Chapter Nineteen
A Whole New World

WEEK 14
SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2001

1830 EST
ROBERTS RESIDENCE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

"You ready, Marine?"

"As ready as you are, Sailor."

Harm pulled up to Bud and Harriet's home, on a very important mission with Mac as his wingwoman. They both knew that it was only a matter of time before Bud and Harriet used their status as expectant parents against them. And tonight was that night. Bud and Harriet were going out to dinner and they'd chosen Harm and Mac to babysit.

"It's for practice," they'd both said, though Harm and Mac figured it was for convenience's sake. Why go to all the trouble of hiring a babysitter when you could just ask two of your close friends for a favor?

Harm wouldn't have minded taking Mac out for a date that night, but he really didn't mind watching Little AJ either. It would be good practice. It would also help Harm ignore the nerves he felt with starting his new position at Annapolis. He didn't want to admit he was nervous, but he was. Chasing around a toddler for a couple of hours would the perfect distraction.

"You and AJ aren't going to gang up on me, aren't you?" Mac asked as they walked up the front steps.

"Gang up on you? What are you talking about?" Harm asked innocently. He pressed the doorbell.

Mac shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," her voice oozed with phony sweetness. "You can be somewhat of a toddler yourself at times."

"Me?" Harm gawked at her. "Immature? Mac, you realize you're talking to the father of your child."

"Yes, I'm completely aware of who I'm talking to."

Her tone was brisk, but she was smiling. Harm reached out and gently tweaked her arm. She looked beautiful, practically glowing in the setting sun. Harm wanted so badly to tell her how gorgeous she looked right then, but he knew if he did she would just roll her eyes and say he was lying.

She'd finally started to somewhat show that week, much to their excitement. Well, Harm was excited. Mac was dreading the extra weight. Her bump still wasn't very evident in her uniform, but it was there in civilian clothes. The fitted red t-shirt she was wearing that night showed it off perfectly. It was small, but there.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Mac finally asked.

Harm quickly snapped out of whatever spell she had cast him under. "Like what?" he asked, his smile only widening.

"In that wistful way," she explained. "It's that same look you have on your face when you're watching Tomcats land on a carrier."

"Oh." Until then, he wasn't aware he had a specific look reserved for watching planes land. "Well I wasn't thinking about flying, for your information."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Something a lot better," Harm answered as Bud opened the door.

"Sir! Ma'am! Sorry for the wait," Bud greeted. "Come on in."

Mac smiled. "It's fine Bud, we weren't waiting long," her and Harm stepped inside. "Also, we're out of uniform. It's 'Harm' and 'Mac' after hours," she added.

"Harm, Mac! How are you?" Harriet called as she walked down the stairs with Little AJ on her hip.

"See?" Harm said to Bud. "Your wife gets it."

"Gets what?" Harriet asked as she reached the bottom of the staircase. She was dressed to the nines in a midnight blue dress and heels. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a bun and she had red lipstick on.

Harm chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing."

"You look beautiful, Harriet," Mac said and Harriet beamed, her eyes traveling down to Mac's stomach. Her eyes widened at the sight of Mac's bump.

"Oh my goodness, you're showing?" Harriet practically squealed. She sat AJ down on and rushed over to Mac, her heels clicking against the hardwood.

"Yep," Mac smiled broadly. She still had some general nerves about becoming a mom but when it came down to it, Mac was over the moon about having a baby.

Harm felt a tiny hand tug on his jeans and he looked down. Little AJ looked up at Harm with big blue eyes and a wide grin. He held his arms up to Harm.

"Up!" he demanded eagerly.

"AJ, you're supposed to say 'Up, please," Bud corrected as Harm scooped the boy up, balancing him on his hip.

"Lay off him, Bud. The man knows what he wants," Harm grinned at the toddler in his arms.

"Up peas!" Little AJ said belatedly. Harm and Bud chuckled.

