| Subject: Re: How We Became Us - C7/9 |
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fananicfan
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Date Posted: 00:21:20 05/05/07 Sat
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "How We Became Us - story after Custody in the series" on 22:53:25 04/29/07 Sun
CHAPTER SEVEN – Back to the Real World
Friday, September 23, 2005
Mac hadn’t slept well knowing that, this morning, it would be time to leave this paradise and go back to the real world. Harm had awakened alone in bed and found Mac on the balcony, watching the sun slowly come up over the water. He'd joined her on the balcony and stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her and, together, they'd watched the sunrise.
After the sun had come up, they'd moved inside and spent time loving each other before gathering up their things, checking out of the hotel, and catching the shuttle to the airport.
The flight back had been uneventful, as had been the stop at baggage claim and the rental car desk. The traffic back to the apartment, however, was another story. Several accidents were making traveling the beltway a long and frustrating adventure. They were definitely back in the real world.
A call to Mattie while they were stuck in traffic verified that, as planned, Jennifer had been taking her to school and Julia had been picking her up as usual, and she was home waiting for them.
It took them another half hour after the call to get to the grocery store closest to Harm’s place. The traffic had been rough, and making dinner was a way for Harm to relax. Another plus of Harm offering to cook dinner was that, the next few days were going to be busy and they were probably going to be doing a lot of eating out, so a dinner at home before the kitchen items were packed up would be nice.
Harm was able to shake off his traffic tension by cooking, and dinner was just the three of them. After dinner, Harm’s parents stopped by. Trish and Frank had gone up to see Harm’s grandmother in Pennsylvania, and had hugs and well wishes to deliver to Harm and Mac from his grandmother.
After delivering the words of wisdom that his grandmother had sent and the photo album of Harm’s grandparents and his father as a little boy, the conversations varied during the remainder of their visit. The last discussion they had before they decided that they should leave the newlyweds alone was about how they could help with the packing and moving tomorrow.
Shortly after Harm’s parents had left, Mattie, armed with the trinkets that Mac had retrieved from her luggage, excused herself to get ready for bed.
With Mattie’s departure, they were alone. When you're newlyweds, there's only one thing to do when you’re left alone – go to bed. They made love and fell asleep.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Harm went over to Jennifer’s to get Mattie for breakfast. When Harm and Mattie got back to the apartment, Mac had started the coffee and the French toast.
The plan for the day was simple. Go to Mac’s Georgetown apartment to pack it up and move it over to Harm’s for the movers to pick up on Wednesday. With Harm in her life now, Mac no longer felt the need to leave all her belongs behind and start over. The lease wasn’t up on her apartment until the first of the year, but paying out the remaining three months to move everything at once made the most sense. Varese had moved to a hotel while they were honeymooning so that Mac could pack up her apartment when she returned. Varese had tour date obligations and would be leaving in a few days anyway.
Since Mac had moved a few furniture pieces and all of her personal items over when she’d moved into Harm’s, the packing and moving wasn’t as big a job as it sounded. Even though the job wasn’t as big as it could’ve been, it still took most of the day.
Harm’s parents, Mattie, Harm and Mac were all tired when they put the last of Mac’s things in the storage area downstairs. Frank suggested that he take everyone out to dinner, and everyone loaded up into Frank’s rented SUV to go.
When they returned after dinner, Frank and Trish just dropped the other three off, saying that they’d done more physical labor today than they were used to doing in a single day, so they were going back to their hotel and going to bed. They’d be back after a good breakfast in the morning to help pack the loft.
Everyone was tired, but no one more so than Mattie. Harm and Mac hadn’t wanted to exclude her from packing, but they’d been concerned that it would physically be too much for her and had watched for signs of fatigue, but hadn’t seen any. In fact, until dinner, she’d seemed fine, so when she said that she wanted to go get some sleep for tomorrow, they weren’t surprised. They were tired, so she had to be, too.
