For Challenge #4

Using the Lines:

Line 1:  There would be no greater gift 

Line 2:  But it's a green Christmas for me

Line 3:  At least it's only once a year

Bonus Line:  All this mistletoe, no kiss

Under the Mistletoe

by Lace

Mac slowly moved down the stairs and headed for the kitchen.  She finally had more energy, and, even though she knew Harm would freak out the minute he saw her, she couldn't wait to spend some time out of bed.

The bed had been her prison for the last three weeks, two of them spent in the hospital recovering from the birth of their son.  There had been serious complications, and Mac had been rushed to surgery two weeks before her initial due date; she had lost a lot of blood and almost didn't survive the surgery because they had problems stopping the bleeding.

Their son on the other hand was in perfect health, and Harm had been able to hold him while Mac was in surgery.  Harm had told Mac later that their son was the only thing keeping him sane while he waited to hear if she would be fine.

They had been married for a little over two years now and on top of their newly born son, they had adopted another child, a girl.  Cassandra was a shy five year old when she came to live with them; now, a year later, she was a happy six year old who had found her place with them.

Mattie had recovered from her accident faster than anyone could ever have hoped for.  She was now attending her senior year in high school and was looking forward to go to college the next fall.

Mac entered the kitchen and found Mattie behind the counter chopping something.

“Hi Mattie.”  Mac smiled when she saw the girl.  “What are you doing?”

“I'm in charge of dinner tonight,” Mattie explained.  “What are you doing up?  Harm will freak out when he sees you.”

Mac opened the fridge and found a bottle of water.  “I was bored.  Where is he anyway?  And where are the rest of our children?”

“They are taking a walk.  Harm said something about the park.”  Mattie continued to chop.

“What are we having?”  Mac couldn't help to notice all the vegetables.

“I'm making wok.”  Then she laughed softly.  “Harm says that you need vegetables.”

Mac rolled her eyes.  “He's freaking out because I've lost so much weight.”  Mac sat down to watch Mattie work.  “I couldn't help to notice all the Christmas decorations.  When did you guys find the time to decorate?”

“Last night after Cassie and Matt were asleep.  Harm figured it would cheer you up.”  Mattie looked out the window.  “It's going to be weird having Christmas without snow.”

“I'm sorry we couldn't go to D.C this year, Mattie; I know Harm will miss not being able to visit with his dad this Christmas.”  Mac shrugged her shoulders.  “But I'm in no condition to travel, and with Matthew just being born ...”

Mattie interrupted her.  “It's okay, Mac, all that matters is that we're all together.  It could have been a much worse Christmas than one without snow,” she reminded Mac.

Mac nodded.  “Absolutely.”  She and Mattie shared a knowing smile.

“But it's a green Christmas for me, and I'm going to enjoy it.  Who needs snow anyway?” Mattie continued to chop.

“That's the spirit.  And we'll go to D.C next Christmas; Matthew will be a year old, and he'll be able to enjoy his first meeting with the snow.” Mac smiled.  “This Christmas I'll be strapped to the couch anyway, with Harm hovering over me.”

Mattie laughed.  “He's just worried about you.  We all are.”

“But I'm fine now,” Mac argued.  “And there would be no greater gift than spending time away from that bed.  I've been so bored that I've actually read one of Harm's books about carrier combat.  I now know a lot more about naval air power.”

Mattie laughed.  “You better not let Harm hear about that; he's going to want to discuss the book.”

Mac laughed as well.  “Consider it our little secret.”  She turned her head in the direction of the living room when she heard the front door open.  “There's the rest of my family.”  Mac got on her feet and walked through the living room and into the hallway.

Harm had just parked Matthew's stroller and looked up when he saw her.  “Mac!  What are you doing out of bed?”

“I was bored.”  She bent down to give her daughter a hug, but her incision from the surgery made her stand up.  “I guess I shouldn't bend too much in the near future.”

“Are you okay, Mommy?” Cassandra asked, worried.

