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AN: Well, I'm afraid we've come to the end of the line, peeps! It's been a blast and thank you for all of your words of encouragement! Just another note. I know virtually nothing about how this sort of stuff operates at Annapolis. What I put together is based on what I managed to find online and learn from my wonderful beta reader! Thanks Anne! If you have any corrections or suggestions, I'd love to hear them...

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Epilogue

7 years later…

"Never thought I'd be at one of these again so soon," Harm joked, as they edged their way through the crowds to find their seats before the ceremony.

Trish and Frank were already in their assigned seats, when they got there.

"This is so exciting," Trish enthused to her son and daughter-in-law, "Carol-Anne's had to slog her guts out to get here and this is it…She'll become a Recon marine!"

"She's still my recruit," Mac contended, maternally.

'Recruit' had become something of a pet name the family used for Carol-Anne and Mattie during their time at the Military Institute in Virginia and the Academy in Annapolis, respectively (it had become obvious that 'Sweetie' and 'Hon' certainly would do anymore, now they were becoming a Naval fighter pilot and a Recon marine respectively!)

Mattie's Commissioning Ceremony had only been a few years before, now she was standing in her service dress uniform, beside her parents.

All seven of them watched in silence as a General Officer gave an opening speech, letting the midshipmen know what they could expect as commissioned officers in the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy (this was a joint ceremony), until Carol-Anne's name was announced; 'Carol-Anne Bailey.' They all then cheered then fell back into silence as the whole company of midshipmen was sworn in by a Commissioned Officer.

"Doesn't she look beautiful in her uniform?" Trish asked, in a whisper and Harm and Mac agreed. She did look great in her uniform, but even if she didn't, Harm and Mac still would have thought she did. She had become like a daughter to them both.

"They're swearing them in, now," Harm whispered to the children, so that they didn't feel like they were being left out of the loop, not knowing what was going on.

"Mommy," Harm and Mac's four-year-old spoke up, in a loud whisper, "What's 'swearing in?' I thought it was bad to swear…"

"No, angel," Mac tried to explain, "It's not that kind of swearing…it's an oath of office, so that Carol-Anne will become a second-lieutenant and will start her career in the Marine Corps."

"Oh," the child nodded, but didn't understand much about what her Mother told her.

"I'll explain later, Cassie," Mattie whispered and the child nodded and was silent again.

Two-year-old Matthew didn't look like he understood either, but stayed admirably quiet for a child of his age.

They all watched Carol-Anne flawlessly give the oath then two officers stepped forward and pinned her bars on her.

After the First Salute was given, Carol-Anne came back to join her family. Like Mattie, Harm and Mac were both dressed in their service dress uniform for the occasion.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant," they couldn't resist greeting their newest officer, when she approached.

"Captain; Colonel, Lieutenant JG," Carol-Anne smiled as she saluted and greeted them, in order of rank.

"Get here!" Harm laughed, when they had snapped off salutes and Carol-Anne had remained where she stood, just grinning them.

She let out a burst of laughter, as she was pulled into the 'scrum,' which Trish and Frank also joined. Even the children tried, though they had to settle for hugging their parent's legs.

OOOO

Mac stepped out to join Carol-Anne on the porch, where the newest 'Rabb' addition to the USMC was staring off into the distance.

The young woman was thinking about how she'd be leaving for OCS in just a few short weeks, leaving behind the family who'd offered her a home seven years before. Leaving behind the city she'd grown up in, leaving behind her mother, who was buried in a cemetery not far from where they now lived.

"You okay?" Mac asked her.

"Yeah," Carol-Anne nodded, smiling at the woman dressed in the same Marine green as she now wore, "Just thinking about my Mom…"

"I bet she was proud of you, today," Mac smiled, wrapping an arm around the woman she'd come to love, a little sister and a daughter, both in one marine green package.

"Yeah," she nodded, her smile intensifying, "Every time I go through a moment like this, a milestone, I think back to what you told me, that first time Mom didn't show up for something important…"

"What was that?" Mac asked, for it had been seven years since the fact.

"Not to be angry at her," Carol-Anne reminded her, "That this wasn't her decision for any of that to happen to us…and you were right. No matter what, there was no way she would have chosen schizophrenia and despite the problems that it caused, she fought tooth and nail to get her life back."

"To get you back," Mac added.

"I still tell myself that," Carol-Anne continued, "every time I'm disappointed that she's not there to share the day with us. You guys are family to me in every sense of the word, of course you are, but I just…sometimes…"

"Wish that she could be there too?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Carol-Anne nodded, "to see what's going on in my life. To tell me that she's proud of me."

The two of them contemplated this for a few minutes then turned to each other and spoke at the same time.

"You wanna go and…"

They smiled, each knowing what the other was thinking and took off for Mac's Vette, which was thankfully parked last in the driveway.

They both let out a whoop as the magnificent machine's engine roared to life and Mac reversed out, leaving the street and turning onto the road that would eventually bring them to the cemetery.

'She's always known just how to fix things!' Carol-Anne smiled to herself as she thought about the many times in her life that Mac had been there for her when others had failed, no matter what.

Mac looked over and only a look was needed to show the older woman the sentiment she was feeling.

"I'll always be there," Mac told her, as she had done so many times before, "Whatever the problem is, any time you need me…"

FIN