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Part 8

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1600 Zulu

25 February 2004

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

Harm sat on the bed, and waited impatiently for the doctor to get back to them so that he could go home. He glanced over at Mac, then squeezed her hand. "I hate hospitals," he muttered.

Mac reached up to stroke his hair. "I don't blame you," she said sympatheticly. She glanced over at Mattie. "A few years back he got hypothermia after he was in a plane crash and had to spend a long time here."

"Oh." Mattie reached over and claimed his other hand. "I'm sure it won't be long, Harm." She reached over and hugged him with one arm. "I'm glad you're home."

Harm freed one hand and tugged Mattie over to kiss her on the forehead. "Thanks, kiddo. I missed everybody, but you and Mac the most; you're my two best girls." He flashed a brilliant smile. "Maybe we should start planning the wedding; I *did* promise that we'd be a family, didn't I?"

"You sure did, flyboy." Mac poked him playfully. "There's another promise of yours that we need to start on; remember our deal?"

His eyes glinted with mischief. "I believe the wording on that deal was, 'if neither of us is in a committed relationship', since both of us are, does that make the deal invalid?"

"Suck it up, stickboy, you promised, and I intend to collect." She grinned micheviously. "I'm throwing out all my birth control pills out *before* the wedding."

Harm laughed, then leaned over and kissed her. "Get a room, guys," Mattie said, then rolled her eyes. "You two are the closest thing to parents I've got, and I don't want to think about you guys doing *that*, it's *disgusting*."

"Suck it up, kiddo," Harm answered with a grin. "I love Mac, and I'm marrying her, so you'll just have to get used to a few PDAs."

Mattie groaned, then staggered away with her hand over her heart to collapse in a nearby chair. "You two are determined to kill me from embarrassment, aren't you?" She closed her eyes and pretended to be dead.

"Hm, I see our master plan to get some time alone has been discovered--is it working, Mattie? Ya dead yet?" Mac slipped her arm around Harm and grinned.

Mattie cracked an eye open. "Nope." She walked back over and sat near them.

"Cheer up, kiddo, nobody's ever died from embarrassment yet." Harm reached over and messed up Mattie's hair.

Mattie tried to straighten it. "Ha-ar-ar-ar-ar-rm! I'd get even for that, but I don't think it's fair to take advantage of walking wounded."

Just as she was about to say more, the doctor walked in, consulting a sheaf of papers. "Commander Rabb, did the corpsman on the Henry proscribe anything?"

Harm shook his head. "No, sir, he didn't."

"Then, there are some prescriptions that you need to get filled on the way home; there are still traces of infection in your blood, so you need a broad spectrum antibiotic, and I imagine that your leg and the cut on your stomach still hurt, so you're also getting some pain meds until they heal a little more." The doctor examined Harm closely.

"Do you remember *any* of what happened?" he asked.

"No, sir, I don't." Harm looked down at his and Mac's joined hands. "I remember a lot of really weird dreams, but not much else."

"It's probably for the best--I can tell you that the fact that the people who had you opened up your cuts again probably saved your life." He handed a couple of pieces of paper to Mac. "You'll need to come back next week for a follow up." He signed some papers, handed them to Harm, then left.

Mac stood, put on her coat, then tugged on Harm's hand. "C'mon, flyboy. Let's go home." She smiled and leaned in for a kiss. "I need to find something fattening to feed you; you're even more stick-like than you were when I gave you that nickname."

Harm groaned. "Just no Beltway Burgers, all right?"

Mac smirked. "No promises; I have it on good authority that the last time I left for an investigation, you went and ate one of my usual orders from that place."

"Hey, who told? I missed you, okay?"

"Don't worry, Harm; Mac's been eating vegetarian burgers since the day they told us that you were MIA." Mattie stuck her tongue out at Mac.

Mac crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Mattie. "So I missed having him nag about my diet... It's not a crime to eat that healthy junk every once in a while."

"Healthy *junk*? *I* like it; I think it tastes pretty good."

"Uh, huh. Dirty sweatsock soup would taste better." Mattie grabbed her coat and slipped into it. The three of them headed out the door, and left for home, enjoying each other's company for the first time in months.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

0400 Zulu, 2300 Local

25 February 2004

Mac's Apartment

Georgetown

Harm pulled Mac into an embrace and buried his face in her hair. It had been far too long since he'd been able to hold or touch her, and now he just couldn't get enough. "Can I stay tonight?" he asked. "I just wanna hold you; I keep thinking that I'm gonna wake up and this will've all been another fever-dream."

