Chapter Twelve
Naps, Divorce, and Ex-Girlfriends, oh my!
WEEK 9-PART TWO
AUGUST 5TH, 2001
1605 EST
DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
STERLING, VIRGINIA
"I almost didn't recognize you. Most of the time when I see you in airports you're in uniform."
Mac dropped her bag and kissed Harm on the lips, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Whoa," he said. "I didn't think you were one for PDA."
She smiled. "I missed you, that's all."
"I missed you too," Harm replied, holding her close to him "How was it?"
"I got to see Lylyanna. And I got this back," Mac pulled a worn, folded piece of paper from her pocket and held it up.
"A souvenir? Nice," Harm took the paper and unfolded it. It was a crayon drawing of a Mac holding a machine gun. The paper had a chunk missing out of the top, but overall it was in pretty good condition.
"Did Lylyanna draw this?" he asked. Mac nodded.
Harm smirked. "It's...interesting."
"I know, right? It looks just like me."
They were halfway back to Mac's apartment when Mac finally told him.
"I gave Lylyanna my medal."
She had her head propped up on her elbow, leaning against the passenger side window. Usually, thanks to her internal clock, jet lag never really bothered her. Usually. This time however, Mac feltl like all of her energy had been drained out of her. She was exhausted. Thanks pregnancy, she thought ruefully.
"You did?" he asked. Mac turned to look at him, trying to keep her eyes open.
"Yeah," she said. "I figured she deserved it more than I did, you know?"
Harm nodded. A few more moments of silence passed between them before Harm spoke again. "So, uh, how is working-through-the-guilt, going?"
"Um, I think it's officially worked-through," Mac said. She stifled a yawn.
Harm reached over and gave her hand a squeeze before merging onto the exit ramp.
"That's good. Are you tired?"
Mac nodded, yawning. "Extremely. How does a nap sound when we get back to my place?"
"A nap?"
"Something wrong with a nap, Sailor?" Mac asked dryly.
"I wasn't disagreeing," Harm said innocently. "I have the Article 32 hearing again
Admiral Danaco tomorrow and I could use some rest."
"How is that going?"
"It's...going," Harm paused. "But it's nothing I can't handle."
Mac didn't respond. Harm glanced over to see she was asleep. He smirked and shook his head.
"It's good to have you home, Marine."
THREE HOURS LATER
1900 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN
Mac sighed and opened her eyes. The sun was going down outside her window. Harm was asleep beside her, his head half buried in a pillow, snoring softly. Mac smirked to herself. He sleeps like the dead, she thought. She glanced down at her stomach. I hope our kid sleeps as well as he does.
Harm possessed the uncanny ability to be able to sleep well wherever he was. Carrier, submarine, desert, woods, wherever. He could sleep. Mac, on the other hand, was always a light sleeper. She was lucky to get a good rest in her own bed. The small motel room she'd gotten in Aceh wasn't five-star to say the least, and she slept a grand total of six hours between the two nights she spent there.
Though it was still kind of early, Mac figured it wouldn't hurt, so she told Lylyana she was pregnant. She'd been nervous to tell her, because she was the first person who knew outside of Harm and Mac, but she didn't regret it. The way Lylyanna's eyes lit up when Mac told her was enough to make Mac's heart burst. Her excitement made Mac more excited. She was having a baby.
She turned onto her side, watching Harm as he slept. Mac always thought watching someone sleep was corny and only happened in the movies, yet here she was. She knew harm would kill her for thinking it, but he was cute when he slept.
"Are you watching me?" Harm murmured without opening his eyes.
Mac's eyes widened and she blushed. "How did you know?"
Harm opened his eyes. "You're not the only one with spidey senses," he said. He propped his head up on his elbow and placed his other hand on Mac's hip.
"You know, you're gonna kill me for saying this, but you're cute when you sleep," she said. Harm raised his eyebrows.
"Am I not cute all the time?" he asked. Mac laughed.
"Only when you're not infuriating."
"Which isn't often."
