Yes! I've resumed this one too. . .Basically, I was caught between a traditional wedding and eloping and settled for this however, not to worry, something else is up my sleeve. ;) Enjoy and all typos are mine, these are usually never checked I just post them as I write.

Jackie!

Part 51 – Viva Las Vegas!
I never realized just how big weddings are. I mean, I had a clue considering how much Harriet and Bud fussed about theirs, but, sweet Jesus this is, almost painful.
"Table cloth? We have to pick the color of the table cloth? What's wrong with just white?" Sighing, I leaf through one of the six booklets that Jacques handed us over the weekend. Maybe the office isn't the best place to be glancing at these, but my caseload is non-existent, I just kicked Mattoni's ass and. . .

A quick rap on the door and, without warning Mac barges into my office and closes the door behind her. She has this Cheshire cat grin and a mischievous glint in her eyes that tells me I should be worried. "Atlantic City." She says and then places a brochure on my desk, pointing to Trump's Taj Mahal hotel. "There's a three day waiting period, but it saves us having to drive all the way to Vegas. . .I've always wanted to check out the boardwalk and. . ."

"Mac?" I try to interrupt but she's off on some tangent.

". . .I hear the Taj Mahal is just gorgeous and it even has a. . ."

Oh brother! Wasn't she trying to talk me out of eloping? I mean, that wasn't a figment of my imagination was it? "Mac!" I yell and she stops rambling, then gives me that doe-eyed MacKenzie look. "I've been to Atlantic City and, trust me, besides the Taj, the Boardwalk and a couple of high-roller casinos, there's really not much to write home about."

"Oh." Her shoulders slump, that gleam in her eye is gone as she straightens up and grabs the brochure. Mac holds the piece of paper between her fingers almost as if it would bite her. Sadly, she slips into one of my guest chairs and chuckles without much humor behind it. "Funny. Here I was the one telling you that we couldn't elope and suddenly. . .Tell me I'm not running away again." Her eyes beg for me to answer, for me to straighten up her tumultuous life even if its just a little.

I snort and settle back into my chair. "Babe, if you're running then I am running with you." I wasn't joking about eloping. This wedding this is doable, but. . .Oh, I don't know! Eloping sounds like fun! "You want to do it? Then let's do it. . .only we're going to Vegas." Now I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat and that gleam in her eyes has returned. "And no pathetic themed chapels. . or. . ."

She bites her lower lip and then chuckles. "I thought that was part of the Vegas charm? The quirky chapels."

It is and I am sure that's why so many people decide to get hitched there, however, this is the woman of my dreams. She deserves a hell of a lot more than getting married by a Vulcan on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. – Uh, yeah, I spoke to Bud about it. "I don't want to cheapen it, thanks." Hey, she's the woman I'm in love with, no hokey wedding plans, alright!

"Okay, well, check on the Internet." She points at my computer and comfortably settles into the chair. "It's gotta be there, everything's on the 'net these days."

With my poor typing abilities and the use of a major search engine, I find several interesting links and some extremely peculiar ones. "Okay, Gothic weddings? Nooooo. . .Ah, okay, here. . . The Limo wedding, where you get wed IN the limo whilst it drives around the strip." I glance up at Mac who shakes her head. "Okay, then there are helo weddings. . .Oh, and check this out, they will even do it over the Grand Canyon." I tap the screen and scoot to the edge of my seat. The views on this one are very pretty and I think we'd. . .

"A helo?" Mac snorts and then pins me with a reminiscent look. "The first time I saved your six was when you were hanging out of one."

For my sanity, I decide to ignore that comment and the fact that I was shitting bricks while I was hanging from said helo. "Anyway. . .Then there's the Red Rock Canyon where you. . ."

"Harm, I'm from the desert, saying our vows in the scorching heat, no thanks. . ." She explains and I get the feeling that most elopers aren't as picky as we are. Thank God for the variety.

