Chapter Twenty-Six
Prom 2.0

WEEK 19-PART THREE
OCTOBER 13TH, 2001

1845 EST
MARRIOT MARQUIS HOTEL
WASHINGTON DC

At first people were staring at Harm and Mac because they made such an attractive couple, but now they were staring because Harm and Mac had stopped dancing in the middle of the dance floor. They were gawking at Melinda, who was arm-in-arm with Colonel John Farrow.

Harm quickly steered Mac off the dance floor and away from the crowd. They made a beeline for a set of open french doors leading out of the ballroom. Outside there was a long veranda overlooking a courtyard. The night was cooler than average for early October, but it provided a good hiding space.

"You didn't tell me Farrow was Melinda's date," Harm, checking over his shoulder to make sure they were out of earshot from everyone else.

"I didn't know!" Mac hissed. From where she was standing, she could see a sliver of the inside through a window. She couldn't see Melinda and John. That made Mac even more nervous, as if they were going to suddenly pop up behind her like something out of a horror movie.

"Isn't Melinda married?"

Mac shrugged. "Yeah, kind of. She's married-ish."

"Married-ish?"

"From what I've heard, it's very complicated."

Harm looked over his shoulder at the party. If he craned his neck at a certain angle, he could see Farrow's profile. He looked back at Mac. "Does Melinda know about you and Farrow?"

"No, of course not," Mac snapped. "Me having an affair with my CO isn't exactly something I shout from the rooftops."

Harm sighed. He pursed his lips and looked back into the ballroom. "So, what do you wanna do?" he asked.

"Well, we can't exactly stay out here all night, can we?" Mac countered. Right on cue, a shiver went down her back.

"We could."

Mac scoffed, shivering again. She looked around at the veranda. Staying out there would be easy for Harm; his outfit had sleeves. "No offense Sailor, but that doesn't sound like a good idea."

"It doesn't?"

"Nope," Mac answered, feeling a flutter. "I think our child agrees with me."

Harm raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep," she looked down at her bump, "He has more sense than his father."

"He? How do you know our kid is a he?"

Mac shrugged. "It's just a feeling."

Harm rolled his eyes. "You and your feelings."

"You're just jealous," Mac said playfully. "You wish you had my intuition," she reached out and wrapped her arms around Harm's torso-partly for flirtation, but mostly for warmth.

"What does your intuition say about how to handle this situation?" he asked.

Mac looked up at him. "I think we should go in there and face them."

"You think?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "I haven't talked to John since the trial. The affair was ten years ago, Harm. It's all water under the bridge," Mac untangled herself from Harm and began to walk back inside.

"It's going to be awkward," Harm called after her.

"I'm a Marine," Mac replied over her shoulder. "We don't run from awkward."

Harm decided he wasn't going to let Mac face awkward all by herself, so he followed her back into the party. The warmth of indoors was welcoming enough to almost make both of them forget the uncomfortable interaction they were about to have.

Bud and Harriet had arrived by that point. Sturgis had also arrived, with Bobbi Latham as his date-something that surprised Harm almost as much as Melinda showing up with Farrow. He made a mental note to talk (and probably tease) Sturgis about that later. The CAG was also there, solidifying that night as one being full of surprises.

It didn't take Harm long to catch up to Mac. He figured that her feet were probably already bothering her, but he didn't want to bring it up-he liked to think he was getting better about hovering. Mac was a grown woman and knew her limits. Nonetheless, Harm would still offer to rub her feet later.

"Are you ready for this?" he murmured in Mac's ear as they got nearer to Melinda and John. They had slowed their pace significantly, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

Mac snorted. "You're acting like it was you who had the affair with John, not me."

"I am not."

"You are."

Melinda had her back turned to Harm and Mac but happened to turn around just in time to see them. John seemed too caught up with Melinda to be paying attention to anything else, which made Harm feel a little bit better. He always suspected that John still held a candle for Mac, even after all these years, but maybe Mac was right. Maybe it was all water under the bridge.

