Ch00 of "Life goes on – Harm and Harriet: Year Twenty."
A/N: AU. This is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. Mike. Characters borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.
A/N: AU: "they aren't mine: I'm just playing with them - apart from any fictional character created by myself". See Ch00 of this story for the whole disclaimer A/N. Feel free to PM me if you spot any typos - my goal is 100% error-free. Feedback and comments are also welcome. Your opinions, critiques (and requests as PMs) are always helpful - and have already assisted me in the three stories which make up this be considered.
A/N: Publication date: 24-DEC-2023: AU: The final story in my Christmas trilogy, consisting of three one-off stories in my Christmas 2023 exploration of "the roads not taken"...
Merry Christmas 2023 - IRL, we hope for a peaceful Christmas and a better 2024. This is my third (and final) "Christmas carol" to all my readers. I was amazed by the initial response to the first two parts of "Life goes on" (*written as a three-story AU Arc) which were published on 22nd and 23rd December 2023. So, here is the third and final instalment (again, on a one-off basis) covering the second ten years of Harmon and Harriet Rabb and their life together after the tragedies of 2001 and 2002 and 2003 where they lost Bud, Mac and Loren Singer…
A/N: Canon episode: None: we finish up in 2023, nearly two decade beyond "Fair Winds and Following Seas" from 2005.
Characters from FFNET – H Rabb jr; Harriett Beaumont Rabb; their family: Mattie Rabb.
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Ch00 of "Life goes on – Harm and Harriet: Year Twenty."
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Thursday 14th March 2023: 22:13hrs EDT
Home of Harriet and Harm Rabb, Rosslyn, Washington DC
It had been lovely to see her daughter so happy with her dorm friends in UCLA. With the long-distance ZOOM call completed – celebrating their daughter Sarah's 19th birthday - Harriet was deep in planning for the "big event" on October 25th.
She wanted to ensure that everything was flawless for October, when "everyone" would be gathering to celebrate her husband Harm's 60th birthday. Because the actual day fell on a Wednesday, Harriet had selected the following Saturday for a combined "Birthday and Hallowe'en" party in Rosslyn. Sarah had already booked her flight for the "red-eye" and would be bright-eyed on the Saturday morning to help her Mom, before heading back to Dulles on the Sunday morning.
It would have been nice to have Trisha Burnett and Frank present for the event, but they had sadly passed away at the tail-end of the CoVid pandemic. Her own mom, Lydia Simms, had passed away in 2018 from a late-diagnosed secondary tumour following what had seemed to be successful surgery for breast cancer three years before. Harriet had always ensured that she got herself checked – and Harm was always there to offer an auxiliary check – typical sailor!
This meant that Roland Simms was the only representative of "that generation" – and he would be the MC on the day, supporting his son-in-law as the "guest of honour".
With service commitments, tours of duties and busy lives (and a suspicion about an imminent pregnancy in the far-flung branches of the family), Harriet wanted to "nail" the date into everyone's calendars. She was also still involved with USO and the recovering concert calendar. "Mrs Harriet Rabb" was a well-known (and popular) name on the USO circuit.
The mid-Summer concert in Frankfurt Germany would see the fulfilment of a long-term promise by Varese Chestnut (or "Mrs Varese Turner" to give her married name). She had married Sturgis Turner in 2014, three years after he had split (very amicably) from a long-term – and latterly long-distance – relationship with Bobbi Latham.
Bobbi had retired from the Hill and was active in local politics in her home city of Detroit: to the (gentle and private) disappointment of her parents, she never married but became a model for "silver fox" ladies in a new and largely-unexplored market sector for female apparel and accessories. The modelling agency could not keep up with booking requests for her in her first season. She subsequently volunteered to assist the massive homeless and poverty probmlsms in Detroit as "Motor City" continued its slide into the rust-belt..
Varese and Sturgis had been very surprised, nine months after their wedding night, when little Matthew Lucius Turner (named after Sturgis and Varese's fathers). Being of Harm's Class at USNA, Sturgis had been amazed at late fatherhood at the age of 52, but his circle of friends rallied around and the new arrival was much-loved and well-supported.
Varese subsequently produced two cover albums of songs for a younger audience – and her record sales erupted in the previously-ignored space of the new and appreciative audience.
A/N: kudos to my reader "dnieder" for the suggestion regarding Sturgis (and "old AJ").
