Chapter Ten
What's up with Harm & Mac?
WEEK 8
JULY 24TH, 2001
0805 EST
BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
"Just letting you know, this may be cold."
Mac nodded as placed a glob of ultrasound gel on her lower abdomen. Her stomach muscles recoiled at the sensation of the ultrasound wand pressing against her stomach. Harm, who was sitting beside her, looked at her with concern.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"It's just tickles," Mac said, taking his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.
Doctor Gardner smiled. "Is this your first?" she asked. Harm and Mac both nodded.
"Congratulations," she said as she typed something into the ultrasound machine. Suddenly a black and white image appeared on the screen.
"There's your baby," Doctor Gardner pointed to a tiny gray blob on the screen.
Harm and Mac stared at the screen in awe. There was their baby. Right there on that screen. It suddenly occurred to her how real this all was. She was pregnant. She was having a baby with Harm.
"Look at that," Harm said, chuckling softly. "That's our kid, Mac."
She turned her head away from the ultrasound to look at him. Before becoming pregnant, she was rarely ever a sap, but seeing their baby for the first time and seeing the smile on Harm's face made her want to cry tears of joy. And crying happy tears was something she'd never done before.
"That's our kid," she agreed, turning back to look at the screen.
"Do you want to hear the heartbeat?" Doctor Gardner asked. Harm and Mac looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Can we?" Harm asked. Doctor Gardner nodded.
"Isn't it too early?" Mac asked.
Doctor Gardner shook her head and smiled. "Nope, you're right on time."
The sound of their baby's heartbeat soon filled the room, and Harm and Mac were once again in awe. Mac was surprised at how strong it was, seeing as it was coming from something the size of raspberry. And that little thing, that little baby, was inside her, with a heartbeat beating along with her own.
Mac turned to look at Harm and saw he was getting misty-eyed.
"You okay, Sailor?" she asked, and he suddenly cleared his throat, blinking hard a few times to chase away the tears clouding his eyes.
Harm nodded. "Never better," he said. He lifted Mac's hand to his lips and kissed it.
"You're glowing, you know."
The appointment was over, and Harm was walking Mac to her car. They'd come in their civilian clothes because they'd both taken the morning off and had plenty of time to go home and get dressed.
Mac turned around, rolling her eyes. "I bet you say that to all the pregnant girls."
"Lucky for you, you're the only pregnant girl I know," Harm bent down and kissed her.
"Do you want one?" Mac held up the envelope that held the ultrasound pictures.
"Not right now, you keep them safe for now," Harm said. "I'll get one when I come over tonight. Which is still happening, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "As long as you're down."
Mac smiled at the surprised look Harm gave her. "You know I'm down for anything with you Mac.
"Oh I know," she said in a way that made Harm blush.
Mac looked at Harm. He'd insisted on doing his customary morning jog before meeting Mac for the appointment. Judging by his clothes he'd came straight from his jog to the hospital.
"You look like you could use a shower," she said. Harm smirked.
"Is that your version of a compliment?" he asked.
"No, not exactly," Mac eyed him wryly. "It was more of a proposition."
"Oh really?" Harm asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe meet me back at my place so we could…"
"Conserve water?"
Mac laughed. "Well, that's one way to put it."
"See you at your place, Marine," Harm said as he walked to his Lexus, which was parked a few spaces away from Mac's Corvette.
"I'll be expecting you there in 18 minutes and 26 seconds," she called after him. "Don't be late!"
"I promise, I'll be right on time."
0830 EST
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
"Tiner, where are Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb?"
Tiner looked up from his computer. "You gave both of them the morning off, sir."
The Admiral narrowed his eyes at the Petty Officer. "Are you sure, Tiner?"
"Yes sir, I have it right here," he said, showing the Admiral the paper that he signed, authorizing Harm and Mac to take leave for that morning.
"Huh," was all the Admiral said. "Thank you, Tiner."
"I could call them in sir, if you like."
The Admiral shook his head. "No Tiner, that won't be necessary."
