26
Harm glanced at his watch, only oh nine forty hours, and fought back a yawn for about the twentieth time that morning. Nearly two weeks of almost constantly interrupted sleep was taking its toll on him, making him tired and unusually for him so very short-tempered that his staff, except one, were walking on egg-shells around him.
Both he and Catherine had expected to have their sleep patterns disrupted, but the expectation had not really prepared either of them for the experience. Staying up for the midnight feed had been no hardship at first, but after a week both Harm and Catherine's fatigue levels had risen so that they were both more than ready for bed by twenty two hundred hours. Of course it was harder for Catherine, she had been determined to breast feed Beth, as they'd taken to calling their daughter, throughout, but the ritual of two hourly feeds together with the necessity of changing a wet and or dirty diaper each time had proved just too much. As a result, Catherine had taken to expressing sufficient milk to enable Harm to bottle-feed their baby at least twice each night, a practice which if it allowed Catherine a little extra sleep – they were both woken each time Beth awoke – ensured that Harm got a little less.
Tricia and Frank had stayed for the first week, putting up with having their own nights disturbed and watching over Beth in the afternoons while Catherine grabbed a couple of hours sleep, and then in the early evenings Frank, Harm and Donnie, Catherine's brother who had walked out of a sales symposium in Albuquerque to see his new niece, laboured to finish putting together the nursery. For the moment Beth was sleeping in her crib at the foot of Harm and Catherine's bed, an arrangement not much to Harm's liking but one which he reluctantly accepted, firstly because the nursery despite the best efforts of the three men was still not quite ready, and secondly, and more importantly because it meant that on the occasions when Beth didn't need her overnight diaper changed, Catherine's and his sleep was that much less disturbed.
But Tricia, Frank and Donnie had all had to get back to their own lives over the last weekend and the full weight of Beth's care had fallen on her parents and on Mattie's shoulders.
It had gotten so bad that yesterday he had blown up at Jennifer Coates over an omission for which she had no responsibility whatsoever and had ripped her a new one to such effect that half an hour later she was discovered by Lieutenant Commander Bellingham in the women's restroom, desperately trying to restore her tear ravaged face to a condition fit to return to her work station.
Harm winced as he recalled the aftermath of Lydia Bellingham's discovery, she had rapped smartly on his door and on being bidden to enter, she had approached his desk and then in a deceptively mild tone she had asked, "Do you have a moment, sir?"
Harm bit back a sigh of frustration; his fatigue meant that he was struggling to keep abreast of his work-load, and he didn't really have any spare time, but… "Yeah, go ahead, take a seat…" he offered.
Lydia sat down and neatly crossed her legs, ensuring that she didn't expose too much nylon covered flesh. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
Harm's mouth pulled down in an expression of displeasure. He knew, he just knew, that he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear, "Granted."
"Sir, we are all very happy for you and Miss Gale, and hope that you have every opportunity to take joy in your daughter." She paused.
"Thank you, Commander," Harm replied.
"Although none of us, with the exception of Mrs Mayberry are parents, we do know that there is a period of adjustment when a baby is added to the family, and that it must be a stressful and tiring time for you all at home, but I wouldn't be doing my job as a colleague if I didn't tell you that you are getting very close to letting your home life affect your work."
Harm leaned forward on his elbows, his fists clenched together, "Just what do you mean by that?" he asked tensely.
"It's one thing when you snap at me, or Faith Coleman or Mike Sheddan; if you go too far with us, we are close enough to you in rank to be able to defend ourselves, but when you take your temper out on enlisted staff, they don't have recourse to the spoken word without the risk of being brought up on charges of insubordination to an officer. So, for you to reduce poor Coates to tears, is, frankly, bullying. It is totally contemptible and should be beneath you, sir!"
Harm blinked, rarely had he been spoken to in such icy tones since he graduated from the academy, but his tired mind could fasten only on one thing that Lydia Bellingham had just said.
"Coates? Coates crying?" His face mirrored both disbelief and shock, "but Jennifer Coates has got one of the strongest characters of anyone I've ever met!"
Lydia shook her head, "You just don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?" a thoroughly confused Harm asked.
Lydia looked at him in surprise. She had only been in post for ten days but she had seen and analysed the dynamic between Coates and Rabb, and her ready sympathies had been engaged. She gave her head a slight shake, "Sir, it's obvious that you and Coates have a history. The fact that she arrived in post the same day I did, and immediately fell into your way of working shows that she's worked with you before, and remarks let drop both by her and Barker last week, strongly suggest that you made a special effort to get her this billet."
"Yes, that's true, I did make a special effort, but… but there is nothing, and there never has been anything improper between the Petty Officer and myself, if that is what you're implying!"
