TALKING TO MOM

Author: LeE

Classification: Romance/ a little humor

e-mail: lee_81881@yahoo.com



JAG HQ
Friday, May 10 2002
1100 EST

The bullpen was busy as it always was right before the lunch hour. Harm had been sitting in his office all morning, trying to figure out what to buy his mother for Sunday. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Enter"

"Hey Harm"

"Hi Mac" he greeted her half-heartedly as she walked in and sat on a chair across from him.

"Harm? What's wrong with you?"

"Maaccc..." he whined. "Mom will be here tomorrow and I have no clue what to get for her"

"You're mom is coming this weekend?" she asked a little surprised.

"Well, it was a last minute thing. Frank is out of the country for the week, so she arranged a meeting with one of her art contacts from DC. She'll meet with him tomorrow afternoon and then she'll be with me the rest of the day and, of course, on Sunday"

"That's wonderful Harm," she said excitedly, and she really was happy for him. However, the wave of regret that ran across her features was not lost to him. He knew what she was thinking. She was thinking of her own mother. 'How could someone bear to hurt you that much, Sarah?' he thought to himself as he watched her fidget nervously.

"It is, Mac. I'm happy she'll be here this year. I haven't spent Mother's Day with her in a long time. Hey, do you think you could help me out this afternoon? You know, shopping?"

"Sure Harm. I'd love to, and well, I hope you enjoy the weekend with your mom. Say hi to her for me all right?"

"What? You don't want to see her? Mac, she'll kill me if she doesn't get to see you. God knows I drive her crazy talking about you and..." he stopped when he realized the words that were actually leaving his mouth and grinned sheepishly at her.

Mac blushed slightly. "Well, flyboy. I'd love to say hi to your mom in person. I mean, I've only met her once, and well..."

"Well, I'd love to say hi to you in person too, Mac!"

Harm jerked his head up as the familiar voice invaded his ears. "MOM!!" he exclaimed as he stood up rapidly and closed the distance between them, enveloping Trish in a huge bear hug. Soon, her feet were no longer on the ground and she laughed heartily at her son's antics.

"Harmon Rabb, Jr. put me down this instant" she said in her best "mom" tone. Her laughter gave her away, and Harm swirled her around a little before setting her back on her feet.

"Mom, I thought you wouldn't be here until tomorrow?" He said as he gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, well. You know, I figured it'd be nice to surprise you" She answered and patted his cheek.

"But mom, I'm the one who's supposed to surprise you!! It's Mother's Day!"

"Oh, darling. I haven't forgotten it's Mother's Day. Do you think I'd ever forget giving birth to YOU???!!" she laughed as she said this and looked over at Mac, who was trying hard to suppress her laughter. Harm simply groaned as he realized what he was in for. 'Please, mom. Don't start' he thought.

Trish rolled her eyes as she heard Harm groan his disapproval of her comment. She ignored him and walked straight towards Mac, and surprised both Harm and Mac, when she gave Mac a warm hug.

"How are you, Mac?"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Burnett. How was your flight?"

"Oh, please. The flight was absolutely horrendous, and you young lady, need to start calling me Trish....or Mom!" she said with a mischievous grin and turned to wink at Harm, who was red-faced and shrinking of embarrassment.

"Oh, lighten up Son. There's lots more where that one came from" she said and laughed.

"Uh, mom. Do you want me to take you to lunch or something?" 'I have to get out of here while I still have some pride left' he thought as he nervously shifted his weight from one leg to another.

"Well, actually, since I'm sure you haven't bought me a gift yet, I'll give you this afternoon to get your shopping done" she said happily and gave Harm a smile.

"Mom, you sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself. You weren't supposed to know that"

"Harmon, you're my flesh and bone. When will you learn that I can see right through you? It's this thing we women do, right Mac?" she said as she looked over at Mac, who was amused, to say the least, at the interaction between the pair in front of her.

Mac simply nodded, not knowing what to say to make this particular comment easier for Harm to digest.

"Well, I guess you two better get going on that last minute shopping" she looked at Mac with a knowing look. "He did ask you to help him, didn't he?"

