Part 29: Sailing
March 13th 2004
Mac didn't get over what had happened with Sadiq just at once, but the next three weeks she moved constantly forward in her recovery with just minor setbacks. Harm had decided to tell Mattie a little more about what had happened so she could understand why Mac at times simply needed to be alone or would react strongly both in anger or in tears. Most of the time though they were able to be a happy family. Mattie had gone to see her father voluntarily a few times. First it had just been to make Mac and Harm happy and relieve them of the worry about her relationship with her father, but after a few times she had also enjoyed the time she spent with him. She hadn't admitted it to anyone yet, but all three adults in her life had seen that she did.
"Your mother called," Mac informed Harm as he walked in with the pizza cartons. Tonight Elena was at Sturgis' and Mattie at a friend's house so they had the evening all to themselves and had decided to do something fun together. It wasn't often that they got to go out or be alone at all, so they planned to enjoy it thoroughly one way or another.
"She wanted me to call her back?" he asked her.
"I think so. She didn't say..." Mac said "She doesn't like me very much, does she?"
"She hardly knows you, how can she have an opinion of you?" Harm said. He really didn't want to get into this discussion with her.
"But still... Do you know why that is?"
"Mac, I don't care what my mother thinks of you. I don't need her approval."
"No, obviously not," she said thoughtfully "I guess I just worried that I was the reason that you talk to her so seldom. I don't want to stand in the way for your relationship with her."
Even though they had been too lazy and tired to cook dinner or go out to restaurant, Mac had still tried to set the table romantically for their dinner with candles and a tablecloth. Harm grabbed on to a pizza slice with his hand, but when he saw Mac's eyes at this he promptly put it back and started eating it with knife and fork.
"Believe me you're not, because she doesn't dislike you," Harm protested against Mac's previous statement.
"I don't think there is any reason for you to argue against that. It's pretty much a fact. I didn't bring this up to argue about or anything I just wondered if you knew why that was."
"Mac, I don't know. I just think she had a vision of what my family was going to look like and since she doesn't know any of you, she thinks this isn't as good as what I could have had," Harm decided to admit. "If she knew how good you are for me she'd change her mind." As long as they were on the subject he decided to bring up something else that was related to this "I was thinking the other day, that maybe we could take the girls with us and go to California this summer. Visit with Mom and Frank and then go sailing for a week or so. What do you think about that?"
"You seriously want to go sailing with me, who's never been on a sailboat my whole life, a one-year-old and not to mention a teenager, who is going to have a serious case of cabin fever after less than an hour with us?"
Harm nodded, but he somehow thought that she wasn't as thrilled with the idea as he was.
"Harm I'm sure sailing is wonderful and all, but I really think that we would regret taking our vacation like that."
"So do you have a better idea?" he asked her with a little mock hurt.
He loved his new family and sharing the responsibility with Mac for it. Despite Sadiq and the aftermaths of his killing he had felt like everything had fallen into place for them. Some times he would wish that he could spend more time with Mac just the two of them like most ordinary new couples got to in the first year of their relationship, but things were never ordinary with the two of them and considering how long it had taken them to get to this point he was happy things were going as fast as they were. He never felt like he was tied down by the responsibilities for the family. It was the family that made it all worth doing and he could hardly remember what it had been like without them.
"Well, we could still go and visit your parents and then spend some time on the beach and maybe try a short trip with a sailboat," Mac suggested.
"Yeah, that could work too," Harm said "Maybe we could get my mom to baby- sit and take a trip just the two of us."
"Just the two of us? Now, that sounds interesting," Mac said. They had both finished their pizzas and wanted to move on to the next activity of the evening.
"You said you'd never been on a sailboat, then maybe we need to start practicing..."
"Sailing?"
"That too."
TBC
March 13th 2004
Mac didn't get over what had happened with Sadiq just at once, but the next three weeks she moved constantly forward in her recovery with just minor setbacks. Harm had decided to tell Mattie a little more about what had happened so she could understand why Mac at times simply needed to be alone or would react strongly both in anger or in tears. Most of the time though they were able to be a happy family. Mattie had gone to see her father voluntarily a few times. First it had just been to make Mac and Harm happy and relieve them of the worry about her relationship with her father, but after a few times she had also enjoyed the time she spent with him. She hadn't admitted it to anyone yet, but all three adults in her life had seen that she did.
"Your mother called," Mac informed Harm as he walked in with the pizza cartons. Tonight Elena was at Sturgis' and Mattie at a friend's house so they had the evening all to themselves and had decided to do something fun together. It wasn't often that they got to go out or be alone at all, so they planned to enjoy it thoroughly one way or another.
"She wanted me to call her back?" he asked her.
"I think so. She didn't say..." Mac said "She doesn't like me very much, does she?"
"She hardly knows you, how can she have an opinion of you?" Harm said. He really didn't want to get into this discussion with her.
"But still... Do you know why that is?"
"Mac, I don't care what my mother thinks of you. I don't need her approval."
"No, obviously not," she said thoughtfully "I guess I just worried that I was the reason that you talk to her so seldom. I don't want to stand in the way for your relationship with her."
Even though they had been too lazy and tired to cook dinner or go out to restaurant, Mac had still tried to set the table romantically for their dinner with candles and a tablecloth. Harm grabbed on to a pizza slice with his hand, but when he saw Mac's eyes at this he promptly put it back and started eating it with knife and fork.
"Believe me you're not, because she doesn't dislike you," Harm protested against Mac's previous statement.
"I don't think there is any reason for you to argue against that. It's pretty much a fact. I didn't bring this up to argue about or anything I just wondered if you knew why that was."
"Mac, I don't know. I just think she had a vision of what my family was going to look like and since she doesn't know any of you, she thinks this isn't as good as what I could have had," Harm decided to admit. "If she knew how good you are for me she'd change her mind." As long as they were on the subject he decided to bring up something else that was related to this "I was thinking the other day, that maybe we could take the girls with us and go to California this summer. Visit with Mom and Frank and then go sailing for a week or so. What do you think about that?"
"You seriously want to go sailing with me, who's never been on a sailboat my whole life, a one-year-old and not to mention a teenager, who is going to have a serious case of cabin fever after less than an hour with us?"
Harm nodded, but he somehow thought that she wasn't as thrilled with the idea as he was.
"Harm I'm sure sailing is wonderful and all, but I really think that we would regret taking our vacation like that."
"So do you have a better idea?" he asked her with a little mock hurt.
He loved his new family and sharing the responsibility with Mac for it. Despite Sadiq and the aftermaths of his killing he had felt like everything had fallen into place for them. Some times he would wish that he could spend more time with Mac just the two of them like most ordinary new couples got to in the first year of their relationship, but things were never ordinary with the two of them and considering how long it had taken them to get to this point he was happy things were going as fast as they were. He never felt like he was tied down by the responsibilities for the family. It was the family that made it all worth doing and he could hardly remember what it had been like without them.
"Well, we could still go and visit your parents and then spend some time on the beach and maybe try a short trip with a sailboat," Mac suggested.
"Yeah, that could work too," Harm said "Maybe we could get my mom to baby- sit and take a trip just the two of us."
"Just the two of us? Now, that sounds interesting," Mac said. They had both finished their pizzas and wanted to move on to the next activity of the evening.
"You said you'd never been on a sailboat, then maybe we need to start practicing..."
"Sailing?"
"That too."
TBC