A Snowy Weekend

Page 3

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2:03 PM

Mac walked out of her kitchen, holding two mugs of steaming coffee in her hands and saw that Harm had turned on the TV. He obviously was checking out the latest news about the weather situation around Washington DC.

The moment Harm saw her coming out of the kitchen he turned off the TV and took one of the mugs from Mac. “Thanks,” he said and took a big gulp. “Hmm, you learned how to make squid-coffee.”

“Just for you, Harm,” Mac answered and smiled at him. “How’s the forecast?” Mac wanted to know, motioning with her head to the now turned off TV. She sat down on the couch right next to Harm and pulled one of her legs underneath her.

“The newscast said that the chance for more snow is slim and they hope that Dulles will reopen on Monday morning at the latest.”

“Good. That means Harriet and Bud will get back to Washington as planned,” Mac softly concluded and took a sip of her coffee.

Harm raised his eyebrow and looked astonished at Mac. “What? You’re already getting tired of babysitting the boys, Marine?” Harm smirked, trying to hide his roguish grin behind his mug. He enjoyed teasing her a bit. “I thought marines are tougher than that.”

Mac slightly smacked his arm and shook her head. “They are tougher than that and no, I’m not already tired of it. I am enjoying this weekend very much, thank you.”

Harm gave her one of his flyboy grins she loved so much and took her right hand into his to give it a gentle squeeze. “So am I, Mac. So am I.” He frowned for a second and then smiled. “Maybe we should do this more often.”

Mac liked his suggestion and gave him a smile of her own. “I like the idea. This way Harriet and Bud can have more time for themselves before the twins arrive.”

Harm nodded his head. “Yeah, and it also gives us the chance to practice some more before…,” Harm pursued his thoughts but suddenly stopped, losing the smile on his face and the glimmer in his eyes in the process. He then looked apologetic at Mac. “I’m sorry, Mac. I shouldn’t have said that,” he started to apologize but was stopped by her soft fingers on his lips.

“Don’t Harm,” Mac tenderly said and looked deeply into his eyes, seeing that he blamed himself for what he’d just said. “There’s no need to apologize and maybe it is time for us to really talk about this all.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

She nodded her head and placed her mug on the coffee table. Then she readjusted her position on the couch so that she was able to look better at him. “I am sure, Harm. Not talking about this or simply running away from it obviously doesn’t make the situation any better or make it go away,” Mac gently explained, took a deep breath and then continued to explain in a whisper. “I’ve tried it too many times and I have to accept that it doesn’t work like that. I’m tired of running away.”

Now it was Harm who let go of his mug to place it on the coffee table. Then he took both of Mac’s hands into his to give them yet another gentle squeeze. “Then we both should stop doing that and start to take some steps forward and in the right direction.”

“It may not be easy, Harm,” Mac quietly interjected and continued to look deeply into Harm’s eyes, trying to absorb all the strength she could see there and to convert it to her own strength.

“No, it may not,” Harm admitted in honesty. “But is running away easy, Mac?”

“No. No, it’s not easy. It actually is getting harder and harder each time I try,” Mac softly confessed and gave him a little smile.

Harm nodded his head in understanding. “Come here,” he softly said and readjusted his position on the couch. He sprawled out his left leg on top of it before tenderly pulling Mac between his legs, so that she was now lying with her back against his chest. Then he kissed the top of her head and fondly embraced her. “There, that’s much better,” he whispered and this time kissed her right ear. “And now let’s make a deal.”

Mac snuggled deeper into Harm’s arms, enjoying the warmth coming from his solid body. Then she lightly turned her head so that she could look up at him and was greeted by a warm smile. “What kind of deal?”

“From this moment on, we both won’t ignore any kind of problem if there is one. Not if it is between us, or if one of us has a problem. Also, we will never ever run away from them again. And should one of us actually forget about this pact and starts to run, the other has the permission to use a lariat to lasso and capture the running one. Deal?”

Mac giggled and threw her hands to her mouth, trying to hush herself. “Kinky,” she answered between her giggles.

“Hey, I’m serious here,” Harm said but couldn’t hold back some chuckles of his own. The picture of him capturing Mac with a lariat or the other way around indeed had something kinky to it. At least in his own way of imagining it.

Mac tried to get herself under control again. “I know, and I’m sorry,” she said, then got serious again and finally nodded her head. “It sounds like a good deal to me.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, why don’t we try to work with this new pact?”

Mac immediately knew what Harm wanted to talk about. She also knew that she was ready to share the story with him. “The crib?” She softly asked, took his folded hands into hers and started to caress the palms of his hands.

“Yeah, I would like to know more about it. I thought it was Jimmy’s crib but AJ told me that you actually bought it for your own children and that Jimmy was only using it.”

“Not only Jimmy,” Mac quietly said and continued to caress Harm’s hands.

Harm frowned, not understanding the meaning behind Mac’s comment. “What do you mean by that?”

Mac took another deep breath and then once more turned her head a little so that she could look right into Harm’s eyes. “Jimmy is not the only child who slept in this crib, Harm. Years ago, Little AJ used to sleep in it as well when he spent the night.”

Mac could practically see how the wheels in Harm’s head were running now, trying to work with the information he just got and to understand the meaning behind her words.

“When did you buy the crib, Mac?” Harm asked in wonder. “I never saw the crib before, and AJ told me that you talked with Harriet about it while you two were getting Jimmy ready for bed.”

“The day of Little AJ’s birth,” Mac whispered her straight answer.

She could immediately hear and feel Harm’s reaction by the sharp breath he took and by him intensifying his embrace.

He didn’t say anything and Mac took it as a clue to continue her story. “After we’d visit Harriet and the baby in the hospital, I was on my way home when I drove pass a baby store. I thought I should go in and try to find a present for my godson. I was amazed at all the cute little things you can buy for babies to wear, or all the toys you can get for them. I spent quite some time in the store and finally found a blanket for AJ. I was on my way out when somehow I ended up in the furniture department and I saw this crib.”

She stopped her story to take another deep breath and Harm took the opportunity to kiss her cheek but he still didn’t say anything.

Mac chuckled and shook her head in wonder about her own reaction back then. “I stood there, simply looking at it in awe when one of the saleswomen came to me and asked if she could help me and if I was looking for something for my child.”

“What did you tell her?” Harm softly asked, still feeling slightly taken aback by the story Mac was telling him.

Mac shrugged her shoulders and then smiled up at him. “The moment she said ‘my child’ all I could think about was the deal we’d made earlier that day. Back then, I was so sure that I would have a child of my own one day. May it be in five years or even earlier. It didn’t really matter to me, so I told the saleswoman that I indeed wanted the crib for my child.”

She once more shook her head and started to chuckle. “I really have no idea what happened next but I ended up with that crib and moreover, I had to get that thing to my apartment with my new ‘vette. I can tell ya, that was quite an experience.”

Harm laughed and squeezed her hands. “You have good taste, that’s for sure. I love the crib. It really is beautiful.”

Mac just sighed and didn’t say anything.

“What?” Harm asked, trying to find out what her sigh meant.

Mac moved out of Harm’s embrace and sat up again. She interlocked her hands while her gaze was focused on them. “Maybe the saying is right,” she answered him in a whisper without looking up.

Harm could clearly hear the sadness in her voice and quickly laid his finger under her chin to pull her head up so that he could look into her eyes. “What saying?”

“That you never should buy something for a baby before…,” Mac started to explain but was immediately interrupted by Harm’s finger on her lips.

“Don’t, Mac. It’s not true and moreover, it is not the reason why things happened the way they did,” Harm told her with a strong voice. He had to make her understand that buying the crib had nothing to do with her having problems getting pregnant. “The saying is simply a superstition. And I know that you don’t believe in something like that. So don’t start now, okay?”

“I’m trying,” Mac whispered and looked down at their clutched hands. “But that at least would give me a reason why I can’t….”

Harm once more interrupted her. “Then try harder, Mac. There could be a lot of reasons why things are the way they are. Heck, who knows, maybe us getting in contact with the radiation back then in Afghanistan is the reason,” Harm gently told her, wanting to make her believe that it wasn’t her fault. “The point is that we can’t always have control for the things that happen around us. Some of them simply happen for no reason. But, please, believe me when I say that buying this beautiful crib is not the reason for it.”

Mac looked up at him and couldn’t hold back the single tear which slowly ran down her cheek. Harm once more wiped it off with his thumb. “I really want to believe you, Harm.”

“Then do it, Mac. And if you can’t believe my words, then I guess I’ll have to show you the test results I got from my doctor,” Harm said with a grin, knowing that he would win this argument.

“What test? I don’t understand.”

“The test about my swimmers.”

Mac raised her eyebrow and frowned. “Your swimmers?”

“Yup, my swimmers. If the saying is true and buying things for a baby you don’t have yet means bad luck when it comes to pregnancy, then it means that I can’t have any babies either, right? But the test I had told me otherwise and my swimmers are doing just fine, thank you,” Harm explained and smirked.

“You had a test about your swimmers?” Mac asked bewildered and pointed with her forefinger to a certain part of Harm’s body.

He only nodded his head and gave her another grin. “Yup, I did.”

“When?”

This time it was Harm who shrugged his shoulders. “A few months ago,” he vaguely told her, and Mac could hear that he was holding something back.

“Shortly before the Admiral’s dining-out?” Mac asked, trying to get all the little pieces of their puzzle together.

Harm nodded his head. “Yes. I… I just wanted to make sure… you know… to make sure that everything was okay before I would make the final step.”

“Oh, Harm,” Mac responded and threw herself into his arms, giving him a bear hug. “That’s so sweet. However, I’m not sure if the saying goes for men too, you know,” Mac said and suddenly let go of him. “Whoa,” she yelled and pulled herself out of his grip.

“What? What’s wrong?” Harm asked, not understanding Mac’s reaction.

She stared at him with wide-open eyes, not believing what she just discovered. “You told me that if the saying’s true it would mean that you can’t have children but that the test told you that you could have them.”

“Yes, that’s what I said.” By now Harm knew what Mac’s reaction was about and a slight blush covered his face.

“You bought something for your child?” Mac asked in a whisper and got a nod from Harm in response. “What? When?”

“A few months ago. I was getting some gifts for our godsons and saw this cute little outfit for a girl.” Harm shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Mac. “I pictured our little daughter in it and had to buy it.”

They couldn’t hold back anymore and together they started to laugh, trying to keep it as quiet as possible so that they wouldn’t wake up the boys.

“Boy, we’re quite a pair, aren’t we?” Mac asked and continued to laugh.

“A perfect one,” Harm submitted.

“A totally crazy one,” Mac suggested.

“A being in love one?” Harm proposed this time with a question and hoped to make yet again another step in the right direction. He softly cradled Mac’s head into his hands, tensely waiting for her answer.

Mac slowly moved forward until her lips softly touched his. She gave him a short but sweet kiss before pulling back as far as needed to be able to look into his eyes. “A perfect and totally crazy being in love one,” Mac replied and returned Harm’s smile.

Once more their lips slowly came together for yet another kiss. However, this time their kiss was much more passionate and demanding.

