Chapter 5

Monday, November 13, 2000

1200 EST

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, VA

Sam gasped.

Mac giggled.

Bud exclaimed, "Harriett!"

Harm just stood there stunned.

AJ scooped Harriett into his arms and said, "This is how it should be done, son. With me, Rabb."

Harm started to follow….."Bring the chair, Harm."

They were all surprised when AJ sat Harriett on the edge of her desk and sat down in the chair. He held out his hand, and simply said, "Shoe." Bud put it in his hand and AJ placed Harriett's foot on his knee and gently slid the shoe on, then he held out his hand for the other shoe.

As he was putting it on, Al appeared in the bullpen. He took in what was going on and came over to Sam. Peeking over his shoulder at the Admiral, "Oooh! My Prince…" Al purred sarcastically. "Well, now we know how the two of you die! Your husband kills you in a jealous rage!"

Sam glanced over his shoulder at Al and glared at him.

"There you are, Cinderella," AJ said, standing up and helping Sam off the desk.

"Ready for lunch now, sweetie?" Bud asked.

"Yes," Sam replied and the three of them left the bullpen. Al was tagging along.

The afternoon was a little easier on Sam since everyone was sympathetic of Harriett's swollen feet. People brought her coffee, and got their own files. Gunny came by and stole the files Sam was about to take to the filing cabinet, and the Admiral came out at 1700 exactly to send Harriett and Bud home.

Sam had been dreading this. Children could sometimes see Al when he appeared and if he did that at the wrong time it could be a big problem. To top that all off, Sam was not used to young children and had no idea how Harriett behaved with her son.

"Ready to go, Harriett?" her husband asked.

"Oh! Yes, sorry my mind was just on dinner," Sam replied.

"Why don't you let me grill something tonight and you just rest?" Bud suggested as they headed to the elevators.

"That would wonderful, Bud." Hanging back a bit when they left the building, Sam allowed Bud to lead the way to their vehicle. He approached a mini-van and opened the passenger door for Harriett.

"I know your feet hurt, sweetie, I'll run in and get AJ."

"Thank you, Bud." Sam was left alone in the van for a few minutes, a short time later Bud came out with a blonde toddler. Thinking quickly, Sam closed his eyes and tilted his head back on the headrest, pretending to be asleep, when they got into the van.

"AJ, let's be real quiet, okay? Mommy is sleeping."

"Okay, daddy," the toddler said as his father buckled him into his car seat.

When they arrived home, Bud gently shook Harriett's shoulder to wake her, "Honey, I'll bring AJ in. Why don't you go in and just put your feet up until I have dinner made?"

"I feel useless," Sam replied.

"Sweetie, you're doing something I could never do! You're carrying our child, and that is not useless!" Bud told her lovingly as he came around the van to open Harriett's door and help her out. When Sam was standing in front of him, Bud leaned over to kiss his wife tenderly on the lips.

"Wow! Sam, I didn't know you swung that way!" Al exclaimed, appearing next to them.

To be continued….