Well, we've come to the end of the fic. Thanks go out to ks and the rest of the peeps at the JAG poll for helping me with ideas, reseaarch and helping me to find a title for this! Enjoy!
OOOO
Part 3
Mac was surprised to find that it was past 1000 by the time that she woke up, the next morning. She rubbed her eyes, sleepily and wandered out of the master bedroom and down the stairs, still dressed in her pajamas. She halted partway down, when she heard voices.
"Thanks so much," Harm was saying, as he stood in their front doorway, "This was very thoughtful, wasn't it Tina?"
Mac then heard Heather speak up.
"Well, Philip, after having such a terrible day yesterday, we wanted to bring over something to help make you all feel better. Alan said he heard Tina crying when he was putting out the trash, late last night. Did you take her to the ER? Was she really crying all that time?"
"From the time I got to the ER until about two this morning," Harm gave a little smile and Mac couldn't help but giggle quietly when all of the women went 'aww!' This was the lawyer who could make a military jury do a complete 180. She could tell that her friends were clinging onto every word he said. He was dressed causally, in just a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt that showed off his great upper body. He'd planned to go running that day, but Erin had woken up fussy. He now had her perched on his hip, as he gratefully received the basket of goodies that their friends and neighbors had brought over. He'd figured that since he wouldn't be getting his run just yet, he'd sit down to do some reading over the documents and books he'd brought home from work (for research into his cover profession.) He had his glasses on, since he'd wanted to get used to wearing them, so that they didn't bother him so much while he was at work. In short, he was doing 'the hot college lecturer' thing and Mac had to admit, he looked irresistible!
The women handed over the basket of goodies, told him that he and 'Christine' could call them at any time for their help or advice and bid little 'Tina' farewell.
Harm closed the door and went to set the big basket on the table.
"Oh, look, Erin!" he talked to the little girl as he went, "Chocolate chip cookies, bran muffins, gingerbread men and fairy cakes! Wasn't that thoughtful?"
Erin was extremely cranky and didn't want to entertain the notion of being nice at the moment, so she just shook her head and buried it in his shoulder, tiredly.
Harm just smiled and rocked her, indulgently.
"Hey," Mac spoke up, from where she was now coming down the remaining stairs, "I had no idea it was so late."
"We thought we'd let you sleep some more," Harm smiled, glad to see her, "Erin's been a little cranky this morning, but mostly I think she's just tired. Your friends stopped by to drop this off. They were giving me their account of the day, yesterday. Apparently things got very uncomfortable for Trinny and Byron Banks after you and Erin left!"
Mac just smiled, taking a look at all of the home-baked goodies in the basket.
"Yeah, well," she dismissed, "Byron's going to go to elementary school, soon. He'll come back down to earth with a heck of a thud when he realizes that nobody else but his Mother and Father will put up with his bad behavior. I'll just keep Erin away from him, from now on."
"Heather says she isn't going to invite Trinny over to any coffee mornings again, if she's bringing 'the brat' with her!" Harm chuckled, "I think I should have some sort of talk with the kid. He's always causing trouble with other kids, when he's playing in the street when I get home from work…"
He halted as he realized Mac was openly staring at him, as he rocked Erin on his knee.
"What?" he asked, peering out from behind the glasses that he had now forgot that he was wearing.
"Nothing," Mac snapped out of her thoughts, "Just…the glasses."
"They do make me look weird," Harm got self-conscious, "I told Webb that they weren't necessary, but he wouldn't take no for an a…"
"No," Mac quickly shook her head, reaching out to stop him as he went to take them off, "They actually really suit you. But you don't really wear them at home that much, that's all…"
"They've just been irritating me at work," Harm told her, "So I thought that I'd practice wearing them at home for short periods, to get used to them."
Mac nodded her head and asked, "How's Erin been? Did you two go out for a run?"
"No," Harm shook his head, "she didn't really seem to be in the mood, when she woke up. I was just about to go and heat her some warm milk, when the doorbell rang."
"I'll do it," Mac stood up, smiling, "you two just stay comfortable, there."
They spent most of the day together at home. Erin fell asleep in Harm's arms and they watched her for a while before putting her down for a nap. They managed an hour of peace together, talking through the details of their cover identities and the leads the Admiral had told Harm about when he called from the hospital. After that, Erin woke up very upset after having a nightmare. Harm and Mac nearly fell off the sofa, when they heard her scream from the crib in Mac's office.
