AN – I don't want to post the latest installment of ASW without answering all your questions and requests about a sequel to this story or about changing the concept from a snowy weekend to a snowy week. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but a sequel isn't planned. The first reason is the lack of 'THE brilliant idea' to go with and the second reason is the lack of time to work on it. So for now the end of this story will be 'The End'… but you all know the saying… 'never say never'.

Thank you, gracias, merci beaucoup, grazie, toda raba and danke schoen for all the reviews and kind words. You gals and guys are amazing!

A Snowy Weekend – Part 20

Disclaimer - See part one for all important information

8:13 PM

They had finished dinner about twenty minutes ago and while Harm was in the kitchen preparing some popcorn for their movie-night, Mac was still with the boys in her bathroom giving them their much needed bath. Most of all Jimmy was in need of it, since he'd played with his dinner more than he actually ate it, just as Mac had prophesied.

Harm chuckled at the memory of the spaghetti nest on top of his younger godson. Jimmy had looked like a total mess, but still like one of the cutest and adorable things Harm had ever seen in his life. The memory of Jimmy's sparkling eyes, the sauce smeared all over his face and hands together with his happy giggles warmed Harm's heart immensely.

"What's that goofy grin of yours about?" Mac tenderly asked with a smile of her own, leaning relaxed against the doorway.

Harm slightly jumped in surprise since he hadn't noticed her appearance up to now. He slowly turned around to look at her. He shook his head in disbelief of his own jumpiness and chuckled, pointing with his forefinger at her. "You should know better than sneaking up on an old man, Marine. And for how long were you standing there anyway?"

Mac just shrugged her shoulders and slowly moved farther into the kitchen. "Not long, but long enough to see something was on your mind. And I didn't sneak up on you, you were just too deep in your thoughts to notice me," she pointed out and took some popcorn out of the bowl he was holding in his hands before stuffing them into her mouth. "And last but not least, you're not really that old, Harm. So, do tell… what brought that goofy grin onto your face?" She asked once more, hoping he would share his earlier thoughts with her. The smile that had covered his face just now was one of pure joy.

"I was just thinking about Jimmy and how cute and adorable he looked during dinner," Harm gently explained and took the bowl out of Mac's reach when she tried to pilfer some more popcorn. "No, no, no. Not so fast, Marine. These are for our movie-night and you can wait just like the rest of us can."

Mac couldn't have cared less about the popcorn and beamed with joy while thinking about their supper and the way her younger godson had looked just a few minutes earlier. They had laughed a lot through the entire dinner, but most of all when she had tried to get Jimmy to stop playing with his spaghetti so that he actually would start to eat. She'd nearly ended up with a spaghetti-nest of her own and from that moment on she thought better of interfering in his doing. "I'm just glad he got bored with his playing around after a while and actually ate some of the pasta. But yeah, he really looked cute."

Harm nodded his head but said nothing. He just looked at her with a certain expression in his eyes. Mac could see that once again something was on his mind, and that he was fighting with himself about something.

"Hey? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is okay. I was just… thinking," Harm quietly replied.

Mac raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're doing that quite often these days," she joked but quickly got serious again and continued with a gentle voice. "What were you thinking about?"

"Well, there's actually something I would like to ask you," Harm started to say but then stopped again, not knowing how to continue, how to ask what he'd thought about during the entire afternoon. He shook his head and started to laugh. "God, I feel like a teenager here."

Mac joined him in his laughter. "Oh believe me, I know the feeling," she replied, knowing too well what he was talking about, since she'd caught herself quite a few times during this weekend feeling like a lovesick teenager while being around him. "I would say it's very mutual. Now what is it you wanted to ask me?"

Harm took a deep breath and put the bowl with popcorn down on the kitchen counter so that he could take both of Mac's hands into his, never breaking their eye contact. "Sarah, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

To say she was surprised now would have been the understatement of the year. "A date? You mean as in dinner and maybe a movie or dancing afterwards?" Mac asked astonished, trying her hardest not to start stuttering. 'There ya go again, MacKenzie. Here he is, making you act like a teenager all over again,' she thought to herself, stifling a giggle about her own reaction and behavior.

"Yes… no… kind of," Harm vaguely responded and gave her a sheepish smile.

Mac raised her eyebrow, trying to figure out where he wanted to go with this. "Kind of?"

