| Subject: Worth the Wait- Ch. 2 |
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Grandma JAG
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Date Posted: 23:01:42 10/26/02 Sat
In reply to:
Grandma JAG
's message, "Worth the Wait" on 22:59:22 10/26/02 Sat
Chapter 2
1800 hours
Jan. 30, 2002
Harm’s Apartment
Harm put the finishing touches on the salad and looked around the room. Lights dim, but not too dim; candles lit, but not too many--he didn’t want to get carried away. His favorite mix of music was in the CD player. He looked himself over in the mirror. Mac was used to seeing him in jeans and a T-shirt whenever she came over. He wanted to dress up a little more, but still be casual. His blue denim shirt rolled up at the sleeves and khaki pants did the trick. His shirt made his eyes look more blue than green. Not bad for someone pushing 40, he thought to himself. A knock at the door brought his thoughts back to the present, and his heart starting pounding all over again.
“Right on time, as usual,” he said as he opened the door.
“Never keep a sailor waiting, I always say,” Mac smiled as she entered the room. Her red V-neck sweater and black pants set off all the right curves, without being too suggestive. “Smells good. What are we having, vegetarian lasagna?”
Harm went over to the kitchen to get the food out of the oven. “Close--ziti. I wanted to try a new recipe.” He brought the food over to the table and motioned for her to sit down.
“Oh, and so I’m your guinea pig, eh?” Mac sat down and looked at the food before her.
“Well, I know how Marines like to eat, and you’ve never been one to turn away a meal. Trust me, this is good.” He started serving her plate as she helped herself to a breadstick.
“So, Sergei found his own place?” Mac decided to change the subject.
“Yes, over by Arlington. We found it a couple of weeks ago and I helped him move in last weekend. There are some other Russian immigrants in the building with him, so he feels right at home. It’s good for him to have his own place. I enjoyed having him here, but it got a little cramped.”
Mac smiled at the thought of the two brothers, so alike and yet so opposite, trying to stay out of each other’s way in the small apartment. “How are things progressing with his citizenship?”
“Well, we’re still waiting for Mom to give up some of Dad’s letters so that we can get DNA samples from the saliva on the envelopes. She’s having a harder time with this than I thought.”
“Harm, can you imagine what she’s been going through? After all these years, thinking your dad died in Vietnam, suddenly finding out that he was in Russia and fathered another son? As understanding of a wife as I’m sure she was, she’s still got to feel a bit betrayed. You are connected by blood to Sergei, but she’s not connected at all.” Mac tried to show some compassion for Harm’s mom.
“I never thought of it like that before. I guess I’m just so happy to actually have a brother, even if it’s just a half-brother, that I never stopped to think how my mom must be feeling about all of this.”
“She’ll come around, Harm, just give her time to get used to the idea.” Mac decided to change the subject again. “Hey, this ziti is good! I may have to become a vegetarian.”
“What, and give up Beltway Burgers?” Harm joked.
“Well, maybe not a total vegetarian. How did you get to be one, anyway?”
“Sturgis, believe it or not, back in the Academy days.” Harm smiled as he recalled some of his favorite memories. “Sturgis ran track and I played basketball, but every time we played one-on-one, he could always beat me off the dribble. He said I was so slow because of all the meat and other junk I was eating. He made a bet with me that I couldn’t go a whole month without any meat.”
“And, of course, you couldn’t pass up a bet,” Mac challenged.
“Not a hundred bucks! It was hard at first, but as the month went on, I found that I didn’t miss the meat that much, plus I was much faster on the basketball court, too! So when the month was up, Sturgis paid me my hundred bucks, but by that time I had developed a taste for my new diet. So I never went back to my old ways. I eat fish once in awhile, but I haven’t had any red meat since I was 19.”
“Sturgis--he’s quite a guy, isn’t he?” Mac asked, knowing already how close he and Harm are.
“They don’t come any better. How did you like working with him?” Harm was still wondering if she had heard their discussion earlier that day.
