Chapter Seventy One:

Harm knocked on the adjoining door of the suite. He didn't understand why Mac didn't want him to see her before she was ready to go, he had seen her in the morning when they got up, so he didn't understand what the big deal was.

"I'm almost ready." Mac yelled from the other side of the door. "You can come in."

Harm walked inside and saw Mac with her back to him. "Do you need help zipping up your dress? Half your back is showing."

"Harm, it is the style of the dress darling."

"Well then you better grab on of those thingys that women wrap around themselves."

"A thingy, what thingy? Oh you must mean a wrap. I have one." She turned around to grab it.

"And, what about the front?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to have to keep you in to keep men from staring at you," he said nipping at her earlobes.

"Well, you are the one who said lets go out for a night on the town. So when I went dress shopping at the hotel boutique I had to pick out a dress quickly."

Harm sighed, "Well then I was a damn fool for not wanting you all to myself tonight."

"How about a compromise then Flyboy? We go see this opera, it starts in 20 minutes by the way, and then we skip the late dinner and we have dessert back at the hotel."

Harm sighed. "I guess that will work. In case I haven't told you yet, you look completely stunning." He tilted her chin up and lightly kissed her lips not wanting to smear her makeup.

"You look great yourself." She had once teased him that dress whites were over-rated, but on him, he could make her world melt. "I love you."

"I love you too." He walked her through the sitting room where she saw the roses that he had gotten for her.

"Harm they are beautiful."

"They are nothing in comparison to you. Let's go watch this opera and then we can come back here." He lead her downstairs and the people along the way to the opera house couldn't help but notice the couple who were completely oblivious to the rest of the world. She whispered something in his ear causing him to break out in a smile and he said something back causing her to laugh. Before they reached the opera house, Harm stopped her at a fountain.

"Sarah?"

"Harm, what's wrong did you forget the tickets?"

"No nothing like that." He said reaching into his pocket. He pulled out an oblong box and handed it to her. She opened it and pulled out a bracelet.

"Harm it's gorgeous." She exclaimed. The bracelet was made of platinum and was designed like Xs and Os.

"If you don't like it, I can return it. I saw it in the shop and though of you. We are always ending our emails with Xs and Os, and well, I just wanted you to have something that couldn't be deleted." He explained putting the bracelet on her wrist.

"I already have something that can't be deleted or erased," Mac told him. He looked at her with a confused look in his eyes, "Our love."

He kissed her wrist and led her the rest of the way to the opera house where they watched Miss Saigon which was currently finishing its European tour. Mac had been moved by the entire musical, soaking it all in. She looked so beautiful. When the heroine died, Mac shed a tear and Harm smoothed it away with his thumb. After leading the applause, Harm led Mac back to the hotel and they were making idol conversation on the way home.

"Harm, the musical was beautiful."

"I loved it. It was written during our generation, so I guess it was something that we could relate to." Harm said, thinking about when the hero had to leave his love behind. He remembered when he had to leave Mac in Iran, the sheer thought of having to leave her tortured his soul.

He led her back up to the suite. The room had been turned into a candlelit paradise. Rose petals were strewn on the bed and a pink rose was placed gently on the pillow.

"How did you manage to do all this?"

"I called the hotel during intermission and had them set everything up." He answered her walking over to the nonalcoholic champagne that he ordered. She was mesmerized by the fire dancing in the fireplace.

He handed her the champagne and kissed the back of her neck, his hands roaming over her body. "I have missed you so much," he whispered into her ear nipping on her ear lobes.

She smiled. "I missed you so incredibly much too Harm." She said wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why don't we skip dessert? Make love to me." She whispered teasing him on the place on his neck that she new drove him crazy.

Without answering her he scooped her up into his arms and brought her to the bed. He laid her on the bed and drank in every movement, every sound, and every scent that was her. His thoughts that were completely consumed by her were interrupted by her pulling him into an intense kiss.

The next morning they awoke in each other's arms completely content. She was lying on his chest and he was drawing lazy circles on her back. They had spent the night making love, making up for the lost months that they couldn't be together. Mac woke up when she felt the slight change in his breathing patterns as he was remembering the moments of passion.

She murmured an I love you into his chest and snuggled even closer into her fiancé's form. "Can you make the sun go down more?"

"I don't think I have that much power baby."

"Can you at least call of breakfast considering I haven't eaten in the past 14 hours."

"Now, we couldn't have the happening now could we?"

He reached for the phone, and she stopped him muttering something about needing more time to be with him.

"If I went UA, do you think anyone would notice?" Harm spoke up after just being with her for a few more minutes.

"Yeah, I think they would." She said, her stomach growling.

"Okay Marine. I'm ordering you breakfast." Mac got up and picked up Harm's dress shirt from the floor and threw it on. He picked up the phone and admired her legs. "Okay Marine, the food will be here in 45 minutes, that is enough time for both of us to take a shower."

She sighed not wanting the morning to end, but she knew it would have too. She walked into the bathroom and found Harm getting the shower ready. "You know we don't have anywhere to be. Why are we getting in the shower?"

"Well, I do like my marine clean, but figured you would want to do some of the more romantic things around the city without have our kids as well as probably 9 other children with us."

"What do you have planned?"

"I thought we would go sightseeing."

"You have something up your sleeve."

"No, not really. I just want to walk around a little around the city with you, we can get a cappuccino and sit at one of the little cafés, maybe pick up some things for our daughters' hope chests. Naples is a great city."

"Sounds great. Now turn around so I can get your back." She said kissing his shoulder sending a shudder through his body. "So is this shower better than the shower on the carrier?"

"In more than one way Mac." They finished up their shower and made their way towards the sitting area. They heard the knock on the door. Knowing that it was the food, Mac scrambled to put on one of Harm's button down shirts again to pay room service.

Just as the bellhop was looking appreciatively at Mac's form, Harm stepped into view to tip him. "Sir, if I may say, you are the luckiest man."

"I know, I know. I am in love with this woman."

"And I am in love with this man," she said hopping onto his back, wrapping her legs around him. "Feed me Flyboy." The bellhop smiled at the flirtatious interlude he just witnessed watching the man carry the woman on his back pushing the food on the cart to the sitting area.

"Love never dies, it just changes with time." The bellhop told them. Closing their door and putting up the Do Not Disturb sign up, he left the two lovers alone.

AN – Attention – I hate to toot my own horn, but I passed the dreaded boards I have been studying for all semester long, I will have a great time finding a job as a speech therapist!

So I really didn't like chapter seventy so I decided to put this one up.