Monday morning

Mac's morning wasn't starting off anything like she had hoped it would, when she woke up, she had to make a mad dash into the bathroom, where she proceeded to empty her stomach, Harm had heard her and appeared at her side, rubbing her back and placing a cool washcloth on her neck.

He sat down next to her, just letting her set the pace, he would be there for her in whatever way she needed him to be. Feeling worn out already, she fell against his chest, he lovely rubbed her abdomen, and nuzzled her neck."Now Now baby Rabb, be nice to your mommy, she's going to be the best mommy in the world to you, so you need to be a good baby for her."

Mac closed her eyes listening to his sweet words. They warmed her heart, deep down she didn't want to have to go into JAG and leave him. All she wanted was to go back to their nice warm bed, and curl up in his arms, and let him hold her.

Picking up her sudden change in mood, he nuzzled her neck, she let out a slow moan."This fills wonderful, I don't want to leave."

"I know baby, I wish you could stay here. You think the Admiral would be upset if you call out today?"

"Yes, considering I have to meet with him about my doctor's appointment I had on Friday."

"Are you still worried that he's going to ask about the conception date?"

"It's in the back of my mind, and not something I'm looking forward to."

"Why don't I go with you, this way I can turn in my paperwork."

"I thought you are off for another 2 weeks?"

"I am; still my being there might make it easier on you."

"Or it might make it harder."

"You might be right; I'd never thought about that. It's your call baby."

Mac thought about it for a few minutes, "I think for now, I'll speak with him alone, if he's going to throw the book at one of us, might as well be me, after all, I'm the one that jumped you on the Henry."

"I'm not about to let you take all the blame for this, I'm just as much at fault as you are. It does take two, to make a baby."

Mac sighed, "Harm I love you, and I know your first instinct is to protect those you love..."

He silenced her with his fingers, "I will protect you and our little peanut."

"PEANUT?"

"I decided to call the baby that for now."

"Oh! I like that." Mac smiled as she casually rubbed her abdomen. She turned and started towards the door. "Sarah call me if you need me."

"I will, I love you."

"I love you too." Harm watched her leave the apartment. He thought he should be going with her, but he also trusted her to know what's best. Still, something just felt wrong."

49 minutes later

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church Va

"Shit" Mac said as she raced up the front steps into the lobby, damn traffic on the beltway, plus the drive from Harms place is longer than it is from her place, add all this on and now she was going to be late. She reached the elevator just as the doors were about to close. "Hold the elevator please!"

"Sure thing Col!"

Mac signed, when she heard the familiar Australian accent, thinking to herself "I can't catch a break" She allowed a small simile, "Thank you Cmder"

"My pleasure, So how was your weekend?"

"What?" Mac was trying to avoid talking to him.

"Your weekend? How was it?"

"Fine, thank you for asking."

"Mine was lovely as well, would have been better if I'd had company."

"Oh?"

Before Mic could continue, the doors opened and Mac darted out, making a beeline toward her office. Mic stood there kinda shocked as he watched her retreat.

Once inside her office; she quickly stored away her belongings, and picked up her phone, calling Tiner and asking if she might be able to speak with Admiral Chegwidden. He informed her that he was free at the moment. Mac hung up and headed out of the office making her way across the bullpen and straight to Tiners office.

"Ma'am you can go on in, he's expecting you."

"Thank you, Tiner." Mac braced herself as she opened the door walking inside, upon reaching his desk, she noticed that he had looked up.

"Col; have a seat."

"Thank you, Sir."

"I assume that you're here as a follow-up to our meeting on Friday? Or am I wrong?"

She started fidgeting with her skirt, "You're correct Sir"

"I see," He said as he lowers his glasses, "Col;?"

"Sir; My doctor informed me that I'm pregnant."

The Admiral lend back in his chair, "I guess I don't need to ask about the father"

"No Sir, will this create a problem, once LtCmder Rabb starts back?"

"Col; that's a touchy subject, he's up for a promotion. Captain Ingals put him in before he transferred back."

"Sir; does he know about this?"

"No; he's not aware, I expect to hear if he gets it later today."

"I see Sir."

"Col, is there something else on your mind?"

"I'm not sure Sir, may I speak freely?"

"Col, is there a reason you feel you need to?"

Mac thought about this, part of herself wanted to be as straightforward with her CO as she could be, simply because she didn't want to be charged with conduct unbecoming, but in the back of her mind she knew she'd done nothing wrong, well not really. When they got married they were both of equal rank and not in the same chain of command, same for when she became pregnant, except for the little fact that she's a grade higher than her husband.

"I basically just want to make sure, that this will not affect Harm's transfer back here."

"It shouldn't; at least not from where I'm sitting, you got married while he was out of my command, pregnancy happen while he was out of my command. Everything is legal from what I can tell. His report date is still 2 weeks away, so that should give the promotion time to take effect."

Mac let out a breath she never realized she was holding, "That's good news, Sir." She started to rise.

"Col; before you leave, did your Doctor inform you about your due date? Or any other restrictions?"

"No Sir; all she did was confirm my pregnancy, I will need to make an appointment with my OBGYN."

"Very good Col, congratulations by the way."

"Thank you, sir." Mac stood and left out, thinking to herself, 'that went better than she'd hoped for

Making her way back to her office, she was stopped suddenly by Cmder Brumby once again, "Mac I'm glad I caught you, are ya up for lunch today? My treat!"

"I'll have to get back with you."

"Are ya sure about that, I know this great little Italian place not too far from here, we could have a quiet lunch..." Before Mic could finish, Mac's phone started to ringing. She held her hand up.

"LtCol MacKenzie"

( "Hey beautiful; how'd it go?")

"Give me a minute." Mac placed her hand over the receiver. "I'll get back to you later Mic, I need to take this call in private please."

"Okay." He said as turned to walk out.

"Close the door behind you." Making sure he was gone and away from the door, Mac removed her hand. "Better than I thought it would."

("That's fantastic baby... What did Brumby want?")

"Same as usual; to take me out to lunch."

("Has he done this before?")

"Almost every day, since I got back from Pensacola."

("Sarah!!!! This isn't good, is he making you feel uncomfortable?")

"It's nothing I can't handle, I've been deflecting him for a while now."

(" Why am I just now hearing about this?")

"Well, I didn't want to spend what little phone time we discussing Mic Brumby."

("Sarah...")

"Don't Sarah me Rabb." She was about to hang up on him...

("I'm sorry, you're right. I love and trust you. It's him that I don't like or trust.")

"Well I guess I'll forgive you, after all great husbands are hard to find...See ya at home Flyboy..."

Mac hung up, and slumped down in her chair, as much as she loves her husband, she knew this was going to long pregnancy.

Author's Note,

Over next chapters are going to be dealing with Mac's pregnancy, so I'm going to be moving the story along pretty fast. I hope you guys enjoy the ride...

Angela