“Yuck!”

Harm and Mac immediately pulled away from each other in surprise and looked at their intruder. Harm at once had to groan while Mac let herself fall backwards onto the couch. She took one of the cushions into her hands so that she was able to cover her head and most of all her laughter with it.

“Kissing like that is yucky,” AJ explained as a matter of fact. Then he looked at Harm. “Can we go out now and play in the snow, Uncle Harm?” Little AJ wanted to know, already wearing his snowsuit.

Harm could hear his younger godson through the baby monitor and knew that Jimmy was awake too. “Sure, AJ. Why don’t you get your shoes on and then we can go outside. Okay?”

“Okay,” AJ answered in satisfaction and then quickly made his way to the guestroom.

Harm’s eyes followed his godson and as soon as AJ disappeared behind the threshold, he let his gaze wander to the still laughing woman right next to him. He carefully moved on top of her and slowly took the pillow away from Mac’s face, only to be welcome by a beautiful smiling face. “This guy for sure has Bud’s timing,” he annoyingly told her before capturing her lips with his for another loving kiss.

“We better get ready before he once more catches us while doing this yucky thing,” Mac said with a giggle after they broke their latest kiss.

Harm sighed and stood up from the couch before holding his hands out for Mac so that he could help her up. “Yeah, we better. Why don’t you get Jimmy ready while I get the mugs to the kitchen?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“But we’re not done yet, Marine.”

Mac smiled and looked with a raised eyebrow at him. “We’d better not be done yet, Sailor. Otherwise you’ll have one angry marine on your cute little six,” she said with a chuckle and started to move to her guestroom.

Harm’s hand immediately caught her arm before she was out of reach and pulled her back to him. He tenderly touched her cheek with his fingertips and finally said the words he wanted to tell her for so long. “I love you, Mac.”

Mac took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She captured Harm’s hand, which was still caressing her cheek, and kissed the palm of it. Then she looked up at Harm and got on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss. “I love you too, Harm,” she said and just like him was finally able to tell him what she wanted him to know for so long.

“I’m ready,” Little AJ yelled from behind and looked impatiently at his godparents.

“We’re coming,” they said together and quickly parted to get done with their tasks.

*****

3:17 PM

Little AJ sprinted down the corridor of Mac’s apartment house to push open the heavy door that would lead him to the parking lot and finally to the snow he’d craved for. “Yeah,” he hollered in excitement, throwing his arms into the air and ran out.

“AJ, slow down and be careful,” Mac called after him. “It could be slippery out there.”

“Ya,” Jimmy loudly screamed and ran as fast as his legs would carry him after his big brother. His path however was broken when the heavy door fell loudly back into its slot. Jimmy stopped in front of it and tried to reach the knob but failed to due his height. He turned his gaze to his godparents and pointed with his finger at the door. “Out,” he said before turning back to the door and pounded his little fists on it. Once more he tried to reach the knob while jumping up and down.

Harm and Mac chuckled at his impatience and made their way to him. All they could do was shake their heads in disbelief about the energy and enthusiasm these two little boys had. “We’re coming, we’re coming,” Harm told Jimmy while he picked him up.

“After you, Milady,” Harm said and bowed to Mac while gentlemanly-like holding the door open for her, trying to keep a squirming Jimmy in his other arm.

“Thank you, Milord,” Mac replied with a smile and stepped out into the parking lot, just to be confronted by the cold winter air. Her hands immediately went to the labels of her coat, holding them safely together. “Was it already this cold yesterday?” She asked Harm in wonder.

He stood right next to her and could just shake his head. Each time they exhaled into the cold air, they were creating foggy clouds. After placing Jimmy down, Harm blew at his hands before getting his leather gloves out of his coat. “Not that I can remember.”

Harm took off his scarf and gently started to put it around Mac’s throat. “Here, I think you can use it more than me.”

Mac’s hands immediately stopped his doings while she looked into his eyes. “No, Harm. You should keep it or you’ll get too cold. I’m wearing a turtleneck sweater but you’re not. You need the scarf more than I do, or I could go back to my apartment and get one of my own,” she softly told him but only got a shake of his head in answer.

“Don’t worry about me, Mac. As soon as I start working, I’ll get all warm,” he replied just as softly and gave her a kind smile. “And now take good care of my scarf, Marine, while I dig out my car.” With that, Harm turned around and crossed the parking lot to get to his car.

“Will do,” Mac whispered and pulled his scarf even closer to her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, sighing in pleasure when she could smell the unique scent she loved so much of its owner. “Believe me, I will.”

“Come on, Auntie Mac,” Little AJ suddenly yelled a few feet away from her and brought her back to the present. “Play with us.”

Mac opened her eyes again and had to laugh when she saw her giggling godsons lying in one of the snowdrifts while throwing some of the snow into the air just to get covered with it. She had to laugh even more when she saw Harm right in the middle of their newest playground. While shaking her head Mac walked to the snowdrift and was greeted by three pairs of shining eyes and the sound of happy laughter.

“Hey, Mac,” Harm welcomed her with one of his flyboy grins and chuckled. “Want to play with us boys?”

“You boys are having fun I see,” Mac said with a raised eyebrow and smiled at them. “Good thing you guys are wearing snowsuits. Well, at least the ones named Roberts that is,” she added while looking at her godsons. Then she turned her gaze to the very happy looking Harm. “Now you, Mister, are not wearing any kind of snowsuit. I just hope you won’t get sick.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Harm replied, his smile getting even wider if that’s possible. “If I’ll get sick, I hope a certain marine will take good care of me and give me some TLC.”

“Really? I somehow doubt the General has time for such a full-time job, Harm,” Mac jokingly pointed out while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Harm placed both of his hands over his heart and gave her a wounded look. “You wound me, Mac. How can you think and tell me that the General won’t have the time to take care of me? I have to let you know that we’re buddies.”

“Auntie Mac, you’re a marine. Why don’t you take care of Uncle Harm?” Little AJ wanted to know and looked in wonder at his godmother.

“Yeah, Mac. Why can’t you take care of me if I should get sick?” Harm repeated his godson’s question and gave her a ‘so there’-look.

Mac held out her hand to Harm so that she could help him out of the snowdrift. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to it in the first place, okay? I know how you get when you’re sick, Harm.”

Harm took hold of Mac’s hand, but for now stayed where he was. “How do I get, Mac?”

Mac’s first mistake was to look at Little AJ and Jimmy while they were getting out of the snowdrift to find another one they could jump on. Her second mistake was to give her partner an answer while her mind wasn’t one-hundred percent directed at him. “You’re one cranky squid while being sick,” she told him and immediately got his answer.

Harm’s facial expression changed and a devilish look and smile took place on his face before he pulled in one swift motion at Mac’s outstretched arm.

“Haarrmm!” Mac yelled in surprise and fell right on top of Harm. She was barely able to catch her fall and ended up nose to nose with him. “You! How dare you,” Mac hissed, trying to sound upset but terribly failing when she couldn’t hold back her own smile.

Harm chuckled and took her face into his palms. “That’s what happens when a marine challenges the Navy while said marine isn’t on alert,” he answered with a boyish grin. Then he pulled her face even closer to his and finally was able to kiss her lips with all the love he felt for her.

Little AJ obviously was engaged with playing in the snow so that his godparents only needed to end their kiss when they’d needed to take a breath and not because he was telling them it was ‘yucky’ to kiss like they’d just done.

“You’re one sneaky squid, you know that?” Mac gave his chest a gentle slap.

Harm looked up at Mac with some puppy eyes. “You would take care of me, if I should get sick, right?”

Mac got off of Harm and once more offered her hand to him, finally helping him up from the snowdrift. “I promise you the best TLC you ever got in your life, Harm,” she seductively answered him with a sweet smile.

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” Mac promised before giving him a little push to the direction of his car. “But like I said, let’s hope it doesn’t come to it, okay? And now you better dig out your car. The sooner you get out of your wet clothes the better.”

Harm’s eyes glimmered and he once more showed her his best flyboy grin. He made a step forward to put his mouth right next to her ear. “Hmm, you want to get me out of my clothes. I already like your version of TLC, Sarah,” he purred into her ear before his tongue darted out to trace the lines of her ear.

Mac could only giggle but suddenly had to moan when he took her earlobe into his mouth to nibble on it. She once more pushed him away from her and cleared her throat. “Harm,” she hoarsely groaned out and pointed with her forefinger at the still snow-covered car a few feet away from them. “Your car…. Now…. Dig it out…. Just dig it out.” Without waiting for a response she turned around and joined AJ and Jimmy to build a snowman.

Harm just chuckled and followed her with his eyes, knowing that he’d caught her unexpected with the move he’d just made. The fact that she couldn’t bring out one full sentence made it clear to him. It felt so great to him. To be finally able to flirt with her this way, to know that they’d reached the point where they were reading at the same time the same page of their book called ‘Us’.

However, Harm also had to admit to himself that his move surprised him too, wondering why it wasn’t so easy before. ‘Does it really matter?’ He asked himself and could immediately give himself the answer. ‘No, not at all. The only thing that matters is the here and now, and the fulfillment of this dream. Our dream.’ With that he turned around and made his way to the snowed-in car, hoping that he would be able to dig it out as soon as possible so that he could help with the snowman.

Mac took another deep breath. ‘Get a grip, MacKenzie,’ she told herself, still surprised about Harm’s actions.

Earlier, she’d actually thought about helping him with the car, but now she knew it was the best for both of them to let him do it alone and to stay away from each other. Otherwise, they would never get done with the work.

‘I’m feeling like a lovesick teenager, who can’t wait to make out on the couch with her prince.’ Mac had to giggle about her own thoughts. “Geez, you really got it bad, Marine,” she murmured out loud and couldn’t keep herself from turning around to look once more at the object of her thoughts. “Really bad.”

*****

Mac’s Apartment
The parking lot
3:34 PM

Harm whistled to himself, feeling happy that it was a much easier task to dig out his car than he’d feared just a few hours ago, thanks to it being covered with only a thin layer of snow. Even the fact that the blanket was a bit iced couldn’t damper his happiness. Without that problem he would have been done about five minutes ago and already could have joined Mac and the boys to build their snowman, but still he knew it could have been much worse. There simply was no reason for him to complain or to mourn about it.

He once more turned his head to look at the giggling and laughing boys, seeing that they weren’t working on a snowman yet, but rather got chased by a very happy sounding and even happier looking Sarah MacKenzie. Harm laughed out loud when he saw her suddenly get hit on her back by a snowball which Little AJ had thrown at her and then turned back to his car so he could take part of their game soon.

Harm was just getting the windshield freed from the snow blanket when suddenly something cold and wet hit is neck. “Aarrgh,” he yelled out just as another flying object hit him at the exact same spot.

“Good shot, Auntie Mac,” Little AJ said between giggles and took some more snow into his own hands to build another snowball he could throw at his godmother.

“Marine, did you just throw a snowball at me?” Harm yelled across the parking lot and slowly started to move forward to her.

“Nope, I didn’t,” Mac coolly answered while molding another wet and fluffy snowball in her glove-clad hands, knowing it couldn’t hurt him. “I actually have thrown two snowballs at you, Harm,” she explained with a smirk and then threw another one at him, this time hitting him right in the face.

