A/N:
It is only right and proper, particularly in view of the many flattering reviews and comments that I have received, for me to acknowledge that the original idea for this story, including several lumps of the text of Chapter 1 came from Vidz, who gifted me with the basic plot outline when he realised he was burned out. He tore the ball free from the scrum and passed it to me - I just picked it up and ran with it! Thanks, mate!
To Hell and Back
Chapter Two
Bud and Harriet's broad grins faded slightly as they looked at the obviously shocked trio still clustered behind the plaintiff's table. Exchanged a glance, and then with Harriet firmly holding A J's hand they moved towards Harm, Beth and Mattie.
"Congratulations, Sir!" Bud grinned extending a hand towards Harm, and then shot an apologetic glance at Beth, "Oh, and you too, of course, Lieutenant!"
"And you, Mattie!" Harriet added with an admonitory glance at her husband.
"Oh, yes, of course!" Bud agreed.
"Yeah, thanks… I think," Harm repeated Beth's words as she nodded in confirmation.
"You do all look a bit stunned," Harriet chuckled, "But I think I know just the cure!"
"And that would be?" Mattie demanded, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Coffee," Harriet smiled, "I saw a place across the street when we parked up!"
"Uh… yeah… and I did promise coffees all round,"! Harm recalled with a grin.
"Coffee?" Beth echoed faintly. "My life had just been thrown into a blender, the judge completely blindsided me with that call, I'm now the mother-figure to a teenage girl I met for the first time yesterday, and you think coffee will help?" she demanded as her fiery temper rose to the surface.
"It can't hurt…" Harm's sympathetic smile had so much warmth in it that for a moment Beth really felt as if her knees had turned to Jello. But his eyes also held more than just a touch of worry that Beth instinctively felt was caused by her reaction.
She took a deep shuddering breath and mustered a faint grin, "Yeah, I guess it couldn't hurt…" she conceded.
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"So…" Harriet's eyes were alive with curiosity as she regarded Harm and Mattie from over the rim of her coffee mug.
"So?" Harm echoed.
"I think you're doing something wonderful, sir – challenging maybe, but wonderful!" Harriet enthused, "But I was… well, I know I was, and think Bud is too, wondering why all the secrecy?"
"Not particularly secret, Harriet, but something that was pretty personal, and something I didn't want particularly to broadcast, just in case it all fell through at the last minute, and the judge didn't grant my petition. And for a few minutes in there, I didn't think she was going to!" he added thoughtfully.
Mattie smiled up at him from her seat next to his, "No way, Harm! Once she saw how good we were together, there was no way she was going to say no."
Bud looked up from where he was wiping the remains of a PBJ sandwich from A J's face, "I don't know, Mattie. Just before she gave her final judgement, I could see it in her face, that she was about to say no…"
Harm nodded, "You got that too?"
"Yes, sir," Bud replied, "It was as plain as…"
"Well, the why did she suddenly turn around and say 'yes', then?" Mattie interrupted challengingly.
"Manners, Mattie," Harm said in gentle reproof, "Don't interrupt people. Wait 'til they've had their say before you get in their face."
Mattie blushed fire appliance red, lowered her head for a second but then raised it again and looked Bud straight in the eye, "Sorry, Lieutenant," she said clearly.
Bud found himself the object of pair of clear, blue eyes that met his with not a trace of subterfuge. Mattie Grace might be blunt and forceful, but he had an inkling that those traits were a result of the directness that was her approach to life. If she saw or heard something she didn't understand, then she'd ask and argue her corner if the answer she got wasn't one she liked. A sudden grin split Bud's face; Commander Rabb, and his RIO, may not yet know it, but life was, he reckoned, about to become very interesting for them!
"That's alright, Mattie," Bud answered, "I reckon the judge's changing her mind was all down to Lieutenant Hawkes' speech!
"Yeah, how 'bout that?" Mattie said wonderingly and turned to look at Beth.
Beth who had been steadily regaining her composure gave a half-grin, "Yeah, how 'bout that?" she agreed and then chuckled, "Talk about the law of unintended consequences! Note to self, next time around, engage brain before operating mouth!"
Bud and Harriet chuckled while Harm shook his head in mock disapproval, "Skates, I've been telling you that for years!"
But Mattie turned her now troubled gaze on the petite brunette, "You sorry now you spoke up, that you maybe made a mistake?"
Beth was quick to reassure the youngster, "No! Most definitely not! I meant every word I said in that courtroom, and even knowing in advance that the judge was about to blindside me the way she did, I wouldn't have changed a single syllable!"
"But…" Mattie began.
"But nothing!" Beth smiled, "The only thing that's bugging me is I'm too young to be a teenager's mother!" Beth instinctively felt she needed to steer clear of the more emotive, 'mom'. Even knowing as little as she did of Mattie she felt that any attempt to impose herself as a maternal figure would meet with hostility, and if the colour of the youngster's hair was any indication, Mattie was possessed of a formidable temper. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by Harm's gently waving finger.
"Beth, Beth, how can I correct Mattie for interrupting Bud, when you turn around the very next minute and do the same to her? In the interests of equitable treatment I have to scold you too!"
Beth tried to glower at him from under her eyebrows but couldn't entirely conceal the grin that threatened to broadcast her amusement, "You can always, try, Hammer! Or maybe that should be Pa…"
"That's quite enough young lady!" Harm interrupted rapidly, not wishing to have his old call-sign repeated in front of Harriet, who would think it too good a joke to be kept quiet, or in front of A J who, with childish indiscretion, was likely to blurt it out at the most inappropriate time and in the most inappropriate company. His objection, effective as it was in temporarily silencing Beth, brought renewed laughter from everyone else at the table, even A J joining in, not because he understood the joke but because everyone around him was happy.
Mattie shook her head, "A fine example you are!" she scoffed, "You're just as bad as Beth and me!"
Harm could only silently admit the truth in the teenager's accusation and flung up a hand in the manner of a fencer acknowledging a hit, "Touché!" he replied ruefully to a renewed outbreak of chuckles.
Bud finished wiping the remains of his sandwich from A J's face and looked at Harriet, "Sweetie, we need to get moving, we've got a lot to do before this evening, and we need to let Jen have some time for herself. Jennifer Coates is staying with us over the holidays and volunteered to look after Jimmy this morning, and to keep him and this one here, out of our hair while we get ready for tonight… which reminds me, you are still coming, aren't you, sir? And of course that includes Mattie and Lieutenant Hawkes…" he ended leaving the sentence hanging out for a reply.
Harm nodded, "Yes, of course, Mattie and I will be coming, but…" he gave Beth a meaningful look.
