Ch03 of "Comforted by his brunette – The Visit" – "A mock divorce"
AU: November 2003. Harm is working for Mattie and meets Jenn Coates at Loren Singer's gravesite. A new life-course branches off as he decides whether to return to JAG. Inspired by the 2015 story "The Visit" by the late author byrthelm.)
A/N: "they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them - apart from any character created by myself". See Ch 01 for disclaimers.
Summary: this is a fictional story, in a fictional (slightly) Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. Comments and PMs and suggestions are most welcome. Mike
Canon Episodes: Hopping back and forth between the end of Season Eight (May 2003) and the AU branch that is coming, away from the rest of Season 9.
"Pas de Deux" – broadcast May13,2003 (S08Ep23): working with Catherine Gale (and more!)
"Tangled Webb, Part 1" – broadcast May20,2003 (S08Ep24) – into the flames…
"A merry little Christmas" Harm gains Mattie as guardian after Mac speaks with her father – S09Ep11 - December12,2003
"What If?" (episode 200) – Coates promoted to P/O 1st class – S09Ep18 - March12,2004
? "There goes the neighbourhood" – Pia Bonfilio – S10Ep08 - ?
Characters from FFNET – H Rabb; Jennifer Coates: Catherine Gale: (later) Mattie Grace.
A/N: Published 21-Nov-2024:Moving onwards from their accidental meeting at Loren Singer's grave in Arlington (inspired by the 2015 story "The Visit").My grateful thanks to the author Chainguns for collaboration on some lines used in this third chapter of the story.
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Flashback: Previously on "Comforted by his brunette – The Visit"…
Sunday morning, 2nd November 2003
Apartment of Harmon Rabb, north of Union Station, Washington DC, 20002, USA
Jennifer was still daydreaming, half-listening to Harm singing in the shower, when the rattle of a key in the apartment door drew her attention.
A petit blonde woman, wrapped up against the autumn chill, stepped into the apartment. Wearing a beautiful form-fitting knee-length leather coat, she carried a porta-crib which contained what looked like a two-month old baby.
The new arrival placed the porta-crib gently on the side-table, tossed her keys into the bowl by the door, then called out "Hi Honey, I'm home!"
She pulled off her long black gloves, revealing ring-free hands – apart from a wedding band on the third finger of her left hand!
Jennifer stood there, open-mouthed, as the woman removed her coat to reveal a tight grey knitted dress (showing a slight post-pregnancy "mummy tummy"). She then leaned down to unzip her long glossy black boots (definitely a military connection here, thought Jenn), which she then leaned against the wall. She looked down at her feet.
"Darn, cold floor; Harm's gotta sort out this heating."
She looked up at Jenn and smiled, then advanced, holding out her hand.
"Hi, my name's Catherine Gale – and I'm Harm's wife".
*End flashback:
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Sunday morning, 2nd November 2003
Apartment of Harmon Rabb, north of Union Station, Washington DC, 20002, USA
Time stood still. Harm had emerged from the bathroom, bare-chested, towelling his hair. He looked at the newcomer in horror, before his face fell back into a smile. "Hello Cat, what brings you around?"
"Well, husband, I thought you might want to see our daughter, now that you are out of "the Firm" and unemployed."
Harm's face grew more fearful with every word,
Finally, Catherine could contain herself no longer. Pointing her left index finger at Harm (so that his eye focussed on the wedding band on her left hand) she called out:
"GOTCHA!"
She removed the wedding band from her left hand, sliding it onto the ring finger of her right hand. "At least Mom's ring fits either hand."
"Oh Harm, I wish you could have seen your face."
Alongside her, Jenn was beginning to relax, as Cat turned to her. "I am so sorry to include you in my little joke, but he's been out of contact for months and I did want to thank him for helping me out in a tight spot with my Mom back in May. Mind you, he wanted some assistance and intel from me at that point, so we had a trade."
"Shall we formally introduce ourselves? I actually *am* Catherine Gale, lawyer for the State Department. Am I right in assuming that I am addressing Harm's real girlfriend?"
