Title: A New Beginning

Category: AJ/Mac

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, not me. This was originally written as a sequel to PackRat’s A Gift of Life. I decided to change her original characters though but this was still inspired by her great story.

Author: Astrid

Feedback: astridz55@earthlink.net

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, VA

Mac was sitting in her office busily working when she felt a presence at her door. Usually that meant the General so she was rather surprised when she looked up and saw a little boy about 7 years old wearing a Red Sox cap. “Hi. I’m Davey,” he said.

“Hi. I’m Mac.”

“Oh, so you’re Mac.”

“Yes. I am. Nice hat you have there.” She smiled at the cute little boy wondering why he was here and how he knew who she was.

“Thanks. My grandpa gave it to me after I had my accident. He said that little boys shouldn’t be bald, just old guys. But my hair has grown back now,” he said as he took off his hat to show her.

“There’s nothing wrong with being bald.”

“That’s what Grandpa says. Oops. I gotta go. Mom’s looking for me.” Mac looked up and saw a woman standing looking for someone.

“Bye, Davey. Nice to meet you.”

“See you later, Mac,” he commented as he put his hat back on then slipped out.

Something about the little boy reminded her on someone but she couldn’t figure out whom. She soon stopped thinking about it as she concentrated on her cases. Later that day, Bud walked by and told her and Harm that the Admiral had called and invited them all for an impromptu dinner. Mac was rather surprised but she was glad that she didn’t have any plans for the evening. It had been a long time since any of them had seen the Admiral. She knew that they all wanted to see how he was doing. Harm and Mac arrived at the Admiral’s at the same time and Francesca opened the door.

“Francesca. It’s good to see you again. Your father didn’t tell us you were going to be here,” said Harm as she kissed his cheeks.

“I’m sure he didn’t tell you about the other guests then either,” she said as a pregnant woman walked to the door. “This is Kim. Kim this is Harm and Mac.”

She shook Mac’s hand and responded with, “Oh, so you’re Mac.” Mac was just going to ask why everyone was saying that to her when they heard the Admiral call out from the kitchen.

“Kim, sweetie, can you help me with something?” They looked at each other in surprise, ‘Why would the Admiral be calling this young woman sweetie?’ thought Mac. Just then the Admiral walked out of his bedroom.

“Hey, you two. Rabb make you late, Mac?” he said with a smile.

“We thought you were in the kitchen, Sir,” said Mac.

“No, but I do have a surprise in there for you.” They both noticed that he was in a very good mood. He led the way to the kitchen, Harm followed. Not being able to see around Harm and the Admiral, Mac was only able to notice Davey and two other identical little boys. Davey spotted her and he ran to her and gave her a big hug, “Mac!” Harm stopped in total surprise at the man standing in front of the stove who spoke.

“Oh, so you are Mac.”

“Why does everyone-“ she stopped as she got a good look at the man who said that. He smiled at the total shock on her face.

“Hi, Mac. I’m Alan, Davey’s dad. Nice to finally meet you. Harm? Nice to meet you too. This is Ryan and this one is Carl,” he said indicating the 5 year olds now hiding behind his dad’s legs. “Come here, Son, leave the Colonel alone.” Alan reached for Davey but he held on tight.

“I think he likes you, Mac,” AJ said with a smile.

“She likes bald men,” Davey responded. Kim and Francesca noticed Mac’s immediate blush.

“Why do kids always do this to me?” Mac mumbled to herself.

Harm smiled but thought he would save her so he commented, “Interesting hat you got there, Davey. Did you get that after the Red Sox won the series?”

“Yes. But I’ve liked the Red Sox since I was little,” he said bringing smiles to all the adult faces. “Bet you like the Yankees.”

“Yes, I do. They are a great team. They’ve won the most World Series,” Harm replied. “All the best players have played with them.”

“Really?” Davey asked.

“Yeah,” said Harm, not noticing the smile on AJ or Alan’s faces. “Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. Just to name a few.”

“What about Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays and Cy Young?” asked Davey.

“And Nolan Ryan?” asked AJ.

“And Carl Yaztrzemski?” asked Alan.

“Just to name a few,” said Mac, unable to resist.

“Um. I think I’ve been had. So to change the subject, Sir, I seem to remember a party where you invited us to introduce us to Francesca.”

“Kids, stay here with your Mom and Aunt Francesca. I think I have some explaining to do.” AJ led the way back to the living room where they all took seats.

“Several months ago, I got a letter from Alan saying that he thought that I might be his father. I didn’t believe him, until he showed me his mother’s picture. She was my high school sweetheart. We went our separate ways when I went to the Academy. I never knew that she was pregnant.”

