Chapter Two:
What Do April Showers Bring?

APRIL 15TH, 2022

1430 EST
ROBERTS RESIDENCE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

The last twenty years had been a busy time for Harriet Simms, as long stretches of time don't usually tend to be uneventful. The years had been busy enough raising four children, but Harriet decided to take on the additional challenge of being a full time author. Tacking on 'bestselling' to that job title had been no easy feat, but Harriet had always prided herself on being a hardworking person.

Granted, it had been awhile since her popularity had reached the heights it did in the late 00's, but Harriet liked to think that she still had a lot to offer the romance novel industry. Her twelfth novel was coming out today, and if that wasn't a testament to her career's longevity and her own talent (not that she was bragging, of course), then Harriet didn't know what was.

So, when Harriet sat down that morning to check her emails, she was in a good mood…until she saw an email from her publishing agent with the subject line: DON'T READ THE REVIEW (please). Feeling curious and a tad bit concerned, Harriet opened the email and read further into why her agent, a rather frazzled man named Daryl from Dallas (Daryl from Dallas wasn't actually his name - he just so happened to be a man named Daryl who lived in Dallas) and read further into about the review that he absolutely did not want her to read.

Naturally, hearing so much about this review only made Harriet want to read it, so that she did…much to her later regret. This critic had written bad reviews about her work, before the reviews themselves had been relatively harmless, so Harriet had gone into this bad review with an open mind, fully expecting it to be something she could laugh at with Mac over lunch later that day.

However, much to Harriet's dismay, this review would turn out to be no laughing matter.

"Am I really that bad?" Harriet demanded through a stream of tears over lunch with Mac. "Have I really lost my edge? Am I really an insult to the genre? Tell me, Mac! Tell me!"

They were at a nice, slightly upscale place in the middle of DC; Mac had gotten the name of the place from Clara, who was much more up-to-date on what was trendy than her mother and aunt were. Needless to say, it was the place for meltdowns, and that was exactly what Harriet was doing.

"Ummm…" Mac bit her lip, truly at a loss for words. Usually Harriet held it together better than this. "No Harriet, I don't think that at all," she answered slowly, trying to ignore the stares they were getting from the surrounding tables. "I think you're a fantastic writer."

"Really? Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do."

The truth was, Mac still thought Harriet was a good writer…as of four years ago. She hadn't had the time to read her two most recent works. She was sure, however, that Harriet's craft couldn't deteriorate that much in that short of time.

Harriet sniffled, yanking a wad of napkins out of the napkin holder. "I just don't know how someone could be that - that - mean," she said as she dabbed at her eyes. "I mean it's terrible. People just hide behind a username on the Internet and think they can get away with anything -"

"Harriet, this person is an accredited journalist. They're full name and personal history can be found with a Google search."

"I know, but it's the principle!"

"You're right," Mac nodded sympathetically. "Just don't listen to them. I'm sure you'll get plenty of other better reviews. The book just came out today."

Harriet sniffled again. "I guess."

Mac smiled encouragingly. "It'll be fine. Besides, your release party's tonight. That'll get your mind off things."

As she said this, Mac made a mental note for herself to send out texts to everyone invited to the release party ordering them to note bring up the bad review (please). Since she left the Corps to work at the State Department, she'd directed her Marine savvy to planning parties and family get-togethers.

The last thing she needed was an incident like the Admiral's 75th birthday party the year before, when a placemat got reserved for Clara's boyfriend - usually this wouldn't be a problem otherwise, but three days before the party Clara's boyfriend had become her ex-boyfriend, so that had made things awkward. Party because it had led to a very tense discussion between Mac and Clara, in which Clara had thrown around the familiar accusation that Mac "just didn't listen to her."

That hadn't been the worst argument Mac and Clara had gotten into, plus it had happened over a year prior, so Mac wasn't too worried about it anymore. She kept worrying about Clara though, but she worried about her other two children, too. She was a mom - worrying was something that came with the package deal of motherhood.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Harriet asked, her nose obviously clogged. She was now determined to make the most of this lunch. "Tell me about what you've been up to. I need a distraction."

