A/N: Hello! I promise, I haven't forgotten about you all! THANK YOU!!! For the wonderful feedback… it really, truly keeps me motivated to keep going! RL hasn't let up, but I'm trying my best to get more out to you. My work schedule has been all over the board (they changed our schedules three times already this week!), and my hubby is being scheduled to remove both kidneys sometime in the next couple of weeks, so bear with me! Enjoy…
17:46 EST
Rabb Home
Clifton, VA
Two Weeks Before Christmas
Harm walked in through the kitchen door from the garage, and smiled at Lily.
"Dinner smells delicious," he said.
"Thank you," she answered. "It'll be ready in about twenty minutes."
Harm nodded, as he set his things on the kitchen island, and looked over to where Mac was sitting on the family room floor, her back against the sofa.
"Harm! You have to come see this," she said excitedly, as she indicated Miranda, who was on her hands and knees rocking back and forth.
Harm moved to her side, kneeling, and smiling widely. "What is it?"
"Watch," she said, bending over as much as her protruding abdomen allowed. "Mir-an-da," she sing-songed, holding her hands open with the palms up. "Come see Mommy…. Come here, sweetie."
Miranda giggled, rocking faster on all fours, and then crawled over to Mac.
Harm's eyes widened, and he looked at Mac excitedly. "She crawled!"
Mac scooped Miranda up, cuddling her close, and kissing her several times, much to the delight of the laughing infant.
"She started doing that about an hour ago," she told Harm, as she handed Miranda over to him so that he, too, could kiss and cuddle her.
Miranda laughed again at Harm, and then bounced in his arms making humming noises.
Harm grinned, holding her around the middle, and hoisting her above his head, moving her around and making airplane noises, while Miranda squealed in delight. He did this for a few moments, and then brought her back to hold her close, kissing her cheek.
"Daddy's so proud of his little Angel," he said to her, tickling her tummy.
Miranda beamed at him, bouncing again, before reaching for Mac.
Mac took her, and chuckled when Miranda grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started pushing it up, burrowing her nose underneath it.
"Guess she's hungry," she told Harm, smiling ruefully.
Harm nodded, waiting just long enough for Mac to get Miranda settled nursing, before he leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. "How are you feeling today?"
"Great," Mac said. "I've been taking it easy, but it's so much nicer to be able to get up and move around more."
Mac had seen Dr. Martindale two weeks earlier, and had been cleared for limited, light activity. This meant that Mac was no longer confined strictly to the sofa, chair or bed, but that she still had to be extremely limited in what she could, and could not, do. Mac was just happy to be able to move around some.
Harm nodded sympathetically, and kissed her again, before carefully placing his palm against her abdomen, just under where Miranda was laying across it. "Lots of moving today?"
Mac moved his hand so that he could feel the baby kicking. "Oh, yeah."
Harm sat there with his hand on her abdomen for several minutes, just enjoying this time with his family.
Lily hated to interrupt, but dinner was just about ready. "Harm, you might want to go change out of your uniform; dinner is nearly finished cooking," she told him.
Harm pulled his attention away from his family, and looked over at her. "Thanks, Lily," he replied, before getting up off of the floor, picking his things up off the island, and moving off to go change.
Harm moved the coffee table so that they could set Mac's food on it, and she ate while she finished feeding Miranda. Harm and Lily sat on the floor with their plates at the small table as well. They talked companionably, and when they had all finished eating, Harm stood and helped Lily with the dishes.
Mac had placed Miranda back on her blanket nearby, and was watching as she rocked back and forth on her hands and knees, and then crawled a few paces, before stopping and repeating the process.
When Harm moved back to sitting beside Mac on the floor, Miranda squealed delightedly and crawled to him, so he scooped her up and kissed her.
Miranda leaned towards Mac, and placed her palm on her belly, laughing and patting the spot where the baby inside was moving.
"I don't know how she knows, but she always finds the exact spot where the baby is moving," Mac told Harm. "And then she pats the spot and laughs."
Harm raised his eyebrows at this, and placed his larger palm just below Miranda's, and smiled as he felt the kicks from inside.
The flash of a camera caused them all to look up, to find Lily standing there with a wide grin, and they both gave Lily an exasperated look.
"Sorry, but you have no idea how sweet that looks," she told them, before moving over and showing them the LCD screen on the back of the camera.
