A/N: I'm glad the previous chapter went over so well. It might have been too sappy, but, well, sometimes sap is good. I hope no one was speeding home (e.g., Dana) to get to this part, since I'm posting later than I had hoped. The good news is that both of the last two chapter are longer than any of the previous ones. And I think they're more fun too. -- Teacup

I See – Chapter 12

As it was getting late, it was time for some guests to think about leaving for the evening. Gunny's date, Gina, had to get an early start the next morning for a community service project she had volunteered for, so Gunny kindly offered to take her home.

As he was helping Gina with her jacket, Harriet noticed that the couple was getting ready to depart. She hoped that Harm and Mac had had enough time alone outside to work some things out, because she knew she couldn't prevent people from going out on the porch anymore. Nonetheless, she headed in the direction of the exit.

Gunny opened the door, holding it wide and motioning for Gina to go ahead of him. He followed her through the doorframe, and, pulling the door shut, he turned back to make sure he closed it completely. When he took a step forward he ran smack into his date, who had stopped dead in her tracks.

"Whoa," he called, steadying himself.

As he looked up to see what had caused Gina to freeze in place, his eyes met the image of two senior officers who were embracing and had apparently, at the sound of his voice, just broken apart from a heated kiss.

The three service members looked at each other, all caught by surprise. Two of those officers were, of course, also a bit dazed and embarrassed. But Gunny also noticed that he had never seen either one looking so incredibly fulfilled. There was a type of happiness in their eyes that had never existed before.

It was Gina who broke the silence, addressing Harm. "Well, you sure didn't waste any time going after that desirable woman," she remarked with humor.

Harm laughed nervously, but then said, "That's actually very far from the truth." Looking down at Mac, who was still loosely in his arms, he apologetically added, "I wasted almost six years."

Mac was about to reply, telling him that he wasn't the only one at fault, when Gina added, "Well, I see now why you were so preoccupied earlier, Harm. I'm glad you're finally enjoying the party … even if it's out here."

Harm looked up to see Gina wink at him before she walked down the stairs. The two lawyers were left facing their Marine coworker, who was still recovering from surprise.

"Uh, … Gunny, …" Mac started with a slightly worried expression. Knowing they had to deal with being caught, she glanced briefly at Harm, before looking back to Victor.

Gunny sensed that Mac was wanting to ask for his discretion, and he decided to spare her any further anxiety. He stood straight and tall. "Semper fi, ma'am."

Mac understood from the look in his eyes that Gunny was promising not to abuse the knowledge of what he had seen. She straightened her own posture, though without letting go of Harm, and, with a gentle smile, proudly replied in acknowledgment, "Semper fi, Gunny."

Victor smiled and nodded before walking down the steps to join his date. Once he reached her though, he paused and looked back. "Commander," he called.

"Yeah, Gunny," answered Harm.

"Just so you know, … if you hurt her in any way, you will have the Marine Corps to answer to."

Harm smiled. "Duly noted, Gunny. Thank you."

Meanwhile, Mac tried to keep from laughing.

They watched Victor and Gina leave before returning to each other's gazes.

"I guess we shouldn't really stand right in front of the door, huh?" Harm asked.

"Probably not," answered Mac.

Harm led her by the hand over to the bench off to the side of the doorway. He sat down, and, instead of letting her take a seat next to him, he pulled her sideways onto his lap. His arms enveloped her waist and hers encircled his shoulders.

"That's better," he said.

"I agree." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

A satisfied, "mmm," was his only reply. They were both wearing ridiculously large smiles and couldn't seem to look at anything but each other's eyes.

Harm suddenly got a bit serious. "You know, we still need to talk about how this is going to affect things, … you know, like work."

Sighing, Mac rested her forehead against his. "I know."

He continued, "I mean, eventually one of us is going to have to transfer if you're willing to marry me, and that's not going to be an easy career decision. We'll have to consider -"

Mac lifted her head. "Wait a minute," she interrupted him. "Back up there, sailor." Her eyebrows rose high. "Did you just give me a marriage proposal?"

He hadn't really meant to. Harm looked at her sparkling brown eyes. He didn't want her to misunderstand. When he proposed, he was going to want to make it special. He was going to have a ring with him to put on her finger.

"Not yet," he automatically responded. Upon hearing the words leave his mouth, he immediately remembered using them once before with disastrous consequences. Damn, he hadn't meant to say that again.

"But, … I will," he quickly supplemented. After a pause he added, "… And you won't have to wait an eternity. … I promise."

"… And you always keep your promises," Mac reflected with admiration. Hearing Harm talk about marriage was almost too much for her to believe. The fact that he was even thinking about a commitment to her made her heart ascend to a new height. But a promise from him, … that was golden.

"Always," he reassured her.

"That's good enough for me," she declared happily. "I'll wait for it … as long as it takes." Now she was assuring him. She had learned her lesson too.

For a moment, they simply gazed at each other adoringly and affectionately, until neither could resist the urge for more, and they met in a long kiss filled with love and promise. When their lips separated, Mac hugged Harm, tucking her head down on his shoulder. Harm rested his head on hers and ran his hand over her back.

"Is this really happening?" Mac asked. "It seems … so unreal, … so wonderful, … like it's too good to be true."

He kissed the crown of her head. "It is real. What we have between us." Sobering a little, he reminded her, "But I am a little concerned with how we're going to handle work."

Mac lifted her head and saw the worry that plagued him. She knew that the work issue was one of the things that had held him back for such a long time. She made a decision right then.

"Harm." She cupped his face in her hands. "Do you trust me?"

For a moment, he was taken aback by the direct question. Then he remembered what he said earlier that evening about trusting her. "Implicitly," he finally responded.