Mac snuggled further into his embrace. "Of course you can, squid. There are only a few things that I'd like better than for you to stay and hold me tonight."

"Hm... only a few? Just what is it that you'd like better, ninja-girl?"

"How about this?" Mac leaned in and kissed him, her tongue sliding effortlessly past his lips. She ran her hand through his hair, holding him close to her. "I love you, Harm," she said, breathless from lack of air. "I'd like you to make love to me, because then I'd know for sure that you're home, but we have a promise to keep; and our first time will be the last first time with *anybody*."

Harm chuckled. "I'd like to do that, too, but I'm not sure if I could right now, anyway."

Mac laced her fingers through his, stood, and tugged gently on his hand. "Come to bed, flyboy."

Harm stood and followed her. Together, they walked into the bedroom. It wasn't long before both were ready for bed. They slipped under the blankets, Mac snuggled up to Harm, and laid her head on the uninjured side of his chest. Harm hugged her tight to him, marveling how she fit perfectly in his arms. Chaplain Turner might not have said the words yet, but there was no doubt in his mind that his Sarah would be his forever. In his heart, at least, they were already married.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

0110 Zulu, 2010 Local

26 February 2004

Roberts's Residence

Falls Church , Virginia

Harm smiled and leaned back in his chair, letting the conversations wash over him. It felt so good to be home, and surrounded by both of his families. He looked up as Harriet's horrified yell assaulted his ears. "AJ Roberts! *What* are you doing with the *baby*?"

Little AJ looked at her, innocence radiating from him. "Mommy, Jimmy was *crying*, so I was just taking him to Uncle Harm, 'cause Uncle Harm always makes me feel better." AJ jiggled the baby a little. "See? He *likes* it."

Harm couldn't help but smile at the sight of little AJ holding the baby. To the uninformed, it night look as if he were strangling his baby brother, but AJ was just holding him in a secure fireman's grip. Little AJ walked over and grinned at him. "Wanna hold my brother, Uncle Harm? He's not too fun yet, 'cause all he does is eat and cry and make dirty diapers, but I'm gonna teach him how to play basketball and ride a bike when he gets bigger."

Harm took the baby from AJ and cuddled him close. "Kiddo, don't scare your Mom like that, okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Harm." Little AJ nodded seriously. "I missed you. I'm glad that God was listening when I asked Him to send you home." AJ hugged Harm, then skipped off to find his toy tomcat.

"Do you need me to take him off your hands, sir?" Harriet asked.

Harm shook his head. "Thanks, but if it's okay, I think I'd like to hold the littlest Roberts for a little while." He smiled at her before turning his attention back to baby Jimmy. "I need all the practice I can get." he muttered.

Harriet simply smiled and left. Harm half-closed his eyes and pretended that Jimmy was his and Mac's. If she held true to her thr... um, promise, it wouldn't be long before he'd get to watch her as she got large with their child. He smiled at the thought, then carefully stuck the pacifier back in Jimmy's mouth when he spit it out. When he looked up, his mom was standing next to him.

"Harm, darling?"

He stiffened. "What is it, Mother?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry..." She would've continued, but Harm interrupted her.

"I hope so; will you do the same after Mac and I have kids if something happens to either one of us? We're in the *military*, Mom. Stuff can happen, even to JAG lawyers."

"Maybe you should find some other kind of work," Trish ventured. "I worry about you, Harmon."

"Sorry, Mom. That's not going to happen. Mac and I both tried other things, and we were both miserable. I *like* working at JAG, and so does she. I'm forty years old, Mother. I won't change now, and I'm sorry if it upsets you. Mac and I are getting married as soon as we can finish the arrangements; you and Frank will get an invitation." Harm turned his attention back to Jimmy, ignoring his mom's presence. He looked up as Mac's delicate hand covered his own, and reeled her in for a kiss.

Mac took Jimmy, then sat down on Harm's lap. "How's March thirteenth sound for the wedding?" she asked.

