WARNING: THIS PART IS RATED M. DON'T SAY YOU WEREN'T WARNED…
See part 1 for disclaimer
From part 9…
"I'm sorry, Gina," Pete nodded, with real sincerity, "I really am, but Harm and Sarah have changed their minds…"
"Hang on a minute," Alan spoke up, not understanding, "I thought you said that Calum's mother was deceased."
"She is," Pete nodded, "But she placed Calum into the Colonel's care before she passed away. Sarah and Harm have been caring for Calum over the past few months."
"But they don't have any legal rights over Calum…" Alan argued.
"Alan, stop," Gina halted him, then turned to Mac, "I can see how much you miss him. He misses you too. He never would have settled here. He wants to be with you."
Before she got up, Mac reached out and took her hand.
"Thank you so much," she told her, gratefully, "You'll never know how much this means to us…"
"I'm a mother," Gina told her, "I understand."
With that, Gina disappeared upstairs to get Calum.
Part 10…
"I can't believe that he's really here with us," Mac whispered to Harm, both watching the child sleeping in the bed.
It was past one in the morning and they had been doing so for nearly an hour. Calum had been overjoyed to see them and had jabbered away to them in the car for most of the journey home, but had fallen asleep just a few minutes before they got there. Mac had gently lifted him from the car, carried him upstairs and put him into bed without waking him. Both Harm and Mac planned to call the Admiral in the morning to take some emergency leave over the next week, they wanted to spend as much time with Calum as possible.
"He's home and he's ours," Harm assured Mac, taking her hand in his own. At least he would be, legally, in a few months time. Pete could see nothing that would get in their way, the Beckers had agreed that they would not oppose Harm and Mac's petition.
"He's so perfect," Mac exclaimed in wonder, "I've never seen anything so beautiful in all my life."
Harm nodded then broke out into a beaming smile, looking to Mac, telling her, "Our son! It sounds great, doesn't it?"
Mac smiled back, nodding.
"So what do you want it to be?" Harm asked, "Calum MacKenzie or Calum Rabb?"
"Why not Calum MacKenzie-Rabb?" Mac suggested, "That way, he's a piece of both of us."
Harm smiled and nodded in approval.
Suddenly, he got off the bed where he had been sitting.
"This requires something to celebrate!" he decided, "I promise, Mac, I won't be long. I just need to go and get something…"
"Harm?" Mac asked, almost mystified, "What do you need to go and get?"
"It's a surprise," Harm told her, "I promise, I won't be long."
"What took so long?" Mac exclaimed with an indulgent smile.
"There were less places open than I anticipated, sorry," Harm apologised.
"You could have gotten all the way to your place and back in that time," Mac told him.
Harm just brought his hand from behind his back, to show the dark green bottle.
"Wine?" Mac looked confused, until Harm turned the bottle to reveal the label;
Non-alcoholic, sparkling grape juice.
"Re-hydrating blackcurrent or apple juice just didn't seem appropriate," he smiled and protested when Mac went to get up from the couch, "No, no, just you stay there. I'll go pour us a glass each…"
Mac settled back into the cushions, happy to go along with Harm's plan.
In a minute, Harm reappeared with a glass in each hand, filled with the sparkling liquid.
"There you go, Mommy!" Harm congratulated her, passing her a glass.
They both laughed with joy at how wonderful that sounded.
"Thank you, Daddy!" she replied, grinning.
In the dim light, she barely registered the glint from the bottom of the glass and she was too busy thinking about the bright future that lay ahead of them to pursue the matter any further.
Harm kept a surreptitious eye on her as she sipped from the glass.
"This is great, isn't it? He asked, grinning then went to turn on the stereo. He selected a soft, instrumental track, mindful of the little boy sleeping in the bedroom and so that the music would compliment the moment without overpowering it.
"Yeah,' Mac nodded, "It's wonderfu…"
Here, she froze, her eyes on the glass and Harm knew that she must have spotted the object in the bottom of it.
He moved over to her and got down on one knee.
"Harm?" Mac questioned, looking from the object in the wine glass to him.
