Disclaimer: the usual...
A/N: Thanks, as always, for the reviews, well-wishes and prayers for my upcoming surgery. I'm working hard to get to a comfortable stopping point in the next few days, hopefully another 2 or 3 chapters, but we'll see. As much as this fic has taken on a life of it's own, I'm almost as anxious as the rest of you to see what comes next, LOL!
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Chapter 22:
"You ready for this?" Mac asked Harm as they walked through the parking lot at Bethesda. They'd been taking childbirth classes for about a month, and this was the night most all of the dads dreaded - birth film night.
"As ready as I'm gonna get" replied Harm. "I think I'll do OK, I'm just not real thrilled at the idea of watching a strange woman give birth on camera."
"You'll do fine" said Mac, "and besides, if you can't watch it on camera, how will you be able to watch it in real life?"
"Good point, babe" said Harm. "I want to make sure you understand, though, that no matter how much this film tonight may gross me out or make me cringe, I'm gonna be right there with you through every second of everything."
"I know, babe" she replied, taking his hand in hers. "You'll be the perfect labor coach - you'll be so good at it that all the other laboring moms will be jealous."
"Well, I dunno about that" said Harm, a sheepish smile on his face.
"I do" said Mac, smiling at the thought of how amazing Harm would be when that big day arrived.
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"Here goes nothing" whispered Harm to Mac as the instructor started the film.
"You'll be fine" said Mac, rubbing his back just a little.
The film lasted just under an hour, and ultimately proved to be every bit as educational as both Mac and Harm had hoped. He cringed at the "up close and personal" pushing scenes, and she shuddered more than once at the screams and cries the mother was voicing, and they both had tears in their eyes as the baby was laid in his mother's arms. They were glad they'd been given the opportunity to see what childbirth was really like. They talked about it as they drove to Beltway Burger afterwards.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be" said Harm.
"How so?" asked Mac.
"I can't really put my finger on it" he said, "but it just wasn't all that bad."
"Yeah, I must admit the screaming had me a little freaked out" said Mac.
"Keep in mind that woman wasn't a Marine, babe" said Harm, hoping to reassure his sweetheart that she'd do just fine with labor and delivery. "You're tougher than she is!"
"I know I'm tough, Harm" she said, "but I also know that this will be the single most physically painful thing I've ever experienced. I'll do the best I can, but…"
"…but if you need drugs, you'll get them and that's that!" said Harm, finishing her sentence as he often did.
"I really wanna do it naturally, though" said Mac, "drugs will be the absolute last resort, and I plan to make sure the nurses know that."
"Don't worry" said Harm, "you and I will have all this stuff figured out well beforehand. We'll make sure Dr. Mianni knows that you want to go without drugs and we'll make sure your nurses know not to ask you if you want any."
"Thanks, babe" she said. "You're so good at keeping me from freaking out about the little things."
"I try" said Harm, a simple smile on his face.
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As they drove back to Mac's place after finishing their snack, Mac did some thinking…
"Hey" she asked Harm, "why don't you stay awhile tonight and we can start working on our birth plan?"
"Tonight? Why the hurry?" he asked.
"It's not that I'm in a hurry, per se" said Mac, "I've just got a lot of things fresh on my mind after the film and I think it'd be a good time to start writing things down."
"Makes sense" said Harm.
"Besides, I'm almost 30 weeks along" said Mac. "The next couple months will go by fast, and we need to have this stuff figured out."
"You're right" said Harm, "we do."
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When they arrived at her place, Mac kicked her shoes off and grabbed a legal pad and a pen before getting comfy on the couch.
"You want anything to drink?" Harm asked her from the kitchen.
"I'm fine for now, babe" she replied, "thanks."
Harm grabbed a bottle of water for himself and joined Mac on the couch.
"OK" he said, "where do we start?"
"Let's make a list of everything that's important to us, and from there we can organize it." said Mac.
"Well, you already said you don't want any drugs if you can avoid them" said Harm, "so we can put that down."
"Right" she said, putting her pen in motion.
"Who will we want in the delivery room with us?" asked Harm. "I have an opinion on this one, but I want to hear yours first."
"I'm thinking of asking Harriet to be in there" said Mac, "and of course Mattie will be there. Other than that, I can't think of anyone. What's your opinion on it?"
"Well, I'm sure if we wanted my mom to be there, she'd be happy to" said Harm, "but if not I know she'd understand."
"Well let's hope she understands" said Mac, "because as much as we both love your mother, I don't want her in there."
"OK" said Harm, "not a problem."
"I know this sounds mean" said Mac, "but I want it to be as small and intimate as possible. I'm only thinking of asking Harriet because she's been through it before and I think she'd be a big help, and Mattie would be crushed if she didn't get to be in there with us, but aside from that everyone else can wait until we're ready for visitors."
"That sounds fine to me, babe" said Harm. "They've all waited this long, a little longer won't hurt any of them."
"Let's see….what else…." said Mac. "Oh yeah, how involved in the delivery do you want to be?"
