Disclaimer in part 1... I still don't own them, and I'm still not dating Harm.
bPart 8/b
"Hey Mac," Harm said as he walked into the bullpen one day about two months before the wedding. iHow will she act today? She's been so moody the last few months.../i
"Hey Harm, how's Jess?" she called out cheerily.
Harm let out a sigh of relief. iApparently today is going to be a good day... maybe a good day to ask them?/i "She's knee deep in fabric swatches and invitation catalogs. Hey will you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Anything Harm. Within reason!" she quickly added when she saw a sly look enter his eye.
"Be my best man?" he asked hesitantly.
Mac's eyes widened in surprise. "Harm are you sure you don't want to ask Keeter or Sturgis?"
"No, I want my best friend to stand up with me," he replied adamantly. "If you want to that is," he quickly amended.
"Well in that case your best friend would be honored," she replied simply. "I suppose this means I need to trade in the new dress I bought for the wedding for my dress uniform," she realized.
"Actually no," Harm said. "Jess decided she didn't want a military wedding. You can wear whatever you want."
"Oh! Ok." There was a lull in the conversation and then something occurred to Mac. "Hey, does this mean I get to plan the bachelor party?" she asked curiously.
"I guess... why?" he questioned suspiciously.
"Relax Harm," she laughed. "It won't be too painful, I promise. I won't make you dress in drag and take you bar hopping like some friends of mine did."
"Uh... on second thought..." Harm stuttered.
"Don't worry Harm! It's part of my duty as your best man, and you know how seriously I take my duties," she tossed over her shoulder as she went into her office.
"That's what scares me!" he muttered as he walked away.
b6 weeks later, 2 weeks until D-Day
At the Admiral's house
Harm and Jess' engagement party/b
"Has anyone seen my best man?" Harm asked
"How do you get away with calling her a man?" Sturgis asked.
"I think that's outweighed by the pleasure she takes in hearing a squid admit that a jarhead is best," he joked. "Now seriously, where's Mac?"
"I think I saw her go out the backdoor," Bud offered.
Harm stepped outside and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the twilight before walking forward. "Mac? Are you out here?"
"I'm over here Harm," she called.
Following her voice, he found her seated on a garden bench. "May I join you?" he asked quietly.
"Of course Harm...if I didn't want you here I wouldn't have let you know where I was." As soon as the words left her mouth, Mac wished she could take them back. iI can't let him know, can't let him see.../i she thought desperately.
"Is something wrong, Mac?" he finally asked. "You've been pretty quiet today."
"Nothing's wrong Harm," she replied a bit too quickly.
"Are you sure?" he prodded gently.
"I'm sure, it's just..."
"Just what Mac? You know you can tell me anything."
iAnything but this... I've got to throw him off!/i "It just hit me today Harm. You're getting married... this is for real."
He frowned slightly and asked, "And that bothers you?"
"No... I guess I just never thought I'd be celebrating your engagement." iTo someone else,/i she added silently.
He smiled briefly and said, "Life does have a way of surprising you."
"Yeah I guess. Harm, if you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?" she asked suddenly.
"The Admiral once gave me some good advice--"Don't look back." I did then and wished I hadn't. The fact is you can never change the past, you can only deal with how it effects the present."
"You're dropping chaff again Hammer... answer the question."
"I can't Sarah... please don't ask me to," he begged softly.
Their eyes held for a long moment before Mac looked away. "You'd better go in, I'm sure your bride is wondering why you're spending all evening in the garden with the best man."
"Are you coming Mac?" he asked as he stood to go in.
"I'll be there in a minute... please go," she requested.
After he left, Mac attempted to collect herself. iWell Mackenzie, you're three for three... you'd think you'd learn that he doesn't have feelings for you and stop begging him to hurt you... but no, you have to go put yourself on the line anytime it seems like he might be slipping away... come to think of it, why do I always choose times like this to talk to him? What did I expect him to do, tell me that he's madly in love with me and walk back into the house and say "I'm sorry, there won't be a wedding?"/i she asked derisively. iOk, so move on... you're a Marine, you can handle it./i Standing, she went in to join the party.
bPart 9
T-Minus 2 hours, 35 minutes/b
Harm tugged nervously at the bow tie, trying unsuccessfully to get it right. Answering the knock at his door, he stared in awe at his best man, looking gorgeous in a simple cornflower blue dress that fell to about mid calf. "Hey Mac," he finally said.
