Friday

Mac said good night to Matthew and walked across the hall to Rose's room. Max was on the bed by her feet and Rose was reading a book for him. Mac noticed that Rose's reading had gotten a lot better since she came to live with them and she was happy to see that Rose read out loud to Max.

"Do you think you can sleep tonight?" she asked.

"Yes, I like this room," Rose said and smiled shyly. "You are really lucky to have this place too."

"It's a really nice place," Mac agreed. "We spend a lot of time here." She bent down and hugged Rose. "And now we're glad to share it with you," she patted Max's head. "And with Max."

"Thank you for letting Max move in with us," Rose smiled. "And me."

Mac sat down on the bed. "I'm happy we had the chance to get to know you, Rose, and that we were able to give you a home. You've become an important part of our family."

"And Max?" Rose asked.

Mac smiled. "And Max," she reached out and gave Rose a hug. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, Sarah," Rose said and snuggled down under the covers.

Mac stood and found an extra blanket from the chair by the bed. "It gets cold at night," she put it over Rose. "Just come knocking if you need something. We're going to bed in an hour or two, before that we're just downstairs."

Rose nodded.

Mac headed downstairs and heard Harm playing his guitar in the library. She headed for the living room and found Claire in front of the TV. Mac walked over and sat down beside her, taking the blanket covering her daughter's legs and putting half of it over her own legs. "I like this movie."

"I haven't seen this one before," Claire said and offered popcorn to her Mom.

Mac took some. "Thank you."

As the movie neared the end Harm joined them. "What are we watching?"

"Runaway bride," Mac said and smiled when he sat down beside her and put his arms around her.

"I see it ends in happily ever after this time as well," he kissed her head.

"Isn't that the point of a movie?" Claire asked. "It wouldn't be any point in watching if it ended in disaster."

"I guess you're right," Harm agreed.

Claire reached for her computer, that lay on the table, and stood. "I better go to bed."

"With your computer?" Mac asked teasingly.

"Just have some things to check," Claire smiled. "Thank God for Wi-Fi."

"Don't stay up all night. Remember, you're here to rest," Harm reminded her.

"Yes, sir," Claire said and reached for some papers laying on the table. "This is my English essay," she handed it to her mother.

"You got an A," Mac smiled proudly.

"I did. In the beginning I thought Miss. Flanders had lost her mind giving us such a tacky assignment, but when I started on it I kinda understood why she wanted us to write it." Claire smiled. "You should read it."

Mac nodded. "I will."

"Good night," Claire said and left them.

"Read it to me," Harm said.

"My hero," Mac started as she got comfortable in his arms. "When I first read the assignment, I thought that this would be an impossible task. I pictured a cheesy essay listing all the good deeds of someone feeding hungry babies in Africa, or someone trying to save the world from humanity. That is what most people see in a hero, someone going the extra mile to make the world a better place. I think so too, although I have recently realized that the reason why the world is sometimes such a horrible place is because not everyone has good people around them. Someone to encourage them to make good decisions, someone who does nothing but love them even when they have made bad decisions. I think that if every child who grew up had the safe and loving family that I have, the world would be an amazing place for everyone. That is why this essay will be about someone who loves me and who has thought me to believe in myself. Most importantly someone who has thought me that even when life is at its darkest there is a reason to keep going, because there is always a light in the end of the dark tunnel. The essay could just as well have been about either of my dad's, the one who died when I was five, or the one who decided to give my brother and me a home when we were all alone. This essay however, will be about my Mom. Not the one who left me when I was two and never came back because she did not want me, but the one who decided to love me even though I was not really hers. This is the woman that I aspire to become. I know my Mom did not grow up in a safe and loving home, like I do. I know she was scared when her Dad was drinking and angry and abusive. Even though she grew up like that it did not stop her from becoming the amazing person she is today."

Mac continued to read even though she had to wipe away tears along the way and her heart was swelling with love and awe. Claire had written about her accomplishments, but that the reason she looked so much up to her and wanted to be like her was because even though she was successful she always had so much love to give to the people around her.

