Disclaimer: LOL, yeah, OK... ;)
A/N: Sorry for the slight delay in posting this week, but the adventure just never ends with my family. On Monday night, my grandma - the one I went thousands of miles to go get and move down here a few weeks ago - had to go to the hospital by ambulance for severe abdominal pain. After 5 hours in the ER, they determined it was her gall bladder and that it needed to come out. She was admitted at that time, and has been there ever since, undergoing all sorts of testing. Last word we got was the surgery will be sometime this Friday, both to remove her gall bladder and repair several hernias she's had for a few years. This has meant my mom has been at the hospital for the past 2 days, which leaves the care of my other grandma (who also lives with my parents) to yours truly. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than most, but I wanted to post something since I might not get a chance for a few days with the surgery coming up and everything that may follow it.
Chapter 55:
"I've got birdseed in my hair!" laughed Mac as she and Harm made their way into the Cadillac SUV that Frank had rented for them as part of their wedding gift. The reception had been such amazing fun. Following the fireworks, they did the garter and bouquet tosses, both of which amounted to little more than semi-organized chaos. Mattie caught the bouquet, which led everyone in attendance to look right at Harm to see his reaction. He'd simply smiled, knowing his little girl wouldn't be ready for marriage anytime soon. They had their last dance of the night, said a few special thank-you's to different people, and made their ceremonial exit.
"I think I do, too" he replied, rubbing his hand briskly through his hair.
"Hey, careful now" said Mac, "this stuff is next to impossible to get out of automotive carpeting!"
"It's not our car, babe" he said, "we don't have to clean it!"
"Oh, yeah!" said Mac. She held her head down and carefully rubbed her fingers in her still done-up hair. Birdseed fell all over her lap.
"Did you see the back of the car?" he asked her, referring to the three dozen aluminum cans that were tied to the bumper. "Someone was busy!"
"Several someone's, actually" she replied as she brushed the seed from her lap onto the floorboard. "I noticed all the girls were conspicuously absent for about half an hour right before the fireworks."
"Yeah" said Harm as he backed out of the parking space, "this does look like their handiwork."
"Wave, babe" said Mac. The couple waved at all their family and friends who'd gathered on Grams back porch to see them off. Trish had Ainsley in her arms, holding the baby's arm up and making her wave to her parents.
"Bye-bye, baby girl" said Mac softly. They'd taken a few moments just before they made their exit to go over a few last-minute things with Trish and Frank, exchange vehicle keys and to say goodbye to the baby. Mac cried a little, as she knew she would. Harm didn't cry, but he came pretty close.
"Bye, sweetie" said Harm, waving at Ainsley through the windshield. He looked over at Mac and saw her wipe away a few tears.
"She's gonna do just fine, babe" he said softly, placing his hand on her knee.
"I know" she said, taking a deep breath, "it's just hard leaving her for this long. I'll get past it though, I swear."
"I know you will" said Harm. "We'll check on her every night, they've got all the numbers of where we'll be-"
"Wait a sec" said Mac, "you mean they know where we're going and I don't?"
"Well, yeah" answered Harm, "I mean, I wanted them to be able to reach us if they needed to. You're not mad, are you?"
Mac laughed. "No, I'm not mad at all" she said. "At this point, I actually think it's kind of cool that you've planned this huge surprise and I get to be the last one to find out about it. You know how I love a good mystery."
"I do know, indeed" said Harm, taking Mac's hand in his, "but you don't have to wait much longer to find out."
"Can you give me a hint now that we're this close?" asked Mac, looking his direction with big puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"
Harm smiled and sighed. "How about you ask me a 'yes or no' question - just one - and I'll answer it."
"OK" agreed Mac. She thought for just a moment before coming up with her question.
"Is there a lot of water there?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Hmmm…" said Mac, "someplace with a lot of water…"
"You're welcome to guess all you like" said Harm, "but I'm pretty sure you won't figure it out, babe."
"Probably not" agreed Mac, "but I can have fun trying! By the way, how much longer are we gonna drive tonight?"
"A little ways, babe" answered Harm, "why?"
"This dress isn't exactly the most comfy thing to travel in" she said, "not to mention that because it's almost two hours past Ainsley's usual feeding time, this bustier is about to kill me."
"Ouch" said Harm. "I'm sorry Mac, I didn't even think about that when I planned out tonight. We can stop someplace so you can change if we need to, it's not a problem."
"No, it's OK" she said, "I can make it awhile longer. Besides, just changing clothes won't really help much, I need to pump, which I can't do just anyplace."
"Good point" said Harm. "Well, we're about another hour from where we're staying tonight. Think you can last that long?"
"Yeah, I think so" she said. "I should have tried to feed her again just before we left, but I didn't. I doubt she would have taken much anyway."
"Yeah" agreed Harm, "her internal clock is as screwed up as yours tonight."
Mac sat and quietly looked out the passenger window, inwardly laughing at how they were, technically, on their honeymoon and the main topic of conversation for the past five miles had been breastfeeding.
She turned back towards her husband to share her amusement. "Do you find it as funny as I do that we're on our honeym- HARM!"
"SHIT!"
A/N: Hey, it wouldn't be a believable Harm/Mac story without the occasional dramatic cliffhanger, now would it:) I'll write the next chapter as SOON as I get a chance, but it might not be for several days.