Working Dinner
January 7th 2003
Seven o'clock sharp there was a knock on Harm's door. There was only one person it could be so he hurried to open up.
"Come on in, Mac. I'm almost finished." He took her coat and hung it up.
"What are you making? It smells really good and I'm soo hungry."
"You're always hungry, Marine, but I guess now you need to eat more than usual," he said and glanced at her. She was starting to show now, at least enough so that you could see it if you knew about it.
"A Marine doesn't need any special reasons to eat," she answered him with a smile in her voice. It was nice that he could talk like that about the baby. They had really taken some giant steps forward lately.
"So we'll start to eat and than work on the Casey court martial,"
"Did you expect anything else?" It wasn't a question Harm needed to answer. She sat down at the table and Harm put down a big bowl of vegetable soup on the table.
"It looks really healthy." Mac said without trying to suppress her skepticism.
"Don't judge it until you've tried it."
"I won't, I promise," she started to try it and realized that she actually liked it. "It's really good, Harm. For being vegetables that is."
"Don't go over the top with the compliments, please." They both broke out in laughter. Not because anything special was so funny. They were just both enjoying the happy moment of being with their best friend, knowing how close they had been to loose those moments forever.
During dinner they were talking about the things that had happened earlier the same week. They were both so happy for Bud, who had been approved for normal duty again. Their workload was hopefully going to benefit from that, but most of all they were just happy for and proud of him.
Mac told Harm about the conversation she had had with the general and his wife about loosing everything.
"And than she asked me if I had children and that if I hadn't I couldn't possibly understand what loosing everything meant."
"So what did you answer her."
"I told her I was going to find out," Mac said and looked quite far off "In a way I can't believe I said that about loosing everything, because I'm sort of already starting to feel that. Everything else just seems less important. It isn't that my life was so empty before. I just have a very different perspective now."
"You're really happy about being pregnant, aren't you?" Harm asked her. There was some disappointment in his voice, but he was trying to mask it.
"The circumstances could be better, but it's something I really want to do. Otherwise I wouldn't do it."
They had finished their meals and moved over to the couch. Mac started to spread out the files on the table. They divided the work up between the two of them and each took a few reports to read through. Eventually they started to discuss the different aspects of the case and how they were going to face them in court. After two hours of intense work they decided to give it up for a while, hoping they would get some more ideas from sleep.
"You need to get home now, Mac."
"What? You don't want me here anymore?" She said trying to make it sound like joke, but not quite succeeding. In some ways she was still very insecure about this friendship between them. She was afraid something was going to happen that made all the pieces they were trying to put back together fall apart again.
"No I don't, but women in your condition need to take care of themselves."
"You're starting to sound a lot like Sturgis," as soon as the words were out she broke down on the inside. 'How can I say something that stupid?'
"I'm sorry. It just flew out of me. I don't know why I said it."
Harm still hadn't said anything. Regardless of how well things were between the two of them at the moment. They hadn't talked about Sturgis since that night the other week. They could mention the baby or the pregnancy, but they never talked about Sturgis. Harm and Sturgis weren't not speaking, but they weren't really speaking either. It was very hard to explain the tension between the two of them. It had gotten better since Harm and Mac had talked and made up, but the changes were only marginal. Sturgis thought he needed to give Harm more time and not push, whereas Harm didn't want to take the first step. It had been different with Mac. She had started what had later led to a rebirth of their friendship, even if he had pushed the issue too, so that they had gotten to the place where they were today. He didn't know if he'd be able to do that with Sturgis. At least not yet.
Mac's face and whole body was displaying so much sadness, fright and guilt, he just had to find something to say to make her feel better.
"Mac, it's OK. I know that you appreciate that he worries about you, even if it annoys you too at times. I'm going to take that as a compliment," the relief in Mac's eyes was striking. He was so glad that he had found the right words to say to her.
"Are you seeing what's happening with us?"
"No, what?"
"I think we're starting to grow up," Mac said and smiled "earlier a comment like that would have caused a fight or distanced us and you managed to save us from that."
"I think I like growing up."
"I do too," she stepped forward and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad that I have you in my life," 'I love you,' she added silently.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Mac," Mac left the apartment. She couldn't remember when she had been happier. If she had had any doubts about them being able to work things out with their friendship, they were all gone now. As long as they kept talking, they would be fine. Maybe even better than they had been before. For ages they had tried to learn how to not put their feet in their mouths around each other, and failed terribly at it. Now they were learning how to talk and resolve the problems their mouths sometimes created for them and the success rate for that was definitely better.
