Disclaimers apply.

Chapter 78

"No...no..." Harm shook his head, his eyes wide and fixed on Dr. Bradley. He looked down at the floor and felt the tears coming over him. Determined to hold it together until he could be alone, he swallowed hard, put up his guard, and looked back up at the doctor. "I'm...I know you tried..."

"The surgery required to repair her uterus would be too much for her, it was either lose it or lose her. I had to make a split second choice," the doctor swallowed. "I hope you understand."

"You had to...wait a second," said Harm, turning in his chair to face the doctor head on. "What you're saying is you couldn't save her uterus?"

"I'm saying the damage was too severe. I had to perform a hysterectomy. I know Sarah was dead set against it, but it was the only choice," he replied. "Still I'm truly sorry."

"So she alive!" exclaimed Harm. "She didn't bleed to death?"

"She is alive, for how much longer...that's out of my hands," Dr. Bradley replied. "She'd lost more than two liters of blood before I got to her, more in the OR. Her body can't perform the basic life functions as of now, but she's fighting. She's fighting very hard."

"She's always been a fighter," said Harm softly. "I did the best I could last night, you know? Maybe if I'd-"

"No, no, no," the doctor interjected. "Nothing you did or could have done would have changed this. I warned them...I told Sarah and Commander Brumby what would more than likely happened given her endometriosis was never fully cleared up but...well you see," he sighed. "She's in recovery right now; she'll be in the ICU in an hour or so. You can see her then for a few minutes."

"I definitely need to see her," said Harm. "One thing, and I'm not sure if you can tell me anything about it or not, but...she said last night that the baby is mine. Do you know anything about that? I know she and Brumby were coming to you for infertility treatments, so if you can tell me anything...?"

"All I can say is they were on a break...they weren't...Sarah did not go through with the last AI appointment she schedule before going away. There is no way the child is Commander Brumby's. Not with her out of town nearly six weeks," Dr. Bradley replied. "That's all I can say."

Harm sat in dumbfounded silence for a moment. "So...Are you saying she wasn't pregnant when she left town, and she was when you saw her upon her return?"

He nodded, "That's about it."

Harm couldn't help but smile. This pretty much confirmed what Mac had already sworn to be true: Matthew was Harm's son. He looked at Dr. Bradley. "Well, I guess you already know what that means then, huh?"

The doctor smiled warmly, "I do. Again, I am so sorry I couldn't do more."

"It's okay," said Harm, feeling a myriad of emotions all at once. "We got our miracle baby, and Sarah's alive. I can't really ask for more."

The doctor rose from his seat then, "I've seen him. He's healthy and beautiful. I think I only remember one more so."

"Who was that?" asked Harm, trying to imagine any baby more beautiful that his new little son.

Dr Bradley looked through the door where Lucy lay sleeping. "Your daughter. She had her mother's delicacy from birth. How is she?"

Harm looked into the child's room. "She's hanging in there, but she has good and bad days. She asked where her mom was earlier; I know it'll be hard for Lucy not to see her everyday."

"Maybe in a day or so you can bring Sarah up to see her. Sarah said the cancer spread?"

the doctor inquired.

He nodded and looked down at the floor. "Some, but they're confident they've got it under control. She's a fighter, just like her mom."

Dr. Bradley smiled, "How are they treating her pain. Spinal cath?"

"Nope," answered Harm. "We said no, too much risk of infection. They've got her on a PCA."

"Required someone in attendance round the clock. Admirable still..." The doctor said just as the nurse that had taken Matthew from Harm appeared. "Dr. Bradley, there appears to be a disturbance in the nursery. We need you and Captain Rabb."

The two men looked at one another and immediately followed the nurse to the elevator. "What kind of disturbance?" Harm asked her.

"It involves your...Baby Matthew. There's a man there claiming to be his father, but he's admitted as a Rabb."

"Oh, great," said Harm. "Just what I don't need right now."

"I'm sure you knew this would happen eventually, Harm," the doctor said. "Should I leave it to you?"

"If you don't mind," answered Harm. "I'll be more than happy to take care of it. He's got no right to be here, and I'll make sure he knows it."

"I have to go check up on Sarah. It should only be another half hour now," he told him. "I'll have someone come for you."

"Thank you, doctor," said Harm, extending his hand for a quick handshake before turning to follow the nurse to the nursery. From down the hall, he could hear an unmistakable voice yelling "Let me see him! He's my son and you can't keep him from me!" Harm took a deep breath and stepped up the pace considerably. "Brumby!" he called as soon as the man was in sight. "Take it down a notch, this is a hospital!"

