JAG Baby Part 2

Disclaimers in Part 1

Mac was six months along when Harriet decided to have a surprise baby shower for her at the office. The shower was a big hit with only one problem. All the men came too and they sat on one side of the room uncomfortably while all the women ooh’ed and ahh’ed over all the cute little gifts. When everyone first got there, Harriet announced a game. She passed out clothespins to each person.

“If you catch anyone saying the word ‘baby’ you can take away one of their clothes pins. The one with the most clothespins at the end wins.” She finished holding up a little gift bag.

“Throw in the words cute and adorable and I’ll treat the winner to lunch,” the Admiral couldn’t resist adding dryly as everyone laughed.

They all enjoyed the cake and Mac started to open the gifts and soon Mac was collecting lots of clothespins, including all of Buds. Much to the Admiral’s chagrin Harm caught him commenting that a particular outfit was cute. Harm just reached over and grabbed the clothespin before the Admiral realized what he had said. The Admiral glared at him until Harm handed the clothespin back while mumbling, “I must have misheard you sir.”

“That’s what I thought, Commander.”

The outfit in question was little uniform looked just like a certain aviator’s uniform. People were hoping that this would make Mac admit who the father was. It didn’t work. Mac did think that the uniform was cute but she already was thinking about trying to find a little SeAL trident to replace the wings. As she was still thinking about that, she opened up the next gift. She looked carefully but found no tag on it. She did suspect that she knew who have given her the infant sized Marine uniform. There were more comments and by the end of the party, Mac had almost all of the clothespins. The only person who hadn’t lost any was the Admiral. They both thought that a lunch together would be nice since they would be able to actually talk about the baby and not have to wait until the evening to chat on line.

After the shower, Mac finally got all of her stuff into her office with help from Bud, Harm, AJ and the Gunny. Once her office was filled with gifts, she went back to work for a few more hours. When she was ready to leave for the day she noticed that the Gunny was still there. “Gunny, can you help me take some of this stuff to my car?”

“Of course, ma’am.” He walked into her office and gathered as much as he could carry, which was most of it. Mac was left with two small bags to carry the little Navy uniform and the little Marine uniform. They walked down to her car and she popped the trunk open so he could put the gifts inside.

“Thanks for helping, Gunny.”

“Not a problem, ma’am.”

“I also wanted to thank you for the gift,” she said carefully watching his expression.

“It was just a couple of bibs,” he said not meeting her eyes.

“Not that gift,” Mac said with a smile. She noticed that Marine Gunnery Sargent Galindez was looking very nervous all of a sudden. “Where did you ever find the greens?”

Knowing that he was discovered, he sighed then answered, “My mother made it for me.”

“Tell your mother thank you for me. It’s adorable.”

“My mother loves to sew so it wasn’t a problem. The only problem was that it took me an hour explaining that it wasn’t for me and why I hadn’t told her about this before. I still don’t know if she believes me.”

“Would you like me to call her and explain?” she asked with a smile.

“Not necessary, ma’am. She’s just really looking forwards to grandchildren. I keep telling her that she’ll have to bug my sisters about that.” Mac smiled. “Will you need any help when you get home?”

“No, I’ll just make a couple of trips tonight and take the rest of the stuff up tomorrow.”

On the way home she made a quick stop and purchase at that baby store that she was beginning to frequent. When she got home she gathered up the uniforms and went to open up the trunk. She picked up a couple more lightweight bags and shutting the trunk she went upstairs. After she got into her apartment she was too tired to go back for more stuff so she figured that she would just leave it in her trunk for the time being. She poured a glass of milk then sat down and started to fill in the baby book that she had gotten. She made sure that even though she would write ‘we’ there was no way to find out whom that meant.

The phone startled her a while later. It was the Gunny making sure once again that she didn’t need any help. No sooner than she hung the phone up it rang again. This time it was Harm asking if she needed any help. She told him no also and as she just hung up the phone the doorbell rang. It was the Admiral.

“Give me your keys. I’ll bring the stuff up for you.” Knowing that arguing with him would not go well for her she handed over the keys silently. He turned and walked back down stairs. She slipped into the kitchen to start dinner. She knew she wasn’t the best cook but he hadn’t complained yet. As a matter of fact, he had given her some recipes to try so she pulled out one of them and got started.

