MONDAY, 21 AUGUST
1150 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

"Harm," Mac said, pushing the button for the elevator, "please do me a favor today."

"What?" he asked, looking at her curiously as they waited for the elevator to descend from the third floor.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Mac said, her hand on his arm. "I know you're concerned. But please don't hover over me today. After everything that happened here, today is going to be hard enough without – I don't know – feeling self-conscious because you're constantly watching me."

"Sarah," Harm said softly, "I just ..."

"I know. You worry about me and about the babies. But I'm fine. We all are. And remember, I'm a Marine. I can handle this," she said firmly, giving him a brilliant smile.

Harm wasn't convinced, but in the hallway waiting for the elevator was hardly the best place for this discussion. He promised himself that he was going to keep a close eye on her. She might insist she was fine, but he still remembered the first day he had walked back into JAG after the shooting, how everything had come flooding back to him full force as he had walked through the hallway where the shooting had occurred.

Mac quickly pulled her hand away from his arm and Harm turned to find the Admiral walking towards them. "Good morning, Sir," Harm said, nodding in the Admiral's direction.

"Good morning, Commander, Colonel," AJ replied. "I trust your families got off okay."

"Mom called and left a message that she and Frank had gotten back to California okay," Mac said as the elevator opened in front of them and they all stepped on. "Clay called this morning to inform us that Uncle Matt is back at Leavenworth."

"That's good to hear," AJ said. "And how are you doing, Mac?"

Mac noted his use of her first name. Obviously, Harm wasn't the only one who was going to be worrying and watching over her. "I'm good, Sir," she replied. "I'm glad to be back to work."

"Well, good, Colonel," AJ said as the doors opened to the hallway in front of JAG Ops. "I've got a couple of cases for you already. It's good to have you back."

"Thank you, Sir," Mac said. "I look forward to jumping back into working on cases, especially once my travel restriction is lifted."

"One thing at a time," Harm said, his eyes on Mac as they walked through the hallway. But Mac kept her eyes focused on the bullpen in front of them, never looking at the spot where she had been injured. The three entered the bullpen as Gunny called out, "Attention on deck."

"As you were," AJ said as he turned for his office while Mac headed for her with Harm right behind her.

"Are you okay?" Harm asked as he followed Mac into her office. She set her briefcase on her desk and stored her garrison cap in a desk drawer before sitting down and booting her computer. Harm stood in the doorway, watching her.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Just happy to be back at work. Really. You should go to your office and read your mail before the staff meeting this morning."

"Trying to get rid of me, Marine?" he said in a teasing tone, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't need the distraction," she teased back. "I have a lot of catching up to do since a certain person wouldn't let me keep up with my cases while I was out on leave."

"Because you needed to concentrate on getting better," Harm pointed out.

"And now I need to concentrate on getting caught up," she retorted with a smile. "And I'm sure you have some work waiting for you since you took Friday afternoon off."

"Excuse me, Sir, Ma'am," Gunny said from the doorway.

"Yes, Gunny?" Mac asked.

"Welcome back, Ma'am," Gunny said. "Commander, you have a telephone call from Congresswoman Latham."

"Thank you, Gunny. It's good to be back. Why don't you just transfer the Commander's call in here?" Mac suggested.

"Yes, Ma'am," Gunny replied, heading back to his desk. A moment later, the phone on Mac's desk rang and Harm picked it up.

"Good morning, Bobbi," Harm said into the phone while Mac busied herself reading her e-mail. "What can I do for you? ... Hold on a minute and I'll ask."

Covering the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand, he said to Mac, "Bobbi wants to have dinner one night this week with her counterpart from the Senate Armed Services Committee so that I can meet him. She wants to know what night this week is good for us."

"Us, as in you and me?" Mac asked, looking up from her monitor.

"That's what you get for wanting to marry the military liaison on the Hill," he teased. "You have to go to boring dinners with politicians."

"Sounds like fun," Mac muttered sarcastically. At the look Harm shot her, she shrugged, "I should probably take a few evenings to go over some case files, so later in the week would be better."

Removing his hand, Harm said into the phone, "How does Friday night sound? Mac will probably be taking some work home at least the next few nights while she gets caught up ... Fine, Le Tours at nineteen hundred hours. We'll see you there ... Yes, I'll tell her you said so. Goodbye, Bobbi."

He hung up the phone and turned back to Mac. "Bobbie said she's glad that you're feeling better and back at work," he told her. "And, as I'm sure you heard, we have a dinner date Friday night at Le Tours."

