…Till Death Does Us Part Chapter IV (The Conclusion) – Part 4/12
Disclaimer - See part one for all important information
Saturday August 27
Harm and Mac's House
McLean, Virginia
1:34 AM
Mac suddenly woke up with the feeling that something wasn't right. A second later she got the confirmation due to a high wail coming out of the baby monitor, which stood right next to her on the nightstand.
With a quick but calm move she turned off the baby monitor, before she slowly untangled herself from Harm's embrace, trying not to wake him up in the process.
Quietly she made her way out of their bedroom to Ty's room. 'Looks like they're all out like a light,' Mac thought as she walked through the dark hallway. The only sound to be heard was the occasional snore from the two guestrooms.
They all had called it a night very early. After coming back from their lunch date at Olive Garden, Ty and Grandma Sarah took their little afternoon nap before the family celebrated Ty's first birthday. The best present he got was from his grandpa Frank, who thought that every boy should get something very special for his first birthday. Something that he would cherish for the rest of his life. While grandpa Frank and daddy Harm were cherishing Ty's new Lionel train set, the little boy preferred the 'Quack Along Ducks' he got from his great-grandmother Sarah. He was tucking them behind him as long as his feet or knees would carry him.
"Hey, what is all the racket about?" Mac whispered as she got the crying boy out of his crib. "Ssshhh, Honey. It's okay. Mommy is here now," she continued to talk to her son, trying to calm him down.
Mac kissed his forehead before she put her hand on Ty's diaper. "Hmm, your diaper's not wet," she told him quietly before holding him slightly above her head. "And you smell like baby powder. Then this is not a diaper-alarm."
"You had a nightmare, is that it?" Mac asked the now lightly calmed Ty. "Why don't we keep daddy some company, huh? Maybe with Mommy and Daddy nearby you'll fall asleep easier." Mac turned off the light in Ty's room and walked quietly back into the master bedroom.
"Hey," Harm greeted them groggily as they made their way to the bed.
"Hi. Did I wake you?" Mac asked gently as she sat down right next to him.
"No, but I missed having you in my arms."
"I was just gone for a few minutes."
"I know. And it's way too long," Harm answered with one of his flyboy grins. "What's wrong with our little boy here?" He wanted to know, slowly rubbing Ty's back.
"I'm not sure. It wasn't a diaper-alarm, but I think he either had a nightmare or simply is begging for a midnight-snack," Mac explained tenderly, making herself comfortable on the bed. "Are you hungry, Sweetie?" She asked her son, starting to unbutton her nightgown.
"What are you doing?" Harm asked while Mac was pulling her nightgown off of her shoulder.
"He just showed me that he's hungry," Mac told him tenderly.
"He showed you?" Harm looked astonished at Mac and his son, not understanding what she meant by her statement.
"Yeah. As soon as I got comfortable he tried to pull off my nightgown. He was tucking on it. It's a sign that he's hungry and wants to be fed."
"Does he do that often?" Harm wanted to know, being totally in awe as he saw his son starting to suck on his mother's left breast. He knew that Mac occasionally still nursed Ty, but for the most time their son got the bottle.
"No, not at all. He's used to get his bottle by now. However, sometimes when he wakes up crying, he's demanding to be nursed," Mac explained with a hushed voice. "I'm not sure, but I think he's waking up after having nightmares, and getting nursed makes him feel safe. I could be wrong though," she continued, smiling at the still enthralled looking Harm.
"This is one of the most beautiful sights I can think of," Harm told her in a whisper, slightly touching Ty's cheek and Mac's breast with his forefinger. "A mother breast-feeding her child. I'll never banish this picture out of my memories. I always love watching you nursing our son, Sarah," Harm said with a tender voice, still caressing either Ty's cheek or Mac's breast before giving her a sweet kiss.
"Don't get too used to it, Flyboy. I won't nurse him when he's in kindergarten," Mac told him with a chuckle before getting serious again. "Harm, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Did you mean what you said this morning?"
