Author's Note:
It has been funny to hear what people have had to say about this fic because it isn't normally my style. I like the Harm/Mac relationship tied up all pretty with a tiffanys blue box and a bow, but this challenge posed to me has been soooo much fun to write. The pay off will happen, but like in real life, we have to get through all the craziness with little payoffs to reap the true rewards! Enjoy this installment, and review if you would like!
In the morning, he wakes first, taking some time to just watch her sleep. Her hair is in her face and there are a few stray wisps of it that move with her breath. Her breath is slow and steady and he watches her eyes flutter in dreaming under her lids. The soft curve of her shoulder peeks out at him from under the covers and he leans to place a kiss just there before leaning in to memorize the scent of her hair under his nose. She was finally going to be his… and forever. This was a realization that he had still not made until this morning when he woke with her in his arms. They were going to actually get married, live together, be with each other… all these things that he had wanted for years but never knew could happen.
When she wakes up, she lets out a long yawn as she stretches out against him, almost pulling back when she notices that there is a body pressed against hers.
"Long night?" he asks from his vantage point above her head.
She looks up with a smile and relaxes again as she leans up to place a small kiss on his chin, "a good night actually… I don't think that I've slept like that in a long time."
"I didn't crowd you in your sleep?" he asks with a laugh as he still has his arms wrapped around her.
"It was perfect…"
"So, let's talk about the plan of the day. I say we get up and go for a run before some breakfast. Then we can run to the jeweler that I want to take you too and I can show you the ring I picked out, and maybe we can go to my –"
"You already picked a ring out?" she asks, arching her neck up to look at him.
He flushes instantly, "No… I ummm… yes, but I don't know if they still have it."
"When did you pick this ring out?" she asks with a raised brow in his direction.
"After the Dining Out."
"After I told you I couldn't be with you?"
"We've told each other that before Mac, and look where we are now. This time, I really was ready, and I felt like I've been the one who's been putting the most brakes on all these years."
"So you thought it would just be a matter of time then, huh?"
"I hoped that we would be on the same page in the near future."
"Hmm… go on with our day…" she says, leaning back down to rest her head on his chest again.
"Then I thought that we could go to my friend. He's a realtor and I know that he's got connections around the country. We can look into houses near the base and maybe he can find somewhere for us to rent until we find something that we really like."
"What about staying on base?"
"We could do that, but since we aren't married, you won't have any of the privileges. You would be considered a visitor."
"I've been thinking about that, and I think I'm going to call the General this morning. I'm wondering if he already put my paperwork in or not. If he hasn't, I have leave on the books, and I know I can only take 30 at a time, but what if I took them starting now? Then I'd still be in the military and we can sort everything out until then. After I 'came back' we could put my papers in."
"We'll be in the same situation in 30 days then."
"But we'll at least be able to take that time to look for a place off base that we both like, and maybe we'll be closer to thinking about getting married." She says, trailing off at the last part.
"So 48 hours is too short, but maybe 30 days might work?"
"It might."
"You see if it's possible while I take a shower. Then we can still at least go to my friend and have him start looking at some houses while we are in limbo. And then we can get a ring on that finger."
"It's a plan."
The movers called Mac around one o'clock and fully believed her when she said that someone had already come to get everything from her apartment. The General had agreed to process her leave paperwork and chalked it up to her not knowing if she really wanted to retire or not, which was perfect because he hadn't put the paperwork through yet anyway.
Now they were in the middle of a store covered in silver and gold and all things shiny, waiting for a woman to come back with something that Harm described to her in whispered conversation a few feet away.
"Was this what you were looking for?" she asks, and his eyes smile.
"May I?" he asks the woman before grabbing the ring from its resting place on the black velvet.
"Certainly."
When he holds up the ring, she understands why it was absolutely perfect, with a larger set diamond in the center, flanked by a small diamond, an emerald, a sapphire, and another diamond on each side.
"Where did you find this?" Mac asks, totally amazed how beautiful and elegant the ring was.
"I saw something similar somewhere on the internet, and then called around. This place was the only that carried something like it… what do you think?"
"I think it is the perfect representation of the two of us… your navy blue and my marine green."
"Maybe you'll have April babies someday. Then the diamonds would serve their purpose." The older saleswoman says as she watches the couple with a smile.
Harm worried for a split second that maybe the woman's comment hurt Mac in some way, but when she looked up, her eyes were shining at him and she had a slight blush to her cheeks.
"Yeah, maybe someday." She says with a smile.
"Is this it?" he asks, looking at her admire the ring.
She nods in response and watches as he gets down on one knee in front of her and smiles when she hears the gasp of another saleswoman across the small store.
"Then, Sarah MacKenzie… you are the one that I know I want to spend the rest of my life with. I know that we have a long and bumpy road ahead of us, but I know that the long and bumpy road behind us has set us up to have a beautiful life together. Will you put aside your Jarhead ways and marry me?"
"I sure will, Sailor." She says and he places the ring on her finger, thanking the powers that be, that the ring actually fits. She thinks to herself that it is never coming off her finger as long as she lives as she lets him pull her in for an obnoxious display of affection in the middle of the jewelry store.
After dealing with payment and making sure that the ring did in fact fit properly, the two were off for the rest of their day.
"So, it's official now, you know." He says, picking up her hand to examine the ring's resting place.
"It is."
"And how do you feel?"
"Fantastic, you?"
"I could walk on water." He says with that flyboy smile that always made butterflies appear in her stomach.
"Where is your friend's office?" she asks as they walk down the sidewalk in front of the line of shops.
"It's down Parker a bit."
"You want to walk? It's nice out, and that's just a few city blocks up." She suggests, pointing in the direction of their destination.
"We can walk." He answers, putting his right hand out for her to put hers into as they start walking down the sidewalk like an ordinary couple strolling in the middle of the day.
He picks up their joined hands after a moment, noticing the sparkle of the gems in the sunlight before smiling at her, "Do you really like it?"
"It's perfect. You know, I was married once before and engaged again… but my hand feels lightest with this ring on it."
"I guess that's a good thing?" he asks, only sort of understanding what she meant by the statement.
"Chris and I were a means to an end because it meant that I could leave my dad and never look back. Mic was… well… he loved me, and at the time that was what I wanted. I didn't care that I didn't love him back the same way. I thought I was doing the right thing by wearing his ring."
"You had in on your right hand for some time."
"I wasn't ready. I wasn't even ready when I switched it over to the left, but I did it anyway."
"Hmmm…" Harm adds, just looking ahead and thinking about the past that they had both together and apart for so many years.
"I have an idea though… we are going to stop talking about the past today. We are going to look forward to the future we're working towards. So… only talk about what is to come."
"Actually, we should have an idea of what kind of house we want before we get to his office, shouldn't we?"
"You're probably right."
"Okay… how many bedrooms?"
"I uh… I… Why don't you—" she starts to pass the thought onto him but he turns it back around.
"Mac, I already told you what I wanted. I want you. If you want more than that, then I want that too. If you don't, then we get a small two bedroom so we've got room for an office or a guest room. If you need more time to think about the idea of starting a family, I'm okay with that. If you've already made a decision, I'm okay with that too." He says, turning towards her as he says it so she can see the sincerity in his eyes.
"I want kids. I don't know how I want to go about getting said children, but I want kids… I want us to have a family." She says, seemingly in one breath.
"You're sure?"
"I never thought that I would. The way I was raised was something I worried I would pass on if I had children of my own. That's all different now, though. I feel like I want to try, I'm ready to try for that."
"How big of a family are we talking?" he asks, with a small hitch to his voice as a reaction to how sure she sounded.
She smiles then, knowing that he might be okay with it, but the idea scares the crap out of him, "Two or three kids?"
"Reasonable." He replies with a shrug.
"How many do you want?"
"Mac, I would keep having babies with you as long as I could."
She laughs, "Harm, you and I are both only children, so I don't know where these big families are coming from."
"Maybe I always wanted a little brother and sister to play with when I was growing up… I just… I know that you and I will be amazing parents, and any kid is more than lucky to get us in the draw. We did say a little boy with your looks and my brains or a little girl with my looks and your brains. We can certainly try for both outcomes. So, I'm fine with your idea, but open to more."
"You remember that conversation?"
"Every word."
She regards him for a minute before continuing, "So we want a place with at least four bedrooms? That way we would have at least two for kids and one for an office and guest room."
"Okay, and what about a backyard or porch or anything like that."
"From what I understand, Illinois winters can be kind of rough."
"No worse than D.C."
"True… I think I would like a house that has a fenced in back yard. Once we get settled, I really want to get another dog. Jingo was such a good companion."
"I wouldn't mind getting a dog right away. I've always wanted a retriever to take running with me."
"As far as porches and things like that, I think we'll have to look. I know that houses have that here on the east coast, but I'm pretty sure that wraparound porches aren't the norm in the Midwest. I've always wanted a porch surrounding my house… somewhere to sit during the summers and read or watch kids play in the yard."
"You're probably right about them being a rarity, but we will find it. Do you have any other requirements?"
"A big bathtub."
"Oh, that's right… you do like to have a tub to relax in."
"Relax in, read in… enjoy company in." she says, dropping her tone at the last comment and placing her whisper a little too close to his ear.
"Oh really?"
"Most definitely."
He stops for a minute, looking at her as they continue their walk, "I'll make sure that it's big enough for two then."
"What else should we consider?"
"Honestly, I don't know, when I was searching for my apartment, I was looking for some place that I could make my own."
