15
"This sucks!" Mattie grumbled as she gave her glass of milk a disgusted look.
"What does, kiddo?" Catherine asked smiling.
"Getting up too damn' early, and then having to wait to use the bathroom, and now no coffee!"
"Mattie, it's not too early. Catherine and I both have to leave by oh six thirty, and it's oh six twenty already! Yes, the bathroom is a problem, but it's only for a couple of weeks or so until we can move, so just like Catherine and me, you're going to have to grin and bear it!"
Mattie sighed despondently, "Yeah, OK, I get it… well, some of it, anyway. I mean, I know this is your first day back in the Navy, and all, and, hey, I gotta admit, you look pretty damn good in that sailor suit but…"
"Language!" Catherine and Harm chorused.
Mattie had the grace to blush, "Uh… yeah… sorry guys, but like I was saying, I get it why Catherine has to get up early to make it to the pool for her swim time, but I don't get now that Harm's back at work, he still has to go with you!"
"It's because I promised I would go with her every day she went," Harm said quietly.
"Well, yeah, but you weren't in the Navy then, and I used to cut you some slack if you were a bit late, but it's going to be difficult for you now, isn't it?"
"OK, I go because I promised I would. And the boss I had at the time, didn't cut me all that much slack," Harm grinned at her, and then looked up at the ceiling and said reminiscently, "In fact, I can remember a couple of times when I was little bit adrift that she was downright intense about it!"
Mattie glared at him for that, but decided she wouldn't force that particular issue, "OK, you say you promised, but Catherine, couldn't you have given him a get out of jail card?"
"Oh I did! But he... uh… turned it down…" Catherine smiled at Harm and slid her hand across the table to him.
Harm returned her smile, and gently covered her hand with his as she turned it palm upwards so that their fingers could interlace.
Mattie took one horrified look at their expressions and then dropped her gaze to their joined hands, raised her eyes to heaven and said plaintively, "Please, guys… enough! Don't do that, breakfast time is way too early!"
Catherine smiled, "Get used to it, kiddo! 'Cause it's gonna keep right on happening!"
"Yeah, a lot!" Harm agreed, and then swallowed the last mouthful of his tea. Then he stared thoughtfully at Mattie for a few seconds, "What sort of plans have you got for the day?"
Mattie shrugged carelessly, "Hadn't really thought about it," she admitted, "it's kinda weird not having to go in to the hangar, you know?" she cocked her head at him in a silent plea for understanding. "I might take a walk around the neighbourhood, get a feel for the place… And maybe, I could snoop along your bookshelf, Catherine?"
"Of course!"
Harm nodded, in some ways the whole timing thing for this past weekend sucked, but they'd have to make the best of it, and work out some sort of plan. Last night had been taken up with making Mattie welcome and getting her settled in. Harm suddenly had the uneasy feeling that as far as problems on that front went, he hadn't seen anything yet.
Harm nodded, "OK, you can go out and do a bit of exploring, but don't go too far, and watch yourself; there are some pretty strange folk out there in the city. So, don't talk to anyone, and if you feel threatened in any way, just find a store with a female behind the counter or at the till." Harm paused for breath and then pulled his wallet out of his inside breast pocket, and peeled off a couple of bills. "There's ten dollars, use it to buy yourself some lunch. There are a couple of places you can get a simple lunch just down the street a way. Tonight, we'll figure out something better for the future." He smiled reassuringly, "OK?"
"Sure," Mattie gave them both a huge, sunny smile, "Hey, I'm a big girl, I'll be fine!"
Catherine dug out her key ring, and nodded in satisfaction, as she unsnapped two keys. "OK, keys for the door to the lobby and to the apartment, don't lose them, OK?"
"Relax, Catherine, I've been looking after keys for a long time!"
"I'm sure you have, kiddo! But just don't lose them…" then another thought struck. "Oh… and I'm not expecting any deliveries today, so don't let anyone in… and in fact don't open the door without using the spy-hole, and if anyone says they're from the gas, TV or telephone companies, make sure they have an ID!
