Disclaimer: None of the characters from JAG belong to me....
A/N: Once again, I apologize for the delay in posting the new chapter. Aside from my own health issues right now and my own impending infertility surgery, my grandmother very severely injured her eye the other night, and my whole family has spent all week dealing with that. She may be blind in thay eye, she may even lose it and end up with a glass eye, it's that severe and it's taken up all my free time. However, it was nice to come home tonight and lose myself in writing, so here's the latest, I hope you like it. Oh yes, as far as there not actually being any fraternization improperities with Harm and Mac being together (see the reviews for details on that- thanks, Lindy!!!) , I didn't know that, so for the purposes of this story, we'll say it's technically a no-no for them to date. I'm still working on what Creswell's decision will be...
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Chapter 15:
"How's my girl today?' asked Harm, peeking his head into Mac's office.
"Fine" she replied, "a little nauseous, but I'm quite used to that part now." She was 14 weeks along, and while she'd read that morning sickness usually lets up around the start of the second trimester, she wasn't among the members of that blessed statistic.
"Can I get you anything - ginger ale, saltines?" asked Harm, wishing he could take away every ounce of her queasiness.
"No thanks, I've got plenty of goodies stashed in here." She opened her lower right desk drawer to reveal a sundry of crackers, carbonated drinks, hard candies and the like.
"I'd say so - you could open a snack bar outta there!" laughed Harm.
"Watch it, flyboy!" said Mac, "I may be pregnant, but I can still drop-kick your six into the middle of next week!"
"Whoa - hormone alert!" Harm thought to himself. "I'm sure you could, Mac, there's no doubt in my mind about that. I'm gonna go get some work done, you know where to find me if you need anything."
"Uh-huh" said Mac as she leaned her head back to kiss him. They still tried very hard to maintain proper office decorum, but since everyone knew about their relationship and about the baby, they didn't worry quite so much about the occasional, discreet show of affection.
"Hey, our final appointment with Dr. Kendall is this Friday, right?" asked Harm on his way out the door.
"Yep, it is" replied Mac. "Hard to believe it's been this long already."
"I know" said Harm, "it's going by fast."
It really was.
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"Finally, it's Friday" said Mac as she got dressed. It had been a long week work-wise, made longer by the anticipation of their final appointment with the doctor who'd helped make their dream a reality. Mac was looking forward to being released from Dr. Kendall's care into the capable charge of her OB/GYN, Dr. Mianni. She adored Dr. Kendall, but she felt that once she was released and was only seeing Dr. Mianni, she might begin to feel like a "normal" pregnant woman.
"Knock, knock" said a familiar voice at her apartment door.
"In here, babe" called Mac. Harm was there to pick her up for the appointment, which was early in the day, and they'd go to work from there.
"Good morning, beautiful" said Harm as he walked into Mac's bathroom and kissed her on the back of her neck. "Good morning, little one" he added, bending down to kiss Mac's belly. Mac loved it when he did that. She couldn't wait for the day when she'd get to see him with the baby, she knew it'd be magical.
"Let's go, I don't wanna be late" said Mac as she took Harm's hand and headed towards the front door.
"Yes, ma'am!" said Harm, smiling at how adorable his lady love looked in her maternity uniform. He felt as if he'd been waiting forever to see that, and now that it was actually right before his eyes, it was just as wonderful as he'd always known it would be.
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Their appointment wentvery well. Dr. Kendall did all the usual stuff and one last ultrasound, as much for Harm and Mac's enjoyment as anything, and to give them another little photo for the baby book. They had become one of his very favorite couples, and while he was a little sad to see them go, he was overjoyed that the pregnancy was going so well and that the time had come to release Mac's care to Dr. Mianni.
"We can't thank you enough for all you did for us" said Harm as the appointment drew to an end.
"It was my pleasure, Commander" replied the doctor, "you and Sarah have been through a lot, and you surely deserve this."
"Thank you for everything" said Mac with a tear in her eye.
"You're very welcome, Sarah" said Dr. Kendall. "Promise me you'll stop by with the baby, OK?"
"Count on it" said Mac. With that, she and Harm headed down the hall to check out one last time. When they were finished, they decided to take the elevator up to Dr. Mianni's office and make their 16-week appointment with her. Dr. Kendall had faxed all of Mac's records over already, so they didn't run into any problems setting things up. With all that settled, it was time to head to work.
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"Hey Bud, come here" said Harm as he walked past Bud in the bullpen.
"Sure, sir" replied Bud as he followed Harm into his office. "Can I help you with anything?"
"No, I want to show you something" replied Harm, pulling the ultrasound photo from that morning out of his briefcase, where he'd put it for safe keeping. He looked at it again for just a moment, smiled, and handed it to Bud.
"Wow, sir" said Bud as he looked at the photo, "that's so cool. I remember when Harriet was pregnant with all of our kids, and these were always some of our favorite times, ultrasound days."
"Yeah, it's so amazing that we get to watch our kids grow from the very beginning" said Harm proudly. "I'm really looking forward to the later ones where it'll actually look like a baby and not some obscure ink pattern."
"Oh yes" replied Bud, "the ones where you can make out the arms and legs and everything, those are even more amazing than I can tell you."
"Fatherhood is really something you have to experience to understand, isn't it?" Harm asked.
"Definitely, sir" replied Bud, "and I know you'll find it one of the best experiences of your whole life."
"I know it will be" said Harm. "Aside from finally making Mac the center of my life, it's the one thing I feel I've waited all my life to do." Bud smiled and nodded, he totally knew what Harm was talking about.
Bud handed the ultrasound picture back to Harm, and Harm looked at it once more before taking it down the hall so Mac could show it off to all the girls.