"'Peas'?" Harm asked, raising an amused eyebrow at Bud.

Bud smiled. "It's his version of 'please'."

Harm nodded. "I see," he smirked and Little AJ giggled, placing a hand on Harm's cheek. Harm's smirk dimmed.

"Why is his hand sticky?"

"I have no idea."

"Harriet was just telling me that parenthood can be sticky," Mac piped up. Harriet laughed.

"I can tell," Harm replied, gently prying Little AJ's sticky fingers from his cheek.

"We just got done eating dinner, so he just needs a bath, a bedtime story, and then bed," Harriet grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. "If he's still wide awake after the bath, just put a movie on. He'll fall right asleep."

"A movie, Harriet?" Bud asked, raising his eyebrows. "Are you sure? Him being in front of the TV right before bed isn't good-"

Harriet rolled her eyes lovingly. "Bud, it won't kill him. A TV isn't radioactive-"

"Actually-"

"Bud, honey, we're gonna miss our reservation," Harriet said, taking him by the hand and leading him towards the door. She looked over her shoulder at Harm and Mac. "Do you two have any questions?"

Harm and Mac exchanged glances. They both realized at the same time that they might be just a little bit in over their heads. Watching a two-year-old for a few hours couldn't be that hard? It had been a few months since they watched Little AJ, so they were a little rusty.

"Nope," Mac said, smiling. "We should be good to go."

Harm nodded in agreement. "Yep."

Bud and Harriet started making their way towards the door before their son noticed they were leaving. "His favorite movie right now is Aladdin," Harriet called as they headed out the door. "If you put that on, he'll forget we're even gone."

Little AJ did forget that his parents were gone, because he was so busy keeping his aunt and uncle on their toes. Bath time had been a success...until Mac had gone to go check her phone because she thought she'd heard it ring and Harm had his back turned for 'only one second, I swear!'

AJ slipped out of the tub in a flash, and Harm and Mac spent the ten minutes after that trying to wrangle him. Once he'd done a lap around the entire second foor, Little AJ was finally apprehended by Harm with a towel and tickled into submission by Mac.

That left AJ a little tired, and it left Harm and Mac with the realization that, one day, they'd have their own toddler to chase around. However, their future toddler was still growing in Mac's uterus and was only the size of a peach (Harm had informed Mac of that earlier), so they had a little bit to go before they had to worry about the terrible twos.

Mac was sitting on the sofa, waiting for Harm to get AJ into his pajamas so they could start the movie. She'd offered her help, but Harm insisted he could do it himself. Apparently he thought that, because Mac's womb had an 'occupied' sign on it now, she was incapable of lifting more than a finger to do anything.

She looked down at her bare feet. The amethyst nail polish she'd put on over a month ago had chipped almost into nonexistence. Mac wiggled her toes, trying to decide what color to paint them next.

Emerald would look nice, but she already had so much green in her life. Red would be good too, but she almost always painted her toes red. Whatever color she picked, she would have to make a decision soon, because she probably wouldn't be able to see her toes in a few weeks.

"You ready for the magic of Disney, Ninja Girl?"

Mac looked up and smiled. Harm strolled into the living room, carrying Little AJ, who was already dozing with his cheek squished against Harm's shoulder. They probably should put him to bed, but they wanted to be the cool godparents, so they decided to put Aladdin on anyway.

"You bet I am," she said, shifting into a more comfortable position. No one told her before she got pregnant (probably because she wasn't planning on getting pregnant) that a good sitting/lying position was hard to come by. Harm could attest to her tossing and turning in bed for a good twenty minutes before settling down for the night.

As soon as Harm sat AJ down, he seemed to spring back to life. Mac didn't mind, as long as they didn't have to chase him around the house again. AJ's head instantly swiveled back up to Harm.

"Blankie?" he asked.

Harm sighed. "Be right back," he said, turning on his heel

"Alright." Mac nodded, smiling at Harm being bossed around by a toddler. "I think he's talking about the green one with the dinosaurs on it," she called after him.

