A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad to see folks are still enjoying the story. It's a LOT longer than I thought it would be, but as long as even one person is interested enough to read it and review it, I'll keep writing. :)
Chapter 40:
"There" said Mac as she put the address on the last of the birth announcements. "Your turn, babe."
"OK" said Harm, pulling the stack of envelopes closer and picking up the box of announcements.
"I'm so glad these are already filled out" he said as he took one from the box and looked at it. They'd looked through several stationery catalogs in the first week Ainsley had been home, and eventually found the perfect announcement. It was a 5 inch by 7 inch white card with a single, long-stemmed pink rose across the bottom. All the printing was done in pink, a few shades darker than the rose, and read as follows:
God's most beautiful thoughts bloom into children…
Ainsley Rose Rabb
September 14, 2005
12:44 a.m.
8 pounds, 12 ounces
22 inches
Harmon Rabb, Jr. and Sarah Mackenzie
"Oh, you and me both" agreed Mac as she walked towards the bathroom. "There's no way I'd want to sit and hand write all those!"
"They came out really nice" he said, "I like them." As he put an announcement into the first envelope in the stack, Ainsley let out a cry from the swing. Harm set the cards aside and went to get her.
"Hey, baby girl" he said as he turned the swing off, unbuckled the straps and picked her up, "let's go change you, OK?" Mac heard the baby's cries in the nursery on her way back from the bathroom.
"Is daddy torturing you again, Ainsley?" asked Mac in a gentle voice, bending down over the changing table and kissing her little girl's forehead.
"Oh, yeah" laughed Harm as he snapped up Ainsley's outfit, "these diaper changes are just too horrible for words!" He picked his daughter up, and almost immediately her cries stopped.
"No, she's not a 'daddy's girl' at all" kidded Mac. Harm just smiled and planted a kiss on Ainsley's cheek.
"Here, go see mommy" he said, "so daddy can finish stuffing envelopes." Mac took the baby, and the three of them returned to the living room.
"How many of these are there again?" asked Harm as he thumbed through the envelopes.
"Only nineteen" replied Mac. "I ordered twenty, kept one for the baby book, and the rest are going to family and close friends."
"So in essence" said Harm, "everyone who's getting one of these already knows she's here?"
"Yeah" replied Mac, "but I wasn't about to not send out announcements, I mean…"
"Oh, I wasn't implying that we shouldn't send them!" exclaimed Harm, "I just think it's funny how they're called 'announcements' and yet everyone who's getting one already knows everything that's being announced."
"Good point" laughed Mac, "but hey, it's fun!"
"Indeed it is" said Harm. "Can you believe she's already almost two weeks old?"
"Not at all" answered Mac. "In some ways it seems like she's been here forever, and in other ways it's as if she was just born yesterday."
"I was thinking the same thing, babe" said Harm, busily working his way through the piles in front of him. "Do you feel like it's getting easier yet, I mean the lack of sleep and all the feedings and everything?"
"I think so" she replied, looking down at Ainsley laying in her lap "or if it's not, I think we're at least getting more used to it. You?"
"I dunno" said Harm. "I feel like it's easier now than the first few days we had her home, but maybe you've got it right, maybe we're just getting used to it now."
Ainsley began to fuss again, and without looking at the clock, Mac knew it was feeding time.
"Can you toss me the pillow, please, babe?" she asked Harm as she reached underneath her T-shirt and unfastened one side of her bra.
"How about I hand it to you instead" he said with a smile, picking up the nursing pillow from beside the overstuffed chair.
"That'll work, too" replied Mac. She took the pillow from him and tucked it beneath the baby, then brought her close and helped her latch on.
"Where's Mattie?" asked Mac.
"Oh, she and Jen went to a movie" said Harm, "she should be back before dinnertime."
"OK" replied Mac, rocking Ainsley gently. "Looks like you're almost done with those."
"Yep, justa fewleft" replied Harm. "Then I'll take them to the post office."
