A/N: This is kind of a multiple chapter, chapter. If that makes sense. I cut them apart to keep the themes similar. More to come soon! Enjoy!

Harm and Mac were hovering around Morgan's crib when Lydia softly knocked on the door.

"Hey Lydia," Mac offered her a small smile before turning her attention back to her son. He was strapped into his car seat and hooked up to monitors. It was standard procedure for premature babies. The goal was to see if Morgan could tolerate riding in his car seat.

"Oh, car seat test! He must be ready for discharge," Lydia noted with delight.

"In two days," Harm beamed. "Now I hope you're here to tell us he'll be ready to adopt outright shortly thereafter?"

Lydia's lips pursed. Mac felt a twist in her gut. She shared a look with her husband. It was clear he felt it too.

"There's good news and bad news," the advocate said, throwing her hands up against the sudden tension.

"Someone is contesting the adoption?" Mac asked. Harm watched all the color drain from her face. Instinctively he hooked an arm around her waist offering her support.

"No, no, nothing like that. That's my good news," Lydia started. "Morgan has been released from the state, so he is now officially up for adoption. All of your paperwork has been filed and assessed and you have be approved as Morgan's official parents," she grinned.

Mac wanted to get excited. She wanted to spin in her husband's arms and pull his head down for a fierce kiss, but she resisted. There was still bad news and until she heard it, she refused to celebrate.

"But?" Harm beat her to the punch.

"They want the final hearing held in the US," the woman explained

"I can arrange a couple days leave, that shouldn't be a problem," Harm shrugged.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem," Mac agreed

"They want Morgan present. It's a stupid technicality, but…" Lydia started.

"I am not taking my six week old on a transcontinental flight," Mac cut her off.

"I figured you would say that. So we have a couple options. We can either postpone the adoption until you are comfortable traveling with him, or we can look into relocating the hearing." the advocate suggested.

"Can't we do it on base or at the embassy?" Harm wondered. "Because I don't know when we'll be comfortable putting him on a plane." They were told even with Morgan well enough to go home, he could be susceptible to illness for some time. Harm didn't want to take unnecessary risks, despite how much he wanted the document stating Morgan was legally his child.

"They should be able to make some kind of an exception, since you are a military family. I will pull the necessary waivers and get them filed."

"Thank you, Lydia," Mac said softly.

"You can celebrate, Mac. You're in the homestretch," Lydia mentioned. "He's healthy and headed home. At this point, it's just a matter of finishing the paperwork."

"I just worry that some unknown relative is going to crawl out of the woodwork," Mac sighed.

"We did a thorough investigation, there is no family. And they did not address next of kin in either of their advanced directives. He's yours." She assured the mother.

Something about her statement triggered Harm's memory. "Lydia, what do we do if we encounter people who knew Morgan's biological parents?"

"Whatever you're comfortable with. It's not a closed adoption,"Lydia shrugged.

"Well, it turns out. I was supposed to be his mother's new commanding officer," he admitted.

"Oh wow," the woman blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, I just wasn't sure what I was able to tell them." He'd been putting off the conversation for weeks, but with Morgan finally coming home, he felt it was time to say something.

"While I don't envy your situation. There is no conflict, legally. So it's up to you." She replied with a tight smile. Harm nodded his thanks. "I'm going to go back to my office to get that paperwork started. I will probably swing back by for signatures in a little bit if you're still around,"

"Thank you, we really appreciate it." Harm said, allowing her to take her leave. He looked down at the woman in his arms. Her eyes were lost somewhere in space and her teeth were worrying at her bottom lip.

"That was all good news, Mac," he whispered in her ear.

"What if something changes between now and the hearing," Mac mumbled.

"He's coming home with us in two days and we'll have his paperwork shortly after, I promise,"

"And you don't break promises," she replied before he could.

"That's right," he chuckled. She spun in his arms, hooking her hands behind his neck.

