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Date Posted: 20:05:38 01/22/13 Tue
Author: Cammy
Subject: The Consequences of Suppositions, Chapter 21/25

The Consequences of Suppositions, Chapter 21
By: Cammy
Disclaimer: Not mine
Rated: R (for language and sexual situations)

Author’s Notes: See Chapter 1.

10:45 EDT (Local)
Thursday morning
December 25, 2003
Harm's apartment
North of Union Station, Washington D.C.

“Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the wrong words seem to rhyme. Out of the doubt that fills my mind. I somehow find. You and I collide.” – Howie Day, Collide

Mac awoke in Harm’s arms a little while later, sleepy and content after their morning in bed. She turned in his embrace, reaching a hand up to trace his face. She relished in the newfound luxury of being able to touch him.

“Morning,” his voice was slurred with sleep.

She hadn’t meant to wake him up. She knew he was tired and needed the rest. Mac pulled away from him, placing a kiss on his forehead first. “Stay in bed.”

He pulled her back to him. “If you stay with me.”

She couldn’t resist his plea and snuggled into his warm, firm body once again.

A half-hour later she finally got up, throwing his dress shirt on again and heading into the kitchen to clean up their aborted breakfast. She quietly scraped the eggs from his heavy stainless steel pan and put away the other food.

Hungry, she made herself a couple slices of toast and poured a glass of orange juice. The coffee in the pot Harm made earlier was still hot and she poured a cup of that as well.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, she again noticed the pages of court transcripts still lying there. Mac picked them up.

After all of this, she may actually have Clayton Webb to thank for her newfound happiness, she mused. The turns her life had taken in the last six months were unbelievable.

She folded the papers back up and slipped them into her purse. She might not ever admit it to Harm, but she’d keep them forever.

A little while later found Mac reading the Washington Post she picked up earlier from outside his door. She looked up to see Harm walk down the steps from his bedroom, now dressed in jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt.

“Hey there,” she said.

“You should have gotten me up earlier, Mac. I can’t believe it’s nearly noon.”

“Why? We don’t have to be anywhere today. It’s Christmas after all.”

Harm came around to the table and kissed the corner of her mouth softly, before sitting down and helping himself to a half of a slice of toast from her plate. The casualness and familiarity of the moment warmed her heart unexpectedly. Being with him – and being happy – was going to take some getting used to, she thought.

“You know, Mac, the least I could have done was make you breakfast,” he said, biting into the buttery, crispy bread.

She laughed. “You tried that already this morning.”

In retaliation for her remark, he grabbed and squeezed her bare knee below the table. “I got distracted.”

“That might be the second nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“What do you want to do today? Like you said, it is Christmas,” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I don’t know, but at some point I was hoping you would drive me home. I could use some clothes. I can’t wear your shirt all day.”

He squeezed her knee again. “I happen to like you in nothing at all.”

Mac smiled at him. “I noticed.” She looked away shyly and took in his apartment. “You need a tree, Harm.”

Harm sighed. “Yeah, well I didn’t really catch the Christmas spirit this year.”

His sad tone drew Mac’s attention. The expression on his face caught her off guard. She was having a difficult time imagining he had been just as miserable without her as she had been without him, but maybe she had been mistaken.

He interrupted her reverie. “We could try and find an open store that has Christmas trees still.” He shrugged and smiled. “You know – those sad, depressing trees no one else wanted with missing branches and broken pine needles.”

“As alluring as that sounds, I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we stay at my place tonight? We could go for a run and then later we could put up my tree that’s been stored for a year, watch some Christmas movies, maybe order some Chinese food?”

He smiled softly at her. “That sounds nice.”

Hours later, they were lying on her couch together, admiring their handiwork. Her tree was lit with little white shining lights and decorated with ornaments she’d collected over the years, sitting in the corner of the living room she always reserved for it.

Harm had thrown a few logs into the fireplace and the fire in it roared while Christmas music filtered lightly through the room from her Bose stereo. Cartons of half-eaten Chinese food lay on her coffee table. They had been lucky to find that one of her favorite takeout restaurants was open and delivering on the holiday.