She heard him at the door and went to open it. It seemed that she had a magic trunk that made the gifts multiply. He silently put the gifts down and putting her keys by the door he walked back out. She was confused. Why would he leave and not say goodbye or anything? Her hormones started to get the best and her eyes began to tear up when he knocked on the door. He was carrying more gifts. She suddenly laughed, “My trunk isn’t that big!”

“No, but mine is.” He set down a portable playpen, a car seat, and large bag stuffed full of things.

“Where are these from?” she asked.

“My car. There’s also a crib downstairs,” AJ said.

Mac’s mood suddenly turned sad again. She hated the fact that her hormones shifted so quickly these days. AJ shut the door behind him then he took her into his arms. He mumbled, “And I thought Marcella’s mood swings were dangerous.”

She couldn’t help but smile remembering the story he had told her about a can opener. “Thank you. You’ve been so good to me. I’ll pay you back for this,” she said, still in his arms.

“No, you won’t,” he insisted.

“Yes, I will. You’ve already given me so much.”

“Not as much as you are giving me,” he said as he tentatively reached his hand out to touch her belly. She took his wrist and moved his hand so that he could feel the baby’s movements. His face softened into a smile.

“You don’t need permission to touch your child, AJ.” His startled eyes met hers. He knew he was the father but still every now and then something she would say would surprise him. “I have something for you.” She stepped over to the bags that he had brought up with him, knowing that he brought up the one that she stopped after work to buy. She found it and pulled it out for him. It was a duplicate of the baby book that she had gotten at the shower. “This one is for you to fill out, with all your thoughts and feelings. If you want to that is,” she said suddenly unsure he would want to.

“Hand me a pen.” She handed him a pen and as he started to write she went to check on dinner. He sat and watched her unnoticed for a while. He smiled as she reached down and unconsciously rubbed the side of her belly. He filled in the book as she finished up dinner. While they were eating dinner, he asked, “By the way, did you find out who gave you the little uniform?”

“Gunny.” AJ’s eyes widened in surprise. “He had his mother make it. It’s seems that he had a hard time convincing her that it wasn’t for him.” AJ sat back and laughed, picturing the look on the Gunny’s face.

“He seemed embarrassed about it so I’m not going to tell anyone at work about it.”

“They’ll probably figure it out on their own anyway. He is the only other Marine in the office.”

“True, but they won’t hear it from me. Besides, knowing Harriet, if she sees someone bothering Gunny, she’ll take credit for it.” They laughed as they finished their dinner slowly both knowing that once it was over he was going to have to leave. Mac was cherishing her time with AJ even more as her pregnancy progressed. She knew that part of her would always have a special place in her heart for agreeing to be the father of her child but she was beginning to have more feelings for him.

Several weeks later, Mac and Harriet were talking about the Lamaze class that they were both taking.

“So, Mac, do you have a coach? I’m sure that Bud could help you out if you want.”

“Thanks Harriet but I’ll be meeting my coach there,” she said evasively.

“So who’s going to be your coach, Harm?”

“No. Can imagine how he would react if he was the only one to help.”

“That’s true.” They walked into the room where the class was to be held immediately spotting AJ on the other side of the room. “You asked the Admiral?” Harriet’s jaw dropped.

“Well, he delivered Little AJ just fine so I figure if I needed someone to deliver mine I would rather it be him than Harm. Harm would pass out,” Mac smiled.

“That is true. But how in the world did you ask him?” Harriet asked in a whisper.

“I brought up the fact that he did so well with little AJ, and asked if he would like another chance this time to be involved without the surprise from the last time. Also, he knows I don’t have anyone to help so he was glad to do it. We just have decided it is best to not really mention this at the office.”

“Of course. My lips are sealed. And I’ll make sure Bud doesn’t say anything.” Harriet looked over Mac’s shoulder in surprise. “Oh no. I forgot that I mentioned the class to the Commander.”

Mac turned to see Harm walking straight to her but before with of them could say anything the teacher walked up and asked, “Are you Mac’s coach?”

“Yes, I am,” Harm said sounding like a proud papa. Before Mac could say anything, the Admiral walked up behind them.

“I thought I was the coach,” the Admiral said.

“I didn’t think that Mac had a coach so I thought I would just volunteer, sir,” Harm tried to explain. He looked a bit hurt that Mac would have asked someone else.