Mac laughed. "I've been busy," she replied. "We're always busy at my house, Harriet, didn't you know?"

1530 EST
LILLIAN RABB'S MIDDLE SCHOOL
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

Mac's statement certainly wasn't untrue. Harmon Rabb and Sarah Mackenzie were two busy parents who had raised equally busy children. For several consecutive years, particularly before any of the Mackenzie-Rabb children were old enough to drive, the first ten minutes of Harm and Mac's weekday mornings were almost always spent figuring out which parent was driving which child to what event, which child needed to be picked up where at what time, and other logistics.

Now that he was the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy, a turn of events in his life that absolutely no one saw coming (which was saying something, considering the other life events of Harm's that already bordered on absurd), Harm was busier than he had ever been. But he would never be too busy for his kids. Whatever new crisis that was happening with the Navy could be held at bay by his yeoman long enough for Harm to pick up his daughter from school.

Harm smiled as soon as he caught sight of Lily walking towards his Lexus. "Hey honey," he greeted as she climbed into the passenger seat, putting her backpack and dance bag into the backseat. "How was your day?"

Lily shrugged. "It was fine."

"That's all, huh?"

"Yeah."

It wasn't a change that happened overnight, but it was a change that felt like it had happened that quickly. Lily Rabb, who was very much still viewed as 'the baby' despite being twelve, had reached that stage in her adolescence where, suddenly, telling her parents anything became impossible.

"Clara's going to pick you up from dance practice, is that okay?" Harm asked as he backed out of the parking spot. "I have to stay at JAG a little later today and then go help your mom and the Admiral set up for Harriet's party."

Even though Harm was now an Admiral himself, AJ Chegwidden would always be the only "The Admiral."

"Yeah, that's fine."

Harm looked over at Lily as he drove. It was rare moments like this ones, ones where he was least expecting, where he really felt his age. Here was his baby, the best birthday present he had ever gotten by far, quickly approaching being a teenager. Not to mention, Adam was just a couple of months away from getting his license, and Clara was now in her 20's.

He was getting old - there was just no way of getting around it. As if there weren't enough reminders in his personal life, there were plenty at JAG. Now he was The Admiral, the one barking orders at young Commanders, Lieutenants, and Lieutenant Commanders that were doing a better job at stressing him out than he expected they would.

There was one bright side, though: None of his JAG lawyers had shot holes in the courtroom ceiling yet; Harm was untouched in that respect.

1630 EST
ROBERTS RESIDENCE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Being the only girl sibling in the house had its perks. Nikki Roberts, since the age of four, had always had a room to herself. The benefits of this living arrangement had only increased as her and her brothers had gotten older. Granted AJ was no out of the house and James was now…somewhat out of the house, so there was adequate breathing room in the Roberts house for the first time since 1999, but Nikki still valued having her own space.

However, a price had to be paid for this luxury. It was a rule in the Roberts household that, in order for you to have a member of the opposite sex in your bedroom, you had to keep the door open at all times. Obviously this rule did not apply to Bud and Harriet, but it did apply to all of their children. Nikki was especially affected by this rule; as the only one with her own room, she automatically got the most privacy.

The Rabb children were not exceptions to this rule, either. So when Nikki finished up with rehearsal for the spring play and picked up Adam from baseball practice, driving them back to her home so they could do homework together, her bedroom door had to be kept wide open.

Nikki and Adam didn't mind this; they were, after all, just doing homework.

"Did you talk to him at all today?"

"Who?"

"The guy?"

"What guy?

"The guy."

"Ohhh…no, I didn't have a chance to. Did you get the chance to talk to the girl?"

"No. She left before I could. I might text her later, though."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Nice."

Suddenly footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and Adam and Nikki immediately fell silent. Having privacy in your own room was pointless when your door was wide open.

