Chapter Nine:
May Flowers

APRIL 30TH, 2022

1630 EST
ROBERTS HOME
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Harriet knew Mac didn't drink, but the two glasses of wine she'd poured were just for herself.

"So," she said as she reached up into the cabinet for a third glass - again, just for herself. "Run this by me again."

This was the fourth time Harriet was asking Mac to run everything by her. Mac had been sitting on this special little tidbit of information for over a week, waiting to find a time when both of them were available so she could tell Harriet in person. At first, Harriet had been so antsy to know that she'd demanded Mac tell her over the phone, but now she was glad she'd waited. This kind of a bombshell was too big to be delivered virtually.

"AJ's girlfriend is Mic's daughter," Mac repeated carefully, hoping that this time it would sink in.

"Right," Harriet nodded as she poured wine into the third glass. "And just double checking so we're on the same page, you mean Mic as in -"

"Brumby," Mac nodded grimly. "Brumby as in -"

"You're old fiance, right. Yeah, I remember him."

Mac scoffed. "He's kind of hard to forget."

Harriet leaned against the kitchen counter, swishing the red wine around in its glass. Her brow was furrowed in deep thought. "How did you find this out?" she asked.

"Facebook."

"Of course."

Harriet had remembered something vaguely; either Harm or Mac informing her shortly after Clara's birth that Mic had a secret daughter in Australia that had been such a well kept secret that even he hadn't known about her at first. When she'd found this out, she'd mentally wished him luck at learning all of the Disney Princesses and then went about her life, thinking none of it until this very moment.

Mac pulled out her phone and slid her phone across the counter to Harriet. Harriet squinted at the picture. It was a screenshot from Instagram, one of a girl on a beach, probably on some island somewhere. She had a head full of wavy, dark curls and a bright smile that was definitely the product of braces (all of the Roberts kids had gone through having braces - Harriet knew what a braces smile looked like), but there was something Harriet couldn't quite put her finger on -

"She has Mic's nose," Mac explained, seeing the confusion on Harriet's face.

"Ohhh, right. That's what it is. Poor thing," Harriet said as she sipped at her wine. "We can't all be perfect."

"Damn straight," Mac said, as she swiped to another screenshot. This one was a picture of the same young woman (the illusive Ellie now had a face) with an older man who, upon further inspection, was definitely Mic Brumby aged twenty years. On the other side of Ellie was a woman who looked like an older version of Ellie with the same hair and smile - ostensibly the mystery mother.

Harriet looked up at Mac. "She is very pretty," she said. "Her and AJ both like the beach, that's something they have in common!"

She was choosing to be bright and optimistic about the situation because she truly didn't know how else to handle it.

Mac, in the true manner of a marine, was choosing to face the predicament head on. "What are we going to do about this, Harriet?" she asked. "Harm can't know, I don't want WWII to start because of this."

Harriet began to speak-

"And Bud can't know either because I know he'll slip up and tell Harm."

Harriet closed her mouth. Mac had a point.

"Well…" she started slowly as Mac eyed her carefully. Harriet gulped down the rest of her first wine glass for a little bit of liquid courage. "They're going to have to find out soon."

Mac frowned. "What do you mean?"

Harriet picked up her second wine glass. She shrugged, doing a terrible job at feigning nonchalance. "AJ called me last night…"

"And?" Mac gestured for Harriet to hurry up and spit it out.

"He's coming to visit in about three-ish weeks, and he's bringing Mic's - he's bringing Ellie with him. To meet the family," she gestured around them at the family that wasn't currently present for this private meeting.

"Oh shit."

Harriet raised her glass of wine in a mock toast. "Damn straight."

Mac's frown deepened the more the reality of the situation dawned on her. "When is he coming? - Sorry, when are they coming?"

"Their flight is coming on the sixteenth, two days before his birthday," Harriet looked at Mac. "Are you sure you don't want Harm to know beforehand-"

"Positive," Mac replied instantly. "I'm looking out for his health - he'd completely lose it."

A lot of things had changed over the years, but one thing that hadn't was the animosity Harm still held for Mic Brumby. Even Mac, who arguably had more of a right to hate Brumby than Harm did, had moved on from it. Of course Mic was not one of her favorite people, and probably never would be, but she wouldn't do anything super rash if/when she saw him again, like punch him or anything.

Harm definitely would, though.