She was glad to hear it. "Then trust me in this. Trust us. We'll work it out … together."

Mac could tell Harm was still anxious, so she went on. "Harm, we'll see what happens, what kind of options we have. But let me tell you this, … I'll transfer, … I'll resign if I have to, because I believe this is worth it."

Being there in Harm's embrace felt so right to Mac. She felt a belonging that she had never known before, and she knew, without a doubt, that this was the real deal. They had an extraordinary love, despite how difficult it had been for them to admit it. But now that they had, she started to have a great sense of faith in their future.

The type of true faith that had been squashed in her early childhood was suddenly blossoming in her.

This was an opportunity to create the family that she had always longed for with the one person she longed to have it with. When she was engaged to Mic, she never got past the question of what to do about her career, because she was so conflicted about everything. But with Harm, now that she knew what he wanted with her, there was no question where her priorities were.

"I can't ask you to sacrifice your career, Mac," Harm protested.

"Who said anything about sacrificing? We'll see what happens," she repeated. "You can't control everything yourself, Harm. We need to be open to possibilities."

Harm averted his eyes, but nodded in acknowledgement.

Mac put a finger on his chin, requesting that he look back at her. When he did, she added in a positive tone, "… But, considering I might just be occupied with having our children, we probably shouldn't do anything to jeopardize your career." Then she teased, "… At least any more than you already have."

He gave her a glare for that last part, but was entirely unable to keep a straight face.

Then he sincerely pointed out, "We still have two years left on our baby deal." Harm was implying that they had time before their plan for a child, so she might not want to factor children into her immediate career decisions.

Very seriously, Mac told him, "Harm, that deal is null and void."

He looked at her with uncertainty. Sure, at her engagement party she had said that she thought their deal was probably over … because she was planning on marrying another man. But since that, thank God, failed to happen, Harm didn't understand what would have broken their agreement.

Mac realized she needed to make this sometimes clueless man of hers understand. … And he was hers now, wasn't he? That thought alone made her quiver with delight, but she managed to go on with the matter at hand.

"The conditions of that deal were that if neither of us is in a relationship at that time, we'd go halves on a baby. I don't know about you, but I very much plan on being in a relationship two years from now."

She didn't think it was possible, but Harm actually took on an even more bewildered expression, now mixed with concern and hurt.

He could not understand how, after Mac and he had just talked about sharing their future together, she could be planning on being in a relationship with someone else two years from now. It was impossible.

Mac rolled her eyes, thinking that Harm must be suffering from oxygen deprivation or something from their earlier kissing, because he should have been able to follow her logic.

She quickly clarified, "With you, Harm, … I'm planning on being in a very serious relationship with you two years from now, … maybe married even, maybe with a child we'll already be raising, or … one on the way." Suddenly it occurred to her that he might want to stick to the original timeline despite their change in relationship. Her smile lessened. "… Unless you want to wait?" she asked.

"Oh," he breathed with relief as his mind finished processing the fact that Mac was really planning on setting up a life with him. Finally addressing her last question, Harm added, "No, … we don't have to wait that long. … I just …" He didn't even know what he was trying to say, so he gave up. "… You're right. That deal is void since we'll be together then."

He smiled brightly at her, seeing how she returned with a grin of her own. He could have kicked himself for not recognizing that Mac had been referring to the two of them being in a relationship with each other in two years. He realized that he should never again have even a passing doubt with her.

Now that they had admitted their feelings and desires, things were so much clearer. He could honestly envision everything working out for them … together. Mac may never fly in the back of a Tomcat with him again, but he was finally ready to have her copilot with him … in life.

"So counselor, is there anything else that is worrying you?" Mac asked.

He shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything more right now, … except how much I love you and how happy I am that we managed to …" He paused to search for the right words.

"I know," Mac didn't need for him to say it. "And I'm still scared I'm going to wake up and find that this was all a dream."

"If it is a dream, I don't want to wake up," he said, smiling. Appreciating the look in her eyes again, he thought aloud, "I can't believe how long it took me to see that you love me."

"How did you figure that out?" she asked.

"I'm obsessed with finding the truth, remember?" He was widely grinning at her. "Sometimes, I can even find it when it's staring me in the face," he said glibly, referring to her comment the other day about the Jacobs case … as well as what was literally staring him in the face at the moment.

"What I don't understand," he sincerely pondered, "is how you didn't know how I feel about you. I mean, you're much more attuned to these kinds of things than I am."

Mac looked away. "I thought I did know once," she replied with a trace of sorrow. "And I was wrong then."

That damned ferry ride was truly haunting him. "Mac, you weren't wrong. I just wasn't ready."

"And you're ready now?" Despite her new-found faith in them, it didn't hurt to be comforted with his assurance.

"Yes."

Returning to her explanation for not knowing about his feelings for her, she stated, "You're not exactly easy to read … emotionally. I mean, you're driven by emotions, but when it comes to expressing yourself …"

He nodded in understanding. "I prefer to let my actions speak for me. But without knowing my intent, I guess my actions can be confusing."

"Yeah, … I guess I'm going to have to learn to interpret your actions better." She smiled at him slightly.

He grinned impishly. "I know the perfect way to start."

Mac arched her eyebrows in question.

Harm pulled her closer to him and began trailing soft kisses along her neck and up the side of her face. It took but a moment for Mac to turn to meet his lips with hers, being entirely receptive to this type of action from him … and more than willing to use some actions of her own to express her feelings to him.

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TBC …

A/N: The next and last chapter, which could easily be split into two, is pretty fun (in my opinion). Some of you will be happy to know (like berarch, perhaps) that H&M do 'get caught' by more than just Gunny in the next chapter. :0)

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