Author's Note: Here I am again... working on more fanfic. This is a chapter that was already written, but apparently I hadn't posted it for you all to see. Enjoy! Review if you would like!
"Okay, how do we go about this?" Mac asks after getting in the car with what were essentially her two best friends, female at least.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how do we go about getting a wedding dress for a woman who is my age and technically already married to the man she is wearing it for?"
"We just go!" Jenna says from the back seat laughing at Mac.
"You know what, Jenna… you should actually be driving. I still don't know my way around."
The two trade places, leaving Mac in the back and Harriet and Jenna up front.
"Leave it to me and I will take you wherever you need to go to get the perfect wedding dress."
An hour later, the two friends are waiting for Mac to come out in the millionth dress she tried on. Who knew that the no nonsense Marine was so particular about dresses? This one seemed to be what she wanted though, a long ivory colored A-line gown that came out just slightly, with a modest but beautiful neckline and lace cap sleeves. It was on the mannequin in the front of the store and it seemed that every time Mac tried on a dress, Jenna or Harriet caught her glimpsing at the dress in the window. It was finally Harriet that went up to the woman and asked her if she could try it on.
When she came out of the fitting room, she blew her bangs out of her face in annoyance because she was sure that the girls' mouth dropped open because she looked hideous.
She turned quickly, "Fine, I'll take it off!" she says with a laugh.
"Oh my God, no! Don't take it off. You need to see yourself!" Jenna screams, running over to her friend and pulling her toward the pedestal.
"You look amazing." Harriet says, remembering the last time she was here with Mac.
When she actually took a moment to look at herself, she finally got that feeling. The feeling she never got when she saw herself with the dress she would marry Mic Brumby in. The feeling that every bit of this moment and this man were perfect. Forget the fact that she had already married him… in her eyes she saw that she was finally happy. Like really happy. It was perfect.
"This is it." She says with finality and the girls smiled at her side.
"Harm is going to flip when he sees you in this. In fact, since we've found the perfect dress, we really need to find the perfect thing to go under it for the evening."
"Guys, you forget that Harm and I are already married. We don't need a wedding night… we didn't even wait 'til our real wedding night. In fact when we come home that night, we come home to a house with our friends, my little sister, and our former C.O. No need." She insists with a laugh.
"Actually, that's not true…. You aren't coming home. We are staying to keep Chloe company that evening and the next day. The Admiral will be there as well, and we splurged to get you a honeymoon suite downtown… complete with a limo to get you there." Jenna says simply before adding, "so lets go to Westfield, because I'm sure that there is a Victoria's Secret there that will have what we are looking for.
"You didn't." Mac says, more of a question than a statement really.
"Actually… the whole evening is a gift from all of us. Harm's parents, Jenna and Matt, me and Bud, everyone at JAG. It's the wedding gift we never got to give you. There's more to it, but that we will not reveal."
"Seriously?"
"I know that Jenna hasn't known the two of you very long, but Bud and I have known you for quite some time now. You helped us through plenty in our marriage and everything else. You were there with Sarah, when Bud lost his leg, you were there for the wedding… Frankly, I've been waiting for you two to get it together so we could repay you in some way. This is it."
Mac turns to look at herself again in the mirror, again realizing that for some reason this was perfect. This was the life she had been meant for.
On the golf course, the boys were having their own set of conversations.
"Then there was this one time when the Commander and the Colonel almost hit a goat and they ended up in a mine field. He almost got blown up, but the Colonel decided to try something she saw on the movies to get him out of the way."
"Something she saw out of a movie? And you are the people defending our country?"
"Hey, you used to be a Navy man yourself there buddy. You can't say that it wasn't a great ride." Harm says, elbowing Matt as they walk to the next hole.
Harm had originally insisted that they get a cart so Bud didn't have to walk as much, but Bud just reminded him that he had come a long way.
"So you and Harriet have known Harm and Mac for a long time… Jenna always says that their story is one for the books. Aside from all the crazy military antics, what are your thoughts?" Matt asks, curious to know a little more about the couple that he and his wife were getting to know.
"I was there when they first met and I knew something was bound to happen. As the years went on, I think with Harriet's influence, I realized that they definitely were perfect for each other. I think that we were all pretty shocked but still totally not surprised when he proposed the night he was promoted. I remember sitting around that table when they handed out their new assignments and thinking about what would become of the dynamic duo. I ran home to Harriet and she told me that maybe this was the push they needed. I think that it wasn't long after that we got the call." Bud said, looking at Harm with a smile when he was finished telling the tale.
