A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you have a fantastic holiday with friends and family. We have reached the end of this journey. I'm glad that you all enjoyed this little adventure of family fluff. Part of this is a recap of pieces from the individual days, but there is a reason for it. I couldn't resist Harm using one paraphrased line from a Disney movie in this, it just fit perfectly. Sadly, I still don't own any rights to any of them.
The Perfect Christmas
Harm and Frank carried two sound asleep children into the house of Christmas Eve. Trish and Grams got the cookies, milk, and carrots out to leave for Santa and his reindeer while the guys got the children changed and tucked into bed. Mac had excused herself to the office after Harm offered to put everyone else's presents out and she had bid everyone goodnight.
Mac spent several hours meticulously putting the finishing touches of her little project together. Jackson had provided her with digital copies of the photos that she was planning on purchasing so that she was able to print some of them on her own and incorporate them. It was a good thing that she had purchased a couple cases of glossy photo paper in advance. The heavy boxes that had arrived contained various sizes of custom wood stained photo frames. She molded the frames together in the shape of a Christmas tree creating a collage. Each frame illustrated a different depiction of their journey together. She made a tree for her and Harm, one for Trish and Frank, and one for Grams. Each tree had at least one picture from each day of the twelve days of Christmas, and a copy of the full family photos in both the pajamas and the formal outfits. She decides to leave them in the office until everyone had unwrapped all of the rest of their gifts tomorrow morning.
From the first day with the Frosted Trees, her favorites included Trisha holding up her red and green covered hands and Matthew trying to dump one of the full containers of sprinkles over his tree while exhibiting the miniature version of her cherished Flyboy smile. The second day showed Matthew stuffing an entire donut pop in his mouth as his sister covered her face with her hands at his enthusiasm, and she made sure she included Harm resembling Rudolph in the ones for his parents and Grams.
For the third day, she found a surprise when she was looking through her photos. Apparently, her daughter had captured her and Harm kissing under Harm's makeshift mistletoe. She also adored when Matthew stuck his sticky hands on Trisha's cheeks. The fourth day displayed all the Rabb and Roberts kids together holding up the sleighs they created for their classmates, one of Matt giving Jimmy a mushroom nose, and Trisha giving their snowman the perfect hat.
The fifth day included family shots of everyone adding their toppings to the mini pizzas or the kids with pizza sauce covered lips. The sixth day chronicled a finished product of all the ornaments they made as they were placing them on the tree and shots of the kids in a popcorn fight with their grandpa. Frank had looked rather cute with green popcorn stuck to his cheek and his jaw nearly on the floor.
Her heart was touched when she found the snapshot of her and Trisha curled up together fast asleep on the window seat with a frost covered window in the background for the seventh day. Between that one and the shot of Grams snitching the bacon behind Harm's back, she almost forgot to include the waffle creations they made that day. The eighth day included a picture of her and Harm snuggled together on the porch swing, Grams holding her full platter of various snacks, and Matthew trying to figure out how to put his hotdog stocking back together when it fell apart.
The ninth day documented both of her children covered in powdered sugar, Trisha holding up blueberries to her eyes and sticking her tongue out, and Harm getting hit with three snowballs at all once from various angles. Trisha doing a victory dance when she was the first to have enough pieces of candy and Matthew trying to feed his father a licorice spice drop won for day ten. Harm can't stand licorice, and watching him try to push it out of his mouth with his tongue while Matt kept trying to stick it back in had been priceless!
Mac's head tip backed in laughter with her cherry nose, Matthew feeding Grams her strawberry, and Trisha trying to convert her candy cane into a wreath were the front-runners on day eleven. Day twelve displayed Matthew standing behind the largest Linkin Log™ cabin he had ever created with his vegetable one in front of it as he asked his Dad for more carrots to expand it. There were also various photos of the whole family decorating the cut-outs, although she refused to include some of the non-christmasy decorations. Trisha holding up the mini candy cane cookies to her grandmother's ear lobes was a must have.
By the time Mac is ready to crawl into bed, it is well after midnight. Selecting the photos to include took her a bit of time since she didn't have enough room to include them all. However, what took the longest was making sure that the glue set so that her creations wouldn't fall apart before morning. After she locked the office door, she toured the house for all of her hidey holes to pull Harm's presents together to set under the tree. From the looks of the various piles, the children are going to have a fantastic Christmas morning. She stands and admires the twinkling lights on the tree for a few moments thanking the heavens above for her family. She has come a long way from the dismal holidays from her childhood. A lone tear streams down her face just before she feels Harm's presence behind her. He softly places his hands on her shoulders, lightly kneading her tense muscles, "Are you okay?"