"What's the dress code?" Mac asked.

"Dress whites for me, a nice dress for you," he said.

Mac smiled at the thought of Harm in his dress whites, then frowned as she remembered that most of her really nice clothes no longer fit. "I suppose that means I have to go shopping for a new dress," Mac complained.

"I could help you," Harm said suggestively.

"I'm sure you could," she replied with a laugh. "But I'd probably get more accomplished if I went with Harriet or Sydney."

"But it wouldn't be as much fun," he joked.

"Red light, Commander ... at least here," Mac said softly. "We can continue this conversation tonight at home later."

"I look forward to it," Harm said, a grin on his face.

"Sir, Ma'am, sorry to interrupt," Bud said, entering Mac's office. "Colonel, here's the case file on the Lawson court-martial. The trial starts next week. Since the case was continued anyway, I suggested to the Admiral that maybe you should still be lead counsel on the case."

Mac took the file gratefully, thankful to have an actual case, an actual court-martial to work on. She had been a bit worried, before AJ had assured her otherwise earlier, that she might be assigned administrative duties upon her return. "Thank you, Bud," she said. "Why don't we get together after the staff meeting to go over the case?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Bud replied. "Welcome back, Colonel."

"Thank you, Bud," she said. Bud departed, leaving Harm and Mac alone again.

"If I were to receive a nickel every time someone says 'Welcome back' or 'It's good to have you back' today," Mac joked as she turned back to her e-mail, "I wouldn't have to work." She studied the list of messages that had just finished downloading and smiled. "Over two hundred messages while I was gone and it looks like about half of them are from the same person. Maybe I need to have a talk with someone about the proper use of the government e-mail system."

"Hey, most of those are legitimate, work-related messages," Harm defended himself. "Keeping you up to date on pending cases, things like that."

With a chuckle, Mac read a few of the messages. He was right, many of them did pertain to cases. "I guess that's one way to get caught up on cases," she murmured as she click on another message. She read the message she had just opened then looked up at Harm. "Most, but not all," she pointed out.

Harm leaned over the desk to get a better view of the monitor and read the first few lines of the message. "Singer was in my office at the time, going on about this case she wanted to help me on," he explained. "I needed the distraction to keep from falling asleep listening to her drone on."

"You know, if you were talking about anyone else," she said, "I'd say that was mean. But since it's Singer, I'll let it slide. It doesn't surprise me she would try to weasel her way into some extra cases while I was gone."

"Actually, it was just the one case she wanted in on," Harm said, shrugging. "She's been acting a little strange for a while now. Now that I think about it, her change in attitude goes back to the shooting."

Mac looked at him for a moment, trying to determine if he was serious or not. Finally, she asked, stunned, "Are you trying to tell me that Lieutenant Singer, who would cross the Admiral if she thought it would help her get ahead, was actually concerned about someone besides herself?"

"Well," he pointed out, "she was kind of nice, almost pleasant even, at the cookout yesterday. And she did hang around the hospital with the rest of the staff that first day."

"I still don't trust her as far as I could throw her," she said.

"I don't either," Harm said firmly. As little too firmly, as it turned out, which resulted in Mac giving him a strange look. He never had told her about his suspicions that Loren had put that mishap report in her car a few months ago. Fortunately, Loren had, with the exception of that little rumor a while back, pretty much behaved herself since. Maybe she had taken his promise to heart. "Look, let's not think about that, okay? You need to concentrate on getting caught up."

"And you need to get to your office and get to work," she reminded him.

"Fine," he said, "I'm going. Lunch later?"

"Of course," she replied. "See you at the meeting."

After Harm left her office, Mac turned back to her computer and started working her way through her mail. Not even a minute had passed when the phone rang. Picking the phone up, she answered, "Colonel Mackenzie."

"Hello, Sarah."

Mac leaned back in her chair, stunned. Of all the people, this was the last person she expected to call her. She hadn't heard from him since ...

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Hello, Mic. What can I do for you?"

"I had called a few weeks ago," Mic explained, "and one of the Petty Officers said that you were in hospital after being shot. I thought I'd call and see how you were doing. I checked and found out you were coming back to work today. I debated about calling you earlier, but didn't think it was a good idea to call you at home or the hospital. Never know who might answer there."

"Thank you," Mac said, "and I'm fine. Just glad to be back at work." She was careful not to say too much. She had no way of knowing, unless he brought it up, just how much he knew about her current situation.

