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Harm and Mac’s Residence

Three years after the birth of the twins

“Harmon Rabb Jr!”

“Yeah Mac.”

“Come down here and see what your sons have done this time!” Mac screeched at the top of her lungs.

He ran down the stairs holding their nine month old daughter Gemma Elizabeth.  “You know Gem Gem, the boys are hers when they do something right, but whenever they do something wrong they are mine.  But you know no matter what happens you are always mine!”  He kissed her chubby little cheeks and saw the boys standing there with icing all over their hands.

Mattie came down the stairs.  She had a late night and Harm was going to have to speak to her about breaking curfew again.  “Dad, Mac, what is going on this time?”

“Look what your brothers did!”

Mattie looked at the cake and then at the boys.  She smiled at her little brothers.  “You guys, we had a nice long talk last night about what we were going to do today, why did you not listen?”  Mattie said scolding them.

The boys worshipped their older sister and never wanted to let her down.  “Mattie, Jakob said it would be okay if I had a little taste of the icing!” Gabe said.

“Well now you have no cake for your birthday party.” Harm told them looking at the remains of the cake which Gemma gladly delved into from her high chair.  He laughed. “She is definitely a Rabb.”

Mac just stood their bewildered.  “Oh I hate you Harm!”  She smacked him and ran out the doors to the backyard.

“What did I do?”  Harm asked Mattie.

“You know Dad, sometimes you are so dense.  I will throw the boys into a bath and get them cleaned for the party.  Gemma can use a bath after they get done.  Go talk to Mac, she needs just you right now.”

Harm looked at his oldest daughter.  “What is this about you breaking curfew last night?”

“I meant to call, there was a broken down train and I had to take an alternate route.  I am sorry for making you and Mac worry.”

“Okay, well your punishment is you have to clean the mess and take care of the boys.”

“Going soft on me Dad?”

“No, it wasn’t your fault you were late, and you barely ever lie, so . . . I could just really use your help this morning.”

“Okay.”

Harm prepared some tea and found Mac sitting on the tire swing that he had hung up for her a couple of months after the twins were born.

“I’m sorry.” Harm said.

“What are you sorry for?”

“Impregnating you with twin boys.”

Mac laughed.  “You know, I never thought we would have four children and live in a beautiful house together.”

“Yeah.”  He looked deep in thought.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Our wedding.”

Harm’s thoughts

Harm looked in the mirror for the last time, he wanted to make sure that everything was perfect as he waited for the love of his life and the other of his sons to come walking down the isle.  They had decided to wait until the twins were old enough to walk down the isle to get married.

Harm looked down and saw Mattie hunched over telling the boys to walk slow to their daddy.  The boys were exactly identical. 

Mac looked down at her boys and Gabe tugged on her dress.  “Momma?”

“Yeah Baby?” She said leaning down to her young son.

“You boo’tifal today.”  He said kissing her hand. 

She got tears in her eyes.  Gabriel Dustin Rabb was just like his father, always very thoughtful.  Mac often worried that her young son would grow up too quickly, but her other son Jakob was sure to keep that from happening.  Jakob Justin Rabb was also very much like his father, the side that scared Mac to high heaven.  When Jakob was a year old they found him jumping out of his crib.  He was daring like his father.  They even looked like their father, which caused Mac to cave in almost every time it came to disciplining to two boys.  Thank heavens there was Mattie who could keep them in line.

“Okay Jake, Gabe, listen.  The music is going to start, and you are going to walk down to Dad.  Don’t run, and if you behave there will be cake with icing on it at the party afterward.”

They got the huge smile on their faces and zeroed in on their father as they made their way down the Naval Academy Chapel.  Among the crowd Harm could here little oohs and aahs as the twins made their way down.  He even heard Varese exclaim about how darling they were.  They spotted their Grandma Trish and he saw both of them try to wink at her.

“Daddy, did we do good?” Jakob asked him.