“Harm,” Mac started to explain when the teacher spoke up.

“Great! Two daddy’s. One to coach and one to catch.”

Harm turned white as a sheet and mumbled, “You catch.” AJ, Mac, and the teacher laughed.

Once the teacher walked away, Mac explained, “He delivered Little AJ. I feel more comfortable in case something happens so that he could help. Unless you really want to deliver another one,” Mac said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“NO! Once was enough.”

“That’s what I thought.”

At the end of the class, AJ helped Mac to stand and no one noticed how he gently ran his hand down her back began to gently rub her lower back. He didn’t even realize that he had done it. Harriet noticed though. Mac had told Harriet that her back had been bothering her but Harriet was kind of surprised that the Admiral knew. Harriet began to wonder how much the Admiral knew about Mac and the baby. He seemed to know just where to rub her back and he didn’t look uncomfortable touching her, almost like he was used to it. She noticed that they hadn’t been talking as much now as before she was pregnant. She always loved a good mystery.

Harriet soon had more things to think about as MacKenzie Ann Roberts arrived almost two weeks before her due date. Luckily, this delivery was a bit more uneventful than the first two. The only ironic thing was that she was in the Admiral’s office when her labor started. Everyone was really happy for Harriet and Bud and they were all pleased that she had no troubles this time. Bud was passing out candy cigars and Harm passed out a few real ones.

In no time at all, Harriet was back home and things were slowly getting back to normal, for the Roberts family at least. Mac’s hormones, on the other hand, were still going out of whack. Several weeks later, on a Friday, AJ was going to take Sarah out for their weekly dinner. Mac didn’t really feel up to going out in public now that she was officially 38 weeks pregnant today.

They went to her place instead. He cooked her a simple dinner and served it to her while she sat on the couch, finishing up the last of her thank you notes for some baby gifts. She looked up to see AJ working efficiently and thoughtfully to make her something she would enjoy. She was touched. He was treating her so nice, so much better than she deserved. Her hormones once again got the best of her and she tried to get up before she made a fool of herself in front of him, again, but like usual she was stuck in the couch. AJ heard her trying to get up and went in to check on her.

“Sarah?”

“I’m so fat, I can’t even get off the couch by myself.” She started to cry in earnest. AJ stepped back into the kitchen, turned off the stove, grabbed some tissues and handed them to her. He then picked up the phone and dialed.

“It’s Chegwidden.” He paused. “Start the ball rolling.” Then he hung up. He saw the questioning look in her tearful eyes. “Don’t worry. It will all be okay.” He reached for her and let her cry on his shoulder. “I promise, Sarah.”

She wasn’t sure if she imagined it or not but it felt like he kissed the top of her head lightly just after he said that. He held her for a while until she finally stopped crying. He pulled back and saw that she was sleeping. He gently picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. She woke a bit as he placed her in the middle of the bed. She smiled as she saw him reach for her shoes and removed them and set them by the bed.

“And here I thought that this would have happened before I got pregnant with your child,” she mumbled not really thinking that she actually said it. Realizing that she didn’t mean to say it, AJ acted like he didn’t hear her, but it did make him smile. He pulled the blankets out from under her legs and covered her with them, tucking her in. He brushed her hair back from her face as she fell asleep again. He turned and walked out only to be stopped by a little voice that said, “AJ don’t leave me.”

He walked back and sat on the edge of the bed. “I won’t leave. Go back to sleep.” She rolled over so her back was facing him as he moved around so he could lean against the headboard. He reached down and started to rub her back gently and he heard her breathing deepen. After he was sure she was asleep, he brushed her hair off her face again and finally let himself look at her. She was even more beautiful asleep than awake. AJ smiled when Mac nuzzled her check against his hand.

AJ sat there for a while, thinking about how he will tell her he just accepted a new job and that he did it out of his feelings for her. His hands eventually found their way to her rounded stomach, which he gently explored. Finally, without meaning to, he fell asleep. After awhile AJ woke up enough to kick off his shoes and slide down into the bed. He gathered Sarah into his arms, kissed her on the neck and fell sound asleep. A few hours later, Sarah stirred and was rather surprised to find AJ’s arms around her. She rolled over and put her arms around him and snuggled her head into his chest. He stirred just enough to kiss her on the head and whisper.

