AN: A big thank you goes toreaders for the wonderful reviews they posted. I enjoyed reading them all!

OOOO

Part Nine

Six weeks later…

As the crowd made it's way out of the airport gate, on Christmas Eve, Harm and Mac strained to see any sign of their family and friends. Eventually Harm spotted the tall Admiral, then his Step-Dad, Frank.

"There they are," he told Mac, as he began to wave.

Mac also caught sight of them and they began to move forward through the crowd.

"Hello there!" Harm shouted and the group picked him out of the crush of people around them. Harm's Mom, Trish was the first one over to them and was greeted with a big hug from Harm and from Mac.

"Oh darlings!" she exclaimed, "It's so good to see you both again, at last! And on Christmas Eve, too."

"Sorry that Mac and I didn't make it back home in time," Harm apologised, "Things have been taking a lot longer than planned, even with Clayton Webb's help."

"That's alright, dear," Trish told him, "It was no problem bringing Christmas to you. I'm just so desperate to see my new Granddaughter."

"She's at home, right now," Mac told her, "We didn't want to bring her out into this sort of weather, because she's only just getting over her first winter cold. Bud and Harriet are back home, watching her and Sasha."

They were joined by Frank, AJ and his fiancée, Harriet's Mom and Dad with baby James and little AJ, and Bud's brother, Mikey.

After greetings and hugs had been exchanged, Harm and Mac showed them all out to the cars they had parked outside. Since there would be so many of them, Bud and Harriet had lent them their car as well, to accommodate everyone. Everyone gasped as they stepped out of the airport building and into the snow outside. They quickly put on the jumpers, coats and scarves that they had brought with them, Harriet's Mom and Dad bundling baby Jimmy up into another warm blanket. Once they had all bundled into the two cars, Harm and Mac started up the cars and pulled out of the airport car park and onto the highway. Their trip from the airport was quite a long one, but was passed quickly by telling stories between themselves, about what had been going on over the past few weeks. Once the cars finally pulled into the driveway of the apartment complex that they had rented, Harm and Mac started unloading the luggage in the trunks and on the roof racks of the cars.

"Here we are," Harm told them, "Home sweet home, at least for the next few weeks."

"It's lovely," AJ commented, "Webb told me that he'd helped you guys get into this place."

"We really couldn't have done so much over the past few weeks, if it wasn't for Clay," Mac told him, "Despite the delay with the paperwork, we really are lucky. Some couples wait months to get their paperwork through. Webb's has been leaning on his contacts at the social services and the courthouse, getting them to put a hurry on things."

"Yeah," Harm added, "He really has been so much help."

"Does that mean that I'm to disregard the punch on the nose that I was planning to give him?" AJ asked, laughing.

"Come on AJ," Meredith told him, "It is Christmas. Don't be such a grump."

"Okay then," AJ relented, "Seeing as it's Christmas."

As a group, they hauled the luggage into the house and started pulling off all of their thick winter clothing.

Trish looked down the stairs and into the spacious, tastefully decorated living room.

"What a lovely place," She commented.

"Come this way, everyone," Harm told the crowd, "I'd like to show you around our little home here."

He took them downstairs and into the living room, where Harriet stood up from the sofa to greet everyone.

"Where are Bud and the girls?" Mac asked her, not hearing any signs of laughter from upstairs.

"They're out in the yard, playing in the snow," Harriet told her, "The girls couldn't wait for you to get back, they saw that it had stopped snowing and wanted to go out and play. We were expecting you to be longer getting home."

Mac went to the sliding doors and pulled aside the full-length blinds, looking out into the yard. Bud was slowly and carefully pulling the girls around through the snow on a sled and Mac saw that they were halfway through building a snowman. Everyone gathered around behind her, to look out of the windows.

Bud noticed them first and leaned over to speak to the children, then they immediately looked up, but neither of them saw anything, their vision completely obscured by the fur trim on the hoods of their thick snowsuits. They both tried unsuccessfully to pull their snowsuit hoods down, hampered by the thick gloves on their hands and the thick padded sleeves of their suits.

"Look, AJ," Harriet lifted her eldest son up into her arms and pointed to the little figure sitting on the front of the sled, "That's your new little sister, Sasha."

Little AJ just smiled, he'd been bombarding his grandparents with endless questions about his new little sister, all the way over on the plane.

By now, in the yard, Bud had leaned over to undo the hood on Katya's suit, pulling it down so that she could see her Mom and Dad with all of the family that they had brought home from the airport. The little girl's face lit up as she saw them and she jumped up from the sled and began to run unsteadily through the snow to the house.

"Mommadaddy!" she cried, a conglomeration of the first English words she had learned after Harm and Mac had brought her home with them from the hospital.

Bud undid the hood on his own daughter's suit and lifted her off the sled and placed her on her feet, telling her, "Look, there's Mommy. Run and see her."

The little girl understood enough of his words to grasp what he meant; 'Mommy', 'run' and 'see.'

She set off behind Katya, both running fast and haphazardly through the snow, their arms out wide, to help them keep their balance. Katya ran into Mac's arms and squealed with laughter as she was hugged, then passed to Harm, who hugged her, then threw her into the air and caught her again. Sasha ran to Harriet and settled comfortably onto Harriet's left hip, little AJ occupying the other one.

"Has my princess been playing in the snow?" Harm asked his daughter as his family around him watched on, smiling.

Katya nodded to him, once Mac explained his words again, in Russian.

Harm passed Katya to Mac, and Mac turned her around, so that all of the visitors could get a good look at her. At the front of the queue were Trish and Frank.