"If you say so," Mac turned onto her back, placing one hand on her stomach. "You know," she said. "I was thinking, what if we just don't tell anyone I'm pregnant?" Lylyanna technically didn't count, because she didn't really know Lylyanna.
"Huh?" Harm looked at her incredulously.
"What if we just didn't say anything about it?"
"Mac, uh, don't you think things would become a little...noticeable after a while?" Harm was unable to tell if she was joking or not."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said. She reached up to run her fingers through Harm's dark hair. "I like this being our little secret though."
"Me too, but even the most top secret cases become public knowledge eventually."
He bent down and kissed her. Their lips lingered together for a few moments until the moment was ruined by Harm's stomach growling.
"Uhh..do you want some dinner?" he asked, looking sheepish. Mac giggled and nodded. She didn't notice until recently just how...awkward Harm could be sometimes. Like him sleeping, it was cute.
Harm climbed out of her bed. "Great. I'll whip something up."
Mac sat up as he left. "Harm, you realize we're not in your apartment, right?"
"Yeah." he paused. "Why?"
"You're not exactly going to be able to whip up a three course meal with the stuff I have in my pantry."
"Do you at least have the ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" he asked.
"Of course, I'm not a monster."
Harm grinned and disappeared to work his magic in her kitchen. Mac reclined back in her bed, stretching out her legs to take advantage of the extra space. She folded her arms behind her head and called out to him, "You know, having a housewife is nice."
"Very funny," Harm replied. "Did you know our baby's the size of a cherry this week?"
Mac wrinkled her nose. "Since when is fruit a unit of measurement?"
"I don't know. Chalk it up to one of the mysteries of pregnancy," Harm said as he spread some peanut butter on a slice of white bread. He was proud of Mac for at least having some basics in her pantry.
"How big is it going to be next week?"
"Umm...a strawberry, I think."
Mac groaned. "Harm, I'm gonna get fat," she whined. She could almost feel herself gaining weight by the second.
"You won't get fat, you'll get...more pregnant. There's a difference."
"Okay, how is there a difference-"
Mac was cut off by the sound of Harm's phone ringing. Harm heard it from the kitchen and started to go get it until Mac called out, "Don't worry, Harm. I got it."
Harm's eyes widened and he rushed back to Mac's bedroom. "Mac, let me get it. It might be-"
"Renee?" Mac said into the phone. Harm stopped in his tracks.
Shit, he thought.
Slowly, he walked towards the bedroom to eavesdrop on the conversation. Well, Mac would call it eavesdropping; Harm just thought of it as overhearing.
"Oh no, you don't have the wrong number, it's Mac...oh Harm's here. He just can't come to the phone right now…"
Harm walked into the bedroom. "Mac, give me the phone," he hissed.
Mac waved him off. "What did you need, Renee?...Oh, sure, they all should be in box in Harm's room...He can be over there in a little while-"
"Mac. Give. Me. The. Phone. Please."
She ignored him. "Oh, it's no problem. It's so nice that you're back in D.C...Okay….Alright, I'll tell him...Okay...Bye."
Mac hung up and grinned at Harm, who was glaring at her.
"What?" she asked innocently.
Harm shook his head. "If you weren't pregnant, I'd seriously consider killing you."
"You love me," Mac replied, laughing.
"I never said I didn't love you," Harm said, climbing onto the bed.
"Well that's good," Mac hummed as he sprawled out beside her.
"You know I always wanted a personal secretary to take my calls for me," Harm said, eyeing Mac smugly.
Mac's mouth dropped open and she swatted his arm. "I'm the mother of your child. Do not call me your secretary."
Harm smirked and pulled Mac closer to him. "I'm the father of your child, don't call me a housewife."
"If the shoe fits," Mac shrugged.
Harm looked at her for a moment before beginning to tickle her sides. Mac shrieked and tried to wiggle out of his arms, but that proved to be rather impossible.
"Harm stop! Harm, I'm gonna pee. I-I need to pee," Mac exclaimed through giggles. He finally relented and Mac wriggled away from him.
"Do you want me to go with you to see Renee?" she asked as she walked into her bathroom.
"Um, let me think...no. Absolutely not."
"Why not?"