“I love you, Sarah.” Her gasp startled him fully awake. “You okay, Sarah?” He seemed surprised to see them wrapped around each other.

“You just said you loved me,” she said as he stroked his hand across her cheek.

“Sarah. I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to tell you. Not like this.”

“So, you do?”

“I’ve had feelings for you for a long time now. But I couldn’t ever say it before.”

“Why is now any different? Is it the baby?” she asked.

“No, it isn’t because of the baby. Well, if it weren’t for the baby we wouldn’t be as close as we are now. I would probably never have gotten to know you so well. Because you included me in the pregnancy from the beginning, I got to see the real you, even the vulnerable side. I’m finding that I am becoming very attached to you, Sarah.”

“I think I feel the same way, AJ.” He pulled her closer and then he fell back asleep. The baby was deciding to be restless so Mac went ahead and got up since she couldn’t sleep any more. Before she left the bedroom she watched him as he slept.

‘He is so handsome,’ she thought. She was working on cleaning up from last night’s dinner and fixing breakfast. She was thinking about AJ’s declaration of love. ‘How were they going to handle that?’ she wondered. “I guess that was something that would have to wait until later,’ knowing that something had to change before they truly admitted any feeling for each other. Suddenly someone knocked on her door. Not wanting to wake-up AJ she hurried to the door. It was Harriet.

“Morning, Mac. I just thought I would stop by to bring you some more baby clothes that the little ones have already out grown.”

“Thanks Harriet. That’s sweet of you,” Mac said quietly not wanting to wake the baby. “Let me see this little one.” She played with the baby for a few minutes as Harriet set down the bag of clothes. “Well, Mac, Bud is waiting in the car, so I really should get going.” Before Harriet could leave, a voice called out from Mac’s bedroom.

“Mac, who is that? It almost sounded like the…” She stopped talking when AJ walked into the room, barefoot and in a wrinkled shirt with the tails half out and the top few buttons undone.

“Damn,” he said softly when he noticed Harriet. Figuring there was little he could do about it now he walked over to see the baby and almost possessively put his arm around Mac. “She’s adorable, do you need any help getting her into the car?”

“No, sir, Bud is there with Little AJ. I can manage. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. I am just rather surprised that I was right.”

“You knew?” AJ and Mac asked at the same time in shock.

“I suspected, but I wasn’t sure. And no you weren’t that obvious at the office. It was the Lamaze class that made me really start thinking. And Bud doesn’t have a clue.”

“Does he ever?” AJ said in a tone that belied his harsh words.

“How true, sir. Have a good day.” She turned around to leave then she suddenly stopped. “My God, Mac! If you thought you couldn’t ask Harm, how did you ask him?”

Mac laughed so hard she couldn’t respond so AJ said, “I think it went something like ‘excuse me but would you be the father of my child.’”

“Um, uh, ok. We’ll talk later Mac.”

“Bye Harriet.”

AJ went to the kitchen to start breakfast as Mac went through the clothes that Harriet had brought.

“AJ? One thing we never discussed is what will the baby’s name be.”

“That one I leave in your court, Sarah,” he said as he scrambled the eggs.

“Well, I was thinking about naming him after my Uncle Matt.”

“Matthew MacKenzie. Sounds good.”

“Actually, I was thinking Matthew Albert MacKenzie.”

“Sarah,” he said stopping his cooking to look at her in surprise.

“You are the father so I think he should have something of your name. No one will guess, you are my coach and you’ve been a great influence in my life, especially with this.” She rubbed her hand across her belly. “Feel. I think he likes to play football with my kidneys. If you don’t want me to…”

“Sarah, I thought it was obvious that I’ll pretty much do what ever you would like, especially after last night.” He went to take her in his arms again but stopped when he realized she was staring to cry again.

“I’m sorry sir.” He held her as close as he could.

“I thought we got past the ‘sir’ thing, Sarah,” he said quietly.

“I’m, just, I’m confused. I’ll try but I think I’ll slip up every now and then, forgive me?”

“What’s to forgive?”

The next few days, Mac was very happy. Until Thursday when AJ called them into his office and announced his retirement to be effective the following day. She was upset that he didn’t talk to her about it. He hadn’t even given her a clue, except possibly one.

“That was the ball wasn’t it, sir?” she asked confusing everyone else in the room, even though Harriet had an idea.