"Hey Sailor, this thing giving you problems?" she asked, gesturing to the tie he held loosely in his left hand.
"Oh yeah. Can you help me?" he asked hopefully.
"Sure," she said, taking it from him. They were quiet for a moment as she tied his tie. Stepping back when she was done, she smiled and said, "See? It's easy!"
Harm looked in the mirror and shook his head. "I worked on that thing for 20 minutes, and you come in here and are done in two? How's that?" he asked incredulously.
"Part of my marine training, Harm," she teased.
"Oh, you mean along with "How to plan a bachelor party to thoroughly embarrass your best friend 101?" he asked sardonically.
"Hey, it wasn't that bad... you got to see all your old buddies, right?"
"Oh yeah, it wasn't that bad... you just enticed them to spend the whole evening telling every embarrassing story they could remember! And of course you had to bring up when I fired the gun in the courtroom... not that the entire Navy hasn't heard that story," he concluded ruefully.
"It coulda been worse, Navy. I was thinking about putting you in Marine uniform and taking you out..."
"Ok, I take back everything I said about it! It was the best bachelor party anyone's ever thrown for me!" he said frantically.
"It's the only bachelor party anyone's ever thrown for you, smart aleck," she muttered.
"Of course," he said with a grin. "Now let's go we only have..."
"Two hours, 14 minutes till it starts," she finished for him and walked out of the apartment.
He followed, shaking his head. "Are you ever going to tell me how you do that?" he asked his standard question.
"Someday... when we're old and gray and you're so senile you'll forget it five minutes later," she replied cheekily.
b2 hours, 10 minutes later.../b
"How much longer Mac?" Harm whispered as he shifted his weight where he stood at the front of the church.
"3 minutes, 15 seconds... and stop figeting!" she whispered back.
Somehow Harm managed to stay still for the next 3 minutes, 4 seconds, and then it was time. The music started, the crowd stood, and Jess appeared at the end of the aisle on her father's arm. iThis is really happening!/i Mac realized, suddenly panicking. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths and steadied herself by the time Jess reached the front of the church.
After her father gave her away, the minister opened it prayer and gave a brief statement about the purpose of marriage. Then he got down to the real stuff.
"Do you Harmon take Jessica to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others forevermore?" he asked solemnly.
"I do."
"And do you Jessica take Harmon to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others forevermore?"
"I do."
"Having given their consent, I ask at this time if there is anyone present here who knows any reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony. If so, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Standing next to Harm, Mac suddenly had the urge to step forward and yell out "Because I'm in love with him!" at the top of her lungs... or at the very least run out of the church which would definitely disrupt things... Clenching her fists she reminded herself iThis is what he wants, you're happy for him, keep your mouth shut... don't say anything just don't say anything.../i Then the moment was over and the ceremony moved on.
"Harm, repeat after me. I Harmon take you Jessica..."
"I Harmon take you Jessica..."
"To be my wife."
"To be my wife."
"To have and to hold,"
"To have and to hold,"
"In sickness and in health,"
"In sickness and in health,"
"For richer or for poorer, for better or for worse,"
"For richer or for poorer, for better or for worse,"
"To love and to cherish forsaking all others,"
"To love and to cherish forsaking all others,"
"Until we are parted by death."
"Until we are parted by death."
"I Jessica take you Harmon to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health for richer or for poorer for better or worse, to love and to cherish; forsaking all others until we are parted by death."
"Do you have the ring?" he asked Harm. Harm turned to Mac who handed him the ring she'd been keeping since earlier that week.
"The wedding band is an outward symbol of the tie that binds a husband and wife together. It's form and enduring metal remind us of the eternity for which that bond is designed. Harm, place the ring on her left hand and repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed."
"With this ring I thee wed."
After Jessica had given Harm his ring, the minister said, "Harmon and Jessica, in so much as you have agreed to live together in matrimony and have promised your love for each other by these vows and the giving and receiving of rings, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Harm leaned forward and gently kissed Jess. When they broke apart, the minister announced, "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Harmon Rabb, Jr."
Harm and Jess walked out of the sanctuary, followed by their attendants. There was a reception to follow, but by this point Mac's mind was so blurry from the focus it was taking not to cry that she didn't take anything in. Somehow, she managed to fade into the woodwork when Jess threw the bouquet. She waved the happy couple on their way and then went home without saying another word to anyone.
