Rabb and Roberts Law Firm

"And you said no?" Harm assumed after Mac had told him about Kelly's request. Harm had left earlier and had missed the conversation that morning.

"I did," Mac confirmed as she sat down and put her mug on her desk before opening her laptop.

"Good," Harm said as he prepared to leave.

"By the way. I'm taking Kelly shopping later and we're eating out. I'm asking Claire too. Girls night," Mac said with a sweet smile.

Harm nodded. "Okay. I'll order pizza for Matthew and me. We'll play some video games."

"Sounds like a plan," Mac agreed. "By the way, you should fix your tie."

Harm reached for his tie. "Is it not straight?"

"It's loose," she smiled and stood. She rounded her desk and walked over to him. "Let me."

Harm let her fix his tie. He did love the way she stood close to him.

"Are you ready for court?" she wondered as she let her hand touch his shoulder and ran it down his arm.

"I was born ready," he said cockily.

She was amused. She leaned in and kissed him softly. "Have fun."

"You too," he offered a sweet smile and left her office.

Later

"Don't move the stick too abruptly," Harm instructed his son. "You're doing a nosedive… Oh, you hit the water."

"Shit!" Matthew shook his head. "One more time?"

"Yeah, you need your practice," Harm said with a burst of small laughter.

Matthew turned to the screen again and started another flight. "Like this?"

"That's better," Harm leaned back in his chair eager for his turn. He wasn't qualified to fly thunderbirds but he sure enjoyed flying the simulator. He had it set up years ago on his home computer. Just for fun.

"You think Nathan is doing okay?" Matthew wondered.

"It sounded like it when I talked with him last week. He's busy though," Harm said as he watched his son do a perfect landing. "Good job, Matthew."

"Thanks, Dad," Matthew smiled. "Your turn."

Harm reached for the controller. "Watch this," he said as he moved the stick around.

Matthew followed the plane as Harm maneuvered it around the screen. "Dad?"

"Yeah, son?" Harm focused on Matthew after he had landed the plane.

"You were really good, weren't you?" Matthew questioned.

Harm nodded. "Yeah, I was really good."

"With the Rabb name, it's kinda expected to be that good, huh?" Matthew suggested.

Harm smiled. "Matthew, you don't' have to follow in my footsteps. You can be anything. I'd be proud of you no matter what. If you do decide to become a pilot though, you'll do great. You apply yourself to everything you do. You work hard. So whatever you decide to do, you'll do great. If you want to be good, it's just hard work."

Matthew nodded. "Okay."

Harm motioned for the stick again. "Come on. Show me another great landing, then we'll have pizza."

Matthew smiled. "Yes, sir."

Georgetown

Claire and Kelly had found a bench to sit on while they waited on their mother. Mac had stepped into a store to find some shirts for her husband. They had reservations at a restaurant in thirty minutes.

"What's so interesting on that phone?" Claire wondered.

Kelly looked up and hesitated. "My friends are planning this trip…"

"Trip?" Claire wondered.

Kelly nodded. "I don't get to go," she said with a sigh. "I get it, but I wish…" she hesitated. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have all these rules to abide by."

"Without rules there's chaos," Claire reasoned with a smile. "I guess you asked to go and mom and dad said no?"

"Yeah, mom did. I guess dad agrees," Kelly shrugged. "I didn't ask him."

"It's not like he'd ever rule over mom," Claire said with a chuckle.

Kelly smiled. "I thought he was the one with the highest rank?"

"Wife overrules Admirals," Claire mimicked her dad. "And anyway, you should be glad they care enough to say no. They just want us to be safe."

"I guess," Kelly said quietly. "It's just that the other girls don't seem to have many rules to live by. They have no curfew for example. Except for Leslie though. She didn't get to go on the trip either so she's coming over for a sleepover."

"That sounds nice," Claire smiled. "I always appreciated that mom and dad made sure we were home at night. And all the effort they made to spend time with us. It made me feel safe and loved. I knew I could always call them, no matter what. I was at a party once and I stopped a rape. A girl was drugged and this guy tried to have sex with her. I stopped it and called the police. Mom and dad picked me up and they didn't get mad, they were actually proud. Even the few times I did something stupid, I could always come running to mom and dad. I still can."

Kelly nodded. "Yeah, they are pretty great to have. And if I grow up to be half as strong and competent as Mom is I think I'll do okay."

Claire nodded. "Yeah, that's what I think too. Here she is."

"Hi girls," Mac smiled as she approached them.

"Did you get what you needed?" Claire asked.

"I did, so we can go to the restaurant now. It's sixteen minutes until our reservation," Mac said.

"I'm starving," Kelly stood.

"Me too," Claire agreed as she gathered her bags.

"Let's go," Mac smiled.

Later that night

Mac put the glass into the sink and looked out the window. She let out a sigh. The roses did look spectacular, she thought. Footsteps behind her made her turn.

"I just came to have some water," Kelly said.

"I had the same errand," Mac smiled. "I'm headed to bed now."

"Me too." Kelly found a glass. "Thanks for today, Mom. It was fun."

"It was," Mac agreed. "That dress you found for Mattie's wedding was amazing."

"I never was the dress-up kinda girl, but that dress made me feel really pretty," Kelly admitted as she filled her glass.

"You are a pretty girl," Mac said and hugged her. "Good night."

"Night," Kelly said and watched her mom go. She had given it some thought and decided that it was okay not to go on a three day trip with her friends.

Harm looked up from his book when Mac appeared in the doorway. He watched as she closed the door behind her and headed for the bathroom. Ten minutes later she snuggled into his arms. He put the book away and turned off the light by his bedside.

"I'll be late in the morning," she mumbled tiredly.

"Why?" he wondered as he caressed her back softly.

"I'm going by the stable to see Rose," Mac said and ran her hand down his chest.

"I thought you weren't going to do that?" he reminded her.

"Laura sent me a text about Rose feeling homesick so I figured I'd stop by," Mac reasoned. Laura was the owner of the stable.

"I see," he said with amusement.

"I'm not being a mother hen," she argued.

"I didn't say anything," he reminded her.

"You didn't have to," she moved in to kiss him. "Good night."

He smiled. "Good night, beautiful."

The next day

Mac drove up to the stable and parked the car. She got out and looked around and spotted Rose by Whirlwind's paddock. Mac had dressed comfortably in jeans and sneakers, bringing with her a change for the office. The sun was high in the sky already and it looked to be another nice day. Mac let Max out of his cage and before she could put the leash on him he let out a few barks and headed for Rose.

Rose turned abruptly and hurried to meet Max with a huge smile on her face. Max danced around her eagerly as she patted his head softly and scratched his ears. "This is the best surprise!" Rose said when Mac caught up to them

Mac finally got the leash on Max. "We decided to surprise you."

"I'm glad," Rose said and hugged her mother. "I was really feeling homesick."

"You could have called and told me," Mac reminded Rose.

"I wanted to prove that I could do this," Rose admitted as she crouched down by Max.

"You can do this, but we don't mind stopping by," Mac smiled. "We miss you."

"I miss you guys too," Rose stood. "Whirlwind has been great."

"He's taking good care of you," Mac assumed as she walked over to the pony and patted his neck.

"He always does," Rose confirmed.

Mac spent half an hour with Rose, then Rose had to prepare Whirlwind for their session so Mac said goodbye and brought Max to the car. She knew she had a lot of work waiting at the office, but she was happy that she took the time to stop by Rose.