It's not the rest, but it's at least one more part. Thanks for all the feedback!

Part 4

August 2010

Mac got out of the car and walked towards the big office building. Her friend and partner Liz Henderson walked beside her. Together they ran a law firm specialized in family law. Once Mac had done her twenty years in the Marine Corp she had resigned her commission and started the firm. She wanted to be her own and she wanted to get back into the courtroom again. After she got pregnant she had transferred out of JAG and worked as a legal adviser at Pentagon. The job had been a step down for her, but she had still wanted it and the admiral had already realized he'd be forced to transfer either her or Harm out from JAG. The tension between the two of them had hurt the work climate more than any of their fights had ever before. It wasn't just affecting Mac and Harm's work-performance, but the whole office seemed severely handicapped by it. The gang of friends had been divided into two camps. It had seemed like it would never be the same again and until this day that was the very truth.

Their firm wasn't really successful financially, but it was enough pay to know they made a difference for those children. Mac felt that it was weird to be in the other position, accepting the same advises and reassurances that she had given clients of her own and realizing how empty they could seem.

"Neither one of you wants this to go to court, right? I'm sure we'll be able to work something out," Liz told her friend. She had started the firm together with Mac and had often, just like Mac, handled cases just like this one. Today they were going to talk to Harm and his attorney hoping to somehow work something out between them before it went to court.

"I hope so. Benji sensed something was wrong today... I just don't want him to get hurt," Mac told her.

They had reached the floor of Harm's attorney's office and were shown into a conference room where Harm was already waiting.

"Hello," Liz said and shook his hand. They had met before, but Liz pretty much just knew him from what Mac had told her.

"Hello," Harm said too.

Mac just nodded at him and then swallowed hard. Before the situation got the chance to get more awkward Harm's attorney, Mr. Martin, came into the room and motioned them all to sit down.

"Shall we start by summarizing the situation of how it has been up to now and then we'll discuss where we go from here," Mr. Martin suggested.

"You two have shared custody of Benjamin and he has from he was three up to now lived every other week with his mother and his father respectively, is that correct?" he asked looking down in his papers to get the facts.

Harm nodded saying that it was correct.

"He's lived with me a little more, because of Harm's travels," Mac protested lamely, knowing that it didn't make that much difference.

"Has this arrangement worked well for all parties?"

Harm nodded his head in agreement again.

"Yes, I've been happy to have him with me more," Mac agreed on this one, still in some way wanting to stress the fact that she had been the one that had taken more care of him.

"I've understood what have caused this dispute over custody now is that Mr. Rabb is moving to San Diego the next month."

"That seems to be his choice," Mac muttered.

"It's not a choice. It's an order, Mac. You know what that means just as much as I do."

"You are always in charge of your decisions, Harm," Mac interjected.

"We've been over this hundreds of times, Mac. Why do you always bring it up? Can't you just accept that this is how it will be and leave it at that."

"Maybe we should just move on to the questions we're here to discuss," Liz said. She sensed that there was more to Harm's leaving that was upsetting Mac than him wanting to bring Benji along. Mac had assured her that she was just upset because she wanted Benji to grow up with both of his parents and Harm's leaving would make that impossible, but Liz was pretty sure there was more to it than what she was saying.

"It's my understanding that you have known about this transfer for three months already and in that time you haven't expressed a wish to bring your son with you. What has changed now?" Liz asked him.

"Last week when he came and lived with me I realized that when I move we won't be able to have that anymore and how much it will hurt both of us," Harm simply said. "I lost my father at an early age and I always wanted to be around for Ben. He looks up to me, respects me and I think it would be better for him to live with me."

"But you have always chosen work over him in the past. He's never been your first priority," Mac protested. "You don't want to be tied down by him, you still want your freedom to be able to run off whenever you want to. Do you realize that when you take him to the other side of the country I'm not going to be there to take care of him when you need to go out of town or wants to go out on a date?" she continued her voice dripping with sarcasm at the words need and date.

"How can you say that? I was the one who wanted the three of us to be a real family," Harm said as angry and upset as Mac was. They both seemed to have forgotten that they were not alone in the room.

"I'm sorry if I messed up your plan for a perfect family, that I ruined your image as a the perfect officer and gentleman," she screamed at him "First I manage to get myself pregnant and then I won't let you marry away the problem," she said very aggravated, she hadn't had much hope for this discussion to be able to solve anything and it seemed like she had been right. "Maybe you don't think I deserve to be loved and respected by my husband, but I think I do, that I deserved better than what you offered me and do you know what the ironical thing is?" she asked him rhetorically and then came with the answer herself "It is that you were the one who taught me that."

"You're just angry because I thought about what was best for the baby and you had this image of how you wanted your life to happen," Harm said a lot calmer than anything in their discussion had been uttered before. He wondered what she meant by saying she deserved to be loved by her husband. Surely she must have known that he loved her, and that that was what he had offered her even if he wasn't the man she loved.

"You didn't ask me to marry you. You proposed a business deal and I declined. You wouldn't even look me in the eyes, you were so ashamed of having to do it," Mac hadn't been able to calm down like Harm had done. She was still running forward on the highest gear.

"I think it's obvious that you still have many problems to sort out between the two of you," Mr. Martin stated when the room was filled with deafening silence again. "Have you ever considered some sort of counseling?"

"No,"both of them said and it was clear they weren't going to start considering it now either.

'So they agree on something. I guess that's positive," the attorney thought.

"Okay," he said and continued "And I assume that both of you think that you want what's best for Benjamin."

"Yes," they now mumbled.

"Why don't we try to meet some other time when you are more prepared to discuss the issue of custody?"

"I must agree with that," Liz stated. Mac obviously needed to calm down and talk to Harm about more than just where Benji was going to live. She had never been told the complete story of the two of them, just that they had never been involved in a romantic relationship, but had been best friends before she got pregnant. That had obviously changed completely after that.

"Would the 17th work for you?" he suggested and looked in his calendar.

"No, it's Benji's birthday," Mac said.

"Can't we just wait with scheduling the next meeting for a couple of days?" Harm asked. He looked completely exhausted.

"We can't wait too long though," Mac said as she thought about the fact that within less than a month Harm was going to move, by then they needed to settle this.

She got up from the chair. Liz followed her out of the room and walked with her back to the car. They had just taken one car since they had come direct from the office and were going to go back there together again after the meeting.

Mac sat down on the passenger side and then turned to her friend.

"Do you think that we can ever work this out? I mean not just about Benji, that thing with us."

"There's only one way to find out. Talk to him, ask him," Liz said and thought about all the guys her friend had dated in the time that she had known her. None of the relationships had lasted very long, even though the guys had all been pretty decent. She had always had the theory that it came from the ever ongoing struggle with Harm and before they worked things out between them, neither one of them could go on.

"No," Mac shook her head wondering what had gotten her into asking that "It's already too late..." Mac said and turned to look straight-forward again. Liz glanced at her before she started the engine and in secret watched the lonely tear that made its way down Mac's cheek.

TBC