AN: Honestly and truly, this ends up Mac and Harm shipper happy. I'm just taking a long, circuitous route to get there.
bPart 8/b
"Hey Mac," Harm said as he walked into the bullpen one day about two months before the wedding. iHow will she act today? She's been so moody the last few months.../i
"Hey Harm, how's Jess?" she called out cheerily.
Harm let out a sigh of relief. iApparently today is going to be a good day... maybe a good day to ask them?/i "She's knee deep in fabric swatches and invitation catalogs. Hey will you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Anything Harm. Within reason!" she quickly added when she saw a sly look enter his eye.
"Be my best man?" he asked hesitantly.
Mac's eyes widened in surprise. "Harm are you sure you don't want to ask Keeter or Sturgis?"
"No, I want my best friend to stand up with me," he replied adamantly. "If you want to that is," he quickly amended.
"Well in that case your best friend would be honored," she replied simply. "I suppose this means I need to trade in the new dress I bought for the wedding for my dress uniform," she realized.
"Actually no," Harm said. "Jess decided she didn't want a military wedding. You can wear whatever you want."
"Oh! Ok." There was a lull in the conversation and then something occurred to Mac. "Hey, does this mean I get to plan the bachelor party?" she asked curiously.
"I guess... why?" he questioned suspiciously.
"Relax Harm," she laughed. "It won't be too painful, I promise. I won't make you dress in drag and take you bar hopping like some friends of mine did."
"Uh... on second thought..." Harm stuttered.
"Don't worry Harm! It's part of my duty as your best man, and you know how seriously I take my duties," she tossed over her shoulder as she went into her office.
"That's what scares me!" he muttered as he walked away.
b6 weeks later, 2 weeks until D-Day
At the Admiral's house
Harm and Jess' engagement party/b
"Has anyone seen my best man?" Harm asked
"How do you get away with calling her a man?" Sturgis asked.
"I think that's outweighed by the pleasure she takes in hearing a squid admit that a jarhead is best," he joked. "Now seriously, where's Mac?"
"I think I saw her go out the backdoor," Bud offered.
Harm stepped outside and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the twilight before walking forward. "Mac? Are you out here?"
"I'm over here Harm," she called.
Following her voice, he found her seated on a garden bench. "May I join you?" he asked quietly.
"Of course Harm...if I didn't want you here I wouldn't have let you know where I was." As soon as the words left her mouth, Mac wished she could take them back. iI can't let him know, can't let him see.../i she thought desperately.
"Is something wrong, Mac?" he finally asked. "You've been pretty quiet today."
"Nothing's wrong Harm," she replied a bit too quickly.
"Are you sure?" he prodded gently.
"I'm sure, it's just..."
"Just what Mac? You know you can tell me anything."
iAnything but this... I've got to throw him off!/i "It just hit me today Harm. You're getting married... this is for real."
He frowned slightly and asked, "And that bothers you?"
"No... I guess I just never thought I'd be celebrating your engagement." iTo someone else,/i she added silently.
He smiled briefly and said, "Life does have a way of surprising you."
"Yeah I guess. Harm, if you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?" she asked suddenly.
"The Admiral once gave me some good advice--"Don't look back." I did then and wished I hadn't. The fact is you can never change the past, you can only deal with how it effects the present."
"You're dropping chaff again Hammer... answer the question."
"I can't Sarah... please don't ask me to," he begged softly.
Their eyes held for a long moment before Mac looked away. "You'd better go in, I'm sure your bride is wondering why you're spending all evening in the garden with the best man."
"Are you coming Mac?" he asked as he stood to go in.
"I'll be there in a minute... please go," she requested.
After he left, Mac attempted to collect herself. iWell Mackenzie, you're three for three... you'd think you'd learn that he doesn't have feelings for you and stop begging him to hurt you... but no, you have to go put yourself on the line anytime it seems like he might be slipping away... come to think of it, why do I always choose times like this to talk to him? What did I expect him to do, tell me that he's madly in love with me and walk back into the house and say "I'm sorry, there won't be a wedding?"/i she asked derisively. iOk, so move on... you're a Marine, you can handle it./i Standing, she went in to join the party.
bPart 9
T-Minus 2 hours, 35 minutes/b
Harm tugged nervously at the bow tie, trying unsuccessfully to get it right. Answering the knock at his door, he stared in awe at his best man, looking gorgeous in a simple cornflower blue dress that fell to about mid calf. "Hey Mac," he finally said.