TBC
January 7th 2003
Seven o'clock sharp there was a knock on Harm's door. There was only one person it could be so he hurried to open up.
"Come on in, Mac. I'm almost finished." He took her coat and hung it up.
"What are you making? It smells really good and I'm soo hungry."
"You're always hungry, Marine, but I guess now you need to eat more than usual," he said and glanced at her. She was starting to show now, at least enough so that you could see it if you knew about it.
"A Marine doesn't need any special reasons to eat," she answered him with a smile in her voice. It was nice that he could talk like that about the baby. They had really taken some giant steps forward lately.
"So we'll start to eat and than work on the Casey court martial,"
"Did you expect anything else?" It wasn't a question Harm needed to answer. She sat down at the table and Harm put down a big bowl of vegetable soup on the table.
"It looks really healthy." Mac said without trying to suppress her skepticism.
"Don't judge it until you've tried it."
"I won't, I promise," she started to try it and realized that she actually liked it. "It's really good, Harm. For being vegetables that is."
"Don't go over the top with the compliments, please." They both broke out in laughter. Not because anything special was so funny. They were just both enjoying the happy moment of being with their best friend, knowing how close they had been to loose those moments forever.
During dinner they were talking about the things that had happened earlier the same week. They were both so happy for Bud, who had been approved for normal duty again. Their workload was hopefully going to benefit from that, but most of all they were just happy for and proud of him.
Mac told Harm about the conversation she had had with the general and his wife about loosing everything.
"And than she asked me if I had children and that if I hadn't I couldn't possibly understand what loosing everything meant."
"So what did you answer her."
"I told her I was going to find out," Mac said and looked quite far off "In a way I can't believe I said that about loosing everything, because I'm sort of already starting to feel that. Everything else just seems less important. It isn't that my life was so empty before. I just have a very different perspective now."
"You're really happy about being pregnant, aren't you?" Harm asked her. There was some disappointment in his voice, but he was trying to mask it.
"The circumstances could be better, but it's something I really want to do. Otherwise I wouldn't do it."
They had finished their meals and moved over to the couch. Mac started to spread out the files on the table. They divided the work up between the two of them and each took a few reports to read through. Eventually they started to discuss the different aspects of the case and how they were going to face them in court. After two hours of intense work they decided to give it up for a while, hoping they would get some more ideas from sleep.
"You need to get home now, Mac."
"What? You don't want me here anymore?" She said trying to make it sound like joke, but not quite succeeding. In some ways she was still very insecure about this friendship between them. She was afraid something was going to happen that made all the pieces they were trying to put back together fall apart again.
"No I don't, but women in your condition need to take care of themselves."
"You're starting to sound a lot like Sturgis," as soon as the words were out she broke down on the inside. 'How can I say something that stupid?'
"I'm sorry. It just flew out of me. I don't know why I said it."
Harm still hadn't said anything. Regardless of how well things were between the two of them at the moment. They hadn't talked about Sturgis since that night the other week. They could mention the baby or the pregnancy, but they never talked about Sturgis. Harm and Sturgis weren't not speaking, but they weren't really speaking either. It was very hard to explain the tension between the two of them. It had gotten better since Harm and Mac had talked and made up, but the changes were only marginal. Sturgis thought he needed to give Harm more time and not push, whereas Harm didn't want to take the first step. It had been different with Mac. She had started what had later led to a rebirth of their friendship, even if he had pushed the issue too, so that they had gotten to the place where they were today. He didn't know if he'd be able to do that with Sturgis. At least not yet.
Mac's face and whole body was displaying so much sadness, fright and guilt, he just had to find something to say to make her feel better.
"Mac, it's OK. I know that you appreciate that he worries about you, even if it annoys you too at times. I'm going to take that as a compliment," the relief in Mac's eyes was striking. He was so glad that he had found the right words to say to her.
"Are you seeing what's happening with us?"
"No, what?"
"I think we're starting to grow up," Mac said and smiled "earlier a comment like that would have caused a fight or distanced us and you managed to save us from that."
"I think I like growing up."
"I do too," she stepped forward and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad that I have you in my life," 'I love you,' she added silently.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Mac," Mac left the apartment. She couldn't remember when she had been happier. If she had had any doubts about them being able to work things out with their friendship, they were all gone now. As long as they kept talking, they would be fine. Maybe even better than they had been before. For ages they had tried to learn how to not put their feet in their mouths around each other, and failed terribly at it. Now they were learning how to talk and resolve the problems their mouths sometimes created for them and the success rate for that was definitely better.
TBC