She places one of her hands over his, "Yeah, everything is perfect."
Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her flush against him, he asks, "Did you finish whatever you were working on?"
She smiles widely, "I did."
He chuckles at her response, "Care to share?"
She turns around in his embrace and kisses the corner of his mouth, "You'll see in the morning. I made something for everyone, but I want everything else opened first. I couldn't wrap them, but I might need your help bringing them out."
He gets a twinkle in his eye, remembering their evening just a few nights ago, "Should I lay the blanket down so we can spend the night out here again by the warmth of the fire and the glow of the lights dancing across your skin?"
Mac shakes her head in the negative, "Are you nuts? The last thing I want is your mother getting up in the middle of the night and catching us in a compromising position! I might be a little uninhibited, but I'm not that crazy!"
Harm shudders at the thought, "On second thoughts, we should definitely retire to our own room."
Harm unplugs the tree and takes Mac's hand to head to their room. He doesn't miss the fact that she is yawning the whole way up the stairs. He pulls the covers back and remarks, "I think sleep is in order for you, Marine."
Apologizing with her eyes, she nods her head. He slips in next to her and she immediately lays her head over her husband's beating heart hoping that the rhythm will lull her to sleep. Harm wraps his arm around her holding her tight, and whispers "Merry Christmas, Mac," and soon both are sound asleep.
Mac feels her hair being pushed behind her ears and kisses being peppered on her face. Doing a quick check of her internal clock, she realizes it is only 0536 in the morning. It must be Christmas Day. It is the only day out of the entire year that her husband ever manages to wake up this early. He's worse than the kids! She mumbles, "Harm, can we please sleep just a little bit longer?"
He rolls her underneath him and grins, "Nope. The sky's awake, so I'm awake, and it's time to play!"
She pushes on his shoulder sending him back to his own side of the bed, "Fine, I'm getting up. Go start the coffee."
Harm practically prances out of the room, running downstairs to start the flow of java and to put the coffee cake in the oven. As he turns to head back upstairs, he finds his mother leaning against the kitchen wall grinning, "It's nice to see you happy for Christmas again, Darling. It reminds me of what you were like before your father went missing. You used to wake us up fairly early in the morning by pouncing us!"
Harm walks over to her and hugs her tightly, knowing that this holiday has been tough for her for many years too. Last night was the first time she had visited the wall on the anniversary of the night his father went down in several years. She hugs him back, "I'm alright, honey. I've made peace with it, and being able to spend this holiday with all of you, and my beautiful grandchildren, is more than I could ever have hoped for. It's a perfect family Christmas again, and I have you and Mac to thank for that."
Harm kisses her forehead, "Merry Christmas, Mom."
She pats his back, teasing "Go get your wife and children up. I know you are just itching to open presents!"
Harm reaches the bottom of the stairs and glances up to find Mac, Frank, and Grams with Trisha and Matthew already heading down. The adults usher the kids into the kitchen. One glance at Mac had informed Gigi and Frank that she needed at least one cup of coffee before she was going to come close to the excitement level of her husband, and the kids are still a little bleary eyed as well.
Frank pours all the adults a cup of coffee and passes them out as Harm pulls the warmed cake out of the oven. Frank heads out to the living room to grab the camera, he wants to make certain that he captures the look on Trisha's face when she sees what is assembled behind the tree wrapped in a bright red ribbon.
Everyone finishes their little morning pick me up and Frank snaps a shot of Harm carrying Matthew holding his wife's hand who has her arm wrapped around their daughter. He has to quickly press the button again as Trisha's eyes go wide and she stretches both of her arms out wide as she notices her brand new pink and purple Huffy™ bike poking out behind the tree. It had taken him and Harm a couple of long nights in the shed to assemble it, with a few expletives along the way, but the exuberant Rabb smile shining her face made it all worth it. She was also elated with her other gifts that included new books, new clothes, a tablet, and a Marine backpack that looked just like her Mom's.
Matthew was thrilled to find that he got a little tractor that he could both drive and take apart and put back together. He also received a few IQ Builder™ sets which he had been requesting for several months, the complete DVD collection of the Magic School Bus™ series, and a beginner's art set.
