Rating: GS
Spoilers: Um...I don't know, but don't be surprised if I use any episode as reference.
Disclaimer: Not mine...never will be, but I wish I owned DJE.
Summary: Mac has a reunion to go to.
Note 1: I have to admit I was sort of inspired by the movie "The Wedding Date". Note 2: I don't know any of Mac's relatives. We have never really been introduced to anybody besides her uncle and parents so just pretend.
Archive: Just ask, please.
What! Mac's brain yelled for her to correct her aunt, and quickly before it all became one big giant mess.
"What?" She had heard her perfectly fine, but she was only trying to buy sometime to figure out just how she would fix this up.
"I said you hadn't mentioned that you were married." She smiled at Mac and then at Harm.
Harm, how was he reacting to this misunderstanding? She was afraid to even glance at him. What would she see? Would he be angry at her? Would he just walk away right then and there and not only humiliate her more, but leaver her to face her family all on her own?
"I'm sorry ma'am there's been a misunderstanding." Harm began to do the correcting himself. He smiled at Mac's relative. "I'm Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr." Aunt Lidia gladly accepted the hand that Harm extended toward her. "I've worked with Sarah for a long time now."
Mac let out a long sigh. He hadn't done what she thought he would have done. Not this time. Maybe he was tired of running when the going got tough. Now when would she?
She turned to face him and silently thank him for taking charge of the situation.
"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry. I just thought that such a handsome man as yourself would be married to such a beautiful woman as my niece." She smiled and noticed Mac was blushing. "Come on inside you two. Everyone's pretty much here."
As aunt Lidia walked ahead, Harm moved close to Mac's ear to whisper. "Dodged a bullet there Ms. MacKenzie."
Stunned beyond belief and embarrassed for an entire lifetime, Mac simply blushed and bumped him with her shoulder.
As soon as the rounded the corner of the yard to see all the guests, people talked and yelled for Mac.
"Sarah! Wow. You haven't changed one bit. Your hair is longer than it was, but it suits you well. And...who's the handsome man?" Great how many of those questions would be asked today? Maybe even more than she could count so she just sucked it up.
Before either Harm or Mac could jump in, Aunt Lidia decided to help them out. "Estelle, this is Harmon Rabb. He works with Sarah back in Virginia."
"Call me Harm, please." He greeted the young woman.
"Estelle, it is such a pleasure to see you again!" Mac began as she hugged her cousin.
"I know. It has been too long. You have to tell us what you're been up to all these years."
Mac sighed. "That story could take even longer." They chuckled a bit.
"Well come on in. Everyone's over there. And I'm sure Lizzie is dying to see you again. She has been going on about how much she missed you and how she wanted to go to the east coast to visit you."
"Well, I can assure you it's been the same for me. I missed all of you guys a lot."
"Well, come on. Sarah, Harm, just follow me."
So far so good. In fact, it was going great. Aside from all of the confusion about Harm, it was turning out to be really nice. Seeing everyone again was a wonderful feeling. Especially when Mac knew that this was the other family that truly loved her. Her family back at JAG being the other.
Mac followed slightly behind Estelle with Harm not too far behind. How could he when she had laced her right hand with his left? Harm had noticed right away when he felt her warmth envelop his hand, but he didn't bother to pull back. It felt nice. And he was sure that the reaction brought on by Mac if he told her, would bring more attention to them than the simple act of holding hands.
"Sarah!" Lizzie spotted Mac a few feet before they reached the table she was seated at.
"Lizzie!" Mac relinquished her hold on Harm's hand as she embraced Lizzie in a huge hug. "It's been such a long time since I've seen you. How have you been?"
"Sarah, I have missed you a lot. I've been good. I got married. I have two kids." She scans the big yard to locate her children. "I wonder where those two are at." She chuckles. "They tend to wander off a lot." She smiled.
"How old are they?" She asked as happily as she could, but with her own condition and the fear of never having kids of her own someday was silently tearing her apart.
"Mark, the oldest, is seventeen. And Steve is ten. I'm sure..."
"Hey honey, where's Mark?" Someone interrupted her from behind.
"Oh, Sarah, this is my hubby. John. John this is my cousin Sarah and her..." She saw Harm standing beside her a bit uncomfortably.
"Oh, this is my friend Harmon Rabb."
"Please, call me Harm." Lizzie and John nodded.
"Nice to meet you John." Mac stated.
"Like wise Sarah, Harm."
"Oh, honey I think Mark is upstairs. Probably teaching Steve how to play the guitar again. You know him." Lizzie smiled at him.