They soon established it to only be a bad dream, but Mac kept Erin in her arms again until she settled down. They checked on her bruised leg and put on some of the cream the doctor had given them. Once she seemed to be asleep again, they put her in her stroller, knowing that the gentle movements of them running would probably soothe her even while she was sleeping. Mac got ready then she and Harm ran their usual route, waving to the familiar faces they encountered along the way.
After her extra nap, Erin was in much better spirits and wandered outside with Mac to watch as Harm washed their cars. After a while, she was not content to simply watch Harm, but wandered down to join him. Mac followed after her, taking off her jeans and t-shirt, so they didn't get wet. Her big bruise on her leg showed and Harm realized the sudden angry, protective emotion he felt inside whenever he noticed it, with bewildered amusement. Mac returned to the front porch to watch them and began to laugh when she saw Erin climb into the bucket of soapy water. Harm looked around to see what Mac was laughing so hard at and broke into laughter himself.
"Tina, Honey?" he asked, once he could talk again, "Please could Daddy have the sponge?"
"Yeah…" she told him.
"Would you pass it to me, please, Honey?"
Erin reached down beside her and pulled out the soapy sponge and handed it to him.
After that, Mac went to go and get a towel and when Harm lifted the child out of the big blue bucket, he laughed at how saggy her diaper was, full of water. Mac took it off and wrapped the child in the big fluffy towel and brought her inside to get rinsed and dried off, while Harm finished off his job.
Erin was unfortunately very unsettled again by that evening, so Mac watched her while Harm took care of the dinner. Gloria returned from church just before they sat down for dinner and since she had already eaten, she took care of Erin for a while. But Erin was plain monstrous that night; even the pacifier and Tylenol solution didn't help, neither did the car or the stroller, so Harm and Mac ended up taking her to bed with them. They quickly surmised that she only needed to be comforted and reassured and by holding her between the two of them, she was out like a light.
"Sleep well, Angel," Harm gave the child a kiss on the top of her head, before he and Mac turned off the lights and went to sleep themselves.
OOOO
Erin only stirred once during the night, waking up in the pitch dark and getting scared. Mac quickly moved to reassure her before Harm woke up, because she knew that Harm had a long day at work ahead of him.
"Mommy's here, Baby," she told the child, "Don't be scared…Snuggle in with Mommy."
The child immediately settled in once she was cuddled up to her main care-giver and dropped off back to sleep.
"Is she okay?" Harm asked, concerned, but still sounding a little drowsy.
"Yeah," Mac sighed, "She just woke up and didn't know where she was for a second there."
Harm moved closer and draped an arm around the two of them, before going back to sleep.
Mac was drowsy too, but couldn't help but stay awake for a few more minutes, enjoying the moment.
OOOO
They kept Erin home from preschool Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday thought that she'd be okay to return.
Harm got an upset phone call late in the morning from Mac, who'd had a very bad experience leaving Erin at the school with the teacher.
"Harm, are you free to talk? I'm not catching you at a bad time, am I?"
Harm could tell from her voice upset.
"No, nothing much is going on," he reassured her, "Do you need to talk about something, Hon?"
Mac was so upset she didn't even notice the term of endearment he used.
"I had a hard time getting Erin to stay with her teacher, this morning, is all…Harm, they never said it was going to be this hard, having a kid. I know practically nothing and I'm obviously not any good with them…"
"Hey, hey," Harm chided her softly, telling her, "You are great with Erin. You've become the only Mother she's ever known and you're doing a great job of it, but we've really been thrown in at the deep end, here. It's just going to take some time to get her used to going to preschool. It happens with any child and of course Erin has had quite a few frightening experiences, lately. She's going to be fine, though and you and I will do our best. Together, we're going to make sure she gets past this, okay?"
"Yeah," Mac sounded a bit more assured, "I know…I just needed to hear it from you. I'll let you get back to work, then…"
"You can call me at any time," Harm assured her again before putting the phone down.
Mac at first seemed okay when he got home from work. She was in the kitchen, feeding Erin her dinner while theirs still simmered on the stove and in the steam cooker.
"Where's Gloria?" Harm asked, when he didn't see the woman around.