With AJ (now 25 years of age) flying for American Airlines, the twins (Nikki and "young Bud") would be celebrating their 18th birthdays later that year on Monday September 11th. Everyone had agreed to hold the party two days before, on Saturday 9th. This left time clear on the Monday, to honour the dead from that event which – at the time – had seemed so ground-breaking but was now something which was increasingly taught in the history books. Additionally, "the twins" were off to university, so the September calendar was filling up and Harriett wanted "her twins" to have enjoyable birthday celebrations. Nikki would be heading over to UCLA at Berkeley, whilst Bud was signed up for the University of Philadelphia.
Having Sarah and Nikki both over in California was not the wrench or the concern that it might be for many parents based in the DC area. Trisha and Frank had bequeathed their large property holdings (held in trust until Sarah reached the age of 25 in 2029) with "beneficial occupancy" of the main house in La Jolla.
Frank's property company was still running smoothly, as he had left clear succession plans knowing that his heart might not enable him to make "old bones". He had recruited Beth O'Neill when she finally gave up flying (after yet another near-miss with the CIA) and embarked on a career as a foster mom with her wife Cassandra). Under Beth's guidance, Burnett Property Service Inc had expanded in the intervening years. The residual income would ensure that none of Harm and Harriet's children would have money concerns.
The previous weekend, AJ had updated the family photograph archives before reporting to Dulled for another international flight. This annual task was something which he had started ten years ago in the run-up to Nikki's ninth birthday.
With everyone fully-comfortable with digital media, AJ's problem was selectivity rather than scarcity of material!
Harriet was also organising a Saturday lunch for the coming weekend. Her adopted daughter Mattie – now a Lieutenant and fully-qualified F-18 driver – was bringing home her husband and kids across, as she prepared for her first tour of duty in the Pentagon. Mattie Rabb would be joining the Programme Office which was working up for the 2025 entry into service of the second carrier in the Gerald R Ford CVN class – USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).
She reflected on the freak happenstance which had resulted in the marriage of Mrs Mathilda Rabb-Walden some eight years earlier. A collision in the local Starbucks – and Danny Walden's profound apology and swift replacement of the coffees – had led to a marriage one year later, at which retired Admiral "AJ" Chegwidden (the inspiration behind the naming of Harriet's first child) had re-acquainted himself with Danny's mom, Sydney Walden.
With the Chegwidden law practice in McLean now well-established, the marriage to Sydney had ensured that the traditionally gruff and self-sufficient AJ Chegwidden had gotten himself checked – thereby giving prompt and early diagnosis and treatment of the prostate cancer which had been developing. Sydney and "AJ" were regular faces on the hospital fund-raising board.
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Friday 15th March 2023: 17:05hrs EDT
Home of Harriet and Harm Rabb, Rosslyn, Washington DC
As she began preparing the evening meal to mark the start of the weekend (and to welcome Harm home within the next hour, traffic permitting), Harriet found her mind wandering back over the previous decade.
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2015:
John Lennon was quoted as saying "Life is what happens whilst you are making plans".
Harm and Harriet had been looking forward to a steadily-decelerating career, enabling them to retire at a date and time of their own choosing. Then, after a chance conversation with retired Admiral Thomas Boone (who had been detailed to "feel out the ground" about a sensitive posting), Harm was offered the role od Superintendent of the US Naval Academy.
The promotion to Vice-Admiral would give a useful boost to the Rabb Family pension funds and the school year would assist in resettling the school-age Rabb children into local Annapolis schools (or to remain in the Rosslyn area and commute).
Obviously, a family conference had been held that night and - by a unanimous vote – the Rabb family agreed to a relocation across to Annapolis. The Rosslyn house would remain, ready for retirement at a future date,
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2016:
During interviews with a selection of the successful candidates for that year's entry, Harm Was amazed to meet a young lady called Trisha Pike.
When she produced an old and very work red mitten from her briefcase, he finally made the connection – Kate Pike's "secret" daughter, conceived in that "stood me up against the wall" motel weekend back in 1996. Subsequently, Harm and Kate and Harriet met up and the Rabb circle of family happiness expanded.
Harriet was delighted to find another Rabb offspring – noting that Trisha's willow frame was a clear indication that she was the offspring of two very tall people. Trisha Pike would subsequently meet, fall in love with and marry Randolph Victor Galindez.