"Because Mac, she's my ex."
"So? That doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"Friends? You want to be friends with Renee?" Harm couldn't hide his shock.
"I think extending an olive branch would be nice."
Harm sighed. A lot of unexpected things had occurred over the past few weeks, with Mac wanting to try and be friends with Renee being one of the more unexpected things.
"You know, Mac," he said. "I really admire you for trying to make amends with Renee but, do you really think it's necessary? I mean, she's not even living here now, she's in Minnesota with Cyrus the mortician."
There was no response, which struck Harm as odd. Mac always had a response for everything. They always had to get the last word in with each other. It was their thing.
"Mac?"
"Harm?"
Something in Mac's voice didn't sound right. "Mac, what's up?" he asked, sitting up.
"Harm-"
Harm stood up. "Mac, what's wrong?"
"I'm bleeding."
1940 EST
BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Melinda Gardner knew it was rude, but she couldn't help but drum her fingers on the counter as the nurse typed into the computer at a snail's pace. She respected nurses, she adored nurses, but this one was really trying her patience. Especially when Melinda had a patient with an emergency she had to attend to.
Finally, the nurse stopped typing and shook her head. "Nope, I don't see you in the system."
Melinda took a deep breath. Patience is a virtue, she told herself, take a deep breath, count to ten. All three of those lines were pieces of advice she'd received from her therapist back in Manhattan. Usually they were mantras for when her husband got under her skin, but Melinda found that they worked in a number of different situations.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I've been working here for over a month now, I should be in the system."
The nurse shook her head again. "No...I don't see you. I'm sorry. Are you sure you have the right hospital?"
"Yes-Yes I'm sure." I did my undergrad at Boston University and I went to med school at Johns Hopkins. I think I know my place of employment.
"Do you have a badge?"
"You see, I would, but I'm not on call tonight, so I left it at my house. I was out at dinner with my hus-with someone, so I don't have it on me at the moment. But I should be in the system-"
"You're not in the system."
Melinda peered over the side of the counter, catching a glimpse of the nurse's nametag. "What's your name? Joy? Joy you scrubbed in on one of my c-sections last week."
Joy narrowed her eyes, studying Melinda's face. "I scrub in on a lot of surgeries," she finally said. Melinda groaned.
"You probably don't recognize me. I had my hair in my scrub cap and I didn't have this dress on. I probably had on less makeup too-"
"You always have on makeup. The degree of makeup you have on never changes."
A handsome blonde man wearing a suit sidled up next to Melinda at the counter. Melinda looked away from Joy, and her eyes narrowed.
"I thought you liked it when I wore makeup, Nathan," she said.
The man, Nathan, sighed. "I liked living here before you decided to move here to come after me."
Joy smiled. "How are you doing tonight, Dr. Gardner?"
"I'm fine," Nathan and Melinda answered in unison. They glared at each other.
"See?" Melinda told Joy. "I'm Dr. Gardner."
"Nathan is Dr. Gardner," Joy corrected.
"I know that, but I'm Dr. Gardner too! I'm his wife-"
"In name only," Nathan replied. Melinda rolled her eyes.
Joy looked between the two of them. "Does she work here?" she asked Nathan, pointing her pen towards Melinda. Melinda scowled.
"Unfortunately," Nathan nodded.
Joy raised her eyebrows. "Is she your wife?"
Nathan nodded again. "Even more unfortunate, but yes."
"See?" Melinda forced a smile. "I do work here."
As Melinda and Nathan walked to the elevator, Melinda asked. "So, why are you here? Did our dinner give you the clarity to want to try and fix our marriage?"
"Hmm...let's see...no. I got paged for an emergency stent replacement."
"Well, I hope you think things over during surgery."
Nathan smiled. "I will. You know Mel, whenever I cut into a patient I pretend it's you I'm cutting into."
Melinda sighed, turning to look at him as the elevator doors closed. "So, what's the deal with you and Joy?"
"Huh?"
"Did you sleep with her too?"
Mac watched Dr. Gardner's face anxiously, trying to discern what was happening from her expression. Her head was spinning. Everything was fine, everything was so fine and now everything was upside down.
