I welcome reviews. This story is taking on a life of its own and taking over my life! So, should I finish it in such detail? I'm starting to wonder if Harm and Mac's one month engagement is going to take me one month to write!
Chapter 4 Mission: New Ground
2310 ZULU

Home of Admiral AJ Chegwidden McLean, VA

Mac and Harm, dressed casually, sit next to each other on the couch. Meredith Cavanaugh sits in a wing chair talking as the Admiral walks between the sliding glass doors to the patio and the kitchen.

Admiral: Do you suppose something has happened to your mother and Frank, Harm?

Meredith: AJ, they aren't that late.

Mac: Just twelve minutes, sir.

Admiral: Should I take the steaks off the grill? Those grilled vegetable pizzas are a little more tolerant of extra time on the grill, but I don't want anyone asking me for a rare steak and only being able to give them medium.

Meredith: AJ, maybe you could turn down the grill. I think I hear a car now.

Admiral: I'm going to pull those steaks off. If they are here, I'll put them back on.

Meredith goes to the door and opens it.

Meredith: Well, here you are!

Trish: I'm sorry we were late. Frank had to rest and the time just got away from us.

Frank: AJ, This is for you. Thank you for inviting us. (hands him a bottle of wine).

AJ: Pinot grigio. You know the way to my heart. We're having red meat tonight, but I'll crack this for anyone who wants white.

Trish: I'll just have red with dinner, thanks anyway.

Frank: You heard the boss lady.

AJ: Come on in and sit down. I'm just going to put the steaks on. What is your preferred doneness?

Trish: Medium rare, AJ.

Frank: Cremate mine.

AJ: Meredith, I assume you want yours cooked medium?

Meredith: You always know best. Mac, Harm, and I were just discussing the wedding ceremony. I was boring them with the evolution of the Protestant wedding ceremony since the Reformation.

Harm: It wasn't boring. I'm just not sure I can "plight thee my troth". Maybe I should just type up something from pop music.

Admiral: You wouldn't dare.

Harm: Oh, I don't know, sir, I could probably do well if I limited myself to a theme, say Elvis music. I could say: Sarah, "I can't help falling in love with you," In fact, I'm a "hunka hunka burnin' love." Although "Wise men say, only fools rush in", You know, I'd drive through "Kentucky rain", To do this "My Way." So don't step on "My Blue Suede Shoes" And Let's make this "Jailhouse Rock". As soon as we get this ceremony over, We'll head on over to the "Heartbreak Hotel"

Trish: Boo, hiss! Harm, this is incredibly bad!

AJ: Did they require you to take literature courses at the Academy, Commander? Meredith, perhaps you could apply to teach a course or two at the Academy, if this is the caliber of literacy they are turning out these days. Besides, I thought you were going for a traditional ceremony. Commander, you've met Capt. Verdoni? Well, his daughter was married a few years ago and I went to the wedding. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but the vows were so pithy. They went something like this: Suzie, you make me happy. I want to make you happy too because I really, really, really love you. I like the way you wear your hair. I love the way you wear that red dress that you look so hot in. I can barely stand the heat when you get dressed up to go out. You share so much with me, like your car and your money. When I find a job, I'm going to share like that with you. That's how I show my love.

Harm: Well, things are different these days.

Admiral: Apparently not, because she divorced the guy six weeks after the wedding. I guess he wasn't so in love that he was working very hard at finding a job so he could share his care and his money.

Meredith: That's an exaggeration, AJ. I've had students who have written lovely vows.

Admiral: Stick with the "plighting your troths" or "pledging your faith". Mac could probably find a way to throw in a little Semper Fi, couldn't you Mac?

Mac: I think I'll stick to the script, Admiral.

Admiral: I'm going to grab those steaks, the grilled vegetable pizzas, and Rabb's grilled portabella, if you all want to get moving over to the table. Meredith, you can bring the salad in from the kitchen.

They all make their ways to the table.