"Harm! Mac! There you are," Melinda said, smiling warmly at them. She clearly had no idea what she was in for, and Harm felt a little bad for her.

Farrow looked up, and immediately his eyes widened. Harm met his gaze and gave a rueful-version of his Flyboy grin.

"Mac," Farrow said with surprise, chuckling nervously.

It took all of one second for Melinda to catch on. Due to her husband's affair(s) she'd gotten very good at detecting when two people shared a romantic history. "Do you two know each other?" she asked slowly, looking between Mac and Farrow. Farrow cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes, Mac forced a smile, and Harm? Harm decided he was just going to sit back and watch.

He looked at Mac. Well Marine, he thought, you said you didn't run from awkward. This is definitely awkward.

"Yes, we do," Mac said. She had taken on the professional tone she often used with clients, a tone she used when she knew she had to tread lightly. "John and I served together in Okinawa about ten years ago."

Farrow made some kind of choking sound. Harm had to look down to hide his smirk.

"Oh really?" Melinda looked at John. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah," Farrow swallowed, "Mac and I have known each other for years. I didn't know you knew Mac, Melinda."

"Of course I know Mac, she's one of my patients."

It was then that Farrow looked down and noticed Mac's bump. Eyebrows shooting up, his gaze went from Mac, to Harm, to Melinda, then back to Mac.

"Oh. Oh," he cleared his throat. "I guess congratulations are in order."

Mac smiled, wrapping one arm around Harm's waist. "Thank you," she said, looking up at Harm lovingly. She gave him that coy expression that made him fall back in love with her every time he saw it.

"I didn't know you two were together."

Harm shrugged. "It was uh, kind of a recent decision."

Mac nodded in agreement. "Very recent."

"I see," Farrow said. He looked over his shoulder at the buffet table and then back down at his still-full champagne flute. He looked at Melinda and flashed a quick, wan smile. "I think I'm going to go get some more champagne."

"I'll come with you," Harm said before he could stop himself. Mac looked at him with alarm. He met her wide-eyed stare with an innocent look. "Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Water, seeing as that's the only thing I can drink."

"As you wish," Harm said as he began to walk after Farrow, who appeared to be purposely walking fast to get away from him. He looked over his shoulder and winked at Mac. In return, Mac gave him a pointed look that clearly said Don't fuck with anything.

"It really is a small world, isn't it?" Melinda mused, smiling after John.

Mac blinked. "Yeah..sure. It definitely is."

Should I tell her? Mac wondered to herself. We're friends, she has a right to know. Are we even friends though? Or am I just her patient? Is she only being nice to me because she's obligated to?

Instead of telling Melinda that Mac previously had an illicit affair with Melinda's date (when he was her CO, no less), Mac decided to take a more casual route. "You look good in my dress," she said, and it was true. Melinda looked gorgeous. Her hair was in a bun at the nape of her neck. The infamous lavender gown fit her, which was something Mac couldn't say for herself.

"Thank you," Melinda replied, nodding towards her. "You look good in the dress I picked out."

"You have good taste," Mac replied, blushing a little. She looked down at the shimmering gold skirt. She did look good. Damn good.

"It's so wild that you and John know each other," Melinda said. "I never would've guessed it."

Mac pursed her lips and nodded. "Yep, it's pretty wild," she clasped her hands in front of her and looked around the ballroom, and an awkward silence soon fell over them. Mac soon found Harm, who was talking with Farrow by the buffet table. She kept her eyes trained on him, trying to silently convince him to come back back to her. His charisma was needed to rescue this dead conversation.

"Oh my God," Melinda said suddenly.

Mac looked back at her. "What is it?" She followed Melinda's gaze, which was directed at the ballroom entrance.

Lt. Singer had just entered, with a very handsome blonde man on her arm. Singer didn't look too bad herself, and would probably be described as beautiful by someone who didn't know her personality. "Oh, do you know Lt. Singer?" Mac asked. Too bad.