"And Harm?" he asked hesitantly.

"Harm is fine," she replied. She didn't need to tell Mic how worried Harm had been about her, about the wedding coming about, about the babies. She couldn't love him the way he had wanted her to love him, but she didn't want to hurt him any more than necessary either.

"That's good to hear," he said. Both of them were silent for a moment before Mic continued quietly, "Are you happy, Sarah?"

"Yes, I am," she said without hesitation. She knew that probably wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but she didn't want to give Mic any reason to think that he might still have a chance.

"Good," he said dully. "I'm glad for you. Are you planning to get married anytime soon, start a family?"

Mac did hesitate this time. Was he just fishing for information or was he simply confirming something he had already heard? She wasn't sure she wanted to get into this with him.

"Sorry," Mic said. "I shouldn't ... well, when I called before, the Petty Officer mentioned something about a baby."

"I'm due towards the end of February," she admitted softly. There was another pause on the other end of the line. Mac felt bad and briefly wondered who the nameless Petty Officer was, then decided that it didn't matter. If Mic had called, saying he used to work at JAG, whoever he had talked to may not have known who he was and may have just assumed that he would be interested that a former coworker, who just happened to be pregnant, had been shot.

"Well ... I guess congratulations are in order," he said sadly. He had been hoping that his information about the baby was wrong, that maybe there was still a chance, however remote, that things would not work out between her and Rabb. "I suppose there's a wedding in your future, too."

Does he really want to discuss this, she wondered. But maybe it was better that he knew that there was no reason for him to hold out hope. "The last day of September," she said. She looked up to find Harm standing in her doorway again.

"It's time for the staff meeting," he said, noting the sad expression on her face.

"Is that Harm I hear?" Mic asked. "I'd like to speak to him a moment."

Her eyes still on Harm, she replied, "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"No fighting," he promised. "At least on my part. I would just like to say something to him."

Mac sighed. "I'll ask if he wants to, but that's all I'll do," she insisted. Before he could respond, she put her hand over the mouthpiece and motioned Harm into the office. "Um, Mic is on the phone and would like to speak to you."

Now her expression makes sense, he thought. Softly, he asked, "Has he upset you?"

"Not in the way you think," she responded, just as softly. "I'll explain later. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to."

After thinking about it for a moment, he said, "No, I'll talk to him."

Hesitantly, she held out the phone to Harm, who took it only after closing the office door. "Hello, Mic," he said politely as Mac continued to watch him. He was determined to make this conversation as civil as possible.

Harm said nothing, just listened to Mic on the other end. After what seemed like forever to Mac, he said, "Yes, she is. No, I understand. Yes, I'll tell her. Goodbye, Mic." He handed the phone back to Mac, who hung it up then waited for him to speak.

"He just wanted me to confirm that you really are alright," Harm explained, "and to tell me to take care of you." At her disbelieving expression, he added, "Really, that's all he said, aside from congratulating us on the wedding and the pregnancy. It was very civil, considering everything."

"You'd tell me if there was something else?" she asked as she got up and moved towards the door.

"Yes, I would," he promised as he opened the door and they both headed for the staff meeting.

-----

1730 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

"You wanted to see me, Admiral?" Harm asked as he entered AJ's office and came attention in front of the desk.

"As you were and take a seat," AJ insisted as he signed his name to some papers in front of him. Once finished, he looked up at Harm. "How is Mac doing being back at work?"

"She seems to be doing fine so far," Harm said. "She's been busy this morning trying to get caught up."

"Good," AJ said. "Now, I called you in here because we have a situation that requires your assistance. At NAS Ft. Worth, an Air Force F-18 and a Navy F-14 collided at the airfield, one taking off, one landing. Everyone ejected safely, fortunately. Since you used to be a pilot yourself, the local JAG office has requested your assistance with the investigation. You and Lieutenant Roberts will be on a flight in the morning out of Andrews."

AJ held up his hand before Harm could protest. "I know the timing on this is not the greatest," he admitted. "I admit that I had second thoughts about sending you, but you are the best person for this investigation and it can't wait. I hope it will make you feel better to know that Mac has a lot of friends here who will be there for her if she needs anything."

"I don't know if 'feel better' is the right phrase," Harm said, "but I suppose I don't have a choice."

"No," AJ said, "such is life in the military. We don't get to choose our assignments and with Mac doing better and back at work, I don't see a compelling reason to turn down the request. I hope you understand, Commander."

