A Snowy Date In Belleville – Part 3

Disclaimer - See part one for all important information

The Rabb Farm

At the pond

Outside Belleville, PA

4:12 PM

Harm's grandmother had been right about Dopey. Without the help of the Dutch Draft horse it would have been much harder if not impossible for them to reach the pond by foot. This was definitely a very special and romantic first date. The glistening snow along with the crisp, cold winter air and being accompanied by Dopey made it all simply perfect.

For over an hour Harm and Mac enjoyed ice-skating on the family pond tremendously. Even though their backsides, especially Mac's, had made light contact with the ice plating a few times, they were having way too much fun to even think of giving up.

For Mac it was her first time on ice skates, and she was a bit unsteady on them. However, with Harm's help, especially the support from his strong arms, she was learning to master the fine art of ice-skating.

Sometimes Harm ran backwards while holding Mac's hands to drag her behind him, and at other times he was running behind her, softly pushing her forward. He would even let go of her, staying close enough just in case he needed to catch her before she fell.

"Woooaaahh," Mac squealed laughing in pure delight. "Haaaarrmm... watch me!" she yelped making exaggerated rowing movements with her arms, trying her hardest to keep her balance while reaching out for Harm, hoping he would catch her before she fell, which was often forth-coming.

"Don't worry, I'm right behind you, honey," Harm softly told her catching Mac in time. He gently clinched her from behind and skillfully glided them over the ice to the edge of the pond where he had laid out the wool blanket for their winter picnic. An old military trap belonging to hisgrandfather underneath the blanket kept them sheltered from the cold of the snow-clad ground.

As soon as they had reached the edge of the pond, Harm slowly let go of Mac so she could sit on the blanket. There was a groan from Mac when her behind touched the ground. "Somehow I don't think I want to know what my butt is going to look like by tomorrow," she said with a wide grin. "Not that I really care."

"Not to worry," he said with a husky voice while flashing a huge grin. "Should your cute little butt bother you, I promise you the best TLC you ever got."

"Hmmm, that sounds very promising, Commander," Mac whispered giving Harm a coy smile.

Thoughtfully, Harm got down on his knees in front of Mac, and being the perfect gentleman started to untie her ice-skates before slowly taking them off. Then he took her wool-socked feet in his hands and started to knead them gently. When he hit a particular spot, he got a deep whimper from her, which faintly sounded like a purr.

Likewise, Mac slowly pulled off her leather gloves and took his head into her palms, pulling him a bit closer to her so that she could touch his lips for a lovely kiss. "Thank you so much, Harm. This is the most beautiful and romantic date I could ever have," she whispered after their lips parted, and she let her fingertips caress his cheek and then his lips.

In turn, Harm took her hands into his and brought them to his lips, giving each one a kiss. "I'm glad you like it so far. There's much more to come," he promised her with a sparkle in his eyes and once again their lips met for another searing kiss.

This one was a bit more passionate and needy, but still soft, tender and full of love. Mac's fingers were running through his hair and she held his head in place while Harm's tongue traced the seam of Mac's supple lips. She slowly parted them and his tongue slipped into her warm mouth. Their tongues dueled, probed, and sought more until the need for air made it necessary for them to separate their swollen lips.

"Are you hungry?" Harm asked as he sat down right next to Mac on the blanket and started to take off his own ice-skates before getting his boots that were lying on the blanket.

Mac nodded her head affirmatively and completed the gesture with a bright smile. "Hmmm, now that I'm thinking about it… yeah, I'm actually starving," she answered and took her boots from behind her and pulled them on.

Harm just shook his head and laughed. "Tsk, you and that stomach of yours, Marine. I just hope I made enough to feed you." Harm donned and tied his boots, before he got the picnic basket.

"Hey, we haven't had anything since breakfast," she told him as a matter of fact. "And before you say anything, some power bars from the vending machine at the airfield in Blacksburg doesn't count as food, flyboy. However, I wouldn't worry about it. If the food isn't enough, I'm sure you'll come up with something else to feed me," Mac said smiling sweetly at him, giving him a wink before slowly changing her position on the blanket a bit so that she was now sitting across from him.

"Yeah, I'm sure I could come up with one or two things," Harm replied waggling his eyebrow suggestively and started to put out the food he had made for their winter picnic.