“Why did you wait until now to contact him?” asked Mac.

“I had thought about it when Kim got pregnant with Davey. I mean, what sort of things run in the family and such, but I put it off then didn’t bother,” said Alan. “We thought about it again once we found out we were having the twins and I even got Dad’s name and address but then my other dad got sick and I didn’t get to it. We finally decided to do it this time when the ultrasound again showed twins.”

“Two sets of twins?” asked Harm.

“So I guess twins run in your family, Sir?” asked Mac.

“Just a bit. Both my mom and dad are twins and so am I.”

“Just a bit? Isn’t that like being a little bit pregnant?” Harm joked as Francesca, Kim and the boys came out to the living room, Davey headed straight to Mac and climbed on the couch between her and AJ.

“That isn’t even funny Harm,” said Kim rubbing her back. Alan stood up and offered his wife his seat and stayed behind her to rub her back.

“We decided to come here for a visit before the twins were born because then we won’t have much time,” Alan explained.

“Yeah, I would imagine,” commented Mac. “I just have one question. Why did everyone sound as if they knew me? Everyone said “Oh you’re Mac.”

“Oh, AJ has mentioned you and Harm,” said Kim.

“Yeah. Grandpa likes you,” Davey said in a stage whisper surprising AJ. He reached out and covered Davey’s mouth with his hand and somewhat embarrassed said, “Kids.”

“Let’s remember not to introduce him to Chloe.” Mac said before she realized it.

“Who’s Chloe? When can I meet her?”

“Sorry, kid. She lives in Texas,” AJ said.

“She is my 17 year old little sister and she is actually going to be going to college this fall.”

“That is hard to believe,” said AJ. “Why don’t you kids go and set the table, dinner should be ready soon.”

The kids set the table as AJ, Harm and Alan went into the kitchen to pull dinner out of the oven. Mac walked over to the table to referee a discussion about which side of the plate forks go. Suddenly, the twins ran over to her and jumped into her arms. Luckily she was able to keep her balance, until she squatted down and Davey ran to give her a hug too. After assuring Kim that the boys didn’t hurt her, she started to tickle any of the little boys she could reach. The men came out of the kitchen to the sounds of lots of laughter and saw a Marine and three little boys rolling around the floor tickling each other. Mac suddenly froze when she spotted a pair of shoes beside her. She looked up the long legs and saw the Admiral smiling down on her and the children.

“So a Marine can be taken down,” Harm said amused.

“Yeah, but notice it took three squids to do it.” The boys squealed as she tickled them again.

AJ reached down and picked up one twin in each arm as Alan helped Davey and Harm helped Mac.

“I’ve never seen a ticklish Marine before,” Alan commented.

“Well, I’m usually not, they just surprised me,” Mac said brushing off her slacks.

“You can stop being ticklish when you want?” asked an amazed Davey. Mac nodded. “Try, Grandpa.”

“Sorry. I can’t tickle her, she’s a Marine.”

“So only little boys can tickle her?” asked Davey. Before AJ could respond he noticed that Harm was sneaking up behind Mac to try to tickle her. His plan backfired, much to everyone’s delight, except his. Mac had him pinned on the floor before he even realized what happened.

AJ just looked at Davey and said, “See. I told you I couldn’t tickle her.”

Davey looked at Harm and said, “Silly, you aren’t a little boy.”

Everyone, even Harm, had to laugh at that. Mac helped Harm to his feet and said, “Don’t ever try that again.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he said with a smile.

Kim interrupted with; “Dinner is ready if you boys will go wash your hands.” She, Francesca, and Mac were surprised that Harm, Alan and AJ went also. “I guess men never forget the mother voice,” Kim said with a smile. Alan and AJ came back first and brought the rest of the food to the table along with Francesca. The other women watched the two men. “It’s amazing how much Alan is like his father,” said Mac.

“I always think of it the other way around,” Kim said with a smile. “It was strange when I first saw AJ. It was like I was looking at my husband in twenty years.”

“I’ve never seen the Admiral so animated. He is with Francesca to an extent but I’ve never seen him around children, other than the Robert’s kids.”

“He really is different now than when we first met. I think he still thinks of the kids as his troops though,” she whispered. “It’s rather amusing.” Just then they heard someone call out.

“Kim. Mac. Hurry up.”

“Alan sounds so much like his father. How can you tell them apart?”