Lydia made an impatient cutting gesture with her open hand, "No, of course not sir! What I'm apparently not very successfully trying to say is that Coates was, or maybe still is, under the impression that you had her posted here because you valued her work as a Legalman and a Yeoman, and then for you to turn around and tear her a new one for something that was not her fault shook her badly. So if you felt the need to tear into anyone for that particular mistake, you should have come to me; I'm the one who missed the deadline, because I hadn't yet read the memorandum!"
"Bu… but I wasn't that hard… on her!" Harm stammered defensively.
"Yes, you were sir! You had Coates report to you in here and both Faith Coleman and I, in our office, and almost certainly Mike Sheddan in his office, could hear quite plainly, practically every word you said to her. And it wasn't particularly pleasant hearing. And of course, what makes it worse," she added in an almost inconsequential manner, "is that for some obscure and probably quite ridiculous reason, the girl practically hero-worships you!"
"She does?" Harm asked in surprise.
"Uh… yes, sir!" It was Lydia's turn to be surprised although she masked it well. 'Surely, he can 't be that oblivious!' she thought. But then looking more carefully she could see no sign of guile or deceit in his face or his body language.
"I don't know why she should!" Harm grumbled, and then looked across at his accuser with a rueful grin, "Was I really that much of an asshole?"
Lydia Bellingham let her stern expression relax and ventured a grin of her own, "Yes, sir! I'm afraid you were!"
Harm leaned back in his chair, and steepled his fingers in front of his chest as he gazed reflectively at his subordinate. "So… do you think I have sunk so low in her estimation that I may never get back in her good books?"
"It's no joking matter, sir," Lydia replied gravely, "I think that you're going to have to do some serious grovelling. A good part of Coates' meltdown was, I suspect, due to a feeling that you had betrayed her. And that is not something that is easily put right."
Harm nodded thoughtfully, "And because of our different ranks, grovelling is not going to be an easy thing to carry out without appearing patronising is it?"
"Precisely, sir! And now if you'll excuse me, I have an overdue memorandum to read, and from what I understand of its contents, an overdue report to write!"
Harm nodded, "Yes, of course," and then as Lydia rose from her chair, Harm continued, "And remind me not to allow you to speak freely again! You just tore me more of a new one than Catherine ever did!" But then he sobered. "Thank you, Lydia, it seems that you delivered a badly needed wake-up call that I didn't even know I needed!"
This time Lydia's grin widened, "It was my pleasure, sir," she said primly.
"I'll bet it was!" Harm laughed, "Go on, get out of here!"
"Aye, aye, sir!"
That had been yesterday afternoon, and now it was time, or it would be in about twenty minutes when Jennifer brought him his mid-morning coffee, for him to try and make amends. Those twenty minutes seemed to crawl past and with each sweep of the second hand around his watch face he felt his stomach tightening. 'This is ridiculous!' he told himself, 'I'm her CO, she's much younger than I am! I'm in charge here. So why the hell am I getting nervous!'
It had surprised him how much Lydia Bellingham's chewing him out had shaken him, not the chewing out itself, but the way in which it highlighted his recent behaviour. He had been distracted all evening, and once a yawning Mattie had taken herself upstairs and Catherine had given Beth her ten o'clock feed, she had tackled him before they both fell asleep.
"OK, sailor, spill 'em!" she had commanded as she snuggled under the comforter with him, lying on her side to face him, with her head propped on one hand, "C'mon, spill the beans!"
"Um… it's just some work stuff," he temporised, "nothing for you to worry about. So let's just turn out the light and get some sleep while we can, OK?"
Suiting his actions to his words he stretched out his arm and turned off the light on his nightstand, plunging the room into darkness. Immediately he felt the weight of Catherine's body across his chest, her breasts pressing into him, and he squirmed into the position he knew she found most comfortable, waiting for her head to come to rest in the hollow of his shoulder. This time however, Catherine continued to stretch over him and with a sharp 'click' of the switch she turned on the light again.
"Nope, not going to work!" she told him as she loomed over him, half her weight now supported in the hand she had used on the light-switch.
"What's not going to work?" he had parried more in hope than in expectation of putting her off.
"Trying to pretend that whatever's bothering you isn't important!"
Harm raised a hand to cup her face and gently followed the line of her cheekbone with his thumb... "How come you know me so well?" he said half amused, half suspicious.
Catherine laughed softly, "Easy, you're not exactly an international man of mystery! I can read you like an open book, and it's because I love you!" she answered before she dropped her head and gently kissed the tip of his nose.
"H'mm… a little bit off target there," Harm complained.
"And it's going to stay that way for another month, Harmon Rabb!" Catherine scolded him gently, "but stop trying to distract me, what's wrong?"
Harm sighed, only rarely did Catherine get the bit between her teeth – Mattie's inclusion in her family was one case in point – but Harm was beginning to recognise the signs, "its Jennifer," he said slowly.