Trish and Frank received handmade gifts from the children, patchwork quilts carefully constructed by hand from Grandma Sarah, and tickets to join Harm, Mac, and the kids on their upcoming trip to Orlando and the associated Disney Cruise. They were tickled pink at the invitation. Even though they travelled often, they rarely vacationed within the United States, and definitely hadn't been on a trip with Harm, Mac, and the kids. Trish immediately started thinking about some things she would love to include in that trip if Harm and Mac didn't already have a full itinerary planned.
Grams received a picture of a fully restored red 1941 Ford which she would find the real vehicle parked at her farmhouse upon her return. She was absolutely speechless. It was just like the one that her David had taken her out on their first date. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she asked her family, "How on earth did you ever know?"
Mac pulls her into her arms, "Harm found a picture in your attic of you and David standing in front of one. We gave Trish and Frank a call, and the four of us worked to be able to pull all the pieces together. You know your grandson; he simply can't resist tinkering with anything mechanical."
Harm pulls them both into a hug. In a soothing voice he whispers, "I didn't mean to make you cry, Grams. I just wanted you to have a piece of your old childhood back." Grams reaches out her arms for Trish and Frank to join them and hugs them all tightly, "You have given an old lady a priceless treasure that I will keep close to my heart for the remainder of my days. Thank you all."
Mac absolutely adores the music box that Trisha had picked out for her. The serenity of the scene and the peaceful music work perfectly together hand -in-hand. Grams asks to take a closer look at it as she is curious who the artist is. The scene bores a remarkable resemblance to her own home when Harm Sr. was a child and all the kids from the neighboring farms would sled in front of her hill. She isn't surprised to find that the artist is one of her closest friend's sons. She tells Mac, "Bring it up to Pennsylvania the next time you come up and we will see if we can get it autographed personally by Tommy. It's rather ironic, because the quilt I made for you is a very similar scene." Mac also received a week at a posh spa courtesy of her mother and father in law and a gift certificate to one of her favorite boutiques. Harm had purchased her teardrop earrings, a matching necklace, and a crimson velvet dress and strappy red shoes to go with them. Underneath it all was tickets and a hotel key to the New Year's Eve Ball at the Willard hotel. He whispered in her ear that she had one more present to open in the privacy of their bedroom. She countered with, "Then I must have two, because I intend to unwrap a Sailor too!"
Before the two of them could get all mushy, Trisha handed her Father his first gift. It was a voucher from his parents for a kid free week and use of the house in the Bahamas for whenever him and Mac wanted to cash in and plan a vacation for just themselves. Him and Mac also received a Golden Circle membership for the National Symphony Orchestra. Mac had the foreknowledge of that gift, so she got Harm a voucher for a custom-tailored tux and handed him a box of cufflinks that had "Eternity" engraved on one side, and their wedding date engraved on the other.
Each of their stockings contained various little gift cards and sweet treats. At the bottom of Harm's stocking was a red small plastic key. He asks, "What is this for?" Frank walks over to open the blinds for the sliding glass door, and just past the deck, Harm can see his brand-new Cub Cadet™ Snowblower. He exclaims, "What in the world? When did that get here?"
Trish chuckles, "Frank had it delivered last night when we were at the church service. I'm shocked you didn't it see it when we got home last night."
Harm beams, "I'm overwhelmed! Thank you so much, that will save my back a lot of trouble in the future."
Frank chuckles, "At least it will until we can convince you two to move to sunny San Diego instead." Before they can object, he continues, "I know that your life is here for now and for advancement it really is where you need to be, but when you are ready to retire, we would love to have you just down the road from us."
Realizing that all of the gifts are now opened, Mac announces, "Harm and I will be right back, I have one more surprise for everyone."
She leads him to the office, unlocks the door, and he gets his first glimpse at her creations. Overwhelmed with emotion, he gasps, "Oh, Mac. They are simple beautiful."
She intertwines her fingers with his, "Your idea was perfect, and it was a lot of fun. I just wanted a reminder of this wonderful journey we created. I made one for each of our houses, but I will need your help to mount ours over the fireplace."
Mac carries the one for their house out with her as Harm carries the other two trees meant for his parents and his grandmother. He softly places the heavy objects across their laps so that they can see all of the intricate details within each frame. As Harm glanced around his family, he realized that he had everything he ever needed right here. It really was the perfect Christmas.