May 23, 2029

Annapolis

Harm and Mac sat holding hands in the audience surrounded by an ocean of proud parents and family. There was something so entrancing about a graduation ceremony at Annapolis. All the officers in their dress whites were an impressive sight. No matter how many ceremonies you've attended, it was always an invigorating experience.

Jen and Bobby sat next to them, Jen nervously shredding a tissue in her hand. Bobby just kept rubbing her shoulder and smiling.

It was a proud day for the Calvo family. Elizabeth Marie Calvo was graduating from Annapolis.

Shortly after their second child, Christopher James, had been born, Jen chose not to continue in the Navy. None of their four children had ever shown much interest in the Navy, other than an occasional sense of awe at their Uncle Harm's escapades, so it had totally surprised Jen when her eldest daughter announced her intentions of attending the prestigious military institution.

The close relationship between the two families had proved helpful when the time came for Liz to make her application. Lots of people submitted letters of recommendation from admiral's, but not many from one with as colorful a history, or as stellar a reputation as that of Admiral Harmon Rabb, the Judge Advocate General.

The family's close ties through the years had other benefits. Lt. Harmon Rabb III sat patiently at his mother's side. Like his father, he was a man who caught most people's attention. Standing evenly with his dad at 6'4", the handsome, dark haired, dark eyed naval aviator was valiantly hiding his own anxiousness and pride at the sight of his fiancée's graduation.

Of course, neither of their parents was aware of this little tidbit of information yet. He had proposed just a few weeks ago, but they had decided for the sake of sanity to wait until after graduation to fill their parents in.

Rabb Home

Falls Church Virginia

Later that evening

"Harm, it was so nice of you and Mac to hold this little get together for Liz," Jen smiled, her normal sense of calm finally in place. "You'd think she was getting married, the way my nerves were shot." Her smile grew a little stronger, almost laughing at herself.

"No problem. You know as far as Mac and I are concerned your kids are like ours anyway."

"What was that?" Mac asked as she approached her husband, slipping her arm around his waist and kissing him softly on the cheek.

"Now what kind of a greeting is that for the godfather of the graduate?" Harm turned his face and kissed his wife soundly on the lips.

Shaking her head, Jen chuckled. "How old are you two again?" These two had never in all the years they'd been married stopped acting like a couple of newlyweds. She suspected having struggled nine years to finally get together gave them an extraordinary appreciation for each other.

Their attention was diverted at the sound of HR, as the younger Rabb was affectionately known, tapping his glass with a spoon. Liz's blushing glow led everyone to believe she was embarrassed by the congratulatory toast he was about to make.

All the guests did their best to gather closer to the young man and the graduate, some overflowing into the hall or dining room. The Rabb house had a wonderful circular layout that made it an ideal home for parties and large family gatherings.

"As you all know Liz and I have known each other since we were kids. I still remember the little brat who whenever she could, paid my sister Pat a dollar to hide in the back seat of my car during a date. I also remember the great kid who noticed my kid brother David, floating in the pool and saved his life using the CPR she'd learned watching a TV show. But most of all, I remember the beautiful woman who two weeks ago, standing under the moonlight, agreed to be my wife." Raising his glass, he reached over for her hand. "To Liz Calvo."

"Here, here." The voices cheered as one by one all the guests descended upon the young couple.

Jen flew to her daughter's side, shock and joy both beaming from her tear filled eyes.

Harm pulled his wife in closer, kissing the top of her head, "I guess he followed his old man's advice."

"What was that?" Mac looked up, tears quickly building.

"When you find the love of your life, don't let life's complications stop you." He smiled at her, placing a kiss on her wet cheek. "I had a feeling this was why he wanted to talk about us."

"You too?" Mac wiped away some of the tears. She should have realized.

Three weeks before, HR had come over to hang out with his mom. All the Rabb children were pretty close and made it a point to stop home whenever they could. Twenty four year old HR visited the least for the obvious reasons, but twenty one year old Pat was going into her last year at Georgetown and stopped home often for a home cooked meal or to do laundry. David, the baby of the family, who hated it when Mac referred to him that way, was eighteen and preferred inviting friends to hangout with him at home rather than traipsing around town. Fortunately for Mac, most of his friends preferred hanging out at the Rabb's too. She always thanked her Marine appetite and a well-stocked fridge for that blessing.