"Ok. Thanks sweetie."
"Well...come on and sit down."
It didn't take long for them to reach a table where they could sit. There were so many of them spread around the expanse of the yard. The atmosphere of the place was one that filled both Harm and Mac with a great desire for a family of their own. Truth was that seeing all the children playing and spouses laughing and being affectionate, only reminded them both of how much they wanted that themselves. But neither of them was showing it. It was a feeling that resided deep within them. Maybe they just wouldn't show it...yet.
'Not yet?' Thought Harm. How much longer could they wait? They had been waiting for nine years now. It was time to do something about that need. Yes, it was a need. It was something that was such a big part of them that it hurt whenever they weren?t in the same room. But how would they do it? Where? And when?
Harm was so deep into his thoughts that he was startled by Mac when she spoke.
"I'm sorry." She chuckled. "I didn't mean to scare you, Harm." She chuckled some more. "Where were just a few seconds ago?"
"Um...I don't know. Just thinking I guess."
She nodded her head. "Don't do too much of that. It can be dangerous."
Harm's grin was on full blast now. "Funny. So..."
Mac smiled. "I'm sorry about all the misunderstandings that have been following us today."
"It's alright. Don't worry about it. I guess it's only normal for your family to think that you would be married."
"Is that a compliment Commander Rabb?" She smiled lovingly at him.
He didn?t respond verbally but the smile he shared with her spoke volumes.
She was going for his hand, which rested on his lap, but she was interrupted before she could do so.
'Damn. Us and our timing.' She thought.
"Sarah, Sarah come here. Everyone wants to know how you've been." Lizzie and Aunt Lidia approached their table.
She immediately turned to Harm. She didn't want to leave him there all by himself, but she didn't want to drag him everywhere she went either. Neither of her options sounded too appealing so she looked to Harm for a suggestion of his own.
He nodded. "I'll wait for you here." He smiled.
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here by yourself."
"Mac, I'm in the Navy. I've been to all kinds of places by myself." He grinned.
"Alright. I'll be back." She felt the greatest need to kiss his cheek, but something inside her told her to hold back. So she simply went for his hand and squeezed it gently.
It was the usual girl talk between Mac, her cousins, and some of her aunts. They all wanted to know how her life had been, how many boyfriends she'd had since the last time they saw her, and if she planned on marrying anytime soon. It was all great fun, to reconnect with her family, but Mac felt a bit out of place and uncomfortable talking about her less than perfect love life. It wasn't really a track record she liked to brag about. Certainly not to a family she had just reunited with.
She shifted her gaze toward Harm. He was engrossed with two little kids that had decided to play tag with him.
"So Sarah, really, who is the hot guy you brought with you?" One of her cousins asked.
"He-he's a friend of mine." She looked back to Harm, who was being climbed on like a tree. He was much more than a friend, and her heart told her that, but her brain told her otherwise.
"No really. He's such a cutie. And look at him. He's obviously great with kids."
"He really is. He loves to play with our godson, back home." She smiled as she kept looking at him.
"You guys are both the godparents? Come on, tell me that isn't something." Lizzie jumped in.
She chuckled a bit. "No. We happen to be really close to the people we work with. So, they decided to ask us both to be the godparents. No big deal."
Harm settled the kids down a bit as he sat down at the table again. He happened to glance Mac's way and caught her eyes at the same time she caught his.
"Well, obviously it is if he is willing to come all the way to California with you. That is sweet. And look at the way he looks at you..." Aunt Lidia paused as she looked at Mac, but noticed she was caught up with Harm's gaze. "And you him. There's gotta be something there honey."
"No Aunt Lidia. We're best friends. He looks after me, and I would look after him...without a second thought. But that's about it."
"Well if you say so." One of her cousins looked at Harm herself.
Mac immediately caught on to her tone and the look she was throwing at Harm. She didn't want to seem jealous, she didn't want to act jealous, hell she shouldn't be, but the truth hurt sometimes. She was jealous. And she wasn't going to hide it so easily. Even if she could she probably wouldn't.
She gazed long and hard at her cousin Emma. She was about twenty-five, too young for Harm, but she was obviously not too young to devour Harm with her eyes.
If looks could kill...some people would not survive Mac's glare.
Harm accidentally looked over to the huddle of women and caught not only Mac's eyes, but another woman's eyes as well. He guessed it was another one of Mac's cousins. He wasn't sure. The one thing he was sure of was that Mac was eying him very possessively almost as if to claim him as his. But why? When he looked back to Emma, he figured it out. Mac was jealous at the way Emma was looking at him.