MAY 3RD, 2022

1345 EST
SUNRISE DINER
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

Mac did decide to tell someone who could maybe give some advice on the situation. When she'd told Clara the bulk of the story, how Mic had been Mac's fiance and they had inadvertently broken up so Mac could be with Harm - she'd also gave a sugarcoated summary of the whole debacle surrounding Clara's paternity, immediately reassuring her that Harm was indeed her father, and that they still had the paperwork (somewhere) that proved it.

They had moved from the kitchen to the living room sofa, and Clara had looked at Mac with wide, mildly disbelieving eyes.

"Wow, Mom," she finally said, "You got around."

That had made Mac blush. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that…"

In a way, Mac had been grateful she'd been forced to open up about her past in that way to her daughter. It had been oddly freeing to say Hey, I wasn't always your high strung State Department mother - I've done plenty of stuff back in my day.

But Clara didn't need to know about Mic to know Mac had made mistakes in the past. She knew all the nitty gritty details about Mac's alcohol problems for…well, for obvious reasons. She was her mother's daughter in ways Mac was proud of and ways Mac was guilty of.

"Hey Mom, can I get your order?"

Mac looked up. Clara was standing at her booth, long hair tied into a high ponytail and an apron tied around her waist. Clara wasn't the person she was meeting with, but the diner where she worked was a popular one in the area.

"Did you choose to wait on me?" Mac asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. The first few months Clara had worked there a strict "you don't know me while I'm at work" mentality, which had of course resulted in Harm requesting Clara to be their waitress every time they went there when she was working.

This teasing had stopped when Clara's manager had gotten the wrong idea, having not made the connection that they were related and thinking Harm was trying to make a pass at Clara. Mac still wasn't sure who had been mortified - Harm or Clara.

"No," Clara shook her head. She sat down across from Mac, sliding across the booth bench. "I'm on break right now. I get off at four."

Mac smiled. She was just about to open her mouth and ask that question. "I'm meeting the Admiral here for lunch at 1400. I have a couple of minutes if you want to talk about anything."

Clara's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. Mac knew there was something on her mind. "Yeah umm…" Clara drummed her fingers on the tabletop, something she always did when she was nervous. "Actually I do."

Mac smiled. "Good thing we both have time, then."

Due to the busy nature of both of their schedules, Mac was used to rapid-fire life updates from her oldest. At least she got them.

"I need to find a new sponsor," Clara said, reaching up to fix her ponytail. "I found out at the last meeting that Tracy's going to New Jersey in a few weeks."

"Oh no."

"Yeah," Clara nodded with a sigh. "Her husband got a new job there."

"Well, that's good," Mac replied. "I'm sure you'll be able to find a new one."

Mac had gone to a handful of AA meetings over the years of her sobriety, but had found it had never really helped her. Maybe it was due to her own avoidance of her past, or the fact that didn't like sharing so much of herself with strangers. When Clara had wanted to do it, Mac had her reservations, but ultimately supported it because why on Earth would she not support her daughter trying to stay sober?

Maybe NA was different from AA, but regardless it had worked for Clara. Beautifully, in fact, something that had been a major weight off of Mac's shoulders. She didn't know how she would figure out the logistics of it at the time, but if she'd had to drag Clara out to Red Rock Mesa for an entire summer, she would've found a way to do it.

Thankfully Mac didn't have to do that. Clara hadn't had anything, drugs, alcohol, or otherwise since right before she was seventeen. If Mac thought about it too much, she would beat herself up for even letting her daughter get like that in the first place, especially after her own experiences, but she just had to be grateful that it was all in the past.

"I'll do some speed dating tonight at the meeting," Clara said. "See if there's anyone promising."

"You're going to one tonight?"

"Yeah, it's at six."

Mac watched Clara. She knew that wasn't all she wanted to talk about. Clara was staring off into the distance, something that Harm also did when he was avoiding something. Always looking at the horizon, always looking at what was "out there."

Mac had never and would never pick favorites when it came to her children. She loved each of them with a ferocity she didn't know possible until she'd become a mother. But all of them were different, and therefore Mac, as their mother, had love that manifested for them differently. Lily was her quiet hard worker, with a fierce dedication & loyalty. Adam was easy going & endearing, with an almost uncanny ability to be friends with anyone. And Clara - Clara was Mac's fighter, unafraid of anything to the point where it still scared Mac sometimes, with a stubborn fire in her eye that Mac knew she'd gotten from her.