"I'm on it!"

She looked at Little AJ, who was looking at her with interest. "He's silly, isn't he?" she asked. She laughed out loud when Little AJ nodded.

"Baby!" he suddenly said.

"Huh?" Mac asked, having no clue what he was talking about. "Harm's not a baby, silly."

"Baby!" AJ repeated with more certainty, this time pointing at Mac's stomach to get his point across.

Mac looked down at herself in surprise. She was barely showing? How could he possibly know?

She smiled as Little AJ scooted closer to her. "Yeah," she said. "There's a baby in there," She gently took his hand and pressed it against her stomach. "See?"

Little AJ grinned. "Baby sister?"

Mac's smile faltered. It suddenly occurred to her that the last time Little AJ had been around a pregnant woman, it had been Harriet when she was pregnant with Sarah. She bit her lip, and sighed. How was she going to tactfully explain death to a two year old? She wasn't. She couldn't.

"No sweetie, this isn't your baby sister," Mac said, slipping her hands under Little AJ's arms and placing him on her lap. Doing so would've sent Harm into a helicopter dad tailspin had he witnessed it, because god forbid she lift anything

"But you and this baby are gonna be best friends, I promise."

Mac had been wondering, ever since she told Harriet, if Harriet resented her for getting pregnant. She wondered if Harriet ever resented Mac for being over-the-moon about being pregnant so soon after Harriet lost her own baby. Mac would understand completely if she was. It hadn't even been a year.

She couldn't imagine losing a child like that, or losing a child at all. It was something that kept her up at night. Hhaving someone you know go through it made the fear seem all the more real.

Even though she was in the second trimester now and the miscarriage rate had decreased signifigantly, she was still scared to death of something happening. Mac's fear was so bad that she refused to let herself think of any negative outcomes. If she thought of too many negative outcomes she would spend the next six months in her apartment.

The scare they had last month didn't help. Sure, it turned out she was just overreacting and spotting was completely normal, but it still scared the hell of her and rattled Harm. She was pretty sure that was why he'd gotten so protective recently.

After they got closure with Renee and had a good laugh about a pair of fuzzy handcuffs , Mac had woken up two hours later and sobbed in Harm's arms because she had been so scared. So damn scared.

It was crazy. She would lay down her life for something the size of a peach. Gladly lay down her life. There was no other explanation other than love. A kind of love Mac had never felt before.

"Alright. One dinosaur blanket coming in hot!"

Mac looked up just in time to see a neon green blob flying at her head. She managed to dodge it, but Little AJ didn't end up so lucky. His 'blankie' ended up draping over him, covering him up completely.

Harm and Mac stared for a moment, waiting for his reaction. He didn't do anything, he just sat there with the dinosaur blanket on top of him. It was as though someone had just turned out the lights.

"What is he doing?" Harm mouthed.

"I think he's hiding," Mac answered, keeping her voice barely a whisper.

Harm nodded, getting that twinkle in his eyes that let Mac know he was up to something.

"Hey Mac," he said, speaking normally. "Where did Little AJ go?"

Mac had to suppress a giggle before she answered. "I don't know Harm. He was just here a second ago."

Harm grinned at Mac. She let a snort slip.

"Hmm...I wonder….is he behind the sofa?" Harm asked, leaning over to actually check behind the sofa, for no reason other than dramatic effect. Mac rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe Harm had the nerve to say he wasn't a kid at heart.

"He's not there," Mac said.

"Could he be under the sofa?" Harm ducked down to check the two inches of space between the sofa and the floor. Mac heard Little AJ giggle under the blanket.

Mac shook her head. "Nope. I don't think he's there either."

"Where could he be?" Harm placed his hands on his hips, tapping his foot. "I wonder if he could be under this blanket!"

Harm pulled the blanket off Little AJ with a 'Boo!' that sent him into peels of laughter. Mac laughed too as Harm sat down. He pulled Little AJ onto his lap.