Admiral sits at the head of the table.

Admiral: I'd like to propose a toast. During my tenure as a naval officer, I have observed innumerable attractions, flirtations, and affairs between those who have been under my command. A few of those have blossomed into true affairs of the heart, or "marriage of true minds" as Shakespeare wrote in his Sonnet 116. In fact, allow me to quote the entire sonnet, as I believe it sums up the nature of your relationship.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds, Admit impediments; love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring bark. Whose worth's unknown, although is highth be taken Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come, Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved. I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Because you have borne out to the edge of doom, a dozen times, may your love be "the ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken". To Sarah and Harmon. Cheers.

Everyone: Cheers.

Harm: Thank you sir, you even chose something that a pilot could understand, "ever-fixed marks" and "star to every wand'ring bark". Shakespeare had the navigational lingo down.

Admiral: British poetry is rife with the imagery of the sea, Commander.

Trish: I don't know. Do the British have a corner on the market in understanding? The "brief hours and weeks" before that bearing out "to the edge of doom"? (Pause) I apologize for being so maudlin. Times like this are melancholic for me. I am so disappointed that Harm's dad missed so much.

Frank: (quietly) We probably should eat before the food gets cold.

Meredith: Trish, can we take a little time tonight to discuss the rehearsal dinner here? I'd like to do anything I can to help you.

Trish: After supper, we can go over my list from the caterers.

Mac: Is there ever going to be an end to the lists?

Harm: Sure. Saturday night. I promise no paper.

Mac (under her breath): Harm. This probably isn't the place to discuss that.

Frank: That reminds me. I was talking with the Concierge at the hotel today. I wasn't sure if you had made reservations and he assured me that you had, but I took the liberty of upgrading you to Penthouse suite.

Harm: Frank-

Mac: That was very kind of you, Frank.. We thank you, don't we, Harm?

Frank: Don't worry, Harm. We won't be near you. All the rest of us are in the south wing of the hotel. You and Mac are in the east wing, so it's not as if you'll run into us if you run out for ice. I reserved a room for Mrs. Rabb, Bud and Harriet, one for each of the Russians, and for you, Admiral.

Admiral: I don't need a room.

Frank: Well, I didn't want anyone to be worried about his or her ability to drive home.

Admiral: Do you think I would drive drunk?

Frank: Oh, uh, well, probably not, Admiral. It's just that it will have been a long day.

Mac: Bud and Harriet will probably enjoy the night away. They'll be missing sleep again very soon.

Trish: I didn't want to be indelicate, but when is she due?

Mac: She's due in July.

Meredith: Oh, what a miracle it must be to carry life inside you!

Admiral: Well, Bud and Harriet have certainly been successful in that category. I will just be relieved when she delivers this baby, at full term, in a hospital, attended by competent physicians.

Mac: But Admiral, you were so good at delivering AJ! Even if you did utter the classic line, "Cover the medals". In fact, Harm and I thought we'd save time and just get you to deliver all of our kids, right there at JAG.

Harm: Yep, all six of them.

Admiral: Six? Six? Commander, you should have started on this mission right after that meeting in the Rose Garden.

Harm: I know. (smiles at Mac)

Mac smiles at Harm. (Is there anyone else in the room?)

24 March 2003 0900 ZULU

Senator Hotel Washington, DC

Trish: Frank, are you up already?

Frank: A man's got to get up pretty early in the morning to contend with Sarah Rabb.

Trish: It's four o'clock in the morning!

Frank: She's probably finished her first pot of coffee by now. Seriously, I want to get on the road by 4:30 to beat the traffic. I've got a good five- hour drive to the middle of nowhere and then back here. I'm sure that I'll be spent by the time I deal with that cantankerous old woman, so have a bottle of scotch ready for me when I get back.

Trish: Her bark is far worse than her bite.

Frank: Ever been locked in a moving vehicle for five hours with a pit bull?

