One week later

Mac finished the article about her husband and put the paper down. She had left early that morning to go to Norfolk presiding over an Article 32 hearing and hadn't had the time to read it before now. The article was nicely written, giving the right impression of her husband. It was a nice read into the life of an interesting man. It also served to remind her just how different life would be with him as the JAG. He was high profile now and the media would follow closely his every move.

"Colonel."

She stood.

"As you were," Admiral Blankenship smiled. He was the highest-ranking judge, also her commanding officer. Newly appointed. "How did it go in Norfolk? Should be an easy case?"

"Good. I'm ready to rule on it tomorrow," she confirmed.

"The prosecution had a bad case to begin with so I'm assuming no Court Martial?" the Admiral assumed.

"That would be correct, sir," Mac agreed.

He motioned for the newspaper. "A good article."

"Yeah," she hesitated. "It just dawned on me what his new position means."

"More public than what you intended," the Admiral assumed.

"A little," she admitted.

"Harm is playing it well. A person stays too much out of the publics eyes, people starts to wonder what he's hiding. This way," he pointed to the newspaper. "He gives them just enough."

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed.

"Well, it's getting late. I have dinner waiting at home," he smiled. "Have a good night, Colonel."

"You too, sir," she watched him leave, then stood. She had to get going too.

Later that night

Mac noticed someone by the door and looked up. Harm was leaning towards the doorframe, studying her. He had put Matthew to bed and read to him while she took care of a few things in their home office.

"How long have you been standing there?" she wondered.

"A little while," he shrugged and pushed off the doorframe.

"Are the kids' asleep?" she wondered.

"Yeah," he walked over. "So, Colonel, you've been quiet."

"Really?" she hesitated. "I have?"

"Yes," he sat down in his chair. "Want to tell me what's up?"

"Just preoccupied with work," she smiled. "Sorry."

He nodded. "You haven't said anything about my article."

"I guess I haven't," she hesitated. "It was great. Very well written."

"You know what I think?" he moved his chair closer to hers. "I think it's dawning on you just what my new position means. For all of us."

She smiled. "Really? And how did you figure that out?"

"Just a hunch," he reached for her hand. "Are you regretting it?"

She hesitated. "No, you deserve to be the new JAG, Harm. I support you. I just don't want to be this high profile."

"It comes with the job. You knew that," he reminded her.

"I did, but it's just becoming more real. I just need some time to get used to it," she tugged on his hand. "Honestly, I'm really proud of you."

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

"Thanks for that," she smiled. "But you did all the work."

"We both did," he smiled. "It won't be like this all the time. I won't have a reporter following me around. It'll only be the usual reporters waiting on me as I leave JAG, or an interview here and there about an ongoing case and such."

"I know," she reassured.

"Okay, so let's go to bed," he smirked. "There's a few things I'd like to do."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? Like what?"

"You'll find out if you come with me," he stood and dragged her to her feet.

The next day

Harm finished delegating the last cases. The morning staff meeting was nearing an end, but before he let everyone get back to business as usual, he had a few things he wanted to say.

"Before I dismiss you, I wanted to say a few things. It's been busy since I took over this command and I owe you all my gratitude for doing outstanding work. I'm lucky to have such a hardworking and resourceful staff. Thank you all," he stood. "Dismissed."

He left the library and headed for the elevator. He had a pretty packed day ahead of him, but it was Friday and he was looking forward to spending some quality time with his family.

"Sir, Captain Russel is on line one," O'Neil handed him coffee and some files. "These needs your signature."

"Thanks, O'Neil," Harm took the files and headed for his office.

"Sir?"

He looked up. "What's up, Bud?"

"I just wanted to pick your brain," Bud admitted and motioned to come inside.

"Come on in," Harm stood. "I take it you're thinking about what to do with the McCoy Article 32?"

"Yes, sir. My client refuses to take the deal, even if all the evidence is against him. I was hoping you'd have some insight into the pilot mind," Bud was hopeful.

"Well," Harm motioned for the chairs in front of his desk. Bud sat down, then he sat down as well. "Up in the air you can't afford to back down from a fight."

"But he specifically shot at a target he wasn't supposed to. He had clear orders not to engage in anything unless he took enemy fire," Bud reasoned.

"He claimed to see something," Harm reasoned.

"He took out a civilian target, sir," Bud let out a sigh. "No one else saw anything to warrant them to return fire."