Mac has read somewhere that the first kid you have is the kid you get to "grow up" with, and the ones that come after are the ones you raise - that the bond you have with the kid who "makes you a mom" is different. She couldn't help but feel like that was the case with her and Clara. Despite being thirty-four when she'd had Clara, Max couldn't help but look back and think about how young she'd been, how young she'd felt. Adam and Lily's arrivals has both been meticulously planned out by their parents, but Clara had caught her completely off guard.

There was a story Mac used to tell her - well, it had happened, it wasn't really a story. Mac would tell her about the time she'd had to evacuate the US consulate in Aceh. About how she'd been pregnant with Clara at the time but hadn't known yet. About how she'd been awarded the medal for it when she was about six months pregnant.

"You were in mommy's tummy that whole time," Mac would tell Clara back when she was a wriggly toddler struggling to stay still long enough to hear the end of the story. "You helped me save all those people. We did it together."

They had always been in things together in that weird, unplanned way.

"Is that everything?"

Clara looked at Mac. "I have something I want to tell you but you might be mad."

Mac inhaled sharply through her nose. At least Clara warned her now. "What is it?" she asked, trying to wonder what on Earth it could be. Like Harm used to be, Clara always had to be in motion. It drove Mac crazy with Harm before they got together, and it drove her crazy with Clara now.

"I'm thinking about moving out."

Mac's expression brightened. "Honey, that's great!" she said. "Of course we'd miss you but - I think that's great! Look at you, getting out on your own."

Clara smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "Thanks," she said. "But um…I was thinking about going back to San Diego, actually," she reached up to fix her ponytail again. "I mean DC is fine but-"

"You can take the girl out of California but you can't take the California out of the girl," Mac said, repeating Trish's words from many years ago.

"Right."

Mac was quiet for a few moments, her mind now swimming in two major pieces of information she'd yet to wrap her head around. "Well, when would you move?" she asked finally. "It's a little late to transfer schools."

"It would be after graduation," Clara replied. "I figured that would give me time to, you know, save up for it and stuff like that."

"That's smart," Mac nodded. At least she had everything working on a reasonable timeline. Clara's college graduation was only….two-ish years away. That was plenty of time for Mac to come to terms with her baby bird leaving the nest.

"So, what do you think?"

"Umm…" Mac truly didn't know what to think. "I'm not mad," she said, which was the truth. "It's just….it's going to be a big change."

Clara smiled - a genuine one that time. "I know, isn't it exciting?"

Before Mac could answer, the door jingled open and the Admiral entered, still looking like he meant business despite being almost two decades into retirement. Clara turned around to look at Mac with raised eyebrows.

"Oh. Are you guys here to talk about the thing?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded grimly. The Thing was the code name Mac and Clara had come up for the whole…thing with Brumby.

"You know he's going to tell you to tell Dad, right?" Clara asked. "Because Dad needs to know."

"I know," Mac said with a grimace. "I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about it."

TEN MINUTES LATER.

"You need to tell Harm, Mac."

"I know I do, I know." Mac looked down at her cup of coffee. Since Clara's break had ended right after the Admiral arrived, she had actually offered to wait on them, breaking her usual rule of avoidance. The plus side of this was that neither of them had to order - Clara already had their orders memorized.

The Admiral took a sip of his own cup of black coffee - Mac wasn't insane, she had creamer in hers. "Alright," he said as he sat the mug down. "Then let me ask you this - why has it been almost two weeks and you haven't told him?"

Even though Mac hadn't worked under AJ for years, he still had that authoritative effect on her - less so now than back when he'd been JAG, but it was still present.

Mac felt herself retreating behind her coffee mug as she took a sip from it, but she'd steeled herself. She did feel guilty about waiting so long to tell Harm, and still not telling him, but she had her reasons for it. And AJ knew those reasons.

"You know how Harm will react," Mac said. "He still talks about how much he hates Brumby. Remember when he came back while I was pregnant with Clara? They almost killed each other."

"That was twenty years ago."

"Yeah and Harm still brings it up whenever he and Keeter get together and have a little too much to drink," Mac gave the Admiral a look. "You know how he has trouble…letting go of things sometimes."

The Admiral laughed. "How could I forget that?"

"Are you guys ready to order?" Clara asked, appearing once again at their table. She pulled out her pen and paper. "Do you guys want your usuals or do you wanna mix it up?"

"I'll have my usual sweetie. Thank you."

AJ peered down at the menu over the rim of his glasses, then looked back up at Clara. "I'll mix it up," he said. "I'll have the BLT."