"Mmmmm… wow, this looks absolutely yummy, Harm," Mac told him enthralled, as she let her eyes take in everything Harm was dishing out.

There were cherry tomatoes stuffed with ham, bacon, tuna, as well as feta cheese. Some avocados with shrimp and tartar sauce, a seafood salad served on cracked pepper crackers, mozzarella and tomato crostini, and a few celery sticks served with a yogurt dip. Dessert consisted of some sliced apples and a caramel sauce, which Harm made to dip them in. Last but not least, there was the thermos bottle along with the two glasses, which Harm proceeded to fill with the apple cider.

One of the filled glasses he held out for Mac to take and then he let his glass clink against hers before raising it for a little toast. "Here's to love," Harm said tenderly while looking deeply into Mac's expansive brown eyes.

"And to friendship that lasts a lifetime," Mac gently replied with a smile.

"Here's to eternity," Harm murmured.

"Here's to eternity," Mac repeated his words before both took a little sip of the hot cider and finally sealed their toast with a loving kiss.

"I love you," both said in unison after their lips parted, and all they could do was smile as they looked intently into each other's eyes.

Harm took a cherry tomato stuffed with bacon from the plate and held it in front of Mac. She opened her mouth to welcome it, as she closed her eyes savoring the delicious appetizer. Not to be outdone, Mac took one of the cracked pepper crackers with seafood salad and fed Harm. This action turned their picnic into a romantic feeding game, just like it had the morning after their first night together at Mac's.

And just like back then, they shared tasty kisses in between feeding each other all the food that Harm had prepared.

Mac offered Harm the last slice of apple with some of the caramel sauce. As he bit into it, some of the sauce ran down his chin and Mac quickly raised a finger to his jaw so she could stop the sauce from dripping onto his jacket, letting the side of her finger run up his chin to collect the sauce and moving it forward 'till she'd reached his waiting lips.

Her finger paused as she looked up into the blue-green eyes that were staring back at her, and they both smiled sheepishly. Harm's hand immediately enfolded her wrist; his tongue slowly licking the sauce off her finger. Harm's sensual ministrations caused Mac to unconsciously run her tongue over her lips in anticipation.

When Harm was done removing the sauce from her finger; he let go of her wrist. Mac leaned forward enticingly letting the tip of her tongue run over the seam of his lips, asking for entrance. Harm obliged gladly opening his mouth to welcome her. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, dueling with his wanting more.

When Harm got a sudden shove from behind, they broke their kiss and laughed when they recognized who had just rudely interrupted them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Dopey. We totally ignored you the entire time," Harm spoke to the horse while petting Dopey's nostrils and giving Mac a big grin. "Guess we should feed him too, huh?"

Mac sighed, looking down at the empty plates in front of them, and shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing left to feed him with."

Harm smirked. "Good thing my grandma knows Dopey so well," he said and opened the picnic basket to pull out a huge bunch of carrots and some sugar cubes. He jumped up to his feet giving Mac one of his best flyboy-grins she loved so much. "I'll be right back," he said walking away with Dopey in tow.

Mac giggled and shook her head, letting her fascinated eyes follow him and Dopey.

xoxoxoxoxo

As soon as Harm had fed the horse and turned back to join Mac; he saw that she had already put all their dirty plates and glasses back into the picnic basket. She was now sitting fully relaxed on the blanket. Her legs were outstretched while she supported the upper part of her body on her elbows enabling her to raise her face towards the sky to catch the last few rays of sunshine before the sun set.

Mac sensed Harm's nearness. She turned her head a little and slowly opened her eyes to look up at him. "This is the most enchanting place I've ever seen," Mac cooed in awe about the beautiful landscape surrounding her.

Harm just nodded his head and sat down behind Mac, who sat up a bit as soon as she knew his intentions. Once he was seated; Mac sat between his outstretched legs and let herself fall back into his warm, comfortable embrace.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he softly replied, looking dreamily out intothe distance. He let go of her momentarily to open his downy feather jacket.

Mac looked questioningly at him and got a boyish grin accompanied by shrug in response. "I just want to hold you as close as possible," he tenderly explained. After his jacket was fully opened; he pulled her back into his loving arms and deepened his hold on her, placing a kiss on top of her head.

