Chapter 12

Home is where your best friend is

Monday 1342
JAG headquarters

Harm and Mac sat outside in the cafeteria eating their lunches and chatting casually about work, their lives, Ali and anything at all. Harm was just about to take a bite of his salad when they heard a familiar voice.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am."

"Hi Harriet. Have a seat." Mac greeted the blonde lieutenant.

"No thanks, ma'am, I'm off to meet Bud. I was just wondering if you two were planning on coming to AJ's fifth birthday party next weekend. I know that he'd love for the two of you to come."

"Wow." said Mac "Is it May already? I can't believe I've already been back for six months."

"It's amazing how quickly time goes by, isn't it." Harriet commented. "I mean, it seems that it was just yesterday that AJ was still one." she smiled, remembering little AJ as a baby. "So, are you two going to come?"

"Of course!" Mac told her happily. "We'd love to. Wouldn't miss our godson's birthday for the world." Harm nodded in agreement.

"Great." Harriet bubbled, already excited about her son's birthday party. "I'll see you Saturday. The party starts at 1100, but if you want to come around half an hour or so early to see AJ beforehand, then that's fine by me."

"We'd love to come early. How about we drop by around 0900 to help you set everything up."

"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that." Harriet told them.

"You didn't ask, we're offering." Mac and Harm both argued simultaneously. Harriet smiled to herself and shrugged, grinning at them.

"Well, if you're sure. In that case I'll see you at 0900 Saturday morning."

"Bye Harriet."

"Wow" said Harm once Harriet was gone. "I can't believe that AJ's already turning five. He's growing up so quickly."

"I know. Just like I can't believe how fast my beautiful baby's growing up."

Both of them sat in a companionable silence, munching away at their lunches, their thoughts heading along very similar tracks.

I wonder if he even remembers our deal

//She's probably forgotten about it by now. Either that or she's not going to mention it seeing as she's already got Ali.//

I really hope that he brings it up at the party. After all, that deal wasn't just about a baby, it was about him. I wanted him so much....still do. Just look at him sitting there, staring off into space. How does he manage to look so damn sexy even when he's not doing anything. Oh, what I would like to do......NO, don't got there Mackenzie. Still in JAG headquarters....

//She's so beautiful, sitting there like that, a smile on her lips. Oh, those lips....... Don't go there, Rabb. You're still at work....//

I can't wait...

//...till we get home//

// *SIGH* //

Without any spoken words needed, the two of them picked up their lunch things and headed back inside to their offices.

Friday, 1832
Mac's apartment

Mac slid the keys into the lock of the front door and leaned against it to push it open. Harm was standing behind her and both were laden down with groceries. Ali tagged along behind them with a large rag doll in her hands. Many a time had Mac attempted to get rid of the doll Ali now had with her, however Ali had formed an emotional attachment to it and cried whenever Mac had tried to take it away from her. Rob had once suggested that she just take it away from her when she wasn't looking, and she would eventually forget about it, but Mac didn't have the heart to do something like that, so the grubby doll stayed.

The groceries were dumped onto the kitchen counter, and Mac took Ali off to have her bath, while Harm made a start on the groceries. Even though Mac had only been back in DC for about 6 months, Harm already knew his way around her new apartment as well as he did his own. Harm had no objection to helping Mac put her groceries and things away – he had been doing little things like that a lot since her return. With a very active two year old in the house Harm's favourite Marine Colonel seemed to have a lot less spare time on her hands. Little things such as Harm picking Ali up from daycare when Mac had a client meeting, or helping Mac with her shopping, were things they didn't even think twice about. They had grown incredibly close in the 6 months that Mac had been back. Closer even than they had been before Mac had left. Now the two of them were secretly dating, trying to find a way around the rules that had kept them from getting close all those years ago.

"Hey Harm, can you grab my mail for me?" Mac shouted to him from Ali's bedroom where she was now attempting to get a two year old with her sense of stubbornness to put on a pair of pyjamas.

"Sure thing"

Harm finished putting away Mac's groceries and went to retrieve her mail for her. He flicked through it to see if there was anything much of interest for her reading out what each letter was.

"Nothing interesting looking here, Mac. Water bill, gas bill, lighting bill.... hey, here's something interesting. It just says: 'Mackenzie' and then has your address on it. It's handwritten, No return address. Could be anything."

