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The Right Reasons 10: Dinner and Discussions
Rating: IM15
Summary: Harm and Mac talk.
Disclaimer: See Part 1 for disclaimers.
Spoilers: All the way through the Season 9 finale. Let’s hope I get this
done before Season 10 begins.
1800 Hours EST
Mac’s Apartment
Harm stood outside of Mac’s apartment. You’ve done this a million times,
he told himself. Why should this one be any different? But it was
different; they’d never talked about “the deal” in terms of logistics. And
tonight they would.
He felt as if it was a first date. Getting out of the elevator, he had checked
his hair in a mirror in the hallway, to make sure it wasn’t messed up. Reaching
for the doorbell, he realized his palms were sweaty. Calm down, Rabb. He
wiped his hands on his jeans, and pressed his finger on the doorbell.
Meanwhile …
Mac stirred the spaghetti sauce, trying not to spatter her dress. Why did I
change clothes before I was done cooking? she thought to herself, then
laughed out loud at her silliness. Was she in high school again?
Her best friend was coming over for dinner. Okay, maybe she liked him more than
as just a friend. Not maybe, definitely. But she couldn’t tell him that – he’d
think she was on the rebound from Webb, and dismiss her feelings. God knows she
had tried to do that herself.
And everything that he did just made her love him more. He’d been so
considerate, so kind after she’d found out about Webb’s deception and death, and
she couldn’t have asked for anyone more supportive with her health problem.
Which brought her to tonight’s topic. She knew she wanted to have Harm’s baby.
She just didn’t want the conception to be in some sterile lab. And if he didn’t
want that, she didn’t know if she could go through with the deal.
The doorbell rang, jarring her from her thoughts. Marveling that he was actually
on time, Mac covered the spaghetti sauce and went to answer the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey, Mac,” Harm greeted her, handing her a bouquet of garden flowers. “I
figured, since you wouldn’t let me help cook, I should bring something
decorative for the table.”
“Thank you. They’re beautiful,” she said, taking them from him. “Let me grab a
vase to put them in.” When she returned to the dining room, Harm was already in
the kitchen, lifting the lids of the pots on the stove.
“Mmmm, it smells delicious,” he commented.
“Surprised?” she asked.
“No,” he replied.
“Liar.” Then she winked at him. And they both started laughing. “Since you’re in
here, you can be useful and help carry the food to the dining room.”
Dinner was an interesting affair. Both Harm and Mac danced around the issue they
had said they wanted to discuss. Instead, they talked about office gossip and
world news. Anything but babies. After they finished eating, Harm said, “I’ll
clean up. It’s the least I can do after you cooked dinner. Go on in to the
living room and relax.”
When he was done, he came out and sat next to Mac on the sofa. Here it comes,
she thought. Harm’s going to find a graceful way to back out.
His next statement shocked her. “I think you should have the procedure done as
soon as possible, Mac. I don’t want us to be the old parents.”
She said shyly, “So you don’t want to back out?”
“Would I do that to my best friend?” he smiled at her.
His words cut through her heart. He didn’t feel for her what she did for him.
She realized she couldn’t go through with it. “I can’t do it, Harm.”
“What do you mean?” His voice sounded wooden.
She took a deep breath. “I want to have children, Harm. And as much I want to
have them with you, I don’t want to have children with someone who’s just my
‘best friend’. You see, I’m a traditionalist when it comes to conception,” she
continued, deciding to insert a little humor.
Harm looked at her for a minute and then grinned. “Then I guess it’s a good
thing that I’m a traditionalist as well.”
Mac didn’t know how to react; she stared at him.
Harm asked, “Why don’t we stop dancing around this? Mac, I care about you. I
called you my best friend, but it’s more than that. Much more than that.”
Mac shifted towards him. “What are you saying? I thought you wanted us to stop
dancing around ‘us’. What the hell does ‘more than a best friend’ mean?”
Harm took her hands and held them tightly so she couldn’t pull them away. “It
means you are my best friend and I don’t want to jeopardize that. I’d love it to
be more than that if you are willing. I just don’t want to lose my friendship
with you ever again.”
Since he was still holding onto her hands, she pulled him closer to her, until
their lips were almost touching. “Don’t worry. You won’t.” She leaned ever so
slightly and kissed him.
When they finally broke for air, Harm asked, “So does that mean you want to go
through with this procedure?”
“I absolutely do. I just wanted to know that you were willing to follow through
afterward.”
“I am. Believe me, I am.” Harm kissed Mac this time, his hands caressing her
back, sending tingles up her spine. She responded in kind, unbuttoning his shirt
and pushing it aside so she could rub her hands up and down his muscular chest.
Harm groaned and said, “If you keep that up, Mac, we might have a practice
session tonight.”
“Well, you know what they say …” Mac replied with a devilish smile. “Practice
makes perfect.”
To Part
11
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