Where We Belong
Epilogue
But during that weekend, in scattered bits and pieces as they unpacked their lives, they also planned their wedding. They picked a date while dragging Mattie’s bookcase up the stairs. They decided on a location with raised voices, not because of a disagreement but because Harm was in the kitchen putting away the dishes while Mac was setting up the computer in the den. They did have a disagreement, however, on wedding attire. Mac wanted to see her flyboy in his dress whites and gold wings, but Harm wanted to wear a simple suit; at most a tuxedo. Mac was prepared to fight him on it, wanted to insist on her way, until Harm started to explain his reasons to her. He told her that he didn’t want their wedding to be about uniforms or arches of swords or military traditions. He didn’t want the day to be about Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie; they had spent the better part of eight years defining and constraining themselves with those roles. He wanted their wedding day to be about Harm marrying Sarah; nothing more, and nothing less. She had listened quietly to his heartfelt explanation, and when he was finished she had smiled through her tears and told him that she wanted that, too. And then she told him that she loved him and she kissed him; and they would have ended up christening the downstairs bathroom if Mattie and Jen hadn’t reappeared with pizza in hand to stop them. But it was all right; they christened the bathroom a couple of days later. A few other places, too.
On the date they chose for their wedding, though, Harm was out on the Patrick Henry investigating a mishap and Mac was in the office finishing up some last minute details before her move to the judiciary. They weren’t happy with the delay, but orders were orders, and they took it in stride and pushed the wedding back a weekend. Which was a good thing in the end, because it gave Harm’s mother time to return from Europe to attend, and kept her from carrying out her threat of a violent retribution if he got married without her there.
On the second date they chose for their wedding, Trish was on the phone trying to rent chairs and Harm and Mac were with Sturgis’s father asking him if he’d be willing to marry them in their new home. They explained to him that the church they had chosen was booked until July and they didn’t want to wait that long. Besides, once they thought about it, they loved the idea of getting married under the trees in their own backyard. So they rented the requisite number of chairs, and they hired a cleaning crew to get rid of the last of the mess from the move, and on the third date they chose for their wedding, they were ready to get married.
For their wedding day, the weatherman had predicted clear skies and plenty of sunshine; so of course it rained. Mac took one look at the downpour and stubbornly announced that she didn’t care what anyone said, she was getting married outside, even if she had to stand out there by herself. Harm tried reasoning with her, but Mac, pushed to the breaking point by the constant rescheduling and rearranging of her wedding, stubbornly refused to listen. Finally, she just locked herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. Harm, Mattie, Chloe, and Trish all tried to coax her out, but she wouldn’t budge. By the time Bud and Harriet showed up an hour later to help set things up, Harm was ready to find a bathroom of his own to hide in. The Roberts’, who had some passing familiarity with wedding day jitters, exchanged a single knowing glance, and then Harriet set off to deal with Mac while Bud calmed Harm down. He reminded Harm of the many misadventures that had led up to his own wedding, and pointed out that despite that, he had still managed to have a wedding day that he considered perfect. Harm doubted he would ever think of this day as perfect, but he was willing to concede that he would almost positively look back on it and laugh. His hope and humor restored, Harm waited patiently for Harriet to work her magic on Mac. He didn’t wait long. Less than ten minutes later Mac came down, puffy-eyed and sniffling, and apologized for her unreasonable behavior. She’d then ducked her head a little as she shyly asked him if he would still be willing to marry her, please, and he’d smiled and said yes, too caught up in how adorable she looked to catch the mischievous gleam in her eye as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him soundly. Then, before he had a chance to recover, she gave him a quick swat on the butt and told him that he’d better to get to work because he had to figure out a way to get a whole lot of folding chairs into their living room in a little over an hour.