Mac watched with amusement as Clara took her pen and scratched out the Admiral's usual order, which she'd already had written down with Mac's, and scribbled out his request for a BLT.

"Alright," she looked up, flashing them a grin that was identical to her father's. "I'll have those out to you guys in a little bit."

As she walked away, Mac turned back to look at the Admiral. "Did she tell you she's thinking of moving out?"

Mac knew that one of the cons of having her children grow older was that she wasn't the first one to hear of any major life decisions. The Admiral had embraced his role of pseudo-grandpa to the Rabb and Roberts children over the years, becoming someone the kids came to when they had certain things they weren't quite ready to tell their parents. He was also there to steer the parents in the correct direction; so in a way he'd never really stepped down from his duties as their Commanding Officer.

"You know, I've watched you make plenty of mistakes, Colonel. I know you're not perfect, but I never would've believed you'd do something like this."

The memory and the words, in the Admirals' voice, came to Mac like a shock, like they always had a way of doing. She tried to shake off the memory, hoping it would go away as quickly as it arrived.

"Uh-huh," the Admiral nodded. "Before Harriet's release party. Why, did she finally tell you?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Mac said, she looked down in the murky beige of her coffee. "Did she mention going back to San Diego?"

The Admiral's eyebrows shot up. "She didn't mention that. Back to California, huh?"

"Yep…" Mac sighed, wrapping her hands around her mug. She watched Clara as she waited on another table across the diner, wondering where the little baby she'd cradled in her arms at Bethesda all those years ago had gone.

She realized that the baby was right in front of her, she was just now a young woman, getting ready to head out into the big wide world on her own. It was something Harm and Mac had spent years preparing her for, and now she was ready. But Mac wasn't sure she was ready.

"She'll be fine wherever she ends up, Mac," the Admiral said, sensing her unease. "She has two of the best officers I've ever worked with as her parents. Not to mention she has a good head on her shoulders."

Mac nodded, giving a small smile at the compliment. "I know that."

"I tried to keep Francesca on a leash her entire childhood and now I'm lucky if I see her more than once a year," he continued with a dry chuckle. "They'll come back to you if you give them space to grow on their own. You kept her safe-"

Mac tried her best to ignore the stab of guilt that came with that statement. Safe. Had she really done that?

"She was asking for you - she's still asking for you. How long are you going to avoid your own child? Whatever the hell this is, you need to snap out of it."

Never one to disobey an order, Mac forced herself to snap out of it.

"She made it this far, didn't she?" The Admiral asked.

That was true, Mac had to admit. Her little girl had made it to becoming the opinionated, independent and fearless young woman that Mac had dreamed she'd become one day. She'd done it. Her little girl had done it.

Mac looked at the Admiral with a smirk, trying to hide the emotions swelling up in her chest. She wasn't expecting to feel this many things on a weekday afternoon when she had to be back at the office in an hour.

"When did you get so good at giving advice?" Mac asked.

The Admiral chuckled. "I was always good at it, you just didn't start listening to me until after I retired," he gave her a pointed look. "Now, you need to tell Harm about Brumby. Don't make me make that an order."

"But sir -" Mac immediately paused at the reflex of calling him 'sir,' with a small blush. "AJ, I don't mess this up for…the other AJ and this Eleanor girl."

"You can figure out how to not mess it up with Harm," the Admiral replied. "You two have always worked better as a team, anyway."

Mac couldn't say anything to that, because AJ was right. Her and Harm had always made a good team.

1645 EST
TYSONS CORNER SHOPPING MALL
TYSONS, VIRGINIA

Harriet found herself surrounded by tulle and sequins in a variety of bright colors and pastels; the prom section at Macy's. Prom was less than a month out, and while it wasn't Nikki's senior prom, it was her first prom, and Harriet was determined to make sure it was perfect, and that started with a dress.

When Harriet went to prom, approximately a million years ago, she'd started shopping six months in advance with a similar determination. She wanted the perfect dress, perfect hair, perfect everything.

And she'd found the dress. It had been ice blue and had ruffle-y, off the shoulder sleeves. It would be considered "horrifically eighties" by today's standards, but Harriet was still infatuated with it.

Part of the reason she couldn't stop thinking about it was because she had never gotten to wear it. Her mother had gone shopping with her, and insisted she buy a big pink, taffeta-covered, lace-fringed thing that was even more horrifically eighties than the blue one Harriet had originally wanted. In her mind it was a better fit for her little girl. Harriet loathed it but had worn it anyway, because what little girl doesn't want to please her mother?

