...And I can't fight this feeling anymore
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
It's time to bring this ship onto the shore
And throw away the oars forever
'Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
If I have to crawl upon the floor
Or come crashing through your door
Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore.

"Can't Fight This Feeling" performed by REO Speedwagon, copyright 1984.

15 AUGUST
1605 ZULU
HARM AND MAC'S RESIDENCE
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

Mac sat on the couch, lost in thought and idly doodling in a notebook while conversation flowed around her.  She couldn't get her mind off the awkwardness the previous night when she and Harm had gone to bed, only for Harm to start feeling guilty the minute he had to look at her healing wound.  She'd had such high hopes for her release from the hospital and though they had eventually gotten past the moment, the damage had been done and she couldn't shake from her mind the look in Harm's eyes, the guilt over her injury.  Just as she couldn't shake the guilt in the pit of her own soul for allowing herself to be injured, an injury which had threatened the lives of their babies.

Mac jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her arm, then relaxed when she realized it was just her future mother-in-law.  "I'm sorry, Mom," Mac said weakly.  "What were you saying?"

Trish looked at the young woman she'd come during the past weeks to love as a daughter.  She'd seen the haunted look in Mac's eyes and she was concerned that though the physical wounds of her attack were healing, the emotional ones would continue to cause their pain for a time to come.  It reminded her of the look she'd seen in her son's eyes during the week that Mac had been hospitalized.

"I was just wondering if you are okay, Mac," Trish said lightly.  "You looked like you were off in your own little world there."

Mac looked up from her notebook to see everyone's eyes on her - Trish, Frank, Matt and Sydney.  Come on, pull it together, Marine, she admonished herself as she said aloud, "I'm sorry.  I was just thinking about. . . .everything."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Sydney asked.

Mac tried to smile, hoping to ease their concern.  She did want to talk, but the one she really needed to talk with wasn't present at the moment.  "I'm fine, really," she insisted.  "I thought we were here to talk about a wedding."

Matt looked at his niece for a long moment, then looked at the others, shaking his head.  They were all equally concerned, but four on one was probably not the best way to approach it.  It might appear, despite their good intentions and concern, that they were ganging up on her, trying to force her to talk about whatever was bothering her.  "We are," Matt agreed.  "Probably the first thing to be decided is when and where you want to get married.  Have you and Harm talked about that at all?"

"We did agree last night that we wanted to get married as soon as we possibly can," Mac revealed.  "After all, before too much longer, I won't be able to fit into a wedding gown.  And I don't want to wait until after the babies are born.  As for where, I don't really have a preference.  I've never really seen a place that jumped out at me, making me think I wanted to have my wedding there."

"What about Harm?" Sydney asked, looking from Mac to Trish and Frank.  "Has
he ever said anything about wanting to get married any particular place?"

As Mac shook her head, Frank jumped in, squeezing his wife's hand, "When we took Harm to Annapolis for college, he was fascinated by the fact that Trish and his father had been married at the chapel there.  We haven't been there since Harm graduated, but I do recall it being quite beautiful and there is the family history factor."

"I never thought of that," Mac said thoughtfully, "and the family history aspect would be important to Harm.  If you don't have a problem with it, Mom, I'll discuss the idea with Harm when he gets home."

"Why would I have a problem with it?" Trish asked.  "I have very happy memories of my wedding day in that chapel.  I think it would be perfect for you and Harm."

"Okay," Mac agreed.  "I will mention it to Harm this evening.  If he agrees, then I would love to get married at Annapolis.  But maybe I should call and find out what is the earliest date the chapel is available.  Discussing it with Harm may be moot if it's not available."

Trish picked up the cordless phone from the end table and handed it to Mac. "There's no time like the present," she said.

Mac took the phone and quickly dialed a number from memory.  "Gunny, it's Colonel Mackenzie," she said when the phone was picked up on the other end.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Gunny replied.  "How are you doing, ma'am?"

"I'm fine, Gunny," Mac answered.  "Could you find me the number for the chapel at the Naval Academy?"

"Sure, just give me a minute, ma'am," Gunny said as he began punching keys on his computer.  After a moment, he found the number.  "It's 410-293-1100, ma'am."

"Thank you, Gunny," Mac said.  "Is Commander Rabb there by chance?"

"No, ma'am," Gunny answered.  "He left the building for lunch."

"Okay," she said, sighing.  "I'll just talk to him later.  Thank you, Gunny."  After his own goodbye, she pressed the flash button and dialed the number for the chapel at Annapolis.

After the third ring, a woman's cheerful voice answered, "Thank you for calling the Naval Academy chapel, this is Lyla.  How may I direct your call?"

"I'm not sure who I need to talk to," Mac said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.  "My fiancé is an Academy graduate and I'd like to find out about the possibility of getting married at the chapel."

"Let me transfer you to Mary, our wedding scheduler," Lyla said.  "She can help you with anything you need."

"Thank you," Mac replied as hold music came over the phone.  Placing her hand over the mouth piece, she told everyone, "I'm being transferred to the wedding scheduler."

After a moment, another woman's voice came over the line, "This is Mary, the chapel wedding scheduler.  I understand you'd like to inquire about holding a wedding here.  Is either the bride or groom an Academy graduate?"

"Yes," Mac answered, "my fiancé graduated in '85."

"Have to ask that," Mary explained.  "We only allow Academy graduates to hold their weddings here.  The names of the groom and bride?"

"Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie," Mac said.

There was a pause while Mary wrote down the information.  "Colonel, do you have a specific date in mind?  I should warn you that certain times of the year are easier to book than others."

Mac took a deep breath.  She hadn't thought of that.  She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that early fall was not a busy time of year for the chapel.  "We haven't really discussed a specific date," she said, "just that it be sooner rather than later.  See, I'm expecting twins in February and we 'd like to get married before too much longer."

"I understand completely," Mary said.  "Let me look at the calendar and see if we have any openings coming up.  Um, looks like we have an opening the morning of 30 September.  Although, depending on how big you want this, six weeks may not be enough time to prepare."

"Well, neither of us has much family," Mac considered, "so most of the guests are going to be friends and people we work with.  With most of those people being military, some of our friends might not even be able to make it due to location.  I don't see six weeks being a problem.  Hold on a second, please."  Mac put her hand over the mouthpiece at a gesture from Trish.

"Honey," Trish said, "don't worry about how much time until the wedding.  Since you're still recovering, you're probably not in the best condition to be planning a wedding.  I'm sure it will be no problem getting all your friends to chip in the help plan everything."

"I don't know. . . ." Mac trailed off.

"Sarah," Matt jumped in, "all your friends came together to get you moved into your home in a day.  I'm sure between everyone, we can all put together a wedding in six weeks."  Trish, Frank and Sydney all nodded their agreement.

Mac nodded in return as she returned to the phone call.  "Sorry about that," she apologized.  "I was just discussing planning with our families.  30 September looks like a good date."

"Good date for what?" Harm asked from the doorway.

"A wedding!" Mac answered, her voice excited, as she waved him over to the couch.  She said into the phone, "Sorry about that again.  My fiancé just walked in.  Let me put you on speaker phone."  She pressed a button on the base of the phone.

"Mary, this is my fiancée, Commander Rabb," Mac said.  "Harm, this is Mary, the wedding scheduler at Annapolis."  Mac knew from the way his face lit up that Annapolis was the right choice for their wedding.  He sat down next to her on the couch and squeezed her hand, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Harm, Mary was just saying that the chapel is available the morning of 30 September," Mac told him.  "Six weeks doesn't give us a lot of time, but everyone seems to want to chip in on the planning."

"30 September sounds perfect," he said softly.

"Okay, Mary, I guess you can put us down for 30 September," Mac said.  "What else do we need to know or do?"

"Most importantly," Mary said, "we insist on a session with one of the chaplains.  Kind of a pre-marital counseling and information session all rolled into one.  Do you have a preference on denomination?"

Harm and Mac looked at each other for a moment before Harm answered, "Probably should keep this non-denominational."

"That's not a problem," Mary said.  "Let me see.  How far are you from Annapolis?"

"We're in DC," Mac answered.  "Distance is not a problem if we have to come to the Academy before the wedding."

"Then I have an opening this Friday at thirteen hundred hours," Mary said.

"I don't know," Harm said to Mac.  "You did just get out of the hospital and you're not supposed to go on long trips for a few weeks."

"I don't think an hour to Annapolis can be considered a long trip," Mac pointed out.  "Anyway, it would be good to do the counseling session before I have to return to work next week, that way only one of us has to ask the Admiral for the afternoon off."

"Still, I would feel better if we talked to Dr. Newman before we agreed to go to Annapolis on Friday," Harm said.

"Why don't I go ahead and schedule the appointment," Mary suggested, "and you can just call and reschedule if necessary."

"That will work," Harm said as Mac nodded her assent.

"Decorating the chapel is not something you need to worry about," Mary said, "other than what colors and types of flowers you want.  We have a group on campus that does the decorating for all weddings at the chapel."

"We'll have to think about the colors," Mac said, smiling at Harm, "but the flowers are easy.  Roses, definitely."  Harm returned the smile.

"You know, Colonel," Mary pointed out, "roses aren't exactly in season the end of September."

"If it's a problem," Mac said firmly, "we can take care of obtaining the flowers and your people can decorate.  But it has to be roses."

"Sorry," Harm said, "it's a 'when and how we met' kind of thing.  Roses are very important to us.  The wedding wouldn't be right without them."

"Understandable," Mary replied.  "As far as the reception goes, there are several places on or off-campus that it can be held at.  If you do make it here on Friday, I can make sure an information packet is put together for you.  If you call and have to reschedule, then I can just mail the information to you."

"That will be fine," Mac said.  "Anything else?"

"Right now, no," Mary answered.  "Let me give you my direct number if you need to call for anything, for instance rescheduling your appointment on Friday."  Mac wrote down the number Mary gave her in the notebook and clicked off the phone after thanking her for her help.  She looked at Harm expectantly.

"Thank you," Harm said, "but are you sure there isn't someplace important to you where you'd like to hold the wedding?  We don't have to have it at the Academy just to please me."

"Well, I think getting everyone to Red Rock Mesa would be a logistical nightmare," Mac said, pretending to ponder the idea, "and I think it would just plain be a nightmare to try and hold the wedding at the Rose Garden where we met.  Hence, Annapolis."

Harm laughed at her logic, "You win.  Annapolis it is."

"What's this about a rose garden?" Sydney asked.  "I haven't heard that story."

"The Admiral didn't tell you?" Mac asked, surprised.  When Sydney shook her head, Mac explained, "I was pulled off a double murder investigation to work this mail holdup as a temporary assignment out of JAG headquarters.  I was ordered to meet with Admiral Chegwidden at this ceremony he was attending at the White House.  The ceremony was Harm receiving his first Distinguished Flying Cross."

