Disclaimer: Still not mine...
From 'AJ's Christmas Wish'
Barney walked over to the huge ledger which sat alone on a long silver bench. In gold embossed writing 'True Believers' was written across the cover. Carefully, Barney turned the pages, and then added AJ's and Harm's names to the list.
"You know something, sir. I know I put in a lot of the leg work after meeting AJ at the mall, but I thought it was a lost cause. I mean, there seemed no way out for Sarah."
"Things are not always what they seem, Barney. Sometimes you have to rely on strangers to help you out and sometimes you have to do things yourself."
"Should I put Sarah MacKenzie on the list too?"
"No, Barney, her Christmas dream hasn't come true. It won't happen for another two years when she… Oh, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
Barney smiled and closed the ledger, knowing AJ Roberts and Harmon Rabb Jr would now have the spirit of Christmas forevermore.
Another Christmas Wish
December 12th
"Well, Barney, old boy," Charlie said, coming up behind the younger man. "The two years are up, what's the plan?"
'Two years for what?" Barney asked, turning away from his monitor to face his colleague.
"For Sarah MacKenzie's Christmas dream to come true. Remember?" he prompted, pointing over to the ledger.
"Ah, yes," he said happily. He remembered the miracle of two years previous when Sarah had returned from Paraguay in time for AJ and Harm to both have their Christmas miracle and to have their names entered in the ledger of True Believers.
"And the boss said that Sarah's would come in two years, and the time's up. So what is it?" Charlie said earnestly. It was highly unusual for him to be so engrossed in a case which wasn't his but there was something about this one which had caught his attention.
"I'm not revealing anything at the moment," grinned Barney, spinning back around to his work station. "There are still 13 more sleeps and you'll just have to wait…"
"Oh, you can tell me… I won't tell anyone, I promise," he pleaded.
"No," was the firm response. "I've been working hard on this one for one year, eleven months and two days… I'm not going to jinx it now."
"Please," Charlie begged, he needed to know, he had to know, not knowing was killing him. "Just give me a clue … just a little one…puhlease!"
Barney chuckled to himself; he'd never seen Charlie so desperate for information. Usually it was he who was eager for knowledge and impatient for the end result to be known. He was quite proud to have the upper hand.
"I won't tell you anything," Barney announced, turning the volume up on his screen. "But I'll let you watch for a couple of minutes. You just have to promise not to say anything."
"I promise, I promise," Charlie beamed; he was going to see what it would take for Sarah MacKenzie to become a True Believer.
"Well," began Barney, folding his arms across his stomach. "To get you up to speed on things … Harmon and Sarah married two months after that Christmas."
"A Valentine's wedding?" interrupted Charlie. "How romantic!"
"Well, no, it was February 17th, actually," Barney clarified. "It was supposed to be the 14th but duty called and it was put off."
"Who's duty?" he asked, peering at the monitor.
"Harmon's; he was sent to sea on the 11th for two days and it took him five," he replied.
"That man never seems to do things the easy way, does he?" Charlie chuckled, shaking his head.
"No, he doesn't," he acknowledged. "But he is improving – must be Sarah's influence."
"Must be," he agreed. "How'd their first Christmas as a married couple go? It must have been really special."
"Well, no, duty called once again and…"Barney began.
"And Harmon was sent to sea?" Charlie shook his head.
"No, Sarah was sent to Afghanistan and didn't get back til the end of January," he reported. "So, their Christmas amounted to a three minute phone call."
Charlie pulled up his chair next to Barney's eager to hear more. "So, this is actually their first Christmas together? How exciting!" Charlie thought for a moment before his face lit up. "This is how her Christmas wish comes true - she's spending the day with her husband."
"Not exactly," Barney replied, glad to have Charlie eating out of his hand. "I mean, she's very happy and it is a dream come true but it's not that 'special' wish."
"So, what is it then?" he questioned, almost bouncing off his chair.
Barney sighed deeply; he wanted to leave Charlie dangling for just a bit longer but knew he'd get no work done if he did.
