Refer to earlier chapters for disclaimers.

A/N: I feel that I must address some of the reviews that I have been receiving that are referring to the medical aspects of Mac's condition. I have researched all of the information in this fic to get it as accurate as possible, not to mention that while most of the plotline is fictional the complications resulting from the illness and the desire to have a child are part of my dear friend's story in her effort to cope with this devastating illness. Still I do appreciated anyone who takes time to read and review the story. Thank you for sticking with me on this journey and please continued to enjoy.

It took some doing and a lot of paperwork but Harm finally got Dr. Bradley to allow Mac to leave AMA. Harm had to carry her out to the car, fasten her belt, and now that they were home he knew he'd have to carry her inside. Dr. Bradley warned him, but he thought, he prayed his Marine would rally out of it.

Harm took Mac in his arms again and carried her up to the door. It was late so DJ should be sleeping though he knew Lucy would still be in the closet. While Mac was getting dressed Harm had bough Lucy's ice cream and it was with these to precious burdens he entered the house.

Harm carried his wife into their bedroom and laid her carefully on her side of the bed. He had a hunch his daughter was asleep among her mother's dresses, and a quick check of the closet confirmed said hunch. He carried the weary child to her own room, kissing her on the forehead as he tucked her in. The remainder of the night was relatively uneventful, save the three times Mac awakened in pain. The bleeding was much less than it had been earlier in the day, which meant the D&C had alleviated exactly what it was intended to. Each time she awoke, Harm awoke with her, getting her pain pills every 4 hours and carrying her to and from the bathroom.

When morning came, he let her sleep in while he got up and began working on a few things for the Thanksgiving feast they were all looking forward to.

"Good morning, Honey," Trish greeted. "How is she this morning?"

"Sleeping soundly," he replied as he slid the turkey into the oven.

"How did she do last night?" Trish asked pouring herself some coffee.

"Not too bad," said Harm, taking a sip from his own coffee cup. "Slept most of the night, woke up to use the bathroom and take her pills. She did okay."

"Is she any stronger?" Trish asked putting sugar in her cup.

He shook his head. "Doc said she won't really get much strength back until after she has the surgery she needs, which she can't have for a few more weeks."

"So what until then? You carry her every where? What about her personal needs? What about work?" Trish asked.

"After another week or so," he said. "She'll be strong enough to get herself to and from the bathroom and such, but that's it until after the surgery. She's out of work for at least the next 6 weeks."

"What about you?" Trish asked. "What about your work?"

"I can't take the next 6 weeks off if that's what you mean," he said. "I'll talk to the General tomorrow and apprise him of the situation. Maybe he can give he half days or let me work from home a few days a week, but even at that she'd still be alone a good deal of the time."

"Well...Harm, Frank and I were talking and we'd like to take the children back LA with us," Trish replied. "We can have a tutor for Lucy..."

He shook his head. "No, I can't let the kids be that far away from us. It's a gracious offer, but..."

"She can't take care of them Harm," Trish replied. "She can't take care of herself."

"Not right now, she can't," he agreed. "But she loves them and having them clear across the country wouldn't help her condition; it'd make it worse. I don't know what I'm going do, mom, but I can't send the kids to California."

"Harm?" Mac called just then from their room.

He set his coffee cup on the counter and went to her. "What, baby?"

"I want to see my babies," Mac told him. "And I need some water or juice. My throat is dry."

"Okay," he said. "I'll get you a drink, and I'll bring the kids back for just a minute."

She started to try and push herself up but her arms would barely move from their position on her stomach.

"No, no," he said. "Stay there; I'll be right back. Don't try to move."

"Why am I so weak?" she asked him worriedly. "Am I going to be okay?"

He nodded and returned to her side. "You'll be fine, Mac. I promise you that, but you'll be weak and tired for a little while from all this. Don't fight your body's cues, you really need to rest. Remember, that's the only way I got the doctor to even reluctantly agree to let you come home, and you still had to sign out AMA."

"I know but what about today, there are people coming, I can't be like this," she fretted and ignoring his words from before tried to sit up again. This time she was only rewarded with a shooting back pain.

He saw the paned expression on her face, and reached out to touch her cheek. "I've got today all taken care of," he said softly. "I've been told I'm a better-than-average cook, and my mom knows how to make the things I don't, so between she and I, we're all set. When it's time to eat, I'll carry you out to the living room and put you on the couch and we'll all eat in there with you. Thanksgiving won't be ruined because you have to rest, sweetie. I promise."