"Coming to what?" Beth asked.
"Oh, just egg-nog and a snack at our place, before we all head into Falls Church for a Christmas Carol Service and to hear Chaplain Turner's Christmas message! It's quite informal, no uniforms or medals…" Harriet supplied, ending with, "Please say you'll come?"
"I think you ought to," Mattie contributed with a twinkle in her eye, "it sounds like a family thing, and after today…. Well, like Harm said, welcome to the family!"
"Yes, please come!" Bud endorsed Harriet's invitation, even as he buttoned A J into his duffel coat.
Beth shook her head, "Alright, alright," she laughed, "You've beaten me down. Yes, and thank you, I'll be glad to come!"
"Good," smiled Harriet as she stood and grabbed A J by his hand, "We'll look forward to seeing you! The Commander has all the details!"
Harm stood as Bud and Harriet left, trailing a barrage of farewells behind them, including a pouting A J's "'bye Uncle Harm!", his pout fading somewhat as Harm's promise "Hey, see you later, big guy!" reached the youngster's ears.
"Promise?" he called back over his shoulder.
"Yep, that's a promise!" Harm called and was rewarded by a beaming smile.
"The Commander?" Mattie queried as peace descended on the diner and Harm retook his seat.
"Yeah, me." Harm agreed pausing in the act of picking up his coffee mug.
"Yeah, I figured that," Mattie answered dryly, "But you're friends, right? I mean they must be friends to drive a hundred miles from DC just to back you up in court. So how come they keep calling your 'sir' or 'commander', why don't they just call you Harm?"
"Protocol," Harm replied with a teasing grin.
"Oh, come off it!" Mattie protested. "It was a serious question, so how about a serious answer?"
"It was a serious answer," Beth contributed with a glare at Harm for being provoking, "It's just that Hammer was being deliberately cryptic! Bud and Harriet are Lieutenants, Hammer is a Commander, two rungs up the ladder, so they are duty bound to call him 'sir', and it would be risky for them to get into the habit of calling him by his name when they're off duty, in case they slip up and call him by name in front of a senior officer at work."
"But you don't," Mattie pointed out.
"No… I can get away with calling him by his call-sign because I don't work with him in an office, and when we did work together, it was customary for everyone to call each other by their call-signs. Even I don't usually call him by his name!"
"That's all true enough, Mattie, but it's not the whole story. Bud and I have known each other since ninety five and I've known Harriet just a little less long, but although I try to get them to relax when we're off duty, it's been an uphill struggle."
Mattie's forehead creased in confusion, "This is all so difficult. How do people know when to be friendly and when to be official?"
"It's something you have to learn as you go along," Beth admitted. "The fall-out from the first time you slip up and address a senior officer inappropriately is something you'll never forget!" The rueful expression on Beth's face as she remembered her particular transgression brought a chuckle from Harm and a grin to Mattie's face.
"O…kay…" Mattie said slowly, "So… let's get to the eight hundred pound gorilla… You two aren't my senior officers, so 'sir' and 'ma'am' ain't even going to get off the ground. I've gotten used to calling Harm by his name, but what do I call you… I mean I know your name is Beth but I don't hardly figure I know you well enough to call you that. And… and… I sure as hell ain't going to call you 'mom'!" the youngster finished defiantly.
"Mattie!" Harm said in a warning tone, only to be waved off by Beth.
"It's okay Harm, Mattie and I need to set our boundaries right here at the start." She grinned across at the teenager, "We didn't get much chance to make any sort of preparations before Judge Smith unloaded on us!"
"Us?" Mattie challenged.
"Yeah," Beth's eyes crinkled in amusement, "She dumped me on you, just as much as she dumped you on me! But to get back to the heart of the matter, like I said I'm too young to be your mom, but if you wanted to call me Skates or Beth I could manage that, just as long as you don't just call me 'hey, you!'."
"Aw… that's a shame…" Mattie said musingly, "Could kinda go for 'hey you!' it has a kinda ring to it, but I don't figure that you – or Harm – would let me get away with that!"
"You'd better believe it!" Harm growled.
"Hammer, don't interrupt!" Beth giggled, "Go on Mattie, and finish what you were going to say…"
"So… I figure that I can manage Skates, if that's okay with you?"
"That's that settled, then!" Beth grinned, "And now, Hammer, if you want to settle the check, we need to be headed back to DC. I've got to get ready for this evening – in fact we all need to get ready, except Mattie. That dress you're wearing should be okay for tonight?" she finished with a questioning look at Harm.
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Like I said, Squirt, you look fabulous!"
"I look like a damned girl!" Mattie grumbled.
"Um… I hate to bust your bubble, but you are a girl!" Harm pointed out in tones of sweet reason.
"It's just for one evening," Beth added, "I'm sure that you'll be back in jeans and sweats tomorrow!"
"On Christmas Day?" Harm objected.
"Yeah, on Christmas Day!" Beth replied. "Which reminds me, what had you got planned for Christmas Dinner for you two?"
"Uh… veggie lasagne," Harm said.
"Well, that's not going to work. We'll need to stop at a store on the way home so you can get at least a turkey crown and the rest of the fixings!" Beth declared.
"A turkey crown? If I buy one of those, you'll have to come and help us eat it!" Harm shot back at her, "Or did you have other plans for Christmas, other that is than curling up in your rack with one of your trashy romances?"
"Uh… well, no… I hadn't really thought about that, other than asking a friend to join me for a drink… but you're right, we need to start thinking and acting like a family!"
"Yeah," Harm replied as he signalled the waitress for the check, "We've got a lot of details to hammer out, and we can probably do that tomorrow. I guess we won't have much time today; we still need to drop by the house and pick up Mattie's things…"
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"That's it!" Mattie declared as she dumped two black trash bags on her bed.
"That's all?" Beth asked as she looked at the small, battered suitcase and the two black bags.
"Yep, ain't got much that still fits," Mattie commented. "Ain't had much spare cash to go buying stuff I don't need."
Sensing a story, Beth nevertheless bit back on her curiosity, waiting until she had reached more of an understanding with the girl before she settled down to an in-depth investigation of her history.
"Okay… I was going to suggest we leave this until later, but you haven't got much, so let's get it stowed away before I head back to the VOQ to get changed."
"You mean you're not living here?" Mattie asked in some surprise.
"No! Of course not! I've been at sea for a year until I got this posting a few days ago, and I only bumped into Hammer a couple of days ago."
"Oh," Mattie pinkened with embarrassment, "I sort of figured that you and Harm were, well, living together."