A/N: You will find more details on "Harm running USNA Annapolis" – and Trisha Pike - in my story "Red Mittens and a Rose Garden".
Harm learned more about "the unknown children of JAG" when he met Alison Krennick at the Annapolis Graduation ceremony in 2019...
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Friday 24th May 2019 – 09:50hrs EST
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, USNA Annapolis MD:
Harm was pleased to see the high success rate of graduates in the "Class of 2019". Afterwards, Harm and Harriet mingled with the happy parents and families of the now-commissioned Ensigns and Lieutenants in the USN and USMC.
He found himself drawn towards the Wilkinson family. Surgeon-Commander Wilkinson was the Chief Medical Officer to the USNA and his daughter Samantha had graduated that day.
Samantha was joyfully relating a story to her father, with rapt attention from her little sister and her Mom.
"Hello Doc; you must be very proud of your daughter."
"Oh Admiral, hello – yes, indeed I am. You know my wife Anita of course, but allow me to introduce Samantha's younger sister, our little Barbara Serendipity."
As Harm extended his hand to greet Barbara and to introduce his wife to Barbara (he had met Samantha on several occasions, as her family linkage to USNA staff had been known and kept confidential), his gaze passed over Wilkinson's shoulder to focus on a woman wearing the uniform and gold stripes of a Rear Admiral (Upper Half).
Her face, although lined, was vaguely familiar. As Harm was struggling to place her, Samantha took the initiative.
"Admiral Rabb, I would very much like to introduce you to my biological mother, Admiral Alison Laine."
*HOLY CRAP – ALISON KRENNICK!* was roughly the thought which flashed through Harm's struggling brain – just as Alison smiled and strode towards him, her hand extended.
"Admiral Rabb; how lovely to meet you again after all these years – it must be nearly a quarter-century. I was delighted to be able to support my biological daughter and her adoptive family – who have clearly achieved excellence in encouraging a new Ensign in the US Navy. I read of your appointment as Superintendent – a fitting tribute to your career by all accounts."
"Hello Alison – Admiral. I never knew you had a daughter."
"No-one knew Harm, apart from Samantha's biological father and the Wilkinson family who adopted her at birth. I was delighted when Samantha reached out to me in 2015 on her 18th birthday."
Harm was rapidly trying to run the figures through his shocked brain.
Alison Krennick had given birth to a daughter. So if she was 18 in 2015 on joining Annapolis, she must have been born in 1997 – so a conception in 1996...
Alison took pity on Harm.
"Admiral Rabb, I understand from my daughter that she is part of a group, predominantly from the Class of 2020, called the "Four Horsemen plus" and that there is a young lady called Trisha in that group." She paused: "Wasn't your mom called Trisha?"
A/N: You will find more details on "Alison Krennick's secret baby" (including the name of the father) in my 2020 story "Gold Rings and a bump – how can I be pregnant?"
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2021:
After half a decade running Annapolis, Vice-Admiral Harmon Rabb advised the Supervisory Board that he was seeking to retire – when it was convenient for the Board to find a successor. His XO, Captain Faith McBurney-Coleman, would continue to serve in that role for at least a further two academic years to provide continuity.
His Dining Out was well-attended and he embarked upon his retirement with relish.
Puting on his cover for the final time as he and Harriet walked towards the waiting car, he looked back briefly. Just on the periphery of vision, he sensed a dark-haired woman in the older-style uniform of a female officed in the USMC, along with a shortish, pudgy figure in USN Dress Whites. Both figures were waving as the lights of a passing motor car temporarily blinded Harm and Harriet. A feeling of profound calm settled on him as he looked down into Harriet's loving eyes.
"Come on Mrs Rabb; home."
"Yes darling."
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2022:
A year later, he had STILL not completed even 10% of the "Bucket List" tasks which he had set himself. Harriet simply laughed and wrote two more tasks on the bottom of the list!
Life was good.
End of Ch00 of "Life goes on – Harm and Harriet: Year Twenty."
FIN.
A/N: Thank you for your interest at Christmas 2023 in my series of Christmas 2023 short stories.
A/N: Although this is the third and final part of my quick spin through "the life and times of Harmon and Harriett Rabb" in the "Life goes on" Universe, I would have no objection if someone else, with the time and interest, offered to choose to expand this storyline and take it further and deeper. Merry Christmas 2023. Thank you for reading.
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Merry Christmas 2023: Mike and family.
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Mike: UK, 24-12-2023