Part 18: Valentine
February 14th 2003
"You're five minutes late, Sailor," Mac said as she opened the door. Harm stretched out a bouquet of flowers to her.
"OK, you're forgiven," she smiled and stepped aside to let him in. She was wearing a new skirt and blouse that she'd bought on her lunch break. The day before she had been trying to pick out something to wear for the special occasion. Unfortunately she didn't fit into any of her go-out clothes, as a matter of fact all of her cloths were getting pretty tight. She had to do some serious shopping soon. She had already had to exchange her uniforms for bigger sizes. Harm was quite impressed with her new attire.
"You look beautiful," he said and continued to watch her.
"Thank you. I'll probably never get to wear this skirt again. It feels like I could grow out of it by tomorrow,"
"What's saying you'll never be pregnant again?"
"Harm, let me get through this pregnancy first, OK?" Mac said and decided to move the discussion to another topic.
"I didn't realize today was Valentine's Day when you asked me out."
"Is there someone else you'd rather spend it with?" Harm asked.
"Not at the moment," Mac said pretending like it was a hard question she had to think a lot about before answering.
"Ready to go?" Harm asked.
"Ready to go,"
Half an hour later they were sitting at the bar of a romantic French restaurant waiting for their table to be available. After they had parked the car, Harm had taken Mac's hand in his and it had stayed that way up until now. They were talking about everything except the JAG-office. Mac was telling him about when her father had taught her how to ride a bike, Harm was happy that she was sharing some of her good memories of her father with him. They were laughing together when an old friend showed up.
"Hi Harm and Mac, I thought it was you I saw."
"Congresswoman," Mac and Harm said simultaneously a bit in unnerved about meeting someone they knew. Quite unsure how to act with each other when they were alone in this very new situation, interacting when there was people they knew watching them made them hit a new high of awkwardness.
"I heard a rumor about a marine colonel being pregnant with on of her colleagues and suspected that you two had finally gotten your acts together. Nice to see that I was right. Congratulations," Bobbi Latham said.
"Harm isn't the father," Mac blurted out rapidly to end the misunderstanding.
"How are things up on the Hill?" Harm asked to lead the conversation onto another area. At the same time he squeezed her hand tighter.
"Very well, thank you." Bobbi said still quite curious, but realizing there were probably other ways to find out more about this.
A waitress came up to Harm and Mac and told them their table was ready. They said goodbye to Bobbi.
"Say hello to Sturgis from me," Bobbi requested before they walked away.
"I never knew why things ended between those two," Harm said sort of asking what Mac knew about it.
"Sturgis and I rarely discuss each other's love life, Harm,"
"So he doesn't know about this?"
"Not yet." Mac said
"But you're planning on telling him about it."
"Yes," was all Mac said and Harm didn't ask anything more about it. It was hard to know that another man was so involved with the woman he loved. But he also understood that especially after the baby was born. Sturgis would need to know, and probably find out anyway, what went on in Mac's life.
"You don't have to be jealous of Sturgis, Harm. If we had any sort of romantic feelings for each other, I probably wouldn't be here with you right now. We'd have a pretty good reason to try to make it work, wouldn't we?"
"I'm glad you're here," Harm said wondering if it was really nice to be so happy that the parents of an unborn baby weren't together. On the other hand his existence in the equation didn't change anything anyway, at least if he wanted to believe Mac and he wanted to do that.
"I'm glad you're here too," Mac woke Harm up from his thinking.
"You said you wanted to ask me out a long time ago, since we first met. Why didn't you?" Mac asked.
"You remember that," Mac nodded "Well you know there were many reasons. In a way I'm glad I didn't," Harm said and Mac's heart sunk "Because I think we have a much better chance of making this last forever now than we ever had before."
"I guess you're right. We've never been as open with each other or so capable of resolving our conflicts as we have been lately."
"No, we haven't."
"Have you talked to Singer?" Mac asked remembering the conversation a few weeks back at her apartment.
"I'm listening to your advice and are letting them work things out for themselves."
Dinner went by quickly as they were both having a wonderful time. A lot of things were just like they were whenever they had met in their free time before, they were talking about things they would normally talk about, they had let go of each other's hands and had anyone of their friends seen them they wouldn't have suspected that anything was different. But to them the difference was like night and day. They were out on a date, a real date, something they both had secretly dreamed about for so long. No words of love or intentions had been exchanged, but somehow they knew that what they wanted themselves wasn't very far from what the other wanted.