"What the pretty brunette who came to see Beth in hospital? The Petty Officer you worked with at Falls Church, who saved Bud Robert's life?"
"Yep," Harm agreed morosely.
"Is she not working out in her new job? I thought you wanted her there especially because she is so good at her job?"
"She is, but I've been a… well, let's just say that my attitude at work this last week or so hasn't shown me in the best of lights. To put the icing on the cake, I really lost my temper this morning and I really chewed Jennifer's head off for something that wasn't her fault." Harm paused and made a face that reflected his distaste for his behaviour. "It upset her so much that apparently she burst into tears, not something she's done for a very long time. And I need to make it up to her, and that's what's making me think."
Catherine subsided on to the bed, lying on her stomach with her head propped in her hands, "Umm… so why not just invite her for dinner. Her and her boyfriend?"
Harm shook his head, "No can do. Even if she's got a boyfriend, and I haven't heard her mention one, she's enlisted and I'm commissioned. Having her here for dinner could so easily be misinterpreted as inappropriate behaviour."
"That's ridiculous!" Catherine complained, "How could it be inappropriate if I'm here?"
"Umm… that could give rise to even more scurrilous suspicions," Harm replied, "Absurd as it may seem, but as far as the navy is concerned, even the appearance of impropriety can be enough to raise charges of acting in manner likely to bring discredit on the service. I certainly don't want that on my record, and I'm not going to risk Jennifer having it marked up on hers. She's had a lot to cope with in the past, and over the couple of years I've known her, she's done a damn good job of turning her life around!"
"H'mm… tricky… so she's more than a subordinate, but less than a friend?"
"No! I definitely think of her as a friend, a good friend, and if you'd ever heard her bringing me back down earth when I indulge in a flight of fancy, you'd be hard put to decide which one of us was in charge!" Harm grinned.
"So… would she misinterpret a small gift as a means of saying sorry?"
"What do you have in mind?" Harm asked. An officer giving a gift to an enlisted woman could be even more dangerous than a dinner invitation.
"Oh… it would be nothing extravagant, and nothing permanent. A bouquet of flowers, or maybe some chocolates? Nothing grand, but something that shows how much you appreciate her."
"OK… I'll think about it." Harm promised.
"Good, just goes to show that you should have told me as soon as you got in, then you wouldn't have worried all evening!" Catherine told him smugly. Then as she pulled the comforter up over her shoulder and wormed her way to lie pressed along his side, she yawned and said, "Oh, yes. You can turn off the light now!"
xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi
Harm's reverie was interrupted by the expected knock at his door, shaking himself alert he looked at his watch, although the twenty minutes had seemed to ooze past like molasses he was surprised at how quickly they had in fact zipped past!
"Enter!" he called out.
The door opened to admit Jennifer Coates, who crossed the carpet to his desk and said somewhat stiffly, "Your coffee, sir."
"Thank you, Coates," Harm answered as she placed the cup on his desk near to his hand. He looked at her closely, but was shocked when he realised that she was refusing to meet his gaze. This was obviously much worse than even Lydia Bellingham had told him. He gulped as he stood and said gently, "Please sit down, Jennifer."
That did bring her eyes to meet his as she stared at him in total surprise. Sure, he had once or twice in the past called her Jen, but never in the office, and she could not remember a time when he had ever used the full form of her name, "S… sir?"
"Take a seat, please Jennifer," he said as he moved around the desk to perch on the front edge of it.
Stunned, Jen did as she was told, carefully smoothing her skirt beneath her, "Sir?" she asked again, this time with more control over her voice.
Harm cleared his throat, and began uneasily, "Jennifer, I lost my temper with you yesterday. I've been annoyed with you in the past, and you'll probably succeed in annoying me again in the future. But yesterday was different. I went well beyond what would have been necessary even if it had been your fault that the reports were overdue, and I took my bad temper out on you unnecessarily. I can only plead tiredness as an excuse, and hope that you'll be able to forgive me some day. Jennifer, I am so very, very sorry. I value your skills, experience, hard work and yes, your friendship, far too highly to throw it all away through some stupid dumbass temper tantrum. I asked the SecNav to approve this billet for you because I need you here, I can't imagine me running an office without your support, in fact I am dead certain that I wouldn't be able to run an office – any office – without you to run interference for me. So, can you please forgive me, and let me off the hook this one time? I can't promise that I'll never tear you a new one again, but I can promise that I will try never again to be so unjust. So… friends again?"
Jennifer blinked to clear the tears from her eyes, 'Why the hell was the Commander apologising to her? It was she that had let him down by not chasing Commander Bellingham for that damn' report. She had been so ashamed of her lapse that she felt that she had let herself down so badly too, and that was what had upset her even more. She was so embarrassed by her failing after everything the Commander had done for her in the past, that she had been quite unable to look him in the face. And now here he was apologising to her, and asking for her forgiveness!'