Nodding his head, Harm let go of her hands so he could lovingly encircle her waist. "I want it to be something special, Mac. Something we haven't shared with any significant others," he softly explained.

Mac copied his move and softly encircled his waist with her arms while his hands pulled her even closer to him so that their bodies nearly melted together. "Like what? Like a restaurant we never went to before?" She asked, while her hands made slow circles on his back, enjoying the feeling of being in his strong arms.

"I'm not quite sure yet, but no, I think I want us to have a date that's unique in each and every way. It just has to be special," he clarified with a voice that was low and husky. By now their faces were inches from each other and they could feel the warmth of each breath they took on their skin.

Mac slowly got on her tiptoes, nuzzling his neck and placed a soft kiss on a certain spot right below his ear. "Every date with you would be something special, Harm." Then she took his earlobe into her mouth, slightly sucking on it. "Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there," she whispered her answer right next to his ear.

He took her face in his palms and gave her a kiss with all the love he felt for her. "You bet I will," he said and after another short but sweet kiss he reluctantly let go of her and took the bowl of popcorn from the kitchen counter. "And now we better go and join the boys, not that they would fall asleep before the movie has started." Harm walked out of the kitchen, closely followed by Mac. "What DVD are we watching anyway? 'Ice Age' or 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'?"

Mac turned off the lights in the kitchen and the living room, so that the room was now only illumined by the lights of the twinkling Christmas tree, a few candles and the flickering of the fireplace, which Harm had lit after they'd finished dinner.

"It took him a while but in the end AJ made up his mind and decided to go with the Muppets," she let him know and saw that Little AJ and Jimmy had already found their seats in front of the coffee table. While Little AJ was lying on his belly with his head propped up on his hands, his little brother sat right next to him, holding his best friend Pooh Bear safely in his arms. Mac saw that he was already getting tired and he had yawned quite a few times while sitting in the bathtub earlier. "I'm not sure how long the two will be awake, but I doubt they're going to see much of the movie."

Harm placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table before finding his own seat for the evening and got comfortable on the couch. Mac raised her eyebrow when she saw him practical lying on the couch. "Are you comfy, Harm?"

He just gave her a boyish grin and tapped the space between his outstretched legs. "Come here."

She didn't need to be asked twice and gladly obliged his wish. As soon as she sat between his legs and felt his arms around her body, she took the remote control from the table to turn on the movie. "This is nice," she quietly said, unintentionally trying to cuddle even closer to him.

Harm strengthened his embrace, drawing her even closer to him. Mac shivered as she felt his body so close to hers. "You're not cold, are you?" Harm whispered into her ear, getting from her yet another shiver in response.

"No. No, I'm fine," Mac quietly responded. She took his hand, which lay on her belly, into hers and intertwined their fingers. "I couldn't be better."

Harm put his other hand on top of their intertwined fingers while kissing the top of her head. "Neither could I," he softly let her know before turning his attention to the already started movie.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The movie was barely running for twenty minutes when a scene appeared on the TV screen where Kermit and a few penguins slithered through the iced streets. Harm, Mac and the boys were just laughing about it when Harm suddenly came up with the idea for his first date with Mac. 'Perfect, absolutely perfect,' Harm enthusiastically thought about his plan and immediately a wide grin covered his face. He placed his mouth right next to Mac's left ear. "Mac?" He whispered, trying to get her attention.

"Hmm," she quietly replied and turned her head a bit so that she could look deeply into his gleaming eyes.

"What are you doing Thursday, December the twenty-third?" He continued speaking in a whisper.

Mac frowned, not sure where he wanted to go with this question. "I'm not sure. It's the first day of my vacation, but I haven't made any plans yet. Why?"

"Good, then I think you have some plans now. Thursday, December the twenty-third. The Rabb pond in Belleville, Pennsylvania," Harm simply said and gave her yet another of his flyboy-grins. "You can write that into your calendar."

"Huh?"

Harm chuckled at the now slightly dumbfound looking Mac. "Okay, let me repeat and rephrase my earlier question to you. Sarah, would you like to go out on a date with me on Thursday, the twenty-third of December? We could have some breakfast together before we drive to Blacksburg to borrow one of the Cessna's to get it ready for a little excursion."

"We're going flying? Can we actually do that at this time of the year? However, so far it sounds like a very nice idea."

