JAG Headquarters, two days later

Mac looked up when she heard a knock on the door. She was working late again, wrapping up a case. She had been assigned the defense of a Marine charged with dereliction of duty during a training mission. The Gunnery Sergeant had ordered his men through a swamp, ordered by his Lieutenant to make his men though, but in the process a Sergeant had stumbled and been pulled under, ending up in a coma. The Commander of the Marine Corps had ordered the court martial to set an example. They had gotten the Lieutenant off, when the Sergeant who had been hurt testified that he supported the Gunny's decision to test his men. He had taken the responsibility, saying that he had been sloppy and not paid attention when he went under. The jury had cleared the Gunny of all charges.

"It's past 1900, Mac," Harm leaned on the doorframe.

She smiled and closed a file holding it out for him. "Just wanted to wrap things up so that I can go back to the judiciary tomorrow morning."

He moved into the room and took the file from her. "If we go now we get to say hi to the kids before Mom has them under the covers."

Mac stood and reached for her briefcase. "Sounds good."

Harm got an idea. "Although," he closed the door. "There's one thing I've always wanted to do in this office."

Mac raised her eyebrows. "I am not having sex with you in your old office, Harm."

He laughed softly. "Come on, don't tell me that you've never thought about it?"

She hesitated. "You know, honestly, I haven't."

"Marines, always so squared away," he teased as he walked over to her.

"You know, this could be seen as sexual harassment," she pointed out with amusement. "You are coming on to an officer of lower rank."

"You really are no fun," he offered a cute pout. "Anyway, I was just kidding. Come on, let's go home."

She followed him out of the office and to his office where he put the file on his desk and reached for his briefcase. "You do look good behind that desk."

He flashed her a sweet smile. "Thank you."

"And you're doing a good job," she waited for him to walk up to her. "I'm proud of you."

He leaned in and kissed her softly. "I couldn't have done it without you."

She smiled and reached for his hand. "Come on, Admiral. Let's go home."

Later

Mac kissed her son's head and walked out of his room. Matthew had fallen asleep halfway through the story. She walked into Claire's room and found her reading a book.

"Mom, will you always be this late home?" Claire wondered.

"No," she sat down on the bed. "I won't."

"Good," Claire smiled.

Mac touched her daughter's cheek. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I like having grandma and grandpa here," Claire admitted.

"I like having them here too," Mac hugged her daughter. "Good night beautiful."

"Good night, Mom. I love you," Claire hugged her mother close.

"I love you too," Mac kissed Claire's head and stood. "Sweet dreams."

After saying good night to Nathan, she walked downstairs and slumped down on the couch by her husband's side.

"Long day?" Trish wondered.

"Yes," Mac smiled. "I'll be back on the judiciary tomorrow."

"Well, we are enjoying our time with the kids," Trish smiled. "I was wondering about summer vacation. Frank and I would like to have the kids come stay with us after school's finished, for a couple of weeks maybe?"

"They will like that," Mac looked at her husband. "What do you think?"

"It would be a huge help," Harm pointed out. "They have a few weeks before they start their summer activities, and we don't have any leave until July."

"Then that's settled," Frank smiled.

"What about Mattie? Do you think she'd want to come too?" Trish wondered.

"You'll have to ask her about her schedule. She's been so busy she's hardly had time to talk to us," Harm let out a sigh. "She's pushing herself too hard."

"I'll give her a call tomorrow," Frank suggested. "Invite her, for at least a week. She needs some downtime too."

"She really does," Mac agreed.

Later

Harm finished brushing his teeth and put his toothbrush away. He looked in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair. He'd better get an appointment to have his hair cut, it was getting longer than what was appropriate for an Admiral. He let out a sigh as he noticed that his dark hair was a lot greyer by the ears than he remembered. He was comfortable with his age though, feeling strong and fit.

"I better make an appointment to get my hair cut," he smiled as he exited the bathroom and walked over to the bed.

Mac looked up from her book and smiled. "Yeah, I noticed that it was getting long," she chuckled. "It's cute though."

"Should Admiral's look cute?" he questioned as he slumped down on the bed and let out a sigh. "So, SecNav approached me with something today."

"Yeah?" Mac was already back to reading and was only half listening.

"There's a reporter from The Post that has been after me, wanting to follow me around for two days. I said no," he hesitated. "Are you listening?"

She nodded. "Yup."

