Chapter Seven
Where do we go from here?

WEEK 5 (PRESENT DAY)
JULY 4TH, 2001

1535 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN

"Are you sure it's not Mic's?"

Mac was back on her bathroom floor, only now she had company. This time, she wasn't lying on the floor, because she didn't want Harm to think she'd gone completely crazy. Mac was sitting cross legged, her back pressed against the cabinet below her sink. Harm was sitting across from her, against the side of her bathtub. He looked awkward and rather cramped-up, sitting there with his long legs drawn up to his chest. Neither of them were saying much, which was unusual for the two of them. Usually they were both eager to get the last word in.

Mac found out she was pregnant 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds ago.

"Yes," Mac nodded, her voice thick. "I'm positive."

There was no way for her to be positive Harm was the father and not Mic, but the possibility of Mic being the father was too unthinkable a possibility for Mac to imagine. What could she do? Ring him up and say "Mic, I know our engagement is over, but I'm pregnant, and you're the father. Can you come back to the states and, I don't know, do something?"

It has to be Harm's, Mac thought, God doesn't hate me that much, right? I can't be pregnant by my ex-fiancé. That sounds like the plot to some bad, made-for-TV movie-

"Your period could just be late, though," Harm said, running his fingers through his hair.

Mac shook her head. "No, I'm never late. Not even for that," she smiled at him wanly.

"You're right," Harm smirked. "I should've known."

"Plus, the test doesn't lie, Harm," she gestured to the pregnancy test Harm was still holding. She occasionally caught him looking at it as if he were trying to make sure it was real. "I'm still gonna get a blood test sometime soon, just to make sure."

Harm didn't say anything, only nodded.

"Are you okay, Sailor?" Mac asked. "You look a little seasick."

"Yeah, uh, it's just, a lot…" he, faltering.

A lot for you? Mac wanted to snap at him, You're not the one pregnant! My pee is on that test strip, not yours.

However, she refrained. Mac knew Harm had as much of a right to process all of this as she did. The worst thing to do in that moment was lash out, as tempting as that was.

"I know," Mac said, attempting to smile, "I'm sorry I-I was gonna find a better way to tell you, but…" her voice trailed off, and she sniffled. She hadn't even thought about how to tell him, she'd barely been able to break the news to herself. A part of Mac was still hoping this was some kind of joke.

A few rogue tears slipped from her eyes, Mac hastily wiped them away. But Harm still saw them.

"Hey," he moved to sit beside her, pulling her close. "Don't cry."

Of course Harm's request only made Mac cry more, and he found himself a little bit at a loss as to what to do. It tore him up seeing Mac so upset, but there was really nothing he could do to fix it. If anything, he was the reason they were in this situation.

But, regardless of what he was feeling, Mac needed him to keep it together.

Harm cupped Mac's cheek in his hand, swiping a tear away with his thumb. He reached over and grabbed a wad of toilet and held it out for her. For some reason, he never had tissues when Mac needed him to have tissues. She took it, dabbing away at her watery eyes. Harm pulled her closer to him.

"This is pretty crazy, even for us, isn't it?" he asked. Mac nodded against his chest.

"Yeah," she said, swallowing. "Now you see why I wasn't at Bud and Harriet's. I'm a mess."

Harm looked down at her. Suddenly Bud and Harriet's party felt a million miles away.

"Not without good reason," he said softly. "Mac, I'm-"

"Sorry?" she finished. "Don't be, Harm. It's not your fault. It takes two, you know."

Mac smiled the first genuine smile Harm had seen her use that day, and he found himself smiling too.

"Yeah, I suppose it does," he smirked. "People do say we work well together."

"Takes on a whole new meaning now, doesn't it?"

Mac sighed, snuggling against Harm's chest. She could hear his heartbeat through his shirt, and the steady sound of it was reassuring. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Mac tried her best to close out everything else that wasn't Harm's heartbeat, but found it difficult to ignore the elephant in the room. Well, the elephant in her uterus.

"Harm, what I am gonna do?" Mac asked. She wanted to kick herself, for feeling so helpless. She was a Marine, she was supposed-to be able to handle anything.

"Correction: what are we gonna do." Harm said. "You've lost your mind if you think I'm letting you go through this alone, Mac."

Mac swallowed, fighting back tears that threatened to spring up for the umpteenth time that morning. "Thanks Harm. That-uh, that means a lot."

"You think I'd miss out raising the future of the United States Navy?" Harm smiled wryly. Mac scoffed and lifted her head from his chest to look at him. She arched an eyebrow.

"If this child has anything to do with me, it's gonna be a Marine, Sailor."

Harm laughed, gently resting his chin on the top of Mac's head. They sat there for a few moments in silence, mulling over everything that had happened in such a short amount of time. Mac, who was still fighting back dread even after Harm's comforting words, thought back to everything that happened over the past five weeks. She'd spent the past five weeks pregnant, and hadn't even noticed. Granted there hadn't been much to notice, next to nothing actually, but Mac felt like there should be more forewarning. She felt like she should've been given a warning at least a week in advance. Was that too much to ask for?

"Mac?" Harm asked, breaking their silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go to Bud and Harriet's?" Harm instantly felt Mac stiffen in his arms.

Mac looked up at him, both eyebrows raised. "Are you serious?" she said. "Harm, I can't-"

"Hey I know, just hear me out," he said. "Sitting here on your bathroom floor all day isn't gonna make this go away."

