Harm and Mac's apartment, Friday

Harm found Mac in the kitchen with files spread all over. They were preparing a case and were on opposite sides. On top of that, they were preparing for his parents to arrive.

"I'm not peeking," Harm reassured as he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"I wasn't worried," she said as she started gathering the files. "Anyway, I'm prepared."

"I hope this thing with the diamond won't make a mess between the Admiral and Meredith," Harm commented.

"Why would it?" Mac stood. "It's just a diamond."

"Just a diamond? I figured women liked diamonds," he said with amusement.

"The ring shouldn't matter," she reasoned. "It's the sentiment behind it."

"It sounds like you've thought this through," he said and looked questioningly at her.

She hesitated. "If the man of my dreams gave me a ring I would have loved it even if it wasn't expensive."

Harm nodded, then decided to take a chance. "Are you involved with Webb?"

"Why are we talking about him?" she wondered.

Not expecting that question he plumped out with something stupid. "You two seemed awfully cozy after Paraguay."

Mac let out a snort. "Sometimes I don't believe you, Harm."

"What? You don't deny it?" he reasoned.

"What's it to you anyway? You made it clear that you were not interested in anything from me," she pointed out. '

"Me? You made the decision that there would be nothing between us," he threw at her.

"You acted like you hated being around me, Harm. I was trying to make it easy for you by saying never. You could have fought me. When you didn't I figured that I got my answer," she reasoned.

"Are you guys having an argument?"

They both turned to Mattie. "Just got handed a new case today," Mac said.

"She's prosecuting, I'm defending," Harm added.

"Oh?" Mattie looked confused. "Is that allowed when you live together?"

"It's no problem," Harm said with a shrug. "We can separate work and home."

"We sure can," Mac agreed and tried a careful smile. "I was just clearing away my things. Why don't you order that pizza, Mattie?"

"Yeah, that's what I was coming to ask for," Mattie said and smiled. She wasn't all convinced that her guardians had talked about work, but she had to take their word for it.

"Let's table this discussion," Mac suggested when Mattie was out of earshot.

Harm nodded. "Yeah, but not indefinite." As Mac brushed past him he softly took a hold of her arm. "You never answered my question?"

She looked confused. "What question?"

"Are you involved with Webb?" he asked.

"No, Harm. We're just friends. I'm not interested in Clayton Webb. Do you really think that I'd go through with this if I was involved with someone?" she questioned.

He smiled weakly. "No, that wouldn't make sense."

"No it wouldn't," she agreed and motioned to leave.

Harm held her back. "Do you think there's a chance that there could still be something more between us?"

Surprised by his question her jaw fell slightly. "Yeah, I think so," she finally said.

He let her arm go. "That's good to know."

She offered a sweet smile then left the kitchen. Harm was pleased.

The next day

Trish and Frank were given the grand tour of the apartment before they sat down for lunch. Trish and Frank told them about their Christmas and Harm said he was sorry he wasn't able to attend.

"I know you had duty and Mattie," Trish smiled reassuringly. "But a visit at some point would be welcome."

"I'll make sure we do," Harm promised.

"And I'm not sure about this arrangement you and my son have, Sarah, and what's appropriate, but you're welcome to join Harm and Mattie when they visit," Trish added.

"It's complicated," Mac said and smiled. "But I'd love a break from this cold."

Trish nodded. "I can understand that. But back to this arrangement. Should I expect more grandkids?"

"Mom," Harm warned. "Can we just not talk about that."

"I'm your mother, I should know how you live your life. And I like Sarah, so I wouldn't mind if there were any future plans," Trish added the last part with a sweet smile. "In the meantime, I'd like to get to know Mattie. How about we go shopping after lunch. Sarah too. Just us girls."

"That sounds like fun," Mattie said.

"Yeah, I'm in," Mac agreed.

Later that night

Harm finished in the shower and dried off. He'd gone for a long run after his mom and stepfather had returned to the hotel that night. He just needed some alone time. Trish and Frank had gotten along great with Mattie and Mac. Harm was glad that it all seemed to work out. His mother had pulled him aside, given him a hug, and told him that she was proud of him. It had meant a lot to Harm to hear that.

He found Mac on the couch flipping through channels.

"Did Mattie go to bed?" he wondered as he joined her on the couch.

