"Coates, can you come in here?" Mac asked over the intercom.
"Of course, ma'am," the petty officer replied, grabbing a note pad and entering the Lt. Colonel's office. She stood at attention until Mac released her to sit. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you about a couple things," Mac replied.
"Is everything alright, ma'am?" Coates asked nervously.
"Of course," The colonel smiled softly, hoping to put the woman at ease. "In fact the first thing I wanted to discuss is your potential interest in going through OTS."
Coates' eyes went wide. "Officer Training…?"
"I think you'd make a great officer," Mac insisted. Coates could feel the color coming to her cheeks. It wasn't terribly long ago that even the idea of staying in the Navy was almost out of her grasp. Making the jump from enlisted to officer was not something she'd ever thought possible.
"I appreciate that, ma'am. But I just started in this position and I would like to see it through for a little while longer, if that's ok," she politely declined.
"It doesn't have to be right now. I just wanted to gauge your interest for future reference. Look at your options and your career path and if you think it's something you'd like to do, I would be more than willing to write you a recommendation," Mac explained. She'd seen Coates grow over the years and knew the woman had only scratched the surface of what she's capable of, but she also didn't want to put her on a career path she didn't want.
"I'm flattered, thank you," Jen smiled sheepishly.
"Now that the professional stuff is out of the way, I have something personal I wanted to talk to you about, if you don't mind," Mac transitioned easily.
"I'm one of three people who knows you're secretly married, I think I am ok with personal," Coates chuckled.
"Good because I have another bit of information I am going to need you to keep to yourself, but I felt was important for you to know." Coates nodded at her to continue. "Harm and I are trying to have a baby."
"Oh!" the petty officer squeaked. "Are you…?"
"No, no," Mac waved her off. "It's just something we've both wanted for a long time and I've been told it will be very difficult for me to get pregnant, so we wanted to start trying as soon as possible."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Jen replied with small frown.
"But we're optimistic. I'm actually going to have a procedure Friday that should hopefully improve my chances."
"I saw you were on leave. I just thought Harm might be in town," Coates hoped she didn't sound nosy, but her job was to know Mac's schedule better than the woman herself.
"Well he is err, will be. He's flying back tomorrow," Mac nodded.
"That's sweet," Jen gushed. Mac smiled at the younger woman. She'd always been a hopeless romantic.
"I wish I got to keep him for a little bit longer, but he's prepping for Mattie's adoption, so he's only passing through."
"Hopefully he'll be here for good soon enough." Coates shrugged.
"We can hope," Mac smirked. "That is all," she dismissed the petty officer.
"Harm, I'm fine," Mac sighed as she crawled onto the bed.
"Are you sure? Because you look worse than you did when you got shot in the woods," he mentioned.
Mac scowled at him. "How charming," she grumbled, grabbing his pillow and curling her body around it.
"Just being honest," he chuckled uncomfortably. He really wasn't trying to be rude. She just looked so pale that it worried him. She said she felt woozy from the anesthesia, but what he told her stood, he hadn't seen her look that bad since she's was bleeding out in the front seat of his plane.
"Take your honesty elsewhere," she retorted, waving a dismissive hand at him.
"Is there anything I can get you?" he asked tentatively.
"A husband who hovers less," she mumbled into her pillow.
"Message received. I'll be down the hall if you change your mind," Harm replied. Mac made a vaguely grateful sounding noise as she burrowed further into the bed.
When Mac woke a couple hours later the golden afternoon sun was bleeding through the blinds. She eased into a sitting position and took a moment to get her bearings. The wooziness had subsided, but she was still extremely uncomfortable. Just like her first procedure, her doctor told her to expect some cramping and at the moment it felt like her insides were tied up in knots. Not wanting to squander the rare hours Harm was home these days, she pulled herself off the bed and padded down the hall.
Harm looked up from his book as Mac appeared at the edge of the living room. He was glad to see the color had returned to her face, but she still didn't look well. He quickly marked his page and moved to stand.
"What can I…" he started only to have her wave him off again.
"Don't get up," she rasped, making her way around the couch. Harm furrowed his brow, but returned to his reclined position. Mac eased herself into the cradle of his body, her head coming to rest on his chest.
"You ok?" he asked, running a hand up her spine and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"M'fine. Wanted to be with you," she mumbled.
"I would have laid with you in bed," her chuckled.
"Not the same." A contented sigh fell from her lips as her body went completely slack against him. He chuckled again and went back to his book. He brought his hand up to toy with her hair, reveling in how normal and domestic the moment felt. Part of him hated that it took Mac recovering from a procedure for their lives to slow down enough to have this time together.
"Sarah…" Harm whispered, gently tickling her neck. She grimaced and turned away from his touch.
"Mmm…that's so weird," she rasped. "That's not what you call me."
"I tried Mac three times, but you didn't hear me," he
"I heard you, I was just ignoring you,"
"Why were you ignoring me?"
"You're going to make me get up," she whined.
"Well, unfortunately for me to get up, you at least have to move.
"But why do you have to get up," she tucked herself tighter against him, holding her ground.
"Because I need to make us dinner,"
"I don't want dinner,"
"You have to eat, Mac. I already let you skip lunch,"
At that Mac lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Let me?" she cocked an eyebrow at him. Harm rolled his eyes, knowing there was no heat behind her glare.
"You need to eat," he repeated.
"But you're going to make me eat something healthy," she whined.
"The doctor said you should stick to foods that are easy on your stomach, so while I am not going to go get you some of that fast food garbage you love, I am willing to compromise."
"I would've never married you if I knew you were going to be this attentive," she grumbled, pressing her face back against his chest. She felt his laugh more that she heard it.
"I'm getting a pretty bad rap for trying to take care of you today, Colonel Mackenzie."
Mac knew he was teasing, but there was some truth to his statement. If she was honest, she didn't know what to do with his constant doting. It had been so long since she hand someone other than her self tending to her needs. She definitely never had someone listen and enforce her doctor's orders before. She released a heavy sigh.
"Hey…" he started, assuming he was the reason behind the sigh. She lifted her head and sent him a soft smile.
"I'm just not used to it. To having someone, especially you, like this," she admitted.
"Well, you better get used to it. I'm not going anywhere." His eyes went soft and round, something she was seeing a lot of since they got married. Her stomach flipped and this time it had nothing to do with her procedure.
"Says the man who's racked up more frequent flyer miles in the last two months than most people get in two years," she snorted, trying to deflect from the more delicate tone their conversation had taken on.
"Because I want to be here with you," he pointed out, bringing a hand up to tap her nose. She batted his finger out of the way. "And quit distracting me, I'm still going to make you dinner,"
Mac pulled a face. She was a little bit hungry, but she really didn't feel like eating.
"I'll make grilled cheese," he offered, waggling his eyebrows.
Her expression brightened. "With tomato soup?"
"With tomato soup." Harm confirmed.
"You should have led with that," she smirked, shifting so he could sit up.
"Well, I didn't think you would be such a hard sell," he laughed.
"I'm a complicated woman," Mac shrugged.
"I'm aware," Harm retorted, pressing a kiss to her cheek and heading towards the kitchen.