Chapter 4

Home is where your best friend is

"Right then, marine. Where to next?" Harm asked once they were inside the elevator, heading towards to ground floor.

"Your place, so I can get the marriage papers from my bag and access to a phone that will make interstate calls. I have some unfinished business to sort out."

Wednesday 0950

Little Tot's Daycare

Harm's SUV pulled up outside the daycare centre. They had planned to head to Harm's apartment, however upon looking at the address on the piece of paper Harriet had given her, Mac had discovered that the daycare was very close to Harm's apartment, so they had decided to drop in on the way there.

As Mac got Ali out of the car, she woke up.

"Where are we, mummy?" she asked sleepily.

"We're at a new daycare, honey." she told her daughter, wondering how she would react to the news.

"Oh. But I like my daycare, mama. I don't want a different one." Ali pouted and Harm chuckled quietly behind them. It seemed that Ali was just as stubborn as her mother, even if she was only two.

"I know you do, Ali, but you're going to have to go to this daycare now. But it'll be okay. I'm sure there will be lots of nice people to play with. Alright, munchkin?"

Ali nodded. "Good girl." said Mac, kissing her forehead. She turned to Harm.

"Alright, sailor, lets get this show on the road." She picked up Ali and they made their way over to the gate. They went through it and found themselves in a fenced-in playground filled with young children ranging from as young as one to as old as five. They followed the narrow brick path until they came to what looked like an administrative building and entered. They were greeted by a young woman in her mid-twenties carrying a toddler of about three or four. There was something familiar about her which Mac couldn't quite place.

"Hello there, can I help you?" she asked, smiling brightly at the two of them.

"Yes, please. I'd like to know about enrolling Ali here," she told the lady, glancing at Ali who was busy looking around with interest at all the other children. "however I need somewhere that can take her next week."

"Next week? That's rather short notice for being able to find a spot for her. May I ask why you need it so suddenly."

"My job." was Mac's reply. "I just moved back here and the job I have needs me to start right away." Well, technically I haven't actually moved back yet. She thought But I'll be moving soon enough.

"Ah, I see. Was there a reason that you chose this particular daycare? Or did it just happen to be the closest one to you?"

"Actually, a friend of mine, Harriet Simms-Roberts, has a son who goes here and I wanted Ali to go somewhere that I knew would be good. And seeing as Harriet speaks so highly of this place, I figured I may as well try it out."

The lady smiled, glad that they had built up such a good reputation. "Ah yes, little AJ Roberts. He's quite a sweetheart, isn't he?"

Mac's expression became saddened. "Yeah, I suppose he is. At least, he was the last time I saw him..." She trailed off as she was once again reminded of how much she had missed by being away for so long.

Harm could tell that thinking about the last time she had seen AJ was painful for her, reminding her about everything that had happened over the last day and he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze then rubbed his hand comfortingly over her back, soothing her.

"Hmm, well, I have to say that we don't usually take people's children on such short notice, however, seeing as Harriet send you...she's such a lovely woman. How could I possible say no to one of her friends?" asked the lady smiling warmly at them.

"Thankyou so much. You have no idea how much easier this makes things for me."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. If you're going to be working at the same office as Harriet does, then I know exactly how much stress it takes off. I've visited that place and it can be absolutely chaotic."

"Yeah, actually, I am working at the JAG. And I just couldn't imagine trying to take Ali to work with me and make her sit still for even a second. I remember the time when Harriet had to bring AJ to work with her...it was insane to say the least."

"I can imagine. Now if you could just come with me please and we can fill out your forms and while you're doing that I'll just sort out Benny" she indicated the toddler in her arms.

"Hey Mac." Harm said

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I went and said hello to AJ while you're filling out the forms. Then I could tell him that his 'Auntie Mac' is back. He still remembers you, you know. He often asks when you're going to be coming back for a visit."

Mac's face lit up. "Really? He actually remembers me?"

"Yep. So do you mind?"

"Not at all. Just as long as you bring me to see him afterwards."

"Sure thing, ninjagirl."

Mac followed the lady to the desk where the registration forms were waiting and Harm went in the opposite direction, back out to the playground in search of AJ.

"Can I help you, sir?" Harm turned around to see another employee holding a child standing behind him.

"Ah, no thanks. I'm just looking for AJ. Unless you could tell me where he is?"

"AJ Roberts?" Harm nodded. "Of course. He's over there playing in the sand pit." the woman told him, pointing to the far corner of the playground."

"Thankyou very much."

"Hang on a moment, sir. Are you a relative? Because only relatives and others who are listed on their forms are allowed to collect the children."

"Oh, I'm not collecting him, I'm just saying hi to him. I'm his Godfather."

"Okay then. Well I've never seen you before so if you don't mind I'm just going to make sure that he really knows you and if he doesn't then I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

Wow, good security they have around here. Ali will definitely be safe here.

"Sure thing." he replied.

He approached the sand pit that was filled with giggling kids. He immediately picked out the familiar blonde head, which unlike the rest of the children who were building sand castles, was busy flying a toy plane around and pretending to blow up his sandcastles.

The woman shook her head. "I don't know where he gets it from, but that kid has an addiction to planes. He can even tell you about those F-11s or whatever they are. Bobcats or something."

Harm grinned and chucked.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. And they're F-14s, not F-11s. Tomcats."

The lady said nothing but merely raised an eyebrow, prompting Harm to go on with is explanation.

"I'm a pilot....or at least, I used to be. I used to fly one of them, which is the reason why AJ knows so much about them. He thinks that me being a pilot is one of the coolest things in the world"

"I see. Well, that would explain it."

