AN: Well, this is the last part. Hope you've all enjoyed the story! Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews; it was really great to read them!
OOOO
Things were still weighing on his mind when he and Mac were out and about in Chinatown, the next week. Noticing the tense look on his face, Mac reached out and took his hand in hers, smiling at him, softly.
"You okay?" she asked him, a little hesitantly.
"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," Harm answered, smiling back.
Her smile was enough to make his heart go pitter-patter. Just the sight of her was like a breath of fresh air to him. How did he even need to contemplate it at all? He knew exactly what he had to do…
Just then, they were unexpectedly interrupted by a shout through the crowd.
"Harm…Mac!"
Turning to look to their left, Harm and Mac caught sight of Cate and her Mother.
"Hey there!" Cate greeted them, "You out seeing the sights, too? It's the perfect day for it."
"Just thought we might do a little bit of shopping," Harm told her then turned to Kim, "How are you liking KL, so far?"
"Oh, it's wonderful," she enthused, "There's so much to do and see. Cate and I have been all around the Lake Gardens, this morning; in the butterfly park, the deer gardens and the bird park. Then we went to see Petronas Towers. I had visions of Sean Connery swinging from the connecting bridge!"
"There's a lot to do and see," Harm encouraged, "If you're enjoying the shops along here, I suggest going to see Central Market."
"It's a great place for trinkets," Mac added, "and the restaurants there are out of this world."
"We may get around to that, at some point," Cate grinned, "After this we're going along to see the Islamic Arts Museum. They have on a display of Syrian and Turkish artefacts from the reign of the Ottoman Empire. We were thinking of going down to KL Plaza, later tonight and having dinner at Planet Hollywood. Would you guys like to join us?"
"Thanks, but we've got plans tonight," Mac told them, "But we'll definitely have to do something, another time."
"Okay, just come on down if you change your mind," Cate told them, before she and her Mum disappeared back into the crowd.
"You don't mind staying in tonight, do you?" Harm asked her.
"No, you've already bought all of the meat for the barbecue," Mac insisted, "I don't think it would be safe to keep it for another few nights. You'll probably be working late, the rest of the week."
"True," Harm commented. Goodness knew, he would be working pretty hard for a couple of weeks to come, to make up for what he was about to ask of Barry Delaney.
OOOO
Later that night, Harm and Mac were sitting out on the veranda, in the night's gentle breeze.
"You weren't disappointed about not going out with Cate and Kim, tonight, were you?" Harm asked Mac, who seemed to be deep in thought.
"No, of course not," Mac replied, "We'll do it some other time."
"What was it that you were thinking about?" Harm continued.
"Nothing important," Mac dismissed, quietly.
Harm decided to leave it for the moment, though he was by no means dropping the subject.
Cicada chirps filled the humid air as Harm sat across the patio table, facing Mac.
'She definitely has something on her mind, that was for sure. What was she thinking about?' Harm wondered to himself, 'Was she thinking about home?'
"Sarah?" he prodded, gently.
"Huh?" Mac glanced up to him, caught up by his use of her given name. It wasn't often that he called her 'Sarah.'
"Sarah," he repeated, quietly, "I can see that you aren't happy here…"
"What?" Mac looked confused, "Where did this come from?"
"You've seemed bothered for some time now," Harm replied, "It's living here in KL, isn't it?"
"No…" Mac started, "No, it's fine, here in KL. But what puts the icing on the cake is that I'm here with you. I could live anywhere, as long as you were there, too. My life is with you…besides, as a Marine, I got used to travelling around so much. It became a way of life."
"But you were settled in DC for so long," Harm pointed out, "You made friends, you became part of a family, there…"
"And they're still my family," Mac interrupted, "Just because they're far away, it doesn't mean that I don't still have them as part of my family. Besides, the most important person in my life is here, sitting right across this table from me. Anywhere you go Harm, I want to go, too."
"I'd never want to keep you here, if it kept you from being happy, Mac," Harm maintained, "Your happiness can't survive just on my love alone. I'm not going to jeopardise your happiness for my job out here…"
"What are you saying, Harm?" Mac asked him, looking him in the eye, intently.
"I think we need our family, Mac," Harm stated with conviction, "This isn't the life for us…I came out here to escape, to try and leave my problems behind me. I don't think that we're going to be able to work forward from where we are, without the help of our friends and family. For the sake of both of our own sanities, I think we need to go back and confront what we left behind us."
"Are you sure that this is something that you really want, Harm?" Mac asked him, seriously, "I need to know that this is something you really want, as well. If you're just doing this for me, then we'll end up with a lot of hostility and resentment between us…"
"I'm certain of it, Mac. This is something that I need. And I think we need this too, Mac," Harm told her, "We've got nowhere to go onto, from here. This isn't our home, we can't make any more progress, until we've gone home to DC to confront everything that we left behind us. I think I need to mend some pretty big fences with my family and with everyone at JAG."
Mac thought over it then added, "I do, too. Everyone was dealing with your leaving and they were taking it pretty hard. Then I resigned my own commission and left."
Harm nodded, "I don't know how on earth we're going to get them to trust us again. I guess that we'll just have to earn it. It'll take a long time, but I'm not going to stop, until they know that I'm not going to run away anywhere, anymore."
"What about your work, here?" Mac asked, "What's the firm going to think?"
"I've never really settled into civilian law, here," Harm confided in Mac, "It's definitely not for me…If it weren't for the volunteer work, I think I would have packed my bags, long before now. In a way, I think that Barry Delaney knows that. Sepadan was the only thing I ever really immersed myself in."
"And Cate?" Mac asked.
Harm thought about it for a minute, then let out a big sigh.
"I…It's going to be hard to say goodbye to Cate," he acknowledged, "But she's got her Mother, now. I think she'll be okay, with her Mom to support her. She's an incredibly strong person. And, of course, the people at Sepadan are her life. She's going to do a lot of good, there…and I think that it's time that I re-address some old issues with my Mother and Frank. There are things that I've discovered about my time with my little sister that I need to tell them about…"
Mac nodded, in agreement
"So, we're in agreement, then?" Harm asked her, "It's time for us to go home?"
Mac nodded, "Yeah. It's time to go home…"
OOOO
A long time later, Mac lay awake in the darkness. Harm lay spooning her from behind, his arm curled round her body, resting on her stomach. It felt as if weight had been lifted from her, her mind was now at ease. And not because she and Harm were finally going home, but perhaps she had been brooding for her friends and family in DC, without even realising it. But that was understandable really, especially at this monumental point in her life…and being so far away from home, too. Harm was right, she now realised. KL held nothing for them as a couple, now. Their shared life lay in DC, where their friends and family were there to support them. Too much had been left unsaid, it was time to go home and re-address those issues.
As Harm snuggled up behind her, Mac's gaze drifted down to where Harm's hand rested on her stomach.
OOOO
The next morning, Mac awoke to see Harm getting dressed for work.
" Morning, sleepyhead!" he teased her, gently.
"Hey there," she greeted him, then questioned, "What time is it?"
Harm halted in buckling up his belt and stared at her, disbelieving.
"Aren't I usually the one to ask you that?" he asked her, amused.
"My internal clock seems to have been thrown off a bit, lately," Mac told him, grinning, then asked again, "What time is it?"
"0612."
"Are you in a rush to get into work?" Mac asked him.
Harm thought about it, for a minute, then replied, "No, I suppose not…I was going to go in early and try to make a dent in my mountain of paperwork, but I guess it can wait…"
A lascivious grin spread across his face as he continued, "Why? Have you got something else in mind for us to do?"
"Maybe," Mac answered, non-commitally, teasing him just a little bit.
Harm dropped to sit on the bed, next to her, pulling her in for a kiss.
"Hmm…" Mac noted aloud, once they had broken apart, "Looks like you have some ideas of your own…"
"That I do," Harm agreed, lying down with her, wrapping his arms around Mac, pulling her in closer to him.
"Well," Mac spoke up quietly, as Harm dropped his head to kiss his way down the soft skin of her neck, "That wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I'm not going to complain…"
"Hmm?" Harm asked her, from his place, nibbling at her neck, "What was it that you had in mind?"