"You would think that there came a time for love to empty, but it does not. Instead it grows and there is more love for even more people. We recently got a new family member, a new sister. Someone who was in real need of having loving people in her life, and in our family we all have a lot of love to give because we have learned from our Mom and Dad."

"Wow," Harm said when Mac finished reading.

"I don't have words," Mac said and wiped her eyes.

"She's right," Harm smiled.

"How did she know all those things about my career?" Mac wondered.

"Come to think about it, she has been asking me a lot about that lately," he looked thoughtful. "She never mentioned that this is what she was up to though."

"I'm a mess," Mac complained as she again wiped her eyes.

Harm smiled and cupped her face. "You are beautiful," he leaned in and kissed her softly.

"I better go talk to Claire," Mac hugged him close. "Save the spot for me," she requested as she started to stand.

"I always have a spot for you by my side," he smiled warmly.

Mac offered a loving smile, then went upstairs to see her daughter. She knocked on Claire's bedroom door. "Come in."

She opened the door and found Claire on her bed with her computer. "Honey, that was… How did you… When did you… I have no words!" Mac walked over and hugged her daughter close. "Thank you."

Claire smiled and put away her computer. "Mom, I think I'm the one who should be thankful. Anyway, I wasn't supposed to let you read it, but my teacher said that I should let you. I meant everything I wrote."

"Well," Mac cupped her face. "You are amazing, and I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom," Claire hugged her again. "And one day I'll grow up to be just like you."

Mac smiled and kissed her head. "Good night sweetie. And say hi to Tim for me."

Claire blushed. "How did you know that I was chatting with him?"

Mac stood. "I didn't until now."

"Very clever," Claire let out a sigh. "Mom, how do I do this? I mean, Tim is great, and he's become my best friend, but what if we get together and it doesn't work out?"

"It's a difficult question," Mac hesitated. "What does Tim say?"

"That he's not so sure moving beyond friendship is a good idea because he's afraid of losing me. We are young. I'm pretty sure that the guy I date now is not the guy I'll end up marrying," Claire reasoned.

"Probably not, but some people get together young and stay together forever," she pointed out.

"You got married young and that didn't last," Claire pointed out.

"Yeah, don't compare yourself to me," Mac sat back down. "When I met Chris, I was looking for someone to get me away from my Dad. I was so tired of having him talk me down every time he was drunk, and that was often. Chris was handsome, and older than me. He told me I was pretty, and he made me feel good. He wasn't good for me though, he had a temper and he was jealous. Half of the time I was scared of him, not because he ever hurt me, but when he was angry the scared little girl inside me appeared. I have good memories of our time together though. He made sure I went to school every day," Mac smiled by the memory. "And he was sweet and loving most of the time, and he made me feel like I was special. He went to jail and I finished High School. After Uncle Matt cleaned me up and got me into the Marines, I never looked back."

"Have you loved anyone like you love Dad?" Claire wondered.

Mac shook her head and she got a dreamy look on her face. "Never. He makes me crazy in all the right ways, even after eleven and a half years of marriage."

Claire smiled and let out a sigh. "I hope I get to feel that way sometime."

Mac reached for her hand. "I hope so too."

"Thank you for telling me this," Claire said.

"Any time," Mac hugged her. "Good night."

"Good night," Claire smiled and snuggled into her pillow.

Mac found her husband in the same spot as she left him, flipping through cannels. He smiled when she appeared and opened his arms as she sat down.

"Did you find anything to watch," she asked as she snuggled into his arms.

"Nah, and I'm too tired to engage in something now," he kissed her forehead, then rested his cheek on it. "This is life."

"This?" she questioned.

"Sitting like this, knowing that the kids are safe and happy, being together as a family," he smiled. "It's what it's all about."

"That's very deep, Harmon," she teased.

He chuckled and lifted his head to look at her. "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled and kissed him.