"Hey you two," Harriet appeared in the doorway, knocking on the (open) door to announce herself. She had that one coy expression on her face, and Nikki knew exactly what that expression meant. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, Mom."

"Hey Aunt Harriet," Adam greeted. "Yeah, we're just doing homework."

Nikki and Adam exchanged glances. They were sitting on Nikki's bed, Adam at the foot and Nikki with her back propped up against the headboard. There was approximately five feet of space between them.

"Okay…just checking in. Do you guys need anything?"

"No," Nikki quickly shook her head. She suddenly took a good look at her mother and frowned. "Mom, have you been crying?"

"No, no, of course I have - not," Harriet waved a dismissive hand. "It's just so humid outside, my mascara started to run a little."

"It's April, Aunt Harriet."

"It's recently got very unseasonably warm. Have you been outside in the past ten minutes? A heat wave just rolled right in," Harriet cleared her throat. "Anyways, I'll be right down the hall if you two need anything, just let me know."

"We'll be fine, Mom, I promise."

"Just remember to keep that door open!"

"Mom!" Nikki looked over at Adam. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

Adam shrugged. "That's fine," he said, reaching down into his backpack. "I'll just be here, balancing equations."

Nikki raced down the upstairs hall after her mother. "Mom, Mommy, Mother, Lieutenant Simms can I please talk to you?"

Harriet turned around to see her storm cloud of a daughter headed straight for her. "Sure honey, what's up?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure."

"Somewhere…" Nikki looked around. "In private?"

Harriet's eyes widened. "Oh, okay. Of course, honey."

Nikki followed Harriet into her and Bud's bedroom, where Nikki immediately shut the door behind herself. Harriet turned around, having had this speech prepared for some time now.

"Honey, I know you're growing up, and you're not my little girl anymore, but I just think sixteen is a little young to be sexually active-"

Nikki's irritated expression changed to one of horror. "Ew Mom, no! I'm not having sex!"

Harriet raised her hands in defense of herself. "I'm just saying, I've noticed you and Adam have been getting awfully close lately, so I had some reason to be concerned -"

"We're cousins!" Nikki hissed. "We've always been close!"

"Honey, I know we've called you guys cousins growing up but you're not technically related-"

"Still! It's weird!" Nikki insisted. "Why would I be going out with a guy who calls you Aunt Harriet?"

"Yeah…" Harriet frowned slightly, suddenly realizing how weird she sounded. "I guess you have a point."

Nikki folded her arms across her chest. "Why are you in one of your moods? Is this because of the review?"

Harriet's eyes widened. "What review?" she hissed. "There is no review!"

"Yes there is Mom, I read it between classes this morning."

Feeling another crying fit coming on and not wanting her daughter to be privy to her moment of weakness, Harriet took a step towards her. "Nicole Sarah Roberts, I'm going to make a deal with you, okay?"

Nikki nodded apprehensively. "Yeah…about what?"

Harriet took a deep, measured breath. "I'll stop being…weird about you and Adam being…friends, if you promise to never bring up that review to a single living human being on this planet."

Nikki shrugged, knowing she was getting the better end of this deal. There was no way everyone they knew already didn't know about the review. "Fine by me."

"Okay," Harriet nodded. She pointed to the door. "Now go have fun…doing homework. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, Mom."

As soon as Nikki closed the bedroom door shut behind her, she heard a loud sob from the other side. She quickly walked back to her own room, occasionally looking back over her shoulder at her mother's bedroom.

"What was that about?" Adam asked as Nikki walked back in and sat back down at her end of the bed with a loud sigh.

"Nothing," Nikki took the claw clip out of her hair and shook out her shoulder length blonde hair. "My mom just thinks we're dating."

Adam raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he frowned. "That would be kind of weird, wouldn't it?"

Nikki threw her hands up. "That's what I'm saying!" she sighed again. "But you know my mom, once she gets something in her head, she runs with it."

