A/N: Another chapter finished. I looked at what remained of the story today and I predict it has about five chapters to go…I will update another tomorrow and on Wednesday. My goal is to have it all posted by the end of the week. Thanks for reading.

Disclaimers: See earlier chapters

It took Harm a few days before he felt ready to share the news with anyone. He'd only had a few greater heart breaks in his life, his divorce from Mac and of course his daughter's illness.

He hadn't slept well the previous night, both on account of his broken heart and Lucy's worsening illness. The last call he took before drifting off into a restless slumber was Mac telling him that Lucy's port had become infected, and she was even sicker than usual because of it. He hated this. He hated everything about it. He knew, however, that Lucy needed him and nothing - not a broken heart, a broken spirit, or a broken dream - was going to keep him from her.

He and Mac decided to take Lucy to Dr. Jacobson that next morning since her fever had done nothing but climb steadily throughout the night. At nine that morning he arrived at his family's home, tired, worn out, and very scared.

"How's she doing?" he asked softly when Mac opened the door.

"If anything she's worse. She's sleeping finally," Mac sighed and massaged her expanding belly.

He felt another break to his heart at that sight. No matter how often he saw her, he couldn't get over the pain of her pregnancy. "I know she had you up all night," he said. "Why don't you go rest awhile before we have to go?"

"No, I'm fine," Mac replied. "You don't look so great yourself. Want some coffee?"

"That'd be nice" he nodded, removing his coat and draping it over the back of the sofa. "Where's Mic and DJ?"

"DJ spent the night at Harriet's. Mic's picking him up now," Mac replied as she moved to the kitchen and began to make the coffee. "How are things with you and Analise?"

He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. "We...we're not together anymore."

"Not together?" Mac asked confused. "You two were great together. What happened?"

"She felt Lucy needed my full attention," he explained plainly, a hint of pain across his brow. "She didn't want to take me away from that, and to be honest...it wasn't fair of me to ask her to. She deserves someone who's not distracted, you know?"

"I do know," Mac sighed. "I'm starting to feel that same way about Mic."

"Is he giving you trouble about Lucy?" asked Harm, feeling his defenses rise.

"Not so much," Mac replied pouring his coffee. "The problem really is that he seems more focused on this baby that the two I all ready have."

Harm shook his head. He expected nothing less from Mic. "What time is the appointment again, 1030?"

"Yes, we better try to get her up," Mac sighed and began to rise, even though she's just sat down.

"No, you stay," he said gently, rising from his chair. "I'll get her ready; you relax for a few minutes."

Mac smiled in thanks and watched as Harm headed for Lucy's bedroom.

Harm got Lucy dressed, having to do most of the work for her. They were not long to wait at the doctor's and one look at the port site and a check of Lucy's fever, now nearing 105 was all he needed to strongly recommend she be admitted to the children's wing of a nearby hospital.

Lucy was too tired to argue about the actual admission, but when she saw a sign for visiting hours, she began to cry and cling to her father's neck.

"What's the matter, Button?" he asked.

She replied, but was crying so hard he couldn't understand her.

"Shh...Calm down," he soothed, gently rubbing her back. "Tell me what's wrong, okay?"

She swallowed and mumbled, "Mommy."

He looked over at his ex-wife, who was blinking back tears while trying to look like she wasn't. "I'm here, Lucy" she said, walking towards her little girl. "Come see me?"

Lucy reached out for her mother, "I don't want to stay here," she told her as she cried. "It says you have to go. I want you to stay."

"Aww, baby..." said Mac, running her hand along Lucy's cheek. "We'll be here as long as we can be, I promise."

"I'm scared. I can't sleep if I'm scared," she sniffled. "I want to go home."

"Hey Button," said Harm quietly. "How about if after you get all nice and warm in your bed, Daddy sings you your sleepy song? Would that make it any better?"

She shook her head. "I want Mommy to stay with me. Remember you told me?"

Mac had promised if she had to go the hospital that she'd not leave her alone, but the rules in this ward were against that. Many hospitals, most in fact, allowed one parent or sometimes both parents to stay with a sick child. This one, Dr. Jacobsen had explained, did not because they found the children did rest better and so did the parents with one enforced 8 hour break.

"Baby, Mommy wants to but she made a mistake. That's against the rules. But I'll tell you what, every single minute that Mommy can be here, I'll be here. Every single minute."

"Me too," said Harm, kissing the side of his daughter's feverish head.

Mac handed Lucy back to Harm, "I'm going to call Mic and AJ."

As she walked down the hall, the nurse came to show Harm and Lucy to the room where the child would be staying. He hated to leave Lucy, even for the few minutes it took the nurse to get her gowned up and settled into bed, but the moment he was able to rejoin her, he did so.

Lucy lay on her side her little eyes starting to close, "Daddy?"

"Yes, baby girl?" he replied, holding her weak little hand in his large strong one.

"Am I going to die?" she asked him.

He swallowed hard against the pain that hit him every time his mind had to think about that possibility. "You're not going to die, Lucy Bear," he answered calmly, stoically. "You're going to get better and soon we'll be able to have all kinds of fun again. What would you like to do the first time we get to go out for fun? Anything you want."

