Accidentally Perfect

Disclaimer: Not mine...never will be, but I wish I owned DJE.

Note 1: I have to admit I was sort of inspired by the movie "The Wedding Date".

Note 2: I don't know any of Mac's relatives. We have never really been introduced to anybody besides her uncle and parents so just pretend. I will remind you all that my fics were written about 5-6 years ago. Therefore, sorry for any mistakes.

Wednesday

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

Mac strode into her office with a light bounce as she thought about the case that she had today. A Petty Officer charged with insubordination. It was in the hat. No problem, just convince the jury that he had been way out of line in punching his commanding officer simply because he had ordered him to take anger management classes.

'Well no wonder he was ordered to go.' Mac thought.

She set her case down on one of her chairs and walked toward her computer to work on her opening statement. Harm was really going to lose this case, there was no way he could convince the jury otherwise. Mac chuckled.

A clearing of a throat brought her out of her moment.

"Harm. Hey. What's up?" She sat down and motioned him in.

"Nothing. Just wanted to see how you were doing." His grin in place.

"Liar. You want to cop a plea."

"Well..." He paused. It was so hard for him to plea bargain, but he knew he had to do it if he wanted to get the petty officer off with a lesser charge. Mac laughed lightly. She knew how hard this was for her flyboy. To Harm, plea bargaining was like walking away without a fight, but what could you do when you were out numbered?

"Ok sailor, state your terms."

"Forfeiture of pay for one month, and one month hard labor."

'There's no way she's going to take that.' He thought.

"No way! Are you kidding? The kid punched his commanding officer, Harm. I would throw him away for a few months."

'I tried.' He sighed.

"I say forfeiture of pay for three months, four months hard labor, and he attends those anger management classes that started this whole thing in the first place. And I think I'm letting him off the hook too easily." She laced her fingers together and set her hands on her desk as a sign of confidence.

Harm thought about it for about five seconds before he finally convinced himself that this was the best he was going to do with this marine. "Alright. You have a deal."

The silence they shared was quickly interrupted as Petty Officer Coats knocked on Mac's door frame.

"Yes Petty Officer?"

"Ma'am, this was just delivered for you." She extended her hand which held a white envelope.

"What is it?" She asked with knitted brows.

"I don't know ma'am, but it looks like some sort of formal message."

"Thank you Petty Officer." She took it in her hand.

"Ma'am. Sir."

Mac waited for Jennifer to walk out before opening the packet. Harm leaned his elbows on his knees trying to get a look at the contents of the envelope. "What is it?"

"It's an invitation." She smiled.

"To what?" He leaned in closer to take a look over the desk.

"Nosy, aren't we Commander." She pulled the envelope away from his line of vision.

"Aw, Mac. I want to know." He flashed her his puppy face.

"Oh alright." She handed it over to him. "It's an invitation to a family reunion. My mom's side of the family. All the way in sunny California." Just the thought of bright sun and nice weather made her want to go.

"Have you ever gone to one of these?" He asked as he skimmed the card.

"Nope. Never got one before. I guess they found out I was still alive." She chuckled but Harm looked at her with a loving gaze.

"So are you going?"

"I might. It isn't until a week from now so I have time to wrap up this case and any others I have lying around. I still need to think about it." She got up, but stood in place.

"Are you taking anybody?" His mouth got ahead of him. 'Think, Rabb before you speak.'

She looked up from her desk and caught his eyes looking at her. "I don't know if I'm even going, Harm."

"I was just asking."

She walked over to where he was sitting and stood in front of him. "I'll tell you what...if I decide to go, and the General gives me permission to go away for a few days, then I'll let you know."

"Ok." He was tongue tied, like always when he was discussing personal issues with his lovely partner.

"Ok. Now I'm gonna go get a hot cup of coffee. Wanna come?" She walked toward the door.

"I'm coming." He followed her out with a smile in place. He felt like a teenager all over again.

Thursday

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

"Petty Officer John Monroe, although I think Colonel MacKenzie was being way too generous with her offer, I hereby sentence you to forfeiture of pay for three months, four months hard labor, and six months of anger management. Case dismissed."