"I thought we might carry on the conversation that you started, last night."
"But I thought that we'd resolved all of that," Harm brought his head up to look at her, "We both agreed that going home was something that we both needed to do…"
"No," Mac interrupted him, "That's not what I'm talking about…"
"What do you mean, then?" Harm asked, thinking about exactly what he had talked about, the night before.
"Before you started talking about going home to DC..." Mac prompted him.
"I asked you if you were unhappy in KL," Harm guessed.
"Before that…" Mac told him.
"Umm…I asked if you were disappointed about not going out with Kim and Cate?"
"No, after that…"
"After that?" Harm asked, thinking hard, "…I asked you what you were thinking about?"
"Yeah."
"And you said nothing important…"
"Uh-huh," Mac confirmed, "Well, actually, I'm not quite sure if it is or not…"
"Is it about Kim and Cate?" Harm asked her.
Mac shook her head, "No."
"Is it about going back to DC?" he asked again.
"No," Mac told him, "but it may impact our life in DC, a bit."
"It's not about Clayton Webb, is it?" Harm asked her.
"Most definitely not," Mac answered him, "but I did get things sorted out with Clay. He and I decided that we'd like to remain friends."
"Is there anything wrong, Sarah?" Harm asked, beginning to get worried.
"I'm not sure," Mac told him, truthfully.
Harm just stared at her intently as he gathered his courage.
"What is it, Sarah?" he requested, softly, promising her, "You can tell me anything. I'll always be there for you. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it, together."
"This isn't exactly ideal, right now," Mac told him, "Especially now that we're going home and now that we've got so much to deal with, with everybody back in DC…"
"But?" Harm encouraged her softly.
Mac locked eyes with him and studied him for a minute. Seeing nothing but love and devotion in his eyes, she continued;
"I'm pregnant…"
Harm's eyes went wide and he remained exactly where he was, as the news sank in.
Mac just studied his face, searching for any sign about how he felt about this. She saw amazement, of that she was sure, but she couldn't tell what context of amazement it was.
"Well?" she asked him, expectantly.
"I'm going to be a Dad?" Harm asked her, incredulously, "We're going to have a baby!"
"Are you okay with that?" Mac asked him, softly.
"Of course I am!" Harm exclaimed, breaking out into a grin.
Mac felt herself begin to breathe again, with this news.
"How long have you suspected…?" Harm asked her.
"Just the past week, or so," Mac told him, "I didn't want to say anything until I was pretty sure…butI'd definatelysay we're going to have a baby, now!"
"Oh, Sarah," Harm sighed, pulling Mac into his arms, "This is absolutely wonderful…I know we've got some unresolved issues, back home, but there is nothing unresolved in our relationship. My love for you is now only rivalled by my love for our child."
"So you're really okay about this?" Mac ascertained, "You're not too shocked or anything?"
"It came as a little bit of a shock," Harm admitted, "but a good one. There's nothing else I want more than children with you…well, except maybe to make you my wife…"
It was now Mac's turn to be surprised.
"What?" she asked, her mouth open, "Are you asking me…?"
"Uh-huh," Harm told her, "And not because our child is on the way…I've been thinking about this for a while, now."
At this, Harm rolled over and reached to open the drawer of his bedside table. He pulled out a small, square, velvet box and rolled back to face Mac.
"Sarah MacKenzie," he told her, flipping open the jewellery box to reveal a diamond solitaire ring inside, "I've got something I need to ask you…"
Mac broke into a smile, one that made Harm's heart constrict with happiness, inside his chest.
"Uh-huh?" she asked him, playing along with him.
"Will you marry me?" Harm asked her, "You're already the mother of my child and I could only ever be happier than I am now if you did me the great honour of becoming my wife…"
Mac felt tears of joy escaping her eyes and trickling down her cheeks and it seemed that she just couldn't stop smiling.
"Of course I will, Harm," she assented to the man she loved, "Nothing would make me happier than to become you wife."
Harm smiled back at her as he took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Perfect," he proclaimed, studying the ring on her finger, "Just like my fiancée, just like our child…"
With this, Harm leaned down to brush a soft kiss on Mac's lips then telling her, "I love you, Sarah…"
"I love you, too, Harm," she pledged back wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him back into a deep kiss.
As Harm kissed his beautiful fiancée, one hand went to tangle in the back of her hair and rub soft circles in her hairline, while the other went to caress her abdomen, where their child was sleeping. They snuggled for a while, then around seven, Harm decided that he should probably get going. As it happened, he had to change his suit, as the first one had gotten wrinkled up and he wouldn't have time to re-iron it.
OOOO
All through the day, he had trouble concentrating on work, he kept catching himself unconsciously grinning at the top of his desk.
"I know that there's an interesting story behind that," Barry Delaney caught him, part-way through the day, "What's got you floating on cloud nine?"
Harm jumped in his seat, then smiled, sheepishly.
"Uh, yeah," he admitted, "There is a story behind it, Barr. I'm going to need to talk to you about my current situation…"
By the time Harm was finished, Barry had taken a seat at his desk and was nodding, understandingly. Harm was frankly quite surprised how understanding he was, despite the fact that he had never really settled into civilian law very well.
"To be honest, Harm," Barry explained to him, "I could tell that this wasn't the place for you…so you and Mac are going back to DC?"
"Yeah," Harm nodded, "We've got some things that we really need to sort out back there…I left things in kind of a mess."
"Can I ask you something?" Barry requested, softly.
Harm nodded and Barry proceeded, "How come you'd travel all of this way? You never told me why you'd left home…All you said was that you'd given that offer of mine some careful consideration and decided to take me up on it…Was it Mac? Did something happen between the two of you?"
Harm nodded and told Barry truthfully, "Mac and I go back a long way. Our relationship wasn't as serious as it is now, but we were much more than friends. Our history is very complicated and there have always been a lot of things that have gotten in the way of our 'getting together.' Hell, most of the time, it was our own insecurities and crazy actions. But right before I called you, I'd come up with the ridiculous notion that the best thing would be to run away and start my life again…over time, I knew that was something that I just couldn't do. Everything is sorted between us now, but we left quite a bit of devastation in our wake. We really owe it to some pretty dedicated family members to go and make things up to them."
"I'm glad that things are okay between you and Mac," Barry told him, genuinely, "When you arrived out here, I could tell that something wasn't quite right with you. When Mac showed up, I knew straight away that she was the missing piece of the puzzle. Even Cate said to me, 'That's definitely it. There's something between the two of them, mark my words.' Huh, looks like I owe her a dinner out in town, now!"
Harm just laughed and Barry noted that, now, the smile really reached his eyes. It made his heart glad to see it. Harm, he had always noted, had been a person who picked the short straw in life. He knew about Harm's childhood, had been one of the few people to whom Harm had opened up to, at the academy. He had also kept in touch Luke Pendry, before the man's death. He had heard about Harm's ramp crash, then his transfer to law. Through Luke Pendry's widow, Annie, he also knew that Harm's old friend and subsequent girlfriend, Dianne Schonke, had been murdered and that Harm had been involved in the investigation. Barry knew that any lesser man would have given up in the face of such an onslaught. It was great to see that Harm had managed to pick himself up and get to this stage.
Harm was still smiling, like some kind of love-struck fool, on the other side of the desk.
"I'm glad for you, Harm," Barry continued, "I really wish you and Mac the best of luck."
Harm just smiled even wider and Barry looked at him, questioningly.
"Hmm," Harm shook his head, trying to get his thoughts back to the present, "I asked Mac to marry me and she said, 'yes.'"
Barry broke into a wide grin.
"And she found out, earlier this week, we're going to have a baby…"
"Some guys get all the luck," Barry teased him, laughing, "Harm, you're an extremely lucky guy. You make sure that you let Mac see just how happy you are."
"Oh, I intend to, Barry," Harm assured him, as Barry got up to get back to work, "I'm definitely going to show her that she makes me the happiest man in the world."
The End