"The White House?" Sydney asked.  "You mean you met in *the* Rose Garden?"  At Harm and Mac's nods, she laughed, "The way you met, it sounds like fate that you would get together."

"Only took them four years to realize it," Frank added.

"While everyone else realized it almost from the beginning," Matt continued.  "You know, I asked my niece, not long after I met Harm, 'Where'd you find this sailor, Sarah?'.  After she said 'In a Rose Garden, Uncle Matt,' this look passed between her and Harm.  Seemed obvious to me."

"You should have heard some of Harm's calls to me after they met," Trish revealed.  "All I heard was 'Mac this, Mac that'.  Then, once, I make an innocent little comment about how Mac seemed like a nice girl and you'd think I was suggesting they go pick out china patterns from the look on Harm's face."

"You know," Mac interrupted, "if this is going to turn into a 'let's talk about what idiots Harm and Mac have been for the last four years' kind of discussion, we can leave you to it and find a nice quiet place to have lunch by ourselves."

Everyone laughed.  "Okay, let's leave Harm and Mac alone," Sydney suggested, making a mental note to pump AJ for information later.  "We can save the 'what idiots Harm and Mac have been' stories for the engagement party."

Harm and Mac almost groaned as everyone laughed.  "You know, I'm beginning to think elopement is sounding pretty good," Mac whispered as she leaned against Harm.

"Are you kidding?" he whispered back.  "They'd kill us if we cheated them out of the wedding they've been waiting for all this time."

18 AUGUST
1510 ZULU
UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

"Are you okay?" Harm asked as he parked his SUV in a lot just down the street from the chapel.

"I'm fine," Mac insisted.  "Just as I was fine the last ten times you asked. Harm, I've just been sitting in a car for the last hour, not running a marathon.  Don't worry about me.  I'm getting better every day and I do go back to work on Monday."

Harm looked down at his hands gripping the steering wheel, unsure what to say.  How could he explain something he didn't completely understand himself.  He'd always looked out for Mac, as she had always looked out for him, but this was so much different.  He'd never cared this much about anyone before and it scared him.

Mac was silent for a moment, waiting for him to reply.  When he didn't, she continued, "Obsessing over my well-being isn't going to turn back the clock and undo what happened.  And that's what you've been doing ever since I got out of the hospital on Monday.  Every time you look at my wound, every time I have to stop and catch my breath, I see that look in your eyes - the one that says you can't stop thinking about what happened.  You can't watch over me twenty-four hours a day, every day.  Harm, I don't want to become another one of your obsessions."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, shrugging.  "I just don't know. . . .how to get past this."

She cupped his chin in her hand and turned his head to face her.  "I don't have all the answers either," she said firmly.  "But shutting each other out isn't the answer.  I thought we would have learned that, if nothing else, from what happened on the ferry.  Anyway, we have survived so much together.  We can get past this too, but neither of us can do it alone."

Harm gave her a wan smile.  "I know," he said.  "I just wish it were as easy as it sounds."

"Me, too," Mac agreed, quickly brushing her lips against his.  "Now, since we're early and you did say something about getting lunch down here, how about it?  I'm starving."

Harm had to chuckle a little at that.  It was comforting the way some things never changed.  "The O Club is on the other side of the parking lot," he said.  "How does that sound?"

"It will sound better once I have food in front of me," she replied.

After a leisurely lunch at the Officers' Club, they still had time to kill before their thirteen hundred appointment, so Mac insisted Harm give her the grand tour of the campus.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" he asked.  "I don't want you to over do it."  At the stern look Mac shot him, he shrugged and added, "I know, I'm hovering again.  Promise you'll tell me if you need to take a break."

"Promise," she said, smiling.  "Now, come on.  I want to see everything and don't forget to include the stories of all the trouble you got into while here."

Harm raised his eyebrows and grinned at her, a 'Who, me?' look in his eyes, while he made a mental note to find out what Keeter might have told her about their college days during the two days they had spent in the Iranian desert.

Pushing the thought aside, he launched into his role as tour guide.  "Over there, just past the lot where we parked," he said, pointing to a large field to their right, "is Worden Field, the Academy parade grounds. Midshipmen are graded on their performance in parades and drill work and based on those marks, the Color Company is chosen."

"I assume most, if not all of these buildings are named after Naval heroes," Mac said.

"Of course," Harm replied.  "In this case, Rear Admiral Worden was commander of the USS Monitor."

"The Monitor and the Merrimack," Mac murmured.

"You know your history," he commented.

"So do you," she returned.  "What, do they teach you the history of the Academy and all its buildings and who they're named after?"

"Of course," he said, joking.  "Naval History 101.  It's amazing when you think of all the famous people who walked these grounds - Leahy, Halsey, Nimitz."

"Tell me this," Mac asked, "is there a single building on this campus named after a Marine?"

"At the Naval Academy?" he teased.

"Which Marines attend," she retorted.  "Does that mean no?"

"Actually, there is one building named after a Marine," he told her. "Lejeune Hall is named after. . . ."

"General John A. Lejeune," Mac continued, interrupting, "the first Marine to command an Army division."

"Very good," he said.  "He graduated from the Academy in the 1880s, I believe.  Lejeune Hall is the phys ed center and also houses the Athletic Hall of Fame."

As they walked towards the bay, Harm didn't comment on several buildings on their left.  Mac figured they would get back to them, as she was almost positive one of them was the chapel.  He pointed out Lejeune Hall on their left as they passed it.  They then turned to the left once they reached the bay and walked along the water front.

"It's so beautiful here," Mac commented, rubbing her arms.

"Cold?" Harm asked.

"I know it's August," Mac said, nodding, "but there is a bit of a chill in the air here.  But it feels good."

"That's the wind coming off the bay," he told her.  "It can get quite windy here.  It's nice during the summer to ward off the heat, but can be very uncomfortable during the winter."

"You've never really talked a lot about your life at the Academy," Mac said. "Aside from the little you told me in Iran about going UA, that is."

"I don't know why," Harm said.  "I loved it here, but I think I was so focused on becoming a Naval officer, on following in my father's footsteps, that it wasn't often that I stopped and allowed myself to enjoy life here.  Maybe that's why it all got to me and I began doubting myself and I went UA.  Anyway, you've never talked much about your college days either."

"Probably because I was still picking up the pieces of my life after drying out," she pointed out, stopping to lean against the barrier along the waterfront as she stared out over the bay.  "I think I kind of cut myself off from everyone and just about everything.  I was so determined to get my act together, to join the Corps, to prove to myself that I was worth something.  I was very lonely during college.  I didn't really have a lot of friends, not like you did with Keeter and Diane."

"Thank you," Harm said, coming over to stand next to her.

Mac turned to look at him, a puzzled look on her face.  "For what?" she asked.

"For helping me get past her death," he said quietly.  "Thanks to you, it doesn't feel like a knife in my gut every time I hear her name.  Your friendship helped me get past the pain of her death and that allowed me to fall in even more in love with you than I already was.  I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there for me."

Mac felt the tears stinging her eyes.  Once, it had hurt to think of the woman who had her face who had held Harm's heart for so long, but not anymore.  "That's what friends are for," she said simply, reaching over to clasp his hand in hers.

"Not just friends, not anymore," he said, resisting the urge to ignore the uniforms they both wore and to take her in his arms.

"I don't think you could ever quantify what is between us as 'just friends,' even back in the beginning," she pointed out.

"True, but our friendship was the foundation for everything that came later," Harm said, smiling at her.

"You know," she said, "I can't imagine anything better than having fallen in love with my best friend."

After a few moments standing by the water in companionable silence, discreetly holding hands, they continued their walking tour of the 'Yard,' while Harm  continued with his narration of the history of the campus and buildings, adding several anecdotes from his life at the Academy.

"I knew you had to have pulled some pranks at the Academy," Mac teased, trying hard not to laugh, after he explained how, on a dare from Keeter, he had snuck out of Bancroft Hall, the Academy dorm, one night and decorated the statue of the Indian chief Tecumseh - which stood at the entrance to T-court, the  dormitory's courtyard - with shaving cream.

"Keeter thought I needed to lighten up a little bit," Harm justified.

"Did they figure out who did it?"

"Nah, got away clean," he said proudly.  "It wasn't the first or last time the statue got bathed in shaving cream.  I think they expect something to happen to the statue at least once a term."

Finally, Mac saw the Officers' club and the parking lot where they had parked off to their right and in front of them the three buildings Harm had bypassed earlier.  "On the right is the Administration building," Harm said, "where the Superintendent and Academic Dean have their offices.  On the left here is the super's house."

"Very nice," Mac said idly, staring at the building directly in front of them.  "Is that. . . .?"

Harm took a deep breath.  He'd seen the building every day for the four years he'd been at the Academy, but this time was different.  This time he was seeing it through the eyes of a man planning to marry his love there. "Yes," he replied, "that's the chapel, the Cathedral of the Navy."

"It looks very beautiful from the outside," Mac said softly.  "Can we go inside?"

A bit nervously, Harm took her arm and led her up the steps to the chapel door.  They paused just outside the open door, not quite ready to go in.  "I can't believe how nervous I am," Mac said in awe.  "We're really getting married here, aren't we?"

"I know what you mean," Harm agreed.  "Ready to go inside?"

At Mac's nod, he led her inside, stopping at the rear of the chapel.  Mac turned slowly, staring at the huge chapel in awe.  "It's beautiful," she whispered, mindful of the people scattered in the pews, praying.  "I didn't realize how big it is."

"I think it holds 2500 or something like that," Harm commented.

"Twenty-five. . . .?" Mac asked, incredulous.  "Good thing we're not expected to fill this place."

"So what's the verdict, counselor?" he asked, sitting down and gesturing for her to join him.  "Want to get married here?"

"It's perfect," she said softly.  "I'm glad Frank made me think of it.  He's the one who first mentioned that your parents got married here."

"We'll both have to thank him," he said, no longer surprised at what Frank would do for him.

"Excuse me," a voice beside them said.  Harm and Mac both turned to see an older gentleman in summer whites, captain's stripes and chaplain corps insignia on his shoulder boards, standing at the end of the pew.  "Do you need any assistance?"

"We've got a meeting in. . . ." Harm began.

"Twelve minutes," Mac cut in as Harm went to look at his watch.

"To discuss getting married here," he finished.

"Commander Rabb, Colonel Mackenzie?  I'm Captain Duncan, the command chaplain here," the chaplain said, holding out his hand.  "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Harm then Mac shook the offered hand and the chaplain sat down in the pew in front of them, turning to the side to face them.  "It's good to meet you, too, Captain," Harm said, idly playing with the Marine Corps ring on Mac's right hand.  "So what exactly happens at this meeting?"

"We just discuss what you want for your wedding, things like that," Duncan said.  "Nothing earth shattering, so you can both relax."