"Uh, yeah"

Trish smiled. 'God, do I have work to do' she thought. 'These two are as blind as they come.'

"Well, don't let me keep you. I have the car waiting for me outside. When you're done shopping and hiding the gift in that enormous apartment of yours, let me know and we'll have dinner, all right?"

Harm's eyes widened. He had made plans with Mac for a pizza and a movie that night. Mac quickly looked at him and conveyed her understanding with her eyes. Trish, being the good instinctive mother that she is, didn't miss the look between then. Knowing her son, and remembering all the things he'd told her about Mac, she caught on quickly.

"I'm sure the three of us will have a wonderful time. Do you want me to pick out a movie on my way over there?" she asked, her tone casual, as if it were every day that they did this.

"Uh, well....Mom?"

"Harmon, there you go again. Whatever happened to those public speaking courses you took at the Academy? I think I might need a written confirmation from the Admiral to convince myself you're actually a lawyer here. Does this happen often Mac?"

"Uh, well...you see..."

'Great, now I *know* what their problem is. Amazing!' Trish thought as she witnessed similar behavior from both of them. She decided to cut them some slack and continued on.

"Well, I'll take that as an 'it only happens outside the courtroom' type of reply"

"Well, you see mom, it's just that you caught me off guard because Mac and I had..."

"I know, I know, you had plans together tonight. If you want to be alone..." she said with a light tone and a smirk on her face.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Burn...I mean, Trish. I'd love for you to join us. I'm sure you have enough stories about Harm to last us all night"

"As a matter of fact, I do" she said and smiled at Mac. 'Finally, she's catching on' Trish thought, and for the first time she saw Mac smile fully at her. 'Wow what a beautiful smile. No wonder she has Harm wrapped around her finger'

Harm chose that moment to look at Mac and saw the same thing his mother had seen. That full sincere smile she offered was one of the most precious gifts he thanked God for every day. 'Wow, no wonder she has me wrapped around her finger' Harm thought and shared a knowing smile with his mother, whom he knew, was thinking the same thing.

Mac didn't catch the look between the two. She simply answered Trish's comment with a nod and another smile.

"Uh, Harm. I need to get some things from my office before we leave. Did you get everything squared away with the Admiral?"

"Yeah, we have the afternoon off. Go get your stuff, I'll meet you in you office in 10"

"All right." She turned towards Trish. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Trish"

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, dear" she said and smiled.

Mac nodded towards Harm and walked outside, only to be confronted with the 20 questions from Harriet.

"So?"

"So what, Harriet?"

"Did you two get along?"

"What do you mean?" Mac answered innocently

"Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about. You and the Commander's mother"

Mac smiled. "Is there another bet going on that Harm and I should know about?"

Harriet looked dumbfounded. "Uh, no ma'am. Well, not that I know of...I just wanted to..."

"Relax, Harriet. As a matter of fact, we do get along great. She loves to tease Harm as much as I do" she said and laughed.

"Well, that's great ma'am. You see, I'm having a picnic on Sunday; since Bud isn't here I didn't want to spend the day alone. I've already asked the Commander's mother to join us, and she said yes. I was hoping you could come too"

"I'd love to, Harriet. Is it for the whole office or just us?"

"Well, let's just say I invited everyone from the office that I consider friends" Harriet said, turning and fixing her eyes on Lt. Witch, who was just passing by. Mac followed her gaze and laughed when she realized whom Harriet was talking about.

"Well, I'd say it should be fun then"

"So you'll come?" Harriet said excitedly

"Of course, Harriet. I'll be there early to help you prepare everything" she said and smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me"

"Oh, sure ma'am. See you Sunday"

"See you, Harriet"

With that, Mac retreated to her office and got her things ready. 'Hmm, so I'm spending the rest of the day with Harmon Rabb Jr., alone!!! Oh, what a torture. I hope he doesn't decide to change into civvies. God knows every time I see him in those jeans...' she realized what she was doing and shook her head visibly. 'Things like this will get you admitted Marine' she thought, and went about collecting her things.