"If it makes you feel better, my parents don't think we're dating."

"That does make me feel better, actually," Nikki slouched down farther on her bed, looking at her open doorway with disdain.

Adam followed her gaze, and then looked back at Nikki. "You know…maybe you should tell your parents-"

Nikki's eyes widened. She fiercely shook her head. "No, don't even finish that statement."

"Then at least you could keep the door closed when we hang out-"

Nikki jumped up from the bed, flying over to the door and shutting it, her hand firmly wrapped around the doorknob. With her free hand, she pointed an accusing finger at Adam and spoke in a fierce whisper. "I'll tell my parents I'm gay when you tell your parents you're gay."

"Nicole Sarah!" Harriet called from down the hall. "You keep that door open, young lady!"

Nikki rolled her eyes, yanking the door open and poking her head out. "Sorry Mom!" she replied. "It was the breeze. That heat wave brought in some wind and blew my door shut!"

With a sigh, she re-opened the door and returned to the bed. "We've gone over this, Adam," she said. "We had a deal."

"I know, but aren't deals meant to be broken to some extent?"

"Not this one."

Growing up, there had been two distinct groups, alliances one could say, between the Mackenzie-Rabb children and the Roberts children. These groups were determined by age, because that was the easiest identifier. AJ, James, and Clara had made up the group of 'older kids' and Nikki, Noah, Adam, and Lily had made up the group of 'younger kids,' though Lily had always tended to be more of an outlier due to her being significantly younger than the rest of the kids. Within these two groups of course there were sub-alliances and the occasionally traitorous behavior that only got more fickle as the children aged, but a few things had remained constant over the years.

One of those things was that Nikki and Adam had always been particularly close. So naturally they knew a fair amount of each other's secrets. It only made sense for them to be the first people to come out to each other.

It had happened rather suddenly, with a conversation having taken place during the annual Rabb-Roberts summer vacation, the yearly event where some of the most…notable family events had taken place. Every year, in about mid July, they would rent out one of those big three story houses in the Outer Banks that was the color of an Easter Egg for two weeks. One night, towards the end of the trip, Adam and Nikki had stayed up talking into the wee hours of the morning, sitting up on the top deck of the house.

They had talked about a lot of things, things that they couldn't bring up to their parents because they wouldn't understand and stuff that they couldn't tell their siblings out of fear of their parents finding out.

Nikki talked about how annoying it was being the only girl in the house, and how her parents were still weird about talking about her older sister, the one that had been stillborn and should've turned twenty-one that past December. She also talked about how Harriet could be well…Harriet.

Adam talked about how no one was pressuring him to be a pilot like his father, but he still felt like he should. He also talked about The Thing that happened with Clara three years ago and how he still couldn't talk about his feelings on it properly. He also talked about his sisters, how he never thought things would be normal between them again.

They had continued talking about various personal topics until they got to one that had stopped them dead in their tacks. Adam and Nikki stared at each other for a few seconds, the warm night breeze blowing through their hair.

"Are you…?"

"Wait no, are you...?"

For the past year almost, Adam and Nikki had been each other's secret keepers for a very big secret.

"It's not like your parents are homophobic," Nikki told Adam. "You could totally tell them and they'd be fine with it."

Adam looked at her incredulously. "You're parents aren't homophobic either, so why don't you just tell them?"

Nikki pursed her lips. "I see your point."

"I figured you would."

It looked like their secrets would have to stay secrets for the foreseeable future.

THAT SAME TIME
JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA

James Roberts was laying on his dorm room bed, passing the time waiting for his father and younger brother to pick him up by doing something he loved to do more than anything; bothering his older brother. And like any good older brother, AJ allowed himself to be bothered, hence why he still answered the phone even though it was only 0830 (on a Saturday) in Australia.

"So tell me about her."

"Who?" AJ asked, knowing full well who James was asking about.

"The girl. Your Aussie."

"She's not my Aussie - her name is Ellie."