"Yes, ma'am!" Mattie replied with a carefree grin, "I got all that! Now, somebody was saying that they were going to be late?"
"They did," Harm agreed, "Have a fun day… if you can," he added wryly, "and I'll be back around seventeen thirty to take you up to Pimmet Hills." And as he saw Mattie's look of incomprehension, he smiled "We're going to visit with Catherine's Mom for a while this evening."
"Oh, wow! Cool! Catherine, your mom's the greatest!"
With a chorus of goodbyes Harm and Catherine left the teenager on her own, looking ruefully at the breakfast wreckage on the table. "And I guess I get stuck with the kitchen chores!" she half grumbled. It was however, a small price to pay, she conceded. Even in the less than twenty four hours she'd been here she'd slept better, been warmer, better fed and more relaxed than she had been for months. It was just a pain in the ass that Harm and Catherine were both such worry worts!
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
Harm walked Catherine to where their cars were parked in the Yorktown Swim Club parking lot, his hand at the small of her back and his head close enough to hers to smell the faintly floral shampoo she was using now, her stomach would no longer allow her to use the heavier vanilla scented shampoo she had used for years. Not that Harm was complaining, he liked the way she smelled, fresh from the shower after her morning swim, and he liked the way she felt against his arm when he slipped it around her waist as an aid to turn her towards him. They had slipped into the habit of using these few minutes each morning to recap on, or if necessary change, their day's plans.
"So… I'll leave work at seventeen hundred, and go straight back to your place to collect Mattie, and bring her direct to the Kresge," Harm repeated.
"Right. Don't forget to try and make time and contact some moving companies. Time's running out. We've got two places to pack up, don't forget and we'll need boxes at both our addresses!"
"Yes, ma'am! And how many boxes should we get, do you reckon?"
"Good question counselor!" Catherine thought for a few seconds, "We're talking books, clothes, kitchen stuff and other small stuff, right? So… say twenty boxes at each address, and if we run out, then we can always get more. And if you don't have time to call the movers today, then let me know and I'll do it!"
"Catherine, if I've got time to call you, then I've got time to call the movers!" Harm expostulated.
"Not necessarily so, sailor! You'd have to explain everything to the movers; with me all you to say is that I need to call them…"
"Yeah, but…"
"But today isn't my first day in a new job! But it is yours, so get going, sailor, before you're late!" Taking hold of his forearms in a now familiar move, she raised herself on her toes and lifted her face to his for a swift, soft kiss. "Now, git a-going!" she commanded with a smile.
"Yes, ma'am," Harm replied in an exaggerated drawl, "I'm a-fixing to do just that!" But despite his words, he stood by the door of her car until she'd settled herself in and buckled her seat belt, grimacing against its constriction, before she threw him another smile and pulled the door shut. Harm stood back and waited for Catherine to move off towards the parking lot entrance before he hurried to the Lexus, and in his turn, headed in the opposite direction towards his new duty station.
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
Harm looked up from the stack of forms on his desk, it felt like he'd written his life story three times over this morning as he'd worked through the incredible amount of paperwork that his 'in-processing' for his new billet seemed to require, and there had been only two interruptions when Tracy Manetti's - and he supposed shortly his - Yeoman, Barker, had brought him a cup of coffee, which to his surprise was far better that he'd thought it would have been - although he acknowledged that the coffee-drought on the home front might have sharpened his taste buds - so the sharp double tap on his office doorjamb held the promise of a welcome break.
"Enter!" he called out, and then his face split in a smile as Tracy Manetti stuck her head around the edge of the door.
"Well, that surely is a nice smile, is it just for me, or just because you get a break from pen-pushing?" she teased in her soft Virginia accent.
"Oh… always for you, Tracy," he grinned, "What can I do for you?"
"Oh… it's more what I can do for you…" she smiled, although the teasing note was still in her voice. For an instant Harm's mind flashed back to a hotel room in Naples and an image of Tracy Manetti, fresh out of his shower, her wet hair hanging way down her back, and dressed only in a towel.
