Chapter Sixty-One:
Mother's Day
MAY 6TH, 2002
0730 EST
MACKENZIE-RABB RESIDENCE
GEORGETOWN
Since Mac's birthday fell on a Monday that year, they'd had a more official party the day before, but Harm didn't want Mac's actual birthday to go unnoticed. He'd gotten up at the crack of dawn and snuck into the kitchen, extra careful not to wake Clara, whose room was right next to the kitchen.
Clara had ended up waking, so Harm had ended up baking the rest of Mac's cake while keeping their daughter occupied - the feat had proven itself to be difficult, but not impossible. The cake came out a little burnt at the top, but Harm was able to cover it up with icing.
"What do you think?" Harm asked Clara as he scooped her up. He hadn't gotten her to go back to sleep, but he'd gotten her to sit in her crib without crying, which he considered a success. He lifted Clara above his head, placing a kiss on her cheek, chuckling at her gleeful squeal. "Is Mommy going to love it? I think Mommy's going to love it."
The resemblance had always been there, but the bigger Clara got the more evident it became that she was definitely Harm and Mac's baby. The majority of her features came from Mac, but Clara had her daddy's grin and bright blue eyes.
She was also very smart, something Harm would admit she definitely got from Mac. Not to mention, Clara meant the absolute world to Harm and Mac.
"Alright, you need to distract her while I get the cake, okay?" Harm whispered to Clara as he carried her into the bedroom. "Can you do that?"
Mac was just beginning to wake up as Harm and Clara entered, her eyes landing on them as soon as they opened.
"What have you two been up to?" she asked with a tired smile.
Harm sat down on Mac's side of the bed. Clara instantly reached out her chubby arms for Mac. "Happy birthday," Harm said, passing Clara to Mac.
"Is she my present?" Mac asked, snuggling Clara against her and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "Good morning, sleepyhead."
"She actually is your present, I just couldn't wrap her up because, you know, that would be problematic."
"Right."
Harm leaned in and gave Mac a kiss. "I'll be right back," he said, jumping up and heading back into the kitchen.
"What did you do?" Mac called after him.
"Nothing you won't love."
When Harm brought the cake in, Mac halted the conversation she was having with Clara and her eyes immediately lit up. "Harm!" she gasped. "Did you bake this?"
Harm nodded. "This morning."
Once again he sat down on the edge of the bed, this time a lot more carefully, keeping one hand in front of the set of three candles on the cake to keep them from going out on their own. He figured thirty five candles might've been too much of a hassle - plus he wasn't even sure they had thirty five candles in the apartment.
Mac shook her head in amusement and disbelief. "We can't eat this for breakfast."
"I know," Harm nodded, removing his hand from in front of the candles. "But you can make your wish now."
Gently pulling Clara's hand back to keep her from trying to 'grab' the candles, Mac closed her eyes for a few moments and then blew out the candles.
"What did you wish for?" Harm asked, even though he knew he wouldn't find out.
"I'm not telling," Mac said as she sat up, Clara still sitting contently in her arms. Harm always liked to say that Clara's favorite place in the world was wherever Mac was. "But part of my wish was for her to stop growing so fast."
"You shouldn't have said that!" Harm said, feigning shock. "Now it won't come true!"
"Wishes don't really stop time, hon," she said. "As much as I wish they did, they don't."
Harm smiled, bending down to give Mac another kiss. The cake was sitting on the bedside table, waiting for Harm to put it in the fridge for later. "Thankfully we have all the time left in the world," he said. "It's not like she's turning eighteen tomorrow."
"I know," Mac said. "I'm just…feeling a lot of feelings."
Not only was it Mac's first birthday as a mom, but it was also the twentieth anniversary of Deanne leaving - the twentieth anniversary to the day, actually. Mac turned fifteen the day her mother left, and now she was turning thirty-five. That alone felt surreal. Combined with the fact that Mother's Day was the following weekend and it was also the kickoff to Mac's last official week of maternity leave, there was a lot headed Mac's way. By this time next week she would be back, full time at JAG - yet another thing that felt surreal.
"Well, let me know if you want to talk about anything, okay?" Harm said.
"I will," Mac said. "You need to start getting ready for work, though."
Harm raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah, you have twenty-five minutes and thirty seconds to get ready, sailor. You better hop to it."
