Memories!

Memories! Ch. 2: And Baby Makes Three

Disclaimer: JAG is the property of Donald Belisario, CBS, and Paramount. All other characters are mine and fictional.

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"The Rabbit Died."

Wasn't that the euphemism they'd used back in her mother's day?

Silently, Mac sat in her Georgetown apartment amid a sea of moving cartons, and stared at the home pregnancy test once again.

This was going to complicate things...

0800 HOURS

Colonel MacKenzie's Apartment

Georgetown

Harm settled heavily into one of the few remaining chairs in the denuded apartment.

"So, when do you plan to tell him? I feel a 'personal day' coming on..."

"That bad, huh?" Mac responded, worry invading the clear placidity of her dark eyes. "Maybe it will be alright. Maybe he'll be as happy about it as I am...don't you think?"

Anxiously, she scanned his features, hoping that her friend had the answer she was looking for, but the look on his face gave her little reassurance.

"Mac...Have you and the admiral ever talked about adding kids to this relationship?"

The past two months had been ones of soulful bonding... passionate unions... but never had they discussed the possibility of including a child in their intimate nucleus. Even though AJ was aware of her maternal longings, his potential reaction gave her cause for concern.

"I may just wait on this a while, Harm." she hedged, dropping the telltale tester into her pocket. "You know...give MYSELF a chance to digest the situation before I spring it on AJ.."

"Mac..." he cautioned. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Pregnancy isn't something you can keep from someone you're...well, you know...someone you KNOW that well! You wouldn't be able to blame it on Beltway burgers for long, and it won't help the situation when he knows that you kept it from him. Take my word for it."

As usual, Harm was right, but something inside of her just wouldn't let go. She was going to have to deal with this on her own terms.

"Well, Flyboy, are you going to help me get this stuff to Quantico today or not?" she said, hoping to shift the topic of conversation.

"Yes Ma'am." he smiled. "But anything bigger than a breadbox, you let Bud and I carry. Understood?"

"Aye aye, Commander. Understood," she said, the smile on her lips never reaching her eyes. "I guess I'm carrying enough already..."

1400 HOURS

Colonel MacKenzie's Apartment

Thomason Park Housing

Marine Corps Base Quantico

Harm had been serious.

He had insisted, much to Bud's utter confusion, that Mac carry nothing heavier that a few pounds during the move to her new apartment at Marine Corps Base Quantico. It was a blessing that AJ had been called to Italy two weeks ago to help his daughter, Francesca, with a personal problem, or the "jig" would have been up.

After everything had been brought in, Bud took his leave and headed back home to Harriet and little AJ. Harm, knowing that Mac couldn't be trusted not to start moving furniture the minute he cleared the driveway, stayed behind to tie up any loose ends that might arise.

"Let me at least feed you, then." she offered, sifting through a box marked "kitchen". "It's the least I can do. You're just too good to me, Harm."

Harm grinned. He had such a great grin. "I have to keep the 'Admiral's Lady' happy, don't I?"

Mac stopped dead in her tracks. "I hope you were just kidding, because if you weren't, then I have a major problem with what you just said!"

"Mac! Of course I'm kidding... How long have we been friends, anyway? Do you really think the fact that you're 'hot bunking' it with my C.O. would make any difference?"

Mac threw one of Harriet's lobster-shaped potholders at his head. "Boy! You just don't know when to leave well enough alone, do you?" she laughed. "I didn't know you could fit BOTH of those big feet in your mouth at once!"

"Seriously, though. Do you think anyone thinks of my relationship with AJ in that way?" she asked as she located a box of pasta, and a jar of Garden-style Ragu.

"Listen..."he said, drawing her back into the living room, "just sit down here for a minute, O.K.?"

Harm paused, choosing his words carefully.

"You and the admiral have something really special going for you. For my own sake, I wish I could say that relationships like yours happen everyday...but they don't. You need to stop 'second guessing' it to death, Mac...you could lose something that you might never find again. Just a little advice from someone who's still looking..."

Sadly, Mac looked at the false bravado pasted on her friend's face. There was a time when they might have been an "item", but that time had long since passed, leaving Harm with a long succession of failed relationships, and her with the man of her dreams. She had kissed more than her share of "frogs" in her lifetime, it was truly a miracle to have finally found the one "prince" in the batch.