"Hey Sailor, this thing giving you problems?" she asked, gesturing to the tie he held loosely in his left hand.
"Oh yeah. Can you help me?" he asked hopefully.
"Sure," she said, taking it from him. They were quiet for a moment as she tied his tie. Stepping back when she was done, she smiled and said, "See? It's easy!"
Harm looked in the mirror and shook his head. "I worked on that thing for 20 minutes, and you come in here and are done in two? How's that?" he asked incredulously.
"Part of my marine training, Harm," she teased.
"Oh, you mean along with "How to plan a bachelor party to thoroughly embarrass your best friend 101?" he asked sardonically.
"Hey, it wasn't that bad... you got to see all your old buddies, right?"
"Oh yeah, it wasn't that bad... you just enticed them to spend the whole evening telling every embarrassing story they could remember! And of course you had to bring up when I fired the gun in the courtroom... not that the entire Navy hasn't heard that story," he concluded ruefully.
"It coulda been worse, Navy. I was thinking about putting you in Marine uniform and taking you out..."
"Ok, I take back everything I said about it! It was the best bachelor party anyone's ever thrown for me!" he said frantically.
"It's the only bachelor party anyone's ever thrown for you, smart aleck," she muttered.
"Of course," he said with a grin. "Now let's go we only have..."
"Two hours, 14 minutes till it starts," she finished for him and walked out of the apartment.
He followed, shaking his head. "Are you ever going to tell me how you do that?" he asked his standard question.
"Someday... when we're old and gray and you're so senile you'll forget it five minutes later," she replied cheekily.
b2 hours, 10 minutes later.../b
"How much longer Mac?" Harm whispered as he shifted his weight where he stood at the front of the church.
"3 minutes, 15 seconds... and stop figeting!" she whispered back.
Somehow Harm managed to stay still for the next 3 minutes, 4 seconds, and then it was time. The music started, the crowd stood, and Jess appeared at the end of the aisle on her father's arm. iThis is really happening!/i Mac realized, suddenly panicking. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths and steadied herself by the time Jess reached the front of the church.
After her father gave her away, the minister opened it prayer and gave a brief statement about the purpose of marriage. Then he got down to the real stuff.
"Do you Harmon take Jessica to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others forevermore?" he asked solemnly.
"I do."
"And do you Jessica take Harmon to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others forevermore?"
"I do."
"Having given their consent, I ask at this time if there is anyone present here who knows any reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony. If so, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Standing next to Harm, Mac suddenly had the urge to step forward and yell out "Because I'm in love with him!" at the top of her lungs... or at the very least run out of the church which would definitely disrupt things... Clenching her fists she reminded herself iThis is what he wants, you're happy for him, keep your mouth shut... don't say anything just don't say anything.../i Then the moment was over and the ceremony moved on.
"Harm, repeat after me. I Harmon take you Jessica..."
"I Harmon take you Jessica..."
"To be my wife."
"To be my wife."
"To have and to hold,"
"To have and to hold,"
"In sickness and in health,"
"In sickness and in health,"
"For richer or for poorer, for better or for worse,"
"For richer or for poorer, for better or for worse,"
"To love and to cherish forsaking all others,"
"To love and to cherish forsaking all others,"
"Until we are parted by death."
"Until we are parted by death."
"I Jessica take you Harmon to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health for richer or for poorer for better or worse, to love and to cherish; forsaking all others until we are parted by death."
"Do you have the ring?" he asked Harm. Harm turned to Mac who handed him the ring she'd been keeping since earlier that week.
"The wedding band is an outward symbol of the tie that binds a husband and wife together. It's form and enduring metal remind us of the eternity for which that bond is designed. Harm, place the ring on her left hand and repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed."
"With this ring I thee wed."
After Jessica had given Harm his ring, the minister said, "Harmon and Jessica, in so much as you have agreed to live together in matrimony and have promised your love for each other by these vows and the giving and receiving of rings, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Harm leaned forward and gently kissed Jess. When they broke apart, the minister announced, "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Harmon Rabb, Jr."
Harm and Jess walked out of the sanctuary, followed by their attendants. There was a reception to follow, but by this point Mac's mind was so blurry from the focus it was taking not to cry that she didn't take anything in. Somehow, she managed to fade into the woodwork when Jess threw the bouquet. She waved the happy couple on their way and then went home without saying another word to anyone.
AN: Honestly and truly, this ends up Mac and Harm shipper happy. I'm just taking a long, circuitous route to get there.