Disclaimer: Not mine, wish they were...
A/N: Thanks for the reviews of the previous chapter. I'm dreaming of having a baby shower like theirs someday... :(
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Chapter 28:
"I had no idea I owned so much junk!" said Mac as she worked on packing the fifth box of items from the bookshelf.
"I know the feeling!" said Harm. "Remind me again why we're packing this stuff and not letting the movers do it for us?"
"Because" answered Mac, "I don't trust them to get it right. We're not packing everything ourselves, just the irreplaceable stuff."
"I do hope you're going to let them take care of all the baby stuff?" asked Harm.
"Most of it, yeah" replied Mac. "I've already boxed up the few things we're taking over ourselves, like the picture your mom gave us at the shower, the military bears, you know, things that we can't just run out and replace."
"That's fine, babe" said Harm, "I'm just glad you're not insisting we take everything else - this kid's already got a ton of stuff and it's not even born yet!"
"Getting close, though" smiled Mac, "only 6 more weeks."
"Didn't Dr. Mianni say it could be any time after 4 more weeks?" asked Harm. They'd seen her earlier that week, but he wasn't sure he was remembering correctly.
"Yeah, she did" replied Mac, "but I'm not actually due for another 6 weeks, and I just have a feeling this baby isn't going to come early."
"Never, know" said Harm, "I mean, the kid is half of each of us, that alone gives it a stubborn streak five miles wide. I'm betting it'll be born whenever it pleases, regardless of what it's 'supposed' to do."
"I can't argue with that!" said Mac with a laugh. "Ok, finally done with this stuff" she said as she taped up the last box of bookshelf items.
"Come sit down" said Harm, "you need to take it easy."
"I'll sit down if you do" she said. "You're not supposed to be doing too much either, you're not totally healed up yet."
"Ok, we'll take a little break" said Harm. "Want a drink or anything?"
"Water, please" she answered.
"Coming right up" said Harm as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water.
"So, what's left for us to pack at your place?" Mac asked him after she took a big drink.
"Not much" replied Harm, "just some pictures, my guitar stuff, things like that."
"Well, we're pretty much done here" said Mac. "Why don't we head to your place now and get the last little bit of packing done, then we can leave the rest to the movers?"
"Works for me" said Harm. "If we get all of our packing done tonight, that'll free up tomorrow to finish painting the nursery." They never intended to be moving this late in Mac's pregnancy, but there were a few delays in closing on the house, and then Harm's accident set them back even further.
"I can't wait to see the nursery all put together" said Mac excitedly. "When is the baby furniture being delivered?"
"Thursday" answered Harm. "I didn't want to schedule it too early in the week in case something comes up and I don't get the painting finished as soon as I'm hoping to."
"Good thinking" agreed Mac. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yep, let's do it" said Harm as he stood up and offered her a hand getting off the couch.
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…at Harm's apartment…
"How come I've never seen these before?" asked Mac as she looked through a photo album she'd found underneath Harm's end table. It was full of pictures of Harm with his parents, family vacations from before his dad went MIA, and of Christmas 1968, the last one they'd spent together.
"I don't look at them all that much" he replied in a somewhat somber tone. Mac closed the album and put it in the box, then went over to Harm and embraced him tightly.
"I'm sorry" she said, "I didn't mean to upset you."
"Oh, you didn't, babe" he assured her. "It's important that you see what's in that album and whatever else I have like that, it's just hard for me to look at it much is all."
"When the baby is older, will you show him or her those pictures?" asked Mac.
"Definitely" said Harm. "I'll tell the baby all about my dad, you can count on that."
"I'm glad to hear it" said Mac, standing on her tiptoes to give her man a kiss.
"What would you like for dinner?" he asked her. "I'll run to the store and get whatever you'd like."
"I'd love a chicken salad sandwich" said Mac. "The kind you made me before, with grapes and celery in it."
"I can do that" said Harm. "I'll figure out what I want when I get there." He grabbed his keys, kissed Mac and headed out the door. By the time he returned, she'd packed the rest of his photo albums, and put together a box for his guitar stuff.
"I didn't know how you wanted any of that packed" she told him, "so I decided to leave it for you."
"Ok, babe, thanks" he said as he began chopping the celery for her salad.
"What'd you get for yourself?" she asked him, sneaking a handful of grapes from the colander in the sink.
"Broccoli and cheese with rice" he said. "Looks really good."
"Yeah, it does" she agreed, popping grapes in her mouth one by one.
"How long until its ready?" she asked.
"Half an hour or so" he replied. "Why, you hungry or something?"
"Something like that" answered Mac. "We've worked hard today, especially given our conditions."