Giving my two best lawyers the morning off on the same morning? I must be losing it, AJ thought as he walked into the bullpen.
Meanwhile, Carolyn Imes was stationed at Harriet's desk, as she usually was. But now, there was tension between them. Over the course of the last week, Carolyn became convinced that Harriet was keeping a secret for someone (Harm and Mac being those someones).
"Harriet, Mac's not gonna find out if you only tell me," Carolyn said.
Harriet looked up from her yogurt with wide eyes. "What are you talking about? Colonel Mackenzie didn't tell me anything."
Carolyn rolled her eyes. "Come on Harriet, you're the worst secret keeper."
"No I'm not!" she said hastily, "Not that there's any secret to be keeping."
"Sure Harriet, whatever you say."
As AJ walked through the bullpen, something occurred to him. Something that made him stop right in his tracks. Rabb and Mackenzie both knew better than to schedule off at the same time, without good reason. And they were rarely ever out of office at the same time unless they were working a case. Could they be…
Together?
He immediately scolded himself for thinking about such an absurd idea. The Colonel was fresh from her engagement with Brumby and Harm had just ended things with Renee. Not to mention they both seemed to be as scared of commitment as a dog was of a vacuum cleaner, but that was another issue entirely. But, regardless of the circumstances, the idea seemed...plausible, to say the least.
AJ found himself being more curious than he ever thought he was about two people's relationship, and he began scanning the bullpen in search of someone who may know something. His eyes soon landed on Harriet, and AJ knew she was his best bet at getting any information.
"Lieutenant Sims, may I have a word?"
Harriet nearly jumped out of her skin and choked on her yogurt. "Admiral," she said, sitting up in her chair. "Yes sir, of course."
AJ eyed Commander Imes, who was still standing at Harriet's desk as she usually did on mornings when she had nothing better to do.
"Commander Imes, can you...give us a moment?" he asked.
Carolyn looked at him, suddenly embarrassed. "Of course, sir. My apologies."
Watching Imes as she hurried back to her office, AJ turned back to Harriet, who was looking at him like a deer in the headlights.
"Lieutenant Sims, can I ask you something?"
Harriet nodded. "Yes sir. Sir, is this about the files-"
"No, Lieutenant. This isn't about files," the Admiral paused, not quite knowing how to phrase the next question. "Lieutenant...do you know what Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie may be up to?"
Harriet's eyes widened. "'Up to', sir? Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb?"
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Sir, I assure you I don't know why the Colonel and the Commander both decided to take leave this morning but I'm positive they're not doing anything together, sir."
The Admiral raised an eyebrow. "Do you have reason to suspect the Colonel and Commander may be together?"
Harriet quickly shook her head. "No sir, absolutely not!'
She gave a wane smile and the Admiral stood there pensively for a few moments. The air between them was thick enough to cut with a knife and Harriet watched the Admiral with bated breath. Harriet hoped more than anything that the Admiral wasn't going to question her further, because surely she'd end up spilling everything and then Mac would be so upset with her for betraying her trust. Carolyn was right, she was awful at keeping secrets-
"That'll be all, Harriet, thank you."
Harriet blinked at him, positive she had misheard him. "All, sir?"
The Admiral nodded. "Yep, thank you for your...insight Lieutenant."
"You're-you're welcome, sir."
As the Admiral walked back to his office, Harriet let out the breathe she'd been holding in since he'd stop to talk to her. That was a close one, she thought to hereslf as she leaned back in her chair. She picked up her yogurt and spoon and resumed eating her midmorning snack.
"So, what was that about?"
Harriet looked up at Carolyn, who was back at her desk, looking smug. Harriet narrowed her eyes at the other woman.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harriet asked.
Across the office, Gunny tapped on Tiner's desk. "Hey, Tiner, do you know why the Commander and the Colonel are out?"
Tiner shrugged. "No idea," he looked up at Gunny, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"What?"
"You're the second person to ask me about Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb this morning," Tiner explained, "The Admiral just asked me about them."
"Really, so he thinks it too?" Gunny asked.