“Oh, I thought he was a little stiff at first. Very much ‘by the book.’ But once he started to trust my instincts, we got along great.” Mac paused as she thought about her next question. “What were you two talking about this morning?”
Harm started to get nervous again. “Oh, nothing, really. Just about what had been happening while I was gone.” Harm decided to change the subject this time, and started clearing the table. “Are you done? Why don’t we go sit on the couch?” Harm set the dishes in the sink and put the leftover food in the refrigerator. “Would you like something to drink?”
Mac replied, “Mineral water with some lemon would be nice.”
“Do you mind if I have a beer?” Harm asked as he brought over her water.
“Not at all, Harm, you know that. After all this is your place.”
“Yes, but you’re my guest.” Harm went back to the refrigerator to get himself a beer.
Mac wondered why he was being so formal. Something must be on his mind. She took a deep breath. Well, you’ve been avoiding this talk for some time now, she thought, it’s time to shut up and listen to what he has to say.
Harm sat down at the other end of the couch, wondering how to start. They listened as the song “Do You Dream Of Me?” began to play.
Dreams within the still of night
On wings of hope take flight inside of me
There upon some distant shore
We want for nothing more than what will be
And you and I, here we are
I wonder as we come this far
If I could only read your mind
Tell me the answer I would find
Do you dream of me?
“Mac.....,” Harm started, “When you went TAD out on the Guadalcanal, you said you needed some time to clear your head. Were you..... were you able to do that?”
“Yes, I think so,” Mac replied. “I had a lot of time to think about what I was feeling, what I had done to Mic. My biggest regret is that I hurt him. He loved me unconditionally, and I wasn’t able to love him back the same way. I think I was in love with the idea of being married and having a family. I thought I could be happy with him, but when your plane went down, I knew I couldn’t. I hurt him and he didn’t deserve that.”
“You mustn’t be so hard on yourself,” Harm replied. “You were just doing what you thought you wanted at the time.”
“I beat myself up about it for awhile,” Mac responded. “But the time away made me realize that I have to make my own happiness, be complete in myself, before I can give myself to someone else. I was counting on him to complete me, and it doesn’t work that way.” She paused as she tried to read Harm’s face. “What about you? Have you been able to get over Renee?”
“There was really nothing to get over. Renee was fun to be with, but not someone that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. She found someone who shared her dreams, and I’m glad she was able to find happiness with him.” Harm took a deep breath before he continued. “Skates said something to me at the hospital the day I checked out. She said that punching out and surviving like we did had given her a new outlook on life, to go after the things in her life that really matter to her. I’ve had a lot of priorities in my life: searching for my father, rescuing Sergei, flying, my law career, the list goes on and on. And you know something? You’ve been there through all those things with me. You’ve encouraged me, even when you didn’t want me to pursue something. You’ve seen me at my most stubborn times, you’ve backed me up countless times, and you’ve never given up on me. I have finally come to realize what my top priority is..... it’s you. On the Admiral’s porch the night of your engagement party I told you that I expected you to wait as long as it takes. Well, now it’s my turn. Sarah MacKenzie, I love you, and I will wait for you for as long as it takes.” There, he said it. He looked at her as her eyes filled with tears, but he couldn’t tell if they were tears of joy or unhappiness.
After what seemed like hours of Harm and Mac staring at each other, Mac found herself in Harm’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. “I can wait for you,” Harm repeated, “until you’re ready.”
“I think we’ve both waited long enough!” Mac replied, laughing hysterically now. She pulled away and gazed into his worried eyes. “I love you , too, Harm.”
When he saw the love in her eyes, he sighed a big sigh of relief and grabbed a Kleenex. “Well, then blow your nose, Marine, so I can kiss you!”
They engaged in the most tender of kisses, passionate but not lustful. Just pure love, finally being shared after all these years of denial and pushing away. Harm never knew a kiss could feel like this. They just continued to hold each other without saying a word.
Finally, Harm broke the silence. “Mac, I want you to call the shots on this relationship. We’ll go as fast or as slow as you want.”