"And with my place, I just needed somewhere to live. I've never really been particular about stuff like that."
"We've got to be thinking about the future though… you said it. This is going to be somewhere we'll be for a long time." He says.
"Then I say we give him the bedroom specifications and the fact that we want a big backyard, and see what he can find close to the base."
"Agreed."
Harm's friend Pat was more than willing to look in the listings for them and also got in contact with someone who he knew in the North Suburbs of Chicago that would dig some things up for them as well. It was only a matter of time before everything was going to get pushed around. The next day, they were coming for Harm's things, with which was all of Mac's things as well. Then the couple agreed that they would drive Harm's Lexus to Illinois Wednesday and leave his Corvette in storage in D.C. until they found a house. Mac's Corvette was a car they agreed wasn't practical for either of them to keep, so she left it in the very capable hands of Harriet Roberts to sell for them. That way, when it sold, they would get a check that would cover enough of a new car to not have to worry about saving much.
The road trip felt like any other road trip they took on assignment, until the first night when they stopped in Michigan to stay the evening and only had to book one room for the two of them.
"That was a long drive in one day." Harm said, sitting down on the bed and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
"You said that you wanted to get as far as possible. I don't know why, but I'm glad that we only have about five or so more hours until we get to the base." She says, moving behind him to knead the muscles of his shoulders.
"Are you planning on doing this when we're married, because if you are…maybe we should get married tomorrow."
"I'll still do it when we get married… you'll just get the added benefit of sex when I'm done then." She replies, leaning down to bite his ear, teasing him like she had been doing for the past few days, before resuming her position at his back.
When he flips the two of them around and she is under him on the bed, her eyes widen in surprise, "Clearly, I'm out of practice with my take downs, because you got the drop on me." She laughs.
Then he leans down to place kisses all along her collarbone, moving up her neck and around her jaw before letting his lips meet hers. It was a tangled mess of lips and tongues and sighs, but a much needed stress reliever after the long day of driving. When he starts trailing his hands up her side, he can feel her breath starting to escalate. Then, as quickly as he started it, he stops.
"Wha… what are you doing?" she says under heavy lidded eyes, and leaning up to watch him move over and lean up against the headboard and pick up the tv remote.
"I thought that I would pay you back for that teasing remark and all the little comments you've been making since Monday."
"Well that's not fair." She says, crossing her arms over her chest like a child.
"All's fair in love and war." He comments with a shrug of his shoulder.
She hits him with a pillow before climbing off the bed to perform her nightly ritual.
When she catches him watching her out of the corner of her eye, she has to ask, "Are you okay over there?"
"Yeah, I'm just watching you."
"I'm aware of that, why?"
"This is all just new… I… I don't want to miss something."
"Harm, I'm taking off my makeup and putting my hair in a ponytail. It's hardly something you've never seen before."
He thinks about it for a minute, why it's different, when it hits him that he hasn't had a girlfriend that ever did this in front of him. They always retreated to the bathroom to not be seen for twenty minutes or so and he swears that they would come out with makeup still on their faces and smelling like a fresh round of perfume graced their skin.
"I've never had this before. It just seems so normal, and I like that you aren't hiding it from me."
"Why would I hide from you?"
"Come on, Mac. How many men have you let see you without your makeup or your hair done or… just as Sarah MacKenzie… normal woman and not kick ass Marine?"
"It's just different with you," she says after a minute. "You've seen me in the middle of a war zone before, you've bandaged my wounds… what would be the point of hiding from you now?"
"I know, I just love that you do it. Every night, I know that before you go to bed, you have this ritual. It's just… refreshing."
"Harm…"
"Mac, you and I have had to deal with so many things that were not what normal people have to deal with. We've ejected out of a jet being shot down, we've traveled across the desert together, we've bunked in a submarine together… It's just nice to know that we can have normal too."
"I get that… I just don't think that I've ever had someone watch me get ready for bed before."
"I don't know why… you're beautiful."
"When the Mac mask comes off, you still think I'm beautiful?"
He stands up then, walking up behind her so they can see both their reflections in the mirror.
First he places a finger on her chin, "You have this tiny mole on your chin that I never noticed before, and then there's a slight scar right here," he glides his finger up to her eyebrow.
"Chicken Pox when I was 8."
Moving his finger, he touches the tip of her nose, "and even though you have this beautiful olive skin, you still manage to have a few freckles right here. And I love your eyes… these gorgeous brown eyes… they don't need anything to enhance them or cover them up. Then there's your hair… longer than it has been in years." He says, running his fingers through it, "but I like it, and I love when you toss it up the way you do and I can just see this carefree side to you that no one else gets to see."
"You see all of that in my evening ritual?" She asks quietly… not wanting to break the spell he seemed to have over her with their locked eyes.
He just nods and she turns to kiss him for the second time that evening. This time… they don't stop.