Mac was sitting in her living room watching nothing in particular when there was a knock on her door.
"Coming," she said as she got up off her sofa. She cautiously opened the door. "Do I know you?"
"Oh, come on Sarah don't tell me you do not remember me!" Mac stared at the woman with a blank expression on her face.
"I'm sorry I don't think I know you."
"Sarah it's me, Alexandria Rain. We used to sit in the park together when we were ten."
"Alex wow, come on in. It's been a long time." Mac stated as she opened the door for her old friend.
"Yeah what's it been 20 years?" Alex asked.
"Yeah that's a long time." Mac said closing the door behind her old friend. As they walked to the couch in her apartment Mac asked "How did you know where to find me? I mean we lost contact with each other twenty years ago."

"It wasn't too hard. My husband and I actually just moved here. My husband and I both felt like we needed to look up old childhood friends who we'd heard lived in this area." Alex responded. "But enough about that I want to know where's that handsome marine you were supposed to fall madly in love with?" Alex teased. She was referring to the conversation the two friends had sitting on the swings when they were ten.
"Well, there is no marine." Mac laughed as she went into the kitchen for two glasses of water. In fact it's a naval officer that I'm in love with. Mac thought to herself. "What about you. Do you have that rich husband, two kids, and two dogs?" Mac yelled from the kitchen.
"Actually Sarah I do, well I have the two kids and two dogs. Tommy and Elizabeth are my eight year old twins, and our dogs, Sandy and Rover are black labs."
"At least one of us got what we wanted." Mac said as she came back into the room.
"Don't worry Sarah. You'll find your handsome marine."
"No I won't." Mac stated. Alex noticed that the expression on her face had changed drastically.
"Why is that?"
"Because, I've fallen in love with a naval officer." Mac answered, and at that moment she thought about the naval officer in question.
"Oh, really I never thought that you Ms. "There's nothing better than the marine core" would fall in love with a naval officer."

"Well it happened Alex, I don't know how but I have an idea of when but it happened." Mac stated as she cast her eyes downward and ran her finger around the top of the glass.

"Well then where is he? Are you engaged? Do you plan on having kids? Oh, when's the wedding? Am I invited?" Alex asked in one breath.
Just like old times Alex always jumping to conclusions. Mac thought before she responded. "Alex, please, first of all we aren't engaged and probably never will be. Second, he doesn't even know how I feel about him, and we have never dated." Mac said regretfully.
"Well, Sarah, how do you know that you're in love with him?"
Yeah Sarah how do you know? The annoying pessimistic voice in her head asked. "We have been working together for seven years, and he has become my best friend." Mac said as she thought about the qualities that made Harm her best friend. "Anyway enough with my love life, what have you been doing the past twenty years?"
"Well two years after college I met my husband Robert. A year later we got married. I am a journalist and he flies commercial jets."
"That is great. How are your kids?" Mac said longingly. Well maybe if you had gotten off your six and did something you would have had kids by now Sarah. Another voice stated.
"Tommy and Elizabeth always end up in trouble. I don't know how they do it. I am always getting a call from the school telling me that they've done something. What about you? What have you been up to?"
"Well I might as well tell you the whole story. We stopped talking the same time I started drinking. When I was seventeen I ran away from home. At eighteen I got married to my boyfriend Chris. He was then put into jail and by that time I was an alcoholic. My Uncle Matt came and he helped me to dry out when I was nineteen. Then I joined the marines, went to college then law school, and then ended up at JAG, nothing really exciting. It's just my life story." Mac said.
"What happened to your husband Chris?" Alex asked.
"He's dead."
"That must be hard having a dead husband."
"Not as hard as it would have been if I had actually loved him around the time he was killed." Mac said. She preferred not to go into the details of Chris' death.
Alex and Mac sat in silence for thirty minuets before either of them spoke.
"You should come to our house and visit some time. I would really like you to meet the kids. Tommy would love to hear about the Marines, and you could show Elizabeth there is more to being a girl than just wearing dresses. For some reason she doesn't believe me." Alex said.
"I think I will, maybe this weekend."
"I should get going. It was really nice to see you again Sarah." Alex said getting up and heading to the door.
"It was nice seeing you too." Mac closed the door on her old friend.