Both Harm and Mac laughed a little at that.  "Sorry," Mac said, "I think it's just hitting us that we're really doing this.  It's been a long time coming."

"Too long, if you ask our family and friends," Harm added.

"Why don't we go back to my office and see if Mary's there yet?" the chaplain suggested.  "When I checked a few minutes ago, she hadn't returned from lunch yet."

The three officers stood and Harm and Mac followed the chaplain back to his office.  He gestured for them to take a seat while he took his chair behind his desk.  They made small talk for a few minutes until there was a knock on the office door.

"Enter," the chaplain called out.

"Sorry I'm late, Reverend Duncan," the woman said as she entered the room. "I had a phone call about another wedding just as I returned from lunch."  She turned to Harm and Mac, extending her hand.  "Commander Rabb, Colonel Mackenzie, I'm Mary," she introduced herself as they shook hands.  "We spoke on the phone a few days ago."

"It's nice to meet you," Mac said.  Taking a deep breath, she looked at Harm nervously before asking, "So what now?"

"First, let's discuss the date," Duncan suggested.  "Mary told you that we have an opening the morning of 30 September.  The start time for the ceremony is up to you, but you should keep in mind that there is a home football game that day at noon, so there will be a lot of traffic around the Yard leading up to game time and after the game."

"I'm not sure," Mac said.  "I guess it doesn't really matter what time the ceremony starts.  We've been thinking about spending the night before up here anyway, so that we don't have to rush to get here in the morning.  How long would the service take?"

"Well, since you said you wanted non-denominational, it would just be the wedding ceremony itself, instead of a full-blown church service," Duncan said.  "Depending on how many readings are done, if you say your own vows to each other, that kind of thing, I'd say about forty-five minutes for the ceremony itself, give or take.  Then, of course, there's the arch of swords, getting everyone over to the reception location and the reception itself."

"It might be best to keep the reception on campus," Harm said to Mac.  "Then we don't have to fight the traffic arriving for the game."

Mary handed him a large envelope she had brought in with her.  "Here's the information I told you about on possible reception sites," she said.  "If you'd like to hold it on campus, you would coordinate it through the Officers' Club, no matter which location you'd like to use."

"What is available on campus?" Mac asked.

"Aside from the O Club, there's the Alumni Hall, the Alumni House - which is actually just outside the Yard, the Crown Sailing Center is good if you're looking for something small and intimate, or the Boat House on College Creek has nice waterfront balconies," Mary told them.  "The most popular site is the O Club, mostly because it is just two buildings away from the chapel.  The club can accommodate up to 200 guests."

Mac leaned closer to Harm and said quietly, "If we start at ten hundred, the ceremony would run to ten forty-five.  That would leave us fifteen minutes to do the arch and get everyone over to the O Club, assuming we can hold the reception there.  I'd say then a minimum of three hours at the reception before we leave.  That takes us up to fourteen hundred hours.  That should give us a chance to get out of here before the game ends, so everyone can avoid most of the traffic.  A place that accommodates 200 should be big enough for what we want."

Harm nodded then turned to the chaplain and asked, "How does ten hundred sound?  That should give us enough time to work around the game traffic, yet it's not so early that everyone has to drag themselves out of bed to get ready."

"Okay, ten hundred it is," the chaplain said as he wrote it down on a notepad.  "We also need to discuss the format you want for the ceremony, specific personal touches you want to add and things like that."

"Are you okay?" Harm asked as he and Mac stepped out of the chapel and stood on the front steps.  "You were very quiet through the last part of that meeting when it was just us and Captain Duncan."

Mac smiled wanly and shrugged, "Sorry.  I knew part of this was supposed to be a counseling session, but it still bothers me to talk about some of this, especially with outsiders.  Hell, I couldn't even face telling you about Chris until it was too late and I'm closer to you than anyone.  But here I had to discuss my disaster of a marriage with a complete stranger."

"Well, I suppose as someone who unites people in marriage," Harm said, "it's the chaplain's duty to make sure that the people involved know what it will take to make the marriage last.  And that includes discussing mistakes made in previous marriages."

"I guess," Mac replied, "but I would have rather just said the entire marriage was a mistake that never should have happened and left it at that. Instead, I have to get into specifics about why it ended."  She broke off and laughed a little.  "I'm the one who doesn't want to talk about it, yet here I am going on about it."

"Why don't we get out of here?" Harm suggested.  "We can go home, relax and I'll make you dinner later."

"Make me dinner, huh?" Mac mused.  "No meatless meatloaf, though."

"Are you doggin'. . . .?"

Mac smiled as she jabbed a finger in his chest, teasing, "I think I want a prenup.  You are forbidden from making Harm's special meatless meatloaf at any time during our marriage.  Violation of that clause will bring about dire consequences."

"Dire consequences?" he repeated.  "And what would those be?"

"Push it and you'll find out," she promised, a gleam in her eyes.  She started down the steps, then turned back to him, a serious look on her face.  "We're really doing this, aren't we?"

"Getting married?" he asked.  "Yes, we are - six weeks from tomorrow."

She stepped back towards him and, disregarding military protocol, wrapped
her arms around him, holding him tight  Startled, it took Harm a moment to recover, but then he returned the embrace, trying to ignore the looks they drew from several passersby.

Mac pulled away and laughed nervously.  "Sorry about that," she said.  "I'm just overwhelmed.  I can't believe this is finally happening.  I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Sarah."

SUNDAY
1500 ZULU
HARM AND MAC’S RESIDENCE
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

“Admiral, Sydney, I’m glad you could make it,” Mac said as she ushered the pair into the house.  “Everyone’s out back.”

“Mac, please call me AJ,” he insisted.  “And we’re glad to be here.  How are you feeling?”

“Ready to return to work tomorrow,” Mac replied with a laugh. 

“I can understand that,” Sydney said.  “How was the trip to Annapolis yesterday?”

“It was very productive.  I’ll fill you all in out back,” Mac said as she led them through the house, stopping in the kitchen.  “What would you like to drink?  We’ve got beer, sodas, water, tea and coffee.”

“I’ll take a beer,” AJ said.

“I’ll just have water,” Sydney said as Mac opened the fridge.  She pulled out the requested drinks and handed them to AJ and Sydney.  As she handed Sydney her bottled water, a glimmer on Sydney’s left hand caught Mac’s eye.

“Is that what I think it is?” Mac asked.

Sydney held out her hand to show off her ring, smiling widely.  “AJ proposed last night,” she said.  “We’re thinking about a wedding next summer.  I’ve always wanted to have an outdoor wedding.”

“Congratulations,” Mac said, hugging Sydney before turning to kiss AJ’s cheek.  “I’m very happy for both of you.”

“Thank you, Mac,” AJ said, putting his arm around Sydney’s shoulder.

“Mac, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my matron of honor?” Sydney asked.  “I consider you to be a very good friend and I can’t imagine anyone else I would rather have stand up for me.”

“Thank you,” Mac said, hugging Sydney again.  “I’d be very honored.  You’ve been a very good friend to me too the last few months and I appreciate that.  In fact, I wanted to ask you if you would be a bridesmaid at my wedding and stand in as kind of a ‘mother of the bride’ during the preparations.”

“I’m honored that you’re asking me,” Sydney said, tears in her eyes.  “Thank you.”

“Hey, are you okay?” Harm asked, coming into the kitchen from the back porch as Mac and Sydney pulled apart, wiping tears from their eyes.

“Fine,” Mac said, taking his hand.  “Sydney was just sharing some good news.”

“I asked Sydney to marry me last night,” AJ said, “and she accepted.”

“Congratulations, Sir, Sydney,” Harm said, shaking AJ’s hand then turning to hug Sydney.  “I know you two will be very happy together.”

“Thank you, Harm,” AJ said.  “And please, it’s AJ.  Especially since I’d like you to serve as my best man.”

“Well, Sir. . . .AJ, I’m honored that you would ask me,” Harm said.  “Thank you.”

“I have some more news,” AJ said.  “I had a meeting with the SecNav yesterday afternoon while you two were in Annapolis.  Commander, do you remember when you temporarily served as a military liaison to the House Armed Services Committee?”

“Yes, Sir,” Harm replied warily, feeling deep down that he knew where this was going.

“Well, to solve the problem of you and Mac serving in the same chain of command, it was suggested by Bobbi Latham that we revive that position on a permanent basis,” AJ said.  “The SecNav, after due consideration, agreed.  Now, I did invoke Admiral’s privilege and insist on a few conditions before I would sign off on it.”

“And those would be, Sir?” Mac asked, glancing at Harm with sympathy.  She knew he had not been very pleased with the way his first assignment as House military liaison had gone.

“The first would be that Harm would maintain his office at JAG and work out of there unless circumstances required his presence either at the Pentagon or on the Hill,” AJ informed them.  “Second, and most important, whenever Harm is not busy with the duties of his new position, then he would be ‘on loan’ to JAG to work as an investigator and trial counsel.”

Harm turned to Mac and asked, “What do you think?”

“It sounds like the best solution we could hope for under the circumstances,” she said, clasping his hand.  “I know you weren’t exactly happy with your last tour on the Hill, but at least you are aware of what the job entails.  You don’t have the stress of learning a new position.  Plus, you still do get to work as a lawyer at JAG.  It sounds like the best of both worlds.  The chain of command problem is solved, yet we still get to work together whenever possible.”

Harm nodded then turned back to AJ.  “I have to agree,” he said.  “It probably is the best possible solution for this situation.  So, I accept the position.  When would it start?”

“I figured you would,” AJ said.  “We all agreed that things would remain as is until after you return from your honeymoon.  That will give you a chance to wrap up any cases you currently are working on.  After you return, then we will work on integrating your workload on the Hill with any new cases you are assigned at JAG.”

“Thank you, Sir – I mean, AJ,” Mac said, smiling.  “It means a lot to both of us that you would work out something like this for us.”

“Well, from a command standpoint, we uphold regs but I don’t have to choose which one of my best attorneys that I am going to lose, nor do I break up the best team JAG has,” AJ explained. 

“Thank you, AJ,” Harm said.

"Good.  Now that we have settled that,” AJ said.  “why don’t we go join everyone else out back?  I believe we have a wedding to plan.”

The foursome stepped out onto the back porch.  Frank and Matt were manning the barbeque grill at one end of the porch while Trish looked on, offering cooking suggestions.  Jackie Mattoni and Harriet were keeping an eye on little AJ play with Jingo at the other end of the porch while watching their husbands toss a Frisbee with Aldridge, Tiner and Gunny.  Carolyn and Singer, sitting on the porch steps, were also watching the game.

Singer said something to Carolyn, who turned and shot Mac a look as if to ask ‘Why did you invite her?’  Mac shrugged as she sat down on the step just behind them.

“You have a very nice house, Colonel,” Singer said politely, taking a sip of her bottled water.