"Can we go skiing again?" she asked, eyes fighting to stay opened.

"You bet we can," he said, squeezing her hand ever so slightly. "I'll even let you get a new snow suit, okay?"

Lucy nodded, "Do you still go to work Daddy?"

"I do," he answered. "But I can still be here with you a lot. Mommy will be too."

Lucy smiled, "I love you Daddy."

He leaned in and kissed her fiery forehead. "I love you too, Button."

Harm remained at her bedside and watched her sleep. He thought back to years past, all the years of her little life, and how when he held her for the first time, never in his wildest dreams did he imagine ever seeing her like this. He knew the illness had just happened, no fault of anyone...but a part of him couldn't keep from being angry. Very angry. At first he wasn't sure who he was angry with, whether it was situational or whether it had a valid recipient, but within moments he realized the answer...the moment Mac walked into the room.

"How did this happen?" he fired at her as quietly as he could given his anger just then.

"I don't know," Mac replied remaining calm in the face of Harm's emotions.

"We're supposed to take care of her!" he said, eyed wide and dark. "But there's no 'we' anymore, and now look at her - she's so sick!"

"Harm, nothing we did or didn't do caused this," Mac said gently. "It was just meant to be."

In that moment, it all clicked for him, why he was so angry. He's often said in his world, to lose control meant to die. He had no control over this...over what happened to his child. No control, no matter what he did. Mac was right, it was just meant to be, and that realization gutted him terribly. He looked at the floor, then at Lucy sleeping, and then at Mac before the tears began to fall.

Mac wasn't sure what to do. She and Harm had shared so many times in tears over their babies, but now with the distance between them she was at a total loss. Hesitantly she moved towards him and moved to slip her arms around his waist.

Part of him wanted to retreat from her, but so much more of him needed to be held. He let her arms come around him, and placing his around her shoulders, he began to cry in earnest. "I'm scared, Mac" he whispered.

She held tighter to him, "So am I, Harm," she replied. "Sometimes I think...I wonder how hard she can fight."

He nodded and cried silently. She was just a little girl, his little girl, and he was afraid of losing her.

Mac felt like crying, but her tears did not fall. It was almost as if while Harm was falling to pieces she was incapable of it.

"If it can be done it will be done," Mac assured him. "You know that. We'll make it. Okay?"

With a few deep breaths, Harm pulled himself together. "You're right," he said confidently. "We'll make it. We will and so will she."

Mac smiled, "That's right. Don't lose hope. We've done this before, remember?"

Again, he nodded. "We'll make it."

Mac pulled back, "Now how about some lunch. I'm hungry and I'm sure Lucy will want something when she wakes up."

"Is the cafeteria any good here?" he asked.

"It's not bad," Mac replied and reached into her bag to hand him money. "Ham and cheese sandwich please."

He waved off her offer of money. "It's okay, my treat. You want mayo and mustard, right?"

"Mayo and ketchup," she replied.

He smiled and shook his head. Pregnancy had always given her some cute culinary quirks. "I'll be back in a few."

Mac nodded and sat down. They'd come along way in a short time, and if that could happen she decided anything was possible.

Harm returned with their lunch in short order and they both stayed by Lucy side until 11 that night when the doctors and nurses made them leave. They followed this routine, on the weekends, for many weeks that Lucy remained hospitalized, and on the weekdays, the only hours Harm was away from her were the ones he was required to be for work, every other moment was devoted to Lucy.

After three weeks the infection finally lifted but Dr. Jacobsen did not have encouraging news.

"Mr. Rabb, Mrs. Rabb," he said seriously. "We need to talk about how to proceed."

"This doesn't sound good," said a very worried Harm.

"It's not, but it isn't bad either," he replied. "Lucy's immune system has been severely compromised by the chemotherapy and by the leukemia itself."

"So what are the options?" asked Mac.

"Well, for children at this stage we like to hospitalize them until they have completed the course of treatment," the doctor replied.

Harm shook his head and looked down at the floor. "We hoped she'd be going home soon."

"We could send her home..." the doctor began.

"Not if that's not what's best for her," said Harm. "She needs whatever is best."

"Then she should stay here," the doctor replied. "It is our best hope of trying to save her."

"What will the visiting arrangement be?" asked Mac. "Same as it is now?"

"Exactly the same," he replied. "We'll even let her stay in her room."

"Okay, thank you," said Mac. She turned to her former husband. "We should go talk to her."

The couple rejoined their daughter in the room which had become a second home for them, and explained to her that she would be there for awhile longer. She cried, as most any child would at being given this news, but she didn't cry long. She knew her parents would be there, making sure she was as happy as she could be given the circumstances. For a child her age, she was remarkably sharp, and she knew that even if they no longer loved each other the way they once did, their love for her hadn't changed.

That night, it was nearing midnight when Mac came home exhausted. Mic had waited up for her to get the daily report.

"Hey love," he said. "When is the kiddo coming home?"

"I don't know," she said softly and flopped on the sofa.

