Birthday Surprises

AN: Sorry this follow-up has taken so long! Set after the events of 'Doorstep Angel.' If you haven't yet read this fic yet, I suggest you do. Because this one is only four parts long, I'm going to post them one after another. I know how y'all hate to wait!

Disclaimer: JAG and its main characters belong to DPB and to CBS. I don't make any profit from writing any of these fics, but simply get to exercise my overactive imagination every now and then. Please don't sue me, as I'm just a student with no money!

Rating: Pretty much PG (T.) Sorry folks, but I think you'll like it anyway!

Category: H/M shipper.

Spoilers: Not really. Set sometime after the arrival of the Roberts twins. Mattie isn't really mentioned, so disregard her character. The idea just worked better without her around.

Part 1

1605 Zulu,

Beldenberg Toys,

Sommerset Mall.

Georgetown

Harm whistled as his happy little family made there way around the large toy store.

"Ooo!" his son, Calum, would exclaimed upon occasion and each time, Harm and Mac would pause to take to boxed object off the shelf and examine it.

"Cool!"

This time, the object in question was a children plant cultivating kit. Harm and Mac didn't know quite where Calum's enthusiasm was coming from, because he's never really expressed an interest in anything like this before.

"Um, buddy? Do you know what this is for?" Harm asked.

Mac elbowed him and silenced any further comment with a glare.

Harm had not meant to discourage the little boy, for he and Mac had earlier agreed to let Calum choose whatever he wanted (Within reason, of course!) After all, it was his fifth birthday (and his first as part of this family) in a little under three weeks time.

Despite Harm's enquiry, Calum seemed unaffected.

"Yeah," he nodded, answering his Father, "It's a plant grower!"

"Yes it is," Mac told the boy, lifting the box from his hands and placing it back on the shelf, "And it does look cool, but I think we should look at the rest of the toys in the store first. You may see something you want more and if you don't, we'll come back here closer to your birthday, okay sweetie?"

Calum nodded that he was amenable to those terms and continued down the aisle.

Over the next half hour Calum continued to point out items of interest, but Harm didn't seem too enthusiastic about some of his choices; they included a bead kit, a doll, little animal figurines that were dressed like humans and a nail painting kit.

"Isn't this cool, Calum?" Harm eventually gave in and picked up a very boyish action figure, "Look, Commander Crush comes with a gun, hand grenades, a walkie-talkie and a hunting knife…"

Calum just shrugged, unimpressed and wandered on further.

Harm didn't manage to say anything more before Mac snatched 'Commander Crush' out of his hands.

"What did we agree, Harm?" she rounded on his once Calum was out of ear-shot, "No influencing his decision! He has to develop his own opinion, choose his own toys."

"But Mac," Harm protested, weakly, "Most of those were girl's toys!"

"Little girls play with toys marketed at little boys," Mac pointed out, "The same is true for little girl's toys."

"Well, some of them weren't suitable for his age," Harm made another feeble attempt at getting Mac to change her mind."

"Some of them were," Mac nodded, "But not all of them. And if the ones he wants are suitable then he is going to get them."

Harm sighed and trailed along behind Mac as they followed after their son, who was now looking at another shelf.

Harm suppressed a groan as he noted it was a little girl's handicraft set. What he wouldn't give for a robot/ninja!

"Did you know, Harm," Mac attempted to diffuse the tension, "that my favorite toy when I was a kid was a GI Joe?"

Harm chuckled as he shook his head.

"Although, knowing you as the kick-ass marine you are now, I must say, it isn't a surprise!" he added.

A little over twenty minutes later, Harm and Calum split ways with Mac, so Father and Son could go to the petting zoo set up at the other end of the mall.

"Have a good time, you two," Mac kissed them both goodbye, "Mommy's going to do the grocery shopping…"

However, once they were both out of sight, she went back into the toy store.

This was a carefully constructed ruse she and Harm had come up with to let Calum choose what he wanted, yet still provide him with a surprise on his birthday. Harm had once told her of his childhood disappointment at not getting what he wanted for his birthday and Mac had pointed out that if he had picked out his own presents, the surprise would be spoiled. Together they had come up with this idea. Of course, they would get a few things that would be a complete surprise, but Mac doubted that Calum would remember everything that he had wanted for his birthday, anyway. Besides, there were always presents from other family and friends, weren't there?

With that, Mac grabbed a cart and wandered back towards the aisles.

AN: This was actually a trick my parents used to use with me and my sister growing up. LOL!. Both my parents grew up in big families where money was very tight, so when my sister and I came along, they wanted to give us everything they had never gotten themselves. Despite this, I think my sister and I were not at all screaming little brats, saying 'I want this, I want that.'

But I do have very fond memories of going to play with my Dad in the amusement arcade across the mall from Toys R Us! Anyone other girls out there whose favorite toys growing up were Ghost Busters!