“Thank you, Lauren,” Mac replied with a smile.  Louder, so that everyone could hear, she said, “Please, no ranks today.  Since everyone was kind enough to come here today to help us plan our wedding, I think we can dispense with protocol for the afternoon.”

Harm wandered over to the grill and asked, “How are we doing on food and supplies?”

“We could use some more sauce,” Matt said, holding up a nearly empty jar of barbeque sauce. 

“I think we could use some more chips, too,” Trish said.  “Also, last time I checked the fridge, bottled water was running low.  As hot as it is today, we could probably use some more.”

Mac, who was listening to the conversation, jumped in, “Harm, as long as you’re planning a run to the store, Carolyn made a good suggestion.  How about some frozen drink mix?  That would be perfect on a hot day like today.”

“Virgin frozen drinks, of course, out of respect for the mommies-to-be present,” Carolyn added.

“Anything else, ladies?” Harm asked with a sarcastic grin.

“Well, while you’re at it. . . .” Mac began sweetly.

“Don’t tell me,” he said with a sigh.  “Something with chocolate.”

“You got it,” she said, smiling. 

Little AJ, noticing that Harm was preparing to leave, toddled over and grabbed onto Harm’s leg.  He looked up and asked hopefully, “Go bye-bye?”

Harm swung the little boy up into his arms and rubbed his nose to AJ’s.  “You want to go bye-bye, huh?”  Harm asked.  “Let’s see what mommy has to say.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking him, Sir. . . sorry, Harm?” Harriet asked.  At Harm’s nod, she signaled to her husband and motioned for him to join them.  “Bud, why don’t you give Harm the keys to the minivan?  He’s going to the store and AJ wants to go along.  That way he has the car seat for AJ.”

“How much do you need to get, Sir?” Bud asked.  “I could go with you to help out.”

“Okay,” Harm agreed.  “And please call me Harm, Bud.”

The men made their goodbyes and walked around the side of the house to the garage.  Watching them go, Carolyn commented to Mac, “Harm’s wonderful with little AJ.  He’s going to make a wonderful father.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Mac said wistfully. 

“By the way, what’s with the request for chocolate?” Carolyn asked.

“I need chocolate,” she replied.

“Cravings, huh?” Sydney teased, leaning against the porch railing.  “I remember when I was pregnant, I wanted ice cream all the time.”

“Ice cream seems like a normal enough craving,” Lauren commented.

“Not in the middle of winter, it isn’t,” Sydney said dryly.

“At least Mac hasn’t gotten the urge to clean out the refrigerator at JAG because she thinks there are things growing inside,” AJ teased, causing Harriet’s face to go beet red.

“I’m never going to live that one down, am I, Sir?” she asked.

At Sydney’s questioning glance, Harriet explained, “When I was pregnant with AJ, I got this urge to clean.  One day, it was the fridge at JAG and I threw out everything, including the risotto the Admiral had brought for lunch that day.”

Everyone laughed, even Harriet after a moment, as she added, “At least I’ve been resisting the urge this time around.  This time my urge to clean has centered on messy desks.”

“I’m surprised Harm hasn’t tried to get you to straighten up my desk,” Mac said.  “He once compared it to a free fire zone.”

“Who says he hasn’t?” Harriet shot back as everyone laughed again.

Mac pressed a hand to her right side and suggested, “Maybe we should talk about something else.  It still hurts a little to laugh.”

“When do you go back to the doctor, Mac?” Sydney asked.

“Wednesday morning,” she replied.  “I have to go see Dr. Newman to check on how my wound is healing and Dr. Calder wants to see me also.  After everything that’s happened, we have discussed doing an amnio for peace of mind.”

“It will be okay,” Sydney said, patting her shoulder reassuringly.  “You and the babies have made it this far.  I’m sure everything will be fine."

Mac patted Sydney’s hand.  “Thanks,” she said.  “I just keep trying to tell myself that.”

After Harm, Bud and little AJ returned, everyone sat down to eat and discuss the wedding at the picnic tables that Harm and Frank had set up in the yard, while Mac pulled out the list she had started of things to do.

“These may help, too,” Harriet said, grabbing a couple of notebooks sitting next to her on the table and holding them out to Mac.  “Jackie and I both brought our wedding planners with us today.  They contain all the information on florists, musicians, things like that which were used at our weddings.  It should give you an idea where to start.”

“Thank you, Harriet, Jackie,” Mac said, accepting the books.  “I’m sure these will be a big help.”

“Why don’t you start, dear, by telling us about your trip yesterday?” Trish suggested.  “Did you settle on a time for the wedding?”

“As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now,” Mac began, “the wedding will be the morning of 30 September at the Academy chapel in Annapolis.  After taking into consideration several things, including the fact that there is also a home football game at Navy that day, we decided that the ceremony will begin at ten hundred hours with the reception beginning immediately afterwards at the O Club.”

“With the wedding being in the morning, were you planning on driving up that morning or staying overnight Friday?” Sydney asked.

“Since we will have the rehearsal Friday afternoon,” Mac replied, “we thought it would be best to go ahead and book rooms in Annapolis Friday night.  We got some information on local hotels, including several that will offer a discounted rate if we book a block of rooms, so if anyone wants to stay in Annapolis Friday night, please let Harm or I know so that we know how many rooms to book.”

“On second thought, Mac, why don’t you let me take care of that?” Harriet asked.  “As matron of honor, it’s my job to take care of the little stuff so you can concentrate on the big stuff.”

“Thank you,” Mac said gratefully.  “Okay, everyone, change of plans.  Anyone who wants to stay in Annapolis the night before the wedding, sign up with Harriet.  Harriet, you can go ahead and put down rooms for me and Harm, Uncle Matt and Harm’s parents.”

“I take it you mean separate rooms for you and Harm?” Sydney teased.

“Separate rooms,” she said with a sigh, shooting Sydney a ‘do I have to?’ look. 

Harm leaned over and whispered to Mac, “Doesn’t mean I can’t sneak in to see you, does it?”

“You know,” Carolyn said with a laugh, “we’d better make sure Harriet, as matron of honor, has plenty of money for Friday night.”

“Money for what?” Frank asked, mystified.

Mac, Carolyn and Harriet all laughed as Mac explained, “For bailing the groom, the best man and the Admiral out of jail.”  AJ shot them all a quelling look, while Harm and Bud looked embarrassed, but the women only laughed harder.

“I’m afraid to ask what this is about,” Matt commented.

“Good,” AJ said.  “Then don’t.”

“Speaking of wedding disasters, Mac,” Carolyn continued, doubling over with laughter.  “You might want to put a guard on Harm’s dress whites this time.”

Mac laughed even harder, clutching her side as she remembered the debacle with Harm’s dress whites before Bud and Harriet’s wedding.  Harm shot her a dirty look and nudged her, but she only laughed harder.

“It wasn’t that funny,” Harm complained.

“Yes, it was,” Carolyn managed through her own laughter.  “Especially that picture. . . .”

“That wasn’t me!”

“Let me guess,” Trish cut in.  “Something else we’re better off not asking about?”

“Yes!” Harm exclaimed.

Mac leaned around Harm and whispered to Trish, “I’ll tell you later,” earning her another dirty look from her fiancé.

“Let’s move on, people,” AJ cut in, using his best ‘command’ voice. 

“Maybe we should make a list of everything that went wrong before my wedding,” Harriet suggested with a laugh.  “Then we can take steps to avoid the same things happening this time.”

“Lieutenant,” AJ said in warning, shooting her a stern look while she tried to wipe the smile off her face.

“Speaking of dress whites,” Mac began, earning yet another look from Harm.  “No, I’m serious this time.  This wedding will technically be in the fall.  Whites will be out of season.”  She frowned at the thought of not getting to see Harm standing at the altar in his dress whites and gold wings.

“Well, local command does have the authority to decide when to implement the uniform regs,” AJ began as Mac shot him a hopeful look.  “I think that for the purposes of the wedding, we can declare whites to still be in season.”

Mac breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

“Now that we’ve settled what the men will wear, what about the women?” Sydney asked.

“I don’t know,” Mac admitted.  “It’s kind of hard to dress a bridal party where both the bride and matron of honor will be pregnant.”

“Why don’t you let me take care of that?” Trish suggested.  “I have some contacts with designers.  I’m sure I can find one who can accommodate you and Harriet.”

“We need to make sure whoever it is will be available for a last minute fitting,” Mac reminded her.  “Neither of us will look like we do now in six weeks’ time.”

“Done,” Trish promised.

“Trish, if you have problems,” AJ said, “let me know.  My daughter works for a fashion magazine.  She can probably suggest some designers, also.”

“Thank you, both of you,” Mac said.  “Now that we have that situation under control, let’s move on to the flowers.  We want roses, which will also be slightly out of season.”

“Why don’t you let me handle that, ma’am?” Gunny suggested. 

Mac smiled at him and nodded.  Gunny had all kinds of contacts for finding all kinds of things.  She had no doubt he could come up with roses for the wedding.

“Mac, why don’t you let Bobbi handle the flowers for the bride’s bouquet?” Harm whispered.

“You mean, like the flowers when you proposed?” she asked.

At Harm’s nod, she told Gunny, “You just need to worry about the flowers to decorate the chapel and reception hall.  We’ve got another source for the bride’s bouquet.”  Gunny nodded his acceptance.

“What about colors, dear?” Trish asked.

“I was thinking of something like a dusky rose,” Mac said.  “Gunny, I’ll get a color sample to give you so you can arrange for flowers in similar shades.  Also, Mom, I was thinking of a lighter shade for the bridesmaid dresses and a darker one for Harriet.  You should probably mention that to the designer so that he or she can have color samples for us to choose from.”

“How many attendants are you having?” Matt asked.

“Four,” Mac answered.  “Harriet is matron of honor and Sydney, Carolyn and Jackie have agreed to be bridesmaids.  On the groom’s side, we’ve got Bud as best man and AJ, Alan and Keeter, Harm’s Academy roommate, as groomsmen.”

“God, we haven’t seen Jack Keeter in years,” Frank said.  “Have you gotten a hold of him?”

“Clayton Webb is working on that,” Harm said.

“I just thought of something,” Mac exclaimed.  “What is Uncle Matt going to wear when he walks me down the aisle?”

“I can just wear a suit, Sarah,” Matt said.  “It’s not a problem.”

Harm realized what Mac was getting at.  “Why don’t I check on that?” he suggested.  “Your punishment didn’t include loss of rank, only a fine and prison time, so you may be authorized to wear your uniform.”

“I agree,” AJ concurred.  “We should be able to work something out on that point.”

“Okay,” Mac said, relieved.  “Next big item on the list is food for the reception.”

“I was wondering when you were going to get to the food,” Harm commented dryly.

“Why don’t you let me handle that, ma’am?” Lauren suggested.  “Remember the friend I mentioned who works for the Joint Chiefs?  He coordinates the catering for all their events.  I can find out who he uses.”