"Anyway, SecNav suggested that I do it, so apparently, I'm doing it anyway," he noticed that her focus was fully on him now. "He thinks it'll be good publicity, for the Navy and for me."

"Okay," she didn't look so sure. "But it's only at work, right?"

"Well," he let it hang.

"Harm?" she turned to him. "You are not bringing a reporter into my home."

"It won't be a lot," he reasoned. "I've already said yes. We knew that taking this position means more publicity. She just wants to interview us about our life and my work of course."

She let out a sigh. "So, when is this happening?"

"Tomorrow and Friday," Harm smiled. "It'll be fine."

Her look said everything. "No, it won't."

"Babe," he reached for her hand.

"I don't want the kids all over the news, Harm," she warned.

"They won't be, I promise," he tugged on her hand. "She will just talk to you and me."

Mac let out a sigh. "You'll owe me."

He flashed her a sexy smile. "Take off that sleep tee and I'll make sure you know just how much I appreciate it."

She rolled her eyes. "Men."

"What?" he smirked. "It'll be good for you too."

The next morning

At 0700 the doorbell rang, and Nathan ran to open. He walked back into the kitchen followed by a young woman, her long dark hair in a pony tail, jeans and a colorful top, she carried a bag over one shoulder.

"Miss Pillsbury is a reporter," Nathan said and hesitated. "Am I allowed to let her in?"

"It's fine, Nathan," Harm stood and offered his hand. "Ma'am."

"Admiral, I'm so glad we could do this," Miss Pillsbury smiled sweetly.

"I'm sure you are," Harm looked hesitant. "We have to set some rules though," he turned to Mac. "My wife…"

"Yes, Colonel, nice to see you again," Miss Pillsbury offered her hand. "I won't be in the way, you get to approve everything I write before I publish the article, and I won't talk to your children."

"That sounds fair," Mac shook her hand. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure," Miss Pillsbury smiled.

Later

Harm got into the car and waited for Miss Pillsbury to follow. His driver drove off.

"So, do you always work this well with SecNav?" Miss Pillsbury asked.

"I haven't run into any problems yet," Harm smirked.

"You do have a reputation for pushing the rules a bit, doing things first and asking for permission later. Has that changed since you became the JAG?" she wondered.

Harm chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't have been where I am today if I didn't follow the rules, would I?"

Miss Pillsbury smiled. "Do you always answer a question with a question?"

Harm laughed softly. "I have gotten that question before."

"I bet you have," she looked down on her paper. "So, let's talk about your past. You got to keep your flight status while on active duty in the JAG Corps, why did you choose to do that?"

"I wanted to fly," Harm shrugged.

"But you gave it up when you got your first command. Why?" Miss Pillsbury scribbled something down on her paper.

"Not right away," Harm reminded her.

She checked her notes. "You gave up your flight status in October 2005."

"I did," Harm smiled. "We were expecting a baby by then."

"So, the baby made you decide to give up your true love?" she inquired.

"It had been on my mind ever since I said I do," Harm admitted. "When we got pregnant I didn't have to give it any more thought. It was time to focus on my command and my family. I guess I finally could let it go. It's not something that I can explain, but it felt right. I haven't regretted it."

"It's okay to say that you found something you loved more than flying," Miss Pillsbury smiled. "It's quite the love story."

Harm was surprised. "I didn't take you for a romantic?"

"I guess it's the one thing every woman wants," she scribbled something down before her eyes met his. "A man who would give up anything to be with them. The Colonel followed you to Russia, you followed her to Paraguay. It's a pretty sweet love story."

Harm nodded, a sweet smile on his face. "I guess. You've done your research," he added.

"I never show up unprepared," she smirked. "So Admiral, is it true that you and the Colonel flipped a coin to see who was resigning their commission to follow the other?"

Harm hesitated. "I will neither confirm or deny that, but I admit that I'd do anything for us to be together. Now,how about we focus on my work and not my personal life?"

Miss Pillsbury nodded. "Fine, but I was hoping to make this a personal interview, Admiral."

"I don't want my personal life all over the paper," Harm said firmly. "I'll give you some things and you back off when I say so, right?"

"Sounds fair to me, Admiral," Miss Pillsbury smirked. "Was it always your dream to one day become the JAG?"

Harm chuckled. "Not really," he admitted. "I'm proud to be the JAG, but ten years ago I never would have guessed that it would happen to me."

Miss Pillsbury continued her inquiry into his work and personal life during the ride. Harm decided that it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined.