Title: A Flyboy on the Wall

Category: JAG 2015

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: JAG and all its characters belong to Belisarius Production, Paramount, CBS, Viacom and anyone else.

Author’s comments: This is my submission for the 2005 Chaz Awards for the JAGFanFestEast for the Challenge JAG 2015 category. Speaking parts are in double quotes, thoughts are in single quotes.

Author: Astrid

Feedback to : astridz55@earthlink.net

"Congratulations, Captain Roberts,” said the JAG, Admiral Hudson, as he handed over new shoulder boards.

“Thank you, Sir,” said Bud as his family and friends watched with wide smiles.

I watch with a little sadness because I never got as far as Bud got today. I’m happy for Bud though, I really am. I’m the reason that he is here at JAG in the first place. I knew that he would make a good lawyer; I just never realized that he would be as good as he is. He’s had a lot of things to work through in his life and he has done very well.

Harriet looks so proud of her husband standing there. I remember the day those two met and she’s still just as pretty, maybe even more. Bud looks older but he matured well. He looks distinguished with his dark gray hair. It’s so hard to believe that it has been 19 years since he came to JAG.

Looking around the room, so many things have changed since then. It’s still amazing to me to think that it’s been 6 years since my Stearman crash. I see Mac chatting with Harriet and think about how much I always loved her. It is a shame that I wasn’t smart enough to speak up for her when I had the chance. The important thing is that she is happy now. It rather surprised me and everyone else when she started dating Admiral Chegwidden almost five years ago.

The Admiral is congratulating Bud but he still keeps an eye on Mac. That is definitely a man truly in love. And he didn’t make the same mistake that I did. When he saw Mac again for the first time in years, he asked her out. They have been together ever since. Marriage seems to have agreed with him, he really looks very similar as he did the day he started here at JAG.

Hovering near the restrooms are Lt. Commander Michael Roberts and his wife Cammie. She is pregnant with their second child and is suffering from horrible morning sickness.  I overheard Bud saying the other day that he doesn’t envy his brother those days.  I know that Bud loves his wife but when she was pregnant she would either be sick or eat something that would make him sick.  I wonder if Cammie had tried tuna fish with salsa for breakfast yet. 

There by my old office is Harriet, glowing with pride and delight.  She and the kids knew about this promotion all along and managed to keep it a secret from Bud.  I always knew Harriet was a strong woman but I had no idea the depth of it. She had the gift to make everyone feel at home around her. She manages to keep the family going through all the troubles that every family has and even some that no family should have to deal with.

Over there by the copier is Little AJ, no just AJ now.  I smile as I remember the day last year when he walked up to his dad, looked him in the eye and said “Dad, I’m not so little any more.”  He has his mother’s coloring but his father’s build.  I thought back a few months ago when AJ Roberts came into JAG ops and announced that he was going to go to the Academy and wanted to be a SEAL just like his namesake.

Jimmy is twelve now and just starting to shoot up like his brother.  He’s had a more difficult time these last few years.  He was very attached to me for some reason and after my crash he had some tough times. Then he was diagnosed with leukemia.  He is in remission now but there is still a thought hidden in everyone’s mind that it will come back some day.  I think that Jimmy tries to use humor to cover up his fears of that so he can be a little joker at times. The day AJ announced his intentions to be a SEAL, Jimmy announced he wanted to be just like his namesake too. A star ship captain. I really don’t think Harriet appreciated that one.

The twins, inseparable as always, were next to the water cooler.  Similar to AJ in coloring and build, they are cute kids, they all were. I just wish that I’d been around to spend more time with the twins when they were small, especially Nicky. She had all the men around here wrapped around her cute little finger since the day she was born. Nicky knew it but she has her mother’s grace and kindness so she isn’t spoiled. The fact that she has three big brothers who constantly pick on her doesn’t hurt.

As I look around, I see everyone celebrating Bud’s special day. He really is the heart of this place. I had always thought that I was. The past six years have been eye opening for me, in a strange way. I thought that people would be devastated by my final accident, and they were, for a while. The Roberts moved on when Jimmy got sick, Mac when her uncle died, and everyone else just sort have moved on, too.

I know that I’m not forgotten though, Bud actually joked the other day that he thought I was haunting JAG Ops. I smiled when I remembered some of Bud’s crazier psychic ideas, this makes me wonder what else he might have been right about. I knew he would finally figure that out when he discovered that those infernal bullet holes in the ceiling had caused another problem.

Maybe it’s time for me to move on, now. After the accident, I knew that I had the chance to stay or continue on my journey into my next life with a new family. I just didn’t want to leave this one. Hold on, what is Harriet saying? I was going to be coming home.

“Harriet, I am amazed that you and the kids kept this secret.  I don’t think that I could ever be more surprised,” Bud said.

“You want to make a bet?” Harriet asked.

“I didn’t think that I would ever make Lt. Commander much less Captain.  What can be a bigger surprise than that?”

She said nothing, just smiled and handed him the positive pregnancy test and waited for his response.

“A baby?!”

The end