“Yes. It was my decision to make. I’ve thought about it for a while now about taking a different position and it has come through finally. It’s time I moved on.”

Stunned they all left his office silent. Mac went into her office and stoically tried not to cry. She avoided him and everyone else for the rest of the day. She finally went home and for some reason felt like cleaning. She needed to get her mind off of AJ. Her phone kept ringing but she ignored it until she realized that the new ringing was the doorbell. She was actually surprised that it was Harm, she had thought it would have been AJ.

“Mac, are you okay? I called but you didn’t answer,” he asked concerned.

“I’m fine. Just a little upset about something, forgive me if I start to cry. My hormones are going nuts,” she used that as an excuse.

“Here, sit down. What’s wrong?” He asked while putting his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

“He lied to me, Harm. I finally found someone; he told me he loved me and then I found out he was lying. What am I going to do?”

“Oh, Mac.” He held her tighter and gave her a couple of quick kisses on the top of her head. “You are going to move on.” Not realizing he used the same words that AJ had used earlier, he just made her cry more. “You need to, the baby will need you to be strong.”

“I’m just so tired of having to be strong all the time. Even a Marine needs to have someone to lean on every now and then.” He took her face in his hands, gently wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

“Mac, I’ll always be here for you. You can always lean on me and I promise not to tell.” He kissed her on her forehead.

“Thank you, Harm. You’re so good to me.” He looked into her eyes for a moment then leaned further down to kiss her gently on her lips.

“Harm?” she asked.

“Sorry, Mac. I couldn’t help myself. You know, I do love you.” She looked at him startled. “But I just, well, there was no, um…”

“No spark.”

“Right,” he said regretfully. “Can’t say I never hoped that the two of us might get together someday, but I can see now that it just wouldn’t work. Besides I think there is someone out there that you are in love with and if he has any brains at all he will apologize for whatever he did,” he smiled his trademark flyboy smile, “I’ll be a gentleman and step aside. I just want you to be happy.”

“I’m sorry Harm. I really don’t want to talk about him.” She unconsciously rubbed her belly.

“Is he the father?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t like that, we’ve never made love. I know I let the other people at work think whatever they wanted but I should have been honest with you. You are my best friend. Actually, I had thought about asking you to be the father.”

“You know there is a bet going around at work?”

“Yeah, but no one will tell me about it. I am guessing that it is about when the baby will be born.”

“No, not quite. The bet is when are you going to actually announce that I’m the father.” He looked a bit sheepish.

“Why would they think that?” she laughed.

“Well, I guess one of the reasons is that most of the people at work seems to have thought that we would get together at some point. The only people who aren’t in it are Harriet and Tiner. Another reason is that I am a co-coach.”

“But they don’t assume that the Admiral is the father,” she blurted before she could help it.

Luckily he didn’t catch her near mistake. “You know I still can’t believe he’s leaving JAG tomorrow. And he only told us about it today.”

“Harm, I really don’t want to talk about him okay?”

“Ok, Mac. Just relax.” He arranged himself to be more comfortable and within easy reach of the remote and the phone. He put one leg on the couch behind her and pulled her into his arms.

“Thank you for understanding, Harm. You are the best friend I’ve ever had,” she yawned, snuggled up to him and fell right to sleep.

“Same to you Mac,” he whispered. Eventually he picked up the remote and turning the volume down real low, he watched TV until he dozed off. The phone suddenly woke him. Trying to get it before Mac woke fully, he answered, “Hello? Hello?”

Mac stirred, “Who is it?”

“Must have been a wrong number. Have a good nap?”

“Yeah, but the baby has decided it is time for jumping jacks. Here feel.” She took his hand and placed it where the baby was kicking.

“Wow. That’s amazing. You have a little person in there. I had better get going but it has nice holding you Mac. Even if there is more of you now to hold.”

“And it’s not because of the Beltway Burgers.” She gave him a quick peck on his lips. “Good night, Harm. Thank you for the shoulder.”

“Not a problem, Mac. One of them will always be here for you. See you tomorrow.”

Mac locked the door, and changed into her nightgown and went to bed, thinking about AJ. What was she going to do about him? She luckily fell asleep before she thought too long.

She awoke in the morning to a contraction. She took a couple of deep breaths and the contraction stopped. She had a couple more while she was getting ready for work and on the way in but they weren’t very strong and they were just coming randomly. She got a call from the Admiral and was told to meet in his office now.