Mac had to force herself to be polite.  She had not forgiven or forgotten Lauren’s previous transgression, but she could hardly publicly turn down such a generous offer of help.  “Thank you,” she managed to say, forcing a smile, while Harm squeezed her hand under the table.  “That would be appreciated.”

“Not a problem, ma’am,” Lauren said sweetly, while more than one person at the table struggled not to roll their eyes.

“I guess she figured she could get further with honey than vinegar,” Carolyn whispered to Harriet.

By the time the food was gone, everyone had one or more tasks to handle and they all agreed to meet again the following weekend for a status report.  Mac leaned against Harm’s shoulder while everyone chatted around them.  “We’re so lucky to have such good friends.”

“That we are,” Harm agreed.

1900 ZULU
REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

“I wish we could stay longer,” Trish said as she and Frank prepared to board their private jet heading back to California.   “But we both need to get back to work.”

“Not a problem, Mom,” Mac said.  “You’ve done so much for us the last two weeks.  You two need to get back to your own lives.”

“Don’t forget that you are part of those lives,” Trish insisted.  “If you need anything, just call anytime.  And I’ll call you once I have a line on a designer for the dresses.”

Mac hugged the older woman, tears in her eyes.  “Thank you again for everything,” she said.  “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, dear,” Trish returned.  “Take care of my son and try to keep him out of trouble.”

“I try,” Mac replied as they broke apart and Trish turned to her son.

“And you take care of Mac and those babies,” she told him.   As Harm pulled her into his arms, she whispered, “Your father would be so proud of you.”

“I know, Mom,” he whispered back.

“Like Trish said,” Frank told Mac as they hugged.  “You call us anytime if you need anything.  Take care of Harm, yourself and our grandchildren.”

“I will, Frank,” Mac promised.  “Thank you for being here for us.”

“Yes, thank you, Frank,” Harm said as he offered a rare hug to his stepfather, while Trish and Mac watched misty-eyed.  “I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me, for us.”

“You don’t have to thank me, son,” Frank said, his own eyes watering.  “I’d do anything for you.”

“I know that now,” Harm replied softly.  They pulled apart and Frank picked up their carry-on bags while Harm pulled Mac to his side, holding her tight as they watched his parents board their plane.

“Do you know how lucky you are to have had two fathers who loved you?” Mac asked quietly after Trish and Frank were gone.

“I do now,” Harm replied.  “I do now.”

2100 ZULU
AIR MOBILITY COMMAND TERMINAL
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND

Two hours later, Harm and Mac said another goodbye to family as Matt prepared to board a C-130 on the way to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where he would be taken by helo back to Leavenworth.  Clayton Webb was present also, having decided to offer a personal escort.

“I love you, Sarah,” Matt said as he hugged her tightly.  “I look forward to seeing you again under far better circumstances.”

“I’ll be counting the hours until you return,” she promised as Matt pulled away and turned to Harm.

“I don’t have to tell you. . . .” Matt began.

“No, you don’t,” Harm interrupted.  “I’ll always take care of your niece.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Matt,” Mac said.  “He always has taken care of me before.”

“I know,” Matt said, shaking Harm’s hand.  “But as family, I’m entitled to make sure.”

“Goodbye, Matt,” Harm said as Clay stepped up to the group, having held back a polite distance while they said their goodbyes.  “We’ll see you at the end of September.”

“I look forward to it,” Matt said.  To Clay, he said, “I’m ready to go.”

“Okay,” Clay said.  Before they could head for the plane, Mac put a hand on Clay’s arm to stop him.

“Thank you, Clay,” she said, “for arranging this.  I’ll never forget it.”

Clay paused, a flip comment on the tip of his tongue.  Instead, he simply smiled and nodded as he and Matt turned to leave.

21 AUGUST
1150 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

“Harm,” Mac said, pushing the button for the elevator, “please do me a favor today.”

“What?” he asked, looking at her curiously as they waited for the elevator to descend from the third floor.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Mac said, her hand on his arm.  “I know you’re concerned.  But please don’t hover over me today.  After everything that happened here, today is going to be hard enough without – I don’t know – feeling self-conscious because you’re constantly watching me.”

“Sarah,” Harm said softly, “I just. . . .”

“I know.  You worry about me and about the babies.  But I’m fine.  We all are.  And remember, I’m a Marine.  I can handle this,” she said firmly, giving him a brilliant smile.

Harm wasn’t convinced, but in the hallway waiting for the elevator was hardly the best place for this discussion.  He promised himself that he was going to keep a close eye on her.  She might insist she was fine, but he still remembered the first day he had walked back into JAG after the shooting, how everything had come flooding back to him full force as he had walked through the hallway where the shooting had occurred.

Mac quickly pulled her hand away from his arm and Harm turned to find the Admiral walking towards them.  “Good morning, Sir,” Harm said, nodding in the Admiral’s direction.

“Good morning, Commander, Colonel,” AJ replied.  “I trust your families got off okay.”

“Mom called and left a message that she and Frank had gotten back to California okay,” Mac said as the elevator opened in front of them and they all stepped on.  “Clay called this morning to inform us that Uncle Matt is back at Leavenworth.”

“That’s good to hear,” AJ said.  “And how are you doing, Mac?”

Mac noted his use of her first name.  Obviously, Harm wasn’t the only one who was going to be worrying and watching over her.  “I’m good, Sir,” she replied.  “I’m glad to be back to work.”

“Well, good, Colonel,” AJ said as the doors opened to the hallway in front of JAG Ops.  “I’ve got a couple of cases for you already.  It’s good to have you back.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Mac said.  “I look forward to jumping back into working on cases, especially once my travel restriction is lifted.”

“One thing at a time,” Harm said, his eyes on Mac as they walked through the hallway.  But Mac kept her eyes focused on the bullpen in front of them, never looking at the spot where she had been injured.  The three entered the bullpen as Gunny called out, “Attention on deck.”

“As you were,” AJ said as he turned for his office while Mac headed for her with Harm right behind her.

“Are you okay?” Harm asked as he followed Mac into her office.  She set her briefcase on her desk and stored her garrison cap in a desk drawer before sitting down and booting her computer.  Harm stood in the doorway, watching her.

“I’m fine,” she insisted.  “Just happy to be back at work.  Really.  You should go to your office and read your mail before the staff meeting this morning.”

“Trying to get rid of me, Marine?” he said in a teasing tone, trying to lighten the mood.

“I don’t need the distraction,” she teased back.  “I have a lot of catching up to do since a certain person wouldn’t let me keep up with my cases while I was out on leave.”

“Because you needed to concentrate on getting better,” Harm pointed out.

“And now I need to concentrate on getting caught up,” she retorted with a smile.  “And I’m sure you have some work waiting for you since you took Friday afternoon off.”

“Excuse me, Sir, Ma’am,” Gunny said from the doorway.

“Yes, Gunny?” Mac asked.

“Welcome back, Ma’am,” Gunny said.  “Commander, you have a telephone call from Congresswoman Latham.”

“Thank you, Gunny.  It’s good to be back. Why don’t you just transfer the Commander’s call in here?” Mac suggested.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Gunny replied, heading back to his desk.  A moment later, the phone on Mac’s desk rang and Harm picked it up.

“Good morning, Bobbi,” Harm said into the phone while Mac busied herself reading her e-mail.  “What can I do for you?. . . .Hold on a minute and I’ll ask.”

Covering the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand, he said to Mac, “Bobbi wants to have dinner one night this week with her counterpart from the Senate Armed Services Committee so that I can meet him.  She wants to know what night this week is good for us.”

“Us, as in you and me?” Mac asked, looking up from her monitor.

“That’s what you get for wanting to marry the military liaison on the Hill,” he teased.  “You have to go to boring dinners with politicians.”

“Sounds like fun,” Mac muttered sarcastically.  At the look Harm shot her, she shrugged, “I should probably take a few evenings to go over some case files, so later in the week would be better.”

Removing his hand, Harm said into the phone, “How does Friday night sound? Mac will probably be taking some work home at least the next few nights while she gets caught up. . . .Fine, Le Tours at nineteen hundred hours.  We’ll see you there. . . . Yes, I’ll tell her you said so.  Goodbye, Bobbi.”

He hung up the phone and turned back to Mac.  “Bobbie said she’s glad that you’re feeling better and back at work,” he told her.  “And, as I’m sure you heard, we have a dinner date Friday night at Le Tours.”

“What’s the dress code?” Mac asked.

“Dress whites for me, a nice dress for you,” he said.

Mac smiled at the thought of Harm in his dress whites, then frowned as she remembered that most of her really nice clothes no longer fit.  “I suppose that means I have to go shopping for a new dress,” Mac complained.

“I could help you,” Harm said suggestively.

“I’m sure you could,” she replied with a laugh.  “But I’d probably get more accomplished if I went with Harriet or Sydney.”

“But it wouldn’t be as much fun,” he joked.

“Red light, Commander. . . .at least here,” Mac said softly.  “We can continue this conversation tonight at home later.”

“I look forward to it,” Harm said, a grin on his face.

“Sir, Ma’am, sorry to interrupt,” Bud said, entering Mac’s office.  “Colonel, here’s the case file on the Lawson court-martial.  The trial starts next week.  Since the case was continued anyway, I suggested to the Admiral that maybe you should still be lead counsel on the case.”

Mac took the file gratefully, thankful to have an actual case, an actual court-martial to work on.  She had been a bit worried, before AJ had assured her otherwise earlier, that she might be assigned administrative duties upon her return.  “Thank you, Bud,” she said.  “Why don’t we get together after the staff meeting to go over the case?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Bud replied.  “Welcome back, Colonel.”

"Thank you, Bud,” she said.  Bud departed, leaving Harm and Mac alone again.

“If I were to receive a nickel every time someone says ‘Welcome back’ or ‘It’s good to have you back’ today,” Mac joked as she turned back to her e-mail, “I wouldn’t have to work.”  She studied the list of messages that had just finished downloading and smiled.  “Over two hundred messages while I was gone and it looks like about half of them are from the same person.  Maybe I need to have a talk with someone about the proper use of the government e-mail system.”

“Hey, most of those are legitimate, work-related messages,” Harm defended himself.  “Keeping you up to date on pending cases, things like that.”

With a chuckle, Mac read a few of the messages.  He was right, many of them did pertain to cases.  “I guess that’s one way to get caught up on cases,” she murmured as she click on another message.  She read the message she had just opened then looked up at Harm.  “Most, but not all,” she pointed out.

Harm leaned over the desk to get a better view of the monitor and read the first few lines of the message.  “Singer was in my office at the time, going on about this case she wanted to help me on,” he explained.  “I needed the distraction to keep from falling asleep listening to her drone on.”