“She hits, she scores,” Mac triumphantly shouted, emphasizing her triumph with a little dance.

“Oh, you want it the hard way, Marine?” Harm asked, wiping the snow out of his face before he slowly bent forward.

Mac kept a hawk-eye on him, answering his move with one of her own. She took a step backwards, trying to get some distance between them.

“Uh oh, Auntie Mac,” Little AJ whispered from her right side. “I think Uncle Harm plans an attack,” he let her know and started to move out of his godfather’s way.

“Ut O,” Jimmy copied his bigger brother’s words and giggled. He seemed to know what his uncle was planning, and just like AJ, he started to get out of his godfather’s way.

Harm’s first snowball was harmless and passed Mac’s face with a whoosh. She just laughed at his miss and bent down to get snow for another snowball. However, Mac was too slow and the moment she was standing upright again, Harm already was standing way too close to her. He had a mischievous and satisfied smile on his face, and a made snowball in his right hand. “Anything you would like to tell me, Ms. MacKenzie?”

Mac kept her eye on the snowball he had in his hand. She shook her head and then turned around, trying to get away from him with a shriek.

Harm just chuckled at Mac’s move and then threw the snowball at her, hitting her back. “You got your chance, MacKenzie. Now you’ll have to suffer,” he hollered and then started to run after her.

“Yay, Uncle Harm, you’ll catch her,” Little AJ cheered from the right side and his little brother completed it with clapping his hands. They had a blast watching their godparents chasing each other.

“Traitor,” Mac called to Little AJ between her giggles. She could hear that Harm was already too close behind her, so she couldn’t bend down to get more snow for another snowball. She just continued to giggle and tried to get out of his reach.

Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, knowing there was no way she could possibly hide from him. With a laugh she turned around, seeing that Harm already had caught up with her. His shining eyes told her that he was up to something and then there was his right arm, hidden behind his back. He obviously was ready for their battle.

“You surrender?” Harm asked with a raised eyebrow, sounding slightly out of breath.

“A marine surrendering to the Navy? Never,” Mac let him know, sounding even more out of breath than he did.

“Your mistake, MacKenzie. Your mistake,” Harm said and gave her one of his flyboy grins before catching her off guard with another one of his quick moves. In one swift motion he stepped forward and caught the surprised and giggling Mac, just to throw her over his shoulders.

Now it was clear to Mac that the arm he’d hidden behind his back was a ruse he’d set and that she’d fallen for it. “Harm, what are you doing?” She asked him, but couldn’t stop laughing.

“Payback is hell, Marine. Never challenge the Navy. I thought I’d taught you that earlier,” Harm said and looked around the parking lot, trying to find the right spot for his final move. Then he finally found it. “Ah ha, there it is,” he muttered more to himself than to Mac and started to walk to the place he found.

“Harm?”

“Be quiet, Marine, Navy on a mission here,” he commanded and suddenly came to a halt. “Enjoy it, MacKenzie.”

“Enjoy wh…,” Mac started to ask but couldn’t finish the question when Harm suddenly threw her right into a huge snowdrift so that she landed on her back.

Before Mac was even able to make a move of her own, Harm already was on top of her, sitting on her hips with a wide grin on his face. He took both her hands into his and placed them above her head. At the same time he moved his head much closer to hers so that they were able to feel their hot breaths on each other’s faces.

Harm was just on his way to close the final distance between their lips so that he could give her a kiss, when Mac abruptly turned her face away, as if she wanted to avoid his kiss.

He was surprised by her move and even slightly hurt when he suddenly saw a slow smile on Mac’s face. “Harm, if I were you, I would let go of me.”

Harm just raised his eyebrow. “Now why should I do that?”

“Well, there are two little boys standing right behind you and they have quite an amount of snow in their hands, waiting to make their move.”

Harm laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, right, Marine. You actually want to tell me that the boy you called a traitor just a few seconds ago is now standing right behind me, waiting to attack me? Never! I won’t fall for your trap, MacKenzie.”

Mac shrugged her shoulders as much as it was possible in her position and moved her gaze so that she could look directly into Harm’s still shining eyes. “If you don’t believe me, Harm, it’s your problem. But be aware, you should never underestimate a Roberts. Moreover, you should never underestimate two of them, right AJ?”

“Yup! That’s right,” Little AJ immediately answered his godmother from behind Harm and surprised his godfather with that.

Harm loosened his hold on Mac’s hands and turned around just to be face to face with two smiling boys. Before he could say something, AJ and Jimmy threw the snow they were holding in their hands at him, covering his head and face with it. Then they jumped up and down in joy while clapping their hands in excitement.

“Damn,” Harm murmured to himself and suddenly was flipped over by one grinning marine, who copied his earlier move and held his hands down above his head.

“And last but not least, Harm. Never EVER underestimate a marine,” Mac added with a smirk before surprising him with her next move. One quick look behind her told Mac that the boys were gone to play somewhere else and she immediately turned her gaze back to the man underneath her and slowly started to moisten her lips. “And now this marine will collect what belongs to her.”

“What would that be?” Harm whispered his question, not sure what she was talking about.

Mac moved her head closer to his and once more licked her lips. “You wanted to kiss me earlier, didn’t you? Before I told you that the boys were standing behind you.”

Harm just gave her a nod as answer.

“And you thought I was trying to avoid your kiss, didn’t you? I could see the glimmer of hurt in your eyes. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, for a moment I thought you didn’t want me to kiss you,” Harm quietly admitted.

Mac moved her face even closer to Harm’s so that her lips were barely touching his, her eyes never leaving his. “Never think that I wouldn’t want you to kiss me, Harm. Hell would freeze over before that happens. Okay?” With each spoken word, her lips were softly brushing his.

“Okay.”

“Good, and now I would very much like to collect that kiss. Is that okay with you?”

Harm gave her his flyboy grin she loved so much and then nodded his head. “Very okay,” he softly answered.

He had hardly finished his answer when Mac’s lips descended down on his to give him a long kiss full of love and tenderness.

“Wow,” Harm said in a whisper as soon as they broke their kiss.

“Yeah. Wow indeed,” Mac agreed and slowly got up from him before helping him stand up. “Come on, I bet you’re freezing already down there.”

“Nah, you have a very nice way to warm me up, Sarah.”

They smiled at each other and without letting go of each other’s hand they made their way to AJ and Jimmy, which were already trying to make the first part of their snowman. “Uncle Harm! Auntie Mac! Come on, you have to help us build the biggest snowman in the whole world,” AJ called for them and continued to roll a little snowball in front of him, hoping it would pick up a lot of snow so that it would be one huge ball in the end.

“What do ya think, Sailor? Want to build a Mr. Snowman?”

“Can we build a Mrs. Snowman too?” Harm asked with a gleam of hope in his eyes. “This way Mr. Snowman doesn’t have to be all alone each day and night.”

Mac looked around the parking lot and shrugged her shoulders. “There’s for sure enough snow around here.”

“Great, then let’s do it,” Harm replied with a laugh and started to run to the boys, having a laughing Mac in tow since he never let go of her hand.

*****

The parking lot
6:23 PM

“Okay, what do you all think? Did we do a good job?” Harm asked the boys and Mac while they stood in front of their just finished version of ‘Mr. and Mrs. Snowman’.

Harm had put his left arm around Mac’s shoulders so he could hold her close to him while his right one held Little AJ protectively against him. Jimmy stood right in front of his aunt, clasping her left hand in his own ones. They all had a bright smile on their faces as they surveyed their work.

Around them it was already pitch dark, but the parking lot lights gave them more than enough light to enjoy their efforts. A while ago it’d started to snow a little bit, but the little flakes were only visible while looking straight into the ray of the lights.

“If you’re asking me, young man, I would say you all did a very good job,” a familiar voice gently commented from their left before either of them could say something. “I especially like the guard dog Mr. and Mrs. Snowman have for protection,” Mrs. Ebenezer elaborated some more and finally moved out of the shadow, where she’d stood completely unknown to Mac, Harm and the two boys for more than an hour.

Over an hour ago Mrs. Ebenezer had thought that leaving her apartment to get some fresh air outside was one of the best ideas she had had over this weekend and as soon as she’d walked outside the house she noticed just how right she had been.

The moment she’d opened the door that would lead her to the parking lot, she was greeted by a very happy sound coming from her left side. It was the mixed sounds of giggles and laughter from children and adults. It didn’t take long for her to realize that it was coming from Sarah and her guests.

It had already started getting dark, but she’d still been able to see exactly where the sound came from. She enjoyed watching the little family, which hadn’t noticed her yet. They were so engrossed in what they were doing and being together, that nothing else around them had existed.

It’d warmed her heart and made her smile to see just how happy Sarah looked while being together with the children and her Harm. The sadness and pain Mrs. Ebenezer so often had been able to see in her eyes and body language through the years seemed to have vanished. “Be happy, my dear. Let your Prince Charming give you the love he feels for you. Let him in, Sarah, and you will get the happiness you so much deserve,” Mrs. Ebenezer had spoken quietly into the wind, hoping it would convey the message to the young woman, who stood a few feet away from her.

Harm looked at the familiar figure coming out of the shadow and smiled. Then his gaze moved to the guard dog Mrs. Ebenezer was talking about and had to smile even more.

The figure right next to Mrs. Snowman didn’t really look like a dog and much more like an unidentifiable creature with four legs. However, Little AJ had insisted to get Mr. and Mrs. Snowman a dog, so it could protect them at night. That’s why he and his uncle had tried to build a snow-dog too. ‘Guess Mrs. Ebenezer has overheard our conversation about building a dog. Either that or you have to stand far away from it to identify it as such,’ Harm thought and chuckled.

“That’s Barney,” Little AJ proudly told her. “He’s a German shepherd dog.”

“Oh, I can see that, AJ. Did you make it?” She asked him even though she knew the answer already.

Little AJ nodded his head and then looked up at his godfather. “Uncle Harm helped me.”

Mrs. Ebenezer smiled at Harm and then turned her gaze back to the young boy. “You two did a really good job. He looks like a very protective dog to me. I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Snowman are more than safe standing here all night and day with him around.”

Her answer made AJ smile even more and he looked up at his godparents. “See, I told you they needed a dog to be safe here.”

Harm and Mac could only chuckle and gave him a nod. “Yeah, I think you were right,” Mac answered him and then gave her neighbor a loving hug. “Thank you,” she whispered into Mrs. Ebenezer’s ear and got a little squeeze in response.

“Auntie Mac, I’m hungry,” Little AJ suddenly announced and Mrs. Ebenezer and Mac broke their embrace with a laugh.

“Oh, really? Then we better get back to my apartment and find something to eat, huh?”

“Can we have spaghetti?” AJ pleadingly asked, hoping to get his favorite meal tonight.

“Yeah, I think we can manage that,” Mac told him with a smile on her face and then once more let her gaze wander to her neighbor. “Would you like to join us for dinner? I’m sure there’s more than enough for the five of us.”