It had taken a while for them to get around to setting up her tree. After entering her apartment, the two had stumbled into her bedroom, giving up on the idea of a run and instead making love for the fourth time in less than 24 hours.

At some point during their encounter, he had breathed into her ear, “You have no idea how many fantasies I’ve had about your bed.”

Now, Mac lay with her back against Harm’s chest, resting on her couch. “Thanks for coming here.”

She felt him smile beneath her. “Believe me when I say the pleasure was all mine.”

Laughter bubbled up within her at his insinuation before she stilled. For the first year ever, the area underneath her Christmas tree was barren, empty of any wrapped gifts.

“I just realized I didn’t buy you a Christmas present,” she was sad to admit.

She turned in his arms and he ran a hand down one of her cheeks. “I didn’t get you one either, so we’re even. But, I can tell you that, for the first Christmas in my life, I got everything I wanted.”

Tears pricked at her eyes by his sentiment and by the serious look on his face.

It was then he laughed softly. “Actually, that’s not true.”

She tipped her head in question.

He removed his hand from her face and fished for something in the pocket of his jeans before finally removing a small black velvet box. “I do have something for you.”

She immediately understood what he was doing and her stomach did a somersault. While she had read about it in his testimony, it certainly hadn’t come up when they talked this morning, and she hadn’t expected it to. Mac thought it might be months or even a year before they seriously discussed the future.

The idea of marrying him was always a far-off wish rather than anything associated with reality, but here he was, holding a ring box and she knew exactly what was in it.

“Harm,” she whispered, shaking her head, “You don’t have to…we can wait.”

“Mac, it’s not like this is a surprise. You knew I bought this and I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of looking in on your life. I want to be part of it.”

He opened the box to reveal a perfect platinum diamond engagement ring. “Marry me.”

The tears that had threatened a minute ago and earlier that morning now forged ahead, with a couple running down her cheeks. She nodded, not hesitating. “Yes.” She kissed him. “Yes.”

Harm placed the ring on her left hand and pulled her into his arms.

It was hard to believe this was happening. One day ago she was sure she had lost him forever, was sure he was seriously involved with another woman. Now, they were engaged to be married.

She said a silent prayer of thanks to God – a mighty, patient, benevolent, wonderful, loving Lord.

It dawned on Mac there was something she hadn’t yet given him. Lost in the events of last night and today, it hadn’t even crossed her mind. She finally pulled away, “I actually do have something I wanted to give you.”

She headed for her desk, where her large leather toffee-colored Coach tote sat. She pulled out a couple files, finally locating the enclosed manila envelope she was looking for there.

Mac came back to the couch and handed the envelope to Harm. There were no markings or information on the outside of it and he looked at her questioningly.

“Open it.” She nodded toward the package.

Harm pulled out the set of official looking papers enclosed, marked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement seals. He read the first page. It took him less than a minute to realize what they were.

“Mac.” He said her name like a prayer, the words drawn out. “How?”

She smiled, touched by his reaction. “It’s a long story, but it was just made official a few days ago.”

Harm just shook his head, continuing to leaf through the citizenship papers. “This is incredible. Sergei and I tried everything. I didn’t think this would ever happen.”

He prodded her again. “Seriously, how were you able to convince ICE?”

Mac shrugged. “I didn’t.”

He placed a hand on her thigh. “Come on, tell me, Mac.”

“During the U.N. taskforce conference in Naples, I became friends with DHS’s GC. He agreed to take a look at Sergei’s petition. He thought ICE did a hatchet job and ordered them to review the files again. He strongly recommended they grant Sergei dual citizenship. I guess ICE didn’t want a fight with their Agency’s front office.”

Harm smirked and continued thumbing through the pages, “Friends, huh?”

She smacked his knee playfully. “Stop it.”

He leaned back against her couch, his smile wide. “Let me take a stab at this.”

“At what?”

“Let’s see. Homeland Security’s chief counsel is in Naples for the conference for a few weeks. You two meet and he starts to take an interest, both professional and personal. Maybe you have a working dinner or two. He asks you out…”

She bit back a smile, ducking her head into his shoulder, “Nothing ever happened between us.”