"Not necessary, sir!" she gulped. "It was my fault. I should have pressed Commander Bellingham…"
"Jennifer, Jennifer… stop, please… I don't accept that it was your fault, and I'm not going to sit here and listen to you say it was, but neither am I going to sit here and argue about it with you!" He smiled, "One thing that living with a partner has taught me is that those sorts of arguments are never worth the breath wasted on them! So… are we friends again?"
"No, sir," Jennifer stood, "Still friends, I hope."
"Indeed we are!" Harm lifted the top file folder from his in-tray and picked up the gift-wrapped box of Kingsbury Chocolate Truffles that he had detoured into Alexandria to buy earlier that morning, "And from one friend to another?" he offered Jen the box.
"Oh… I couldn't possibly…"
"You'll have to Jennifer; Catherine won't touch them, she's too concerned on getting her pre-Beth figure back, and I won't give them to Mattie, getting a teenager to eat a healthy diet is hard enough without feeding her chocolate, and if you won't take them, then they'll have to go into the trash!" He ended shrewdly, well aware of Jen's hatred of waste.
"OK, sir," she grinned, equally well aware that he had just played her, "I'll take them, but I'll be handing them 'round to the other girls… so they can all forgive you too!"
Harm shook his head and for the second time in two days he found himself laughingly ordering a subordinate, "G'wan, get outta here!"
Jen smiled, an honest-to-goodness-hidden-dimple-revealing-smile, "Aye, aye, sir!" and executed a smart about-face as she headed for the door.
As she turned something about her appearance that had been vaguely bothering Harm clicked into place. "Jennifer, is your hair wet?" he asked in disbelief, his experiences with past long-haired girlfriends had instilled in him the knowledge that they never put up their hair while it retained even the slightest degree of moisture.
Jen shrugged, "Four female Petty Officers in a one bathroom apartment, all trying to shower at around the same time. It's not a pretty sight, sir. And then one of the others broke my hair dryer this morning…"
Harm nodded his head in recognition of Jen's plight, although he had never had full-time room-mates since he'd graduated from the academy he had as a junior officer shared a cabin when deployed on board various aircraft carriers. "H'mm… OK… but be careful, I don't want you catching a cold! I can't have my Legalman off sick because she went out in November with a wet head!"
"No, sir!" Jen twinkled at him, her sunny nature reasserting itself now that she knew that Harm wasn't, and had never been, seriously pissed at her.
Harm returned to his seat and picked up his coffee, grimacing as he realised that it has cooled considerably during his reconciliation with Jennifer, resigning himself to a less than satisfactory drink, he raised it to his lips, but stopped and put the cup down again as the shrill ringing of his phone demanded his attention, "Rabb!" he said into the mouthpiece.
"I have Miss Gale on the line for you, sir," Jen told him.
Not sure whether to be pleased at the prospect of hearing her voice, or to dread the arrival of bad news, Harm said as levelly as he could, "Put her through please, Coates."
He heard the click as the last connection was made, "Hey, spook, what's up?"
"Hey, yourself, sailor," Harm could hear the smile in Catherine's voice and relaxed as she continued, "It's not bad news, well, at least I don't think it is! But Mattie and I took Beth for a walk for half an hour or so, and when we got back home the mailman had called. There's a letter here addressed to both of us from Social Services…"
"But you said not bad news?" Harm asked hopefully.
"No… not exactly, it's from a Morgan Watley at Social Services, he's coming to make a home visit to see that we've got the right sort of home for a teenaged girl..."
"Well, we've been expecting that," Harm interrupted.
"Yeah, we have… but here's the thing. He's coming this evening at six o'clock!"
"Whoa! That's not a lot of notice!" Harm protested.
"No… no. it's not… but the letter is dated last Wednesday, and the envelope is postmarked Thursday… so it's not his fault."
"Maybe not… but it's still damn' short notice!"
"Yeah, I know… that's why I called, to give you a heads up. Can you get back home for six?"
"Hey, I'll have to, won't I?" Harm replied, resigning himself to making the best of a bad job.
"OK, see you then!"
"Yeah, g'bye sweetheart. I love you!"
"I love you too!" Catherine replied, and then Harm heard the buzz of a terminated call.
Harm replaced the 'phone in its hook and then pressed the 'call' button in his intercom, "Coates, get hold of Penny Mayberry please, and see if the SecNav can fit me in before sixteen hundred hours today. Something's come up at home, and I'll need to secure by sixteen thirty."
"Aye, aye, sir!" Jen paused and then with the concern obvious in her voice, she cautiously asked, "There's nothing wrong with anyone at home, sir?"
