A New Life Part 25: Ch07 – "Mac and Diane"
A retrospective story looking back to start with the original 1995 pilot episode, from the prism of 25 years in the future (2020). AU: what if the premise of Harmon Rabb Jr's life was completely different before he landed on the carrier with Caitlin Pike?
A/N-1: See Chapter One for all the notes, scene-setting and disclaimers. Published 20MAR2021.
A/N-2: Having set the scene in the first five chapters, we re-imagined Chapter 06 as the "meeting in a Rose Garden" – which was based upon S02Ep01 from canon TV. These follow-on conversations and chapters are then imagined as we head off into AU territory. It is time to bring *this* AU tale to a happy conclusion.
Published 14-Aug-2021: thank you for your company me on this journey into the serious Alternate Universe that is inspired by "JAG"; even 25 years after the pilot, next month in September 2021.
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Ch07 – "Mac and Diane"
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Friday January 17th 1997, 10:13hrs EST
Main courtroom, JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA
As Matt O'Hara was being led out of court, he stopped by the defence table to thank Harm and Mac. Standing behind Harm, Diane had brought in their two children, in preparation for taking Harm to lunch – his apology for "ditching" them at the Rose Garden two weeks earlier.
"Uncle Matt, I'd like to introduce you to Harm's wife, Diane."
Matt turned around, reaching out his handcuffed wrists, then he gasped as he looked into Diane's face.
"Forgive me, Mrs Rabb. Sarah just said your name was Diane – am I correct?"
Diane nodded. "Yes Colonel – we share a birth date but we cannot account for the similarities."
Matthew O'Hara smiled. "Well then, if I might address you as 'Diane': apart from being born in the same year, I would hazard a guess that you were born in a maternity ward in Yuma Arizona?"
She nodded – this was getting weird again!
Uncle Matt (a man whom Diane had neither met nor ever heard of) continued with a knowing smile: "Then I would also guess that your maiden name was Diane Schonke?"
Harm and Diane both gasped in surprise. Even Mac's normal inscrutable lawyer game-face was perturbed.
"How the hell did Uncle Matt know that?"
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Friday January 17th 1997, 10:29hrs EST
Office of RAdm "AJ" Chegwidden, JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA
With agreement from the USMC escort, Harm took charge of "the prisoner" - as Matt was termed – and the team adjourned to the Admiral's office for privacy.
Matt O'Hara smiled and turned to Harm. "I wonder, Commander, whether we could delay hauling me off to jail for a half-hour or so – I believe that I owe these two ladies an insight into a piece of O'Hara-Mackenzie-Schonke family history".
Harm nodded: "I'd say that you do, Colonel. Starting with – how in the hell did you know my wife's maiden name?"
Matt looked at Diane, as she gathered her children to her. He looked beyond her, remembering events as they unfolded from long ago, then his gaze returned and he seemed to be looking into Diane's very soul.
"More than that – your parents were Robert and Agnetha Schonke; she worked in the maternity unit at Yuma Presbyterian Hospital when both Sarah and Diane were born."
Diane concentrated her gaze on Uncle Matt. Sarah stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Diane. It was a scary prospect to view two such identical – and identically-focussed – brunettes. Eventually Diane spoke, half a beat ahead of Sarah as the Marine drew breath ready to speak.
"OK Matt, you're batting three for three so far – what happened?"
He relaxed, as long-suppressed events re-surfacing in his brain.
"Deanne Mackenzie discovered, relatively late in her pregnancy, that she was carrying twins. As time went on, she confided in my wife – your aunt Connie, Sarah – that she really didn't feel able to cope with two children at the same time."
He turned from Diane to Mac. "I'm sorry Sarah, Connie did her best but I was already under orders for a deployment to Vietnam at that time and Joe had already done a real number on Deanne's confidence the last few times he'd been home on furlough."
His manacled hands formed into tight fists as he recalled his helplessness to help Deanne at the time.
"I watched that bright, vivacious girl turn into a beaten-down, crushed shadow of herself – fit for breeding and acting as Joe's target for the evening when he fell home through the front door after a night in the Sergeants' Mess."
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"She obviously was worried sick when she fell pregnant – and the news about carrying the twins was the final straw. No way could she ever cope with Joe's return from 'Nam and a pair of new-borns as well. Then your wonderful aunt Connie had a brainwave. Connie and I knew that Robert and Agnetha had fertility problems, so that motherhood was looking unlikely for Aggy – despite her working all day in the Maternity Unit where she was surrounded by children all day long. Sometimes life is just cruel."