“I'm fine sweetie.”  She touched the girl's cheek.  “Why don't you go help Mattie with dinner?”

“Okay.”  The girl left the hallway.

Harm stepped closer to her and reached for her hand.  “You should really stay in bed, Mac.”

“I'm fine, Harm.”  She smiled and then gave him a pout.  “All this mistletoe, no kiss?”  She pointed to the mistletoe above the door.

“We're not under the mistletoe.”  Harm kissed her lightly.  “And you should be in bed.”

Mac moved away from him.  “You're no fun,” she pointed out with a little disappointment.

“It hasn't exactly been a lot of fun lately.”  Harm removed his jacket and hung it up.  “I'm going to go give Mattie a hand.”

“Harm, Mattie can handle dinner. You are tired and grumpy; why don't you go to bed early tonight, and I'll handle the kids.”  Mac went over to her son's stroller when she heard him move in there.  “Hi, little man.”

“I'll take care of him, Mac; you should go sit down.”  Harm made a move to reach for his son.

Mac touched his arm.  “I'm fine, and I'm going to spend some time with him now.”

“You're not supposed to lift yet.”  Harm reached for Matthew.  “Go sit down, and I'll bring him.”

“Fine,” Mac reluctantly agreed.

They went to the living room, and, after Mac had sat down on the couch, he handed Matthew to her.  “I'll go arrange his bottle.”

Mac nodded and kissed her son's cheek. “Hi baby; you are so pretty.”  Because of her surgery and recovery, she had been pumped full of drugs and hadn't been able to breastfeed her son.  Mac felt that she missed out on an important part of being a mom, but she made a point out of spending as much time as possible with her son.

She made Harm bring him to her when he needed feeding or was fussy so that she could spend time with him, but all other care had been provided by Harm.  Since Mac wasn't allowed to lift or move around that much because of her incision, she couldn't just pick up her son whenever she felt like it.  She needed Harm to get him for her.

Harm came back with the bottle, and Mac offered it to Matthew who eagerly started eating.

“I noticed you've been busy decorating.  It's nice.”  Mac smiled at her husband.

“I figured we could use some holiday spirit.”  Harm touched her cheek lightly.  “We have a lot to be thankful for this year.”

“We do,” Mac agreed.  “I'm sorry that you can't see your dad at Christmas Eve.”

“That's okay; I've got all I need right here,” Harm reassured her.

“I'm really thankful to be alive, and I know this has been hard on you, but you've got to relax, Harm. You're barely sleeping at night, and I think you should let me handle Matthew tonight so that you can get a good night’s sleep.”

Mac put Matthew's empty bottle on the table and lifted him into the air.  “See, I can lift him without it hurting my incision.”  She kissed her son's head before putting him close to her chest.

“I just don't want you to hurt yourself.”  Harm put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head.  “But I guess I can let you take care of him tonight. You do seem to be healing very well.”

“Thank you.”  Mac smiled.  “Christmas will be great this year.”

“At least it's only once a year,” Harm mumbled.

Mac laughed softly.  “Don't sound so grumpy.”

“I have barely finished with the gifts, and we haven't picked out a tree yet.”  Harm yawned sleepily.  “It's a lot of work.”

“Let Mattie and your mother help with the gifts, and I'm sure Frank would more than willingly bring us a tree.  You just have to ask for help, and don't be so stubborn.”  Mac smiled.  “And tomorrow you will be rested, and everything will seem so much easier.”  She kissed her son's head. “I will take care of cry-baby here, and daddy can sleep.”

“He's not really a cry-baby, but he's hungry every two hours.”  Harm touched his son's small hand.  “And besides, I love taking care of him.”

“You love taking care of everyone, and we're all very lucky to have you.”  Mac looked into his eyes.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”  Harm kissed her lightly.

******

Later that night

Mac and Harm's house

******

Mac put down her son after feeding him.  She felt a slight sting from where they had cut her open, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle.  She ran a finger down Matthew's cheek and smiled.  Their little miracle.