“You sure did guys.  Go stand next to Uncle Sergei and stand at attention until he says it is okay to move.” Harm told them getting eye level with them.  The boys then launched themselves into a hug with their father and Harm got up and watched Mattie walk down towards him.

She winked at him and gave the boys a discrete thumbs up and they smiled knowing that they did good.  Jennifer Coates came next staring at Sergei the entire time, and then Harriet.

Harm heard the trumpet fanfare begin and he watched as the whole chapel rose and Mac made her way down the isle on AJ Chegwidden’s arm.  Mac was breath taking in a white and champagne dress.  The champagne trimmed the neckline that would provide a contrast for their wedding pictures since Harm would also be wearing white.  Mac also felt that since technically this wasn’t her first wedding, she shouldn’t wear white, but Harm fought with her on that, citing that the first time she wasn’t the same woman she was now.

Harm stood there just looking at her, realizing without her, he couldn’t function.  Gabe whispered to his dad, “Momma is boot’tifal.”

“Yes she is son.”

They made it through the ceremony and made it to the reception.  When it came to the cutting of the cake, Harm smiled at his wife.  “Getting married to you is just icing on the cake.  It makes me world complete.” 

That night Harm rented a plane from a friend who owed him a couple of favors and while the plane was on autopilot they became members of the mile high club while en route to Frank’s villa in the Bahamas.

End

Mac looked at him.  “What are you thinking about?”

“What makes you think I am thinking about anything?”

“Your son Gabe gets the same look on his face when he is thinking about something serious, or when he is trying to get out of trouble.”

“I was thinking about our wedding and joining the mile high club.  Do you remember it?”

“How could I forget, it was the night that Gemma was conceived.  I couldn’t believe that I got pregnant on our honeymoon.”

“Well, we got pregnant our first time together with the twins, and then we got pregnant with Gemma on our honeymoon, it just means that the next baby will be conceived in a somewhat normal fashion, you know, at home, in our bedroom.”

Mac looked down, “It’s already too late for that.”

“Huh?”

“Do you remember the night on the Stennis?”  It was the first investigation that they got sent on after the birth of Gemma a month ago.

“Yeah, how could I forget.  We were doing an investigation about someone having sending a transmission about troop movement.  The ship then go hit by a torpedo and we were trapped for hours.  I was so worried about you.”

“I was worried about you.  You hit your head.”

“Yeah, and with the ship taking on water, we made a phone call home to Mattie, Mom, and Frank.  We made love thinking it would be our last time together . . .”  He looked at her.  “You’re pregnant again?”

“Oh Harm, please don’t be made, I know we said we wouldn’t have anymore children after Gemma, I mean I am 39 now!”

“We are going to have another baby?!”

“Well I have a doctor’s appointment to confirm it tomorrow.”

He looked at his wife sitting on the swing and looked at her stomach which was now flat again after giving birth to their daughter.  He put his hand on her stomach, “Hello in there.  I know you can hear me, I’m your Dad.  We will be spending lots of time together in about nine months, but now, I need you to behave really good in there because your old man is getting to old to sleep on the couch when you make Mommy angry!  Don’t tell your mom, but when I sleep on the couch I wake up grumpy not because it hurt my back, but because I can’t sleep without Mom in my arms.”

Mac smiled.  During her pregnancy with the twins and Gemma, Harm spent an immeasurable amount of time on the couch.  “I love you.  You do know we are going to have the hardest time picking out a name for this one.”  Harm had come up with the name Gemma, his reasoning was that she was more precious to him then any kind of gem, hence her name.

“No, I have the perfect name picked out for her.”

“What makes you think it is a her?  It could be another boy, and then what?”

“We will have to pull out the baby book.”

Mattie called from inside letting them know she took the liberty of ordering another caked and that Sergei was going to pick it up for them.

“Are you really okay with me being pregnant again?”

“Do you remember what I said to you at the reception?”

“Getting married to me was icing on the cake?”

“Yeah, I meant it Mac.  You make my world complete, and by having another child, then our world expands bringing in another miracle.  I love you.”

“I love you too.”