Trish: You're exaggerating again.

Frank: You're right. She reserves her sarcasm just for me, the Imposter.

Trish: Oh, I've been on the receiving end of it.

Frank: When?

Trish: When I told her I was remarrying.

Frank: What were you supposed to do, wait forever?

Trish: She did. She told me that no man would take Harm's place. I told her that I agreed, but that there was room in my heart to love again, there was, and I have.

Frank: So, would you say that I'm a substitute?

Trish: No, I'd say that you're a completion. We've had more years together that I did with Harm. Our love has matured and has weathered storms. My relationship with Harm was passionate and wild, here today, gone tomorrow. Grab the passion while its here; tomorrow the Navy may call and you'll be gone. Is it a lesser love when it's dependable and constant? Is there anything wrong with a love that grows deep amidst the soil of the tedium of everyday life?

Frank: But it does sound - boring?

Trish: What's more awful than living eleven years wondering where someone is? Even when Harm told me that he'd been in Russia and with that other woman, I thought, "Did he think of me? Were his last thoughts of me? So many unanswered questions that I could romanticize, but I have to look at you and see you for what you are, my constant, unwavering rock that has never let me down.

Frank: Although I'm not good at much of anything other than business?

Tricia: You've been a model at loving a fragile woman and her headstrong son.

Frank: I think that this is just your pep talk for the berating I'll be taking from the other woman who has loved the Rabb men. I should be back for dinner. Make sure her room is ready for her.

Trish: Drive safely.

1430 ZULU

Rabb Farm Belleville, Pennsylvania

Frank drives into the lane. A wiry woman in her eighties stands in a denim dress on the front porch of a white clapboard single story farmhouse. She raises her hand in greeting.

Sarah: Well Frank, I see you found your way.

Frank: Well, Mrs. Rabb, the founders of Belleville certainly never saw a need to locate the town near anything resembling civilization.

Sarah: Time was we didn't need to be. Farm towns like ours were self- sufficient. A body lived and died with a whole town knowing his business. I guess people now like to hide in big cities.

Frank: Well, there are opportunities where there are people.

Sarah: Well, I guess my husband and my son with their wanderlust got to see lots of people.

Frank: Yes, they did. Look at your grandson and all the places he's been! He's had a wonderful career with the Navy.

Sarah: Yes, he has. I'm glad he's putting down some roots now. What do you think of this girl?

Frank: Oh, you haven't met her?

Sarah: No. For years, I've watched Harm's face light up when he talks about her. I take it that she's a looker?

Frank:. She's a beauty, but she has other charms to her credit. She's not the fluff type. She's more of a package deal, very bright, perceptive, and every bit Harm's equal.

Sarah: Ha! She'll need to be. Rabb women have to be hardy to keep up with the Rabb men who fly off chasing windmills while their women hold it all together at home.

Frank: I think Mac's chased a few windmills of her own, Mrs. Rabb.

Sarah: Yes, well, time's are changing, aren't they? Trish didn't want to come with you?

Frank: She would have, but she's taking care of some details for Mac and Harm. Can I get your bags and put them in the car?

Sarah: We're not taking the car.

Frank: What?

Sarah: I had some things that I wanted Harm to have, so I rented that trailer over there and hitched it to my pickup. We'll take the pickup and then when you bring me back next week, you can pick up your car.

Frank: What? I didn't know anything about moving stuff.

Sarah: What's the big deal? When I heard Harm bought a farm, I decided to give him some things that rightfully belong to him while he's setting up housekeeping.

They walk over toward the pick up with the trailer attached. Frank looks in.

Frank: Is there anything left in the house?

Sarah: Yes, I kept a small single bed and a few things. A person doesn't need much when she's my age. Age is the great values disseminator, Frank.. Why should Harm buy a bunch of furniture to fill up a house, only for me to have a house full of furniture, some of which has been in our family for several generations, and have nobody to sleep on in or sit on it?