"Are you going to talk to your staff?" Her eyes sought out his. He's been anxious about this conversation since his first day. She's hoped finally being able to get it off his chest would help him settle into his new command.

"Since I was planning on taking a couple days leave, I thought it might be a good time to bring it up," he nodded. "Not really sure what to say except to be honest,"

"You'll know what to say when the time come," she smiled softly.

"Thank you," he whispered, giving her a quick kiss.

"For what?" Mac quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Being you. Being my wife," Harm replied, tugging her tighter against him and kissing her soundly.

Harm stood in the middle of the bullpen, all eyes turned towards him. He suddenly felt like he wanted to throw up. His eyes landed on the one familiar face in the crowd. Coates gave him a reassuring smile.

You'll know what to say when the time comes, Mac's voice whispered in his head. He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders.

"As many of you are aware I am taking a couple days leave this week. What you don't know is why," he started. It felt all wrong and the looks of confusion and disinterest on his staff's faces said they felt the same. He shook his head and started again. "Look, I am not sure the best way to say this, so I am just going to say it and then I am going to leave my office door open so if anyone wants to come talk about it they can." He still saw a lot of confusion but had garnered a lot more attention. "I didn't actually come to London for this command post. I had intended to retire and follow my new wife to her posting in California. I ended up here because my wife and I are in the process of adopting a baby," A couple sets of eyes went round, realizing the implications of his statement. He nodded slowly. "It is Lieutenant Casey's baby. I was not aware she worked in this office until I received my paperwork on my first day. I know a lot of you were close to the Lieutenant so like I said I am available to answer any questions you may have. I can tell you, the baby was a boy, we've named him Morgan and he's coming home from the hospital tomorrow, so I am taking the rest of the week off to be with my family," Harm finished his announcement. He expected some sort of vocal reaction but instead was met with awkward silence and wide eyed stares. "Ok, well. I'll be in my office," he hooked his thumb over his shoulder and spun on his heel.

"Um, sir...Captain Rabb," A voice called after him. He turned back around. It was one of his clerks.

"Thank you for telling us. We've all been worried about the baby and I am glad to know he has a family," the woman stated, her cheeks flushing with emotion.

"We are very lucky to have him," Harm acknowledged. This time he took his leave for real, giving them all time to process.

Harm was in the process of clearing his desk and sorting through upcoming items, preparing for his hand off meeting in the day when a knock sounded at his door. He looked up to see one of the senior attorneys, Commander Jeremy Schuler standing in the door way.

"What can I do for you, Commander? You're a little early for hand off," he addressed the man.

"I appreciate you trusting me to run things while you're away."

Harm leaned back in his chair, relaxing his posture. "I've heard nothing but good things from your previous CO. I expect you can handle it." Commander Schuler nodded. "But I also know that's not why you're here. Have a seat," Harm gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. The commander afforded him a small smile and took a seat.

"I wanted to emphasize Lieutenant Ryann's earlier comment. I appreciate your candor about Lieutenant Casey's baby."

Harm nodded, his fingers pressing against his lips as he formulated the right response.

"The first thing you notice when you walk into this unit is the cohesiveness," he started. "I've been in the Navy a long time and I've noticed how rare it is to see a unit with that kind of camaraderie outside of the front lines. Without the need to literally have each other's back, it tends to fall to the wayside. However, in my time at JAG HQ, our unit was similar to this one. I mean, it's how I met my wife," he chuckled. His mind briefly shifted back to the people who had become closer than family over the last decade, even the more difficult ones. "My point is, it made us all better at our jobs, better sailors, and I'd like to think better people. I want to lead this unit in a way that fosters that environment and I can't do that with a lie. Even one of omission," he shrugged.

"I have a lot to learn from you," Commander Schuler noted, impressed with his new Captain.

"Hopefully, you're smart enough to not have to learn it all the hard way, like I did," Harm smirked. "Is that all?"

"Yes, sir," the young man got to his feet. "I will see you this afternoon for our debrief."

"Sounds good, dismissed," Harm allowed.