"That'd be great" said Mac, "hopefully she'll fall asleep after she finishes here and I can get the grocery list written. We're out of almost everything."
"I can write the list" offered Harm, grabbing a pad and pen from the table. "Just tell me what goes on it."
"Umm…" thought Mac, "we need milk, orange juice, white bread and wheat bread, yogurt."
"What flavor yogurt?" asked Harm.
"Dutch apple" replied Mac, "and some strawberry."
"OK" he said as he wrote the flavors down. "What else?"
"Bananas, grapes, plums" continued Mac, "some caffeine-free root beer, stuff for a salad, peanut butter for Mattie."
"Creamy or chunky?" asked Harm.
"Creamy" said Mac, "she says the chunky kind tastes like it has bugs in it, where she got that idea I'll never know!"
Harm laughed. "Yeah, she's a funny one sometimes. Is that everything?"
"I think so" said Mac, "but you can look through the kitchen and see what I may have forgotten."
"Will do, babe" said Harm, giving her a kiss as he walked towards the kitchen.
"Did you find anything I forgot?" Mac asked him when he returned a few minutes later and tossed the pen on the table.
"Not much" he replied, "string cheese, Boca Burgers and pretzel sticks."
"I knew I wasn't remembering it all" said Mac, "but I didn't do too bad."
"Not bad at all" said Harm, picking up the stack of birth announcements. "I'll mail these on my way to the store, I should be back in about an hour and a half."
"We'll be here" said Mac, gently patting Ainsley's back to help her burp. He gave them both a kiss before grabbing his keys, making sure he had his wallet and walking out the front door.
"You did it again, little girl" said Mac when she noticed the baby had fallen asleep without burping. "Oh well, no use in fighting it, huh?" She carried Ainsley over to the baby swing and laid her in, put the straps around her and turned it on the lowest speed. She then laid herself down upon the couch, snuggled beneath the throw blanket and drifted off.
"Hey Harm" Mac called from Ainsley's room the next morning.
"Yeah" he replied.
"Can you come in here for a minute, please?" she answered.
"Coming" he replied as he put the newspaper down and got up from the couch. Once in the nursery, he found Ainsley laying in her crib and Mac standing in front of the closet, a look of deep thought on her face.
"I can't decide what outfit she should wear today" said Mac, "can you help me pick one?"
"Sure, babe" said Harm, putting his hands on her shoulders from behind and giving them a gentle squeeze. "How dressed up do you want her, or do you not know that either?"
"I don't know that either" said Mac, laughing a little at the situation. "I know it seems silly to spend this much effort on an outfit for her when all we're doing is taking her to meet Dr. Kendall, but…"
"But you want her to look as beautiful to him as she does to us" said Harm, finishing Mac's statement.
"Well" said Mac, "she'll never look to anyone else the way she does to us, but yeah, I'd like the doctor and his staff to gush over her just a little."
"Or a lot!" laughed Harm. He pulled a yellow dress with a big sunflower on the front from the closet and held it up. "What about this one?" he asked Mac.
"Maybe" she replied, "I'm also thinking about this one here" she said, pulling out the blue dress and headband that Jen had bought.
"There's this one, too" said Harm as he took Ainsley's "home from the hospital" outfit, the little red romper with the watermelons on it and the matching hat, from the closet and added it to the mix. "We already know she looks cute in it" he added with a smile.
"Harm, she'd look cute in a burlap sack" said Mac, "so basing our selection on what she'd look cute in won't help any!"
"Good point" said Harm. "OK, I think we've got enough semi-finalists here, let's pick one." They stood together, looking at each of the three outfits for several moments.
"Let's go with….this one" said Mac, picking up the sunflower dress. "It's bright and cheery and I like it."
"Works for me" replied Harm, picking up the other two outfits and returning them to the closet. "You want me to dress her?"
"She needs a bath first" said Mac, "and since her belly button is finally healed up, she can have a tub bath."
"Hey, that's great" said Harm, clearly excited about his little girls first "real" bath. He walked over to the crib and picked her up.