Frank: Well, I guess we'll just head on.

Sarah: I'll get my pocketbook. (Locks the door).

Sarah: Well, good-bye, house. Don't let your roof blow off while I'm gone!

Frank: Do you have someone checking on the place?

Sarah: The son of a neighbor stops by and does little things for me. He helped me load the trailer. He's a nice kid, been in a little trouble. I think his parents have him work for me because I can tolerate bratty young men with no direction. They just need lots of hard physical work and a swift kick in the pants when they mess up. With those things and a little direction, they come out okay.

Frank: Maybe I should hire you to run our management trainee program.

Sarah: Ha! You probably have too many smart college boys who've never done an honest day's work in their lives, kind of like you were.

Frank: (to himself) I knew this conversation was going too well.

Sarah (not noticing his comment): How is the car business these days?

Frank: Well, not without its problems.

Sarah: Our new minister stopped by to see me yesterday and I told him you were a car salesman.

Frank: Mrs. Rabb, I'm not a car salesman. I'm an executive with Chrysler.

Sarah: And what does Chrysler do?

Frank: Well, we do many things.

Sarah: Primarily?

Frank: Well, we build automobiles.

Sarah: For what purpose?

Frank: Well, to sell them.

Sarah: Like I said, car salesman.

Frank helps her into the truck goes around and gets into a 1981 Ford pick up.

Frank: Still have the same truck, I see.

Sarah: It's been a good one.

Frank: You know, after this wedding, I'm going to make arrangements for you to have a new Dodge pickup, an automatic, with all the options on it, air conditioning, power windows and locks.

Sarah: A Dodge? I only drive Fords.

Frank: All right then, I can arrange for you to have a new Ford.

Sarah: Why would I want to do that? This pickup and I know each other. I don't want to learn where things are on a new truck.

Frank: Well, it was the thought that counts, I guess.

Sarah: Now, if you'll take a right at the County Road, I know a shortcut. It'll save us twenty minutes.

Frank: But how's the road? We're pulling quite a load.

Sarah: You want me to drive?

Frank: Just let me know where we turn.

Sarah: The gas tank is full. I packed us a lunch. No sense spending money eating in restaurants. Those interstate restaurants don't have home cooking anyway, just a bunch of frozen cardboard meals.

Frank: Let me know when you want to stop. You can doze off, if you're feeling tired.

Sarah: I do not rest until after lunch. We can just have a nice visit while you drive.

Frank: Whatever you say, Mrs. Rabb.

2000 ZULU

The pickup swerves and Frank jerks the steering wheel and brings the pickup to a stop on the side of the road.

Sarah: Did you fall asleep?

Frank: No, I think we just blew a tire. I'll go check..

Sarah starts to get out.

Frank: Mrs. Rabb, I think you should stay in. Traffic is moving too fast for you to be out here.

Sarah: I have to get out. You probably can't change a flat.

Frank: Of course, I can. Now where's the spare?

Sarah: Open your eyes, man. It's in the bed of the pickup.

Frank: Okay. Now this will take a few minutes.

Sarah: Don't you belong to the auto club?

Frank: No, do you?

Sarah: I can change my own flat. Why would I waste money on the Auto Club? That's why I figured you belonged.

A car pulls in behind them. A young man gets out and says, "Do you need some help?"

Frank: Well, we seem to have blown a tire.

Sarah: He doesn't know how to change a flat.

Frank: Mrs. Rabb, I do know how to change a flat. I was just preparing.

Man: Look, sir, why don't I help you? Ma'am, I'm traveling with my young son in a car seat. Would you mind sitting in the car with him in case he wakes up and starts to cry?

Sarah: That's the least I can do. I love children. We're on our way to my grandson's wedding. I hope he gives me some great-grandchildren soon.

Frank watches her as she walks away.

Frank: I can't thank you enough. I haven't changed a tire in forty years.

Man: Traveling with your mother-in-law?