Mac paused. She knew he was right, she had to continue on with things as normally as possible. If she didn't, everyone would know something was wrong, and the last thing she wanted was everyone at JAG breaking down her door to see if she was okay. Harm trying to break down her door was enough for right now.

Oh God, she thought, Work. I have to go to work tomorrow. How can I work when I'm pregnant? Obviously I can but-

"Are you okay?" Harm asked.

Mac took a deep breath. Come on Marine, you can do this. With a surge of resolve, she nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Harm asked. "Because, we can stay here, if you want. Harriet might send the bloodhounds after us, though."

Mac smiled, knowing full well Harriet would indeed call in the cavalry with both of them U.A from her Fourth of July party. She was probably already organizing a search party, and Mac was surprised her phone wasn't ringing off the hook.

"No seriously, we could totally stay here all day. This floor kinda gets comfortable after a while, once your legs go numb and you can't feel how uncomfortable it is." Harm said as he stretched out his legs.

Mac laughed, untangling herself from Harm's embrace and standing up. "Thanks for the offer Sailor, but we have a party to catch," she said, offering him her hand.

Harm rose to his feet, rather stiffly, and Mac looked at herself in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her messy hair, dismayed when there was no improvement.

"I look awful," she said, wondering how much concealer she'd need to cover up the puffiness around her eyes.

"No you don't," Harm said. "You look beautiful, Mac."

Mac found herself blushing. Even though he'd been doing so for the past five weeks, she was still getting used to him complimenting her. Of course he'd complimented her before, but it was always cordial, brotherly it was different.

She wanted to kiss him, but something held her back. They were still figuring out their relationship, and now they were navigating a pregnancy. Mac knew that things were about to get very complicated very quickly.

"Just give me a few minutes to get ready," Mac said, fluffing her hair one more time. She opened a drawer and reached inside, pulling out her makeup bag.

"'Get ready?'" Harm asked, leaning against the doorframe of her bathroom. He watched her as she started taking out items he couldn't name even if he tried and placing them on the bathroom counter. "I thought Marines were supposed to be ready at a moment's notice."

She rolled her eyes. "There's a first time for everything. Why don't you go call Harriet and tell her that we're on our way and to call off the search party?"

"Yes, dear," he said teasingly, pulling out his phone.

Before he could finish dialing, Mac called out to him, "Hey, Harm?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you...would you mind not telling anyone? About this? At least for now, anyway?" Mac knew it was a completely practical question to ask, but she still felt embarrassed asking it.

Harm smiled. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Mac pulled the cap off her mascara. "You mean our secret, right?"

"Yeah, our secret."

2045 EST
ROBERTS RESIDENCE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

In the end, Mac was glad she went to the part instead of holding herself hostage in her bathroom the entire day. Her excuse for being two hours late was that she hadn't been feeling well (which technically wasn't a lie), and everyone bought it. Harriet had asked a few follow-up questions, but Mac weathered those adequately. Mac was positive no one suspected, but she still couldn't help feeling like the words 'I'M PREGNANT' were written across her forehead in black Sharpie.

Whenever she found herself drifting away into thought, Harm would bring her back to Earth, with raised eyebrows and an "You okay?"

After the third time, she finally chastised him. "Harm," she hissed. "If you keep asking me if I'm okay, people are gonna know something's wrong."

He finally relented, but he still kept a watchful eye on her. Mac knew Harm liked to 'hover' around people he cared about, but this was excessive. That day, he was acting like a bona fide helicopter.

Mac watched Little AJ, marveling at the fact that next Fourth of July, she could have a four month old infant. Should I even have this baby? She asked herself, Am I ready to be a mom? Can I even raise a kid? Sure, her and Harm made their baby deal after Little AJ was born, but that wasn't supposed to happen for another three years.

She desperately wanted to tell Harriet. Harriet had been pregnant, she was a mom, surely she could offer some council. Mac wanted to ask her what she had to do in order to be a good mom, but she'd hardly had time to deal with the news herself. Mac didn't feel right unloading all her fears and questions onto a friend. Plus, it wouldn't just be her pregnancy she'd be exposing, it would also be the fact that she and Harm had been seeing each other for the past month. .

After the party ended, Harm and Mac walked back to his car, and Harm, after checking over his shoulder to see no one was watching, leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't one of their more passionate ones, but it was still nice. It hadn't taken Mac long to figure out that kissing Harm was never bad.

They broke apart, and got into his Lexus. Harm sat in the driver's seat for a few moments, not saying or doing anything.

Mac slowly reached out and waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you good, Harm?"

He blinked. "Yeah. I-um, I'm fine Mac," he turned the key and the engine started. But he still kept the car in the park.

"What's wrong?" Mac asked. She watched him and waited for him to answer. If he was going to hover with her, she'd gladly return the favor.

"Nothing's wrong," Harm answered, looking at her. "It's just-everything's gonna be okay Mac. You know that, right?"

Mac froze for a moment, then nodded. She quickly looked down so Harm wouldn't see her getting all teary-eyed again. It was probably the hundredth time she'd teared up that day.

"Yeah," she said. The lump in her throat was making it hard to talk. "I know."

Mac realized that she didn't need to go to Harriet for help, at least not yet (though it would only be a matter of time before Harriet figured it out), because she had Harm. And they were in this together.