"Guess what, Ainsley?" he said to her, "you get a big girl bath today!" The baby stared at him for a moment before she started to cry.
"Oh, hey" he said, lifting her to his shoulder and rubbing her back, "it'll be fun, you'll see. Your mommy over there, she loves baths, right, mommy?"
"Right" answered Mac, "but I think what miss Ainsley wants right now is to eat, so why don't I take care of that while you get her bath stuff set out?"
"Sure, babe" he said, kissing the baby's head as he handed her to Mac. "Is everything in our bathroom closet?"
"The baby tub is" replied Mac, "I think the soap and sponge are in the kitchen, which is probably the easiest place to do it today."
Harm looked in their bathroom closet, pulled out the baby bathtub and carried it to the kitchen. As Mac said, the baby soap and sponge were already in the kitchen, since they'd been doing Ainsley's sponge baths in there. He laid everything out and did a mental checklist.
"A towel…" said Harm to himself as he realized it was missing from the mix. "Hey Mac, where are all her towels?" he called out down the hall.
"There should be one in the basket of her laundry on top of the dryer" answered Mac.
"OK" said Harm. Going to the laundry room, he found several baby towels in the basket and grabbed one.
"Let me know when you want me to fill the tub" he said, stopping by the nursery on his way back with the towel.
"Go ahead and fill it, babe" replied Mac, "she's done eating and already burped."
"OK" said Harm. He returned to the kitchen and turned on the hot water faucet. He played with the mix of hot and cold water until he got it just right, then he filled the baby tub. Just as he was about to call to Mac that everything was ready, she appeared in the kitchen with a diaper-clad Ainsley.
"Hey, perfect timing" said Harm, "I think we're all set."
"Here, if you'll hold her" said Mac, "I'll take her diaper off and you can lay her in the tub."
"Sure" said Harm. He held her in his hands, one behind her head and the other underneath her legs while Mac removed the diaper. Her eyes opened wide as he laid her gently into the bath water.
"Ooh, what is it, baby girl?" cooed Mac, "this is something new, isn't it?"
"Hey, we need to get pictures of this" said Harm as he picked up the baby sponge and dipped it into the water.
"Oh yeah, definitely" said Mac, "I'll be right back." She returned moments later with the camera and found Harm soaping up the baby as if he was an old hand at it. She snapped a picture before saying anything.
"You're pretty good at that, sailor" said Mac with a grin.
"Thanks" he replied, blushing a little.
"How's she doing, does she like it?" asked Mac.
"She's not too sure I don't think" answered Harm. "She hasn't cried yet, but she's made some disgruntled faces."
"She's probably getting cold" said Mac.
"I'm thinking once I get her all rinsed off" said Harm, "we can wrap her in the towel to keep her warm while we wash her hair."
"Good idea" agreed Mac. She stood next to Harm and marveled at how expertly he was bathing their child. As with the diapering, if she didn't know he'd never done it before, she never would have guessed. She took a few more pictures, smiling to herself at each precious image.
"OK, baby girl" said Harm as he finished rinsing her off, "let's get you wrapped up nice and warm." He lifted her from the tub and laid her on the towel, drying her off a little before wrappingit all around her.
"I'll hold her over the tub" he said to Mac, "you can wash her hair."
"Alright" said Mac. She turned the water on and made sure the temperature was safe, then rinsed out the sponge before wetting Ainsley's head with it.
"Shhh, baby" said Harm as Ainsley began to cry, "you're OK…" Mac poured a dab of baby shampoo on the sponge and worked it into a lather, then rubbed it into the baby's fine, dark hair.
"She's not liking this too much" said Mac, "mommy's going as fast as she can, sweetie." She rinsed out the sponge again, then rinsed the shampoo from the baby's head. She ran her fingers through Ainsley's hair to be sure no soap remained before turning the water off.
"Goodness, baby" said Harm, pulling the hood of the towel over the baby's head and lifting her to his shoulder, "that wasn't half as bad as you'd like us to think, I know it wasn't."
"You wanna dress her while I get myself ready?" asked Mac.
"Of course" replied Harm. "Come on, Ainsley Rose" he said, "let's go get you all dolled up." He walked back to the nursery and laid her on the changing table. He put her diaper on, then removed the little sunflower dress from it's hanger and carefully put it over her head, rolling her onto her tummy to fasten the buttons in back.
"I guess these come next, huh baby?" he asked as he rolled her back over and put the bloomers on over her diaper. He opened her top drawer and dug through her socks until he found a pair that matched the dress. They were the same shade of yellow, and had tiny white bows on the sides.
"There" he said as he folded the cuffs down on the socks so the bows showed properly. "All that's missing is the bow on top." He opened her top drawer again and found the small basket of bows and headbands that Mac had put in there.
"Lemme see…" he said to himself as he looked at the choices. He pulled out a couple and held them against Ainsley's dress, then put them back and pulled out a couple more.
"Ah-ha, perfect" he said when he came across a white headband with a big sunflower on it. He put it around the baby's head, then looked her over from top to bottom.
"I dare say mommy will be pleased" he said as he picked his daughter up off the changing table and kissed her little nose. "Let's go see, shall we?" He carried Ainsley into the master bedroom, where Mac was putting her make-up on.
"Well, what do you think, mommy?" he asked her, holding Ainsley up for Mac to get a good look at.
"Ohhh, she's adorable, Harm!" squealed Mac.
"Think the doctor's office folks will be impressed?" he asked.
"Oh, they'll have to be" said Mac, coming over to kiss the baby and then Harm. "She's entirely too cute! You did great, babe."
"Ah, like you said before" he replied, "she'd look cute in a burlap sack."
"Yeah" answered Mac, "but I can't think of many other brand new dads who could dress their daughters up as well as you just did. Like I said to you when I was in labor, don't sell yourself short."
Harm just smiled.
"I'm gonna go put her in the crib so I can get dressed" he said.
"That's fine" replied Mac.
"I was just gonna wear jeans and a nice shirt" he said when he returned, "is that OK?"
"Yeah" said Mac, "I can't wear what I'd like to quite yet, but at least I do have a dress that fits me that isn't a maternity dress!"
"I know you're happy about that, babe" said Harm as he pulled his jeans on.
"I really am" she replied, "you know, I waited so long for the chance to wear maternity clothes, and I'm so glad that I got that chance, but now I'm honestly ready to get back into my regular clothes."
"There's nothing wrong with that" he said, tucking his shirt in and buttoning his jeans. Mac finished in the bathroom and put her dress on.
"Can you zip this for me, please?" she asked Harm.
"Certainly" he replied. As he took the zipper pull between his fingers, he had a realization which made him smile.
"Hey" he said, "do you remember the last time you wore this dress?"
Mac knew exactly which time Harm was referring to, but she wanted to have a little fun with it. "I seem to have a vague recollection of that night, yes" answered Mac coyly. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason" said Harm, equally coy. "There, all zipped, babe."
"Thank you" said Mac, as she turned around and kissed Harm sweetly on the lips. The smile on her face told him she knew what he was thinking about, why he'd asked her if she recalled the last time she wore that dress. It was the dress she'd worn the night they were going to go out after their final appointment with Dr. Kendall earlier that day. Harm had arrived to pick her up, and she couldn't decide what to wear, eventually settling on that dress. She asked him to zip it for her, and minutes later he was unzipping it again... (A/N: see chapter 15 for the full story :) He wasn't about to let her get away that easy.
"Come here, you" he said, reaching out for her and pulling her close, kissing her passionately.
"Harm…"
"I know" he said softly, "this is as far as it can go for a few more weeks."
"So why…?"
"Because" he said, "I love you, Sarah." She felt her heart skip a beat every time he called her by her given name.
"I love you, too" she replied, kissing him once more, "but we should really get going, we're supposed to be there in half an hour."
"Understood" said Harm, straightening his shirt and checking his hair one last time. "Is the diaper bag packed?"
"Yeah" said Mac, "we just need to throw the camera back in there."
"OK" he said, "you get the camera and the bag, I'll get the baby." He walked into the nursery and saw that Ainsley had fallen asleep in her crib. He smiled, then reached down to pick her up, doing his best not to wake her.
"Now for the real trick" he whispered to himself as he knelt down to put her into her car seat. He laid her down gently, pulled the straps around her and buckled them, then laid a receiving blanket over her. He carried the seat out to the living room, where Mac was waiting by the door.
"All ready" he said.
"Let's go" replied Mac, and they headed to the car.
"Oh, I wanna see her!" exclaimed one of the nurses behind the reception desk at Dr. Kendall's office. She got up from her chair and leaned over the counter to get a good look at Ainsley, who was still sleeping in her seat. "She's beautiful! What's her name?"
"Ainsley Rose" said Harm.
"Awww, that's pretty!" said another nurse who'd come to see what all the fuss was about. "How old is she?"
"Almost two weeks" said Mac.
"We knew you were coming today" said the first nurse, "so be prepared for everyone in the office to come take a peek at her."
"That's not a problem at all" assured Harm, "we're happy to show her off!"
"Let me see if the doctor is in his office right now or if he's in with a patient" said the second nurse. She disappeared down the hall, and returned a few moments later.
"He said to bring you right on back" she said, "he's very excited to see you!" Harm and Mac followed the nurse down what had once been very familiar halls and into a room they'd been in no less than a dozen times.
"He'll be right in" said the nurse, taking one last look at the baby before she left. "Oh, she's just too pretty!"
"Thank you" said Mac. "We should take her out of the seat, babe" she said to Harm, "I want the doctor to hold her."
"OK" said Harm. He removed the blanket from atop the sleeping baby, unbuckled the straps and lifted her out of the seat. She stretched and squirmed, but settled right down again when her daddy held her close. Before long, there was a knock at the door, and in walked Dr. Kendall.
"Hello, Sarah" he said, reaching out to shake her hand.
"Hello" she replied.
"Commander" he said, offering Harm a handshake. "How are you?"
"Better than ever" said Harm.
"Glad to hear it" said the doctor. "This must be the little miracle here, huh?"
"She sure is" said Harm, "Ainsley Rose Rabb."
"What a sweetie" said Dr. Kendall. "May I?"
"Absolutely" said Mac. Harm handed the baby to the doctor, then stepped back and crossed his arms, the smile never leaving his face.
"She's what" asked the doctor, "two weeks old now?"
"Two weeks tomorrow" said Harm. "She was a couple days late."
"Aw, Ainsley" said the doctor, "tell daddy you weren't late, you came exactly when you were supposed to."
"Not a moment too soon!" said Mac with a laugh.
"Did you have a rough labor and delivery, Sarah?" asked the doctor.
"Rough enough for me" said Mac. "In reality it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I was in labor for almost 11 hours, no pain medication, and by the end I was begging them to cut me open."
"No pain meds" said the doctor, "that's commendable."
"Thanks" said Mac. "I did ask for them at one point, but when they checked me I was finally dilated to 10 and it was show time, so I didn't get any."
"She did great though" said Harm, "I was very proud of her."
"Well, I must say this little girl is absolutely beautiful" said the doctor as he looked down at Ainsley. "It took a lot of extra work to get her here, but I'd say it was well worth it."
"It was worth all we went through and then some" said Mac. "We'd love to get a picture with you for the baby book, if you wouldn't mind."
"Not at all" replied the doctor. "Let me have one of my nurses come in and take it, that way we can all be in it together."
"OK" said Mac as she fished the camera out of the diaper bag. Once the nurse came in, she handed her the camera and showed her how it worked, then went and stood beside Dr. Kendall, who was still holding Ainsley. Harm stepped in next to the doctor on the side opposite Mac.
"Everyone smile" said the nurse.
How could they do anything but smile…?
A/N: Next chapter coming soon...