"You're good with kids," Mac observed. Harm looked up from the squirming toddler in his lap.

"Well, babysitting is a lot like TomCat flying," Harm said. Mac raised an eyebrow

"It's fun, requires incredible responsibility, and you have to be prepared for a multitude of different scenarios," he explained. Mac smirked.

"Oh really?" Mac was amused by the comparison. Out of all the things to compare childcare to, he chooses flying.

Harm shrugged. "I also made 200 dollars in one summer babysitting when I was seventeen. Summer before my senior year."

"You babysat?"

"Yeah. The neighborhood moms loved me," Harm said with a wink.

Mac snickered. "I'm sure they did."

By that point, Little AJ was bored of sappy adult conversation and wanted to get his godparents focused on what really mattered.

"Movie...peas!" he said. Harm and Mac laughed.

2330 EST
OUTSIDE THE ROBERTS' RESIDENCE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

"I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide-"

"Harm, the neighbors are gonna think you're drunk. Or crazy. Or both."

Babysititng had been a success, other than the bathtub incident, and now Harm and Mac were headed home. Harm took it upon himself to serenade Mac on their walk to his car.

"You have to admit, it's catchy," Harm said as they got into his Lexus.

He was right, it was catchy. Mac wasn't expecting to be as entertained by a kids' movie as she had been. Little AJ had fallen asleep about twenty minutes in, but Harm and Mac still kept the movie on for kicks and giggles, expecting to talk through the rest of it. They weren't anticipating actually becoming invested in the story of Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie.

"You know," Mac said once they were in the car. "I'm gonna ask Harriet where she got that dinosaur blanket. I wanna get one for the baby."

"Oh no," Harm groaned. "Don't tell me you're planning on turning our baby into a mini paleontologist."

Mac smiled. "You bet. Our kid's gonna know all about stegosauruses and velociraptors and spinosauruses and-"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Harm put his hands up in surrender. "My life's basically gonna be Jurassic Park."

"It won't be that bad," Mac said, rolling her eyes lovingly. "Quit being such a Drama Queen."

"Drama Queen? Drama Queen? First Stick Boy and now Drama Queen?"

Mac laughed, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. It was something she'd never thought about doing before they started dating, but now it was something she found herself doing all the time. It was just her way of being an annoyingly affectionate girlfriend.

"I said it with love," she said, cupping his cheek. "Do you wanna talk?"

"About dinosaurs?"

"No, about work."

Harm paused. "Mac, you look pretty tired, why don't we head home?"

"I'm perfectly awake," Mac retorted, even though she was tired. Bud and Harriet said they'd be home at ten, but they'd ended up staying out later. Mac offically out past her bedtime, which had been getting earlier and earlier as of late.

"Plus," she insisted. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'll answer it tomorrow."

"Oh my god!" Mac exclaimed, hitting Harm lightly on the arm. "You're deflecting!"

"I am not!"

"You've been deflecting all week," Mac said. "Every time I've asked you about Annapolis, you've either changed the subject or deflected. Do you not wanna go?"

Harm didn't answer.

"Is that your macho, stoic way of saying yes?" Mac asked wryly. She'd discovered that, with Harm, you got one of two things; he either didn't share his emotions at all, or shared them all at once.

"Yes."

Mac smiled, but her smile was quickly chased away by a yawn. "We'll miss you too," she said. "There's gonna be a lot more room in the office."

Harm frowned. "How so?" he was pretty sure the Admiral was going to give his office to Singer, so there shouldn't be any vacancies.

"Your huge ego is going to be gone," Mac said, opening her eyes to gauge his reaction.

Harm's mouth popped open. Mac snickered. "Do you wanna walk home?"

Mac shrugged, closing her eyes again. She tried her best to get in a comfortable position for the twenty minute nap she would squeeze in on the way home.

"No thanks. I'll just rent a magic carpet."