A/N: I don't think I've said THANKS enough for all the awesome reviews to the wedding and reception chapters! It really makes my day to log on and see so many kind words waiting for me. Here's the next reception chapter - hope it meets with your approval. :)
Chapter 53:
"I think she's set for at least another 3 hours" said Mac as she laid a sleeping Ainsley into her carrier.
"I think you're right" said Harm. "I doubt she'll stay down for the night with all this going on, but she should at least get a good nap."
"Yeah" agreed Mac as she pulled her dress back into place. "Could you give me a hand here, please, babe?"
Harm stood where he was and applauded his bride.
"Very funny, wise-ass!" laughed Mac, "now could you please come help me get this thing done up so we can get back to our party before midnight?"
"Of course" replied Harm, walking over to help her. He couldn't resist kissing the back of her bare shoulders as he refastened the last hook on her bustier.
"Mmm…" said Mac, "that's nice…"
"I know" whispered Harm, "and that's but a preview of what's to come."
"Mmm…" said Mac again, "we really need to get back out there."
"Yeah, we do" agreed Harm, giving her neck one last kiss before zipping her dress and stepping away. He reached down and picked up the baby carrier in which Ainsley was sound asleep, and the family made their way back into the living room.
"Here you go, mom" he said as he laid the carrier down beside the table. "She should, hopefully, sleep for at least 3 hours, but we'll see."
"OK" said Trish, "are you getting ready to do the cake?"
Harm laughed a little. "It's next on the to-do list."
"Oh, good" said Grams, "I've been eyeing it all evening, it just looks so tasty!"
"Well then" said Mac to Harm, "let's go dig into it, my love." She took Harm's hand and they walked over to the DJ station.
"There's our happy couple!" said Alex as he saw them approach. "What can I play for ya?"
"Nothing special right now" said Mac, "we're ready to cut the cake, if you could announce it, please."
"Can do" replied Alex as he grabbed the wireless microphone and walked towards the cake table. "If I could have everyone's attention up here for a few moments" he said, "Harm and Mac are going to cut the cake now, so anyone who'd like a front-row seat had better come this way."
"Where are we supposed to stand to do this?" asked Harm as he and Mac walked behind the table.
"Back here, I think" said Mac, "but I'm sure Andrew and Helen will tell us exactly where we need to be so they can get the pictures."
"This came out really pretty" said Harm as he looked at the cake. It was a 4-tiered, heart shaped white cake with strawberry flavored filling. It stood over 3 feet tall. The base icing color was white, and each tier had ice blue icing scallops around the bottom and top edges. There was a row of edible flowers around the outside center of each tier, ice blue with tiny silver ribbon woven throughout. The cake topper was a heart-shaped wreath of tiny ice blue roses, with a silver and navy blue bow at the top.
"It sure did" agreed Mac, "I hope it tastes as good as it looks."
"I'm sure it will" said Harm, "do you think that one will?" he asked, nodding towards the grooms cake. It was a large, rectangular, devils food cake with fudge filling. The icing was white and the scalloped edging was done in gold. Adorning the top was an airbrushed JAG emblem - the circle with the anchor in the middle, the scales of justice balanced on top. Above the anchor, going around the top of the circle were the words "Department of the Navy", and along the bottom of the circle, in the same manner, was "Judge Advocate General".
"Are you kidding?" laughed Mac. "It's a total chocolate overload, it can't not taste good!"
"Hey there" said Helen as she and Andrew approached. "All ready to go?"
"Yeah" said Mac, "just tell us where you need us."
"Where you're at is fine" said Helen, "is the knife back there?"
"Right here" said Harm, holding the cake knife up.
"Wonderful" said Helen, "now Sarah, you hold onto it, Harm you put your hand around hers, right like that, perfect! Now look at the cake as you cut it…"
click
"Good, good" said Andrew, "now just pose like that again and we'll take another in case the first one didn't turn out."
Click
"Alright" said Helen, "now go ahead and cut off a small piece so you can feed it to each other."
"You can cut it out, babe" said Harm as he let go of the knife.
"Sure" said Mac, making another cut a couple inches from the first one and carefully sliding the piece onto a plate. She picked up a fork and handed it to her groom.
"Oh, you guys are no fun!" exclaimed Mattie as she realized that there'd be no smearing of the cake across their faces.
"We still have way too many pictures left to take for us to have icing in our hair and on our clothes" said Mac, "plus I don't want to have to redo my makeup!"
"Excuses, excuses…" said Mattie, rolling her eyes at the newlyweds.
"OK, Harm" said Helen, "you feed Sarah a bite and we'll do two shots of it, just like before, then it'll be her turn to feed you."