Within seconds Mac came rushing out of Ali's room and tore the letter form Harm's grasp and started to rip it open.

"Whoa, slow down. I presume you're expecting something?"

"No, you think?" came her sarcastic retort. Harm just shrugged and decided to let her finish opening he letter first.

Mac finished opening the envelope and slowed her pace, carefully pulling the sheets of paper out of it and inspecting them carefully. The look on her face as she read the papers was something that Harm would have paid to see – it was a look of sheer delight, like a child who had just been told that she could have anything she wanted from a sweet shop.

"What is it?"

"I, Sarah Mackenzie, am now officially divorced, with a whole heap of assets to my name, full custody of my beautiful daughter and free to do what I please!"

Harm let out a cheer and picked her up and swung her around, before setting her down and planting a kiss on her lips.

"You know what Mac? I am so happy for you. You deserve to be happy, and I promise that I will do everything in my power to make your life as enjoyable as possible."

"Oh, you're so sweet Harm. Tell me, why didn't you ever show me this sweet side when I used to live here?"

"Cos, you would have teased me terribly for it and you know it."

"Quite true." She conceded.

"But, you are now my girlfriend, so I'm allowed to be as sweet and nice toward you as I like."

"Mmmm, Harmon Rabb's girlfriend. I still can't get over how lucky I am to have you. I'm still amazed at the fact that we've managed to hide it for this long."

"I know. Three months yesterday."

"Speaking of which, I know I already said it, but thankyou so much for everything you did yesterday, Harm. I really appreciated it"

Both of them smiled in recollection of the events of the previous night. Harm had made reservations at their favourite restaurant and treated Mac to a delicious lobster dinner, followed by a few hours of dancing and chocolate cake for desert in Harm's 'vette while they watched the drive in movie. The night had been wonderful, and they had both woken up rather content the next morning. Rumors fluttered around the office as to why the two senior officers were so cheerful, considering that it was Monday morning and they were still smiling, even after a meeting with the Admiral. Of course, as soon as the Admiral got word of the rumours (the majority of which involved the two of them "hot bunking") he of course asked them into his office to confront them. Being as perceptive as he was, he deliberately didn't ask about their personal relationship, only about the rumours. After all, they were all a big fan of the policy "don't ask, don't tell". So the Admiral didn't ask, and they didn't have to tell.....yet. They were pretty sure that the Admiral had his suspicions, but apart from him, no one, not even Harriet, had any idea about them.

With the arrival of the divorce papers, Harm decided that a bit of a celebration was in order, and he decided that he would make Mac's favourite dinner – steak. With Harm and her now spending so much time, whenever Mac bought steak to put in her freezer, she also bought some veggie burgers at the same time, and vice versa. So whenever they were at each other's houses (which was fairly frequently) then they both had something they actually liked to eat.

Dinner was an interesting affair, with Ali trying to do a repeat of her spaghetti incident. Mac used a damp cloth to clean up her daughter's messy face and smiled as she recalled what had happened the last time Ali had gotten messy like that. Harm also seemed to recall that incident and Mac looked up from wiping Ali's face to see Harm staring at her. Well, her chest at least. When he realised that he had been caught staring, he grinned sheepishly expecting to be teased. Instead, all he got form her was a seductive smile.

When Mac was putting Ali to bed after dinner Ali, as she often did, asked for "Unca Harm" to come in and kiss her goodnight too. Tonight, however, when he came in she asked him, solemn as anything, what a divorce was.

"Where'd you hear that word, pumpkin?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Mamma said it. She said it was 'bout daddy"

"That's right. It means that your mamma's not married to your daddy any more."

"Is he still my daddy?"

"Yes. He will always be your daddy, he just doesn't live with your mamma, that's all." Harm explained, wondering how much Mac wanted her child to know.

"Oh." Ali sat in her bed frowning for a few moments, obviously pondering something. "So he won't really be like a daddy if he isn't here, will he?" Harm marvelled at the intelligence of this two, nearly three year old. He didn't think that he'd ever met a young child so smart. Before he had time to think of an answer to give her, Ali started talking again.

"Unca Harm, will you be my new daddy?"

Harm, who couldn't have seen this coming a mile off, was taken by surprise. No doubt about her being Mac's daughter though. "Maybe some day, sweetie pie. Maybe some day."