"That's right," he told her softly, "That is what you think it is…"
He took the glass from her now gently shaking hand and drained it and taking the diamond solitaire ring out. He held it out to her.
"I've had this picked out for the longest time," he told her, "It's only ever been for you…I just needed the perfect time to give it to you. Now that Calum is home and we can start to build our life together, it seemed like it was that perfect time.
"Oh, Harm…" Mac exclaimed, softly, with wonder.
"How about it, Sarah?" Harm continued, "Will you become the next Sarah Rabb? Will you marry me?"
"Of course I will!" Mac smiled radiantly through the tears.
Harm pulled Mac to him and they shared a kiss that left fireworks exploding before their eyes. Mac felt a tingle all the way down to her toes and she knew without a doubt that there would never be anyone else for her.
"I love you so much, Sarah," Harm pledged to her, after pulling back and took her hand to slip the ring on her finger.
"I love you, too," Mac told him, her heart beating strong in her chest as she watched him, "I'm your woman, now, Harm."
"And I'm your man, Sarah," Harm replied.
And then, they both laughed at how corny it had sounded, but it was none-the-less true and heart-felt.
After that, they rose from the couch and Harm took Mac into his arms and they swayed to the music. Again and again, they shared increasingly intimate kisses, which left them tingling with excitement.
"Well," Harm joked, "when I've ever thought about sharing your bed, I've never pictured anyone else being there, too!"
Mac laughed and surmised, "I think we're going to have to get him a bed of his own."
"I think a bigger place would be a good investment," Harm amended.
"I hate to say this, but until we've got our own space sorted out, we're going to have to delay anything…" Mac commented.
Even as Mac was saying this, her fingers were stroking Harm's chest through his shirt.
"Hmmm…" Harm murmured from his place kissing down Mac's neck.
"Harm," Mac persisted, "What if he wakes up?"
"He won't," Harm told her.
"He might," Mac insisted, "Harm, we can't…"
Harm just sighed and pulled away.
"I'm sorry Harm…" Mac started, but Harm placed a gentle finger to her lips to hush her.
Then he got a curious look on his face; he had thought of something.
"I know it's hardly the height of romance, but doesn't your bathroom door have a lock on it, Mac?"
"Uh-huh," she replied.
It was the only one in the apartment that did, excepting the front door.
Mac's face broke into a flirtatious grin, which Harm couldn't help but mirror.
"Do you want to take a bubble-bath, Mr. Rabb?" she questioned.
"Only if you join me!" Harm smiled.
This time, it was Mac's turn to come up with an idea.
"I've got an idea!" she announced, "Just give me five minutes to get everything ready…"
Now, Harm watched indulgently as she disappeared into the bathroom. He sat down on the couch, listening as she ran the bath and made rustling noises. Finally, she reappeared in the doorway and Harm sat up with a start. With a glint in her eye, Mac crooked her finger, beckoning him to her. Harm didn't need telling twice! She took his hand and led him inside and Harm drew in a breath when he saw that the soft lighting was being provided by a dozen candles and tea lights, spaced around the bathroom. Mac had run a steaming, bubbly bath and the smell of roses hung in the air. It made him think of her, the first time they had met, in a rose garden.
"So much for this not being the height of romance!" he commented, softly then held his arms out to Mac, "C'mere, you!"
She gladly moved into his arms and when they tightened around her, she moulded her body to his.
Good God, this was good, Harm thought to himself as he and Mac kissed deeply. What an amazing day! He'd gained first a girlfriend, then a son and then made his girlfriend his fiancée! And now he and the love of his life were about to take it one step further.
Mac was thinking about the number of times she had imagined this moment, Harm's touch through her clothes, his lips on her skin, showing her how much he loved her, the words falling from his lips, mumbled in between frantic kisses. He poured every feeling into his touches as he peeled her clothes away slowly, layer by layer.
Once she was down to her bra and panties, she broke away from the supernatural hold he had over her.
"Uh-uh, sailor," she chided him, as his hands moved to the front clasp of her bra, "Your turn now."
He went to pull his polo shirt up and over his head, but Mac pulled his arms down again.