“You know, if you were talking about anyone else,” she said, “I’d say that was mean.  But since it’s Singer, I’ll let it slide.  It doesn’t surprise me she would try to weasel her way into some extra cases while I was gone.”

“Actually, it was just the one case she wanted in on,” Harm said, shrugging.  “She’s been acting a little strange for a while now.  Now that I think about it, her change in attitude goes back to the shooting.”

Mac looked at him for a moment, trying to determine if he was serious or not.  Finally, she asked, stunned, “Are you trying to tell me that Lieutenant Singer, who would cross the Admiral if she thought it would help her get ahead, was actually concerned about someone besides herself?”

“Well,” he pointed out, “she was kind of nice, almost pleasant even, at the cookout yesterday.  And she did hang around the hospital with the rest of the staff that first day.”

“I still don’t trust her as far as I could throw her,” she said.

“I don’t either,” Harm said firmly.  As little too firmly, as it turned out, which resulted in Mac giving him a strange look.  He never had told her about his suspicions that Singer had put that mishap report in her car a few months ago.  Fortunately, Singer had, with the exception of that little rumor a while back, pretty much behaved herself since.  Maybe she had taken his promise to heart.  “Look, let’s not think about that, okay?  You need to concentrate on getting caught up.”

“And you need to get to your office and get to work,” she reminded him. 

“Fine,” he said, “I’m going.  Lunch later?”

“Of course,” she replied.  “See you at the meeting.”

After Harm left her office, Mac turned back to her computer and started working her way through her mail.  Not even a minute had passed when the phone rang.  Picking the phone up, she answered, “Colonel Mackenzie.”

“Hello, Sarah.”

Mac leaned back in her chair, stunned.  Of all the people, this was the last person she expected to call her.  She hadn’t heard from him since. . . .

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Hello, Mic.  What can I do for you?”

“I had called a few weeks ago,” Mic explained, “and one of the Petty Officers said that you were in hospital after being shot.  I thought I’d call and see how you were doing.  I checked and found out you were coming back to work today.  I debated about calling you earlier, but didn’t think it was a good idea to call you at home or the hospital.  Never know who might answer there.”

“Thank you,” Mac said, “and I’m fine.  Just glad to be back at work.”  She was careful not to say too much.  She had no way of knowing, unless he brought it up, just how much he knew about her current situation.

“And Harm?” he asked hesitantly.

“Harm is fine,” she replied.  She didn’t need to tell Mic how worried Harm had been about her, about the wedding coming about, about the babies.  She couldn’t love him the way he had wanted her to love him, but she didn’t want to hurt him any more than necessary either.

“That’s good to hear,” he said.  Both of them were silent for a moment before Mic continued quietly, “Are you happy, Sarah?”

“Yes, I am,” she said without hesitation.  She knew that probably wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, but she didn’t want to give Mic any reason to think that he might still have a chance.

“Good,” he said dully.  “I’m glad for you.  Are you planning to get married anytime soon, start a family?”

Mac did hesitate this time.  Was he just fishing for information or was he simply confirming something he had already heard? She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into this with him.

“Sorry,” Mic said.  “I shouldn’t. . . .well, when I called before, the Petty Officer mentioned something about a baby.”

“I’m due towards the end of February,” she admitted softly.  There was another pause on the other end of the line.  Mac felt bad and briefly wondered who the nameless Petty Officer was, then decided that it didn’t matter.  If Mic had called, saying he used to work at JAG, whoever he had talked to may not have known who he was and may have just assumed that he would be interested that a former coworker, who just happened to be pregnant, had been shot.

“Well. . . .I guess congratulations are in order,” he said sadly.  He had been hoping that his information about the baby was wrong, that maybe there was still a chance, however remote, that things would not work out between her and Rabb.   “I suppose there’s a wedding in your future, too.”

Does he really want to discuss this, she wondered.   But maybe it was better that he knew that there was no reason for him to hold out hope.  “The last day of September,” she said.  She looked up to find Harm standing in her doorway again.

“It’s time for the staff meeting,” he said, noting the sad expression on her face. 

“Is that Harm I hear?” Mic asked.  “I’d like to speak to him a moment.”

Her eyes still on Harm, she replied, “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“No fighting,” he promised.  “At least on my part.  I would just like to say something to him.”

Mac sighed.  “I’ll ask if he wants to, but that’s all I’ll do,” she insisted.  Before he could respond, she put her hand over the mouthpiece and motioned Harm into the office.  “Um, Mic is on the phone and would like to speak to you.”

Now her expression makes sense, he thought.  Softly, he asked, “Has he upset you?”

“Not in the way you think,” she responded, just as softly.  “I’ll explain later.  You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to.”

After thinking about it for a moment, he said, “No, I’ll talk to him.”

Hesitantly, she held out the phone to Harm, who took it only after closing the office door.  “Hello, Mic,” he said politely as Mac continued to watch him.  He was determined to make this conversation as civil as possible.

Harm said nothing, just listened to Mic on the other end.  After what seemed like forever to Mac, he said, “Yes, she is.  No, I understand.  Yes, I’ll tell her.  Goodbye, Mic.”  He handed the phone back to Mac, who hung it up then waited for him to speak.

“He just wanted me to confirm that you really are alright,” Harm explained, “and to tell me to take care of you.”  At her disbelieving expression, he added, “Really, that’s all he said, aside from congratulating us on the wedding and the pregnancy.  It was very civil, considering everything.”

“You’d tell me if there was something else?” she asked as she got up and moved towards the door.

“Yes, I would,” he promised as he opened the door and they both headed for the staff meeting.

1730 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

“You wanted to see me, Admiral?” Harm asked as he entered AJ’s office and came attention in front of the desk.

“As you were and take a seat,” AJ insisted as he signed his name to some papers in front of him.  Once finished, he looked up at Harm.  “How is Mac doing being back at work?”

“She seems to be doing fine so far,” Harm said.  “She’s been busy this morning trying to get caught up.”

“Good,” AJ said.  “Now, I called you in here because we have a situation that requires your assistance.  At NAS Ft. Worth, an Air Force F-18 and a Navy F-14 collided at the airfield, one taking off, one landing.  Everyone ejected safely, fortunately.  Since you used to be a pilot yourself, the local JAG office has requested your assistance with the investigation.  You and Lieutenant Roberts will be on a flight in the morning out of Andrews.” 

AJ held up his hand before Harm could protest.  “I know the timing on this is not the greatest,” he admitted.  “I admit that I had second thoughts about sending you, but you are the best person for this investigation and it can’t wait.  I hope it will make you feel better to know that Mac has a lot of friends here who will be there for her if she needs anything.”

“I don’t know if ‘feel better’ is the right phrase,” Harm said, “but I suppose I don’t have a choice.”

“No,” AJ said,  “such is life in the military.  We don’t get to choose our assignments and with Mac doing better and back at work, I don’t see a compelling reason to turn down the request. I hope you understand, Commander.”

“I do, Sir,” Harm replied.  He didn’t like it, but he understood.

“Good,” AJ said.  “Dismissed.”

Harm stood and come to attention.  “Aye, aye, Sir.”  He turned and left the office,  heading straight for Mac’s, where he found her pouring over a case file.

“Got a minute?” he asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Mac smiled at him as she looked up from the file.  “Sure,” she said, rubbing her neck.  “I could use the break.  I’ve been going over files most of the day.”

“When was the last time you got up and walked around?” Harm asked, concerned.  “That chair is probably getting a little uncomfortable.”

Mac smiled.  “It could definitely use some more padding,” she replied.  “I wonder what the Admiral would say if I put in a request for a new chair.  Anyway, to answer your question, not since lunch."

“Come on, then,” Harm said.  “Let’s take a break and walk outside.  That will fulfill your requirement to get up and walk around every so often and I need to talk to you about something.”

Mac grabbed her cap from the desk drawer and followed Harm to his office, where he quickly grabbed his cover.  They were silent as they descended in the elevator and walked outside.  As they began walking around the ground, Mac finally broke the silence and said, “Something’s bothering you.”

“The Admiral called me into his office just now,” he said.  “There was a crash at NAS Ft. Worth involving an Air Force jet and a Navy jet.  The local JAG office has requested that I head up the investigation, due to my aviation experience.”

“When do you leave?” Mac asked.

“Bud and I leave tomorrow morning,” he replied.  “I don’t know how long it will take.  Could take a while depending on how well we get along with the Air Force investigators.”

“You don’t really want to go,” she said.

“That obvious, huh?”

“Probably not to the average person,” she said, “but I know you too well.”

“I suppose you do,” he said with a sigh.  “You’re right, I’m not happy about going away.  Not now, anyway.  You just did go back to work today.”

“Harm, I’m fine,” she replied.  “If I wasn’t fine, the doctor never would have cleared me to come back to work.  Anyway, I’m sure that while you’re gone more than one person will be checking up on me, just to make sure that I am okay.”

Harm laughed a little.  “The Admiral did make the point that you have a lot of friends who would be there if you need anything,” he told her.

“Probably beginning with the Admiral himself and Sydney,” she added.  “They’ve both been really supportive since – well, since we told them about the pregnancy.  Besides, I am a Marine and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself for however long you are gone.  Doesn’t mean I won’t miss you, though.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” he said.  “I’ll try to come home as soon as possible.”

“You said you leave tomorrow, right?” she asked, smiling suggestively.  When he nodded, she added, “Then I’ll have to make sure to give you a proper send off tonight.”

Harm grinned at her.  “Just what do you have in mind?” he asked.

2120 ZULU
HARM AND MAC’S HOUSE
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

“I’m glad to put today behind me,” Mac said as Harm pulled into their driveway.  “You know how hard it is to get back into working when you’ve been pretty much lying around for two weeks?”

“How are you feeling?” Harm asked.

“Good, but a little tired,” she admitted.  “I spent most of the day hunched over case files, couldn’t sit in my chair for more than an hour at a time without my back hurting and I had a somewhat uncomfortable phone conversation with the man who moved halfway around the world because he wanted me to marry him.”

“Sound like what you need is a good massage,” Harm suggested as he waited for the garage door to open.  “I. . . .Sarah, do you know who’s car that is?”

Mac looked in the direction he was looking and saw an unfamiliar mid-sized sedan in the driveway in front of the other side of the garage.  “I didn’t even notice that car there,” she said.  “I don’t recognize it.” 

There was no one in the car, so Mac looked around and caught sight of two figures on the front porch.  “There are two people on the porch,” she began, then her voice rose with excitement as one of the figures looked towards them and Mac recognized the people waiting for them.  “Harm, it’s Chloe and her grandmother,” she exclaimed as she climbed out of the car and walked as fast as she could towards the porch while Chloe jumped off the porch and ran into her arms.

“Mac, it’s so good to see you,” Chloe exclaimed, her words running together.  “You’ve gotten so big.  Gram and I went to Hawaii with Dad and we thought we’d stop by for a quick visit on our way back to Vermont.  Hi, Harm.  Have you asked Mac to marry you yet?”  She called out to Harm as he got out of the car and headed in their direction.

