Friday January 13th

Mac paid and took the bag. She turned and found Rose waiting on her. The girl had been hesitant to say what clothes she liked to wear, but eventually she had started picking out what she liked.

"Next on our list is gym clothes, or you want to buy shoes first?" Mac asked.

"You decide," Rose said shyly.

Mac crouched down to her level. "You don't like shopping?"

"I never have before. Mom used to get the clothes our neighbors kids grew out of," Rose said hesitantly. "I've never had anyone buy me anything, except from grandma."

"Well, you need clothes, right?" Mac touched her cheek lightly.

Rose nodded. "Thank you."

Mac stood. "Come on, let's finish up and go have lunch with Harm. You get to see where we work too."

Mac opened the door and let Rose walk in before her.

"This is our office," Mac said as their assistant Nina walked up to them. "This is Nina."

"You must be Rose. Nice to meet you," Nina said. "Sarah, Mrs. Flynn have been calling for you."

"It's about the divorce settlement," Mac said.

"I told her you would be back on Monday and would call her then," Nina added.

"Great, thank you," Mac smiled.

She took Rose to the break room and found her husband, Bud, Harriet and Jenn. Harm stood to greet them. Hi," he kissed her softly. "Hi, Rose. How was shopping?"

"Okay," she said shyly.

"Rose, this is Bud. Harriet. And Jennifer," Mac introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you Rose," Harriet said.

"We look forward to getting to know you better," Jenn said.

Sensing that Rose was a bit overwhelmed Mac decided that eating in her office would be better. There was plenty of time later to get to know everyone. "We can go have lunch in my office."

Harm smiled. "What did you bring?"

"Chinese," Mac turned to the others. "I'll be back on Monday."

They went to Mac's office and had lunch. Harm tried to interact as much as possible with Rose, and the girl seemed to ease up a little around him.

"This was nice, but I have to get back to work," Harm stood. "I'll be home around 1700."

"Matthew has hockey tomorrow, we have to be there by 0900," Mac reminded him as she too stood.

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled and leaned in and kissed her. "See you later. Bye Rose."

"Bye," Rose said.

"Let's go home," Mac said.

After dinner that night Harm waited for the kids to leave the kitchen before he asked how it was going with Rose.

"She's quiet," Mac said with a shrug.

"What do you think about the nightmares she has?" he wondered.

"God knows what she has been through," Mac shrugged. "It could be related to her losing her Mom, or it's something else."

"Abuse?" Harm asked.

"I used to have bad nightmares when I was a little girl," she said hesitantly. "Her stepfather probably didn't wake up one day and decided to beat his girlfriend to death. He most likely had anger problems long before he became a killer. I'm not saying that he hurt Rose, but if he used to beat Anna I'm sure Rose was scared to be around him. The thing is Harm, I know exactly how she feels."

Harm pulled her in for a hug. "We better make sure she knows that she's safe with us."

Mac nodded against his shoulder and held him close. "She's in the right place."

Later that night after saying good night to Matthew and Rose, Harm found his wife on the couch with a book. He sat down beside her.

"Are we sure that Claire should be allowed to have Tim in her room with a closed door?"

Mac glanced over her book. "She's sixteen."

"So?" Harm questioned.

Mac smiled. "She's old enough to have some privacy."

"But…"

"Will you let it go," she said with laughter. "She's growing up and she doesn't want her parent's looking over her shoulder all the time."

Harm hesitated. "But she isn't… You know…"

"No, she isn't," Mac reassured. "Besides, Tim seems like a nice guy."

"I was a nice guy too when I was sixteen, doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about having sex," he said.

"She's a sensible girl, besides if she suddenly finds out that she's ready she's protected and she know all about how to avoid pregnancy and diseases. You just be glad that she isn't like me as a teenager," Mac said as she turned back to her book.

"How can you be so calm about this?" he wondered.