She looked at him and could see his slightly confused look, trying to remember their conversation.
"We were talking about men not hitting on women with a baby or…."
"Pregnant women," Harm concluded Mac's statement.
"Yes."
"And then I said that I should impregnate you more often," Harm continued with a gentle voice as he remembered their conversation from this morning, getting yet another nod from Mac in response.
"Do you want to have more children, Harm? I mean, we've never actually talked about things like that," Mac whispered and started to rub Ty's back as he sighed, showing her how sleepy he was getting again.
"You mean if I want to have more little Mac's and Harm's running around in our house? Fighting over a toy or who's the first one to get pushed on the swing by their mommy or daddy?" Harm asked tenderly with a glimmer in his eyes, which gave his answer clearly away. "You mean if I want Ty to be a big brother for another little boy or a girl?"
Mac smiled sweetly at him. The glimmer in his eyes, his smile and his questions gave her the answer she needed. "You thought a lot about it, didn't you? It wasn't just a statement meant as a joke this morning, was it?"
"Oh, it was actually meant as a joke this morning. But yeah, I've thought a lot about it. There's nothing I would like more than having a bunch of children with you, Sarah."
"A bunch of children? And how many children are we talking about here?"
"Well, I always thought about having my own football-team," Harm said confidently and chuckled as he saw Mac's taken aback look. "I'm sure the Washington Rabb's would be a dream team for the NFL. We could easily kick the Redskins out of town."
"No way," Mac answered with a laugh, which Harm followed immediately.
They looked down at their son, who was now sucking on his thumb while lying with his closed eyes in his mother's arms.
"Do you want to have more children?" Harm now wanted to know.
"I would love to have more children with you, Harm. I don't want Ty to be an only child. I know you and I have so much more love in us to share with a few more little Harm's and Mac's," Mac said quietly, closing her nightgown again. "Just not an entire football-team," she clarified with a chuckle and made Harm laugh.
"Oh, a basketball-team would be nice, too. But seriously, Mac. I never thought about how many children we should have. Let's take it step by step," Harm told her sweetly after his laughter calmed down. "I just want you to know that when you're ready I will be too."
"What if I am ready?"
"Then I should bring the little fellow here to his own room, so I can seduce his mommy," Harm answered with a smirk and waggled his eyebrows. "After all, we'll have to do a lot of practicing." He bent over and gave Mac a lovely kiss on her lips.
Mac chuckled. "I doubt we need a lot of practicing, Harm. The last time your little swimmer did a very good job with no practice at all, don't you think?"
"Yeah, what can I say? I do have good aim," Harm explained confidently and kissed her forehead before taking their nearly asleep son out of her arms. "Come on, Buddy. It's time for you to give Mommy and Daddy some privacy," Harm told his son and made his way out of the bedroom. At the doorway he stopped short and turned around to look at Mac. "I'll be right back," he said with a smirk before walking out of their bedroom.
Mac chuckled and shook her head in disbelief. 'God, I'm so hopelessly in love, it's nearly pathetic,' she thought and had to laugh about it. Mac got out of her bed and turned on the baby monitor before walking into the bathroom. Opening the cabinet, she took out a little blue box and smiled. She threw the box into the trashcan before walking back to their bed.
Getting under her covers she could hear through the baby monitor that Harm was getting Ty ready for the bed and had to smile.
Meanwhile in Ty's bedroom
Ty yawned when his father sat down in the rocking chair, which stood right next to the window. Then he looked wide-eye up at Harm, knowing very well what was coming next.
"You're tired, aren't you, Buddy?" Harm asked his son with a hushed voice and got another big yawn from Ty as an answer. "Then let's bring you into dreamland," Harm whispered and started to sing while lightly swinging the rocking chair.
Sleep, baby, sleep
Your father tends the sheep
Your mother shakes the dreamland tree
And from it fall sweet dreams for thee
Sleep, baby, sleep
Sleep, baby, sleep
Harm looked down at his son and saw that Ty's eyes were already closed and that his breathing was getting even and steady.
