Disclaimer: They're not mine, but you already knew that…
A/N: Okay, this may be my last chapter for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to get one more in this weekend. I'm moving down to school next week, which means 8-9 hours driving through corn fields followed by a week of thrilling orientation activities. Actually, I'm excited, but it means that I won't have computer access for almost a week and I won't even have much time to write period. I will return, I promise. Happy reading!
Chapter 7:
"Coming," Chloe called racing through Mac's empty house. She opened the front door and was surprised to find Harm standing there, "Hey Harm."
"Hi Chloe," he held up Talia's sock, "This was left at my house."
"Come on in," she took the sock and held open the door.
"Is Mac here?" he followed her, noticing how she was now a slender teenager without the baby fat she had when he last saw her.
"Not yet," Chloe led him into the kitchen and glanced at the clock, "She's picking up dinner on her way home from work, but she'll be home in like fifteen minutes."
"She left you home all day while she went to work?"
"I'm working on a research paper," she pointed at the stack of books and open notes sitting on the coffee table.
"You making progress?" Harm smirked, looking at the TV, which was showing VH1's I Love the 90's Part Deux.
"Definitely."
"So Mattie said you invited her to come to Connecticut to go horseback riding," he changed the subject figuring that Mac would have to play parent on this one.
"Yeah," she casually walked over to turn off the TV, "Can you believe she's never ridden a horse?"
"Not everyone gets to have their own horse, Chloe."
"True," she paused, "So do you want a tour of the house?"
"Sure," Harm allowed Chloe to lead him through the house. He thought some of the furniture did not really seem like 'Mac' but then Chloe explained that Mac rented the place with it partially furnished. The only changes that were made were to the room for Talia, which was an office when she moved in.
"So what do you think?" Chloe plopped down on the couch at the end of her tour.
"It's nice," he sat down on the opposite side of the couch.
"I'll tell Mac," she pursed her lips and continued, "You really should have seen her place in Australia. That was a beautiful house."
"You visited her in Australia?" he sounded genuinely surprised.
"That first Christmas after Nat was born and then right Talia after was born. I'm her godmother," she said proudly, "Anyway, that place was great. It was right on the beach and had beautiful gardens. If it wasn't for Bugme I would have insisted that she stay purely for the property."
"Wait, when did you start calling him 'Bugme'?" he asked, "I thought you liked Mic."
"I think I made transition during my last visit," she grinned, "I don't know how much Mac told you, but he turned out to be quite the jerk."
"She hinted at that."
"Yeah, well, here's an example: when I visited last time, I was calling Mac, well Mac, and Bugme got upset."
"Why?"
"Because she was a Brumby and shouldn't use a nickname from her maiden name."
"Seriously?" he could not believe that Mac would just take that.
"I called her 'Sarah' for the rest of my stay," she shrugged, "But I should stop now. Mac told me to use her discretion, not mine, when talking to Mattie and Jen, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for taking with you. Although I have to strongly suggest that you make Mac tell you everything, but you're smart and I'm sure you've already figured that out."
"Thanks for the advice," Harm laughed amused by her ramblings.
"Anytime," she jumped up hearing the garage open, "Speak of the devil. I'll be right back."
"I'll wait here," he watched her dash off to the garage and began to process everything Chloe had told him. This on top of what Mac had told him made his blood boil. It was no secret that he had never like Brumby, but his feelings toward the Aussie were growing stronger by the second.
"Hey Mac," Chloe burst into the garage as Mac was helping Nat out of his car seat.
"Do you want to grab Talia?"
"Sure," Chloe walked over to the other side of the car, "Harm's here."
"What?" her head snapped up.
"Yeah, he came by to return Talia's sock," she answered without looking up from her task of freeing Talia.
"When did he get here?"
"I don't know, like fifteen minutes ago. Stop freaking."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing," she stood up holding Talia, "I gave him a house tour and we talked."
"About what?"
"Stuff," she rolled her eyes, "Don't worry I used your discretion."