Mac and Harm looked at the thumbnail photo, and then at each other, smiling.
"That one's getting printed out for my desk at work," Harm said, as Lily smiled and walked away nodding.
"Do either of you need anything else? If not, I'm going to head to my room," Lily said.
"No, we're good," Harm replied, after seeing Mac's negative shake of the head. "Thank you. Sleep well."
"Thanks; you, too," she said, waving before she went out the kitchen door towards the apartment off of the garage.
Harm set the camera on the table, and tickled Miranda's tummy. "It's bath time for you, young lady," he said, handing her to Mac so that he could stand up. When he was on his feet, he leaned forward and took her from Mac, holding her close to him.
"Help me off of this floor, and I'll give you a hand," Mac said.
"Are you sure?" Harm asked.
Mac nodded. "Yeah. As long as I don't lift her, I can sit in a chair in the bathroom and at least watch, if not help."
"All right," Harm said, setting Miranda on the sofa beside him, and then helping Mac to her feet, before again lifting Miranda back into his arms.
They made their way up the stairs, taking it slow for Mac's sake, and then Harm moved a chair into the bathroom near the tub, so that she could participate in Miranda's bath.
Mac handed Harm bath toys, soap and shampoo as needed, while Harm played with and cleaned the baby girl. She then held the big, fluffy bath sheet open in her lap, and Harm deposited the now clean infant into it, so that Mac could wrap her up and pat her dry.
As soon as Harm had the bath items put away, he took Miranda, towel and all, and carried her to the nursery, Mac following along.
Mac sat in the rocking chair, watching while Harm attempted to put a diaper, and warm pajamas, on their squirming daughter, stifling her laughter.
When Miranda was finally dressed for bed, Harm handed her to Mac, who began rocking her gently and singing her father's lullaby.
Soon Miranda was soundly asleep, and Harm took her from Mac and placed her into the crib, gently kissing her, before covering her with the blanket.
"Sleep tight, princess," he said, as Mac checked the baby monitor, and then they stepped out of the room.
When they were done with their own short bed time routines, Harm held Mac close to him while they each told the other about their day.
"Your mom called today," Mac told Harm. "She, Frank, and your grandmother are planning to come for Christmas, so I don't have to travel."
Harm nodded. "Is that okay with you?"
"Of course," Mac said. "Bud and Harriet invited all of the JAG staff, all of our family, and AJ, to their house this year, as well. We could go there before the Christmas Eve service, since Mattie will be here Wednesday night… she doesn't want to go with Tom to his family's gathering. I figure that will give us all of Christmas Day with just the family, since Lily is going to go home for the Holidays."
Harm winced, knowing how Mattie felt about her father's family. "Sounds good to me," he replied, kissing the top of her head.
Mac smiled, nodding. Then she sighed. "Harm? When I have my ultrasound tomorrow, do you want to know what we're having?"
Harm paused, biting his lip. They'd been agonizing over this decision for two weeks. Part of him wanted to know, so they knew what to plan for, but another part was afraid that if they found out whether it was a boy or a girl, they would feel the loss more deeply if anything happened.
"What do you want, Sarah?" he asked softly.
Mac hesitated briefly, and then rubbed her flattened palm along his chest. "I don't want to know. I want it to be a surprise."
Harm nodded slowly. "Okay, then."
"Are you all right with that? If you want to know, Dr. Martindale could tell you, and then you two could just not tell me," Mac said.
Harm tilted her chin up with his index finger, looking into her eyes. "I don't want to know, until you do. If that means waiting until the day our child is born, then that is perfectly fine with me. Now get some sleep," he said, kissing her softly, before hugging her close again.
"Harm?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
15:04 EST
Bethesda Naval Hospital
Bethesda, MD
Dr. Martindale entered the examination room, greeting both Mac and Harm, before taking a seat on the stool near the exam table.
"How are you feeling?" she asked Mac.
"Great," Mac said.
"No cramping or bleeding?"
"None."
"Good; that's what I want to hear. You're still limiting your activity?" the doctor asked.
"I move around a bit more, but I'm still taking it extremely easy, and I'm not lifting anything heavier than about five pounds," Mac assured her.
"Good. Are you doing the exercises Lily taught you?"
"Everyday, three times a day, like clockwork," Mac replied.
Dr. Martindale grinned. "Great. Why don't you lie back, and we'll have a look at you."