“Where were you last night, I tried to call,” he asked worried. “I was going to come over but I didn’t want to wake you in case you were sleeping.”

“I needed to clean so I didn’t bother to answer the phone. Then Harm stopped by and I was starting to feel a bit overemotional.”

“About?”

“You leaving. Why are you leaving?” she asked softly.

“Because I…” He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

AJ stepped back and said “Enter.”

“Mac, Sir. I just wanted to stop in and see if Mac is doing okay.”

“Yes. Harm. I’m doing fine I wish everyone would quit,” she suddenly stopped.

“Mac,” said both Harm and AJ at the same time.

“I’m-” suddenly her water broke.

“AJ! My water broke!” Harm caught the use of his first name.

“What the hell is it with pregnant women and my office?” he bellowed.

Harm was, surprisingly, the calm one. He gently led her to a chair then picked up the phone and had Tiner call for an ambulance. “Breathe, Mac, just breathe.”

“AJ!” she cried as she reached out her hand. “I need you.”

That one little phrase made him suddenly calm. He needed to help her, and he needed to be calm to do it.

“Breathe, Sarah,” he looked into her eyes and she started to calm down and breathe. Finally the contraction passed, he stood up.

“Don’t leave me.”

He leaned back down and whispered in her ear, “You know I’ll never do that.” He stood back up and said, “I just need to get something from my desk before I go with you.”

He opened a drawer and pulled out a bag that he put in his jacket pocket. He also grabbed an envelope. The ambulance finally got there and when the paramedic asked how long since the last contraction, Harm and AJ both looked at Mac. Neither had even considered buying a stopwatch.

“How am I supposed to know? I’m a bit distracted!” she snapped when she saw the looks on their faces.

Harm and AJ laughed as they started to take Mac out of the office. On the way out, AJ handed Tiner the envelope as Tiner handed him a stopwatch.

“Congratulations, sir,” Tiner said softly. Before the startled AJ could say anything, Harm called out to him.

“Sir, we better get going. I’ll follow in my car.” They soon made it to the hospital and Mac’s labor progressed quickly and with no complications other than Harm.

Harm and AJ both were trying to help Mac with her breathing but the further along Mac’s labor progressed, the more nervous Harm got. Finally, the doctor went to kick him out. Harm refused to leave at first not wanting to leave AJ there. He felt that he should be there for Mac even if he was a bit nervous.

“A bit nervous?” laughed Mac. “Please Harm, I’ll be okay.”

“Okay. But I’m going to stay right out there. If you need me just have someone get me okay?”

“Okay, Harm. I promise,” she said as another contraction started.

Finally late that evening the doctor said, “One more push, Sarah.”

She pushed and the doctor soon lifted her son and laid him on her stomach, “It’s a boy.”

Sarah was crying and even AJ had a few tears in his eyes. He brushed her hair back and kissed her on the forehead, then whispered, “Thank you, Sarah.”

“Here, Daddy, you hold him.” The doctor handed the baby to AJ, he was amazed at how tiny and perfect his son was. His son, his knees started to get weak, the nurse noticed and took the baby just before he passed out.

“AJ!”

“Don’t worry Sarah, he’ll be fine. Lot’s of daddies pass out.”

“I told you, he’s my coach,” she weakly protested.

“Among other things I’m sure, Sarah,” the doctor said. “That didn’t look like simple coaching to me.”

“Get Harm. Have him stay with the baby.” The doctors and nurses took the baby to be washed and checked up on and they finished up with Sarah before taking her back to her room. AJ was already in the room, still unconscious. “Is he going to be okay?” Sarah asked the nurse.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” the nurse said with a smile.

Finally AJ woke up to find himself in a bed, he groaned when he realized what had happened.

“AJ?” Sarah softly called from the bed next to him. He cautiously got out of the bed and walked over to Sarah.

“How long was I out?” he asked embarrassed.

“33 minutes. They should be bringing the baby in anytime now.” AJ smiled at Sarah.

Just then the door opened and the nurse wheeled in a bassinet followed by Harm carrying a bunch of flowers.

“Congratulations, Mom. How are you doing?” He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “Sir, how are you feeling?” he asked with a mostly suppressed grin.

“Fine. Don’t you dare mention it to anyone, Rabb. Like you won’t do the same thing when you have a baby.” he growled.