Frank: Worse. My wife's mother-in-law.

Man: She's your mother?

Frank: No, she's my wife's first husband's mother. Her son was shot down in Vietnam.

Man: No wonder she likes you so much.

Frank: I'm going to discreetly hand you some money. Do not mention it in front of the old lady. Try to make it look as if I know what I'm doing as we change this flat.

Man: Buddy, you don't need to pay me.

Frank: I WANT to pay you.

They quickly change the tire, throw the old one in the back of the pickup.

The man walks back to his car.

Man: Did he wake up?

Sarah: Sure, but I took him out of his car seat and held him and he went back to sleep.

Man: He wasn't afraid?

Sarah: No, I have a way with babies.

Man: Thank you ma'am.

Sarah: Thank you, young man.

Man: Oh I just helped a little.

Sarah: You did not. You saved Frank's bacon. I hope he paid you well. He has lots of money.

Man: He's a nice guy.

Sarah: Of course he is, but I can't let him know that! (She winks).

2200 ZULU

RABB FARM Loudin County, VA

Harm (from front porch, watches Mac drive in): Hey there, pretty lady. Doing anything on Saturday/

Mac (getting out of the car): What'd you have in mind?

Harm: I don't know. You want to become the mother of my children? I have lots of bedrooms in this house that need to be filled.

Mac: Are you offering me a position as your brood mare?

Harm: Well, I am such a stud!

Mac: Well, watch your step or you'll become a gelding.

They kiss on the porch.

Mac: Hello, Harm.

Harm: Hello, Sarah. How was your last day of work as a single woman?

Mac: Busy. My desk is cleared and I'm ready to move on.

Harm: Did you see the roof?

Mac: Did they get started?

Harm: Yep. They have the back finished. Tomorrow they'll finish the front and the porches.

Mac: That's one more thing off my mind. I kept worrying about heavy rains and damage while we're gone.

Harm looks out and grins. I think I see Frank and Grandma.

Mac: That's not Frank. That's an old pickup with a trailer. It must be one of the neighbors.

Harm: No, that's Grandma's pickup.

Mac: They drove two hundred and eighty miles in an old pickup.

Harm: With an AM radio and worn out shocks. Frank must be a bundle of nerves about now.

Mac: Well, do you think she'll like me?

Harm: Yes, but if she doesn't, I'll just have to love you double.

Mac: You are okay, flyboy.

Harm: Hello Grandma!

Sarah: Hello, Harmie. This is a great place you've picked here. Love the porches, watch the sun come up on the back porch and the sun set on the front porch.

Harm: That's kind of what we thought. Grandma, this is my fiancée, Sarah MacKenzie.

Mac: Mrs. Rabb, I'm so happy to meet you. Harm's spoken of you many times.

Sarah: He's been talking about you for years. I'm glad he finally did something besides talking. You've got good taste in farms and good taste in men. Oh, and don't call me Mrs. Rabb, I'm "Grandma".

Mac: Thank you, Grandma. Would you like to see the house?

The two women walk into the house together.

Harm: Frank, was your trip all right?

Frank: Oh, just fine. I'm going to drop a flat at the gas station down the road on my way out. Can you pick it up tomorrow?

Harm: You got a flat?

Frank: On the interstate, not on one of those Pennsylvania two-lane winding highways, thankfully.

Harm: Grandma didn't change it, did she?

Frank: No, but she was going to. A guy stopped and helped me.

Harm: Why did you bring the pickup?

Frank: I think your grandmother emptied her house as a wedding gift to you. She didn't let me in the house to see, but that trailer is full of furniture.

Harm: I thought she was bringing me some household items, a couple of quilts.

Frank: Guess again, Harm.

Harm: (calls to the house) Grandma, what do you think this is, the Salvation Army? Redecorating your house so you thought you'd get rid of the old stuff by bringing it to me?

Sarah: I can give it to someone else.

Harm: Don't you dare.