"Katya," Mac told her daughter, in Russian, "All of these people came here today just to see you and Sasha. They're your family. This is your Grandma Trish and your Grandpa Frank."

The little girl beamed happily as Trish took her from Mac and planted a bunch of kisses across her face.

"Look Grandpa," she told Frank, "What a little darling she is. My beautiful, beautiful Granddaughter!"

"She's a little beauty, all right," Frank agreed, smiling as Katya beamed up at him, giggling infectiously, "I think we've hit the jackpot with this little one, Trish!"

Bud and Harriet were now introducing Sasha to equally delighted Grandparents.

Harriet held little AJ and Bud held baby James as they watched on. The little boy in Harriet's arms seemed to be delighted, not caring that he would have to share his Grandparents with another sibling, now.

As he explained to his Mom, later, 'Now he had a sister that he could play with and who wouldn't just cry all of the time, like Jimmy did.'

Both girls were swiftly passed around the group, and introduced to their new Uncle AJ, Aunt Meredith, Uncle Mikey and cousins/brothers AJ and Jimmy, for Katya and Sasha, respectively.

As they were set down onto the thick carpet on the floor, to play with AJ, while all of the other adults went to go and get settled into their rooms, Bud leaned over from his place on the couch and explained to his son, "You're going to have to play easy with Sasha and Katya, for now, AJ. They don't know how to speak English, so you'll have to show them how to play with all of your toys."

Little AJ nodded reverently, then went over to grab his backpack, proceeding to unpack all of the toys and books that he had packed inside.

He lifted out figurine after figurine of dinosaurs and toy car after toy car. Sasha and Katya just watched him, eyeing each toy with large eyes as it was placed on the carpet in front of them. AJ began to show them how he could get his t-rex to flip the car and eat all of the people inside, or how he could get his tank to shoot the t-rex down, when he noticed the girls were just looking at him blankly.

"Daddy," he asked as he went over to Bud on the sofa, "Katya and Sasha aren't playing."

"You'll have to show them how, AJ," Bud told his son, "In the orphanage, Katya and Sasha didn't have many toys, so they don't know quite how it works. Give them a toy each and show them what they're to do with them. Maybe they don't think that they can touch the toys, because they're yours. Let them know it's okay for them to play with them, too."

AJ went back over and did as his Dad had instructed, holding out a toy to each of the girls, nodding when they unsurely went to go and take it from him.

By the time that everyone else came back downstairs, the three of them were playing away, happily.

Mac sat down beside Katya and fixed the little girl's ponytail, which had been knocked askew by the hood of her snowsuit. This was all that Mac had ever wanted, to sit playing with her own little girl's hair.

"What beautiful hair she has," Trish exclaimed, "Couldn't you just comb it all day long!"

Mac nodded, smiling.

"I can remember my own Mom doing this, when I was very little."

"Harm would never sit still long enough for me to brush his hair," Trish continued, "He always came home looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards!

I can foresee lots of trips to D.C., Frank."

"Definitely," Frank agreed, "And lots and lots of presents!"

Katya and Sasha looked up from where they were playing.

"Pwesents," Katya pronounced, in English, obviously enamoured with the word.

"That's your fault!" Mac shot an accusatory look at Harm, "You're the one who's been giving her ideas!"

"Hey," Harm protested, "Every child needs to hear 'The Night Before Christmas,' at least a few times before Christmas Day."

"I'm pretty sure the word 'presents' isn't actually mentioned in it, though," Mac pointed out, "Looks like you've been embellishing!"

Harm just smiled that smile that always got him out of hot water and Mac couldn't resist smiling back at him, although she was trying to be serious.

"There's no need for you to spoil her, Harm," Trish spoke up, "Frank and I will do that sufficiently between the two of us. That's our job as Grandparents."

Everyone laughed and Harriet's parents agreed with her.

OOOO

That night, Harm and Mac were in the upstairs bathroom, bathing Katya before they put her to bed for the night. Harriet and Bud were putting their children to sleep, in a big bed in the children's room. Usually, Katya and Sasha shared the bed, but seeing as so many visitors had come to stay, AJ and Sasha were sharing the bed tonight, with baby James in a cot in the corner of the room and Katya was sleeping with Harm and Mac. AJ and Meredith were staying in one of the spare rooms, Harriet's parents in another, while Bud and Harriet took the fold out sofa downstairs and Mikey bedded down in a sleeping bag on the carpet.

"Momma? Will we be going home, soon?" AJ spoke up, as his parents went to leave the room.

"We're not sure yet, honey," Harriet told him truthfully, "Why? Do you not like it here?"

"It's not that," AJ told them, "I just want to show Sasha to all of my friends. Freddy's Mom had his baby sister nearly a year ago and Timothy's little sister is only a year younger than him."

"Did you tell them that you already have one sister?" Bud asked his son.

"Mm-hmm," AJ replied, "I told them that God wanted her back after she was born, so she went to heaven to live with Him."

"That's right," Harriet told him, "When we get back home, once the adoption is finalised, we can take Sasha to visit her little sister Sarah at Arlington."

At this, Harriet turned to look at Sasha, who was listening to her carefully.

"Would you like to go and see Sarah, honey? Would you like to see your little sister?"

Sasha looked to AJ, who smiled and nodded in encouragement.

She smiled and nodded herself.

Harriet and Bud smiled and turned out the light.

"Night-night, my babies," Harriet told them softly.

"Night, Mommy," they both replied, tiredly, "Night Daddy."

"Night kids," Bud smiled and closed the door over.

OOOO