“But he hit on you, right?”

Mac shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

“Good looking?”

He squinted at her and she crawled on his lap in response. “Very,” she drawled, nipping at his bottom lip.

“What stopped you, Colonel,” his question came out as a groan as she ran her hands down his shirt-covered chest and over his nipples.

She tilted her neck, welcoming the assault of his mouth. “I couldn’t stop thinking about this incredibly hot fighter pilot lawyer I once knew.”

“Really,” he asked, his lips chasing down her throat.

Her left hand was splayed out across his chest and she couldn’t help but look at the brand new shiny diamond ring adorning her left hand.

Harm stilled, realizing her focus. “You like it?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat, “It’s incredible. I can’t believe you bought this. We hadn’t even talked about dating.”

His eyes where shy. “What can I say? I liked it. Reminded me of you. I was, I don’t know, foolishly hopeful.”

She leaned into him. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mac.” It was their first casual exchange of the words and she was awed by how easily they fell from his lips.

She sighed disapprovingly. “There’s also something else I can’t believe.”

He nuzzled her neck again. “That it took me this long to actually give it to you?”

Mac ran a hand down his now-stubbled check. “That we’ve been engaged for 23 minutes and you still haven’t made love to your fiancé.”

“Well, now that is an unforgivable offense.” Harm stood up, her legs still wrapped around his waist. “By the way, you ever going to tell me how you do that?”

She laughed into his shoulder while he navigated her living room before he placed on the bed. Mac pulled him down with her. “You ever going to shut up and kiss me?”

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Replies:

[> Consequences of Supposition -- coninay (joyful), 20:53:55 01/22/13 Tue [1]

keep going coz i love it cammy


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[> Thank you, Cammy, for finally getting them on the same page at the same time! It can only go uphill from here.....right? -- carramor, 21:22:01 01/22/13 Tue [1]


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[> Another great chapter Cammy, has finishing this sparked an interest in writing more stories? You are a gifted writer and I know I love what you've written so far so more stories would certainly be welcomed! Plus I'm looking forward to the rest of this story :) -- Ciara, 22:35:09 01/22/13 Tue [1]


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[> Aaaahhhhhh!!! I agree with Ciara. You have a fantastic talent for writing and should do more of it whether it be JAG fanfic or something else. I just wish they would have turned the writing over to you for the later seasons of JAG and things would have been a lot more enjoyable. -- Shazam, 22:57:05 01/22/13 Tue [1]


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[> Warm, sweet, fuzzy and just plain happy! -- JoyZ, 23:27:00 01/22/13 Tue [1]


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[> This is great! I can't wait for more! I would also love to read any other stories you've written, or that you'll write in the future. -- yiota, 02:21:17 01/23/13 Wed [1]


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[> :) Looking forward to what follows !! -- Laurence ( message inside who can be useful for everyone ), 05:36:45 01/23/13 Wed [1]

Cammy I hope you don't mind if I feel the need to say this :

in french language exists the notion of masculine & feminine

Harm is Mac 's fiancé

Mac is Harm's fiancée

I hope it's ok to post this message.


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[> I agree with all the comments, thanks for another lovely chapter, and I'm so glad there's still a few more chapters to come in this story. -- Dee, 06:41:15 01/23/13 Wed [1]


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[> I agree with all the comments too keep it coming Cammy loving it so much -- Bev uk, 14:52:31 01/23/13 Wed [1]


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[> More, please! -- Cookie, 14:05:44 01/25/13 Fri [1]


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[> [> yes, more please ! :) -- coninay, 23:49:19 01/25/13 Fri [1]


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[> [> I'm so trying to be patient but I think I'm wearing out my keys & mouse on keep checking! I think I'm having withdrawl! -- Ciara, 08:44:41 01/26/13 Sat [1]


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[> [> [> You're not the only one! More, pleeeaseee! -- yiota, 09:28:42 01/26/13 Sat [1]


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[> That's some christmas -- marye904, 13:40:49 02/13/13 Wed [1]


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