Harm's mouth suddenly went dry, and he felt a flash of anger at himself, but swallowing hard, he found his voice at last, "Oh…" he leaned back against his chair and, "do tell?" he invited her.
"It's twelve twenty hours, Harm, have you given up on doing lunch?"
Harm glanced at his watch for confirmation of the time, surprised that not only had he lost track, but also that the morning had sped past so quickly when filling out the forms had seemed so irksome. Cracking a rueful grin, "I'll be right with you!" he promised as he shuffled the papers on his desk into a stack and carefully locked them in his desk drawer, before retrieving his cover from the coat hook on the back of the door. Joining Tracy, who had been watching his antics with an indulgent half-smile, in the hall, he smiled and said, "Madam, will we walk?"
"We will indeed," she replied cheerfully, "and thankfully it's not too far to go for our cafeteria."
"Our cafeteria?" he responded with a quizzical look at Tracy.
"Oh, yes. I won't go so far as to say that we are only allowed to use the one cafeteria, but there are dozens of them in this complex, and this one is the most convenient! The food isn't great, but then again, what cafeteria food is!"
"Alas, too true!" he laughed.
Once safely seated with their lunch in front of them Tracy looked across the table at Harm, a question evident in her expression. Harm put his fork down with a sigh, "Go on, whatever you're dying to ask, just get it over with!"
Tracy managed a half-smile and asked gently, "Harm, I'm a little worried about you. I know most of what's happened in your life for the last year or so. The navy, JAG in particular, have treated you pretty badly, and I just want to know are you really happy to be back, or is this just a way to get in your twenty and out?"
Harm breathed a silent sigh of relief, for a few moments he had been afraid that Tracy was going to question him about his relationship with Catherine and what had happened between him and Mac and "Why so concerned, Tracy?"
Tracy gave a little, half-embarrassed laugh, "Naples," she replied succinctly.
"Huh? I mean, I beg your pardon?"
Tracy's smile grew wider and more amused "Your hotel room. You were a perfect gentleman then, you didn't ogle – well not too much anyway. You did your best to put me back at ease, even though you felt the awkwardness of the situation, and as a nary a word has ever come back to me, I can only assume that you remained the gentleman and never breathed a word to another living soul. And guess that kind of endeared you to me."
Harm dabbed his lips with his napkin, took a drink of water and dabbed his lips again, "Tracy, I won't say that I have ever forgotten that day. The picture of you stood there will be one I shall long cherish!"
"Why, Commander Rabb! You surprise me sir!" Tracy protested with a blush, "It seems that you are not quite so gallant after all!"
"Yep," Harm continued dreamily, as if she had not interrupted, "The look on your face when I opened the door was absolutely priceless! Priceless!"
Tracy couldn't help herself, she broke into a gurgle of laughter, "Harm, that is too bad of you! Mind, now that I come to think of it, the look on your face was pretty memorable too!"
"I daresay it was," he agreed as he again took up his fork.
"But you still haven't answered my question, Harm, so stop stalling and deflecting. Are you happy to be back?"
Cornered and without a graceful way to wriggle free, Harm favoured Tracy with a glare to which she seemed impervious as she sat quietly, an expression of interest on her face. Once more he sighed, this time audibly, and said, "Almost ever since I can remember I wanted to be a naval aviator… that didn't work out too well…"
Tracy nodded, she knew of his early career.
"I had the chance then to take medical retirement, but I didn't. I got back to fitness levels, enough to convince the board that I could stay in. By that time I suppose the navy had become more important to me than the flying, so I guess that I had become more of a naval officer, not just an aviator. So I defined myself as that officer. I only gave up my commission under pressure. The values that the navy had instilled into me, loyalty, honour, comradeship, mutual support and even simple human decency and humanity no longer seemed to apply, so when orders conflicted with those core values, I gave up the then second most important thing in my life. I resigned. I was still an aviator, though, so I went on flying… for the wrong people perhaps, but it gave me time to regain some perspective, and as I regained that perspective I realized I was working for people who had even less regard for those core values than the navy had, I still defined myself by those values, so maybe I was underneath it all, still a navy officer. Now I'm lucky enough to be able to come back, and although this is my first day back in blue, I already feel as if I've come home. As for twenty and out… well, I'd like to stay on past that, but I doubt very much I'll be allowed to. I'll never see Captain, and eventually I'll be so far above zone that the navy will get rid of me. When that day comes I'll deal with it, in the meantime, I'll be settled and by the time that day rolls around Mattie will be an adult, and Catherine and I will have enough to devote ourselves to raising a family. So, all in all, yes, Tracy, I'm happy to be back."
Tracy placed her knife and fork on her empty plate, "Good, I'm glad that you're happy. And I'm glad too that you're back. I know I'm probably biased towards him, but Mister Sheffield isn't a bad man, Harm, he tries to do the right thing, but he is a politician, and so he needs, and JAG needs, hell, the navy needs somebody with those core values. Sheffield will generally try to do the right thing but you may have to nudge him back on to the right path when he begins to stray, and remember that he is not entirely a free agent either, and has to bow to the dictates of the party line."
Harm stared suspiciously across the table at her, wondering if she was playing some sort of angle, but she held his gaze openly and without any hint of subterfuge, and eventually he nodded and said, "OK, I think I hear a note of advice there, I'll bear it in mind!"
"Well, I am so relieved, that you concur, Commander!" she teased him, "but it's time we were heading back to our drudgery! Can you find the way, Harm?"
Of course I can, I'm a pilot… we're never lost!"
"Of course not," Tracy smiled.
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
"Not a word, now. Do you hear? Not a word!"
"Of course, not Commander. Besides, I've used all my breath on our wanderings through the Pentagon, I didn't know you were such an accomplished tour-guide," Tracy chuckled as she dived through the door of her own office, leaving a reluctantly grinning Harm and desperately straight-faced Legalman Two Barker in the outer office.
Harm cast a wry grin at Barker, "And that's quite enough from too, young lady!" he admonished her.
Barker's "Aye, aye, sir!" only just escaped being mangled by a giggle.
Giving as grunt that might have meant anything, a red-faced Harm hurried into his temporary office and sat behind his desk, his hand reaching for the 'phone.
"Legal department, Catherine Gale."
"Hi, Catherine, it's me…"
"Oh… let me guess, it's nearly two o'clock, and you've worked right through lunch and you haven't had time to call the movers?"
"Umm… not quite right, but, yeah, that's the bare bones of it…"
Harm could hear the sudden note of amusement in Catherine's voice, "OK, sailor, what happened?"
"Nothing happened, nothing at all!" he said defensively.
Catherine's gurgle of laughter was plain to hear as she replied, "Yeah…. Riiight," and then came a definite giggle, "OK sailor, I'll get on to it! But I will get the truth this evening, even if I have to sit on you while Mattie tickles you to death!"
"Yeah, good luck with that!" Harm grinned, Catherine's laugh was too infectious to withstand, "But you will call the movers, right?"
"Of course!"
"Thanks, spook!"
Harm shook his head as he hung up, and unlocking his desk drawer, he quickly re-read the last of the forms he had completed and hastily scrawling his signature across the bottom of each page, he re-stacked them and carried them out to Barker, "You know where these go?" he asked.
"Not me sir," she smiled up at him, "but I know a man that does!"
"Thanks, Legalman."
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
Once Mattie had washed up and put away the breakfast things – not 'policed' them nor 'squared them away' thank you very much, she told herself – she went back to bed for a couple of hours, but like she'd told Harm and Catherine, it felt odd not going in to work in the hangar – and after mooching somewhat disconsolately around the apartment for a while and looking in vain for something interesting to read on Catherine's bookshelf, she stuck her feet into her trainers and pulling on her padded jacket headed for the streets to take advantage of Harm's permission to explore the neighbourhood a little.
