Chapter Twenty:

Harm watched as his family rushed around the house putting on the final touches for the holiday party, it was one that they had talked about throwing, but when Harm got captured, it went to the wayside. Now the family was trying to get some semblance of their life back.

Harm watched the white lights dance across the living room. This lights were shiny and happy, which no way mirrored his mood. He knew that what he would do, and it would no doubt kill them, but he would have to keep his family safe once and for all.

Mac came down the stairs carrying Mackenzie, she was playing with her mother's necklace, and Mattie came in tow with Max holding her hand. Harm had heard about the two getting together. He had hoped that the two would realize that they were perfect for each other. Of course, no father, especially Harm wanted his daughter to date, but if he had to pick someone, it would have been Max. He would have to get the full story from Mac though, and it was something that he wanted to have been there for, he sighed.

"Why the long face?" Mac said, coming down sitting next to him.

"I realized that I missed months of my daughters' lives. Mackenzie is growing so tall, Mattie already had her first date, and I missed all of it."

"We have video of her first date, it was in a carepackage that got sent back unopened. I can bring it up for you if you would like. AJ Chegwidden, Bud, Sergei, and Clay were all here for the momentous occasion."

"Why all of them?"

Bud came walking in, "You would have done the same for us. If it was me, you would have been there for Nikki."

"I did it for Francesca, and I miss being a father sometime." AJ Chegwidden said walking in handing Mac a covered dish. "Mattie had it ten times worse, when Cesca started dating, Marcella made me behave, Mac told us to have at it, and do what you would do."

Sergei came into the kitchen to grab the salad bowl. "I almost felt bad for Max."

"Why?"

"Max came walking in to the house, the poor boy. Bud was reading the finer points of the law to him, AJ was cleaning out his pistol, Sergei was holding a shovel from baling the hay that day, and Clay, well Clay let him know that he could make it so Max didn't exist at all." Mac said putting the final touches on the cake. "And well, if I told him after I gave birth, I would take his ass to the cleaners."

"It was pretty sir." Max said. "I was so scared."

"He didn't even kiss me until two weeks later, and even then he was looking up at the sky wondering if Clay had a satellite on him."

Harm smiled. "Don't go kissing too much. I want you to stay my little girl forever."

Mattie put her head down on Harm's legs and he ran his good hand through her hair. "It's our anniversary of me coming to live with you. I was so scared we wouldn't make it a year. I missed you so much."

"Oh baby." The crew had slipped out of the room to let Mattie and Harm have a few moments alone together so they could marvel at the changes each other brought into their lives. Harm looked at his teenager's angelic face and knew it helped solidify his plan.


AN: Thanks to everyone for the reviews, and I am sorry that this chapter is so short. I was scared about finishing this story. RL is rough right now, and I am in a very dark mood, so there is a change in the style of writing. Still focusing on the family though - I will try to have at least one chapter a week. Annmarie, thank you so much for reminding me that people are reading this and would like to see more of it - I appreciate it. I had a lot of bad things happen in the past couple of weeks and - well - this story deserves more attentiong then I could give it. I will continue working on it, but RL - well - I promise there will be an end to the saga.

Keep reviewing, next chapter will be longer, more about Christmas, more about what happened to Harm, a trial - Iraq revisited. Vague - but those are the ideas in my head.