"Indeed" said Harm as he put his dinner in the oven and set the timer. "Lemme get this guitar stuff packed and out of the way while that's all cooking."
"Is there anything else in this entire apartment that you can think of that we need to pack and take over ourselves?" asked Mac as she sat on the sofa.
"I don't think so" answered Harm after a moment of thought. "I mean, all that's left is the household stuff and the furniture."
"Ok, cool" said Mac. "After we eat, we can walk through and double check though, I don't wanna miss anything that's better off coming with us than going on the moving van."
"Agreed" said Harm.
About 10 minutes later, the timer beeped in the kitchen. "Hey, dinner time" he said.
"Bring it on!" said a very hungry Mac. They sat down to a relaxing and relatively quiet dinner, since both of them were exceptionally hungry from the hard days work.
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"That was delicious, babe" said Mac as she finished the last bite of her sandwich. "The balance between the grapes and the celery was perfect."
"I'm glad it was to your liking, my dear" replied Harm with a smile.
"How was your broccoli stuff?" she asked.
"Really good" he replied, "if you like that kind of stuff."
"Well, let's finish up here and take a walk through the place and see if we need to pack anything else" said Mac, finishing her last sips of iced tea.
"OK" said Harm as he took their empty plates into the kitchen. "I guess we'll start in here?"
"Yeah" said Mac, following him into the kitchen. "I doubt there's anything in here we can't trust the movers to take care of."
"You're probably right" agreed Harm. "Next." They walked into the living room and looked over the tables, the book cases and on the walls and didn't find anything they'd missed. From there, they went down the hallway, Mac going past the bathroom while Harm stopped at it.
"You don't wanna look in here?" he asked her.
Mac laughed. "Unless you've got an attachment to a bottle of shampoo that I'm unaware of, I don't think there's anything valuable in the bathroom, babe."
"Silly me" said Harm with a smile, "what was I thinking?" He caught up with Mac in his bedroom.
"I guess we should double check the closet" he said. "I think I got all the important stuff out of there already, but let's look anyway." He stepped into he closet and carefully perused everything inside.
"Nope, Mac" he said, "all I see are clothes, shoes, uniforms and a bit of junk, nothing the movers can't take."
"OK, I guess that's it then" she said. "We're officially packed - well, as packed as we're going to get ourselves anyway."
"Yeah, and it's only…8:30" he said, looking at his watch. "What do you wanna do with the rest of the evening?"
"I dunno" said Mac, "got any ideas?"
"Yeah, one" he said.
"Movie?" asked Mac.
"Nope."
"Work on the birth plan?"
"Nuh-uh."
"What then?" she asked.
"This." He lifted her face towards his own, and placed the most romantic of kisses on her lips.
"I see" said Mac. "Can two play this game?" she asked.
"By all means" said Harm. Mac returned his kiss with an equally passionate one, and they didn't separate until their bodies hit the bed.
"Are you sure you're OK with this?" whispered Mac as her fingers circled the button on his jeans. In times past, it'd been him asking that of her, but being the first time since his accident they'd gotten this far, she was concerned about hurting him.
Harm nodded. "You?" It didn't matter how many times the doctor told him it was OK, he couldn't help but ask.
Mac also nodded, looking deep into his sapphire eyes. He slipped his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. He reached for the hem of her shirt and carefully pulled it up over her head.
"You're so beautiful" he whispered as he kissed her neck over and over.
"Mmmmmm…" said Mac, "you know what that does to me."
"What, this?" he quietly teased as he kissed up the side of her neck and all around her ear.
"Yes…" purred Mac.
"Yes, I know" he softly replied. He continued kissing her neck as the remainder of their clothing met with the floor.
"I know what this does, too" he said as he began massaging her foot, slowly moving up, his action coming to a near halt the closer he got to the top of her leg.
Mac took a deep breath. "Don't you dare stop there, flyboy!"
"Have I ever?" he asked, moving his attention to her face and kissing her tenderly.
"Then why are you teasing me like that?" she cooed.
He whispered in her ear. "'Cause it drives you wild."
"Two can play that game, too" she said slyly. She rolled onto her side and with her finger began making small circles all up and down his upper body.
"Maaaac…"
"Just returning the tease" she said.
He reached out for her hand, took it in his own and kissed each of her fingers.
"Enough teasing" he whispered…
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A/N: I know that's considerably more "racy" than the other romantic interludes in the story have been, but after the dreadful ending to "Fit For Duty" the other night who does that blonde doc think she is, the next Jordan Parker, I was determined to write some REAL romance between our favorite couple. Harm and Mac FOREVER! ;)
Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming soon...!