It didn't take too long for Mattie to wander down the tree-lined streets of old, row houses that eventually brought her out onto Wisconsin Avenue, where despite her usual confidence, the volume and noise of the traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian dissuaded her from crossing the street. After a minute or two of hesitation, Mattie turned right and walked down to the next major junction at M street. Looking both left and right, her eyes lit up. Alright! This is what the city was all about! Hustle and bustle, people going places with a definite purpose obvious in the way they walked and in their body language, and shops! And doubtless somewhere where she could buy a coffee! Apart from the ten dollars Harm had given her at breakfast, she had a few dollars of her own tucked into her jeans pocket, so she figured she'd be able to get a coffee now and still be able to afford a coffee and a sandwich for lunch. With that resolve fully formed Mattie turn to her left this time and waiting for the lights hurried across the cross-walk and then slowly strolled along the sidewalk, window shopping, amazed at not only the range of goods available but also, and with a sinking feeling, at the their prices, until her nose caught the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, stopping still Mattie slowly turned, scanning the surrounding shops, but without success. Frustrated, and letting that frustration overcome prudence, she approached a young woman pushing a stroller, "Excuse me, ma'am," Mattie half-smiled, "I've… I've woken up and smelled the coffee… but I can't see the coffee shop?"
The woman looked at her suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded to an arched opening between two shops on the other side of M Street, "There's a Starbucks just across and down the street a piece, right next door to Hagen-Das," she grudgingly allowed, nodding her head to indicate the direction she meant, and was rewarded by Mattie's sunshine smile, "Yes, ma'am, thank you!"
The young woman shrugged, slightly taken aback, it was a rare thing to be stopped and asked for directions, and even rarer to receive such a warm smile and a cheerful thank you in return. With a smile now on her face, the young mother exerted just a tad more pressure on the handle of her infant's stroller and pushed on up the street.
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
His in-processing paperwork completed, Harm had been advised by Tracy to hold himself ready for an interview with Secretary Sheffield, and in the meantime, until he'd been tasked, he might want to read himself in on the current crop of concerns that were occupying the SecNav's mind, bearing in mind that he, Harm, was still waiting for his revised and up-rated security classification.
A knock on his office door suggested that the SecNav had finally decided to call Harm in for his interview, so he was not surprised to see Legalman Two Barker appear in the doorway, her words however were as surprise, "Just to let you know, sir, that unless you have anything for me, I'm standing down for the day…"
Harm once again checked his watch, and much to his dismay and chagrin discovered that he had let the time run away with him twice in one day, and furthermore he was now impossibly late in picking up Mattie at Catherine's apartment. Hastily securing the file he had been reading in his desk drawer, he stood and asked Barker, "Is the SecNav still here?"
"No, sir. He left about fifteen minutes ago…"
"Fine… let me grab my cover, Legalman, and I'll walk you out!"
"Thank you, sir," Baker replied, fighting back a smile, and thinking that if his lunchtime experience had anything to do with it, then the handsome Commander's offer, was really a plea for her to guide him back through the labyrinth.
"So… how was your first day, sir?" Barker asked as they strode the hallways heading for their designated exit.
Harm smiled, the young woman was obviously just talking to alleviate any awkwardness between them, "It was pretty… slow… thank you, Legalman."
"I'm sure it will get more interesting PDQ, sir. I have Commander Manetti's itinerary for the rest of the week, and most of it is earmarked for your in-briefing, sir."
"Yes, I have it too. You get on well with Commander Manetti, don't you Barker?"
Barker delayed a couple of seconds before she answered, "I like to think so, sir."
Harm turned his head to look at her, "Are you planning to get on well with me? Or do you have other hopes or plans?"
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Barker asked, a frown just discernible on her face.
"Of course!" Harm replied, just a little astonished at the request, but then realizing that no matter how well he and Barker had gotten on so far, he was still just as much of an unknown quantity as she was to him.