"No, nothing wrong, Coates, it's something we've been expecting, but it's just happened at very short notice. If the SecNav can see me today, I'll need a print out of my anti-piracy recommendations, so can you make that a priority, please?"
"Yes, sir!"
Harm released the button and returned his attention to the intimidating stack of files in his in-try, and with a rueful smile, took the top one and opened it on his blotter.
xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi
Morgan Watley turned out to be a large, imposing African American man in his forties, in a dark suit with white shirt and a sober tie, but with a shaved head and a deep, warm voice that reminded Harm of Chaplain Turner. He also possessed a direct no-nonsense manner and appeared to be completely unimpressed by the wings and ribbons on Harm's Service Dress Blues.
He had introduced himself and produced his credentials without being asked and had then said, "Rather than me grilling the two of you, why don't you give me the nickel tour of the place, and then if I have any questions, I can ask them?"
Harm and Catherine exchanged glances, and Catherine answered for them both, "Sure, why not? But if you don't mind, I'll leave it to Harm. I'm about to be needed in the nursery!"
Both men stood and watched her head for the stairs and Watley turned to Harm, "Nursery?" he asked with raised eyebrows, making a note on the clipboard that Harm guessed accompanied him everywhere.
"Two week old daughter," Harm responded with a proud smile, "and she seems to have chronometer style accuracy when it comes to timing her feeds!"
For a second a similar smile flashed across Watley's face, "They do that, don't they!" he said reminiscently, but once again was all business.
Harm showed him around the first floor, simply naming the purpose of the still somewhat sketchily furnished rooms was sufficient for the visitor; his eyes were everywhere looking for everything and missing nothing.
On the second floor, Harm pointed out the two main bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and the third bedroom, next door to the last bathroom and then the connecting door which led to the rooms over the garage, the first room of which, once completed, would be doing duty for the nursery, and the second room was to be a play area once Beth was big enough to need one.
Watley nodded, "And Miss Johnson?"
Harm led the way back down the hall, "You'll understand that I'm not going to disturb Catherine and Beth in our room, especially when she's nursing." His tone of voice left Watley in doubt that it wasn't a question.
"No question of that, Commander Rabb, I have no interest in your own living arrangements, my only concern is that you provide a suitable and comfortable environment for the young lady for whose guardianship you are applying."
Harm nodded as he stopped outside Mattie's room, knocked, and called out, "Man on deck!"
Watley looked vaguely amused, "Now what?"
"We wait, and if there's no answer within thirty seconds then we go in!"
Barely had Harm spoken, however, when Mattie opened the door, "Is this him?" she asked bluntly.
"Manners, Squirt!" Harm chided her gently as she stepped back to allow them entry.
Watley took a minute or so to just look around, only to be challenged by Mattie's "Well, have you seen enough? This is the bedroom, and through there," she indicated the other door, "is my bathroom!"
Watley blinked at Mattie's forthright delivery, but acknowledged her contribution with a dip of his head and a grave, "Thank you, do you mind if I take a look?"
Mattie sighed, not quite happy with having a stranger poke his nose into her most private room, but grudgingly said, "If you must!"
"Thank you," Watley replied and crossed the room, merely opening the connecting door and looking at the well-appointed bathroom for a few seconds, and then turning back to Mattie said in his grave manner, "Thank you, young lady. We'll leave you in peace now."
Mattie unaccustomed to being spoken to so formally, could only muster a muttered, "Yeah, 'bye," as she dug her sock clad toes into the bedroom carpet.
Watley waited until Harm had closed the bedroom door and then said, "Well, I reckon I've seen enough, but I do have one or two questions to ask and comments to make."
Harm indicated that Watley should precede him downstairs and followed the visitor when to his surprise he made his into the kitchen. Looking at the notes he had already made, Watley summed up what he had found, "So far this what we have established, smoke detector, sufficient heat, adequate light, working telephone and working toilet…" he pulled open the fridge door and then stood back in surprise, "Do you primarily survive on beer and tofu?"
Harm looked a little sheepish, "There are other things in there, but yeah, we're a bit low on supplies right now, with the new baby we haven't had much opportunity for going to the store, so until the weekend we'd kinda decided to order-in."
Watley then turned his attention to the kitchen island and turned one of the wine bottles to inspect its label, "Do you have a problem with alcohol?" he asked accusingly.
"No, the wine's used more for cooking," Harm replied, "Mr Watley, I'm a pretty good cook when I set my hand to it."
"You have a child in the house, so you cook every day, whether you feel like it or not, Commander Rabb!"
Watley contented himself with an "H'mm," as he made another note on his clipboard, and wandered through into the lounge, "Do you have a firearm in the house?"
"Yes, sir, but it's under lock and key."