“Thank you, my dear. But I already ate more cookies than is good for me this afternoon and I still have a little job to conclude,” Mrs. Ebenezer mystically answered. “How ‘bout another time?” She suggested and let her gaze wander from Mac to Harm and back to her neighbor.

“We hold you to that!” Harm immediately gave her their answer with a sweet smile and then embraced her into a gentle hug. “Thank you for everything,” he quietly told Mrs. Ebenezer and then placed a peck on her check.

“You’re welcome,” she softly responded.

They exchanged their goodbyes and while Harm, Mac and the boys made their way back to the building Mrs. Ebenezer stayed behind. She answered Jimmy and AJ’s exciting waves with some of her own until they disappeared behind the heavy door. “Okay, old lady. Time to complete the picture,” she told herself out loud and began to do what needed to be done.

*****

Mac’s Apartment
6:37 PM

“Okay, boys. Get out of your snowsuits while I start making us supper,” Mac told them as soon as they entered her apartment and took off her gloves, coat, and Harm’s scarf. Then she looked directly at Harm and gave him a little smile. “And you should change into something dry too before you really get sick,” she pointed out and walked into the kitchen to put some water on the stove to boil.

Harm took off his coat and gloves before starting to help Jimmy out of his wool-gloves. “Why don’t I give the boys their bath and put them into their PJ’s?” He called behind her, unzipping Jimmy’s snowsuit.

Mac immediately stuck her head out of the kitchen and shook it. “I think that’s a bad idea, Harm,” she softly told him.

“How so?” Harm asked, not sure why Mac thought it was a bad idea.

“Well, we are having spaghetti for dinner and I know what happens as soon as Jimmy gets spaghetti placed in front of him,” Mac answered him and disappeared back into the kitchen. “I assume you never made spaghetti while Jimmy was around?” She called behind her.

“Nope, can’t say I ever have. What does he do?” Harm wanted to know and took off Jimmy’s boots and snowsuit, seeing that Little AJ already had taken off his own. “Or don’t I want to know?”

Mac chuckled and came out of the kitchen again. She took off her boots and put them right next to the entryway, where Harm had placed his just a few moments earlier. “He loves to eat them with his hands. Okay, wait. Maybe I should say that he loves trying to eat them with his hands. Most of the tomato sauce you will find smeared across his face, hands and clothes. Not to forget the nest made out of spaghetti you can always find on top of his head at the end, right Jimmy?” She asked her younger godson and ruffled his hair.

As if he knew exactly what his aunt was talking about, Jimmy started to giggle and clapped his hands in excitement. Then he ran to his blanket a few feet away and sat down to start playing with his toys.

Harm laughed and shook his head. “Okay, I guess we better let them wear the long underwear they have on now until we’re done with dinner. We can bathe and change them afterwards.”

Mac nodded. “Now that sounds like a pretty good idea, Squid.”

Harm just shrugged his shoulders and gave her one of his flyboy-grins. “I already told you earlier that I do have my moments. Just let me get into some dry pants and then I would like to help you with supper,” he said and gave her a short peck on her lips before making his way into Mac’s bedroom.

“Afraid I’ll burn the sauce?” Mac called behind him with a raised eyebrow, still standing where he’d left her just a few seconds earlier.

“Nah, I’m more worried about you burning the spaghetti,” Harm answered at once from the bedroom and completed his statement with a chuckle.

“Ha, ha. Very funny, Navy.”

“Well, I’m a very funny man,” Harm said, now leaning against the doorframe of Mac’s bedroom.

Mac just groaned, shook her head and walked back into the kitchen, closely followed by Harm and Little AJ.

“Auntie Mac, can I call Mom?” AJ asked, already holding Mac’s telephone receiver in his hand.

Mac gave him a smile and took the receiver from him. “Sure, Sweetie,” she answered him and pressed speed-dial button four for Harriet’s cell-phone number. “Here ya go.”

“Thanks,” Little AJ quickly answered and took the receiver back from Mac. Then he walked out of the kitchen just to find a spot right in front of the sparkling Christmas tree.

Harm and Mac’s eyes followed him and as soon as they saw that he got a connection, they turned their attention back to making their supper.

“So, what’s your plan? Self-made sauce or something out of a jar?”

“The latter one,” Mac answered and put the pasta into the now boiling water.

“Any chance for us to make some self-made tomato sauce for the spaghetti?” Harm asked and already started to rummage through Mac’s cabinets.

“I somehow doubt that,” she answered and suddenly inhaled sharply when she felt just how close Harm was standing behind her while he opened one of the cabinet doors above her.

“Hmmm,” Harm murmured, being preoccupied in his doing and took one of the items out of the cabinet. “A can of peeled tomatoes,” he said in triumph and placed it onto the counter before closing the door of the cabinet again.

That’s when he finally realized just how close he was standing behind Mac. The sweet smell of her perfume was teasing his senses and her slightly tense posture told him that she was trying her hardest to fight the affect their closeness was having on her.

Harm couldn’t resist and slowly pushed some of Mac’s hair with his right hand out of the way, so that he could let his tongue softly run over her skin before he started to suck on her ear.

“Harm,” Mac quietly moaned while her hands strongly gripped the edge of the counter, trying to find something to hold on to, should her weak legs suddenly give out under her.

She couldn’t stop herself and slightly turned her head so that their lips finally met for the so much needed kiss. It started as a sweet and gentle kiss but quickly turned into something more needing and exploratory. Mac’s palms softly grazed Harm’s cheeks before she tangled her fingers in his hair at the back of his neck, trying to get him even closer to her.

“Yuck!” Little AJ called from the doorway and Harm and Mac immediately broke their kiss and looked at him. They winced when they heard Harriet’s yelling through the phone.

“But Mom,” Little AJ whined. “Uncle Harm and Auntie Mac were doing that yucky kissing thing that you and Daddy do too,” he tried to explain his earlier outburst and Harm and Mac at once had to groan, knowing that the cat was out of the bag now. The cat, they obviously never had thought about trying to hide in the first place.

“Here, Auntie Mac. Mommy wants to talk with you,” Little AJ said and gave his godmother the phone.

Mac took the receiver from her godson and looked with wide-open eyes at Harm, who only shrugged in response. “I guess there’s a reason why we haven’t thought about hiding it in the first place, Mac,” Harm whispered into her ear. “Don’t worry about it. Go talk with her while AJ and I take care of dinner.”

Mac nodded and took a deep breath. “Hi, Harriet,” she greeted her friend and walked into the living room to sit down on her couch. “How’s New York?”

{“Oh, the bedroom is fabulous, the room service is exemplary and the bathroom is like every girl’s dream come true. Oh and did I tell you just how fabulous the bedroom is?” Harriet enthused between giggles.}

Mac could only giggle herself while hearing her friend go into raptures about her and Bud’s romantic weekend in New York. “Yes you did. Sounds like you two are really enjoying your romantic getaway. How’s the weather?”

{“How the heck would I know? But if you want to know it so badly I can take a quick look out of the window and tell you,” Harriet immediately answered and shared a short laugh with Mac. “But that’s not important anyway. What is my son talking about you and Harm doing this yucky kissing thing?”}

Mac slightly blushed even though her friend wasn’t around and cleared her throat. “Yeah… well… look… Harriet, I’m really sorry that we weren’t a bit more careful around the kids.”

{Harriet could only chuckle while hearing the uncertainness in Mac’s voice. “Mac, don’t worry about it, okay? Every kiss that lasts longer than a half second is already a yucky kiss for AJ. So… how long have you and Harm been together?” Harriet wanted to know. “Not that I’m nosy or anything,” she added with a giggle. “But I need details.”}

“Ummmm,” Mac stammered, not sure how to answer that question.

{“Mac?”}

“Three hours, twenty-four minutes and nineteen seconds,” she answered as quick like a shot.

{“Wow!”}

“Yeah, amazing, isn’t it?” Mac dreamily responded.

{“Yeah, amazing it sure is. You actually know the exact amount of seconds?” Harriet asked astonished.}

“Okay, maybe it was seventeen seconds. I’m not quite sure about it.”

{“Oh, you mean he found a way to distract you and that inner clock of yours?”}

“He should have a license for his lips. They should be registered as a lethal weapon,” Mac confessed before she could stop herself and once more was greeted with laughter from the other side of the phone-line. However, this time it was mixed with a chuckle from her left side.

Mac looked up and right into Harm’s shining eyes. He had a proud smile on his face and the only thing Mac could do was to groan.

{“Mac, are you alright?” Harriet asked in worry as soon as she’d heard Mac’s groan.}

“That depends,” Mac only answered, never breaking the eye contact between her and Harm.

{“On what?” Harriet now wanted to know, not understanding what was going on with her friend.}

“On how much of Harm’s swelling ego I can handle.”

{“Uh oh, he heard you, huh?”}

Mac saw that Harm’s grin got even wider, if that was possible, and he obviously tried his best to not laugh out loud. “Ooooh yeah,” she answered Harriet and then looked questioningly at Harm. “Is there something you wanted, Harm?” Mac asked, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Harm smirked and nodded his head. “I just wanted to let you know that supper is ready to be served. AJ and I were able to come up with a self-made tomato sauce.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Mac answered and wanted to go back to her conversation with Harriet but saw that Harm wanted to say something more. “Yes? Is there something more?”

“Yeah, there actually is. Mac, if you think I should have a license for my lips you should see what my hands are capable of doing. You haven’t seen a lethal weapon yet,” he told her with a wink and without waiting for a reaction he turned around and made his way back into the kitchen, leaving a dumbfounded Mac behind.

{“Mac, did he just…?” Harriet asked, not knowing what to say or think about the statement she’d just heard through the phone from Harm.}

“Uh huh,” Mac only responded, obviously not able to say or think of something while still being dumbfounded about Harm’s explanation.

{“Okay. Well, I think he also said something about supper so I better let you go then.”}

“Uh huh,” Mac replied while her mind was somewhere else and far, far away.
Just the thought about his hands roaming all over her, made her body shiver in thrill and her tongue moistening her lips in desire.

{“MAC!” Harriet screamed through the phone, apparently trying to get her friend’s attention for a while now.}

“Huh?”

{Harriet just shook her head, knowing that her friend really had it bad. “I said that I better let you go so you can go and eat your dinner,” she repeated her earlier statement.}

“Yeah, I think I better go now,” Mac said and finally remembered what she wanted to talk about with Harriet. “Oh, before I forget. Are you two able to come back tomorrow, or is your flight cancelled?”

{“Bud called the airline earlier and they said the flight should go like scheduled. So we’ll be back as planned.”}

“Got it. We’re bringing Jimmy and AJ back home as soon as possible, okay?”

{“That’s fine. We’ll be there,” Harriet assured, fighting with herself not to make another remark about Mac’s ‘we’-comment.}

“Okay, till tomorrow then. You two enjoy the rest of your weekend now.”

{“You guys too,” Harriet replied and immediately added with a giggle. “I mean the four of you of course.”}

Mac shook her head and chuckled. “Of course. Good bye, Harriet, and say hi to Bud.”