With Mattie gone, they shared a couple of gentle kisses before they strolled hand in hand to the bedroom. She slipped from her clothing, and he removed his. They climbed into bed and cuddled up to each other to sleep.
A few moments later, Harm broke the silence. “Why is it that I’m not sleepy once I get into bed with you?”
Mac kissed him. “I don’t know, but the same thing happens to me when I get into bed with you,” she said with an exaggerated puzzled look on her face.
The newlyweds then made love before letting their bodies get the rest they needed.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Harm went to get Mattie for breakfast, but Jennifer said that Mattie had been up late the night before. Jennifer said that, when she'd asked Mattie about not being able to sleep, Mattie had said that she was thinking. Jennifer said that she thought the packing had made the move more of a reality to Mattie, because Mattie had made the comment that she wondered where was she going to live if the judge decided on Monday that she couldn’t live with Harm or Mac. Jennifer said that it might be a good idea to let Mattie sleep in. She’d have Mattie come over when she got up.
Armed with this new information, Harm returned to his apartment to have breakfast with Mac. She was going to be surprised that it was just going to be the two of them this morning. Over breakfast, they discussed the information that Jennifer had given him. They knew that it would be difficult to have a talk with Mattie with his parents there, so they decided talk to Mattie after his parents had left for the day.
With breakfast almost over, Harm asked, “My parents will be here to help in about an hour, so do you want to shower first?”
Mac’s thoughts immediately turned to her fantasy of them taking a shower together. “We don’t have to take turns...the shower is big enough for two.” He raised his eyebrow in trademark fashion at her suggestion. She turned and laughed at the expression on his face. “What do you say to a little you wash my back and I’ll wash yours?”
Mac dashed for the shower, and Harm wasn’t far behind. He worked the bar of soap between his hands until his palms contained a soapy lather. He rubbed the lather over her body. Instead of stepping back under the water to rinse, she stepped forward and put her arms up around his neck and pressed her soapy body into his. She smiled at him and then she lathered his body with hers in a combination wiggle and rub motion. How was it that, when he giggled, it didn’t sound ‘girlie,’ it sounded sexy? He moved forward, putting them under the cascading water that rinsed away the soap while their lips came together for a kiss that heated her to the core. She knew that they were expecting company, so she pulled away, but she couldn’t let go. Water ran between them, washing away the last of the lather from their bodies. She kissed him - he kissed her. He moved with her until she felt the cool tiles of the shower against her back. It was then that she knew that her fantasy about the two of them being together in the shower was about to come true. With his body leaning into hers, holding her firmly in place, she was secure in making her next move. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around him. The minutes that followed left her with a fond memory. Fantasy was no longer needed.
When Harm’s parents arrived, Harm and Mac were dressed. Mac was in the bedroom, packing clothes and other items, while Harm had done the breakfast dishes and was packing the last of the living room items. Mac had packed some of her clothing and non-essential items in the week prior to the wedding, so the living room, for instance, only had a few pictures left to pack to have the room ready. Some items weren’t going to be packed. Harm had been told not to take his electrical appliances to Europe because the electrical current was different, so his kitchen appliances were packed and downstairs so that Mac could take them, and they’d leave her items here. They’d come up with several things that could be left here to make this a sleepover spot if they needed to come to town for any reason.
By mid morning, Mattie made an appearance, but she didn’t look like she was feeling well, so they suggested that she go back to her room and rest. Harm told her that they should be done by lunchtime, and he'd been right. They were done by then.
Harm’s parents offered to take everyone to lunch, but Harm and Mac declined the offer. Harm didn’t go into details, but he told them that they needed to spend some time with Mattie today and make sure that she didn’t have any questions about the hearing tomorrow. Trish and Frank understood, but Trish had one more thing to do before she left today.
Standing to leave, Trish pulled a familiar, square, white box out of her purse. “I’ll let you pack this last item wherever you think best. I wanted you to have it, but if I’d given it to you at the wedding, you couldn't have used it for something borrowed.” She pushed the box at Mac, and Mac took it from her mother-in- law’s hand. Trish and Mac hugged. Before Trish hugged her son, she had a few words for him, too. “Harm, your father would have loved her. He’d be very proud of you.” After a hug between mother and son, and a handshake between Harm and Frank, his parents left for the day.