"She's making a quick trip to the grocery store for me," Mac told him, as she tried to persuade a fussy Erin to consume mashed carrots and turnip, "I forgot the broccoli and string beans to go with our salmon, so she offered to run out."
Just then, Erin threw her hands up, sending the spoon flying and covering Mac's chest, neck and face with mashed vegetables.
"Oh, Erin," Mac sighed, grabbing a cloth and wiping her face and blouse off, while Harm chuckled.
"Don't laugh," Mac was tired and upset after her long day, but still she did kind of want to laugh too, as she wiped herself off, "It will only encourage her."
Gloria came in the front door and brought in the items she had fetched from the grocery store, washing and preparing them and setting them in the top section of the steamer.
"Ma'am," she spoke up, as she check over the food on the stove, "your potatoes are burning."
Mac spun round from where she was once again trying to feed Erin.
"Dammit!" she cursed loudly and turned off the burner underneath.
"It's alright," Gloria assured her, "it's just the ones on the bottom. If we get rid of those, I'll cut up some more so that you have enough for the two of you."
Harm could see that Mac was looking very frazzled, so came forward and rubbed Mac's shoulders to soothe her while Gloria got the potatoes sorted again.
"Hey, it's okay," he told her and put an arm across the front of her shoulders, pulling her back against him for a gentle hug and dropping a quick kiss onto the top of her head.
He then finished feeding Erin, while Mac assisted Gloria with the food. When all was ready, Gloria took Erin upstairs to get her bathed and ready for bed. Harm and Mac dished out their food and settled down to eat it at the dining room table. The meal was delicious, but Harm couldn't quite enjoy it when he saw how quiet Mac was, especially in the face of how badly her day seemed to have gone.
"This is great, Mac," he complimented her on the fish, but she barely even looked up.
"I didn't know you liked fish," he continued, joking, "I thought you'd have prepared yourself a huge hunk of dead cattle or something!"
Mac dropped her fork and lowered her head, beginning to cry into her napkin.
Harm felt heart-sick at inadvertently upsetting her, even though he knew her bad day had been the main culprit. He'd only wanted to cheer her up, but now he'd made her cry!
"Aw, Mac, I'm sorry…" he got up and crouched down by her side, scooping her into his arms and then sitting down in her chair, with her on his knee.
He just let her cry for a while, knowing that she probably needed to get rid of all of this bottled emotion.
"Today was just awful," Mac finally spoke up, hiccupping a little, "Erin was crying and the teacher was telling me that I shouldn't be showing her how upset it was making me and that she'd be fine a little while after I was gone, but I heard her crying all the way out to the car and I wanted to go back in and get her, but I didn't want to look stupid in front of all of those other parents and I couldn't…I couldn't help feeling…feeling like I was somehow doing the same thing my Mother did to me…"
Harm just held her close and rocked her like he had done with Erin, as she got out all of the things that had been troubling her, probably building up for some time now.
"You were not doing the same thing your mother did to you. You have been fantastic with Erin, you are preparing her for growing up," he finally spoke up, once she had finished what she wanted to say, "You and I came into this all as close to beginners as you can probably get and you have been amazing with her! Yeah, sometimes it takes us a while to figure out what we should be doing, like when we're still all awake with her at two in the morning and she's screaming her head off! But we always get there in the end and the rest of the time, she's a happy, healthy, gorgeous little girl and by the time she goes to school, she'll be so smart. You talk to any other parent and I'll bet they tell you that they have an off day, too."
Mac gave him a look and he laughed, amending, "Okay, off-week…But most of the time, you're here, doing this all on your own and you have no idea how proud I am of you!"
Mac settled her head back in against his chest and listened to his heart beating hard in his chest.
"When I think about it sometimes, my heart feels like it'll beat right out my chest," he told her, "My girls make me so proud…"
A few seconds later, Gloria spoke up from the upstairs landing.
"Mr. Colmer? The ninã is asleep for the night. I'm just going to go to sleep too."
"Thank you, Gloria," Harm thanked her, "We'll see you tomorrow."
Harm heard her bedroom door shut and decided that an early night would probably do them all good. Mac was fast asleep in his arms, so Harm carried her upstairs to their room, rather than wake her. She stirred as he lay her down on their bed, though.
"Mmm…Harm, what are we doing upstairs?"