"Is that who that is?" Melinda asked.

"Yeah…." she answered slowly, frowning. "So you don't know Singer?"

Melinda shook her head. "No, but I know who her date is."

"Who?"

"My ex-husband."

"I didn't know things were that serious between you and Mac," Farrow said.

"Well, we haven't been together long," Harm replied. He was more focused on the buffet table than he was on his conversation with John. His main concern wasn't so much him eating, but Mac eating. She mentioned she was hungry earlier, and Harm was eyeing a cupcake that had her name on it.

"What happened with her and Brumby? If you don't mind me asking."

"Things just didn't work out," Harm shrugged as he reached for a plate.

Farrow frowned. "Sorry to hear that."

"I'm not."

Harm looked up and saw that Melinda and Mac were standing in front of them. Mac looked fine, but Melinda looked a little flustered.

"John, do you want to dance?"

"Sure I-"

Before John could finish his sentence, he was being dragged off to the dance floor by Melinda. Harm watched them go with confusion "What was that about?" he asked, looking to Mac for some kind of explanation.

She looked over her shoulder and then leaned in close. "Do you see that guy who's with Singer?" she discreetly pointed Harm in the right direction.

He scanned the crowd and soon found Singer and her date. "Yeah."

"The guy is Melinda's husband. Or ex-husband. I'm not really sure. Like I said; it's complicated."

Harm's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Uh-huh."

"How did Singer find him?"

Mac shrugged. "I don't know. He works at the hospital, so maybe she found him there."

Harm wrinkled his nose. "How was Singer able to bag a surgeon?"

"Harm."

"You were thinking it too."

"I know, but you said it."

Mac's feet eventually ended up getting the best of her, so her and Harm ended up taking a break from dancing to sit down at one of the tables. Harm had gotten up to get Mac another plate when Keeter slipped into the seat beside her. Mac was looking in the other direction, and only saw a glimpse of a white suit jacket and gold cummerbund. Assuming it was Harm, she spoke as she turned around.

"I hope you got more mac and cheese-"

Mac stopped mid-sentence when she found herself face to face with Keeter instead of Harm. Keeter grinned. "Not who you were expecting huh?" he asked smugly.

"No."

"I don't have any macaroni, will you hold that against me?"

Mac thought it over for a few moments, "No," she answered.

Keeter smirked and looked around the room, survey the people milling about. "So, where's your honeybun?"

"Harm?" Mac smiled at the idea of Harm being her 'honeybun.' "He's getting me another plate," she said. "You don't have a date?" Mac looked around to see if there was some beautiful woman ten years younger than her lingering about that she hadn't noticed before.

"Nah," Keeter shrugged. "I decided to go stag for this one."

"That's-"

"Surprising?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded. She didn't know Keeter that well, but the two of them automatically had rapport due to their shared closeness with Harm. Keeter, being Harm's best friend, felt the need to be friends with Mac, and Mac, being Harm's significant other, felt the need to be friends with Keeter.

"So, how's pregnancy treating you?" Keeter asked, to which Mac laughed.

"It's treating me fine," she responded dryly. "Once you take away the fatigue, bloating, dizziness, and overall discomfort. Other than that, I've never been better."

Keeter smirked. "That bad, huh?"

"Pregnancy has a lot of perks, believe me."

"I bet."

Mac shook her head. "You don't even know the half of it," she told him.

Keeter chuckled. He knew since meeting her in Iran that Mac was something else, and tonight only confirmed that theory further. Harm really went out of his league for her, he thought, He better hold on to her.

"You know," he said, a teasing glint in his eyes. "It's my duty as Harm's best friend to tell you that, if you hurt him, I'll have to kick your ass."

Mac arched an eyebrow. "Are you threatening a pregnant woman?"

"I'd wait until after the baby was born, I'm not a monster."

She smirked. "Glad to see you're so protective of your friends."