"Not even!" Beth laughed, although to Mattie' ears the laugh had a forced quality to it. "Weren't you listening in court? I told the judge I hadn't seen Hammer for over two years!"
"Oh, yeah. I just kinda forgot for the moment," Mattie confessed but gave Beth a shrewd, measuring look and silently concluded, 'But I'll bet you wish you were', even as she tipped the contents of one of the trash bags put onto the neatly made bed.
Beth didn't catch the speculative look in Mattie's eyes as she sat on the end of the bed, "This stuff is going to need re-folding before we put it away. Let's see… you've got the closet and the drawers, so let's sort out the stuff you can hang up and the stuff that needs to go into the drawers.
Given the limited amount of clothing that Mattie had the sort, folding and stowing away took next to no time, but long enough for a concerned Harm to call out, "Man on deck!" as he interrupted them.
"Come ahead – we're decent!" Beth sang out in reply so by the time Harm stuck his head around the edge of bedroom door both Beth and Mattie were looking at it with an expectant expression on their faces.
"What is it?" Mattie asked bluntly.
"Nothing, much, just that if Beth is going back to the VOQ to get changed and wants to get back here by eighteen thirty hours, then she needs to be thinking about making a move," Harm remarked carefully avoiding any tendency to sound as if he was criticising.
Beth looked at her watch, "Dam… uh… darn it, he's right! I've got to get moving!" She smiled as she caught the look in Harm's eyes, "Relax, I'll be careful and I won't speed. So you may have to wait a couple of minutes for me!"
Harm did as he was told and relaxed – slightly – "Okay, just remember we need to leave here in plenty of time, the Roberts live in Alexandria!"
"On it!" Beth laughed and grabbing her service dress jacket from where she'd hung it on a chair back, she found herself helped into it by Harm and with a quick smile of gratitude over her shoulder and a cheerful "Later!" which hung in the air behind her she was gone.
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"Well, you clean up pretty good!" Beth grinned at Harm as he opened the apartment door for her.
"Oh. This is just an old rag that I found in the bottom of my closet," Harm smiled with assumed modesty as he stepped back to let Beth through the doorway.
Beth exchanged a quick look with Mattie who was perched on the edge of one of the armchairs, her padded jacket in stark contrast to the blue dress she was still wearing. By the look on her face the teenager was almost stunned by the picture her new guardian presented, and Beth felt that she had to agree with her. Harm had chosen a mid-grey suit of Italian cut that had been chosen for him by his mother after she had been to Italy on vacation and he had partnered it with a crisply ironed white shirt and a Navy Academy tie.
"Okay then, if you're ready, let's rock and roll!" Harm grinned as he plucked his overcoat off the coat-tree by the door and looked inquiringly at Mattie.
"Okay, but I'm warning you, if I'm the youngest there…" Matte said mutinously as she rose to her feet.
"Yeah, bring it on, Squirt!" Harm grinned, entirely unimpressed by her implied threat, and holding the door open for the two women to pass though into the hall.
"A bit of opposition to the evening's plans?" Beth murmured to Harm as Mattie preceded them towards the elevator.
"Just a hint, nothing I couldn't handle, even without a RIO," Harm grinned in reply.
"H'mm… it looks like you… uh… like we, might just have our hands full this time around!"
"Skates, you ain't seen nothing yet!
"I heard that!" Mattie flung over her shoulder as she stabbed the elevator call button and was chagrined when the only reaction from Harm and Beth was a shout of laughter.
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The Roberts' driveway and a good length of the street outside was occupied by parked cars so that Harm was obliged to park the Lexus a couple of hundred feet away and as the trio headed towards the lights in the Roberts' house, Harm despite his heavy coat couldn't resist a shiver at the damp cold of the evening. He sniffed and thought he could detect a faint metallic tang in the air, "Looks like we might be getting some snow," he remarked in a depressed voice.
"And how would a SoCal boy like you know that?" Beth scoffed.
"It's precisely because I am from sunny Southern California; I'm more sensitised to cold than these folk from up north!" Harm riposted.
"Are you… ah… letting it slip your mind that I grew up in Florida?" Beth asked with amusement.
"Nope, hadn't forgotten that for a second," Harm said affably, "but as far as I'm aware you've never spent a winter in DC, so you aren't used to reading the weather signs up here!"
"Up here?" Beth retorted indignantly as Harm knocked on the Roberts' front door, "I really need to remind you I suffered through three winters at Annapolis?"
Harm shuddered in memory of those long cold, damp winters at the Navy Academy but before he time to respond the door opened to reveal Harriet Sims a bib-apron over her dress, "Commander, Lieutenant… and Mattie! Come on in, quickly, please before all the heat escapes from the house!"
Harriet ushered them unceremoniously into the house, "Coats go in the formal dining room, everyone is in the family room. You know the layout, Commander!"
"I do indeed Harriet, you get back to whatever we interrupted, we'll be fine!"
"Thanks!" Harriet smiled her gratitude and bustled away while Harm help Beth and Mattie out of their coats before shrugging off his own and laying it with their on the tablecloth covered table that he knew from previous visits covered a highly polished and very expensive walnut dining table.
"Okay, just one more time," he said to Mattie. "Absolutely no alcohol! Not even the egg nog. I know Bud and Harriet will have plenty of alternatives, mineral water, fruit juice, root beer, sodas, and all the rest and they are fine, but don't drink too much. Remember after we leave here it's going to be about an hour and a half before we get home, and there aren't any heads at the church! Secondly, be polite to people, they are all either members of the Navy or Marines, or their spouses or significant others. Got that? Good, now let's go and mingle!"
Fortunately the Roberts' family room was a large room so despite the almost total attendance of JAG HQ, including the LSO component, there was still room to move without having to literally rub elbows, and Harm was able to take advantage of that to guide Beth towards the side table with its array of drinks, and while he was doing so to admire the sight she presented in a backless halter-necked taffeta cocktail dress that swirled, seductively in his mind, around her knees and left her shoulders and finely toned arms bare. Mattie trailed discontentedly behind them, he eyes finally showing some interest as she spotted the ice buckets full of condensation beaded bottle of her favourite soda and the long table that almost seemed to be bowing under the weight of the trays of food loaded onto it. Trays some of which, that she suddenly realised to her delight, held slice after slice of a variety of pizzas.
Hastily grabbing a bottle of Diet Pepsi Mattie veered off in the direction of the snacks, a move that was noted with amusement by Harm as he drew Beth's attention to it.
"I'm surprised you're not over there with her, supervising what she puts onto her plate and lecturing her about healthy eating!" Skates grinned, "The lord knows you did it to me often enough on the PH!"