"You ever have cause to employ it?" Watley demanded looking up from yet another note.
"Once or twice in the line of duty."
"Aren't you a lawyer, Commander Rabb?" a surprised Watley asked.
"I'm also war veteran, a naval officer and a qualified F-Fourteen pilot!" Harm said firmly.
"Uh-huh, how long did you spend living alone?"
"Ever since I left the academy up until a few months ago."
"What kind of relationship did you have with your father?"
Harm's face went blank, "I didn't have much of a chance to build one with him, sir. He went Missing in Action when I was five."
For some reason Harm's answer seemed to take Watley aback, and he seemed to hesitate before he asked his next question, "What do you know about raising children?"
"Honestly? Not a lot."
"I hope you have a better answer when you appear at the custody hearing!" Watley told him.
"I intend to… but… loo… look I… I'm playing catch-up right now Mister Watley."
Watley didn't appear to be impressed as he wandered, with Harm trailing him, into the den and picked up from Harm's desk a book that had caught his eye, " 'The Adolescent Girl, A Study In Pathology'," he read aloud the title, replacing the book and then picking up the one it had been lying on top of, " 'Between Sixteen and Sex, Raising a Teenage Girl' You seem to be prepared for the worst."
Harm looked him straight in the eyes, "I'm a fighter pilot, Mister Watley. We prepare for the worst; that way we cut down on surprises!"
"Have you ever crashed?" Watley asked curiously.
"Oh yeah!"
Something in Harm's voice or maybe his expression caused Watley to pursue his questions, "More than once?"
"Four times." Harm answered matter of factly.
Watley's voice rose nearly an octave in surprise, "And you intend to keep flying, Commander?"
"Yes, I do."
Watley blew out a breath of astonishment, his cheeks plumping with the effort, "I'll say this about you Commander, you're refreshingly candid." With that the home inspector from social services made his somewhat bemused farewells and the last Harm saw of him was from the front porch as Watley walked down the path to his waiting car, shaking his head as he did so.
Harm became aware of a presence at his shoulder and without turning to look he knew it was Catherine. And so it proved to be, with fed, burped and sleepy Beth against her shoulder. Harm smiled and without a word took Beth into his arms, his smile growing in warmth as the infant opened her eyes and gazed owlishly at him with deep blue but unfocussing eyes, before giving a further gentle burp and letting her eyelids close.
Catherine smiled at the picture the two made, and then lifted her face to look Harm in the eye, "Well, how did it go?" she asked.
Harm considered for a moment, "I think it went OK," he finally answered, "but given the chance there are one or two questions I'd have answered differently. But… yeah, I think we did OK."
"Good!" Catherine smiled in satisfaction, "Now come on in and order dinner for us big people. I'm feeling the pinch, and I'm absolutely certain that Mattie will claim she is starving!"
"None whatsoever!" Harm agreed with a laugh that disturbed the dozing baby in his arms. Both adults froze with looks of apprehension on their faces until Beth settled down again. With mock sighs of relief and an exaggerated mopping of their brows, Harm and Catherine retreated into their home, to put Beth in her crib while dinner was ordered and eaten, all in the short space of time before their daughter demanded that her needs be seen to again!
xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi
The following morning seemed to have been designed deliberately with the aim of making his temper erupt again. It had been his turn to deal with Beth's oh four hundred hours feed, and as usual by that stage of the night she was also wet and dirty, and by the time his sleep deprived brain had remembered its way to operational success it was nearly oh four thirty hours. Realising that any attempt to get back to sleep would only result in oversleeping, and that lying awake in bed would only disturb Catherine, Harm quietly showered and shaved, and then dressed in shoes, pants, shirt and tie, carrying his jacket, he made his way downstairs and indulged himself in a bowl of hot oatmeal loaded with dried fruit and a pot of industrial strength coffee. Now that Mattie was openly drinking coffee, he had come to the conclusion that it was pointless depriving himself of one of the necessities of life.
So it was with temporarily restored morale that he had at oh six thirty kissed Catherine and Beth goodbye (Mattie was still hibernating at that, for her, ungodly hour of the day) and climbed into the Lexus to head for the Pentagon. It was at that point that his day had started to unravel. Barely two miles down the road he became aware that the Lexus' handling had deteriorated badly, and with a sinking feeling he pulled over to the side of the road. Dismounting from the vehicle, a walk around to the passenger side and a cursory glance revealed the source of the problem. The passenger's side front tyre was as flat as a pancake. Cursing inaudibly Harm slipped off his jacket, shivering as the early morning late November chill bit through his shirt and t-shirt and opening the Lexus's rear hatch he wrestled the spare wheel, jack and tyre iron on to the road, knowing that his shirt would be ruined and that practically his first stop at the Pentagon would have to be at the Pentagon Mall in order to buy a new shirt!
