Course of Love Part 3a/9
Disclaimer - See part one for all important information
FLASHBACK
Sunday May 25, 2003
12:32 AM
Everyone had left the Social and was back at the Rabb farm. Sarah left the Social earlier, before everyone else, and was now in bed. Sergei and Evelyn were in the guest room, spending time together. Harm and Mac were walking around the back yard, talking quietly. Harm took Mac's hand into his and led her into the gazebo near the far end of the property, away from the house.
"It's really nice here, Harm. Thanks for inviting me." Mac said to him as they sat down on the porch glider in the center of the gazebo.
"Thanks for coming." Harm placed an arm around Mac's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He leaned his head back and looked at the stars through the opening above them. "I love sitting here."
Mac leaned her head onto his shoulder and looked up at the stars. "It's very nice."
They sat for a few minutes without talking, just looking at the stars above them. After a while they both watched a shooting star flash across the sky, "A shooting star," Mac said in awe.
"Make a wish." He watched her eyes close as she made her wish. When she opened them she found herself staring into Harm's eyes. "What did you wish for?" he asked.
"If I tell you it won't come true."
Harm smiled secretively. "I could guess it."
"How would you know what I wished for?"
"Hey, every now and then I know how you think and not to mention the fact that…"
"We're finishing and starting each others sentences."
"Exactly," Harm said as he lightly touched the tip of her nose. "Just give me a minute to think about your wish." Harm took a minute and thought about what she could have wished for. He stood up, looked at her, extended a hand to her and she took it.
"So what was my wish?" Mac asked him as she stood up.
Harm looked into her eyes and pulled her into his arms. "To dance with me under the stars in this gazebo."
Mac smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as they slowly danced together with their bodies pressed against each other. After a few minutes of their silent dancing, Harm moved his hands to rest on Mac's hips. "This is nice."
"It is." Mac lifted her head off his shoulder and ran her fingers though the short locks of hair on the back of his neck. "Was there anything else in my wish?"
"Yeah, this," Harm whispered to her. He leaned down and captured her lips with his. The kiss was soft and sweet, but after a few seconds both of them wanted more. It slowly grew into something more. Mac moved her hands on his neck to get a better grip and he moved his hands to the small of her back to hold her closer. After a few kisses they slowly broke apart from each other. Harm looked down at Mac and noticed her cheeks were blushing and her lips were full.
Mac smiled softly at him, especially when she noticed the lipstick on the corner of his mouth. She took a deep breath. "So now I get to guess your wish."
"Yeah," Harm said, looking into her brown eyes and wishing he could hold this moment in time.
"I don't think I can get you a Tomcat," she joked.
He looked into her eyes as they sparkled with laughter. "It had nothing to do with the Navy."
Mac softly grinned at him. "I think you wished for this." This time she initiated the kiss. Once again their lips attacked each other with soft passion and tenderness. The kisses went on for a while, then they slowly came back to the real world. Even though the time they spent kissing was nicer then anything they could wish for. "Did I get your wish?"
"Close." Harm paused for a second to enjoy Mac's features in the moonlight. "So what was your wish?"
Mac slowly slid her hands down Harm's arms and then rested them on Harm's hands which were placed back on her hips. "I wished for a nice quiet end to the evening by sitting in front of the fireplace."
He moved his hands to hold her and gently squeezed them. "That was my wish too. What do you say we go do that?"
"I would love to." They walked out of the gazebo shoulder to shoulder and into the house, holding each other's hands.
2:12 AM
"They're adults, I don't need to check on them as if they were five," Sarah Rabb told herself as she looked at the pictures on her night stand. One was of Sergei and Evelyn, taken that last time they came to the farm. The other was of Harm and Mac. Harm left the picture at the house about a year ago. Sarah smiled as she stood up from her bed, grabbed her robe, and walked out of her room.
She walked to the first door she came to and opened it slightly. She peered into the room to find Sergei and Evelyn asleep fully clothed on top of the covers. Sarah quietly walked into the room, picked up the folded blanket from the floor and draped it across the sleeping pair. She tenderly kissed her fingertips and gently touched both of their foreheads and quietly left the room.
She walked to the room that Harm and Sergei were sharing. She remembered a time about forty years ago when she opened this door and found Harmon and Trish sleeping together. She smiled as she opened the door, hoping to find Harm and possibly Mac. She looked into the room and found both beds empty. "Where is that boy?"
She closed the door and looked at the door across from the room she was just in. It was one of the guest rooms, the one Mac was staying in. Sarah slowly opened the door, but found this room just like the one before, empty. Sarah took a deep breath and tried not to get worried. She wasn't worried about what they might be doing, but worried about where they might be doing whatever they were doing. "They're adults. They can do anything they want to," Sarah mumbled as she walked down the stairs.
As she entered the living room she found a dying fire in the fireplace and a lamp in the back of the room still on. "Who left the fire on?"
She walked over to the fireplace to put the fire out, but stopped halfway there as she found Harm and Mac lying on the floor. Harm's head was resting against one of the pillows from the couch as he was holding Mac to him. Mac's head was resting in the nook between Harm's shoulder and chin. One of her arms was under her chin while the other was wrapped around his body. One of her legs was resting on top of Harm's.
Sarah smiled sweetly, thinking about how cute they looked together. But her smile grew into a shocked grin as she noticed Harm's hands. One of his hands was resting on Mac's waist, pulling her closer to him. His other hand was resting on Mac's posterior. Sarah felt her cheeks blush as she remembered her David holding her like that.
Sarah watched them for a few minutes and sighed softly as Mac snuggled closer to Harm for warmth. Sarah walked over to the her chair and pulled the blanket off the back of it. She was about to place it over them, when she saw Harm's camera sitting on the end table. Sarah got a mischievous look on her face, placed the blanket back onto the chair, and picked up the camera. She took a picture of them sleeping, making sure that she got Harms hand placement in the picture. Once she had the picture taken, she covered them with the blanket.
As she walked back up the stairs, she repeated Harm's words from earlier that day. "But Grandma, you know Mac and I aren't involved." Sarah chuckled as she reached her bedroom. "Let's just see how involved you two are once you see that picture."
PRESENT DAY
"Question."
"Yes, Chloe," Harm said to her.
"How do you know what Grandma Sarah did?" Chloe bluntly asked.
Harm and Mac both laughed as Harm said, "She told me."
Chloe thought for a second. "Were you talking about the picture on the night stand next to your bed?"
"Yes," Harm said with a smile.
Chloe smiled. "Cool, so what happened next?"
Harm smiled. "Actually, not much. The next morning we woke up. Stiff from the hard floor and slightly embarrassed about falling asleep with each other."
"You mean that you two didn't realize that you were in love at that point."
"No, but we were getting close," Mac said.
"Actually, the picture helped a lot," Harm said. "Two weeks later I was running late for work."
"As usual," Mac added in.
Harm glared at his wife for a second then continued, "Because I had picked up the film from the trip. I knew Mac wanted to see the pictures, so I put them into my briefcase and walked into JAG."
End of Part 3a