"Harm? Stop it." Popping my eye open, I turn to the side to find Mac with her nose buried in some other romance novel. This one, from what I could decipher with the muscular dude on the front cover grasping a scantily clad woman wearing a flowy dress, is probably a Historical Romance novel. Here we go again. "Harm!" She finally snaps and turns to me with a bit of ire in her voice.
Since take off, I've been trying to get some sleep, however, for the last hour or so, Mac's constantly been reprimanding me for. . . "What did I do?"
Mac sighs deeply, shakes her head and then presses the palm of her hand hard on my knee. "That. . .You've been bouncing your leg up so hard I can feel the vibration over here." She runs her hand over my knee and then pats it. "You need to calm down."
I need many things, calming down sure isn't one of those things. See it's one thing that all of our friends know that we're getting married. It's another thing that my mother will be the last to know. Hell, even Grams found out. That, however, was totally Mac's fault! "I would, if mom weren't the last to know."
She does this cute little upturn thing with her mouth and lowers herd head. "I didn't mean for it to happen, you know? But we were fooling around and. . .I. . .well, it sounded cute."
It did sound cute. After the softball game, we went out for dinner with everyone. And I do mean EVERYONE. Binx, Castanueva, our staff, etc. It was somewhat of a congratulation dinner for us getting hitched. That night Mac went home with me and though nothing happened that evening (we still were taking clay out of various places for us to get too frisky), in the morning, in the shower, things got. . .sudsy. Anyway, the phone rings around eleven and Mac races to grab it as we were expecting the Roberts to call so that we could take the kids to the museum. When she does, through giggles and squeals (I was tickling her), she says it, cutely loud and clear. "Harmon Rabb is unavailable at the moment he's busy ravishing his fiancé."
Now, the person on the line wasn't our friends but, my grandmother who's stun silence soon became a barrage of ecstatic yells. She spoke to Mac for almost an hour and me for about five minutes. "I bet Grams is dying to talk to mom, though. . .If they had their way, we'd be married by the end of the day."
Mac chuckles and taps me over the knee with her book. "I doubt that. . .Being her only son, I am sure that Trish wants something memorable."
I feel my stomach knot over as she mentions my mother. "You know, we could just land, rent a car, head to Vegas. . ."
"Elope?!" She raises her brow and then scoffs. "Then your mother would kill the both of us. You for not letting her know we were getting married and me for letting it happen without making you tell her."
Mom? Forget about my mother, "Harriet, Mac. . .Harriet would rake us over the coals."
"Along with Cresswell."
Cresswell. Hah! What the hell happened to that bad ass Marine who we were supposed to battle in order for us to stay together? "Why is I that he seems to be our strongest advocate?"
"Maybe because he feels he owes me. . .He could have destroyed my career in Okinawa."
"I suppose, but it's still convenient."
She nods in agreement and lifts her book back up. "Maybe it's just our turn to have things go right for once? We deserve a little peace."
"Yeah we do." I wrap a hand over hers and lift it up, kissing her knuckles.
4 Hours LaterMac and I find ourselves standing next to my mother's new Lexus, a birthday present from Frank. "I take she hasn't let you driven the car yet?" I ask him, chuckling as I notice that she was the one driving. I hug my stepfather as my mother smothers Mac with hugs.
"I drove it out of the dealer." Frank defends and then steps aside as Mom attacks me. "Trish, you're embarrassing him."
She hugs me tightly so much that it's causing a problem for me to breathe. "I'm his mother, it's my right to embarrass him. Especially when he's with a girl." She winks at Mac and they chuckle conspiringly. Must be some sort of a womanly thing, I don't know I am quite sure that women, in general, have some sort of telepathy going on with one another. I ponder that notion for a brief moment before I hear my mother yelling at me. "Harmon!"
"Yes?" I whip around to find her blocking Mac who his holding her suitcase. She exchanges a look with me and since my telepathic skills aren't so in tune, I shrug as my mother scowls. "What?"
"What? What? I didn't raise you in a barn! Get your butt over here and help Mac with her suitcase!" Oh, that. I hurry over and pick up both of our suitcases which I promptly put in the trunk. Mac doesn't say a word though I know she's seething over not being allowed to take care of her own suitcase. She knows damned well that it's best not to argue with mom.
We hop in the car, Mac and I in the back seat, my mother driving while Frank quite contently sits shot gun. "So Harm? Have you gotten out to a carrier much?"
