Admiration and Love - Part 4/11
For disclaimer and all other important comments see part one.
Friday May 8
Mac and Chloe's House
7:15 PM
"Is he ever on time?" Chloe asked as she looked out the front window for the fiftieth time in fifteen minutes.
Mac sat in her chair in the living room. "Not in the seven years I've known him."
Chloe walked over to the couch and dramatically flopped onto it. "He owes us this time. He needs to be punished."
"What?"
"You know, he has to do dishes or he has to eat pepperoni on his pizza. I don't know… something to make up the time."
Mac laughed as the doorbell rang. "I'll let you address him with that issue."
"A little help here?" Harm asked from behind the closed door as Mac approached it.
Mac opened the door and gave Harm a strange look. "Flowers, Flyboy? Man, you know when you're in trouble."
"I knew I was going to be late, so I thought I better have a very good excuse. Could you please take this?" He handed Mac the pizza and videos. He took the bundle of flowers, which was a daisy and carnation mix, and presented it to Chloe. "I'm sorry I'm late, Miss Madison."
"Harm, they are so pretty!" Chloe gave him a hug. "Now I can't punish you for being late."
Mac just watched the scene and walked into the kitchen with the pizza. "So what did you rent, Harm?" Mac asked as she reentered the room to find Harm standing by the front door.
"Huh?" Harm said as he turned around with something behind his back.
"What are you doing?" Mac asked.
"Getting these." Harm walked over to her and handed her a beautiful bouquet of a dozen yellow and pink roses for Mac. "For you."
"Harm," Mac said softly, from shock of Harm giving her flowers. "They're beautiful. You shouldn't have."
"I got Chloe something, so I thought I should get you a little something."
"Man, if that's a little something, I really want to be around when you give her a big something," Chloe remarked, receiving a warning look from both adults.
"Thank you, Harm." Mac sniffed the flowers.
"You're welcome, Mac."
Mac picked up Chloe's flowers. "I'll go put these in some water. Why don't you two start a movie, then I'll bring out the pizza. What would you like to drink?"
"Soda's, fine. Thanks," Chloe said.
"Soda's fine with me, Mac. I'll help," Harm said as he started to walk towards her.
"No, I've got it," Mac said, and she headed into the kitchen.
Chloe picked up the videos. "Okay we've got Monsters Inc., Drive Me Crazy, and You've Got Mail. Why did you get that one?"
"Something for Mac and I to watch after you go to bed."
"Oh. Flowers and a movie. Does she know that this is a date?" Chloe asked nonchalantly.
Harm smiled and ignored her question. "Pick a movie."
Chloe choose Monsters Inc. to start the night with. As the movie played, the three of them laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Harm sat on one end of the couch with Mac on the other end. Chloe moved from the floor to between both of them. When the movie was over, Harm and Mac took care of the dishes as Chloe took a shower and changed into her pj's.
Mac handed Harm a glass to put away. "Harm, the roses are very nice. You really didn't have to."
"I know. I wanted to."
"Why did you rent three movies? You know Chloe will be asleep by 10:30."
Harm took a deep breath. "After Chloe goes to bed, we can watch a movie together. If you want to?"
Mac looked at him for a second. "Sure."
"Okay. Time for the next movie," Chloe said as she bounced into the kitchen.
Harm and Mac both laughed at Chloe. "Maybe I should have rented The Tigger Tale."
"Are you picking on me?" Chloe asked jokingly as she stood there in flannel pj's with Tigger slippers on.
"Me? Never," Harm said and they walked into the living room.
"I thought not," Chloe said as she put Drive Me Crazy into the DVD player. The two adults sat in their respective ends on the couch. Chloe thought they might need a little help so she intervened. "Mom, can you move over? I want to sit on that end, so I'll have something to rest my head on. You know I'll be asleep by the end of the movie."
"Okay," she said reluctantly, and she moved over on the couch.
As the movie started, Chloe turned off the lights and got on the couch. She tried to take up as much space as she could, so Harm and Mac would have to sit very close to each other. The two adults tried to get conformable next to each other. Harm ended up putting one arm around Mac's shoulders and she leaned into him.
By 10:45, the movie was over and Chloe was fast asleep on the couch. Mac and Harm were also almost asleep in each other's arms. When the credits started across the screen, Harm grabbed the remote from the end table and pressed Stop. Mac sat up and checked on Chloe.
"She asleep?" Harm asked.
"Yeah, I'll just wake her and help her upstairs."
When she reached to wake Chloe, Harm gently grabbed her hand. "No, let her sleep. I'll carry her upstairs."
"You sure?"
"Positive." He leaned down and gently picked Chloe up. She woke up a little. "It's me, Honey. Go back to sleep."
"Op K, Harm," Chloe said sleepily, and fell back to sleep in his arms.
Mac smiled as she followed Harm upstairs with Chloe in his arms. Once they got into Chloe's room, Mac quickly pulled down the covers. Harm gently laid Chloe in the bed. Mac picked up the teddy bear off the floor and gave it to Chloe. Even though she was asleep, once she felt the bear's fur against her arm, she reached for it. Harm smiled as he watched Mac interact with Chloe.
"Good night, Chloe," Harm whispered pulling the blanket up to Chloe's chin.
Chloe mumbled something that sounded like "'night, Harm", causing Mac and Harm to smile. Harm stepped outside the door so Mac could tell her daughter good night.
Mac leaned down and kissed Chloe on the forehead, "Sweet dreams and no nightmares."
"Love you, mom," Chloe mumbled as Mac stood up.
"I love you too, daughter," Mac said and turned off Chloe's light. "Goodnight."
Harm waited for Mac outside the door. Mac left Chloe's door halfway open, then turned to Harm. "Thanks for carrying her upstairs. I really hate waking her when she's asleep."
"No problem," Harm said as they started to walk down the stairs back into the living room. "You up to another movie? You almost fell asleep on the couch during the last."
"You almost fell asleep, too," Mac stated as she sat down on the couch.
"True." Harm put You've Got Mail into the DVD player. He joined Mac on the couch. Instead of sitting at one end of the couch, he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. Mac did nothing to prevent him from doing this; she just let him hold her during the movie.
At 12:17, the movie was over and Mac was asleep in Harm's arms. Harm gently nudged her, but all she did was snuggle more into him. He smiled. "Like mother, like daughter." He stood up and gently picked Mac up and carried her up to her bedroom. Once they reached the room, he sat her on the bed and pulled back the covers and carefully laid her into the bed. Once she was under the covers, he watched her get comfortable as he pulled the blanket more securely around her. Once he was happy with her in the bed, he kissed her on the corner of her mouth. "Good night Sarah," he whispered.
"Night Harm," Mac softly mumbled.
Harm walked down the stairs and cleaned up the little mess in the living room and kitchen. He noticed the two vases of the flowers and smiled at an idea in his head. He grabbed them and placed the vases in their respective rooms. Then he quickly wrote a note on the memo board on the fridge. As he walked back into the living room he grabbed the videos, walked out the door, and locked it. He smiled during his whole drive home, thinking about the evening with Mac in his arms.
End Part 4/11