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She had been at Arlington the previous day, observing the anniversary of her father's passing (Ret'd Brig-Gen, US) and she recognised Harm (from his height and military bearing) and saw "the hug". It was time for her to catch up with Harm and she had seen, the previous week, that he had been terminated by the CIA. So, as his "wife", she had several reasons to turn up (as well as showing him her new baby Liza - or Elizabeth Patricia Esther Gale to list her full name).
Jenn looked at Harm, the panic in her eyes starting to ease. Just as he did in the Loren Singer case earlier in the year, he just smiled and nodded, then he took the initiative. "Yes Cat, Jennifer is my new girlfriend and we are still working out the future, but I am definitely proud to call Jenn my girlfriend."
Jenn recovered quickly and smiled, then stepped across to him and kissed him, before issuing an instruction.
"Harm, go finish dressing, whilst I sort out coffee, tea or milk for Catherine here."
Cat retrieved the Porta-Crib and set it up on the breakfast bar. Liza gurgled happily. The tension in the apartment was gone; inevitably both women began discussing their favourite subject – one Harmon Rabb Jr.
Jenn was being eaten alive with curiosity, concerning her new lover as of last night.
"So, I gotta ask – what's with the marriage thing? Did you…?"
"Well, Jennifer – may I please call you Jennifer?"
"Yes of course Cat – or Jenn to my friends; as they say, 'any friend of mine…' so please continue. This sounds *so* like a Harmon Rabb story."
"OK. Harm and I first met a while back and we sparred legally over the Angelshark case. Anyhow, with Mac overdue overseas and Harm desperately trying to be the 'knight in shining armour', he contacted me seeking information through my back channels. We struck a deal."
Jenn raised an eyebrow, so Cat ploughed straight onwards.
"My Mom was on her last legs and more-or-less confined permanently to her hospital bed, so he agreed to pose as my boyfriend. Then with the pregnancy, we went the whole hog with a fake marriage ceremony in her hospital room and it gave her a lot of comfort."
"Darn, so he's been married already; I wanted to be the first…" Jenn stopped with a gasp, hand over her mouth, shocked at her openness.
Cat patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, you would *always* be his first legal wife, Jennifer".
She chuckled as a stray – but clearly amusing - thought struck her.
"Look, we never signed a Register. Let me explain. Bud Roberts got himself ordained online, then he borrowed his wife's wedding ring and downloaded the marriage service from the Internet. So it was that we got 'married' in front of my Mom – and Mom found a lot of comfort. She died a while later after Harm had disappeared to find Mac."
"That explains the whole 'honey I'm home' bit when you arrived today." Jenn had "joined the dots" in the story.
"Yes Jenn – and apologies if I worried you". She shrugged: "It's just that I have always wanted to say that and – as I've also never actually been married – it seemed the best chance for me."
She paused: "plus I need to give him his keys back and agree the 'divorce' – which should not be difficult in two minutes flat."
Jenn raised a questioning eyebrow, so Cat continued.
"As I found out later, darling Bud downloaded what we think is the civil partnership service (in English obviously) for Danish lesbians. So, I am confident – with little Liza here – that we don't qualify as married from that ceremony."
Cat had discovered that her late mother's wedding band (Esther had finally died peacefully whilst Harm was "away down south" in the Paraguay jungle) would fit her left ring finger perfectly. She had smiled, knowing that she would not have the same problem as she had experienced when trying to remove Harriet Sims' wedding ring after the "Harm fake marriage" back in May.
The post-pregnancy swelling in her fingers had all vanished, leaving her with just the "Mummy Tummy" which stretched her woollen dress slightly. Harm remembered the impressive amount of "give" in that same grey dress when Cat had visited Esther with him back in May. Therefore she had pulled the wedding ring from its drawer and, sliding the wedding ring on as she dressed that Sunday morning she stepped out looking like a married mom. It was past time time to play a prank on her "non-husband" and what seemed to be his new girlfriend, based upon her observations yesterday at Arlington...