Frank: I'm going to unhitch the trailer and take the truck back to the hotel. I'll arrange for another rental car to be delivered to the hotel in the morning. Mrs. Rabb, Trish is expecting us at the hotel for dinner. We have a nice room for you there.

Sarah: I'm not staying at the hotel. Young Sarah has a nice room here all made up for me. I'm going to help them unpack this stuff tonight. Tomorrow the roofers will be here working so I'll need to supervise them. You just take the truck back to the hotel and don't worry about me. I'm more comfortable here where I can smell the dirt.

Frank: But Mrs. Rabb.

Harm: Frank, you've delivered her here safely. You can't do any more. She'll be fine here. You heard her. Mac and I will take her to the café in town for supper. It's fine. Tell Mom I love her. You look like you need a Scotch.

Frank: Your mother is icing down the glass as we speak!
25 March 2003

1100 ZULU

Rabb Farm Loudin County, VA

Mac drives down the farm lane in her Corvette.

Sarah Rabb appears on the porch.

Sarah: Morning, dear.

Mac: Morning, Grandma. I brought some eggs, bacon, milk, cheese, and coffee.

Sarah: Good, dear. I've been up since 4. I took a little walk to get familiar with the place. What time will the workers get here?

Mac: Probably not till eight.

Sarah: Let me help you, dear. I will rustle up some breakfast for us. Then we can have a nice visit.

Mac: I think Trish and Frank will be coming out mid-morning. This afternoon, Harm will pick up Sergei at the airport. I'll bring him out here.

Sarah: Well, that will be interesting, meeting a grandson I never knew I had. Sarah, this kitchen is too small. Who lived here, a bachelor farmer?

Mac: Harm thinks the same thing. I haven't told him yet, but I've arranged to add on a new kitchen, as a wedding present to him. We'll use this room as a family room. The kitchen will be open to it.

Sarah: Why would a man want a kitchen for a wedding present?

Mac: Because he loves to cook, and he's a good cook.

Sarah: Well, he may as well cook his own food. I never have seen a man with such peculiar eating habits. Must be all those years in California. How many pieces of bacon, dear?

Mac: Four's good.

Sarah: Glad to see you eat like a normal person.

Mac: Harm thinks I have horrible eating habits.

Sarah: Well, you look good and healthy to me. Now, tell me about how this kitchen is going to look. It'll be a shame to lose this wall of windows.

Mac: We're not losing them. They will be taken out and placed in the new outside wall of the kitchen.

Sarah: You do think of everything, don't you dear? When are you going to tell Harm?

Mac: Early Friday morning. We're coming out here to have breakfast together and exchange gifts.

Sarah: In that case, I'll stay at the hotel with Frank and Trish on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. That'll make Trish happy. Speaking of Trish, how many dresses has she bought me?

Mac: Why do you assume she's bought you dresses?

Sarah: Well, I've known her for over forty years. I brought a ratty old house dress from the seventies that I'll need to put on before she gets here. I love to see the shocked look she gets on her face. Then, I went to the Thrift store in State College last week and I found an old aqua polyester dress in the retro section. I'm going to tell her that's what I'm wearing to the wedding.

Mac: Have you always teased her like this?

Sarah: Not at first, no. She was such a serious person when I first met her. Then, after Harm was, well, missing, she seemed so fragile. I guess it was after she married Frank that she became stronger and I thought I should help her not take herself so seriously.

Mac; Was that hard on you, when Trish remarried?

Sarah: Well, she thinks it was. I was happy for her. I knew it would be hard on Harmon. I encouraged her to wait until he was in college first, but she had to have Frank then. Teen-agers are at a difficult stage. He was still trying to figure things out when, boom, hello new step-father. He was not very nice to Frank. When she asked me for advice, I said, "I told you so." She took that as a "you don't like Frank" comment, so I've just played along. I love to needle Frank.

Mac: But you never remarried.

Sarah: Well, I had my chances, of course.

