Chapter 19
A/N: I know the previous chapter was quite short. I didn't want to include anything else other than that conversation in the chapter. Longer chapters are on their way - please be patient. And as always, thank you for reading.
JAG Headquarters, February 13, 2017, 9:00am Eastern Standard Time
"Attention on deck!" Petty Officer Burgess yelled as General Cresswell entered the JAG bullpen.
"Good morning. I'd like to start today out with a very important announcement. There has been some rumor and speculation that I would like to clarify. It is true - I will be retiring." Murmuring began between the staff members. "However-" General Cresswell said to regain their attention. "I will not be leaving until my replacement is chosen and properly trained. The selection board has not made any decisions yet, but I will keep you informed. As far as the day goes, we will hold our normal meetings in the conference room at their usual times. As you were."
The members of JAG began murmuring again about their commanding officer's announcement of retirement. They were speculating on potential candidates for his position. They were also making guesses as to why he was deciding to retire when he had done a fine job at Judge Advocate General. Some reasons people speculated about were his age, a potential health problem, his daughter, or him just being tired of doing the same thing for so many years. Harm swiftly made his way over to Mac whom he had not spoken to since the previous night.
"What are your thoughts?" Harm asked Mac. She did not immediately answer him which confused Harm. "What do you know?" He asked her.
"Come to my office," Mac replied. She led him to her office. She shut the door and closed the blinds for guaranteed privacy.
"I'm listening," Harm told her.
"General Cresswell called me last night and asked me to come in this morning at 0800 for an important meeting. He informed me of his retirement. Then, he informed me that I'm on the short list to be the next JAG."
"That's amazing, Mac!" Harm said with enthusiasm. "You'd be the first ever female Judge Advocate General. You definitely deserve it." Harm was happy for her but disappointed that he was not considered for the position. It did make sense, however. He had resigned his commission multiple times, with the most recent time being for several years.
"Thank you, Harm. I'm definitely excited but also nervous. If this doesn't go well, I won't have another chance. Also," she added, "you can't speak about this to anyone other than Bud and Harriet."
"Understood," Harm replied.
Hawkes Residence, February 13, 2017, 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Peter, would you mind getting that? I'm in the middle of something with dinner," Skates called out to her son, hoping he would hear her from so far away. "Peter?" She called out again.
"Yes, coming!" He shouted back.
Peter put a sticky note on the page of the textbook he had been working out of and closed his notebook with his pencil in it to mark his place. He stood up from the chair at his desk, exited his room, closed his door, and made his way down the stairs. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was about to ask his mom what she needed when he heard knocking at the door. He assumed this was the second round of knocking - the first being what made his mom summon him. Peter immediately opened the door as he knew they were expecting Harm to come over.
"Good evening, Captain Rabb," Peter said to Harm.
"Good evening, Peter. How are you tonight?" Harm asked.
"Doing well, sir. Thank you for asking," he responded. "How are you?"
"I am also doing well, thanks," Harm said.
"Sir, can we talk for a moment?" Peter asked quietly.
"Sure," Harm said. Peter let Harm out onto the back patio where they had chatted last time Harm was over. "What can I do for you?" Harm asked when the two were seated comfortably.
"Well sir, I need to apologize. Last time you were here, my behavior was less than adequate. I know how embarrassed my mother was and I feel bad that you felt the need to step in to right the wrongs that had been done."
"Wow, Peter, that took a lot of maturity and courage to admit. I appreciate it," Harm stated. "I understand some of the things you are going through as I, too, grew up without my father. I also know how it is to raise a teenager, especially a teenager growing up under unusual circumstances. Peter, I forgive you."
"Thank you, sir," Peter replied.
"And Peter, you do not need to call my Captain or sir. Harm is fine," he told him.
"Understood, but I do take after my mom in that respect, sir," Peter said, smiling.
"That's not a bad thing at all," Harm said to him. "And one more thing," Harm added. "If you ever find that you need someone to talk to, especially someone other than your mom or just another guy, I'm here."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Peter responded.
"Like I said, I know how it can be needing someone other than your mom to talk to. I want to be there for you. Here," Harm said, handing Peter a piece of paper with his cell phone, home phone, and work phone on it. "Call or text me anytime." Peter took the paper and smiled.
"Thank you."
Harm and Peter heard a soft knock coming from the door behind them. As they turned their heads, they saw Skates opening the door. She has an oven mitt on one hand and the two could see steam escaping out the rear door. Skates had come out to tell them it was time for dinner. They both got up from where they had been sitting and followed her into the house. They each took their seat at the table as Skates brought the food over. She had made pasta with homemade alfredo sauce and fresh breadsticks.
"This smells phenomenal," Harm told her. She smiled and her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.
The three ate the meal Skates had spent the evening preparing. During dinner, the conversation ranged from LSO instructing that Skates was doing at work, to JAG business at Harm's work, to Peter's schooling and interests. From an outsider looking in, the three would appear to be a perfect family - only, they weren't a family and two of the people sitting at the table had only recently met each other.