"Well, sir, I have put in application to BUPERS for re-assignment… to JAG HQ at Falls Church. No offence meant sir, it's not that I don't think we couldn't work together, sir, it's just that apart from being used to Commander Manetti's ways, I'm halfway through my current shore duty rotation, and I am a Legalman, not a Yeoman, and I need to get back into a more legal-oriented billet, and keep my legal training in-date."
"A very good point, Barker. Thank you for that! So… you think that a billet here is detrimental to a Legalman's career?"
"No sir! It could help, a Pentagon billet looks damn good on your SRB, and to come away from that billet with a good fitrep is an added bonus. It would make any future CO sit up and take notice, sir, and there are a lot of Legalmen chasing very few promotions the higher up the ladder they get, sir!"
"Ok, OK, you've convinced me, no insult intended, and no offence taken. In fact, thank you for being so honest. H'mm, I wonder…"
"Wonder what, sir?"
"Oh? Oh, nothing… It's just that I have another Legalman in mind who might be willing to fill your billet… and as she's already at Falls Church… a straight exchange of billets between you might make the whole idea easier to sell to BUPERS. Remind me about this conversation tomorrow, if you please, Barker," Harm concluded as they approached the security desk.
"Aye, aye, sir! And thank you sir!"
Harm looked at the young woman, wondering what on earth she had to thank him for, but contented himself with a grin that made Barker go weak at the knees. 'Damn, it's so unfair,' she complained silently to herself, 'why, oh why, did he have to be an officer!'
xv-xv-xv-xv-xv
After fretting through the nearly fifteen minutes it took to clear the Pentagon's congested parking lot as the vast complex emptied at the end of the working day, Harm broke just about every traffic law in the book in his hurry to get back to Georgetown and drew up outside Catherine's apartment block with an audible application of the brakes.
Before he had a chance to even switch off the ignition the passenger door opened to reveal a red-nosed Mattie who gave him a flat stare and said, without any particular emphasis, "You're late."
"Oh, and hi to you too Squirt, and how was your day?" Harm replied with heavy irony as the teenager settled herself into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt.
"It was pretty good, until about half an hour ago," Mattie answered, giving him a sidelong look, "but that was before I near froze my as… uh… my butt off, waiting for a sailor. Is that how it's going to be for the rest of my life?"
Harm nearly choked over his reply as he ran just some of the implications of Mattie's question through his mind, "It had better not be!" he answered her in severe accents, as he re-engaged the gears, "I don't want you hanging around anywhere waiting for sailors!"
"Not even for you?" she shot back at him, "Although I shouldn't have been surprised you were late, after all, even when you were working for me, you kept me waiting!"
Harm relaxed slightly as the warmth of the car had a mellowing effect on a pretty thoroughly chilled Mattie's mood and took the sharp edge off her tongue. "I'm sorry, Mats, really, I am. But today has been pretty darn busy, and I hadn't realized that at endex the parking lots would get so grid-locked. It took me fifteen minutes just to get out of the parking lot. But I promise you, I won't make that mistake again!"
Mattie turned her head to look directly at him, a gleam of amusement just beginning to show in her eyes, "Yeah, OK. Because it's your first day, I'll let you off with a grumble!" and she waited for his response.
His response, when it came after a five second pause, was laden with sarcasm, "Aw, gee, Mattie, that's really big of you!"
"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Mattie said complacently, "I wonder if Catherine's going to be so understanding!"
"Ow! Mattie! That's playing dirty!" Harm protested, rather more than half-seriously.
"Hey, don't blame me!" Mattie defended herself and added with an air of innocent virtue, "After all, I was ready on time!"
Harm shot a look of despair at her, "You're not going to let this rest are you?" her asked.
"Of course I am!" Mattie giggled, "Eventually!"
Harm was a military man and knew when an orderly retreat was better than a defeat, so biting his lip, he turned his full attention to the road, doing his best to ignore the looks and the muffled giggling snorts emanating from his passenger.