"What would I do without you and your internal clock?" Harm chuckled as he headed into the bathroom.
"You'd be lost!" Mac said as she heard the shower start.
Later, Mac pondered her menagerie of emotions at the table while she nursed Clara and ate a bowl of cereal for her own breakfast. After officially getting the hang of breastfeeding, Mac discovered that there was some possibility of multitasking while doing it as long as the other task you were doing required limited mobility.
"You know," Mac sat her spoon down and looked down at Clara. "I'm going to be back at work by this time next week, so I think we need to go over some things, okay?"
"Look, just because I'm going back to work and you're going to daycare doesn't mean I don't love you or that I'm leaving you forever and ever and never coming back. I know you like to act like it's the end of the world every time I walk out of the room but I promise you will get through this. Believe it or not, one day you're not going to want to spend every waking moment with me. Go figure, am I right?"
Clara kicked a leg up, and Mac took that as an opportunity to tickle the bottom of her tiny foot. Sighing, Mac felt a pang of sadness and guilt.
How can I leave her? She thought. She's my baby.
Even though the daycare was one of the best in DC according to Harriet (who was never wrong about these things), Mac couldn't help but feel apprehensive. She couldn't tell if the fear was legitimate or if it was just her being irrational; when it came to Clara the line between logic and irrational was a little blurred.
Mac knew deep down that the daycare was fine (considering the price they had to pay and with all the hoops Harriet had to jump through to even get them on the waiting list, it had to be) and that she really just didn't want to be away from Clara, but her mind was trying to trick her into thinking that there was a valid reason for her to not go back to JAG.
It was such a fickle thing to think about, because as much as Mac didn't want to leave Clara, she wanted to go back to work. She missed JAG, missed having cases and practicing law. Even though she was still technically a Lt. Colonel, she hadn't felt or acted like one in awhile.
Mac had taken Clara with her a couple of times to the JAG offices, to introduce her to everyone and to see Harm for lunch. They'd seen the inside of Harm's office and even the Admiral's office, but Mac hadn't seen the inside of her own office since the day she went into labor. She didn't want to go back in it until she was absolutely ready to, and soon she would have to be ready.
"In one week," she reminded herself aloud, "In one week I'll be ready," she looked down at Clara again. "We'll both be ready, I promise."
Still, she felt conflicted. Mac knew she wasn't a trail blazer by any means - plenty of women were working mothers - but she couldn't help but wonder if it was possible for her to have both things, a baby and a career. When she'd become pregnant, Mac had almost immediately decided that she didn't want to be a stay at home mom, that she would want to go back to work eventually, but now reality was proving to be a lot harder than the decision had been.
Stop being a scaredy cat, Mac told herself, You can do this. Plus you still have one week left. That's plenty of time to prepare.
"I'm just setting a good example," Mac said, speaking more with herself in mind than Clara, who was probably concentrating more on eating than listening to what her mother had to say. "We tell you all the time that you can do whatever you set your mind to do, and why shouldn't I show you that it's completely possible to be a Marine and a mom if you want to be?"
Clara didn't say anything in response, not that Mac was expecting her to.
When the doorbell rang, Mac thought about just ignoring it. She wasn't expecting anyone, but then again it was her birthday, and she was acquainted with several people (Harm, Harriet, Bud, to name a few) who loved to dole out surprises.
"I'm coming!" Mac called as she sat Clara down in her bouncy chair. Clara's face immediately began to cloud over as she reached up for Mac as she left to get the door.
"Baby, I'm six feet away from you, I'll be back in three seconds I promise!" Mac insisted as Clara began to whimper. "Next week is going to be quite the culture shock for you I'm afraid."
I'm going to be in for one, too, Mac thought ruefully as she opened the door.
"Hi-"
Mac stopped dead in her tracks. Clara was fully crying by that point, but Mac wasn't hearing her. She was too busy staring at her mother.
Deanne Mackenzie, who looked tired but none the worse for wear - as she always did - smiled at Mac. "Hi sweetheart."
Blinking, Mac smiled despite the fact that she was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. "Hi," she repeated. "This is - wow, this a surprise. Oh my god-"
"Is something wrong?" Deanne frowned, her brow furrowing.