When dinner had ended, Peter got up from his chair and cleared the table of the plates and silverware. He took them over to the sink, rinsed them off, and put them in the dishwasher. Skates thanked him and he nodded and smiled back at her. He also caught a small approving nod coming from Harm. Peter returned with a smile and subtle nod. When dinner was squared away, Skates took out the desert she had made - apple pie. She cut three slices and handed one to Harm and one to her son. Peter then excused himself upstairs to eat while finishing the last of his homework. Skates and Harm took their pie slices into the living room.
"Oh that's unusual," Skates said as she checked her phone.
"What is it?" Harm asked.
"I have a voicemail but I don't ever remember my phone going off," Skates replied.
"Yeah, that sometimes happens to me, too," Harm told her. "Hopefully it was nothing important."
"Excuse me while I listen to it," Skates said while entering her voicemail password and waiting for the message to play.
"Good afternoon. This is Mrs. Ruiz with First Colonial High School calling to inform you that your son, Peter Hawkes, was absent from school today. Please send an absence note with him upon his arrival at school. If you have any questions, please contact me at (555) 648-5300."
"Okay then," Skates hung up the phone. She took a deep breath, sighed, and shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Harm asked, coming closer to Skates.
"That was the school," Skates began. "Informing me of Peter's absence from school today."
"I take it you thought he attended?" Harm asked. Skates nodded her head.
"I don't even know whether to bring this up today or save it for another time. It's late and the last thing I want is for another evening of ours together spoiled by a rebellious teenager."
"Whatever you choose I support," Harm said calmly, hoping his calmness would soothe her stress.
"Tomorrow, then," Skates said.
"Some, sit," Harm said, leading her over to the sofa. "And have some of this pie, it's delicious!"
"Thanks," she said, smiling.
"Do you know how you're going to approach the subject?" Harm asked, referring to how she would bring up Peter's absence from school with him.
"Harm, I'd prefer not to talk about that right now," she replied.
"Yes, sure, that's understandable," Harm said, nodding his head.
The next few minutes felt like awkward silence. To anyone looking in on the situation, they would assume the two weren't speaking due to them eating the pie when in reality it was due to Harm not knowing what to say and Skates thinking about the voicemail and her son. When the two had finished their desert, Skates took the plates and forks into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher after rinsing them off. Harm complimented her baking skills and she smiled back at him. The two then began talking small-talk until Harm got up the courage to ask her something he had been wanting to for a few days now.
"Skates, can I ask you something?" Harm asked.
"Must be serious for you to preface it that way," Skates said. "Go for it, but I can't promise I'll answer."
"That's fair," Harm said, then continued. "Has there been anyone else in your life since you lost your husband?" Harm could see the expression on her face change as the words left his mouth. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before responding.
"Not really," she said. "There was someone who approached me, but at the time, I wasn't ready. I'm still not sure that I'm ready to move on."
"Giving someone else a chance isn't always 'moving on,' and it certainly isn't forgetting. You know that I lost Jordan Parker, the woman I was involved with when you gave me those manuals at JAG and the one who left me right before our deployment together. I never had proper closure in that relationship. I always thought we would find a way to get back together and make things work. I will always have feelings for her and I will never forget the time I spent with her. However, I won't let myself get so caught up in her memory that I don't live the rest of my life. She wouldn't want that. And before you say it, I know, losing a girlfriend is nothing like losing a spouse whom you had a child with. I get that, but the moral still applies."
"I know," Skates said. "I have to give myself permission to feel that way about another person."
"The person who approached you - do you feel that is someone you could feel that way about?" Harm asked.
"I don't know," Skates replied. "The entire time I knew him, I never thought of him as someone who felt that way about me. When he approached me, I was partly in shock. Since I turned him down, I never really thought about him since."
"Maybe you should try giving him a call?" Harm suggested. "It might be good for you."
"I don't know, Harm…" Skates started to say, "I'm not even sure I know how to contact him. He's likely off on a carrier somewhere."
"Do I know this man?" Harm asked. Skates nodded. "Spill it," Harm urged.
"Tuna," Skates replied.
"Tuna?" Harm said with a questioning tone in his voice. "I guess that doesn't surprise me too much."
"What? Really? Did he tell you he was interested in me when you two were rooming together?" Skates asked, curious how far back Tuna's interest went.
"No," Harm said. "But during your mishap trial, he made a point to come to me at JAG to help give ways to prove your innocence. During our meeting, he was not shy about praising you as a RIO and as an LSO."
"Maybe I should reach out to him…" Skates said with a smile forming on her face. The more she thought about their time flying together, the more she realized the subtle hints of interest that now seemed more like flirtatious remarks. The one that stood out the most to her was before their first flight over Bosnia in the ready room when Tuna "teased" her about her anxiety. He had told her to think about dinner because it always got him back to the ship. At the time he made that comment, she was put off, but now as she thought back on it, he probably said it to try and calm her nerves and get a laugh out of. The more she thought back on her interactions with Tuna, the more realized that it would be a good idea to reach out to him.