Pulling in to the parking lot at the Kresge medical centre in Pimmett Hills, he found a parking spot just two cars down from Catherine's Malibu, and applying the parking brake he switched off the engine, and turned to Mattie, "Leaving aside the question of my tardiness, remember that Catherine's mom doesn't need to be over-excited, OK Mats?"
Mattie sobered almost instantly, "Yeah, I got it, Harm."
Harm smiled, "I knew you would Mats, but I just had to be sure you remembered."
Mattie nodded, "Yeah, I remember, so power down on the exuberance, right?"
"Right!"
Catherine was sat in a chair beside mother's bed when Harm and Mats walked into the room. Esther was alert and cheerful and looked much fitter than she had at Harm's last visit just before the weekend, and greeted their entrance with her mischievous smile and bright eyes, crying out, "Well, it's about time Commander! Mattie, couldn't you have gotten him here any earlier?"
Crossing to her bedside Harm bent and kissed her offered cheek, before turning to Catherine and gently kissing her, as Mattie perched on the far side of the bed and accepted a hug and a kiss from Esther.
"Well, I was ready on time ma'… uh… Esther… and," she added with an accusatory glare at Harm, "I had to wait outside in the cold for a good half an hour before he arrived!"
"Oh, I don't doubt you were ready on time, Mattie, but Harmon -that's just too bad of you, making her wait outside in the cold!" Esther scolded him, but with laughter still dancing in her eyes and voice.
"Oh, I'm used to him being late, Esther, he used to work for me remember?"
Harm swiftly interrupted, "OK, Esther, I'll admit it; I was late, but I must point out in my defence that there are mitigating circumstances! But," he continued as three female mouths opened to dispute him, "my apparent tardiness is not the subject we are to discuss… How are you Esther, you're looking exceptionally well, and in you seem to be in exceptionally high spirits too!
"Oh, it's like I was just telling Catherine, I was so tired last week… and I'm so sorry I couldn't stay awake for your visit… but anyway the doctor – Doctor Cameron, you haven't met her yet, she's new here – she was a little concerned, and had them take some more blood – look!" she pulled up the sleeve of her bed-jacket to reveal a mottled yellow and purple bruise at the crook of her elbow, "and they did some tests on it, and it turned out I was anaemic! So," she chuckled, "I've now got iron tablets to take daily! I swear," she continued merrily, "that if you were to pick me up and shake me, I'd rattle – but I do feel much more energetic and alert than I did even just a few days ago!"
"Oh, wow! That is so cool!" Mattie chirped giving Esther an extra hug.
"Yes, it is!" Harm agreed, "even if it does give you more energy to abuse a poor but honest sailor!"
Esther laughed outright at that, "So, how does it feel to be back in uniform Harm?" she asked him, a gentle smile still on her face but her eyes and voice openly conveying her concern.
Harm leaned forward and picked up her hand in both of his, raising it to his lips, where he planted a soft kiss on her knuckles, and then lowering her hand, but keeping hold of it, he looked her in the eyes, "It feels good, Esther, very good! I'll be honest with you, this has been a very a tough year, but there have been good things that have come out of it too, I met and got to know Catherine, I met you and even though I left the navy and got canned from the…" he gave a guilty glance at Catherine at his near slip of the tongue, "from the State Department, but if it hadn't had been for that then I would never have gotten to know Mattie, and that was a good thing. And what's more…" he continued heavily in a further attempt to stem interruptions, "If, and I say if, Catherine has got her dates right, there's every chance of one more good thing arriving before the year's end! And now I'm back in uniform, it feels like the wheel has turned full circle, and for the first time in a long time, I feel free to enjoy life again!"
Esther freed her hand from his loose grasp and reaching up she laid gentle fingers on his cheek, and said softly, "Oh, I am so very, very happy for you too, Harmon."
Harm looked into her sympathetic eyes, and for a fleeting moment was reminded of his Gramma Sarah, who was so very different in a lot of ways from Esther Gale, but shared with her a deep sense of compassion. Unable to convey those feelings, he merely took Esther's hand in his again, and once more pressing his lips to her knuckles, he contented himself with a simple "Thank you."