Harm arrived at the edge of the sandpit and observed AJ playing for a moment before alerting to boy to his presence.

"You know, buddy, you'd better refill that plane of yours before she runs out and crashes."

AJ looked up from his playing and his face broke into a huge grin.

"Unca Harm, Unca Harm, Unca Harm" He yelled charging toward Harm at the end of the sandpit.

"Hey there sport." He picked AJ up and held him over his head, the little guy screaming with delight.

"Unca Harm, Unca Harm, make me a tomcat. I wanna fly!"

"Not right now, buddy." AJ pouted as Harm lowered him back down to eye level. "But I do have a surprise for you."

"A surprise? What is it?" The almost-five-year-old got excited all over again, bouncing around in his arms.

"Well, you know how you keep asking when you're Auntie Mac is going to visit you again?" AJ nodded. "Well, she's come back and she's here right now."

AJ's eyes grew wide. "Really? Where is she? I wanna see Auntie Mac! Auntie Mac, Auntie Mac, Auntie Mac." AJ began singing as he bounced up and down again and Harm gave up put him down and watched him run around like an aeroplane singing.

"Auntie Mac came back, Auntie Mac came back, Auntie Mac came back..."

As Harm expected, he eventually calmed down and returned to Harm.

"When can I see Auntie Mac?"

"You can see her right now, big guy."

"YAY" AJ shouted, clapping his hands together.

"Say, AJ do you want a shoulder ride to her?"

"Yeah!"

Harm grinned at his godson and picked him up, placing him on his shoulders. He headed back down the pathway and into the administrative centre and opened the door. Propping the door open with his foot, he took AJ off his shoulders and placed him back down on the floor and instead took his hand. After all, he didn't want to take AJ's head off while walking through the door, which, given his tall frame, was bound to happen.

Harm and AJ approached Mac from behind. She was standing at the desk filling out forms, the other woman holding Ali while she worked.

"Hey Ma-ac" Harm called as he got close to her. "I have someone who wants to see you." She turned around and stared at AJ. He was so big to her. The last time she had seen him he had been about Ali's age.

"AJ!"

"Auntie Mac" he called, immediately recognising her. She dropped to her knees and held out her arms to the small whirlwind that was rushing towards her. He flung himself into her arms and she held him tightly, her eyes shut, the expression on her face saying that all was finally right in the world. Harm wished he had a camera.

After several minutes Mac finally released AJ. She moved her head backwards so that she could see him properly.

"My goodness, you've grown so much. Oh, I've missed you little buddy."

"I missed you too Auntie Mac. I though that you weren't going to come back."

"Well I'm back now. And I'm going to be staying for a while too."

"Yay." AJ shouted ecstatically, throwing himself once again into Mac's arms.

"AJ, I have someone who I want you to meet." Mac told him, standing up. She had no idea what he would think of Ali, but she hoped that they would get along well. It would help Ali a great deal if the had someone like AJ to look after her next week when she came. Mac took back Ali, who had ended up with Harm again, and put her down on the ground, crouching down beside her.

"AJ, this is Ali. She's my daughter, so do you know what that makes her to you?"

AJ shook his head.

"That makes her your God-sister."

AJ's eyes brightened at the thought. "I get a God-sister? Cool." He turned to Ali. "Hi Ali, I'm AJ. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi." Ali replied shyly before turning around and burying her head in her mother's jacket. Mac put her arm around her.

"Don't be shy, honey. AJ's very nice and he's going to look after you next week. Do you think you could do that for me, AJ?"

AJ nodded, happy to be trusted with such an important task by his Auntie Mac.

"Well AJ, your Uncle Harm and I have to go now, but we're going to see you again on the weekend. Okay?"

"Yep." AJ followed Harm and Mac and Ali, who was holding onto Mac's hand, out of the building and to the gate.

"Bye Auntie Mac, bye Unca Harm." AJ waved as Harm opened the gate for Mac and Ali and the three of them left the daycare centre. Both Harm and Mac waved back energetically to the child and even Ali managed a small wave.

As they walked back to Harm's car he noticed that Mac was grinning.

"Watcha smiling about, marine." he asked, smiling also. Her mood was infectious.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I was so worried that Ali wouldn't like AJ, or vice versa. But I can tell that she likes him so I know that she's going to be just fine."

"How can you tell that she likes him?" Harm asked incredulously. "She only said one word to him."

"Which is one word more than she would have said do any other kid. Besides, I'm her mother. I can tell."

"Ah, right. Maternal instincts and all I suppose..." he grinned and he remembered one of the conversations they had had when Chloe had been lost.

~~"Hey Mac. Anyone ever tell you that you have great maternal instincts?"

"Not as often as they tell me I have a great karate chop."~~

"What are you smiling about, flyboy?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the conversation we had involving your maternal instincts when Chloe was lost. Do you remember it?"

"Yes, and I am very proud of my karate chop, thankyou very much."

Harm rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Get in the car, you."

Mac tossed him a mock salute. "Yes, sir."

Harm gave her a playful slap on the arm before opening the door and climbing in.

A/N: I have just one thing to say.... PLEASE REVIEW!!! This is probably the last chapter that I'll post before Christmas but I promise you that there will definately be more after christmas, and if I get 20 reviews or more for this chapter then I'll be nice to you and post another chapter before Christmas comes along. But only if I get the reviews. Any mistakes you notice please tell me about and I'll fix them up -- I haven't been able to get a hold of my beta so this chapter (and the last one) are un-betad.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and God Bless. =)