"I do, Sir," Harm replied. He didn't like it, but he understood.

"Good," AJ said. "Dismissed."

Harm stood and come to attention. "Aye, aye, Sir." He turned and left the office, heading straight for Mac's, where he found her pouring over a case file.

"Got a minute?" he asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Mac smiled at him as she looked up from the file. "Sure," she said, rubbing her neck. "I could use the break. I've been going over files most of the day."

"When was the last time you got up and walked around?" Harm asked, concerned. "That chair is probably getting a little uncomfortable."

Mac smiled. "It could definitely use some more padding," she replied. "I wonder what the Admiral would say if I put in a request for a new chair. Anyway, to answer your question, not since lunch."

"Come on, then," Harm said. "Let's take a break and walk outside. That will fulfill your requirement to get up and walk around every so often and I need to talk to you about something."

Mac grabbed her cap from the desk drawer and followed Harm to his office, where he quickly grabbed his cover. They were silent as they descended in the elevator and walked outside. As they began walking around the ground, Mac finally broke the silence and said, "Something's bothering you."

"The Admiral called me into his office just now," he said. "There was a crash at NAS Ft. Worth involving an Air Force jet and a Navy jet. The local JAG office has requested that I head up the investigation, due to my aviation experience."

"When do you leave?" Mac asked.

"Bud and I leave tomorrow morning," he replied. "I don't know how long it will take. Could take a while depending on how well we get along with the Air Force investigators."

"You don't really want to go," she said.

"That obvious, huh?"

"Probably not to the average person," she said, "but I know you too well."

"I suppose you do," he said with a sigh. "You're right, I'm not happy about going away. Not now, anyway. You just did go back to work today."

"Harm, I'm fine," she replied. "If I wasn't fine, the doctor never would have cleared me to come back to work. Anyway, I'm sure that while you're gone more than one person will be checking up on me, just to make sure that I am okay."

Harm laughed a little. "The Admiral did make the point that you have a lot of friends who would be there if you need anything," he told her.

"Probably beginning with the Admiral himself and Sydney," she added. "They've both been really supportive since – well, since we told them about the pregnancy. Besides, I am a Marine and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself for however long you are gone. Doesn't mean I won't miss you, though."

"I'll miss you, too," he said. "I'll try to come home as soon as possible."

"You said you leave tomorrow, right?" she asked, smiling suggestively. When he nodded, she added, "Then I'll have to make sure to give you a proper send off tonight."

Harm grinned at her. "Just what do you have in mind?" he asked.

-----

2120 ZULU
HARM AND MAC'S HOUSE
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

"I'm glad to put today behind me," Mac said as Harm pulled into their driveway. "You know how hard it is to get back into working when you've been pretty much lying around for two weeks?"

"How are you feeling?" Harm asked.

"Good, but a little tired," she admitted. "I spent most of the day hunched over case files, couldn't sit in my chair for more than an hour at a time without my back hurting and I had a somewhat uncomfortable phone conversation with the man who moved halfway around the world because he wanted me to marry him."

"Sound like what you need is a good massage," Harm suggested as he waited for the garage door to open. "I ... Sarah, do you know who's car that is?"

Mac looked in the direction he was looking and saw an unfamiliar mid-sized sedan in the driveway in front of the other side of the garage. "I didn't even notice that car there," she said. "I don't recognize it."

There was no one in the car, so Mac looked around and caught sight of two figures on the front porch. "There are two people on the porch," she began, then her voice rose with excitement as one of the figures looked towards them and Mac recognized the people waiting for them. "Harm, it's Chloe and her grandmother," she exclaimed as she climbed out of the car and walked as fast as she could towards the porch while Chloe jumped off the porch and ran into her arms.

"Mac, it's so good to see you," Chloe exclaimed, her words running together. "You've gotten so big. Gram and I went to Hawaii with Dad and we thought we'd stop by for a quick visit on our way back to Vermont. Hi, Harm. Have you asked Mac to marry you yet?" She called out to Harm as he got out of the car and headed in their direction.

"Chloe!" her grandmother exclaimed as Harm and Mac laughed.

"It's okay, Martha," Mac said through her laughter. She showed her left hand to Chloe. "He finally asked me last Monday."

"Finally?" Harm teased as Chloe released Mac and hugged him. "It wasn't my fault it took me some time to be able to get away to see your uncle."