Mac did as instructed, and waited as Dr. Martindale measured her abdomen, listened to the baby's heartbeat, and did a quick pelvic exam.
"Everything is progressing just the way it should be," she assured them. "Your weight gain is right on target, you haven't dilated at all, and the baby's heart rate is good and strong. Let's get your ultrasound done, okay?"
Mac nodded, and smiled at Harm when he took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
They watched as the doctor rolled the ultrasound machine in and set it up. When it was ready, she turned to Mac, and pulled her exam gown up to just under her breasts, making sure the drape over her legs covered her from the bottom of her abdomen, before squirting the lubricating jelly onto her belly. Placing the transducer over the lubricating jelly, she moved it around slowly, until she found the baby.
"There you are," she said, as she moved the instrument around and looked at the fuzzy images on the screen. She began taking measurements, and clicking on still shots of the heart, lungs, kidneys and liver. "Everything looks great; baby's developing normally. Would you like to know if it's a boy or a girl?"
Mac looked at Harm to be sure of their decision, before she shook her head. "No; we want to be surprised."
Dr. Martindale smiled. "That's unusual, but I think it's a wonderful idea. Okay, then, I'll print you up some pictures, and then I'll let you get dressed."
As soon as she handed Mac and Harm the ultrasound photos, and pointed out the features to them, she told Mac to go ahead and get dressed, and then rolled the ultrasound machine out of the examination room.
When Mac was dressed again, she came back in to speak to them.
"I want you to continue on limited activity. Basically what you've been doing the last couple of weeks. If you have any problems at all, don't hesitate to call us, or go to the ER. Do you have any questions?"
"What are my chances of carrying this baby to at least thirty-four weeks?" Mac asked.
"If you continue to follow my instructions, and don't tax yourself, I'd say your chances are very good. The exercises Lily taught you are designed to strengthen your abdominal muscles or, as in your case, keep them strong, so that the uterus isn't carrying the brunt of the weight alone. I want you to buy a maternity support belt, and wear that as well; most maternity stores carry them, as well as the maternity sections in just about any department store. Anything else?"
"No, that about covers it," Mac said. "We'll see you in two weeks."
Dr. Martindale smiled at her. "The day before Christmas Eve. Take care of yourselves," she said, turning to leave.
Harm took Mac's hand as they left the doctor's office, and they made their way out to the Lexus. The weather had turned blustery and cold, and the clouds overhead were ominously dark and threatening.
"Think it will snow?" Mac asked, as she buckled her seatbelt.
Harm looked up at the sky again, before buckling his own seatbelt. "Probably."
They pulled out into the evening traffic, and talked quietly on the way home.
"Have you given any thought to names?" Mac asked. "I mean, if it's a boy, I assume you'll want to name him Harmon Rabb, the third."
Harm shook his head. "Actually, that's the last thing I'd want to do."
Mac looked at him curiously.
"Don't get me wrong; I'm proud to be named after my father. But kids are cruel animals, and with the name Harmon, you get teased miserably. Besides, I don't want to saddle my son with a title like 'the third'," he said, grinning at her.
Mac smiled. "Well then, what name would you like for a boy?"
"How about Matthew, after your uncle?" he asked.
Mac was touched. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not," he replied. "What did you have in mind?"
"I'm not sure, actually," she answered softy. "What about girls names?"
"Hmm… while I love the name Sarah, after you and Grammy, I think that would be way too confusing," he smiled when Mac agreed. "I like the name Rose, since we met~ and married~ in the White House rose garden."
"How about Rose as a middle name?" Mac suggested.
"Okay," Harm conceded. "What did you have in mind for a first name?"
"I like Aurora, or Autumn, or Summer…" she trailed off and laughed. "Those sound like total Hippie names, don't they?"
Harm joined her laughter, nodding. "Just a bit."
"I also like Emmaline, Michaela, Elisabeth, and Patricia… after your mother," she said.
"All good choices," he agreed. "We have a few months yet to figure it out."
Mac smiled, but there was a sadness behind it. "Yeah," she said softly.
"Hey," Harm said, noticing the change in her mood, and taking her hand. "What is it?"
Mac shrugged. "I'm just terrified that something bad is going to happen."
Harm brought her hand to his lips, kissing it tenderly. "Good thoughts, Mac. Okay?"
Mac nodded, and then leaned her head back and closed her eyes, as Harm released her hand to hold the steering wheel with both hands.
