Chapter 3 ' Wife, you are now in for the ride of your life…'

Mac couldn't help but smile at him when she punched his shoulder as she slid into the passenger seat. "Hey, what was that for?" Harm asked with a look of surprise on his face.

Mac leaned across the console, brushed her lips across his, and whispered softly in his ear. "Because I can." Harm thought he was going to suffocate when she did that. Having her this close; she was right; he would let her do almost anything now they were together. He rather liked the way they would tease and torment each other.She crossed her arms across her chest and pouted a little, just a little. "I was supposed to drive", she commented.

"We need to make a little detour and then you can have the wheel again, Marine",

Harm smiled as he pulled out onto the street. He drove a couple of blocks and pulled into a little shop off the main thoroughfare. He got out of the SUV, walked around to Mac's side of the vehicle and opened the door for her, flashing that killer grin of his. What is he up to now; wondered Mac...He always seemed to have something up his sleeve. "Come on, Mac. This is where the 'ride of your life' begins."

The sign in the window read 'The Scrap Heap'. As Harm reached for the door, Mac gave him a very puzzled look. "Harm, what is this? What are you doing stopping at a junk store? We don't have time for this! We have got to get to Annapolis. Are you going to be late for…?"

"Stow it, Marine," Harm interrupted, as he opened the door, gently pushing her through with his other hand. Once in the shop, Mac realized this was not a junk shop, but a quaint little stationary store. She still had no idea what they were doing here. What was Harm thinking, anyway? "Mac," Harm whispered into her ear, "when Mattie was so sick and I thought I might lose her, I started thinking about all the times we could have lost each other. I realized the only photo memory we had of each other was the picture from Afghanistan. I wanted you to have something to remember 'us'. Before last night, I was going to send it to you once you reached San Diego."

Mac looked at her soon-to-be husband and asked, "What is this?" The expression on Harm's face was at once tender and playful, His eyes were wistful, almost sad and amused at the same moment. She wondered what he was thinking. He nodded to the lady and she placed a large leather-bound book on the counter. On the cover were both the Navy and Marine Corps seals.

"Mac, I told you I was taking on the 'ride of your life' .Actually, I was told this is the 'ride of our life'. Open it, Sweet Thing." Harm put his arm around her waist as he moved closer to her. The older woman in the store smiled a knowing smile at the both of them. Mac turned the cover back on the book to find the words 'In the beginning was 'The Dance…' beautifully hand-written on the page. As she turned the page, tears started to fill her eyes. The next page was titled 'The Rose Garden'. A picture of their first meeting, in the Rose Garden of the White House was beautifully displayed on the page. "A lot of people helped me find pictures of the last nine years, Gunny, Jen and Tiner. Even Catherine at the CIA…you'd be surprised where some of these came from."

Mac turned pages of the book, gently caressing some of the pictures as she studied them. "And you had this done for me?"

"Yeah, Mom told me about this little shop that could do what I wanted. I don't know much about this 'scrapbook' stuff. But this nice lady told me all I needed to do was write down what I wanted each page to say. She could take care of the rest. I didn't want

you to forget about 'us' when you went to San Diego. Do you like it?"

"I love it, Harmon Rabb", she said as she turned the pages, carefully taking in the pictures she found there. She slowly turned back to the picture of the Rose Garden. In the caption balloon was written 'Your Uncle Matt asked you where you found this Sailor, and you replied, "In a rose garden, Uncle Matt".' "I can't believe that you remembered that. That was the first time we worked together."

"Yeah, well I've remembered a lot of things you've said," Harm flashed her that big smile again. "I'll tell you some of them one of these days. But we have a wedding to attend, or; do you want the guests to arrive before we do?" Mac picked up the scrapbook as Harm handed the lady money.

The lady shook her head and said, "No thank you sir, it was taken care of this morning. But Mr. Burnett said I am supposed to tell you 'you took your damn time, son.'

She rolled her eyes and smiled "That's what he said, Commander."

"It's now Captain Rabb," said Mac, as she cradled the scrapbook in her arms. "Thank you for the beautiful book. I love it."

"Honey, it was one of the easiest and most enjoyable books I have ever put together. It was like the book was meant to be. You must be very special to that man. You are all he ever talked about when he came in here. You take care of him, you hear?" the little woman told Mac.

Mac looked at her and smiled, "I plan to Ma'am, for the rest of our lives. Now he just has to get us to the church on time."