Hhere, yes, so it continues. I have a few ideas before I wrap this one up and then start on it's companion. ;) And if I get more ideas, the companion will just have to wait:P

This one I wrote to stick IN a story, but took it out, added a few things seeing as it works better for this series. :)

Hope you guys like it!

Jackie

Part 19 - A Very Lucky Man

We really weren't doing anything wrong. I swear it! But as I stair down at Mac who's hair is somehow caught in the fly of my pants, I can see why Mattie's face turned about sixteen shades of red. "Uh, I'll just. . .step outside. . ." Her eyes are as wide as saucers.

"NO! Come back!" Mac yells out, trying to get her hair away from the zipper. "And get the scissors!" She groans, that really can't be comfortable.

Mattie comes back, but doesn't bother peering over the island, so she won't have to spend more time wrapped up in our embarrassing predicament. "Are they still in your desk?" I nod at her and she heads off to grab the scissors. This day has just not been a good one for either of us.

This being a long weekend, Mattie decided to come spend it with me. Seeing as she was one of the people who didn't know about the change in my relationship with Mac, we decided to have a nice dinner and tell her together. I asked Mac to head to my apartment before me, seeing as I was in dire need to restock my fridge. That's when she writes something on a small piece of paper and slides it across my desk at work along with a twenty. "What's this for?"

"I need a few things." She says and as I gaze at the paper, only to find the words 'pads' followed by 'Midol' and then 'tampons.' These are certainly not words that belong in my, or any other, male vocabulary. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not that macho that I can't pick up something for either my daughter or girlfriend, but. . .there has to be some damned good reason. Oh, there is, didn't I just ask her to go to my apartment in case Mattie gets there before me? Damnit. As I contemplate a way to get myself out of this, Mac is watching me with this cute look. It's almost as if she is expecting my head to start spinning or something.

I look up, smile at her as charmingly as possible and groan inwardly while sliding the twenty back to her. "Not a problem, babe, I'll see you in a few." Knowing we can't openly make out in the office, she blows a kiss at me, winks then sashays out of my office leaving the money on my desk. I stuff it into a drawer and make a mental note to slip them into her purse when she is not looking.

Going to the supermarket wasn't fun. Since it's the weekend and several nifty NBA games are on TV, everyone is, apparently, stocking up. Making a tactical decision, I gather all of my items first, chicken, steak (for Mac and Mattie), veggies, tofu, bread, some nutrition bars, fruits, the normal stuff. Knowing how much the girls love popcorn, I grab a box of the microwavable kind and then a pint of a couple different Ben and Jerry flavors.

Finally, I descend upon the alien planet that is feminine hygiene products. I moved my cart into the aisle and I swear to God, it stopped moving, almost as if the cart could sense my hesitation. Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear the Twilight Zone theme, followed by the Psycho and Halloween themes. The aisle seemed to narrow slightly and all I kept thinking was 'Why the hell did you leave that little note of hers with details at the office!' I would call, I am sure there is someone there, but could you imagine if I had to have that conversation with the General? 'Uh, yes, sir, could you grab the piece of paper off of my desk. . .Midol, yes sir, pads, uh huh. . .thank you sir. . .No sir, they are not for me.' Yea, he'd just love that! Oh, speaking of which, I need the Midol and some Advil for me, I'm already getting a headache! I push the cart into the aisle and stop to find, not only an assortment of brands, but an assortment of TYPES. I confess, I've NEVER headed down this aisle, at all.

I glance at the boxes and packages with a slight interest. Do you really need to have THIS much selection? There is long, overnight, thin, medium, heavy and, the one that totally freaks me out is the one with 'wings.' What in the HELL would one of THOSE things need WINGS for? I mean, where you flying to? Maybe it causes the week long 'buddy' (Mac's word, not mine!) to 'fly by' quicker? Somehow, I doubt it. Leaning against my cart, I close my eyes in effort to remember what was on the little piece of paper. Okay, I remember she wanted pads. Well, there are a lot of those, thankfully, around that point I DO remember a brand name. Sighing, I grab the cell phone and try calling Mac. . .no dice. I call my house, nada. Great! Groaning, I decide to get every 'pad' from that particular brand name, even the ones with wings and do the same for the tampons. It was ridiculous, maybe just a bit insane, but what else was I to do? Paying was another mission, I could tell the woman behind the counter was trying hard not to lose it. I would have laughed too, I mean, I KNOW I looked ridiculous.

Getting home becomes another adventure entirely and I find the reason why Mac wasn't answer the phone. Heading around the island with my arms full of packages I find Mac, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, sitting on the floor with a rather nasty cut on her foot. "What happened?" I asked, squatting down next to Mac who was cursing loudly. Between curses she explains that she was getting juice, the glass slipped from her hand and broke to a zillion pieces. In the process of cleaning that up, she stepped on a shard.

Being the ever sweet and adoring boyfriend that I am, I take her foot gingerly in my hands and work on removing the shard. It's not bleeding too badly, but she definitely needs a bandage and some antiseptic. But first, I figure, it needs to be cleaned up and I need to make sure there isn't anymore glass on the floor. That's when this little predicament with her hair occurred.

