Part 2

Jen Coates was the first one to greet Harm as he walked into the bullpen. He waved her off as she went to stand up and to attention.

"At ease, Jen," he told her with a smile, "It's far too early for any of that."

She just smiled, it was something that Harm insisted on every morning when he came in before anyone else showed up.

"Can I get you a cup of coffee, Sir?" Jen asked, not quite able to drop the formal address completely.

"That would be great," he thanked her.

While she was gone, Harm remembered how thankful he and Mac were that Jen had agreed to come with them to London. Originally, Mac had requested her to go with her to San Diego, but once the coin was flipped, things had changed. It was Mac who had suggested that Harm request her for his command.

A few minutes later Jen returned and Harm thanked her for the caffeine buzz.

Before he dismissed her, Harm asked, "Did Mac and I ever say how grateful we are that you decided to come here with us, Petty Officer?"

"Just about every day, Sir, and that's not counting the times Mattie tells me the same thing," Jen joked, before becoming serious, "I'm glad to be here with you, Mattie and the Colonel, Sir."

She and Harm shared a smile, before Jen moved to leave.

"Could you send in Commander Roberts, once he arrives, please, Petty Officer?"

"Will do, Sir," Jen nodded, then disappeared out into the outer office.

After working for about twenty minutes straight, Harm looked at his watch to find that it is past the usual time for Bud to come in. On days when there was a staff meeting to assign cases, Bud was usually there at least thirty minutes in advance. (Bud was his Chief of Staff.) And on top of that, he had been lending his advice to one of Bud's more tricky cases. Still, Harm knew not to let it bother him, for he knew that his friend had his hands full at home, with four children and another one on the way. He was sure that Bud would come to see him as soon as he arrived. If needed, he would push the weekly meeting back an hour or so.

The knock on the door came not too long after and Harm immediately gave his authorization to enter. Indeed it was Bud, but Harm could see that there was something more to his tardiness than just plain bad luck. The look on Bud's face suggested that the morning had been a taxing one, but Harm could see that it was more than just the hour spent in a traffic jam. As a result, he decided not to give Bud a tickling off, as he would to any other officer (Bud included) for such an offense. For one thing, it was extremely rare for Bud to arrive late for work, it had never happened in their time here and only rarely during their time in Falls Church, Virginia. Harm actually counted himself lucky that Bud and Harriet had changed their minds about the move to London, when they had been so resolute. They had the whole family to uproot, move and transplant in this new culture. He doubted that the move had been simple, especially for the kids. And Bud and Harriet had moved away from a place that was home to them, where they had buried the daughter they had lost soon after birth.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Sir…" Bud stammered as he flustered into Harm's office.

He immediately opened up his briefcase and took out his case files, taking a seat and began arranging the papers within them across the desk into organized little piles.

"No problem, Commander," Harm tells him, "It's never happened before, I'm sure it was a one-off."

"Yes, Sir. It'll never happen again, Sir," Bud assured him.

"Is, uh…everything alright at home?" Harm asked, carefully, "With Harriet and the kids?"

"Oh, they're fine, Sir. You know Harriet, she can handle anything that is thrown her way…It's just the usual things with the boys; 'AJ ate the marshmallows in my cereal'…Jimmy poked me in the nose'…'He's pulling faces at me.' Boys will be boys, Sir."

Harm could not help but smile a bit at the antics of his Godsons before he and Bud set to work.

"Okay, Sir, about the Whitechapel appeal…"

Bud was surprised to find Mac on the other end of the line, when he picked up the ringing telephone.

"Ma'am!" he exclaimed, before he had adequately got his brain into gear.

"It's 'Mac', Bud. I don't work in your chain of command anymore."

"Of course, Ma'…Mac. Was it the Captain you were trying to get hold of? 'Cause he's in a meeting and has asked not to be disturbed and PO Coates is on her lunch break…"

"No, actually it was y…"

Just then the call-waiting signaled on Bud's end of the line.

"I'm really sorry, Ma'…Mac. I've got a call on the other line and I've been waiting for it all day…Would you possibly mind waiting for just one minute?"

"Not a problem, Bud," Mac indicated.

Bud switched lines and found that it was the person he'd been trying to get hold of earlier that morning after the staff meeting.

"Hi, Ms Peters…Yes, I did try and get hold of you earlier…Yes, it's about the kid's school uniforms…Well, it's really starting to get cooler, now that winter is getting closer…Harriet and I think that they will be needing blazers, soon…Yes…And how do we go about that? I know where we can buy the uniforms, of course…Yes, okay…"

Bud listened carefully as the woman reeled off a set of instructions.

"Okay," Bud nodded, That sounds just fine…Yes, thank you, Ms. Peters. Goodbye then."

Absentmindedly, he cut off the call, then was interrupted by PO Coates. Once she left the office, he picked up the phone again and had by now forgotten about Mac still waiting on the line. Bud went to call Harriet, so that he could relate what Ms. Peters had told him, unaware that he was already on a call.

"Hello? Bud?" Mac asked, puzzled.

"Hi, it's me," Bud obviously thought he was talking to Harriet, "I checked with Ms. Peters and she said it was fine for us to get the children's blazers. She said that she'll put a check in the post to cover the cost…"

"Bud?" Mac spoke up again, 'Uh, it's me…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ma'am," Bud apologized profusely, "I just don't know what's come over me today!"

"That's okay, Bud," Mac dismissed, "I know the feeling myself…It wasn't harm I was trying to get hold of, it was you. I haven't been able to get hold of Harriet, all I got this morning was the answer phone."

"Sorry, Ma'am," Bud told her, "But it was Little AJ's class trip today. They were going to the zoo and Harriet volunteered to be a 'helper Mom.' But she should be home soon…"

"Well, since I'm already talking to you…Harm and I were wondering if it would be okay if we dropped by at some point tomorrow, to see the kids? Mattie's going to be staying with Jen for the weekend and you know how Harm and I love to see our Godchildren."

"Tomorrow, Ma'am?"

"Only if it would be convenient for you and Harriet. If you already have plans…"

"No, not at all, Ma'am," Bud quickly explained, "But I think I should probably check with Harriet first, just to make sure, Ma'am."

"Of course," Mac nodded.

"But I don't see her saying anything but yes, Ma'am."

"Okay then…Well, if you could let Harm and I know, then, once you've had a chance to check with Harriet."

"Will do, Ma'am," Bud nodded, "I was about to call her anyway, to talk about the kid's…"

"Uniforms?" Mac finished, smiling.

"Yes, Ma'am," Mac was sure she could hear Bud's embarrassed grin through the phone, "Well, we should see you tomorrow."

AN: Okay, only hints so far, but you'll find out more later on. Stay tuned...