"Oh no, nothing's wrong," Mac replied hastily, finally realizing that Clara was wailing. "It's just - my child - I think Clara needs something, I'll be right back."
Leaving the front door to her apartment wide open and Deanne hovering in the doorway holding a very large gift bag, Mac rushed back over to Clara in her bouncy chair, which she wasn't having any fun bouncing in.
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry for leaving you in this bouncy chair that cost way too much money that you hate for some reason," Mac apologized as she bent down to pick Clara up. "I'm a terrible mother, I know."
She picked up a screaming, red-faced Clara, gently shushing her and smoothing her wispy brown hair away from her face. Her face was sticky with a mixture of tears and snot, some of which was now on Mac's hand. There had been worse on Mac's hand throughout the past three months, so this time she decided to just wipe her hand on her leggings and continue about her day.
"I can't believe this is happening," Mac murmured as she turned around and headed back to the doorway, Clara still whimpering a little bit.
"Sorry about that," Mac said to Deanne, shifting Clara's weight to her other arm. "She's a little clingy. You know - kids."
Deanne smiled at Clara, who obviously wasn't concerned about how she looked for first impressions. "It's okay," she said. "You don't need to apologize to me."
Mac paused. "Right." Finally noticing the large gift bag Deanne was holding, Mac stepped back from the doorway. "Come in, please."
Deanne entered Mac's apartment, and Mac's mind was still reeling. She had to be dreaming, or in some weird episode of The Twilight Zone.
"Sorry for showing up without notice," Deanne said as Mac closed the door behind her. "I tried calling you a couple times on the way, but I never got an answer."
"Oh," Mac frowned. "That's weird. What number did you dial?"
When Deanne recited the phone number to Mac, she immediately felt like the biggest idiot in the world.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Mac said. "That's my office number, not my cell. I haven't been in the office since - well, you know. Maternity leave," she finished lamely, gesturing around herself at the various toys strewn around the floor and the mound of laundry sitting in the middle of the sofa. "Sorry for all the mess."
"No, I'm sorry. I should've made sure it was okay to come visit before just knocking on your door."
"No visiting's fine!" Mac insisted. "I'm sorry I should've…given you the right phone number. But you know, Dad had just died so I don't think I was…thinking straight."
Deanne nodded. "Right," she reached down into the gift bag, rummaging around and pulling out a card. "Here," she handed the card to Mac. "Happy birthday."
"Oh!" Mac looked down at the card, surprised and suddenly very touched. "Thank you. Ummm, there's some cake in the fridge if you want some. I know it's ten, but you know there's never a wrong time for cake," she finished, laughing nervously.
Her mind going a mile a minute, Mac noticed Clara was watching Deanne with the wide-eyed curiosity that only a baby could have, and she remembered that they hadn't been formally introduced. "This is Clara," Mac said. "She's, um, well she's mine."
Deanne smiled. "I could tell. She looks just like you."
"Thanks, we get that a lot," Mac looked down at Clara and then over at Deanne. "You can hold her, if you want. I can take the gift bag - it'll be a trade off. Or we can just sit…somewhere that isn't the sofa and talk? You know because um…Sorry I just wasn't expecting -" Mac paused. "You're here."
"I am here," Deanne confirmed. "I'm sorry, I tried to come sooner but-"
Mac held up a hand. "You know, why don't we play this game where we stop apologizing to each other and just like, talk? It's been twenty years."
"I really wish I could've come sooner-"
"Mom, you're here now. That's better than not at all, believe me."
Mac and Deanne ended up sitting across from each other at the kitchen table where Mac had been eating her bowl of cereal less than an hour before. Mac had brought the cake out and sat it on the counter, just in case. Clara was sitting in Mac's lap, highly focused on her fingers.
"I'm really glad you could make it," Mac said. "Really, I mean that."
Deanne smiled, but Mac could tell she was uncomfortable. "I-" she paused, laughing despite herself. "I know we said we would stop apologizing to each other, but I-
"It's okay," Mac insisted.
"I was having trouble getting off work and saving up the money to make the trip-"
Mac took the opportunity to change the subject. "Where do you work?" she asked.
"Oh," Deanne was surprised to have the conversation directed towards her. "I work as a night nurse at an assisted living facility right outside of Portland."