“Chloe!” her grandmother exclaimed as Harm and Mac laughed.

“It’s okay, Martha,” Mac said through her laughter.  She showed her left hand to Chloe.  “He finally asked me last Monday.”

“Finally?” Harm teased as Chloe released Mac and hugged him.  “It wasn’t my fault it took me some time to be able to get away to see your uncle.”

“Martha, this is my fiancée, Harm Rabb,” Mac introduced them.  “Harm, this is Chloe’s grandmother, Martha Anderson.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Anderson,” Harm said, holding out his hand to her.

“Please call me Martha,” she insisted as she shook his hand.  “Chloe has told me so much about you.  She really enjoyed spending that month with you two earlier this summer.”

“Call me, Harm,” he said.  “Chloe talks a lot about you, too.  It’s a pleasure to finally talk to you in person.”

Chloe smiled and started on Mac again.  “Remember my dream I told you about almost a year ago?  I said you guys were gonna get married.  You’ve gotta make me your flower girl now so the dream really does come true,” she insisted excitedly.

Mac laughed as she remembered the phone call during which Chloe had told her about that particular dream.  “Well, who else would I have?” she teased.  

“Yes!” Chloe cried as she hugged Mac again.

“Why don’t we take this inside?” Harm suggested.  “We have some more news to share.  How long before you have to head home?”

“We don’t want to impose,” Martha said.

Harm and Mac exchanged a look and silently agreed.  They would have other times when they could be alone together.   “Don’t worry about it,” Harm said.  “I have to fly to Texas tomorrow for an investigation, so Sarah could use the company.”

“Harm, I don’t need a babysitter,” Mac whispered to him as they all entered the house. 

“I wasn’t thinking that at all,” he whispered back.  “Okay, maybe I was, just a little.  But mostly, I was thinking that you would like to spend a few days with your little sister.”

“Sorry,” she replied.  Louder, she said, “Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable.  Would either of you like anything?”

“We’re fine,” Martha insisted after sharing a look with her granddaughter.  “I’m sure you two would like to go change out of those uniforms.”

“If you’re sure,” Mac said.  At Martha’s nod, Mac continued, “Then we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As they changed out of their uniforms and into casual clothes in their bedroom a few moments later, Mac said, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Harm countered.  “Insisting that Chloe and Martha stay?  Sarah, they’re important to you, so that makes them important to me.  We can be alone together another time.”

“You’re so good to me,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“I love you, that’s why,” he said.  “Why don’t we go back and join our guests?  I’m sure they will be thrilled to hear about the twins.”

“We might want to wear ear plugs,” Mac joked.  “I can just imagine Chloe’s reaction.  We also should probably tell them about the shooting since we weren’t able to get in touch with them while they were in Hawaii.”

A few moments later, Harm and Mac were back downstairs.  “Before we share our good news, we have some not-so-good news to share,” Mac began as she tried to get comfortable on the couch.  Harm handed her a throw pillow which she placed behind her back.  “Two weeks ago, there was a shooting at JAG and I was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest.”

“Dear God,” Martha exclaimed.  “Are you okay, Sarah?  What about the baby?”

“Well, it was pretty serious,” Mac said gently, “but it definitely could have been a lot worse.  But we’re fine.  In a few days, my OB wants to do an amnio, just to rule out any complications due to the medications or anesthesia from the surgery.  But everything does look good.  Today was my first day back at work.”

“The Admiral tried to contact you,” Harm continued, “but I didn’t know you had gone to Hawaii.”

“It was a last minute trip,” Chloe explained, tears in her eyes.  “Dad got some leave unexpectedly and suggested the trip.  I wish I could have been here.”

“It’s okay,” Mac reassured her.  “Everything did turn out fine in the end and we even found something unexpected out while I was in the hospital.”  She took a breath and smiled at Chloe.  “I had an ultrasound while I was in the hospital.  There isn’t just a baby, there are two.  We’re going to have twins.”

“YES!” Chloe screamed and all the adults resisted the urge to cover their ears.  “So, do you know what you’re going to have yet?  Have you picked out any names?”

“Not yet,” Mac replied, “but if we want to know, the amnio will tell us.  And no names yet.  We hadn’t even thought about a name for a single baby and now we have to pick out two.”

“Congratulations,” Martha said, patting Mac’s hand.  “That’s very good news, considering everything that’s happened.  So when are you planning on getting married?”

“30 September,” Harm replied, “at the chapel at the Naval Academy.”

“So, what day is that?” Chloe asked, then thought a moment.  “It’s a Saturday, right?  I assume there’ll be a rehearsal the day before.  So Gram, I guess I’ll just have to miss school, huh?”

“Chloe Madison,” Martha began, but Chloe quickly interrupted.

“Come on, Gram,” she insisted.  “This is Harm and Mac.  As flower girl, I have to be involved in the rehearsal.”

“We’ll see,” Martha said, shaking her head.  She knew she’d eventually agree to missing one day of school, but she didn’t want her granddaughter to think she was giving in too easily. 

0105 ZULU
HARM AND MAC'S HOUSE
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

"Do you get the feeling that Chloe and Martha were claiming to be tired more because they wanted to give us a chance to be alone together and less because they flew in from Hawaii today?" Mac called out to Harm as she turned on the water to fill the tub she was planning to soak in.

"Subtlety never has been Chloe's strong suit," he reminded her.  "You know, if we hadn't already set a date for the wedding, she'd probably have sat down with a calendar to find the best date for us to get married."

“True,” Mac said, laughing as she stripped off her blouse and tossed it in the general direction of the clothes hamper.  She missed the hamper and hit Harm, who had just walked into the bathroom, square in the chest.

“Trying to tell me something, Marine?” he asked with a gleam in his eye.

“Not really,” she replied as she stripped off the rest of her clothes while Harm watched her.  “Although you’re more than welcome to join me.  There’s still room for two in this tub.  At least, I think there is.”

“Are you calling yourself fat?” he teased as she tossed her shorts at him.

“No, I don’t think I’m fat,” she admitted.  “At least, not most of the time.  Every so often I’ll catch myself thinking it, especially when I really want to wear something that doesn’t fit anymore.”  She was silent for a moment, then asked quietly, “Do you think I’m fat?”

“Sarah, have I ever given you any reason to believe that I think that?” he asked.

“That didn’t answer the question,” she said as she tossed the rest of her clothes in his direction.  Harm tossed the clothes in the hamper and quickly stripped off his own clothes and stepped into the tub.  Mac joined him, settling between his legs as he pulled her back against his chest.

“Do you need to hear me say it?” he asked.  “Then I will.  I think pregnancy looks very beautiful on you.  Call it a male ego thing if you’d like, but I think there is something very appealing about watching you grow large carrying my children.  Anyway, I didn’t fall in love with you because you had – what did Webb say? – a twenty-four inch waist.”

Mac smiled at that.  “You know, I never did kill Webb for announcing my measurements in front of you and the Admiral,” she joked.  “Seriously, let’s just forget about this conversation and chalk it up to hormones or something.”

“Is that a smile I see on your face?” he teased as he ran his hands over her belly. 

“You’re getting really good at that,” she commented, “saying just the right thing to make me feel better.”

“Good,” he replied.  “Because happy mom means happy babies.  I’m sure I read that somewhere.  How does your back feel?  You were commenting on that earlier.”

“The pillow at my back while sitting on the couch helped,” she said.  “My shoulders are a little stiff though from hunching over my desk most of the day.”

“Lean forward,” Harm instructed her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to kneed them.  “Better?”

“Much,” Mac replied.  His fingers hit a particularly sore spot.  “Oh, right there.  That feels so good.”

“You are a little tense,” he said.  “Maybe we should make this a nightly routine.”

“A nightly massage?” she said with a grin.  “Do that and I’ll love you forever.  But I get to give you massages in return.”

“I can live with that,” he replied as his hands moved over her upper arms.

After their bath, they lay together in bed, Mac stretched out on her side beside him, her arm thrown over his chest, her head resting on his shoulder.  “I wish you didn’t have to leave in the morning,” she said quietly.

“I wish I didn’t either,” he replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him, his other hand resting on her belly.  “Especially since you have a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday.”

“I’ll call you,” she promised, “let you know how it went.”

“As soon as you get out of the doctor’s office,” he said.  “I don’t care if I’m in the middle of a meeting with the base commander, you call me.  I’m sorry I can’t be there with you this time.”

“I was thinking of calling Sydney tomorrow,” she revealed.  “If she’s free, I thought about asking her to accompany me to my appointment.  I feel better having someone there with me, especially since I’m having the amnio done.  I think if I have another woman - another mother - with me, I won’t worry so much about it.”

“I feel better if you have someone with you, too,” he replied.  “I just wish it was going to be me.”

“I do, too,” she agreed, her eyes drifting closed.  “Sometimes I wish we had jobs where we didn’t have to worry about going out of town at a moment’s notice.”

1320 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

Mac and Harriet walked into the bullpen over an hour late, having dropped Harm and Bud off at Andrews Air Force Base before heading to work.  Harriet sat down at her desk and Mac headed for her office until Gunny intercepted her.

“Ma’am, the Admiral asked for you to see him as soon as you arrived,” Gunny told her as he took her briefcase and cap from her.  “I’ll put these in your office, Colonel.”

“Thank you, Gunny,” she replied as she turned for the Admiral’s office.  She stopped at Tiner’s desk in the outer office.

Tiner didn’t wait for her to speak before calling the Admiral, “Colonel Mackenzie is here, Admiral.”

“Send her in, Tiner,” AJ replied.

Mac entered the office to find four other officers, three Navy and one Marine, with the Admiral.  She came to attention in front of his desk and said, “Reporting as ordered, Sir.”

“Take a seat, Colonel,” AJ told her then began the introductions.  “Everyone, this is my Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie.  Colonel, this is Commander Allison Krennick, the XO of our JAG office at Pearl; Lieutenant Meg Austin, also from the Pearl office; Lieutenant Commander Kaitlyn Pike, who just transferred out of our office in Okinawa; and Major Jonathan Williams, from the office in San Diego.  Colonel, they are going to be handling the prosecution in the Johns and Hodge cases.”

“Yes, Sir,” Mac replied neutrally.  She didn’t know any of the lawyers, but she had definitely heard of three of them.  Suddenly, a part of her was very glad that Harm had just left town, especially in the case of Krennick.  She had a feeling deep down that there was going to be trouble once they saw each other.

“Commander Krennick,” AJ said, “anything your team needs, please see the Colonel.  She’ll make sure you’re taken care of.  Unfortunately, we are tight on office space, so I’m going to give you conference room two as a temporary office.  That will also give you a place to conduct any witness interviews you deem necessary.”