{“Will do. Give the boys a hug and kiss from me, okay?” Harriet asked and again had to add something. “And of course I mean the three of them. Bye, bye.”}

Before Mac could say something more Harriet had hung up on her. She turned off the phone and took a deep breath trying to get herself under control again.

‘I can’t believe he said that to me,’ Mac thought to herself. ‘And much more I can’t believe just how much power he has over me.’ “Damn that man,” she muttered to herself and smirked just as the man of her desire and Little AJ walked into the living room, carrying their dinner to the dining table.

“Come on, Marine. I bet you’re hungry,” Harm said while placing Jimmy into his highchair.

“Oh, I’m hungry in more ways than you know,” she quietly responded and was happy that he hadn’t heard her since Little AJ was talking with him about the movie they wanted to watch after dinner. “In more ways than you know,” Mac softly repeated her words.

And she was hungry. Hungry for dinner, hungry for Harm and most of all hungry for a future with him where the stars would finally be in alignment.

*****

8:13 PM

They had finished dinner about twenty minutes ago and while Harm was in the kitchen preparing some popcorn for their movie-night, Mac was still with the boys in her bathroom giving them their much needed bath. Most of all Jimmy was in need of it, since he’d played with his dinner more than he actually ate it, just as Mac had prophesied.

Harm chuckled at the memory of the spaghetti nest on top of his younger godson. Jimmy had looked like a total mess, but still like one of the cutest and adorable things Harm had ever seen in his life. The memory of Jimmy’s sparkling eyes, the sauce smeared all over his face and hands together with his happy giggles warmed Harm’s heart immensely.

“What’s that goofy grin of yours about?” Mac tenderly asked with a smile of her own, leaning relaxed against the doorway.

Harm slightly jumped in surprise since he hadn’t noticed her appearance up to now. He slowly turned around to look at her. He shook his head in disbelief of his own jumpiness and chuckled, pointing with his forefinger at her. “You should know better than sneaking up on an old man, Marine. And for how long were you standing there anyway?”

Mac just shrugged her shoulders and slowly moved farther into the kitchen. “Not long, but long enough to see something was on your mind. And I didn’t sneak up on you, you were just too deep in your thoughts to notice me,” she pointed out and took some popcorn out of the bowl he was holding in his hands before stuffing them into her mouth. “And last but not least, you’re not really that old, Harm. So, do tell… what brought that goofy grin onto your face?” She asked once more, hoping he would share his earlier thoughts with her. The smile that had covered his face just now was one of pure joy.

“I was just thinking about Jimmy and how cute and adorable he looked during dinner,” Harm gently explained and took the bowl out of Mac’s reach when she tried to pilfer some more popcorn. “No, no, no. Not so fast, Marine. These are for our movie-night and you can wait just like the rest of us can.”

Mac couldn’t have cared less about the popcorn and beamed with joy while thinking about their supper and the way her younger godson had looked just a few minutes earlier. They had laughed a lot through the entire dinner, but most of all when she had tried to get Jimmy to stop playing with his spaghetti so that he actually would start to eat. She’d nearly ended up with a spaghetti-nest of her own and from that moment on she thought better of interfering in his doing. “I’m just glad he got bored with his playing around after a while and actually ate some of the pasta. But yeah, he really looked cute.”

Harm nodded his head but said nothing. He just looked at her with a certain expression in his eyes. Mac could see that once again something was on his mind, and that he was fighting with himself about something.

“Hey? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is okay. I was just… thinking,” Harm quietly replied.

Mac raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You’re doing that quite often these days,” she joked but quickly got serious again and continued with a gentle voice. “What were you thinking about?”

“Well, there’s actually something I would like to ask you,” Harm started to say but then stopped again, not knowing how to continue, how to ask what he’d thought about during the entire afternoon. He shook his head and started to laugh. “God, I feel like a teenager here.”

Mac joined him in his laughter. “Oh believe me, I know the feeling,” she replied, knowing too well what he was talking about, since she’d caught herself quite a few times during this weekend feeling like a lovesick teenager while being around him. “I would say it’s very mutual. Now what is it you wanted to ask me?”

Harm took a deep breath and put the bowl with popcorn down on the kitchen counter so that he could take both of Mac’s hands into his, never breaking their eye contact. “Sarah, would you like to go out on a date with me?”

To say she was surprised now would have been the understatement of the year. “A date? You mean as in dinner and maybe a movie or dancing afterwards?” Mac asked astonished, trying her hardest not to start stuttering. ‘There ya go again, MacKenzie. Here he is, making you act like a teenager all over again,’ she thought to herself, stifling a giggle about her own reaction and behavior.

“Yes… no… kind of,” Harm vaguely responded and gave her a sheepish smile.

Mac raised her eyebrow, trying to figure out where he wanted to go with this. “Kind of?”

Nodding his head, Harm let go of her hands so he could lovingly encircle her waist. “I want it to be something special, Mac. Something we haven’t shared with any significant others,” he softly explained.

Mac copied his move and softly encircled his waist with her arms while his hands pulled her even closer to him so that their bodies nearly melted together. “Like what? Like a restaurant we never went to before?” She asked, while her hands made slow circles on his back, enjoying the feeling of being in his strong arms.

“I’m not quite sure yet, but no, I think I want us to have a date that’s unique in each and every way. It just has to be special,” he clarified with a voice that was low and husky. By now their faces were inches from each other and they could feel the warmth of each breath they took on their skin.

Mac slowly got on her tiptoes, nuzzling his neck and placed a soft kiss on a certain spot right below his ear. “Every date with you would be something special, Harm.” Then she took his earlobe into her mouth, slightly sucking on it. “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there,” she whispered her answer right next to his ear.

He took her face in his palms and gave her a kiss with all the love he felt for her. “You bet I will,” he said and after another short but sweet kiss he reluctantly let go of her and took the bowl of popcorn from the kitchen counter. “And now we better go and join the boys, not that they would fall asleep before the movie has started.” Harm walked out of the kitchen, closely followed by Mac. “What DVD are we watching anyway? ‘Ice Age’ or ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’?”

Mac turned off the lights in the kitchen and the living room, so that the room was now only illumined by the lights of the twinkling Christmas tree, a few candles and the flickering of the fireplace, which Harm had lit after they’d finished dinner.

“It took him a while but in the end AJ made up his mind and decided to go with the Muppets,” she let him know and saw that Little AJ and Jimmy had already found their seats in front of the coffee table. While Little AJ was lying on his belly with his head propped up on his hands, his little brother sat right next to him, holding his best friend Pooh Bear safely in his arms. Mac saw that he was already getting tired and he had yawned quite a few times while sitting in the bathtub earlier. “I’m not sure how long the two will be awake, but I doubt they’re going to see much of the movie.”

Harm placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table before finding his own seat for the evening and got comfortable on the couch. Mac raised her eyebrow when she saw him practical lying on the couch. “Are you comfy, Harm?”

He just gave her a boyish grin and tapped the space between his outstretched legs. “Come here.”

She didn’t need to be asked twice and gladly obliged his wish. As soon as she sat between his legs and felt his arms around her body, she took the remote control from the table to turn on the movie. “This is nice,” she quietly said, unintentionally trying to cuddle even closer to him.

Harm strengthened his embrace, drawing her even closer to him. Mac shivered as she felt his body so close to hers. “You’re not cold, are you?” Harm whispered into her ear, getting from her yet another shiver in response.

“No. No, I’m fine,” Mac quietly responded. She took his hand, which lay on her belly, into hers and intertwined their fingers. “I couldn’t be better.”

Harm put his other hand on top of their intertwined fingers while kissing the top of her head. “Neither could I,” he softly let her know before turning his attention to the already started movie.

*****

The movie was barely running for twenty minutes when a scene appeared on the TV screen where Kermit and a few penguins slithered through the iced streets. Harm, Mac and the boys were just laughing about it when Harm suddenly came up with the idea for his first date with Mac. ‘Perfect, absolutely perfect,’ Harm enthusiastically thought about his plan and immediately a wide grin covered his face. He placed his mouth right next to Mac’s left ear. “Mac?” He whispered, trying to get her attention.

“Hmm,” she quietly replied and turned her head a bit so that she could look deeply into his gleaming eyes.

“What are you doing Thursday, December the twenty-third?” He continued speaking in a whisper.

Mac frowned, not sure where he wanted to go with this question. “I’m not sure. It’s the first day of my vacation, but I haven’t made any plans yet. Why?”

“Good, then I think you have some plans now. Thursday, December the twenty-third. The Rabb pond in Belleville, Pennsylvania,” Harm simply said and gave her yet another of his flyboy-grins. “You can write that into your calendar.”

“Huh?”

Harm chuckled at the now slightly dumbfound looking Mac. “Okay, let me repeat and rephrase my earlier question to you. Sarah, would you like to go out on a date with me on Thursday, the twenty-third of December? We could have some breakfast together before we drive to Blacksburg to borrow one of the Cessna’s to get it ready for a little excursion.”

“We’re going flying? Can we actually do that at this time of the year? However, so far it sounds like a very nice idea.”

“Then let me tell you the rest of it, and the flying shouldn’t be a problem. At least not as long it is not snowing. If it does, we have to figure something out. Anyway, I would like us to have our first date at a pond on my grandmother’s farm. We could go ice-skating and have a little winter-picnic afterwards. How do you like the sound of it?” Harm softly wanted to know, hoping she liked the idea just as much as he liked it.

Mac shifted a little until she was able to touch his lips with hers. She gave him a short but gentle kiss. “I love it, Harm, and it sounds like a very special idea for our first date. I can’t wait. But I should warn you, I have never been ice-skating before so you’ll have to teach me.”

“Good, then it’s a date. And don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to ice-skate and I will always be close to you, just in case you fall,” Harm assured her with a smile. “But there’s actually more,” he slowly continued, hoping he wouldn’t overstep his bounds now and scare her off.

“More? You’re not planning for us to go ice-fishing too, right?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No. But hey, we could do that on our second date.”

“Hmmm, our second date. I like the sound of that.”

“Oh, that’s only the beginning, Sarah MacKenzie. I’m planning on having a lot of dates with you.”

“Yeah. I more and more like the sound of it,” Mac tenderly said before moving back into her old position and Harm’s arms immediately drew her back into his embrace and closer to his body. “And talking about more, there was something more you wanted to tell me about our first date,” she reminded him, letting her fingertips slowly move under his sleeve to let them run over his left arm.

Harm took a deep breath and started to nuzzle her ear. “Umm, you know that my vacation starts on the same day as yours, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And that Mattie is going to spend the holidays with me?”

Mac was just about to answer him when a very tired looking Jimmy appeared right next to them. “Up,” he whispered, rubbing his tired eyes with his little fists. Then he held his arms into the air, showing his godmother that he wanted to be picked up. Mac smiled at him and let go of Harm’s arm to pick Jimmy up, placing him on top of her so that his head was pillowed on her chest. His thumb instantly found its way into his mouth and he started to suck on it. “I guess this one will be out like a light in a few minutes,” Mac quietly said and kissed the top of Jimmy’s head. Then she looked at Little AJ, seeing that he was still engrossed by the movie. “Anyway, to answer your question, yes I do remember you telling me about your plans with Mattie. Why?”