"Shh," Harm soothed her, "I thought it would do us good to get an early night. You're not still hungry, are you?"
Mac shook her head and lay down to go back to sleep.
Harm went downstairs and got all of the dishes cleared and put in the dishwasher, then went back upstairs. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and climbed into bed beside where he had settled Mac, giving her a gentle kiss to her forehead. She snuggled closer and he leaned over to turn out the lights, before he pulled her into his arms.
OOOO
It was just approaching dawn when Harm woke up again. He was still in the habit of waking early, even though he now didn't need to report for work as early as he did at JAG. Mac was still snuggled close to him and was obviously not still completely asleep, as she was stroking a hand back and forth across his chest.
"Morning," he greeted her, taking her distracting hand and squeezing it affectionately in his.
Mac opened her eyes and cuddled in closer, murmuring, "Mmm, g'morning."
Harm chuckled as he watched her, stroking his hand through her hair. He loved the softness of those long, dark waves. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and solemn. Harm didn't look away; he wanted her to know just how he felt about her. Sure, he could rarely find the right words when she really needed to, but he was hoping that he could show her, rather than tell her and things would be right between them.
Still, despite his thoughts, Harm couldn't have been more surprised when Mac pushed herself up to him and pressed her lips to his. Even though he was surprised, Harm hardly paused before deepening the kiss, feeling his whole body relax as she pressed against him. When Mac slipped her tongue into his mouth, he pulled away.
"Wait, Mac," he hesitated, "I just have to make sure that you're sure about this…"
"Shut up and kiss me," Mac pulled him back down.
"Maaacc!" Harm insisted.
"I'm very sure…" Mac told him, her eyes never leaving his, her face more serious than Harm had ever seen before, "I've never been more sure about anything in my life, Harm. I want this with you…"
"Okay," Harm regarded her softly, "That's all I need to know."
His eyes drifted shut as he leaned back down and captured her lips again.
OOOO
Later that morning, Janet Obermann was outside her house, waiting to put her kids on their appropriate school bus.
"Mom!" her youngest complained after looking in his lunchbox, "I don't like cheese spread on my sandwiches!"
"Well, why don't you check with your friends?" she suggested, "Maybe one of them will like cheese spread sandwiches and might like to swap."
"Mom," her eldest spoke up, "NOBODY likes cheese spread. It's so not cool."
Just then, the junior high school bus pulled up, so she ushered her middle child onto it.
"Bye Gracie, see you later."
"I still don't see why you won't let me learn to drive," Becca spoke up again, "Then I could get my own car and drive to school like my friends."
"Sure," Janet conceded, "But you'll have to be the one to get an after-school job to pay for the driving lessons and the car and the gas…"
"Mooooommm!" Was all the reply she got, as the high-school bus pulled up.
"Byyyyeee!" Janet made sure to wave exuberantly, so that all of the kids caught a good view of her.
"Looks like it's just you and me, champ," she patted her youngest on the shoulder.
"Uhhhh…gotta go, Mom," Eric told her, as the elementary school bus pulled up, "See you later."
"Later," Janet murmured, as the bus pulled away.
She remembered when they were little and she didn't need to worry about what was 'cool' and what was 'so-not-cool' and what she could do in front of their friends and what she couldn't…Life was so much easier when they were little…They used to think of her and their father as living super-heroes.
At that, Janet looked up to the house that was just beside the designated bus stop. The door had just opened and Janet saw the street's newest residents step out. Philip Colmer was dressed ready for work and his wife Christine was still in her house-robe, with their two-year-old on her hip.
"Say bye-bye to Daddy, Sweetie," Christine lifted the child up to kiss her Daddy, then leaned up herself, planting one heck of a kiss on him!
"Bye, Angel," Philip bid his daughter, then gazed at his wife with unabashed desire, "See you later, Baby."
Janet averted her gaze, but couldn't help but grin. She took the walk back to her house slowly, so as to catch some more of the heart-warming scene.
When she next glanced back, Philip was walking to his car and Christine was encouraging their little girl to wave. Although Tina didn't seem to be too happy that morning, Christine seemed to be glowing. Well, Janet was very happy for them both, but maybe just a little jealous!
OOOO
"Honey? What's wrong?" Mac looked up as Erin sat on the quilt in her office, "Are you tired?"