“Ok, you two stop it,” said Mac hoping Harm wasn’t astute enough to notice AJ claiming the child as his own.

“Ok, Mom,” said Harm. “So when can I hold the baby?”

“Later, Harm. I want to hold him first,” she said as she handed AJ her glass of water.

“I’ll leave him here for your two men to fight over, ma’am,” said the nurse. “If you need anything just press the call button. We will send someone in to help you with feeding him in a few hours.”

“Thank you. AJ hand him here,” she reached out to take the child. He picked up the child like a pro. “See. I told you that you would be a natural.” He reluctantly let go of the child. Mac held him nervously. “He’s so tiny.” AJ pulled off the baby’s hat that Mac had knocked askew. He picked up Mac’s glass of water and took a drink not realizing the intimacy that implied. Harm reached out and ran a finger over his full head of hair.

“Look at all that hair, sure takes after his mother.” AJ choked on his water, “Sir, you okay?”

“Yes, fine,” he nodded.

“Harm, can you do me a favor?” asked Mac.

“Sure, what do you need?”

“Can you go to my place and pick up some things for me? I need my suitcase next to the door and I think I have a list of things to bring on the fridge. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find them.” She looked at AJ and he handed Harm Mac’s set of keys. “Thanks, Harm.” He touched the baby’s hand then walked out of the room. “That should take him a while.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did I forget to mention that I hadn’t bought some of the stuff yet,” she smiled at AJ. “Here, Daddy, do you want to hold your son?”

His throat closed up as he sat on the edge of her bed and took his child from her. He just sat there for a while, holding his child, Mac’s hand on his knee. Just as he was about to say something, a nurse came in with a beautiful bouquet of the most beautiful flowers Mac had ever seen. They were white roses with one perfect red rose in the center. She took the card and read it, ‘Words can’t express my feelings for the wonderful gift that you’ve just given me. All my love, AJ’

“Oh, sir,” her eyes began to tear.

“I thought that we agreed that you wouldn’t call me sir anymore,” he said kindly.

“It’s just that I fell in love with an admiral so will always be my admiral to me.”

“You really mean that?” he asked hopefully.

“I love you, AJ and I always will.” She leaned over to kiss him lightly on the lips.

“Sarah, you asked me a surprising question a while ago, so now I might have a surprising question for you. Sarah, will you marry me?”

“Oh, AJ, of course I’ll marry you.”

“I wanted to be romantic, take you out to dinner, and give you a ring, but I’m…” she interrupted him.

“I kind of like this better than a ring,” she reached and touched her son’s head.

He stood up and picked up his jacket, and removed the bag that he had earlier slipped into his pocket. He pulled out the little ring box and he placed the baby back in Mac’s right arm. Taking her left hand he gently placed the ring on her finger. “I love you, Sarah.”

“Oh AJ.” Their lips met in a sweet kiss with just a touch of things yet to come.

“See, Sarah, I told you he was more than just a coach.” They pulled apart and looked to see the doctor. Sarah, at least looked a bit embarrassed. AJ just looked pleased. “I’m here to check up on you and the little one. Daddy you take him for a minute but don’t pass out this time.” She laughed at his glare.

She took Sarah’s vitals, then the baby’s; all was fine. “Has anyone come in yet to show you how to feed him?”

“No, not yet.”

“I’ll send her in in a minute.”

“Thanks,” said Mac.

A nurse named Martha came in a short time later to show Mac how to breastfeed the baby. She was telling Mac how to wake the baby up when he fell asleep and other tricks to make sure he fed well. AJ started telling Mac other things also, when Martha the nurse asked how he knew these things he stated that he had read anything he could find on the subject of babies in the last 10 months.

“Well you seem to have everything well in hand, so I will come back in about 20 minutes to check and see if you have any questions. Here’s a blanket in case you want to cover up.” AJ sat on the bed and unashamedly watched Sarah as she fed their child. After 10 minutes, Sarah switched the baby to the other breast and AJ helped her cover up herself. Every now and then AJ would cup his hand around the child’s head. It was at one of these times that Harm and Bud walked in.

Harm saw the intimate moment, and said, “Bud out,” as he turned around to leave himself. While his back was turned, AJ covered her breast and the baby with the lightweight blanket.

“Harm, Bud you can come in,” Mac said.