"I'll do it," she told him, "and it needs to be done slowly."
Harm lost the power of speech as she slowly ran her hands up from his abdomen, luxuriating in teasing the hard muscles she found there. She continued to tease them once he nodded in reply and he let out a deep groan.
"Geez, Mac…You're killing me here!"
After that, Mac moved onto somewhere else even more sensitive.
"See something you like, sailor?" she teased him with a flirtatious smile.
"You know I do," Harm'svoice grated out, "I've dreamed about this for so long," Harm got out, almost in a groan, "You look even better out of your marine uniform…"
"You look at me when I'm in uniform?" Mac asked him, chuckling.
Harm nodded andtold her, "Only you could make marine greens look sexy…"
Mac couldn't reply to this, as sheleaned her head back and her mouth went dry.
"Oh, Harm," she exclaimed, softly.
If she wasn't enjoying this so much, she'd ask him to tell her more about how he watched her at work, without her knowing. It turned her on to think that she grabbed his attention, without consciously doing anything, even in their strict, formal work surroundings. Sure, Mac was a strong, confident, independent woman, but she still thrilled in knowing she had Harm's approval!
"God, Sarah…" Harm got out,"You're so beautiful! I'm never going to get enough of you."
Where her head was thrown back, he eyes closed in ecstasy, Mac's face positively lit up at the compliment. Harm took one look at her radiance and decided to never stop showing her what a beautiful person she was, both inside and out. He would positively worship her, demonstrate his devotion to her for the rest of their lives.
"Why don't we take this to the tub, ninja-girl?" he suggested, pulling away froma second.
Mac gave a sigh of disappointment and Harm just chuckled.
"C'mon," he urged her, "I promise, there's more waiting…"
Harm took her hand, dropping a soft kiss on her lips before they both stepped into the bathtub.
However, Harm became concerned when her smile faltered then disappeared altogether.
"What's wrong?" he asked, gently but firmly.
"Nothing…" Mac shook her head, turning her face away from his.
"What's wrong?" Harm asked her again, this time more insistently, guiding her to look at him, his thumb against her chin, "You know you can tell me, whatever it is."
Mac sighed and eventually spoke up.
"We can never have a family of our own…" She whispered, the pain she was feeling very apparent in the tremor in her voice. She closed her eyes to try and keep the tears from forming.
"Never say never," Harm told her, "And at least we can have fun trying."
"And if it doesn't come to anything?"
"Then we'll take that step then, if it happens."
"Won't your parents be disappointed?"
"No, Mom and Frank have already given up on me!"
They both broke into giggles at this.
"Besides," Harm maintained, once they had brought themselves back under control, "they'll both be thrilled with Calum, he's a great little boy."
"Our little boy," Mac pronounced, relishing the sound of it.
"Family has nothing to do with blood," Harm continued, "It's all about the love you have for one another."
He was cut off by Mac's mouth locking onto his.
"I love you, Harmon Rabb," she told him once they broke for air.
"I love you, Sarah Rabb," returned and pulled her back in for another one of those sweet kisses…which quickly escalated to more, much more...
Early the next morning, Mac was woken by the cherubic little voice of their son.
"Our son," she thought to herself, "That really does sound good."
"Mmm, Mommy!" Calum crooned, snuggling up to her.
"Good morning, baby," Mac greeted him, cuddling his baby-softness.
This really was a routine that she'd have no problems getting used to!
"Mommy, where's Daddy?" the little boy asked, looking up to her face, earnestly.
In reply, Harm leaned up from where he was lying behind Mac.
"Hey there, buddy!" he chuckled.
Calum hadn't noticed that he was even there.
"Daddy!" Calum exclaimed and launched his little body towards him, over his Mommy.
Harm and Mac laughed loudly, then Mac turned over and they enfolded Calum in their arms, between them.
"Let's take another nap," Harm suggested and the little boy cuddled in.
Harm and Mac both dropped kisses into his blond hair and cuddled around their new son.
And neither of them had any idea about the miracle occurring inside of Mac at that moment, the miracle who would be making her presence known in just a few weeks time…
Continued in 'Birthday Surprises.'