Harriet's main mission today was getting her daughter a prom dress, with the noble sub-mission of not interfering with her daughter getting her perfect dress.

"What about this one?" Harriet asked, pulling a dress off the rack. "This blue is really pretty."

Nikki looked up from a few racks over. She looked at the light blue fabric, studying it for a few seconds before wrinkling her nose. "No," she shook her head and immediately went back to looking.

Harriet frowned. "But honey, I thought you loved blue. I thought it was your favorite color."

"It was my favorite, like, a year ago, but I don't really like it anymore," Nikki replied.

Oh. I didn't think favorite colors could change year after year, Harriet thought, turning her gaze back to the racks and racks of dresses. "What about this lavender one?"

"Mom."

"Or this light green - I hear that color's popular now."

"Moooom…."

"Ooooh or this yellow! You looked so pretty in that yellow dress you wore for homecoming freshman year-"

"Mom!"

Harriet looked up from the satin skirt of a yellow dress to see Nikki glaring at her from over the rack. She'd moved over to Harriet's rack, maybe to specifically stare her down.

"What?" Harriet asked innocently. She held up the yellow dress. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Mom, look at me," Nikki said, her hazel eyes widening. "You're being like grandma, stop it."

Harriet's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me? I am not!"

Nikki laughed. "Yes you are!" she said. "Think about how you've been acting since we got here. Like really, think about it. You told me in the car that if you started acting like grandma to call you out so….that's what I'm doing."

After thinking about it for approximately thirty seconds, Harriet's eyes widened. She whirled around, staring at herself at a mirror mounted on the nearby wall. With her free hand she reached up to touch her cheek.

"Oh my god. You're completely right, " she turned back around to look at Nikki. She sighed. "Honey, I'm sorry."

Nikki laughed. "Mom, it's okay. Just maybe….chill a little bit?"

"Yeah, sure," Harriet smiled, shrugging as though that were the easiest thing in the world for her to do. It wasn't. "I can totally do that," she looked around at the sea of dresses surrounding them. "You know what? I'll do some laps around the mall and then you can text once you're ready to try stuff on, okay?"

"Okay."

Harriet found herself in the nearby Sephora, looking at makeup that she had no idea how to use. She'd had the same makeup routine since around the time she'd become a mother of four, and not much had changed since then.

"Hi! Is there anything I can help you with?"

Looking up, Harriet came face to face with someone who briefly took her breath away. It was a young woman, a worker in the store, with a heart shaped face, light brown hair tied back into a low ponytail, and an incredibly bright pair of blue eyes.

Trying to hide how taken aback she was, Harriet smiled at the worker. "No, I'm okay, I'm just looking."

Harriet turned back to the row of lipsticks that she actually wasn't looking out. She picked one up, absentmindedly turning it upside down to see the shade name before placing it back.

It happened sometimes; Harriet would see her daughter in a complete stranger. Not Nikki, because she'd gotten the pleasure of watching her grow up and got to see her face every day, but Sarah. Her Sarah. Whenever she'd see a girl who looked to be about the age that Sarah would be - should be - Harriet couldn't help but think of her.

Harriet always imagined Sarah would be a brunette. Even though all of her other children were blonde, she always imagined Sarah would have Bud's light brown hair. She imagined a lot of things about her, actually. Like what her favorite subjects in school would be, what her favorite color would be, what type of movies she'd enjoy. There was no end to the list of wondering, and Harriet knew that to some degree it wasn't healthy, but she couldn't help herself. In a way, it gave her comfort - as long as someone was remembering her there was no way she'd really be gone.

Sarah would be twenty-one now, turning twenty-two in November.

I wonder where she would've gone to college? Harriet thought, What would she major in? Oh my god, what would she have worn to prom-

Harriet was pulled out of her thoughts by her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out, seeing a text from Nikki - I found a couple of dresses I like. Can you come back?

Yeah sure, Harriet quickly typed back, Be right there.

The dress Nikki picked out was a dark, emerald green - not the color Harriet would've picked out for her, but she supposed that was what made it Nikki's dress, not hers.

"Are you excited?" Harriet asked as she backed out of the parking space.

"Yeah," Nikki shrugged with a small smile. "I guess so."

"So…" Harriet raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Do you have a date, or are you going stag?"

"I'm…going with a group of friends, if that's what going stag means."

