OOOO

Ch 6

After ten minutes or so, Harm put aside the dinner that he had

just taken out of the oven and went out into the hallway, to seehow

his Mother had recieved the news. He saw that she was

blotting away the last of her tears with a tissue, while Mac

tried her best to comfort her.

"Oh, of course, I'm fine. I'm just scared to death of what

shape that poor girl will be in, after all that she's been

through."

"Mom, she's been through a lot and she still has a lot more to go

through, but she really seems to be adapting to this all

marvelously well."

"He's right," Mac added, "in fact, since we got home, Cathy's

been crawling about the apartment, memorizing the whole floor

plan. She can't see where she's going, or move about like she

could before, but she's not letting that stop her for a second."

Trish smiled at this, then prepared herself to enter the

apartment.

Harm opened the front door, letting Mac and then his Mom in,

before he walked in and shut the door behind him. As Trish

entered the doorway, Cathy was seated on the carpet in the

living room, her head tilted upwards, listening to the arrival

of the visitor, a small smile on her face as she realized who it was.

"Trish!" she asked, barely daring to believe her ears.

"Yes darling, it's me! How are you feeling, my love?"

"I'm doing alright. I've just taken my pain meds, so the pain

in my legs isn't too bad. I start physio at the hospital this

weekend. Dr. Mark say I'm making very good progress."

"That's wonderful! Mac tells me you've got this place memorized to a

T."

"Yeah, I may not be able to see, but I'll be darned if I won't

do things for myself."

The group spent the evening eating dinner and talking about

Trish and Frank's trip to the Mediterranean for their 20th

Wedding Anniversary . Cathy flatly refused any help with her

dinner, insisting on doing it herself, a process that proved to be

very long and messy, but eventually, she finish her meal and

triumphantly helped Mac load the dishwasher. Afterwards, she

retired to bed, while Harm took his Mom back to the Hilton and

Mac settled for relaxing on the coach, with a newspaper.

OOOO

Later that night, Mac emerged from the bedroom, unable to sleep, to

get herself a cup of cocoa from the kitchen. She was careful to be as

quiet as possible, but nevertheless, when she walked back into the living room, Harm was sitting up in his bed on the sofa.

"Sorry," Mac apologized, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," Harm told her, then asked," You couldn't sleep

either, huh?"

Mac answered him by shaking her head, then asked him, "Would you like

me to make you some cocoa?"

"No thanks," he replied.

All was silent for a minute, then Harm tried to carry on the

conversation.

"So, when is Brumby getting back from Oz?" He made sure that he kept

all feelings of resentment out of his voice. As much as he didn't like the guy, he would never upset Mac by saying so. She meant too much to him for that.

"He should be back in a couple of weeks or so, he just has to

get a few family issues in order. The red tape is just taking a long

time to cut through."

After contemplating for a second, Harm finally took the plunge,

asking Mac, with concern in his voice, "Mac, you two aren't

thinking about moving out to Australia after the wedding, are

you?"

"Oh no Harm, of course not, I'd never leave my job here, again," she

told him with conviction," especially after the disaster that it

proved to be the last time."

Both of them quietly reflected for a minute on her departure

from JAG several years before, when she had gone to work at

Dalton Lowne's private firm. Harm remembered how lost he had felt

the entire time she had been gone.

"Geez Rabb," he silently berated himself, "you'd think you would

learn!"

"Besides," Mac reasoned, "I could never leave Cathy, but I'd

never take her away from you. You're just as big a part in her life

as I am."

Looking over at each other, they lapsed into a comfortable

silence as they sat together. After a while, without realizing it,

they fell asleep, gradually drifting together in slumber,

which unconsciously seemed to be so natural, almost a reflex.

Within a while, Mac was peacefully settled within Harm's arms,

each sleeping sounder than they had done in a long time.

OOOO

The next morning, they were both awakened by a peculiar

rustling sound. As Mac stirred, she looked over and could just see

the top of Catriona's head behind the coffee table. Cathy had

awakened not long before and had crawled through to the living

room, now for some reason rustling through magazines on the

table's lower shelf. Harm also stirred, but neither he nor Mac made

any move to extract themselves from their embrace.

"Cathy, what is it sweetie? Is something wrong?" Mac asked

Cathy, sleepily.

Cathy's head popped up and she looked Mac directly in the eye.

"No, on the contrary, things have never looked better!" Cathy

told them as she grinned about the predicament they had got

themselves into. Both Harm and Mac immediately scrambled off

the couch to hug Cathy, the apartment echoing with the sound of

laughter.

OOOO