“I would like you to spend the holidays with us,” Harm told her and Mac immediately turned her head so that she was able to look into his shining eyes. Before she could say anything, Harm held up his hand for her to wait with her response and continued with his proposal. “We could stay at Gram’s over night and on our way back home we could pick Mattie up in Blacksburg. We haven’t made any plans yet though. The only thing I had to promise her was that we would go sledding on Christmas Day if there is enough snow.”

Mac chuckled and shook her head. “That sounds very familiar to me.”

“It does, doesn’t it? I just hope Mattie’s reaction won’t be as dramatic as AJ’s, if it doesn’t work out,” Harm said between his own chuckles before he got serious again. “So, what do you think? Would you like to spend Christmas with Mattie and me?”

Mac took a deep breath and started to rub Jimmy’s back, getting a gentle and tired sounding sigh from him in response. “Harm, there’s nothing I would like more than spending the holidays with you and Mattie, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. Shouldn’t you two spend the little time you have together alone? I’m not sure if Mattie would like to have me around.”

“Mac, she would love to have you around. She even told me so on the phone Friday morning.”

“You mean you already talked with her about this idea?” Mac asked astonished, surprised that Harm obviously had this plan even before he knew they would spend this weekend together.

“No, at least not the way you think. Mattie was the one who brought it up. She told me to ask you to spend Christmas with us and I have to agree with her, it sounds like a great idea. So please… spend the holidays with us,” Harm begged her with a puppy look. “And if we’re able to go sledding, we can take Little AJ and Jimmy with us and make up for what we couldn’t do this weekend.”

“If you’re absolutely sure Mattie wouldn’t mind, I would love to spend Christmas with the two of you.” She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth she felt from the outside against her body, just like the warmth she felt inside, which embraced her heart in the loveliest way.

“She won’t. This is perfect. Absolutely perfect,” Harm whispered into her hair and kissed her head. Then he turned his attention back to the TV, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to refocus on the movie. He was too excited about the outcome of this weekend, knowing that it was the beginning of a dream come true, his dream and most importantly their dream. ‘Plain and simple perfect,’ Harm soundlessly concluded his thoughts and intensified his embrace to the woman he loved with all his heart.

*****

9:37 PM

Harm and Mac had watched the rest of the movie in silence and with much lack of interest. Both were more occupied with their own thoughts about their upcoming first date and the holidays they would spend together with Mattie, than with the running film about the Muppets and their version of the Christmas Carol.

Jimmy had fallen asleep a long time ago, his warm and even breaths softly blowing against Mac’s neck. Sometimes he let out a single sigh while a little spittle escaped his mouth and drooled down the edge of his lower lip. Harm and Mac both had interlocked the fingers of their left hands and together gently rubbed Jimmy’s back in a soothing manner.

Little AJ never had left his place on the floor right in front of the coffee table and by now was just like his younger brother asleep, using Jimmy’s best friend Pooh Bear as his pillow.

“I think it is time to get the two into their beds. Good thing they’re already in their PJ’s,” Harm whispered in Mac’s ear and nuzzled her hair, deeply inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.

“Hmmm,” Mac only replied and Harm knew by her reaction that she was barely awake herself and ready for some sleep as well.

“And I think it’s time for us to get some sleep too,” Harm completed his previous statement and slowly let go of Mac’s hand so that she was able to get up from the couch.

He regretted it immediately when he felt bit-by-bit how her warmth faded away from him while she slowly stood up, leaving their self-created cocoon. “’kay,” she sleepy murmured and yawned. Mac cradled Jimmy in her arms, letting one of her hands run through his soft hair while kissing his cheek. “You take AJ?”

“Sure.” Harm slowly got up from the couch and couldn’t suppress a groan, feeling his stiff muscles protesting against his movements.

Mac had heard the groan and stopped midway to look at him with a slightly worried impression on her face. “You okay?”

Harm chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I’m actually great, thanks. I think I’m just too old for cuddling up on a couch like that,” he let her know and immediately had to add his own thoughts about it with a boyish grin. “But it was worth each and every stiff muscle which’s screaming at me right now.”

“If you want, later I can give you a little massage to get these aches of yours to leave,” Mac responded with a heart-warming smile and then winked at him. “Guess the next time we simply have to reverse the positions a bit so that I’m on the bottom and you can be on top.” Without waiting for his reply she turned around and walked into the guestroom to get Jimmy into his crib.

“I like the way you think,” Harm only commented with a grin before getting his older godson up from the floor and into his secure arms. “Come on, buddy. It’s time for bed,” he softly said when he felt Little AJ stirring.

“’kay,” Little AJ murmured more asleep than awake and threw his arms around Harm’s neck while circling his little legs around his godfather’s waist.

Harm had to chuckle when he heard his godson starting to snore against his neck right away, his warm breath slightly tickling him. “It’s been a long day and a long weekend. No wonder we are all tired and ready for the sandman,” Harm whispered more to himself than to his godson and followed Mac into her guestroom, gently placing Little AJ into his bed.

As soon as AJ and Jimmy were tucked in and had received their goodnight kisses from their godparents, Mac switched off the ceiling light and only left the little nightlight near the crib on. Then she took the baby monitor with her and followed Harm back to the living room.

“That was easier than I thought,” Mac gently said and moved to the Christmas tree to turn the lights on it off for the night before she walked over to the coffee table to place the baby monitor right next to the still burning candles.

“Yeah, they’re out like a light. Let’s hope they’re able to sleep through the night this time,” Harm gently added while checking out the fire, still burning lightly in Mac’s fireplace. He put the fireplace screen in front of it and blew out the candles on the mantle. Then he made his way to Mac’s entertainment center to turn off the TV and DVD player.

“If they are as groggy as I am, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Mac quietly said with a smile before it changed into a huge yawn. She let herself fall back onto the couch just to throw her feet on the coffee table. Mac closed her eyes and leant her head against the back of the couch, enjoying the quietness around her.

“Why…,” Harm started to say and took a seat at the edge of the coffee table right in front of Mac, gently taking her left foot into his hand. “… don’t I take a quick shower and then I could prepare a hot bubble bath for you?”

Mac sighed deeply and kept her eyes closed. “This feels like heaven, thank you,” she whispered when Harm started to massage her foot. “And your idea sounds like heaven too. I’m just worried that I’m going to fall asleep in the tub,” she jokingly replied and finally opened her eyes to look into his shining ones.

Harm shrugged his shoulders and gave her one of his flyboy-grins. “Don’t worry about that. If you should drown, I’m there to rescue you. I’m a squid after all.”

“True,” Mac agreed with a wink and suddenly gave a small yelp when Harm hit a particularly sore spot on her foot, jerking it away from him in response.

He just shook his head with a chuckle and pulled her foot back into his lap to continue with his massage, soon feeling her relax again. “And keep in mind that if you fall asleep on me, you won’t be able to repay me with your promised massage.” Harm slowly let go of Mac’s left foot just to take her right one into his hand, giving it the same attention and began to massage it as well.

“How bad is your back?” Mac asked in worry and had to close her eyes once more, when Harm’s fingers softly kneaded her other foot. She could practically feel how the tension was slowly but steady leaving her body.

“If I answer with an ‘it’s not that bad’, will I still get the massage?” Harm inquired with a puppy dog look.

Mac had to giggle when she opened her eyes and saw the look on his face, which reminded her so much of Little AJ’s face on more than one occasion. “Yeah, I think that can be arranged,” she told him in a whisper and copied his sweet little smile. “After this magic foot-rub it’s the least I can do.”

Harm gave her foot a last squeeze before slowly letting go of it. “Just give me a few minutes to shower and to get your bath ready.” Harm got up from the table and kissed her forehead. “Just don’t fall asleep on me here, Marine,” he said with a wink and then made his way to the bedroom.

Mac pulled her feet from the table and got up from the couch to stretch her tired, but now more relaxed body. “Nah, I’m going to clean up a bit. That should occupy me for a while,” she let him know with a smile and took the empty popcorn bowl from the coffee table. “Enjoy your shower,” she said to Harm, who stood in the doorway of her bedroom.

“Will do,” he quickly answered while Mac brought the bowl and some dirty glasses into the kitchen. She filled the dishwasher with the dishes from dinner and their movie night before placing the water bottles and juice cartons they’d used earlier back into the fridge.

When she was done in the kitchen, Mac moved back into the living room and to the door of her bedroom to make sure that Harm was already in the shower. When she could hear the water of the shower running, she walked to the coffee table to blow out the candles, took the baby monitor with her and quickly entered the bedroom. Mac wanted to use the time that Harm was in the shower, to get out of her clothes and into her bathrobe.

*****

Meanwhile in the bathroom

Harm had turned on the shower and as soon as the water was hot enough he moved forward and underneath the steamy jet of water. He closed his eyes in relief and raised his head a bit so that the water was hitting him right in the face.

For a moment Harm let the water massage his tired body before he blindly fumbled for the shower gel right next to him, just to grab at nothing but the air. “Shit,” he cursed to himself, realizing that he’d forgotten to take the shower gel and shampoo with him earlier.

Without bothering to turn off the shower, he quickly took a towel from the towel bar and threw it around his hips before making his way out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, where his bag was sitting.

*****

“Whoa,” Harm, taken by surprise, yelped out loud as soon as he entered the bedroom and saw that Mac was standing in front of her closet, with her back turned to him. It wasn’t her presence in the room that’d made him yelp like that, but rather her appearance and what she was wearing, or for the matter, not wearing.

He knew he should close his eyes, but his brain simply didn’t seem to function anymore and he looked, or rather stared at her, with wide-open eyes. ‘God is she beautiful,’ was the only thought running through his mind.

Mac jumped in surprise when she’d heard Harm’s yelp behind her and turned around in pure reflex, not realizing that she was showing him now even more of her nearly naked body.

“Wow,” Harm whispered the only word he could come up with, being completely perplexed by the sensation of her body.

Seeing the backside of her and noticing that she was wearing a string thong had made his head swim. But this, seeing the matching snow-white lacey bra she was wearing, would have knocked him out of his socks if he had some on. The rapid rising and falling of her chest showed him that she was obviously just as affected by their situation as he was, and Harm ordered himself to let his eyes meet hers. Finally he moved his gaze away from her torso, only to see that Mac’s eyes wouldn’t meet his and that they were rigidly glued to his own heavy rising and falling chest.

“Mac…I,” Harm started to say, but didn’t seem able to find the words. “I’m sorry…I didn’t know…,” he continued to stammer and slowly started to move forward. “… I didn’t know you would be here….”

He took another step forward and still got no reaction from her at all, her eyes were still glued to the droplets of water on the upper part of his body. “… I just forgot….” Harm pointed at the bag, which stood right next to her. “… forgot to take the shampoo and….” The closer he got to her and the more he could take in the sweet and unique smell of her, the harder it was for him to explain what he apparently thought he needed to explain. “… and the shower gel…. Yeah, the shower gel I forgot,” he whispered the end of his explanation, emphasizing it with a strong nod just to freeze suddenly in his steps when Mac made a step of her own backwards.