"Well, I'm sorry that the two of you had to lose a pair of good friends, but I have to say that Jenna and I are glad that we get to have them." Matt says, smiling as he grabs a tee from his bag and sets up his drive at the next hole.
Harm and Bud stay behind, watching him set his shot and enjoying the fresh air.
"This was a good plan today, sir." Bud says, and Harm scowls at him in response.
"Bud, are you never going to get over that?"
"I probably won't."
"Well, one can hope, right?"
"I don't think I'll ever get over it… That's all I've known you as for 10 years, so I can't help myself."
"Can you help yourself enough to be the best man at my vow renewals on Saturday?"
"That I can do." Bud says with a big grin on his face, "you know, it's actually kind of funny… I was supposed to be Commander Brumby's best man when he was supposed to marry the Colonel, so I guess it is fitting that I'm yours."
It took him all of two seconds to realize what he said after he said it out loud, and his eyes go wide as he looks over at Harm.
"Who's Commander Brumby?" Matt asks innocently.
"Uh… I…" Bud stammers, and Harm laughs in his general direction.
"Sarah's ex-fiance. We will just say that I couldn't stand him and the best thing she ever did was not marry him." Harm states simply, moving aside to set up his first shot for this hole.
"Talk to me Mr. Roberts…" Matt says, already realizing that Bud was a wealth of information where Harm and Mac were concerned. He also quickly realized that he liked to spread the wealth a bit.
"Commander Brumby came to JAG as an exchange officer from Australia. He and the Colonel… Mac… hit it off, much to the Commander… Harm's… dislike. Brumby was kind of full of himself, but he was a nice guy. The night of their wedding rehearsal, the Commander ejected over the Atlantic Ocean and we lost him for a while. The Colonel was very upset, as we all were, and decided to postpone the wedding. I think Commander Brumby realized after that, that she wasn't going to marry him. We all kind of thought it for a while. Even if they were never really together, the only people for them was each other." Bud says, watching Harm at the tee, while trying to summarize Mac's relationship with Brumby.
When Harm walks back over, Bud can't help himself, "I'm sorry sir, I didn't think before what I said."
"Bud, we all lived it. Mac ended up with me and I know that she loves me. We've talked though a lot of what happened with Brumby. We even brought up Australia."
"When the two of you broke my jaw fighting over Colonel MacKenzie?"
They both turn at the sound of Matt laughing off the side, "Seriously, I'm pretty sure that the two of you could be a soap opera."
Later that evening when they settle in after dinner, the three couples are talking around the table munching on some dessert that Jenna brought over for the evening.
"I'm glad that you guys could join us this evening. It has been fun getting to know you." Harriet says, turning to Jenna with a smile.
"You guys think it has been fun for you?! It has been quite the enlightening experience for us! We knew some of the stories, but the two of you confirming some of them and letting us in on more of the drama has made for quite an entertaining day!" Jenna says with a laugh, looking to Matt as he nods in agreement.
"You know, you would think that we were just the entertainment at JAG from the way you guys talk." Mac says, laughing along with her new friend.
"Oh, you two were the entertainment at JAG. Are you kidding me? I think that even the Admiral was waiting for you guys to either kill each other or rip your clothes of in the middle of the bullpen."
"He was NOT!" Harm says with wide eyes, which makes Mac laugh even more.
"I think that the Admiral had a soft spot for the two of you. I bet that he knew that this was going to happen long before we ever did. Didn't he say something before that first case… when you guys met in the Rose Garden and you shook hands… shoot… what did he say?" Bud asks, trying to recollect the memory.
"Don't get too close, you'll be working together." Harm and Mac say at the same time.
"You didn't listen to a single word he said that day. I think by a few weeks later, you guys were already on the way to what you are now." Bud says with a grin.
"Well, that may be the case, but it was still a very rocky road, and we are still trying to get our footing." Harm says with a fond smile.
"I admit that it is a little weird to think of the two of you married. We were so used to stepping on egg shells around you that when you went all in we were ecstatic." Harriet admits, recalling all the times that the two of them were fighting, or when either of them was in a different relationship.
"Now that we're here though, I don't think that either of us realized how perfect it was going to be. We've had our rocky moments already, but when I really think about it, I know that even if we weren't married, we would have been by each other's side regardless." Mac says, honestly believing every word she said.
"That's why it may be a little weird, but at the same time, it's the most natural thing in the world." Harriet says, smiling.