A/N: Okay, I've killed off Bud and Harriet. So assuming they still haven't replaced Singer JAG is now short two attorneys and some office help. So I'm bringing in another attorney. I hope everybody will like my choice.
Disclaimer: If I owned them the show would look a lot different!
JAG Headquarters
0800 hours
01/26/2004
As I pull into the parking lot I can't help but think how quickly things can change. Six weeks ago I was a single woman dating a very wealthy and chivalrous CIA agent. A month ago two of my closest friends were killed and I was named a guardian of their two boys. Three weeks ago I was trying to figure out how I ever thought I could live with Harm and help raise AJ and Jimmy, as well as Harm's ward Mattie.
Then Harm suggested we see if his mom would come out and stay with us for a while. I really didn't see what a difference it could possibly make but agreed anyway. Boy was I wrong! Trish agreed to come stay and arrived that Friday. She has been a great help.
She helped us redo Bud and Harriet's bedroom so that it didn't look so much like their room. The result was AJ became much calmer about someone being in that room. Mattie moved into the room that weekend, which means that we're no longer sharing a room.
For the next week Trish would come over at 7:00 a.m. every morning and stay so that Harm and I could get to work without having to worry about any temper tantrums on his part. She'd fix AJ breakfast and then take the boys to the sitter. She divided the rest of the time between the house, my apartment and Harm's. She arranged to have Bud and Harriet's stuff packed up and moved into the storage unit that Harriet's father rented. She then arranged to have Harm's and my stuff packed up so that it can be moved into the house.
This was a huge amount of help. Things have been so busy at JAG that if we'd had to move our things ourselves, it still wouldn't be done! The admiral keeps saying he's working on getting us some help but so far no extra bodies have reported for duty. He has however, managed to keep one of us in town at all times. Unfortunately more often than not it's only one of us!
The second weekend she was here; Trish took me car shopping. I tried to argue with her that I didn't need a new car but she quite accurately pointed out that neither of the boys should be riding in my 'vette. She also pointed out that at least Harm had the SUV which would seat four and was safe for the boys. Mattie jumped in at this point and said but there were five of us so somebody needed a car that would seat five, unless we wanted to waste gas by taking two cars everywhere. I tried to get Harm to back me up but he just laughed and said he was quite sure we were outnumbered.
So Trish and I went car shopping. Trish offered to buy the car out right but finally agreed just to make the down payment and allow me to finance the rest. I ended up with a Chrysler Pacifica and I'm sure I got a much better deal than anyone else who's ever shopped at that dealership. With Trish making the down payment and Frank's connections getting me a good deal I have payments I can easily afford and I got to keep the 'vette too.
The next week Trish still came over at 7:00 a.m. every day but she helped us get AJ and Jimmy ready and either Harm or I took them to the sitter. We'd gone grocery shopping over the weekend and while I couldn't understand some of the things Trish suggested we buy, I learned quickly.
Trish put out AJ's clothes the night before so that he could dress himself in the morning. It was amazing how much of a difference this made in his attitude. AJ would get up in the morning and with Trish supervising and helping as needed he'd get dressed and then go down to the kitchen and get a juice box and a granola bar or other healthy snack from a drawer she'd stocked in the kitchen.
She didn't even try and feed him breakfast. When I asked about that she just laughed. She'd talked to the sitter and found out that she feeds the kids breakfast about 8:30 a.m. every morning. I'd just assumed I had to feed AJ in the morning before I him in because that's what Harriet did. Turns out Harried did that because she was paying the hourly rate and breakfast wasn't included with that. Harm and I are paying the weekly rate and that includes breakfast.
Bud and Harriet paid the hourly rate because they didn't need a full-time sitter, since Harriet was a reservist. Since Harm and I are both active duty we need a full-time sitter. The sitter knew this and just moved the boys to the weekly rate. The sitter didn't even think about the fact we wouldn't know that breakfast was included in the rate.
I asked her how she knew all these tricks to get AJ ready in the morning. Did she do something similar when Harm was little? She told me that she'd talked to Frank's secretary, who was a single mom for many years. I just shook my head and said I wished I'd thought of that.
Trish is still here. She comes over every morning and helps AJ get ready. She then stays and is working on getting the house set up for Harm and me. She's painted the guest room and the den. After the furniture was moved out of the den, she had Harm's bedroom set moved in. She then did the same thing in the guest bedroom so that it's now my room. She's gradually going through the house and changing it from Bud and Harriet's to ours. She's doing a wonderful job of walking the line between making the house ours and honoring the memory of the boys' parents.
She's been a godsend in that respect. As the house gradually changes, AJ behavior improves. Trish said that's what she'd thought would happen. She said that she had some of the problems with Harm after his dad was shot down. Things got much better once they moved out of base housing. Of course moving Harm away from everything he knew created another set of behaviors but it wasn't like Trish had any choice.
Trish is planning on staying for another week or so. She's going to take Mattie up to Blacksburg over the weekend and they're going to see what needs to be done to get her house ready to rent. Mattie's not sure she can pack everything up to put it in storage but she has agreed that trying to rent out the house is the best way to make the mortgage payments. Trish suggested that she go with Mattie and Mattie can tell her what needs to be packed up and she'll have movers do it. There's still room in the storage unit that Mr. Sims rented. He's agreeable to Mattie's stuff going there for now.
Harm's going to pick Mattie up Sunday and Trish will stay out the house until everything's taken care of. We talked with Mattie's dad and he agrees with the plan. He's not staying at the house because it's to far from his job but he agrees that it would be wrong to sell it if Mattie's not ready. Mattie was quite shocked that he agreed and that he agreed to come get his things when she's not there.
As I drop my briefcase in my office I wonder if we're actually going to get the new lawyer that the Admiral promised would be reporting for duty this morning. Well I guess I'll find out soon enough. It's time for staff call.
"Good Morning Sturgis."
"Morning Colonel."
"Have a seat people." The next 27 minutes and 10 seconds were spent on the admiral dividing up new cases. I can't help put notice I've gotten more cases to deal with than either Harm or Sturgis. Of course many of the cases are ones that would normally go to a junior attorney if we weren't short two junior attorneys. Though neither Harm nor I have been sent out of town yet. Of course it's still only Monday things could change.
"Colonel."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm sure you noticed that you got more than your fair share of case files this week. You won't be working on them alone."
"I won't sir?"
"No, you'll be working on them with our new junior attorney. Ensign Tiner could you come in here, please." Jason Tiner walks in and stands at attention next to the table.
"Have a seat, Tiner"
"Yes, sir."
"Ensign Tiner just graduated from Naval Justice School and since he's already familiar with JAG Headquarters and the staff here, he seemed a logical choice to help out with our staffing shortage."
"Welcome back Tiner." All three of us are quite sincere in our welcome. We have another lawyer to help. Okay we have to train him but at least he knows his way around D.C. and Headquarters and knows how things work around here. Better this than getting another Ensign coming to their first post.
Things have been much better at home. Now things might be starting to look up on the work front too.