"Well Petty Officer, hopefully you have learned a lesson from all of this." Harm turned to his client.

"Yes, sir. Thanks for everything." He shook Harm's hand. Mac walked over to them.

"I don't think you should be thanking me. It's Colonel MacKenzie that got you off the hook. If she wouldn't have agreed to give us a deal you could have been doing far worse." He turned slightly to flash a smile at her.

"Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate you going easy."

"You're not a bad kid Petty Officer. You're just an angry person. Get some help. I know the Navy could use you."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Mac's Apartment

Georgetown

Mac sat on her couch attempting to read her novel, but it was useless. She could read no more than a sentence at a time. It was that bad. She had figured out that she was in trouble when she read over the same paragraph four times and still had no idea what the ten sentences were telling her.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Nobody was there of course, which was good because otherwise she would have to explain why she was talking to herself. She kept ignoring the obvious. It was very simple. What else could bother her more than anything? Nothing except for of course a certain sailor she worked with.

"Of course. What else."

Well, she couldn't go to him and tell him that he was on her mind, again, so she went for another solution. She walked over to where her phone was and dialed a number she had grown very familiar with.

"Hello Mr. Johnson." She tried to hide the confusion she was going through to avoid any questions.

"Colonel MacKenzie. How are you?"

"Oh I'm ok. How about you?" 'Well that sounded convincing.' She rolled her eyes.

"Well, we're doing fine."

"That's nice to hear."

"Yes it is." He paused. "I'll go get Mattie for you."

Ever since Mattie had gone to Mac's office, they had been talking a lot. Sometimes about boys, sometimes about nothing in particular, but mostly about Harm. It was one out of a few other things that they had in common. And the fact that Mattie looked up to Mac a great deal didn't hurt either.

"Thank you." She waited as she heard foot steps approach the phone.

"Hey Mac!" She practically yelled into the phone.

"Well aren't we a happy bunch today." She chuckled.

"You don't sound too happy. What's wrong?"

"I don't know, Mattie. I can't seem to focus my attention on any one thing for too long."

"Ok. Do you have that one attention disorder?" They both laughed at that.

"Nope. I think it's your guardian's fault."

"What did he do now? Did he hurt your feelings? I could go over there and set him straight you know." Mac laughed again. They often did nothing but laugh when they talked on the phone.

"No he didn't hurt my feelings and thanks for offering, but if I wanted to hurt him I could take him." She chuckled.

"Then why is he to blame for making you blue?"

"Ok. It all started when I got an invitation to a family reunion..." She recounted the events to Mattie, sometimes stopping for silly comments from Mattie.

"So that's why I'm having such a hard time."

"So you do want to go, but not alone?"

"Well yeah. It would feel weird. I haven't seen my family in years and Harm is the closest thing to family I've had."

"You want to take him for moral support?"

"Yes and no."

"Whoa. Back up. You have to explain that one to me marine."

"I want him there so I won't feel like a fish out of water. He has always been my constant." She paused. "But I also want him there because I just do."

"I think I know what you're saying. You love him. I know. And he loves you." She said in a cheery voice.

"Mattie."

"Ok, ok. I'll stop." She laughed. "So why don't you just ask him to go with you?"

"I'm afraid." She stated with a truthful tone.

"Of what? He won't say no. Trust me. This is Harm we're talking about. I say you go to him and ask him."

"Mattie..." She hesitated a bit.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for dumping all of my adult-issued problems on you."

"Hey, you listen to my teenage troubles and I listen to you."

"Thanks Mattie. A lot. I promise next time we talk it'll be fun."

"I'm holding you to it. Hey, how about a walk in the mall before you head to the golden state?"

"Alright. You're on. I need to buy some new outfits anyway."

"Ok. I'll get my dad to drive me to your place."

"No, I'll pick you up. I'll see you on Sunday."

"Ok. Bye Mac."

"Bye sweetie."

She had a lot to think about before Sunday. That was for sure

TBC...