He looked puzzled. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"They have to keep her, until she finishes her treatments and gets stronger," Mac replied.

"Well how long will that be?" he sighed.

"Probably another two or three months," Mac replied.

"What?" he exclaimed and rose from the easy chair in disbelief. "You mean I have to put up with two or three more months of this, of you coming home exhausted night after night? We're having a baby in 2 months, Sarah, or had you forgotten about that?"

"Mic, I don't like it either, but she's my baby girl. I have to be with her, she'll be scared all alone," Mac replied. "I just sit anyway."

"You shouldn't be there, Sarah!" he pressed. "Look at you, you're wiped out tired, your back aches, you never have time for yourself now as it is, and when our baby comes, well hell I bet the kid will be lucky to even see you!" His face was turning red, his temper beginning to flare.

"The baby will see me," Mac countered. "By then Lucy could be recovered."

"Or she could be sicker, you don't know!" he said.

"Let me tell you what I do know," Mac replied sharply. "I know that I am not leaving my baby alone, sick and scared any more than I all ready have to, so this discussion is useless Mic!"

"Useless is it?" he asked. "It figures, that's what we are to each other anymore, useless and it's all because you can't focus on anything but her!"

"And you focus on everything but," Mac retorted. "You have never even been to see for more than five minutes and that was only because I had taken DJ with me."

"I'm too busy keeping our household functioning to waste time at the hospital!" he spat.

"Waste time!" Mac argued. "Seeing your stepdaughter is wasting time?"

He began to speak, but stopped instead. With a long sigh, he approached her. "I'm sorry, love. I'm being a real ass, and that's not what you need. I'm just worried about you and about our baby, that's all."

"I'm worried about the baby too," Mac replied.

He placed his hand on her belly. "You need to relax and slow down, for both your sakes, okay?"

"I can't Mic," Mac replied. "For both our sakes I need Lucy to get well."

"You can't sacrifice one child for another, Sarah" he said, his tone getting a slight edge to it once again. "You can't sacrifice yourself, either. I won't let you."

"I am her mother," Mac sighed choosing to ignore his last statement. "I have to be there for her. She needs me there. I've told you."

"She has a father," said Mic. "Let him handle her. You can't keep this up, Sarah; you just can't!

"I can," Mac shot back. "I can and I will. Yes Harm is her father, her Daddy even, but it's Mommy she wants."

"What about what I want?" he asked, voice and temper both rising.

"I cannot believe you just asked me that," Mac gasped. "This is not about what any of us want. This is about what Lucy needs."

"Lucy! Lucy, that's all I ever hear anymore!" Mic hissed.

"The child is a very sick little girl," Mac told him. "That is what we have to focus on; getting her well again and I need you to support me in this Mic."

"I do support you," he said. "I also support you not spending every waking moment at that hospital while DJ and I go on about life without you! That's not how it should be!"

"I see DJ every day. AJ brings him to the hospital to see Lucy. You could do that," Mac argued. "Why don't you?"

He crossed his arms and turned his back to her.

Mac reached out and grabbed his arm, "Answer me!" she ordered.

"Because I don't want to!" he thundered. "I don't want to take that little guy to see his dying sister-"

"What did you just say?" Mac asked her raised voice falling to a hushed whisper.

"She's dying, Sarah," he said. "Face it, all right? It's only a matter of time."

"Don't say that," she declared. "Don't you dare say that!"

"I'll say anything I damn well please!" he shouted.

"She's not dying Mic, how dare you even think that?!" she spat.

He threw his hands in the air and headed for the hallway. "I'm done with this conversation, I'm done!"

"That's right," Mac replied "You are. You have ten minutes to pack."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me," Mac replied. "If you cannot support me and Lucy in this fight, if you can't be a part of this family, then you are not welcome in it any longer. Get out."

"You can't throw me out!" he said. "I'm not leaving you, I'm not!"

"This is my house and I want you out of it," Mac told him. "You can go willingly or..."

"You know what?" he hissed. "I am leaving, and I'll be a better man for it. This was a mistake, all of it, right from the start, but you best believe I'll be a part of my baby's life!"

"We'll see," Mac replied. "After the parenting skills you've exhibited you'll be lucky if I'll let see it when its 21!"

Without another word, he grabbed his keys and his jacket, walked out the front door, and slammed it behind himself.

He glared at her, his eyes dark and cold. "Don't make this messy, Sarah."

"Messy is how I like it," she replied. "Your time is up."

Without another word, he grabbed his keys and his jacket, walked out the front door, and slammed it behind him.

She handled the breakup with Mic as solid as anyone could expect an ex-Marine to handle anything. It hurt, hurt badly in fact, but it had to happen. He wasn't what she needed...who she needed. She expected him to cause trouble over the baby, but she couldn't worry about that just yet. She sank onto the sofa and sighed... she had a critically sick child, a new baby coming soon, and a son lost in the shuffle of it all. She felt alone...Very alone. She wasn't though, and deep down, she knew it.

With a hurried brush-off of a rebellious teardrop, she rose from the sofa and headed for bed. Morning would come early, and another day of loving her daughter through the pain would soon be upon her.