Title: Family
Author: Aimee
Email: harmonrabb.sarahmackenzie@gmail.com
Website: http://darkbeauty.org
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Harm, Mac and Mattie do not belong to me. I’m just playing with them for a while. Sarah and Daniel are mine, though.
Summary: Mac wonders what kind of mother she’ll be.
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Dev for the beta. You’re very much appreciated.

2200 Zulu
Rabb Residence

Harm and Mac were lying in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. “Harm?”

“Yes, Mac?”

“What if I’m not a good mother?” she asked, rubbing her nine-month-pregnant stomach.

“Mac, you already are a wonderful mother,” he told her, kissing her cheek.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I see how you are with Mattie. You have been her mother since the day she came into our lives.”

“What?” she asked, clearly surprised.

“Think about it, Mac. Who took her shopping for her prom dress? Who was there when the relationship with her first real boyfriend ended? Who makes a point of taking her out for a ‘girls’ day’ every month? Who takes her to the doctor? Who does she come to for boy advice? Who shares every aspect of her everyday life?”

“I do,” Mac replied softly.

“Yes, you do. And that’s why I already know what a wonderful mother you are”

“Thank you,” she told him quietly.

2400 Zulu
Rabb Residence
Same night

A sharp pain woke Mac. “Ooohh,” she moaned.

“Mac, what is it?” Harm asked, slowly waking.

“I’m having contractions, Harm. We need to go to the hospital,” she told him.

That woke him up. He jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes. Helping Mac out of bed, he helped her dress and then into their Dodge Caravan.

15 minutes later, they arrived at the Bethesda Medical Center. Rushing inside, Harm alerted the staff to Mac’s condition.

2430 Zulu
Bethesda Medical Center

The contractions were coming just minutes apart now.

“Hello, Colonel. How are you doing?” Dr. Chan asked, entering her room.

“Ready to deliver this baby,” Mac told her, trying to speak around the contractions.

Dr. Chan laughed. “I bet you are. Well then, let’s get to it,” she said. “When I say so, I want you to push,” she told her.

“Okay. Harm?” she said, anxiously.

“I’m right here, Mac, ” he said, taking her hand.

“I’m scared,” she told him.

“Look at me, Mac.” She looked into his eyes. “I’m going to be right here every step of the way. Just hold on to me,” he told her.

“I love you,” she told him softly.

“I love you, too.”

“Okay, Colonel, on the count of three I want you to push.”

“Okay,” Mac said.

“1…2…3…push.”

6 hours later

“Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl,” Dr. Chan told them.

The nurse lay the newborn in her mother’s arms.

“Oh, Harm, look at her,” Mac told him tearfully.

“She’s beautiful,” he told her. “Just like her mother.”

Dr. Chan, upon an exam of Mac broke in. “I hate to interrupt, but we have a situation,” she told them.

“What kind of situation?” Harm asked.

“Well, it seems your wife has been pregnant with twins,” she told him.

“Twins?” Harm and Mac exclaimed in unison.

Dr. Chan laughed. “Yes.”

The nurse took the baby from Mac, taking all the child’s measurements and cleaning her up.

“Okay, ready for round two?” the doctor asked.

“As ready as I can be,” Mac answered.

“On three. 1…2…3…push.”

Twenty minutes later

“You have a healthy baby boy,” Dr. Chan informed them.

The nurse lay him in his mother’s arms.

“He looks just like you, Harm,” Mac told him.

“He’s beautiful,” Harm said.

0900 Zulu
Mother’s Day
Bethesda Medical Center

“Good morning, Mac,” Harm told her, kissing her.

“Good morning, Harm,” she replied, smiling into his eyes.

He smiled at the love he saw shining in her eyes.

“I have a surprise for you,” he told her.

“What?” she asked.

“Me,” Mattie said, walking into Mac’s hospital room.

“Mattie!” Mac exclaimed, as Mattie hugged her tightly. “I didn’t think you’d be back from your dad’s till next month.”

“I decided to come back early,” Mattie told her. “Besides, I couldn’t miss your first Mother’s Day,” she said, smiling.

“Oh, Mattie,” Mac said, clearly touched.

“I love you,” Mattie told her.

“I love you, too.”

“And I love you both,” Harm told them, joining their reunion.

“Oh, I have something for you,” Mattie told Mac a short time later.

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Mattie. Your being home was all the present I needed.”

“I wanted to,” Mattie told her, handing over a beautifully wrapped gift. “Open it.”

Mac tore open the package and lifted the lid of the box. Inside, she found a gold locket. It had the word ‘Mom’ on the front with a picture of Mattie on one side and a picture of newborns Sarah and Daniel on the other.

“This is beautiful. Thank you,” Mac told her softly.

Mattie smiled. “You’re welcome. Read your card.”

“Happy Mother’s Day,” she read. Opening the card, she continued,

You didn’t give birth to me
You didn’t teach me to tie my shoes
or the difference between right and wrong
But that’s not what makes a mother

You wipe away my tears
when my heart is breaking
You share in my joy
and my disappointments, too

I know I’m not a perfect kid
and that I sometimes disappoint you
But I know that nothing I could do
will ever stop you from loving me

So on this day
I want you to know
That no matter what
I will always love you

Love,
Mattie,” Mac finished, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, Mattie. Thank you.”

Mattie smiled tenderly. “I love you…Mom.”

Mac looked up in surprise. “Mom?” she asked.

Mattie nodded. “Yes. I never thought that I would ever love anyone as much as I loved my mom, but you have quietly taken up residence in my heart. You and that lovable lug you married,” she laughed.

Harm and Mac laughed warmly.

“Harm, I know this is Mother’s Day, but I didn’t want you to be left out of the celebration, so I got you this,” she said, handing over a small box.

Inside, he found a simple gold keychain. On one side, the word ‘Dad’ was written. On the other, ‘Love, Mattie, Sarah and Daniel’ had been inscribed. He touched the metal almost reverently.

And then a tear fell. And another. And another. They continued until they were streaming down his face.

He didn’t say a word. He just stood up and pulled Mattie into a fierce embrace. “Thank you,” he whispered into her ear.

“I love you, Dad,” she told him.

“I love you, Mattie.”

Pulling away, she asked, “So when do I get to see my new sister and brother?”

Before anyone could answer, a nurse arrived with the babies. “I thought it was time for these two to get to know their family,” she said.

“Thank you,” Harm told her as she left.

Harm picked up Sarah and handed her to her mother. Picking up Daniel, he placed him in his sister’s arms, who was sitting beside Mac. Harm, meanwhile, stood there in awe, overcome with emotion. He didn’t know how he got so lucky; all this was his.

“Harm?” Mac asked, bringing him out of his reverie.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Couldn’t be better,” he told her as he joined in the conversation.

“What are their full names?” Mattie asked.

Harm smiled. “Sarah MacKenzie and Daniel Harmon Rabb.”

“Perfect,” Mattie commented, stroking Daniel’s cheek.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a nurse quietly snapped a picture of the happy family–Harm, Mac, Mattie, Sarah and Daniel. Each member of the family was holding or being held by someone else. Mattie was holding Daniel. Mac was holding Sarah. And Harm had his arms wrapped around Mac, holding her. A picture perfect family.