Harm started relocating boxes to their designated rooms as Mac got supper started. "You know, Mac," he called, "you need to start eating a little better now. The four food groups really aren't starch, grease, dead animal and catsup. You need to get little 'Albert' off to a good start, 'Mom."

"Albert'! Oh no...not this kid. Why do you think AJ goes by his initials? 'Albert Jethro' just doesn't 'cut it' in grade school!"

"I forget," he laughed, "where exactly IS it popular again?"

"Just watch it, Commander, or I'll send a Marine detachment after you..."

Harm finished distributing the boxes, then dropped down on the sofa to await supper.

"Speaking of Marines," he said, "how are things going at Quantico?"

"Well...it's hectic. Being a C.O. is a lot tougher than I anticipated. My department is knee-deep in a situation with Japan right now."

"Japan?" Harm raised his eyebrows. "Your department handles foreign affairs?"

"Yes, Harmon..." she teased. "That's why it's called the 'International' and Operational Law Division, remember?"

"Yeah. Right. Anything you can talk about?"

"Sure. A lot of it is right on the front page anyway. With foreign relations as shaky as they are with Japan right now, the Japanese government has disallowed Marines guarding the National Security Council's representatives from the SCIF from carrying weapons during Presidential deployments. We've been bouncing protests back and forth with the White House Diplomatic Corps for weeks. We may even have to withdraw Marine security from diplomatic envoys to Japan if we can't reach an agreement soon. It's a mess."

"Colonel...I'm impressed. I thought you were just counting paper clips over here!"

"Don't say that too loud, Sailor. This is a Marine base. Remember...you're surrounded..."

1800 HOURS - Two Days Later

Colonel MacKenzie's Apartment

Thomason Park Housing

Marine Corps Base Quantico

"Darlin', I've missed you so much... I've always liked Italy, but this time I couldn't get away fast enough."

AJ lay on the sofa beside her, his head in her lap.

"I like your new place." he began cautiously. "I just wish you'd moved in with me instead."

"AJ...you know that wouldn't work. You're The JAG...how would that make you look?"

"To hell with how it would make me LOOK!" he answered emphatically. "It would make me FEEL great! I dare anyone to cross paths with me about this...I've sent sailors to the Aleutians for less!"

"Oh...you wouldn't, and you know it!"

"But seriously, Darlin', why didn't you just move in with me instead of arranging for base housing? You're so much a part of my life...I feel like something's missing when we're not together."

It was an old argument. AJ already knew the answer. Mac simply wasn't ready to give up the independence she'd worked so hard to achieve...not yet. But...she thought placing a hand on her stomach... she might have to rethink that issue before long.

As though reading her mind, AJ lifted the hem of her blouse and began to touch his lips to her exposed flesh.

"I've been wanting to do this for weeks." he whispered, tugging her blouse over her head..."and this," he added, removing her bra..."and this," he said, drawing her down upon him.

Like a thirsting man in an oasis, AJ pressed his lips to hers, drinking in the scent of her hair, his hands gently caressing the bare line of her back.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured softly, as though discovering her again for the first time. "I can't get enough of you, Darlin'. I never knew how empty I was before you came into my life. It wouldn't BE a life without you in it."

Then carefully, tenderly, he shifted his position until she lay beneath him, her breasts lightly grazing the crisp fabric of his white uniform shirt.

"AJ," she said, her voice a hushed seduction. "I want to touch you. I want to feel your skin next to mine and be sure that this isn't just another dream."

His gaze bathed in passion, AJ stood and began to remove his clothing.

His trim, athletic body always amazed her. His uniform hid so much, she mused, her hands aching for the touch of his body. He was truly an incredible man.

Finally, he stood naked before her, the profile of his body a harbinger of things to come.

"Darlin', this has been the longest two weeks of my life," he whispered, sliding her skirt and panties down over her hips and adding them to the growing pile on the floor. " I want to make this last, but I need you so much..."

Gently, he lay down between her legs, his engorged sex lightly grazing her inner thighs as he claimed her lips again, parting them, seeking out the soft, sweet interiors of her mouth.

Sarah felt his hands caress her sensitive breasts, her nipples becoming hard and distended. They'd changed over the past few weeks, she observed. Would AJ notice?

