Mac's Apartment
San Diego

He felt Mac stiffen a bit at his words. There was silence. Harm waited for her to say something.

"Come back with you?" She asked him softly, her tone more than a bit incredulous at his offer.

"Yes." He said simply, hugging her a bit tighter to him. His need to hold on to her suddenly becoming more vital than drawing his next breath.

She tried to move out from under the weight of his arm, but Harm wouldn't let go. "Harm…let me up." She said, making no attempt to hide her frustration.

"Why?" He responded. "Because you can ask me to go with a clearer conscience if you aren't lying in my arms at the time?"

"Go to hell."

Harm chuckled. "One minute you are asking me to touch you and the next you are expecting me to believe you don't even want me in the same room with you? That's rich, Mac."

She struggled under his arm a bit, trying to get up.

"It's one thing to be like this with you here...when I can at times pretend that she isn't at home waiting for you to go back to her. It's another to leave a place that I actually happen to like to go back for a man with a family that doesn't happen to include me."

"It doesn't have to be that way, Mac."

"No? What then?! You set an extra place for me at the table? Kim and I get to be great friends and I babysit when you guys need a night out? Perhaps you can secure a guest bedroom for me as well."

Harm released her from his grasp. He had heard enough. She was up out of bed in an instant, wrapping her arms around herself and unable to keep herself from shaking.

Harm sat up, swinging his legs over the side and resting his elbows on his knees. His back was now to her.

"What do you want from me? Do you honestly believe I love her?"

"I don't know what to believe, Harm. She is the woman carrying your child. Do you honestly believe you don't?"

"Mac, we don't even sleep in the same room."

"Hmm." She hugged herself, tighter. Her lips set in a firm line.

"She has tried to pursue things between us...I have made it clear to her that that is not what I want. A few weeks ago she had been in pain. I guess the baby had been particularly active that day...she wanted me to sleep with her. She was needy and I felt guilty. I was alone and withdrawn...attempting to come to grips with the idea that I may never see you or speak to you again."

"So you did?"

"Yes."

Mac felt her head drop at his words. "I'm not sure why that hurts so much to know."

"I'm not proud of it... However, it reaffirmed the fact that there was nothing between us. My love for her exists only in that she is carrying our child. I just kept thinking of you..."

"Don't." Mac teared up. "I don't want to know that."

"We talked about it...she thanked me for being there for her and apologized for putting me in that position. I told her it was a mistake...that I didn't care for her in that way. I told her I was in love with someone else."

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Kim's Residence
DC

Harriet felt a bit out of place as she parked in the driveway at Kim's house. She had promised Harm that she would check in with her and had prepared a casserole as a sort of icebreaker.

She had thought it quite odd that there was a red ford truck parked there as well in addition to the Lexus Harriet knew to be hers from her many visits to JAG HQ.

Harriet went around to the backseat and got the casserole, carefully carrying it up the walkway and to the door. She knocked. No answer.

The casserole was starting to become quite heavy. She knocked again, this time with a little more insistence.

No answer.

Harriet noticed that the door was slightly ajar. She let herself in, feeling a bit wrong but needing to set the casserole down and beginning to be concerned as to why she had not answered.

It was then that she heard the voices.

"I can't believe this Kim! I want a paternity test! There is no way in hell that you can be sure this isn't my baby. No way in hell."

"Calm down, Jason. I told you. It's not yours."

"I can't believe I had to find out from my sister that you were pregnant. If she hadn't have seen you out the other day I might have never known...how could you keep this from me, Kim?"

"There was no need for you to know."

"When was the baby conceived? Because we slept together the night you left me and that wasn't so long ago!"

"Jason, get out! You better be glad the baby's father isn't here right now."

"I want to meet him! We need to talk. I love you, damnit. You know what? I think you aren't sure. You want it to be this guy's --whoever he is, because I hurt you. You aren't sure it's his."

Harriet stood frozen in the doorway. Her eyes wide with shock at the information as she quietly stepped back out onto the porch, turned and walked back to the car.

She needed to process this.

TBC.........