Admiration and Love - Part 6/11
For disclaimer and all other important comments, see part one.
Monday May 18
JAG
5:14 PM
Harm was in his office working on his computer when a knock sounded on his door. "Enter," he said rudely.
"Hello to you too, Mr. Personality," Chloe said as she opened the door and walked into the office.
Harm took a deep breath and looked at the young girl. "Hi, Chloe. Sorry about that."
"No problem, but it helps a lot to explain." She closed the door and sat down in front of his desk.
"What do you mean?"
"Well….after Mom picked me up on Friday, she was in a mood all weekend."
Harm closed his eyes for a second. "What type of mood?"
"A really bad one. She was crying in her room Friday night. I've never heard her cry so much. What happened?"
"I did something incredibly stupid."
"Did you say sorry?"
Harm smiled at her innocence. "Sometimes sorry isn't enough."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"I wish you could. Has she said anything to you?"
"No, she's been pretty quiet all weekend. I'm worried about her," Chloe sadly admitted to Harm.
Harm lightly nodded his head. "So am I. I wish I could do something to make her feel better, but I think that it's best if I keep my distance for a while."
"I understand," Chloe said as there was a knock at the door.
"Enter," Harm said.
Mac opened the door. "The Admiral wants to see us," Mac told him, then turned her attention to Chloe. "Hey Kiddo, homework done?"
"Almost. I needed a break, so I decided to talk to Harm," Chloe said with a slightly depressed look.
Harm stood up. "Well, back to homework you go."
Chloe walked into Mac's office as Harm and Mac headed towards the Admiral's office.
"Any idea why he wants to see us?" Harm asked.
"Did you do something since this morning?" Mac asked him, trying to joke.
"Not that I know of."
Tiner stood up when Mac and Harm walked into his office. "He said to go straight in, Ma'am, Sir."
"Thank you, Tiner," they both said as they walked into AJ's office.
Harm and Mac entered the office. "Colonel, Commander, have a seat." As they sat down, AJ began: "I just received a phone call from the Romanian Embassy. It seems tomorrow night they are having a Birthday Celebration for Princess Alexandra. Both of you have been formally invited. It's a formal ball. Commander, you'll need your dress whites and Colonel, an evening dress for you. I know it's short notice, but you two can handle it."
AJ finished talking and carefully looked at his two officers, who were just staring at him. "Is everything understood?"
"Yes, Sir. I just don't think that I'll be able to make it tomorrow night," Mac said before Harm could.
"Why not?" AJ asked Mac.
"I don't have anyone lined up to watch Chloe."
"No problem, Tiner has already agreed to watch her for you." Mac opened her mouth to say something, but he continued. "You can get your dress tonight or leave early tomorrow and get one. Other than that, I can't think of any problems that you might encounter. Commander, do you have any concerns?"
"Who else from JAG has been invited?" Harm asked.
"The two of you will be representing JAG. So Commander, don't do anything stupid," AJ added on with a smile.
"What time do we have to be there, Sir?" Mac asked, knowing they were being forced to go.
"It starts at 8:00. Your names are on the guest list. Anything else?"
"No Sir," they both stated somberly.
"Enjoy tomorrow night. Colonel, you are dismissed."
"Yes, Sir," Mac said before she left the office.
AJ turned to Harm. "What's wrong with Mac?"
"I did something incredibly stupid, Sir," Harm admitted.
"Did you apologize?"
"Chloe asked me the same question, and yes I did, Sir."
"Is this one of those button-pushing things again, or something else?"
"It's more or less in the area of something else."
"Anything I can order her to do?"
"I wish," Harm muttered. Then in a normal voice said, "No, Sir. I think it will blow over soon enough."
"Harm, try not to hurt her so much that you can't undo the damage. Dismissed."
"Aye, Aye Sir." He left the office.
Harm looked into Mac's office as he walked to his and saw Chloe standing there with a huge smile on her face. He carefully looked at Mac who was rolling her eyes at her daughter. Chloe caught Harm's gaze and waved him into Mac's office. "This is so cool!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Chloe, it's nothing big," Mac said.
"Not for you, but it's, like, cool. You're going to a birthday ball for a princess. Can I tell Hannah?"
"I take it she's thrilled," Harm said to Mac as he motioned to Chloe.
Mac looked at Harm. "I haven't even told her that we need to go shopping."
"Shopping? Yes!" Chloe exclaimed. "Fancy dress?"
"Yes," Mac said.
Then Chloe turned to Harm. "Tux or dress whites?"
"Dress whites," Harm stated, not knowing why Chloe needed to know that.
"Chloe, is your homework done?" Mac asked.
"Oh, who cares about homework? We've got to go shopping."
Mac crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I care about homework, and we're not going anywhere till it's done."
"But, Mom…" Chloe whined.
"Don't you 'but, mom' me, young lady. Homework now," Mac said in her mother voice, causing Harm to smile. Chloe looked at Mac and sat down on the couch and started working in her homework again. Mac turned to Harm. "Can I see you in your office?"
"Sure." After they both were in Harm's office, he closed the door. "What's up?"