They ordered desserts, Mac ate both hers and Harm's, stating she was eating for two now. They went out to the car to go home. Outside of Mac's apartment Harm stopped the car.
"You want to come up?"
"On.Only if you want me to," Harm said nervously.
"I didn't ask you to spend the night," Mac teased and Harm got all red in the face.
"I know," He said embarrassed that she had understood what he was thinking about. They got out of the car and went up to her apartment. Mac put on a pot of tea and Harm searched her CD-collection for some music.
"Is it OK if I put this one on?" He held out a CD-cover.
"Sure," she put the cups of tea on the table.
He sat down on the couch and Mac went to sit down right beside him. Harm put his arm around her so she would sit as close as possible to him. They leaned back against the couch.
"This is nice," Harm said. Mac had closed her eyes and just mumbled an answer. They sat silent like that for a small eternity.
"Are you still awake, Mac?" Harm asked as he realized how late it was.
"Mm," she said sleepily.
"I need to go home, " Harm said with some regret.
"Mm," she said again. Harm started to get up and Mac was awake again when she felt him stir. They both got up from the couch and walked towards the door.
"I'll call you tomorrow,"
"Not if I call you first," Mac smiled. Harm kept eye contact with her as he was putting on his jacket. Now came the hard part of this evening, how to end it. There seemed to be no suitable and normal way for them. They seemed to be having the same problem, because they were both just standing still looking at the other person.
"Would you mind sharing one of those awkward moments again?" Harm finally got up the courage to ask.
"Not if it involves a kiss," Mac said and they both moved in for the kiss. It was slow and sweet and ended much to soon for both of their likings.
"Goodbye Mac," Harm said still not more than two inches from Mac's mouth. He turned around and walked out. It had been the best Valentine's Day. Ever.
TBC
AN: From part 20 and the rest there will be episodes involved that I haven't actually seen. Just read reviews of. I'd be really grateful if someone would offer to beta read those parts and answer some of my questions, so that there aren't any major mistakes. Of course there will be differences, but I want to keep close to the original. Thank you in advance!
February 14th 2003
"You're five minutes late, Sailor," Mac said as she opened the door. Harm stretched out a bouquet of flowers to her.
"OK, you're forgiven," she smiled and stepped aside to let him in. She was wearing a new skirt and blouse that she'd bought on her lunch break. The day before she had been trying to pick out something to wear for the special occasion. Unfortunately she didn't fit into any of her go-out clothes, as a matter of fact all of her cloths were getting pretty tight. She had to do some serious shopping soon. She had already had to exchange her uniforms for bigger sizes. Harm was quite impressed with her new attire.
"You look beautiful," he said and continued to watch her.
"Thank you. I'll probably never get to wear this skirt again. It feels like I could grow out of it by tomorrow,"
"What's saying you'll never be pregnant again?"
"Harm, let me get through this pregnancy first, OK?" Mac said and decided to move the discussion to another topic.
"I didn't realize today was Valentine's Day when you asked me out."
"Is there someone else you'd rather spend it with?" Harm asked.
"Not at the moment," Mac said pretending like it was a hard question she had to think a lot about before answering.
"Ready to go?" Harm asked.
"Ready to go,"
Half an hour later they were sitting at the bar of a romantic French restaurant waiting for their table to be available. After they had parked the car, Harm had taken Mac's hand in his and it had stayed that way up until now. They were talking about everything except the JAG-office. Mac was telling him about when her father had taught her how to ride a bike, Harm was happy that she was sharing some of her good memories of her father with him. They were laughing together when an old friend showed up.
"Hi Harm and Mac, I thought it was you I saw."
"Congresswoman," Mac and Harm said simultaneously a bit in unnerved about meeting someone they knew. Quite unsure how to act with each other when they were alone in this very new situation, interacting when there was people they knew watching them made them hit a new high of awkwardness.
"I heard a rumor about a marine colonel being pregnant with on of her colleagues and suspected that you two had finally gotten your acts together. Nice to see that I was right. Congratulations," Bobbi Latham said.
"Harm isn't the father," Mac blurted out rapidly to end the misunderstanding.
"How are things up on the Hill?" Harm asked to lead the conversation onto another area. At the same time he squeezed her hand tighter.