I flip through several pages of the generic type of chapels. I've never been a fan of the drive-thru kinds, but then I see a piece of the puzzle that I find appealing. "Oooh! There's the drive up weddings. They even rent a classic Vette convertible and. . ." By the look on her face, that's also a no. Not that I was too thrilled about that either. Sigh. "Oh! This sounds promising: Gondolas are as picturesque as they are romantic. . .You can exchange your vows on one and then just ride around for a while. . ." She gets that silly, love stricken look in her eyes and I guess I've found the winner. "The Venetian it is, I'll make a call, book the flight."

Mac blanches slightly. "And what are we going to tell the General?"

"That we want to take a few personal days." I hope he'll swallow that. See, Commanding officers, generally want to know WHY you're taking those days. Or at least, an idea why.

"And you don't think he'll ask why?" She crosses her arms in a show of defiance.

I shrug, "If he asks, it's for the wedding."

"That would be lying."

"No, that would be streeeeeeetching the truth."

"We're gonna get killed."

"Hey, I dropped the whole eloping thing and you're the one who ran in here today putting crazy ideas back in my head."

Mac raises her hands up in surrender. "I know, I know. . .Okay, it's Tuesday, if we leave tonight, we can get hitched tomorrow, see the sights on Thursday, Friday and head back on Saturday."

Did she just say 'hitched?' Talk about a word I never thought Mac had in her vocabulary! "Saturday?" Odd day to get back ins't it? "I thought we'd get back on Sunday."

Mac shakes her head. "We can't. Remember those six sailors that got busted for conduct unbecoming when they decided to drop their trousers?"

Oh yeah, the one's who's cases we'd be reviewing first thing Monday morning because they decided to moon a senior officer. "I forgot, we have to head out to Norfolk on Sunday night."

"Exactly."

"Okay, we'll return on Saturday. Now – who's gonna speak to Cresswell?" I am hoping that she'll do it, seeing as this latest 'eloping scheme' is her fault. So what that I already gave Jacques a down payment? We'll use that at another time. "I mean, I need to make the reservations so I figured that. . ."

"You'd figured I was stupid enough to go ask Cresswell for a mini-vacation in the middle of a work week that is bound to get busy at any moment." Funny, when she puts it that way it seems to suck the fun out of it. "Cute, flyboy. . .We go together."

Fifteen minutes later, we are standing in front of Cresswell's desk. He's on the phone ripping someone a new one over. . . well, I am not sure why really. I can't help but cringe as his voice hits an octave louder and the walls seem to shake. This may not be such a hot idea. Commanding officer's have scared me from time to time, at the moment, though, I feel like running out of the office.

"What do you want?" Is he speaking to us? Ah, yes he is and his tone of voice combined with that glare can't bode well for Mac and I. "Well? Colonel? Commander? Someone say something."

Mac clears her throat. "S-s-sir, Commander Rabb and I have some days on the books and we were wondering if we could. . ."

"Take them off?" He raises a brow and exchanges a glance between Mac and I. "Can I ask why you need to take some days off?"

I was really hoping he wouldn't ask. That whole stretching the truth idea might come back to bite us in the ass. "The wedding, sir. . .We needed a few days to. . ."

"Elope, right?"

We both groan audibly and then turn to look at each other. Busted. We're soooo busted. "Well, sir, it's just that. . ."

Creswell takes a deep breath and then opens up a case file on his desk. I can't really tell if he's pissed off or not. "Go ahead, so long as the two of you are in Norfolk to speak to your clients."

He's letting us go? Just like that? "You're approving this, sir?"

Perhaps questioning out commanding officer is probably the worst idea I could have had. In a heartbeat he's standing right in front of me. Out of habit I stand ramrod straight and stare dead ahead. "Rabb, I am not the heartless SOB you think I am. Besides, as far as I am concerned, the SECNAV owes you one."

While I agree with that assessment, I am not really in the mood to figure out how it's going to work. Obviously one of us will have to leave JAG unless we are to set some president. On the other hand, I've heard speculation of the Navy allowing spouses to serve together so long as they do not act inappropriately. Course, that is something that Bobbi Latham was toying with several years ago. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed."

Mac and I rush out of there and head to the safety of my office. "Did Creswell just let us elope?" She asks with a befuddled expression.

"Viva Las Vegas!" I say with a smirk as I wonder what lays ahead for Mac and I.