She nodded, "You can bring me our children now. I need to hold them."

"Of course you do," he said with a smile. "I'll be back." He went to the living room, where Lucy was in Franks lap, reading him a book, and DJ was building a race track for his little cars with Trish.

"Lucy, DJ," said Harm. "Want to go see Mommy for just a minute?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Lucy as her little brother scurried up off the floor with a smile on his face that matched his father's to the letter. "Is Mommy better?" she asked.

"Some better, yes," said Harm as he picked up his son and reached out for his daughter's hand. "We have to be very still and quiet, though, because Mommy needs her rest."

"Okay, Daddy," said Lucy, practically dragging her father and brother down the hall in her excitement to see her mother. When they arrived at the door, the little girl peeked around the corner apprehensively, her excitement seeming to have been replaced with fear.

"It's okay, Button," said Harm. "Mommy wants to see you. Go ahead and go in."

Lucy looked up at her dad, and squeezing his hand a little tighter, began to slowly put on foot in front of the other.

She got a few feet in the room and saw Mac still pale lying on the sheets looking out the window, then recoiled. "Daddy?"

"What, baby?" he replied.

"Why is she so still?" Lucy whispered softy so Mac wouldn't hear her. DJ for his part had run to the bed and was begging to be picked up and held with his little arms over his head.

Harm knelt down to Lucy's level. "She's still because the doctor said that's what she has to do to get better. She's okay, she just can't move around very much."

Lucy slowly nodded and clinging to Harm's hand approached her mother's bedside. Mac, eyes black with fatigue and skin white from loss of blood smiled a bright smile at her daughter, "Want to sit on the bed with Mommy and DJ, Sweetie?"

Harm had once he reached Mac's side lifted his son and the boy had curled into his mother's side and put his thumb in his mouth.

"Okay," said Lucy, carefully climbing up at the foot of the bed. She moved very slowly towards her mother and was afraid to get as close to her as DJ was.

"Come on Sweetie," Mac encouraged. "You want to give Mommy a hug?"

Lucy looked up at Harm for reassurance though once he smiled at her, she moved slowly towards Mac and slipped her arms around her waist laying her head against her chest. "I love you, Mommy," Lucy whispered.

"I love you too, Lucy Bear," Mac replied. "I'm very proud of you for helping me yesterday. I'm sorry I got so sick though. But I'm going to be okay now, you know that right?"

Lucy nodded but still would not let go of Mac, she just clung to her mother glad to finally have her in her arms again and to know she was all right, at least for now. The ring of the doorbell interrupted the quiet family moment, for Harm had to go admit their visitor.

Harm answered the door and, to his surprise, found the retired Admiral on the other side. "Uh, AJ," stammered Harm. "Welcome, come on in."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Harm," AJ smiled handing Harm the salad he's made. "Where are my munchkins?"

"They're in with their mom right now," said Harm, closing the door. "Can I take your coat?"

"Why do I get the feeling I'm a surprise?" AJ asked handing his coat to Harm.

Harm smiled a little. "Well, AJ, maybe because you are - not that it's any problem, mind you! No, Mac just forgot to tell me we were having guests, but you know you're always welcome here."

"What about Bud and Harriet, Mic Brumby, and PO Coates, also welcome?" AJ asked with a laugh.

Harm's eyes grew wide. "Um, uh, of...of course. Sure; the more the merrier!"

"I'm kidding, Son. It's just me this time around. Where is the gracious hostess?" AJ asked wanting to see Mac and wish her well.

Harm smile, relieved that he wasn't going to be entertaining an onslaught of guests for dinner. "She's in the bedroom, where she'll be spending the majority of her time for awhile. Come with me; I know she wants to see you."

"What happened?" AJ sighed, wanting to know details before he saw Mac.

Harm ran his hands through his hair. "More of the same," he said. "Severe bleeding from the endometriosis. They had to transfuse her again and the doctor did a D&C to see if that may help short-term. She has to get her strength back so she can have another operation in a few weeks."

"How bad?" he asked, aching for his "children's" pain after all they'd been through.

"Very," answered Harm, looking down at the floor. "I was picking up my folks, and DJ was with me. Lucy stayed here to help her mom and..." He trailed off.

"Oh, no!" AJ gasped. "What happened? Did Lucy..."