"Right, right, Ellie - I remember now," James said. Being the only one in the family who knew about AJ's new girlfriend, you would think that he would remember her name. "Lady Eleanor - what's her full name again?"

"Eleanor Ann-Marie."

"No dude, tell me her last name too."

AJ chuckled. "Nice try, dude, not happening."

AJ was a smart guy for being a twenty-two-year-old guy. Not only did he graduate top of his class from UVA, but he also knew his family very well. He knew the Mackenzie-Rabbs and the Roberts meant well, but they could come on a little strong when it came to new girlfriends. Considering this was AJ's first semi-serious relationship since he'd graduated college, he knew that everyone would lose their minds the minute they found out about Ellie.

He wouldn't put it past his siblings, cousins, aunt, or mother to track down Ellie on every social media platform imaginable the minute they found out her full name. He had to be smart about it. Brumby wasn't that common of a last name; as long as he kept that a secret, he and Ellie would be alright. There were so many Eleanor AnnMaries on Instagram and even more on Facebook (AJ had checked) that it would be like looking through a needle in a haystack to find the one he was dating.

(In case you were wondering, AJ hadn't factored in the fact that his Eleanor AnnMarie was the only Eleanor AnnMarie he was following on his socials. Finding her wasn't a needle in a haystack at all.)

Thankfully for AJ, he'd picked the family member that was the least adept at social-media stalking to confide in.

"You know Mom and Dad are going to flip when they find out you're seeing someone."

"I know, that's why I'm waiting for the perfect time."

"Summer's right around the corner," James said. "You could bring her to the beach with us."

"The beach trip is sacred, I wouldn't bring her on that unless I was going to marry her."

James' eyebrows shot up. "Are you going to marry her?"

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line. James sat up, a grin spreading across his face. "Dude-"

"I'm not going to propose to her any time soon," AJ replied hastily. "We've only been going out for three months. But-"

"But what?"

There was another beat of silence. "I've never felt about another girl the way I've felt about her - I'll just put it that way."

James ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't believe you. You took up a job halfway around the world to 'go find yourself' and you're going to be coming back here with a wife - that's some true fairytale shit."

"I would never get married without you guys, you know that."

"I do, but the look on Mom's face if you did do that would be priceless."

AJ chuckled. "It would be…" he paused. "Did you read that review?"

"Oh God, yeah. I just hope Mom doesn't have a breakdown in front of everyone at the party tonight."

"Are you going to that?"

"Yeah, Dad and Noah are driving up to bring me home for the weekend."

James certainly valued the independence he'd discovered in his first year away at college, he did still enjoy family time as much as a nineteen-year-old could.

"Let me know how it goes - also tell everyone I said hi."

"I will,"James replied, still wanting to pry even though he knew he wasn't going to get much information. "Speaking of family, have you met Ellie's?"

"No, but she's mentioned it - meeting them, that is."

"What are they like?"

"Well, she's an only child - that's part of the reason why I haven't introduced her yet. I know meeting our family is going to be a culture shock for her," AJ explained. "But she's told me about her parents. Her mom seems pretty chill, and her dad's former Navy. My whole life has been Navy, so I figure I can handle him pretty well."

"That's good."

"I'm more concerned with the fact that he used to be a boxer."

James' grin faded. "Can you still run as fast as you did when you did track?"

"I hope so," AJ laughed. "But in all honesty though, I think it'll be fine. I mean, look at how intimidating my dad looks on paper, and then think about how he actually is. Same with Uncle Harm."

"True," James agreed. "You're right, everything will go fine. I have faith in you and Lady Eleanor."

"Please just call her Ellie."

"Is her last name Mountbatten-Windsor? Are you dating a royal? Is that why you're being so secretive."

"No, but she's royalty in her own right - Listen, I gotta go. Ellie and I are getting breakfast at nine. Plus that wouldn't even make sense, there are no Australians in the royal family."

James laughed. "It sounds like you're treating her like royalty, too."

