Harriet's funeral was full military dress, complete with F-14 flyover by some pilots off the Seahawk that happened to be in Norfolk for a few days. AJ clung to his father, not shedding any tears and not looking away from the mahogany casket that was draped with an American flag.

After the ground had taken his mother from him, AJ sat still and waited until it was time for him to do his special part.

His Auntie Mac's words came flowing back to him as he clutched the small bouquet of daisies in his hand. They were tied with a ribbon with the words 'I'll love you forever, Mommy' written on the tails of the bow. "Your mother loved daisies, AJ. Remember when you picked some for her birthday? Remember how happy she was? She loved getting daisies from you, AJ. And this ribbon is special. It will let your mommy take these flowers with her to Heaven so you'll always be with her."

"Promise?" he had asked as he inspected the ribbon with a critical eye of a child not sure if he should believe what he was told or not.

"I swear it," Auntie Mac had replied. Uncle Harm had nodded, adding his silent two cents.

Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm had never lied to AJ before, so he had taken the flowers and was waiting for his cue.

He got his nod from the priest and, on shaky legs, AJ got off the folding chair and went to the hole in the grass where his mommy would be for the rest of forever. It was so deep and it would be so dark inside the box, AJ thought as he knelt down and sat in the grass. Grandma Simms would be mad at him for getting his new suit dirty but he didn't care.

"Mommy, Auntie Mac said you loved when I gave you daisies," AJ said in a whisper, like he used to use when his mommy would come to him when he was having a nightmare and they didn't want to wake daddy. "She also said that you can take them with you to Heaven. I hope he's right 'cause I want you to always be happy like you were on your birthday last year."

Small tears escaped and started trailing down his chubby cherub cheeks. He let them fall, the salty water making his skin itch as it dried quickly in the light breeze and hot sun.

"I miss you, mommy," AJ said softly before letting the daisies fall into the hole. They landed neatly on the part of the casket that he thought would be where her heart was, and that made him feel a little better.

Before she had died his mother had been helping him with his words, and AJ idly thought that she would be so proud of him because he could read every word that was written in the granite headstone.

LIEUTENANT HARRIET BEAUMONT SIMMS-ROBERTS

BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, AND FRIEND

"MY SUN SETS TO RAISE AGAIN"

AJ got back up and went back to his father who reached out a hand for him. AJ took the hand and stayed standing, taking the same 'at attention' position that Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm were standing in behind him.

The rest of the funeral went by without AJ noticing much. After it was over people walked past him and his father, whispering apologies and wiping away their tears. AJ shook their hands and saluted the Naval personnel and tried to be a big boy like Grandma Simms told him to.

Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm were the last in the line and AJ smiled weakly as she knelt down in front of him in her dark dress uniform.

"It's okay to be sad, AJ," she said softly, reaching out and caressing the side of his face tenderly. "You love your mommy very much and you're going to miss her. It's okay to cry, to be upset about this. You don't have to hold it all in."

"Grandma said I had to be a big boy today," AJ said sadly.

"And you were. We're all very proud of you," Auntie Mac said. "But even big boys cry. Look at your daddy and Uncle Harm. They both cried today, and they're real big. And the Admiral, too. Crying isn't just for babies, AJ. It's how your emotions come out sometimes."

AJ leaned forward and whispered in Mac's ear. "I wanna be strong, though."

Within a second AJ found himself in his godmother's arms. "Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is let yourself be weak," she said as she held the precious little boy in her arms.

"Can I tell you a secret?" AJ asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"I'm scared. I don't wanna lose daddy and Uncle Harm and you like I lost mommy," AJ said softly.

Auntie Mac picked him up, standing to her full height. Her heels sank a little in the soft soil of Arlington Cemetery but she didn't falter. "I know you're scared, AJ, and it's okay to be scared," Mac said softly so that only he could hear her. They were the only two still standing by the grave, though, as Chegwidden had led Harm and Bud toward the gates so they didn't have to watch Harriet's grave being filled in. "But we're going to be okay. All of us. You and your daddy are just going away for a little while so that your uncles and I can make sure that whoever took your mommy away from all of us can never hurt anyone again. And we'll call you as often as possible, and I bet if you ask them real nice Nana and Pop help you send us e-mails so you can talk to us even when we can't call you. Then you can show us how good you're getting with your writing," she said with an encouraging smile.

"Promise not to use big words?" AJ asked.

"I promise," Mac said. She adjusted his weight on her hip and then said, "I know you don't want to do this, but it's time to go say goodbye to your daddy."

Little AJ Roberts sighed a sigh of deep sadness and then nodded. He wrapped his arms around his godmother's neck and buried his face in her shoulder as Mac carried him to the car that was waiting for them.

AJ thought it was completely unfair that the mean people took his mommy away and then his aunt and uncles, the nice people who he loved, were making his daddy go away and then making him to stay with Nana and Pop in California. He knew they knew what they were doing, though, and he trusted his extended family with all the blind faith a five year old can, so, even though it made him incredibly sad, AJ decided that he wouldn't fight the decision that was made for him.

That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though.

Mac slid into the car with complete and utter grace, barely jostling the boy she held so tenderly. She was sitting next to Bud, facing Harm and the Admiral. The grim expressions of the three men Mac loved like family had very little to do with the funeral, and that made her sad because no one deserved to be stripped of the chance to mourn for a lost loved one.

The car started moving. No one spoke as they got past the gates and onto the main road. They were on their way to Andrews Air Force Base. Bud's things were in the trunk. AJ's were already waiting for him on the plane with the small bags Harm and Mac had packed for themselves.

