Family Life Part 5 of 8
Rabb/Mackenzie Apartment
North of Union Station
Washington, District of Columbia
0700 EST
Mac's internal clock woke her at 0700 for the Sunday morning run she took with Harm. Before she woke Harm, Mac decided she should see how much snow had arrived. The snow was coming down heavily and everything was covered. Snow tended to shut down DC and it looked like no one was going anywhere today.
Mac slipped back into bed next to Harm. He stirred. Mac said, "Go back to sleep Flyboy. There's is too much snow to run." He mumbled something and pulled Mac towards him.
Several hours later, everyone was up sitting around and reading the parts of the Sunday paper that was delivered on Saturday, while eating breakfast. The regular Sunday paper had not arrived yet and probably wouldn't because of the amount of snowfall.
The phone rang. It was Amy's parents saying that their flight had been canceled and they weren't sure when they would be able to get back. Mac assured them that it was no problem to have Amy stay another day or so.
Harm looked up from the paper and suggested the girls might want to get started on the rest of their homework. The girls rolled their eyes at him in the way only teenagers can and told him they probably wouldn't have school on Monday. Mac intervened and told the girls that if they got their homework out of the way then they would have it done whether or not there was school and she hinted at special evening entertainment.
Grudgingly, the girls went off to work on homework. As the music started coming out of Mattie's room, Harm said to Mac "I still don't understand how she can think with that noise." Mac replied, "Well, it wouldn't be my first choice, but she is a good student and old enough to know what works best for her."
Harm and Mac both went to review case files and get ready for the next week of work. While what they could share with each other was limited, they were able to bounce ideas off each other and help the other look at cases from a different angle.
Mattie and Amy finished their homework mostly. They had several geometry proofs that they were hoping Harm could help them with, and came looking for lunch.
Mac went to get lunch ready, while Harm helped the girls with the proofs. Harm and Mac divided homework help along the lines of their relative strengths. Mac was a better writer than Harm and had been a political science major in college, so she primarily helped with English, social studies, and the humanities. Mac also was better with foreign languages. Since Harm had studied engineering at the Naval Academy, he primarily helped with math and science.
After looking out the window at the snow that continued to fall, Mac decided to call Jen Coates and invite her to lunch and to join them for the afternoon. Mac suspected that Jen might be a little lonely stuck at home alone on a day like this.
Rabb/Mackenzie Apartment
North of Union Station
Washington, District of Columbia
1600 EST
Jen took Mac up on her offer to join them. Harm had suggested a Trivial Pursuit tournament since they were not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. The game revealed that Jen was a well-rounded player. Mac was very good except for sports and leisure; Harm had apparently been living in his own pop-culture-free world since he was a teenager; and Mattie and Amy had never learned anything about geography. Right now Harm was feeling out numbered by the females in his life, as they laughed at the fact Harm couldn't identify the movie that the quote "I feel the need . . the need for speed!" came from. They then discovered Harmon Rabb had never seen the movie Top Gun all the way through. Harm defended his position by reminding them he had been in flight school when the movie came out so he had seen no need to watch movies about fighter jocks. Then he went off to make dinner.
Mac, Jen, Mattie, and Amy decided Harm had to watch Top Gun. Jen went down to get the video from her collection so they could watch it after dinner. Mac, Mattie, and Amy continued to think about what movies they could watch that might add to Harm's pop culture knowledge. They figured since it was already announced that schools and the federal government would be closed the next day they had time for several movies that evening.
Mac and Jen decided that Harm's education about movies from the late 1980s would not be complete without watching "Dirty Dancing." Mattie and Amy decided on "A Few Good Men" so they could make sure he saw both the movies most people thought of when they thought of fighter pilots or JAG officers.
After dinner, they settled in to start the movies. They let Harm pick the first movie and he decided on "Top Gun." After Harm's fifth comment about some detail about Tomcats, Top Gun school, or life in the Navy, Mac informed him he wasn't allowed to talk for the rest of the movie. Harm grinned during most of the movie. Mac could tell that while he could point out any number of errors in the film and would say that Maverick was dangerous, he had enjoyed the movie. It was, after all, a story about Tomcats and a young man haunted by what had happened to his father in South Asia at the end of the 1960s.
Mattie and Amy wanted to watch A Few Good Men next. This time, Harm, Mac and Jen shot each other knowing looks when someone made a mistake in military protocol. Harm and Mac had found the line about the client who tried to buy a dime bag of oregano but hadn't broken any laws since there was no law against being a moron very funny. They both had had cases like that one in their careers. In fact, one of those cases resulted in her getting her now departed dog Jingo.
When one of the scenes with Captain West came up, Harm, Mac, Jen, and Mattie were floored. The actor playing Captain West was a dead ringer for Admiral Chegwidden. Mattie's relationship with the Admiral had improved a little since she first met him, but both Harm and Mac shuddered at her threat to ask the Admiral if it was him in the movie.
Harm suggested instead of watching a third movie that he get out his guitar so they could sing. And they did. Occasionally, Mattie and Amy teased Harm about not knowing any music from after 1989, but for the most part he found songs that all knew and enjoyed. All of a sudden--- the lights went out.
The storm had brought down a power line somewhere close by. Harm went to the window and said the lights were out all over the neighborhood. Mac started getting out candles and flashlights while Harm started a fire in the fireplace since no electricity equaled no heat.
Jen got up saying it was time for her to go home. Harm and Mac protested, knowing that her small apartment did not have a fireplace. Jen hesitated saying she felt that she had intruded enough on their family time. Harm and Mac reminded Jen that they considered her part of their extended family. Harm also threatened to make it an order that she stay.
Since it was likely to get very cold in any room besides the living room, where the fireplace was, Mac sent Jen, Mattie, and Amy to gather up all spare bedding so they could camp out in the living room. Between couch cushions and camping mattresses, they managed to make reasonably comfortable beds for all. Mattie and Amy decided that ghost stories were called for since this had become a slumber party and began one.
Harm slipped out to check that the apartment was locked up tight. He wasn't sure why he did it since he never found anything left unlocked. He decided it was part of some sort of instinct to keep his family safe. Besides, he remembered his dad, whenever he was home, checking to make sure everything was locked.