"Oh, that was because I didn't want to have to break in a new RIO after you had your heart attack!" Harm quipped, and then with a frankly appreciative look at her he added, "And it seem like my advice paid off, you're still looking good!"
Beth blushed, but at the same time was delighted that Harm had not only noticed her simple, but very expensive outfit, but felt compelled to compliment her on her appearance. But she still protested, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Mister!" she began but interrupted herself as her eyes fell on another guest, "Tuna! Hi flyboy, but what are you doing here?"
The young man so accosted jerked around so fast that he almost lost his balance as his eyes frantically searched for the owner of that familiar voice and then as his eye lit on Beth he grinned.
"Skates! How do you know the Rob…? Oh! I might have guessed. How you doing, Hammer?"
"I'm good, but where's Loren?" Harm asked.
"She's gone to the head, should be back any minute..."
"So, Daniel? Harm asked.
David Medwick's whole face lit up with the mention of Loren's son, "He's at home. One of the Yeomen, Adele Ames, from the LSO is baby-sitting. I still don't get home often enough, but I've got a seventy two hour liberty so it was worth coming up from Oceana and I fully intend to spend as much time with my wife as I can, even if I have to break the budget on baby-sitting fees!"
"I'm sorry I missed the wedding, Tuna," Skates smiled, "But we were deployed at the time… Well, you know how that goes!"
"Oh I sure do. Funny thing is, although we're still officially newlyweds, and I love Loren to pieces, I…"
"Just can't wait until this shore rotation is over and he can get back to sea!" Loren Medwick had approached unseen and slipped an arm around her husband's waist, rubbing her cheek against the sleeve of his suit jacket, and smiled at Harm and Beth, "Good evening, sir," she offered and looked inquiringly at Beth.
"We're off duty Loren, so let's make it first name terms all round. And this is Lieutenant Beth Hawkes, better known as Skates," Harm replied.
"Lieutenant," a smiling Loren inclined her head towards Beth.
"You can't go calling me Lieutenant, when your husband and I are old friends from our Raptors days, so you had best call me Beth," Skates protested.
"Of course! I just about remember you!" Loren exclaimed with pleasure as her memories surfaced. "You were being court-martialled when I first joined JAG! And you were with the Commander … uh… Harm when you went down in that storm!"
"Guilty as charged!" Skates admitted with a wry grin.
"So… what have you been doing since?" Loren asked curiously, "The Comm… uh… Harm has barely mentioned you since then?"
Loren, Tuna and Skates drifted away from Harm as they spoke and he relaxed, pleased for Skates that she had found somebody who she knew amongst the throng. He shook his head in mild astonishment at the difference in Loren Singer, now Medwick, she had certainly changed from the over-achieving, ruthlessly ambitious attorney who had earned herself a plethora of derogatory nicknames during her early days at JAG, she was different too from the surly, petulant, disappointed officer who had been forced by regulations to relinquish her billet on the Seahawk once she had discovered her pregnancy. It was amazing what the love of a good man, and Harm's considered opinion David Medwick was a good man, could do.
His ruminations were interrupted by a youthful voice challenging him, "Don't we say 'hi' to friends anymore? Or did we stop being friends when Mac started dating that Webb thing?"
Harm turned towards the voice a smile breaking out across his face, "Chloë! It's great to see you. I didn't know you were visiting! But that's hardly surprising…"
"No, it's not. Not when you and Mac are hardly on speaking terms!" the round-faced teenager replied, "What the hell happened between you two Harm? I can't get any sense out of Mac!"
"Well… it's pretty hard to have a relationship with someone who tells you that it is 'never' going to happen, particularly when you've just witnessed her kissing another man, a man who is supposed to be your friend, but I hope that just because Mac and I are no longer friends that you and I can still be?"
Instead of answering him directly Chloë shook her head, "Brumby and now Webb! What is that woman thinking! Harm, I will try speaking with her again, but I can't promise…"
"No, Chloë you mustn't do that! I'm more than willing for us to remain friends, but Mac and I are a thing of the past – if we ever were anything to each other. Mac has moved on, made her choice and me… well… I'm adjusting…"
"That sucks, that really sucks!" the teenager said as her eyes started to flood, "You two would have been so good together…"
Harm reached out and drew the unresisting girl in a warm embrace, "Oh, Chloë, Chloë, I'm sorry sweetheart, but it's time for you to give up those dreams you have had for so long. There's never going to be that cottage with roses around the door, not for me and Mac, none of our babies for you to be Aunty Chloë for..."
Chloë sniffled inelegantly and raised her face towards Harm, "What happened to you Harm… you never gave up before… you were like a pit-bull…"
"Oh, Chloë, I've never fought Mac on what she thought she wanted. I've always given her respect as someone who is old enough and mature to make her own decisions, to know what, and who, she wants."
The youngster disentangled herself from Harm's embrace, and looked thoughtful, "Yeah…" she said slowly, "You never tried to intervene between Mac and Brumby, although going down in the middle of the ocean was one hell of intervention all on its ownsome…"
"Which I can assure you, I didn't do deliberately!"
"No, I'm pretty sure you didn't, although…" Chloë paused for a second or two, her eyes alight with mischief, "it made a pretty big splash!"
"Ouch!" Harm grinned, "Just how long have you been waiting to make that joke?"
"Ever since they pulled you out of the ocean and said you were going to be okay, just about," the blonde admitted.
"You do… uh… realise that you're not the first to make that joke, right?" Harm asked.
"No? Who was the first?"
"That would have been Skates, my RIO. Come on, she's here tonight, let's see if we can find her…"
Harm was completely unaware that he and Chloë had been the subject of an intense stare emanating from a pair of bright blue eyes that were currently tinged with just a hint of green as Mattie, tucked into a corner with her soda and pizza, scowled in their direction. She had just about made her mind up to saunter in their direction when to her annoyance she saw Harm take the blonde – the chubby blonde – she though with just a hint of malice, by the elbow and guide her away into the crowd.
Mattie gave a decidedly unladylike snort of disdain and took another mouthful of her soda and then slumped back against the wall. 'This party sucks!' she thought vehemently. 'No music, and a lot of people I don't know, and don't want to know, all talking about crap I don't know anything about! This party sucks!'
"Hi, you're looking a little lost and abandoned, so I thought I'd come over and see if you needed some company?" The voice came just as Mattie took a savage bite from a slice of pizza, and as a result she was caught between trying to chew, swallow and answer at the same time. With a frantic gulp that started her eyes watering, she swallowed the half-chewed piece of pizza and turned to face the voice to find herself looking into a pair of deep brown, laughing eyes, set in a strong, beautiful, intelligent face that at the moment wore a smile of welcome which revealed an enormous dimple at the corner of the smiling mouth.