“Actually Alan only called my name the rest of that was AJ.” She saw the surprised look on Mac’s face and continued, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it soon enough. You seem to be able to tell the twins apart, the rest should be easy.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Well, I just hope they don’t do to you what they did to me. Let’s go.”

“Now you have me curious,” said Mac

“I’ll explain later,” Kim said with a grin.

“After they do whatever it is?”

“Yep,” Kim said her grin widening.

They all sat down and enjoyed their dinner.

Mac watched Davey, Alan and the Admiral during dinner. “I knew Davey reminded me of someone.”

“When did you see Davey?” asked AJ.

“In the office today. I looked up and saw this adorable little boy watching me. He came in, sat down and started to chat.” AJ grinned but didn’t say anything.

“So that’s where you disappeared to,” said Kim.

“Sorry, Mommy.”

“That’s okay, sweetie but you need to tell me where you slip off too. I don’t want some one to take you.” Turning her attention back to Mac, “We thought that we would stop by at JAG Ops since Dad talked about it so much. I hope he didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Oh no, not at all. We had a nice discussion about his hat,” Mac smiled. “He said that he got it after his accident when he was bald. May I ask what that was about?”

“Sure. Boys, would you like to explain?” Kim asked the kids.

“Davey said his hair was too long,” said Ryan.

“So we cut it,” finished Carl.

“He was lucky that they didn’t scalp him,” Alan added. “We took him to a barber and he had a very close buzz cut. That is when we first met Dad.”

“Papa, I am going to have to get back to my hotel,” Francesca said hating to end the evening. “Can you give me a ride to my hotel?”

“Mac and I can give you a ride if that is okay,” Harm looked at Mac who nodded.

“No, Mac you can’t leave,” Carl said.

“You need to tuck us in,” Ryan finished his sentence.

“I’ll give you a ride home later, Mac. If you don’t mind,” offered AJ.

“That’s fine. Thanks.”

Shortly after Harm and Francesca left, the twins went to get their bath. Alan helped them out until the kids requested Mac to help out. Mac walked down the hall to help out and didn’t notice the smiles on everyone’s face. Had she seen them she wouldn’t have been too surprised when she ended up soaked. The kids finally were in their pajamas and tucked in when AJ slipped in to say good night and hand Mac a sweat suit.

“How did you know?” asked Mac.

“These boys don’t think a bath is complete until everything in the room is drenched.”

Mac slipped back into the bathroom to change into the dry clothes and then put Davey to bed as Alan said good night to the boys. Once all the kids were settled the adults went to the kitchen where Mac insisted on helping with the dishes. Kim came in and joined her to talk.

“You certainly have a way with the men in this family,” commented Kim.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the twins have never met a stranger, but even they aren’t usually this outgoing. And Davey, well, he can be so shy and private because he’s by himself a lot. I have Alan and the twins have each other, Davey is sort of a loner. You’re the first non-family member to tuck him in since, well, ever, I think. You won them over. Let me show you something.” She pulled out two photographs and showed them to Mac.

“Davey is so cute.”

Kim smiled and said, “This is Alan, and this one is AJ.”

“They are practically identical.”

“Now do you understand the big grin on AJ’s face after you commented about the adorable little boy in your office?” Kim paused for a while then said, “You seem to have won over AJ too.”

“The Admiral?”

“Yeah. I know I haven’t known him all that long, but I can tell by the way he talks about you, he cares for you.”

“He used to be a SeAL, he takes care of all of his team.”

“I don’t think that’s all.”

“If two officers are in the same chain of command they cannot have a relationship outside of work.”

“That’s not fair. Besides, he is retired, now.”

“True, but it still wouldn’t work,” Mac said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “He was my commanding officer it could still look inappropriate.

“So you do have feelings for him?” Seeing the confused look on Mac’s face Kim continued, “You agreed that it wasn’t fair that it was against regulations. So why wouldn’t it be fair if you didn’t care for him?”

“I can’t do anything about it. I got my most recent promotion under him and no one would believe that I earned it. So, if I have feelings for him, and I am not saying that I do, I just have to act like nothing is between us.”

“That’s too bad.” Kim stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

Just as Mac was just finishing up someone walked up behind her. She thought it was Alan, so she commented to him that he and his dad sounded just alike.

“Which one of us do you think you’re talking to?”

She turned completely red and the plate she was washing slipped out of her fingers as she turned and saw AJ smiling at her. “Your reaction was almost as good as Kim’s the first time she got us mixed up. Trust me she was real cautious until she realized how to tell us apart.”

“What was her reaction? And how can I tell you apart?”