As I go to move, Mac leaned forward. "Harm, your fly is. . ." I assume she was going to say the word 'open' but it never gets out, because, as second later, I turn quickly in front of her and feel something snag – her hair. "Ahh! Don't move, don't move, don't move!"

I stay as still as possible and try to look down. "What the hell did you do?" I didn't mean for that to come out so, mean, but really!

"I am not sure, but . . .AH!. . .hair. . .stuck." Mac moves to her knees and tries to tug her hair out of my zipper, but it only results on getting even more stuck. "Oh great! This. . is just . . . perfect!" Groaning, she tries pulling again. That was when Mattie walked in and innocently came around the island to find us in an rather. . .ummm. . .compromising position.

Coming back to the present, Mattie tentatively walks over with a face that is priceless. I glance at her, chuckling slightly which has Mac yelling at me again, "Harm! For the love of God, DON'T MOVE!"

I stay still as Mattie hands me the scissors. "Thanks Mats." I stare down and shake my head trying to find an angle where to put the scissor.

Mac jerks suddenly and nearly sends me crashing on her. "Harm, gently!"

"Umm. . .I am not sure where to umm. . .cut?" I know women and if I whack her hair the wrong way, I am sooo toast.

"Anywhere! I was going to get a haircut anyway! I am tired of braids and buns!" I angle the scissor careful not to cut my unmentionables in the process and hack off Mac's brown locks. Sighing happily, she cracks her neck then starts to come to her feet only to forget about that cut on her foot. "OWWW. . .Mother. . ." Any curse word dies on her lips as she realizes Mattie is there. "Oh brother." She smiles at Mattie, hops up on my counter with her good foot and turns on the water to run her injury over the cool water.

"Umm, Harm?" Mattie points down to the hair that is hanging from my zipper. Poor girl looks simply horrified.

I glance down as well and feel my face burn a bright red. "Mats, I bough groceries, can you start to bring them in while I patch Mac up?" Quickly, she sprints out of the apartment and I go over to Mac who looks rather amused. "Sorry about all of that." I chuckle slightly at the funny look of her hair, it's all over the place. "Guess I'll have to take you two to one of those girly spas?"

Mac shakes her head, giggling slightly. "That would be nice, yes." Gently grabbing her foot, I take a good look at the cut, it's not too bad, thankfully it doesn't need stitches, just some TLC. I take out a first aid kit I have in the kitchen and work on patching my Marine up. When I am done, I place a little kiss on her foot and grin. "Thank you, Harm."

I help Mac off of the counter, only to trap her between it and me. "You didn't kiss me when I came in." I say, waggling my eyebrows suggestively. She remedies that, wordlessly planting a sweet, sweet kiss on my lips.

The kiss, as all of our other ones, starts to take a life of its own, only to get cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning, I find Mattie standing there with a couple of packages in her arms and a silly grin plastered all over her fact. "You're together!" She all but bounds into the apartment, tosses the packages on the island and props up on a barstool. Mattie rests her head in her hands and that grin goes up in wattage. "Oh, by all means, continue." You can literally see the little hearts in her eyes.

Mac gives me a quick kiss then hobbles around the island to Mattie a hug. "So you approve of me dating your old man?"

"Oh yea. . .I think you two are cute together." They both turn to look at me and I already know I am over my head this weekend. Excusing myself, I head off to my bedroom to get changed, there was no way I was planning on bring up the rest of the groceries with Mac's hair flapping out of my zipper.

Ten minutes later, we're going through the bags, putting things in place when Mattie reaches the one with Mac's. ..things. "Mac, did you ask Harm to do shopping for you?"

Mac turns on her good foot and raises her eyebrow characteristically. "Yeaaa… whyyy . . Oh!" Giggling, she turns to me. "You forgot that little note I left you, did you?" She's too good sometimes.

"Yes."

Grinning, she takes me by the hand and starts to drag me away from the kitchen. "Let's go return the ones I don't need, with the difference we can get some more goodies."

I stop Mac and stare at her. "MORE GOODIES! Mac, I already got you guys the popcorn, the Ben and Jerry's, what more do you want?"

"You forgot the Cornflakes which go GREAT with ice cream." Mattie says, then opens up the fridge and gasps, "There is NO soda and Mac's going to need chocolate." Mac agrees with a nod. Oh yea, these two, I knew they would get on like wildfire.

Sighing, I head towards my bedroom to grab my wallet. "Oh, alright and while we're at it, let's go pick up a pizza. . or two."

"Now your talking!" Both of them say at the same time, then giggle. I know I am in trouble this weekend. Though, hopefully, with Mac's new injury we won't have to move from the apartment, I mean they can watch flicks all day long, right? Nope, I know I promised to take Mattie bowling and we'll have to have Mac's hair tended to. As I stare at my two girls, I find it comforting that she and Mac are getting along. All in all, I have to say, I am a very lucky man.