"Sounds good" said Harm, taking the fork and stabbing a small bite of cake from the plate. He held it up and smiled at Mac as he moved it towards her lips.
click
"OK, one more time" said Helen. Harm stabbed another bite with the fork and, once again, smiled at Mac as he fed it to her.
Click
"My turn" he said as he handed her the plate and fork. "It is good?"
"Mmm-hmm!" said Mac, "very good, you'll love it."
"Aren't they cute?" asked Grams as she, Trish and Frank watched from across the room.
"Indeed they are" said Trish, "cute and happy."
"OK" said Harm, "she's in the bathroom, perfect timing!"
"I still can't believe you talked me into this" said Sturgis.
"I hope you know" said big AJ, "that I'm going to great lengths to make you happy at this party, Rabb. Just don't get used to this kind of complete cooperation from me where your… plots and schemes are concerned, understand?"
"Fully, AJ" said Harm with a laugh. "Where are Sergei and Bud?"
"Right here" said Harm's younger brother as he and Bud walked up together.
"Sorry, had to finish our food first" said Bud. "I've found humiliation is best a task best undertaken on a full stomach."
"Oh, please" laughed Harm, "humiliation? Come on, guys, it'll be fun! Now, follow me." He led the group to the DJ's station.
"Is it time for your special little 'thing'?" Alex asked Harm upon seeing him approach with the rest of the guys.
"Yeah" said Harm, "you got everything ready?"
"Sure do" replied the DJ. "You want me to make any kind of announcement, or you just wanna do it?"
"I think we'll just do it" said Harm, "it'd kind of kill the surprise if you announced it first, I think so anyway."
"I think you're right" agreed Alex. "Well, you know what you wanna do, so just kinda nod my way when you're ready and I'll do my part."
"OK" said Harm. "Oh, hey, there she is guys" he added as he witnessed Mac leaving the restroom. "Everyone remember what to do?"
"Yes, Harm" said Sturgis, "now let's get on with it before I have any more time to think about it and change my mind!"
"That goes double for me!" said big AJ.
Harm picked up Alex's wireless microphone and carried it at his side. "Follow me, gentlemen" he said as he walked into the middle of the dance floor, which at that time was conveniently empty, quietly cleared his throat, and nodded towards Alex to fade out the ambient music that was playing in the background. "Here goes nothing" he thought to himself as he turned the mic on and brought it to his mouth.
Upon hearing his voice through the speakers, Mac immediately looked up from her plate of shrimp. "Is that?" she thought to herself. "Can't be…but…it is!"
He sang the next line.
She rolled her eyes and began laughing as she realized for sure what was going on. Harm was doing one of their favorite scenes from "Top Gun", the one where the Maverick, Goose and their pals sing to Charlie in the bar. Harm held the mic over towards Bud, who looked incredibly embarrassed.
She continued laughing…really laughing as Bud and Harm sang the next line together.
She was flat-out cracking up as the chorus began with all 5 guys singing into one microphone, crooning and swaying to the best of their, ahem, abilities.
"This is hilarious!" exclaimed Chloe as she and Mattie joined Mac at the table.
"Why are they doing that?" asked Mattie. "It's not like any of them except Harm can sing worth a hoot!"
"Because" answered Mac as she wiped away the tears of laughter, "it's a scene from 'Top Gun', which is one of the first movies Harm and I watched together, and this part is kind of an inside joke between he and I."
"I'm so sure I don't even want to know!" said Chloe.
"Good" said Mac as the performance ended, "because I wouldn't tell you if you did!" Mac took a drink of her punch as Harm and the guys walked up.
"You are an absolute clown!" she said, pulling him into a big bear hug.
"I know" he replied, "but did you like it?"
"Loved it to pieces" answered Mac, "but how did you get them to go along with it?"
"Easy" he answered, "I asked them!"
"Oh, now don't make it sound simpler than it was!" exclaimed Sturgis. "He didn't 'ask us', he BEGGED us and with it being a special day and all…"
"We caved" said big AJ. "If someone had told me when that movie came out, that 19 years later I'd be re-enacting one of the hokiest scenes of the whole damn thing, I'd have told them to go have their head examined!"
"It was fun though" said Harm, "right, guys? I mean, once we got into it, it was fun!"
"I'll admit it" said Sergei, "I had more fun with it than I thought I would."
"See" said Harm, "I told you it'd be fun!"
"It was kind of fun" agreed Bud, "but even if it had been as embarrassing as I feared going in, the fact that it made you so happy would have made it worth it."
"Aww, thanks Bud" said Mac, giving him a hug. "Thank you, all of you, that was really special."
"You're welcome" said Sergei, leaning in to get his hug from the bride.
"Only for you two would I ever do that" said big AJ, kissing Mac's cheek.
Frank walked up as the group was conversing.
"Hey" said Harm, "what'd everyone think?"
Frank laughed. "We loved it - your mother and grandmother couldn't stop laughing."