"Here you go, babe" he said as he laid the picture on her desk.
"Oh, thanks" she replied, "did you get to show it to Bud?"
"Yep, I did" answered Harm, "he thought it was cool."
"It is cool" said Mac, "in so many wonderful ways." She looked at Harm and smiled.
"Gosh, she's just too gorgeous for words…." he thought to himself.
"Hey, how about we go out tonight?" asked Harm. "Nothing fancy, just a nice dinner maybe?"
"That sounds wonderful" replied Mac, "where do you wanna go?"
"Your choice" he said, knowing that she was somewhat limited in the things she could tolerate eating, smelling, watching someone else eat, etc…
"How about that new salad bar place?" suggested Mac. It was totally unlike her to want a meal made up of "rabbit food", but since she'd been pregnant, it tasted really good.
"I'm in" said Harm, secretly thrilled that for once she didn't want to take him to a steakhouse or a burger place. "We'll go home and change after work, and I'll pick you up around 6:15, OK?"
"Consider it a date" said Mac. With that, they kissed one another before Harm made his way back down the hall. Mac watched as he left, and thought to herself that he was without a doubt the most wonderful man on earth….and he was hers.
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Harm arrived at Mac's place shortly after 6:00. It wasn't like him to be early, but once in awhile, he surprised everyone, including himself.
"You're early" said Mac as she let him in, "I'm not quite ready yet." She'd done her make-up and hair, but was wearing her bathrobe as she was having a hard time finding something to wear that she actually felt comfortable in.
"I take this to mean we need to get you some dressy-casual maternity clothes, huh?" said Harm as he sat on the edge of Mac's bed and watched her flip through her closet.
"I think it does" replied Mac. "I've got a few things, but nothing really jumps out at me tonight for some reason."
"You look beautiful in everything, so just choose whatever you feel like wearing, and it'll be fine" said Harm, trying to help her out. Mac went back through her clothes again, and chose a long, cotton dress with an empire waist. It wasn't a maternity dress, but it was roomy enough that it would fit her and she'd be comfortable, so she went with it.
"I guess this will do" she said as she took it off the hanger.
"It'll do nicely" said Harm, "it's really pretty, I like it."
"Thanks" said Mac as she stepped into it.
"I'll get that" said Harm as he stood up to help Mac with the zipper on the back of her dress. She could usually get it herself, but being the gentleman he was, he decided she needed help. He zipped the dress, then leaned down and kissed the back of her neck, ever-so-softly.
"What was that for?" asked Mac, her tone one of pleasant surprise.
"For being you" answered Harm as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck again. "You get more beautiful every day, Mac, and I love you so much, I want you to know that."
Mac turned around to face Harm, his arms still wrapped around her. "I love you so much, too" she said, "and I'm so glad we're having this baby." She put her arms around him and looked into his eyes.
He leaned down and gave her a long, tender kiss. He was completely lost in the moment until he felt her hands move from the middle of his back down to his waist and begin untucking his shirt.
"Mac…." he whispered, "are you sure?"
"Mm-hmm" she said quietly as she started unbuttoning his shirt.
"The baby…?" questioned Harm.
"Baby's fine" answered Mac as she toyed with his belt buckle.
"I just don't wanna hurt either of you" said Harm softly. They hadn't done anything since Mac got pregnant, and even though Dr. Kendall had assured them it was just fine, he was really concerned.
"You won't, I promise" whispered Mac. "I'll tell you if it hurts at all, OK?"
Harm nodded his head, "OK." He was still concerned, but after all, the doctor did say it was fine, and they hadn't had a moment this passionate in a long time.
He unzipped the dress Mac had just put on, and let it fall to the floor. "Wow, you're so beautiful" he said to her as he laid back on the bed and she stood before him, clothed only in her lingerie, her condition far more obvious than when she was clothed.
"Thank you" she said quietly as she slid into bed next to him and began kissing him like the world was ending at the stroke of midnight.
"You know," said Harm softly, temporarily breaking away from the kiss, "this means 2 things."
"What are they?" asked Mac.
"One, we're gonna miss dinner" he said.
"We'll get dinner later, don't worry" said Mac. "What's the other?"
"For once" he answered, "you actually have an excuse to be on top."
"You bet I do, flyboy" she replied, and as her nearly bare body straddled his, they picked up where that amazing kiss had left off.
Afterwards, they laid in Mac's bed, wrapped up in her silky satin sheets.
"I can't wait till we can feel the baby move" said Harm as he gently rubbed his hand on Mac's tummy.
"I know, me either" she replied. "I should be able to feel it in another 6 weeks or so, give or take a week."
"How long till I'll be able to feel it?" asked Harm.
"I'm not sure, shouldn't be much after I do" answered Mac. "We can sit on the couch in the evenings and just feel the baby move, doesn't that sound like fun?"
"Yeah, it does" answered Harm, "it'll just seem so much more real I think, right?"
"Oh, believe me" said Mac, "when I'm throwing my breakfast up or trying to find clothes that fit me, it's very real!"
"I know, babe, I wish I could take away all your discomfort" said Harm.
"I know if it was possible, you'd do it in a second" replied Mac, "just one of the reasons I love you so much."
Harm kissed her atop her head, "I love you, too."
"How about we get dressed and go find someplace to have dinner?" said Mac, "your child and I are starving."
"Sounds good to me" replied Harm, "where do you want to go?"
"The baby wants a sub sandwich" said Mac with a smile.
"Oh boy, the kid's minus 6 months old and already making dinner requests" laughed Harm, "we're in trouble!"
"Yeah, we are" said Mac, "but it's gonna be so totally worth it."
A/N: I thought we needed some extra-special romance in this chapter. Next chapter coming as soon as I can get it done!!