Keeter shrugged. "I try my best."

"I hate to break it to you, but I would definitely win that fight. Pregnant or not."

Harm was at the buffet table, loading up another plate of mac and cheese for Mac (he'd have to tell her that pun later), when he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder, causing him to almost drop the plate.

"So, when were you gonna tell me you're going to be a father?"

Harm recognized the voice immediately, but he looked over his shoulder to confirm his suspicions. He met the raised eyebrows of Admiral Boone. "Well sir, I was going to get around to it," he admitted, feeling a little sheepish. "But uh, I've been busy."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, we got a lot to do before the baby comes."

Boone smiled. "You and Colonel Mackenzie do know what fraternization rules are, right?"

If it was anyone other than Boone, Harm would've been offended. But Boone was the Boone, and Harm knew that his personality had an...acquired taste. He was one of those types of people that had a take-it-or-leave-it personality and Harm had gotten used to it over the years.

"We were making up for lost time," he explained. He hoped that would be the end of Boone's unsavory comments; he really didn't want to have to defend Mac's honor at a ball of all places.

"I see," Boone said. "Do you two know the gender yet?"

Harm shook his head. "No, we wanted it to be a surprise."

Actually, at first, only Harm had wanted it to be a surprise. Mac liked to go into any situation with a plan, so she had wanted to find out. But Harm was able to convince her to let it be a surprise. "Wouldn't it be fun not to plan for something for once?" he'd asked, and by some miracle Mac agreed.

"Do either of you have a preference?"

Again, Harm shook his head. "No. We don't care as long as they're healthy," he knew it was a generic answer, but it was true. They didn't really care about the gender. Some people had assumed that Harm wanted a boy as some archaic way of 'carrying on the family name', but in all honesty he could care less. The whole namesake mentality was a little overrated in his opinion and as for flying-there was no rule saying a girl couldn't be a pilot.

"How does it feel to finally be settling down?"

Harm shrugged. "I'm not quite sure yet, sir. I'll have to get back to you."

"I'd be careful if I were you."

"Huh?"

Harm was willing to put up with some light teasing from Boone, but he would draw the line at him bringing up Mac. Even if he was Boone. He sighed, supposing he would have to defend Mac's honor after all.

Boone gestured in the direction of Harm and Mac's table. Harm looked over his shoulder and saw Keeter was now sitting next to Mac. The two were talking, and it was obvious they were enjoying each other's company.

Harm turned back to look at Boone with a dry expression. "Keeter?" he asked in disbelief. "Keeter's my best friend, he would never. Plus, Mac's too smart to fall for a guy like him."

"She fell for you, didn't she?"

Boone chuckled as he watched Harm leave for Mac and Keeter's table. He knew Harm was a little too old to be teased, but he couldn't help it; Harm was still so gullible.

AJ was standing a few feet away, and had overheard the conversation between Harm and Boone. He'd done a good job at pretending to not eavesdrop by acting way too invested in the cheese arrangement on a tray. He'd tried to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes a few times. He didn't like Admiral Boone. There was something about him that just always rubbed AJ the wrong way.

"Doesn't this make you feel old?" Boone asked, turning back to look at AJ.

AJ, who had no idea Boone knew he was there, froze with a cube of mozzarella halfway to his mouth. He shrugged. "I don't know, a lot of things make me feel old these days."

"Look at all these kids running around like it's prom."

"They're not kids, they're in their thirties."

"You know what I mean."

AJ just shrugged and ate his mozzarella cube.

"Glad to see you two are getting along."

Mac and Keeter looked up to see Harm had finally returned with Mac's plate of macaroni. He sat down on the other side of Mac and slid the plate towards her.

"It's not our fault that we're both so naturally charming," Keeter said with a shrug, and Mac giggled. Harm, however, frowned.

"Harm," Mac looked at him incredulously. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Who said anything about jealousy?" he asked innocently.