Tiner's brow furrowed. "Thinks what?"
Gunny leaned down. "That Rabb and Mackenzie are...you know…" he whispered, gesturing to insinuate the rest of his statement.
"Gunny!" Tiner exclaimed, Gunny immediately shushed him.
"Hey, keep it down Tiner," he said. "It's not just me, the whole office is talking about it."
"The whole office?" Tiner asked. "You mean, Singer and maybe one other person?"
Gunny shook his head. "No, it's mostly Sims and Imes. They talk about it nearly every morning. They think they're being secretive but I overhear practically everything."
"Rabb and Mackenzie? Together? No," Tiner shook his head. "That's crazy," Gunny didn't say anything and Tiner's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you believe it?"
Gunny shrugged. "Let's just say I believe it could happen. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility."
"Really?"
"C'mon Tiner, you believe in aliens but you don't believe the Colonel and the Commander could be dating?"
Tiner leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine, I'll bet you fifty bucks they're not together and this is all a coincidence."
"Fine, you're on."
2130 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN
"Do you think I'm showing yet?"
Mac had her Marine Corps sweatshirt pulled up to expose her stomach and was examining herself in her bedroom mirror. Harm was sprawled out on her bed, also in his pajamas. He'd been spending so much time at Mac's place lately that he'd taken to leaving a bag of clothes there.
"What?" he asked, looking up from these ultrasound pictures from this morning.
She turned around to face him. "Do you think I'm showing yet?" she repeated.
Harm looked at her stomach, and honestly didn't see any noticeable difference. But then again, he didn't really spend too much time ogling Mac's stomach before she got pregnant, so he didn't really have a reference.
"I mean, maybe?" he said.
Mac sighed and turned back around to look at herself in the mirror. "Really? I can't tell either."
She placed a hand on her stomach, flexing and unflexing to see if a baby bump would somehow magically appear. She knew that to someone else, even Harm, her stomach may look the same, but she could've sworn something was there. Maybe her eyes were just playing tricks on her.
"Do you want to be showing?" Harm asked, raising an eyebrow.
Mac let her sweatshirt drop and walked over to Harm, sitting on the edge of her bed. She shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just excited I guess."
"Excited?" Harm reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind Mac's ear. "What happened to all the worrying you were doing last week?"
Mac reclined back, laying next to Harm. "Oh, I'm still worried. I just decided to focus on the good stuff instead of the bad."
"Don't tell me pregnancy has made you optimistic?" Harm asked her incredulously.
She swatted his arm. "I've always been optimistic."
Harm laughed. "Sure you have, Marine."
Mac sat up and folded her arms over her chest. "Remember when you were lost, almost dying, in the middle of the ocean, and I believed you were still alive to the point where I helped find you? It was only like two months ago? What would you call that?"
"Craziness," Harm answered teasingly. Mac scowled at him, and he amended his answer.
"Fine, it was optimism," he said, pulling her back down to lay beside him. "You're optimistic, Ninja Girl. Happy now?"
"Very," Mac said, kissing him on the cheek.
Harm pulled her in close. "You know, Mic really missed out."
"I'm glad," Mac said, resting her head on Harm's chest. "Because then we wouldn't be here."
Harm reached down to pick up one of the ultrasound pictures. He slowly traced his finger over the gray circle that was their baby. "Look at that," he said. "We made that, Mac."
Mac smiled. "I know. This is, what? The only thing we've been able to work on successfully together?"
"Outside of JAG, yeah," Harm replied with a laugh.
Mac was quiet for a moment, then looked up at Harm and said, before her courage failed her. "Harm? I love you."
A look of surprise crossed Harm's face, but he didn't hesitate to answer. "I love you too, Mac."
Harm was surprised to hear Mac laugh.
"What?" he asked. "What's so funny?"
Mac sighed. "Oh nothing. It's just that...I've been waiting to tell you that ever since the engagement party."
"The engagement party?" Harm looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Mac, I've been waiting to say that to you ever since you pulled that gun on me in the desert."