Plus, she rationalised, it was always nice to catch up with Harm anyway; she felt that he had been hard-treated by the CIA. Meeting his new girlfriend - and giving her the "Catherine Gale stamp of approval" - was a bonus!
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By the time that Cat had finished her story, both women were laughing – which is where Harm found them as he arrived back in the room, this time fully dressed.
"What did I miss?"
"Not a lot, hubby. I need to call you that for the last time, because we are now divorced – OK?" She waved her right hand once again – Harm saw that the ring had moved hands; just for a moment, he had a flashback to Mac and her "engagement ring".
"Yes, sure"; he gently took Jenn's hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Come on, everyone on the comfy chairs and let's talk."
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Sunday afternoon, 2nd November 2003
Apartment of Harmon Rabb, north of Union Station, Washington DC, 20002, USA
As the happy conversation flowed, Catherine Gale had been watching Jennifer and Harm - and their interactions.
She realised that they were perfect for each other. She had also tried to put their minds at rest about "the age gap" with the disclosure that Liza's father had been over 20 years older than Cat at the moment of conception. A senior British agent in MI-5 had been visiting Langley, two years after losing his wife to cancer. Something had just "clicked" with Catherine and, in a one-night stand, they had created Liza, unknown to the "father". That situation suited Cat just fine.
With a brief break to feed and change Liza, the morning stretched comfortably into the afternoon. Boiled eggs and wholemeal toast provided an interim breakfast for Harm and Jenn (Cat had already breakfasted before leaving her own apartment, so she stuck to juice with a second coffee thrown in) and the war stories helped Jenn to fill in several gaps in her back story of her new man.
Catherine had, obviously, been privy to much of the CIA machinations around Paraguay, but Harm was relieved to see that (once again) she proved that she knew how to keep a secret.
When the time came to depart, Cat headed to the fruit bowl and retrieved her set of keys. She separated out two keys and – very deliberately – handed them direct to Jenn. "You're going to need these, Jennifer – and it saves him the cost of cutting more for this apartment and the entrance lobby downstairs when Mrs Rabb comes home".
At Jennifer's shocked intake of breath, she just winked and waggled the ring finger of her right hand: "Jenn, the coast is completely clear; you go, girl!"
As she headed to the door, she handed the porta-crib to Jennifer to hold, while Cat retrieved her boots and zipped up, ready for the cold air as she walked to the car. She retrieved Liza from Jenn, then hugged Harm, turning finally to Jennifer.
As the two women in Harmon Rabb's life hugged, Cat whispered in Jennifer's ear: "He is a good man; you are good for each other; do not be afraid to reach out for what is good for both of you."
She kept hold of Jenn for her final advice: "Keep him close and give him lots of wonderful Rabb babies, Jennifer."
Approaching the door with Liza on her left arm, she turned and waved her right hand – with her Mom's wedding band firmly in place – the sign of a divorced (or separated) woman.
"OK Harm, virtual Divorce completed and the road ahead is clear – she's all yours. Don't mess it up, my dear ex-husband".
Then she was gone.
Catherine Gale had left Harmon Rabb's life.
Leaving Jenn with a big problem – expectation management.
Or did she?
Jenn was as certain as she needed to be that, in the past two days, she had found her mate for life AND that he was very comfortable with her...
SO, how to move things forward in the amazing world of Harmon Rabb jr?
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Sunday afternoon, 2nd November 2003, 18:05hrs EDT
Apartment of Harmon Rabb, north of Union Station, Washington DC, 20002, USA
Later, Harm and Jenn finished a huge make-out session on the couch as the outside daylight faded into evening. Their thoughts turned once more to food. The Chinese takeaway menu card came to fruition as the happy new lovers continued to explore each other. They knew that they would – at some point – need to move; Jenn needed to get back to "Animal House" as Harm had heard her describe that house earlier in the day.
A new week at JAG lay ahead for Jenn. A week of crop-spraying (and revelations around Mattie's home life) lay ahead for Harm.
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End of Ch03 of "Comforted by his brunette – The Visit" – "A mock divorce"
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Mike, UK, 21-Nov-2024