"Um… yeah… hi…" she put her bottle of soda down on the corner of the table and hurriedly held out her hand, "Mattie Grace," she introduced herself briefly.
"Jennifer Coates," the brunette introduced herself, "I thought I saw you arrive a while ago, with the Commander, and another lady?"
"Yeah," Mattie nodded, "Harm's my guardian, my co-guardian with Beth, that's the woman with us. She used to be his RIO…"
"Uh-huh," the situation wasn't exactly news to Jen; she'd gathered something unusual was in the wind when she'd received a phone call from Bud Roberts the previous evening, bringing forward all their holiday arrangements by twelve hours so that she could be available to baby-sit for Jimmy Roberts while Bud, Harriet and A J had torn off to Charlottesville early this morning to be character witnesses for the Commander, and of course Harriet had been bubbling over with the news when they had all returned home, happy but still slightly bemused by the unexpected turn of the morning's events. Not that there had been much time to talk as Harriet and Jen had stormed the kitchen, leaving Bud to manage the two boys. As Jen now explained to Mattie.
"Not that we had much time for scuttlebutt..." she paused to see if the teenager understood the Navy reference and was relieved when she received a nod indicating that she should continue, "But Lieutenant Sims – Harriet – couldn't help mentioning what had been going on, after all, they did co-opt me into baby-sitting their youngest, and it was pretty much a surprise to them, and to me!"
"You know Harm?" Mattie asked cautiously.
"Oh yes! Oh, I'm sorry, I should have explained. I'm Navy too. A petty officer. I work as the Admiral's Yeoman, so I know most of the people at JAG."
"You work directly for that mean, old bald guy? The one who fired Harm?" Mattie challenged.
Jen's eyes crinkled in amusement at the rancour in the teenager's face and voice, "Yeah, I work for him. But remember he's the same mean, old, bald guy who did, in the end offer Harm his job back? Oh, and I love that description of him – of the Admiral I mean – I bet there's more than one person in this room who thinks of him in the exact same way, but there's none of them would dare say it out loud!"
"Why not?" Mattie demanded aggressively, her chin thrust forward.
"Well… because contemptuous words towards or about a senior officer could mean the end of their career and a couple of years behind bars," Jen explained, the smile still lurking at the corners of her mouth.
"You're kidding!" Mattie expostulated, "Tell me you're joking? A sailor can get sent to jail just for saying something disrespectful to an Admiral?"
"No joke," Jen confirmed, taking a sip from the bottle of beer she held.
Mattie shook her head in wonderment, "Man, that really sucks!" she commented.
"Just part of the price we pay for being in the Navy," Jen chuckled, "And anyway he's not so bad once you get used to him."
Mattie shook her head unconvinced, "Nope, not buying it. Anyone who calls me 'little girl' is way out of line! I'll bet Harm never gets to be that mean and grumpy when he gets to be an Admiral!"
"But he might go bald, hey?" Jen grinned.
Mattie was about to fire up in defence of her hero, but at the last second caught the teasing glint in Jen's eyes, and responded in kind, "No way! With his hair? Nope, I could see him as a silver fox, but bald? Nope, not going to happen!" she said with finality and took a mouthful of soda as a period to her statement.
Jen's eyes searched the room, eventually spotting Harm, still with Chloë at his elbow as the tall aviator turned attorney talked with Lieutenant Commander Singer and her husband and the petite brunette with whom he had arrived.
Mattie's eyes also roamed over the crowd and glared with disapproval of the fat blonde teenager still hanging onto Harm but then to her surprise and consternation met what she felt was a hostile gaze aimed at her by a tall woman in a black, sleeveless and low cut – very low cut, Mattie thought disapprovingly – expensive looking dress. But before she could say anything, or ask Jen who the tall woman was, Jen turned Mattie's attention to the group, "You said that the woman with Harm was his former RIO and she's your co-guardian?"
"Uh-huh," Mattie agreed.
"So how did that happen? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being nosey. The Commander says it's one of my many besetting sins!"
"You know him pretty well, huh?" Mattie asked eager for another perspective on the tall man who had, in so short a period of time, come to be so very important to her.
"Yeah, he saved my butt. He encouraged me to dig myself out of the hole I was in. Without him, I wouldn't have made the effort, so everything I am and I have today, I owe to him!"
"Cool!" Mattie enthused, "You got to tell me about that!"
"Just as long as you tell me how it was that you ended up with two unrelated Navy officers as guardians!" Jen insisted.
Mattie took a long, appraising look at the young woman with whom she was talking. She didn't know the young Petty Officer from a hole in the ground, but instinctively she felt drawn to her, and despite the difference in age she felt that here was someone who could be a friend.
"It's a deal! But maybe we could take a rain check?"
"Sounds like a plan!" Jen agreed and then with her flashing smile added conspiratorially, "It gives us an excuse to meet up again after Christmas!"
"Yeah… it does," Mattie agreed, "But why would you want to?"
"Well, like the Commander says, I'm nosey, but I also get the feeling, just from watching you for the last half an hour, that apart from the Commander and his RIO you don't know many people around here?"
"Well, I met Lieutenant Roberts and his wife earlier at the court… Why do you call her Lieutenant Sims?" Mattie asked with a frown.
"Well, lots of female Navy officers keep their maiden names when they marry. Especially in organisations where they have built up a reputation that they want to keep; organisations like JAG…" Jen looked back at the group containing Harm and Skates, "You see that small blonde woman? Well she's married to that curly haired guy stood next to her. He's Navy too, a pilot, just like the Commander, but she's a Lieutenant, a JAG lawyer, just like the Commander too," Jen grinned with amusement at her own word play, drawing an answering grin from Mattie, "But professionally she's kept her maiden name. She's got quite a rep as a lawyer and it's better for her to keep that than to try and re-establish herself under her married name. People have got such short memories." Jen added as a final comment.
"Weird!" Mattie mourned and drained the last of her soda.
"Yeah, well there's lots of things in the Navy that are a little strange to people who don't know about them, but I reckon you're a fast learner! Anyway, come on, a friend of mine has just arrived with a plus one, and I'd like you to meet him!"
Jen grabbed Mattie by the wrist and towed the half-reluctant girl behind her as she intercepted a young man and his date on their way to the buffet. "Jason!" she exclaimed happily and then grinned and said, "Oops! Sorry! I meant Lieutenant Tiner, sir! Good evening!"
Jason Tiner grinned, "No, you didn't Jen! You said exactly what you meant; you always do!"
