A/N: I sincerely hope nothing like this would ever happen to our fighter pilots in real life. However, I have noticed that as technology improves, the older things tend to go by the wayside. There are several kids these days who don't know how to read a manual clock, they just rely on the digital one on their cellphone or have Alexa or Siri tell them what time it is. Hopefully, a situation never arises when they might need to know those things.
It has been a week and a half since Mac delivered the news of the triplets to Harm. He came home a couple of days ago, and his mom just left this morning. The kids were spending the night with Bud and Harriet, and it was their first night alone in a few weeks.
***Flashback**
The investigation had been hell on Harm. Him and Admiral Ingalls had definitely mended fences after their first encounter, when he was defending Skates, and Harm had stood toe to toe with him requesting the ships' records in his attempt to save her career. Harm had nothing but the utmost respect for the man; he was firm, but fair. He also owed him his life, after a combination of Mac's intuition and at the time Captain Ingalls' ability to trust in that faith to send the search and rescue aircraft to where Harm was drifting in the frigid Atlantic. Therefore, he really hated having to explain to him how a pilot lost his life, the Navy lost a multi-million-dollar aircraft, and how the Admiral would have to decide if the other pilot should be brought before a Field Naval Aviator Evaluation Board (FENAB). Yes, part of the mishap was an accident. The planes were flying in tandem chasing the fighter, the flight leader took a hard-right turn to engage the bogey, and the less inexperienced pilot, his wingman, mistook it as a left turn when he also went to engage the enemy plane. Their wings collided, and sent the lead plane plummeting to the earth.
Harm would have chalked the whole thing up to an accident until the RIO of the surviving pilot admitted that his driver didn't understand the difference between ten o'clock and two o'clock. Apparently, the kid had relied on digital timepieces his whole life and didn't understand what the hell was being relayed to him. You would have thought he would have been taught that in flight school, but how he ever managed to get to Top Gun not knowing those things was beyond Harm's imagination. According to his RIO, the pilot had always assumed that when they said "Bogey on your six" it just meant his behind, because they always referred to "butts" as "sixes" and he never made the correlation of it having to do with six o'clock. The only upside to this whole damn thing was that it had happened ashore on a training incident. If it had happened in a real combat situation, it could have been a lot worse. Harm couldn't bring charges against the kid for stupidity, but he surely could for destruction of property.
Harm was livid with Boomer too. As a Commanding Officer, Jonas should have made sure those guys were thoroughly prepared before they went up to try fancy maneuvering. Boomer begged off as having no knowledge because the pilot's regular RIO wasn't at Top Gun so he had no way of knowing. It would be up to Admiral Ingalls whether Boomer would be flying a desk for the remainder of his career. All Harm could do was report his findings to the convening authority, and let them decide what to do about it. Still, he hated being responsible, even indirectly, for grounding pilots that had potential. He knew what it was like to lose your wings.
He had been in a pretty somber mood that first night home. His eyes lit up when he walked in the door and the kids came running to hug him, but both Mac and his mom could tell by his stance that all wasn't right in his world. He didn't want to talk about it, so Mac consoled him the best way she could. After all, a few weeks away from her husband had her missing him physically just as much as she did emotionally.
***End Flashback***
They retire to their bedroom for the evening, and Harm wraps his arms around Mac from behind, lightly rubbing her belly, "I still can't believe we are having triplets."
Mac sighs as she leans back into his embrace, enjoying his gentle touch. She can't feel his smile, but she knows it is there, "Harm, you can wipe that cocky grin off of you face right now! You do realize that we're going to have to move?"
He rests his head on her shoulder, "No, we aren't."
Mac turns around in a huff, "Yes, we are! We don't have enough room!"
Harm grumbles as he starts to strip his pants off, "Sure we do. We have an office, a guest room, a rec room, and a full basement. Any of the above can be converted into a nursery."
Mac exclaims, "We are not putting the nursery in the basement! And Trisha and Matthew aren't moving down there either. I want ALL of my children on the same floor as me."
Harm, trying not to infuriate his wife further, suggests, "Maybe we could move the playroom into the basement. Besides, part of the reason that we chose this house was because of the land. We have more than ten acres to build on. We can just expand our current house. I did turn a former warehouse into my loft you know. I'm pretty handy with the power tools."
Mac isn't in the mood to be placated, "Not happening! You do not have time to do the renovations. In just a few short months, these three little ones will be here."
Harm sighs, "I know that the time will fly by, but we have plenty of time before they get here. If you are dead set against me doing it, we can draw up some plans of what we would like, meet with a contractor and hire someone to do it."
Mac isn't happy with this either, "Harm, I don't want the kids around a construction zone for months on end."
Harm walks over and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down a little, "Mac, it won't take that long. We can take a couple of weeks and go out to La Jolla and enjoy the sun, sand, and beach. I'm sure that Mom and Frank would love to have us. They can't resist any opportunity to spoil their grandchildren."
Mac shies away from his touch, and turns to glare at him with her hands on her hips, "You think you are going to get me in a bathing suit in public when I look like a beached whale? You have got to be kidding me!"
This is not how he wanted to spend their first night alone together. He lowers his voice several notches as he wraps his arms around her, "You didn't like look a beached whale when you were pregnant before. In fact, you were so beautiful with your bronzed round belly, glowing complexion, and captivating smile, that I practically had to carry a baseball bat with me at all times to keep other men away."
Mac still wants to argue, but it's very hard when he uses his bedroom voice with her and says sweet things. She buries her head in his shoulder, "Well I'm not going to have a round belly this time around, I'm going to be FAT! And it's all YOUR fault!"
Harm lifts her chin up so that she is looking at him as he whispers, "Sarah, listen to me. You will never be fat, regardless of how much weight you do or don't put on, you will always be beautiful."
Mac gets lost in his eyes for a moment, before pushing him away with a "Hmmph" as she makes her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She hears Harm start to get settled into bed and she calls out, "Hey Harm, when you are drawing up those plans for the renovations, make sure you add a shed."
Harm furrows his brow and replies, "A shed? Why? We already have one."
Mac spits her toothpaste out, "Yeah, but it's not big enough."
Harm, even more curious now wondering what the hell needs to fit in the shed, inquires, "Big enough for what?"
Mac finishes rinsing her mouth, and steps out of the bathroom as she deadpans, "A bed."
Harm looks at her like she has lost her mind, "Why would I want to put a bed in the shed?"
Mac slides into bed, and straddles his hips, placing her hands on either side of his chest. She looks him directly in the eye and gives him a wide smile, "Because, Sailor, if you ever put me in this predicament again, that is precisely where you will be sleeping!"
Harm brings his hand to her back, and starts running lines from her shoulder to her six with his fingertips, gently caressing her. He replies, laughing, "Well, I guess that means I better take advantage of the next few months then. I should get in while the getting is still good, since I can't currently make you any more pregnant that you already are."
Mac quirks her eyebrow at him and smacks him on the bicep, "While the getting is good? I thought I was always good."
Harm lowers his voice again, "Sarah, you are amazing. You are always amazing. I only meant that I should maximize my chances now before you threaten to cut me off from those types of activities. Since after you give birth, I have a feeling you aren't going to let me anywhere near there without some form of shield."
Mac sits back on his thighs, "Ha! You think we are going to have any energy for activities like that when we are trying to feed and change three newborns at all hours of the night? Not to mention chasing after the other two whirlwinds we already have."
Harm looks her up and down seductively before sitting up and gently nibbling on her ear as he whispers, "I can always find the energy to indulge in my beautiful wife."