'This could get bad.' He smiled at Mac and Emma and immediately dropped his gaze to the table cloth in front of him. He really didn't want to see Mac do this. Especially not now that she was starting to get to know her family again. It would be silly for her to do this today.
Aunt Lidia decided to change the conversation, sensing that Mac was a little too uncomfortable. It was understandable of course. "So Sarah, what is it like to be a woman in the Marine Corps? Really?"
Now that was something she could talk about. "Well, it is a little bit more complicated than say working in a business. Or even a civilian law firm." She paused.
"How?" Lizzie was curious.
She sighed. "There's always something that some people are convinced you cannot do. When I first started off as a lawyer, some of the male attorneys thought I wasn't capable of doing my job. But that's just in the courtroom. Out on the field there's those jocks that think you can't fight, can't fire a pistol, or go hand-to-hand with someone."
"But..." Emma stepped in. Her grin in place.
"BUT, I have proven all of them wrong. I've done all of that and more. I have gotten higher scores on my marksmanship quals than other male marines."
"Wow. Good going honey." Aunt Lidia said.
"Yeah. But there's always people that believe in you no matter what. My CO, he's an Admiral, and he's never doubted my skills."
"What about Harm over there?" Lizzie asked again.
"Him especially. He's the fist guy that ever treated me with respect. He's seen me as his equal since day one. It's because of him and my friends that my job is easier and more enjoyable."
They all stared at her with smiles in place.
"And it helps that I keep him on his toes." She grinned.
They all laughed at her joke. They were sure he kept her on hers as well, but they let that one go. It was no use trying to make her see it, when she knew it was true.
"Well, I have to go back to Harm. He's looking kind of lonely over there." Mac tried to sound as normal as possible.
They all nodded and smiled at her and made it apparent that they knew more than they had been told. Something secretly lied underneath both of their hearts. It was very evident in the way they looked at each other. The simple and small touches they shared were more than what 'only friends' shared between them. Leave it to a marine and a sailor to be blinded by their own love.
"Glad to see you're getting along with your family, Mac." Harm pulled Mac's chair out for her. A move that didn't go unnoticed by Mac.
"Thanks. I am. It feels good to finally be able to connect with them. Especially after so long." She went silent for a while.
"What were you ladies talking about?" He grinned.
"Girl talk." She teased.
"Aw Mac, I don't get to know?"
"Nope." She smiled as Harm chuckled.
"Fine."
The rest of the day they spent in a comfortable atmosphere as light music made its way around the yard. They had eaten a nice dinner with the rest of her family and were now seated at their table engaged in conversation. They talked about everything they had missed in the past year. Odd place to bring it up, but it made itself known naturally, without either of them thinking twice about it.
"I missed this a lot." Harm stated as he grabbed Mac's hand in his.
"I did, too, Harm. Have I thanked you for this?"
"Yes you have. Too many times. I wanted to come with you remember. It's not like you forced me. Although I'm sure you could have." He grinned.
"I could have found a way." She came back with her own grin.
Harm was just about to say something when Emma came along. Mac couldn?t help but let out a groan. 'No seriously, timing people!'
"Hey Sarah." She smiled. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" She was flirting with him!
"Um, yeah, sure. This is my...Harmon Rabb, Jr." 'Big mistake MacKenzie, back out before you can't.' She hadn't meant to say it the way it came out. She wanted to say my friend, but she knew he was more than a friend. But it was too late to change her wording by the time she heard it come out of her mouth.
"Well hello...Harmon Rabb, Jr." She extended her hand right in front of Mac's face.
Harm didn't want to cross Mac, but he also didn't want to be impolite so he stood up to reach for her hand. "Hello..."
"Emma. This is my cousin Emma."
"Hi. It's a pleasure meeting you."
"Likewise, Harm." She emphasized his name. Mac didn't miss the tone either. Harm made a move to sit back down next to Mac, but he wasn't quick enough. "Um, I was wondering if you would dance with me." Emma asked Harm without even looking at Mac.
"Um..." He looked down to Mac with questioning eyes. He didn't have to really ask her if it was ok, but the part of him that belonged to Mac was stronger and it forced him to seek her approval.
She nodded. "You don't have to ask me, Harm."
"I know, but..."
"Just go."
"Fine." He turned to Emma as he walked around the table to her. "I would love to dance with you."
As they made their way to where some people were already dancing, Mac was left to sit at the table with millions of her emotions. Most of which she didn't want to be feeling. And many more thoughts that plagued her mind.
TBC...