“You are such a special boy, you know that?” Mac whispered.

“Mommy?”

Mac turned to the door and saw Cassandra standing there.  “Hi, sweetie.”

Cassandra walked into the room.  “Is he asleep?”

“Yes, and now it's time for you to sleep as well.”  Mac smiled and took her daughter's hand.

“But I'm not tired.”  Cassandra reluctantly followed her mother across the hallway and to her own room.

“I don't believe that.”  Mac helped Cassandra into bed and kissed her head.  “Do you want me to read something to you?”

Cassandra shook her head.

Mac nodded.  “Okay.  Good night.”  She turned to leave her daughter's room.

“Mommy, are you going to die?”

Mac stopped in her tracks and turned to her daughter.  “No, of course not.  Why do you say that?”

Cassandra sat up in bed.  “I heard Harm and Mattie talking ...  Do I have to go away then?”

Mac walked over to her daughter and sat down with her.  “Baby, I'm not going to die, and you do not have to go away.”  She pulled Cassandra close and kissed her head.  “Remember how Mommy spent a long time in the hospital?”

Cassandra nodded.

“That was because when Matthew wanted to come out of my stomach I started bleeding.  You know how when you cut yourself there's blood?” Mac asked her daughter.

“Like when I cut my knee playing soccer?”

“Yes, but I was hurt on the inside, so they had to open me up and take Matthew out before they could stop the blood from leaving my body.”  Mac pulled her sweater up above her scar.  “And then they had to stitch me up.”

Cassandra touched the scar.  “Does it hurt?”

“Sometimes, if I move around too much.  But it's getting better every day, and in a few weeks I'll be back to normal again.”

“Does it hurt to bleed on the inside?”

“It did hurt, but then they gave me some medications so that I was asleep, and then it didn't hurt until I woke up.  But then I got to see Matthew, and the pain didn't seem so bad any more.  Then the next day you and Mattie came to see me, and I was really happy and didn't really notice the pain any more, because I had my family there with me.”

“I love you, Mommy.”  Cassandra hugged her close.  “I want to live with you and Harm forever.”

“And you will.”  Mac kissed her daughter's head again.  “Because we love you so much, and we are your parents.”

Cassandra nodded.  “Okay.”

Mac hugged her daughter close before she stood.  “You better get some sleep now.”

Mac walked into her and Harm's bedroom and found her husband busy undressing for bed.  She bent over Matthew's bed and kissed his small head.  “Mommy's little angel.”

“Are you sure you're okay to take care of Matthew alone, Mac?  I can ...”

“I can handle it.”  Mac turned to look at her husband.  “I promise I'll wake you up if I need you.”

“Okay then.  I have to admit that it's going to be really great to be able to sleep through the night for once.”  Harm slipped into bed.  “Come join me.”

Mac slipped in beside her husband and relaxed against him.

She must have drifted off because she was woken up by Matthew's cry.  She felt Harm move beside her and hurried to grab his arm before he stood.  “Go back to sleep.”

Harm nodded.  “I almost forgot.”  He relaxed in bed.  “Are you sure you don't need my help?”

Mac got out of bed.  “Go to sleep, Daddy.”  She went to pick up her son and kissed his head.  “Hi pretty boy.”

She took Matthew with her downstairs and arranged his bottle.  Mac smiled when she sat down to feed her son.  “I'm the luckiest mom in the world.”

********

Christmas morning

Rabb House

*****

Mac watched as Cassandra played with her new doll house, Mattie was busy with her new computer, and Matthew was sound asleep in his crib. 

Harm wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.  “Merry Christmas.”  He whispered in her ear.

“It really is a merry Christmas.”  Mac turned in his arms and kissed him deeply.  “Thank you.”

Harm smiled.  “Thank you.”

They shared a knowing smile and looked up at the mistletoe hanging above them before their lips met in another kiss.

The End