PART 7

FOUR WEEKS LATER

"Will you stop fussing over me." Mac snapped with a chuckle. Harm had been driving her absolutely bonkers. "We're going up an elevator, I happen to think that even with broken ribs I can use an elevator." She faked anger and pointed at him. "Which, I might add, the doctor said are healing wonderfully."

Harm smirked. His Marine had been a terror at both Bethesda and the hospital she had been at down in Norfolk. He'd used her medical power of attorney in order to stay with her at night. Even though she swore she didn't need a baby sitter, Mac rather liked having Harm around. Sometimes, when he was able to take a longer lunch break, he would sneak in her favorites from Beltway Burgers with a crack about her dead cow obsession. "Here we are." He said, opening the gates of the elevator in his building. He held the gates back as Mac stepped out slowly, her ribs were still sore. The scar sustained from the injury on her side, was healing nicely and due to a new cream, the scar was vanishing. She had a couple of weeks of downtime left before she went up to the review board to be reinstated to her duties.

Entering his apartment, Mac immediately went for the switch that was right by the door. She clicked it a few times and frowned. "Uh, Harm. . . Your power is out."

Harm went into the apartment, disappearing in the darkness. "Gimme a second, Marine."

"Okay. . ." Mac paused for exactly one second before exclaiming. "ONE. . . That's it time's up." She laughed at her own joke, but the laughter died when she glanced over at Harm's table which was now completely lit only by candle light. "Harm?"

"Right here." He said, as he lit a few other candles on the kitchen island before hitting the remote to illicit soft jazzy sounds from his stereo. "This way ma'am." He offered her the crook of his arm which she took with a grin as he led her towards the dinning table.

Harm was the perfect gentleman, pulling out the chair for her, serving her the shrimp fettuccini that he had created. The chatted about nothing and everything during dinner. Afterwards, Harm put on the coffee and brought out a batch of brownies that he'd made just for her. Smirking he watched as she licked some chocolate frosting off of her fingers. "I surprised you during your birthday, didn't I?"

Mac chuckled at the memory. Her birthday had fallen on the same day that she was let out of Bethesda. Harm had picked her up and taken her to his apartment where the whole JAG crew waited. It was a sweet occasion, one that she wished that she was in a better condition for, but non-the-less she had fun with her co-worker's antics. "Yep, you outdid yourself that time. . . especially when you started crooning Hotel California with that guitar of yours."

"Hah. I wasn't the one that butchered the song." He said with a grin.

Mac just laughed. "No, it was Sturgis who was singing the wrong verses. . ." Tilting her head slightly she looked at him. "Did I thank you for that?"

Harm pretended to be lost in thought, before his famous flyboy smile appeared. "Only about thirty times."

"Well, here's thirty one. . . thank you." She gave him one of those irresistible Mac smiles, that was so infectious he smiled himself.

They sat there, smiling at each other in a companionable silence. The brightness of the candlelight illuminated Harm's eyes and Mac was drowning in them as she had so many times before. Harm was so mesmerized by the silent conversation that they were having, that he'd forgotten there had been a point in bringing up her birthday. "I ah. . .be right back." Stumbling into his bedroom, Harm went for the top drawer of his nightstand, where he pulled out a long velvet box. He opened it up, checked it's contents were still there and then heaved a sigh before he went back to Mac. "This is for you." He said, laying the box on the table in front of her.

Mac creased her brow and stared at the box. "What is it?" She looked up to him for an answer, but when she saw he couldn't supply one, she opened it up slowly. Inside was a simple white gold necklace to where a white gold ring was chained to. The ring, she noticed had a pair of hands holding a heart which had the design of a crown above it. She looked up at him curiously.

"I saw that chain when I was in Naples. . . I wanted to get it for you for your birthday but I didn't fine any cool charm to get for it." He explained as he watched her taking out the necklace and glancing at the ring that was dangling from it. "That ring, I have the other half of." Reaching into his shirt pocket, Harm produced a similar ring and placed it on the table near Mac. "I've had them for a while, I just never thought it was the right time." He confessed with a smirk.

She took his ring and compared it to the one on the necklace. The details on the ring were simple but beautiful. She had seen the ring before, but never gave any thought as to what the symbols meant. "It's a Claddagh, right?"

With a smile, Harm nodded. He took his ring and pointed to each object. "There many different legends about it, but the most common is that the hands represent Friendship and faith. The crown represent Loyalty and fidelity and the heart represents. . .Love." His voice nearly cracked as he said the elusive 'l' word.

Mac wasn't offended, she just smiled at him. Harm could be so damned cute sometimes. "Friendship, loyalty and love, huh?" She tilted her head to the side and smirked. Harm was squirming.

"Yea." His voice was down to a whisper now, but he recovered nicely as he continued the story. "It also has different meanings if you wear it different ways. For instance, if you if you wear it with the heart facing outwards, it means your heart is available. . ." His eyes moved from the ring to Mac's eyes. "But if you wear it with the heart facing inward. . . it means your heart already belongs to someone."

"I see." Mac opened the catch of the necklace and slid the ring out. Harm watched curiously as she took the ring and placed it in his hand. "I guess you better slip it on my finger with the heart facing inwards." Her heart skipped a beat as he gingerly took her hand and slipped the ring on with the heart facing inward.

Harm took a breath before he said the words he'd read online when he was researching the rings. "With these hands, I give you my heart and crown it with my love." Mac wiped a tear as he said the sentence and then kissed the finger where the ring rested. He gave her a cheesy grin, which she had to laugh at. Yep, Harm was just too damned cute for words.

Taking the ring from the table, she took his hand and slipped on his ring with the heart facing inward and repeated. "With these hands I give you my heart and crown it with my love."

Harm took that moment to wrap his hand around hers and pull her close to him. "I love you, Sarah." He said, as his lips descended on hers for their first real kiss.

Mac deepened the kiss before breaking off to gaze lovingly in his eyes. "I love you too, Harm."

Standing, Harm reached his hand out to Mac and tugged her towards the sofa where they sat curled up together. He thought of himself as lucky to finally be able to tell her what he felt and vowed never again to wait until it was almost too late.

THE END.