"That's good," Harriet nodded. "I didn't date in high school either, I'm glad I didn't. There's plenty of time for boys in college."

"Right….plenty of time for boys. Exactly."

Harriet reached over to rub Nikki's shoulder. "Isn't this all so exciting?" she asked. "You're going to prom…Noah's also going to prom….James is…dropping out of college….AJ…..has a secret girlfriend that he's bringing to visit in two weeks. This is all…so exciting!"

Nikki eyed Harriet carefully. "Mom, it's okay if you're freaking out."

"Really?" Harriet sighed, her shoulders dropping. "Because I kind of am. Is it obvious?"

"So obvious," Nikki laughed. She turned to look at Harriet, reaching over to turn down the radio. "Considering Mic Brumby's coming back, I can see why you're stressed."

It took everything Harriet had in her to not slam on the brakes. "How on Earth do you know about Mic?"

"I heard everything you and Mac said the other day. You get loud after your second glass of wine."

After hearing the person behind her blow the horn, Harriet was forced to turn her focus back to driving. The light had turned green and she hadn't even realized. Nikki meanwhile, was watching her with amusement.

"I didn't know JAG was a soap-opera back in the day," Nikki said. "Harm really stole Mac from another guy? That's intense."

"He didn't steal her," Harriet corrected. "Mic and Mac had been broken up for….a couple hours before her and Harm got together - well, before Mac got pregnant," she glanced over at Nikki. "And it wasn't back in the day, it was only….twenty-some years ago."

"Wait so…." Nikki paused, her eyes suddenly widening. "Harm and Mac weren't together before they had Clara?"

"No, well - yes? It's complicated, honey. Ask them about it at the next dinner we have."

"So Clara was an accident?"

"She was a surprise, Nikki. She was just…unexpected. A faulty condom or something -" she turned to look at her daughter, her expression suddenly serious. "Nicole, when you go to college you need to make sure your condoms work, it's important-"

"It won't be a problem, Mom. I promise."

"And all of….this stuff about Mic and AJ - no one else knows about it except Mac, Clara, and me, so this needs to be a mother-daughter secret until AJ gets here, okay?"

Nikki nodded. "My lips are sealed," she said. "But what happens when he gets here? Isn't shi - stuff going to hit the fan?"

"I don't know," Harriet replied with another sigh. "We haven't thought that far ahead, yet."

THAT SAME TIME
FAIRFAX HIGH SCHOOL
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

As Adam walked through the parking lot after baseball practice, he was on the lookout for his sister's Jeep, but when he saw his father's Lexus instead, he was confused.

"Dad?" he asked as Harm rolled the window down. "I thought Clara said she was -"

"She was late leaving work and had a meeting to go to," Harm explained, flashing an apologetic smile. "You're stuck with your old man, sorry. "

"That's okay," Adam said over his shoulder as he walked back to the trunk to load up his bag. "You drive better than her, anyway."

"Oof," Harm placed a hand on his chest. "You want me to tell her you said that?"

"Please, don't. I want to live."

Harm chuckled. "Understandable," he turned to look at his son as he climbed into the passenger seat. "How was practice?"

"Pretty good," Adam nodded, buckling his seat belt. "Are you coming to the game on Friday?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Harm reached over to ruffle Adam's hair, before realizing how…absolutely covered in sweat his son was. He was also still in his very sweaty, slightly grass stained and dusty uniform. Harm slowly drew his hand back.

"Son, you know I love you."

"Right, Dad. Love you, too."

Harm smiled. "But you couldn't have…changed before you left the locker room? Maybe, taken a shower?"

"I thought about it, but I was rushing because Clara usually rushes me and I thought she was the one picking me up-"

"And she doesn't mind the….musk you bring with you?"

"She does. She complains about it but then still rushes me," Adam shrugged. "It doesn't really make sense."

"It doesn't," Harm sighed, looking down at the freshly-cleaned interior of his Lexus. "This car is my fourth baby," he said. "Next time you know I'm picking you up, please shower."

"Sure, Dad. Will do," Adam replied, giving a lazy salute.

Harm had been an overly sweaty teenage boy once, so he understood the certain struggles that came with that territory. However, now that he was on the other side of it, he found it hard to fight the urge to ask his son if he even knew what deodorant was.

"So, who was that guy you were talking to?" Harm asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Adam immediately paused. "What guy?"

"The guy you were talking to before you walked over to the car," Harm said. "Who was he?"