Wordlessly, his mouth sought the pulse point at the base of her throat as though to consume her very life, then trailed maddeningly downward to gently draw a tender nipple between his lips.

She gasped. It felt so different this time, eliciting a response she'd never come close to before.

AJ slid his hand between them and insinuated his finger deep within her moist epicenter. He smiled...she was as ready as he was, but he wasn't prepared to let it end so quickly after two tortuous weeks of anticipation.

Sarah brought her leg up and braced it on the back of the sofa, giving her lover more room and greater access to the hungering vortex within her. Then, taking his hardened shaft in her palm, she guided him to the brink of Nirvana, pleading with him to consummate their union.

But AJ had other plans. Pulling back, he imprisoned her hand in his and began to trace a moist, molten pathway down her body, tasting...teasing, until, finally he reached the dewy triangle at the juncture of her thighs.

There, resolutely, he parted her moist curls with his fingers and opened her fully before his questing tongue.

The sensation became more than she could bear, and she instinctively began to pull away, but he held her tenderly in place as he continued his relentless exploration, driving her to the brink of madness.

"Love...Love...I can't stand it." she moaned, her hips thrusting against him, her body pleading for release.

In one fluid motion, AJ covered her body with his, and plunged fully, deeply into the hot, wet depths of her, sending her loudly over the brink.

United at last, AJ continued to thrust heavily within her, feeling her inner muscles clutching greedily at his rigid member, until once again she cried out into the night, and he felt her heated juices flow around him. It was only then, his body driven by the primitive rhythm that consumed him, that he allowed himself the ultimate gift of release and spent himself cataclysmicly within her.

Slowly, he bundled her in his arms and carried her to the bed, tucking her gently beneath the blankets, drawing her body comfortingly within his embrace as the afterglow took her to a land of dreams.

"Darlin'," he sighed into the deafness of the night..."It's good to be home."

0200 HOURS

Colonel MacKenzie's Apartment

Thomason Park Housing

Marine Corps Base Quantico

Amid the luxury of Sarah's big bed, they'd made love one more time, then began to discuss all of the fragments of life they'd missed over the past two weeks.

"Darlin', with you moving and changing phone services and all, it just about drove me crazy not being able to reach you all this time."

Sarah lay her head on his chest. "So how was your trip? How is Francesca?" Sarah asked.

AJ grimaced. "Very pregnant, I'm afraid. She and her boyfriend had a fight...she wanted to legitimize my grandchild...he didn't. Same old story...too young, too immature, too unprepared to commit to anything..."

Sarah was immediately on alert. "So what happened?"

"Well, they didn't seem to be able to work things out, so I gave the situation a little nudge. I told the boyfriend that it was time to grow up...take responsibility for his actions...be a man. I also told him that I'd kick his ass if he made my grandchild a bastard."

"And?"

"The wedding was two days ago. I now have a son-in-law, and a grandchild-to-be. My little family's just growing by leaps and bounds.

You don't know the half of it, Sarah thought.

"AJ?"

"Yes, Darlin'?"

"Have you ever given any thought to the possibility of US having a baby?"

"US? Isn't it a little too early to be thinking about starting a new branch of Chegwiddens? I just found out that I'm going to be a grandfather!" he grinned.

He lifted her face to his. "Darlin', A baby right now would make a big difference in your life. Believe me...I know. You'd have to make serious choices that might compromise the career you've worked so hard to get. I wouldn't want to put you on the spot like that at the moment...we've still got a little time."

Mac felt the bottom drop out of her world. How could she tell him now? Would he feel obligated to "legitimize" their child as well?

The thought of a "shot gun" wedding chilled her to the bone.

AJ immediately noticed her stricken expression, and brushed his lips against her forehead. "Sarah...I know you want kids, and we'll have them, but give us a chance be together by ourselves for a while. Great as kids are...they change your life...and once you have them, you can't put 'em back."

1200 HOURS

Naval Medical Clinic

Marine Corps Base Quantico

It was official. Mac was two months pregnant.

Shakily, Mac exited the pillared, red brick building that housed Quantico's medical facility. The doctor had said that the lower body trauma she'd suffered during her auto accident three months before, might have caused her to expel her I.U.D. It hadn't been until her monthly cycle, which was usually irregular, had been seriously overdue, that she began to suspect something was amiss. At any rate, she was very definitely pregnant.