"Guilty!" Jen laughed, "I just can't get over you being an officer! How's Jacksonville? And what are you doing back in DC?"
"Well, I made it through the Seaman to Admiral Programme, and NJS, so get over it!" Jason smiled, "Jacksonville… well the work is interesting, but the climate stinks! Too hot and too humid; it's a relief to get back to DC! As to what I'm doing here…"
"He's here to have me vetted by his big sister," Jason's date interrupted in a low, musical voice.
"She's going to love you!" Jason interrupted, "Just as much as I do!"
Whatever the attractive red-head on Jason Tiner's arm might have been going to say was lost as Harm and Beth arrived, "Jason! Good to see you! Congratulations! A bit late I know, but all the same…"
Jason instinctively stiffened into a brace, "Good evening, sir! I heard you'd re-joined, so I suppose you'll be wanting your cover back?"
"Relax, Jason, this is a social occasion and we're not in the same chain of command anymore! No, you keep the cover – from what I hear it won't be too long before you'll be needing it!"
Jason laughed, "About twelve years, if I'm lucky, sir!"
"Well, as I remember you were a lousy poker player, so maybe you'll be lucky in your career, as lucky as you seem to be in your companion?" Harm offered with a heavy hint.
"Oh! I'm sorry, sir, I was just about to introduce you all to Lieutenant (jg) Annette Walker when you showed up. Annette and I went through Georgetown Law together, and then she applied to NJS as soon as she passed the Virginia Bar, now she's stationed at Pensacola in the TSO. Annette, this is Commander Rabb, Legalman One Jennifer Coates, but I'm sorry I don't know either of these other two ladies…"
"Yes you do," Harm grinned in rebuttal, "You know Lieutenant Hawkes – at least by name…"
"Oh, of course I do! Your pardon, ma'am!"
"Jason was the guy, I'm told, that hooked up the technology that allowed everybody on shore to keep up with the SAR while they were looking for us," Harm explained in an undertone to Beth and then slipped his arm around Mattie's waist, "And this is Mattie Grace, my… our… ward," he finished with a smiling glance at Beth.
"Well, I am most pleased to meet you-all," Annette Walker replied, her eyes darting from Beth to Harm and back, while Jason stood struck wordless by the conclusion he had drawn.
Swallowing to clear his throat Jason finally managed, "Ah… so congratulations are in order, sir?" he asked, greatly daring.
"On being lucky enough to have been awarded custody of Mattie? Yes, of course!"
"Yes, of course. That's exactly what I meant, sir!" Jason replied with a slightly strained smile.
"Good. Well, we seem to have delayed your arrival at the refreshment table long enough, and kept Jen from catching up on your news, Jason, Lieutenant," and with a slight inclination of his head Harm led Skates and Mattie away, saying, "There's someone else I want you both to meet," and led them to a couch where a young woman in what looked to be the last stages of pregnancy sat in quiet conversation with her husband.
"CC, no, don't get up! I'd like you to meet the young lady that was the cause of all that extra off the books pro-bono work you did for me!" Harm grinned and turned to Mattie and Skates, "Girls, this is Lieutenant Christine Carmichael, otherwise known as CC. CC was the genius in LSO who guided me through the nightmare of dealing with the petition for legal guardianship, so I guess that Mattie and I owe her a huge debt of thanks!"
"Yeah, that we do!"" Mattie agreed whole-heartedly with a flash of her grin.
"And I don't?" Skates queried
"Well… that depends on whether you think you do or don't," Harm said gravely.
Beth frowned for an instant and then her expression cleared, and she smiled at Mattie and then at Harm, "Yes, I do think I owe you thanks!" she said directly to CC.
"Oh, please, you're making me blush! I was just returning a favour the Commander did me last year!"
"Which you more than repaid!" Harm pointed out firmly and then turning his attention to CC's husband he asked, "How are you doing, Bob?"
"Fine thanks Harm! We're both getting a little impatient…" he smiled at his wife, "But I think I'm slightly more nervous than Christine!"
"Uh-huh, well, you make sure she looks after herself for the next… how long?"
"Two weeks," Bob Carmichael answered with a slightly forced smile.
"Two weeks, then, and don't forget to let me know when the new addition makes his or her appearance!"
"I certainly will let you know!" Bob replied.
"And if he doesn't I will!" CC averred, with an indulgent glance at her husband.
Mattie had become slightly bored during this exchange and had allowed her attention to wander, encountering again a hostile stare from the same tall, black-clad, brunette, "Skates," she whispered, "Who's that?"
"Who's what?" Skates asked.
"Over there, oh, no, that couple have just hidden her. A tall woman, a brunette, dressed in black."
"Nope I can't see her, but tall and brunette? H'mm… sounds like Colonel MacKenzie. But why?"
"She's been staring at me, I've caught her at it a couple of times, and I get the feeling she doesn't like me…"
As Mattie spoke the dynamic of the crowd shifted again, opening up a line of sight, "There, that's her!" Mattie hissed, and unconsciously as she felt the dislike in the older woman's stare, her hands clenched into fists and she took a half step forward. Her own blue eyes now locked on the hard, dark, pebbles in the brunette's face.
Beth took in the little tableau, and slightly alarmed, laid a gentle restraining hand on Mattie' forearm, "Easy tiger, you can't start a brawl here, and that is Colonel MacKenzie, she's a Marine, and she'd wipe the floor with you!"
Mac had been staring at the copper haired teenager with loathing, but now as for the first time their gaze met she was taken aback by the challenge that was plain to read in the blue eyes and the teenager's set face. For a moment, Mac felt a most unusual twinge if apprehension and she nearly dropped her gaze and was then stunned to see the teenager take a step towards her, only to be restrained by the petite brunette by her side. A brunette Mac suddenly realised in almost disbelief was Rabb's flying dwarf of a RIO. Something in her expression alerted her date and Clayton Webb stepped in close to her and slid his arm around her waist, taking the opportunity to let his hand slip down so it could cup and squeeze her butt, "Something wrong? If you're not enjoying this, this… party… why don't we leave and head on up to Mother's. Her party will be a damn sight more fun that this!"
Mac irritably slapped his hand away and gritted between her teeth, a faux smile on her face, "I told you, I have to be here. It was a Commanding officer's invitation! Can't you get that into your head?" Mac snapped back irritably.
Mattie relaxed as Skates' words took effect "Oh, I wasn't going to, I mean... Oh, I don't know what I mean…"
"Yeah, I know. Instinct kicking in, but it's Christmas, peace on earth and goodwill to all men, and all that," Skates grinned.