No, she told her firmly, everything's still fine. Everything still has to be fine.
Harm was still at the reception desk, begrudgingly filling out paperwork. Him not being there was making her more anxious. She needed him there with her incase...in case the news was bad.
"Everything look's good."
Mac looked at Doctor Gardner with wide eyes. "Good? Are-are you sure?"
"Yep," Doctor Gardner nodded. "Heartbeat's strong, everything looks good on the ultrasound," her smile dimmed when she saw Mac's brow furrowed with worry.
"What was the bleeding for, then?" she asked.
"Spotting is completely normal, especially in the first few weeks. Trust me, you're not having a miscarrige. Everything's perfectly fine."
Mac exhaled the breath she'd been holding since she looked down at her underwear in and saw a bloodstain.
"This is my fault, this is all my fault," she'd told Harm in the car, "I shouldn't have flown to Aceh, I should've just stayed here. Then maybe this wouldn't be happening. This is all my fault."
"Sarah, are you alright?"
She'd been taking her whole pregnancy for granted. Hell, she'd even regretted it a few times. Less than an hour ago she was complaining to Harm about how fat she was going to get. She deserved to have this scare, maybe she deserved to not even be a mother-
"Sarah?" Doctor Gardner repeated, waving a hand in front of her face. "You there?"
Mac blinked up at her. "Oh, yes, sorry. I'm just-well, everyone calls me 'Mac'. I'm not used to people calling me Sarah," she explained.
"Are you okay?" Doctor Gardner asked, eyeing her suspiciously. She was also wondering why Sarah went by 'Mac' when Sarah was such a pretty name, but that was a conversation for another time.
"Yep, I'm fine," Mac said. "My baby's fine, so I'm fine."
Mac finally gave herself the chance to calm down and let all her previous worries leave her. It was then that she noticed Dr. Gardner wasn't in normal hospital attire. She was dressed in a wine red cocktail dress and heels. Her hair was swept up in a bun and she had more makeup than she had on during their appointment the week before.
"Did I interrupt something?" Mac asked. Dr. Gardner raised an eyebrow. She looked down and appeared to suddenly remember how she was dressed.
"Oh! No, you actually saved me," she replied with a sigh.
"Were you on a date?" Mac asked before herself. She suddenly found herself more interested in the private life of her doctor than she ever thought she would be.
Dr. Gardner scoffed. "No. Well-yes. I was meeting with my semi-ex husband trying to repair my failing marriage."
Both of Mac's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, I'm-"
"No, I'm sorry for oversharing," Dr. Gardner replied hastily. "I shouldn't be talking about my divorce with my patients."
Mac studied her doctor for a moment. So, I'm not the only one whose life has been turned upside down recently, she thought, that's good to know.
"Believe me, I'm not one to judge," Mac said, once again speaking before she could stop herself. Maybe the relief that her and her baby were fine was giving her loose lips.
"You're not one to judge?" Dr. Gardner arched an eyebrow at her. "You're a Marine Lt. Colonel, I think you're pretty squared away."
"Squared away?" Mac snorted. "The night I got pregnant was also the night my engagement ended."
"Wow...so you and Commander Rabb-"
"Have only been together nine weeks, yeah," Mac finished, pursing her lips.
Dr. Gardner paused. "That's...incredibly interesting," she finally said.
Mac snorted. "Tell me about it"
Suddenly, Harm came rushing in, all 6'4 of him in a state of panic. All Mac did was blink and he was at her bedside, her hand in his.
"I'm sorry I got hung up at the reception desk. Um, please tell me-"
"Everything's fine," Dr. Gardner told him, and Harm's entire body relaxed. Mac smiled up at him and squeezed his hand.
"Take a few deep breaths, Sailor," she said.
Harm looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm trying to, Marine."
Dr. Gardner looked at the two of them. "Well, like I already told Mac-Colonel Mackenzie that spotting is completely normal, so if something like this happens again I wouldn't be alarmed. Your next check up is in two weeks, until then just monitor your caffeine intake and keep taking your prenatal vitamins. Do you travel a lot for work?"