"Involved?" asked Harm.
"Yeah, as in do you want to stay at the head of the bed and hold my hand" asked Mac, "or do you want to be down where the action is?"
"I think I'll leave the delivery to the professionals!" answered Harm.
"OK, do you want the doctor to announce the sex of the baby, do you want her to hold the baby up so we both see it at the same time, or do you want to be the one to announce it?" Mac asked.
"Whoa, Mac" said Harm, "slow down - that's a lot of questions all at once!"
"Not really" she said, "it just depends on what you want."
"Well, what do you want?" he asked.
"I'd love for you to be the one who announces it" said Mac, "but if you don't want to, that's OK, too."
"No, if that's what you want, that's what I'll do" said Harm. "It would be pretty cool, huh?"
"Very much so" said Mac.
"Alright, what else should we think about?" asked Harm.
"Oh yeah" said Mac, "no pacifiers, and unless there's absolutely no way around it, no bottles either."
"Why would they have to give the baby a bottle?" asked Harm. "Aren't they just supposed to bring it to you when it's hungry?"
"Yeah" said Mac, "but if something unforeseen happens with either me or the baby and I'm not able to breastfeed every time, they'd have to use a bottle."
"Well, let's hope that's not even an issue" said Harm.
"I know" said Mac, "hopefully everything will go the way it's supposed to and I'll be able to feed the baby a few minutes after it's born and every time afterwards."
"Well, I'll do everything I can to make sure that happens, OK?" he said.
"I know you will" she replied, "you know how important it is to me."
"Yes, I do" said Harm, "and that makes it important to me." Mac leaned over and kissed him.
"What else can you think of?" she asked him.
"Nothing really" he answered. "We covered the drugs, the list of who we do and don't want in there with us, the bottle issue, I don't really know of anything else, babe."
"OK, well this is a good start anyway" said Mac as she put the pen and pad down on the coffee table. "We've got a little while yet to finalize everything, so we can keep thinking."
"Sure" said Harm, fighting back a yawn.
"Oh, babe" said Mac, "you're tired, huh?"
Harm nodded, giving into that yawn. "I was awake real early this morning and it's catching up with me. I should head home."
"You sure you wouldn't rather stay here?" asked Mac. "Are you awake enough to drive?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, babe" replied Harm. "You worry too much."
"No more so than you worry about me" retorted Mac as she playfully poked him in the chest.
"I suppose not" said Harm as he stood up and turned towards the door.
"Call me when you get home" she said.
"Count on it" said Harm, leaning down to kiss her goodnight.
"Good night to you, too, little one" he added, patting Mac's tummy just a bit.
"I love you" said Mac.
"I love you, too" replied Harm.
Mac closed the door behind him, and started towards the bedroom to change into her pajamas. She went through her usual bedtime routine of removing her make-up, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, and peeing one last time in hopes she wouldn't need to go again for at least an hour. She climbed into bed and snuggled deep beneath the covers to relax as she waited for Harm's call.
"Hey, little one!" she said as the baby gave her a noticeable kick in the ribs. "It's night time, you're supposed to do this during waking hours, ok?" The baby was still for a moment, then kicked her again.
"OK, you're very definitely your father's child!" said Mac. "Not that that's at all a bad thing, mind you" she added, putting her hand on her tummy. She smiled as the thought back to a few nights earlier when she'd stayed the night at Harm's apartment. He was sound asleep, and so was she until the baby woke her up with a few good kicks. She moved over as close to Harm as she could, put her tummy right against his back, and waited. Within moments, the baby kicked again, even harder than before, and Harm sat straight up in bed. She laughed heartily at the whole scene, but he didn't find it quite as amusing. Once he was awake, though, he rolled over and laid his hand on her tummy, and they spent the next half hour feeling their baby move. Mac was lost in her memories of that night when she suddenly realized it was past the time Harm should have called. Way past. She began to worry just as the phone rang. By the second ring, she'd grabbed the receiver.
"You had me worried, flyboy!" she said.
"Um, hello, is this Colonel Sarah Mackenzie?" said the voice on the calling end.
"Yes, who is this!" said Mac, beginning to get scared.
"Ma'am, my name is Sergeant Connolly" said the caller, "I'm with the Highway Patrol. I'm calling to notify you that Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. has been involved in an accident and is being taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital."
"Oh, God, no!" cried Mac. "What happened? Is he OK! Is he alive!"
"He is alive, ma'am" said the Sergeant, "but that's all the information I have regarding his condition. A car traveling in another lane lost control and crossed into the Commander's path and he had no time to avoid it. We looked in his wallet and found your name and number on his emergency contact card."
"I'm on my way!" said Mac, as the tears flowed.
"I'll radio the hospital to let them know you're coming, ma'am" said the Sergeant, "just tell the nurse at the ER desk who you are, and they'll fill you in on everything."
"Thank you, Sergeant" said Mac.
She hung up the phone, threw some clothes on and ran out the door.
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