Harm gives Bud a manly thump on the shoulder as he leaves the conference room, "Good advice."

Harm easily obtains the General's permission, and proceeds up the stairs to where Mac's office is to let her know that he is leaving early, and that he will pick Matthew up from daycare, and Trisha up from school. This way she can stay later if she wants to. He gets halfway up the flight of stairs before he remembers that she is in court today. He runs back down, and walks towards the courtrooms. He silently slips into the back of Courtroom B, and quietly slides into a pew in the back row, not wanting to interrupt the proceedings. His Marine tends to get a little irate when her courtroom is disrupted in the middle of a trial. He can wait until she thinks it is an appropriate time to take a break.

Mac looks in his direction, and though her face shows no apparent change, her eyes give a twinkle showing her happiness in him being there. They also show a hint of a question wondering why he is there. When Lt. Tiner finishes questioning the witness, she bangs her gavel calling, "Twenty-minute recess."

Mac tilts her head at Harm, indicating that he should meet her in chambers. As he is walking towards the bench, just before he reaches the defense table, he overhears Lt. England say something derogatory to her client regarding the amount of recesses the Colonel has taken today. Lt. England reminds him very much of Lt. Singer. Unlike Lt. Singer, she is a brilliant attorney, but her attitude definitely leaves a lot to be desired. Thankfully, she reports directly to the General, and not to him. Otherwise, she would have found herself stationed at Naval Air Station Keflavik a long time ago. When he gets to the defense table, he nods to the MPs to secure the defendant before clearing his throat, loudly. Lt. England looks up at him, "Can I help you with something, Captain Rabb?"

Harm folds his arms over his chest and looks at her pointedly, "Lt. England, stand at attention."

She slides her chair back, and slowly comes to attention as requested. The only purpose this serves is to increase Harm's wrath. He was just going to ask her to accompany him to Mac's chambers so that she could repeat what she said, but now, she is going to get dressed down in front of everyone still in the courtroom. He stares hard at her for a moment before speaking. "Lieutenant, did I just hear you complain to your client that the Colonel has been taking too many breaks?"

She isn't sure what to say, as she wasn't expecting to get caught. She quietly admits, "Yes, Sir."

Harm continues, "Do you think that being disrespectful to a senior officer is appropriate behavior?"

She replies, "No, Sir."

Harm lowers his voice slightly, "And before you spout off any words about me reacting this way because she is my wife. Let me remind you that I am a senior officer as well, and I had better not hear any scuttlebutt relating to me protecting her. She is a Marine officer perfectly capable of defending herself. I would react the exact same way to disrespect of ANY senior officer. Are we clear, Lieutenant?"

She stammers, "Crystal, Sir."

Harm looks her directly in the eye as he states, "I won't mention the specifics of this to the General, but I can't guarantee that he won't hear about it. You will report to me after staff call in the morning to discuss non-judicial punishment if you are agreeable to that?"

Lt. England finally looks him directly in the eye as she replies, "Yes, Sir."

Harm can almost see her exhale in relief that she isn't receiving a formal reprimand. He replies, "I'll see you in the morning, Lieutenant, dismissed."

Lt. England grabs the papers from the defense table, and her briefcase from under it, and says, "Excuse me, sir," as she rushes past Harm, on her way out of the courtroom, thoroughly embarrassed. Thankfully, there were only a handful of folks still left in the courtroom, but there were enough witnesses to get the rumor mill going full swing. Her next stop will be the General's office. She doesn't want to have to tell him what she did, but she fears the wrath of him finding out another way much worse.

Harm is about to walk to the front of the courtroom to go through the door that leads to Mac's chambers, when he sees her leaning against the frame with her ankles crossed, and a raised eyebrow. When he reaches her, she asks, "Do you want to let me in on what that was about Sailor?"

He places his hand on her elbow, directing her down the short corridor to her chambers and says, "I will tell you, in private."

She nods, as she pushes the door open to her sanctuary, "Care to tell me why you were visiting my courtroom?"

Harm shuts and locks the door, "First things, first." He proceeds to wrap her in his arms and give her a loving kiss, not enough to spark their desires, but enough to let her know how much he truly loves her.

Mac sasses him a bit, "Thanks, Sailor, I needed that. It isn't getting you off the hook about answering my questions though."

Harm chuckles, "I didn't expect it to, but I can try again to make you forget if you would like."

Mac sighs, "It will have to wait until later tonight I am afraid. I think its going to be a long afternoon."

Harm sneaks another quick kiss before saying, "Ok, that will suffice for now. I will give you the good news first then. You can stay later tonight if you want to. I've asked the General to secure early so that I can spend a few hours practicing with Matthew this afternoon. Bud gave me a couple of ideas, and I want to try them out while things are slow in the office. I'll also pick Trisha up from school, and start dinner. That way, all you have to do when you get home is spend some time with the kids and relax. I know that we haven't told everyone yet that you are pregnant again, but we might want to let at least Admiral Morris and General Cresswell know sooner rather than later."

Mac sits down, and puts her feet up, "Harm, I think spending some one on one time with Matthew is a great idea. I'll look forward to hearing how Bud's suggestions go over when I get home tonight. I'm not sure I want to tell the General and Admiral yet. At least not until I have my first ultrasound. Why do you think it needs to be sooner?"

Harm sighs, "And that brings me to my bad news. I was dressing down Lt. England out there for remarking to her client that the trial would go much faster if 'little miss perfect colonel' didn't have to keep taking potty breaks."

Mac is on her feet in an instant, "THAT LITTLE WITCH SAID WHAT?"

Harm grabs her arms, and gives her light caresses from her shoulders to her hands, as he coaxes her back into her seat. "Power down, Marine. Stress is not good for the little one. I took care of it, and I will have a discussion with the General about her behavior. However, I will probably leave out the exact words she used."

Mac is still fuming, "I don't need you to protect me, Harm!"

Harm holds her hands, and gives them a squeeze in silent support, "Sarah, I wasn't doing it to protect you. I would have reacted the same way if she had made those comments about Bud or Tiner."

Mac cocks her eyebrow at him, "Oh, really?"

Harm starts to defend himself, "Yes, she shouldn't treat any officer.." The rest of his sentence is cut off when he realizes that Mac is laughing at him. He likes that she has loosened up a little, but isn't happy about the fact that it seems to be at his expense. "What is so funny?"

Mac attempts to answer him through her giggles, "I'm just trying to picture you defending the honor of a pregnant Bud and Tiner. Tell me, do you think they would look better in a sundress or a pantsuit?"