Mac rolled her eyes. "Am I not allowed to talk to men now that I'm with you? Am I your property now?" she looked at Harm with raised eyebrows. "You're acting like Mic

"What? No, Mac, of course not! It's just-" Harm looked at Keeter for some assistance. However, Keeter just shrugged and grinned.

"I think I'm gonna side with the pregnant lady on this one," he told Harm.

Harriet sat her clutch down on the bathroom counter to touch up her makeup. The bathroom was nice-the whole hotel was nice, and Harriet couldn't help but feel like she didn't belong there. Even though she came from money, she left that lifestyle behind when she joined the military. This ball reminded her of the upscale events she was forced to go to when she was a little girl-where her dress was always itchy and her mother always had way too much champagne.

Harriet unzipped her clutch and was about to pull out her lipstick when she heard a sniffle and stifled sob behind her. She frowned, looking over her shoulder. No one was there, but Harriet noticed one of the stall doors was shut.

Someone was crying in the bathroom.

Should I check on her? Harriet wondered to herself. She knew from her experiences in high school and college that every time you went into the ladies room, there was a chance someone would be in there crying. The chances were especially high if you were at a party. Harriet recalled multiple instances where girls-some of whom she didn't even know-cried on her shoulder about a boyfriend or an ex-best friend or some kind of family issue. She was a sorority girl in college. She'd heard it all.

She wasn't expecting to have anyone cry on her shoulder at a military ball, but there was a first time for everything. Gingerly, Harriet knocked on the stall door. "Hi, are you okay?" she asked gently.

There was a loud sniffle. "Yes, I'm-I'm fine. I'm okay."

Harriet's brow furrowed. She recognized the voice, but she couldn't pin who it belonged to. It wasn't Mac, it certainly wasn't Singer, and those were the only two women she really knew other than the other daycare moms, who had no reason to be there.

Out of a general concern rooted in female solidarity, Harriet bent over to peek under the stall to see if she knew who was crying her eyes out in the bathroom stall of one of the nicest hotels in DC. She wasn't looking to be creepy; she was just trying to see if she recognized the pair of shoes or skirt color.

From Harriet's vantage point, she could see a pair of silver heels and the end of a lavender skirt. When she realized who it was, Harriet couldn't hold back her gasp. "Dr. Gardner?"

"Yes, it's me. Who are you?"

"It's um, it's Harriet-Lieutenant Sims," Harriet answered, a little offended that Dr. Gardner didn't recognize her, especially after they spent the entire afternoon helping Mac get ready. Then again, voices were hard to recognize, and Melinda was in quite a state, so Harriet could forgive here.

"Oh...Hi, Harriet."

"Hi, Dr. Gardner."

"You can call me Melinda. You're listening to me cry through a bathroom stall, you can call me Melinda."

"Okay…" Harriet nodded slowly. "Do you wanna come out? Then I won't have to listen to you cry through a stall door. You could cry to me...in person?"

"Are you sure? You don't mind?"

Harriet shook her head. "No. I was in a sorority in college. I have experience with this kind of stuff."

The stall door slowly opened and Melinda shuffled out, looking like an absolute mess. Her bun was halfway undone and her mascara and eye liner was smeared almost down to her mouth. It was quite a shock for Harriet to see her like that. She'd only met Melinda that afternoon, but she'd quickly gotten the impression that she was someone who had her life together.

Needless to say, the woman standing before Harriet did not look like she had her life together. But that was okay; even the most squared away people had their moments. Harriet knew that from experience.

"I'm so sorry," Melinda apologized as she wiped away a tear. Wiping away the tear caused her mascara to smear even more, but Harriet didn't say anything. "I'm usually not like this."

"That's okay. What happened?" Harriet immediately went to work, grabbing a wad of paper towels and digging around and her bag to see if she remembered her makeup wipes-it didn't look like Melinda's makeup would be salvageable.

"Do you really want to know? Because it's kind of a lot."

Harriet began to gently dab at the mascara under Melinda's eyes. "I'm all ears."