"Really? That's good."
The last time her and her mother were under the same roof, Deanne didn't have anything but a high school diploma and had been working part-time as a receptionist at a hair salon in town. She had been talking to Mac's grandmother about going to nursing school, but at the time it hadn't been anything other than something mentioned in passing. In the twenty years that Mac hadn't known her mother, she had managed to turn that into a reality.
"What about you?" Deanne asked. "Are you going back to JAG?"
"Yeah," Mac answered, wishing Deanne hadn't reminded her. "My first day back is next Monday," she looked down at Clara. "We're getting ready for that, aren't we?"
She lifted Clara up to place a kiss on her cheek, gently pressing her nose into Clara's neck, right behind her ear. She inhaled, trying to get the scent that was so uniquely her daughter's. She looked up in the middle of doing this, her eyes meeting Deanne's.
"I'm dreading it," she told her. "As if you couldn't tell."
Deanne nodded. "You'll both be fine, don't worry."
Mac looked at her dryly. "I'll still worry."
"I know," Deanne said. "But as long as you're not gone for twenty years, she'll be okay."
She looked at Mac earnestly, and Mac's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I shouldn't have said that-"
Mac shook her head with a snort. "No, it's not like it was said too soon."
The two of them laughed, because it was one of those situations where it was best to just laugh, even if it wasn't the most appropriate thing to do at the moment. Once their laughter died down, Mac was struck at how normal it all was, and caught a glimpse of how normal things could be.
Later, after putting Clara down for a nap, Mac and Deanne decided to sit down and have a more in-depth conversation. It felt weird talking about everything in front of Clara, even though she couldn't understand what they were saying. Mac didn't want to ruin the world for her quite yet, even if it was just by proximity.
Mac moved the laundry from the sofa to the bed so that she and Deanne could sit down at a location that felt slightly more relaxed than the kitchen table.
"I'm not mad at you for leaving."
"You're not?" Deanne looked at her in surprise.
"Well yeah, I mean, not anymore," Mac replied with a shrug. "Trust me, I was mad about it for a really long time, but now I just feel like it was just something that happened to me. I can't really blame you. It was Dad."
"Do you ever wish you had come with me?" Deanne asked, her apprehension obvious.
That question caught Mac off guard. She had thought about it before, the what-if scenario of Deanne taking Mac with her. All the times Mac had thought about in the past, she had never been able to settle on an answer.
"Yeah, I thought about what it would be like," she said. "But I don't think I would've preferred to go with you - at least looking back on it now."
Deanne looked at her, confused. "Why?"
"Because that would mean that everything would be different now," Mac explained. "And I like how things are too much right now to think about not having any of it."
"That's good, honey," Deanne said. "I'm glad you're happy."
"Yeah, so I am."
They were both quiet for a little bit after that. The only sound in the room was the soft crackling sound of the baby monitor that Mac had placed on the coffee table. She only really needed to use it at night or whenever she was in the shower; her apartment was small enough otherwise that she would be able to hear Clara if she started to cry, but Mac still liked to have it with her. For a bit of peace of mind, at least.
Deanne's eyes suddenly lit up. "Do you want to open the gifts I got you?"
Their conversation had made Mac forget about the giant bag of gifts that was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. It had also made Mac remember about the cake still sitting on the counter.
"Sure," she stood up. "Are you sure you don't want any cake?"
While Deanne ate a slice of cake, Mac opened up her gifts. Well, most of them were for Clara, but she was still napping, so Mac was able to serve as her representative. Once she got past the onesies, the pacifiers, and the absurdly cute photo album, there were two remaining gifts at the very bottom of the bag.
"Mom, you didn't have to get me anything-"
"It's your birthday present, I had to."
Inside the first box was a necklace that Mac instantly recognized. She held it up to the light, the heart shaped locket glinting back at her. "Is this grandma's necklace?" she asked, even though she knew what it was. She just couldn't believe that she was seeing it again after so many years.
Deanne nodded. "She gave it to me when you were born, so now I'm giving it to you."
Mac draped the locket across her collar. Once she'd done some snooping and light interrogation to figure out how much the necklace Harm had gotten her cost, she'd promptly put it into her jewelry box and said she would only wear it for special occasions. This locket however, was something she'd definitely feel comfortable wearing everyday.