"She wanted to read for a while." Mac finally decided to give up the TV and turned it off. "How was the run?"

"Great," he smiled. "I needed it."

"Your mom and stepfather are great, Harm," she commented. " Not all parents would find this arrangement okay. It's a little untraditional."

Harm chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Mac hesitated. "About what we talked about last night. Us."

"Yeah?" Harm said in a guarded tone.

"Maybe we should table that discussion?" she suggested. "It's a lot right now and Mattie should be our focus."

He hesitated. "There's a lot to say," he finally said.

"Yeah, there is," she agreed. "But right now we have Mattie to think about and maybe it's not the best time to get into all the heavy things."

He nodded. "As long as we agree that we have that talk, eventually?"

She smiled. "Yeah, we agree on that."

"Good," he said and offered a sweet smile. "About this case, Mac."

"This case? Are you not curious about the Admiral and Meredith?" Mac wondered.

"It's none of my business," Harm reasoned.

"But it's strange that we haven't seen her at all, or heard any mention of her the last few days. This whole thing started because of the diamond in her ring," Mac reminded him.

"It's a hell of a thing, the diamond business," he sat up and leaned on his knees. He turned his head to look at her. "Are you prepared for the hearing on Monday?"

She smiled cleverly as she stood. "You fishing, Commander?" She took her mug and headed for the kitchen.

"Just reminding you that I'm on the other side," he called after her.

She half-turned and offered an amused smile. "Should that make me worried? I feel pretty confident about this case, Harm."

"Don't be overconfident, Mac," he warned.

She let out a snort and turned for the kitchen. The truth was that the whole case gave her a bad feeling. She couldn't explain it, but there was something there that worried her.

Two weeks later

Mac peaked into Harm's office. He looked up from his computer screen and offered a smile.

"Diamonds huh? A hell of a thing," he said as he started to stand. "Lieutenant Mariavellis did it all for the love of a woman huh?"

"Yeah, the sad thing is that she probably didn't care about money or diamonds," Mac reasoned.

"What makes you say that?" Harm wondered as he gathered his things.

"Most women want a man they can trust and the amount of money on his bank account doesn't matter," she said with a smile.

Harm raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Mac nodded. "You know, the CIA diamond expert has disappeared. I think he might have gone rogue."

"You've spent too much time with Webb," Harm suggested as he took his briefcase and grabbed his coat and cap.

"I do not spend that much time with Clay," she argued as she followed him out the door.

Harm turned off the light and closed his office door. "Any wishes for dinner tonight?"

"Why don't we cook together?" she suggested.

He smiled. "I'd like that."

She returned the smile.

Later

"Jenn has great taste in clothing," Mattie said as she held up her new outfit for Mac to see it.

They had dinner, then Mattie wanted to show off what she had bought when she'd gone out with Jennifer Coates after school.

"It looks cute," Mac agreed from her spot on Mattie's bed.

"I even bought a bra," Mattie admitted. "It was kinda embarrassing to ask my dad for it so I just never asked for one."

Mac nodded with understanding. "You know you can ask me if you need anything. We can go shopping too."

"Thanks, Mac," Mattie said as she opened her closet and put the skirt and sweater away. "What kind of clothes do you like to wear?"

"I like to dress up when I get the chance. But I'm usually the jeans and t-shirt kinda girl," she admitted with a smile. "I love my PJs."

"Me too," Mattie said and laughed softly. "I don't think Harm is the PJ kinda guy."

Mac chuckled. "No, he's not."

"So, why are you and Harm not seeing each other?" Mattie wondered.

Mac hesitated. "We work together."

"That's why?" Mattie did not look convinced.

"There are rules," Mac reasoned. "We never could put away our differences long enough to consider… You know."

"But you guys are perfect together," Mattie pointed out. "And that speech you held at my custody hearing. About him being the kind of man you'd want to be the father of your children."

Mac smiled. "I meant that. He's a good guy. But it's complicated." Mac stood. "I should get some work out of the way."

Mattie nodded. "I didn't mean to pry."

Mac smiled. "It's fine, Mattie. Harm and I are committed to our common desire to give you a safe home. He's my best friend and there's no one I'd rather do this with."

Mattie smiled warmly. "Harm said the exact same thing about you."

Mac was surprised by that but didn't say anything. "I'll let you finish your homework."