Mac watched her husband drive.

He was anxious and trying to hide it. Ever since they found out about the pregnancy, he had been the picture of tender protectiveness. But she knew him well enough to know he was scared and trying hard to be strong for her.

This OB-GYN appointment was terrifying him.

Mac couldn't really explain the contentment she felt. She knew this pregnancy was high risk. She knew they might not make it. But this little one had to be a fighter - just look at his parents. And somehow, knowing they had a baby - even if the worst came later, even if he became their angel baby - was enough for now. She'd had true love, both for her husband and her unborn baby, and that was more than many people had.

The morning she'd found out, she'd immediately fallen in love with the little person inside her. She could see Harm putting barriers up - protecting himself from falling in love with their baby only for something to happen. She gave him his space and prayed for their happy ending.

Harm pulled into the clinic and parked the SUV. She wished she could promise him that he'd get to hold his son or daughter, that he'd hold their hand on their first day of school. She reached over and took his hand. 'Harm.'

He turned to face her.

'It will be okay. We love each other and we love our baby, and that's more blessings than most people have. We will get through whatever comes.'

He lifted their joined hands and kissed her knuckles. 'I love you, Mac.' He squeezed her fingers and then let go. 'Let's do this, then.'

Harm sat by the bed and held her hand as she talked to her OB-GYN. The woman was sympathetic but professional, which she liked. This same woman six weeks earlier had told her about her worsening endo, and she'd been shipped off to the Middle East before she could follow up.

And in that time, her little miracle was growing.

'Okay, let's have a look here.' The doctor got out the ultrasound and moved the wand around her belly.

And suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a heartbeat filled the room.

Mac couldn't stop the tears. It was real. She turned to Harm, and she could see the sound had broken through all his fears and barriers. He was in awe.

'There's our little one. And everything looks good.' She kept moving the wand. 'You've got a bit of scarring, Mac. The main concern here is it will stop the uterus from stretching properly as baby grows. But we won't know until we get there.' She put the wand away and wiped the gel. 'So what I want you to do is come back every three weeks so we can monitor you. We can try and remove some of it later in the pregnancy if we get to that point. But you will need a c-section and probably earlier than ideal.'

Harm still had a death grip on her hand. 'What do we do now, Doc?'

'You try not to stress, rest a bit more than you generally would, and live your life.' The doctor smiled up from her notes. 'This little one may have picked the perfect little window to get settled in there. This is high-risk, and it's still early even for a lesser risk pregnancy, but he's got a good chance.'

Mac nodded. 'Thank you.'

'I can't stress this enough, Mac - try not to worry.'

She left the room and Mac turned to Harm. A hundred emotions were running across his face. Mac opened her arms and he folded her into his embrace. She felt his shoulders start to shake as all the fear of the last few weeks bubbled over and dissipated. She held him tightly, and whispered how much she loved him.

Harm pulled back so he could rest his forehead against hers. 'I'm sorry I've been distant the last few weeks. I just didn't know how I should be feeling about this.'

'I know.' She held his face and wiped the last trace of a tear with her thumb. 'And we still don't know for sure how this will go, but today was good news.'

He nodded. 'And I knew, if I let myself feel anything, I would love this baby so much it frightened me - and I could lose both him and you.'

'Oh, Harm.' She wrapped her arms around his neck. 'I'm sorry for putting you through this.'

He shook his head. 'I understand. I honestly do. I just couldn't let myself love him before knowing he had a fighting chance.'

She smiled. 'Because you don't know how to love halfway.' She pressed a kiss to his lips. 'This baby is going to be so lucky to have you as his daddy.'

She got dressed and Harm opened the door for her. She could see the weight had lifted off his shoulders. Oh, he would still worry, and so would she.

But there was a lot to be said for worrying less than before.