A/N: Just a helpful reminder that Mattie is not injured in this fic. If you want a continued "Post series, canon-ish" Mattie storyline, please check out my story "Life Unexpected" :)

Harm studied the teenager across from him. She was so closed off that he hardly recognized her. Her walls hadn't been that high since he'd first met her years earlier. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"When does your flight leave?" she asked curtly, toying with the corner of her napkin.

"Tomorrow morning, early," Harm replied. She nodded but still wouldn't look up at him. He couldn't figure out exactly what was upsetting her. He was moving away regardless. First it was London by himself, which Mattie wholeheartedly supported. She was enthusiastic about his promotion. She'd been less thrilled when he told her he changed his mind and decided to leave the Navy to join Mac at her commission in San Diego, but she still supported his decision and understood how important it was to make his relationship with Mac work. Now that the final decision was made to move to London, take up his commission, and start a life with Mac and their adopted son, Mattie was shutting him out. "Mattie…"he started, but she quickly interrupted him.

"Harm, it's fine," she let out, taking a greedy sip from her soda. "I guess it's only fair. I tried to get rid of you first, now you're trying to get rid of me," she shrugged. While her words stung, he was not completely surprised by them. Abandonment issues didn't disappear overnight.

"Whoa, Mattie. No one is getting rid of anyone," he responded adamantly, his posture straightening. "I never felt like you were trying to get rid of me. I knew you would go back to your dad eventually and I couldn't stand in the way of that, regardless of how much I wanted you to stay. And you know I have to go to London. Not only for my career but also for a life I never thought I'd have. That doesn't mean you matter any less to me."

"How can you say that? You're starting a whole new life. You have a wife and a baby and a job that is halfway across the world. I'll never see you again," she tried to keep up her tough façade, but it quickly began to crumble as tears filled her eyes. She wiped at them with the back of her hand.

"Mattie Grace, you know me better than that," he admonished, setting an envelope in front of her. The girl stared at him for a moment, before carefully opening the envelope.

"A ticket to London?" she croaked, eyes frantically searching his face to see if this was some kind of joke.

"For this summer when you're out of school. It's open ended so you can stay for a week, a month, or even the whole summer if you want. Mac and I are happy to have you and I've already talked to your dad about it," he grinned.

"Harm, you didn't have to do this," she mentioned, color coming to her cheeks. She felt silly about her outburst. Of course Harm wouldn't abandon her. He took her in just weeks after meeting her and then fought tooth and nail to keep her.

"But I did. I want you to meet your brother," he winked.

"My brother?" her brow furrowed.

"Don't you consider yourself my daughter to some extent?" Harm asked.

"I mean, yeah, you're my Navy dad. I just didn't think once you had your own family…" she trailed off. She'd already accused him of trying to abandon her once and he'd proved her wrong; she wasn't about to make the same mistake.

"Once my kid, always my kid. Don't forget that," he said, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. She ducked her head, again humbled by his affection.

"I love you, Harm," she admitted softly.

"I love you too, Mattie. Always," he returned. "Now let's order some lunch so we can go give Sarah one final flight before she goes into storage." he changed the subject, now that he convinced her he wasn't walking out of her life.

"I can't believe your wife won't let you take your airplane to London," Mattie teased.

"Actually it was my decision, or indecision rather. I am afraid of how she'll travel so for the time being, she's saying put," he shrugged.

"So that means when I get my license I can start taking her out?" Mattie's eyes sparkled.

"We'll see," Harm smirked.

"Come on, she's an airplane, she needs to be in the air," the teenager pleaded.

"I didn't say no. You have to get your license first, and keep your grades up. Then we'll talk about it," he stipulated.

"Look at you getting your 'Dad' practice in," she giggled.

"Well, Morgan is not going to be able to bargain for a while yet," he chuckled.

"Is it weird? Morgan?" Mattie wondered. She's heard very little about her Navy dad's son. She knew the infant was an orphan and had yet to leave the hospital.

"In what way?"

"Well not that he's adopted because you adopted me, but because he's in the hospital still. Like you have this kid, but you don't have him."

"Oh yeah, it's even stranger than that. Some days he's not well enough to hold. So it's difficult. Especially for Mac. She's ready to be his mom full time,"

"He is going to be ok though?" Mattie's eyes were round with concern.

"Yes, of course. He just needs to finish growing. We're hoping he'll be home in the next couple weeks," Harm assured her.

"I'm proud of you, Harm. Your promotion, your family," the girl beamed.

"And I'm proud of you. We've both come a long way from when we met," he mused, picking up the menu to decide what he wanted for lunch.