"I'm aware of that," he replied. "And I demand to know why my son has your name?"

"Do you really want to talk about this right here, in front of everyone?" asked Harm. "Let's go find someplace better so we don't disturb these folks any more than you already have."

Mic nodded and followed Harm to a more private area. "Why does he have your name on him? And where's Sarah?"

"For your information," began Harm. "They always admit newborns under their mother's last name because it makes record keeping easier, and since his mother's last name is Rabb, that's why he's listed that way. As for where she is, she's in surgical recovery." He knew neither of these answers would pacify Mic, but he wasn't going to make things easy for the man who'd all but stolen his family and then abandoned them when things got too difficult with Lucy.

"Surgical recovery? She had him by C-Section?" Mic asked accepting for now Harm's answer about the name.

"No," said Harm. "She didn't, but she should have."

"Then why?" he asked growing worried.

"Because," began Harm with a sigh. "There were some complications, some big complications, and... She had him last night while we were trapped in a rest room in the parking garage across the street. It was the hardest labor she's ever had, and she lost way too much blood. Her doctor had to do a hysterectomy to keep her from bleeding to death."

"Is the baby okay?" Mic asked, clear what he cared about.

"Baby's fine," said Harm. "I wasn't too worried about him once we got him out, but her... She almost died, and by the way...how did you even know we were here?"

"I've been calling Sarah every morning to see how she was. When she didn't answer I knew she would be here. I only hoped she'd had the baby and not pulled an all nighter with Lucy," Mic said this with a flat tone, but Harm read disdain, not for Mac but for Lucy.

"So what if she had been with Lucy all night?" asked Harm, feeling extremely defensive of his little girl. "Sarah kicked your ass to the curb; you're not a part of her personal life anymore, and what her family does or doesn't do no longer has anything to do with you!"

"She was pregnant with my son. He is a defenseless baby he has to come first," Mic shot back. "Lucy is seven years old she can do for herself some. You have her so babied..."

"One more comment like that out of you," glared Harm. "And you'll be thankful we're already in a hospital, because I'll pound you right into the ground. And for the record, she wasn't pregnant with your son!"

"Oh I beg to differ there, Harm," Mic replied. "I was right about her too, she is a little hellcat."

The next thing Mic knew, he was lying flat on his ass, a good five feet from where he'd been standing, looking up at Harm, who's fist was still clenched. "Care to try that again, Brumby?" asked Harm, his voice conveying his disgust.

Mic was up on his feet in a minute launching himself at Harm, slugging the taller man with a hard right cross. "She's mine now, Rabb. Whether she knows it or not."

"Like hell she is!" spat Harm. "She's mine, and so is the baby!"

"You lying son of a bi..." Mic began but before another blow could be exchanged they heard a strong. "Attention on Deck!"

The men immediately snapped to attention, recognizing the sound of their former CO's voice.

"Someone explain to me right now why two senior officers are acting like high school football rivals," the Admiral demanded. "Captain?"

"Commander Brumby was causing a disturbance," said Harm. "I was merely dealing with it, Sir."

"Commander? Is this true?" AJ asked.

"I don't believe so, Sir," said Mic. "I was merely asking the nurses to allow me to see my son, which they refused to do."

"I see," AJ sighed. "Commander, have you spoken to Mac about this?"

"I haven't had the opportunity, Sir" answered Mic. "The Captain here informed me that Sarah is in surgical recovery because of the complicated delivery."

AJ looked stricken. "Bad?" he asked Harm not knowing why, but assuming Harm had somehow been involved as neither he nor Mac made their good night call to DJ.

"Very bad, Sir," replied Harm, still completely caught up in using military protocol in speaking to AJ this time. "She delivered on the floor in a rest room across the street, I did the best I could but she lost too much blood and she nearly died before we got here."

"And now?" asked the worried Admiral.

"She's out of the OR," said Harm. "Her doctor had to do a hysterectomy in order to try and save her life, but the next 24 hours will tell a lot." He stared straight ahead, feeling the emotion well up inside at the thought of possibly still losing Mac.

AJ nodded, "All right. Consider these orders. Commander Brumby, until such time as Mac is well enough to share your son with you, either return home or wait her in silence. Captain, return to your daughter or wait for Mac in silence. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir," answered both men. "But Sir..." began Harm.

"Yes, Captain," AJ sighed.

"With regard to the Commander's involvement in this situation," said Harm. "Aside from the difficulty he's caused this morning, he has none. There's no need for him to remain here."

"Captain, Mac has given birth to his child..." AJ began.

"With all due respect, Admiral," said Harm. "You're mistaken about that, as is the Commander. The child is mine."