The delay caused by the flat meant that he was caught up in the rat runners who at this time of day sought a way through the centre of the area circumscribed by the Beltway in order to avoid delays on that notorious road, only to find themselves the cause of many more delays as they tried to use residential and business streets as commuter routes. Caught in one tailback at a particularly difficult junction, Harm pressed back against his seat and stretched, carefully positioning his feet between the pedals. He had just started to relax his posture when a jolt threw him forward in his seat, while his head snapped back. For a moment he wondered what the hell had just happened, and then realisation dawned. The Lexus had just been rear-ended! Cautiously moving his head Harm was relieved to find that he hadn't suffered whiplash, and once again climbed out of the Lexus, this time to exchange details with the brash salesman type in the Dodge Stratus, who first tried to deny that it was his fault, only to be verbally demolished by a fuming naval attorney. But this too added time to the journey and left Harm looking at a moderately damaged Lexus, but the car was sure to be in the body-shop for at least a couple of days, and that would only be after Harm's insurance company had convinced the salesman's insurance company to pay up.
xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xxvi-xvi
By the time Harm was ready to sit at his desk he was at least forty minutes adrift, and a harassed-looking Jennifer Coates was providing him with a cup of coffee, "Sir, the SecNav wants to see you in his office in…" she glanced at her watch, "ten minutes!" she informed him.
Harm took a gulp of the coffee and then drew a sharp breath to try and cool his scalded mouth. Just for once the coffee had been damned hot! Wincing in discomfort he asked his Legalman, "Did he give any hint what he wanted, Coates?"
Jen could only smile apologetically, "Sorry, sir, no. I had the feeling that he didn't think I had a need to know."
"OK, Coates not to worry… Jennifer! Is your hair wet again?"
"Yes, sir. Sorry sir, I didn't manage to get a new hair-dryer yesterday, and it was the usual scrimmage for the shower again this morning…"
"We'll talk about this later!"
"Yes, sir!"
It was nearly an hour later that a grim-faced Harm stalked back into the outer office where Jen was busy typing at her keyboard. All the positive influence of Coates' early morning efficiency had been eroded by the SecNav's obsession with the minutiae of Harm's report into piracy and his recommendations of how the pirates should be dealt with. It had been a useless waste of his breath when he had tried to point out that he had fulfilled his remit in producing exactly what the SecNav had asked for, a broad policy document for consideration by the Navy Counsel General. As a result he had been forced to take back his original document now covered in nit-picking notations in an almost illegible scribble in the SecNav's favoured green ink.
Seeing Jen with her head down, Harm decided that he could profitably use the time it took to brew a fresh pot of coffee in gathering the shreds of his frayed temper and midway across the office he veered off in the direction of the storage closet turned kitchenette. Pulling the door open, he stopped and stared. True it had been a storage closet in a previous existence, but Harm was not prepared to see three sets of enlisted female's winter working dress hanging from the storage racks that now held the makings of coffee, tea and chocolate, neither was he prepared for the sight of three large suitcases stacked against the far wall. A single glance at the rate and rating badge sewn on to the uniforms was sufficient to tell Harm that they could only belong to Jennifer Coates, and he spun around fighting to keep a grip on his anger, but determined to find just what sort of game the young woman was playing.
Closing the door behind him he saw and heard that Jennifer was on the phone and her voice seemed to be a mixture of anger and despair, "How much?" she practically yelled, "Please tell me that you are joking! No… I don't have that much on hand! Great! Fine!" She slammed the 'phone down and then saw to her horror that her yelling had drawn the attention of all four of her officers, all of whom were now standing in her office with looks of interest – angered interest in one case – on their faces.
"Coates," Harm's voice was icy calm, "My office, now!"
Jennifer Coates drew herself up into a brace, "Aye, aye, sir!" she snapped but Harm was amazed to see that her eyes were awash, and it didn't need Lydia Bellingham's cautionary "Commander?" to remind him to tread softly.
Returning to the coffee room he put the machine on to brew and as soon as sufficient for two cups had filtered through, he poured them, leaving his black, but adding plenty of creamer for Jennifer, the way he knew she liked her coffee.
In his office Jen was standing at 'Parade Rest' when he entered, and for a moment he felt a pang of guilt for leaving her like that instead of telling her to sit while he made the drinks. Mentally giving himself a slap upside the head, he said, "Sit down please, Jennifer," and waiting until she had done so, he handed over her cup of coffee, and sat in the other visitors' chair alongside her.
Jen's mouth dropped open, and she took the offered cup almost by reflex, "Sir?"
"Drink your coffee, Jennifer, while it's still hot! The inquisition can wait for a minute or two!"