In five hours Harm, Mac, and AJ would be arriving in San Diego.

In fifteen hours Bud would be landing on the USS Sequoia.

The silence in the car was oppressive.

The thought of speaking, however, didn't enter into anyone's mind.

By the time the driver had parked the car at Andrews little AJ had left Mac's arms and was curled up with his father, needing the brief parental contact before they went in opposite directions for who-knows-how-long.

Bud, Harm, and little AJ went to change and, after finding a pair of dress pants and a light sweater, Mac went to change as well. The Admiral met them a few minutes later and handed Mac a bottle of brown hair dye. AJ could pass for the child of Harm and Mac if his hair was darker, and, though neither Roberts man had been pleased with the idea, safety was what was most important. Half an hour later AJ Roberts had chestnut hair and was clinging desperately to his father.

Mac could feel her eyes filling with tears as she watched the father and son say goodbye to each other. And when the Ensign came over to say that the transport was leaving she wanted to punch the young man. If Harm hadn't put his hand on her arm she probably would have, too, regardless of the fact that her CO was standing about five feet away from her.

"Be safe," Mac said softly as she hugged Bud tightly.

"You, too," Bud replied.

Bud saluted his friends and smiled softly as his son saluted back at him along with his godparents and 'Uncle Judgy'.

He didn't look back as he crossed the tarmac to the helo that was waiting.

AJ didn't blink until the massive bird was out of sight.

"What time does your flight leave?" the Admiral asked Harm.

"Pretty much whenever we're ready," Harm replied. "We should probably get going, though. The faster we're out of DC the better."

"Agreed," Chegwidden nodded. He knelt down in front of little AJ. "You remember your story?" he asked the boy.

Little AJ nodded. "I'm Albert. Uncle Harm's brother Sergi is my father. I'm visiting my… step-grandma?" he asked hesitantly.

"Just call her Nana like you usually do, sweetheart," Mac said gently.

"Okay. I'm visiting Nana and Pop 'cause Sergi... daddy...is sick and he can't take care of me right now," AJ said.

"And you speak English because?" Harm prodded.

"'Cause my mommy was American," AJ said, "and my daddy taught me English 'cause they always wanted to come here to live and didn't want me to have to learn everything all over again."

Chegwidden smiled, if only for a moment. "Good. And you memorized the numbers we gave you?"

"Yes, sir," AJ said, sounding more sure of himself than he looked.

"Good boy," Chegwidden said. He gave the boy a hug and ruffled his newly brown hair and then stood up again. "I have to get back to the office… Commander Austin is holding down the fort at the moment. Call me when you get to where you're going, alright?" he said to Harm.

"Aye, aye, sir," Harm said, standing at attention even though he was in civvies.

With a curt nod to Harm and then another to Mac, Chegwidden turned and went back to the car, leaving the 'family' standing on the tarmac feeling like they were lost in a paved desert.

AJ reached up and took the hands of his godparents, needing the human connection to keep him focused until they were in the air at least because he knew they were in danger on the ground. If he didn't stay focused on that fact, something he knew he wasn't supposed to know, AJ knew that everything that had happened that day would catch up with him and his father going away and burying his mother would take him out of his proverbial commission.

And, even if he didn't quite understand what was going on, AJ knew that the last thing his godparents needed was a hysterical five year old on top of everything else.

With a barely perceptible tug on the boy's hand, Harm started leading AJ and Mac toward the hanger that his stepfather's private Cessna was waiting in. They went the long way, in through one hanger and through a connecting door, along the covered breezeway that ran along the back of the hangers, around the offices and looping back through linoleum-lined hallways. If he'd been asked to go back the way he came, AJ was sure he would get lost before the end of the first hallway, but he trusted Uncle Harm and was sure that he wouldn't get them lost. Especially not when flying was in the near future.

Harm checked a corner before they went into the correct hanger at last, and AJ bit his lip to keep from smiling at the thought that it was all very secret-agent-y, the sneaking and the hiding to escape from the bad guys on an unmarked jet. He knew that what he was experiencing was reality, not a comic book or a movie, and that real bad things that he didn't want to think about could happen to him and to his godparents, but for the moment it was easier to imagine that Uncle Harm was James Bond and Auntie Mac was his new lady-love and that he was the son of a dignitary who had been kidnapped and was being rescued by the spy in a black tux with all the cool gadgets from Q that made no sense at first but would always end up saving the day at the last second, like when a bomb's about to go off and everyone thinks that they'll cut the red wire but with two seconds to go they switch to the blue wire and everything gets real quiet and they cut the wire and cringe as if that will protect them from death and then there's nothing but a clock with one second flashing at the star and a welcome home scene before the credits roll and everyone goes home with sticky shoes and popcorn in their teeth and comments on how they 'knew that was going to happen' even though they were gripping the armrest so tightly at that moment that the stuffing was coming out.

And then they were in the Cessna and the shades were drawn and the pilot was doing a last second pre-flight with Harm at his side while Mac helped AJ with his seatbelt and made sure that he had Judgy with him because flying without Judgy was unthinkable unless he was in Sarah and Uncle Harm was flying the plane.

"Scared?" Mac asked as she reached over and took AJ's pale hand in hers.

"Just thinkin," AJ replied, giving Judgy a tight squeeze to make sure that his magic was still working as Harm slid into the seat next to Mac and did his own seatbelt up with practiced ease.

Twenty minutes later they were flying westward.


"MY SUN SETS TO RAISE AGAIN" – Elizabeth Barrett Browning.