Disclaimer: I don't own them…I'm just borrowing them for kicks…
A/N: Yay! There appears to be some interest in this so I'm going to keep it up. Happy reading and please review!
Chapter 2:
"Coming!" Mattie shouted when the doorbell of Sarah's house rang the next day. She set down the bottle of sun block she had been using to cover Talia's fair skin and raced to the door to find Harm waiting, "Hey Harm."
"You got everything under control?" Harm walked in and saw the partially sun blocked little girl giggling in her high chair.
"More or less," she led him into the kitchen, "This is Talia."
"Hi Talia," Harm made a funny face making her laugh while Mattie finished with the sun block. The little girl was beautiful, with blue eyes and wispy brown hair, and he immediately fell in love with her, "Where's her brother?"
"In the other room getting his football," Mattie answered, "Nat, you almost ready to go?"
"Yeah," he bounded into the room with his black and white ball. He stopped suddenly when he saw Harm, is brown curls stopped bouncing a couple seconds after he stopped moving.
"Nat, this is my friend Harm," Mattie explained, "He's going to take us to the picnic."
"Hi," the little boy smiled sheepishly.
"Hello, Nat," Harm crouched down to his level and stuck out his hand. He was struck by the familiarity of the little boy's face, with those brown eyes of his he reminded him of her, "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
"Do you play football?" Harm looked down at the ball.
"Yeah," he bit his lip sheepishly, "You didn't call it a soccer ball. Mum said that's what it's called here."
"She's right, but Mattie told me you were from Australia, so I wanted to make you feel welcome."
"Okay," he broke into a grin, "Have you ever been to Australia?"
"Once, a long time ago."
"On vacation?"
"Sort of," Harm thought back to that night in Sydney Harbor that could have changed his entire life, "It was work and vacation."
"I don't like work," he made a face.
"Well, luckily you get to spend the day playing," Harm grabbed the ball and spun it on his finger.
"Wrong sport!" Nat giggled.
"Are you boys ready?" Mattie asked, with a diaper bag resting on one hip and Talia on the other.
"Yup," Nat said taking the ball back from Harm.
"What do you want me to carry?" Harm asked.
"Car seats," she pointed to the family, "Sarah left them by the couch."
"Got 'em," he picked them up quickly, "Let's go."
"Hey Commander," Bud greeted Harm as he came over to where he was talking with Bud.
"Hey Bud, Sturgis," Harm smiled.
"Did you take in more kids?" Sturgis asked, looking over to where Mattie was introducing Nat to little A.J. and Harriet.
"Only temporarily," Harm smirked, "That is Nat and Talia; they're kids Mattie's babysitting."
"Wait, Nat and Talia?" Bud repeated, "Do you think they were named that intentionally?"
"Maybe," he shrugged, "Personally, I think that kind of thing is too 'cute.'"
"I agree," Sturgis chimed in, "It's just over the top in my opinion."
"What's over the top?" the admiral joined them.
"The naming of children, sir," Bud answered.
"Is Harriet pregnant again?" he jumped to the only reason he could think of that would bring his male officers to discuss this topic.
"No, sir," he answered quickly.
"The two kids Mattie is babysitting are named Nat and Talia," Harm explained, "They're what prompted the conversation, sir."
"Are they twins?" he asked.
"No, sir, Nat's almost three and his sister's one."
"As long as they're not twins, it's cute," the admiral told them, "If they were twin's it would be too much."
"Jen, you did a great job setting all this up," Mattie bounced Talia on her knee while keeping a watchful eye on Nat who was kicking around the soccer ball with little A.J. Even though A.J. was a year and a half older than Nat, the two boys had quickly bonded and were happily playing while little Jimmy watched.
"Thanks Mattie," Jen smiled, "But I couldn't have done it without Lt. Sims."
"You're too nice, Jen," Harriet laughed, "But you really took on the bulk of this with me being busy with Jimmy."
"How about we agree that you're both great," Tracy Manetti broke in. After Mac had left the JAG office, Tracy joined the staff and fit right in, she wasn't Mac, but she worked.
"Works for me," Jen laughed.
"Me too," Harriet agreed, "So the babysitting has been going well?"
"Very," Mattie smiled down at Talia, "These two are my favorite job yet, they're just too cute."
"This little one's an angel," Harriet tickled her stomach eliciting giggles from the little girl.
"I know, and their mom is great too. She's not one of those neurotic overprotective moms who bombard me with lists."
"In other words, she's not a new mother," Harriet laughed, "You should have seen me right after little A.J. was born."
"Were you bad?" Tracy asked.
"Yeah, but so was Bud," she remembered, "Now that we have Jimmy though, we're happy to leave them with our babysitter."
"That's what I feel like every time Mattie leaves and I get the apartment to myself," Jen teased.
"Oh, that's low," Mattie warned, "You're lucky because I've got Talia in my lap, but I'll have my revenge."
"You might want to sleep with your door locked tonight," Harriet laughed.
Sarah easily made her way over to the park where Mattie said the picnic was. Even after the four years she spent in Australia, driving in D.C. and its suburbs was still second nature to her. She parked the car, looked over to the picnic site, and froze when she read the sign. In big bold letters, the banner read: "JAG Spring Picnic." It had to be some cosmic joke. Sarah had known that coming back to the D.C. area would increase her odds of running into someone from her past, but there were over 500,000 people there and she loved the city. What were the odds that her babysitter would have ties to JAG?
She wanted to get back in her car and drive away. The last thing she wanted to do was explain why she stopped sending e-mails, why she was back in the states, and why she left Mic. Unfortunately, going over to the picnic was the only way to get her kids, so she hesitantly made her way over there. Maybe he wouldn't be there, she told herself, but she knew that was ridiculous. Of course he was there, and with her luck he was probably Mattie's guardian, although she could not imagine Harm with a teenager.
As she got closer, she felt people's eyes on her. Sarah hoped they wouldn't recognize her immediately. She was out of uniform, her hair now brushed past her shoulders, and she was wearing sunglasses. Spotting Mattie talking to an Asian woman and a younger brunette, she made a beeline for her babysitter.
"Hey Mattie," she greeted quickly, praying no one would make the connection.
"Hi Sarah," Mattie smiled and suddenly everyone's eyes were on them.
"Ma'am?" Harriet and Bud questioned.
"Colonel?" A.J. said next.
"Mac?" Harm said finally.
"Mummy!" Nat sped into her arms and she picked him up quickly, grateful for the distraction.
"Surprise," she pulled off her sunglasses and smiled warily over her son's curly head.
A/N: So...what'd ya thing...please let me know...good or bad...
Dansingwolf…that was the idea that sparked this entire thing…obviously it was a situation that was bound to explode…
Abigaile…of course things just couldn't stay simple…
Cmdrchasenovack…yup, they're one in the same…
Johnny Q…I know Bugme's – well – himself…but she did marry him in this universe so the idea of kids isn't so crazy…try not to think about it…
S…I hope you like it…