"Just ... .a guy on the team," Adam replied with a shrug, his posture still abnormally stiff.

"Are you friends?"

"I mean - yeah? He's on the team, so yeah."

"I'm just curious, son."

"No, I know. But he's just a guy on the team. Nothing else."

Harm's eyebrows shot up. "Is there something else he could be?"

Adam's eyes widened. "Oh look," he said, turning to look at the dashboard screen. "Mom's calling. Dad, you should pick up because it's Mom. Calling. Dad, Mom's calling-"

Harm turned to look at the screen, and sure enough, Mac was calling. "Hey, honey," Harm said as he picked up, his glance still lingering on Adam for a few moments. "What's up? I'm with Adam, by the way."

"Oh, hi baby."

"Hi, Mom."

"How was practice?"

"Good. The game's on Friday."

"I'll be there, don't worry."

"Is something wrong, Mac?" Harm asked, picking up on a slight edge in her voice. Even before they were together, back when they were just coworkers together at JAG, he always had that uncanny barometer for her stress.

"What? No, nothing's wrong," Mac replied, her voice telling Harm that something definitely was wrong. "I was just wondering if I could talk to you about something tonight."

"Talk to me about what, Mac?"

"You'll find out tonight."

"It's probably something she doesn't want me to know," Adam told Harm in a loud whisper. Then, in a louder voice, he asked Mac. "Is this a parents only thing?"

"No, well - for now it is."

"Are we going back to Colorado next winter break?" Adam asked, his expression brightening. "Is that what this is?"

Mac sighed. "No, honey. It's not Colorado, I'm sorry."

Harm looked at Adam, his brows furrowed in confusion. "You broke your leg skiing the last time we went to Colorado."

Adam shrugged. "The part before I broke my leg was fun."

"Harm - honey, I'll talk to you tonight, okay?"

"My schedule's free after dinner, then I'm all yours."

"Thanks. I'm headed home now, so I'll see you then."

After they hung up, Harm felt Adam's eyes on him. "What?" he asked.

Adam laughed. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Harm replied, his eyes wide with innocence.

"You're totally in the dog house about something," Adam said. "You heard it in Mom's voice."

Harm sighed, turning his attention back to the road. The whole rest of the drive home, he was wracking his brain, trying to figure out what he could've done to piss off his marine.

THE NEXT MORNING

1115 LOCAL
ARTHUR & BRUMBY LAW FIRM
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

When they built their firm from the ground up in 2005, Gillian had gotten her name first in exchange for Mic getting the nice, big corner office with all the windows overlooking the Sydney harbor. Naturally, Gillian had gotten his office when he retired, so now both of those things belonged to her.

"You look good behind that desk," Mic said as he strolled into her office. "I should've given it to you before I retired."

Gillian smiled, pushing her chair out from behind her desk. "I know, I tried to convince you, remember?"

"I do," Mic said as he sat down across from her. These chairs were way more comfortable than the ones he'd had - he should've listened to her about that, too. "So, why did you ask me to come in today? I'm sure it wasn't actually just to have lunch."

"It wasn't," Gillian shook her head. "Michael, darling, I want you to - first of all, remain calm. Secondly, I want you to…imagine the worst possible reason why I could've invited you in today."

"Well," Mic shrugged. "You could be divorcing me, but we're not married. You could also be trying to get sole custody of our daughter, but she's been a legal adult for several years already, so that can't be it. And both of my parents are already dead, so," he shrugged again. "Don't see how anything could be worse than that."

"Well that's good -"

"Unless."

Gillian blinked at him. She gave a nervous laugh. "Unless what, Michael? Unless what?"

"Unless Harmon Rabb Jr's coming back into my life but," Mic chuckled. "That would be impossible."

"Well, he's not dead so I wouldn't say it's impossible…" Gillian muttered.

"What was that?"

Gillian sighed, reaching across her desk to take both of Mic's hands in hers. "Michael," she took a deep breath. "I truly wish I was not the one to tell you this, that I wouldn't even have to be in the room when you hear this news, but…welcome to your worst nightmare."

"What?" Mic gave her a strange look. "Gillian, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling fine, love. It's you, I'm worried about."

"I don't understand-"

"Michael, our daughter is going to meet this Harmon Rabb Jr. when she goes back to the states in a couple of weeks because she's dating his nephew."

"His - his what?"

"AJ Roberts? Eldest son of Bud and Harriet Roberts?" Gillian asked. "Those names ring any bells?"