"She did," said Harm, shaking his head as he recounted the horror. "She saved Mac's life, though. I'm very proud of that little girl, AJ."

"Can I go in?" he finally asked. "Or does she need to be left alone?"

"No, go on in," Harm encouraged. "I need to get the kids out in a second anyway."

AJ followed Harm in and greeted everyone with a bright smile. "Hello everyone! How are my two Sailors?"

"AJ!" exclaimed Lucy, moving away from her mother to give him a hug.

DJ perked up at the sound of his uncle's voice and babbling "AJ, AJ..."

AJ hugged both of the children to him and offered Mac a warm greeting before expertly luring the kids out of their parent's room with promises of a story about boats and pirates.

"You need anything while I'm in here?" Harm asked Mac tenderly.

Mac nodded slowly but that was all.

He leaned in close to her as he knelt beside the bed. "Tell me."

"I need you to..." she got out then paused. "To sit here a minute."

He took her hand in both of his. "Sure. Mom's got the kitchen under control, AJ's got the kids, I'm all yours."

"He's going to do it isn't he?" Mac asked softly, licking her dry lips.

"He who, baby?" asked Harm.

"Dr. Bradley," she replied. "He's going to take it, isn't he?"

Harm sighed. "That's not his plan right now," he answered. "In the future, I think he probably will, but right now his goal is, once you're healed up, to go in and clean everything up again." He rubbed the back of her hand softly. "Then we'll be able to try for our baby."

"What if...Harm I'm so scared," she told him. "So scared for Lucy and for us...I could...Could you hold me do you think?"

He leaned in close as he could and gently placed his arms around her. "We'll all get through this, Mac. No matter what happens, we'll be okay."

Mac nodded, "I need to take a shower and put on some clothes."

"Okay," he said. "Let me go tell my mom, and then I'll come get you taken care of."

"I can do it myself," Mac protested wanting to keep some shred of her pride.

He shook his head. "No, Mac. I'm not about to let you take a shower unassisted. Sweetie, you can barely move in bed, there's just no way. I'll help, you, I want to."

"Fine then," Mac sighed. "Can I at least feed myself?" she asked sarcastically.

"Now that I'll let you do," he said with a smile. "I'll be right back. Don't try to get up without me."

Mac nodded and waited for Harm to return. He did a few minutes later and helped her to the bathroom. When she tried to stand though she sagged against him.

"You okay?" he asked, reaching his arms underneath hers to keep her from falling.

"No, I'm not okay. This is not okay, okay?" she told him her voice catching out of frustration and defeat.

He sat her down upon the edge of the bed again, and sat himself beside her. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and just held her for a moment before speaking. "It'll all be okay. Its hell right now, but we'll see the other side soon."

Mac tried to nod, but was disturbed still. Through tears she whispered, "I have to be clean."

"I know," he whispered in reply. "How about I go draw you a hot bath, and I'll carry you in and get you all cleaned up, then bring you back in here and help you dress in something comfy and pretty for dinner?"

Defeated she nodded and lifted her face up to his.

He placed his hand beneath her chin and lifted her lips gently to his own, giving her a soft, sweet kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, and I need you so much now and I'm sorry for that," she told him.

He placed a gentle finger against her lips. "No, don't be sorry. Remember, 'in sickness and in health'? I'm here for you and I'll always be here for you." He knew he was taking a little bit of a risk bring up any part of their marriage vows; after all, the matter of his indiscretion was still in the middle of their marriage. It felt right, though, to remind her that he meant what he'd said that wonderful day six years earlier, and that he meant it no matter what else may have come between them.

Mac offered Harm another smile and waited while he drew her bath. Mostly she just lie still in the water as he bathed her, helping her wash her hair and the rest of her body. Finally he helped her brush out her hair and dress for dinner. By this time though she was exhausted and he knew it.

"You want to lie back down in here and sleep some more?" he asked her. "Dinner won't be ready for another hour at least."

She didn't reply, she didn't have the strength left.

"How about I take you out there and get you settled on the couch," he offered. "And when it's time to eat I'll wake you? That sound okay?" He knew she didn't want to be holed up in their room all day.

"I'm not all that hungry," she said as she nodded in the affirmative to his reply.

"You don't have to eat much," he said, carefully sliding his arms underneath her back and her legs to lift her. "Just try some mashed potatoes or some sweet potato casserole; something smooth and light."

Again she nodded and rested her head against his shoulder snuggling close.