Last Man (And Woman) Standing

DECEMBER 31ST, 2010

2345 LOCAL
BURNETT RESIDENCE
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

Trish and Frank's house had been a zoo for the past two weeks, but in the best way possible. Harm and Mac had spent every Christmas and New Years since they'd moved to California at Trish and Frank's home, taking what they'd dubbed a 'mini vacation' from their home twenty minutes away. It was always a fun time, but this year has been more entertaining than others.

After spending the last couple of years trying to convince them to come, Harm and Mac had finally convinced Bud and Harriet to come out to the west coast for the holidays - bringing their kids with them, of course.

It had been a couple of years since the Rabb and Roberts cousins had last seen each other, and Bud and Harriet had yet to meet their newest niece, Lily, who had just recently turned one at the end of October. Usually Harm, Mac, and the kids visited the east coast for a week or two over the summer, taking their annual trip to the Outer Banks with the Roberts, but they hadn't been able to make the trip since they'd had Lily.

Trish and Frank, never failing to be hospitable, had offered to let the Roberts stay with them, having more than enough room in their home in La Jolla. Harm and Mac had offered to stay in their home, but Trish wouldn't hear any of it, insisting they had plenty of room for everyone, and there was no reason to break tradition.

Thankfully, the cousins were very eager to share rooms together, taking that opportunity as their own vacation-within-a-vacation. All of the children, with Lily being the only exception, were all close enough in age that they could get along well enough.

That also meant that they were able to form a united front against their parents.

It was after dinner time when both sets of parents, accompanied by Trish and Frank, were sitting on the back porch, enjoying the balmy winter weather La Jolla had to offer - conditions much more favorable than the ice box that was Virginia at that time of year. They were all under the guise that the kids were all playing together in one of their designated bedrooms, but actually a plan was being devised.

You see, everything was fine until AJ had let the cat out of the bag, admitting that his parents were going to let him stay up until midnight, instead of having him go to bed earlier like his younger siblings. Being almost twelve, he was done being grouped in with all of the "little kids." Him being allowed to stay up was supposed to be a secret between him and his parents, but AJ forfeited that in the name of boasting to the other kids.

Naturally the younger kids, in the name of all things needing to be fair at all times, did not take this well. Having it in their heads that, if one of them got to stay up until midnight, all of them should be able to stay up until midnight, they sent Clara and James, the next two oldest after AJ, as delegates to plead their case to the parents.

Bud and Harriet were sitting on the patio couch facing the interior of the house, so they were able to see the two coming.

"Hey you two," Harriet greeted as Clara and James walked out onto the patio. "What's up?"

Mac turned around, immediately noticing their serious expressions. "What's wrong?" she asked, her mind immediately going to ringing in the new year in a crowded emergency room.

"Can we stay up until midnight?" Clara asked, getting right to the point.

"We don't want to go to bed early!" James followed up.

The four parents exchanged glances, while Trish and Frank watched the exchange with amusement. A big aspect of parenting was picking and choosing your battles, this was something Bud, Harriet, Harm and Mac all knew. Sure, the kids were young and needed intact sleep schedules, but it was their vacation, too. Not to mention, they wanted to celebrate a holiday that warranted staying up late, anyway.

So, the parents said yes. After all, what was the harm in the kids staying up that one time? AJ wasn't happy that this special privilege wasn't so special anymore, but Harriet compromised by allowing him to stay up the night after New Years too.

Bracing themselves for a night of managing celebratory chaos and a following morning of managing a group of cranky kids, the four parents were surprised when that didn't end up being their New Year's. As it would turn out, as much as the Rabb and Roberts children wanted to, none of them ended up being able to stay up until midnight.

Lily, who had an interest in what her older siblings and cousins were doing but wasn't quite old enough to understand what New Years' Eve meant went to bed at her usual bedtime of seven thirty. Adam crashed a little bit before nine. The twins, Nikki and Noah, lasted until ten. James knocked out at ten thirty. AJ, despite being the only one originally allowed to stay up that late, voluntarily went to bed at eleven fifteen. Clara held out until the almost bitter end, but ultimately had to be carried off to bed by Harm at eleven forty five.

Trish and Frank had gone to bed at ten, and Bud and Harriet had gone to bed when AJ did. That left Harm and Mac the only ones in the household awake to ring in 2011.

They sat out on the back deck where they had been sitting earlier with everyone, cuddled together under a throw blanket in the dark, listening to the muffled sounds of the waves crashing against the cliffs below.

"What's your new year's resolution?" Mac asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them. She lifted her head up from Harm's shoulder to look at him.

Harm shrugged. "I figured I'd keep it simple this year," he told her. "I'm going to keep loving my wife and three beautiful children."

"Oh," Mac smiled. "That's nice. I was going to say I wanted to read more books, but I like yours a lot better."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Feeling a chill, Mac snuggled closer under the blanket and closer to Harm. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, placing a kiss in her hair. "I love you, Sarah," he murmured.

"I love you too, Harm."

A few minutes later, Harm checked his watch. "Hey look," he said, showing the watch face to Mac. "It's midnight."

Mac, who had begun to doze off, raised her eyebrows. She straightened up. "It's midnight!" she looked at Harm expectantly. "Happy New Year, honey."

"Happy New Year," Harm raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to kiss me?"

Mac laughed. "May as well start the new year off right."

"My thoughts exactly."

A short little piece to ring in the new year! Happy 2023 everyone!

Very glad I came back this year and can't wait to see where my fanfiction journey goes this coming year.

Thanks for reading!

-Harper