Mic looked at Gillian in disbelief. "AJ? He's way too young for Ellie-"

"He's three months older, actually," Gillian stood up, moving to sit against the edge of the desk. "Just because the last time you saw him he was a little boy doesn't mean he hasn't grown in the last twenty years."

Mic sat back in the chair. Right. That had been the summer of 1999.

"Are you positive, love?" Mic asked, his throat suddenly feeling dry. "I mean, there's so many AJ Roberts's in the world, are you sure this one's the same -"

Mic was cut off by Gillian's phone being shoved under his nose. Once his eyes focused, he saw he was looking at a family beach picture.

"You recognize him, right?" Gillian said, tapping Harm's face with her fingernail.

"How could I forget him?"

Gillian sighed. "Well that -" she pointed to another face, one of a blonde-haired teenage boy. "Is Ellie's AJ. And that-'' she pointed to a third face, one of a girl Harm had his arm around. She had long brown hair, bright blue eyes, and his same exact grin. Mac was on her other side. "Is the baby Sarah Mackenzie was pregnant with that you were so deluded as to think was yours."

Now that she wasn't an unborn child and Mic could actually see her face, he could also see his delusion. Especially with her standing between her two parents, there was no room for doubt that Mic wasn't the father. Which ultimately was a good thing - he couldn't imagine Ellie ever battling for attention with another sibling.

He stood up suddenly, walking over to one of the windows. He leaned against the glass, staring down at the harbor below.

"Michael, are you-"

"You might want to call someone," he said, turning around. "I think I'm having another heart attack."

Gillian rolled her eyes. "Don't joke about that," she told him. "I don't think it'll be that bad, Michael. It's been twenty years-"

"And I haven't forgotten anything, Gillian. Anything."

"So?" Gillian threw her hands up. "What are you going to do? Tell Ellie to break up with him? You know as well as I do how that's going to go."

"No," Mic shook his head, walking over to Gillian's desktop. He sat down in her chair, ignoring her affronted look. "We're going to book a flight."

Gillian's brows shot up. "A flight?"

"To Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Virginia," Mic explained, having the airport name and location memorized from how many times he'd traveled there. "I'm not letting our daughter go into that mess of a family alone."

"A mess of a family - Michael, you barely know them anymore!"

"I know enough from when I was engaged to Sarah."

Gillian huffed, resigning herself to sitting in the guest seat on the other side of the desk. "You were never engaged to me-" she began to murmur.

"Because every time I've asked you've said no."

Gillian rolled her eyes, watching Micahel type. "You might want to call someone," she spoke dryly. "I think I'm the one having a heart attack this time."

"Very funny."

Gillian watched Mic for a few more moments before sighing. "Buy two."

Mic looked up from the screen. "What?"

"You heard me. Buy two tickets," Gillian sat up. "Someone needs to keep you in check over there, and I'm not putting that responsibility on our child while she's meeting potential future in-laws."

"Don't joke about that."
Gillian sighed. "She's in love, Mic."

"Don't say that, either."

"What happened to trusting her?"

That statement gave Mic pause. He stared at the flight timetable for a few moments before looking back at Gillian. "I trust her," he said. "It's…them I don't trust."

"Why?"

"They…they don't take to outsiders well."

"Michael, you're making it sound like they're a cult," Gilian gave him a look. "Could you be serious, for a moment?"

"I am being serious," Mic insisted, his eyes going back to the computer. "The entire time I was engaged to Sarah they all had this weird wall up around me."

Gillian shrugged. "Maybe that's because they all knew she was meant to be with Harm."

"Gillian-"

"Don't let your experience ruin this for Ellie," she said, a pleading look in her eye. "This could be a great thing for her, you know? Have you considered it?"

Mic clicked on a flight. "You still prefer morning flights, right?"

Gillian sighed again before answering. "Yes, I do," she paused. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive."

When Mic first got his transfer orders to come to JAG in 1998, he had know clue that it would end up following him around for the rest of his life like this. If he had known all of this back then, would have still accepted the transfer? Not that he really had a choice, but it was still something he thought about.

Yes, I know this chapter is a LONG one, but in order to keep the story moving I couldn't break it up again. This chapter was kind of a hard one to write. Writing about Baby Sarah is never fun, and writing the subtle angst between Mac and Clara is also hard, especially with me knowing what I know because I already have this story outlined. You guys will have to wait for the full story, though - sorry :)

Anyways, thank you for reading!

-Harper