"That's one everyone misquotes," a good humoured voice from behind made both turn, Loren Singer was smiling at them, "The Commander's been telling David and I all about you." She eyed Skates ruminatively, "The judge's decision must have come as a bit of a shock?"
Skates grinned and exchanged a look with Mattie, "Yeah, it did. But the shock's wearing off, and I think I'm going to enjoy being a mother figure!"
Loren laughed. "You don't have any of your own?"
"Nope, ain't found the time, nor the right man, yet!"
Loren's impeccably groomed and delicately arched eyebrow rose in polite disbelief, "Really?" she asked in an innuendo laden tone and twisted her head to look directly at Harm, who was still in conversation with CC and Bob.
For some unaccountable reason, Skates felt the blood rise to her cheeks, and not for the first time gave silent thanks to her ancestors for her dark colouring that made her blushes almost undetectable, "So, what was that you said about a misquote?" she asked in a blatant attempt to turn the subject.
"Misquote? Oh, yeah, it's actually 'peace on earth to all men of goodwill'. So those of ill will, and full of hostility towards others, vindictiveness, spite and jealousy and all the rest of that sort of crap don't merit peace."
Leaving both Skates and Mattie with open mouths, Loren gave them a friendly nod and swung around, making a beeline for her husband who was engaged in talking to a couple of the younger JAG officers, his exaggerated hand movement making it plain that he was talking about flying, but his conversation was interrupted, as were all others, by the chiming of a knife blade being tapped against a glass.
"Your attention, please people. It's time we all started making a move if we want to hear Chaplain Turner's Christmas message!" Rear Admiral Chegwidden announced.
There was a moment of silence after he finished speaking and then the murmur of voices rose again, but not so loudly as before as the Admiral moved towards the door to the dining room.
Harm looked around for Skates and Mattie to find them both moving towards him. "Ready?" he asked.
Beth nodded and Mattie knowing she had no option muttered, "Yeah, I guess."
Harm smiled and nodded towards the door to the dining room. "That's going to be a bit chaotic in there, you two stand fast while I dive in and get our coats, okay?"
Harm was right. The struggle through the crush to find the three coats reminded him forcibly of a rugby scrum. He had played the game during his time at the academy, not being thought big enough to play football, and had found to his surprise that rugby was an even harder game. The lack of armour for the players meant that they felt each and every collision, and so it was in the dining room. He claimed his party's coats and with his arms full he emerged from the press of bodies slightly breathless and unwittingly collided with one more body as he entered the family room.
"I'm sorry…" he started to say but then as he saw with whom he had bumped shoulders he stiffened, "Webb," he acknowledged the other man.
"Rabb." Webb returned in a cold voice and then turned and walked into the dining room.
Harm handed Mattie her gilet and shook his head in disapproval, "Going to have to get you a coat with sleeves," he commented and then turned to help Beth on with her coat, "Be sure to button up properly," he cautioned her. "That's a beautiful dress, but it leaves a lot of exposed skin – not that I'm complaining – but we don't need you catching a cold," he smiled.
Beth's heart gave a funny little skip, she was almost sure she had seen a peculiar warmth in Harm's eyes as he'd complimented her dress, but his prosaic ending felt a little like a let-down. However, there was something else niggling at her.
"That man, the one you just bumped into… he doesn't like you," she commented.
"That obvious?" Harm asked with a short laugh. "That's Webb, the man who, until about seven months ago, I thought was a friend…"
The touch of unaccustomed bitterness in his voice was enough to silence both Beth and Mattie, but they exchanged a significant lance with each other, a glance that was not lost on Harm and injecting a note of cheerfulness into his voice he said, "Right, then, if we're all set, let's go!"
The forced nature of the cheerfulness wasn't lost on his companions either, who exchanged another significant look. Again Harm noticed their exchange of glances but contented himself with saying nothing. Any way that Beth and Mattie found to bring them closer together, even if it meant them joining in an unholy alliance against him, was all to the good as far as he was concerned.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
"That was some sermon!" Beth said as the trio walked down the path back towards the row of parked cars.
"Yeah, sure gave us something to think about, didn't it!" Harm agreed.
"M'mm… are you sure you didn't put him up to it?" Beth challenged him, after all. "What is a family, might be thought a slightly strange theme for a Christmas sermon."
"Not really," Mattie, disagreed, "After all we speak about the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, don't we?"
"Do we?" Harm asked, slightly surprised. Mattie had never shown any sign of being interested in Bible teachings in the admittedly comparatively short time he had known her. And she had, to the best of his knowledge, ever gone to Church on Sunday.
Mattie looked up at him, his scepticism easily read in his face, eyes and voice, "Okay… I admit, I'm not one for Church, but Mom was, in her own way… she made sure I knew the Bible stories growing up, and I guess some if it has stuck. But Skates has got a point. Are you sure you didn't set this up with the Preacher? A lot of what he said sure seemed as if it might be aimed at us!"
"I guess it did!" Harm laughed, "But no, I didn't prime him. It was all his own work!" 'Yeah it was all his own work,' Harm thought as he fell silent, 'but he sure gave me a hell of a lot to think about!'
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Harm slipped an arm around Mattie's shoulders and the teenager snuggled into him for extra warmth as they huddled in the doorway until Beth had manoeuvred her car out of the alley and onto Fourth Street NE. Only once her car's taillights had disappeared into the Christmas Eve darkness did Harm turn and unlock the building's main door and usher Mattie along the hallway to the elevator.
"Tomorrow's Christmas," he smiled as the elevator groaned its way up to the third floor, "and as I figured that you stuffed yourself with pizza and all other sorts of junk at the Roberts' I guess you won't be wanting any dinner? No? I though not. So once we get upstairs, you can hustle into your PJs while I heat some milk to make hot chocolate. How's that sound?"
"With marshmallows?" Mattie demanded suspiciously.
"Of course with marshmallows, it's Christmas," Harm grinned, leaving the teenager with the dark suspicion that for the rest of the year her new guardian disapproved of marshmallows.
She heaved a silent sigh; it was going to be hard work educating Harm into eating properly.
Nevertheless fifteen minutes after Harm had let her into the second apartment she reappeared at his door, he feet stuffed into a pair of battered slippers that might have at one time borne a resemblance to a cartoon beagle and dressed in a pair of blue and white striped pyjamas over which she wore a nubby, knitted sweater in a riot of red, russet, orange and yellow shades, all of which managed to clash horribly with her hair., and which had Harm blinking in pained disbelief.
"That sweater needs reporting to the EPA!" he decided as he bore two large mugs of hot chocolate into the lounge area.
"Hey, it's warm, and I don't wear it outside the house… uh… apartment now, I guess… oh, thanks!" Mattie interrupted herself to take one of the mugs of chocolate from harm and raised it to her lips.
