A/N: Thanks for the patience in the updating schedule. This piece is getting close to being finished. I'm excited to see where it will go. Thank you for your patience. Those of you that enjoy my writing check out Army Wives fanfiction by SherwoodShippers. It is a writing team and I think all in all we're pretty good. ;) Thanks again for the loyalty and good wishes.
Rabb McKenzie home
July 12, 2007
7:14 PM
"Daddy, can I take ice skating lessons?" Lucy asked at dinner one night later that week.
"Well, Luce," Harm replied. "No baby, not now, not until you're walking, sweetie."
"When will that be?" she asked him.
"When you make it happen, Button," he said. "I talked to Miss Ana today and she told me you weren't listening to her again. We talked about that didn't we?"
"Yes but it hurts, Daddy," she whined and put her fork down to have a pout.
Harm sighed and went to pick her up and hold her on his lap. In the house, he no longer used the crutches. "I know it hurts your legs, Button, it hurt daddy too but I worked hard and I listened to Miss Ana and I can walk now almost as well as I did before, right?"
She nodded and laid her head against his chest. He played with the baby fine hair there and his hand skimmed her cheek. He froze solid with fear; she was hot, feverish hot. "Mac!" Harm called from the dining room.
Mac had been closed in the back office with AJ all afternoon going over the fingerprint documents that had finally come in on her murder case. "In a minute, Harm," she replied. "And I'm not hungry."
"Fine, but now, please!" he said trying not to alarm his daughter or his eldest son who was now watching him.
Mac appeared, a little annoyed that he'd interrupted her. "Harm…" One look at his face told her he was upset and one look at Lucy told her why, their daughter was pale and starting to fall asleep in her father's arms. "I'll call Dr. Jacobsen," Mac said and went to the phone to place the afterhours call. "Would you get a temp on her."
Harm put her down on the couch and went to get the thermometer. Harm cuddled Lucy closer and kissed her forehead, "We'll make it better, baby. Don't worry. It isn't bad, Mac," he said when it beeped. "Only 100.3."
"Bad enough," Mac sighed and sat by her baby. "Lucy, does something hurt you? Your head or your ears or your tummy?"
She shook her head, "Throat but only a little," she said. "I'm okay, Mommy."
"I'm sure you are but we're going to take you to the doctor anyway just to make sure the good blood is still working and doing it's job, okay?" Mac said. "Come see Mommy."
Lucy wiggled into her mother's arms and Mac held her while Harm finished dinner, got the boys into their pjs, and told AJ what was happening. "Maybe Ana wasn't better, maybe she did bring something in to her," Harm sighed, certainly not blaming Analiese, but AJ shook his head.
"I'd say yes, but Analiese isn't sick," AJ replied. "She never was, but I can't deal with that now; this thing broke wide open and Mac has to tend to Lucy."
"What finally broke it?" Harm asked.
"Fingerprints on the container," AJ replied.
"Cassie's?" Harm asked.
AJ nodded, "Yep, and another officer's, Sgt. John Masters. Bud did a little computer hacking and came up with six e-mails between Cassie and Masters about three months prior to Cynthia's death."
"Okay, I get the prints, AJ but what do old emails have to do with it?" Harm asked half listening as he waited for the phone to ring.
"Apparently Cassie and Masters were having an affair," AJ said. "The emails were from accounts only used for communication between them. Bud is still trying to recover the more recent documents, probably got a firewall or some type of thing or worked harder to conceal them if they were talking about killing someone and framing Tony for the murder."
Harm nodded, "Okay, so we know how to get him off, now we have to break it to him that his wife was having an affair and tried to frame him. I think I'd rather tell the guy he was getting the chair, nothing worse than betrayal, from either side."
AJ only rolled his eyes. Finally the phone rang. Mac must have dove for it because it only rang the once then stopped. Harm was wringing his hands. AJ smiled sympathetically at him. "I'm sure it's just a cold."
"We've all worked so hard so long…" Harm sighed. "If it's all for nothing…"
"It's not nothing," AJ consoled. "It's this time you've had and a chance to fight again if it comes to that and again if necessary. Never for nothing, Harm."
Harm nodded. Over the years AJ had become more of a father to him than his own had ever been or could be. He offered a small smile and waited for Mac. She came in a short time later. "He wants to see her in the morning but he's sure it's nothing serious," Mac sighed. "AJ, can you call Tony in the morning and postpone our meeting until afternoon? I have to be with Lucy."
AJ nodded, "Sure thing, Mac. Let me take the boys tonight. Ana and I can, uh, use the practice."
"Practice?" they both asked simultaneously. "Is Ana…"
AJ nodded, "She wasn't sick after all. Looks like I'm going to be a father again, after well over 30 years…"
"Congratulations AJ, that's wonderful," Mac said smiling and hugging him. "I'm so happy for you and after what happened to Maggie, I'm so glad that Analiese is getting this chance. She deserves it and so do you."
Harm nodded but didn't say anything, he just went to help AJ pack up their boys for the sleepover.
11:13 PM
Mac snuggled next to Harm that night once AJ had left and Lucy had gone to bed. "You didn't seem too happy when AJ shared his news? What's wrong?"
He rubbed her arm, "Nothing, I'm worried about Lucy."
"I know so am I," Mac replied. "You're also lying to me, what's the problem?"
"I think in that moment, it just hit me that…Matthew is it for us. We won't ever have another baby together, not now, not next year, not in thirty years, never," he swallowed. "And I'm not saying Matthew, DJ, and Lucy aren't enough, I'm not but…"
"We had a dream, four children, I know," Mac sighed leaning up on her elbow. "And that's why I fought so hard to have Matthew and refused the surgery and denied the truth for so long that I almost lost everything that I cared about, but now that it's done, I'm so much more than I was. I'm there now for my children and for you and the Roberts and everyone that needs me and that's worth it to me."
He reached up and touched her cheek, "You know, that right there, that's the reason I married you in the first place," Harm replied. "And it's the reason I'm going to marry you again."
Harm did not expect Mac to break out into laughter. "Hey,what about that is so darn funny?"
"You didn't ask me the first time and you didn't ask me this time," she reminded him. "Both time you said, you're going to be my wife. The first time I said yes…this time…"
Harm's entire face fell. He knew he'd gone too far. It was nearly too cute for words how downtrodden he looked. Mac tried not to laugh. "This time I'm sorry, Harm but I can't say yes…This time I'm going to have to go with my heart and my head and…say…Absolutely!"
Harm playfully smacked her on the arm, "Mac…" He leaned up and kissed her, pulling her down on top of him…This was what it was all for, his wife in his arms, his daughter asleep, hopefully healthy and getting strong, his sons at his best friend's house where a new life was growing inside a very loving and special woman, and somewhere in the city an innocent man was spending his last night thinking he was going to prison for a murder he didn't commit, there was just something right about all of that. For the first time since Mexico, Harm was beginning to feel as if he was finally gaining control of his life, and he liked that feeling. He liked that feeling a lot.
In Chapter 39: Lucy gets some interesting health news, Harm can't seem to let go of the legal bug, and Mac speaks with Ana about her upcoming visit from the stork.