, all agog to hear her answer, rolling along behind them.
"Well…" Gill said as she sat on the couch, tugging on Harm's hand until he joined her, "I was at work this afternoon, and I was thinking about you two – instead of being gainfully employed, and I remembered that Mattie is due into Stoke Mandeville tomorrow, and that your agency nurse isn't due to start until Mattie is released from hospital. So who is going to help her get ready for bed tonight and get dressed in the morning?"
Mattie and Harm exchanged a look of consternation, Harm managed an "Ah… We haven't gotten around to that yet…" while Mattie just stared at him in open mouthed horror as a succession of scenes – highly embarrassing scenes – flashed across her mind.
Gill had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from laughing out loud at the pair's thunderstruck expressions, "No, I didn't think you had," she said demurely.
Mattie shook her head, "So you came all the way down here just to save my blushes?"
"Not entirely, I also brought you something for your stay in hospital, they're in that bag, but I'd leave them there until we are alone, if I were you."
Mattie's curiosity had already prompted her to start investigating the contents of the bag but on Gill's words she turned pink and hastily clapped the bag shut again.
Harm grinned at the teenager's reactions to Gill's comment, but took pity on her, "Okay, now we know why you're here, shall we make a start on dinner? Gill, perhaps you'd like to take charge of the bubble and squeak?"
"Bubble and squeak?" she queried cheerfully.
"Well, it's about the one way I could figure out of getting Mattie to eat some veggies!"
"Oh! That is so not true!" Mattie protested, striving to make her voice heard over Harm and Gill's commingled laughter.
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"Sergeant Brewer!" General Cresswell's voice came through the intercom on his Admin Assistant's desk.
"Yes, Sir?"
"Officers' Call in ten minutes in the conference room!" Cresswell said brusquely.
"Aye, aye, sir!" the imperturbable Sergeant replied.
The short notice he had been given meant that Sergeant Brewer's fingers flew rapidly as he punched in a succession of phone numbers, and as each phone was answered in turn passed on the general's message in the same tone almost as it had reached him.
Seven minutes after the initial call from Cresswell, he opened his office door and gave a level look at his Sergeant.
"Any problems, Sergeant?"
"Major McBurney and Commander Haskins are still in court, sir, and Commander Bridges and Lieutenant Marlow are still at Oceana."
"Very good," Cresswell nodded his satisfaction, "With me, Sergeant!"
The two Marines marched across the bullpen, still crowded with the enlisted support staff, but with Marine green more generously mixed with the Navy's blue crackerjack uniform than ever before.
When they reached the doors to the conference room, Cresswell halted and nodded to Brewer. Sergeant Brewer opened the door smartly, stepped into the room and announced in a stentorian voice, "JAG on deck!"
The assembled officers, more than there were chairs for, snapped into a brace as Cresswell marched into the room, halting, he swept the assembled officers with an appraising look. "Stand easy, at ease." He waited until his officers had taken up the more relaxed stance before he continued, "I won't keep you too long, but you do need to hear what I have to say, just to cut down on any scuttlebutt, if for no other reason. It appears that I have dropped the ball, badly, on a couple of recent occasions. I have no defence, primarily because I didn't realise that I had dropped the ball. Sadly, one of the instances where I failed has led to a violent death. As a result of that death, I had a meeting this morning with the SECNAV, who has requested my resignation. After due consideration, I have come to the conclusion that his request is perfectly justified, and my letter of resignation will be on his desk by zero nine hundred tomorrow morning. I do not know who, if anyone, the SECNAV has in mind to replace me, but in view of his comments on my recent performance, the faster I clear my desk then the happier he will be and the less disruption there will be to the Navy's JAG Corps. Therefore, as an interim measure, I will be handing over the reins of this organisation to Commander Arnold, our senior attorney. Commander, please accompany me back to my office!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" a stunned Louise Arnold replied.
"Lieutenant Fletcher, as the HQ Admin Officer, I will leave it to you to brief the enlisted personnel. Please keep your briefing as concise as the one I have just given all of you, and all of you will need to suppress any ill-informed scuttlebutt that may rear its head. Is that understood?"