"I'm trying my best. She deserves it."

"Okay, I'm going to hang up now. You're making me sick."

1800 EST
LILY'S DANCE ACADEMY
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

Clara drummed her fingers on the steering wheel of her Jeep Cherokee, which had been her mother's Jeep from the time the family had moved back to Virginia up until the past year, when Mac decided she needed an upgrade and Clara's first car had decided to use up its ninth life. Clara liked the car, not so much for its qualities but for the fact that it had been a free hand-me-down.

She looked up through the windshield at the tree she had parked under, looking at its pollen-leaden buds and blooms. Even though it had been six years since she'd moved back to Virginia, she was still getting used to living there.

"We're heading back home to Virginia." "Wouldn't it be so nice to be back there?" Those were phrases her parents had used as bargaining chips to get her to be something other than devastated over the move. She had been fourteen and that had been the first time she had ever recalled being legitimately angry at her parents. The anger was particularly directed towards her mother, since the reason for the move had been her new job with the State Department.

Even though Clara had lived in Virginia before, she had never considered Virginia to be her home - still didn't, to some degree. It was like how she'd overheard Trish explaining it to Mac right before the move. "You can take the girl out of California, but you take the California out of the girl."

If Clara thought hard enough, really put her mind to it, she could remember vague things about her first stay in Virginia. The images were fuzzy and somewhat muddled between each other (she wasn't even sure if they were memories but rather stories and pictures she was remembering as memories), but she remembered some stuff. Random stuff. She didn't remember Christamses or birthdays or that one Halloween where she insisted on dressing up as a Marine because (believe it or not) there was a time where she wanted to be Just Like Mommy, but rather she remembered the specific shade of creamy-peach that the walls were in the Georgetown apartment. She also remembered her mother rubbing her nose against hers, calling her 'my baby' in the most adoring tone imaginable.

The crackling sound of a man's voice of a tape recording she was listening to while sitting on her father's lap. Through context clues gathered later in life, she concluded that the person had to have been her grandfather - not Frank, but the one that went MIA in Vietnam.

Perhaps the oddest memory she had was one of the texture of the JAG carpet, how scratchy it felt beneath her palms and knees, and later her toes. She had taken her first steps there, a story her parents had relayed to her multiple times. Clara didn't actually remember the steps but she remembered the carpet, probably from one of the other many times she spent hanging around in her grandfather's office there - not Frank or the one the went MIA, but the one that used to be the Judge Advocate General.

Now that office belonged to her father. One afternoon, while she was sitting in there waiting for him to get out of a meeting, she had sprawled out on the carpet, trying to see if it felt the same as it did. It didn't. It only made sense for the carpet to have gotten replaced at some point over the years, but Clara was still disappointed that the familiar feeling was gone.

There was actually another odd memory Clara had from when she was very young. It was of her mother, leaning against the kitchen counter that Clara didn't recognize (therefore it had to be the one from the Georgetown apartment), her entire body tense as the held the landline to her ear. Clara remembered it had frightened her at the time; that had been the first time she'd seen her mother mad - angry, even.

Looking back, Clara was just curious about two things. One, who had her mother been talking to on the phone? Two…was that even something she was remembering correctly?

The second question was the only reason Clara had never brought it up. She didn't feel a need to, honestly. It was probably a simple thing that had gotten blown out of proportion by her innocent, childlike perception of it. Mac might not have even been angry, or talking or the phone, or doing anything - Clara could've just misremembered it.

There was a knock on the passenger window. Clara looked up from her tree-inspired lamentation to see her little sister, Lily, waiting outside for her to unlock the door.

"Sorry," Clara apologized as Lily climbed into the passenger seat. "I was thinking about stuff."

"About what kind of stuff?"

Clara shrugged as she backed out of the parking space. "I don't know, life, I guess."

"Did you have a meeting today? Is that why you're being all existential?"

"Look at you! Existential?" Clara replied with a laugh. "What a word."