Mac pulled away to look at her sailor, running her hand along his cheek. “I have botched up so many relationships. I want this one to be for keeps. So one thing I think-----I don’t think we should sleep together.” Harm showed some surprise, but waited for her to continue. “I have jumped into bed too soon before, because I thought that’s what it would take to keep a man interested. I was wrong, and I decided that sex is something to be shared after a commitment has been made. Does that make sense?”
Harm nodded, thinking of all the times he had awakened the next morning only to regret what had happened the night before. He didn’t want that to happen this time. “As usual, you are right again. But you need to know that this will be harder than any military training I’ve ever gone through!”
“Hey, I’ve been through boot camp, too, you know. Of course, we both know Marine boot is tougher than squid camp.”
At that, Harm let loose with tickling Mac unmercifully. “Oh, yeah, well take that, Marine!” She got him back and they both toppled to the floor, laughing until tears rolled down both their faces.
“Oh, well, I can still hold you, and I am happy to do that until we reach the next stage of our relationship,” Harm said, as he once again took Mac into his arms.
“I could stay here forever,” Mac sighed. “But unfortunately, we have a busy day tomorrow, getting this case ready.” They both got up and walked toward the door.
“Ah, yes, back to reality.” Harm looked disappointed that the evening was coming to an end. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
As they rode down the elevator, Mac said, “Speaking of reality, how are we going to handle the work situation?”
“We’re both professionals, I’m sure we can keep our personal lives out of the office. That is, if I can keep my hands off of you when we’re together!”
“Self-control, flyboy, that’s what it’s all about.” Mac climbed into her car. “I love you, Harmon Rabb, Jr.”
“I love you, Sarah MacKenzie. Call me when you get home, okay, so I know you got home safely.”
Mac smiled at his protectiveness. “I’ve driven home from your place lots of times, Harm, and you’ve never worried about me before.”
“I’ve always worried about you, Mac, I’ve just never admitted it until now.”
As Mac drove away, Harm felt as if he didn’t need the elevator to get back up to his apartment. That felt so natural, why had it taken him so long to get to this point? It’s all in the timing, Rabb, he thought. The timing is finally right.
Love has found a magic space
A deep and hidden place where time stands still
Now I hold you in my arms
You know you hold my heart and always will
And you and I, here we are
And it’s a wonder that we’ve come this far
And after all that we’ve been through
You’ve leaned on me and I’ve leaned on you
Do you dream of me?
Mac found herself singing along with the radio. When was the last time she had done that? Was this all a dream, or had Harmon Rabb, Jr. actually told her he loved her? She felt a warmth inside of her that she had not felt in a long, long time---maybe ever! All the times she thought she was in love, it never felt like this! Yes, this was definitely it. She couldn’t wait to get up to her apartment and call him.
As Harm finished cleaning up the kitchen, he sang along with the CD.
And when you’re smiling in your sleep
Beyond the promises we keep
Do you dream of me? *
He blew out the candles, turned out the lights and headed toward the bedroom. As he undressed and got into bed, the phone rang.
“Hello?” he answered, knowing full well who it was.
“Hey there, flyboy.” Mac tingled as she heard his voice.
“So you made it home, safe and sound,” Harm tried to sound casual. Why did his heart start to race when he heard her voice?
“Yep, and I’m just lying here in bed wondering if I just dreamed up this whole evening, or if it really happened.”
“Well, if you’re dreaming, then we’re having the same dream and I don’t ever want to wake up,” Harm replied.
“I’m going to have the sweetest dreams ever, because of you. I may actually get some sleep tonight!” Mac couldn’t believe she sounded so gushy.
“Glad I could be of service. Any time,” Harm replied, not wanting to hang up. “See you in the morning, ninja girl.”
“Night, Harm. I love you,” Mac hung up the phone, and promptly fell asleep, dreaming she was in Harm’s arms, never to leave again.
* Do You Dream of Me?......by Michael W. Smith
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