"Here," he said, gesturing to his work station. "Check out the summary of Sarah's year, it will bring you up to speed." Charlie pounced on Barney's seat and grabbed the mouse. "You can skip most of it but it gets really interesting around Thanksgiving."
"That was only a couple of weeks ago!" he exclaimed.
"I know, but it sums it all up on its own," he grinned before heading off to get himself a huge hot chocolate and triple chocolate muffin.
Thanksgiving
Lunch was at the Roberts', which was the custom of recent years, Mac pulled her car into the driveway and turned off the ignition. As she did her cell rang, she smiled at the caller ID.
"Hello, Harm," she said wistfully. He'd been away three weeks and she missed him desperately.
"Hey, Mac, Happy Thanksgiving, I wish I was there," he sighed.
"Wish you were here too," she replied. "I miss you so much."
"Miss you too. How are you feeling today?" he asked.
"Fine, why wouldn't I?" she questioned. True she'd been feeling off lately but she hadn't mentioned it to him at all.
"Bud said you went home early the day before yesterday," he reported.
"I left early but not because I was ill," she replied. "I'd squared things away and I had some errands to run."
"Oh," he answered but didn't sound too convinced.
"Anyway," she continued on. "When are you coming home?"
"A week tomorrow if all goes well." She could hear the smile in his voice.
"Well, let's hope all goes well because that bed is very big and lonely without you," she pouted.
"Is it really?" he grinned. "We'll have to fix that when I get back."
AJ opened the front door and bounded down to the car.
"Aunty Mac," he called as he opened the door. "I'm glad you're here."
"Hey kiddo," she said stepping out of the car and kissing his head. "Say hi to Uncle Harm."
Eagerly AJ took the cell. "Hey, Uncle Harm, how are you?"
"Good thanks, AJ. How are you?" he replied.
"Good," he answered. "Where are you?"
"In the Pacific Ocean," Harm answered.
"Will you be home for Christmas?" he asked. "'Cause I have loads of new games I want to show you."
"I'll definitely be home for Christmas," Harm asserted, there was nothing stopping him from spending this Yuletide with Mac.
"Good, I'm glad," AJ beamed.
"Okay, AJ, can you put Aunty Mac back on, please?" he asked, knowing that his time was running out.
"Sure, love you Uncle Harm," he said.
"Love you too, AJ," he beamed.
"Do you love me too?" Mac asked, coming back on the line.
"More than anything," he replied.
"Good, because I love you too."
Thanksgiving lunch had been served and while Mac had tried to partake in the friendly banter she really didn't feel up to it. She missed Harm dreadfully but she knew it wasn't just that, something hadn't felt right recently and, though she tried to dismiss it, it was making its presence known.
"Everything alright, ma'am?" asked Harriet as Mac joined her in the kitchen with another load of plates to wash.
"Everything's fine, thanks, Harriet," she replied. "A fantastic meal, as always."
"That's very nice of you to say, ma'am, but you didn't eat that much," she observed, taking the plates from her guest.
"I'm sorry, I've been feeling a little off lately," she answered honestly.
"Then come sit down," Harriet replied, ushering her to the table. "You shouldn't be helping out anyway."
"No, really, Harriet, I'm fine. Just …" she began but Jimmy ran in to the kitchen distracting them both.
"James Kirk Roberts!" Harriet exclaimed.
"Sorry, mommy," he replied, stopping in his tracks.
"What have we said about running in the kitchen?" she questioned.
"We don't run in the kitchen," he answered.
"That's right. Walk, please," she prompted. Jimmy walked through the kitchen until he spied the stairs and then ran once more. "Boys!" Harriet shook her head. With AJ nine, Jimmy nearly four and the twins two their next birthday, she had her hands full.
"I don't know how you do it?" Mac said shaking her head.
"You'll find out soon enough," Harriet grinned.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Mac replied sadly, she and Harm had done a lot of trying in their two years together but her last specialist report hadn't given them any hope that things would change on their own. They knew if they wanted to have a child they would have to investigate other options come the New Year.
"What don't you know, ma'am?" asked Harriet, sitting alongside her.