"Thank you," Mac said as she hooked the locket around her neck. She looked down at it, and the locket looked like it had always belonged there.
"There's one more gift left," Deanne said, gesturing into the gift bag. She seemed oddly excited for Mac to open this one, so Mac was interested to see what it would be.
"Be careful, it's kind of delicate."
Mac's brow furrowed. "What is it?"
"You'll see."
Rather than being in a box, this present was carefully wrapped up in tissue paper. Mac gently pulled the tissue paper apart. What she unwrapped was a small stuffed elephant. Not just any elephant, but her stuffed elephant - the stuffed elephant that had been her favorite growing up, the one that had sat on her bed for years and watched her pack up and leave at seventeen.
"How did you get this?" Mac asked, holding up the elephant. "I thought Dad would have thrown it out when he sold the house."
Deanne pursed her lips. She rested her chin on her upturned palm. "I probably should've told you this sooner, but when Joe died, I stayed a couple of days after you left. We never technically got divorced, and I guess he was never sober enough to get around to updating his will, so I got all of his stuff."
Mac's eyebrows shot up. "Really? He had stuff?"
She'd always figured that Joe Mackenzie either had very little worldly possessions or none at all, and Mac also figured that none of those possessions would be anything she'd want.
"Yeah," Deanne nodded. "He had a storage unit out in Yuma that was completely packed with boxes."
"I bet that was fun to go through."
"If by that you mean it was a royal bitch, then yeah," Deanne replied, and Mac laughed. "A lot of it was junk, but I saved all of the stuff that belonged to you."
"Well, thank you," Mac smiled. She hugged the elephant to her chest, resting her chin on top of its fuzzy head. "I got Clara one of these."
"You did?"
"Uh-huh," Mac nodded. She paused for a moment, looking down at the table. "You know, I really thought she was going to be a boy."
"Really? You didn't know before she was born?"
Mac shook her head. "We wanted to keep it a surprise."
"So you wanted a boy-"
"No. I mean-" she paused. "We would've been happy either way, but I was just…I was worried about…." Mac shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I was just worried about her ending up like me."
It was something that had been on Mac's mind for awhile. She tried her best not to let it get to her too often, but sometimes, when she slipped up and let it occupy her brain too much, then it got to her. Mac wasn't one to beat herself up, but she had done things she wasn't proud of, and now her new greatest fear was her daughter following in her footsteps.
"Oh honey," Deanne said. She reached and squeezed Mac's hand. "If she were to be anything like you, it would be the best thing."
The best part of Harm's day was coming home. Gone were the days of Harm remaining at the JAG offices several hours into the night getting caught up on paperwork and prepping for cases. Now Harm was one of the first people out of the office as soon as the clock hit 1700 - sometimes he even made it out of there before Bud.
When Harm unlocked the door and tossed his cover onto the coffee table, the first thing he noticed was the laundry was gone from the sofa. This made him frown. He told Mac that she wouldn't have to worry about folding it, that he would do when he got home, but he kept forgetting how stubborn she could be.
"Hon, I told you not to worry about the laundry," Harm said as he walked into the bedroom, where he stopped in his tracks. The laundry was not folded at all, but rather now piled on top of their bed. The shower was also running.
That's good, Harm thought, She's taking time for herself.
Harm decided he would fold the laundry and put it away before Mac got out of the shower to keep her from doing it herself, he just needed to do a quick check-up on Clara before. He was sure she was just napping and he didn't want to disturb her, but he had made it a personal rule that he had to say hi to his favorite girl within the first five minutes of him coming home everyday.
When he reached the threshold of the nursery, Harm once again stopped dead in his tracks. Sitting in the rocking chair rocking Clara was an older woman that he didn't recognize. They made eye contact at the exact same time, and she seemed just as bewildered to see Harm as Harm was to see her.
"Hi," Harm greeted hesitantly, trying his best not to sound too alarmed. There had to be a logical explanation for this. "Ummm…who-who are you? If you don't mind me asking?"
The woman smiled. "I'm Mac's mother."
Harm's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh! Hi! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you were coming into town - I don't think I…knew you were coming into town."
"There was nothing to forget. I decided to make it a surprise," Deanne replied. "You must be Mac's Harm."