"Captain I realize..." Before AJ could finish the nurse that was tending Matthew stepped over to them. "Captain, he's hungry again."

"Admiral, permission to go take care of this?" asked Harm.

"Granted," AJ replied. "As long as I get to see him."

"Of course," said Harm with a smile as he began walking towards the nursery as AJ followed.

"I want to see him, too," said Mic firmly, also following Harm towards where the nurse stood waiting for him, with little Matthew in her arms.

"Come here, big guy," said Harm as he took the boy from the nurse. "Time to eat again, huh?" The nurse held out a 2 ounce bottle of ready-to-use formula, just like the one Harm had fed the baby earlier. "I put the nipple on it for you," she said, handing it to Harm along with a burp cloth.

"Oh, thank you," he said, taking it from her and looking down at the baby. "Where should I do this?"

"You can come in here and use a rocking chair if you'd like," she answered. "I'll have to ask your friends to wait out here, though."

Harm looked at AJ. "Would you mind?"

"Go on," answered the retired Admiral. "I'll be right here when you get finished."

"As will I," said Mic, arms crossed in frustration.

Harm chose to ignore him and follow the nurse into the nursery to give Matthew his bottle. He got settled into a plush glider rocker and held the baby close as he offered the bottle. "This is all new to me, sweet boy," he said softly. "I didn't get to feed your sister or your brother until they were a few months older than you are right now. Yeah, your mommy is gonna be sad about this, I know she is. She hardly even got to hold you when you were born, and now she's missing out on feeding you. Maybe she'll be well enough in a few days, we'll have to see." The infant listened to his father's voice as he sucked on his bottle, bright blue eyes opening and closing every few moments.

"Those eyes," sighed Harm. "I dare ol' Mr. Brumby out there to take one look at them and tell me you're not mine." He leaned down a placed a kiss on Matthew's little forehead.

Once the baby was fed, burped and changed, Harm got the nurses permission to carry him out into the hallway for AJ and Mic to see. As soon as he stepped out the door, Mic was in his face. "Let me see him," he demanded.

"Stand back," said Harm, shielding the baby within his arms.

Mic reluctantly took a step back, and Harm resituated the baby so that his face was more visible. He didn't say anything, he just held Matthew in silence, waiting for Mic to make the first comment.

"What makes you think he's yours?" asked the headstrong Australian. "You and Sarah have been divorced for ages and she and I had been trying for months before she finally got pregnant. I don't know how you think he could possibly be yours!"

"He is," said Harm plainly. "Look at his eyes."

"I'd be glad to," interceded AJ, stepping in next to Mic and looking carefully at the eyes of the newborn. After a moment, AJ smiled and looked at Mic. "Take a look; see what you think" he said.

Skeptically, Mic stepped a little closer and looked into Matthew's eyes for himself. After a few seconds, hr glared at Harm. "How the hell did this happen?" he spat. "You two have been divorced for…oh hell, forever, and she and I were trying - how did this happen?"

"When she came to Utah," answered Harm softly, reveling in the knowledge that he was making Mic squirm.

"So she went to Utah," said Mic, waving his hands in the air for emphasis. "That doesn't mean a damn thing! We were doing fertility treatments for months before she left!"

"Dr. Bradley said she wasn't pregnant before she left," said Harm simply, shifting Matthew in his arms a little. "But apparently she was when she came back. You figure it out, Brumby."

Mic shook his head, nostrils flaring as he took it all in. "You sick bastard…"

"Enough!" said AJ. "Clearly you two and Mac have some things to discuss, and since she's in no shape to do that right now, they'll have to wait. I strongly suggest you two steer clear of one another until such time as you can carry out that discussion in a civil manner! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," answered Harm with a hint of a smile.

"Yes, sir," echoed Brumby, a smile nowhere to be found.

"Excellent," said AJ. "Now, Captain, why don't you go back into the nursery and spend a few minutes with your son there, and I'll show the Commander to the elevator."

"Sir," said Mic angrily. "How can you call the baby 'his son' when all we've got to go by is his notion that-"

"Commander," said AJ, his patience wearing thin. "Did you look at that baby's eyes? It's not enough to stand up in court, but it sure as hell clinches it as far as I'm concerned. I've seen exactly two other babies with eyes that blue at birth - Lucy and DJ Rabb, and if Mac says this baby is Harm's, chances are she knows what she's talking about."

Mic looked back at Harm. "This isn't over yet, Rabb!"

"Yeah," said Harm. "It is. Face it, Brumby, you lost her. Actually, you never had her."

Too angry to rebut, Mic stormed around the corner to the elevator, AJ following behind to insure he made it on.