"Really?" Ali started to get excited at the prospect of having Harm as a father, and bounced up and down in her bed.

"Shhh." Harm quickly silenced her before Mac could come in and see what was going on. He put his finger up to his lips and Ali did the same. "It's a secret, okay? It can be our little secret, how does that sound?"

Ali's eyes grew wide at the concept of having her very own secret to share with Harm and she nodded solemnly, determined to keep their secret. Harm gave her a goodnight kiss and tucked her back in, then went to go and find Mac. He thought about what Ali had said, and his answer to her questions about him being her father. What he had said about maybe being her father one day he really did mean. He had every intention of proposing to Mac, as soon as they were both ready for it. Hell, he had intended on proposing to her after about a year of knowing her, and yet he was only now getting around to it. A year ago he would still have been kicking himself for letting her go. Now, however, he was concentrating on looking forwards and not thinking about mistakes he had made in the past. Not to mention thanking God every few moments that he could finally have the beautiful woman called Sarah Mackenzie in his life, and for good if he had anything to say about it.

Saturday, 0900
Roberts Residence

"Hi Harriet, we're here." Mac called through the ajar front door, opening it fully and admitting herself and Harm.

"Hi Mac." came the shouted reply. "I'm in the kitchen. Come right in. AJ honey." she called to her son "come and greet your Uncle Harm and your Auntie Mac."

"Uncle Harm, Auntie Mac. Uncle Harm, Auntie Mac." He shouted, the now five-year-old whirlwind rushed to greet them.

"Hey buddy" Harm exclaimed picking him up and seating him on his shoulders.

"Airplane, airplane!" AJ shouted to Harm, who complied with the boy's request and started zooming the birthday boy around the room, making him squeal with delight. While the boys were playing "airplanes" Mac wandered through into the kitchen to greet Harriet. She stopped short as she entered the kitchen and saw the spectacular birthday cake that Harriet had made for her son. It was nothing short of incredible.

1140 local
Roberts' Backyard

"Hey Auntie Mac, look what I got!" AJ Roberts came running over to Mac and held out the new toy he had just unwrapped.

"Wow, that's pretty neat. Who gave you that one kiddo?"

"Uncle AJ." Mac smiled at the idea of her CO in a toy shop trying to pick out something for his five year old namesake and surrogate grandson.

"Pick me up, Auntie Mac." He demanded in the oldest sounding voice he could manage. "I want a cuddle!" Mac bent down and picked her Godson up, pretending to groan at his weight.

"Ugh, you're like a little elephant, only not quite so grey." AJ giggled and started making elephant noises, waving his arm about as if it were a trunk.

Mac watched her Godson play contentedly in her arms for a few moments before she sensed someone watching her. She felt suddenly cold and looked up to find herself looking directly into the eyes of her drunken ex-husband. She hid her shock at seeing him and resolved to remain civil, but did not go so far as to offer him a smile.

"What are you doing here, Robert?" she fought the urge to say the words harshly, however it was obvious he was drunk - she could smell the alcohol on his breath - and she wanted to prevent this... confrontation from turning into a fight.

"I made a mistake, Sarah. Come back to me, please." He implored, slurring the words slightly.

"You need to leave. Now. I am no longer your wife and this is not the time or place to discuss it. Please don't make me call the police." No matter what her feelings for Robert were or might have been, little AJ's birthday party was no place for a drunken ex husband.

"This is about that lover boy of yours, isn't it?." Mac narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Get out of here, Robert." Mac's voice was cold and full of venom as she annunciated every word cleanly, leaving him no room for misinterpretation, even in his drunken state. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten, or rather chosen to forget, his last encounter with a thoroughly infuriated Sarah Mackenzie.

"What's wrong, Slut? Can't handle the truth?"

"AJ honey, why don't you go and show your uncle Harm your new toy. I'm sure he'd love to see it." Mac decided that it was best if AJ wasn't there while she attempted to talk some sense into Rob and set him down back on the ground.

"Okay then." The five year old replied cheerfully, not aware of what was going on between the two adults above him. "Hey Auntie Mac, can I see your scarf? It's all pretty." AJ was pointing to the brightly coloured scarf wound around Mac's neck.