The chorused, "Yes, sir!" satisfied the stiff-backed general, and with a nod of acknowledgement he turned to leave the room to the accompaniment of Sergeant Brewer's rasped command, bringing the assembled officers back to attention.
Commander Arnold gave the general a ten seconds start, and then with a baffled expression on her face almost scurried after him.
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General Gordon Cresswell may not have known who, if anyone, Secretary Sheffield had in mind to replace him, but the same could not be said for Sheffield. Having spent most of the morning garnering support for his nominee, he now he felt he had broad enough backing to take the matter a step further forward.
His hovering index finger stabbed the call button on his desktop intercom, "Mrs Mayberry," he addressed his personal assistant, "please get me the secretary of defence on the line!"
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Jen looked at her somewhat anxiously at Victor, who didn't seem overly impressed by the idea of a dinner party on Friday evening. "You're not happy with the idea, Victor?" she queried
Victor gave a sort of one shoulder shrug "Not exactly unhappy, but a little concerned that you chose Friday… It means you going to have to rush home after a full day on duty, and then start preparing dinner for us. Let alone you'll need to get to the stores to buy the food for the said dinner."
Jen nodded, "I see where you're coming from. But I don't see it as much of a challenge. I was figuring on a simple dinner, a bit like our first one here, a salad starter, a steak with a baked potato and maybe some ice cream or fresh fruit for dessert. The only time consuming item there are the potatoes, and it'll take Johnny, about two hours to get here to Northolt to pick up Julia, and then another thirty minutes to get here. So there'll be plenty of time for me to throw the potatoes in the oven, shower and change and be ready for them when they arrive at about nineteen thirty hours, I guess. And the shopping is not a problem, I can stop off at that store in the High Street on my way home any evening this week and pick up what we need, as well as a couple of bottles of red wine."
Victor considered Jen's words bathroom moment or two slowly nodded his head, "Okay, it's your apartment, and if you reckon you can cope then I reckon I can face another steak dinner. There's just one more tiny little concern, you've asked them to stay overnight, where did you figure they were going to sleep?"
"In the spare room, of course!" Jen looked at Victor in surprise.
"And they are going to sleep on what, exactly?"
Jen chewed her bottom lip for a few seconds, "I was going to try to get hold of a couple of cots…"
"And if you can't?" Victor asked.
Jen nodded, "You have a point… Have you got any ideas?"
"Nary a one!" Victor replied.
Jen thought for a few moments longer, "Julia's Johnny is a resourceful guy, I'll get her to speak with him, see if he can come up with an idea or two."
Victor smiled, he hadn't really enjoyed playing devil's advocate, but he did enjoy Jen's 'up and at 'em' attitude to the objections he had raised. "Now, if you've finished worrying about your role as a hostess on Friday, how about worrying about our dinner this evening?"
"Nothing to worry about, Jarhead," Jen teased him, "Pasta with a seafood carbonara sauce. It's already made and in the fridge, so it just needs warming through, and it can do that while the pasta's cooking and you are setting the table!"
Victor laughed, "And opening the beers?"
"Well… I don't suppose a beer with dinner will hurt," Jen smiled.
"My thoughts exactly!" Victor agreed heartily.
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Dinner took a surprisingly short time to prepare, which from Mattie's point of view was just as well, and despite her suspicion of the unusual, to her, dishes she was pleasantly surprised at the flavour, particularly when enhanced with the spicy, bottled, brown sauce, that Gill said was used in much the same way as ketchup.
The postprandial deal clean-up took no time at all, with Gill doing the washing up, Mattie drying the dishes and Harm replacing everything in its proper stowage. Mugs of hot chocolate with then soon produced, and Gill inveigled Harm into turning on the television for half an hour while she watched the news broadcasts. By the time the news and weather the following day had been covered, it was twenty two hundred, and Harm grinned at Gill before he turned to Mattie, "Just about time for you to start getting ready for bed, squirt."
Surprisingly Mattie placed her now empty mug on the end table next to her chair and nodded, "Yeah, I've done more today than I've done on any one day for a long time, and I guess I am a little tired."