"Isn't that awful quick?" he asked. "From watching Bud and Harriet's wedding, I thought that these things took lots of time to plan, and well, I'm not completely healed yet."

"Wanna know a secret, flyboy? I've been planning the wedding for *months*. I've already got my dress, Chaplain Turner is on standby, and if I call in a favor, I can get us the chapel pretty quick. I've also got the bridesmaids' dresses all ready to go. All I've got to do is put in a few calls, and we're all set."

"But my leg..." Harm frowned. "Call me old fashioned, but I wanted to carry you over the threshold on our wedding night."

Mac leaned in for another kiss. "I talked to your doctor this morning," she said. "He says that as long as you do your physical therapy between now and then, you should be fine."

Harm's response was to kiss her, despite the whistles and catcalls of their coworkers. "Break it up, people," AJ's voice registered dimly in Harm's mind, because kissing Mac was more important. "Haven't you ever seen a guy kiss his fiancee before?"

Mac broke off the kiss with a breathless laugh. "So is the thirteenth okay?" she asked.

Harm leaned his forehead against hers. "Sure." He gave her a playful leer. "We can start on the baby deal a little early... that is, *before* Little AJ's birthday."

Mac smacked him on the arm, then turned her attention to baby Jimmy when he began to fuss. Harm put his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck. *This* was what he'd been searching for for *years*, and somehow it didn't surprise him that it'd been right in front of him all along.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

2330 Zulu

13 March 2004

Washington DC

Little AJ shifted his weight back and forth as he waited for the music to start that meant that he was supposed to walk down the aisle carrying the ring pillow and roaring. Finally, he spotted his Uncle Harm and grinned. "Uncle Harm, I just saw Aunt Mac, and she's booteful!" He wrinkled his nose. "Mommy says that I'm not allowed to roar like ring bears do until you kiss Aunt Mac, and I think kissing's *yucky*."

Uncle Harm laughed and crouched down next to AJ. "Kiddo, I guarantee that you won't think so in a few years."

"Ewwwww," was AJ's response. "Girls have *cooties*. It's a good thing that Aunt Mac isn't a girl, or you'd get 'em, too."

Uncle Harm laughed again, then stood and straightened his uniform. AJ watched as his hero headed down the aisle to stand next to the pulpit near his dad, and in front of Uncle Sturgis's daddy. He started bouncing as the music started, then followed Mattie and the other bridesmaids as they headed down the aisle. AJ stopped to roar every few feet, being careful not to drop the rings. He waved to Grandma Rabb as he reached the front, then went to stand next to Uncle Harm.

Little AJ grinned as he watched Admiral AJ escort Aunt Mac down the aisle. He looked down at his clothes, then up at Admiral AJ--they were twins again! He always liked it when he got to go to JAG with his mommy, because he got to wear clothes exactly like his mommy's boss. It wasn't long before the Admiral and Aunt Mac arrived, and he gave Aunt Mac's hand to Uncle Harm.

"Uncle Admiral AJ," AJ whispered. "I got mess dress just like yours."

"Yes, you do, sailor," Admiral AJ whispered back. "Now we need to pay attention, okay?"

"Yes, *sir*." Little AJ came to attention and watched as Uncle Sturgis's daddy started saying... stuff. It seemed like forever until he got to hand over the rings, and tuck the pillow underneath his arm. After Uncle Harm and Aunt Mac kissed, little AJ let loose a loud roar, then followed them out of the church. He watched with interest as they went under the arch of swords. He giggled as his Uncle Gunny smacked Uncle Harm's butt with the flat of a sword blade and welcomed him into the Corps. He laughed even harder when his daddy did the same thing to Aunt Mac, with a 'go Navy'. He skipped down the stairs, and reached up for a hug and a kiss from Aunt Mac.

"Aunt Mac," he said with a grin. "Uncle Admiral AJ says that you married into the Navy; does that make you a squid now?"

Aunt Mac laughed. "Only if your Uncle Harm can be a jarhead."

Uncle Harm leaned in for a kiss. "That's fine with me, because you're *my* jarhead."

"Ewwww," AJ said as the two started kissing *again*. It wasn't long before Uncle Harm and Aunt Mac started walking towards a long car. "Uncle Harm, Aunt Mac," AJ called. "Bring me back a cousin!" Laughter followed the couple as they got in the car and drove off towards the reception.

The End