"Very well, thank you." Bobbi said still quite curious, but realizing there were probably other ways to find out more about this.
A waitress came up to Harm and Mac and told them their table was ready. They said goodbye to Bobbi.
"Say hello to Sturgis from me," Bobbi requested before they walked away.
"I never knew why things ended between those two," Harm said sort of asking what Mac knew about it.
"Sturgis and I rarely discuss each other's love life, Harm,"
"So he doesn't know about this?"
"Not yet." Mac said
"But you're planning on telling him about it."
"Yes," was all Mac said and Harm didn't ask anything more about it. It was hard to know that another man was so involved with the woman he loved. But he also understood that especially after the baby was born. Sturgis would need to know, and probably find out anyway, what went on in Mac's life.
"You don't have to be jealous of Sturgis, Harm. If we had any sort of romantic feelings for each other, I probably wouldn't be here with you right now. We'd have a pretty good reason to try to make it work, wouldn't we?"
"I'm glad you're here," Harm said wondering if it was really nice to be so happy that the parents of an unborn baby weren't together. On the other hand his existence in the equation didn't change anything anyway, at least if he wanted to believe Mac and he wanted to do that.
"I'm glad you're here too," Mac woke Harm up from his thinking.
"You said you wanted to ask me out a long time ago, since we first met. Why didn't you?" Mac asked.
"You remember that," Mac nodded "Well you know there were many reasons. In a way I'm glad I didn't," Harm said and Mac's heart sunk "Because I think we have a much better chance of making this last forever now than we ever had before."
"I guess you're right. We've never been as open with each other or so capable of resolving our conflicts as we have been lately."
"No, we haven't."
"Have you talked to Singer?" Mac asked remembering the conversation a few weeks back at her apartment.
"I'm listening to your advice and are letting them work things out for themselves."
Dinner went by quickly as they were both having a wonderful time. A lot of things were just like they were whenever they had met in their free time before, they were talking about things they would normally talk about, they had let go of each other's hands and had anyone of their friends seen them they wouldn't have suspected that anything was different. But to them the difference was like night and day. They were out on a date, a real date, something they both had secretly dreamed about for so long. No words of love or intentions had been exchanged, but somehow they knew that what they wanted themselves wasn't very far from what the other wanted.
They ordered desserts, Mac ate both hers and Harm's, stating she was eating for two now. They went out to the car to go home. Outside of Mac's apartment Harm stopped the car.
"You want to come up?"
"On.Only if you want me to," Harm said nervously.
"I didn't ask you to spend the night," Mac teased and Harm got all red in the face.
"I know," He said embarrassed that she had understood what he was thinking about. They got out of the car and went up to her apartment. Mac put on a pot of tea and Harm searched her CD-collection for some music.
"Is it OK if I put this one on?" He held out a CD-cover.
"Sure," she put the cups of tea on the table.
He sat down on the couch and Mac went to sit down right beside him. Harm put his arm around her so she would sit as close as possible to him. They leaned back against the couch.
"This is nice," Harm said. Mac had closed her eyes and just mumbled an answer. They sat silent like that for a small eternity.
"Are you still awake, Mac?" Harm asked as he realized how late it was.
"Mm," she said sleepily.
"I need to go home, " Harm said with some regret.
"Mm," she said again. Harm started to get up and Mac was awake again when she felt him stir. They both got up from the couch and walked towards the door.
"I'll call you tomorrow,"
"Not if I call you first," Mac smiled. Harm kept eye contact with her as he was putting on his jacket. Now came the hard part of this evening, how to end it. There seemed to be no suitable and normal way for them. They seemed to be having the same problem, because they were both just standing still looking at the other person.
"Would you mind sharing one of those awkward moments again?" Harm finally got up the courage to ask.
"Not if it involves a kiss," Mac said and they both moved in for the kiss. It was slow and sweet and ended much to soon for both of their likings.
"Goodbye Mac," Harm said still not more than two inches from Mac's mouth. He turned around and walked out. It had been the best Valentine's Day. Ever.
TBC
AN: From part 20 and the rest there will be episodes involved that I haven't actually seen. Just read reviews of. I'd be really grateful if someone would offer to beta read those parts and answer some of my questions, so that there aren't any major mistakes. Of course there will be differences, but I want to keep close to the original. Thank you in advance!