Harm didn’t move, afraid that he’d overstepped the line and that she was taking a step backwards to get away from him. He frowned when Mac suddenly took another step backwards, even though he didn’t continue to move forward to her. “Mac,” he quietly called her, but her eyes still wouldn’t meet his. “Let me just get my stuff, and I’ll be out of your way,” he said with a slightly stronger voice and once again pointed with his forefinger at his bag on the floor.

Mac still didn’t say anything and the room was slowly filling with silence, only interrupted by their heavy breathing. She then took yet another step backwards and walked into the door with such force it slammed shut. Harm and Mac both jumped in surprise by the loud noise and finally their eyes met for the first time since Harm had entered the room.

When he saw in the corner of his eyes that Mac’s lips were moving he couldn’t stop himself and let his eyes wander to her lips, only to see that the tip of her tongue slowly came out to lick the bottom part of her moist, and for him very inviting lips. Suddenly it seemed like all the oxygen had gone from the room and Harm didn’t even realize that he was holding his breath.

When the need for oxygen became increasingly intense, Harm took a deep breath, only to let out a ragged gasp when he saw Mac’s right hand slowly and blindly wandering to the lock of the door behind her. Harm thought she was trying to detect the doorknob so she could open the door again and get away from him and therefore, he was more than astonished when he could hear her slowly turning the knob and then the unmistakable ‘click’ of the lock followed.

Harm moved his gaze from the door back to Mac just to see her taking a deep breath and that she once more was staring at his still rapid moving chest. He didn’t know how he should react and simply stood there, waiting.

He didn’t need to wait long for her reaction. After just a few seconds Mac slowly took two little steps forwards so that she was standing directly in front of him. She could feel his hot, uneven breaths against her skin and without taking her eyes from his wet and fast moving chest she tenderly put her right hand onto it, immediately getting a hiss from deep within him as response.

Mac slowly let her fingertips run from his collarbone over his ribcage just to follow the narrow trail of hair down south to his bellybutton. “You are so beautiful,” Mac whispered her first words since he’d surprised her against his chest before she moved her head lightly forward, finally able to touch his breastbone with her soft lips.

“Mac,” Harm rasped weakly, trying his hardest to keep himself under control, which was barely possible while feeling the tip of her tongue gently running over his damp body. His body already had reacted when he saw her standing there, nearly naked, but her touch was his undoing, and he knew that it wouldn’t take long for her to figure out just how much he wanted her, needed her.

Without his knowledge Harm had started to clench his hands into fists and only realized it when he slowly lifted his arms a bit to let his hands softly run up her arms. Finally he took her face into his palms and pulled her head away from his neck so that he could look deeply into her eyes. “Sarah, if you think I’m beautiful, the world has to come up with a word that describes your beauty.”

Just one look into Mac’s eyes showed him all the love, desire and passion she felt for him, knowing that his eyes were showing the same feelings he was having for her. He moved his face down a bit so that their faces were mere inches away from each other. “Mac, have you any idea what you’re doing to me,” he asked with a hoarse voice, his lips barley touching hers.

Mac’s gaze slowly moved to Harm’s lips before she once more looked up and deeply into his eyes, licking her lips. “If I’m doing to you what you’re doing to me, than I think we’re both in a lot of trouble right now,” Mac whispered, trying to get her breathing under control again but failed when Harm’s lips were suddenly crushing down on hers.

The kiss was hot, passionate, and demanding while it was still full of love and sweetness. It seemed like they were putting all the sexual tension and their feelings for each other, which were slowly building over the years, into this one kiss. They’d shared quite a few kisses thorough out the years, but none of them could compare to this single one.

Mac made the final step forward and closed the distance left between them, both moaning the moment their bodies finally came together, skin on skin. She wound her arms around his neck and ran her hands through his thick hair, trying to pull him even closer to her. The moment she felt his tongue on her lips she moaned and opened her mouth to welcome him. Harm’s tongue slipped into her warm mouth and their tongues dueled, seeking and probing for more while their kiss grew and grew.

Harm’s hands weren’t idle either and let go of her face, tenderly running down her back, finding their place on her buttocks, pulling her body even closer to his and where he wanted her the most.

Mac grinded herself against him and both moaned once more at the contact. Both knew that their legs would give out soon and together, without breaking their kiss, they started to move in unison, trying to find their way to Mac’s bed. Harm took a little step backward while Mac took the step forward.

When the need for air made them break their kiss, Harm started to place sweet kisses all over her face while their breathing was erratic. Finally his legs bumped against the edge of Mac’s bed, while Mac took his head into her hands to caress his lips with a kiss full of love and desire. Harm slowly sat down on the bed without breaking their kiss. Then he tightened his hold on her and tenderly pulled her into his lap.

The moment Mac straddled his lap they both had to break their kiss with a moan. While she started trailing kisses down his neck to his chest, Harm was slowly slipping his hands up her smooth legs, passing through her back until reaching the clasp of her bra. “Sarah,” he gasped and Mac immediately lifted her head to look into his flaming eyes of desire.

“Yeah,” came her raspy reply.

Harm’s left hand let go of the clasp of Mac’s bra to cup her face into his palm. “Before we go any further, are you sure this is really what you want?” He asked, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself if they continued. “There is nothing I would like to do more than make love to you, but if you’re not sure, honey, we better stop now before I totally loose all my self control.”

Mac licked her lips and let them touch his for a short but sweet kiss. Then she turned her head and planted a soft tender kiss on the palm of his hand. “Yes, I’m more than sure. I want this, Harm. I want you. I want you to make love with me.”

That was all he needed to know. Harm let his tongue follow the line of the pulse on her neck and slowly started to lay back onto the bed, taking her with him. Then he let his mouth hungrily descend on hers, kissing her hard and needy while Mac’s lips immediately parted. His fingers were running through her hair, holding her head in place while his tongue slipped into her warm mouth. Their tongues dueled and explored with a passion they’d never perceived before.

Harm let his hands run down her neck and back, until he reached the clasp of her bra. Then he broke their kiss and deeply looked into her shining eyes. “I love you, Sarah,” he tenderly told her before gently letting his fingers open the tab of her bra. Then he let his fingers run up to her shoulders, slowly peeling the straps of the bra down her arms before letting it fall down on the floor.

Before she was able to say something Harm moved beneath Mac and pressed her back to the bed and pillows.

Mac smiled up at him while he hovered above her. Her hands ran down the upper part of his body and under the rim of the towel, which was still covering his hips. “I love you too, Harm,” Mac huskily whispered before she lovingly peeled the towel off of his body while his lips were crushing down on hers to another searing kiss.

Soon everything around them faded into a blur and was non-existent. The only relevant thing in their world was their love and their being together. No more words were needed and both let their eyes and bodies speak what they felt for each other.

*****

11:58 PM

Their lovemaking had been frantic and demanding at times, slow and tender at others. They’d expressed their love for each other in a way they’d never done with anybody else before. It’d been as if they’d made love for the very first time, and both knew it was because they’d never made love while being in love before.

Harm and Mac were totally satisfied and spent from their lovemaking; the only sound in the room was their still uneven breathing. A soft blanket was covering their legs and midsection while the upper parts of their bodies were bare, only covered with a light blanket of sweat.

Harm had pillowed his head on Mac’s chest, letting his fingertips slowly run over her abdomen and around her bellybutton. After a short while he stopped mid-motion, placing his palm on the middle of her tummy. He moved his head downwards a bit until he was able to replace the hand with his lips, placing a few gentle kisses on her soft skin.

Mac took a deep breath and laid her hand on Harm’s head, starting to let her fingers run through his thick hair.

“Mac,” Harm whispered, his hot and now more even breaths tickling her still over-sensitive skin.

“Hmmm,” she replied while being deeply in thoughts.

Harm turned his head a bit so that he could look at her, seeing the shining in her eyes and the sweet smile that covered her face. A boyish and somehow embarrassed grin suddenly covered his face and it surprised Mac to actually see him blush a little. “Umm… I know we should have talked about this before… I mean, we didn’t use any…,” he started to explain only to be stopped by Mac’s fingertips on his lips.

Mac nodded her head, knowing exactly where he wanted to go with this. “I know, Harm. And I know there’s nothing to worry about. We both had our physicals recently and I know we would have told each other if something wasn’t okay.”

“Absolutely. And I wasn’t worried about it for a second.”

“Then I think we’re more than okay, Harm,” she let him know and then continued with a lower voice. “We both also know it is a given that the chances of me getting pregnant are slim to nonexistent.”

“But there’s still a chance,” Harm softly replied with a little smile before he scooted up a bit and softly kissed her lips, settling himself between her legs. “This has been a magical weekend, so who knows,” he continued confidently.

“True,” Mac agreed with a smile of her own. “Very true.”

“And I can’t say that it worries me either,” Harm honestly answered with a glimmer in his eyes, the smile still in place. “What about you? Would it be okay for you or would it be too soon?”

“Definitely not too soon. I mean, I wanted it to happen for over five years now.” Mac’s smile broke into a huge grin. “Do you remember what I said in court while you were trying to get custody of Mattie?” She wanted to know, letting her fingertips slide up and down his sweat bathed back.

“Each and every word,” Harm gave her his answer at once just to let one of his flyboy grins she loved so much follow. “You said that you’d given it a lot of thought to the kind of man you would want to be the father of your children if you ever… and that I’m that kind of man.”

This time Mac was the one who nodded her head, slightly surprised that he actually remembered every word she’d said that day. “Yes. I have to admit though that… umm…,” she started to say, letting her lips barely touch his. “That day I didn’t tell the judge the whole truth. Come to think of it, you could say that I lied a little.”

Harm just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but before he could even question her, Mac continued with her explanation.

“The truth is that you are not that KIND of man. You, Harmon Rabb Jr., are the ONLY man I want to have as the father of my children. You always were and you always will be. So should I really be pregnant after tonight, you’ve made me the happiest woman on earth. Not that I’m not one already.”

Harm kissed her tenderly and let his fingertips dance over her still damp body, causing goose bumps to form. “Then we are the two happiest people on earth,” Harm said against her lips before he let his tongue follow the line of the pulse on her neck.

Mac suddenly started to giggle and Harm’s head shot up to look at her in astonishment. “Are you ticklish?”

“Nope,” she answered breathlessly between giggles.

“Then what’s so funny?” Harm wanted to know.

“The shower.”

“Huh?”

“I just realized that it’s still running,” Mac told him, trying her best to get herself under control again.

“Oh shit!” Harm cried out and in one swift motion jumped out of the bed to run into the bathroom, not caring about his nakedness.

His reaction was too much for Mac and she burst out laughing while holding her belly.

“Aarrrggghhh,” Harm suddenly yelped as the cold water hit him full force while he tried to reach the knob of the shower. He quickly turned it off and took a towel from the towel bar, toweling his body.

When he came back to the bedroom, he could see that Mac was by now laughing so hard that tears were running down her cheeks. “You think that’s funny, huh?”

Mac nodded her head. “Yup, sure do. You should have seen yourself when you jumped out of bed,” she tried to tell him between her laughter and Harm was barley able to understand her. “Hilarious. Just hilarious.”