The family pond was well up into the hills giving them a spectacular view over the wide- open landscape below.

The slope Harm and Mac had spotted on their ride up to the farm was also visible from where they sat and it still looked like it was fully occupied just as it had been earlier that afternoon.

Off in the distance, they could even see Belleville and of course the Rabb farmhouse, sheltered by a number of huge firs on all sides.

While taking in the breathtaking scenery, Mac remembered that the wall of multi-unit casement windows in the room they would share that night faced the hill where the pond was. Knowing that she could lie in bed, in Harm's arms, and view this magnificent place from the window made her smile happily.

Mac spoke in a hushed voice, "Have you ever thought about living up here? Far away enough from all the trouble and noise of the big city, but still near enough to obtain everything you need in life. To be able to leave all the hectic schedules behind you just to experience something new?" She took his large hands in hers and started caressing his palms. Then she attempted to snuggle even deeper into his embrace wishing she could remove her own down jacket so that she could feel the intensity of his massive chest against her back.

Harm nuzzled Mac's neck, inhaling her sweet and unique scent. "Yeah, once or twice," he responded in a whisper. Mac turned her head a bit, so that she was able to look into his pensive eyes.

"Does this have anything to do with how your grandmother reacted earlier?"

Harm took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. "Yes, it does," he quietly answered. "My grandmother knows how much this place up here means to me. When I spent time recovering here with her after my ramp strike, I came up to this place quite often. I would sit here for hours, just thinking about everything or nothing at all. And yeah, sometimes I actually thought about leaving everything behind and building a little house right over there." Harm pointed to his left, at a space right next to the pond.

Mac looked at the space he pointed to responding witha nodof understanding, pondering how wonderful it would be to live up here.

"Even as a kid I came here often when I visited my grandma. In the summer I would swim in the pond, and in the winter I always had fun on the ice. It's the perfect place for reflecting on one's life." They then took a moment to silently enjoy the majestic sunset before Harm spoke softly into Mac's ear. "The reason my grandmother reacted that way was because she knows you're the first person I've ever shared this special place with. There's been no one else, not even Mom or Frank."

Mac leisurely brought his hands up to her mouth to kiss each of them while a single tear slipped down her cheek. She took a deep breath; feeling overwhelmed by what he had just revealed to her. "Why didn't you go through with it? Building a house over there I mean."

Harm laughed throwing his head back. "Grandma," he answered as soon as he had calmed down a bit.

"Grandma?" Mac asked looking questioningly into Harm's expressive eyes. She was a bit surprised as that was not the response she was expecting.

"The one and only. Back then; when I told her about my idea, she said that she wouldn't deter me if I were sincere about wanting to live up here. She would have been happy to have me around. Right after that, I started making plans when she suddenly asked me to make her a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"I had to promise her that before I left my old life to start a new one on this hill, I would think about why I wanted to do it. Did my reasons justify going through with it, or was I just running away from everything."

"She sounds like a really smart lady to me."

"Oh yeah, that she is. Grandma made me promise because she knew me well enough to already know the answer before I did. Just like a very good lawyer should," Harm said with a snigger. "It took some time, but I figured out that I indeed was running away and that was not a good enough reason to build a new life here."

"Running away is never a good enough reason for anything," Mac concluded, remembering the talk she had with Harm about running away over their weekend together.

"Very true."

"So your plan to live up here is no longer an option?"

Harm increased his hold on her, once again trying to pull her even closer to him. "No, I wouldn't say that. I mean, just look around Mac. This place is like paradise and a part of me can definitely imagine living here one day. Retired from the Navy, in private practice or maybe even a farmer… yeah sure, why not? What about you?"

"What about me?" Mac sighed looking at him before turning her eyes back to the panoramic view. "You mean if I could imagine leaving everything behind and start something new?"

"Yeah… exactly … could you envision leaving behind your old life, and your career… to live up here? I don't know… maybe become a civilian lawyer…the wife of a farmer…the mother of 2.5 children… would that be something you'd like?" Harm asked in interest.

Mac was just about to give him an answer, but her words stuck in her throat when she suddenly became distracted by something. "Oh my…Harm?"

TBC…