“You’ll have to ask her,” AJ smiled as he took the plate from her hand and shooed her from the kitchen..

Mac finally had the chance to ask Emily what her reaction was.

“I’m embarrassed to say that I kissed him.”

“What?” Mac smiled.

“AJ came up behind me and I thought it was Alan so I turned around and kissed him before I realized it. I very quickly learned that they wear different colognes. You might want to remember that.”

“Why would I need to know that?”

“Oh, you never know.”

After AJ and Alan dropped Mac back at her place, Alan talked to AJ about the same subject that Kim had broached with Mac.

“Mac seems like a special lady. The men in this family certainly seem to like her.”

“She’s great with the kids.”

“I wasn’t just talking about the kids.” AJ looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

“Alan, what you are talking about is against,”

“Regulations. Yes, I know. But you do have feelings for her none the less, right?”

“As her former commanding officer I can not have any different feelings for her than anyone in my command,” he said somewhat gruffly. “It would look inappropriate.”

“What about as a man?”

“Even if I did, there is nothing I could do about it.” Alan noticed how his voice had lost the gruffness.

“That’s funny, Kim said that Mac said the same thing.”

###

A few weeks later, several of the JAG crew was in San Diego and when they were finished Mac decided to call Kim and Alan. They invited her to stay for a couple of days and after arranging it with work, she took a cab to their place and was surprised to see AJ there. They all had a good evening hanging out with the kids until the kids finally climbed on the couch with Mac and almost immediately fell asleep. AJ tried to pick up Ryan but he clung to Mac.

Kim commented, “I think they decided to keep you. Hope you don’t mind, once these men make up their minds there is no changing it.”

“Wonder who they got that from,” Mac said innocently, glancing sideways at AJ who sat on the end of the couch.

“I heard that, Marine,” said AJ.

After the kids finally got to bed, Mac and AJ went back to the couch and stayed up much of the night talking. They found that they had a lot more in common than they thought and neither one wanted the evening to end. The talked for so long that they ended up falling asleep on the couch, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder. Mac woke up in several hours later, surprisingly comfortable for sleeping on the couch when she realized who was with her. She just smiled and pulled an afghan over them and fell back asleep.

In the morning however Mac was a bit embarrassed to wake up in AJ’s arms but she soon forgot her discomfort when the kids came bounding down the stairs. The kids insisted that Mac stay for a few days so AJ offered to run to the store and get some groceries to make a good Italian dinner. After two hours when he didn’t come home, they were all beginning to worry. They decided that he must just taking a long time trying to find the right ingredients.

“Mom! Ryan won’t give me the remote back,” yelled Carl.

The adults walked into the living room and were rather shocked to see the terrible car accident shown on the TV. They looked at each other, recognizing the nearly flattened car to look just like AJ’s rental. Mac immediately pulled out her cell phone to call him but was disappointed when she heard it ringing on the end table. They didn’t say anything to the kids who flipped the channel and didn’t think anything else of it. Mac was sure that if something had happened the police would have contacted them but as the day went by her hopes began to fade. She helped to tuck the boys in that night and then went to do the dishes so that she could be by herself for a little while. She also wanted to give Kim and Alan some time alone.

Mac was standing lost in thought at the sink when she finally let her feelings out. She let her tears fall as silently as she could, she didn’t want to upset Alan or Kim. She heard the door open and knew that it was Alan so she tried to wipe her eyes.

“I’ll probably leave in the morning,” she said.

“Why?”

“I’m sorry. You are just so much like him,” she said as he walked closer and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Sarah,” he said causing her to wonder why Alan was calling her that. She took a deep breath and noticed his cologne. It wasn’t Alan’s. She turned in surprise.

“AJ?” She flung her arms around his neck and held him tightly. He held her just as tightly not exactly sure what was happening. “I thought you were in that big accident. We saw it on TV, one of the cars looked like yours.”

“Oh Sarah. I’m sorry. I tried to get to a phone but I couldn’t. I saw the accident and I tried to help out. I didn’t realize until later that one of the cars looked like mine.”

“I thought I lost you, AJ,” she whispered as she relaxed her hold slightly..

AJ responded by looking into her eyes and caressing her cheek, he said, “I’m not going anywhere, Sarah. I promise.”

“I don’t want to loose you,” she said again.

“You aren’t going to. I’ve had a good time since I retired but I really missed you. I didn’t realize how much until you came over for dinner that night and then again last night. We have so much in common. I would like to see where that might go,” he said wondering if he said too much.

“Me too, AJ,” she said as they both leaned together and finally finished that kiss from so long ago.

The End