"Yeah…" Harm said, grinning sheepishly. "I'm Mac's Harm."
He walked over to the rocking chair and stuck out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Deanne smiled and shook his hand, Clara still sleeping soundly in the crook of her other arm. "I can see what Mac meant," she told him, "You are very charming."
Harm immediately began to blush. "Thank you," he said.
"She also has your eyes," Deanne said, nodding down at Clara.
"I know," Harm's grin widened. "But everything else she gets from Sarah, thank God."
Deanne laughed, and Harm overheard the shower shut off. As lovely as it was to finally meet Mac's mother, Harm was having difficulty wrapping his head around it. He had to see what Mac thought about all of this.
"You know what," Harm said. "Since you have everything in here under control, I have some laundry I need to fold, so I'll be right back."
Before Deanne could reply, Harm turned around and made a beeline for the bedroom. He caught Mac just as she was leaving the bathroom. She jumped in surprise.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes wide. "You looked like you've seen a ghost."
"I did," Harm whispered. "Your mom is here."
Mac looked at him incredulously. "Yeah…" she said as if her estranged mother coming around to visit was a normal occurrence. "I know. She's been here the whole day. She came to wish me a happy birthday and to meet Clara."
She walked around him to get to the closet, but Harm gently grabbed her arm, stopping her. Mac looked up at him in confusion. "What is it?" she asked.
"How are you doing?" Harm asked.
Mac blinked. "Fine," she shook her arm out of his grip and headed over to the dresser. Harm followed after her.
"Mac-Sarah, she's been out of your life for twenty years and she just comes back into it and you're okay with it? You don't have any other feelings about it?"
Pulling one of Harm's t-shirts out of their shared dresser, Mac sighed. "She's trying Harm. How can I be mad about that? I mean she messed it up with me but at least she's trying with Clara."
"I just…I don't want you to get hurt again. Either of you."
Mac pulled out a pair of sweatpants and paused. "I think she's here to stay this time, Harm," she explained as she changed. "I mean I don't know if she's going to stay stay, but I don't think she's going to disappear again. I trust her. Things are different now."
Mac ran her fingers through her hair after putting on her shirt and looked at Harm pointedly. "You trust me to trust her, right?"
"Of course," Harm answered instantly. "There's nothing I wouldn't trust you with Mac, you know that."
She smiled, walking over to him and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she said. "She really likes the cake you made, by the way."
ONE WEEK LATER
MOTHER'S DAY
So Mac was right, Deanne didn't end up staying permanently, but she did end up staying for the rest of the week. Mac dropped her off at the airport after a mother's day brunch with a hug and a promise to mail her the save-the-date whenever she and Harm picked a date to save for the wedding. There was also a promise on Deanne's end to call once a week and try to learn how to use email.
"You know, we really should pick a date soon," Mac said that night as Harm wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her shoulder blade. "It's already been three months and we've planned nothing."
"We're planning on getting married," Harm replied, kissing Mac's neck. "That's all that matters."
Mac laughed. "You're ridiculous."
Harm ignored that comment, placing another kiss on Mac's neck, noticing how her breath caught at the touch of his lips to her skin. "I must say though, I can't wait to be your husband," he murmured into her ear.
Mac shifted in Harm's arms, turning over so she could face him. "I can't wait to be your wife," she replied, kissing him on the lips.
"What do you think about Bali?" Harm asked between kisses.
"What about it?" Mac reached up to run her fingers through Harm's hair.
"For our honeymoon," Harm explained as he dipped his head down to kiss Mac's collarbone.
"Sounds amazing," Mac replied.
He looked up at her with a grin. "Look at that," he said. "We've planned something."
Though they had very little planned for their big day, there was no doubt in Mac's mind that whatever they planned would end up being perfect.
Apologies for the late update. I got taken out by the stomach flu on Friday and just recently got over the worst of it. Now that I'm feeling slightly more human, here's the update! I hope you guys enjoyed it. This is another chapter that I've been very excited to post, just because I wanted to give Mac and Deanne the conclusion that I feel like they should've gotten on the show.
Thanks for reading!
-Harper
Edit/PS: This is actually the second-to-last chapter! I can't believe I forgot to mention that. Crazy that this is finally all coming to an end next week. See you guys then for the grand finale of The Case!