A/N: Please don't shoot! ;) As luck would have it, I actually had a few minutes of writing time during the day (which I never, ever get), so the wait for the post-cliffhanger chapter is over:)

Chapter 56:

The world around them was silent,completely dark except for the stars which hung above.

After what felt like ten lifetimes, she heard him speak her name.

"Mac? Are you OK?"

She thought for a few seconds as she worked to regain the breath which the impact had knocked out of her.

"I - yeah, I think so." she said, her voice clearly winded as she gingerly moved around in her seat. "Are you?"

"Think so" he replied, looking around the inside of the vehicle in disbelief. "What the hell was that?"

"A huge wooden box or something" said Mac, rubbing her hand across the back of her neck. "I think I saw it maybe a half second before you did."

"Yeah" he replied, "I saw it just as you screamed my name. Sorry I wasn't paying better attention, babe."

"Don't be sorry, Harm" she said, "it's pitch black out here, no lights on the road, no one could have seen it any better than we did."

"I guess not" he answered. "Sorry about this, though" he added, motioning towards the front of the vehicle and the culvert in which it had come to a sudden stop. He'd tried his best to maintain control, but he'd been forced to react so quickly that even hiscombat pilot skills weren't enough to win that fight.

"It's OK" assured Mac, "we're both fine, that's the important thing."

"I know" answered Harm, "but this is definitely not what I had planned for tonight!"

"Well, of course not" said Mac, "but it's just a minor setback, that's all. We'll still make it…wherever we're supposed to be going!"

"Oh, you bet we will, baby" said Harm, looking at her with a twinkle in his eye, the kind that made her insides do somersaults. He reached for his cell phone, punched a few keys and held it to his ear as he climbed carefully out of the drivers seat and stood outside.

"Hey, mom."

"Hi, honey, is everything OK?"

"Well, not exactly."

"Oh no, what happened?"

"We wrecked the car - but we're both fine, don't worry."

"Oh my God! What happened?"

"Had to swerve to avoid an enormous box or crate or something in the middle of our lane and ended up driving nose-first into a drainage culvert."

"Oh Harmon, I'm sorry! You said Mac is alright, and you?"

"We're both fine, honest. A bit shaken up, but other than that, we're fine."

"Where are you, how far away from here?"

"Maybe 75 miles or so south on 655, we've been driving since we left Grams."

"Do you want us to come out there? We can come in two cars, you know, bring you your car. "

"Actually, yeah, that'd be great. I need to call the police, so I'll do that now and they should, hopefully, be here and done with their report by the time you all make it here."

"Alright then, let me go fill Frank in on everything, and we'll head out."

"Is Ainsley asleep?"

"Right now, yes, but of course we'll have to wake her up and take her with us."

"Did you feed her since we left?"

"A few ounces right before I put her down, but she was more tired than hungry."

"OK, good. Mac can feed her when you guys get here, assuming she doesn't want to eat when you wake her up."

"I'll load her up as fast as I can and get on the road, I'm thinking she'll go back to sleep pretty quickly."

"Probably so. OK mom, tell Frank we're sorry for all this extra trouble and for wrecking the Caddy he so graciously rented for us."

"Oh, sweetie, his only concern will be that you're both unhurt. Cars can be fixed."

"I know. OK, we'll be looking for you within a couple of hours. Drive carefully, we love you."

"We love you, too, dear."

"Bye."

Bye, son."

"Did she freak out too terribly?" asked Mac as Harm came around to the passenger side and opened her door.

"Not really" he answered, "she was glad to hear we're both OK. She and Frank are gonna drive down and bring us our car so we can get going again."

"Aw, that's nice of them" said Mac, "I assume they're coming in two cars then?"

"Yep" he said, "ours and my mom's, most likely."

"How's the baby?" asked Mac.

"Sleeping at the moment" replied Harm. "Mom said she ate a little bit right before falling asleep, and she's gonna get her packed up as fast as she can in hopes she'll go right back to sleep and you can feed her when they get here."

"Oh, bless her!" said Mac, "by then I'll be borderline miserable."

"I'm sorry, babe" said Harm, "this trip has gotten off to a fairly crummy start."

"In some ways, yeah" replied Mac, "but try to think of the bigger picture: we're OK, your folks are close enough to come help out so we can get right back on the road, we're not gonna miss out on our trip because of this little mishap, and the best thing, we're together."

Harm leaned in and kissed his bride.

She leaned into his kiss, and placing her hands around the back of his head, she pulled him closer.

"Hey" whispered Harm, "I need to call the police, you know?"

Mac sighed and slowly let go of him. "Yeah, probably should do that, huh?"

"Yeah, we need to get this thing towed to wherever Frank wants it, and someone better come get that damn box out of the middle of the road. Hopefully they'll be here and done by the time mom and Frank arrive" said Harm as he dialed 911.

"Yes, I need to report a single-vehicle accident on highway 655 near mile marker 245. Yes, I was the driver involved. No, no injuries, but we need a tow truck and someone who can move a great big crate out of the middle of the road so you don't keep getting calls like mine tonight. OK, thank you."

"Should be here within 10 minutes" said Harm. He popped the back hatch open in search of a roadside emergency box.

"Good" replied Mac, slipping her shoes back onto her feet.

Upon finding the emergency box, he took out the flares and walked down the road a way.

"Any chance I can ask you another honeymoon question?" she asked as she walked beside him, the expression on her face a bit playful, a tiny hint of hope in her voice.

"Oh, I think you're entitled to another one" said Harm, laying the first flare in place and carefully lighting it. "Ask away."

"Is it someplace we've talked about going someday?" she asked.

Harm thought for just a moment. "No."

"Oooh, OK" said Mac, "someplace with a lot of water that we haven't talked about going to someday…"

Harm couldn't help but laugh as they walked back towards the accident site, placing the flares along the way. "Yep, but that's all I'm telling you for tonight, so if you want to figure it out you'll have to put your inner super-sleuth into overdrive."

"Are you challenging me, Harmon David?" asked Mac with a smile.

"Who? Me? Challenge you? Why, never!"

Mac playfully slapped him on the shoulder.

"Goofball!" she said.

"You married me" replied Harm, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

"I really did, didn't I?" asked Mac, the reality of his words making her heart beat fast.

"I love you, Sarah" he said as he gazed into her deep brown eyes.

Mac didn't say a word as she pulled him close once again, their lips meeting, their hearts beating in unison. One thing was for sure, wherever they were going, this was gonna be one amazing honeymoon.

A/N: I'll do my best to get another chapter done in the next couple days, but my grandma's surgery won't be until Friday afternoon, which means we'll be at the hospital most of the evening and I won't get much computer time at all. My apologies to everyone who wanted to give me 50 lashes with a wet noodle after Chapter 55 - I'll make it up to you...honest. :)