Mac: Undoubtedly.

Sarah: There was never anyone else that seemed to fit into my life. I had my Harmon to raise, and my parents and my husband's parents to look after. Then there was the farm. I guess it was just more acceptable to remain unmarried back then. After Harmon was grown and the grandparents were all gone, I guess I just didn't feel like bothering having some old guy to take care of.

Mac: Was it hard, raising Harm's dad alone?

Sarah: Well, sometimes, yes. I did have both families nearby to help me though. And Harm, Sr. loved his grandparents, especially his grandfathers. I guess we just fell into a routine of how we did things.

Mac: Is Harm like his dad?

Sarah: Funny you should ask that. When we drove in yesterday and Harm was standing on the porch, it gave me a start. I thought he was his dad. They move alike, both so tall and graceful. Their personalities have a few similarities, but your Harm is much more serious than his father was. His father was the life of the party type. He was a good pilot and took his career very seriously, but he wasn't a brooder as Harm Jr. is.

Mac: Do YOU think he is a brooder?

Sarah: Oh, my yes. We saw signs of it early on. He was such a serious little boy. He was surly as a teen-ager, as most are, but then when he had his accident, he became more so.

Mac: He came and stayed with you during his recuperation.

Sarah: Well, he started out with Trish and Frank. That was never going to work because Trish is a brooder too. Frank is so gentle with Trish that he'd never just come out and tell her to leave Harm alone, so I offered for him to come to the farm with me. I gave him the Stearman and that gave him an outlet for his pain. He worked for hours on it without speaking. Hard work can never be overrated as therapy for grief.

Mac: Is that what you think helped him, work?

Sarah: Well, Harm has always had a problem thinking that he was the cause of every effect. With him, things don't just happen for reasons we don't understand. He blames himself. I think he, in some strange way, blames himself that his dad never came home, that he wasn't enough to alleviate his mother's loneliness, that Diane was killed. There are so many things that he internalizes. I think that's why he's never married. He sees it as opening himself up to the pain of being transparent with another human being. He's come a long way to get to the point where you two are today.

Mac: So, what's your advice to me on how to love him?

Sarah: Well, you've tamed the wild heart that nobody else could. I would say to be gentle, underneath all that bravado is a scared boy. Be firm, because he respects strong women.

Mac: Maybe he needs a daughter to give him a new perspective on things.

Sarah: That would be interesting. My advice to you is to have more than one child. That's a great regret of my life. I didn't have much choice because of when I lost my husband. I do think Trish regrets the fact that they never had another.

Mac: Why didn't they?

Sarah: You'd have to ask her that, because she never said. Harm, Sr. indicated to me once that she never was able to get pregnant again. I wondered if she and Frank would have another child because she was technically young enough when they married, but they never did. That probably would have put Harm totally over the edge.

Mac: He's very sweet with Sergei.

Sarah: He's older and has grown . I heard that Sergei has the Rabb smile, is that true?

Mac: That and the fact that he's stubborn made a believer out of me!

Sarah: Do you and Harm plan to start a family soon, not that it's any of my business?

Mac: Of course, it's your business. Yes, we do. My biological clock is ticking; I know I want children. I thought I'd have been married long before this age, and I was married once but it didn't last.

Sarah: He's dead anyway, isn't he?

Mac: Yes.

Sarah: Do you have regrets that you didn't marry Mr. Bugme?

Mac: Brumby. His name is Mic Brumby.

Sarah: Oh, my dear, Harm only ever called him Bugme. I thought it was an odd name, but he is Australian.

Mac: No, I did the right thing. I was marrying him because I wanted to be married. I wanted children. He'd have given all of that to me.

Sarah: Sometimes a warm body to hold is tempting.

Mac: But it's not worth it if your dream still has a possibility of coming true.

Sarah: Do you have your dream now?

Mac: Harm is all I ever wanted in a man.

Sarah: Then I think you'll do just fine.