"I was thinking about Friday night," Mac said, looking at him. Harm nodded his head, but didn't say anything. "I was hoping maybe later this week, we could set a night aside and talk about it."
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Good. Do you want to pick me up tomorrow night or drive separately?"
"Why don't I pick you at 7:30? That should give us enough time to go through security and everything."
"Good, I'll go tell Tiner when he should be at my place," Mac said before she walked out of his office.
Tuesday May 19
7:25 PM
Mac and Chloe's House
Mac was in her bedroom applying her final touches to her hair and makeup when the doorbell rang. "That should be Tiner," Mac said to Chloe, who was standing in the bathroom watching Mac.
"Got it," Chloe said as she clambered down the stairs.
"Hi, Tiner."
"Hey, Chloe. How are you?" Tiner asked as he walked into the house.
"Good. My project's almost done," Chloe smiled.
"Cool, can I see it?" Tiner asked.
Mac came down the stairs and interrupted Chloe's response, "Hi, Tiner."
"Wow, you look great, Colonel," Tiner said in awe as he looked at her in her dress.
"Thank you, Tiner. You know where everything's at so help yourself." Mac pointed at Chloe and continued to talk to Tiner, "She hasn't been fed, but pizza should be here by 7:40. Money's on the table. I'll have my cell phone with me, so in case she decides to blow anything up again, you can call me."
"You blow up one microwave four months ago, and you'd think she would forget by now," Chloe smartly responded.
Tiner smiled at Mac. "I know the drill, Ma'am. Nothing to worry about."
Mac turned to Chloe. "Homework?"
"Done, and I've even practiced for orchestra."
"Ma'am, is it all right if I use your computer and some of your law books? I have to do a report for my law class," Tiner asked.
"No problem. It's in the den." Mac and Tiner walked into the den.
As they were in the den, the doorbell rang. "Got it!" Chloe yelled as she grabbed her video camera, expecting Harm.
"Hi, you ordered a pizza?" the pizza kid said.
Chloe lowered her camera. "Yeah." She gave him the money off of the table. "Here you go, tip included."
"Have a good night," the pizza guy said, then walked back to his car.
Mac and Tiner walked out of the den. "Was that Harm?"
"No, pizza." Chloe held the box to Tiner. "Hungry?"
"Yeah," Tiner said as he took the pizza into the kitchen.
Mac saw the video camera. "Camera?"
"I think it would be interesting for the audience to see that JAG lawyers get to go to fancy things also," Chloe said in her professional voice.
"It's 7:34. Why did I think he would be on time?" Mac commented.
"Do you have everything?"
"No, I left my purse up stairs," Mac said before going up to the second floor for her purse. While she was there, she rechecked her makeup and just stared at her reflection as different thoughts ran through her head.
Mac didn't hear Chloe come into the room. "You're gorgeous, Mom."
Mac looked at Chloe's face in the mirror. "You think?"
"You got a 'wow' from Tiner. Do you think I'll be as pretty as you when I'm older?"
"No," Mac said to Chloe. She pulled Chloe into her arms and continued, "You'll be prettier."
Chloe looked at the refection in the mirror of the two of them and smiled. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Mac said and kissed her on the cheek.
The doorbell rang and interrupted their family moment. "Got it!" Chloe yelled and ran down the stairs. She grabbed her camera and opened the door. "Hello, Harm."
"Hello, Chloe," Harm replied as Tiner walked into the entryway, "Hi, Tiner."
"Hi, Commander."
Mac walked down the stairs with her shawl and purse. "Six minutes and thirty seconds late, Commander."
Harm stared at her as Chloe videotaped his reaction to the vision that was Mac. Chloe mentally gave herself a pat on the back for Mac's appearance. The dress was navy blue with a tight bodice and thin straps holding it up that criss-crossed in the back. The skirt of the dress was floor length, slightly loose with a slit up to mid-thigh on one side. It was made of a silky satin which shimmered in the light. Mac's hair was pulled back, but the short ends were curled.
"Harm?" Mac said, shaking him out of his daze.
"If I knew how great you looked, I would have been early. You look wonderful, Mac."
"So do you, but one of your ribbons is askew," Mac smiled and walked over to him and fixed the ribbon.
Chloe and Tiner just smiled at each other as they watched Mac and Harm interact with each other. Mac looked at Tiner. "Any questions, Tiner?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Don't worry Mom. I promise nothing will blow up, no fires, or anything which involves the rescue squad, fire department, or police."
"Okay. Be good for Tiner and go to bed on time," Mac reminded her daughter as she gave her a hug. "I'll tuck you in when I get home."
"We should be back by midnight at the latest," Harm informed Tiner.
"Thanks, Tiner," Mac said as Harm helped her with her shawl.
"No problem, Ma'am. Have fun."
Chloe smiled at Harm, "And don't try any funny stuff with my Mom, she's a Marine and she'll kick your six."
Harm laughed. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Come on Harm, lets go before she gives you a direct order. Be good for Tiner," Mac said as they left.
Chloe closed the door. "Hey Tiner, can I put ten dollars in the pool for Friday night?"
"Sure, why?" Tiner and Chloe walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, I've got a feeling," Chloe said to him, looking at the camera.
End Part 6/11