I'm kind of nervous as we start fooling around on the bed. I mean I've only thought about this for about nine years. My god, if he keeps doing that sucking thing on my neck, I don't think I really have much to worry about. He (unfortunately) moved away from my neck and started planting kisses along my collarbone and my chest
"You are so beautiful." He whispers lovingly as all my earlier concerns fly out the window. I decide it's my turn to run the show and flip Harm on his back.
"Hey, no rough play allowed!" He says jokingly before I proceed to kiss all of his comments away. Everything afterwards is sort of blurry, but I can guarantee I will never, ever underestimate the Navy. We fall asleep, our arms and legs overlapping and the sheets lying loosely over us.
8:00
I wake up groggy and wonder why my left arm is completely numb, then I let a slow smile spread over my face as I remember the events of the previous day. I finally open my eyes and come face to face with the object of my affections. He's still sleeping so I take this time to really study his face. It's been a long time since I had the chance to really take in his features. While I'm studying the curves of his face, a voice jars me out of my inquiry.
"A picture will last longer." He mumbles without opening his eyes. There is no trace of sleep in his voice and I realize that he was awake the whole time.
"Good Morning." I say as I lean in and kiss him softly on the lips, deciding whether or not my morning breath is too horrible.
"Morning." He says softly as he pulls me closer to him.
"I like waking up with you like this" He says after a few moments of comfortable silence.
"I could definitely get used to it too, but right now I have to brush my teeth." I say as I pull a sheet to cover with when I realize I'm still totally naked.
"You do realize that I've seen everything you're trying to hide." He says with a smirk as he sits up in bed.
"If you're not nice, you'll never see any of it again." I say with my own smirk as I head into the bathroom, stopping to grab my clothes.
"I guess I should be good then." He says as I close the bathroom door. The moment I get in there I realize all I want is a nice hot bath."Harm, I'm gonna take a bath okay." I yell through the door.
"No problem" I hear him call back.
About 35 minutes later I step out of the bathroom fully groomed and notice that Harm isn't there anymore. I walk into the kitchen/dining room and see him sitting at the table looking through the paper and drinking coffee.
"Whatcha doin?" I ask as I sit next to him at the table.
"Looking at some of the houses for sale." He answers with a smile.
"Really?" I ask surprised, I didn't think he would start so soon.
"Of course, I also called the hotels in San Diego and London to cancel reservations. I called my Mom and Frank and left a message for them to call me back. Oh, and General Creswell called, he wants us to stop by around 1630."
"Well, haven't you been busy." I say with a laugh as he kisses me.
"All in a day's work", he replies smiling, before adding, "Do you mind if I take a shower, I don't want to smell all day to day."
"Sure, you know where everything is." He kisses me one more time before heading off to the bathroom, whistling lady in red. I pick up the paper and look at the three houses he circled. The first one is in a great neighborhood, but it only has 2 bedrooms, and the backyard seems pretty small. The second one is 2 stories, with 3 bedrooms and a big backyard, but it is in a pretty rough neighborhood. I love the third one right away. It's huge, 2 stories, 4 bedrooms, a huge front and back yard, and its only 3 blocks away from Bud and Harriet's. I look at the price and I'm surprised that it isn't as expensive as it should be. I grab Harm's cup of coffee and take a sip before spitting it back out and getting up to fix a real cup of coffee. 20 minutes and another cup later, Harm finally comes out of the shower wearing another t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
"Hey, I see you looked at the paper. Anything you really like?" He asks as he goes to pick up his coffee.
"I suggest you not drink that, I tried some earlier." I say quickly before he drinks it.
"You spit it back into the cup didn't you?" He says as he puts the cup back down.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. So, did you like any of the houses?" He asks sitting down next to me.
"Yeah, I really like the third house, the one on Kenton Ave, but I bet you already know that."
"I figured as much, it is a seriously great house. It's also got a really great price attached."
"Well, do you want to go see it later? After we ask Mattie of course?"
"That sounds like a good idea. I'll call the realtor in a little while. Do you want any breakfast?"
I look at him like he's an idiot and he replies, "I know, I know, you're a marine." as he heads toward the kitchen.
"You don't have any food." He calls out from the room.
"I gave it all away." I call back to him. He comes back in the room and begins putting his shoes on.
"Harm, what are you doing?"
"We're gonna go to this little café I know." He says as he tosses me my tennis shoes. I put them on while looking at him very strangely.
"You are so lucky you're cute." I mumble under my breath as I straighten my clothes.
"I heard that" He called as I locked and closed the door.
20 minutes later I find myself sitting in small café, surrounded by rows and rows of books. I sink into the side of the oversized and overstuffed loveseat to wait for Harm who's supposed to bring back the muffins and coffee.
"Hey" he says as he sets the stuff down and sits down next to me.