"Finding out for myself," Mac said, her fingers tracing the floral design on the table cloth.
"Oh, I think you will," she smiled.
"What makes you so sure?" she asked, amazed at her friend's optimism.
"Call it intuition, but I think you're pregnant, Mac," Harriet said, taking her friend's hand.
For a long while Mac stared at Harriet, no words forming. Harriet decided to help her out.
"Look," she started, "You haven't been well, you've been feeling out of sorts…"
"That could be flu, a cold, stomach bug…" she tried to defend herself. She didn't want her mind to go where Harriet was taking her.
"You're glowing," Harriet interrupted.
"No, I'm not!" Mac protested but her hand immediately went up to her face.
"Yes, you are," she nodded.
"I can't see it," she replied, shaking her head.
"I can, and it's a definite glow."
When Bud entered the room all mention of a possible pregnancy stopped and it wasn't til the following day when Harriet arrived on Mac's doorstep with a pregnancy test was it mentioned again.
"Sometimes you can get a false positive result or a false negative one," Harriet explained pulling out three different boxes and putting them on the kitchen counter. "So, I figured if you did all three you'd be fairly certain."
"I don't think it's necessary," Mac replied. "I've been thinking about it and I just don't see how it's possible."
"Are you and the Commander not…" Harriet began.
"No, I mean yes, we are…" Mac interrupted. "It's just … well, I don't want to think … I don't want to believe…"
"You don't want to get your hopes up?" Harriet offered and Mac nodded sadly.
After much debate and deliberation, Mac agreed and did the tests. Two read negative, one read positive. After more debate and deliberation, Mac decided against Harriet's suggestion of getting more tests and decided she'd make an appointment and get things checked officially. Harriet didn't leave until Mac had her appointment, the earliest being December 11th.
-0-0-0-0-
"So, is she or isn't she?" Charlie questioned as Barney put down his steaming mug.
"I can't tell you," he replied. "It isn't Christmas yet."
"Well, is Harmon home yet?" he asked, glancing at the calendar.
"As seems to be par for the course with him, he was due back last week but there were delays. He's due home any time now," he said, checking the monitor.
"Will she tell him?" he asked, moving out of Barney's chair.
"Doubt it," Barney said, he'd been watching these two too long to know she wouldn't want to hurt him by giving him false hope.
They were silent for a few moments until a flicker on the screen caught Charlie's attention. "He's home!" he exclaimed.
-0-0-0-0-
Harm entered the apartment just before midnight and made his way to their bedroom. He took a few minutes to lean on the door jamb and watch her. He loved her unconditionally and had been desperate to get back to her, now he was there he had to take a moment to compose himself and fight his overwhelming desire to throw himself at her and devour her immediately. Grinning, he watched as she pulled his pillow to her and hugged it tightly before rolling over and settling once more. It nearly broke his heart to see the telltale signs of tear trails down her cheeks.
He made his way to the bedside and knelt on the floor before her.
"Mac," he called gently, brushing back her hair. "Mac."
"Mmm," she moaned.
"Hey, honey," he said, leaning in to kiss her head. "I'm home."
"Mmm," she moaned again before opening her eyes and smiling. "You're really here?"
"Sure am," he whispered, leaning in and brushing his lips against hers. "Missed you so much."
"Missed you too," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tightly.
For a long time he let her just cling to him, he offered some words but they all seemed redundant.
Eventually, she let him go but only long enough to allow him to strip off and slide into bed beside her. Then, she wrapped herself around him and held tightly.
"I love you, Mac," he whispered, kissing her head.
"Love you too," she mumbled into his chest, before sighing deeply.
"What's wrong, honey?" he asked, gently raising her face to meet his.
"Nothing, she replied, but her tears betrayed her and he leant down to kiss them away.
"These don't seem like happy tears," he continued, holding her close.
"Had a bad day," she said, tucking her head down, not wanting him to see her pain.
"Want to tell me about it?" he soothed, running his fingers through her hair. He felt her head shake.
"No," she whispered.
"Anything I can do to help?" he asked, not prepared to let her suffer alone.
"Just hold me."