October

Harm and Mac's house

Harm noticed that Mac looked thoughtful as they cleaned up after dinner. They had enjoyed some alone time with Mattie staying with Jennifer for the night. It had been good to have some time alone. Harm had made a nice dinner, and they'd enjoyed a romantic setting before making passionate love. They had just tumbled out of bed and had dessert and were now cleaning up.

"What?"

She turned to him. "Huh?"

"You spaced out," he explained his earlier question.

"Oh, I was just enjoying the moment," she smiled. "It's been a long week."

"Everything okay at work?" he wondered.

"It's just a case," she shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it. I want to talk about babies."

His jaw dropped. "Mac, are you…?"

"No," she shook her head. "I wish, but no. But I thought that since we've been pretty active and nothing has happened, maybe we should get some help. To increase the odds."

He nodded. "Yeah, maybe we should do that. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we could see a specialist," she suggested.

"We should do some research," he said just as the phone rang. He smiled and moved past her, grabbing the phone off the counter. "Rabb residence. Oh, hi. We did register as foster parents," he confirmed and turned to Mac as he turned on the speaker. "My wife is listening too."

"We have a boy, a one-year-old who needs a home. He was in a car accident, and his mother died. I've been looking for relatives, but I've come up empty, unfortunately. He doesn't seem to have anyone, poor boy. Would you be willing to take this boy in?"

Harm and Mac shared looks. Mac nodded. "Yeah, of course, we would," Harm said and reached for her hand. ,

"What's his name?" Mac wondered.

"Logan."

They talked details for a while and agreed to meet at the hospital the next morning to meet Logan and speak to his doctor.

Harm hung up and turned to Mac. "Wow!"

"Yeah, wow is right," she said, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd held. "A boy."

"What does a one-year-old need anyway?" Harm wondered.

They stared at each other before they both said, "Harriet!" Harm grabbed the phone and dialed the familiar number.

The next day

After talking to Harriet and going out to buy what they needed. A phone call to Mattie and his parents. A night with little sleep because they were too excited. They were now on their way to meet Logan.

"Mr. Rabb, Colonel Rabb?" a blond woman in her late fifties met them as they exited the elevator on the right floor.

"I'm Rita Wilson, the social worker you talked to last night," she offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Mac shook her hand.

Harm shook her hand as well. "Ma'am."

"I have a son in the Navy. He's stationed on the Patrick Henry," Mrs. Wilson said.

"I've flown off the Henry many times, ma'am," Harm said.

Mrs. Wilson nodded and motioned for them to follow her. "He's in here."

They followed her down the hall and into a room. A crib stood by the wall, and they walked over. Logan was attached to monitors. He had only a diaper on and a bandaid on his belly. He had bruises from the car seat belts. He was sleeping soundly.

"Is he hurt?" Harm questioned quietly.

"The doctor will explain," Mrs. Wilson checked her watch. "I have another appointment. I will check in on you within the next two weeks."

Mac and Harm shared looks. "What do we do now?" Mac wondered.

"Hear the doctor, follow his orders, and take care of this little boy," Mrs. Wilson smiled. "I think you'll do fine. I have an eye for these things." She handed over some papers and a card. "Call me if you have questions."

Logan slept for another half hour. A nurse came by to let them know that the doctor would be there soon. When Logan woke up crying, Mac wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to do anything to make whatever injury he had any worse. The nurse came and reassured them that they could lift him. They only had to be careful with the monitors and his operating wound. Mac lifted logan. "Hi there, sweetheart."

The boy eased up as he stared into her eyes.

"How are you doing, huh?" Mac smiled. "You're quite handsome."

Logan smiled and let out a burst of small laughter. It was the most adorable sound Mac had ever heard.

"I see the patient is up." A male doctor walked into the room. "I'm doctor Pierce."

"Harmon Rabb," Harm offered his hand. "This is my wife, Sarah."

"I hear you're taking this boy home," the doctor smiled. "He's a lucky little fellow. We had to open him up and stop a small bleeding in his abdomen. Other than that, he's fine."

"How long will he have to stay here?" Mac wondered.

"You'll be able to take him home sometime during the week. We have to make sure he's healing properly," the doctor explained. "But it shouldn't be a problem," he reassured. "I'll have a nurse put up a bed for one of you. I assume you want to stay?"

"Of course," Harm said and looked at his wife. "Someone has to take care of Mattie."

"I'll stay. You can go back and forth," Mac suggested.

Harm nodded. They had both arranged to have the week off.

They talked with the doctor a while longer then they were left alone with Logan.