"Sir!" Jen obediently sipped at her coffee, answering Harm's inquiry into how it was with a somewhat embarrassed, "Fine, sir, thank you."
The two sat in silence while they drank their coffee, and it wasn't until Jen had put her empty cup down on the desk that Harm turned to her and said, "OK, Jennifer, what's going on?"
"Going on, sir?"
"Jennifer, for the last two days you've turned to with wet hair. Today I find what seems to be half your wardrobe hanging in the kitchenette or mini-galley, whatever you want to call it. And then I find you practically in tears yelling down the 'phone about money you don't have!" Harm paused, "Living in the DC area isn't cheap, Jennifer. Have you been kicked out of your apartment because you're behind with the rent?"
Jen was horrified that Harm could even think that, "Oh, no sir! Nothing like that!" and in response to his gesture indicating the she should continue, she added, "It's like I told you yesterday sir, four girls trying to live in an apartment that's really too small for three, not enough storage space, only one shower…"
"But it hasn't been a problem until now, Jennifer, why's that suddenly changed?"
"Uh… that's because of Mel's boyfriend, sir…" Jen seemed to hesitate and then made up her mind, and plunged ahead. "Mel's boyfriend's a Marine Sergeant and was on the security detachment here, sir. Mel works in procurement, she's a Yeoman Two, but then about six weeks ago he got posted to base security in Okinawa. Well, Mel was in the habit of spending most nights at her boyfriend's place and had stowed a lot of her stuff there, as well as the stuff they had collected together. Well, when he left, he gave up his apartment and Mel and all her stuff and all their stuff moved back on a full time basis, and it's gotten difficult, and getting more difficult every day."
Harm sat back and looked levelly at her, "OK, that explains the clothes dump, and even the wet hair, but what was all the shouting about money?"
"Oh…" Jen reddened in embarrassment, "That was all Mel too… It seems she's been waking up, or staying up in the middle of the night to make 'phone calls – hour long 'phone calls to her boyfriend…"
"In Okinawa?" Harm asked incredulously.
"Yes sir. So when the 'phone bill came in it wasn't far off four figures. We, the rest of the girls were blazing mad, and we told Mel that there was no way we were going to help pay for her love life. She said not to worry that she would take care of it, but she didn't. And now the 'phone company have cut the line and are coming after all of us for payment of the bill and penalty charges and a hefty charge to reconnect the service, once the past dues are paid, but they want it all up front!"
Harm winced, "OK, we'll get the LSO to take a look at this for you, see if we can find a way out of the mess that won't cost you an arm and a leg." Harm thought for a few moments more, and then looked searchingly at his Petty Officer, "Jennifer, if it's not too personal a question, how old are you now, twenty eight isn't it?"
"Twenty nine now, sir. Birthday was on the fourth!"
"You kept that quiet!" Harm admonished her.
"Didn't want to make a fuss, sir. It's different for a guy, I guess, but getting close to the big three oh for a woman..." Jennifer managed a grin as she said that.
"Well, twenty eight or twenty nine, Petty Officer, you should be in a more settled domestic environment than sharing with three other women!"
"Oh, I know sir! I've had a feeling things were going to come to this stage, or something similar, and I was talking it over with Lynne Barker before she left, and we've both been looking for something more civilised that we could share, but finding somewhere safe and affordable isn't too easy on an E5 and E6 pay."
"No… I don't suppose it is!" Harm agreed, his mind racing. "Jennifer, write down how much you and Barker are able to pay for rent each month."
"Sir?"
"Just do it Jennifer, but bear in mind you're going to have to pay bills on top of rent!"
"I'm not likely to forget that, sir!" Jen said reproachfully, handing him a sheet of paper she had snagged from his phone message pad.
Harm looked at the figure and whistled, "Is that just your contribution, as half contribution or a combined contribution?"
"That's the theoretical maximum we can pay, and leave enough for bills and day to day living expenses, sir." Jen's shoulders drooped, "It's pretty pathetic isn't it?"
For a moment Harm had toyed with the idea of offering Jen the vacant lease on the loft near Union Station, but had dismissed that thought almost immediately. The risks faced by two attractive, unaccompanied women in that neighbourhood were just too horrendous to contemplate. "Well, it's going to be difficult to find anywhere with that as a figure, but I know a couple of people in the business – my step dad for one – and maybe if we put our heads together, we can find somewhere for you. But in the meantime don't stop looking!" he said comfortingly.
"No, sir!"
"Fine," Harm scrutinised her face, the signs of her incipient tears had vanished so he smiled encouragingly and said, "OK then, Petty Officer, back to the grindstone!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Jen grinned cheerfully, stood and was about to leave, when Harm called her back.
"The coffee cups, Legalman?"
This time Jen's grin was even wider and her "Aye, aye, sir!" even crisper.