"You mean it?"
"Yes," Chloe shook her head, "Now calm down and get your son out of the car."
"Yeah Mummy!" Nat chimed in.
"Okay, grab the food from the passenger seat," she turned to back, "Let's go Mr. Man."
"Unca Harm!" Nat raced across the room when he spotted Harm, who swept him into a hug, "Hey buddy."
"Hi Harm," Mac smiled at the sight of her son in his arms. Part of the reason for this was the fact that it matched her fantasy family with Harm, but the other reason was for Nat. It had been two weeks since he had last seen his father and she could tell he missed him. She did not want Harm to replace Mic's role as father, but he needed a positive male role model until she and Mic worked out a custody/visitation agreement.
"Hey Mac," he put Nat back on the ground and the little boy ran to play with his sister on the floor, "Chloe let me in."
"Yeah, she told me."
"Harm, do you want to stay for dinner?" Chloe asked holding up the bag of food, "We got Beltway Burgers."
"Beltway Burgers," he stared at Mac, "You're feeding your kids Beltway Burgers?"
"So what if I am?" she smirked.
"They're covered in grease. It's one thing for you to throw your health away, but them?"
"Mom's prerogative," Mac walked into the kitchen.
"I don't believe this," he shook his head and followed her.
"It's a special treat," she grabbed smashed carrots for Talia off the shelf, "And don't worry, you don't have to eat any."
"I wasn't planning on it."
"There's lettuce in the fridge if you want to make yourself a salad," she turned to Chloe who was putting plates on the table, "Would you mind getting Talia and Nat to the table?"
"Not at all," she called to Harm over her shoulder, "And you better get crackin' on that salad. It's not going to make itself."
"Neither will that paper of yours," he teased and opened the fridge. He was surprised to find everything neatly organized into containers. The last time he had seen her fridge it was a mess and filled with takeout containers.
"Go sit down," Mac came up behind him, "I'll make it."
"You have to kids to feed," he argued as she pulled vegetables from the fridge and put them on the counter.
"Will you eat grilled chicken or are you strictly rabbit food now?" she ignored him.
"Chicken would be good."
"Good, now go sit," she reached into a cabinet for a bowl.
"Mac," he grabbed her arm as she set it down, and she stiffened slightly, "I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything," she returned to the salad making, "Just sit down, please."
"Okay," he sat down and looked at Chloe to see if she had caught any of that, but the teenager refused to meet his eyes. Instead he focused on Mac who was now calmly preparing his salad and telling Nat that he could not bring his toys to the table, even if it was the airplane 'Unca Harm' had given him. Whatever that moment was, it had clearly passed and things were back to normal. Harm did decide that he would take Chloe's advice regarding Mac. He needed to know what happened in Australia.
Nix707 – Aw you're comments about my writing make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…hehehe! As for our anonymous "friends," I kind of like fighting with 'em…it spices things up!
Shalimar – I'm trying.
KittyX – Thanks, will do.
Macandharmlover – Of course he won't, but luckily she'll have one Harmon Rabb Jr. on her side this time.
Sammy – Thanks, and there will be now that flashbacks are out of the way
Mxfan214 – Thanks, I'm working on the speed thing…darn "real world" getting in the way…bleh
Jaggurl – Thanks for reading!
Dansingwolf – You definitely have a point about the legality in Mac just taking the children and I will get to that. I don't know a lot about international custody cases, but I'm assuming that since she's still legally married to Mic, Mac's within her rights to take the kids on "vacation" to the US especially since the kids have dual-citizenship. She also didn't take the children into hiding and left contact info with the divorce papers, so Mic can find them if he wants. Plus, Mac left when Mic was out of town so he doesn't know they're gone…yet. I'll be getting around to more details on all this eventually.
XLovexNxPaniX – Hehehe…I know but I didn't want Mac to have broken her marriage vows…as for you cousin…don't you just love family?
Now it's time for everyone to review…please!