Chapter 7
Harm sat at his desk trying to work on a case, but his mind kept drifting off to Mac. He wondered whether she had received his surprise yet.
Same time
Mac's apartment
Mac lay on her couch absentmindedly watching the morning news when there was a knock at her door.
I wonder who that could be, thought Mac knowing that all her JAG friends were at the office.
She got up gingerly, so as not to aggravate her ribs.
Unlocking her door, she opened it to find a deliveryman standing outside, holding a large bouquet of red and white roses.
"Are you Colonel Sarah Mackenzie?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Mac.
"These are for you, and sign here please," said the deliveryman.
Mac took the roses and signed.
"Thank you," she said as the deliveryman took his leave.
Wow, these are beautiful, thought Mac smiling to herself as she closed the door and leaned back on it.
Sitting back down on the couch she sniffed the roses and pulled a card out of a small envelope attached to the stems. She opened the card to find Harm's familiar handwriting.
Dear Sarah,
I tried to find flowers as beautiful as you but there simply weren't any. I hope that you like these. I want to ask you if you would go out with me on Saturday night? And yes, I mean on a proper date. Let me know, and I'll make the arrangements. I hope you're being a good Marine and resting like you should be. I love you.
Harm
Mac smiled widely as a few tears made their way down her cheeks. She shook her head, amazed at how girly Harmon Rabb made her.
"I love you too Harm," she whispered.
JAG Headquarters
Harm's office
"Enter," he said, as he heard a knock on his door.
"Sir, the Admiral would like to see you in his office," said Tiner.
"Thanks Tiner, I'll be right there," said Harm closing the file he'd been attempting to work on. He followed Tiner to the Admiral's office and Tiner announced his presence.
"Send him in!" instructed the Admiral.
Tiner opened the door and Harm stepped inside the office, coming to attention in front of the Admiral's desk.
"Close the hatch, Tiner," said AJ.
"Yes sir," said Tiner, closing the door and going back to his desk.
"At ease Commander. Take a seat," said AJ.
Harm relaxed his stance and sat down.
"You wanted to see me sir?" he began.
"Yes, this isn't a work related matter though so you can drop the sir's," replied AJ.
Harm nodded.
"Have you done what we spoke about a few days ago?" asked AJ.
"Sir?" asked Harm, not quite understanding.
"In regards to you and the Colonel, Harm," said AJ.
Harm attempted to hide a grin. "I have," he said, mildly amused that this was the reason the Admiral had wanted to see him.
"And?" prompted AJ.
"The Colonel and I are in love," said Harm.
AJ leaned back in his chair with a smile.
"That's great news Harm. I knew the two of you would work things out one day. I don't want to lose either of my best lawyers, and I don't have my Admiral's privilege for nothing," said AJ with a wink.
"Thank you sir, that means a lot," said Harm.
"Does anyone else know?" asked AJ.
"No sir, Mac and I haven't had the chance to tell anyone yet," said Harm.
"Understood. How is Mac doing?" asked AJ.
"She's doing well. Her ribs seem to be healing and they're not giving her too much trouble," said Harm.
"Good to hear. Well, we'd both better get back to work. Dismissed!" said AJ.
"Aye, Aye Sir," said Harm, as he stood.
"Oh and Commander…"
"Yes sir?" asked Harm.
"Make sure Lt. Simms is sitting down when you and the Colonel make the relationship public," said AJ with a smile.
Harm smiled too. "Yes sir!" he said, before exiting the office and closing the door behind him.
1835
Mac's apartment
Mac picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.
Getting the machine, she frowned slightly. I doubt he'd still be at the office, she thought as she put down the receiver without leaving a message.
A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts and she got up to answer it.
"Hey Marine," said Harm.
"Hey flyboy, I was just calling you," said Mac, as she let him in.
"Really? What about?" asked Harm with an innocent expression on his face.
"Well, I got these beautiful roses this morning and a dinner invitation so I wanted to tell the sender that I would love to go out with him," replied Mac, playing along.
"So that's a yes?" asked Harm, forgetting to act innocent for a moment.
"That's a definite yes Harm. Thank you, for the roses and the note. It was really sweet of you," said Mac, hugging him.
"I wanted to Mac, and leave dinner up to me. I'll arrange something special for us," said Harm, kissing her cheek softly.
"As long as this date doesn't involve flying, I'm fine with anything," said Mac.
"It doesn't involve flying, I promise," said Harm.
"Is there anything you have in mind that I could use planning it?" he continued.
"Not really, I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time no matter what," said Mac.
"We will Sarah," said Harm, placing a tender kiss on her lips.
Mac smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.
"This is going to be hard to hide at work," remarked Mac softly as they ended the kiss.
"Not as hard as you might think," said Harm, pushing a strand of her hair back.
"No? Do you know something I don't Harm?" asked Mac playfully, as she saw how relaxed he was at the prospect of their CO and their fellow officers finding out. Harm simply grinned in reply.
"Harm, you're much too calm not to know something. We'd be facing court martial!" said Mac.
"The Admiral knows," said Harm, smiling at Mac's expression as she registered the information.
"Harm, how could the Admiral know? Did you tell him?" she asked.
"Not really. Look, at the hospital the Admiral took me aside and made me admit to him that I was in love with you. He wanted this to happen. He told me if I didn't get my act together that he'd order me to tell you how I felt," said Harm.
Mac shook her head, laughing in disbelief.
"Of all the explanations, that wasn't what I was expecting," she said.
"We have the Admiral's permission Mac. I told you it wouldn't be as hard as you thought," said Harm grinning.
"That takes some of the weight off, at least we know that we won't be court-martialed as long as the Admiral is in charge," said Mac.
"Oh and the Admiral said to make sure that Harriet is sitting down when she finds out," said Harm.
"She'll love this," agreed Mac.
"I feel terrible that I haven't asked yet, but how are you feeling?" asked Harm touching her cheek, his voice growing more serious.
"I'm fine Harm, really. And it's okay, you've been asking a lot as it is," said Mac, putting her hand over his.
"I'm glad. I'll try to stop asking so many times though. Wouldn't want an irate Marine on my hands," said Harm with a smile.
"Good thinking Commander," replied Mac.
Harm theatrically wiped his brow of imaginary sweat, making Mac smile, and leaned in to kiss her once more.
Chapter 8 follows!