Gill chuckled and putting her own mug down on the coffee table rose to her feet, "Go on then, Mattie Rabb, I'll give you a hand – if you need it!"
Once Gill and Mattie were alone in her room Gill had shaken out the mysterious contents of the carrier bag, holding up for inspection a pair of simple cotton, knee-length night dresses and had laughed at Mattie's expression of disgust. "I know, I know you prefer pyjamas, but I figured it would be easier for you to get in and out of these by yourself, rather than having call a stranger help you out of your jeans and into your PJs. That is, of course, if they let you wear PJs."
"Not let me wear PJs?" Mattie asked, aghast.
"M'mm..." Gill said, "Who knows? They might insist that instead of pyjamas that you would have to wear a hospital gown; you know, the ones that fasten at the back and leave your bum hanging out."
"Eww… Gross!" Mattie said in the tones of deepest disgust, "But those things…" She indicated the two night gowns, now lying across the foot of her bed, "they are so… girly!"
Gill laughed, "Trust me, these are the plainest, least girly nighties that I could find at short notice! They may not be ideal from your point of view, but they've got to be better than a hospital gown!"
"Damn straight!" Mattie agreed as she surrendered to the inevitable. "So… can you give me a hand with my jeans and underwear once I get them down to my knees, please?"
"At your, service m'lady," Gill said in a plummy, stuffed nose sort of voice, which set Mattie to giggling.
"What was that?" she demanded through her laughter.
"Oh, that was Parker, Lady Penelope's chauffeur and general factotum."
"Parker? Lady Penelope?" a mystified Mattie queried.
"Yes, from Thunderbirds," Gill explained.
"Thunderbirds?" a still puzzled Mattie asked.
"Oh, Mattie Rabb! Your education has been sorely neglected!" Gill chuckled, "We'll have to remedy that!"
"Are you trying to snow me?" Mattie demanded.
"No, not a bit, not a bit, this is all pukka gen, or fair dinkum as our antipodean cousins say!" Gill laughed, and having divested Mattie of the lower half of her clothing she got up off her knees and sat down beside the teenager on the bed, looping an arm around her shoulder, and giving her a gentle one-armed hug.
Mattie wriggled free of Gill's arm and twisted to face her, "Antipo... what cousins?" a baffled teenager asked.
"Antipodean - Australians - comes from the Latin for 'opposite the feet'... Australia being on the other side of the world. Even they call it down under!"
Mattie allowed Gill's arm to loop around her shoulders again and with a not discontented sigh rested her head against Gill's shoulder for a couple of seconds and then again twisted around so she could look into her face, "You're weird," she smiled, "weird, but in a good way… I reckon that's why you get on with Harm so well."
"Oh, you think Harm's weird too?" Gill chuckle, not at all offended by the youngster's tease.
"Oh, definitely!" Mattie agreed, "The stories I could tell you about him…"
"Do tell…" Gill invited.
"I only wish I could, but he made me make a pinkie promise that I'd never tell anyone!"
"Oh, that is so cruel!" Gill chuckled, "Dropping a bait like that, then refusing to come clean with the goods!"
"M'mm... fun ain't it?" Mattie grinned.
Gill disengaged herself, and laughed, shaking her head in reproof as she did so, "You Mathilda Grace Rabb are a wicked girl!"
"Gee, ya think?" Mattie asked, and if her beaming smile was anything to go by, she had just taken Gill's less than flattering description as a compliment.
"Come on, pain! Shower time!" Gill commanded, herself on the verge of helpless laughter.
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"That took a bit longer than last night?" Harm inquired as Gill returned to the lounge.
"M'mm… we had a bit of a chat about nightdresses, pyjamas and hospital gowns among other things, before I got Mattie into the shower."
"Other things?" Harm raised an interrogative eyebrow.
"Yes, other things. And they were need to know, and you don't," Gill said mischievously.
"Ah… Female type things, then. In that case not only do I not need to know, I don't want to know!"
"Good call," Gill chuckled.
"And I think I'm about to make another good call. Because I reckon it's past our bedtime too - just as soon as I've said goodnight to Mattie!"
"And I think you are absolutely right!" Gill crowed.