“I’d like to spend this morning go over the case files,” Allison said, “then start interviewing people this afternoon, as least in the Johns case, since most of the witnesses are here.  Colonel, since we don’t know anyone here, if someone could draw up an interview schedule, we’d appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Mac replied.  “I’ll have Gunny work on that this morning.   I should tell you that one of your witnesses has just left for Texas this morning on an investigation and it is unknown when he will return.”

“And who would that be, Colonel?” Allison asked.

“Commander Rabb,” Mac said.

Allison frowned.  “I assume the Commander can be informed that he will need to make himself available upon his return,” she said tightly.  “I’m sure everyone involved will appreciate these cases going to trial as swiftly as possible.”

I’m sure you’d like Harm to make himself available, Mac thought.  To Allison, she said, as calmly as possible, “I’m sure he will call in once he arrives in Texas.  I’ll make sure he’s informed.”

Kate looked up from a file she was looking over and said, “I see that there are some civilians who are listed as witnesses in the Hodge case.  Will there be any problem getting them in here for interviews?”

“Sydney Walden, no problem,” Mac said, smiling, “but Clayton Webb might be.  He has a job that takes him out of town a lot.  I can try to call him and see if he’s available.”

“I see another witness listed here,” Kate continued, “he’s military, but there’s no duty station listed.  Colonel Matthew O’Hara.”

AJ jumped in before Mac could reply.  “Colonel O’Hara is retired and returned to Kansas two days ago,” he said.   “I can assure you that his testimony will essentially be the same as mine, Webb’s or Rabb’s in the Hodge case.  His police statement should be in the file.”

Kate got the message.  “Given that, we may not even need to call Colonel O’Hara as a witness,” she said quickly.  “I assume he can be contacted if that changes for any reason.”

“Yes, he can,” AJ replied.  “Is there anything else?”

“I don’t believe so at the moment, Admiral,” Allison replied.  “If you have nothing further, then we’ll get to work.”

“Dismissed,” AJ said as everyone rose and came to attention.  “Colonel, hang back a moment before you show our guests to the conference room.”

After everyone else had left the office, Mac said, “Thank you, Sir.”

“Don’t worry about it, Colonel,” AJ replied.  “I assumed discussing your uncle’s situation with complete strangers would be a little uncomfortable.  I take it from what you said earlier that Rabb is planning to call in once he arrives?”

“Yes, Sir,” she said.  “I’ll let him know about the interview request.”

“Good,” AJ said.  “I’m sure he’ll appreciate the heads up about Krennick.”

“Sir?”  Mac was confused and a bit wary.  Surely the Admiral didn’t know about Krennick’s unwanted advances towards Harm.  The Admiral was hardly one to tolerate sexual harassment in his command, even if no complaint was made.

“Let’s just say they tended to clash,” AJ told her, “especially on the last case they worked together before Allison transferred out of JAG headquarters.”

Mac thought for a moment.  She wasn’t sure, but she believed that last case had been the investigation into Diane’s death.  Saying that they had clashed on that case was a major understatement.  “I’m sure he will do everything possible to cooperate with the case despite that,” she said.  “Commander Krennick was correct when she said everyone would appreciate these cases being resolved as quickly as possible.”

“Agreed.  Dismissed,” AJ said.

Mac came to attention for a moment before leaving the office to find everyone waiting for her.  “Is there anything else you need before I show you to the conference room?” she asked.

“We could use some supplies,” Allison said, “pens, legal pads and coffee.”

“Tiner can get you any supplies you need,” Mac replied with a nod towards the yeoman.  “As for coffee, we’ll pass the kitchen on the way to the conference room.  There are extra mugs in the cabinets and you can help yourselves to the coffee.  We only ask that if you empty the pot, you put a new one on.”

After getting everyone settled in the conference room and promising to return with an interview schedule, Mac breathed a sigh of relief as she headed back to her office.  Meg Austin and Kate Pike seemed like nice enough people and Harm had spoken highly of them, but Mac would just as soon stay as far away from Krennick as possible.  She sure didn’t need the stress.

1530 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

After spending two hours pouring over the case files, Allison had reluctantly suggested they break for lunch.  While everyone headed off in different directions, she headed for the file room, determined to confirm the thought nagging at the back of her mind ever since she had first seen Colonel Mackenzie.

As she entered the room, a Petty Officer walked up to her and asked, “May I help you, Commander?”

“Yes,” Allison replied.  “I’m looking for a case from May 1996.  It would have been opened around the third week of the month.”

“This way, Ma’am,” the Petty Officer said as she led Allison to the correct aisle.  “Name of the subject?”

“It was an investigation into the murder of Lieutenant Diane Schonke of the USS Sea Hawk,” Allison replied as the Petty Officer looked at the boxes holding the files from May 1996.  Pulling a box off the shelf, she searched through it and pulled out a file, handing it to Allison. 

“Here you go, Ma’am,” she said.  “Would you like to check the file out or just look at it here?”

“I’ll just look at it here,” Allison said as she headed towards one of the desks at the center of the room.  Just as she was about to sit down, she saw Meg and Kate enter the file room.  Turning quickly before they saw her, she headed for a desk towards the back of the room where she could have some privacy.  Sitting down, she opened the file and noticed right on top an addendum to the file, added in April 1998.  “So the XO killed Lieutenant Schonke,” she murmured as she read the report detailing the discovery of the murderer nearly two years after the fact.

Coming to the end of the addendum, she noted the names at the bottom.  “The addendum was signed off on by Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie and Lieutenant Roberts,” she said to herself.  So Mackenzie is familiar with the case, she thought as she flipped through the rest of the file, looking for the crime scene photos.  Finding them at the bottom of the file, she stared for a long moment at the top photo, taken of Diane before she had been removed from her car.

She was right.  The uniforms might be different, but the face was the same.  These women didn’t just bear a resemblance to each other.  Lieutenant Diane Schonke and Colonel Sarah Mackenzie were dead ringers for each other.

Mac rubbed her temples, trying to fight off the headache she felt coming on.  Try not to think about it, she told herself.  Try not to think about the cases, Krennick or the fact that Harm is gone.  “Easier said than done,” she muttered as her phone rang.  Picking it up, she said shortly, “Colonel Mackenzie.”

“Sounds like someone could use some cheering up,” Harm said.  “Bad morning?”

Mac took a deep breath.  “Sorry,” she said, “but your call is the bright spot of the morning.”

“That bad?” he replied.  “What’s going on?”

“Hold on a minute,” she told him, setting the phone down and getting up to close her office door.  She didn’t want anyone to overhear this conversation, even by accident. 

Picking up the phone again as she sat back down, she said, “Sorry.  I’ve got something to tell you and didn’t want anyone to overhear.   The lawyers who are going to handle the Johns and Hodge prosecutions arrived today.  Commander Allison Krennick is heading the team.”

There was silence on the other end of the line as Harm digested the information.  “Suddenly, I’m very glad to be in Texas,” he said. 

“You know what,” she said, “me, too.  Krennick has already told me to make sure you are informed that you need to make yourself available for an interview upon your return.”

“Sounds like her,” he replied.  “You aren’t having problems with her, are you?”

“I’ve barely spoken to her except in the Admiral’s office,” she told him.  “He even suggested to me privately that I warn you she was here.  I thought for a moment he knew about – well, you know – until he commented that you two had clashed on the last case you worked on together before she transferred out.  Harm, I hate to ask, but would that have been the investigation into Diane’s murder?”

“Yes, it would,” he answered.  “Both Krennick and Meg transferred out right after that, Krennick to Hawaii and Meg to Great Lakes.”

“Now they’re both in Hawaii,” Mac said.  “Meg’s here, too, along with Kate Pike and a Major Williams.  I guess two of them are handling each case.”

“Interesting,” he said, laughing.  “Sounds like the ghosts of partners past.”

“Meg and Kate seemed nice enough,” she commented.  “Again, I didn’t talk to them much, but from what you’ve told me about them, I think the cases are in good hands.”

“Tell Meg and Kate that I said hello,” he said. 

“Will do.  Do you have any idea when you will be home?” she asked.

“Fortunately, the Air Force investigative team seems willing to cooperate with the Navy, so I’m hoping we can get this wrapped up quickly,” he replied.  “I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“I look forward to it,” she said.  “I love you.”

“I love you,” he echoed.  “And don’t worry about Krennick.  I’m not.”

“And why is that?” she asked.

"Because I know that if Krennick tries anything, I’ll have my feisty Marine fiancée to protect me,” he teased, causing Mac to smile at the thought.  “I’m sure she is more than capable of handling a pushy Navy Commander.”

“Well, dealing with my Navy Commander fiancé has given me plenty of practice,” she teased back.

Harm laughed as he said, “Glad to have cheered you up, even if you just insulted me.  I’ll talk to you tonight.  Bye, Sarah.”

“Bye, Harm,” she said.  After hearing the click indicating he had hung up, she hung up the phone, still smiling.

Hearing a knock at her door, she called out, “Enter.”  She was surprised when Meg and Kate stepped into her office.  “What can I do for you?”

“We went down to the file room just now to check out the case file on Chief Hodge’s previous conviction, Colonel,” Meg said.  “A Petty Officer down there said that Commander Rabb had checked out the file a couple of weeks ago and hadn’t returned it.  Since he’s not here, we thought we’d ask you if someone could let us into his office to get the file.”

“Come on,” Mac said, getting out of her chair and heading for the door.  “I’ll get the file for you.  I have a key for his office.”

As she led them to Harm’s office, she said, “I just got off the phone with Harm, by the way.  He said to say ‘hello’ to both of you.”  Meg and Kate both smiled.

“If he calls again,” Kate said, “you’ll tell him we said ‘hello’ back?”

“Yes,” Mac replied as she unlocked Harm’s office and flipped on the light.   She searched through the stack of files on top of his desk and found the Hodge file.  Pulling it out of the stack, she held it out to them and Kate took it.

“Thank you, Colonel,” Kate said, flipping through the file.  “I see you worked the investigation with Ha – Commander Rabb.  If you’d got time later, we’d like to talk to you about this first case, get a feel for what kind of man he is.”

“I should have some time this afternoon,” Mac replied.  “My case load is a little light right now, since I just returned to work yesterday.  I’m getting ready to go to lunch now, so why don’t we meet in about an hour?”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Kate said as they left Harm’s office and Mac locked it back up.  “Why don’t we meet in your office, if you don’t mind?  Krennick and Williams are starting their interviews in the Johns case at thirteen hundred, so the conference room is out.”

“That will be fine,” Mac said.  “I’ll see you back here in about an hour.”

As Kate and Meg headed out of the bullpen, Kate asked, “Are you okay, Meg?  You’ve been quiet today.”

“Sorry,” Meg said, “it’s just that Colonel Mackenzie reminds me. . . .never mind, it’s not important.  Why don’t we get some lunch ourselves?”