"I'm reading on a tenth grade level."

"Nice," Clara double-checked both directions before turning left out of the parking lot. "And yeah, I was at a meeting. Where else would I be on Friday between four-thirty and five-thirty?"

"What about you?" Clara asked, trying to change the subject. "How was rehearsal, Miss Lead In the Spring Recital?"

For some odd reason, Clara could talk about her meetings comfortably with just about anyone but her family.

"It went fine. I need to work on my toe points for my arabesques, though."

"That's bullshit, you're the best dancer there."

As Clara merged onto the highway, the 30 day sobriety chip that she kept handing on a chain from her rearview mirror caught her eye. She had made it way past thirty days by this point, but that first month had been the hardest, so she kept that chip with her as a reminder of how far she had come. The rest were kept in a Mason jar in her bedroom.

Growing, most of the compliments Clara had received were ones mentioning how similar she was to her mother. Now, Clara couldn't help but agree. She was exactly like her mother.

1845 EST
EN ROUTE TO THE ADMIRAL'S
RESTON, VIRGINIA

Bud was fully aware of how high-strung his wife was today. Not only had he read the review, but he had received a hysterical call at ten thirty that morning from her, alerting him to the existence of the review and also demanding to know if she wasn't a good writer anymore. After assuring her that the review was nonsense and that was still an amazing writer, Bud had set out to make this book release party the best damn party Harriet had ever been to.

Now he was worried that being late would ruin that plan. When he had picked Noah up early from school to go pick up James from school for the weekend, he had severely underestimated how bad traffic would be.

"Now boys, please don't bring up the review to your mother," Bud said as he turned onto the road that led to the Admiral's house. "I know you both have probably read it. "

James looked over his shoulder at Noah, who was sitting in the back seat. They both had read the review.

"Hey, uh, Dad?" James turned back to face Bud. "Are you sure Mom isn't going to…"

"Isn't going to what?"

"Freak out at the party?" Noah finished.

Bud frowned. "No," he said. "Why would she do that?"

James and Noah exchanged another glance.

"You know how she is," James said.

"Once something goes wrong, she can't really…let it go," Noah added.

"She's gotten bad reviews before and has handled them fine, I don't see why this time would be any different," Bud said, trying his best to reassure his sons. However, in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but agree. He knew Harriet, and he knew how much she hated when things went wrong.

1900 EST
CHEGWIDDEN HOME
RESTON, VIRGINIA

When Harm pulled up the Admiral's house with Adam and Lily in tow, he found Mac waiting on the front porch for him. Ironically, he and Mac hadn't met up on the Admiral's porch since their talk at her engagement party to Mic - which felt like a billion years ago now, something Harm was very grateful for.

Clara had driven ahead in her own car, having her mother's sense of punctuality, and was probably already inside, helping the Admiral put up decorations.

The party was supposed to start at 1900, and it was 1900. Thankfully, Mac had sent out a mass text at 1750 alerting everyone that things were running a little behind.

"Sorry!" Harm apologized as he rushed up the sidewalk, knowing he was part of the reason things were running behind. Things at JAG never tended to end on time; Harm had a new appreciation for why the Admiral already seemed to be so flustered when he was the JAG.

"You would think running the Navy would feel less like herding cats by now," Harm said as he met Mac on the steps.

"Right."

Harm pulled Mac into his arms, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "How was your day?" he asked.

Harm was definitely a busy man, but he would always make sure to take the time to make sure his wife had a good day.

"It was alright," Mac said. "How was yours?"

"Better now that I'm seeing you."

Mac rolled her eyes affectionately. "Cute," she looked over her shoulder into the house. "How good are you at hanging streamers?"

Harm shrugged. "I can try."

"Good," Mac placed a kiss on his cheek. "Admiral, I think your assistance is needed in the living room, then."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

Mac laughed as she watched Harm walk into the Admiral's home. It was the small moments like this one where she really appreciated how lucky she was.