Mattie was helping Jennifer pack when Harm came over to get her for lunch. Harm and Mac had agreed on a gift for Mattie to be given to her before the hearing tomorrow, but based on what Jennifer had said this morning, they felt that they should give it to her now.
Where do you take a teenaged girl who’s a little depressed for lunch? The food court at the mall, of course. The food court isn’t an easy place for practically a vegetarian to find a meal, but Harm was able to find something. They consumed their lunch before starting the conversation that they wanted to have.
Harm started. “Mattie, we thought, with all the changes going on in your life, you might have a few questions or concerns, and we wanted you to have time to ask us anything you wanted or needed to.”
Mattie smiled at him for a moment and then the smile faded. “How likely do you think it is that the judge will give me to you tomorrow?”
Harm answered. “I think the chances are very good that the court will release you to us.”
“But they could say no,” Mattie said sadly.
“They could,” Mac answered. “But it isn’t likely. We had two home visits in the last three months, and we did fine. You’ve kept all of your doctor’s appointments and you’ve made progress in your recovery while you’ve been in my care, so it's unlikely that they won’t let us have custody.”
“If they say no, I don’t have anywhere else to go. Jennifer's moving to San Diego, too, so I’ll have to go back to that foster home. I don’t want to go back there.” Tears had started to roll down her cheeks.
Harm handed her a napkin to dry her eyes. “I really don’t think that'll happen, but if the court does rule that way, then you'll go. We’ll petition the court again and again until they see things our way, okay?”
Mattie nodded while drying her tears. Mac produced a small gift wrapped box from her purse and set it on the table near Mattie.
“Harm and I wanted to give you something, and it took some debating before we decided on what the gift should be, but once we saw this, we knew that it was the right one. We were going to give it to you tomorrow, but it seems right that we give it to you now. We hope you like it.”
Mattie pulled the wrapping paper off the box and turned the box over to drop the black velvet box inside into her palm. Mattie opened the little velvet box to reveal a little diamond ring inside.
Mac spoke, “It’s a promise ring and, most of the time, it's given by a young man to tell a girl that he promises that someday he’ll give her a wedding ring. For you, it's a promise that, no matter what the judge says tomorrow, we promise that we’ll keep trying to get custody. It's also a promise that you’ll always be a part of our family, no matter what.”
Mattie was smiling from ear to ear as she slipped the gold ring with a single small diamond mounted in the center on her finger.
Harm broke the moment. “We'd better get out of here. We promised to help Jennifer pack, and we still have to pack up your things, Mattie.”
They returned to the apartment building, and Mac helped Mattie pack a suitcase for traveling and box up the rest of her things. Harm helped Jennifer until Mattie and Mac had finished with Mattie’s stuff, and then they joined Harm and Jennifer in finishing the packing of Jennifer’s stuff.
Mattie was feeling much better by now. You could see it in her posture and in her eyes. Mattie gave Harm and Mac big hugs before going to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
With the fate of their family hanging on the decision of a mere mortal man tomorrow, they weren’t in the mood for anything more than conversation tonight. They hadn't formally discussed where Mattie should live if they got custody tomorrow. In emails and during phone conversations, things had been said that implied that they were on the same page, but they needed to be sure that they agreed where Mattie was going to live before they appeared in court tomorrow. The most logical choice was that Mattie would move to California with Mac since it was Harm’s hope that he’d be able to get a co-location billet and move to San Diego soon himself. Once in bed, Harm and Mac talked about when the three of them would be able to see each other again if a billet for him didn’t open up soon. Since Christmas was three months away, if Harm hadn’t been transferred by then, they decided that Mac and Mattie would fly to London for Christmas.
After their talk, a couple of kisses and muttered goodnights to each other, they tried to get some rest for tomorrow.
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