Sleep baby, sleep
Our cottage vale is deep
The little lamb is on the green
With snowy fleece so soft and clean
Sleep, baby, sleep
Sleep, baby, sleep
The last verses were sung with a hushed voice because Harm knew his son was asleep by now and back into his dreamland.
"Good night, little one," Harm whispered and stood up to bring Ty back into his crib. "Mommy and Daddy love you, Benjamin-Andrew Tyler." Harm kissed his son's forehead before turning off the light and moving out of Ty's bedroom to go back to Mac.
Harm walked into the bedroom. "Okay, that's done. Now…," Harm started to say when the sight in front of him made him stop dead in his track. "… where were we?" He ended his sentence in a whisper and smiled. "Simply beautiful."
Harm slowly made his way to the bed where Mac lay on her side, snuggled up on Harm's pillow and asleep with a little smile on her face.
Carefully he got under his covers, trying to not wake her.
"Harm?" Mac asked groggily.
"Yeah, it's me. Go back to sleep, Honey."
Mac let go of Harm's pillow and gave it to him. She snuggled up on him as soon as his head hit the pillow. "Your lullaby works like a charm, Harm," she told him tenderly and started to caress his bare chest.
Harm chuckled and drew her even closer to him before starting to caress her hair. "Don't tell me I made the big bad marine fall asleep while she listened to me singing a lullaby over the baby monitor."
Mac chuckled as well. With raising her head to brace it on Harm's stomach she was now able to look into his eyes. "Next time, remind me not to turn on the baby monitor before you're back," Mac smirked and kissed his belly button.
"No wonder you're so tired. It was a long day, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, but I think it will be nothing compared to what today will be like. The first big birthday party for our little boy."
"I'm sure he'll have a lot of fun," Harm joked. "He'd enjoyed his day today immensely."
Mac groaned. "Don't remind me. I thought getting all the ketchup from his face and hands was a challenge, but the chocolate cake trumped everything. A piece of the cake was smeared into his hair." Mac and Harm laughed. "He looked so cute with all the chocolate on his face."
"Yeah, good thing I had the video camera nearby," Harm smirked. "He's really happy having his great-grandmother and grandparents around, isn't he?"
"Oh, you should have seen him at the airport. The moment he saw them he couldn't hold back his enthusiasm. It was bad enough every time he saw an older couple walking by he would yell in happiness, but when he saw Trish and Frank…," Mac told him before remembering something. "Oh my, I nearly forgot to tell you who we met at the airport."
"Who?" Harm asked interested.
"Renee. She says hi."
"Renee? As in Renee Peterson? She's in Washington?"
"Yup, the one and only. She, Cyrus and the twins were on their way to Rome and had a stopover here in Washington," Mac said quietly and yawned. "She thought I was married to Mic and that Ty was our son."
"Did you tell her the truth?" Harm now wanted to know before stifling a yawn of his own.
"There was no need to tell her, Harm. The moment Ty saw his grandparents he had his Rabb smile all over his face, and then when Renee saw Trish she knew the answer," Mac told him and sighed, getting more and more tired.
"Damn, I wish I would've been there to see her face when she figured it out," Harm said and laughed, waiting for an answer from Mac. "Mac?"
"Hmmm," Mac only responded before she turned around, now laying on her other side. She was already more asleep than awake.
"Nothing, Honey. Go back to sleep," Harm tenderly told her before turning around as well. He now was spooned against her from behind. His arms were wrapped around her middle while his legs were tangled with hers.
She could feel his hot breath against her neck. "'kay. Good night, Harm. Love you," she whispered and fell asleep.
"Love you, too. Good night, Sarah," Harm whispered into her ears before closing his own eyes, letting his tiredness overcome him.
End Part 4
AN – The nursing-scene is based on a true story. Since we don't have any children yet, we made sure about the reality of this story and asked a few mom's around us.