"I've done it myself," Harm hesitated. "When you're up there the mission comes first, when that's done the goal is to get back on deck, right? You take fire, you return fire and do your best to get out of there. Lieutenant McCoy has an exemplary record, he's not known as a risk taker. He flies aggressive, but he doesn't take any unnecessary risks. If he thought he saw something, he probably did."

"You think there was fire from the civilians killed?" Bud hesitated. "How do I prove that?"

"You probably don't have to, Bud. My advice is to put your client on the stand, let him tell his story. McCoy handles himself well, my bet is that he'll put everything into perspective. Maybe the Judge will send it to Court Martial, but the Lieutenant can handle it. Make sure you look at all the evidence again, Bud. Maybe you missed something. There were pictures taken from the place where the civilians were killed, right?"

"Yes, sir," Bud stood. "I'll take a second look. Thank you, sir."

"Any time," Harm smiled.

"Hey, sir," Bud hesitated. "Do you ever miss it? Flying?"

Harm chuckled. "Every single day, Bud."

Bud smiled. "Well, make sure you at least take your Steerman up once in a while. You've been working hard. You're doing a great job, sir. Just don't forget to take a break every now and then."

Harm nodded. "Thanks, Bud."

Bud stood at attention. "Sir."

Harm stood. "O'Neil?"

"Sir?" she stepped into his office.

"How's my schedule after lunch?" he wondered.

"It's light, sir. You have a phone conference with Captain Lee at 1400," O'Neil hesitated. "That's it, sir."

"Cancel it," Harm smiled. "I'm taking the rest of the day off after lunch."

O'Neil smiled. "Good for you, sir."

Later that day

The kids had been ecstatic when Harm picked them up at school. They drove out to the airfield and in turn they all got a flight. Harm wasn't sure who had the most fun, him or the kids.

"Can we go have ice cream, Daddy?" Matthew wondered as they were getting ino the car.

"Yeah, why not?" Harm chuckled.

"Cool, Dad," Nathan got into the car.

"Can you take every afternoon off like this, Dad?" Claire wondered.

"Nah, but I'll try to not forget what's important," Harm promised.

"What do you mean, Dad?" Nathan wondered.

"Well, sometimes I forget that what I really enjoy doing is being with you guys. You see, when you're an adult you have all this responsibility, and sometimes you get caught up in it and you forget that life is about more than work," Harm smiled. "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Dad," Nathan said.

"We really do, Dad," Claire agreed.

"Me too," Dad," Matthew crawled between the front seats to hug him.

Harm chuckled and hugged him. "Okay, buckle up, kids. Ice cream next."

Later that night

Harm whistled as he flipped burgers. He opened the oven and looked at the burger bread. It was all done. The day had been amazing, spending it with the kids. Mac had come home an hour earlier and was outside in the garden with the kids. He turned off the heat and went to look for them. When he stepped out on the porch he stopped and smiled by the sight in front of him. They were playing soccer, Matthew and Mac against Claire and Nathan. He got a flashback to life in London, when they'd be at the park with the Roberts and some local families they got to know while living there, playing soccer. It felt like time flew by as he remembered how young their kids' had been back then when they first started this amazing family.

"We win!" Matthew high fived his mom after she scored.

"We can still win," Nathan argued.

"It's dinnertime," Harm called.

Mac jogged over. "Did you see that, Rabb?"

"Very impressive, Colonel," he reached for her hand. "You're almost as good as that Beckham guy."

She nodded. "Yeah, almost. By the way didn't he retire?"

"I have no idea," he smiled and pulled her close.

The kids ran past them and Mac reminded them to wash their hands before dinner. "Burgers, huh?" she teased.

"Hey, every now and then we can have burgers," he kissed her softly. "I even made fries."

"You're going all junk food on me, Rabb," she poked his belly. "You'll get all chubby if you keep it up."

"Don't worry, I'll have us back on fish again tomorrow," he promised and moved in to kiss her again. "You're beautiful."

"Yeah?" she kissed him again.

He deepened the kiss, ran his hand through her hair and pulled back. "I'm a lucky man."

"I'm the lucky one," she smiled sweetly. "And hey, sorry about getting weird about the press thing. I was overreacting."

"You're just really overprotective when it comes to our babies," he cupped her cheek. "I love that about you."

"Our big babies," she pouted.

"They sure are growing up," he let out a sigh. "Today was a good day. And this weekend we're spending a lot of time together."

"Sounds amazing," she agreed. "It's the best part of life."

He nodded and tugged on her hand. "Agreed."

She followed him inside and they enjoyed a nice dinner making plans for the weekend.