Erin looked up at her with a look that showed she was feeling very sorry for herself. And then, she promptly burst into tears.
"Oh, Honey!" Mac exclaimed and got up from her chair, going round her desk to bend down and scoop up her child, "Shh! Mommy's got you."
It was later as she watched Erin sleep that she realized, barring any unknown relative making an appearance, this little girl had nobody to depend on, once this was all over. She and Harm were the closest thing to parents she had…Was there any way that this could still work out okay?
OOOO
When Harm got home from work, he was surprised when he didn't see his wife and daughter downstairs in the living room.
"Honey?" he called, looking into the kitchen and Mac's office, but they weren't there, either.
He wandered up the stairs, peering into Erin's room, where her toys lay on the floor abandoned.
He continued along the hall, past Gloria's and the guest bedroom, to the master bedroom.
What he saw inside made him smile.
"No, Sweetie," Mac was telling their daughter, trying to get the child to relinquish the lipstick, "Let Mommy do it, let Mommm…"
Erin got her with a good smear that went nowhere even near her lips. Erin looked at her for a second then giggled.
Mac looked into the mirror and began to laugh, herself.
"That's not funny, you little rascal!" she managed to get out, in between bouts of laughter, then shrieked, as Erin nearly fell off her lap because she was laughing so hard.
This only made them both laugh harder, and Mac's mascara was running right down her face before she finally noticed Harm watching them.
"Oh, great," she sighed, not believing her luck, "you had to get home while Erin and I are doing each other's make-up…"
"You guys look pretty," Harm grinned, adding, girlishly, "I love your lipstick, Mac!"
Mac just gave a snort of laughter, grabbing for the make-up remover and the cotton wipes. She set to work on her daughter's face, before taking care of the mess of cosmetics on her own.
Harm came and scooped Erin up from her lap and the two of them watched the most important woman in their life, caught up in the radiant beauty they saw shining through.
After Mac was done, they went downstairs and put the stereo on. Erin enjoyed the attention they lavished on her as they danced her around the room. And when they picked her up and held her in between them for a slow-paced dance, she fell asleep feeling safer than she ever had.
From that day on, Harm and Mac didn't think of Erin as anything other than their daughter. To them, there were no cover identities, no life back in DC, no other life other than the one they had. All they cared about was the family they had created together. This was no longer 'pretend.'
OOOO
Their little world came to a shuddering halt nearly a month later, when Webb called them to report that Captain Simmons had been stopped for a minor traffic violation in Florida.
"What?" Mac asked, not believing what she was hearing.
Webb repeated himself…He seemed delighted. But Mac wasn't and she sat in her chair in her office, contemplating the news, until Harm came in three hours later.
"Honey, I'm home!" he joked, as he came in the door, much like he had the first few days that they had been living here.
When he received no reply, the first place he checked was in Mac's office.
"Hey," he greeted, softly, "Where's our little bundle of energy?"
"At the park with Gloria," Mac replied, still deep in thought.
"At this time?" Harm looked at his watch, "It's going to go dark soon."
"They've been gone a while," Mac told him, "But they won't be much longer. I asked that Gloria take care of her for a while, I needed to think."
"About what?" Harm asked, quietly, having now noticed her subdued mood.
"About Clay calling."
Here, Harm did start to panic. 'Clay.' She hadn't called him 'Clay' in ages. She was too mad to call him anything but 'Webb.' Webb, the spook they both loved to hate, but who had still come through for them, on this occasion. He wasn't going to destroy all of that, now, was he? No, not 'Clay,' the guy she used to date, used to kiss, used to…Harm shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think about that. They both had people in their past, people they'd slept with, but whom they'd moved on from…but now they had found happiness together, right? She wasn't going to leave him for Webb, was she?
When Harm didn't answer her, Mac looked at him and found a very perplexing look on his face. He was frozen, but there were obviously lots of thoughts bouncing about in that flyboy head of his.
"Aren't you going to ask me what he said?" she asked.
"No," the look on Harm's face looked somewhat like that of a child.
"Why not?" Mac asked, now near to giving up trying to figure out what was going on in his head.
"Because I'm afraid to…"
"It's over," Mac told him, anyway.
"What!" Harm asked, shaking his head.
"IT'S OVER," she said again, louder this time, but not shouting.
"No…Mac, c'mon…"
"It's over," Mac said again, "Captain Simmons got caught with a broken tail-light, making an illegal u-turn in Florida, now he's being transported back to DC."
Harm's breath left him in a whoosh as he realized what she had meant. He rushed around the desk and lifted her right out of her chair, hugging the breath out of her, too.
"Whh…What? Harm, what are you doing?" Mac was confused.
"I thought you were leaving me," Harm finally got out, in between bouts of shaking.
"You thought what? Aww, Honey…" Mac hugged him back, asking, "Why did you think that? Because of Webb? I'd never leave you for that bastard, you know that!"
"God, that's my worst nightmare…" Harm cringed, "I just thought that everything had been going so well…"
"It is," Mac nodded, taking his face gently in her hands, "It's going great and I have never been happier…but Webb said the General wants us on a plane by the end of the week. He says we need to bring Gloria and Erin with us, so that they can both be returned to their families."
"But Erin doesn't have a family," Harm spoke up, "Not one who can take her, anyway…"
"I guess that we don't really know that, for sure," Mac said with a heavy heart, "Maybe her mother or some family members are willing to take her."
Now that was a very depressing thought, Harm thought to himself. She was theirs, now. She had become theirs. She was their little girl….
OOOO
The next Thursday found them at LAX, waiting for their plane home. Gloria had left a couple of days earlier, to fly south to visit family. When they discovered that their plane would be a couple of hours late taking off, Mac had unpacked Erin's quilt and seated her on it with her bottle. Harm had gone and got them all something to eat, because it was now going to be a long time before they got a meal on the plane. They sat beside Erin on the large quilt, Harm with his chicken salad wrap, Mac with her double cheeseburger and Erin with her chicken nuggets. It had been a long and difficult task, but Mac had finally talked Harm into letting Erin eat very occasional fast food. Mac had assured him that the franchise in question had very high standards for their children's meals.
Erin quickly finished hers off then took a look at what her Mommy had.
"Hey Baby," Mac smiled as Erin climbed onto her knee, her eyes fixated on the cheeseburger, "Would you like a little taste of Mommy's?"
Erin nodded, an eager smile on her face. Mac grinned and obliged the little girl, who took a big bite and chewed, thoughtfully.
"Is that nice?" Mac asked, her eyes now on Harm, who was rolling his.
When Erin nodded, Mac gave a triumphant laugh.
"And do you want to try Daddy's?" she asked the child again.
The girl took a look at what Harm had and promptly shook her head.
Mac sat there laughing, while Harm grabbed the little girl and tickled her.
"Laugh all you want, jarhead," Harm smiled at Mac, "But I know where this child's loyalties lie; Erin, Angel, what are you going to be when you grown up?"
"Squid!" Erin announced, with glee.
"You are not!" Mac laughed then asked Erin, "Sweetie, who rules the military?"
"M'rine do!" she child giggled.
"And what do we sing?"
Erin, with Mac's prompting gave a perfect rendition of the Marine Corps Hymn and by the time that they were finished, Harm's mouth was hanging open.
"When did you teach her that?" Harm demanded, grinning.
"When you weren't home," Mac smiled back at him, then asked Erin, "And what did Mommy say about singing that when Daddy was around?"
The little girl mischievously put a finger to her lips and made a 'shhh' sound.
Harm just laughed and dragged the child onto his knee.
"What am I going to do with my two girls?"
Mac sat and looked at him, asking a silent question with her eyes.
He understood without having to ask her anything.
"Did Cresswell tell you anything about the search that he was doing, before we left?"
Mac nodded.
"Did he find anyone?"
Mac shook her head. Cresswell had been looking for next-of-kin to take custody of Erin.
"Did you say anything about what Erin's been calling the two of us? How close we've all gotten? About how the two of us have finally worked things out?"
"I didn't want to say anything until I'd discussed it with you…" Mac shook her head again.
Harm comprehended her unspoken questions;
'Do you want me?'
'Do you want Erin?'
'Do you want to keep on being a family, all three of us?'
Things would be very different in DC. But Harm was undeterred from seeking to preserve what he had gained, during their time here in California.
"Well, y'know, with my looks…" he began.
Mac only took a second to catch on and she continued, smiling.
"and my brains…"
Harm grinned, reaching out to take her hand in his as they completed the thought, together.
"She's perfect. We're perfect."
FIN