Mac: Grandma, there's one little thing that I need to ask you. You've lost your husband and a son to war. Does it ever scare you that you might lose Harm too?

Sarah: Yes it does, but not as much as I think it scares you. Have you ever seen the movie "Oklahoma", Sarah?

Mac: The musical?

Sarah: That's the one. In it, Aunt Eller says to Laurie that women need to be hearty. In this life, you'll see joy and pain, birth and deaths. Most women bury their husbands, Sarah. God made women to be hearty. Don't spend your time worrying about the little things. Love him while he's with you. If the worst happens, maybe he will have left a piece of him with you. That's what my husband did. That's what Harm's father did for Trish. We both found great comfort in our children. They gave us the reason to get up out of bed in the morning and face the world. Now, I have something for you.

Mac: You've given us so much already. This house looks great with all the antiques you brought, the quilts, and the old cradle..

Sarah: Do you believe in that saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed?

Mac: Yes.

Sarah: Good. This brooch belonged to my mother. The stone is a sapphire. I had a slide back put on the pin so that it can be worn as a slide on a strand of pearls.

Mac: Thank you. It's beautiful. I'm borrowing Harriet's pearls for the wedding, so I can just wear this on it. I'm sure, over the years, I'll wear the brooch often.

Sarah: It's understated and elegant, like you.

Mac: Nobody's ever called me elegant before, just tough.

Sarah: Don't you think that tough is elegant?

1900 ZULU

Rabb Farm Loudin County, VA

Mac: Grandma Sarah, I think they're here.

Sarah: Oh, I was just getting up from my rest, dear. Do I look okay?

Mac: You're gorgeous. Why, are you nervous?

Sarah: Well, it's not every day that a woman meets a new grandson.

Mac: He's a great guy. Harm loves him very much.

Sarah: Well, the idea just takes some getting used to.

Harm: (walks in the door, puts his arm around Mac, and kisses her quickly): Hi, how has your day been?

Mac: We've had a great day together.

Harm: My two Sarahs.

Mac: Where's Sergei?

Harm: He's looking the place over. He'll be here in a minute. He's a little nervous.

Sarah: I can understand that.

Sergei walks in the door with an nervous smile on his face.

Sergei: Hi Mac.

Harm: Grandma, may I introduce Sergei Zhukov. Sergei, this is your grandmother, Sarah Rabb.

Sergei: I am happy to meet you.

Sarah: I am happy to meet you. Did you have a good flight?

Sergei: Yes. Galena, she is my fiancée, was also on the plane. She will be back on Saturday for the wedding, but first she makes another trip.

Sarah: When is it that you plan to be married?

Sergei: We haven't set the date yet. When we are married, Harm will be my best man. You will come to Russia too. You can meet my people.

Sarah: I think that's very nice of you to ask.

Sergei: I'm lucky to have him for my brother, and I am also lucky to have you.

Sarah: Would you care to go for a walk, Sergei? I'd like to walk down this country road to enjoy the spring weather. I probably should have someone with me in case I can't walk back.

Sergei: I would like that, very much.

Sarah Rabb and Sergei walk out the front door, across the front porch and down the steps toward the farm lane. After just a few minutes, Sergei throws back his head and laughs. Sarah stops and stares at his expression whereupon she takes his arm and continues down the lane.

Mac and Harm watch them leave.

Harm: She sees the resemblance.

Mac: Did you ever think what a great gift this is to her? She has two pieces of your dad to enjoy now, you and Sergei.

Harm: It seems that all the pieces of my life are falling together. I have the woman I love. I have a brother. My career is great. How did I ever get so fortunate?

Mac: You fell in love with a Marine.

Harm: Semper fi, Mac, semper fi.

Harm and Mac stand on the front porch of their farmhouse contentedly looking out over the black earth of freshly planted fields.

Next Chapter: The ladies spend the day at the spa. The men go on their camping trip.