He did figure it out, with the help of Frank and Bud, and even managed to set up a few of the chairs himself before being shooed off to the guest bathroom to get ready. And when he was done showering, shaving, and putting on his simple suit, he stood in front of the mirror and wondered if it was too late to pull out his dress whites. After all, in his dress whites, he was Commander Harmon Rabb, hero extraordinaire. In his simple suit, he was just Harm, and just Harm couldn’t see what a woman like Sarah could see in him. He was leaning against the counter, on his way to a full-blown panic attack, when someone knocked and slid something under the door. When he reached down to pick it up, he saw an envelope with his name on it, written in Mac’s familiar handwriting. Trembling slightly, he pulled out a single sheet of paper. It was a poem, copied out of a book, and underneath it was a handwritten note.
Harm,
He read the poem and smiled softly; he felt exactly the same. So he tucked the letter inside his jacket, up against his heart, and headed off to the back porch. He didn’t notice the small crowd of family and friends packed tightly into his living room, or the soft music playing as he stepped onto the porch. The only thing he noticed was the beautiful woman walking toward him, a single white rose in her hair. And he took her hand and looked into her eyes and promised her his heart and his life, as he slid another ring onto her finger. He fought against tears as he listened to her make the same promise to him, and felt the welcome weight of his own plain gold band. Then there were some more words that he would never remember, and one kiss that he would never forget.
Their reception was pretty much a blur to him. He remembered some things, of course. The way his mother cried as she danced with him. The shy smile on Mattie’s face as she danced with her father, who she had shocked everyone with when she invited him to be her date. The look of resigned amusement on the Admiral’s face as he danced with an older, but still precocious, Chloe. Bud’s hilarious recitation of some of their various arguments and adventures, and his moving words as he told them how much they meant to him and toasted to their happiness.
But more than anything, he remembered Sarah. The way she felt pressed up against him as they shared their first dance as a married couple. Her happy smile as she accepted the congratulations of their friends and family. The wicked gleam in her eye as she shoved a huge piece of cake into his face, and her fit of giggles when he returned the favor. All of the spontaneous kisses, the lingering touches, and the whispered ‘I love you’s’, were burned into his mind. And at the end of the day, when the guests started leaving and they left their new home in the capable hands of his parents before slipping away to a nearby bed and breakfast, Harm took her into his arms and they made love for the first time as husband and wife.
It was hours later that Mac had slipped out of bed and retrieved a small package from her suitcase. It was his wedding gift; an ornately wrapped box containing a small plastic stick with a blue plus sign. Harm looked at it in wonder and disbelief before letting out a shout of joy and sweeping her into a passionate embrace. He held her close, and he cried just a little, and then he made love to her all over again, his beautiful, pregnant wife. His Sarah.
And it was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
The End
Where We Belong, A Duet
In every town and village,
I read mysterious meanings
I wined and dined a thousand exotic Joans and Janes
Then you rose into my life
They didn’t go get married that day. Reality intruded, as it tends to do; this time in the form of a moving van and some well-meaning friends who had arrived to help them. And so, instead of saying vows and exchanging rings, Harm and Mac spent the day lifting, arranging, and rearranging furniture. They hunted down boxes of plates and linens and toiletries; and that night they slept on a mattress on the floor in their new bedroom, too exhausted to do anything more than curl up in each other’s arms. Only to wake up the next morning and start all over again.
Read this and know that this is exactly how I feel about you. If by some miracle you feel the same, meet me out on the back porch. I’ll be the one with a rose in her hair. I love you.
Sarah
by Maya Angelou
In every city square,
In crowded places
I searched the faces
Hoping to find
Someone to care.
In the distant stars,
Then I went to schoolrooms
And poolrooms
And half-lighted cocktail bars.
Braving dangers,
Going with strangers,
I don’t even remember their names.
I was quick and breezy
And always easy
Playing romantic games.
In dusty dance halls, at debutante balls,
On lonely country lanes.
I fell in love forever,
Twice every year or so.
I wooed them sweetly, was theirs completely,
But they always let me go.
Saying bye now, no need to try now,
You don’t have the proper charms.
Too sentimental and much too gentle
I don’t tremble in your arms.
Like a promised sunrise.
Brightening my days with the light in your eyes.
I’ve never been so strong,
Now I’m where I belong.