"Do you want to hold him?" Mac wondered.

"I'm afraid I'll hurt him," Harm said hesitantly.

"You'll do fine," Mac reassured and handed Logan over.

Harm held the boy carefully. "Hi, there, little man. You're a brave little guy, huh?"

Logan stared at Harm, then looked back at Mac and back to Harm. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "It's the medication making him drowsy," Mac said.

Five minutes later, Logan was fast asleep in Harm's arms. Harm smiled as he carefully lay the boy down again.

Friday

Logan was healing correctly, and the doctor was satisfied, so he got to go home. It was a nervous couple who buckled him up and left the hospital. They knew what to do, what signs to look for, and how to be sure that Logan's operating wound was okay. Harm had made sure that Logan had a room when he got home, but Mac moved the crib into their room.

"I want to have him close," she reasoned. She had gotten one more week of leave and would stay home with Logan. Then after that, Trish and Frank would have him during the day. They hadn't waisted any time suggesting it when Harm and Mac had discussed daycare options.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Mac wondered as they watched him sleep that night.

"The doctor said so," Harm said hesitantly. "What if he moves and the wound opens?"

"The doctor said that it wouldn't happen because it was healing perfectly," she reminded him. "We just have to keep it clean and make sure he doesn't move around too much.

"What if…"

Mac put her hand over his mouth. "What if it all goes perfectly?"

He removed her hand and smiled. "Stop being the calm one."

"Marines always stay calm," she reasoned. "Squids, on the other hand…"

He shook his head with amusement then turned to Logan. "So, we just go to sleep now?"

Mac nodded. "He's been sleeping through the night at the hospital."

"I'm still getting up to check on him," Harm said and didn't make a move to leave the side of the crib.

"You're a little bit happy that we decided to move him in here, aren't you?" Mac questioned.

"You just want me to admit that you were right," he accused.

She nodded. "Totally."

"You know, I haven't had sex this week, and I thought I'd be feeling frisky tonight, but nope… Nothing. Just worried," he admitted.

Mac moved her arm around his waist and leaned onto him as he put his arm around her as well. "Me too."

He kissed her head. "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled and studied Logan. "I think I'm in love with this guy, too, Harm."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed.

"I want to adopt him," she said quietly.

"Yeah, me too," he said just as quietly as he studied the little boy.

One week later

After a check-up at the hospital, Mac and Harm went for a stroll and had lunch before Harm went back to the office. The doctor was satisfied with Logan's healing. Mac had agreed to meet Logan's mother's best friend. She was curious to know more about Logan's life before he came into their life.

"Hi, Logan," Laura smiled as she lifted the boy out of the stroller. "Do you mind?"

Mac shook her head. Logan smiled and seemed to be comfortable with Laura.

"Mary would have loved to have a stroller like that," Laura motioned for the brand new stroller Harm, and Mac had bought. "She got an old one from my mom."

"How old are you, Laura?" Mac wondered.

"Nineteen," Laura said. "Mary was twenty. We grew up on the same street. Logan wasn't planned. Mary met a soldier."

"Oh, and where is the soldier now?" Mac wondered.

"He got killed before he could get home and meet Logan," Laura explained.

Mac nodded. "And Mary has no family?"

Laura shook her head. "No, she was a foster kid. She was living in her car when I met her. We worked together at Walmart. We took different shifts so that one of us could stay with Logan."

Mac smiled. "You were a good friend."

"Yeah, well, she didn't have anyone, and it was harder for her when she got pregnant. So I helped," Laura smiled. "I like this little guy. I would have taken him, but I'm in school so... And he seems fine now. You can give him a lot more than I can."

"I'll love him," Mac promised.

"Mary did love him. She did what she could to give him a better life than she had," Laura handed Logan over to Mac when he started fussing.

Mac found Logan a smoothie, and he calmed down. He sat back against her chest and played with a toy they'd bought at a store earlier.

"Thanks for meeting me," Laura said and sipped her coffee.

"I'm glad you agreed to meet me," Mac smiled. "And if you'd like to see him, we can arrange for that to happen."

"I'd like that," Laura smiled. She handed over a bag. "These are some of his things. And an album Mary made for him. It's pictures of them And one of his father. I thought maybe it could be nice for him to have for when he's old enough to understand."

"Wow, thank you, Laura. I appreciate it," Mac said and took the bag from her.

They finished their coffee and said their goodbyes before Mac put Logan back in the stroller and headed for the car. She was glad she knew more about Logan's life. It seemed that he'd had a loving home. It made her feel better.