He shrugged, as a smile briefly flashed across his face.
"So, the Schonkes came up with a plan and an offer. Agnetha started stuffing a pillow under her dress for the outside world to see, the maternity and obstetrics doctors were sympathetic and, with Diane arriving just 20 minutes after you were born Sarah, two mothers left the maternity unit three days later with lovely dark-haired daughters and a pair of birth certificates. Outside of the MU, no-one was any the wiser."
He shrugged: "and that was that. The mists of time just washed over everything – until Harm and Diane both went to Annapolis two decades later - when the sparks of attraction began to fly."
Harm joined in; "Hey, I would point out that I had to treat her like my sister all the way through Annapolis."
Di sighed, realisation sinking in; "So the next chapter began, without knowing that the index of the book was faulty. Well, Uncle Matt, that is quite a story and I thank you for lightening our darkness."
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However, Diane was beginning to show the first signs of a mounting bubble of rage.
"How dare these people make decisions about *my* life – and my sister's life – without even having the slightest god-damned inclination to friggin' *tell me* about this?"
Diane was clearly way past being pissed at the situation. She was showing the spirit and spark which had drawn Harm to her that first week in Annapolis - and which had built the solid foundation of the Rabb marriage and family life.
Harm reached out a hand – and was mighty grateful when she finally took it. His wife was rigid, shaking with unburned emotion. This sudden, unexpected yet totally-understandable history lesson was striking home.
"Jesus, Harm; I could have grown up with *my sister*, sharing everything - instead of as an only child, with two lovely parents."
Mac was, as a counterpoint, re-living the nightmare of Joe, Deanne, abandonment and alcoholism. It had taken Uncle Matt and the USMC to rebuild her – but what if she had never been broken in the first place, maybe growing up as Sarah Catherine Schonke?
The innate linkage between twins began to spark – Diane Rabb realised what Sarah Mackenzie was thinking as both women stared at Uncle Matt.
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She turned to Sarah. "Well, sis, what are we going to do about getting to know each other after all these years? I simply *cannot* let this lie."
Harm reached out for his wife and her newly-discovered sister – his JAG partner.
"Ladies, it will take us time, but we *will* work this out. My desire for the two of you to be happy will outweigh any uncomfortable unpleasantness on the journey."
He spread his arms wide and both "Mackenzie girls" stepped into his reach. He hugged them as they hugged him. Eventually the three of then separated.
Sarah smiled and linked her arm through Uncle Matt's elbow, ignoring his handcuffed wrists, as she reached out for Diane..
"Well, my younger sister; I am going to bid my Uncle Godspeed for his journey - and then you and I are going to sit down and work out how we – together – get the best out of your husband."
Di raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Oh yeah?"
Sarah smiled again. "Oh yeah – as my colleague and partner in JAG, but first and foremost as your husband and the father of your children, Di."
She braced, stiffening within her Marine Green uniform. "Just know that I may borrow him occasionally." She raised her hand in a Girl Guide promise salute; "But know that I shall always bring him back."
Diane returned the smile. "Sounds like a plan. I'm sure he'll accept the plan."
Harm began to realise the difference in the two women's' voices as they began to laugh. In the background, Chegwidden's bass notes added to the cacophony of happy laughter.
Shortly afterwards, Uncle Matt began his journey to Leavenworth to commence his sentence.
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"A Happy Ending" - Early 1997
Home of Harmon and Diane Rabb, Annandale, VA
"Mac" became a regular visitor for Sunday lunches out at Annandale, along with helping Di with occasional babysitting for little Sarah and Matthew. Mom and "aunt" built a strong and productive bond, supporting Harmon Rabb from both directions – as his wife and as his trusted colleague, within the home and in the work environment.
Every so often, Harmon Rabb jr gave thanks for the mysterious cosmic events which had gifted him two devastatingly beautiful, intelligent and utterly trustworthy brunettes in his life – along with the fact that Mac and Diane got on very well with each other and appeared to have his best interests at heart!
He was a lucky man – even when the two brunettes inevitably decided to gang up on him! Plus, he had a great story to tell his Mom and Grandma Sarah up in Belleville PA.
FIN
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The End.
End of Ch07 – "Mac and Diane".
Mike, United Kingdom, 14-08-2021
