Ch01: of "Bringing up babies with Harm": "Home thoughts on a September Sunday morning. "

A/N: AU. This is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. Mike. Characters borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.

A/N: AU: "they aren't mine: I'm just playing with them - apart from any fictional character created by myself". See Phase One of this story for the whole disclaimer A/N. Feel free to PM me if you spot any typos - my goal is 100% error-free. Feedback and comments are also welcome. Your opinions, critiques (and requests as PMs) are always helpful - and welcomed.

A/N: Honouring the 21st anniversary of the day that terrified America.

A/N: Publication date: 09-SEP-2022: summary: some early-September drabbling at the start of a well-merited vacation in Scotland.

A/N – link to Canon Episodes: to follow in Ch02 (if written) because I shall be plundering the JAG timelines if this story develops beyond this first chapter.

Characters from FFNET – H Rabb; and others to be revealed and listed in Ch02 (if written).

*updated 11-SEP-2022* thank you, everyone, for your kind messages on the death of my Queen.

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Sunday 11th September 2022, 08:45hrs EDT

Rabb family farm, Belleville, PA

She looked out across the paddock, where her teenage daughters were playing with the ageing labrador which had first arrived as a puppy, sleeping loyally and peacefully beneath Rosemary's crib all those years ago.

Rebecca, two years younger, was just as enthusiastic, as they turned to greet their older sister Mattie as she returned from the hen-house with the morning's crop of eggs. Rebecca had been an enthusiastic helper when Harm and mom had been organising Rosemary's 18th birthday celebrations earlier in the year.

LtCdr Mattie Rabb, USN, was on furlough from her posting as an FA-18 driver aboard one of the Pacific fleet CVN carriers. She had been able to arrive into Philadelphia on the Friday, ready for the Rabb family memorial Saturday trip out to Shanksville and the memorial in its peaceful countryside setting.

Her adoptive mother was glad that the Rabb family always attended Shanksville on the 10th day of every September. They preferred the greater peace and tranquillity of "the day before", walking amongst the memorials and then gathering at her second cousin's marker at the moment of her demise on United Flight 93 from Newark, at 10:03:11am, some 21 years earlier.

In 2022, an entire generation of Americans had reached adulthood, knowing "9/11" as merely an historical event listed in history books and in endlessly-replayed video recordings.

The death, announced two days earlier, of HM Queen Elizabeth II had added a transatlantic bond to commemorations. The UK was ramping up to mark a life well-lived - just as family members of the 9/11 families observed their losses by recounting happy memories.

By the Saturday evening, they were all safely back in the Belleville home. She had detailed Mattie to close up the hen-house whilst her younger daughters, working as a well-drilled team, assisted Mommy in the kitchen. The Rabb family farm had been extensively remodelled in the decade since Grams had passed away peacefully on a snowy Christmas night, but the warm kitchen remained as the heart of their home.

Despite the solemnity of the day - and the looming events on the 11th tomorrow - the Rabb family farmhouse was always warm and full of friendship and laughter and companionship and LOVE.

She had fallen asleep, as she did every night that they were in the same locale, spooned in her husband Harm's loving arms and with his body resting against her back.

As part of her night-time ritual - honed over many years now - she looked down at her simple gold wedding band and the Rabb family ring, then gave thanks. She was always grateful for the wonderful man who had entered her life with such a simple proposition - bringing a child into the world and providing it with two loving parents to support it, love it and nurture it through to adulthood.

Somehow, she and Harm had ended up with three children, including Mattie.

From the first night that they had spent together - with his slightly-nervous hands caressing her baby "bump" on the night that she agreed to their crazy scheme - the "spooned" position had always just felt so right. The necessary interruptions for her pregnancies were obvious exceptions to the decades-long sleeping arrangements - when she had simply turned to face him, resting her "bump" on Harm's supportive body.

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She walked back into the house in time for the first memorial moment at 08:46hrs, preparing a bowl of warm water to assist Mattie with cleaning the eggs before Sunday breakfast began.

On the TV, coverage from the main "Ground Zero" memorial in New York was ramping up, marking the first impact at 08:46:40am.

Her priority, as every year, was marking the moment of her cousin's death on UA93 - a death which she had observed (along with celebrating a life well-lived) annually since the attack in 2001.

She set to work preparing breakfast, which was traditionally served on a Sunday at 09:15 - the exact time when she and Harm had welcomed their first daughter into the world in early 2004.

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Her mind wandered back over the years, including the struggles which her life had involved in bringing Mattie into their family and dealing with a bitter, damaged 14-year-old who - thank the Lord - finally turned the corner. Mattie had blossomed into a fine human being and she was proud to count the flame-haired young woman as her daughter.

She thought back to that fateful morning in Harm's office in JAG HQ.

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Flashback:

She had received the notification, the previous night, that Rosemary's father had been killed in action. In truth, the conception had been a mistake, but she welcomed the event as a happy accident in a loving relationship. She was established in her career, well-respected as a JAG lawyer and could afford to "bring up baby" until Daddy came home to join his expanded family.

Only Daddy never came home...

She had attended his funeral in Arlington supported by Harm who, at that stage, was just a very good, long-term friend.

Then the dynamics of their friendship had shifted - significantly and irrevocably - that day in Falls Church when her "morning sickness" - at 1445hrs in the afternoon - had struck in full view of Judge Sebring and an entire courtroom!

She had been sitting second chair to Harm, who seamlessly held things together despite her obvious distress behind the witness podium.

She had then been obliged to confess the inescapable fact of her pregnancy to Harm, once they reached the sanctuary of her office. She had watched, as realisation dawned on his face before he had - almost inexplicably - blushed deep crimson as he thought through the implications. Then he had acted.

He had simply folded her in his arms, kissed the crown of her head and asked how he could help. It was just his nature and - had she not already been pregnant - she would have loved him for his kindness. However, she was already "with child", so throwing Harm down in the desk and making his day (and night, and week and probably his year!) was not an option.

Thus it was that, over the coming weeks - and crucially before she started to show - they had spent increasing amounts of time with each other.

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Harm's suggested solution had been breathtakingly bold and heartwarmingly simple.

Over dinner, some three weeks after her upset in Judge Sebring's Court, he had carefully and precisely placed his open hand across her gently-swelling waistline and uttered the words which would change their futures - and bind them together for the rest of their lives:

"Carolyn, why don't we bring this baby up together?"

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Final A/N 09-09-2022: this is, from the outset, written as a seriously AU version of the JAG storyline, but is anchored around September 11th. I was in the Bank of Ireland Ops Centre bunker, located to the South of Dublin, on that Tuesday afternoon (UK/IRL time) in 2001 when the Twin Towers were hit. The attacks cost Ireland almost 50 of its citizens, along with 87 UK citizens.

Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022.

Mike, UK – 09-09-2022

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End of Chapter 1 of "Bringing up babies with Harm"

Mike: Scotland, UK, 09-SEP-2022