"Martha, this is my fiancée, Harm Rabb," Mac introduced them. "Harm, this is Chloe's grandmother, Martha Anderson."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Anderson," Harm said, holding out his hand to her.

"Please call me Martha," she insisted as she shook his hand. "Chloe has told me so much about you. She really enjoyed spending that month with you two earlier this summer."

"Call me, Harm," he said. "Chloe talks a lot about you, too. It's a pleasure to finally talk to you in person."

Chloe smiled and started on Mac again. "Remember my dream I told you about almost a year ago? I said you guys were gonna get married. You've gotta make me your flower girl now so the dream really does come true," she insisted excitedly.

Mac laughed as she remembered the phone call during which Chloe had told her about that particular dream. "Well, who else would I have?" she teased.

"Yes!" Chloe cried as she hugged Mac again.

"Why don't we take this inside?" Harm suggested. "We have some more news to share. How long before you have to head home?"

"We don't want to impose," Martha said.

Harm and Mac exchanged a look and silently agreed. They would have other times when they could be alone together. "Don't worry about it," Harm said. "I have to fly to Texas tomorrow for an investigation, so Sarah could use the company."

"Harm, I don't need a babysitter," Mac whispered to him as they all entered the house.

"I wasn't thinking that at all," he whispered back. "Okay, maybe I was, just a little. But mostly, I was thinking that you would like to spend a few days with your little sister."

"Sorry," she replied. Louder, she said, "Why don't you make yourselves comfortable. Would either of you like anything?"

"We're fine," Martha insisted after sharing a look with her granddaughter. "I'm sure you two would like to go change out of those uniforms."

"If you're sure," Mac said. At Martha's nod, Mac continued, "Then we'll be back in a few minutes."

As they changed out of their uniforms and into casual clothes in their bedroom a few moments later, Mac said, "Thank you."

"For what?" Harm countered. "Insisting that Chloe and Martha stay? Sarah, they're important to you, so that makes them important to me. We can be alone together another time."

"You're so good to me," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I love you, that's why," he said. "Why don't we go back and join our guests? I'm sure they will be thrilled to hear about the twins."

"We might want to wear ear plugs," Mac joked. "I can just imagine Chloe's reaction. We also should probably tell them about the shooting since we weren't able to get in touch with them while they were in Hawaii."

A few moments later, Harm and Mac were back downstairs. "Before we share our good news, we have some not-so-good news to share," Mac began as she tried to get comfortable on the couch. Harm handed her a throw pillow which she placed behind her back. "Two weeks ago, there was a shooting at JAG and I was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest."

"Dear God," Martha exclaimed. "Are you okay, Sarah? What about the baby?"

"Well, it was pretty serious," Mac said gently, "but it definitely could have been a lot worse. But we're fine. In a few days, my OB wants to do an amnio, just to rule out any complications due to the medications or anesthesia from the surgery. But everything does look good. Today was my first day back at work."

"The Admiral tried to contact you," Harm continued, "but I didn't know you had gone to Hawaii."

"It was a last minute trip," Chloe explained, tears in her eyes. "Dad got some leave unexpectedly and suggested the trip. I wish I could have been here."

"It's okay," Mac reassured her. "Everything did turn out fine in the end and we even found something unexpected out while I was in the hospital." She took a breath and smiled at Chloe. "I had an ultrasound while I was in the hospital. There isn't just a baby, there are two. We're going to have twins."

"YES!" Chloe screamed and all the adults resisted the urge to cover their ears. "So, do you know what you're going to have yet? Have you picked out any names?"

"Not yet," Mac replied, "but if we want to know, the amnio will tell us. And no names yet. We hadn't even thought about a name for a single baby and now we have to pick out two."

"Congratulations," Martha said, patting Mac's hand. "That's very good news, considering everything that's happened. So when are you planning on getting married?"

"30 September," Harm replied, "at the chapel at the Naval Academy."

"So, what day is that?" Chloe asked, then thought a moment. "It's a Saturday, right? I assume there'll be a rehearsal the day before. So Gram, I guess I'll just have to miss school, huh?"

"Chloe Madison," Martha began, but Chloe quickly interrupted.

"Come on, Gram," she insisted. "This is Harm and Mac. As flower girl, I have to be involved in the rehearsal."

"We'll see," Martha said, shaking her head. She knew she'd eventually agree to missing one day of school, but she didn't want her granddaughter to think she was giving in too easily.

-----

To be continued…