She hadn't recognized why HR had come by that day. She noticed him looking through all the photo albums, especially asking questions about the years of photos before she and Harm were married. His favorites seemed to be the ones with his parents and AJ Roberts. They seemed so happy in those photos. He asked about the gaps in photos the two years before the wedding, and listened intently as Mac tried to explain about the stupid choices they'd made.

When they came to the wedding album Mac's eyes beamed brightly at the memories. It had been a beautiful warm day. Close to three months after Harm's proposal they were married in a small, but formal, military wedding in the same church they attended Christmas services every year. They had briefly discussed getting married at Annapolis, as all graduates were entitled to, but had immediately discarded the idea due to the waiting period involved.

Jennifer Coates and her little sister Chloe were bridesmaids. Harriet Roberts was her matron of honor. Sergei and his fiancée flew in. Harm had been a little surprised to be getting married before Sergei, but he was used to life being unpredictable.

It was great for Mac to look over the photos of all their old friends and how much fun they were all having at the reception. The thing that probably surprised them the most was how well Jack Keeter and Terri Coulter hit it off. If they had to pick two friends of theirs who would make a great couple, those would never have been the two they'd have picked. They never did get married, but they had a few good years together.

"I guess everyone looks happy on their honeymoon," HR commented, flipping through the pages of the next album.

"Yeah, that's probably a safe assumption," Mac laughed. She had almost forgotten what a lovely place Barbados was. She and Harm spent most of their time on the beach or in the bedroom. Of course, they spent a lot of time, on the sofa, on the floor, in the shower, in the ocean. It was a 'busy' time.

"You realize you look like the cat that swallowed the canary," HR said, smiling at his mother's Cheshire grin. "It was pretty special for you two wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it took us an awful long time, and an awful lot of wasted years to get there. Besides, that's how we got you!" She reached over and pulled her son into a warm embrace.

They had indeed been right. The odds of conceiving on that first unplanned encounter were not in their favor, yet somehow they fell into those fortunate statistics of honeymoon babies.

"Have you ever regretted marrying dad or giving up the Marines?" He honestly could not remember a single time that his mom or dad gave the impression they'd wished they'd made other choices. Sure, he'd seen them argue a time or two, some were pretty down right nasty fights, but it was always obvious they were deeply in love.

"Not a single minute. I always thought my good career was one of my main goals. And I did have a good career. Maybe that's why it was so easy to give up. Nothing would ever be as important as you kids. It was an easy choice."

"If you had it to do over again, you and Dad both being military, would you have done it any differently?"

"I'd like to think all the things we went through made our relationship stronger and our marriage better, but if I had to do it over again. I'd have married your father the minute he asked permission to come aboard."

She and HR laughed. Everyone knew what she was referring to. There wasn't anyone in the family, or the neighborhood for that matter, who didn't know the famous Declaration of Independence story.

"Thanks, Mom. You've been a big help." He hugged his mom, took his cover, and headed for the door. "I'd love to stay longer, but I've got to get going." One last kiss on the cheek and he was gone.

Mac sat looking through the albums, the photos of all the kids' births, their birthdays, Mattie's graduation from Annapolis, and people who had long since passed, her mother in law, Admiral Chegwidden. They'd led a good life. She continued flipping the pages without a clue as to what her son had been contemplating.

Feeling Harm's grip tighten around her waist. "You still with me, Marine?" Harm asked trying to get his wife's attention.

"Sorry, just thinking. We've had a good life. Thank you." She leaned her head against his chest.

"That we have, I love you." Taking his wife's hand the two walked over to congratulate their first born son.

"Should we say anything about grandchildren yet?" Harm teased his wife.

"Nah, give them a couple of weeks," she laughed.

Raising his arm around his wife's shoulder as they approached their son, Harm joined her in laughter.

'God, life has been good!'

The end