Harm leaned back against the doorway, shook his head and could only join Mac in her laughter.

“I’m so sorry about that, Mac. I guess I was a bit too occupied to notice that the shower was still running,” Harm sheepishly said with a grin as soon as they had their laughter under control again, pointing with his head to the direction of the bathroom. “I’ll take full responsibility for your next water bill.”

Mac slowly threw the blanket back and got out of bed to pick the towel, her bra and panties up from the floor, feeling that his eyes were following every move of hers. Then she turned her head and looked at Harm with a smirk. “Harm, I think it’s more than safe to say that we were both too engaged with something else to realize that the water was still running,” she replied and tossed the towel and articles of clothing into the hamper. “It’s no big deal.”

She walked over to him and threw her arms around his neck, letting her fingers run through his thick hair. “However, if you feel like doing some cost sharing, you could invite me over to your apartment so I can use your shower once in a while,” Mac submitted seductively while Harm’s hands were slowly roaming down her back just to cup her buttocks.

He squeezed her behind and pulled her towards him so that their bodies molded together. “Hmm, I think that can be arranged,” he huskily answered against her lips, letting a kiss full of passion and desire follow.

“Good. Now that that’s settled I think we better get dressed and try to get some sleep,” Mac quietly said reluctantly as soon as they broke their kiss. She wasn’t sure if Little AJ would once again wake up in the middle of the night to join them in her bed, but she wouldn’t dare risk being caught by him.

Harm nodded his head, suddenly remembering that they weren’t alone in the apartment, and with reluctance they let go of each other so that they could get dressed for the night. Harm pulled on a pair of boxers and an undershirt, while Mac remembered Harm’s wish from last night and opened the door of her closet to take a pair of panties and her cowboy PJ’s out of it. She closed her closet again and started to get dressed, just to stop midway while buttoning her pajama top.

Harm, who was watching her from the bed, knew exactly what had caught her eyes and smiled while his planned comment about her sexy pajamas was already forgotten. “It looks good, doesn’t it?” He softly asked and brought Mac out of her thoughts.

She took her eyes from their uniforms, which hung next to each other on her closet door, and let them wander to Harm. She saw his smile and it immediately brought a smile onto her face as well. “Yeah, it looks like it belongs that way,” she quietly answered him and made her way to the bedroom door to unlock it.

Then she walked over to the bed and without bothering to pull on the pants of her pajamas she slipped back into bed and under the covers, right into Harm’s awaiting arms. “That’s because it does belong that way,” Harm replied with a strong but still soft voice and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Sarah,” he whispered into her hair before turning off the lamp on the nightstand. “Love you.”

“Yes it does; together and always next to each other. I love you, too,” Mac gently repeated his words before she moved a little to give his lips a lovingly kiss. “Good night, Harm,” she said and moved back into her old position.

Harm was lying on his back while Mac’s head rested on his left shoulder. Their bare legs were intertwined and Harm’s hand softly ran up and down Mac’s back. Her hand wasn’t idle either, gently caressing his chest under his shirt.

Both closed their eyes with the knowledge that it wouldn’t take long for them to fall asleep. They were exhausted from their earlier lovemaking and all the excitement they lived throughout this magical weekend.

*****

Monday
December 13, 2004
Mac’s bedroom
5:43 AM

The heavenly scent of fresh-brewed coffee awoke Harm from his deep slumber. Slowly he opened one of his eyes and was greeted by the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, coming from the woman of his dreams. Harm opened his other eye as well, slowly letting them roam all over her. He could see that she’d already showered and was no longer wearing her cowboy PJ’s but rather his flannel shirt from yesterday.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” he said with a sleepy voice and rubbed his tired eyes.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Mac responded before giving him a loving kiss. “I thought you would never wake up.”

“What time is it?” Harm stretched his tired body before placing his pillow against the headboard of the bed so that he could sit against it.

Mac took one cup of coffee from the tray, which she had placed on the bed right in front of her and handed it over to Harm, who immediately took a long gulp from the hot drink. “It’s still early. To be exact, it’s five-forty-four.”

Harm groaned as soon as he heard her answer. “That, for sure, I call early.”

Mac smiled, already knowing that Harm wasn’t really a morning person. “I know, but I thought we two could enjoy a little breakfast in bed before the kids demand theirs,” she told him softly and rearranged her position on the bed, finding the perfect place for her on Harm’s lap.

Harm placed his cup of coffee on the nightstand and took Mac’s head in his palms to give her a proper good-morning-kiss. He slowly let his tongue run over her lips and with a moan she immediately opened her mouth to welcome him. His tongue slipped into her warm mouth, tangling with hers to seek more. “Hmmm, I like the way you think, Marine,” he said against her lips and let his hands roam over her back before pulling her even closer to him. “And I like how my shirt looks on you. It suits you much better than me.”

“Thank you,” she sweetly said and took her own cup of coffee from the tray to take a long gulp.

“I do have to ask though. How come you already showered and I never even heard you? And may I add that it happens quite a lot these days.”

“Simple,” Mac immediately replied and winked. “I wore you out last night, Sailor, and you were sleeping like a baby.” Quickly she placed a little kiss on his nose before she finished her sentence. “And you really look cute when you’re asleep.”

“I do, huh?” He simply responded with a boyish grin and then looked at the items on the tray. “So, what are we having for breakfast?”

“Well, how does croissants with scrambled eggs, some fresh juice and seasonal fruits sound?”

“Hmmm, like I’ve gone to heaven,” Harm dreamily raved and licked his lips. He opened his mouth and welcomed the still warm piece of croissant Mac was holding in front of him. Then he took the fork from the tray and picked up some of the scrambled eggs to feed Mac this time.

Their breakfast quickly turned into a romantic feeding-game while they fed all of the food Mac had prepared for them to each other, only broken by the many kisses they shared in between.

However, about an hour later they could hear through the baby monitor that the boys started to awake and knew their time had run out and that their romantic breakfast was over.

“Why don’t you take a quick shower while I get the boys ready? We should be done by the time you are out of the shower and maybe then you could make their breakfast while I’m getting dressed,” Mac proposed and gently kissed him on his lips.

“Sounds like a plan,” he responded and with one last kiss they separated to get done with each of their tasks.

The rest of the morning in Mac’s apartment went without any nameable incidents, and as soon as AJ and Jimmy were done with their breakfast, they were all getting ready for the day.

“AJ, do you have your and Jimmy’s bags?” Mac asked while she helped Jimmy into his boots and jacket.

“Yup, Auntie Mac,” Little AJ answered and showed her the two little bags he was holding in his hands.

Mac looked at AJ and gave him a grateful smile. “Great,” she told him and quickly kissed Jimmy’s nose just to get a little giggle from him in response. Then she got up from her knees and took her coat from the coat rack.

“Okay, I’m all done,” Harm announced the moment he came out of the bedroom, already wearing his coat, cover and gloves.

“So are we,” Little AJ quickly answered him with a wide grin.

“Then I guess it’s time to hit the road,” Harm told the group and made his way to the apartment door.

Mac grabbed his arm, stopping him midway. “Umm, Harm. Didn’t you forget something?”

He looked down at himself, trying to figure out what she meant but couldn’t find a clue. “Not that I’m aware of.”

Mac simply pointed with her forefinger at a certain box on her dining table.

“Damn,” Harm quietly murmured and groaned, walking to the table. “Oh great, I totally forgot about them,” he explained and took the box from the table.

Mac opened her apartment door and waited for Harm while Little AJ and Jimmy already walked out to the hallway. “What’s your plan? The general wants to have them by tomorrow.”

Harm just shrugged his shoulders and followed his godsons out of the apartment. “I’m not sure yet. But I’ll find a way, even if it means working throughout the entire night.”

“Want some help?” Mac asked with a little seductive look and unintentionally licked her lips.

Harm moved his head forward, so that his mouth was nearly touching her ear. “You bet I want you to help me, but somehow I doubt we’ll get done with the files then,” Harm huskily whispered into her ear and then kissed it.

“Oh no, that’s where you’re wrong. No dessert before all the homework is done, Harmon,” Mac told him with a faked motherly voice and immediately got a groan from him in response.

“You are very cruel, Ms. MacKenzie,” Harm said, just to let a quick kiss on her lips follow.

“Really? Hmmm, last night you thought very differently, Mr. Rabb,” Mac countered with a smirk and then looked at the box he was holding. “Why don’t you leave the box here? If you want, we can come back to my apartment tonight and work on them. Or do you need the files at work today?”

“No, I have court all day so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“So, would you like to come home with me tonight?”

Harm quickly walked back into her apartment and placed the box on her coffee table before he came back to her. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” he let her know and kissed her cheek before he walked away and joined the boys.

‘Didn’t think so,’ Mac thought to herself, closed the door behind her and locked it while Harm, AJ and Jimmy were already running down the hallway to the stairs, each of them trying to be the first at the heavy door that would lead them to the parking lot.

She smiled to herself, enjoying the sounds that were coming from her boys while Harm chased behind his godchildren. All three were laughing and giggling the entire time and Mac chuckled when Jimmy suddenly yelped out loud, knowing that Harm had caught him. Mac took a last look at her apartment door and then slowly turned around to follow Harm and the boys.

With closing the door she also had closed the chapter of their snowy and most of all magical weekend. A weekend that would lead them to a future filled with many challenges, quite a few adventures, and some good experiences just like some bad ones. A future they would face and survive together with the power of their undying love.

This weekend was only the first chapter of Harm and Mac’s book called ‘Us’ and many more chapters of their tale would follow. And in only a few weeks Harm and Mac would find out just how magical this weekend had really been…

… The End…

Epilogue

“Mac, come on. You have to see this,” Harm called the moment she walked out of the building and she noticed that he and the boys were standing in front of Mr. and Mrs. Snowman. A wide grin had taken place on his face, and Mac wasn’t sure if his, AJ’s or maybe Jimmy’s smile was the brightest one.

“What’s all the hoopla about?” Mac asked as she joined him and the boys. Harm immediately pointed at the snowmen but didn’t answer her since someone else took care of it.

“Look, Auntie Mac. Mr. and Mrs. Snowman became mommy and daddy overnight,” Little AJ excitingly told her and just like his godfather, pointed with the forefinger at the snowmen.

Mac took in the picture in front of her and at once noticed the little snowman between the two bigger ones. Then she looked with a raised eyebrow at Harm and smirked, knowing exactly who built the little snowman after they went back to her apartment last night.

“Mrs. Ebenezer,” they both said at the same time and laughed before walking hand-in-hand with a big smile on their faces and the two little Roberts’ in tow to Harm’s car, ready to face the first weekday of their new journey together...

… The End … and this time for real (unless the brilliant idea hits me :-))

I can’t believe it is over already. I thank you all for reading my story and most of all for the comments you sent me throughout this little holiday tale about our favourite couple. This story is very special for me and therefore all your support and kind words meant and means more to me than you’ll ever know. So, thanks again.

And last but not least to quote Clement C Moore out of his masterwork ‘The Night Before Christmas’… Happy Christmas to all. And to all a good-night! - Love, Michaela aka Michi

H&M Fanfiction