"Then let me tell you the rest of it, and the flying shouldn't be a problem. At least not as long it is not snowing. If it does, we have to figure something out. Anyway, I would like us to have our first date at a pond on my grandmother's farm. We could go ice-skating and have a little winter-picnic afterwards. How do you like the sound of it?" Harm softly wanted to know, hoping she liked the idea just as much as he liked it.

Mac shifted a little until she was able to touch his lips with hers. She gave him a short but gentle kiss. "I love it, Harm, and it sounds like a very special idea for our first date. I can't wait. But I should warn you, I have never been ice-skating before so you'll have to teach me."

"Good, then it's a date. And don't worry, I'll teach you how to ice-skate and I will always be close to you, just in case you fall," Harm assured her with a smile. "But there's actually more," he slowly continued, hoping he wouldn't overstep his bounds now and scare her off.

"More? You're not planning for us to go ice-fishing too, right?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No. But hey, we could do that on our second date."

"Hmmm, our second date. I like the sound of that."

"Oh, that's only the beginning, Sarah MacKenzie. I'm planning on having a lot of dates with you."

"Yeah. I more and more like the sound of it," Mac tenderly said before moving back into her old position and Harm's arms immediately drew her back into his embrace and closer to his body. "And talking about more, there was something more you wanted to tell me about our first date," she reminded him, letting her fingertips slowly move under his sleeve to let them run over his left arm.

Harm took a deep breath and started to nuzzle her ear. "Umm, you know that my vacation starts on the same day as yours, right?"

"Yes, I do."

"And that Mattie is going to spend the holidays with me?"

Mac was just about to answer him when a very tired looking Jimmy appeared right next to them. "Up," he whispered, rubbing his tired eyes with his little fists. Then he held his arms into the air, showing his godmother that he wanted to be picked up. Mac smiled at him and let go of Harm's arm to pick Jimmy up, placing him on top of her so that his head was pillowed on her chest. His thumb instantly found its way into his mouth and he started to suck on it. "I guess this one will be out like a light in a few minutes," Mac quietly said and kissed the top of Jimmy's head. Then she looked at Little AJ, seeing that he was still engrossed by the movie. "Anyway, to answer your question, yes I do remember you telling me about your plans with Mattie. Why?"

"I would like you to spend the holidays with us," Harm told her and Mac immediately turned her head so that she was able to look into his shining eyes. Before she could say anything, Harm held up his hand for her to wait with her response and continued with his proposal. "We could stay at Gram's over night and on our way back home we could pick Mattie up in Blacksburg. We haven't made any plans yet though. The only thing I had to promise her was that we would go sledding on Christmas Day if there is enough snow."

Mac chuckled and shook her head. "That sounds very familiar to me."

"It does, doesn't it? I just hope Mattie's reaction won't be as dramatic as AJ's, if it doesn't work out," Harm said between his own chuckles before he got serious again. "So, what do you think? Would you like to spend Christmas with Mattie and me?"

Mac took a deep breath and started to rub Jimmy's back, getting a gentle and tired sounding sigh from him in response. "Harm, there's nothing I would like more than spending the holidays with you and Mattie, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Shouldn't you two spend the little time you have together alone? I'm not sure if Mattie would like to have me around."

"Mac, she would love to have you around. She even told me so on the phone Friday morning."

"You mean you already talked with her about this idea?" Mac asked astonished, surprised that Harm obviously had this plan even before he knew they would spend this weekend together.

"No, at least not the way you think. Mattie was the one who brought it up. She told me to ask you to spend Christmas with us and I have to agree with her, it sounds like a great idea. So please… spend the holidays with us," Harm begged her with a puppy look. "And if we're able to go sledding, we can take Little AJ and Jimmy with us and make up for what we couldn't do this weekend."

"If you're absolutely sure Mattie wouldn't mind, I would love to spend Christmas with the two of you." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth she felt from the outside against her body, just like the warmth she felt inside, which embraced her heart in the loveliest way.

"She won't. This is perfect. Absolutely perfect," Harm whispered into her hair and kissed her head. Then he turned his attention back to the TV, knowing that he wouldn't be able to refocus on the movie. He was too excited about the outcome of this weekend, knowing that it was the beginning of a dream come true, his dream and most importantly their dream. 'Plain and simple perfect,' Harm soundlessly concluded his thoughts and intensified his embrace to the woman he loved with all his heart.

TBC