"A few months ago, yeah."
"Missing the F-14 yet?" Frank looks at me with a sad expression. Throughout the years I've gotten to know him better and one thing I shared with him was the love of the Tomcat. Needless to say, I've been distraught since the Navy decided to primarily use the Hornet. I'm about to answer, when Frank suddenly looks like he's seen a ghost. "Oh my God!"
"What?"
"Frank, what is it?" Mac asks only to notice that he's staring at her finger and the engagement ring that she has turned upside down so that no one would notice what it really was.. Frank though, has spotted it and snatches Mac's hand, turning the ring around. "Frank?" She whips around, sees the ring and a second later, there's a bang. A loud bang. . . .
. . .I hear people speaking, Mac's voice, Frank's voice, Mom's too? Opening my eyes I stare up at a starch white ceiling which is a bit fuzzy at the moment. By the odd smell I take that I am in a hospital. But, why would I be? "Harm?" I hear Mac and focus towards the voice. She has a bandage over her right eye and is staring at me with concern. "He's awake." She says to my folks as I try to sit up.
Once I manage that small feat, I note that I am in the emergency room still wearing my clothes. "What happened?"
"Oh darling. . .I'm afraid it was my fault." My mother, flushes with embarrassment and pushes past Frank until she's able to hug me. I her wrist is wrapped but other than that she seems no worse for wear. "I'm afraid that in my surprise. . .well, we seemed to have hit the car in front of us."
I groan loudly and push myself back into the bed. Great, just freaking great. "Mom! You could have killed us." Maybe it's wrong to mind my mother, but, really!
Her embarrassment turns into a bit of ire as she steps back and glares at me with that look that only a mother could dish out. "Well, it's not like I was trying to do it on purpose. Lord knows if I wanted to kill you Harmon, you've given me enough grief." She takes a deep breath and composes herself. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little. . .upset."
Damn. She knows. I don't know how but. . .I glance up at Mac who shakes her head. Okay, so it wasn't Mac who told mom, but, she knows. I know Gram didn't say anything either. Oh God, I'm a dead man. "Upset?" I croak out and give her my best innocent little boy routine. "What are you upset about, mom?"
"When were you planning on telling me?"
"Mom. . .It's just that. . .Mac and I."
"Don't try to blame Sarah. . .I'm the last to know aren't I?"
Oooh Yes. "Well. . .you see the thing is that. . .I. . .we. . .And I. . umm. . ."
She places a hand over my mouth to stop my babbling and then points over at Mac. "Sarah, may I see the ring again?" Mac nods and extends her hand. It's then that mom pushes the ring back a bit and shows me. "Earlier, while the doctors were checking on you, Mac showed me the ring and I saw the tan line under it. Clearly, you've been engaged for a while."
Tan line?! My mother spotted THAT?! "Uh. . .Look, mom. . .We wanted to enjoy it before telling anyone. . .I knew the moment people knew a wedding wouldn't be far away and. . ."
Her annoyance with me, hits the roof. "Did you expect to have the poor girl wait another decade before your married her? Really, Harmon! And I can't believe that. . ."
"NO MOM!" I really don't mean to yell but sometimes, she could be a bit much. "I wasn't planning on waiting forever. . .I want to marry Mac." Sighing, I turn to Mac and take her hand. "I want to marry you. I just needed some time to be a couple without everyone, automatically, trying to push us down the aisle. Mac and I have always stood on our own two feet and we wanted this. . .We wanted to wait."
Mac breaks her silence and steps close to me, almost defensively. "It's true, Trish. . .We wanted to wait. . .I want to wait just as much as he did and, to be honest. . .I guess I was just easier not to tell anyone." Up until that moment on the field when Mac let it slip. Not that I am angry, truth be told, had she not said anything, we would have been stuck in limbo. You know, we tend to do that a lot.
Mom takes a breath and stares over at Frank who hasn't said much at all. "Hon, you know you would have tried to get them down the aisle as soon as possible. . .The kids had a right to keep it from you. . .I mean, us." He smiles sheepishly and takes my mother's hand in his. "Now, I think you should apologize to your son for almost getting us killed."
She shoots him daggers and then turns to Mac and I. "I'm sorry dear. . . Have you set a date?"
Ugh, this weekend is going to be murder! I really just hope she doesn't take out the baby pictures again.