“That’s okay. We’ll be back in 10 minutes, okay?” Harm said embarrassed.

“See you then,” replied AJ as he gently removed the blanket so that he could continue to watch his child.

“Shall we tell them when they come back in, AJ?”

“Sure, too bad I don’t have a camera to catch the looks on their faces,” AJ said with a smile. Mac smiled back, “There is one in my suitcase.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I think he’s about done.”

“Here I’ll take him.” Sarah handed the baby back to AJ and straightened her nightgown. She thought that she heard him whisper to the baby, “the first time I get to see them and you get to have them.”

There was a knock on the door and a voice called out, “It’s Harm and Bud. Can we come in?”

AJ gave the baby back to Mac and went to open the door. Harm and Bud walked in carrying a suitcase and some plastic bags.

“Mac, you didn’t mention that I had to go out and buy some of this stuff.”

“Sorry, I guess I forgot,” she responded with a bit of a grin.

“In the suitcase?” AJ asked.

“Yes, in the front pocket.” He opened up her suitcase and pulled out her camera. Neither Harm nor Bud noticed that they were finishing each other’s thoughts.

“Ma’am, can I hold him?” asked Bud.

“Let Uncle Harm hold him first.” She handed the baby out to Harm.

“Wow, he’s so tiny. I’m afraid I’ll break him. Here Bud you hold him.” He handed the baby to Bud who took him easily. “What’s his name?”

“Mathew Albert.”

“Sir, congratulations. Now you have another one named after you,” said Harm. AJ took the baby from Bud while Bud realized what the baby’s initials would be.

“MAM.”

“Excuse me, Bud?”

“His initials, ma’am. They’ll be MAM, M-A-M,” Bud explained.

Sarah looked at AJ and began to laugh as AJ smiled and handed the camera to Sarah. “Bud, that’s so funny.” He looked a bit confused. “You have a little AJ and I’ll have a little MAC.” Bud looked even more confused. Harm finally got it.

“When is the happy day, sir?”

“Eight weeks from tomorrow,” responded a proud AJ.

“The christening?” a still confused Bud asked.

“No Bud, the wedding,” added Harm. Bud still didn’t understand and he didn’t know why everyone was smiling at him.

“What wedding?”

“Bud, Harm let me properly introduce you to Mathew Albert Chegwidden,” AJ said as Sarah snapped a photo of the totally confused look on Bud’s face and then continued, “My son.”

Finally, Bud seems to understand. “Congratulations, ma’am, sir.”

“Thank you, Bud.”

“Wait till I tell Harriet,” commented Bud.

“She knows about the baby, Bud.”

“You told her first, Mac?” asked Harm.

“She kind of found out by mistake,” explained Sarah.

“No wonder why she wasn’t in on the bet. Wonder why Tiner wasn’t?” asked Harm.

“He knew too,” said AJ surprising everyone in the room. “He told me that he came in the office one day and heard you ask me.”

Harm started to sulk. “Well at least I found out about you two getting married before them.”

A few minutes later Harriet came in to see the baby. The first thing she noticed was the engagement ring.

“There’s some good news Harriet that you don’t already know.”

“What? That they are getting married,” Harriet stated.

Completely shocked and not knowing how to respond he just walked out the room to hear everyone laughing. Harriet whispered to Mac, “I can see the ring. But I’m not going to tell him that.” This just started more gales of laughter.

A few days later, Mac and Matthew went home, but not to her apartment. They moved into AJ’s house. During the few hours that he had been away from the hospital he had done a lot of work converting his home office into a nursery. There was even a twin size bed in it.

“Oh, AJ. This is perfect,” she sighed.

“I put the bed in here in case you want to sleep in here close to the baby,” he said. “And I also put a bassinet in my bedroom.”

“Our bedroom,” she said as she turned in his arms and kissed him.

One year later

Mac and AJ went out to a nice dinner, leaving young Matthew at Bud and Harriet’s place, to celebrate their anniversary. They enjoyed the evening together but they were both happy to get home to see their son and celebrate a little more in private. AJ put his sleeping son into his crib and made sure that the monitor was on before joining Mac at the door of the nursery.

“He’s getting so big,” Mac said as AJ wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“So Sarah. How about we have the next one the old fashioned way?” She smiled, kissed him, and led him into their bedroom.

End Part 2 of 2