Mattie and Catherine had exchanged looks as they became aware of the heightened emotions that threatened to break loose, and with a shaky laugh, Catherine rebuked Harm and Esther, "Hey, enough of that mom, he's mine! If you want one, go and find your own sailor!"
"Catherine, as soon as I'm on my feet again, I might do just that, and if I catch one, well then you've only yourself to blame if I change my will in his favour!"
"I do know a couple of good guys that are still single…" Harm mused in a barely audible voice.
Catherine gave him a look of mock-absolute loathing before she answered her mother. "If you intend to cut me out of your will mom, then I'll give you fair warning! Don't come to me to have a new one drawn up!"
"But if I go to another attorney, I'll have to pay for a new will!"
"Yes, that's correct, mom, you will!"
"Unless," she said ruminatively, her eyes once again sparkling with mischief, "I could persuade a handsome young pilot turned lawyer to do it for me, how do they say it… pro-bono?"
"Oh, no, Esther… that is not going to happen!" an alarmed Harm retorted, "Esther, I love you to pieces, but if I'm going to live with Catherine, then I need at least some few moment of domestic harmony to make the cares of the day disappear! Can you imagine the hell I'd have to try and survive if I drafted the will?"
The three women exchanged looks of amusement and almost simultaneously accused him "Chicken!"
"Yep, that's me!" Harm cheerfully agreed, provoking a burst of laughter from Catherine, Mattie and Esther.
"I'm sorry to break up this party," the smiling petite brunette nurse interrupted from the doorway, "but visiting hours are over, and Mrs Gale needs her meds and then, I'm afraid we're going to have to settle her down for the night."
Catherine nodded and held out a hand for Harm to help her to her feet, "Mom, we're going to have to do as the nurse tells us, and we're beginning to pack ready for the move from tomorrow, so I don't know when we'll all be in to see you next…"
"But, one of us will sneak in for a half an hour or so each day," Harm intervened, "even if it's just to keep you up to date with how many boxes we've packed, and how many more we reckon we've got to do. Won't we?" he started meaningfully at Catherine.
Catherine eyes suddenly misted over at Harm's thoughtfulness towards her mother, and her hand dived into her purse in search of a Kleenex, and then blowing her nose, she said, "Of course, one of us, every day, and we'll even sneak Mattie in with us!"
Esther Gale hugged in each in turn as they kissed her goodbye and smiled happily as the trio left her room. Waiting for a few seconds until she judged they were out of earshot, she smiled even more as she turned to Nurse Halloran and said, "You know, I am a very lucky old woman!"
Bridget Halloran stopped measuring out Esther's medicine's, "No," she smilingly disagreed, "I think that they're a very lucky family to have you!"
Harm, Catherine and Mattie stopped by the parked cars, "Take Mats home with you, please Catherine. I'll call ahead to that place on O Street, and I'll swing by and pick up our dinner. Do you need anything from the store?"
Catherine thought hard for a moment or two. "Just some sparkling cider, say two bottles? I can't think of anything else for the moment."
Harm flipped her a casual salute, "On it, boss!" he replied, and leaning in gave her a kiss. It started out as a soft gentle kiss, such as they had exchanged many times in the very recent past, but somehow it became more passionate and deeper than either had intended. Breaking off the kiss, eventually, they both stood and stared wonderingly into each other's eyes, until their reverie was broken by Mattie's plaintive but half-amused, "Either get a room or stop embarrassing me in public, please!"
Without taking her eyes from Harm's face, Catherine unconsciously echoing the words she had used at breakfast, replied, "Get used to it Mattie, because it's gonna keep right on happening, and I have a feeling that we're going to be embarrassing you in public for a long time yet!"
"O yeah," Harm replied huskily, "Get used to it, Squirt!"
Mattie looked from one to the other and as she shook her head, said despairingly. "Grown-ups! And I'm the one who's supposed to have raging hormones!"