"Where's my food Squid?" I ask as I poke him in the chest.
"Blueberry muffins and coffee are right here, no need to get physical Jarhead." I kiss him shortly before grabbing a blueberry muffin and taking a big bite. Oh, my god.
"Harm these are amazing. How did you find this place?" Right as he's about to answer, a beautiful blonde woman comes up to us. She's tall, has long, wavy blonde hair, emerald green eyes and a gorgeous smile.
"Harm, I didn't think we'd see you again."
"There were some last minute changes." He says friendly, as I feel neglected.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend." She asks as we endure a few seconds of silence.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Brittany this is Sarah Mackenzie, my fiancée. Sarah, this is Brittany, her son Noah goes to school with Mattie." Wow, she looks so young.
"I'm 32, I had Noah at 16." I didn't know I said that at loud. "Now Harm, why didn't you tell me you were engaged."
"It just happened last night. That's why I'm staying in Washington." She looks at me for a second before her eyes widen.
"You're the famous Mac he's always talking about. I can't believe he finally got the courage to tell you the truth." I'm seriously confused now and I know Harm probably picked up on it.
"Britt, please don't embarrass me, if you do, I'll tell James about Noah's move on Mattie. James is Brittany's husband." He says stressing the last word. Thank god.
"Well, I'll leave you two to your food. If you need anything just call out, have a good time." She says as she backs away and then leaves.
"She seems nice." I say after she's gone
"You didn't like her when you thought she wanted me." He points out after grabbing his coffee and taking a sip.
"So I was jealous, it's not like women aren't attracted to you."
"Mac, I've seen men and women ogle you. You don't think I get jealous? I want to pulverize anyone who looks at you."
"Well, don't worry. I don't want to be with anyone but you."
"I don't want to be with anyone else either." He says before he kisses me.
"I love you too Harm. Now let's eat." About an hour later we leave with a bags of books and blueberry muffins. I absolutely love this place." I say as we enter the car and drive off.
"I'm glad you like it, it's one of my favorite places. What time is it?"
"1045, why?"
"I'm gonna call the realtor, then we can stop by Mattie and get her opinion."
"That sounds great, just remember, we have to see Creswell at 1630."
"No problem. I'm the king of cramming. My teachers can attest to that statement."
We stop at his apartment so he can change out of his sweats. When he comes back down, he tells me that he called and set up an appointment for 1300. But that's not what I'm thinking about right now. I swear, that man can do things with a T-shirt that drive a woman crazy. So of course we sit there for the next few minutes just making out. I feel like a teenager again.
"What was that for?" he asks when I finally pull away.
"Just…making up for lost time."
"Are we done making up now?"
"Yes. For now." We still have a lot of things to do. Unfortunately.
"Alright, off we go."
I haven't really seen a lot of Mattie since she woke up, and I of course want her blessing to marry Harm. I know he already talked to her about it, but I want to ask her myself. I mean she's going to be my daughter, if she wants to be of course. I would never want to force her into anything. She's been through too much in her life to be pressured into something like this. This is something that lasts forever.
"Hey Mac, we're here." I guess I must have zoned out a bit. I get out of the car and we walk over to the hospital. I'm nervous as we stand outside of Mattie's room and take a deep breath before we enter.
"Harm, Mac." She calls as a big smile spreads over her face. Harm goes over to hug her, and I stay over to the side trying to decide what to do. My decision is made up for me when Mattie says,
"Aren't you going to give me a hug?"
"Of course, but I just thought you'd want some alone time." I say as I walk over and give her a hug.
"Mac, come on, you're family."
"Thanks Mattie, I'm really glad you said that. I was kind of worried about your reaction. I wasn't sure if you really accepted me. I never want replace your real mom, but I would really like the chance to be a part of your life."
"I want you to be a part of my life Mac, I want you to be my mom. I'll never forget my mom, but I love you and want to be your daughter." We hug again, and I notice Harm just standing in the corner.
"Come on Pops, you belong here to." Mattie says with a smile as Harm walks over and hugs both of us.
"Okay, let's quit before I start to cry." She says after a second. We part and Harm and I pull up chairs on both sides of her bed.
"Are you feeling any better?" Harm asks as he takes one of her hands
"Sort of, it hurts more but the doctors say that the pain means that I'm getting the feeling back into my legs."
"Just remember not to lose hope." Harm says as he kisses the top of her head.
"I know, it's just hard sometimes." Then she takes a deep breath and turns to me.
"Enough about me right now, I want to hear everything about last night." She says with a smile. Harm raises his eyebrow at me suggestively and Mattie shuts her eyes.
"Maybe not everything." She adds.
"Well, it all started when I went over to Harm's place yesterday…" Then I proceed to tell her about the rest of the night events. At least most of them.
To be continued…