Mac climbed into her black Tracker and sat staring at the many pamphlets the nurse had given her on prenatal care. There was so much to know...so many adjustments to make. How in the world had women been having babies all of these years without modern medicine?

Mac lay her hand against her stomach. She was going to have a baby! In spite of the inherent problems involved, she felt like shouting it from the rooftops!

Then she thought about AJ, and her mood began to shift dramatically. He didn't want another child, of that she was sure, but she was equally sure that he would insist on "meeting his responsibilities" and giving it his name.

She would never allow him to commit to a marriage of necessity...she couldn't. To do so would be to "short-change" all three of them.

But with a baby in the picture...could she ever consider that a proposal from AJ was for the right reasons? Probably not. It was ironic, she thought... after everything they'd been through, the very product of their love, would be the one element that could keep them apart.

0800 HOURS

AJ's Home

McLean, Virginia

It was Saturday, two days after her fateful trip to the base obstetrician, and Mac was spending the weekend at AJ's cabin, deep in the Virginia woods.

The romantic evening they'd planned for the night before, had been somewhat less than a success.

Mac had been distracted, to say the least, seeking constantly for the right moment to share the news with her lover. Then after supper, she'd been overcome with fatigue, something that seemed to be a regular occurrence of late, and had fallen asleep on the couch.

She'd gotten up early that morning, and had been able to deal with a slight case of morning sickness in the guest bathroom before AJ awoke. Now, running along the trail in the brisk morning air, she felt exhilarated for the first time in weeks. Today would be the day...

She and AJ ran, laughing, through the stillness of the forest, glad to be alive...glad to be together.

"You fell asleep on me last night, Darlin'," he commented, pulling alongside her on the trail. "You wouldn't be getting tired of me already, would you?" he laughed.

"As though that would ever happen!" she panted, catching her breath from the exertion. "I'm part barnacle, sailor...you can't get rid of me that easily!"

Suddenly, Mac felt a sharp pain assail her lower body, bringing her to an abrupt halt. Clutching her midsection, she leaned against a tree trunk for support.

"Are you alright, Darlin'?" AJ asked as he placed an arm around her, concern etched on the stern features of his face. She was as white as a sheet!

Mac was anything but all right. The pain had increased, causing her to slip silently to the ground, her body shaking, her face pale and ashen.

"AJ...I..." she began, just as the world began to spin out of control.

"Darlin'...what is it? Darlin'...Sarah!" But Sarah was beyond hearing. For her there was only darkness.

1000 HOURS

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

AJ pace anxiously outside of the examining room. "What in bloody hell's going on in there?" he muttered to himself for the third time in the past half hour. If they thought they were going to keep him out here for much longer, they were sorely mistaken!

Finally, the door opened and Mac's doctor entered the waiting room.

AJ latched onto him immediately. "Doctor, I need to know what's happening. I need information, and I need it now! How is Colonel MacKenzie...what's wrong with her?"

"Relax, Admiral...Sir. She's fine. She just overdid it a little. Normally, most women can continue their regular activities well into their pregnancy, but the Colonel's 'no pain - no gain' regimen is a little too much. She just needs to back off a little...maybe switch to brisk walks instead of running herself into the ground. Exercise is good...exhaustion isn't."

AJ sat heavily in a waiting chair. Pregnancy? Sarah was pregnant? Why hadn't she told him!

"Thank you, doctor. " he responded numbly. " When can I go in and see her?"

"You can go in now, if you like. She was in considerable discomfort for a while, but she wouldn't let us medicate her. She didn't want the baby to be subjected to any unnecessary chemicals, but we were able to give her something to stabilize her spotting and get her back on the right foot."

"I want her to stay here for a few hours, just to be sure, then she can go home. I'm assuming she won't be alone? I'd like her to rest for a few days, but from my assessment of the colonel, keeping her down for that long will be a considerable feat. That's quite a lady in there..."

"You've got THAT right." AJ said, trying to deal with his frustration. "You have no idea..."

Hesitantly, the admiral stepped into the examining room, debating what to say next. Being at a loss for words was a rare and unaccustomed feeling for him...and it didn't sit well.

He had so much to say...so much to ask... but he knew the next few moments could be crucial to the future of their relationship... an ill-chosen word, the wrong inflection, and he could lose her. He felt his control slipping. Life with Sarah was never dull...