"Careful, Squirt!" he cautioned her, "That's hot!"
"Well it wouldn't be hot chocolate, if it wasn't!" Mattie retorted, but put the mug on the coaster on the coffee table anyway and then tucked her feet up sideways under her butt and hitched around so that she was facing Harm at the other end of the couch.
"We need to talk," she informed him solemnly.
"Gee, ya think?" Harm teased her gently.
"Yeah, I do. So stop fooling around please, and just listen for a minute, okay?"
"Okay, shoot – but don't let your chocolate go cold," he added in a tone of fatherly advice.
Mattie made an impatient gesture with her hands, "Look, I like Skates, I think, but I wasn't exactly figuring on getting two guardians!"
"No. And I wasn't planning on getting a co-guardian, but would you rather have had us say 'no', and let you end up with CPS?"
"No, of course not. But Skates is total stranger to me…"
"Oh? I thought you two were getting along okay?"
"Yeah, I think we are…" Mattie paused to take a sip of her drink, "Hey! This is really good! And you've put nutmeg on the marshmallow too! Mom used to do that…" Mattie finished quietly.
"Yeah, I know, you told me that. So I figured that maybe Christmas isn't a bad time to remember those we love…" Harm said gently.
"Ya think?" Mattie unconsciously channelled Harm and looked around obviously searching for something.
"Kleenex is on the bottom shelf of the table, right under your nose. In fact, it's so close, if it was a dog it would have bitten you!" Harm teased.
"Damn you! You still don't know me well enough for me to let you see me cry!" Mattie protested, halfway between tears and laughter.
"And that's something I never want you to have cause to do again, Mattie Grace!"
Mattie just shook her head and made another determined attempt to change the subject, "So… how do you get the chocolate to taste so good?"
"Well, most womenfolk would say it's blasphemy or heresy, but I only use the best Belgian chocolate I can find. I buy it blocks and then grate it before I melt it for the drink."
"B… Belgian chocolate?" Mattie gasped, "Wow! That would cost a fortune in Starbucks – that is if you could even get it there!"
"Only the best for you, Mattie!" Harm grinned.
"Yeah… which brings me back to my original subject…" A sudden thought gripped the youngster's mind, and for a second she was tempted to accuse Harm of deflecting the conversation away from where she wanted it to go, but she determined to let that one slide – for the moment. "We were talking about Skates, and I was saying that I thought we were getting along okay."
"True."
"Well, from what she's said so far, she's going to be working in the Pentagon during the day, and you're going to be at Falls Church…"
"Or TAD somewhere," Harm added, and as he did so, he suddenly realised how, from his point of view, convenient it was that Skates had been drawn into this absurd situation.
Once again Mattie waved aside his interruption as irrelevant to the point she wanted to make, "And each evening she's going to be headed back to the Andrews VOQ… Visiting Officers' Quarters?" Mattie guessed.
"Correct."
"And Andrews is where?" Mattie demanded.
"Maryland, the other side of DC," Harm replied.
"In Maryland! Well that's a bit dumb. How can she be a mother figure to me if all I'm going to see of her is a couple of hours after school before she heads into deepest Maryland?" Mattie took a breath, warming to her theme, "So, why don't you invite her to come and share with us? It's nearer to Arlington than Andrews, and it'll do us both good if she's here permanently, like a real family. It'll give you someone to help keep me in line, and it'll give me someone to complain to when you tick me off. Of course, it'll also give me someone to complain to when she ticks me off!" Mattie added hurriedly as she saw by Harm's expression that he was about to break in on her train of thought again.
"It's a nice thought Mattie," Harm said non-committally although he felt a flash of pleasure at the thought of sharing the apartment with Beth, "but there are some problems if we try that."
"Like what?" Mattie asked.
"Well, where would she sleep? For starters," Harm said.
"Well, you are going to rip out the kitchen next door and make the living room an 'L' shape weren't you? Well, just put up another stud wall, and make the extra space into another bedroom!" Mattie explained.
"Okay… you've been giving this some thought, haven't you?" Harm noted.
"Well, it's not exactly rocket science," Mattie disclaimed.
"Well, that's true enough," Harm agreed.
"And until you've done that, she could have your bed, and you could sleep on the couch!" Mattie exclaimed triumphantly.
Harm winced, "I could do that for a while, but this couch ain't really long enough and more than a couple of nights would wreck my back!"
"But it wouldn't take more than a couple of days for you to fix the bedroom, would it?" Mattie asked anxiously, "and even if it does, Skates could have my bed, and I could fix up a cot, or I could sleep on the couch!"
"Forget it, Squirt! That's not going to happen, whatever the circumstance! And I mean that!" he added his face a stern mask and all vestiges of tolerant humour vanished from his voice. "Besides there's Navy Regs to take into account."
"In what way?" Mattie pouted.
"Well, there are fraternisation rules, which amongst other things strictly prohibit the sharing of accommodation."
"That's nuts!" Mattie retorted hotly, "Are you trying to tell me that in the whole of the Navy there aren't officers living with their boyfriends or girlfriends, even though they are both in the service!"
Harm was about to refute the idea when he had second thoughts. Of course it happened. He even knew of a case where it had happened. Loren Singer and David Medwick had more or less openly lived together for nearly four months before they had married and the Admiral's only comment was that as long as the relationship didn't threaten good order and discipline, which was unlikely as they were in different chain of command, he didn't care who they lived with.
Harm finally nodded. "You're right, it shouldn't matter, not in this day and age. Okay, I'll suggest the idea to her tomorrow – after dinner, when hopefully she'll be too stuffed full to have enough energy rip my head off for proposing such a dumb idea!"
"I knew it," Mattie smiled, "See, if you listen to me, everything will end up just fine and dandy!" and with that enigmatic utterance the teenager uncoiled from the couch, rose to her feet and stretched, "and now, I'm going to bed!"
"Yeah," Harm chuckled, "Good night, Squirt!"
Mattie then took him by surprise as she swooped in and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight, Harm and… thank you…"
Harm stayed put on the couch, listening for the series of clicks that told him that Mattie had secured the door to the second apartment behind her. He had a lot of thinking to do, mostly about Beth and wondering what her reaction would be when he invited her to move in. The idea was not without its own appeal to him, it would give him and Beth a chance to renew the close relationship they'd shared as pilot and RIO, and maybe, if he was exceptionally lucky, they could even move beyond that. In the meantime the box of Christmas decorations he hadn't yet put up, weren't going to do the job on their own, and he thought more clearly while his hands were busy!