Mac chuckled. "Because we raised her to make good decisions. The point is that she must make her own decisions. At least we know her first time won't be in the back of a car after drinking all night. I trust her."

"I do too," he said after thinking about it.

"Good," she nudged his thigh with her foot.

"Do you think he knows about safe sex?" he asked.

Mac offered a resigned look. "His Mom is a nurse."

"That's right," he relaxed a little. "Okay, then."

Mac put the book down. "Relax, we did our job, now it's up to her to find her own way. She knows that we're here if she needs us."

He nodded. "I know," he moved over her. "You're right."

She smiled and ran her hand through his hair. "I love it when you say that."

He laughed softly and kissed her deeply. "Mmm, you taste good."

"I ate some strawberry candy," she admitted and giggled when he started kissing down her neck and found her ticklish place.

He moved his hands under her shirt and his moth found hers.

"Mom! Dad!

They broke apart and Harm sat up, while Mac straightened her shirt. "Hi, honey," Harm said.

"Seriously!" Claire walked past them with Tim behind her blushing, and disappeared out into the hallway.

Claire came back alone. "I can't believe you two," she said as she stormed past them.

"Good night," Harm said.

"I'll go talk to her," Mac patted Harm's thigh and smiled cleverly as she stood. "Meet me in the bedroom?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harm said and winked at her.

Mac knocked on Claire's door and waited for her to open.

"What?" Claire asked.

"Just wanted to make sure that you were fine," Mac said.

"I'm fine, but it's kinda embarrassing to have your parent's going at it on the couch," Claire's tone was annoyed.

"Well, we weren't exactly going at it, but I do see your point," Mac said and smiled. "It's normal for teenagers to be embarrassed by their parent's though."

"Tell me about it," Claire rolled her eyes and opened the door wide to let her Mom enter. "Mom, I think I really like Tim. He's so smart and funny."

Mac joined her daughter on the bed. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I guess. I just don't want any distractions. We were just supposed to be friends," Claire let out a sigh. "But tonight, we kissed."

Mac nodded. "Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"We haven't talked about it," Claire admitted. "I don't know if he likes me like that."

"Just ask him how he feels," Mac suggested just as they heard crying from Rose's room. "I better check on Rose."

"She's really scared, isn't she Mom?" Claire looked worried.

Mac hugged her daughter. "She is," she stood and headed for the door.

"It's a good thing that she has great parent's then," Claire said.

Mac turned and smiled. "Thanks sweetheart."

"Thank you," Claire said.

Mac hurried over to Rose's room and found the girl sitting up in bed crying. "Hi sweetheart."

"I got really scared," Rose said between sobs.

Mac sat down on the bed and took her hand. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"I just thought that Owen was here, and my Mom was in the kitchen making dinner, and then he was angry and…" Rose started sobbing and Mac pulled her into her arms.

"Shhhh, it was just a dream. No one will hurt you here. I promise you," Mac ran her hand up and down Rose's back and let her cry.

Once Rose calmed down Mac pulled back. "Rose, did Owen ever hurt you?"

Rose shook her head. "My Mom locked me into my room when he was angry," Rose wiped her eyes. "I heard my Mom cry and beg him to calm down."

"Did he hurt your Mom?" Mac asked.

Rose nodded. "I should have been stronger and helped her. Maybe she would still be here."

Mac's heart broke. "Oh, sweetheart, you couldn't have done anything to change what happened. You're just a little girl. It wasn't your responsibility."

Mac stayed with Rose until she fell asleep again, then she looked in on Matthew before she headed for the master bedroom. Harm was undressing for bed and turned when she walked in.

"Claire just had a strict conversation with me about keeping my hands to myself when in public places. She forgave me for embarrassing her though," he teased. He sobered up when he noticed his wife's expression. "Is everything okay with Rose?" he asked.

Mac hesitated, then nodded her head before tears ran down her face. "I…" she took a cleansing breath.

"Oh, honey," Harm walked over and gathered her in his arms. "Hey, it's okay, just let it out."