"You do know where it's from, don't you?" asked Harm.
"We're gonna go get some more food" said Bud quietly, not wanting to interrupt the conversation but not wanting to be rude by just leaving, either.
"OK, Bud" said Harm, "thanks again, guys. I couldn't have pulled it off without you."
"'Top Gun', 1986, Tom Cruise" replied Frank. "We all recognized it right away, which actually made it even funnier."
"I'm glad everyone found it so entertaining" said Harm, "that was, after all, my intent."
"Is Ainsley still asleep?" asked Mac, interjecting her motherly concern into the conversation.
"She was a couple minutes ago" said Frank, looking back at the table. "Looks like she still is, I don't see anyone holding her."
"What time is it, anyway?" asked Harm. Mac answered before he could move his sleeve off of his watch.
"10:47" she said. "Why, do we have someplace else we need to get to?"
"Eventually" he replied, his smile a sneaky one, "yes, but not just yet. I was just seeing how close we were to midnight is all, my dear."
"Getting closer every minute" said Mac, "so let's get back out there and dance, huh?"
"Brilliant minds think alike" replied Harm, holding out his hand to her.
"You want a slow song or a fast one?" he asked her as they walked onto the dance floor.
"Fast" she answered, "we've had a lot of slow songs already, ask him to step it up a notch."
"Will do" said Harm. He left Mac for a moment and went to speak with the DJ. When he returned smiling, Mac immediately began to wonder.
"What?" he asked when he noticed her curious expression upon his return.
"What did you ask him to play?" she asked. "Nothing from 'Jock Jam' I hope!"
"Nope" said Harm, "I told him we wanted a few fast songs and left the choices up to him."
"Oh boy" laughed Mac, "this could get crazy!" Just then, Alex's voice filled the room.
"The bride and groom have requested some 'fast songs'" he said, "and being that this is their reception, I think they should get what they want, right?"
"Woohoo!" howled Mattie. Everyone in attendance laughed.
"OK then" continued Alex, "let's keep the 'Top Gun' theme alive, how about that? Wasn't that little performance earlier awesome?"
More applause.
"I thought so, too! SO… here's a favorite of mine from that soundtrack, Miami Sound Machine singing about those 'Hot Summer Nights'!"
"Oh, I love this song!" exclaimed Mac as the very 80's - ish, pop style intro began to play.
"Me too" said Harm, who by the middle of the first verse was dancing with his hands in the air and his hips moving in perfect rhythm to the beat.
"Damn, flyboy! said Mac as she danced next to him, "you can move!"
"I guess I can, huh?' he said with a big smile, his rhythm remaining unbroken.
"Do you see your son out there?" asked Grams to Trish as they looked on.
"Uh-huh" answered Harm's mother, "I had no idea he knew how to dance like that!"
"Me either" said Grams, "but he's good at it!"
"Yeah, he really is" agreed Trish, "and he's most definitely having fun."
…an hour later…
"What time is it, babe?" asked Harm of Mac as they went to get some punch, thirsty from dancing the last 8 songs in a row.
"11:44" replied Mac, "almost time to get everyone together for the countdown."
"That's just what I was thinking" said Harm, "but there's one more thing I need to do first."
"There's not much time" said Mac as Harm set his punch glass down and turned to walk away.
"I know" he said, "it won't take long." She watched as he made his way to the DJ station and briefly spoke with Alex, and as Alex picked up the mic she knew something special was about to happen.
A/N: I'm not sure if grooms cakes are common anywhere but in the southern US, but every wedding I know of where I live has both the traditional cake as well as a grooms cake. The grooms cake usually holds special meaning to the groom, for example my husband loves soccer, so his was decorated like a soccer field, complete with little net goals and everything. My sister-in-law's brother is a professional ballplayer, and his was a dome cake decorated like a baseball. I thought about making Harm's plane-related, but the more I thought about it, I decided that since he and Mac never would have met were it not for JAG, having the JAG seal on it was more fitting.
As for my thoughts on tonight's episode, "Two Towns", I actually have a few positive things to say: It was by far the most we've seen of Harm in weeks, and there was no sign or mention of Lt. Needs-His-Ass-Whooped! On the down side (we all knew there'd be one), aside from the complete lack of shipperness, my hubby pointed out that there was zero reference to anything about Mattie, which had him asking if we're to assume there's been no change, if we're to assume she's doing better, etc...? That sparked a 15 minute discussion on all the holes in the writing over the past season or two, and how it's no wonder the show has died such a long, painful death. :( We're still seething over that hospital scene from last week and how there's just no way on earth that would have happened! Harm would NOT have pushed her away, period!
Anyway, there's my dissertation on the sadder side of JAG for this week. :) I hope to have the next chapter in the story done in the next few days!