Harm and Mac looked at each other. "Yes, I do," Mac answered slowly.
"Okay well, you might cut back on that as much as you can."
"I'll try."
Dr. Gardner smiled. "Okay, sounds great. You're free to go home," she began to leave, until Mac cleared her throat, "Thank you so much Dr. Gardner," she said.
"No problem. All in a day's work. And please, call me Melinda," Dr. Gardner-Melinda cleared her throat. "People who know about my divorce get to call me Melinda."
She left and Harm turned to look at Mac, who was now sitting up with her legs swung over the bed.
"Melinda? You two are on a first name basis?" he asked. His head was spinning from everything that had happened over the past hour.
Mac shrugged. "She's probably going to be delivering our baby, we may as well be comfortable with each other."
"I know but-you know about her divorce?"
Mac shrugged. "I'm not that hard to get to know," she said. "Usually the only person I'm prickly with is you."
Harm scowled. "Mac-"
"Let's go, Harm, you've kept Renee waiting for you in your apartment for the past hour, two mintues, and twenty six seconds."
Harm groaned. "Oh come on, Mac. Are you really still gonna make me go?"
"Yes, Harm," she insisted as she put on her jacket. "You need to go. It'll help you get closure"
"Closure?" Harm snorted as they got on the hospital elevator "I don't need closure."
"Don't worry, I'll be your wingwoman."
The elevator doors dinged shut. "My wingwoman?" Harm asked incredulously. "Mac, I already told you I don't want-"
"You need me there, Harm," she said, grinning. "I'm your alibi."
Right as the elevator doors were about to close, Melinda stepped in the entryway, causing the doors to pause.
"Commander Rabb," she said. "Was the nurse you had at the reception desk named Joy by any chance?"
Harm and Mac made it back to his apartment just in the nick of time. As they got off the elevator, they met Renee trying to get on it. She dressed to impress, as usual, and she was looking down at her phone. When the elevator door opened, she looked up and stepped back in surprise. They both smiled, while Harm's smile looked more like a grimace.
"Oh! So you finally decided to show up. After...what? Over an hour?" Renee's glance landed on Mac, and suddenly Mac began to wonder if this had been a good idea. "Hello, Mac," she greeted coolly.
"Hi Renee. It's good to see you," Mac said, smiling. Her smile dimmed when Renee didn't say anything in response.
"Look, uh, Renee, do you wanna stay a little bit longer?" Harm asked. "We could uh, talk?"
"Talk?" Renee exclaimed, causing both Harm and Mac to jump. "Harm, the last thing I want to do with you is talk. You know, that's all you do. You talk, you make all these promises, and guess what? You never keep them-"
"Renee-"
"You know what? Cyrus has never broken promise to me-"
"That's because you and Cyrus have been going out for all of ten seconds."
Mac watched the two of them, feeling as though she was watching a car crash happen in slow motion. Harm was very wrong, he definitely needed closure. The least Mac could do was keep them from killing each other.
"Renee, have you had dinner?" Mac asked. Harm turned to look at Mac like she had two heads.
Renee turned her sharp gaze to Mac. "No, for you information, I'm starving."
"Well then why don't you stay? I'm hungry, too. I'm sure Harm could fix us something," Mac said, looking at Harm pointedly. "Couldn't you, Harm?"
Harm sighed, looking at Mac, then to Renee, then back to Mac. He sighed again. "Sure, sure I could do that."
Renee pursed her lips and gave Mac a suspicious look before nodding. "Alright, but I'm only being nice because I leave in two days."
She promptly turned on her heel and marched back to Harm's apartment, with Harm and Mac watching her as she went.
"What are you planning?" Harm asked.
"Oh, nothing," Mac replied, blinking up at him innocently. "Just trying to help you bury the hatchet."
"Did you-did you just bat your eyelashes at me?"
"I'm utilizing my feminine wiles, Commander," Mac said over her shoulder as she strolled into his apartment.
Harm shook his head as he followed Mac into his apartment. "There's no hatchet to be buried, by the way," he muttered. Mac was going to be the death of him.