"Sure thing buddy, here you go. Now go and play with your Uncle Harm." Preoccupied with everything else that was going on, Mac momentarily forgot that there was a particular reason she had put on the scarf, and handed it to AJ, who took off in search of Harm.

With AJ gone, Mac turned back to face Rob and, in doing so, also allowed him to see the now exposed left side of her neck. Rob's eyes grew wide and Mac suddenly remembered why she had worn the scarf in the first place. Her hand flew up to hide the rather obvious reddish purple mark on the side of her neck. Rob's demeanour turned from nasty to angry in less than a second and the fight began.

"No lover boy, huh?" He hissed malevolently. "In that case, where'd you get the hickey? Last time I checked you couldn't do those kinds of things to yourself."

"It's none of your business, Rob. You need to leave." Mac felt as though her composure was slipping, however, ever the lawyer, she did her best to not let it show. If this fight was going to get dirty then she didn't want him to think he was intimidating her.

"On the contrary, it's entirely my business. You never let me do something like that to you Sarah. You always maintained that 'someone might see it' or gave some other lame excuse. And yet, here you are letting that lover boy of yours do to you whatever he pleases. For God's sake, Sarah, I was your husband and you still shut me out of your life at times. Dammit Sarah, you were ashamed of me."

Mac's resolve weakened as she started to see a passionate side of her ex-husband she had never seen before, as she started to see it from his perspective. Her eyes filled with tears as she realised the pain she must have caused him. When she had come back home to DC after leaving him she had allowed herself to get caught up in all the bad things he had done. She had forgotten to remind herself that he too was a human being with feelings and emotions, just like she was. Yes, it often seemed like he didn't care for her, and he frequently got drunk around her with seemingly no respect for her alcoholism, but beneath it all was someone who was still in love with her. With that realisation, Mac allowed her emotions to show and lowered her gaze to the ground, a tear slipping down her cheek. After a moment or two she looked back up at him, her shoulders squared.

"No, I wasn't." she told him quietly.

"Wasn't what?"

"I wasn't ashamed of you. I was proud of you and I was proud to have a daughter with you but... you changed. I waited and waited for the man I married to come back. I thought that maybe my being pregnant was wearing on you and that it would be okay once Ali was born, but it wasn't. You just got further and further away, and one day, I got tired of waiting. The old you wasn't coming back and I had to accept that and move on." Mac brushed the unshed tears from her eyes and looked up to see his reaction.

"Yeah, and the moment you got back you went back to your old boyfriend... or were you seeing him the whole time we were married. You know, I still can't get a straight story about that one." His comment cut at her like a knife driving straight into her chest. After all this time, after what he just said, he still didn't believe that she had remained loyal to him.

"I never cheated on you, alright?" she was so angry at him that she had to fight to keep the volume of her voice below shouting level. This was AJ's day and there was no way that she would allow herself to ruin it by having a fight with her ex-husband.

"Then how do you explain the fact that she looks nothing like me, huh?"

"But she does." Mac argued. "Look at her hair, its auburn. The brown came from me, but where do you think the red in it came from? And the curls. Does my hair look curly to you?"

Rob shrugged. "You said it used to be when you were a kid, so it makes sense that hers would be."

"You know, I'm really starting to wonder what I saw in you and why on earth I married you."

"You'll pay for that one, Sarah."

~~~

AJ dawdled along trying to find his Godfather in the mass of people congregated in the Roberts' backyard. He stopped for a few minutes to grab a handful of chips before continuing his search for Harm. He found him a few minutes later playing with some of the other children in the sandpit.

"Hey Uncle Harm, look what I got." AJ enthusiastically showed Harm his new toy, pointing out things here and there that he particularly liked.

"Hey AJ, buddy, isn't that your Auntie Mac's scarf?" AJ nodded an affirmative.

"She said I could look at it. She's talking to a strange man. He smells funny and I don't think he's very nice."

"Who was it, AJ? Did she mention his name?"

"Umm, I can't remember. But they were standing near the lemon tree in the corner."

Harm stood and looked over at the corner of the Roberts' yard and blanched when he saw who Mac was talking to. He checked that AJ was playing happily in the sandpit then looked up again in time to see Robert Casey's fist flying in the direction of Mac's face.

A/N: Woot, I FINALLY updated!! You know the drill peoples, the more you review the happier I get and the faster I write. And of course, thanks heaps to my really cool beta reader Chris.